Nee wants an end to fights on the court
By Mark Derowitsch
Senior Reporter
In view of many recent fights in college bas
ketball, Nebraska coach Danny Nee said he’d
like to see officials put a quick stop to brawls in
collegiate athletics.
At his press luncheon Monday, Nee said the
NCAA should impose suspensions for players
involved in on-court altercations.
“I just don’t think fighting’s part (of basket
ball),” Nee said. “But I do think officials take
a really important responsibility of controlling
it. 1 think they have to come down on the
fighters hard, like with suspensions.
“We’re not hockey.”
Nee said fighting has been prevalent for a
few teams this season, but because of those
teams, college basketball's overall reputation
has been damaged.
“But I don’t think it’s gotten totally out of
hand,” he said.
Nee said the players are almost always the
ones to blame for fights.
“I don’t think the coaches should be held
totally responsible for every reaction of his
players out on the floor,” Nee said. “But I do
think there’s a certain amount of control you
have to have on your own players and bench is
necessary. I think when a fight breaks, you go
over the line.
“If you want to be a boxer, then be a boxer.”
One team that has been involved in several
fights this year is Georgetown. Last Saturday,
the Hoyas’ Perry McDonald started a scuffle
with Jerome Lane of Pittsburgh by striking
Lane’s head with his elbow.
Lane’s retaliation set off two other confron
tations and the game had to be ended prema
turely.
Nee said some of the hlame for rough actions
goes to university authorities and coaches.
“Just like the Missouri Antlers (a group of
Missouri students that vocally and physically
harasses opponents),” Nee said. “There’s a
certain amount of acceptance of the style of
play, and I think there is a responsibility by
(Georgetown coach) John Thompson for his
players.”
But, Nee said, not all roughness in basket
ball is bad. He said Cornhusker forward Beau
Reid plays a very physical style of basketball,
which helps Nebraska at times.
“I think Beau Reid is a very aggressive and
physical player in that he’s ad justing to playing
in the Big Eight,” Nee said. “I think he gets in
positions that can become controversial be
cause of his physical play.”
Nee said that although fighting is bad for
basketball, a team must concentrate on the next
game instead of dwelling on the past.
“When your team does lose a couple close
ones, what you try to do is just keep them
focused on the moment— what we’re trying to
do and to get belter,” Nee said.
Nee said he tries to keep his players away
from outside influences that might affect the
Huskcrs.
‘‘I tell them when they read the papers and
they sec all these nice things said about them,
‘Don’t believe them, because you’re probably
not as good as they say,”’ Nee said. ‘‘And when
we’re losing or playing poorly, I also tell them
they’re not as bad as what they’re writing.
‘‘II you can leave out the outside influences,
keep them away from the team and let them
focus on what they’re supposed to be doing, I
think they can survive.”
Nee said No. 1 -ranked Temple has blocked
out all oi ils distractions mis season, wnicn nas
led to the Owls’ unprecedented success.
“(Temple coach) John Chaney is keeping
the press away from his players,” Nee said.
“They’re staying on the exact same schedule as
they were before.”
Nee also said the Huskers, who arc 13-13
overall and 4-6 in the Big Eight, don’t let
streaks affect them.
“We’d be doing the same things if we we’d
won five games in a row instead of losing five
games in a row,” he said. “We didn’t do any
thing different to prepare for Colorado."
The Huskers broke a fi ve-gamc losing streak
Sunday afternoon by defeating Colorado 75
67.
*****
In other Husker notes, guard Henry T.
Buchanan was held out of Tuesday’s practice
because of a sprained right ankle.
Nee said that even though Buchanan saw
abundant playing time against the Buffaloes, he
wasn’t at full strength.
“Buchanan’s still limping around on that
bad ankle,” Nee said. “He’s hiding it— he’s not
healthy. He has to play better.”
Nebraska freshman outfielder Bobby Benjamin dives back fn an attempt to avoid a tag by
Wyoming first baseman Sky Smeltzer.
