KANSAS BASEBALL A look at former professional pitcher and current Kansas baseball assistant Steve Lienhard, Page 3.
SPORTS ERSITY DAILY KAN
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 22, 1996
SECTION B
Michigan players got lucky
Because the warm weather has allowed me to, I'm going to take some whiffle ball batting practice — so I'll get right into a dose of booze, beatings and ballots.
During my teen years, I was pulled over by the police on three separate occasions in two separate states. Each time I didn't have a drop of booze in me, but that didn't stop the cops from giving me an interrogation by flash.
light — in my eyes and all through my car.
eyes and all through my car. So call me a skeptical, but last week's incident involving five Michigan men's basketball players and a recruit flipping over a Ford Explorer late at night, with the police ruling out any possibility of alcohol, has all the believability of professional wrestling.
ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR
In a phone call yesterday, Washtenaw Police Department's Lieutenant R.J. Smith told me that there weren't any beer cans in the vehicle, and the players didn't show any actions or funny behavior so they ruled out the possibility of alcohol.
How about the fact it was 4:50 a.m., they were coming from a party, only about 15 minutes into their drive and they flipped the car?
Maybe the police feel that the near death accident, which cost mother lode Robert "Tractor" Traylor his freshman season, was punishment enough. I wonder if there would have been a consideration if these woozy prima donna's would have slammed into a family.
Since the day the Houston Oilers invested big bucks in Warren Moon, I've seen him do just about everything to avoid the rush, which would beat his worthless offensive line. But now it seems like he's got a new blocker and protector—his wife.
In an attempt to clear her hubby from a fine and some time, Felicia Moon told a jury that she deserved the beatings given to her by Warren. After all, she overcharged credit cards and deserved the wrestling to the ground and stranglehold the former Pro Bowler put on her.
Although wife-beating has become common in the sporting world (see: Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox, Seattle Seahawk Cortez Kennedy, O.J. Simpson, etc.) it still is unacceptable — period. The fact that there has been no public backlash denouncing these wife beaters reflects the public's general apathy towards those crimes.
But, regardless of whether your wife forgives you, Warren, I hope you get thrown in the slammer — where you'll have to draw upon all of your scrambling skills.
Hats off to Student Senate for not only finally recognizing the fact that Robinson Center is a grossly inadequate facility, but also allowing the students to have a large say in whether a new recreation center will be built.
Just in a quick walk-through at Robinson last night about 7, I saw lines of students waiting to use nautilus equipment, overcrowded racquetball courts and intramurals taking up four of six basketball courts.
The bottom line is, unless 10 percent of the students vote on Feb. 27 and 28, the proposed recreation center is plain dead. But if 10 percent do vote and a majority votes in favor of the recreation center, it can go to the next stage — to the chancellor'
It's no wonder that this armpit of campus ranks at the bottom of the list in recreation centers in the Big Eight Conference and will be ranked in the cellar when we join the Big 12.
If passed, the $13 dollar fee we now pay for recreation services will gradually increase each year and top off at 800 in the fall of 1999.
So I urge those of you who are juniors or seniors to get out and vote in favor of the new recreation center. Although we may not be here to use the facilities, through this selfless act we can give the campus a much-needed facelift that we can all be proud for years and years to come.
Sprinting to catch the gold medal
Jayhawk will represent his home country at Olympics
By Adam Herschman
Kansan sportswriter
in the sixth grade, Kansas junior sprinter Pierre Lisk and his classmates were instructed by their physical education teacher, Uncle Tobukumetzega, to race around the block.
Lisk not only outraced his classmates in Sierra Leone, West Africa, but his time was faster than his teacher as well.
"He came up to me one day and he said to me, 'If you continue this running, you would go places, you would be very good,' Lisk said.
His teacher was right.
Lisk's running will take him to Atlanta this summer to represent Sierra Leone at the Olympic Games in the 100-meter dash. However, it wasn't his 100-meter dash time that brought Lisk 5.395 miles to Lawrence.
Kansas junior spinner Pierre Lisk will represent Sierra Leone at the Olympic Games in the 100-meter dash this summer in *Nitaa*. Further this year Lisk broke the Kansas record for the 55-meter dash at the Kansas Invitational.
