V
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
BIG 12 BASEBALL
7B
Baylor in the hole; falls to 0-3
BY SHAWN SHROYER
Baylor (0-3)
Who's up: Junior right-hander Randall Linebaugh was the only Baylor starting pitcher to experience
much success in
the Minute Maid
Park College
Classic. He
allowed only
one run in four
innings before
the bullpen surrendered the deciding runs.
Who's in the hole: The entire batting lineup. In 95 at bats over the weekend, the Bears collected only 15 hits, for a .158 team batting average.
Who's on deck: Baylor will host Stephen F. Austin for a three-game set this weekend.
Kansas State (NR)
Who's sondecke
Kansas State travels to Shreveport,
La., this weekend
and will play both Penn State and
Centenary twice.
Missouri (3-0)
Who's up: Sophomore right
fielder Ryan Lollis
- 4-for 12, GS(1)
9 RBL, and 4 R
Who's in the hole: Sophomore
right-hander Aaron Crow - 3.1 IP, 6 H, 3 B, 5 R, 3 R, and 2 S0
Who's on deck: The Tigers head to Surprise, Ariz., this weekend for the Spring Training Classic. Missouri will play No. 13 Arizona State, Gonzaga and No. 10 Oregon State.
No.18 Nebraska (NR)
Who's on deck: The Cornhuskers
will participate in the University of Texas-Arlington Invitational this weekend. Nebraska will play a doubleheader with New
Mexico and then take on Texas Arlington and Illinois State.
Oklahoma (2-4)
Who's up? Senior designated hitter Cory Williamson made a push to become Oklahoma's permanent
DH in the team's only victory, going 4-for-5 with a home run, three RBI and two runs.
Who's in the hole:
Although he recorded a hit as a pinch hitter in the
first game of the weekend, freshman
right fielder Devin Shepherd went
0-for-8 as a starter the next two
games.
Who's on deck: The Sooners begin a nine-game home stand this weekend. Oklahoma will host Western Illinois for a three-game
Who's up? Senior second base-
man Tyler Mack - 7-for-13, HR (1)
4 RBI and 3 R
No.17 Oklahoma State (3-0)
series.
Who's in the hole: Oklahoma State's pitching was shaky against Illinois-Chicago. Four different Cowboys pitched in the first six innings and allowed all five Flame runs.
Who's on deck:
The Cowboys head to Boca Raton, Fla.
this weekend for the Florida
Atlantic Tournament. Oklahoma will play La Salle, Florida Atlantic and Ball State.
No.14 Texas (3-4)
Who's up? Sophomore third base-
man Bradley Suttle - 6-for-12, HR
(2), 2 RBI and 1 R
Who's in the hole: Sophomore
left-hander Kyle Walker - 2.1 I P. 2H 4
3 BB, 4 R, 3 ER, 3 SO and 3 HBP
Stanford for a three-game series in Round Rock, Texas.
Who's on deck: Texas will take on
Who's up? Sophomore right-hander Kyle Thebault. 5-1 F,6 H,1
Texas A&M (3-1)
Who's in the hole: Sophomore
BB, 1 ER and 8 SO
center  fielder
Kyle Collyne 1
for 11, 4 SO and
caught stealing
ence
Who's on deck?
takes A&M begins a 19-age
Texas Tech (4-3)
home stand this week and will play a three-game set against Texas Pan-
American this weekend.
Who's up: Junior catcher Matt Smith - 4-for-12, 2 HR (3), 3 RBI and 4 RI
Who's in the hole: Texas Tech
used three different leadoff hitters during the weekend and they combined to go 2-for-11 with two walks and only
three runs scored out of the Red Raiders' 23 total.
Who's on deck: Texas Tech will play Eastern Michigan, Dallas Baptist and St. Johns this Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Midland, Texas.
Kansan sportswriter Shawn Shroyer can be contacted at sshroyer@ kansan.com.
Edited by Darla Slipke
》PGA
Mickelson at top of game, sharp as ever Aggressive shot at end of tournament proves his renewed mettle
BY JIM LITKE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The crowds still love him, even though there's less of Leftoy to love.
Both things were apparent as Phil Mickelson strolled onto the final green at Pebble Beach to nail down career win No. 30. And why not?
