University Daily Kansan / Wednesday, November 29, 1989
13
Sports
No longer the underdog No.4 Jayhawks prepare for Idaho Vandals
By Dan Perkins
Kansan sportswriter
When Kansas takes the floor Thursday night, Coach Roy Williams said he would feel more comfortable on the opponent's bench.
"We're not the underdog anymore," Williams said yesterday at a press conference. "I'd like being Idaho's coach coming in here against the No. 4 team on its home court, if I had a good team."
The Jayhawks, 4-0, will put their No. 4 national ranking on the line for the first time against the Idaho Vandals at 7:35 Thursday night in Allen Field House.
The last time Kansas was ranked in the top five was in the final regular season poll of 1986. That year, second-ranked Kansas lost to Duke in the semifinals of the Final Four in Dallas.
The No. 4 ranking shocked guard Kevin Pritchard when he got home from practice Monday night.
"I was really surprised when I was told we were No. 2 (UPI coaches poll) and No. 4." Pritchard said, "If I had
to pick us, I'd put us anywhere between 10th and 15th."
Pritchard said he believed the Dodge NIT championship and the high ranking has boosted campus interest in basketball.
"I think it boosted morale some," Pritchard said. "A lot I would imagine. I've had people I don't even know up to me and congratulating me."
Williams said he doesn't pay much attention to the polls, until the end of
"I really don't care about them," Williams said. "The fans may, but that doesn't mean I have to."
"At the end of the year I would like to see us ranked up there, but it really doesn't matter right now.
"Us being ranked second and fourth is not realistic anyway, but I think not being ranked before was better. It was always better, the same where in hetwave there."
Williams is more concerned with Idaho and he knows the Vandals are canable of stealing the show.
"We had better be ready to play because Idaho is pretty doggone
good," Williams said. "I think Kermit (Davis) is a great coach, and I think they won 25 games last year."
The Vandals finished 25-6 last season after losing in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Williams, though, said a letdown is possible after upsetting three top-25 teams to win the Dodge NIT.
"It's human nature that when people keep telling you how great you are that you forget what got you there." Williams said.
"Our savior, I think, is that I'm not being nice to them at practice this week and also our senior leadership."
Although Williams is concerned, he said he was not at the worried stage, vet.
"We're in the part of the schedule where everybody is gunning for you," Williams said. "At this point, Kansas is a big game on everybody's schedule. We just have to be ready mentally and physically. We also have to put what we already accomplished behind us."
"We're extremely happy, but we all know it's a long season."
Randall cleans the glass for Windex award
By Dan Perkins Kansan sportswriter
State and the University of Nevada-
Las Vegas, earning the first "Windex
Player of the Week" award for the
1989-90 college basketball season.
Randall said the spoils of winning the award were already coming.
player, whose specific achievement of "cleaning the glass" (a "Vitalism" for rebounding) contributed to the most noteworthy performance of the week.
As part of the program, Windex will donate $1000 to The Boys' Club of New York.
In addition to being named the most valuable player of the Dodge NIT tournament and the Big Eight Conference player of the week, Mark Randall also cleaned up on another award.
The 6-foot-9 forward averaged 23 points and 6 rebounds in the Jayhawks' victories against Louisiana
This week the club is sending the contribution to the J. Churchill Boys' Club in Denver, which is near Randall's hometown of Englewood, Colo.
"My mom sent me a bottle of Windex in the mail." Randall said.
Kevin Pritchard, Kansas guard, goes up for a shot against Oklahoma State during last year's Big Eight conference play. The Cowboys, whom Kansas will play Jan. 13 in Lawrence, may be the next nationally ranked team the 'Hawks will play this season. Oklahoma State is ranked 23rd in the nation.
Sportscaster Dick Vitale and a team of ESPN college basketball experts give the award to the week's most versatile and hard-working
Ivan Lendl leaps first-round net at Masters
NEW YORK — Ivan Lendl, in search of his fifth Masters title and confirmation of his No. 1 ranking, got revenge yesterday by defeating Michael Chang 6-1, 4-3 in the year's tennis finale at Madison Square Garden.
The Associated Press
But Lendl, more at home on the faster carpet surface, made sure he wouldn't lose this time.
It was their first meeting since the French Open, when Chang, hobbed by cramps, surprised the world's top-ranked player in the fourth round and went on to capture his first Grand Slam title, becoming the first U.S. citizen to win on the clay in Paris in 34 years.
Earlier, third-seeded Stefan Edberg swiftly and silently crushed
Jamboyant Andre Agassi 6-4, 6-2.
The opening night's final match in the eight-player tournament sent defending champion Boris Becker against Brad Gilbert.
Lendl took aim with his big serve, then powered forehands and backhands that repeatedly caught Chang on the wrong side of the court. It was a display of firepower and discipline but it also caused change speeds and, when need be, sneak into the net for winning volleys.
In making his first step toward a 10th consecutive trip to the Masters final, Lendl gave his young fee a lesson in tennis strategy. He even came back from 0-40, breaking Chang in the seventh game and closing out the opening set.
But Chang was a quick study
Several times he stepped inside the baseline and crushed Lendl's second serve, and he began the second set by breaking Lendl at love, the third point coming on a winning return of a second serve.