"They thought I was white because of my fair complexion," Lisk said. "I go to practice, and it's like this white boy comes out of nowhere and just wins meets. It was unheard of."
Before Lisk graduated from Premphe, he started looking for a school to continue his education, not his track career.
"I didn't want to go to college back home because I know if I graduated, my diploma wouldn't be recognized outside of the country." Lisk said.
Lisk's father, Henry, and his mother, Lidia, wanted to make sure he would get the best education possible. Henry Lisk had a scholarship out of high school to study in Russia, where he met his wife.
"Education as a whole back home is not too emphasized, but my family stresses very much on education, my father especially," Pierre Lisk said. "He will spend whatever money he has, if he has it, and he will go to the end of the earth to just get you the kind of education you want."
While education was important to Henry Lisk, sports were not. Henry Lisk has never seen his son compete. Lisk said his father was going to visit him this summer but now will not because Lisk is competing in the Olympics.
During his college search, Lisk wrote a few colleges and began calling people he knew in the United States. One of the calls was to his cousin, Sydnev Lisk, in Lawrence.
"Actually it was a collect call, 'Pierre Lisk said, laughing. "He said, 'Hey, what are you doing?' I said. 'I'm finishing high school in a couple months and I need a school out there.'"
Sydney Lisk told his cousin to come to Kansas, and a month and a half later. Pierre Lisk was accepted.
"KU was the first to reply and I took it," Pierre Lisk said. "I had no contact with track until I got here myself in spring."
Lisk, a mechanical engineering major, arrived at Kansas sight unseen with no athletic scholarship in spring 1993 and walked in the track office with his cousin.
Lisk said that they both wanted to run track and the Kansas coaches said that they would let them practice for a couple weeks and see how things went.
Sydney Lisk was able to compete, which he did for a year. Pierre Lisk, on the other hand, had to face two of the hardest years of his life.
Pierre Lisk had to sit out the entire 1993 season because he had not taken the SAT or ACT.
For one year, Lisk could not practice with the team and he
was not allowed on the track.
The frustration of his new situation and the adjustments to a new culture, new friends, and cool climate prompted Lisk to consider transferring.
"I was very frustrated and lonely my freshman year," Lisk said. "I didn't like it all.
"Sitting out for a year was one of the biggest challenges I've ever had. I constantly had to reassure myself that one day, I'll get a chance to run and I'll prove myself."
Lisk practiced with the team in spring 1994, but was red-shirted because he didn't have enough college credits.
After sitting out two seasons, Lisk finally competed last season. He quickly made up for the time off by qualifying for the NCAA Track and Field Outdoor championship with a time of 10.25 seconds in the 100-meter dash in the Big Eight Outdoor championship.
"he really didn't know how fast he had run," Kansas assistant track coach Theo Hamilton said. "I said, 'Do you realize how fast you just ran?' because some of the other coaches were coming up to me. Right now, he's leading the conference in the 55 (meter dash)."
"We hadn't had a spinner do that in a long time here at the University of Kansas."
Lisk also broke Tim Hill's Kansas 55-meter dash record with a time of 6.24 seconds in the Kansas Invitational.
This weekend Lisk and the rest of the Jayhawks will travel to Lincoln, Neb., for the last Big Eight Indoor Championship.
Lisk has not been to Sierra Leone in three years but is planning a trip home after the Olympics. His father intends to watch the Games with Pierre's sister Lena in London.
"If I really want him to come, I'll have to do some sweet talking," Lisk said.
Famed K-State coach will meet 'Hawks once again
Hartman took job as women's coach earlier this month
By Evan Blackwell Kansan sportswriter
Jack Hartman remembered the last time he came to Allen Field House. It was ten years ago.
"It was the year I had announced my retirement, and my last game there the fans gave me a standing ovation," Hartman said. "That was meaningful."
And now, Hartman is back. He replaced Kansas State women's basketball coach Brian Agler on Feb. 9
when Agler was suspended pending an investigation into NCAA rules violations. Hartman will finish out this season as the Wildcats' interim head coach.
