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SPORTS & FEATURESWednesday,August 26, 2009

Page B1

By Metz [email protected]

The UK volleyball team has one thing on their mind:winning the Southeastern Conference Championship.

In 2008, the Cats only had to win their regular seasonfinale at home against Tennessee and they would have ac-complished their goal and won their first SEC Champi-onship since 1988. The Cats came up short in the finalethough, and the Florida Gators were crowned championsfor the 18th straight year.

“We are coming in with a chip on our shoulder; littlebit of unfinished business,” senior setter Sarah Rumelysaid. “All spring and summer we’ve been training reallyhard. Everyone’s been here working hard at six in themorning every day. Preseason has been at a different levelthan it ever has been in the past since I’ve been here.There’s definitely a different focus and mentality on thecourt that hasn’t been here before.”

Under the watch of UK head coach Craig Skinner, theprogram has advanced steadily since his arrival. After tak-ing over a team with a losing record, Skinner has turnedthe program around. The Cats have earned NCAA Tourna-ment invites in each of his four years at the helm, a firstfor the program. In his tenure though, the Cats have neveradvanced past the second round of the tournament, anoth-er goal for the new team.

With heightened expectations come heightened stan-dards to which the team is holding themselves. Junior out-side hitter Sarah Mendoza pointed to practice saying thecompetitive level of this year’s team trumps years past andit’s difficult to get kills against each other. Skinner said thedepth was the best he’s had while at UK and that the teamis both physically talented and gifted competitively.

“I really think this team is driven,” Skinner said. “Re-gardless of what happened last year I just think they’revery competitive and I think they don’t ever want to settlefor mediocre practice, mediocre performance andmediocre effort to represent the name on the jersey.”

Helping the Cats reach their goal will be another high-ly regarded recruiting class. New to the team are outsidehitter Whitney Billings, middle blocker Alexandra Morganand defensive specialist and libero Stephanie Klefot.

Normally it takes time for the freshmen to adapt tocollegiate volleyball and get up to pace. As Skinner andMendoza said though, the athleticism of this group will al-low some of them to find time on the court quickly.

For Rumely, the reigning SEC Player of the Year, themotivation of winning that elusive SEC Championship re-mains the same, but the leadership aspect steps up a notch.In Skinner’s opinion, that job won’t be very difficult.

“(She brings) everything from competitiveness, towork ethic, to just being an extremely driven person,”Skinner said. “I think when her teammates are around her– most of them are that same way also – but they don’twant to let each other down and I think Sarah leads by ex-ample in that area and her performance on the court usual-ly reflects that.”

The Cats will begin the new season in a spot where

Unfinishedbusiness

STAFF FILE PHOTOSenior fullback John Conner makes a catch against South Carolina at Commonwealth Stadium last year.

Fullback Conner blazesway for success of team

RUNNING BACK PREVIEW

By Ben [email protected]

Just because John Conner shares abackfield with UK’s star tailbacks does-n’t mean he gets any of the accolades.Conner, UK’s senior fullback, has madea career of paving the way for others’success.

“I just try to do my job to the bestof my abilities,” Conner said. “I knowfullbacks don’t get a lot of glory, so Ijust try to have fun with it and do whatI do.”

What Conner does is bulldoze op-posing defenders to clear a path for histailbacks. He’s a 5-foot-11, 240-poundsteamroller who must sacrifice his bodyso his teammates can miss one moredefender or gain one more yard, espe-cially in short-yardage situations.

Conner came to UK as a walk-onbut slowly worked his way up andbroke into the starting lineup part-time

in 2007. He started 11 games last yearand developed into perhaps the bestblocking back in the Southeastern Con-ference. He’s also a threat to catch theball out of the backfield.

“Conner is a guy that just is a solidfootball player,” UK head coach RichBrooks said. “Running, catching,blocking, never really complains about

anything. Just does his job and does it,to my mind, as well as any fullback inthe country.”

He’s still relatively unknown, butthat’s no surprise considering he has 23career attempts for 89 yards on theground over the last three years. Nick-named “The Terminator” by teammates,Conner will likely still have to earn hisdue without too many touches.

“You know, sometimes you can feellike (you’re underrated),” Conner said.“But as long as I’m helping the teamout and we’re doing well as a team,that’s all I’m worried about.

“At the same time, it’s some moti-vation to get out there and get some re-spect.”

Running behind Conner will be sen-ior tailback Alfonso Smith, a game-breaker who has been spectacular inspurts. Smith’s speed and ability tocatch the ball out of the backfield give

See Conner on page B2

PHOTO BY ADAM WOLFFBRANDT | STAFFSarah Rumely sets the ball during a UK volleyball practice.Rumely is the reigning SEC Player of the Year.

Kentucky native to perform during Comedy Caravan

See Volleyball on page B6

By Megan [email protected]

Will Hardesty became astand-up comedian becauseit was the only thing he felthe could do.

“Honestly, I’m not sureif it’s something I ever de-cided on,” Hardesty said. “Ikind of discovered I wasfairly good at (stand-up) andI liked it. I have no otherskills, so that helps.”

But in the beginning,stand-up comedy didn’tcome easy for Hardesty,

who will be performingWednesday night in theCat’s Den.

In his first performance12 years ago, Hardesty prac-ticed until he had his routinedown to three minutes oftight material. When it cameto his actual debut, the rou-tine only took one minuteand 46 seconds.

“I was so nervous, I justrushed the whole thing,” hesaid. “I went, ‘I’m done,’and just walked off stage. Isaid, ‘This is going to bemore work than I thought itwas going to be.’ ”

Since his first perform-ance, Hardesty has workedto become a better comedi-an, even placing second in aSan Francisco comedy com-petition, which he said washis most memorable per-

formance.“That was the first big

thing that happened to me. Itwas extraordinarily excit-ing,” he said.

Hardesty, a Kentuckynative, has also had somebad performances, includingone where his material wasnot welcome in a conserva-tive town in West Virginia.

“They were not diggingme,” he said. “It was theonly time I thought it wasgoing to get violent. I justwalked off stage and wenthome.”

Hardesty said he tries touse his stand-up to make acomment about the humancondition, and he likes dis-cussing the topics people arenot supposed to talk about.

“I will be talking (atUK) about all the big stuff,

like religion and politics. Ialso mostly talk about me,about how I feel aboutthings. I try not to talk aboutthings I don’t know, so I endup mostly talking about my-self,” he said.

Like most comedians,what Hardesty wants to ac-complish with his stand-upis to entertain his audience.

“I would like for themto worship me as a god, butthat has never happened, soI’m not expecting it,” hesaid. “But if people havefun, then I did the rightthing.”

Hardesty will performhis stand-up comedy at 8p.m. Wednesday in the Cat’sDen as part of the weeklyComedy Caravan series. Theevent is free and open to thepublic.!

PHOTO COURTESY OF WILL HARDESTYKentucky native and comedian

Will Hardesty will be visitingUK’s campus on Wednesday as

part of the Cat’s Den ComedyCaravan series.

! Defender on the attack: Barry Rice takes aim at conference crown | Page B2

“Conner is a guy that is a solidfootball player. Running, catch-ing, blocking, never really com-

plains about anything. Justdoes his job and does it, to mymind, as well as any fullback in

the country.”RICH BROOKS

UK head coach

UK volleyball looks tonew horizons in ‘09

PAGE B2 | Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Senior captain, Defender of the Yearwants to add championship to resume

By Clark [email protected]

With three highly produc-tive seasons under his belt,senior defender Barry Ricehas become one of the mostmemorable UK soccer play-ers in recent history.

