UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Friday, January 31, 1997
3B
Tennis team plays through injuries
'Hawks to meet New Mexico team on court today
By Andy Rohrback Kansan sportswriter
The No. 9 Kansas men's tennis team, 18 new coach Mark Riley, takes on its first top-25 opponent today as the No. 22 New MexicoLOBos visit Lawrence.
"They're very good at the top," Riley said of the Lobos, meaning that the squad's first few matches are placed by strong players.
rose three spots are occupied by Lobos stars Javier Gutierrez, Pepe
"It's always hard to play the first one."
Xavier Avila
Kansas men's tennis player
Cabellero and Jeff Williams. In the Lobos' season opener against Stanford, Gutierrez played the top spot, with Cabellero and Williams filling out the top three.
Although the Jayhawks did not meet New Mexico last season and haven't done so under Riley, they split the 1995 season with the Lobos. The teams met twice, and each side won one meet.
"We played against some of them in Tulsa in the fall," Riley said. "They're a good team."
Riley had one of Riley's biggest worries concerning the Jayhawks' season opener last Saturday against Ball State was that he was unable to play his whole lineup. Kansas' top doubles team, Enrique Abaroa and Xavier Avila, was split up because of the injury-depleted roster. Riley had to move the two to play with other players. Abaroa and Avila hope to be together on the court today.
"We'll know later," Riley said.
"That's part of the whole season, being able to play through injuries."
One player who probably will not return today is junior Scott Marshall, who injured a ligament in his shoulder during the Ball State meet.
Riley said his team's depth of talent was one of its strong points. "We have 12 good players, so if somebody's not close to 100 percent, we can substitute the next guy in," he said.
Saturday, the Jayhawks defeated Ball State 6-1 in a meet that Riley said had proved his team deserved its No. 9 ranking.
"I think we played pretty well for a first match," he said. "The biggest thing is, we have to compete better. There are times in a game situation where you have to play your best tennis, and we need to do that."
Avila, who placed second at the National Collegiate Tennis Classic earlier this year, said that now that the first-meet jitters were finished, he hoped to loosen up more for today's meet.
"It's always hard to play the first one," Avila said. "I just need to relax a little more."
Eric B. Howell / KANSAN
Xavier Avila, Barcelona, Spain, junior, fully extends to slam an opponent's job against Ball State. Avila and the Jayhawks play New Mexico at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Alvamar Racquet Club.
Baseball coach is batting a thousand with assistants
Veteran, rookie to help lead Jayhawks' season
By Harley Ratliff
Kansan sportswriter
Honesty. Loyalty. Trust.
Honesty, Loyalty, Trust When Kansas baseball coach Bobby Randall looks down the dugout at his
coaching staff this season, he knows he has a valuable commodity — assistants who embody those values of success.
"The key for me was
To compete in the Big 12 Conference, Randall understands that it is important to have a staff that can get the job done.
Wilson Kilmer
to have men that share the same core values as I do," Randall said. "These coaches will carry big-time responsibilities with our team."
Those men are assistant coaches Wilson Kilmer and Mike Bard, volunteer assistant coach Courtney Shawley, and student assistant Shawn Lopez.
While every coach has a role on the team, Kilmer and Bard are the cornerstones of the assistants.
This season will mark Kilmer's 10th as a member of the Kansas baseball staff. The veteran coach will continue to work almost exclusively with the pitching staff. Having a high-quality veteran coach with Kilmer's character is reassuring for Randall.
"In college baseball circles, Kilmer is considered one of the real good pitch coaches," Randall said. "He is solid, knowledgeable and hardworking. He is one of the most loyal men I know — to his family, to the University and to this team."
Coming off a season in which pitching was a trouble area for the Jayhawks, Kilmer again is faced with a staff that lacks experience. Kansas has brought in eight freshmen and one junior college transfer to help bolster pitching. Last year the pitching staff had an earned run average of 7.39.
"No one here is expecting these guys to be our No. 1 pitcher," Kilmer said. "But at this level, freshmen have to be able to contribute."
Despite the lack of experience, Randall has full trust in Kilmer's ability to put together a solid pitching staff. He has an enormous amount of control within the ball club, including calling
pitches during the game, Randall said.
game, Randal said. Randall's trust in Kilmer's decisions has carried over to his players.
"I trust his calls," said pitcher Casey Barret. "He has experience, and I'm pretty comfortable with what he does."
first season as a Jayhawk coach, but he is not new to the Kansas program. Bard played for the Jayhawks during the 1990 and 1991 seasons. So far, his homecoming has been enjoyable.
"Everything is going good," Bard said.
Bard is entering his
Mike Bard
"The key for me was to have men that share the same core values as I do."
Bobby Randall Kansas baseball coach
"I'm excited to be a Jayhawk again."
As an assistant, Bard's duties include working with the outfielders and helping the hitters in batting practice. He is also the baseball recruiting coordinator.
Randall already is impressed with what he has seen in his young assistant coach.
"He is one of the finest young hitting coaches in the nation," Randall said. "He has been a great addition to the coaching staff. Mike is enthusiastic, energetic and a very sincere, honest person."