Mickelson is still one of the best stories in golf, one of the two or three really magical golfers out there, and if shedding some weight is a sign he's serious about getting even better, everybody wins. Tiger gets a rival. Golf gets more buzz. We get to watch.
And if not?
Well, he's still good theater. Guys with that much talent always are.
The next-to-last shot of Mickelson's round Sunday was a nifty little pitch that flew low over a greenside bunker, landed a few feet past the flag.
then backed up and nearly went in.
Not everybody on the tour has that shot,
and only so many of them would pull it out on the final hole of a tournament, even with a five-shot lead. But that's what makes Mickelson so entertaining.
As Associated Press golf writer Doug Ferguson noted recently, he's not Len Matiace, Jean Van de Velde or Mike Reid — guys who know they've blown their only shot at a major and never recover. For all the winning he's done, Mickelson's career has been marked at least as much by disappointment. He was 0-for-12 in the big ones before he finally broke through at the 2004 Masters. And the two majors he won since — plus the one he threw away at Winged Foot last June — all came during the Tiger era, which means
"I don't really think much about that," he replied.
It's the same thing that drew most of those people to the 18th green and made the applause that little bit louder when he pulled it off. They'd come to see whether Mickelson had turned timid after last summer's spectacular last-hole collapse at the U.S. Open, whether the five mediocre performances that closed out that season and the three disappointments that began this one meant his confidence was permanently shot.
Nor should he.
All this talk about Mickelson being through was, frankly, overdone.
Mickelson is still one of the best stories in golf, one of the two or three really magical golfers out there.
"I was boping to play like this the first couple of weeks," Mickelson said after tapping in for a 6-under 66 and tying the record of 20-under Mark O'Meara set 10 years ago. "I'm glad that I finally did."
The second that little pitch shot quit dancing and Mickelson ambled up behind it, they had their answer: Not only had he shed the psychic baggage, he was anywhere from 15 to 25 pounds lighter.
Near the end of that interview, CBS reporter Peter Kostis offered Mickelson a chance to fire back at his critics.
have mattered this weekend. When Mickelson is on his game, he's a match for anyone, Tiger included. What he accomplished Sunday was just a reminder of that.
It didn't hurt Mickelson's chances that Woods had skipped Pebble Beach, though it likely wouldn't
they're worth almost twice as much.
All the great ones have thrown majors away, though none quite as often nor as spectacularly as Mickelson.
Woods is still probably kicking himself over the chunked chip and
three-putt that produced back-to-back bogeys at Pinehurst and cost him the U.S. Open in 2005. In a wide-ranging interview in this month's Golf Digest, Jack Nicklaus made it abundantly clear that he's still stewing about a few
loose shots that lost him a British Open at Royal Lytham — 34 years ago. There are similar stories about Tom Watson, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Lee Trevino.
What his failure at the U.S. Open reminded us — and him — is that it's a different exam every time you tee it up.
"The demands on talent increase under pressure and some players don't possess the talent to get them through the hard part."
That was never Mickelson's problem. He had all the shots almost from the start of his career, just not the temperament to always string them together in the right sequence.
"The demands on talent increase under pressure." Nicklaus said in the same interview, "and some players don't possess the talent to get them through the hard part."
He's tried to take the guesswork out of the equation by careful study
JACK NICKLAUS
Professional Golfer
of just about every venue and drawing up a detailed game plan, after consultation with his several coaches, that would make any NFL franchise proud. He's tinkered endlessly with his equipment — throwing two drivers
in the bag at Augusta, four wedges at Winged Foot — and that's worked, too, up to a point.
His latest changes, though, might turn out to be the most productive. Mickelson says he's been working out in earnest, swapping flab for muscle through cardio training and martial arts. As sacrifices go, it suggests that Mickelson not only plans to be around coming down the stretch, but that he understands there's still plenty of heavy lifting left to do.
Schottenheimer fired after "dysfunctional situation" Move follows winningest season
BY BERNIE WILSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
>> NFL
SAN DIEGO — Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer was fired Monday night in a shocking move by team president Dean Spanos, who cited a "dysfunctional situation" between the coach and general manager A.J. Smith.
Less than a month after San Diego's NFL best 14-2 season was wrecked in a home playoff loss to New England, Spanos cited the exodus of both coordinators and other assistants in firing Schottenheimer. The coach had a year left on his contract and will be owed more than $3 million.
