David Robinson signs a contract with the Spurs that will keep him there for the rest of his career. Page G
SPORTS UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1995
SECTION B
I'll miss talking with you
All this week I've heard the same question over and over again.
Someone will ask, "Are you going to miss being sports editor next semester?"
My response is the same each time. After my fourth Dr. Pepper of the evening, my bloodshot eyes will gaze up from the computer screen I am working at and I will say without a moment's hesitation, "Nope. No. no way."
At least that was my standard answer up until Tuesday night —
actually, make
actually, make that very early Wednesday morning.
SPORTS EDITOR
Most of you do not know that Tom Erickson, the associate sports editor, and I design the entire sports section on alternating days. That means that two or three times a week, I get to put the sports page to bed every day.
bed around 1 or 2 a.m.
Such was the case on Tuesday. Needless to say, very few people remain in the newsroom at that hour. The computer monitors hummed while Jenny Jones babbled away on the television in the other room.
None of it was out of the ordinary. As I got ready to leave and walked over the corner where I always leave my bag, I realized that this wasn't an ordinary night. For the first time I realized that my days as the Kansan sports editor were coming to an end.
Yeah, I know you're probably thinking this is another mushy end-of-the-s semester column saying thanks to my roommates, the Academy, the Kansan staff and all that.
I don't want to disappoint you, so that will come later.
But before I get to that I have to say that I was baffled by my change of heart. Maybe it was the four hours of sleep I'd had the night before, but I had to ask, "Why?"
Nice stuff, but I knew that wasn't why I felt different — sad even — on Tuesday night.
Sure, the perks are good: the Saferide operator now knows my voice, I proved to the campus desk that the sports section is the reason people pick up the newspaper, my monthly paycheck nearly pays all my credit card bills and I had a chance to write that a Kansas basketball player looks 14 years old.
I still don't know the whole reason even now. But I do know one thing — I'll miss talking with you in print every week. I feel like I'm having a conversation with a good friend every time I write one of these crazy columns.
Sometimes it's something light-hearted that I want to talk with you about. Other times aren't so light. And sometimes I'm sure we even disagree.
That's OK. Friends don't need to agree on everything.
Like my columns, I'm sure some things in this semester's sports page didn't sit too well with you either. In the 111 days since our first newspaper this semester, however, I haven't regretted anything that the sports page has written.
As in any newspaper, there have been a few factual errors. But as for the content of the stories, I don't regret a thing.
What I would regret, though, is not fulfilling my promise to make this a mushy end-of-the semester column. So here goes.
To Tom Erickson: it's true. The Wonder Twins have deactivated, but you'll know where to find me next semester. I can't say thank you enough for your help.
To the sportos. Without you all, I'm just a sports editor with a bunch of blank pages. I hope you enjoyed your semester carrying the Kansan like a sack.
To Sue, J.P. and Flo: Ha, ha, hat You guys really stink.
To Tom Eblen and Rick Musser:
Thanks for the chance to learn from the best.
And finally, to the readers: Hope you enjoyed the ride. I knew did.
PART OF GOD'S TEAM
The Christian faith is a part of the game for some Jayhawk athletes and coaches
But at state schools no prayer or worship can be mandatory under the Constitution
The crowd at Memorial Stadium comes to its feet. A roar rises as fans lift their hands in the air. The clapping starts slowly and swells as kickoff approaches.
On the field, both teams throw up high fives and slap helmets. Twenty-one players stand ready to attack.
But the 22nd figure isn't standing. He is kneeling in prayer.
Jeff McCord, a sophomore kicker on the Kansas football team, sometimes may be considered a rare bird in the Jayhawks' nest, but he isn't alone in his pregame prayers.
But the 22nd figure isn't
Even at a state university such as the University of Kansas, the connection between sports and religion is strong.
From coaches who profess faith through team prayers to a kicker who asks God for guidance each time he steps onto the field, a belief in a higher purpose often is stronger than a belief in winning the game.
Before each game, the Kansas football team gathers in its locker room to say The Lord's Prayer. For some, it is a meaningful and deep experience. For others, it is an obligation.
And it is all OK, says the American Civil Liberties Union, as long as its voluntary.
McCord, who attends Grace Evangelical Presbyterian Church, 5030 W. 15th St., said he got less inspiration from the pregame prayer than from his own prayers on the field or the chapel service held by the football chaplains.
"It really is interesting," McCord said. "I think if you went anywhere, everybody is going to say The Lord's Prayer before the game. Whether they're doing that because their heart is crying out to the Lord or doing it just so they win the game, I don't know."
The chaplains, Father Vince Krische from St. Lawrence Catholic Center, 1631 Crescent Road., and Rev. Leo Barbee from the Victory Baptist Church, 1629 W. 19th St., serve as the inspirational leaders for the Jayhawks.
The football chaplain program began in 1983, when Rev. Butch Henderson, who was pastor of the Plymouth Congregational Church, 925 Vermont St., began to accompany the football team to home and road games.
