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Marcy Beins has spent many hours over the past eight years watching her three children swim in the Heights High pool.

She's watched them swim in cramped conditions from the stands in what her daughter, Bailey, a senior swimmer, terms a "little dungeon."

Now it looks like a possible $350 million bond issue for Wichita public schools wouldn't improve Heights' pool.

A revised proposal, presented to the Wichita school board on Monday night by Citizens Alliance for Responsible Education -- a group of bond supporters -- suggested no new pools at Heights, South, Southeast and West.

Of those schools, only Heights has a regulation-size pool. The proposal still has a new pool for East and a replacement at North.

One of the most-intriguing questions of the offseason for the Wichita Thunder has been answered: Travis Clayton and Jason Duda, cornerstones of the hockey franchise for years, will be back next season, new coach Brent Bilodeau said Tuesday.

Duda will play his 13th year in Wichita; Clayton his 12th.

In the past, the return of the team's most-recognizable players has virtually been a given. But after the long-time linemates suffered through disappointing seasons in 2007-08, their futures in Wichita seemed uncertain for the first time.

Duda, limited by injury, played in 42 games and scored 31 points, including a career-low 12 goals. Clayton played in 62 games, scoring a career-low 50 points.

Duda and Clayton, who between them hold nearly every career offensive record for the Thunder, didn't enjoy the benefit of being surrounded by much talent; the Thunder (20-42-2) sputtered to the worst season in the 16-year history of the franchise.

When the summer started, Wichita State baseball coaches knew they would need to replace the weekend rotation for the 2009 season.

Now, they must replace the starting infield. Shortstop Dusty Coleman has agreed to a contract with the Oakland Athletics. His departure means only right fielder Ryan Jones returns as a starter from the 2008 team that reached a super regional.

"It's devastating to us, there's no doubt about that," WSU coach Gene Stephenson said. "I'm happy for Dusty and proud of him. But for us, it's devastating."

The unexpected development means coaches are hitting the recruiting trail hard. They need to find an infielder who can help replace Coleman and Logan Watkins, a recruit ticketed to play second base as a freshman before he signed with the Chicago Cubs.

"We've lost two guys in Watkins and Dusty that we really didn't expect we would lose," Stephenson said.

Larry Johnson is taking a knee on the practice field, watching the Chiefs' morning session and soaking it in.

No, he's not injured or exhausted. The foot he broke eight months ago isn't acting up again, not causing the shooting pain that ran up his middle toe and toward his ankle, even after doctors told him it had healed.

It is Monday morning, and Johnson is watching his teammates, the young running backs who might succeed him someday. He crouches for a few moments and then slides on his Chiefs helmet, running toward the huddle.

Ask him, and he'll tell you: This is his team -- still.

"Guys follow what I do," Johnson says between training camp sessions Monday. "They can learn from what I do and as far as what I can do on the football field. That's what they should be following."

The one-run lead the Wingnuts took in the sixth inning against Sioux City on Monday seemed too good to be true.

Turns out, it was.

By the seventh, Sioux City had regained the lead and Wichita was sending a pitcher to bat after exhausting its designated hitter.

On a night when circumstances were working against them from the start, the Wingnuts didn't make the situation much easier for themselves. A patchwork pitching staff struggled to throw strikes and couldn't keep enough Explorers stranded on the bases in Sioux City's 8-5 win.

With several relievers unavailable due to injury or excessive work in recent days and normal reliever David Cross making a start in place of the injured Leonard Landeros, the Wingnuts managed to get through nine innings with four mostly ineffective pitchers.

z-clinched title.

y-clinched second and automatic berth into NBC World Series.

Monday's Games

Liberal at Dodge City 4-2, Liberal 3-7

Angels 7, Red Sox 5 -- Casey Kotchman and Torii Hunter homered in a six-run sixth inning as the Angels defeated Daisuke Matsuzaka and Boston.

• Kotchman's two-run homer gave the Angels a 3-2 lead. Hunter's three-run shot drove Matsuzaka (11-2) from the game and equaled the total number of runs he had allowed in his previous five starts. Matsuzaka hadn't given up a homer in any of those games.... Manny Ramirez singled home the Red Sox first two runs and homered off Francisco Rodriguez for the last run in the ninth. It was his 20th homer, making him the eighth player in baseball history to hit that many in 14 consecutive seasons.... The Angels won their sixth straight over the Red Sox, including a three-game sweep in Los Angeles from July 18-20.

