 Classic SI photo by Chuck Solomon |
A Royal legend
George Brett's career numbers -- 3,154 hits, a career .305 average, 317 home runs, 13 All-Star appearances, three batting titles -- speak for themselves, but his team accomplishments say volumes more. From 1976-1985, he led Kansas City to the playoffs seven times, including the 1985 World Series title and the 1980 American League pennant. That same year, he flirted with .400 into September before finishing at .390, the highest average since Ted Williams' .406 in 1941.
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FACES IN THE CROWD |
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Lynette Woodward Wichita
April 4, 1977 -- Lynette, 17, sank a 12-foot jump shot with four seconds remaining to lead Wichita North past previously unbeaten Hutchinson 54-53 in the finals of the state 5-A basketball tournament. She scored a record 113 points in the three-game event.
Career highlight: Captained 1984 Olympic team.
Then photo by Prestige Portraits Inc.; Now photo by Manny Millan
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GREATEST ATHLETES |
Barry Sanders, Wichita
Holds NCAA season rushing record (2,628); retired in 1999 as NFL's second-leading alltime runner (15,269).
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Dean Smith, Emporia
Won 1952 NCAA basketball title as Kansas guard; holds college record for wins, with 879, as North Carolina coach.
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Walter (Big Train) Johnson, Humboldt
Strikeout record (3,508) stood for 56 years; won 416 games with Senators from 1907 to '27; only Cy Young won more.
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FLASHBACK |
1988: A One-Man Show
Danny Manning rose far above Oklahoma to lift upstart Kansas
to the NCAA championship
Who would have thought that an intramural squabble in that hoary football league, the Big Eight conference, would turn into Masterpiece Theatre? Or that Kansas, once 12-8 with its wounded players scattered along the plains like wheat husks, its spirits down and its wayfaring coach, Larry Brown, all but out, would shuck it up one more implausible time? Or that Kansas could escape with as perfectly executed an 83-79 upset victory as any scriptwriter could have imagined?
FULL STORY
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SI COVERS |
Pre-LeBron Phenom: The Aug. 9, 1971 cover of SI made a celebrity out of Mike Peterson, a three-sport high school prodigy in the Mayberryesque town of Yates Center (pop. 2,178), Kan. The story labeled the 5-foot-10, 155-pound Peterson the "greatest athlete in the history of the Hay Capital of the World," and detailed his sporting exploits and All-American attributes. Despite the hype, he was ignored by major-college recruiters. Peterson later played basketball and baseball at Kansas State Teachers College in Emporia, but never made it to the majors.
Click here to see a gallery of every Kansas cover
Click here to purchase this cover from the SI Classic Cover Collection
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THE SI POLL |
Who do Kansans root for? SI asked the Sunflower State residents to weigh in* on sports.
Favorite major league baseball team
Kansas City Royals | 56% |
New York Yankees | 6% |
Atlanta Braves | 5% |
Favorite NFL team
Kansas City Chiefs | 55% |
Denver Broncos | 6% |
Favorite NBA team
Los Angeles Lakers | 10% |
Chicago Bulls | 7% |
Boston Celtics | 6% |
Dallas Mavericks | 6% |
No favorite | 46% |
Favorite NHL team
Detroit Red Wings | 9% |
Colorado Avalanche/div> | 7% |
No favorite | 64% |
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Favorite pro team
Kansas City Chiefs | 39% |
Kansas City Royals | 14% |
Favorite college team
Kansas basketball | 37% |
Kansas State football | 20% |
Greatest athlete who ever lived in or played for a team in your state:
Wilt Chamberlain | 18% |
Gale Sayers | 11% |
George Brett | 10% |
Barry Sanders | 9% |
State's biggest rival
Missouri | 40% |
Nebraska | 22% |
Oklahoma | 15% |
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Favorite announcer
John Madden | 19% |
Bob Costas | 7% |
Mitch Holthaus | 5% |
Max Falkenstien | 5% |
Favorite sport to play
Golf | 18% |
Baseball/softball | 12% |
Swimming | 12% |
Bowling | 10% |
Favorite sports towatch on TV**
Football | 81% |
Basketball | 54% |
Winter Olympics | 52% |
**Multiple responses allowed. | |
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*Harris Interactive poll, conducted online, of 415 Kansas residents who identified themselves as sports fans. Margin of error: +/-5%.
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Sports Illustrated's 50th Anniversary |
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STATITUDES |
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4 National championships won by the University of Kansas men's basketball team. In 1936, the Helms Foundation retroactively crowned the Jayhawks the 1922 and 1923 champions in recognition of back-to-back Missouri Valley titles and wins over rival Missouri. Kansas won NCAA crowns in 1952 and 1988.
21 NCAA baseball postseason tournament appearances by Wichita State in 26 years under head coach Gene Stephenson. Stephenson's career record with the Shockers is 1,404-447-3, and he entered the 2003 season with the best winning percentage among active NCAA Division I coaches.
28.6 Average points per game scored by Kansas' Clyde Lovellette in 1952, when he became the first player in NCAA history to lead the nation in scoring and win an NCAA title in the same season -- a feat that has yet to be matched.
37 Age at which Royals Hall of Famer George Brett won his third batting title, becoming the first man to win hitting crowns in three different decades (he also finished with the highest league average in 1976 and 1980). Brett hit .388 the second half of the 1990 season to finish at .329.
52 Points scored by Wilt Chamberlain against Northwestern in his debut for the University of Kansas varsity team on Dec. 3, 1956 -- still a Jayhawks' single-game record. He also grabbed 31 rebounds in one of the most dominating individual performances in Kansas hoops history.
100 Consecutive sellouts at 79,451-seat Arrowhead Stadium by the Kansas City Chiefs, dating back to the start of the 1991 season.
1985 Year the Harlem Globetrotters picked Lynette Woodward, captain of the gold-medal winning Olympic basketball team in 1984 and four-time All-American at the University of Kansas, as their first female member.
9.79 Then world-record time in the 100-meter set by Kansas City, Kan., native Maurice Greene in 1999 (it was broken by rival Tim Montgomery, who ran it in 9.78 in 2002). Greene won gold medals in the 2000 Olympic 100-meter and 4x100-meter events.
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ENEMY OF THE STATE |
Al Davis
As Chiefs fans, Kansans harbor no love for the Oakland Raiders -- especially team owner Davis. Asked to name their most hated opponent, the poll respondents cited the University of Missouri (25%), the Raiders (21%) and the University of Nebraska (20%).
Al Davis | 16% |
Roy Williams | 10% |
Bob Stoops | 8% |
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FAST FACTS |
Admission to statehood: Jan. 29, 1861 (34th state)
Area: 82,282 square miles
Bird: Western Meadowlark
Flower: Sunflower
Nickname: Sunflower State
Major college programs: Kansas Jayhawks, Kansas State Wildcats, Wichita State Shockers
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Capital: Topeka
Population: 2,688,418
Pro sports teams: Kansas City Chiefs, Kansas City Royals
Economy: Agriculture -- Cattle, wheat, sorghum, soybeans, hogs, corn.
Industry -- Transportation equipment, food processing, printing and publishing, chemical products, machinery, apparel, petroleum, mining. |
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