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Stories and photos ,
by John Russnogle
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Wednesday, november 1, 1972
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Crew lacks
Four old ladies sitting on a bus stop
bench smiled and waved as the UNL
crew team drove down 0 St. on its
return to Lincoln.
"That's about par for the support
we receive in Nebraska," Coach Allan
Maybee said sarcastically.
The groundwork for a crew
program was started by Maybee eight
years ago. He said his initial effort
brought no response because crew was
"completely foreign to Nebraska."
After figuring out how much
equipment he was going to need for a
crew program and after pocketing
some administrative encouragement,
Maybee began to write letters to get
equipment.
He said he'd accept anything, even a
broken oar, just so he could get the
program started. That first piece of
equipment was a broken oar-from
Don Rose, crew coach at Kansas State
University.
Maybee also got some responses
from east coast schools and in the
spring of 1970 he drove along the
eastern coast picking up cast off
equipment from other schools.
Since crew is not a recognized Big
Eight Conference sport, the UNL
Athletic Department wouldn't sponsor
it. All the equipment and funds for the
team comes from donations.
During that first spring (1970), the
team had to practice at 5 a.m. to fit
around students' schedules. Despite all
its problems and lack of support, the
daily nebraskan
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local support,
team won the first race it entered. The
UNL freshmen team traveled to
Topeka, Kans., and defeated the
Washburn crew team.
The team has since "taken over" a
buildina on the UNL campus,
scheduled for destruction. But despite
May bee's pleas to let the team
continue to store its equipment in the
old tin structure, the University still
wants to tear the building down. If
destroyed, more than $15,000 of
equipment will have to be stored
outside.
Maybee says he can't go to too
much trouble for the crew program,
even if it is a frustrating process.
"To get encouragement and
support we have to go East where
we're welcomed with open arms.
Nebraska's attitude is really cold," he
said.
The problems Maybee has faced
haven't only been here at the
University, however.
In order to make it legal for the
crew to practice, a state law first had
to be amended and eventually
rewritten. Previously it was illegal for
anyone to be in a boat without a life
jacket. A bailing bucket, whistle and
sponge also were standard equipment.
"I think sometimes we offend
people because of our
overenthusiasm," Maybee said. He
added that any offensive attitudes
were unintentional, but also
unavoidable because of all the
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funding
frustration the crew team encounters.
Maybee said competing in events like
the Head-of-the-Charles Regatta gives
the UNL team credibility. He said
coaches and UNL personnel thought
the program was a lark at first, but
began to watch more closely when the
team began to win.
The support from eastern schools
also is increasing, Maybee said.
Institutions such as Notre Dame,
Brown and Purdue have invested time
and equipment in' the UNL program,
he said. "They have bent over
backwards to help us."
The University, on the other hand,
places crew in the league with table
tennis, Maybee said.
"The things we ask our team
members to do are similar to asking
Johnny Rodgers to bring a lawnmower
to football practice to mow the
practice field."
Despite the current status of the
crew program, Maybee predicted that
crew eventually will "come into its
own in the Midwest."
Several coaches in the Midwest are
"willing to do anything to help other
programs," Maybee said. But the real
future of crew in Nebraska lies in the
high schools, he added. They've got to
encourage the sport, he said.
The fact that rowing is not just a
lark is best pointed out, Maybee said,
by a six-member team which drove
1,800 miles non-stop for a 20 minute
race.
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