Not many coaches have been as revered in Wildcat country as Hartman, who was the K-State men's basketball coach from 1970-1986. In those 16 seasons Hartman raked up 295 wins, the most by any Wildcat coach. Hartman also has 439 all-time NCAA Division I victories.
Hartman will return to the field house on Sunday when he brings the K-State women's basketball team to Lawrence for the regular-season finale against the Jayhawks.
State enters the weekend 14-14 overall and 5-8 in the Big Eight Conference. The Wildcats are tied for fifth place with Iowa State.
The Wildcats have struggled most of this season, but they have posted a 3-2 record since Hartman's stint. K
Hartman said his return to Lawrence
The suspension of Agler and the return of Hartman has put the Wildcats through a series of adjustments
"There's no question about it," Hartman said. "Those fans were always very good to me."
as a coach undoubtedly would be special.
during the last half of the Big Eight season.
K-State sophomore point guard Amanda Chamberlain, a native of Holton, said it had been hard to believe she would be coached by a legend such as Hartman.
"When they told me that Jack Hartman would be stepping in to coach us, I thought there must be another guy named Jack Hartman," Chamberlain said.
As Chamberlain and her teammates soon found out, they were indeed being coached by Jack Hartman, the K-State legend.
"I've been a K-State fan all my life," Chamberlain said. "I've always really, really looked up to him."
Chamberlain said Hartman had not really made any dramatic changes,
"He's a very positive coach," Chamberlain said. "If you miss a shot, he will just say 'It's OK, just shoot it again.'"
but that he had added some personal touches.
Hartman said the return to the bench had brought back a part of his life he had missed for the past 10 years.
"I still kind of get that adrenaline rush when I take the bench before a game," he said.
There really hasn't been much of a difference between coaching men and coaching women, Hartman said.
"The girls have just been great," Hartman said. "It was such a traumatic situation, and I really appreciate how they've handled everything."
Kansas softball enioving improvement on the mound
But strong pitchers might not be enough
By Jenni Carlson Kansan sportswriter
Three pitchers were on the Kansas softball team's roster last season.
There are also three pitchers this season. But something has changed.
"It's more a pitching staff this year," said Kausa senior pitcher Beth Robinson. "There really isn't pressure if I don't throw well that there won't be anyone there."
Robinson said she felt pressured last season, when she picked up 12 of the Jayhawks' 19 victories. She also pitched 163.3 innings while suffering through a back injury that required offseason surgery.
With the addition of pitchers Sarah Workman and Courtney Wilson, Robinson won't be relied upon as heavily this season. The improvements in the pitching staff, though, have had an impact on the entire team, Kansas softball coach Gayle Luedeke said.
"Nothing against our pitching staff last year, but it was definitely not as strong as we are now," Luedke said. "Every game last year, we knew we were going to have to score a lot of
runs."
The Jayhawks may not have to score a lot of runs because of better pitching, but they found out during the opening weekend of the spring season that it may take more than one run. Kansas lost to Northwestern, 5-1, and Texas A&M, 2-1, at the Pepsi-Cola Intercollegiate Classic in Arlington, Texas.
The Jayhawks won five other games, including a 4-1 victory against Utah on Sunday to pick up the consolation championship.
"We definitely got better as the
"Our first three games definitely looked like our first three games," Luedeke said. "We were still basking in the glow of going 14-0 this fall."
However, things aren't perfect. Kansas sophomore catcher Sara Holland said moving runners and hitting in the clutch were problems last weekend. In the week leading up to their next game, the Jayhawks will concentrate heavily on situational hitting.
weekend went on. Everything — defense, offense, pitching — you could see they were gaining confidence."
Kansas won't have to work much on its attitude, though. Luedke said that pleased her the most during the
"We just need to do a better job of being selective and being patient at the plate," Luedke said. "But you always work on your offense."
weekend. She was also happy with the team's effort and desire to win.
The Jayhawks' weekend games were their first with Luedke as coach, who took the job after former coach Kalum Haack accepted the Alabama coaching position during winter break.
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It took the team a couple weeks to realize that Haack was not coming back and to adjust to playing for Luede, who was a former Jayhawk assistant.
"We realized that this is our team, and we're going to make the season how we want it," Holland said. "We have to do the work, not the coaches."
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