Being from St. Louis, I was the only Kansas fan in my entire high school. Naturally, all of my friends root for Missouri and love to make fun of KU whenever they get the chance. Lately, they have had way too many chances.

Kansas has been in the news for the wrong reasons too many times in the past year and a half. Allow me to briefly recap:

• Former KU basketball player J.R. Giddens was stabbed during a fight in May 2005 at the Moon Bar. Giddens, who was not 21 at the time, pleaded guilty to battery. Shortly afterward, he transferred to New Mexico.

• Former KU running back Bruce Ringwood was charged with assault in August 2005 after he got in a fight at a Kenny Chesney concert in Kansas City, Mo., that injured a Shawnee women. He then got in a fight with his roommate in March 2006 and was kicked off the football team by coach Mark Mangino.
• In October 2005, former softball player Jackie Vasquez sued KU softball coach Tracy Bunge for sexual harassment, alleging that Bunge ordered the softball team to shower in their uniforms after losing to Texas A&M; in April 2005.

Vasquez claimed her scholarship was terminated and she was removed from the team because she reported the incident to the Athletics department. Athletics officials say she was removed from the team because of misconduct regarding the e-mail account of assistant coach Jennifer Sewell.

• Junior basketball player Darnell Jackson was suspended nine games in November 2005 for accepting $5,000 worth of gifts from a Kansas booster. Jackson said he was unaware that the payments he received were illegal and repaid the money.

The biggest issue is the NCAA investigation involving numerous violations within the men’s and women’s basketball and football teams. Kansas imposed penalties on itself, but the NCAA could hand down additional penalties in five to seven weeks if it feels the self-imposed penalties were not severe enough.

As a Kansas fan, hearing all of this stuff makes me sick. I am tired of seeing Kansas in the news because of violations, fights, improper payments and everything else that has happened in the past 18 months.

Add consecutive first round losses to Bradley and Bucknell in the NCAA Basketball Tournament, and it has been a tough time for Kansas fans during the past few years.

What we need is something that can help change what is being said about us. We need the football team to go out, win the Big 12 North and somehow find a way to make it into a BCS Bowl.

We need the basketball team, which is ranked No. 2 in the nation, to make it back to the Final Four and perhaps win a national championship to help quiet the whispers that we always choke come tournament time.

Many of the school’s sports teams look to have promising season, so here’s to hoping that one of them does something spectacular that will help return the word Kansas to what it once was: greatness.

Kansan sportswriter B.J. Rains can be contacted at bjrains@kansan.com.

— Edited by Catherine Odson