Twins 7, White Sox 0 -- Kevin Slowey pitched a six-hitter, Denard Span hit his first major-league home run and Minnesota beat Chicago, striking first in this key AL Central series.

• Slowey (7-7) struck out five and walked one, and the Twins moved within 1 ½ games of the first-place White Sox. These teams play six more times this season, three more this week and all at the Metrodome.

Orioles 13, Yankees 4 -- Adam Jones hit a grand slam and an RBI triple to back Jeremy Guthrie's strong start, leading Baltimore to a blowout that ended New York's 10-game home winning streak.

Wichita State's basketball team will play Georgetown in the Old Spice Classic at 1 p.m. Nov. 27 near Orlando, Fla.

The Thanksgiving Day game will be televised on ESPN2, Cox Cable Ch. 33, from Disney's Wide World of Sports. Matchups for the tournament were announced Tuesday.

The field includes 2008 NCAA Tournament teams Tennessee, Siena, Gonzaga, Michigan State and Georgetown.

WSU will face either Tennessee or Siena in the second round on Nov. 28. Final games are played Nov. 30.

Maryland plays Michigan State and Oklahoma State plays Gonzaga in the other half of the bracket.

Ryan Spears is making his final weeks as an amateur golfer as busy as possible.

Spears birdied four consecutive holes on the back nine Monday at Tallgrass Country Club to secure his second consecutive trip to the U.S. Amateur. His 36-hole score of 5-under-par 137 won the qualifier by five shots and landed him a spot in next month's U.S. Golf Association championship at Pinehurst, N.C.

"Playing here just works for me," said the 22-year-old Spears, who finished his career at Wichita State in May. "It's a funky golf course to a lot of people, but it just suits me."

Spears' closest pursuers were two Wichitans -- Southwest Missouri State sophomore Jack Courington and WSU junior Spencer Christian -- who tied for second at 142. Courington rolled in an 18-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to edge Christian for the first alternate spot.

Spears gave himself a cushion with a 4-under 67 in the morning round. That gave him a three-shot lead over Washburn's Sam Wempe.

Citizens Alliance for Responsible Education submitted a new $350 million proposal for a bond issue Monday. The Wichita school board must approve it and put it on the ballot for voters.

Deletions from the original proposal

• Would not replace swimming pools at Heights, South, Southeast and West ($8 million)

• Would not build eight tennis courts at each of the seven high schools ($4 million)

• Would not make baseball, softball and soccer field upgrades at each of seven high schools ($3.5 million)

When Derby's Jameson Moore got an interception over the middle, no band played, no cheerleaders cheered and no fans roared.

Nope, he just heard a few congratulatory remarks from his teammates and moved on.

Then again, the play happened during a 7-on-7 passing league at Rose Hill High. The only people in the stands were coaches from Derby and Arkansas City.

The 7-on-7 passing leagues aren't about getting publicity or praise. They're about improving.

"We work on the passing game and we're working on getting better at routes and throwing the ball," Derby senior running back Aaron Wilson said. "It's good for all of us."

The Atlanta Hawks completed their deal with Wichita native Maurice Evans on Tuesday, locking up a replacement for sixth-man Josh Childress.

The 6-foot-5 Evans started 47 times for the Orlando Magic last season and averaged a career-high 9.3 points. He was quickly targeted by Atlanta after Childress, a restricted free agent, stunned Atlanta last week by signing with Greek powerhouse Olympiakos.

"He is a quality defender who gives us a physical and athletic presence, whether it's serving as a starter or coming off the bench," Hawks general manager Rick Sund said of Evans. "We are getting a solid player who is coming off his best statistical season, and who also has the talents to spread things on offense with his three-point shooting ability."

Evans reportedly received a three-year deal for about $7.5 million.

• The Philadelphia 76ers signed free agent guard Kareem Rush to help bolster the team's three-point shooting.

The International Olympic Committee agreed Tuesday to allow Iraq to participate in the Beijing Games, reversing itself after Baghdad pledged to ensure the independence of its national Olympics panel.

