Page 8 uauy iNau.a^.,
Columnists square off in bowl prediction
49ers to embarrass Broncos
The Denver Broncos are to the 1980s what
the Minnesota Vikings were to the 1970s: los
ers.
Losers, at least, when winning counted the
most.
The Vikings went to four Super Bowls that
decade, and lost all four. Not even passing
phenomenon Fran Tarkenton, Minnesota’s
quarterback at the time, could help them. It was
like a hex.
CT Chuck
tej#- Green
In the ’80s, the Broncos (a team I’ve always
hated, mostly because it’s from Denver) have
played twice on Super Sunday.
Denver also played Dallas in Super Bowl
XII in 1977.
Bronco players spent all three of those nights
kicking lockers, swearing and shaking their
heads in wonderment, trying to find the an
swers to three thrashings.
Well, get those locker doors ready, boys.
This Sunday night won’t be any different.
There’s gonna be some kickin,’ on and off the
field.
Too bad the Broncos won ’ t do any of the on
field kicking. Unless, of course, you count
punts, which is what they’ll be doing after 90
percent of their third downs.
There’s a simple fact about this game: The
San Francisco 49ers, Denver’s far-superior
opponent for Super Bowl XXIV, are an unstop
pable force.
Joe Montana, San Francisco’s quarterback,
has aged like a fine wine since graduating from
Notre Dame in 1977; he just keeps getting
better and better. .
Former Cornhuskers Roger Craig and Tom
“Yes, Tom Osborne, I can catch a pass Rath
man give the 49ers a formidable running attack
if they need it. But they won’t.
Oh, they’ll use it, but just for kicks.
San Francisco’s plethora of speedy, fleet
footed receivers, led by All-Universe wide
out Jerry Rice, will shred Denver’s overrated
defensive secondary. Montana will have his
four touchdown passes.
And then he’ll retire to the locker room for
halftime, to rest up for more fun in the second
Denver won’t have it’s half-cocked, half
crazy fans hurling snowballs, bottles and ob
scenities at the other team’s players, coaching
staff and fans inside the Louisiana Superdome.
Scratch one advantage.
Then there’s the disadvantage of who Den
ver is playing. The 49ers looked as good as a
professional football team could look against
the Rams two weeks ago. Los Angeles quarter
back Jim Everett is as good or better than
Denver’s John Elway, and he did nothing against
San Francisco’s defense.
Just like Elway will do Sunday.
San Francisco must stop Elway’s passing as
well as his running. Elway is well-known for
his ability to scramble out of trouble and find
an open receiver coming back for the ball.
When necessary, he can turn upfield for yard
age, too. _ _ .
But when comparing quarterbacks, there is
no comparison. Montana is the cream of the
National Football League. There is no one
better.
If there is, he certainly isn’t on the Denver
roster.
The bottom line of the game is that San
Francisco is the NFL’s best team this year, and
indeed of the ’80s. Their fourth Super Bowl
win Sunday will prove it.
Prediction: San Francisco 34, Denver 17.
Green is a senior news-editorial major and is a Daily Ne
braskan senior sports reporter and columnist.
Destined Elway needs bowl win
Going into Sunday’s battle, the Denver
Broncos have nothing to lose.
Except their third Super Bowl in four years.
Denver fans know it -- some actually came
out and said they hoped the Broncs would lose
to Cleveland in the American Football Confer
ence Championship, thus saving them further
humiliation.
Coach Dan Reeves and his Broncos know it
— two serious Super Bowl slaughters in 87
and ’88 have to be skull-drilling the team
psychologically.
But most important, John-boy knows it.
Elway put on his most spectacular perform
ance of the season two Sundays ago when he
crushed loud-mouthed Frank Minnifield and
the rest of the Browns.
He completed 20 of 36 passes for 385 yards
and three touchdowns. Yet Elway was ranked
ninth among AFC passers this season.
That says something. That says need. John
Elway doesn’t want this win.
He needs it.
Super Bowl XXIV already is won in the
overconfident 49er fans’ eyes. The spread is at
least 10. San Francisco is loaded with weapons
- Nebraska’s Roger Craig and Tom Rathman,
and sticky-fingered Ronwie Lott
And most importantly, Elway’s antithesis,
Joe Montana.
Granted, Montana is phenomenal. He is
undoubtedly the most concentrated quarter
back in the National Football League. But he
isn’t the best.
He isn’t John Elway. Both teams know that.
And Denver will not lose again. Rookie
Bobby Humphrey is perhaps the only Player on
the roster who does not grasp the gravity of the
situation, but his performance thus far has been
great anyway. Receivers Vance Johnson and
Ricky Nattiel will run rings around show-oil
Ronnie Lott, who tends to get overrated.
