6B the university daily kansan
sports
friday, march 5, 2004
Colorado rewrites its recruitment guidelines
The Associated Press
AURORA, Colo., — Colorado announced sweeping changes to its scandal-ridden football program yesterday, barring recruits from visiting bars and private parties and putting them under the close supervision of parents and coaches.
Calling the guidelines the strictest in the nation, university president Betsy Hoffman and Chancellor Richard Byny said recruits would now visit the Boulder campus during the offseason so coaches and athletes would have more time to focus on them. All activities would be planned, approved and supervised by a coach.
- The recruits, primarily high school athletes, would also be limited to a single night's stay during campus visits, instead of the usual two. A 1 a.m. curfew will be moved up to 11 p.m.
Seven women have accused Colorado football players or recruits of rape since 1997. The school faces federal lawsuits by three of the women who said they were raped by football athletes during or just after a 2001 off-campus recruiting party.
"As painful an experience as it may be, we view it as an opportunity to set the standard for an issue all colleges and universities must be concerned about," Hoffman said.
Bynyn said the effect of the new guidelines on recruiting was inconsequential. "It really doesn't matter." Bynyn said. "We want to have a model program. We want to make sure students understand they are here first for an education."
Athletics director Dick Tharp said the new policies would be evaluated for other athletic programs.
Football coach Gary Barnett is on paid leave for remarks he made in connection with two of the seven rape allegations, including disparaging the athletic ability of a former player who said she was raped by a teammate in 2000. No charges have been filed in the cases.
Colorado football players also have been accused of hiring strippers for recruits and taking recruits to parties where alcohol was available.
Mary Keenan, Boulder County prosecutor, said she believed the program offered sex and alcohol to lure recruits to Boulder, a claim university officials have denied.
The Board of Regents has appointed a panel to investigate,
and Gov. Bill Owens tabbed the state's Attorney General as a special prosecutor to determine whether criminal charges should be filed. The scandal helped spur a congressional hearing on college recruiting practices that is scheduled for next week.
Hoffman said some of the recruiting changes have been discussed for more than two years. She also said the changes were consistent with what Barnett was considering before he was put on leave.
"There's no question circumstances have thrust us into taking a national leadership role in reforming college sports recruiting." Hoffman said.
An NCAA task force will look at recruiting practices this spring.
"Obviously, the university's leadership is moving in a direction that will help ensure that any
recruiting practices in the future adhere to the university's strict guidelines," NCAA spokesman Jeff Howard said.
University officials announce no personnel changes Thursday. There has been widespread speculation that the scandal will cost Barnett or someone else their job.
The announcement came as the regents added a victims' advocate to the seven-member panel investigating the scandal. Jean McAllister works in the domestic abuse assistance program in the state Department of Human Services and once chaired the board of the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault.
Barnett has said he expects the football program will be exonerated. He told Denver's KMGH-TV on Wednesday that the school has never used sex and alcohol to land recruits.
"It's urban legend," he said.
Royals' starter rotation list not settled yet
SURPRISE, Ariz. — The Kansas City Royals' rotation is anchored by two 31-year-old left-handers, neither of whom has ever won more than 11 games in a season — and that's the settled part.
The Associated Press
The other three starters are still to be determined.
So when the rotation was listed as a question mark, Brian Anderson didn't disagree.
"We don't have any respect right now and quite honestly we
don't deserve it," said Anderson, one of the two pitchers already named to the rotation. "It's something you have to go out and earn."
Anderson pitched two scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and striking out two, in the Royals' exhibition opener Thursday, a 9-5 loss to the Texas Rangers.
Darrell May, 14-18 in two seasons with the Royals, is the other confirmed starter.
"Come next October and going into spring training next year, maybe they won't be saying that anymore. Until we go out and change that mind-set, that's what people are going to say."
"Other teams will look at Darrell May and Brian Anderson as
our top two guys and say, 'Big deal,'" Anderson said. "We'll see. That perception will be up to us to change.