Rice burst onto the sceneas a freshman, totaling sevenpoints with one goal and fiveassists and earning Confer-ence USA All-Freshman hon-ors. During Rice’s sophomoreyear, the Parma, Ohio, nativeled an injury-plagued UKteam in minutes, game win-ners, points and goals, andwas voted First Team All-Conference and First TeamNational Soccer Coaches As-sociation of America All-Re-gion as well as earning C-USA Defensive Player of theYear honors.

“After my second year,teams started to scout andgame plan around me whenwe ran set pieces,” Rice said.“It definitely has made get-ting open more difficult.”

Going into last season,Rice was elected as a teamcaptain along with midfielderJason Griffiths and keeperDan Williams. In addition,Rice was named preseasonthird-team All-America.

“Barry has intensity and agreat positive energy,” UKhead coach Ian Collins said.“His enthusiasm always addsonto the other players, whichcreates a high performancelevel. He’s a dominant de-fender who always leads byexample.”

Though his offensivenumbers declined last season,Rice solidified his reputationas a dominant defender whileanchoring a solid UK squadthat won 12 games and wasC-USA Tournament Runner-Up.

Rice’s physical playmade the UK statisticiansstart recording a new catego-ry: contested header opportu-nities. Rice won 87 percentof contested headers, going189-218 and becoming thefirst person to win C-USADefensive Player of the Yeartwice.

“Since teams have begun

to double or triple team Bar-ry, other guys are left wide-open,” Collins said. “He getsheld and grabbed constantly,making it extra hard for him.But Barry is too good of anathlete for people to contain.He is a terrific passer and al-ways a threat when he has theball. He is just a special typeof player who can affect agame either directly or indi-rectly because teams alwayshave to be aware of his abili-ties.”

Last year, Rice also be-came the third All-Americanin UK history, being namedto the second-team All-Amer-ica by College Soccer News

and third-team Top DrawerSoccer National Team of theYear. He was also selectedfirst-team All C-USA for thesecond straight year.

“Barry is definitely agreat defender,” Williamssaid. “He makes my job easi-er as a goalie.”

Now, Rice is also in con-tention with 47 other playersfrom around the nation forthe most prestigious award inmen’s collegiate soccer, theMissouri Athletic Club’sHermann Trophy. No playerfrom UK has ever won theaward.

Though Rice has talliedcountless individual awards,

he hasn’t won the one thatmatters most — a C-USAChampionship. Along withWilliams, Rice hopes to an-chor a stingy Wildcat defensethat posted an average 0.81goals per game last season,ranking 36th in the nation.

“All the awards are goodand all, but they don’t meananything unless your team isdoing well,” Rice said. “Wehave been close to winning aconference championship andmaking the NCAA Tourna-ment a few times, so I believethis year’s team has what ittakes to accomplish all of ourgoals.”

STAFF FILE PHOTOSenior defender Barry Rice looks to pass the ball during a UK men’s soccer game last season. Rice is afinalist for the Hermann Trophy, the most prestigious award in men’s college soccer.

him the tools to be a startingback, but nagging injurieshave kept him from becom-ing a major contributor. He’snever carried the ball morethan 74 times in any season.

Also looking to stayhealthy will be junior tail-back Derrick Locke, whomay be even more dangerousthan Smith if he recoversfrom last season’s injury.Locke was UK’s leadingrusher when he tore twoknee ligaments againstArkansas. He has insistedhe’ll be ready to go for theseason opener, but there willstill be plenty of questionssurrounding him until hetakes his first hit.

Whoever ends up gettingthe majority of the carriesthis season will be in goodhands. Asked if there wasany chance he wouldn’tmake it in the endzone withJohn Conner in front of himand one man to beat, Smithsaid he would be in for atouchdown “unless JohnConner tackles me.”

Whether Conner is readyto pave the way when the

season starts could still be upin the air. Conner sprained anankle he had previously hadsurgery on in the team scrim-mage on Saturday. His statusfor the season opener is stillunknown.

Conner is very close withthe rest of his backfield andspends a lot of time outsidepractice with the other run-ning backs. That relationshipcan show up on-field when arunner gets a boost of confi-dence and feels more com-fortable with Conner in frontof him.

“Whenever John Conneris in front of me, I just havethis extra battery pack,”Smith said. “I know I’m safewhen John Conner is in. Iknow that he’s going to takethe most of a blow and I canget behind him. I know ifJohn Conner’s in there, I gotthe chance to break a longrun and take it to the house.”

CONNERContinued from page B1

PHOTO COURTESY UK ATHLETICS

Senior fullback John Connerhelps lead UK’s rushing attack,becoming the lead blocker onmost plays between the tackles.

By Joel PoelhuisMcClatchy Newspapers

MIAMI — Buyers usually want morebang for their buck. But for two clothingcompanies specializing in bulletproof at-tire, offering clients less bang and morestyle is the key.

Industry pioneer Miguel Caballeroopened his first U.S. location last monthafter 16 years making bulletproof cloth-ing in Colombia. Miguel CaballeroUSA, based in Opa-locka, Fla., will han-dle all domestic sales.

Dueling for customers' affections isANXO, a body armor company based inLos Angeles. It will open an office inCoral Gables, Fla., in September.

Both companies offer an array of de-signer leather jackets, polo shirts andformalwear. ANXO offers Italian tailor-ing, whereas Miguel Caballero is intro-ducing a new line for women that fea-tures cashmere and suede.

And the object of their mutual de-sire? Wealthy Latin American businesstravelers. Both Caballero and ANXOpresident Eric Dominguez said Miamioffers access to that key customer demo-graphic.

Being bulletproof isn't cheap, so asteady supply of well-heeled clientele isessential. An entry-level shirt starts atabout $1,000, and prices only go upfrom there, depending on options cus-tomers select. Price also goes up withthe level of protection, ranging fromshirts that stop small-caliber bullets allthe way up to those that can handle firefrom submachine guns.

So why are the two companies readyfor a showdown in Miami, rather thanCaracas or Sao Paulo? "Latin Americanpeople spend their money in Miami, notin their own countries," joked Caballeroin a phone call from Bogota.

Besides the romantic allure that Mia-mi offers to South Americans, the city isthe perfect location to pick up businessfrom Europe and the rest of the UnitedStates as well, according to Miguel Ca-ballero USA manager Julian Rubio.

"Sooner or later everybody stops by Mi-ami," he said.

Both companies are also eager to tapthe U.S. market. Rubio said he has seenan increase in sales to clients who don'tface any specific risks but who feel ex-posed, such as celebrities. ForDominguez, a main draw has come fromwealthy families from New York whowear the bulletproof apparel when trav-eling abroad.

Some in the security industry havetheir doubts about how much demandthere is in the U.S. market for the kind ofhigh-fashion products sold by Caballeroand ANXO.

"It is not on the minds of too manyU.S. businessmen," said John Sexton,president of Sexton Executive Security,which provides security for high-levelexecutives, mostly in the States.