Debate goes on as NU faces Bluejays
By Steve Sipple
Senior Reporter
Controversy continues over
whether the Nebraska baseball
team should be awarded the victory
in the second game of Sunday’s
double-header against Wyoming.
Nebraska coach John Sanders
said Monday, “We are under the
guise that we won the ballgame.”
But Wyoming coach Bill Kin
neberg said he wasn’t so sure.
There was uncertainty about
who won the game after Wyoming
rallied to tie the game 11-11 with
four runs in the top of the seventh
inning. The game, which was
played at Buck Beltzer Field, was
stopped because of darkness before
the Comhuskers could take their
final turn at bat
Sanders said Sunday the game
possibly would be suspended and
finished this weekend in Laramie,
Wyo., on Wyoming’s home field.
The Huskers travel to Fort Collins,
Colo., this weekend for games
against Northern Colorado and
Colorado State. Laramie is aboutbO
miles north of Fort Collins.
Sanders said he and pitching
coach Tom Pratt reviewed the Big
Eight rulebook and decided a trip to
Laramie wasn’t necessary. lie said
Big Eight rules say non-league
games can’t be played on a sus
K;nded basis. That would mean
ebraska would be declared the
winner because it led 11-7 after its
final at bat in the sixth inning.
“It really doesn’t matter what
they think,” Sanders said. “We won
the game.”
Kinneberg said he thought he
and Sanders agreed before
Saturday’s game that they would
play the senes on a suspended basis.
“He’ll say we just played
Saturday’s game on a suspended
basis,” Kinneberg said. “My as
sumption was we were playing
suspended rules over the whole
senes.”
Sanders said S unday night that if
the teams were going to finish the
game, they would have to do it
Monday. Kinneberg said the Cow
boys couldn’t do that because the
players had to attend classes then,
and it would have been too expen
sive to stay in Lincoln.
Kinneberg said he’ll pursue the
matter with the NCAA today.
Sanders could not be reached for
a response on Kinncberg’s com
ments.
Win or no win, Sanders said, the
series with Wyoming gave Ne
braska momentum heading into
today’s 1:30 pjn. game against
Creighton at Buck Bellzcr Field.
“We played well against Wyo
ming,” Sanders said. “Overall, our
defense was really good and we
were opportunistic offensively. In
games one and two, our pitching
was stable, and in game three we
showed signs of stability.
“Obviously, we’re anxious to
play Creighton.”
Sanders said the game is impor
tant because it provides Nebraska
with another quality. Division 1
opponent, not because a rivalry
exists between the state’s only
Division I schools.
“It’s just a game; there’s no ri
valry,” he said, “If you play rival
ries in baseball, you’re crazy. You
can’t sustain that bonfire mentality
that you see in football. In baseball,
you can’t deal with that type of
thing.”
banders said he probably will
start John Lepley on the mound and
use Joel Sealer pitching in relief.
Lepley earned h is first victory of the
season Saturday against Wyoming,
pitching seven complete innings
and giving up two runs on two hits.
He struck out six batters and walked
only four.
Creighton coach Jim Hendry is
undecided on a starter, but will
throw “three or four different
people,” he said.
The Bluejays are led by Colle
giate Baseball magazine preseason
All-America catcher Scott Servais.
Servais, who played last August in
the Pan-American Games, batted
.272 with eight home runs, 10
doubles and 42 runs batted in last
year.
Hendry said Servais has im
proved since last season.
“He’s shown really positive
signs,” Hendry said. “He’s a much
improved hitter. The Pan-Arr
Games really helped his confi
dence. I look at him as an even more
But Servais isn’t Creighton’s
only offensive weapon. Senior first
baseman Oneri Fleita led the Blue
jays last season with a .383 batting
average, hitting 20 doubles and 73
RBIs.
Nebraska and Creighton split a
home-and-home series last year.
Nebraska won the first game in
Omaha 5-3, with Lepley picking up
the win. Creighton came to Lincoln
the next day and won 10-5.
Sanders said the teams probably
won’t play if temperatures drop into
the 30-degree range with a strong
wind. Forecasts today call for highs
in the upper 20s to lower 30s.
