Nebra'skan ^POPTQ
Thursday, Ssptsmbsr 16,1993 |
Swede digs
her spot on
NU’s team
By Tim Pearson
Senior Reporter
When freshman outside hitter
Maria Hedbeck walked onto the vol
leyball court at the NU Coliseum be
fore her first home match at Nebras
ka, she was astonished at what she
saw.
She came out to a crowd that'was
50 times larger than any that she had
ever played in front of.
“I’m used to playing in front of 50
people back home,” Hedbeck said.
“So I was nervous the first time I
played in front of that many people.
“My legs were shaking, and I didn’t
do anything right. It took me about 1
1/2 games for me to get used to it.”
Hedbeck, who is from Sollentuna,
Sweden, is just the second foreign
athlete to ever play for Comhusker
coach Terry Pettit in his 19 seasons.
Debbie Brand, of Australia, complet
ed her eligibility last year.
Hedbeck established herself in
Sweden as one of the top volleyball
players in the country. She was the
left-side starter on the Swedish Na
tional Team last year as a high school
athlete.
Hedbeck said international com
petition was similar to collegiate vol
leyball except for a few things.
“They played at a higher level
there, and the blockers are much big
See HEDBECK on 8
Stokes looks
for big test
against NU
By Mitch Sherman
Staff Raoortar
UCLA split end J.J. Stokes has
some big shoes to fill, but that doesn ’ t
seem to bother him at all.
In fact, Stokes said, it drives him to
perform at an even higher level.
Homer Smith, UCLA’s offensive
coordinator, said Stokes had the po
tential to be better than four former
UCLA receivers including two play
ers playing in the NFL — the Los
Angeles Rams’ Flipper Anderson and
San Francisco’s Mike Sherrard.
Stokes said only hard work and
good luck would get him to that point.
“I think that I have all the tools to
match up with them,” the 6-foot-4,
214-pound junior said. “I just hope I
get ail the chances they had.”
As a sophomore, Stokes ranked
fifth in the Pacific 1 OConference with
66.2 receiving yards per game. He
also set a UCLA sophomore record
See STOKES on 8
Travis Heying/DN
l-back Lawrence Phillips is congratulated by tight end Trumane Bell after scoring a
touchdown in the second half of Nebraska’s 50-27 victory over Texas Tech. Phillips
fumbled on the two-yard line but recovered the ball before It bounced out of bounds.
What a rush
Freshman l-back starts with a bang
By Jeff Singer
Senior Editor
Two months ago, becoming
Nebraska’s No. 2 I-back was prob
ably the farthest thing from
Lawrence Phillips’ mind.
But because of a combination of
Comhusker injuries and a quick
start to his college career, Phillips
is now one of the main components
of Nebraska’s rushing attack.
Just a couple of months ago, the
18-year-old freshman from West
Covina, Calif., was living in the
Tina Mack Youth Home for boys.
Now on his first trip back to
Southern California, Phillips will
be the first backup to starting I
back Damon Benning when Ne
braska plays UCLA Saturday at the
A lot of people told me when I left California
that they would maybe see me In two or three
years on TV. They probably didn’t think they
would see me so soon.
—Phillips
Nebraska l-back
- ft -
Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.
“A lot of people told me when I
left California that they would
maybe see me in two or three years
on TV,” Phillips said. ‘They prob
ably didn’t think they would see me
so soon.”
And a few years ago, Phillips
might have had a hard time believ
ing he would be a key part of a Top
10 college football team.
While growing up in one of Los
Angeles’ suburbs, he often skipped
school, eventually leading him to
become a ward of Los Angeles
County at 13. He then lived at the
See PHILLIPS on 8
NUback
won’t go
to UCLA
From Staff Reports
I-back Calvin Jones will not make
the trip to UCLA this week, Nebraska
coach Tom Osborne said Wednesday.
“He’s a ways off,” Osborne said.
“He might possibly play some against
Colorado State, but 1 look for him
maybe at Oklahoma State, unless
things really improve drastically.”
Osborne said quarterback Tommie
Frazier was better but not at full speed
yet.
Outside linebacker Donta Jones
also continues to improve, Osborne
said.
“He was moving better (Wednes
day night),” Osborne said of Donta
Jones. “It’s still touch and go, but at
least he was better.”
And he put himself in a better
position to travel to Los Angeles for
the UCLA game, he said.
“If he can go full speed, fine,”
Osborne said. “But a guy in his posi
tion, playing 75 to 80 percent isn’t
going to be any good. We’d be better
with (linebackers) Dwayne Harris in
there or (Jerad) Higman.”
Linebacker Darren Williams hurt
his foot during practice, Osborne said.