"We don't recommend it either way.If it makes the clients feel safer, then itmakes sense," said Dave Robinson, pres-ident of Tactical Intelligence Internation-al, an Orlando, Fla., company that pro-vides security for high-level clientsworldwide. "If they think there's a mar-ket for it in the U.S., I haven't seen it."

But a Miami body armor companythat has been in the market for more thana decade has seen more demand for bul-letproof fashion. Russ Russell, opera-tions manager for Miami-based Inter-American Security Products, said in thepast three years he has seen orders forthe company's bulletproof clothing lineincrease, driven partly by U.S. athletes,

rappers and religious leaders, but mostlyby wealthy citizens from South America.

Marisha Kelly, spokeswoman forCaballero, said the most popular items inthe Miami office are polo shirts andguayaberas, which are light dress shirts.Though the company handles ordersover the phone, having a brick-and-morter location is important, Kelly said.

"Clients want to see and physicallytry on the product," she said. Clientswho can't arrange to come to the officecan try on samples by mail and sendthem back. Rubio said getting the cloth-ing tailored is important because goodtailoring makes the bulletproof paddingless obvious to observers.

While Caballero and ANXO bothhave storefronts, neither plans to open ata local mall anytime soon.

"If we go to a retail outlet, everyTom, Dick and Harry will want one,"Dominguez said. "We try to know whoour clients are so (our product) doesn'tfall into the hands of drug dealers."

Rubio said Miguel Caballero inter-views customers about what they will beusing the product for and where theywill be wearing it.

Caballero already has licensed dis-tributors in Bogota and Mexico City.The company's clothes are also soldaround the world in high-end shops likeHarrods in London. When he beganplanning for a U.S. location three yearsago, Caballero considered Miami, Hous-ton and New York City. While Rubio de-clined to discuss hard numbers for thecompany's annual sales, he said it hasgrown to eight figures, helped by the ad-dition of a Mexico outlet in 2006.

Miguel Caballero and ANXO bothoffer regular bulletproof equipment de-signed for military and law enforcementpersonnel, along with their more exclu-sive items.

But Rubio said it's the designer mar-ket that's growing. He doesn't expect theongoing recession to have any effect onsales.

"For the people that need this prod-uct, this is a small expense."

Wednesday, August 26, 2009 | PAGE B3

Less bang, more style:Bullet-proof couture

“We don’t recommend it eitherway. If it makes the clients feel

safer, then it makes sense. Ifthey think there’s a market for

it in the U.S., I haven’t seen it.”DAVE ROBINSON

president of Tactical Intelligence International

www.kykernel.com


Brace yourself, Trekkies, the Enterprise is coming to UK

By Roy [email protected]

The Student Activities Board invites youon an intergalactic adventure to boldly gowhere no one has gone before — all withoutleaving campus. Students can journey to theedge of the galaxy to save humanity from theforces of evil.

In other words, SAB will present a freeshowing of “Star Trek” on Wednesday at 10p.m. at Haggin Field to kick off the CheapSeats film series, a program that shows re-cently released movies on campus for $1 ad-mission.

Students may not be climbing aboard theStarship Enterprise alongside Spock andScotty, but SAB is certainly giving all it hasby providing an event for Trekkies acrosscampus to enjoy.

“We are expecting a huge crowd. Thefirst day of classes is over, and we are ex-pecting students to get outside and have achance to meet new people and take advan-tage of a free movie,” said SAB Cinema Di-rector Daniel Sigler in an e-mail to the Ker-nel.

The newest addition in the “Star Trek”series has been called the “Star Trek” for thenext generation. The film follows the USSEnterprise on its maiden voyage with ayounger version of the crew that capturedviewers’ imaginations in the 1960s.

Producer J.J. Abrams did not have tothreaten critics with a Vulcan neck pinch toensure the film’s success. “Star Trek” hasbeen generally accepted by the Trekkie com-munity and has appealed to an even broaderfan base. “Star Trek” holds a 95 percent rat-ing on Rotten Tomatoes and has grossednearly $256 million at the box office duringthe summer, according toRottenTomatoes.com.

Sigler said the film was an obvious

choice for the opening act of Cheap Seats.“This isn’t your father’s ‘Star Trek.’ This

version is aimed toward our generation andnot the Trekkies of the past,” Sigler said. “Itwas one of the biggest movies over the sum-mer.”

Seating will be given on a first come,first served basis and students are encour-aged to bring their own blankets or chairs towatch the film.

“The screen will be so big that therewon’t be a bad seat in the house,” Siglersaid.

He also reminds all Trekkies that aprotest from “Star Wars” fans is always apossibility.

“We got a call from the Death Star say-ing that they would destroy the Earth if themovie will be shown,” Sigler said.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MCCLATCHYChris Pine stars as Captain James T. Kirk in the new “Star Trek” film, which will be shown for free atHaggin Field on Wednesday at 10 p.m. as part of the Student Activities Board’s Cheap Seats film series.

Free 21 oz. Drink with purchase of regular footlong sub or a pizza

2358 Nicholasville Rd.Lexington KY 40503

859.277.7715Fax 859.277.7715

behind Walmart on Nicholasville Rd.

entrees under $10.00

PHOTO BY RENEE ITTNERMC-MANUS | THE STATE

Frank Parker, who doesn’thide his passion for all things

“Star Trek,” having been afan since the orignal series

premiered when he was 13,shows the Vulcan salute.


By Reggie HayesThe News-Sentinel

Detroit Lions rookie quarterback Matthew Stafford com-pleted 5-of-13 passes with an interception in a 27-10 loss tothe Browns. You have to be impressed with the speed inwhich Stafford has reached traditional Lions standards.

Speaking of Detroit, After Brett Favre signed with theVikings, the Lions immediately sold 2,500 more tickets fortheir Sept. 20 game. Excited by the increase, the Lions askedthe Browns if they would mind bringing Jim Brown back forone last game, Nov. 22 in Detroit.Was he driving angry?

New York Knicks guard Nate Robinson was arrested lastweek and charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of amotor vehicle. It's a good thing they don't charge people withaggravated "licensed" operation of a motor vehicle or they'dhave to arrest everyone driving in New York.

According to the New York Post, Robinson sent a coupleof Tweets while he was pulled over. Although he twice used"lol" with his comments, his Tweets seemed a little aggravat-ed, too. Is there a law against aggravated Tweeting?At least it’s a short enemies list

Former Giants receiver Plaxico Burress, facing two yearsin prison for attempted criminal possession of a weapon, ispreparing for his sentence by meeting with a prison consult-ant.

There's a natural concern that the person Burress shot inthe leg might seek revenge through prison contacts. So Bur-ress is advised not to talk to himself.Erase those memories

After the NCAA stripped Memphis of its 2008 men'sbasketball Final Four appearance, former coach John Cali-pari is now 2-for-2 (dating back to UMass in 1996) in havinghis greatest seasons wiped from the record books.

University of Kentucky fans have no regrets about itsschool hiring Calipari, however. They believe that old chest-nut: It's better to have been to the Final Four and been vacat-ed than not to be at the Final Four at all.General in the vicinity

Indiana University announced it will induct former men'sbasketball coach Bob Knight into its athletic hall of fame.All areas of the university are wheelchair accessible, but afuture wing dedicated to Knight will be flying chair accessi-ble.Let’s see some ID

South African 800-meter runner Caster Semenya will berequired to take a gender verification test by the IAAF be-cause of suspicions the female runner is a man.

