NFL
Vikings quarterback Warren Moon was acquitted yesterday of charges that he assaulted his wife Felicia. Page 3
SPORTS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1996
KANSAS VS. KANSAS STATE
'Hawks can win league outright
Tradition,streak at stake tomorrow
By Jenni Carlson
Kansan sportswriter
Not much can take the smile off C.B. McGrath's face.
Sure, the sophomore guard gets discouraged when the No. 5 Kansas men's basketball team struggles in games or in practice. But McGrath has kept smiling, even during a season when his playing time has dropped from almost six minutes to about one minute a game.
"I knew coming in it was going to be tough," said McGrath, who came to Kansas as a walk-on last year but was awarded a scholarship. "It just so happens that we got some really good players in this year."
With the return of senior guard Calvin Rayford from an injury and the addition of freshman guard Ryan Robertson, McGrath has seen action in just 14 of the Jayhawks' 24 games. Last season he played in all 31 games, including three minutes when Kansas State ventured into Allen Field House.
As a Topeka native and life-long Kansas fan, McGrath couldn't help smile remembering his two layups during the Jayhawks' four-point victory against the Wildcats.
McGrath and the rest of the Jayhawks hope that they have reason to smile again tomorrow. Kansas, 22-2 overall and 10-1 in the Big Eight Conference, faces K-State at 12:47 p.m. in Bramage College
The Jayhawks have more than winning on the line tomorrow. First, there's the rivalry.
The intrastate battles between Kansas and K-State began on Jan. 25, 1907 when the Jayhawks won, 54-39. Since then, the teams have played another 232 times with Kansas winning 144 of those games.
Despite the long-standing rivalry, it doesn't hold much significance for Kansas junior guard Jacque Vaughn.
"I'm from California, so I don't get caught up in the Kansas battle," Vaughn said. "For me, it's the next game on my schedule."
Brian Hott / KANSAN
But it's bigger than that to the fans. Kansas coach Roy Williams found that out several years ago in Manhattan. He ventured out of the locker room before the game to see how many players were shooting around. As Williams was standing in the tunnel, a K-State student yelled down at him, "Hey, Roy, you're living a lie."
"I'd never been told that," Williams said, smiling. "The game does carry a little extra significance for the people because of our closeness."
The Jayhawks might even consider Bramlage Coliseum their home away from home. They have won 12 consecutive times there and the streak goes on the line tomorrow.
Even though Bramlage may seem like a friendly environment, the players aren't thinking of it like that.
If the rivalry and the streak aren't
there's the title.
"We know we're going to have confidence going into their building," Vaughn said. "But at the same time, they'll have confidence protecting their home turf."
Kansas clinched a tie for the Big Eight regular-season championship after Oklahoma State defeated second-place Iowa State, 58-46, on Wednesday. With a victory tomorrow, the Jayhawks can win the title
See JAYHAWKS, Page 3.
Kansas junior center Scot Pollard and the No. 5 Jayhawks travel to Manhattan tomorrow to face Kansas State. Kansas has won 12 consecutive games there.
Big Eight title highlights weekend
By Evan Blackwell Kansan sportswriter
Senior day, the Big Eight Conference championship and in-state rival Kansas State all rolled into one game. Oh, and don't forget the return of Jack Hartman.
That's the situation facing the Kansas women's basketball team at 2 p.m. Sunday as they wrap up the regular season against the Wildcats. The first-place Jayhawks are 17-8 overall, 10-3 in the Big Eight, while Kansas State is 14-14 overall and 5-8 in the Big Eight.
SECTION B
The Jayhawks clinched a share of the Big Eight title last weekend, but they can clinch sole possession of the crown with a win Sunday.
As if the Jayhaws need more motivation, Sunday will be the final home appearance for Kansas seniors Charisse
Sampson and Keshana Ledet.
"I don't think it has really dawned on me yet that this will be my last game in the field house," Sampson said. "I don't try to think about it, but there will probably be some nervousness before the game."
Charlsse Sampson
The Wildcats will be bringing their own plot twists to Lawrence as Sunday also will mark the return to Allen Field House by Hartman, the former Kansas State men's basketball coach.
Hartman is serving as interim women's coach after the suspension of former
coach Brian Agler. Kansas State has been 3-2 since Hartman took over.
Kansas women's basketball coach Marian Washington said it should be a festive afternoon.
