Sports
Former Husker up to challenge of NFL
By Jett Singer
Senior Reporter
After a successful first year in the National
Football League, an encore may be difficult for
former Nebraska linebacker Mike Croel.
But challenges are nothing new for the Den
ver Broncos’ newest star.
Croel, who earned NFL Rookie of the Year
honors for his play in the 1991 season, is again
leading the charge at 1 inebacker for the Broncos
in his second campaign in Denver.
Croel leads the team in sacks with 2.5 so far
this season after registering 10 last year.
The 6-foot-3, 231-pound Croel said that
getting the opportunity to play football in the
NFL after his career at Nebraska had been like
a dream come true.
“It’s been a good experience,” said Croel,
who was the fourth selection in the 1991 NFL
draft. “It’s been a good opportunity because not
everybody gets to go. It’s something to trea
sure.”
Croel was an All-Big Eight selection his
senior season as a Comhusker, in which he
helped lead Nebraska to a 9-3 record and a berth
in the Florida Citrus Bowl.
He said his career as a Husker had helped
him on the professional level.
“One thing Nebraska was good for is that
they used me al 1 over—they had me rush a 1 iule
bit as well as play me in pass coverage — and
that’s what the Broncos have done with me
here,” Croel said.
Croel is not the only former Husker playing
defense for Denver, as former All-American
Kenny Walker and fellow linebacker Jeff Mills
are on the roster of last year’s AFC Western
Division champions.
Croel said he enjoyed playing with Walker
and Mills because “it’s good to have one or two
people from the same school to talk about old
times.”
After having completed his first season,
Croel said there were some big gaps between
college and professional football.
“One major difference is that it’s more
technical here, and another major difference is
that you don’t have any classes,” he said.
Croel led the Broncos last season in forced
fumbles with four to accompany his 84 total
tackles. He also had a streak of six games in
which he netted at least one sack per game.
Croel was on pace to break the rookie record
for sacks in a season before he sprained his
ankle midway through the season. And in an
attempt to return from the injury, he came down
with chicken pox and was forced to sit out the
majority of the rest of the season. ,
- 44
It’s good to have one or two
people from the same school
to talk about old times.
— Croel
Denver linebacker
-»» -
Injury and illness couldn’t prevent Croel
from contributing in the playoffs, as he had
eight tackles in helping the Broncos advance to
the AFC Championship game before losing to
the Buffalo Bills.
So far this season, Denver is 3-1 and tied for
first place with the Kansas City Chiefs after
registering wins over the Los Angeles Raiders,
San Diego Chargers and Cleveland Browns.
The Broncos only loss this year was a 30-0
shutout at Philadelphia two weeks ago. Cro^l
said Denver’s ability to rebound with a win over
Cleveland last Sunday showed the Broncos
could compete with anybody.
“Even though we had a down point with
Philadelphia, it was just a little setback,” Crocl
said. “I think we’re real strong and we’ll do real
well.”
Cross country team prepares
for upcoming Minneapolis meet
By Tim Pearson
Staff Reporter
Preparation is the key word for
Nebraska cross country coach Jay
Dirkscn as his team gets ready for this
weekend’s Minnesota Invitational.
“This will prepare us for the end
of-the-year championship meets,”
Dirkscn said.
More than 30 teams will compete
in Minneapol is this Saturday. Dirksen
said it would be a tough test for his
team.
The men will compete in the 8,000
meter run and the women in the 5,000
meter run.
i-:
“This meet will give our young
people a taste of competition,” Dirksen
said.
“You try to finish as high as you
can,” Dirksen said. “Hopefully the
men can place in the top 10 and the
women can place in thpabp five.”
The men’s team will welcome back
David Itcffa — the top men’s runner
for Nebraska last season — for
tomorrow’s meet.
“He’s healthy but we’re not ex
pecting loo much out of him,” said
Dirksen. “He gives us a little more
depth and he takes the pressure off the
other runners.”