This reminds me of that time back in the 1995 whenDavid Stern required Dennis Rodman to verify he was actu-ally from Earth.Token Vick dog joke

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick couldmake his preseason debut this Thursday against the Jack-sonville Jaguars. That figures.

Stafford, Favrechange NFC Northquarterback culture

By Tom RockNewsday

ALBANY, N.Y. — When EliManning threw a deep pass toSteve Smith early in Tues-day's practice and the receiverwas wide open down themiddle of the field, it wasclear something was wrong.A miscommunication, ablown assignment, a missedcoverage.

Those would have beencorrectable. What actuallyhappened was far worse.

Lying in Smith's wake,clutching the back of his leftleg and writhing on theground was starting corner-back Aaron Ross. He'd beendealing with a strained ham-string for most of trainingcamp, an injury that had kepthim out of the majority ofpractices. It was just Mondayafternoon that he had returnedto full participation in theworkouts. Suddenly, he wasdown again, and for whoknows how long.

"It felt like someone shotme," Ross said after the prac-tice. "It was cramping inthree places."

Ross had to be helped offthe field and to the sideline.He was treated there and soonwas able to walk on his own,although with a severe limp.He stayed around for a littlewhile before being taken offthe field in a cart.

"The poor kid cannot getbeyond that," Tom Coughlinsaid of Ross' recent historywith the hamstring. "He startsworking his way back, obvi-ously made a sudden move totry to catch his way up to areceiver who was going byhim. It's very frustrating be-cause he's not had, really, alot of time on the field."

Kevin Dockery replacedRoss with the first unit for theremainder of the practice.There is no immediate wordon the severity or how longRoss will need to recover

from this injury."Hopefully, it won't take

more than 18 days," Rosssaid, noting that the Giantsopen the regular season in 19days.

Ross spoke last weekabout working through theinitial hamstring injury,which an MRI showed to bea slight strain. He said thedanger of coming back toosoon with a hamstring injuryis that it can lead to furtherdamage.

"I hate it, I hate it, I hateit, I hate it, I hate it," he saidthen of dealing with the ham-string. "I don't know when it'sgoing to hurt. If I explode,sometimes it hurts, some-times it doesn't. It's very frus-trating. I can walk, I can jog,I can do everything to make itseem like I'm OK. But assoon as I go out there, it letsyou know that you're notready."

Now it's up to Dockeryand Terrell Thomas to beready. With Ross and CoreyWebster missing practicesthis camp, the two backupswho have been vying for thenickelback job have takenplenty of snaps with the firstunit. And they've both playedwell.

"A lot of good stuff,"Coughlin said of the two."You watch those two guyspractice, and they certainlybenefited from the amount ofsnaps and they haven'tbacked down a bit. I'm hop-ing that stays that way."

At least for the next 18days.

Giants’ cornerRoss injuredfor fall camp

“It felt like someoneshot me. It was

cramping in threeplaces.”

AARON ROSSGiants’ cornerback


PHOTO BY ADAM WOLFSBANES | STAFFJunior outside hitter Sarah Mendoza spikes the ball in a team practice on Tuesday. The Volleyball teamwas voted the No. 21 team in the nation in a preseason poll.

kernel. we do it daily.

they haven’t been since1993: the top 25. The Catscheck in at No. 21 in the pre-

season AVEC Top 25, butstill are flying under theradar in the eyes of Mendozaand Rumely. Rumely saidwhile she believes they arebetter than No. 21, theyhaven’t proven that yet butthis year the fans will defi-nitely see a new team.

“We haven’t proven any-

thing,” Rumely said. “Wecame in second in the SEClast year. That doesn’t meananything. No one rememberswho comes in second everyyear. We’re nothing rightnow. We have to come outevery game and we have toprove ourselves in every-thing we do.”

VOLLEYBALLContinued from page B1


New women’s soccer coachstrives for national prominence

By Daniel [email protected]

John Calipari isn’t theonly new face in Lexington.The UK women’s soccerteam replaced the only coachthe program has ever known,Warren Lipka, with Jon Lip-sitz, formerly of the Universi-ty of Charlotte.

Lipsitz started his coach-ing career at Denison Univer-sity in 1990, where hecoached for three seasons. Inhis final season, Denisonmarched to the Elite Eight inthe Division III national tour-nament. Lipsitz served as theDirector of Coaching andPlayer Development for theOhio Premier Girls’ SoccerClub from 1993 to 2005.

In 2005, Lipsitz becamehead coach at the Universityof Charlotte, where hecoached the team to twoNCAA Tournament bids infour years. His path has nowlead him to Lexington, wherehe looks to turn a programthat has struggled in the recentpast into a national contender.

“The program is very hol-low if not for the players andthe time they put in,” Lipsitzsaid. “It’s important to me thatwe are a family first, with hardwork and sacrifice, we can be-come a national championshipcontender in the future.”

Lipsitz’s goals for win-ning don’t just include theX’s and O’s. He believes thisyear’s and future teams willsucceed when there is a vastamount of mutual respect and

trust amongst each other.“We treat each other as if

we are sisters,” junior forwardGiuleana Lopez said. “[We] in-vite each other over to hang out,watch a movie or eat dinner. It’simportant we are close.”

On the field, the teamlooks to improve on a disap-pointing 2008 season whenthey finished 5-13-1. Seniordefender Julie Hull said theteam will use their disappoint-ment from last season as fuelfor this year. Focus in the off-season has been set on condi-tioning and improving on men-tal and physical toughness.

“Fitness is number one,”freshman forward AlyssaTelang said. “Making mis-takes at full speed in practicemakes the team as a whole alot better.”

“The team is very fit; in alot better shape since we

started in the offseason,”freshman defender LeslieTwehues said. “There is notime for us to get tired.”

The women’s soccer teamhas eight home matches re-maining this season includingthe UK Tournament, whichwill be Sept. 18-20. The Catswon their first game of theseason on Friday, claiming a2-1 victory over Cincinnati.Junior midfielder SamanthaAu and sophomore defenderJenna Goblirsch each scoredin the effort.

The Cats are hoping Lip-sitz, the first fresh face theprogram has seen in 17 years,is just what they need to getback on track.

“My goal is to start makinga name for the program again,”Coach Lipsitz said. “It’s notjust about soccer, it’s about rep-resenting the Commonwealth.”

PHOTO BY ED MATTHEWS | STAFF FILE PHOTOJunior Samantha Au, moving the ball up the field against MississippiState last year, scored a goal in UK’s season-opening win.

SEC credential policy may affectmedia’s coverage of UK sports

By Ben [email protected]

The Associated Press and Gannett Co. an-nounced Monday afternoon they would notaccept credentials to cover Southeastern Con-ference sporting events under the current SECcredential policy.

Barring a major change in the current cre-dential policy or a change in the stance of theAP or Gannett, these two organizationswill not be cover-ing any SECsporting eventsthis year.

Several othernews organiza-tions are stillmulling their actionsbut could also choose toreject credentials under the currentpolicy.

The Kentucky Kernel is still reviewing itsoptions regarding the credential policy and hasnot yet decided whether or not to accept thenew policy or to decline.