"There's a lot of hoopla over the
fact that Jack Hartman is coaching them," Washington said. "We have all the incentive in the world to come out in this game and play hard."
Washington said Hartman seemed to have made some slight changes in the Wildcats' style of play.
Keshana Ledet
the floor a lot more." Washington said.
"They seem to be getting up and down
If Kansas State tries to play at a faster tempo than it did earlier this season during a 51-38 Kansas victory in Manhattan, it may play to the Jayhawks' advantage, Washington said.
Kansas junior guard Tamecka Dixon said she had never heard of Jack Hartman before this season, but that had definitely changed.
"Ever since he's taken over the job, I've heard so much about him," Dixon said. "They're really responded to him."
Kansas State sophomore guard Amanda Chamberlain said the chance to spoil the Jayhawks party hasn't been a big factor in the Wildcats preparation.
"We've haven't been focused on knocking off Kansas," Chamberlain said. "We just want to knock off somebody who is on top."
Baseball's glory days almost gone
The baseball world lost a great man on Monday.
When former Athletics owner Charlie O. Finley died, part of the game's history and lore went along with him.
Finley was a master showman and could bring a crowd out to see anything. And most of his antics happened just to our east in Kansas City, Mo. He bought the A's in 1960, five years after they had moved from Philadelphia.
The A's made lastplace finishes the norm during their years in Kansas City. Finley moved the team to Oakland after the 1967 season, and things improved dramatically. The Oakland A's became a dynasty winning the World Series in 1972, 1973 and 1974.
But it was in Kansas City where Finley showed his true spirit. Forced to compete with the Chiefs for fan attention after they arrived in 1963, he bucked tradition and dressed his players in kelly green and gold instead of home whites and road grays
Sheep were allowed to graze in the grassy areas behind right field in Kansas City's Municipal Stadium, and a rabbit named Harvey popped out of the ground to provide baseballs for the umpire.
Finley didn't stop there. In 1965, he signed Hall of Fame pitcher Satchel Paige, who was at least 65 years old, and announced he would start a game. It was a sellout, and Paige pitched seven innings, earning the win. Finley released Paige the next day, but the scheme worked.
SPORTS EDITOR
Big crowds came out for another game in Kansas City in which second
baseman Bert Campaneris played all nine positions.
Campaneris pitched the first inning, caught the second,
played first in the third — you get the picture.
Both ideas were simple and well-advertised. Granted,
because Finley had a losing team such moves were safe
to make, but today's teams could take a few lessons
from the gimmicks.
The Royals, who came to Kansas City as an expansion team in 1969, have struggled to fill the seats in Kauffman Stadium lately. Perhaps a game in which utility infielder David Howard plays all nine spots would do better than a mascot or loud music between innings.
I'm beginning to digress. Finley's era of success in the 1970s soon dwindled with the advent of free agency. Sound familiar, Royals fans? After assembling the all-world team of Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter, Rollie Fingers and Gene Tenace, Finley found that his A's demanded more money.
Owners with deeper pockets, such as George Steinbrenner of the Yankees, snatched up Jackson and Hunter. The A's fell to the bottom of the American League heap by 1979, drawing just more than 100,000 fans that season.
Finley sold the A's the next year and retired to a farm in LaPorte, Ind., where he remained until his death. Visitors to the area had no doubt where he lived — there was a giant A's logo painted on his barn.
Because he was so brash and bold, Finley is often forgotten for some of his better ideas, including using orange baseballs for night games and moving the World Series to prime time television. The bottom line was that Finley loved the game and his team but was overcome by high salaries and free agents.
When the game of ownership became a business, Finley got out. I won't say that the state of baseball will ever be like it was in the 1960s and 1970s, but perhaps some of the loyalty to fans and the community that Finley displayed can rub off on the game in 1996.
Kids today don't follow baseball like I did with the Royals or my dad with the Athletics when he was growing up. The NBA is their game now.
Here's hoping today's owners won't soon forget the life and legacy of "Charlie O."
NCAA serves tennis regulations
Professional players focus of legislation
By Spencer Duncan
Kansan Sportswriter
They are older, they are more experienced and they are helping college teams rise to national prominence. They also recently have been outlawed.
across the countr y decided it was time for college tennis to clean up its act. "This is a seri o problem."
