10
Daily Nebraskan
Wednesday, January 12, 1983
S o (0) n r
u
'Voice' of E-Husker basketball
transmits emotion over radio
By Jack Denker
As far as Kent Pavelka is concerned,
the fulfillment of a childhood dream has
made his job as the voice of Nebraska
basketball the "biggest kick I get, period."
Pavelka. operations manager for Oma
ha's KFAB radio, has been broadcasting
Nebraska basketball for nearly nine years
now and said the transition he made from
avid fan to broadcaster lias been "just
the ultimate."
"It's the thing I enjoy doing the most."
said Pavelka of his broadcasts. "1 grew up
in Lincoln and went to as many home
basketball games as I could. So when 1974
came around it was like a dream come
true for me to be cornering a team that
1 used to love as a kid."
Pavelka, who did his first piay-by-play
broadcast with KKNU radio, graduated
from Nebraska in 1971. His first job out
of college was with KHUB in Fremont.
He moved onto KFAB in 1974, where
he became the broadcaster for Cornhus
ker basketball. In addition to basketball,
Pavelka also teams with Lyle Bremser to
do broadcasts of Nebraska football.
"I just happen to be in a position to
do a lot of different things," Pavelka
said.
When Pavelka broadcasts a basketball
game, he said he goes into it with precon
ceived notions that the game itself is an
exciting event. He believes that the excite
ment should reflect the event, therefore
if people can't be at the game in person
the excitement and emotion of it should
be transmitted to them through his voice.
"From an overall standpoint, what I
try to do is paint a mental picture of what
is going on down on the court, because if
I don't do that then the people at home
don't know what's going on. I try to be
specific," Pavelka said.
Oftentimes during his play-by-play
commentary, Pavelka will get so involved
with the action down on the court that
during a real good game he said he feels
as if he's actually playing the game.
When this happens, Pavelka said he
gets very excited and becomes animated.
Inflections in his voice, coupled with
spontaneous hand movements during a
broadcast help him stay on top of the
action, he said.
On one particular occasion, Pavelka's
animated broadcasts almost got him into
trouble with some unruly fans. The game
was last season in Columbia, Mo., where
the Huskers were in the process of up
setting the No. 1 rated Tigers, who were
19-0 at the time.
"People didn't think Nebraska could
win due to their past difficulties at Mis
souri, but Nebraska blew them out any
way and it was the biggest game I'd ever
broadcasted," Pavelka said.
"It was an unbelievable moment forme
to see what was happening and I was
going nuts inside," Pavelka said. "So J
started using my hands and 1 guess I
started to draw some attention, because
the Missouri students around the broad
cast area, who were upset at the time,
started throwing things at me. Conse
quently I had to drop my voice to a whis
per for the rest of the game. I couldn't
believe I was broadcasting the game that
way due to the significance of it, but I
was afraid that I was either going to get
bodily harmed or my equipment would
get damaged."
Close games, according to Pavelka,
are one of the reasons why he has stayed
at KFAB covering Nebraska basketball
for so long. Pavelka admits that he has
often thought about what it would be like
to broadcast for a traditional basketball
powerhouse like UCLA, Kentucky or
North Carolina, but when he weighed all
the pros and cons, he said he came to
the conclusion that broadcasting Nebra
ska basketball "is the most exciting job
around."
"When you think of Nebraska basket
ball you realize that they don't get blown
out that much and there's always an aw
ful lot of drama involved in their games,"
Pavelka said. "Like when they play a team
with a historic background, Nebraska
goes into the game as the underdog and
sometimes they win the game by three
and lose by three. Yet that type of game
is more fun to broadcast and listen to
tiian winning a game by a big margin
which is what it would be like at UCLA
and those schools."
"I don't think the average fan under
stands the direction Nebraska basketball
is going and where it's come from. Just
being associated with a program like Ne
braska's has been my biggest highlight,"
Pavelka said.
Next season the Nebraska basketball
games will be part of an exclusive radio
rights contract, which means the only
station to originate Cornhusker sports
broadcasts will be KFAB. Other stations
will then feed off KFAB.
This, in effect, means Pavelka soon
will become the single voice of Husker
basketball and he said he will feel no
added pressure because of it.
"I think it's great," he said. "Because
the alternative is that I wouldn't be able
to do the games anymore."
The 33-year-old Pavelka said he has no
plans of leaving KFAB or discontinuing
the basketball broadcasts, simply because
as he puts it, "I'm doing exactly what
I've always wanted to do."
111 : ' "' i
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1 p 7 p -
f i r7U i ' :
Staff photo by Craig Andresen
Kent Pavelka broadcasts Nebraska's 97-54 victory over Mesa College last Friday. And
speaking of Kent Pavelka . . .
Pepm hopeful despite mioOtiey
By Betsy Miller
Nebraska Women's Track Coach Gary
Pepin said he'll field a good team this year,
but one of the key elements won't appear
until the start of the outdoor season in
March.
Merlene Ottey, who set a world record
in the 300-yard run last year, will redshirt
the indoor season to resume training.
Ottey said most sprinters stop compet
ing sometime around August to prepare
themselves for the indoor season which
starts this month. Ottey last competed in
October in the Commonwealth Games in
Australia.
