page 10
daily nebraskan
Wednesday, april 1, 1981
Coach: Road trip losses caused by inconsistency
"J"
- - t: : SM ...
Photo by Mitch Hrdlicka
Nebraska's Mike Harlander gets ready to release a pitch during action at Buck Beltzer Field earlier this season. The
Huskers will host Creighton for a double-header beginning at 1 :30 today.
By Jeff Goodwin
After a road trip that saw the Husker baseball team
win four and lose nine, Nebraska returns home this week
to start its Big Eight season against Oklahoma. The
Huskers also play Creighton in a double-header today at
Buck Beltzer Field. The first game starts at 1:30 p.m.
Nebraska Coach John Sanders said he was disappoint
ed with the Huskers' play in the Hawaii Tournament.
"We just weren't very consistent. We played well in
the early innings and did badly in the late innings."
Sanders also said Nebraska's pitching was shaky in
spots.
"We didn't get the ball over the plate, and as a result,
we ended up putting pressure on our defense."
Sanders said he was satisfied with the offensive pro
duction of the Huskers.
"We've been making some things happen offensively.
We scored enough runs to win most of those games,"
he said.
In order to contend for the Big Eight title, Sanders
said, the Huskers would have to develop more consist
ency from the pitching staff.
"We've also got to shore up our defense and come
aip with the big play. We didn't do that last week," he
said.
The Huskers' pitching will be tested on Saturday when
they meet the Oklahoma Sooners. The Sooners have
scored 16 runs or more in eight games this season. They
are ranked fourth in the country by The College Base
ball News.
"I expect them (Oklahoma) and Oklahoma State to
be right up there with the contenders," Sanders said.
"I don't think this (the losses) will have an effect on
the rest of our games. All the problems we're having
now can be taken care of with some wins," he said.
Football recruit wants to add to Husker tradition
By Bob Asmussen
At the conclusion of his senior year at Omaha West
side, Dan Wingard had a difficult decision to make. The
combination quarterback-receiver-kicker was faced with
the decision of accepting a football scholarship from eith
er Nebraska or Oklahoma. Nebraska won.
"It came down to the fact that I'm from Nebraska,"
Wingard said. "I've gone to the games ever since I can
remember. I'm a Nebraska fan and the chance to play
for them was something I just couldn't pass up."
Both schools recruited Wingard primarily as a kicker,
but Nebraska's promise to let him to try out for split
end weighed heavily on lus decision.
"I don't think Oklahoma knew I was a wide receiver,"
Wingard said. "Coach Osborne said he saw me as a Tim
Smith type. I don't want to be limited to being just a
kicker."
Wingard's versatility had a large impact on his being re
cruited so heavily, according to Omaha Westside Coach
Dan Young.
"With a player like Dan you have someone who can
play three or four different positions," Young said.
"He's an exceptional athlete."
Pleasing decision
Young said he was pleased with Wingard's decision to
attend Nebraska.
"I wanted Dan to go to Nebraska so I could see him
play, but I realized the decision was totally his," Young
said. "I know this sounds selfish, but his choice made me
very happy."
Wingard said he was surprised by the early interest
shown of him.
"At first I was sort of shocked," he said. "It never oc
curred to me that I would be recruited by such great
programs like the ones they have at Nebraska and Okla
homa." Wingard was asked if he is nervous and apprehensive
about going to Nebraska.
"Sure I'm apprehensive," he said. "I hear so much
about how great the players are, and I can't believe I'm
going to be one of the them. Sometimes I say to myself,
my me?'"
Wingard was a quarterback in his sophomore year at
Westside, then became an All-Metro Conference wide re
ceiver his junior year. Young asked Wingard to switch
back to quarterback his senior year. The decision was a
ditticult one to make, he said.
"At first I didn't want to do it," Wingard said. "I had
gotten letters from colleges that wanted me as a wide re
ceiver so I didn't think it was in my best interest. Looking
back now, though, I'm glad I made the switch. It's made
me a better player and has helped me to try and become
more of a team leader."
Following footsteps
Wingard will be following in the footsteps of another
former Westside player, Craig Johnson. Johnson's career
at Nebraska has affected Wingard's feeling about entering
college.
"I know Craig Johnson's brother real well and he told
me Craig was disappointed in his career at Nebraska,"
Wingard said. "He never put down Nebraska or anything,
he just always told me to go to Oklahoma."
Selecting Nebraska was not a cut-and-dried decision for
Wingard.
"I visited Oklahoma and was very impressed," Wingard
said. "The facilities were great and the people were real
nice. The whole thing boiled down to the fact that they
wanted me as a kicker period. If they had shown any will
ingness to let me try another position I might have signed
with them.
"I'm glad I chose Nebraska. It's a great program
and I'm glad I'm going to be a part of it," he added.
The poor press this recruiting class had gotten hasn't
bothered Wingard.
"You don't need blue-chippers to have a great recruit
ing year," Wingard said. "People have to remember that
Nebraska never has a bad recruiting year. We're going to
work very hard and really contribute to the Nebraska
tradition."
Knight's irresponsible behavior
is uncharacteristic of greatness
One month ago it looked like the only way Indiana
would get to Philadelphia would be by getting a job
waiting tables at Bookbinders. The Iowa Hawkcycs
were in first place and coasting, while Indiana was
struggling to finish second.
Then a funny thing happened. The Iowa basketball
team started to play like the Iowa football team. And
Bobby Knight started to breathe fire into the Hoosiers.
Goodbye Hawks. Hello Hoosiers.
Then, with the help of upsets, the Hoosiers roared
through their regional and on to Philadelphia. Once
there, they dominated what many people considered
the strongest Final Four in years.
And how did they manage this with a team that lost
nine games this year, including one to Pan American?
Simple. They had Bobby Knight and no one else did.
It would be absurd to say that Bobby Knight isn't
a good coach. Anyone who has a record of 334-118
lias to be doing something right.
But there's another side to Bobby Knight. There's
the Bobby Knight who was charged with hitting a cop
during the Pan American Games two years ago in
Puerto Rico. And the Bobby Knight who accosted a
referee in a game against Purdue earlier this year. And
the Bobby Knight who shoved an LSU fan against a
wall last Sunday. Unfortunately, a lot of people tend
to forget these things after a coach wins a national
championship.
The English poet John Dryden once said, "Even
victors are by victory undone." Dryden died in 1700,
so he never knew Bobby Knight, hut he could have
been talking about Bobby when he said it.
Nothing seems to satisfy him. After the win against
LSU, possibly the greatest of his career. Knight got in
to his latest dispute. An LSU fan congratulated him on
his win. but Bobby had to have the last word. He made
some comment about the Hoosiers not being Tiger bait
after all. The fan called Knight a name he didn't care
for and the fan ended up being shoved against a wall.
Of course, calling Bobby Knight anything other
than "Sir" is like introducing a marshmallow salesman
to Billy Martin.
But that's not the point. The basketball coach of
Indiana University, or any other university for that
matter, should have more intelligence than to reduce
himself to the level of a barroom brawler. In his posi
tion he represents more than just his own interests.
Somehow one just can't imagine John Wooden or
Gene Bartow doing something like that. They realized
that, as Winston Churchill once said. "The price of
greatness is responsibility." That is something that
Bobby knight hasn't learned yet. And it's something
that he can't learn on the basketball court.
Perhaps Bobby could profit from the words of
another great basketball coach. A! McGuire. who once
said, Wmning is overcmph.,sled. The only tlmc it ,s
really important is in major surgery and war "