At the 1996 NCAA Convention, tennis coaches and tennis officials
"This is a serious problem,
men's tennis
coach Michael Center said. "It's time something was done about it."
The problem: the sport has had no restrictions on who can play collegiate tennis. Now, athletes who play higher profile sports such as basketball and football are prohibited from going to the professional level and then returning to the collegiate level. This is not the case in tennis.
"A situation has existed where players go on the professional circuit for an extended time and can't make a living playing tennis, so they play in college," said Steve Bietau, Kansas State women's tennis coach and chair of the regional rankings committee.
"There are schools that recruit a player for one semester just to help them in the NCAA tournament," Center said. "Then the player drops out of college and goes on."
Players are leaving the professional circuit and being recruited by college coaches. There is nothing illegal about this under current rules, but it still upsets players and coaches.
Enrique Abaroa, a 22-year-old sophomore from Monterrey, Mexico, plays for Kansas. Abaroa spent 1/2 years playing professionally, and he earned rankings of No. 280 in doubles and No. 600 in singles.
Two current players on the Kansas tennis team have played on professional circuits.
Center should know. He has recruited players with professional backgrounds.
"I didn't come here just to play tennis," Abaroa said. "I am here to be a student and get a degree."
Abaroa is joined by Xavier Avila, a 22-year-old sophomore from Barcelona, Spain, who also has professional experience. Although Avila was unavailable for comment, Center defends his players and his decision to have them play for him.
Kansas is not the only practitioner of the loophole, and more colleges are bringing in older players. This creates situations where 18-and 19-year-old true freshmen are playing 24-and 25-year-old professional freshmen and sophomores. Although this is not illegal, it creates inequalities.
"Most schools recruit guys and then those players don't graduate," Center said. "I am concerned with the education of my players. For the most part my guys are coming here and graduating. I don't recruit good tennis players, I recruit good students."
"Right now the field is sometimes unfair," said Prentice Gott, associate Big Eight commissioner. "There has to be something to make the playing field more even."
Many people agree with Gott, including David Benjamin, executive director of the International
See RULES, Page 4.
Jayhawks are on the road again
For the third consecutive week-end, they will be on the road for a three-game series. For the second week in a row, they are playing a Top 25 team.
Kansas baseball upbeat after victory at Texas last week
The Kansas baseball team isn't thrilled about being early-season road warriors.
This weekend finds the Jayhawks in Lake Charles, La., for the Lake Area Classic. Kansas will take on Louisiana Tech, McNeese State and No. 20 Ohio State.
By Dan Gelston Kansan sportswriter
"We're fighting a tough travel schedule right now," he said. "This is a large task. We're not going to
But Kansas baseball coach Bobby Randall isn't happy about the miles that the Jayhawks have had to lug.
Despite its rigorous schedule, Kansas is 3-3 and seems comfortable with the wear of travel.
do this again. We're not getting to practice enough or get a chance to catch our breath."
Kansas has gained some confidence after winning two of three games against then-No. 18 Texas in Austin, Texas last weekend.
Senior pitcher Baird has two of the Jayhawks' three total victories. He said that the team's new confidence should help against the Buckeyes.
"There's more expectations on us," Randall said. "But my expectations never change. I see us getting better. We've got to improve in every area.
"We're going to use it is a confidence builder."
"What beating Texas showed us is that we can go out on the road and play good teams tough," Baird said. "I don't think we're going to take it as like 'Hey, we beat Texas' and be satisfied.
More than confidence comes with success, Randall said.
Besides Baird, Kansas has seen senior second baseman Josh Kliner get off to a hot start. He's hitting at .476 with a team-high seven RBL Sophomore closer Casey Barrett has picked up two saves in three appearances and has staff-low 2.70 ERA.
"I'm still not pleased with the way we're playing, except for the fact that I know it's early, so I don't worry about it."
Senior pitcher Josh Belovsky said he has gotten through his first-start jitters and ready to keep pitching as he did last weekend, when he allowed just two hits in five innings.
"The first time out I was trying a little too hard," he said. "Last time out was something I needed to get back on track."
The Jayhawks play Louisiana Tech (5-1) today at 2 p.m. with Baird scheduled to pitch. Kansas senior Josh Belovsky will start tomorrow against McNeese State (4-4) while junior Aric Peters starts against Ohio State (0-4) on Sunday.
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