"In short, this entire process over the last month convinced me beyond any doubt that I had to act to change this untenable situation and create an environment."
"This decision was so hard because Marty has been both a friend and valued coach of our team." Spamos said. "But my first obligation is always to do what is in the best interest of our fans and the entire Charger organization. I must take whatever steps are necessary to deliver a Super Bowl trophy to San Diego. Events of the last month have now convinced me that it is not possible for our organization to function at a championship level under the current structure.
"When I decided to move ahead with Marty Schottenheimer in mid-January, I did so with the expectation that the core of his fine coaching staff would remain intact." Spanos said in a statement. "Unfortunately, that did not prove to be the case, and the process of dealing with these coaching changes convinced me that we simply could not move forward with such dysfunction between our head coach and general manager.
ESPN first reported the firing Schottenheimer didn't immediately return messages left on his office and cell phones.
"On the contrary, and in the plainest possible language, we have a dysfunctional situation here. Today I am resolving that situation once and for all."
Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips was hired as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday, following offensive coordinator Cam Cameron and two other assistants out of town for better jobs.
Tight ends coach Rob Chudzinski became Cleveland's offensive coordinator, and linebackers coach Greg Manusky was hired as San Francisco's defensive coordinator.
Running backs coach Clarence Shelmon, who's never been a coordinator, was promoted to replace Cameron. Shelmon accepted only a one-year contract due to what had been Schottenheimer's lame-duck status.
Although Schottenheimer said last week that change was inevitable, Smith sounded concerned, saying "Both in the same year — Wow."
Three days after the 24-21 playoff loss to New England, Schottenheimer declined the team's offer of a $4.5 million, one-year extension through 2008, which came with a club-option $1 million buyout. Spanos and Smith seemed visibly angry that the coach turned them down.
Schottenheimer has been at odds with Smith since the 2005 season, apparently over personnel decisions by the GM.
With a regular-season record of 200-126-1 with Cleveland, Kansas City, Washington and San Diego. Schottenheimer is the most successful coach never to have reached the Super Bowl.
He plans to approach the Blue Devil's next game — Wednesday at Boston College — in much the same fashion as he always does.
NCAA BASKETBALL Duke loses four straight; Krzyzewski not rattled
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Mike Krzyezewski knows all about winning streaks and dominating the Atlantic Coast Conference. It had been 11 years since Duke's head coach experienced the sensation of losing four in a row, however.
"One thing you have to do when you're a coach or a player is keep a positive attitude, prepare, fight and attempt to win the next time no matter what," Kryzezwski said after a 72-60 loss to Maryland on Sunday.
"We've been in that position coming off many wins over the years. Now we're in that position coming off four straight losses. You have to figure it out. The one thing you can't do is feel sorry for yourself."
James Gist had 16 points and 10 rebounds, freshman Greivis
Vasquez scored a season-high 18,
and Maryland forced 17 turn-
overs in handing No. 16 Duke
its most lopsided defeat of the
season.
The Terrapins (18-7, 4-6) trailed early before taking control with a 29-4 run in the first half, then used a late surge to hold off a comeback bid by the skidding Blue Devils (18-7, 5-6).
Josh McRoberts scored 20 points and Greg Paulus had 12 for Duke. The Blue Devils' previous three losses were by a combined nine points, but this turned out to be Duke's most lopsided ACC defeat since a 14-point loss to Wake Forest in February 2003.
"Of the four games, the other three we had a chance to win." Krzyzewski said. "This game, something a little more extraordinary had to happen for us to win."
Duke's last four-game losing streak was from Jan. 3-13, 1996.
After the final buzzer, the Maryland fans didn't rush the court — an indication, perhaps, of Duke's fall from elite status.
Associated Press
When Words Aren't Enough...
- Chocolate Filled Hearts
- Chocolate Roses
- Chocolate Dipped Strawberries
- Valentine Gift Baskets & Gift Boxes
- Single Stem Roses
- Caramel Apples
Russell Stover
- Specialty Dessert Cakes
1300 W. 23rd Street • Lawrence, KS • 785-830-8603
Mon Thurs 10:00 am - 7:00 pm • Lift Sat 10:00 am - 9:00 pm
---
Mon Thurs 10 00am - 60pm | Sat 10 00am 9 00pm | Sun 12 00 6 00pm