IB the university daily kansan
sports
wednesday, february 11, 2004
Don't miss this magical, musical event for the entire famil
CATS
february 17* & 18 - 7:30 p.m.
Featuring songs: "Moms"
"The Moments of Happiness"
and:"The Rum Tum Tuger"
...CATS is not only everything you've been told; it's a lot more that can't be put into words!
*The Washington Post*
St. Lawrence String Quartet
with Todd Palmer, clarinet
Sunday, February 22* - 2:00 p.m.
Program will include "Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind"
commissioned by the Lied Center.
INJURY: New focus on rehab allows students' progress to be tracked
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
time and understood. His teammates didn't ignore him, and he was still included in team activities, but the role of star and injured star were vastly different.
“When you're injured,” Whittemore said “You kind of feel like you're out there on your own.”
And that's what's painful, he said.
Now Johnson meets John Fumagalli and Botts in the training room daily for an hour of exercise with light weights and giant rubber
bands. Fumagalli, also a pitcher, is recovering from surgery to repair an injured rotator cuff. Johnson and Fumagalli will be teammates on the field next season, and, maybe more importantly, they're teammates now when the rest of the Jahawks travel to out-of-town games, leaving them home to watch movies. Recently, they have been joined by Jake Kauzlarich. The senior catcher had the same surgery as Johnson, commonly known as Tommy John surgery, and is a welcome addition to the club that each member would love to leave. Johnson is the closest.
Megan True/Kansan
Johnson knows the feeling. As the Jayhawks' top relief pitcher last season Johnson was integral part of the Kansas baseball team. He earned the nickname "The Fireman" for his ability to "put out" opponents' hot bats and was a fan favorite. But his powerful right arm hurt all the time. It had hurt since pitching too many days on too little rest during the postseason at Hutchison Community College in 2002. Johnson dealt with daily rehabilitation, but ultimately doctors told him he could have surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow, or rest for a season and hope it healed on its own. Either way he would sit out his senior season as a medical redshirt. He didn't throw a ball for two months before having the surgery in late October.
John Fumagalli, senior baseball pitcher, took a quick break from his reh exercise Feb. 3 in the Dean Nesmith Training Facility. Fumagalli is recovering from surgery that repaired an injured rotator cuff.
"I throw today," he tells anyone
who might want to know. Only Fumagalli and Kauzlarich really understand.
Each throw sails easily to Botts, and Johnson tries to control his excitement.
When practice arrives, Johnson's eyes dart around nervously, and he asks his trainer and catch partner Botts how he is supposed to do this. He says he remembers pitching entire imaginary games of the World Series against his house when he was 10 years old, but this is different. A setback now would mean re-starting a 12-month recovery process.
"It felt great," he said, a little embarrassed to be so thrilled while his teammates are all around him, launching baseballs five times as far.
Across the indoor field at Anschutz Pavilion, Kauzlarich is standing with one arm in a brace at a 45-degree angle, the other has a baseball glove at the end. He's still months behind Johnson, and eager to field anything that comes near him, even if he can't throw it in.
"I'm still useful," he said. "I still have a use."
—Edited by Stephanie Lovett
BASKETBALL: Kansas women excited to play Wildcats at home
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
Lynette Woodard, interim coach, said she thought players would respond better this year.
well, a statistic that has plagued the team throughout the season
"Everyone's excited about the game. The players are hyped. They've been talking about this game for a long time," Woodard said. "Hopefully our fans will rally around us."
In games that they are outrebounded this season, the Jayhawks have struggled. In Saturday's 48-59 loss to Nebraska, for example, Kansas was out rebounded 52-37. The team was without its leading rebounder, freshman forward Lauren Ervin. Ervin was serving a one-game suspension for violating team policy.
When the Jayhawks were in Manhattan earlier this year, K-State held Kansas to 31 percent shooting from the field, while they shot about 50 percent. Kansas was out-rebounded as
Another key statistic tonight will be turnovers. In its last meeting against the K-State, Kansas committed 16 turnovers. Though
not a season high, that tally was double that of the Wildcats.
Though rankings, and recent history, would appear to favor K-State. Woodard said she believed a victory would be possible tonight.
"This is a chance for us to knock off one of the premiere teams in the country," she said. "We've got to attack, and we should do pretty well," Woodard said.
When the season started, media pundits had predicted that Kansas would knock off at least one Top 25 team.
With only two games left against a currently ranked opponents (Kansas State and No. 12 Colorado) the Jayhawks are running out of chances to pull off an upset.
Ervin set to return
Freshman Lauren Ervin served a one-game suspension handed out by interim coach Lynette Woodard and should return to action tonight.
Woodard suspended the freshman from Inglewood, Calif., for violating unspecified team rules.
Edited by Paul Kramer
WANT YOUR MEAL PLAN TO WORK EVERYWHERE ON CAMPUS?
The University of Kansas OFFICIAL MEALS PLANS
LEARN MORE.
WWW.KUCUISINE.COM
BROUGHT TO YOU BY KU Department of Student Housing KU Memorial Unions The University of Kansas
NAME THOSE LIPSL
Correctly match the picture of the lips with the correct KU person. The top twenty people who guess correctly will win a free Kiss Me T-shirt, or a gift certificate for $10 from Jayhawk Bookstore. Entries must be submited by February 13th to 119 Stauffer-Flint.
NAME: PHONE:
Dean Richard Johnson:
Jim Ryun:
Eric Chenowith:
James Naismith:
Phog Allen:
Kirk Hinrich:
Paul Pierce:
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
twelve
Provost David Shulenburger:
Gale Sayers:
John Hadl:
Wilt Chamberlain:
Nick Collison:
Lew Perkins:
Danny Manning:
1