THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2009
NEWS
9A
QUOTE OF THE DAY
— Thierry Henry
"Sometimes in football you have to score goals."
Kansas Athletics
Kansas-Missouri is the nation's second most played football rivalry, dating back to 1891. Kansas leads the all-time series 55-53-9.
FACT OF THE DAY
TRIVIA OF THE DAY
A victory Saturday would give the football team at least six victories in five straight seasons. This has only been accomplished twice in program history. When?
Kansas Athletics
A: 1895-99 and 1902-06
NFL
NFL Pittsburgh surprised by loss at Kansas City
*PITTSBURGH* — Maybe the Pittsburgh Steelers should have seen this one coming. Somehow, they didn't.
They didn't believe they could lose to the rebuilding Chiefs, not a week after a loss to the Bengals seriously hurt their chances of repeating in the AFC North. That confidence — or maybe overconfidence
- going into Kansas City was very evident.
They promised to be prepared, and their coach all but said they weren't. They promised to correct their special teams problems, and they didn't. They promised one loss wouldn't ruin their season, yet they suffered an even-worse defeat to a team that seemed totally surprised to have beaten the Super Bowl champions.
"I take responsibility for that performance," coach Mike Tomlin said in a candid admission following the 27-24 overtime loss. "I have to have this football team better prepared. . . We are capable of much more than that and that is not us. It won't be us."
Experienced and upset-war, the Steelers (6-4) pride themselves on not losing games like this. They did, and the amount of time devoted to damage control before Sunday's division game at Baltimore (5-5) could be considerable.
BIG 12 FOOTBALL Columbia police arrest football practice coach
COLUMBIA, Mo. — A former Missouri wide receiver working as a volunteer practice coach has been arrested after a weekend fight outside a downtown Columbia nightclub.
Columbia police say 23-year-old Tommy Saunders was arrested for charges of punching a man once in the face outside Tonic about 1:30 a.m. Saturday. Saunders was released on $4,500 bond.
Associated Press
MORNING BREW
Football remains holiday tradition
Thanksgiving is not, despite what you may have been told by overly moralistic types growing up, an occasion to humbly and gracefully ponder the fortunate aspects of your life. That sounds nice, of course, but it's hardly realistic. Neither is it about turkeys drawn using a human hand for an outline, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with its giant floats and balloons, Pilgrims and their funny hats, or charming family get-tochens
All of those things may have a place in your heart, or they may not. But regardless of their standing, there are more important matters.
The first, and most primal, is food.
About which, I have little to offer in the way of expertise. I can eat pretty well, but the cooking part can get dicey if the meal in question includes anything more complicated than oatmeal. But thankfully, save for those unfortunate few tasked with kitchen duty (thanks Mom). Thanksgiving requires little
So yes, eat indulgently. And when your stomach feels Octa-Mom levels of full, stave off the pending food-coma, and enjoy the second primal pleasure of Thanksgiving: football.
culinary talent. After all, you don't have to be an Iron Chef to know how to gorge. And there is no occasion on which one can binge-eat as shamelessly as Thanksgiving.
Sadly, I'll find that traditional revere difficult to engage in this year. Not because I won't be stuffed full of delectable eats, or because of some uninterest in the games. No, it's none of those things. It's just that it's kind of hard to feel thankful about anything football related these days
Kansas has lost six games in
a row, sending a laudable senior class out on a series of progressively lower notes. The coach likely has one foot out the door, while the powers that be in the athletics department try to prod the other out as well. Rumors swirl of transfers, and general institutional unrest. All of this is occurring in a thick smog of controversy, a virtual pea-soup of he said/he said and finger pointing
Or at least try to.
And none of that addresses the looming problems: How much money might the University have to eat on Mangino's contract? What level of coach could Lew Perkins land to replace him? What kind of program and talent will there be to inherit?
But then maybe I'm being too whiny. Maybe I just need to learn the most important lesson Thanksgiving has to offer: No matter how bad you think you have it, you can always feel better at someone's expense.
Sure, Kansas' football program is in disarray. But at least Mangino's contract isn't as large as Charlie Weis', and Kansas'
expectations aren't Notre Dame's. And despite the turmoil, Kansas does still have a football program. The same can't be said for Northeastern, which just cut football.
And the future isn't necessarily bleak. A victory against Missouri would make Kansas bowl eligible, and would provide another year of chest-thumping superiority above Kansas' primary rival. Beating Mizzou just makes everything better, after all.
If all that's not good enough, there's always basketball — truly a fan's salvation worth being thankful for.
Edited by Megan Morriss
CROSS COUNTRY Senior has rough start in the NCAA Championships
Senior Lauren Bonds continued after a difficult start, finishing 61st in the NCAA Championships.
Bonds fell for the first time in her career in the
first mile of her race.