When Chang, rified a backhand down the line to the corner, forcing Lendl to sail a forehand long, Lendl said. "Nice shot."
Lendl appeared to be anxious to nail down his first round-robin victory. He got up from his chair early on every changeover and moved to his end of the court, ready to continue play.
Lendl raced through the first set.
Then, in the second, Chang, cheered by the crowd, fought Lendl evenly.
They exchanged service breaks in the first two games, then both held at love.
After they split the first six games, Lendl decided to call a halt to the proceedings. He lost only one point on his own serve, dropped another point as he broke Chang at 15, then served out the victory at 30.
Although Edberg has won Wimbledon and the Australian Open, two of the four Grand Slam tournaments, and is ranked third in the world, he has never become the superstar idol of tennis audiences. Yesterday was no exception, although there were ripples of appreciation when he occasionally ripped a bullet backhand down the line past a flat-footed Agassi.
Agassi, on the other hand, drew cheers when he removed his warmup suit. And he had promised a television audience before he began the match that they would see a different
player.
"angstn't you' are going to see me hit the ball harder than you've ever seen me hit it before," Agassi said. "I feel in control and confident."
Each player receives $15,000 for qualifying and $30,000 for each round-robin victory. The winning semifinalists collect $60,000 each and the champion an additional $150,000. A player who wins the title undefeated would pocket $315,000.
The round-robin continues today when John McEroin pleats Aaron Krickstein, Becker meets Agassi and Edberg takes on Gilbert. Tomorrow's matches will pell Lendl against Krickstein, McEroin应对 Chang and Agassi against Gilbert. Edberg will play Becker, Lendl will play McEroin, and Chang will play Krickstein on Friday.
Miami eagerly awaits shot at national title
The Associated Press
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — The Miami Hurricanes deserve the national championship if they win the Sugar Bowl and Notre Dame defeats No. 1 Colorado in the Orange Bowl, Miami coach Dennis Erickson said. But, he knows the matter is out of his hands.
"We put ourselves in a position when we lost to Florida State that we have no control over whether we're going to be No. 1," Erickson said at a news conference yesterday, ourselves with now is winning the Sugar Bowl. Then it's in the hands of other people."
Colorado, 11-0, Alabama, 10-0
and Michigan, 10-1, are ahead of the fourth-ranked Hurricanes in The Associated Press' poll.
Miami, 10-1, stayed in contention for its third national title of the 1980s by beating Notre Dame 27-10 on Saturday. The loss dropped the Fighting Irish from first to fifth in this week's poll. Miami moved up three places from seventh.
If Alabama beats Auburn on Saturday, the Crimson Tide will be Miami's opponent in the Sugar Bowl. If Alabama loses, Tennessee would get the hottest game. Erickson said he did not care who Miami played.
"If you have an undefeated team in there, it helps the game itself," Erickson said.
Chiefs' victory against Houston could lead to AFC playoff spot
"I think you have to do more than win just one football game, regardless of the point differential or who you're playing." Schottenheimer said: "We all know that in this league you're not going to be a champion unless you can put it together for an entire season."
The Associated Press
The Chiefs improved their record to 5-6-1 with the unexpected victory against what had been one of the
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Fans are calling Kansas City's 34-0 victory against Houston on Sunday a watershed event in the team's progress, but head coach Marty Schottenheimer said he was not paid to lead cheers.
NFL's hottest teams. As a franchise, the Chiefs had not beaten any team that well in 21 years. As a team, everyone agreed that it was their finest effort of the season.
"I think it's a reaffirmation that we are improving as a football team," Schottenheiemer said. "But watershed? No, I don't think so."
However, he quickly added that it was good that fans' expectations were so high.
"I think the fans ought to expect a lot of us," he said. "I really believe that. They ought to expect a lot of us. They ought to expect us to win every Sunday, knowing full well that we won't. You've got to expect it because that's what we expect of ourselves."
Schottenheimer rates the 20-16 upset at Seattle earlier in the season as a better team effort than the win against Houston. The Chiefs won after falling behind 7-0 on the opening kickoff.
"The success in Seattle, to me, was more of a watershed," he said. "We went to a very hostile place to play, get behind on the first play of the game and were down 16-3 at half-time. In those circumstances you can get embarrassed. But we battled back and ended up winning.
"To me, that was a very important step for our team. Of course, I can look back six weeks or so and put it in perspective. I can't look at individual games so close to their conclusion and put them in perspective.
Syracuse freshman comes out and shines
The Associated Press
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — It could have been the night a star was born.
Guards Stephen Thompson and Billy Owens were the high scorers, and then there was freshman Michael Edwards.
Syracuse University opened its season as the No. 1 team in college basketball with a 99-79 victory over Rutgers State University of New
Owens had a career-high 33 points and Thompson matched his collegiate best with 29.
Ewards, a 5-11 guard, played 24 minutes, including 17 in the second half of a game that wasn't decided. Ewards scored an 18-8 sack in the closing minutes.
He finished with a game-high 10
assists and added five points on two-
of-four shooting, including a 21-foot
3-pointer. He also picked off two
rebounds and committed just two
turnovers.