“When you replace your fifth run
ncr with a runner who s better than
your first runner, it w ill help,” he said.
Fran ten Bcnscl, who won last
year’s Minnesota Invitational, is look
ing for her second first-place finish of
the year. Ten Bcnscl won the Woody
Greeno/Nebraska Invitational earlier
this season.
“Fran’s got a chance to win it,”
Dirksen said.
Dirksen is also looking fora strong
performance from Theresa S tel ling.
Dirksen said this invitational and
others would help his team gear up for
the Big Eight Championships.
“The season really starts at the Big
Eight meet,” he said.
Nebraska linebacker Mike Croel brings down a Baylor runner in a 1990 game.
Croel, who was last year’s NFL rookie of the year, leads the Denver Broncos
in sacks this season. _ ^
Daily Nebraskan staffers pick
the winners of the ten major
college football games this
weekend, with winners in bold:
Iowa St. at Oklahoma
Oklahoma St. at TCU
Marshall at Missouri
New Mexico St. at Kansas St.
Stanford at Notre Dame
USC at Washington
Iowa at Michigan A
Georgia Tech at N.C. St
Tennessee at LSU I
UCLA at Arizona 7/1
Miami 23, C
Florida St. 17
root Dan team
I prepares for
scrimmage
From Staff Reports
The Nebraska football team prac
| ticed for two hours Thursday in prepa
ration for Friday’s scrimmage at Me
morial Stadium.
Injured quarterback Tony Vcland
1 — who has been out since late August
I with a broken collarbone — will not
I. play in the scrimmage and probably
A not against Oklahoma State,
] Nebraska’s next opponent.
I “We’ll see what the x-rays say and
■A wait for the doctors to clear him,”
Nebraska coach Tom Osborne said,
a “He’ll probably suit up for Oklahoma
State, but won't play until Missouri.”
Arts® Entertainment
Planetarium expands color, graphic capabilities
By Ingrid Youngquist
Staff Reporter
This year there is more than one
reason to celebrate the opening of
another season of laser light shows at
the Mueller Planetarium.
This is the 15th year of laser light
shows at the Uni
versity of Ne
braska-Lincoln
planetarium and
the first year for a
new custom de
signed laser sys
tem, said Jack
Dunn, plan
etarium coordinator.
Laser technology has come a long
way since Lawrence Goodridge
brought his “Laserworks” show to the
planetarium in 1977.
The new state-of-the-art system
was created by and installed by Greg
Makhov from Lighting Systems De
sign of Florida, Dunn said.
In the past Makhov has worked
with laser display systems as grand as
the one at Epcot Center in Orlando,
Fla., Dunn said.
“The new system has expanded
graphic capabilities and is capable of
producing a huge variety of colors
and color variations,” he said.
To be exact the new system has the'
capability in its palate to produce 16.8
million subtle color variations across
the spectrum, Dunn said.
The biggest change in the graphic
capabilities of the new software pro
gram is the ability to create blank
spaces in laser designs, Dunn said.
For example, this means that to
spell out a word the letters don’t have
to be connected, he said.
Because the software is more ad
vanced than the software used with
the old system, there will have to be
all new shows, Dunn said.
“That means a lot of work for us,”
he said.
However, Dunn said, the work
should be worth it.
“More colors, vibrant colors and
graphic capabilities will change the
experience for the view a lot for the
better,” Dunn said.
“The shows before were good and
now we have the capability to be in
the state of the art.”
Dunn said that one of the reasons
they purchased the new system was to
continue to grow instead of slaying
the same.
The Mueller Planetarium is one of
only two places where visitors can go
to see laser light shows in Nebraska.
Until the University of Nebraska at
Omaha added a laser system two years
ago, UNL had the only system, Dunn
said.
This weekend will be the opening
of the “Laser Fantasies” and “Laser
Visions” shows.
