KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / MONDAY, JANUARY 24, 2011 / SPORTS/ 1
11A
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"You never want to lose and you always want to protect your home court. We can't look at it like it's the end of the world. It means a ton, but it's just a game against Texas that we lost when we didn't play our best."
- Tyrel Reed
FACT OF THE DAY
Brady Morningstar is the only Jayhawk to have multiple losses at Allen Fieldhouse.
Kansas Athletics
TRIVIA OF THE DAY
How many points has J'Covan Brown scored in the second half against Kansas in the last two years?
A: 46 (26 last year, 17 this year)
— Kansas Athletics
Time to scrap the Pro Bowl
MORNING BREW
The NFL will hold its annual Pro Bowl next weekend, very few people will watch. The offensive playbook will be limited and defense will be non-existent. Points will be scored, rivals will laugh on the sideline, the game will be a glorified version of Madden without the hit stick.
BY ETHAN PADWAY epadway@kansan.com
One glaring issue I have with the NFL Pro Bowl is fan voting. Deserving players are often overlooked for more prominent players, even if they haven't been playing on the same level as in years past. This is an issue in every All-Star Game with fan voting and is the reason why in the baseball All-Star Game, the American League is always represented by a majority of Red Sox and Yankees.
Many players voted into the Pro Bowl avoid playing in the game in an effort to avoid a career-altering injury, so the best players aren't even playing anymore. And if one does play and hurts himself, every fan becomes outraged.
When the NFL moved the Pro Bowl up to the weekend before the Super Bowl, they excluded all the Super Bowl players from participating. This results
in the removal of even more talent from the pool of players and allowing for more players to call themselves Pro Bowlers, taking away some of the glory from the distinction.
Every professional All-Star Game is missing the spark of electricity that once made it great. The only game that comes close is baseball's Midsummer Classic, and that was ruined once Commissioner Bud Selig decided to give home field advantage in the World Series to the team that emerges from the winning league.
The coolest aspect of the NBA All-Star Weekend is the dunk contest on Saturday night, and I would even rather watch the celebrity game because of the amusement factor brought in by B-list celebrities trying to play defense than the back-and-forth of uncontested
shooting that makes up the main event
Sunday night.
CHEERLEADING
My recommendation to the NFL is to scrap the Pro Bowl. It is a waste of time and resources. The coaches don't want to be there because it means they aren't in the Super Bowl and the players don't want to be added to the injury list. Instead, come out and name the Pro Bowlers at the end of the regular season and leave it at that. They will appreciate the distinction and the extra week off in the offseason Besides, no one will remember who won or what happened in the Pro Bowl once the next weekend rolls around anyway.
—Edited by Emily Soetaert
Cheer squad places fifth in national contest
Highflying acrobatics, backhand springs across the court and cheering fellow KU athletes on are all parts of life for members of the University of Kansas cheer squad. Although the main purpose of the cheer squad is to spur on the spirted fans cheering the Jayhawks to victory, the cheer squad is comprised of talented athletes who compete.
They compete annually in regional and national cheer and dance competitions. The 18-member competition squad won the regional competition in November and received a paid bid to the national competition for the third consecutive year, where the squad placed fifth.
In order to be eligible for a paid
BY HANNAH WISE hwise@kansan.com
bid, a squad must submit a 90-second video of their best stunts, pyramids, basket tosses, tumbling and a 60-second video of a traditional crowd-leading cheer. The squads whose videos score highest in their region win a paid bid, and the next four highest-scoring squads earn an at-large paid bid, coach Corey Stone said.
The squad's crowd-cheering video filmed at basketball games was a part of their final score at competition. The video received a perfect score of 15, which was added to their score for nationals.
Preparing for competition was not something that the team did only in practices. The competition squad performed its national routine in the Lawrence and Kansas City areas. Also every men's and women's basketball game provided an opportunity for the team to
improve and build off the atmo sphere created by fans.