"I need more rest and time to be in
shape," Ottey said.
Pepin said Ottey will spend the indoor
season working through a more vigorous
training regimen. The routine will include
extra weightlifting and flexibility training,
he said.
Last year, Ottey competed in several
meets and Pepin said he thought it "was a
good experience year for her."
However, Ottey said she took a break
after the Commonwealth Games and didn't
start training again until after Dec. 1.
Since she is sitting out the indoor season
in 1983, Ottey will be eligible to compete
for Nebraska during next year's indoor
season. That season will lead her toward
the 1984 Olympics. Ottey was a bronze
medalist in the 200-meter run at the 1980
Moscow Olympics. The 22-year-old
competes for her native country of Jamaica
in the Olympics.
If she does wind up in the 1984
Olympiad, she will not only need to be
well-prepared physically but also psych
ologically. Pepin said the psychological
factors at the Games are tremendous.
"My goal for her would be that she is
ready psychologically," he said.
In addition to the 200-meter event,
Ottey may be ready to tackle the 100- or
400-meter runs in the Olympics, Pepin said.
Sophomore Janet Burke, also of
Jamaica, may be Ottey's replacement in
the sprints for the Cornhuskers.
"She had a really outstanding indoor
season (last year) but was injured for the
outdoor," Pepin said. Some of Burke's
times were better than Ottey's freshman
marks, he said. Burke and Ottey are also
close friends, he added.
"They're real good friends, they help
each other and there isn't that 'have to
win' pressure between them," he said.
Pepin concedes that the 1983 outdoor
team may have an edge over the indoor
team.
"You have to remember we've got an
Olympic medalist and world record-holder
that is not competing (indoors)," Pepin
said.
By Ward W. Triplett HI
Nebraska and Oklahoma have been charter members
of the Big Eight since the league formed in 1958. But
when Nebraska's women's basketball team opens its
Big Eight season against the Sooners tonight at 7:30
at the Bob Devaney Sports Center, this conterence oppo
nent will be a virtual stranger.
"We haven't played Oklahoma in the three years I've
been here," Husker coach Colleen Matsuhara said. "We've
seen them play in the Big Eight tournament, and we know
they like to play the same type of pressure defense we
do and they have a good all-around offensive player."
Meanwhile in Norman, Sooner coach Maura McHugh
knows about as much about Nebraska.
"I'm aware of their personnel and size," McHugh
said Monday. "Our teams are similar in some ways. I
know they try to get the ball up the court as quick as
possible, but not much else."
The Big Eight Conference requires women's teams to
play a home-and-home schedule for the first time this
season. Big Eight teams scheduled mostly regional oppo
nents in the past. The winner of the regular season will
be recognized as the conference champion and will re
ceive the top seed at the Big Eight tournament March 10
12 in Norman. The winner of that will automatically
advance to the NCAA tournament.
While Nebraska has a surprising 9-3 record, Oklahoma
is 8-3, including a win and a loss to conference foe Iowa
State.
"That was easily our worst game of the year," McHugh
said of the loss to Iowa State. "It was our opener, and
we were just not with it that night."
After that 78-74 setback, the Sooners won their next
seven straight, including a 16-point pounding of Iowa
State at home, before losing at Oral Roberts. Last week
end, Oklahoma defeated Northeast Louisiana and lost
to Wichita State in the Pizza Hut Classic at Wichita.
"I'm not pleased with that record," McHugh said.
"I really don't think we should have lost three games."
McHugh blamed the losses on injuries and the flu.
"We had an awful lot of pre-season injuries and the
flu hit us pretty hard last month," she said. "We had all
sorts of different combinations of people playing, and
at practice we'd have maybe ten people at a time."
McHugh said the team is healtheir now than it has
been all year, although junior Bonita Turner joined 6-2
freshman Kelley Hill-Kahoutek on the sidelines for the
season. Kahoutek suffered a knee injury in pre-season,
while Turner played only three games before undergoing
foot surgery.
The Sooners are led by senior Molly McGuire. Mc-
Guire, a 6-1 center, is averaing 21.4 points per game and
9.2 rebounds. Junior Lynn McCurdy, who missed two
games because of illness, moved into the starting line
up six games ago and is second to McGuire in both scor
ing and rebounding at 14.0 points and 8.2 rebounds
a contest.
Carla Pearson, a 5-9 forward, (9.8, 4.9), 5-9 guard
Sandy Douglas-Hetherington (6.1, 2.3) and 5-7 guard
LaDanah Sanders (6.8, 2.8) are the remaining starters.
McCurdy is the only underclassman in the starting line
up and McHugh is getting good scoring and rebounding
off the bench from senior Shelly Waller (5.1 rebounds),
who missed four games with an injury, and 6-1 freshman
Jacquetta Hurley (7.2, 6.1).
McHugh said the new players have adapted to ner
running game well. Unlike the last three seasons, the
team isn't as dependent on getting the ball inside to
McGuire.
"We'll try to keep pushing the ball up the court,"
McHugh said. "I know Nebraska will do that, with Col
leen coming from the West Coast where you see a lot
more of that type of play. I'm from the East Coast
where we try the same thing.
"Around the Midwest, that style of play isn't very
characteristic. Because of that, our game should be
pretty interesting."