His status is not yet known.
Strickland will
wait to decide
on third sport
By Jeff Grfesch
Senior Rmxjfttr_
Erick Strickland said Tuesday that
he would wait until after the upcom
ing basketball season to decide wheth
erne would play football at Nebraska.
Strickland is still considering play
ing football, he said, but he feels it is
in his best interests to wait until he
completes his sophomore season of
basketball.
“I won’t decide until spring if I am
going to play football,” Strickland
said.
Strickland said he might still occa
sionally observe practices this sea
son.
While trying to decide last week,
Strickland watched parts of at least
two football practices.
Strickland also met with Nebraska
basketball coach Danny Nee last week.
After a week of weighing his op
tions, Strickland said he “decided it
would be best to wait until after the
basketball season to make a decision
on football.”
You gotta love the sissies at the U. S. Open—and Nancy
The first two weeks of September
represent a special time of year for
me.
Not only is it the two-week period
that I designate as “shower time,” but
it is the magical fortnight of the U.S.
Open Tennis Championships.
Some people might say tennis is a
sissy sport and if your only exposure
to it is the Nebraska men’s team, then
that might have some validity.
But the U.S. Open captures the true
essence of sport.
It’s the only tournament in the
world where a common street thug
can sit next to New York mayor David
Dinkins and they can yell “nit a fore
hand, hairball” to Andre Agassi in
unison.
And speaking of the hairy one,
what a tourney Andy Agassi had. He
battled perennial superstar Tomas—
uh, wtho?—Enquist in the first round
for four hours finally succumbing to
the Swede’s big groundstrokes 6-2 in,
the fifth.
In hisdefense though, he apparent
ly said that his hair was beginning to
mat by the fourth set.
In all seriousness, the “Zen mas
ter” looked sluggish and tentative on
the court. A player ofhis stature should
be rolling through an unranked 20
year-old m a fifth set.
Instead, the only thing rolling was
me trying to imagine him and Barbara
Streisand together.
Maybe he can be in Yentl II: Ha
nukkan and Overheads. I only kid the
barber-hater. Hey, image is every
thing — although a first-round win
might be something, too.
Anyway, the Open has become a
gathering of the gods for me. Players
like Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe
and Pete Sampras—whom I regard as
the ugliest man in tennis—have held
me in awe for a decade.
But it is not the tennis that enamors
me, it is the atmosphere of New York.
The New York tennis crowds are a
melting pot of types and nationalities
Beau
Finley
of people. Just sitting in the stands at
Flushing Meadows,you can tear con
versations in 10 different languages.
It’s a lot like going to a Nebraska
men’s tennis match.
However, there are drawbacks to
the U.S. Open crowds. At times, I’ve
seen some nasty fights in the crowd.
Usually, the police are able to sepa
rate Jim Courier and McEnroe from
the spectators before they really hurt
anyone. But, still, it’s scary.
I figure if Monica Seles had been
stabbed at the Open, the assailant
would have gone after her purse, too.
It’s a rough crowd.
This year, the players were rough,
too. The biggest problem the Open
faced was all the complaining the
players did about the line calls. Grant
ed, there were several poor calls by
the judges but these players turn into
Steve Austin, the bionic man, once
they step onto the court.
My remedy would be this: A play
er can moan twice in a match about
whatever they choose — line calls,
the weather, the weight of their spouse,
how their mother never loved them,
etc. But after the second time, if a
player whines, the line judge can take
a swing at them.
Tennis players, though hot-tem
pered, are invariably big wussies. 1
figure any line judge under the age of
60 could take a tennis player. Not only
would this curtail that insufferable
complaining, it would be another
source of entertainment for the rest
less Open crowds.
Maybe Las Vegas could get in
volved and tennis wagering could be
heightened. This would produce more
tennis revenue and perhaps spark more
k
interest in the sport, especially in the
Mafia.
Picture this: I call Vegas and put
down a C-note on Jennifer Capnati
getting floored by the net judge in the
third set. Tennis, fighting and money
—uhh, huh-huh, huh-huh, that’s cool.
Even cooler is this dream I have.
There is this pony and it’s got a tutu on
and it’s sitting between Nancy Reagan
and myself and ... wait, that’s my
other dream. Sorry about that.
1 have this dream of going to the
U.S. Open just once—not to play or
anything, just to be a part of the
majesty. No other sporting event
matches up to it. I mean, what other
event would allow you to stalk Boris
Becker for an entire two weeks. That’s
what I call a good time.
I hope I bump into Nancy while
I’m there. Then my life could be
complete.
Flaky la a Brat-year law atudeat a ad a
Dally Nabraakaa Sport* cohiaialat.