The team did not have issues with injuries or eligibility which helped the squad prepare more quickly than in past years. This gave the coaching staff more time to help the athletes clean up the routine to prepare for nationals.
"This year is really dedicated and really driven," senior Meghan Trefry said. "We have a lot of kids who have already been on the nationals mat who would work really hard and knew what it was going to take to get everything done."
Winning the paid-bid sent the team to Disney World to compete in the College Cheer and Dance National Competition. Because the Jayhawks received a paid-bid, they performed during the last competition day, January 16.
The routine was choreographed and coached by coaches Corey and Nami Stone. The two-and-a-half-minute routine consisted of tumbling, basket catches, stunting and a large cheer portion. The cheer section is worth 50 percent of the total score and is judged by crowd involvement and the crispness of movements during the cheer.
"The crowd got really into the cheer that we did and we executed it really well. I think it is the best cheer that we have done in the seven years that we have been going to national," coach Stone said.
For the competitors, the cheer was a high point in the routine. "After we hit our cheer we knew that the rest of the stuff was going to be a lot easier and that really pumped everyone up," Trefry said.
The team missed one skill of their routine, which is not uncommon even at the national level because of the difficulty level that the routines are performed at.
Men's basketball at Boulder, Colo. 7 p.m.
"No matter how much you practice, there are still humans performing the skills so sometimes you are going to miss something even if you have hit it five times in a row," said coach Stone.
TODAY
No events scheduled
WEDNESDAY
The team finished fifth behind University of Alabama, University of Kentucky, University of Central Florida and Louisiana State University. The point margin for third, fourth and fifth places were within fractions of a point.
TUESDAY
-Edited by Becca Harsch
The team will continue to cheer on their fellow Jayhawks while preparing more challenging and exciting routines for next year's competition season.
ESDAY Women's basketball at Columbia, Mo. 7 p.m.
KANSANCLASSIFIEDS
ANNOUNCEMENTS
H & M Dance Academy is a youth/adult
h Dance studio teach ballet/tap/jazz for
new/skilled dancers. We also have
ZUMBA! Call Heather at (913)306-0945
or go to www.hmdace academy.com for
more.
House Cleaner adding new customers,
yrs. of experience, references available.
Insured. 785-748-9815 (local)
THURSDAY No events scheduled
WISH YOU COULD Mass Text CAMPUS?
SEE HOW YOU CAN HELP
Headquarters Counseling
Center needs caring adults
to volunteer. In Mtg:
Mon, Jan 24 6-7:15 pm
Lawrence Library. 707 Vermont
Questions? Call 841-2345.
hqwc.ccesk.us
JOBS
ANNOUNCEMENTS
FRIDAY
Track
at Lawrence, Kan.
All Day
THIS WEEK IN KANSAS ATHLETICS
JOBS
iPad Owners www.CaptureNotes.com is the BEST note taking app for the iPad Created by Hawks for Hawks! Rock Chalk!
Growing Medical Supply company looking for someone for Data Entry M-Thrs. From 5-8 p.m. Pay $10 depending on availability and experience. Need immediately. Please-mail Greg at ges@surepointmedical.com.
End your day with a smile.
Raintree Montessori School is interviewing for the following positions: preschool assistant M-F 7:15-9:00 AM, 11:30-2:00 and 3:15-5:30 PM. Experience working with children required. $10/hr. Call 843-8600
BARTENDING. UP TO $300DAY. NO
EXPERIENCE NECESSARY. TRAINING
AVAILABLE. 800-965-6520 EXT 108.
MAKE DIFFERENCE! Be a CAMP COUNSELOR Friendly Pines Camp, in the cool mountains of Prescott, AZ, is hiring for the 2011 season, May 21 - July 28.
We offer 30+ activities including horse-back riding, water skiing, climbing, canoeing, target sports, ropes course and more.
Competitive salary, room and board included. To apply, go to www.friend-lypines.com or contact Sylvia at 1-888-281-CAMB. Be a part of something AMAZING.
and have the summer of a lifetime!