The AP and Gannett, which own severalmajor newspapers in the South including The(Louisville) Courier-Journal, The (Jackson,Miss.) Clarion-Ledger and The (Nashville,Tenn.) Tennesseean, rejected the controversialpolicy even after a revision was issued onAug. 14. Gannett owns at least one newspaperin each of the nine states with an SEC!mem-ber institution.

The AP is the world’s oldest and largestnewsgathering organization and provideswire reports from games, practices andnews conferences to many newspapers andWeb sites, including ESPN.com, Yahoo.comand SportsIllustrated.com. Many smallernewspapers also rely on the AP for gamecoverage of various SEC teams across theSouth.

“We are not signing,” said AP!AssociateGeneral Counsel Dave Tomlin in a story from

editorandpublisher.com. “We don’t want toagree to this. We don’t want to go into a stadi-um under these credential terms.”

Some of the major concerns media outletshave raised regarding the credential policy in-clude:

! A ban on live blogging on newspaperWeb sites during games.

! A ban on the use of video for game cov-erage on newspaper Web sites.

! Photographs taken by media organiza-tions during games may only be used

for regular news coverage and can-not be sold, archived or

used in any other form ofcoverage.

! Newspapers arerequired to grant li-censing privileges tothe SEC and its mem-

ber universities for allphotos and other im-ages at the request of

the SEC and its member institutions.! Strict time-based restrictions on the use

of pre-game and post-game video and audio.The SEC issued its first media credential

policy in early August. Several media organi-zations raised numerous concerns with thepolicy and the SEC decided to revise the poli-cy.

After reviewing the revised policy overthe past two weeks, several news organiza-tions felt many of their concerns were notadequately addressed. The SEC could still is-sue another revision to the policy, in whichcase the organizations could change theirstance and accept credentials.

The policy will not affect the footballteam’s season-opening contest against Miamiof Ohio, as the game is not played at an SECsite and media credentials for that game are is-sued by Miami of Ohio, a member of the Mid-American Conference. All other 2009 footballgames are run by UK or other SEC memberinstitutions.

PHOTO COURTESY OFMCCLATCHY


Sprinter keeps pace with world’s fastestEver wonder what it’s

like to be the fastest personin the world?

Rondel Sorrillo might nothave abad idea.

Sorril-lo, a UKsprinter,recentlyrepresent-ed hishomecountry ofTrinidadand Toba-go in the

200m at the World Track andField Championships. The200m competition ran fromAug. 18-20, and runnersneeded to advance past threeheat stages to qualify for thefinal.

In all three stages, Sorril-lo drew the same heat as Ja-maica’s Usain Bolt.

Sorrillo didn’t reach thefinals; he finished sixth in hissemifinal heat and finished13th at the Championships.But three times over the spanof two days, he raced directlyagainst the fastest man in thehistory of civilization.

And in the face of directcomparison to the incompa-rable Bolt, Sorrillo faredwell. So well at times, thedifference between the twoseemed intangible.

In the first heat, Sorrillo(20.74) finished second toBolt by four hundredths of asecond. That’s point-oh-four,not oh-point-four. Sure, Boltwas jogging — and itseemed like a light jog at that

— but still. At that point intime, the only thing separat-ing Sorrillo from Bolt wasfour hundredths of a second.

What can you even do infour hundredths of a second?

Nothing. You can’t doanything.

If you get out a stop-watch just to see how fastyou can click the buttontwice, you can’t even getfour hundredths. My researchshowed me 17 or 18 hun-dredths of a second is aboutaverage.

Divide that by four, andthat was about the differencebetween UK’s own and Bolt,who has now twice brokenMichael Johnson’s 200mworld record which manythought to be unbeatable.

It’s not limited to us hu-mans; Google can’t even doanything in that span of time,four hundredths. When yousearch, Google reports backto you how many results itfound and how quickly it op-erated. Google’s best: point-oh-seven.

Man nor machine candifferentiate the two sprint-ers’ performances.

In the quarterfinals, Sor-rillo (20.58) finished fifth toBolt, the two separated by.17. That’s a little bit more ofa tangible margin. After all,you can start and stop yourstopwatch as fast as you canin that amount of time.

Sarcasm aside, 0.17 isstill a pretty thin margin toseparate yourself from thefastest man in the world.

Sorrillo failed to qualify

for the final; he ran a 20.63in the semifinals to Bolt’s20.08 —Bolt still appeared tobe jogging. That’s over half asecond, which is significantin the track world.

But to the rest of theworld?

If only half a second sep-arates you from the fastestman in the world, I’d sayyou’re pretty darn close.Quick hits

After a long summerbreak, students should spendWednesday, UK’s first day ofclasses, catching up. In thespirit of catching up, here arethree quick hits to help getyou caught up around UK’ssporting world.

And in the spirit of Ron-del Sorrillo, I’ll try my bestto write each in 20.74 sec-onds:

1. Last year, UK golfersAndy Winings and BenFuqua played their seniorseasons together. Winings isnow playing professionally,having already won one tour-nament as a professional.Fuqua, however, applied forand received one more yearof eligibility from theNCAA.

If Fuqua doesn’t makesome noise this season, fel-low senior Jordan Blann will.My money’s on both.

2. For one reason or an-other, UK volleyball is finallygetting some well deservednational attention. Thanks tothe SEC’s media mega-dealwith ESPN, two of the Cats’matches in 2009 will air na-

tionally on ESPNU.More regional television

appearances are expected tobe announced soon accordingto UK Athletics. Whether ornot all of the above appear-ances would happen withoutthe football-driven ESPNdeal is debatable. Either way,I’m sure head coach CraigSkinner doesn’t mind.

3. I was going to use thisspace to get you caught upon basketball happenings butby the time I finish writingthis sentence, John Caliparimay very well have postedsomething new on Twitter,Facebook, CoachCal.com oran entirely new platform.And since fans are so enam-ored with hearing Calipari’severy thought, I wonder:Could Twitter have savedBilly Gillispie?

Ah, probably not.James Pennington is a

journalism senior. E-mail himat [email protected].

If you get out a stop-watch just to see howfast you can click the

button twice, you can’teven get four hun-

dredths ... and that wasabout the difference

between UK’s own and(Usain) Bolt.

JAMESPENNINGTON

Kernelcolumnist

Go Green. Recycle this Kernel.


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By Mike JonesMcClatchy Newspapers

FORT WORTH, Texas — The lawyer for Oklahomasenior linebacker Mike Balogun said Monday that heis in negotiations with a lawyer for the NCAA to getBalogun's case reheard by the body's amateurism com-mittee in hopes of reaching an out-of-court settlement.

At the heart of the ca-se is whether Balogun com-peted in semi-professional football after turning 21,which would be a violation.

"If we can convince the NCAA that the most reli-able and credible evidence out there suggests that he didnot play after his 21st birthday—and they certify him—that's the best thing for Mike," attorney Woody Glasssaid. "And that's what I'm trying to get done now."

Glass said he hoped for a resolution before theSooners' season-opening game Sept. 5 againstBrigham Young in Arlington and that he felt he had anagreement from the NCAA to expedite the process.

"This is all subject to these committee membersbeing available, having all the information and get-ting on a conference call," Glass said. "We are work-ing to get dates set. My hope is that we never have togo to court because they certify Mike and he finishesout the season and we go on down the road."