Kansas sophomore kicker Jeff McCord kneels before kicking off for the Jayhawks. The NCAA outlawed on-field prayers such a McCord's for a time this year before Rev. Jerry Falwell of Liberty University threatened to sue the NCAA.
Krische and Barbee are not paid for their work and are not listed in the media guides or game programs. But they travel with the team for free, providing support and encouragement when needed.
The expenses of the two chapains to travel with the football team are paid by the Kansas University Athletic Corporation, a private group that paws for all
athletic scholarships, travel expenses and some coaches salaries. The majority of this money comes from basketball and football revenue, while the rest
Football is the only Jayhawk sport with chaplains. It is also the only Big Eight Conference school with chaplains for its football program. Across the nation, programs such as the one at Kansas are rare for state schools.
comes from such things as advertising and ticket sales.
"I don't know of another one like ours with two people that work on it," Krische said. "The coach saw it as a value to the program." Krische, who has been a football chaplain at Kansas since 1985, said conducting religious services hasn't been a problem because the money that pays for the football team and its
scholarships doesn't come from taxpayers.
"It's never been an issue because the Athletic Corporation is not part of the
University but a separate corporation," he said. "The chancellor didn't ask me to take this job."
Bob Frederick, Kansas athletic director, has no reservations about the chaplais or their work.
"I think that if it is something that a student-athlete finds helpful, it's fine," he said. "If he or she doesn't, that's fine. It's just like hay."
ing a church in the community — It's there if people want it."
"People say it is so great. During recruiting time, many parents say, 'We visited other schools and are grateful for the program here.'"
Most of the responses to the program have been positive, Krische said.
McCord said the weekly services appropriately were nondenominational, and they are somewhat watered down, too. The services are not mandatory, and many players choose not to attend.
Between 40 and 60 players attend the weekly chapel services, usually held in a hotel conference room for away games and in a conference room in an Overland Park hotel for home games. The night before each game, the Jayhawks stay in Johnson County and return to Lawrence a few hours before kickoff.
"We have a team song and say a few things and then go about our business," he said. "What can you really say to a bunch of people who are probably going in there just to do it to be good?"
Krische said he rarely hears objections or complaints from the players about the services.
Story by Tom Erickson
"They just stay away," he said.
"A lot of times the ones who stay away will approach Rev. Barbee or myself," Krische said. "Recently, one player came up to me and said, 'I hope you guys are putting in prayers for me because I need them right now.'"
They just stay away, he said. But there are times when even players who don't attend the regular service call on Krische and Barbee.
See SPORTS AND GOD, Page 4B.
Photo by Matt Flickner
Men's basketball ready for road
Williams says 'Hawks can't relax despite preseason emphasis on important first three games
By Matt Irwin
Kansan sportswriter
Beginning today, the Kansas men's basketball team is turning into the traveling Jayhawks.
Including Kansas' game against the Rice Owls at 7:35 tonight in Houston, the Jayhawks will travel 17,834 miles before the start of spring semester.
Last season, Kansas lost to Oklahoma 76-73 at Norman, and on Jan. 17, 1994, the Jayhawks lost 68-64 in Allen Field House to Kansas State.
As the No. 1 team in the nation, Kansas will be the No. 1 team to defeat everywhere it travels. The past two seasons the Jayhawks have lost the same day that they moved to No. 1.
They will travel to Texas, California, Missouri, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Florida and, or yeah, France.
During the Jayhawks' first week as the nation's No. 1 team, they will play at Rice as well as at San Diego at 9:35 n.m. Saturday.
Looking at those two games, Kansas men's basketball coach Row Williams is worried.
"Right now, because of what's happened, we've got the biggest target on our back of any team in the country," Williams said of the Jayhawks moving to the No. 1 ranking after three victories against ranked opponents, including an 85-70 defeat of UCLA. "After the game, I immediately thought how dumb I had been all preseason because all preseason I'd talked about those
KANSAS BASKETBALL
first three games. What that does, the kids sort of listen to that and they think if we can get through those first three, then it's time to relax."
To keep Kansas from relaxing after the victory against UCLA, Williams said he planned to make practices even tougher this week.
At a press conference Tuesday, Kansas junior center Scot Pollard confirmed that Monday's practice was the way Williams said it would be.
"Yea, yesterday was pretty tough," Pollard said as he and freshman forward Paul Pierce started chuckling. "The blue vs. the red — we always have competitions and the loser runs. Yesterday the blue lost one of the competitions, and we didn't wait until the end of practice to run for that one. We just ran right after we lost."
Although Pollard may not enjoy tougher practices, he understands his coach's logic.
"I think that's part of not letting us come into these games thinking, 'We can just take a break now. We won these first three games,'" Pollard said. "Coach is never satisfied, and he brings that to us. I'm never satisfied. I think we can always improve, and we need to take every game seriously. I think that's what he's trying to do."
Kathleen Driscoll / KAMBAM
Kansas Junior guard Jacque Vaughn will bring his twisting and tuning style of play to Houston tonight when the No. 1. Jawhays meet Rice at 7:30 p.m.
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