But ultimately, it will come down to John
Elway versus the San Francisco 49ers.
If Reeves lets Elway play his game, Denver
will beat the 49ers. Denver’s defense must play
an adequate line game, which they have the
capacity to do. Denver’s offensive line has to
give Elway a little time when he needs it, which
they can do.
And Elway has to put on even a better show
than he did against Cleveland -- which he
WILL do. u , .
Elway is simply a better quarterback than
Montana. Elway is sheer athlete, instinct, speed.
He throws harder. He runs faster. He senses
receivers. And he hits them with cannon shots.
Grandpa Montana makes up for his lack of
foot speed and arm strength by working harder
for what he gets, and it’s been a long season.
Maintaining that concentration is going to be a
difficult task.
Elway has to let himself go Sunday, but at
the same time maintain a higher level of con
centration. He has to watch and avoid Lott. He
has to go deep more, run more.
He has to be John Elway.
San Francisco fans will see that this under
ground power is more than a Nintendo game.
Granted, the Broncos defense won't stop
Montana completely. But the 49ers won’t even
touch Elway.
Elway comes through under pressure, and
Sunday his destiny will arrive.
Denver will not blow it again. Twice is bad.
But three times is a charm.
Prediction: Denver 38, San Francisco 35
Deeds is a senior news-editorial major and the Daily Ne
braskan arts and entertainment editor and columnist.
NU’s Huppert shooting for win No. 100 this weekend
By Jeff Apel
Senior Editor ___
Nebraska women’s swimming
coach Ray Huppert is taking a low
key approach toward his upcoming
membership in an exclusive club.
Huppert said he isn’t overly ex
cited about becoming the second
swimming coach in school history to
earn 100 victories. He will get a chance
to accomplish that feat when his out
ranked team faces Missouri and South
ern Illinois this weekend.
Huppert, whose 14-year coaching
mark is 98-50, will try to inch closer
to his milestone when Nebraska faces
Missouri at 7 tonight in Columbia,
Mo. He will then try for victory No.
100 when the Comhuskers square off
against Southern Illinois on Saturday
at noon in Carbondale, 111.
The Nebraska men’s team also will
face Missouri tonight and will com
pete against Southern Illinois or
Sunday. Nine Huskers will skip the
Missouri meet in favor of traveling to
Dallas to compete in The Dallas
Morning News Invitational today and
Saturday.
Huppert said he can’ t worry about
joining Nebraska men’s coach Cal
Bent/ in the 100-victory club. Benlz
became the first coach in the history
of Nebraska swimming to reach 100
wins when his team defeated Creighton
and Iowa Slate last weekend.
“I’d trade any or all of my individ
ual honors for Big Eight titles and
top-15 finishes at die NCAA meet,”
Huppert said. ‘‘We can’t focus on
other people and other teams. We
have to focus on ourselves.”
Huppert said Nebraska can’t af
ford to be distracted against Missouri
and Southern Illinois because both
teams will present challenges. Mis
souri, 3-6, is led by freshman Alex
Kay, an England native who is eighth
in the Big Eight in the 500-yard frees
i tyle category with a time of 5:06.97
: minutes.
*1A couple years ago, our kids might
have been able to go into the Missouri
meet with the idea that it was going to
be easy,” Huppert said. “That’s not
the case anymore. Missouri isa much
improved team.”
Huppert said he also is wary of
Southern Illinois. Wary, he said,
because the Salukis handed then
heavily favored Nebraska a 152.5
140.5 loss two years ago in Carbon
dale.
“This year’s team is very similar
to the one that beat us two years ago,”
Huppert said. “Some of our kids
remember that loss. We can ’ t let those
kind of things creep up on us.”
Bentz said the Nebraska men also
can’t afford to allow Missouri or
Southern Illinois to creep up on them.
He said he is concerned about Mis
souri even though the Huskers have
won 24 of their last 25 duals against
Big Eight foes and have claimed 10
consecutive conference titles.
Bentz said Nebraska, 4-1, will need
Switch
Continued from Page 7
tired, miss a few shots and we’d go.”
But Kansas State ran to a 15-point
lead before they got tired. When the
10 Huskcrs tired out the seven main
Lady Cats, it was too late. .
Beck even joked that she was bring
ing in a voodoo doctor to put a spell
on the Sports Center so both the men’ s
and women’s teams could regain home
dominance.
More seriously, she said she does
sense a negative atmosphere from the
stands.
“People say, ‘Well, you don’t have
any consistency,’” she said. ‘‘No,
we’re running three different people
at the point, and I don’t know how
how you think you’re gaining consis
tency doing that.”
Scrooge
Continued from Page 7
competition against Iowa State with a
score of 37.35. She placed second in
the vault, first on the balance beam
and second in the floor exercise.