The NCAA decertified Balogun on Aug.14 in thebelief that he participated in a North American Foot-ball League game after Sept. 28, 2004, citing evi-dence that was contrary to sworn affidavits on Balo-gun's behalf.

In the interim, Glass said he preferred to keep thecase out of court after he obtained a temporary injunc-tion allowing Balogun to continue to practice until fi-nal dispensation. Glass said he felt confident that hecould obtain a permanent injunction to allow Balogunto participate, but that he would expect the NCAA toappeal. If that appeal were lost, the NCAA has an op-tion under bylaw 19.7 to force Oklahoma to forfeit anygame in which Balogun participated. An Ohio court,however, recently struck down that bylaw in a similarcase involving Oklahoma State pitcher Andrew Oliver,who sued the NCAA to regain his eligibility.

Glass conceded the process with the NCAA willtake some time.

"The way I understand the process is that therehas to be a submitted proposed finding of fact that theNCAA investigator will prepare with the input of OUand myself," he said. "If we can agree on some find-ing of fact, it will further expedite the process. It justdepends on what they initially propose to us.

"Obviously, we're going to be in some dispute onthe facts. But if they couch it in a way that, 'Well, thisguy has said this,' rather than that being a fact, I couldprobably work with that a little bit."

Assuming the parties cannot reach agreement onfindings of fact, the case will go to an internal ap-peals committee within the NCAA, then to the ama-teurism committee that has final word.

Glass said he has proposed to appear before theamateurism committee, but that would be an excep-tion to procedure.

OU linebacker’samateur status

questioned By Ira WindermanSun Sentinel

Miami Heat forwardMichael Beasley recentlychecked into a Houston rehabili-tation facility, amid concernsabout his well-being.

Two sources familiar withthe situation said Beasley was atthe facility before the recent flapregarding a photo he posted tohis since-discontinued Twitteraccount that showed what mightbe perceived as baggies of mari-juana in the background.

"Mike is a little down rightnow because of all that's goingon," personal manager BruceShingler said Monday. "This isall added stress for him."

Under NBA rules, teams arenot allowed to comment on theleague's substance-abuse poli-cies. However, it has been con-firmed through an independentsource Beasley has entered intoa treatment program.

"He's compliant out in Hous-ton, just trying to do everythingthat is asked of him at this par-ticular moment," Shingler said."He's OK right now."

In addition, it was confirmedBeasley had already been placedin the league's substance-abuseprogram after being fined $50,000last year by the NBA for unspeci-fied violations at the league's rook-ie symposium. While marijuanause was not cited at the time, therewas a pungent odor from whereBeasley was said to have been.

The NBA substance-abusepolicy mandates actions for useand possession. It is possibleBeasley "checked in" to the fa-cility merely to complete histime in the league's program.

Under the league's sub-stance-abuse program, teams arenot informed of a player's firsttwo strikes, although Beasleymade it known to the Heat hewas in the program. A thirdstrike for a marijuana violationcalls for a five-game suspension.

It is not known if the currentsituation adds another strike inthe program, and whether itwould be a second or thirdstrike. There has not been anyleague notice of such a suspen-sion. However, the Heat's regu-lar season does not open until

Oct. 28, which is when any sus-pension would begin.

"Per the collective-bargain-ing agreement, we don't com-ment on any issues with regardsto the anti-drug program," NBAVice President Tim Frank said,making it clear he was not ad-dressing a specific case.

Beasley's latest Twitter ac-count, GorillaBeas, disappearedsometime overnight Saturday.

That was shortly after heself-posted a photo of a new "Su-perCoolBeas" tattoo on his back,which also happened to be thename of his first Twitter account.

Inspection of the photoshowed two baggies in the back-ground, which some have as-sumed to be marijuana.

"I don't know who took thatpicture. Obviously, it wasn'tMike taking it," Shingler said. "Ireally have no clue about that."

Before Beasley's Twitter ac-count was closed and erased,these three posts were offered:

"Y do I feel like the wholeworld is against me!!!!!!! . . . Ican't win for losin!!!!!!!!!!"

"Feelin like it's not worthlivin!!!!!!! I'm done"

"not feelin this at all!!!!!"The team has been in contact

with Beasley since."I truly think they were tak-

en out of context," Shingler saidof those posts. "One thing aboutthe Twitter thing, it can misleadand be misread at times.

"He's just so eager to getback to the season and prove tothe people and fans and criticsthat he is 100 percent focused onbasketball and trying to elimi-nate all the negativity."

Twitter continued to play arole in the story Monday, withMichael Beasley Sr. posting onhis feed, "What Michael jr. Isgoing thur is just a bump on theroad we call life, please pray forhim, he needs it. Thank you toall my followers."

In the wake of Beasley'sNBA censure for his behaviorand ensuing cover-up at lastsummer's rookie orientation, thismostly had set up as a quietsummer for the talented forwardtaken out of Kansas State.

Beasley, 20, averaged 13.9points and 5.4 rebounds for theHeat last season.

Beasley entersrehab facility


By Jason WhitlockMcClatchy Newspapers

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — At some point,we have to go back to allowing young peoplethe opportunity to be kids, to mature and ad-just at an appropriate pace.

Right now, they're crashing under theweight of expectations and adult-size responsi-bilities.

Michael Beasley always struck me as anovergrown kid who was asked to be a manlong before he was ready.

His tale of depression and self-medicationis quite common in professional athletics,where too many young men have been raisedthroughout their teens to play the role of fa-ther, husband and provider to an assortment offriends and family.

We don't know the details of what putBeasley, the Miami Heat's rookie forward andformer Kansas State one-and-doner, in a reha-bilitation center.

We have the "Supercool Beas" back-tattoopicture he tweeted that raised questions aboutwhether there was a dime bag of weed in thebackground of the photo. And we also haveBeasley's postpicture tweets he sent out com-plaining that the world was against him andthat life isn't worth living.

The picture and the cryptic sound of thenotes posted on Twitter do not tell a full story.They're just a tiny glimpse at a confused kid.

What I do know is that many of the filthyrich, seemingly world-by-the-tail athletes weenvy are actually quite miserable. You wouldbe, too, if you were in their position.

Even in a historic recession, money is notthe key to happiness. For young people, mon-ey and the pursuit of it often creates far moreproblems than it solves. And the emotionalcrash from receiving wealth, material posses-sions and no happiness is overwhelming for ayoung person.

It's like a woman getting her dreamboyfriend to finally marry her and realizing ayear into the marriage the ceremony did noth-ing to slow his wandering, lustful eye. Wewish for the wrong things.

We all want to be born with Michael Jor-dan's, John Elway's and Derek Jeter's physicalgifts. A normal childhood and attentive parentsare superior aspirations.

Your childhood, teen years and early 20sare meant to be spent relatively responsibility-free. No one is supposed to treat you like a po-tential lottery ticket, the key to relieving all theresponsibility they acquired with bad deci-sions.

Beasley spent his teen years as a basket-ball prodigy, transferring from school toschool in an attempt to stay eligible for a col-lege scholarship and a quick exit to the NBA.

Grown men mentored Beasley andcoached him in basketball partly out of gen-uine concern and partly because they knewthere was a potential payday or job at the endof the rainbow.

You've seen me make this point before,but it's worth repeating: Money and fame haveturned professional sports into the movie in-dustry. The games are overrun with stage par-ents, manipulative agents, conniving coachesand exploitive owners.