Bonds
Bonds got back up, however,
and finished the 6K race. She
ended up finishing in the top half of the race, 61st out of 254,
still beating almost 200 other competitors.
"People got tangled up. It happens a lot in cross country."
Bonds said. "It's just funny that this is my last race of my season or my last race of my career, and this is the first time it has happened to me."
"She recovered well and maintained a decent position," Michael Whittlesey, assistant coach, said.
Bonds finished with a time of 21:02.3, which was better than her time in the pre-National
meet held on the same course Oct.17.
"I was happy with my time, the second time." Bonds said.
Bonds needed to get a time of 20:44 to place 40th and qualify for All-American, a goal she set for herself before the race. Her desired time was only two seconds faster than her actual regional time of 20:46, which qualified her for the National Championships.
Bonds said she was glad to still have the track season despite the difficult ending to her cross country season.
going to take just a couple days off and relax," Bonds said. "Then, I'm going to start building my base for track and hopefully me and the team will have a really good year this year."
"Track's what I have next so I'm
Whittlesey said the cross country team would be different without her next year.
"It was a lot of fun working with Bonds this season,"Whittlesey said. "She is a great athlete and person, and we are proud of her. We will miss her leadership both on and off the course next year."
Samantha Anderson
BIG 12 FOOTBALL
Conference teams make last stand for bowl games
BY LUKE MEREDITH
Associated Press
The Big 12's five remaining matchups are rivalry games with major implications on bowl seeding and, for Oklahoma State, a possible trip to its first BCS bowl game.
Nebraska (8-3, 5-2 Big 12) beat Kansas State on Saturday night, earning the North's spot in the league championship game for the first time since 2006. No. 3 Texas (11-0, 7-0) clinched what had seemed inevitable since the middle of October with a 51-20 win over Kansas and their embattled coach, Mark Mangino.
DES MOINES, Iowa — The races in the Big 12's North and South divisions have been settled, but there's still plenly for grabs during the season's final week.
tions are out there. You've got people out there taking about Texas and going to Dallas." Nebraska coach Bo Pelini said. "It's important that we keep our football team in focus because I know Colorado's going to be ready."
Before they meet up in Cowboys Stadium on Dec. 5, the Longhorns and Cornhuskers have tricky road games to survive.
on. The Aggies (6-5, 3-4) have twice bounced back from losses of at least 48 points with huge wins the following week, including a 38-3 drubbing of Baylor last week that followed a 65-10 loss to Oklahoma. Texas A&M also beat the Longhorns in College Station.
Oklahoma State (9-2, 6-1) is in position for its first BCS nod, but the Cowboys must first beat Oklahoma (6-5, 4-3) in Norman. Though the Sooners collapsed in a 41-13 loss at Texas Tech over the weekend, they've won six straight against the Cowboys and 29 straight at home, the longest streak in the nation.
The Huskers face a Colorado team that nearly stunned No. 11 Oklahoma State in Stillwater last week. It's a huge game for the Buffs (3-8, 2-5) and their coach, Dan Hawkins, who has come under fire for yet another disappointing season in Boulder.
Kansas (5-6, 1-6) needs to beat Missouri (7-4, 3-4) in Kansas City to become bowl eligible. If the Jayhawks lose, it could be the final game for Mangino, who is under an internal investigation into allegations of verbal and emotional abuse of his players.
Texas closes its regular season at Texas A&M, perhaps the toughest team in the nation to get a read
"I just know that the distrac-
The Bears, Colorado and Kansas State won't be eligible to play in the postseason.
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Volleyball:
vs. Texas Tech,
6:30 pm.
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
THIS WEEK IN KANSAS ATHLETICS
Status of St. Louis player still unclear after checkup
TUESDAY
Women's
Basketball:
vs. Xavier, 3:30
p.m., Grand
Bama Island
SDAY Men's Basketball: vs.Oakland, 7 p.m.
ST. LOUIS — It's not yet clear whether St. Louis Rams quarterback Marc Bulger will be ready to play next week against Seattle.
Bulger underwent an MRI exam on his groin and hamstring Monday and was due for a second MRI on a swollen knee in addition to testing for concussion-related symptoms. All the injuries came in Sunday's loss to Arizona.
Men's Basketball:
vs. Tennessee
Tech, 7 p.m.
Volleyball:
at Texas,
6:30 p.m.
Football:
vs. Missouri,
2:30 p.m.
Kansas City, Mo
Coach Steve Spagnuio says the concussion tests will come Tuesday. Bulger took a blow to the head in the fourth quarter of the 21-13 loss.
SATURDAY
Women's Basketball:
TCU/Minnesota,
TBA, Grand
Bahama Island
NFL
SUNDAY
No Events Scheduled
SUNDAY
...
Associated Press
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