Nebraskan
Thursday, Octobsr 14,1993
Sports
ESPN apologizes for gang accusation
Reportercontinues
to stand by story
By Mitch Sherman
Staff Reporter _ __
/ ESPN apologized Wednesday for “any
embarrassment” their story on Nebraska
wingback Abdul Muhammad may have caused
the junior from Compton, Calif.
The feature, which initially aired before
Nebraska’s game at Oklahoma State last Thurs
day, said Muhammad was a gang member.
“ESPN has concluded that in our recent
story on Abdul Muhammad, we were remiss
not to include his assertion that he is not a gang
member although he associates with friends
I
who are gang members.
“We presented a compell ing story of a young
man who grew up in an area where gangs are
prevalent and who has overcome many obsta
cles in pursuing an education and playing foot
ball at the University of Nebraska.
“ESPN sincerely apologizes if our omission
has caused any embarrassment to Mr.
Muhammad, his family or the university.” *
Chris LaPalca, ESPN vice president of com
munications, said Wednesday night that the
network would air an apology on Thursday’s 6
p.m. edition of Sportscenter and again on Col
lege Gameday at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. Those
are the same time slots in which the story by
reporter Shelley Smith aired last week.
“Obviously, this is a matter of a great deal of
seriousness,” LaPalca said. “We spent the bet
ter part of the day discussing it.
“(Smith) was very actively involved in our
discussions (Wednesday).”
Even though ESPN apologized, Smith stood
by her report Wednesday.
Smith, a 1981 University of Nebraska-Lin
coln graduate, said Muhammad told her he is a
gang member, even though he does not take
part in gang violence.
“With gangs in L.A., there are different
levels of involvement,” Smith said. “He said he
is not a killer, but he considers himself to be one
of them — not a killerJbyt apart of the group.
“Never in my wildesfdr&rrfii did I think that
he is a killer, a drug dealer, a drive-by shootist,
or a rapist. People hear the words ‘gang mem
ber’ and sirens go off. There arc people in gangs
who are not affiliated with violence.”
On Tuesday, Muhammad said he told the
reporter, off the record, he was not a gang
member. Smith said no questions were asked
off the record.
“There was an allegation that I turned off the
cameras and asked Abdul, off the record, is he
a gang member and he s&d he wasn’t,” Smith
said. “That is a complete lie. It insults my
integrity. If in fact thafhad happened, the whole
story would have bdpn different.”
Smith also dispute^ the athletic department’s
account of why Munammad was flashing a
hand signal in a football media guide photo.
The picture of the Husker offense shows
Muhammad, split end Corey Dixon and tight
See ESPN on 8
Travis Heying/DN
Nebraska’s Allison Weston attempts a dig while Marla Hedbeck looks on during a
recent match.
Colorado hands NU
second-straight loss
By Tim Pearson .
Senior Reporter
The Nebraska volleyball team
has owned the top spot in the Big
Eight for the last 17 years.
But now after a five-game loss
to Colorado Wednesday night —
the Huskers’ second straight Big
Eight loss — the Cornhuskers arc
experiencing what it’s like to be
dethroned.
No. 16 Colorado, now 3-0 in
conference play, defeated No. 12
Nebraska 15-13,9-15,15-12,5-15,
and 15-9 at the Coors Events/Con
fererice Center in Boulder.
Nebraska fell to 2-2 in the con
ference and 13-3 overall on the
season.
The loss to the Buffaloes marked
the first time the Huskers had ever
lost two straight Big Eight regular
season matches.
Husker coach Terry Pettit said
on KFOR’s post-match radio show
that he was pleased with the way
his team played.
“I thought wc played great,”
Pettit said. We really played hard.
“But volleyball’s one of those
games where the team that plays
Best at the end wins, and Colorado
played best at the end.”
Pettit said the Huskers plaved
much better Wednesday than they
did against the Sooners.
‘‘This was 1 ike a game of‘Moth
er. May I,’” he said. “Tonight we
took two steps forward, and Okla
homa was one step backward.
“We played probably as well as
we had all year.”
The first game went back and
forth early. But with the Huskers up
7-5, the Buffs started to mount a
rally. They rolled off six straight
points to take an 11-7 lead.
Nebraska came back and tied it
at 13 but Colorado scored the final
tw< ints to win the game.
Huskers rebounded in the
second game. With the score tied at
seven, Nebraska scored five unan
swered points to lead 12-7. The
Huskers won the second game on a
Jen McFadden block for a point.
In the third game, the Huskers
jumped out to an early lead. But the
Buffs came storming back, tying
the game at six. Colorado then
went on an 8-2 scoring run before
the Huskers made a late surge, com
ing within two at 14-12. Colorado
See LOSS on 8
Emphasis on academics attracts ‘big man’ to Nebraska
By Derek Samson
Staff Reporter
Nebraska’s basketball team may
just have received one answer to the
question of who the Huskers will have
as a big man next year.
Leif Nelson, a 6-foot-ll, 260
pound center from Riverside, Calif.,
said Tuesday night in a phone inter
view that he had given a verbal com
mitment to play basketball for Ne
braska next season.
Nebraska’s academic support pro
gram was the main reason Nelson
chose Nebraska over Penn State, Vir
ginia and Vanderbilt, he said.
“I would have to say the academics
was the most important reason for my
decision, with the basketball opportu
nities coming second,” Nelson said.
