Sports
Network to televise non-revenue sports
By Jeff A pel
Senior Editor__
An 11-year battle came to an abrupt end
Wednesday when the Prime Sports Network
announced that it plans to televise a variety of
non-revenue sports beginning next season.
Barb Hibner, the assistant director in charge
of women’s athletics, said she is excited
about the contract because it completes a
struggle which began when the Nebraska
women’s athletic program was formed in 1978.
She said the Comhusker women’s athletic
program has been battling for sponsors and
wide-spread recognition ever since it was
founded.
But, Hibner said, the Big Eight took a big
step towards winning that battle when it signed
a two-year contract with the Prime Sports
Network. The contract states that beginning in
the 1989-90 academic year, championship
events in volleyball, wrestling, and men’s and
women’s indoor and outdoor track and gym
nastics will be aired.
In addition, the Denver-based station will
also air the women’s post-season basketball
tournament and will televise at least four regu
lar-season games.
All of those contests will be viewed on a
near-national basis, as the network is con
nected with 12 other cable networks that
stretch from the East to the West Coast. The
network has 112 subscribers in Nebraska that
view it trom the Windbreak Cable System in
Gering.
Hibner said she was surprised the Big Eight
signed the contract because she views the
conference as being conservative. She said the
contract is the biggest boost women’s athletics
have received since they initiated corporate
sponsorships in 1978.
“This is the biggest booster shot we’ve
received in 11 years,” Hibner said. “This is
.something we’ve been trying to accomplish for
some years. I’m really excited to see it’s finally
happening.”
Hibner said she hopes the contract leads to
increased interests in women’s athletics. She
said an increase in interest would lead to an
increase in the number of fans who attend
women’s sporting events, which would lead to
a revenue increase.
“The exposure we will receive will be a
tremendous boost,” Hibner said. “We’ve
shown that TV does not decrease attendance. If
anything, it increases it.”
Hibner and Bill Hancock, the assistant
commissioner for the Big Eight, said they hope
the contract has a strong impact on women’s
basketball. The Big Eight ranked seventh in
women’s basketball attendance last season
with an average of less than 800 fans per game,
while the Southwest Conference led the coun
try with an average of 1,900.
‘‘Ten years ago when we first started spon
soring women’s basketball, I think we all fig
ured that by 1989 attendance and interest
would be stronger than it is,” Hancock told
The Associated Prcss.‘‘Girl’s high school bas
ketball in our region is super big. In little towns
all over the Big Eight area, women’s basketball
is a giant. We’re hoping it’s just a matter of not
having people exposed to it.”
Hancock said the contract is not going to be
a big money maker for the Big Eight. He
refused to disclose its specific terms.
‘‘I would classify it as modest,” Hancock
told AP. ‘‘The main thing is the exposure.
We’re getting closer and closer to our goal of
making non-revenue sports a zero expense.”
Hancock said the majority of the money that
is making up for the funds lost through
women’s athletics and other non-revenue
sports comes from the Big Eight baseball tour
nament. He said the four-team tournament had
a net income of $118,000 in 1988.
Hancock said the Big Eight would like to
raise enough revenue from ticket sales and
corporate sponsors to offset the expenses it
encounters through non-revenue sports. Last
year, non-revenue schools in the Big Eight lost
an average of $250,000.
Hancock said he is confident schools can
make up that deficit.
“With increased television exposure of
women’s basketball and the other non-revenue
sports, we think we’ll make it in about three
years,” he said.
Hibncr said a balanced budget will not mean
the end of corporate sponsorships at Nebraska.
This year, corporate sponsorships were used by
the Nebraska women’s basketball, volleyball
and gymnastics programs.
“Those individuals took a chance when
others turned their backs,” he said. “We ap
preciate that, and we definitely won’t forget
about them.”
Kegs on legs’ Mark Runyan ends up safe on third as the ball rolls by Milkbones’ Jay Borer.
Milkbones defeated Kegs on Legs 14 - 9 in the Campus Recreation A Division championships
Wednesday.
Milkbones defeats Kegs on Legs ror title
By Nick Hodge
Senior Reporter
The Miikboncs coed softball
team completed an undefeated sea
son Wednesday by beating Kegs on
Legs 14-9 in the Campus Recreation
A Division Championship at Vine
Street fields.
Jay Borer, Miikboncs’ pitcher and
team captain, said an all-around team
effort enabled the Miikboncs to win.
“We’ve played together fora long
time,” Borer said. “It took a lot of
people to win — some weren’t even
1 here tonight.”
Borer said the Miikboncs lineup
consisted predominantly of Albion
High School graduates.
“Most of us have been playing
together all the way since little
league,” Borer said. “All but one
guy and girl are from Albion and we
played against them, so we know how
each other plays.”
The championship win gave Milk
bones a 9-0 record, while Kegs on
Legs suffered its only loss and fin
ished 7-1.
Borer said a balanced offensive
attack and solid defense propelled
Milkbones. Milkbones out hit Kegs
on Legs 16-15, while Kegs On Legs
committed three errors.
“Defense has been our strong
point most of the season,” Borer said.
“We hadn’t given up more than four
runs until tonight, but we knew they
would be good.”
Milkbones had to overcome four
home runs by Kegs on Legs, includ
ing one by Shane Perricn on the
game’s first pitch. Following a
ground out, Kegs on Legs’ Joel Dcnk
ert added another home run to allow
Kegs on Legs to open a 2-0 lead
before the Milkbones batted in the
bottom of the first inning. Milkbones
added three runs of its own to take a 3
2 lead after one inning.