Anderson went 5-1 with a 3.99 ERA in seven starts last season after the Royals acquired him in a trade with the Cleveland Indians. He went 14-11
with a 3.78 ERA for the season. His 14 victories were a career high.
May went from a 4-10 record with a 5.35 ERA in 2002 to 10-8 with a 3.77 ERA in 2003.
Jimmy Gobble, another rotation candidate, gave up one single and struck out two in two scoreless innings after Anderson departed. Manager Tony Pena said he was pleased with how both pitched.
Notes: All-Star first baseman Mike Sweeney was scratched from the lineup with tightness in
his lower back. "It’s definitely day-to-day," trainer Nick Zwart said
Country music star Garth Brooks, who entered the game in the fifth inning in left field, committed an error and struck out to end the sixth with two runners on base.
Scott Sullivan's first pitch for the Royals was hit out by Hank Blalock. American League 2003 Rookie of the Year Angel Berroa led off the game with a home run. "He's just picking up where he left off last year," Pena said.
Amanda Kim Stairret/Kansan
Aaron Hood, Kansas City, Kan., freshman, and Jason Zucker, Chicago sophomore, climbed up the rock wall the Student Fitness Recreation Center Wednesday night to attach ropes to pulleys. Hood said he had climbed almost every day for the last two months. Members of the KU Rock Climbing club also use the third floor of the parking garage next to the Kansas Union as a practice site.
ROCK CLIMBING: Climbing club will visit Utah during spring break, its first outdoor experience
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
by climbing horizontally and upside down on low-to-the-ground walls and arches.
The club members also play climbing games by looking for different permutations and new moves on the walls.
"Every day is always different," Miller said.
The KURC is planning a spring break trip to Moab, Utah with about 20 of its members.
Kay said they would spend
the week camping, climbing famous spots such as Indian Creek.
In Utah the club will be crack climbing, a type of climbing where climbers jam and torque their limbs and body into continuous cracks on rocks.
Like many of the club members, the trip to Moab will be Miller's first climbing experience outdoors.
Edited by Guillaume Doane
Losing teams improve
The Associated Press
In his debut with the Detroit Tigers yesterday, Rodriguez had two singles and an RBI in a 5-4 victory against the Montreal Expos.
LAKELAND, Fla. — Ivan Rodriguez and Miguel Tejada wasted no time in getting started on helping turn around losing teams.
"With him signing, automatically we've got a chance to win the Central," fellow newcomer Rondell White said. "I don't think there's no one to overpower us."
Rodriguez signed a four-year, $40 million contract in the offseason to help the Tigers rebound from one of the worst seasons in major league history after leading the Florida Marlins to the World Series title.
The 10-time All-Star and Gold Glove winner will try to instill some of that championship swagger on his young teammates.
"We have to win every day, even in spring training," Rodriguez said. "If everything works out well here, we're going to be fine in the season."
Tejada hit a homer off Josh Beckett and the Baltimore Orioles made Lee Mazzilli a 6-5 winner over the Marlins in his first game as a big league manager.
"I'm really happy to hit that home run, and really happy to see my team play good baseball," said Tejada, who signed as a free agent from the Oakland Athletics in December.
The Orioles' two other high-profile acquisitions, Rafael Palmeiro and Javy Lopez, didn't pointeither. Palmeiro had an RBI single with two outs off Beckett in the first and Lopez went 1-for-2 at Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Baltimore second baseman Jerry Hairston broke the ring finger on his right hand while stealing third in the first inning. He will be out at least a month.
In his first action of the spring, Beckett allowed two runs and five hits in 2 2/3 innings. He struck out four and walked one.
Mazzilli was encouraged by his team's success against Beckett, the pitcher who stifled the Yankees in Game Six to clinch the series.
"At the end of the season I went to bed with Beckett on my mind. I wake up in spring training and here he is pitching again," Mazzilli said. "I can't get away from him, I guess."
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