“I took my recruiting trip the fourth
and fifth of September and was imme
diately impressed.
“I was impressed with the people
and the all-around program. There is
a lot of support at Nebraska for the
athletic programs and for the academ
ics.”
Nelson joins 6-8 forward Andy
Markowski of Ord and 6-7 forward
Chad Idcusof Adams, who are sched
uled to sign with Nebraska during the
Nov. 10-16 early letter-of-intent peri
od. The Comhusker basketball pro
gram still has four more scholarships
available for the 1994-1995 season.
Nelson, who maintains a 3.9 GPA,
said he liked the direction the Nebras
ka basketball program was heading.
“Their basketball program is defi
nitely going in the rignt direction," he
saftf “I think now is a good time for
me to be part of it. It just seems like it
is an all-around situation that will be
good for me.”
Nebraska’s athletic facilities were
another main attraction for Nelson.
“Their weight room just blew me
away,” he said. “All the athletic facil
ities they have are just the best around,
and that means a lot to a school.”
John Seydel, Nelson’s high school
coach at Riverside Arlington, said the
opportunity to play right away also
may have influenced Nelson’s deci
sion.
Nebraska lost center Amos Grego
ry, who transferred after last season,
and center Derrick Chandler, who
graduated.
Herb Baker, a 6-foot-8,240-pound
center, and 6-10, 200-pound Mikki
Moore are the Comhuskers’ only big
men this season.
“At Nebraska, I know they don’t
have a real big guy in the middle,”
Seydel said. “I think he will have an
opportunity to come in and play. He
wants to contribute as quickly as he
possibly can.”
During the summer, Nelson was
kept busy with his basketball—gain
ing some national attention.
In July, Nelson was ranked the
ninth-best center at the American
Basketball Coaches’ Development
camp in Michigan. He also made the
Las Vegas national high school bas
ketball tournament’s all-star team.
“He has a lot of things going for
him,” Seydel said. “His size and
strength are tremendous, and he is a
hard-working kid. He needs to work
on his speed a little, but he has ex
tremely strong hands, and he is an
aggressive re bounder.
See RECRUIT on 8
Chubick should top collar of blue with crown of Jordan
For the last nine years, children
have looked up to Michael Jordan as
a god and a role model.
I, of course, grew up admiring
Ethel Merman. But this isn’t about me
or my adolescent fantasies, it’s about
finding another player to sit on the
thrown left vacant by the retirement
of King Mike.
Jordan represented everything
11: grace.
poise, intelligence and Gatorade.
Without him, we need a new deity
to fuel the dreams and provide the
model for young fans worldwide.
If we look at the current NBA
standouts, the rank of prince of bas
ketball is pretty thin.
Shaquille “Shaq”0’Neal isn’t not
ed as the thinking man’s basketball
player or even as a particularly grace
ful player. He’s probably most noted
for breaking stuff. So he’s out of the
running.
Then that brings us to Larry “Uh,
how many zeros do you want on the
end of your contract?" Johnson. Could
the possessor of the richest contract in
sports provide the needed respect
ability to become the Hercules of
hoops? No way.
Consider that the last time he was
on television, he was cross-dressing. I
don’t think LJ and his middle-hair
part will cut it as the hardcourt lord.
Charles Barkley, you ask? No, I
had money on the Suns last season.
Forget Sir Chucky.
1 think that it’s pretty clear who our
new ruler of roundball must be. We
need to get away from the glitz and
glamour of the professional game and
get back to the old-fashioned work
ethic of college.
Beau
Finley
We need someone disciplined,
someone the kids can look up to and
fans can count on for displaying the
guts necessary to win every nignt.
The bottom line, as Bonnie Tyler
so eloquently put it, is we’re holding
out for a hero. And that hero is our
own Bruce “Blue Collar” Chubick,
Granted, “Chewbaeca,” as 1 like to
call him — but never to his face —
isn’t in that Jordan mold. He’s not
really a slashing scorer. In fact, he
really never slashes and really doesn ’ t
score too much, either. But, dangit,
we need a hero like Chubick.
I would be willing to wager that
he’s gotten more loose balls than Jor
dan did. I would even go so far as to
say he’s lost more skin off his body
than Jordan has. Also after having the
pleasure of getting an interview from
him last year, I’m sure Dr. Floorbum
smells much worse than Mike.
Those are three genuine traits we
need in the NBA’s new hero.
What I’m getting at is that Mike is
Mike and Bruce is on the floor. We
need to redefine our criteria of great
ness. We no longer need the spectac
ular, we need the grit of real life. We
need Bruce.
Bruce’s emergence as the “Head
Cheese of the Hardcourt’’ could not
have been timed more opportunely.
The United States is currently fill
ing the final two spots for Dream
Team II. This is a perfect lime to
unveil the heir apparent to King Mike.
Nofonly would it introduce the
world to the new basketball guru, but
a Chubick selection would be easier
than choosing another player.
First, the U.S. basketball officials
wouldn’t have to worry about the
team’s sponsors conflicting with
Bruce’s endorsements. BruceTs only
endorsements are with Ben-Gay and
Band-Aid. I doubt either will be Dream
Team II sponsors.
Finally, you don’t need to worry
about trying to get a urine sample out
of Bruce for the mandatory drug test.
His sample is in an alley downtown.
How much more convenience could
you ask for?
The need for the ascendency of
See FINLEY on 8