Kids are in over their heads, particularlykids from one- or no-parent families. And nowthere's no longer a support-maturation process.There's no safety net.

God, I hate to sound old, but Americaneeds to reinstitute the military draft. Eight-een-year-olds used to spend two to four yearsin a disciplined, supportive environment be-fore being given the freedom to ruin theirlives.

Great basketball players used to spendtwo to four years in college learning aboutthe real world before being handed wealthand fame.

Kids used to be raised. Now they grow up.And in the process of growing up, they saddlethemselves with baby mamas and a boatloadof other responsibilities that ensure they'll beperfectly miserable once they achieve theirlifelong dream.

I'm glad Beasley is taking a timeout andtrying to figure things out. Many of his peersare skating along in denial that they need thehelp Beasley is receiving.

Too many athletes forcedto grow up too fast

Go Green.Recycle this Kernel.

And your homework.

By Chuck MyersMcClatchy-Tribune News Service

The British alternativerock band Elbow finally findsitself "mercifully free of thepressures" of anonymity.

All it took was three bril-liant records, followed by anoverdue commercial break-through.

"The Seldom Seen Kid"(Geffen), the latest albumfrom the rock quintet (singer-guitarist Guy Garvey, bassistPete Turner, drummerRichard Jupp, guitarist MarkPotter and keyboardist CraigPotter), has reaped well-de-served praise from numerousmusic quarters, and scoredthe prestigious Mercury Prizein 2008 and the Best BritishGroup award for the band atthis year's Brit Awards.

Yet, as any long-time El-bow fan will tell you, "TheSeldom Seen Kid" merelyrepresents the latest install-ment a well-established cre-ative continuum.

Recently, frontman Gar-vey discussed Elbow's suc-cess and artistic process, asthe group from Manchesterwrapped up its latest NorthAmerican tour.

The Mercury Prize repre-sents a significant high pointin Elbow's career. But it didn'tcome easy.

The band, which hasplayed together for 18 years,released its debut, "Asleep inthe Back," in 2001. The al-bum exhibited a ranging mu-sical dexterity that echoedearly Radiohead and the pro-gressive vibe of rock legendslike Genesis and Pink Floyd.The record also earned theensemble its first MercuryPrize nomination.

Elbow's follow-ups, "Castof Thousands" in 2004 and"Leaders of the Free World"in 2005, further underscoredthe group's talent for moving,potent numbers.

The band faced a signifi-cant problem with its label,V2, however, during the re-lease of "Leaders of the Free

World.""By the time V2 released

that record, they were col-lapsing," recalled Garvey."The fact that they were col-lapsing meant that we'd didn'tget the record service the waywe wanted ... We're veryproud of that record, and stillare. But there were Elbowfans in the world that didn'tknow it was out. It was ahuge disappointment. But thefirst thing we always do whenfaced with a disappointmentor a setback, which has beengoing on for a long time, isget in the studio and startwriting."

Any concern the band feltover V2's demise gave wayquickly to focus in the studio,and in early 2008, "The Sel-dom Seen Kid" arrived.

"Mark said a long timeago that you don't needrecord labels to makerecords," said Garvey. "And,he's absolutely right. Wemade 'The Seldom Seen Kid'without a record label, justthe five of us, with Craig do-ing the producing this time.So for this one to be the onethat's got the commercial suc-cess, the first one we've donecompletely on our own, inour own studio, makes useven prouder."

Each Elbow album fur-nishes a decided start-to-fin-ish listening experience. Yetthe group's records may notreach listeners in their entire-ty these days due to musicdownloads.

While downloads provideincome for recording artists,

Garvey has mixed feelingsabout the distribution method.

"I'd be lying if I said wedidn't consider commercialitywhen choosing singles. But, Iwould love to be able to bun-dle an album. ... In downloadculture, where music is con-cerned, obviously it's trou-bling that people are stealingmusic. At the same time, I'veonly got a problem with thatif you can afford music. Ifyou can afford music and yousteal it, then there's a specialplace in hell reserved for you.

"Yeah, but I wish youcould only download albums(in their totality)."

In the meantime, Elbowhas its attention on a moreimmediate matter — a fifthrecord planned for sometimein 2010.


Alternative rock band Elbowsits way to top of British music scene

Elbow front man GuyGarvey performs dur-ing a sold out concertin Washington, D.C.,August 4, 2009. Theband was awardedthe Mercury Prize in2008 and the BestBritish Group awardat the 2009 BritAwards. Elbow isplanning a fifth recordfor sometime in 2010.

PHOTO BYCHUCKMYERSMCT


By John SmallwoodPhiladelphia Daily News

PHILADELPHIA — So many things to fix,but so little time to get them all corrected.

To be honest, right now, you can applythat to all phases of the Eagles — offense, de-fense and special teams.

Still, while no unit has distinguished itselfduring the first two preseason losses, defen-sive coordinator Sean McDermott is beingwatched by Bird backers with a little morescrutiny.

He's the rookie coordinator charged withreplacing the iconic Jim Johnson. He's the onewith no track record. He's the one whose unithas been toasted for 38 points when, presum-ably, most of the starters were on the fieldagainst New England and Indianapolis.

Think what you want about head coachAndy Reid and offensive coordinator MartyMornhinweg, but past results have shown thatonce they get all the players they're countingon healthy, they'll figure a way to get this of-fense working efficiently.

And whether it's fair or not, if the lateJohnson were still the Eagles defensive coor-dinator, we'd think much the same way aboutthe defensive side of the game.

But we don't know what McDermott isyet. We can believe that he has been properlyprepared for this role, but we don't how he'sgoing to perform.

We don't have enough empirical evidenceto know if the Eagles' defensive lapses in thefirst two preseason games are easily cor-rectable with proper adjustments and execu-tion or a sign of something more troublesome.

"I do," McDermott said Sunday whenasked if he thought he is where he needs to beas a defensive coordinator at this stage. "I feellike I'm on schedule in terms of my develop-ment.

"It's important that, just like the players,we need to make progress and that includesme, that I develop continually with each weekand with each game. As I mentioned before,my second call is better than my first, and mythird game is better than my second."

That all may be true, but the problem isthat whatever McDermott and his defensehave been doing, it hasn't been good enough.And if it doesn't get better in the next fewweeks, this defense is going to be in for a lotof hurt come Sept. 13 when the Eagles openthe regular season at the Carolina Panthers.

You can say what you want about the in-significance of preseason games. You caneven point out that the Eagles faced futureHall of Fame quarterbacks Tom Brady andPeyton Manning in those first two games.

The facts, however, remain that the Eaglesdefense has not looked impressive, and thatadds more emphasis on the notion that Mc-Dermott wants to see his unit play significant-ly better in Thursday's game against Jack-sonville at Lincoln Financial Field.

Considering the primary goal of the lastpreseason game is to ensure your starterscome away healthy for the season opener, thegame against Jacksonville will be the finalchance for the projected starters to clean upthe messes they have left thus far.

"On an individual basis and play-by-playbasis, there were some outstanding efforts,"McDermott said of the Indianapolis gamewhere the starters surrendered two first-quar-ter touchdown passes to Manning. "Obviouslyas an overall defense, generally speaking, itwasn't where we needed to be from an execu-tion and fundamental standpoint. We have along list of items where our focus is right nowon areas where we can get better."