Kansas is flying high; fans should enjoy it
"He tries to understand each player as an individual. He wants everybody to reach their own potential," infielder Stephen Mathews said. "Mike builds confidence."
While being a coach means teaching the fundamentals and striving for success on the field, Bard knows that his job is much more than that.
it is those qualities that already have made Bard a player favorite.
"Coaching is about these kids and their lives," Bard said. "The coaches all want to win, but more importantly, we want to help our young men become better people."
Jayhawk fans need to stop thinking ahead to the championship
Down 17 at Connecticut. Kansas wins, 73-65.
Down 16 against Cincinnati in Chicago. Kansas wins, 72-65.
Down 16 at Texas Tech. Kansas wins, 86-77.
Guard Jacque Vaughn missed 10 games, including the Cincinnati and UCLA games. Kansas wins all 10.
Center Scot Pollard misses two games and counting, at Colorado and at Texas Tech, two nationally ranked teams on fire. Kansas wins.
Kansas shoots 28.8 percent at Kansas State. Kansas wins, 62-59.
what this leads one to believe is that Kansas simply cannot lose. But regardless, what this should tell the fan is that these are great games to watch.
Too often we get caught up in talking about national championships, going undefeated, being the best ever.
Sometimes I think the fans (myself included) fail to appreciate each game for what it is.
Whatever.
Luckily, Roy and his boys are doing what the old cliché says — they're taking it one game at a time.
It's amazing to see Coach Williams watch his team get run off the floor, trailing by 14 or 16. His calm demeanor is almost eerie. The same goes for the players. Expressionless.
There is no sign of real frustration or panic. It's as if they just know that the shots are going to start falling and they are going to win.
And they always do.
If forward Raef LaFrentz doesn't take over, forward Paul Pierce does. If Pierce doesn't, Vaughn does. If Vaughn doesn't, guard Billy Thomas comes in and scores eight straight points.
Kansas doesn't have a go-to guy. It has
Which player will take the game over?
When will it happen?
six.
COLUMNIST
That's what's fun to watch. That moment when the Hawks turn the corner from the 16-point deficit to the 32-11 (Cincinnati), 34-11(Connecticut), or 22-6 (Texas Tech) run.
During those stretches, watch the expressions on the opposing team's faces. It's like watching a 5-year-old at an amusement park. He's running around, laughing, smiling, having a good time, and then all of a sudden he can't see his mom, and he sits down and starts to cry.
Meanwhile, Vaughn starts strutting, Roy starts ioking with the
refs, Pierce and LaFrentz start bumping chests, and the bench is going crazy. Laughing, smiling, jumping up and down
That's what it's all about. That's why we're watching this team. That's why all these games during the regular season are played.
There is still a lot of fun to be had and a lot of games to win. It sounds pretty good to say 21-0, but it's a long way from 39-0.
We already know what it's going to be
we already know ■ Teams to watch: Minnesota is 18-2 and atop the Big Ten Conference. With wins against Michigan, Indiana, Purdue and Iowa, the Gophers have shown they're for real this year.
South Carolina is undefeated in the Southeast Conference and on a roll. They've won nine straight.
- Florida State has had upset wins over North Carolina and No. 5 Maryland in the last week, and the team lost to No. 2 Wake Forest by just three points. Any team in the ACC is tough.
Isn't it nice to see Kansas State 0-7 in the Big 12?
Pagers transmit sports facts
Associate Press
NEW YORK — Live updates of sports events delivered over pagers and computers got the legal green light Thursday from a federal appeals court that found the NBA is not hurt by microchips and wireless gadgets.
the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a lower court decision that found Motorola and statistics provider STATS Inc could not legally transmit live NBA game scores and statistics from TV and radio broadcasts.
"The NBA has not shown any damage to any of its products based on free-riding by Motorola and STATS," the 37-page decision said.
"It is the broadcast, not the underlying game, that is the subject of copyright protection." Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal
The unanimous decision by a three-judge appeals panel in Manhattan, N.Y., applied equally to a pager service called SportsTrax and to a site operated by STATS on American Online, the appeals court said.
there is no evidence that anyone regards SportsTrax or the AOL site as a substitute for
In reaching its decision, the appeals court compared the current case with issues that arose with the emergence of television and with radio before it.
attending NBA games or watching them on television." the appeals court wrote.
The court said the delivery of facts over beepers and online computer services differ from a game shown on TV or heard on radio because they "reproduce only factual information culled from the broadcasts and none of the copyrightable expression of the games."
"It is the broadcast, not the underlying game, that is the subject of copyright protection," the appeals court said.
In July, U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska permanently blocked the SportsTrax product, saying it "crosses the boundary from mere media coverage of the NBA games." She later stayed her order, enabling Motorola and STATS to continue the service while they appealed.
SportsTrax became available a year ago at a cost of about $200. It can make updates seconds apart on such facts as the score, which team has the ball, time remaining and whether the team is in the free-throw bonus. The NBA did not immediately return two telephone messages.
