8A
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY JANUARY 30, 2007
MLB
Outfielder Preston Wilson signs Cardinals contract
ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Cardinals signed free agent outfielder Preston Wilson to a one-year contract on Monday, retaining a member of their first World Series championship team in 24 years.
Wilson, 32, batted .243 with eight home runs and 17 RBIs in 32 games with the Cardinals after signing as a free agent in August. He totaled 17 homers and 72 homers last season with St. Louis and Houston, which released him
earlier in August.
In his first postseason appearance, Wilson was the Cardinals' primary left fielder and appeared in 13 games, including all five games in the World Series. He batted .200 in 35 at-bats with two RBIs in the postseason, but had the game-winning RBI double in Game 5 of the NLCS.
Wilson gives the Cardinals outfield depth with the ability to play all three spots. He also provides insurance behind Chris Duncan, who hit 22 homers in about a half-season as a rookie. Wilson and the left-handed hitting Duncan
Wilson has played for six teams in all or part of nine seasons, including the Mets, Marlins, Rockies and Senators. His best season was in 2003 when he had 64 homers and 141 RBIs for the Rockies.
platooned much of the time.
Wilson batted .269 with nine homers and 55 RBIs for Houston but was released due to a lack of power.
With the Cardinals he helped overcome center fielder Jim Edmonds' month-long absence due to post-concussion syndrome.
12FASTBREAK
Everything You Need
Big 12 writer Mark Dent's take on the men's conference race.
Raise your glasses to...
Missouri (13-6, 2-4)
Jayhawk Bookstore...at the top of Naismith Hill
It was only a matter of time before Mike Anderson's team broke out of its early conference slump. The Tigers are too talented and too well-coached to be at the bottom of the Big 12 Conference. The victory against Colorado last Wednesday was expected, but Missouri did something Kansas and Texas A&M couldn't do when it dominated Texas Tech last Saturday. Three of Mizzou's next four games are in Columbia and the road game is at Iowa State, so it wouldn't be a stretch to see the Tigers extend their winning streak to six.
Send a congratulations Facebook message to... Kevin Durant, Texas
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Durant
Sure. Durant is so good that this award could practically be named after him, but he outdid himself this week. The freshman had his worst game in recent memory. Jan. 20 against Villanova, scoring 12 points in the first and only one in the second half in a big loss. Redemption came in the form of two outstanding efforts
against Neoraska and Baylor. In his first game, Durant rolled Cornhushner Aleks Mari on his way to 26 points and 15 rebounds. Against Baylor, Durant made 13 of 15 free throws.
all of which helped his team escape with a too close 84-79 victory. Countdown until opposing coaches can start rejoicing about his early entry into the NBA: 148 days.
Start a conversation with these topics...
UnBearable — Another week like this and Baylar will be toe to toe with Colorado in the race for irrelence. The Bears got blowed away by Kansas last Wednesday, with the only positive being that just 17 people witnessed it. They did play competitively against Texas, but then blew it by having a cold stretch in the second half.
Oakland Red Raiders — Was that Aaron Brooks out there at point guard for Texas Tech against Missouri on Saturday? It might as well have been the offensively inept Oakland Raiders quarterback, because Tech went more than 10 minutes without scoring a single point. Luckily, the Big 12 doesn't keep track of humiliating statistics, because this one probably would have been a record.
Saturday's Second Best Game
Saturday's Second Best Game — The Kansas State vs. Texas match-up is flying way under the radar. If the Wildcats take care of business at home against Missouri on
Wednesday, they would be in second place with a victory against the Longhorns.
The DoraWatch — As Kansas fans already know, Darryl Dora scored 18 points against the Jayhawks in Texas Tech's upset. The Fastbreak bets Dora won't reach double-digits the rest of this year. So far, Dora has lived up to the billing. Last week, he had nine points against Texas A&M before missing his lone field goal attempt at Missouri.
Keep a close watch on the race for irrelevance... — Colorado's Richard Roby must be regretting his decision not to enter the NBA Draft. Here is Roby's lament about his decision in the form of Gilgamesh's famous cry for his dead friend Enkidu from the classic story "The Epic of Gilgamesh." Shouldn't I be a pro, cashing checks; shouldn't I be getting pine splinters from sitting on the bench? Ricardo, my coach whom I trusted so dearly, who would have been fired years ago if not for Chauncey Billups; the fate of resignation has overwhelmed him. For 10 more games I must suffer; thinking, if I shoot the ball enough perhaps I can still go in the first round.
You probably said 'Oh my God'about...
Julian Wright, Kansas
Apologies to Mr. Wright for having to bring up his um, well, embarrassing dunk from the Colorado game, but no one has ever missed one like that. Although Wright missed badly on his throw-down, here's hoping he continues to try to do the outstanding. Basketball is about having fun, and Wright always appears to have more fun than anyone else on the court.
If you have a topic that you want to be covered in next week's Fastbreak, e-mail Mark Dent at mdent@kansan. com.
— Edited by Joe Caponio