Clemons won the uneven bars title
with a 9.75 score. That performance
helped her finish third in the all-around
with a score of 36.95. _
Walton said he was surprised by
Clemons’ performance in the uneven
bars. Surprised, he said, because col
legiate judges are using a new code of
points which requires gymnasts to
perform tougher routines in order to
earn high scores.
“Jane won the event with a new
routine and a new code of points,”
Walton said. “I think she has a good
shot at making the bar finals at the
NCAA’s.”
waiton said he expects to see
improvement from a pair of freshmen
who made their collegiate debuts last
weekend. He said C.C. Ocel and Shane
Foster had minor difficulties against
Iowa State.
Walton said Nebraska’s newest
team member is Karla Cash, a fresh
man walkon from Willmar, Minn.
Cash’s floor exercise routine against
Iowa State was judged as an exhibi
tion.
Nee
Continued from Page 7
one), all on the road.
The home losses were a two-point
defeat by Iowa and a double-over
time loss to Creighton.
Nee said his squad has trouble
matching up with Iowa State.
“Terry Woods causes problems
with his acceleration and his speed,”
Nee said. “He can score from the
outside, and he can score on the drive.”
On the inside the Cyclones rely on
Victor Alexander, a 6-foot-9, 265
pound junior. Alexander averages 22.1
points and 9.1 rebounds per contesL
Creighton coach Tony Barone said
the Cyclone star is one of the most
underrated post players in the coun
try.
“He’s like one of those Energizer
batteries you see in the commercials,”
Barone said. “He just keeps going
and going.”
Alexander’s presence should give
Nebraska some type of an advantage,
as he is Iowa State’s tallest player.
That should help King, a 7-2 center
who set a team record with seven
blocked shots against Oklahoma State
last Saturday. King leads the Huskers
in scoring with an average of 17.8
points per game.
“Rich is coming along as a bas
ketball player,” Nee said.
top performances from everyone in
order to beat Missouri. He said indi
vidual performances are critical be
cause the H uskers ’ top s w i m mers w il 1
not face the Tigers.
Bentz said the Dallas meet should
help Nebraska because of the compe
tition it provides. In addition to the
Huskers, the teams competing are
lexas, Micnigan, aoumern mcuhxj
ist and UCLA.
Several lop swimmers who have
used up their collcgialc eligibility also
will compete.
“This meet will help them swim
some taster times and compete with
some of the top swimmers in the
nation,” Bent/, said.
iiTbrUaU
U.S. team anticipating Endicott's return
Lori Endicott, a former Nebraska setter who is amemberof the U.S.
national team, is nearly recovered from an injury which ended her first
professional season prematurely.
Endicott’s rookie season with the team ended when she broke two
bones in her left hand while executing a block. The injury forced
Endicott to undergo surgery and required her to have a pin placed in her
finger.
She is expected to return to practice any day now, a spokesperson for
the team office said.
Terry Liskevych, the coach of the national team, said he was sorry
to see Endicott gel hurt
“She was making nice strides, particularly defensively, when she
got hurt,” Liskevych said. “Our No. 1 job is to get her healthy.”
Liskevych said he has been impressed by Endicott, who capped off
her Nebraska Qarcer in 1988 by earning All-America honors.
“Lori is a good athlete, technically sound and has become a better
leader,” Liskevych said. “She’s not flashy, but is consistent and works
very hard on the floor.”
Kansas coach blamed for office bloomer
The royal sports blooper of the week goes to our ever-prestigious Big
Eight office, which erroneously attributed some rather interesting
statements to Kansas coach Roy Williams.
It seems the office picked up a copy of one of the local papers and
proceeded to lake note of several enticing comments Williams had
supposedly made about Kentucky.
According to a release sent to all Big Eight media outlets, Williams
vowed that there was “no way” he would go to Lexington, Ky., to face
the Wildcats next season. He even went so far as to say he would * ‘get
sick or find another job’ ’ before the Jayhawks would face Kentucky
next season.
Williams comments were enticing, as was evidenced by the barrage
of phone calls he received inquiring about them. After telling reporter
after reporter that he didn’t make them, Williams searched for their
source.
JJ? !°U.niilo!mt no1 erX®cLliy where he cxpccted. The comments
which sent the Btuegrass faithful into an emotional rage were part of
a parody column which was not supposed to be taken seriously
Sorry about that one, Roy. 3
Missouri coach Norm Stewart must know how Williams feels,
tUrj w?n*s10 avoid running into a similar situation.
When what he will do now that his team is ranked No. 1,
Stewart replied he has already taken a step,
betterpuUn aplai! ’ ”CCti”8 ** 1 l°,d ***coachcs* ‘Hey* maybe we
