Gruber to chat Friday

Former Kansas University distance runner and current Olympian Charlie Gruber will participate in an online chat on KUsports.com at 3 p.m. Friday.

Gruber has qualified for the 1,500-meter run at the Athens Summer Olympics. Opening ceremonies will be Aug. 13. Gruber won’t run until a week later on Aug. 20.

Click here to submit questions before the chat and to follow along once it begins.

KU Women’s Basketball

Jayhawks unveil schedule

Kansas University women’s basketball fans will have plenty of opportunities to watch the Jayhawks perform under first-year coach Bonnie Henrickson.

KU will have 18 home games during the 2004-2005 season. Henrickson will make her debut Nov. 9 in an exhibition against Fort Hays State.

The Jayhawks will play 11 teams that reached the postseason last year — including Minnesota, a team that reached the NCAA Final Four. KU will meet the Golden Gophers on Dec. 5 in Minneapolis.

The schedule still lacks one home date, which will be filled later. KU officials also expect to announce a multi-game television package. Click here to view the full schedule.

Football

Big Ten to utilize replays

Chicago — The Big Ten will use instant replay this fall, the first conference in the country to do so. If the one-year experiment goes well, other conferences are expected to adopt it.

Under the Big Ten’s system, a technical adviser will watch the game from the press box. If he sees something questionable, officials on the field will be notified via pager and play will be halted while the adviser reviews the call. The call for review must be made before the next play begins, or the opportunity passes.

The only video the adviser can use in his decision is that from the television feed. He’ll also have a digital video recorder — think TiVo — to review the play. In the few cases where a Big Ten game isn’t televised — 90 percent are — the conference will do its own video production for the adviser to use.

The call on the field can be overturned only if there is “indisputable video evidence.”

Kobe Bryant Case

Woman doubts role in trial

Denver — Kobe Bryant’s prosecutors said Wednesday he would be put on trial later this month, even as attorneys for the woman accusing the NBA player of rape suggested her participation is not a sure bet.

Attorney John Clune said his client would have to talk with prosecutors about whether she would go ahead with the criminal case. He said she feared the release of court documents that referred to her sex life threatened her chance of getting a fair trial.

Asked if his client was considering dropping out of the case, Clune told the Associated Press: “That’s something she and prosecutors will have to discuss in the immediate future. The DA’s office will have to make that decision on what they want to do.”

Prosecution spokeswoman Krista Flannigan said prosecutors had been told the woman still would participate even after the transcripts were released earlier this week.

“Nothing has changed with our plans of going forward with the prosecution of this case,” she said. “The impression I got was that the victim needs to have strong resolve.”

Baseball

Former Jayhawk shines

Spokane, Wash. — Former Kansas University baseball player Travis Metcalf of the Spokane Indians went 1-for-2 and scored a run Tuesday in the Eastern Division All-Stars’ 6-4 victory over the West in Class A Northwest League All-Star game at Avista Stadium. An 11th-round pick of the Texas Rangers, Metcalf is hitting .259 with 10 homers and 37 RBIs.