HOUSING
and have the summer of a lifetime!
Sunshine Acres Montessori Preschool is looking for part-time Assistant teachers beginning January 19th! A qualified applicant will have classes or credits in Child Development or Early Childhood Education. Apply on line at www.tficcc.org
SATURDAY
Women's baskteball
at Manhattan, Kan.
2 p.m.
2 Rooms. For women in my home. $325 each. Utilities paid. Shared BA, living, dining, and kitchen. No pets. 842-6513
Sun Resorts Tanning seeks part time sales staff. Apply in person at 15th and Kasold or at www.sunresorts.net No
3,5,6, and 7 BR houses avail. Aug. 2011.
Walk to campus. 785-842-6618.
rainbowworksk@yahoo.com
HOUSING
Ironwood Court Apts
· Park West Gardens Apts
· Park West Town Homes
Men's baskteball at Lawrence, Kan. 6 p.m.
Park West Gardens Apts
Park West Town Homes
7 85 4 80 8 4 6 7
1-5 Bedrooms
IRONWOOD
Management, LLC
Garages
Pool
Property Center
AVAIL Aug or June, 4 BR or 3 BR, 3 bath,
near KU, great cond., W/D, D/W, all
appliances. Call, must see 785-841-
3849
hawkchalk
Fall Semester Lease: Aug. - Dec.
4 BR, 3 BA, 2 Car Garage, near KU
Call (785) 841-3849
Available August
3 BR, close to KU, appliances.
Call 785-841-3849
Summer Lease (1 Month Free)
Brand New 4 bR, 3 BA, Close to football stadium, all appliances.
Call 785-841-3849
HOUSING
785. 840.9467
PARKWAY COMMONS
3601 CLINTON PKWY
842-3280
HIGHPOINTE
2001 W GTH ST
841-8468
CANYON COURT
700 COMET LANE
832-8805
CHASE COURT
1942 STEWART AVE
843-8220
SADDLEBROOK
G25 FOLKS RD
832-8200
SUNDAY No events scheduled
NFL
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Bears fall to Packers
He wasn't even at his best and, still, he was better than the first, the second and the third quarterback used in vain by the Chicago Bears against their bitter rivals.
CHICAGO — There was one Monster of the Midway in the NFC championship game and his name was Aaron Rodgers.
Rodgers ran for a score and made a TD-saving tackle in leading the Green Bay Packers into the Super Bowl with a bone-jarring 21-14 victory Sunday over Chicago.
Rodgers played well enough to keep the Bears off balance all afternoon, Green Bay punter Tim Masthy kept Devin Hester under wraps and the Packers' superb defense took care of the rest in knocking the Bears out of the playoffs.
Now the Packers (13-6) are headed to Dallas. And no matter what happens in the Super Bowl on Feb. 6, the Packers and their fans hold ultimate bragging rights over their foes to the south. Green Bay will play the winner of Sunday night's AFC title game between the New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers.
All Jay Cutler could do was watch, having left the game with a knee injury early in the third quarter. Even before the injury, Cutler was having trouble moving the ball. Worse, he was getting booed by the home fans.
Primary backup Todd Collins replaced Cutler and was jeered even worse. Then backup Caleb Hanie and the Bears (12-6) actually made it a game.
The Bears forced a punt and got the ball back with under 3 minutes left. Hanie drove the Bears to the Green Bay 29-yard line, then threw a fourth-down interception to Sam Shields — the rookie's second of the game.
Early in the second quarter, Brandon Jackson faked Brian Urlacher out for a long gain on a screen pass, and Rodgers' pass to Jordy Nelson set up James Starks' 4-yard touchdown run to give Green Bay a 14-0 lead.
After Urlacher's interception, the Bears couldn't make anything happen with Collins in for Cutler, and appeared to be headed for a blowout until Hanie took over.
Packers players were surprised Cutler didn't come back.
"You know if he doesn't come back it had to be serious, not to come back and play in this game," Charles Woodson said.