Borer said he thought Kegs on
Legs had some hitters who could beat
a team with one swing. He said that’s
why he decided to intentionally walk
three Kegs on Legs’ batters
“A key was walking their big
bats,” Borer said. “We’ve never
done it before, but we’ve never faced
those kind of hitters before. With the
wind blowing out and on a short field,
we knew they were going to hit some
out.”
Sam Wood led Milkbones by hit
ting two home runs and adding a
double. Pcrricn led Kegs on Legs
with two homers and a double in its
loss.
Gdowski has fun
scoring 36 points
By Mark Derowitsch
Senior Reporter
and Steve Sipple
Staff Reporter
Gerry Gdowski had some fun al
the expense of the Nebraska
Wesleyan intramural all-star basket
ball team Wednesday night.
Gdowski, who doubles as Ne
braska’s No. 1 quarterback, scored 36
points to lead the Hosers - the all
university champions -- to a 63-61
win against Wesleyan before about
100 fans at Taylor Gymnasium.
And Gdowski said he wasn’t even
being serious while scoring his
points.
‘‘I wasn’t serious at all,” said
Gdowski, a senior-to-be from Fre
mont. ‘‘I just enjoy playing basket
ball. It’s fun just to come out and
play.”
Gdowski was obviously having
fun in the first half Wednesday. The
6-foot-1, 195-pounder scored 20
points, including 11 straight in a two
minute span that gave tne Hosers a
31-18 lead. But the Hosers failed to
score in the final five minutes of the
first half as Wesleyan cut the margin
to 31-28.
Cary Haynes, Wesleyan’s player
coach, said he didn’t recognize
Gdowski when the game began. But
Haynes knew who Gdowski was by
the end of the half.
‘‘He can shoot the ball,” said
Haynes, the lone senior on
Wesleyan’s team. ‘‘I knew he was a
good athlete, but at first I didn’t know
who he was.”
Hosers coach Dave Clare said
Gdowski was the difference in the
game.
“He was on fire tonight,” Clare
said. ‘‘He’s our top gun launching
those three-point bombs. But he’s
done that for us all year. He definitely
decided the game.”
Gdowski hit a game-high eight
trifectas.
Despite Gdowski’s presence,
Wesleyan managed to take a 47-46
lead on Derrin Hansen’s basket with
8:29 left. Gdowski responded with
two straight baskets to give the Hos
ers breathing room.
Wesleyan cut the Hosers’ lead to
one on three occasions in the second
half. But a basket by former Husker
defensive back Lorenzo Hicks gave
the Hosers a 61-58 lead with 29 sec
onds left. The Hosers’ Tim Barada
followed with a steal and two free
throws before Jeff Rippe hit a three
pointer with 9 seconds left, account
ing for the final score.
Haynes said Wesleyan was hin
dered by a roster that included 15
players, 13 of whom played.
“It was kind of tough with so
many players,” Haynes said. “They
had the right amount If you’re in
good shape, you should be able to
play with seven or eight guys.”
The Hosers played with six.
Gdowski said he noticed
Wesleyan’s advantage in terms of
number of players before the game
and was worried.
“They had about 20 guys and we
had six. I thought we would be in
trouble,” Gdowski said. “They had
some good players. We had four of
our regular starters out with injuries
and that didn’t help.”
Included among the missing were
Husker receivers Tim McCoy and
Chip Bahe.
Clare said Wesleyan’s talent
caught the Hosers off-guard in the
first half.
“I was sure we were going to win,
but I knew they would play us
tough,” Clare said. “They came
ready to play, we weren’t and it
showed.”
Scales hopes he s impressive down under
By Mark Derowitsch
Senior Reporter
Nebraska guard Clifford Scales
wants to score a few points during his
return trip to Australia in May.
Scales doesn’t necessarily want to
score baskets, but he hopes his play at
point guard impresses Coach Danny
Nee.
Scales and Cornhusker center
Rich King will travel to Australia at
the end of May with a Big Eight
select team that will be coached by
Kansas’ Roy Williams. The Big
Eight will release the names of the
rest of the team next week.
Last May, the Huskers played a
series of games in Australia.
‘‘I just want to work on all phases
of the game,” Scales said. “I don’t
know what position I’ll play, but if I
get a chance to play point guard, I
won’t mind.”
Scales said he will play point
guard for the Huskers next season.
Last year, he averaged 9.9 points per
game while shooting 49.4 percent
from the field.
Scales said he won’t know until
the first game what position Williams
will let him play.
“We’ll only have two practices
before we leave and when we get
there, we’ll start playing games,”
Scales said. “So practices won’t
mean that much. What matters is that
we’ll all be getting plenty of game
experience.”
Scales said he’s excited about the
opportunity of playing in Australia
for the second time.
‘‘I wish it would have been some
where else, but I can’t wait to visit
Australia again,” he said. ‘‘It was a
nice place to visit last year. This year,
it will be a new experience in an old
surrounding.”
Making the return trip with a
teammate will help, Scales said.
King, a 7-foot-2 center from Omaha
Burke, also traveled with the Huskers
to Australia last year, fie averaged
11.1 points and 6 rebounds during the
regular season last year.
“I don’t think I have trouble relat
ing to other people and we all will
know of each other,” Scales said.
“But with Rich around, it’ll make the
first few days easier. It will help
break the ice.”
The best part of the trip, Scales
said, will be representing the Big
Eight.
“This is an honor that I’m really
proud of,” he said. “I’ll always
remember it.”