I find it a bit discouraging that after a fulltraining camp and two preseason games, Mc-Dermott's emphasis has to be on the executionof fundamentals.

I don't expect the Eagles running on allcylinders right now, but I'd at least like to seethem be able to shift out of first gear.

"You want to see the ones come out andstart fast, No. 1," McDermott said of what hewants his defense to show him against Jack-sonville. "You want them to come and estab-lish an attitude and mentality of this defenseand execute the defense from pre-snap untilthe whistle blows."

McDermott sounded like a guy confident

that the issues have been identified and can becorrected.

"We've gone back to the drawing board tomake sure that we understand what's going onthere," McDermott said. "We hope (the prob-lem have been corrected).

"That's what you do as a coach. You comeback and it provides a learning opportunityand a teaching opportunity. So, we'll treat it assuch."

The thing is that this is a timed test, andthe clock is rapidly winding down before acrucial pass or fail exam will be taken.

"We have a long way to go until we arewhere we need to be," McDermott said. "Evenwhen we are where we need to be, we willstill have a long way to go.

"(The final preseason games better beenough time) because in two weeks from nowwe'll be kicking off against Carolina. That's aformidable opponent down there. There won'tbe any time for it not to be enough time then.”

McDermott, Eagles defense already under the gunPhiladelphiaEaglesdefensivecoordinatorSeanMcDermottspeaks dur-ing a newsconferencebefore prac-tice at theNovacareComplex inPhiladel-phia, Penn-sylvania,Sunday,August 23,2009.

PHOTO BYDAVIDMAIALETTIPHILIDELPHIANEWS

“It’s important that, just like theplayers, we need to make progressand that includes me, that I develop

continually with each week andwith each game.”

Sean McDermottdefensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles


By John JeansonneNewsday

When sports talk goesfrom X's and O's to X's andY's — chromosomes — thelevel of expertise falls off dra-matically. Amid the furor ofsome screeching headlines("She is a He!"), competitors'accusations and track officials'confirmation that they willsubject women's world 800-meter champion Caster Se-menya of South Africa to gen-der verification tests, most ob-servers appear to be in overtheir heads regarding the com-plexities of sexual identity.

Almost everything aboutthe issue is fuzzy: Where todraw the biological line be-tween male and female, ex-actly what standard is used bythe track authorities in deem-ing a female ineligible tocompete as a woman, precise-ly what tests answer suchquestions. The InternationalAssociation of Athletics Fed-erations (IAAF) has asked forreports that will take weeks toreview — from a gynecolo-gist, an endocrinologist, apsychologist, a specialist ininternal medicine and a gen-der expert.

This is not just about lev-els of testosterone, chromo-somes, external genitalia orpossible genetic mutations,experts said. Ross Tucker, aUniversity of Cape Town ex-ercise physiologist, called it"maybe the most difficult eth-ical debate in sport. Rangingfrom issues of social accept-ance, to the role of urology, tothe blurred lines between ge-netic advantage and unequalcompetition, it's all there."

At the heart of the dis-pute, of course, are suspicionsof whether Semenya had anunfair edge. Only 18, she first

caught the track world's atten-tion in July when she won theAfrican Junior Champi-onships with a world-leadingtime in the 800 — almostnine seconds faster than shehad run a year ago.

That startling improve-ment triggered an IAAF dop-ing investigation, which sub-sequently found nothingamiss. When Semenya re-duced that July personal bestby more than a second — to1:55.45 — at this week'sworld championship meet inBerlin, two of her beaten ri-vals publicly complainedabout her being allowed tocompete with women.

"Just look at her," de-manded Russia's MariyaSavinova. Italy's Elisa Cusmatold Italian reporters: "Thesekind of people should not runwith us. For me, she's not awoman. She's a man."

Back home in SouthAfrica, a Sowetan tabloid rana front-page photo of Se-menya's birth certificate,clearly listing her as female,and her parents expressedoutrage at questions abouttheir daughter's gender.Leonard Cheune, president ofSemenya's national track andfield federation, called the sexaccusations racist, voiced by"the same people who don'twant the 2010 World Cup(scheduled for South Africa),the same people who bringblack people down and thesame people who refuse tobelieve that Africans canmake it on the world stage."

The minefield of identify-ing and banning males at-tempting to compete as fe-males has been tread before,with inconclusive results.Ewa Klobukowska, the 1964Olympic 100-meter bronzemedalist and member of

Poland's gold-medal relayteam, originally passed a so-called "visual verification"test but three years later failedone of the just-instituted,more elaborate gender tests;Poland's world relay recordwas then struck from thebooks.

Spanish hurdler MariaJose Martinez Patino failed atest that revealed she wasborn with a Y chromosome,but her eligibility eventuallywas restored. The RussianPress sisters, three-timeOlympic shot put and discuschampion Tamara and her sis-ter Iryna, together set 26world records but both disap-peared from competitionwhen sex tests were institutedat international events in thelate 1960s.

A more shocking revela-tion about an Olympic cham-pion came in 1980, when1932 sprint gold medalistStella Walsh was shot deadduring a 1980 robbery at-tempt that it was learned, as aresult of her autopsy, that shehad male sexual organs due toa condition known as "Mo-saicism," in which there areboth male and female chro-mosomes. By current rules,Walsh was a man.

On Friday, Britain's Tele-graph newspaper contactedAndreas Krieger, who wonthe 1986 European women'sshot put title as Heidi Krieger.After years of being requiredby the East German sportsmachine to use steroids,Krieger underwent a sex-change operation followingathletic retirement. "I feel pityfor her," Krieger told theTelegraph. "But what is reallyabsurd is that the discussionabout whether she is a man ora woman is being carried outin such a public forum."

Gender:Sport’s toughest question

By Frank SchwabThe Gazette

Denver Broncos fans don't seem to be tooanxious to go to Invesco Field at Mile Highthis week just to boo Jay Cutler in a preseasongame.

Tickets for Sunday night's nationally tele-vised game between the Broncos and Bearsare reasonably easy to come by on the onlineauction site eBay, and the Broncos haven't got-ten any extra national media credential re-quests. The game will be Cutler's first in Den-ver since a messy feud with the Broncos led tohis trade to Chicago.

Even the national television slot is a coin-cidence. NBC announced its preseasonschedule March 30. Cutler was traded April2.

No sets of tickets on the site have beensold for more than $400 recently, and thehighest price per ticket was about $150 eachfor a pair of front row seats.

Broncos spokesman Jim Saccomano said

there have been no additional credential re-quests, although ESPN will have a couple ofreporters at the game.

Even though television ratings for thegame should be very high, that isn't unusualfor the Broncos, at least locally. Denver'sfirst game got a 16.5 rating and a 35 share,the second game got a 15 rating and a 32share, which are good numbers (highestamong all programs in the Denver marketthose weeks), especially considering the latestarts.

"The ratings ought to be off the wall, butthey usually are anyway," Saccomano said.

However, the game will be unusual be-cause of the Cutler factor. He'll likely draw amore passionate response than any otherBroncos opponent in a preseason game. NBCSports spokesman Adam Freifeld said al-though the network wasn't treating the gamemuch differently than other preseason games,there are some good story lines.

"It's a preseason game," Freifeld said. "Butthere's certainly intrigue to it."

Cutler’s return to Denvergreeted with indifference

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