The decision followed last-minute talks between Iraqi officials and the IOC ahead of Wednesday's deadline to submit competitors' names for track and field events. The Olympics begin Aug. 8.

Iraq is now expected to send two athletes to Beijing to compete in track and field. The decision came too late for five other hopefuls in archery, judo, rowing and weightlifting. The deadline to submit names for those sports expired last week.

Iraq's National Olympic Committee was dissolved by the Baghdad government in May, prompting the IOC to suspend the Mideast country from the Olympics for political interference.

The IOC had insisted the old committee be reinstated even though four members were kidnapped two years ago. Their fates remain unknown.

A 37-year-old Wichita man remains in critical condition at a local hospital following what police said appears to be a hit-and-run accident Sunday afternoon.

Randal Goates was a passenger in a maroon Ford pickup heading west on MacArthur at about 4:35 p.m. Sunday that witnesses said ran a red light and hit a black Dodge pickup driving north on Broadway.

As the Ford was spinning in the intersection, Goates was thrown from the vehicle and hit his head on the pavement. He was not wearing a seat belt, police said.

After the vehicles came to rest, police said, the driver of the Ford ran from the scene and was apprehended by police a short time later. He was taken to a local hospital for treatment of injuries that are not considered life-threatening.

Neither of the two men in the Dodge pickup were injured. Both were wearing seat belts.

Post-vacation movie thoughts (didn't even know I was gone, did you?): • Bravo, Batman --"The Dark Knight" somehow manages to be a "comic book movie" that says bigger-picture things about society and mankind's ability to be selfish and sinister. And Heath Ledger was amazing. I will never forget seeing his Joker in a nurse's uniform.

And director Christopher Nolan employs a cool audio effect in connection with the Joker: When he's on screen a shrill siren that's barely noticeable sounds in the background, getting louder as the scene gets more intense (credit also Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard's score). It's unsettling. And brilliant.

•  Reeves' best shot -- If you haven't seen the trailer for the upcoming "The Day the Earth Stood Still," you're in for a treat. It's the best acting ever by the monotone, emotionless Keanu Reeves -- who gives us a monotone, emotionless alien. Whoa! But Reeves is so darn likable we just keep overlooking his acting with each movie. Maybe if he just didn't talk.

• A dab of ABBA -- The only ABBA songs I knew were "Dancing Queen" and "Take a Chance on Me," but I took a chance on "Mamma Mia!," anyway, and the music is fantastic! The movie itself, though, tries too hard at first, then settles into its skin and just has some fun.

But hey, director Phyllida Lloyd: Back up a little, will you? Your setting is a beautiful island with gorgeous beaches, so what's with all the close-ups? And all the backlit shots against the sun, while we're at it?

• "(Jolie-Pitt) Baby joy: First photos" (In Touch)

• "Obama marriage blowup!" (National Examiner)

Another baby is always the answer to an unstable marriage

• 'A second baby brings Ben (Affleck) and Jen (Garner) closer" (In Touch)

What else is new?

A lot of television viewers assume that there are too many channels out there to keep track of what's on and, worse, that most of what's on isn't very good.

They are right on both counts but wrong on the big picture.

Enough channels to make you dizzy? Sure. Especially since most people don't even know what they get in the cable or satellite packages they're paying for. An abundance of bad shows? Absolutely. It's hard to make great television.

Yet, this summer has been chock-full of superb series. Here are four you should be watching right now:

1. "Mad Men" 9 p.m. Sundays on AMC

Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay (R) (Wingdings 171) ½ (1 hr 50 min) _ The pot-smoking duo (John Cho and Kal Penn) return as they try to outrun authorities who suspect them of being terrorists when they try to sneak a bong on board their flight to Amsterdam.

Doomsday (Not rated) (1 hr 53 min) _ To save humanity from an epidemic, an elite fighting unit must battle to find a cure in a post-apocalyptic zone controlled by a society of murderous renegades.

Shine a Light (PG-13) (Wingdings 171) ½ (2 hrs 10 min) _ Martin Scorsese directs this documentary about rock icons the Rolling Stones, with concert footage from the band's "A Bigger Bang" tour.

TV shows

3rd season _ "The Hills"