Gymnast adjusts to new team
and ‘higher caliber’ of meets
By Lori Griffin
Staff Reporter
Lisa McCrady is right where she
wants to be.
McCrady, a freshman on the
Nebraska women’s gymnastics
team, said she is happy to be in Lin
coln. She also said
she knew from the
beginning that
she wanted to be a
Comhusker.
McCrady said
she was im
pressed with the
Nebraska training
program and the
progress the Huskers have made
under fifth-year coach Rick Walton.
McCrady said she heard about the
training program from her uncle,Tim
McCrady, who played wingback for
the Huskers from 1978-82. She said
he told her she would never have to
worry about injuries because the
Nebraska trainers would lake care of
the problems immediately.
McCrady, an advertising major
from Rosemont, Minn., is a native
Nebraskan. She said the decision to
come to Nebraska was easier because
she already knew people here.
McCrady said she has participated
in gymnastics for about eight years.
She said she was an active child and
began dancing and tumbling to get
rid of some of her energy.
McCrady said her love for tum
bling helped her interest in gymnas
tics grow.
But she said her tumbling caused
her to get a late start in gymnastics.
Her teammates had been competing
for four or five years when she first
began to compete, she said.
McCrady, the Minnesota High
School Champion in 1987, said she
has made the adjustment to coflegiate
competition. She said she likes the
team aspect at Nebraska.
“I feel the pressure is not on me,”
McCrady said. ‘‘I am not carrying the
pressure. Ii is a lot more fun to com
pete. 1 want to com pete for the team.”
McCrady said she has adjusted
some of her routines to make them
more competitive at the collegiate
level.
“The higher caliber makes me
more competitive,” McCrady said.
“The harder tricks force me to do
better.”
Walton said the Huskers devel
oped a new uneven-bar routine for
McCrady because it was her weakest
event. He said the change paid off:
McCrady has gone from an 8.85
score in her first collegiate uneven
bar competition to a 9.5 in a dual meet
against Penn State earlier this season.
“Things arc starting to click for
Lisa,” Walton said.
Walton said McCrady is having a
great season for a freshman. He said
she worked hard in the fall and has
improved throughout the season.
McCrady said she is pleased with
her progress.
Her most memorable moment as a
Husker this season was her third
place finish in the all-around compe
tition in a triangular meet against
Oklahoma and Georgia, she said. She
finished third behind former Olym
pian Kelly Gairison-Stevcs and
Oklahoma All-America Kassie Fry
even though it was only her second
collegiate meet.
McCrady said her team goal is to
help the Huskers place in the top five
in the 1988 NCAA Championships,
which will be in Salt Lake City on
April 22 and 23. She said her individ
ual goals are to progress from meet to
meet and remain consistent, an area
in which Walton said she needs to
improve.
McCrady said she is glad she came
to Nebraska.
“It has been a wonderful experi
ence,” she said. “Nebraska has a
great coach, a great team, and there is
no place I’d rather be than here.
“I’ve grown as a person and as a
gymnast.”
Keport: 1 urr sarer than grass
By Mike Kluck
Staff Reporter
Artificial turf has been targeted as
the cause of many football injuries,
but a study conducted by the National
Collegiate Athletics Association
shows that artificial turf is no more
harmful than natural grass.
The study, which was released in
the Feb. 3 edition of The NCAA
News, shows that natural grass
causes more injuries and a much
higher rate of serious knee injuries,
especially to defensive players.
According to the study, 171 play
ers from 15 Division I-A schools
suffered injuries on natural grass last
season, compared to 145 on artificial
turf. The study also showed that 108
defensive players suffered injuries
on crass, compared to 73 on artificial
turf.
Nebraska athletic trainer George
Sullivan said injuries caused by a
grass surface are different than those
on artificial turf.
“II an athlete gets an abrasion on
an artificial field, it usually is a turf
burn and not much of a problem,”
Sullivan said. “However, an abrasion 5
on a natural field is usually a deepeut
that is dirty and provides problems.”
Sullivan said many injuries arc
See INJURIES7nS