"If Mike Edwards continues to play like he does, it may no longer be Stevie and me in the backcount," said Owens, only half in jest.
Edwards, who was rated one of the best prep point guards in the country after averaging nearly 32 points and eight assists during his senior season at Eastern Regional High in Voorhees, N.J., was surprised at the part he played in the season opener.
"That kid deserves a lot of credit," said Thompson. "He's been knocked around for two months, and to play the way he did makes me real proud to play in the same backcourt with him. We're going to need him."
It's not likely that the diminutive freshman is going to crack Syracuse's starting lineup, especially with Derrick Coleman, LeRon Ellis and David Johnson prowling the front line and Thompson and Owens in the backcourt. But it appears Edwards won't have a chance to fall asleep on the far end of the bench.
"I thought I would play five minutes," Edwards said, "especially when I saw how close it was in the beginning. I said, 'I'll be lucky to get off this bench.'
CONANEI DEFECTS: Nadia Comaneci, the Romanian gymnast whose unprecedented perfect scores in the 1976 Olympics made sports history, has fied to Hungary and asked for asylum, the state-run MTI news agency reported today in Budapest, Hungary.
Sport briefs
The report said Comanei, who retired from gymnastics in 1984, applied for political asylum after fleeing France. A similar border burden before dawn yesterday,
She reportedly told Hungarian border guardies, that her escape had been organized "in advance under the guidance of a Romanian man," the news agency said without elaboration.
The report quoted her as saying she had left behind a "neatly furnished flat, a car and financial security for the sake of freedom."
Comaneci was quoted as saying she had been denied permission to work abroad as a coach or even travel, in spite of numerous offers and invitations. She has been planning a career as a coach and referee.
An employee of the local radio station in the southern Hungary town of Szeged, about 15 miles from the Romanian border, said Comaniecu checked into the Royal Hotel there, spent the night and left this morning.
Oakland offers Henderson $12 million for 4 years
The Associated Press
Baseball took another step back to the free-spending ways of the late '70s and eary '80s yesterday when Ricky Henderson and the Oakland Athletics broke the three-year contract barrier that had been in place since 1985.
Henderson agreed to stay with the World Series champions for $12 million for the next four years. No club had given a contract of that length since Oct. 11, 1985, when Ken Oberkfell and the Atlanta Braves reached a $3 million, four-year agreement. In the interim, two arbitrators found clubs guilty of conspiring against free agents and a third collusion grievance was filed and is pending.
Henderson's four-year contract came less than 24 hours after Barry Roma, accused by the union of being
one of the architects of collusion,
resigned as head of the owners'
Player Relations Committee.
On the busiest day thus far in the off-season, outfielder Candy Maldonado left the San Francisco Giants to sign an $825,000, one-year contract with the Cleveland Indians, and Calipati declared a "new look" free agent by George Nicolau, baseball's impartial arbitrator.
Henderson, the Most Valuable Player of the American League playoffs, joined Kirby Puckett as the only players in baseball whose contracts have an average annual value of $3 million. Henderson, who made $1.95 million in 1980, will receive a $1 million signing bonus, a $2 million salary in 1990 and salaries of $3 million in the 1991, 1992 and 1993 seasons.
Oakland," said Henderson, an Oakland native who for several years has lived in Hillsborough across San Francisco Bay. "I love Oakland."
"It's welcome news, and one of the things we've been looking for: returning to contracting patterns of past years," said Donald Fehr,
It's welcome news, and one of the things we've been looking for: returning to contracting patterns of past years.'
executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association
Donald Fehr
executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association.
Henderson, who will be 31 on Christmas, was acquired by Oakland from the New York Yankees on June 21 for pitchers Greg Cadaret and Eric Plunk and outfielder Luis Polonia.
"My heart waa set on playing in
Deep down inside I felt I probably would be playing here no matter what the terms."
Henderson was named the outstanding player in the playoffs against Toronto, batting .400 with two home runs, five RBIs and eight stolen bases in eight attempts. In Oakland's four-game World Series sweep of the San Francisco Giants, Henderson
batted. 474 with one home run and three steals in four attempts.
Henderson batted .247 and stole 25 bases in 65 games with the Yankees. After being traded back to Oakland, he batted .294 and stole 52 bases in 94 games.
"People are being, financially irresponsible," Bronfman said. "I mean you can have bidding for players but you don't have to be a damned out about it. And right now, some
Montreal owner Charles Bronfman was outraged. Last week, his team lost pitcher Pascual Perez, who signed with the New York Yankees for $5.7 million over three years. Mark Langston also left the Expos and became a free agent. He said he would not return. He is expected to sign the largest contract of the off-season.
Expos president Claude Brochu said, "What we have right now is a market that's out of control. Rather than make a mistake or do something that's not going to help us, we're going to wait and see what develops."
Arn Tellum, Langston's agent, said Henderson's deal didn't surprise him. Tellum also said he thought Langton's deal would be longer than four years.
"Who knows if there wasn't collusion how high the salaries would be now," Tellum said. "I still believe there's an effect on this market, that players are being damaged by prior years' collusion."