The NBA currently allows TV and radio reporters to provide live updates from the game three times each quarter, with additional updates at halftime and at the end of the game.
John Dewan, president and CEO of STATS, called the ruling "a victory for STATS, the interactive industry and sports fans everywhere."
Track team splits to go to meets
By Matt Woodruff Kansan sportswriter
Herbert F. Schwartz, a Motorola lawyer, said the ruling followed naturally from conventional principles of law.
Invitationals in two states make division necessary
Part of the Kansas track and field team will compete in its final home indoor meet of the season at the Jayhawk Invitational tomorrow in Anschutz Sports Pavilion.
"We try and take a look at our top 20 performances to this point, and that's who we send to Iowa," Kansas track coach Gary Schwartz said. "Some will have to stay here because of class commitments and things like that."
The other members of the team will be traveling to the Uni-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa, to compete in the Mercantile Bank Invitational held by Northern Iowa.
same as last year's meet, which also was held in Northern Iowa.
Other than Kansas, the teams competing in the Mercantile Invitational are the
Wisconsin, Minnesota, Drake, Iowa and Northern Iowa will be competing again, as well as Big 12 Conference member Iowa State.
Iowa State will be looking to continue last year's success in the meet, in which it finished first on the men's side and came in second to Northern Iowa on the women's side.
"It was a tough meet last year, and it should be again this year," said Gary Osbourne, Drake track coach.
Schwartz said the meet would be a chance for the team to compete against some strong teams and take advantage of that opportunity.
The three other Iowa teams, Northern Iowa, Iowa and Drake, finished third, fifth and sixth, respectively.
"They are all very good programs," he said. "It should be a tougher meet, but it's a good sequence for us and an opportunity to take another step."
Kansas junior distance runner Lynn LoPresti, who will be running in the 5,000- and 3,000-meter races for Kansas at the Mercantile Bank Invitational, said the team was enthusiastic about competing this season.
The team members who are staying at home will compete against 34 club, college and university teams, including Oklahoma State. The meet will be the largest that the team has competed in this season.
"This meet is an opportunity for people to still compete and continue to get themselves ready," Schwartz said.
"This is the most team spirit I've seen," she said. "We're doing things like the Rock Chalk Chant before our meets, and that's something we've never done before."
Events in the Jayhawk Invitational will begin at 9:30 a.m. and will continue until about 9:30 p.m.
1997 Kansas Track and Field Top Performances
EVENT NAME RESULT PLACE MEET
55-Meters Pierre Lisk 6.35 1st Missouri Invitational
55-Meter Hurdles Nathan Prenger 7.58 1st Kansas Invitational
60-Meter Hurdles Chip Malmstrom 8.94 1st Kansas Invitational
200-Meters Nathen Hill 22.10.20 Kansas Invitational
tional
400-Meters Nathen Hill 49,90 1st Kansas Invitational
600-Yards Nathen Hill 1:16.14 5th Missouri Invitational
Mile Diane Hefferman 3:07.15 1st Kansas Invitational
3,000-Meters John Elcock 9:55.14 3rd Kansas Invitational
800-Meters Matt Norton 1:56.86 1st Missouri Invitation
Shot Put Brad Schepers 45-8 1/2 6th Kansas Invittional
High Jump Jason Archibald 6-6 3rd Missouri Invitalgal
Individual
Pentitulum Chip Malmstrom 2,475 2nd Kansas Invita
1,000-Meters Ned Ryun 2:32.30 1st Missouri Invitational
Triple Jump Paul Tan 48 0 1/2 1st Missouri Invitation
Weight Throw Chris Dunback 47-2/1-2 3rd Missouri
Invitational
Pole Vault Marc Romito 16-6 1st Kansas Invitational Long Jump Marcus Scheid 23-0 1/2 1st Missouri Invitational
图 10-20 用单极电阻器实现串联
tional WOMEN
55-Meters Tamra Montgomery 7.07 1st Kansas Invitation
55. Meter Hurdles Candace Mason 8.63 4th Missouri
60-Meter Hurdles Candace Mason 9.24 1st Kansas Invitational
400-Meters Carleen roberts 57.26 1st Kansas invitational
100-Meters Carleen roberts 89.26 1st Kansas invitec
200-Meters Carleen Roberts 24.80 1st Missouri Invitational
Missouri Roberts 67 21st Kansas Invita
800-Meters Diane Hefferman 2:20.80 4th Missouri
invitalized
1,000-Meters Diane Heffeman 3:07.15 1st Kansas
Invitational
Mile Lynn LoPresti 5:27.07 5th Missouri Invitational
3,000-Meters Lynn LoPresti 10:34.95 1st Kansas
Invitational
High Jump Amber Mounday 5-6 1st Kansas Invitational
Loma
Long Jump Candace Mason 17-10 3/4 1st Missouri
additional
Shot Put Kim Feldcamp 44-10 3/4 1st Kansas Invitational
Weight Throw Lisa Beran 50-3 1/2 2nd Kansas Invitation
Pentathlon Candace Mason 3,596 1st Kansas Invitation