Dish Network not showing KU-Kansas State game
FOX Sports Midwest’s media contact, Geoff Goldman, sent out a release Wednesday that indicated Dish Network subscribers in the area would not be able to tune in to tonight’s college football game between Kansas University and Kansas State.
The game will be televised locally on Fox Sports Kansas City and nationally on FSN’s network of affiliates, including Sunflower Broadband channels 36 and 236, but will not be available to Dish customers because Dish dropped Fox’s 19 regional sports networks on Oct. 1.
Television coverage of the game is slated to begin at 6 p.m., with the Rivalries Live pregame show from Memorial Stadium.
Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m.
FSN to film at The Oread
FSN-Midwest camera crews will be shooting off the top of The Oread’s ninth floor, 1200 Oread Lane, during portions of tonight’s game.
Footage from the new hotel will be run during FSN’s pre-game show for its regional and national coverage of the game.
Patti McCormick, The Oread’s Director of Media and Special Events, said KU fans were invited to be a part of the festivities.
“If any Jayhawks would like to be on TV supporting their team, this would be a great opportunity,” she said.
Stubblefield draws mention
Former KU defensive tackle Dana Stubblefield, an All-Big Eight performer who went on to become an all-pro with the San Francisco 49ers, found his way into a recent piece in the Oct. 18 edition of Sports Illustrated, in which former agent Josh Luchs comes clean about his history of paying college football players throughout his career.
The article, titled, “Confessions of an agent,” talks mostly about the negative aspects associated with paying college athletes on their way to becoming pros.
However, the portion that included Stubblefield covered the opposite.
“One of the misconceptions about the agent business is that the kids are victims, preyed on by people like me,” Luchs writes. “When Alabama coach Nick Saban and others rail against the agent business, they don’t mention that most of the time the player or someone from his family approaches us. Guys see that one of their teammates has some cash, ask him about it, and suddenly my phone rings. It was rare to find a player who wouldn’t take the money. I put $10,000 cash in front of Kansas’ Dana Stubblefield, and he wouldn’t take it. I tried to pay UCLA’s J.J. Stokes and USC’s Keyshawn Johnson, and they said, ‘No.’ But for every kid who didn’t take the money, there were dozens who called me and asked to get paid.”
Nick KrugNew team, new look
A slew of new faces will be on the field at 1 p.m. today, when the Kansas University football program kicks off its annual spring game at Memorial Stadium.
And while it might take a minute to adjust to seeing a new number at quarterback or a few new players hauling in passes, the who’s who portion of the day might end up being a minor detail.
Although there still is a lot of work to be done, the Jayhawks, under new head coach Turner Gill, likely will reveal a new look to both the offense and the defense. When Gill arrived at Kansas, he talked about not changing things too drastically too fast. But based on what we’ve learned this spring, it’s safe to say the spread offense will be bottled up a bit and in its place will be more of a pro-style, ground-oriented attack.
“The thing I like most (about the offense is), you can do a little more play-action and take some shots down the field,” said red-shirt freshman Jordan Webb, who is battling to become KU’s starting quarterback.
Defensively, things might not change much in terms of the schemes, but the attitude seems to be different. No longer are the defensive players sitting back, trying to keep the play in front of them. Instead, they’re flying all over the field, running fast and hitting hard in an effort to fall in line with what Gill’s looking for — playmakers.
“We’re going to get to be a lot more aggressive,” senior cornerback Chris Harris said. “We’ll get to take a lot of chances. As a defense, we’re bringing a lot now. It’s just an aggressive-minded defense.”
High expectations?
Last week, Gill talked about how he has been a part of a lot of spring games during his career as a player and coach. For the first time in a while, however, Gill isn’t quite sure what to expect from his first spring scrimmage in Lawrence.
“Your guess is probably better than mine, as far as the crowd here,” Gill told reporters Monday. “I’d like to encourage people to come out and see the talent we have. It’s going to be a good opportunity to get a really good preview of what we’re doing.”
Recruits make visits
While most of the faces in the crowd today will be die-hard Jayhawk fans, several Class of 2011 and 2012 recruits also will be present. Internet rumors of today being “a big day” for the Jayhawks indicate that a few of those guys — particularly the area prospects — could be ready to commit.
Here’s a list of a few names believed to be attending: Dan Tapko and Cooper Kerns, Rockhurst (Mo.); Phil Ford, Bishop Miege (Kan.); Bernard Thomas and Darrian Miller, Blue Springs, Mo.; Jamal Brown, Lawrence High; Bubba Starling, Gardner-Edgerton; Ben Heeney, Hutchinson; Niko Ornelas, North Richland Hills, Texas; Lorenzo Smith, Lynchburg, Va.; Matt Marler, Potosi, Mo.; Tyler Lockett, Tulsa, Okla.; and Cale Sharp, Salina.
