Friday, November 20, 2009
Kansas’ meetings with the media have generated an unusually large number of participants this week. There have been more cameras, more recorders and simply more outside interest.
Yet hardly any of the questions have revolved around Kansas’ game at No.3 Texas tomorrow night.
Kansas head coach Mark Magino speaks about his expectations for the upcoming season during the Media Day press conference Tuesday afternoon.
Instead, the Jayhawks spent this week responding to reports, allegations and an internal investigation on coach Mark Mangino.
For the second time this season — the first occurred after incidents between the football and basketball teams surfaced — Kansas’ players were grilled about something other than plays, strategy or their performance.
“We want to focus on football and not on other things,” senior safety Darrell Stuckey said. “I feel like everything about this season has been focusing on other things besides football. I’m here to play football, not talk about other things.”
That’s not what happened this week.
After athletics director Lew Perkins released a statement confirming that he met with players — and after former players have come forward with stories about their time with Mangino — the media attention has been turned up this week.
Senior quarterback Todd Reesing addressed the situation, emphasizing the need to remain focused on the tough task of playing against Texas.
“I told them this was going to be something that was hard to handle,” Reesing said. “As you can tell I’ve been standing here for five minutes, and I’ve answered zero questions about the game against Texas this Saturday. It’s going to be something we’re going to have to deal with.”
The Jayhawks spent the week saying all the right things. They talked about honing in on the Longhorns. They preached that the surrounding situation won’t affect members inside the team.
And they’ve talked about still attempting to earn a spot in a bowl game.
“To tell you the truth, as soon as we step on the field it’s like nothing has happened,” senior wide receiver Kerry Meier said. “I think that’s the right way we need to approach it.”
Still, the timing really couldn’t be much worse for a Kansas team that has dropped five consecutive games.
In need of one more victory to become bowl eligible, Kansas faces its toughest challenge of the season in Texas — a team competing for a spot in the national championship game.
The Longhorns have rolled through the season without too many hiccups. Texas’ closest game of the last four weeks? A 27-point victory at then-No. 14 Oklahoma State.
Texas is a team Mangino described as having “no weaknesses.”
“We’re going against the No. 3 team in the nation, so there’s a lot of pressure,” freshman Huldon Tharp said. “But nothing is going to stop us.”
The game will be played on ABC, in prime time, in Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium which holds 100,119 fans. It will easily be the largest crowd to watch Kansas play this season.
At this point, the stage really doesn’t get much bigger.
“We have to be focused as a team and make sure we keep everyone focused on this game,” junior cornerback Chris Harris said. “It’s exciting, and we’ve played back to back weeks on ABC. Going against Texas live on TV, I’m pretty sure everyone is going to see that. It’s a chance to go out there and showcase how good you are.”
Mangino said Tuesday that he hadn’t lost the support from his team, and he re-emphasized that message Wednesday.
It was a point the Jayhawks highlighted this week.
“It’s going in a positive direction, regardless of what negativity is going on in the past with losses,” Stuckey said. “We still want to go out there and win and play every game.”
— Edited by Megan Morriss
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Comments
Kansas feels pressure of media attention
Still, the timing really couldn’t be much worse for a Kansas team that has dropped five consecutive games."
I think this has a lot to do with the doings a-going on down there @ the bottom o' the hill. Scapegoat?
Kansas feels pressure of media attention
durrrrrr... thank you, Captain Obvious
Kansas feels pressure of media attention
Um yeah seems like anytime the chickenhawks aren't doing well they have to find someone else to blame. Go figure it would be the coach. You all had WONDERFUL things to say about him when you were winning.
Not at all surprised.
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