Friday and Saturday nights at 7,9
and 11 p.m. will be the opening of the
“Laser Fantasies” rock series when a
special double-length 25th anniver
sary tribute to the British rock group
Pink Floyd will be presented. Admis
sion to that show will be $6.
Sunday, Oct. 4, at 3:30 p.m., the
“Laser Visions” family series will
open when a new vision of the
planetarium’sGarth Brooks show will
be presented. Admission will be $4
for adults and $2 for children.
What’s up this weekend
Jim Thackery and the Drivers (blues) at the
Zoo Bar, 136 N. 14th St., today and Saturday
from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. $5 .
B.B.KIng at the Lied Centei|o|performing||<
Arts, 12tn and R streets, Saturday at 8 p.m.
Ames piano Quartet, Sheldon Art Gallery
auditorium, 12th and R streets, Saturday at 8
p.m.
Lincoln Blues Fest, (features 8 bands) at the
Zoo Bar, 136 N. 14th St., Sunday at 5 p.m. $4.
Moody Blues performance
successful, Lied director says
From Staff Reports
T uesday night’s Moody Blues con
cert, the firstrock-oricnted group to
appear at the Lied Center for Perform
ing Arts, went off without any prob
lems, the center’s director said.
‘‘We have had no negative reports,”
Robert Chumblcy said.
Even though the 2,000-scai Lied
Center is open for rental, most rock
oriented groups find that for the seal
ing they require, their needs arc met
more easily at larger arena settings
such as the Bob Devaney Sports Cen
ter and Pershing Municipal Audito
rium.
“We’re just too small,” Chumbley
said.
Chumbley complimented the sound
technicians on both sides for working
so well together in the “acoustically
perfect” Lied Center to prevent any
sound distortion or overamplification.
The sound technicians for both
The Moody Blues and Pat Mctheny
“were very' accomodating,” he said.
Chumbley also said he had high
hopes for the B.B. King concert this
weekend and had not ruled out the
possibility of another rock-oriented
group appearing at the Lied.
“We’ll take them when we can get
them,” he said.
New comedy’s cheese-coated plot
forces Hoffman into hero’s role
____ _ _—
By Laura Ray
Staff Reporter
“Hero” is a comedic satire about a
small-time crook (Dustin Hoffman)
and a hard-headed journalist (Geena
Davis) and the tongue-in-cheek plot
that brings them together.
Bemie LaPlante is a pelty-theft
con artist whose motto is “watching
out for No. 1.” He has a terrible day
that climaxes when a plane crashes in
front of his car.
Against his motto, Bemie half
heartedly saves the trapped passen
gers. Gale Gayling, the TV journalist,
just happens to be on the plane and
Bemie saves her life.
After the rescue, Bemie searches
for, but fails to find, one of his $10()
loafers and disappears into the night.
Soon after,Galc’sChanncl4 shows
the shoe on national television with a
reward of $1 million for the hero of
Flight 107. Unfortunately for Bemie,
he gave his loafer to a destitute man
who gave him a ride after the fire
trucks pushed his car off the bridge.
The homeless man’s name is John
Bubbcr (Andy Garcia), and as the
world discovers, he is hero material
inside and out.
While Bemie does time for credit
card fraud, Bubber is America’s new
Dustin Hoffman, right, stars as a con artist who stumbles into
heroism in the motion picture, “Hero.”
cst fad in heroism.
The movie overdoes some parts,
such as Chevy Chase as the Channel
4 news director, but it worked as
comic relief. But the plot thins when
the satire gets too heavy.
Hoffman’s character choice had a
few remnants of “Rainman,” but his
acting shined through as always.
Garcia played the martyr to a hilt.
He was perfect as the soft-spoken
ncro.
The movie’sending declines some
what as the plot gets coated in cheese.
Aside from the two-by-four sarcasm
slaps, the plot has an interesting basis,
but Hoffman carries the film. W ithout
Bemic, a man who knows his place,
and knows when to step out of it and
swear about it later, the movie could
have been tragic.
“Hero” opens in theaters today.
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