Nebraskan
Wednesday, October 27,1993
Sports
Osborne confused by Colorado‘rivalry’
By Mitch Sherman
Staff Reporter_
Nebraska coach Tom Osborne said Tuesday
that amid all the talk of the “big-game week”
and the “Colorado rivalry,” the Comhuskers
had to keep everything in perspective while
preparing for the matchup with the Buffaloes in
Boulder, Colo., Saturday.
“It seems like around here, every game you
play is pretty important,” Osborne said. “I just
never wanted to get into that attitude where if
we win this game it’s a successful season, or if
we lose this game, it’s a terrible season.”
Osborne said he respected the job Buffalo
coach Bill McCartney had done at Colorado but
the situation in Boulder is different than Lin
com.
“Bill has, for his own reasons, chosen us to
be a rivalry,” Osborne said. “It maybe serves his
purpose well, maybe it helps his program.
“People around here seem to add (the victo
ries) up. You had better get a lot of W’s and one
game isn’t going to do it for you.”
McCartney requested Monday that Colo
rado fans refrain from any obnoxious behavior
against Nebraska followers — something that
has happened in past Husker visits to Boulder.
Osborne said he appreciated McCartney’s state
ment and hoped Nebraska fans would be cour
teous in future home games against Colorado.
“I think for some reason, over the last few
years, there’s been more ill will built up around
this game than I can understand a reason for,”
Osborne said. “I don’t understand the whole
mentality of the thing.
“For the first time last year, I heard some
complaints about how Coloradoans were treat
ed in Nebraska. I was really sorry to see that. I
don’t think there’s any place for that in college
football.”
No current Huskers have ever won a game in
Boulder. Nebraska tied Colorado 19-19 in 1991
and lost 27-21 in 1989. Despite the fact that the
Huskers won 52-7 last year in Lincoln and
Colorado tied Kansas State 16-16 last week,
Osborne said the Comhuskers knew they would
have their hands full with the 4-2-1 Buffs.
“We realize that Colorado has a very fine
football team, and we’re going to give them our
^ Travis Heying/DN
Nebraska l-back Calvin Jones (background) cuts back behind the block of split end Reggie Baul while Missouri
cornerback Jason Oliver (left) and free safety Andre White pursue. “We know that Colorado is a great team, Jones
said, “and they’re gong to be up for this game.”
best effort,” he said. “Nobody’s going to be
looking past this one. They’re playing well, and
we’re playing well, so it should be interesting.
“We’re going to go out and play the best we
can. I think our players have a good attitude
toward the game and the Colorado players. 1
don’t think you’ll see any incidents on the field.
It’ll be a well-played game.”
Nebraska I-back Calvin Jones agreed.
Nebraska is 2-0 in televised games this year.
but the players said they felt they did not play
well in the wins over UCLA and Oklahoma
State.
“We know that Colorado is a great team, and
they’re going to be up for this game,” Jones
said. “So, in turn, we have to be up for the
game.”
Outside linebacker Trev Alberts said the
Huskers hoped to finally be at their best for this
game.
“I think, by far, you haven’t seen the best of
Nebraska this vear,” he said. “The guys are
running around on air this week. This week’s
going to be a lot of fun. It’s what college
football’s all about.”
NOTE:
•Cornerback Eric Stokes hurt his ribs dur
ing practice Tuesday, but the extent of the
injury is not known, Osborne said.
Players say they’re fine
without Mitchell, Brown
By Jeff Giiesch
Senior Reporter__
Heading into their matchup with
Colorado Saturday, the Comhuskers
arc 7-0 and are the No. 6 team in the
country.
But how good could Nebraska be if
Johnny Mitchell and Derek Brown
were still here?
“I think our offense would be 10,
15 or maybe even 20 percent better,”
Nebraska coach Tom Osborne said.
“It would be nice if we had them.”
Mitchell left the Huskers after his
sophomore season in 1991 and was
drafted in the first round by the New
York Jets.
Brown decided last year to forego
his senior season at Nebraska and
entered the National Football League
draft after the 1992 season. Brown
was drafted in the fourth round and
has heenme the New Orleans Saints’
leading rusher.
Both players would be seniors this
season.
Nebraska 1-back Calvin Jones said
he wasn’t sure if the Huskers would be
abetter team with Brown and Mitchell.
And, he added, Nebraska may be bet
ter off without them.
“You can’t really say if they would
have helped our offense that much,”
Jones said. “We’re going to get our
yards either way.
“It would have been nice to have
Derek here when 1 got hurt to pick up
the slack,” Jones said. “But then our
young backs wouldn’t have gotten the
opportunities to play, so maybe as a
group, we are better than we would
have been with Derek.”
Osborne said he wasn ’ t bitter about
Brown and Mitchell leaving Nebras
ka early. He said he was happy they
are having success in the NFL.
Brown
But Osborne said he was concerned
that some younger players might look
at them and pursue professional ca
reers too early.'
“Johnny was a first-round draft
pick and he knew his chances were
pretty good of making it with a team,
he said “But Derek went in the fourth
round and his chances were really 50
50.
NU volleyball squad
to meet Kansas State
By Tim Pearson
Senbr Reporter___
Every Big Eight match from now
on is important to Nebraska’s volley
ball team,Comhusker assistant coach
Val Novak said Monday.
Novak said the 15-3 Huskers must
take every match seriously—includ
ing today’s match on the road against
Kansas State, a team that has never
beaten Nebraska in 47 tries.
“We stress the importance of every
match from here on out,” he said.
“But 1 think the players all know how
important the rest of the matches are.”
The Huskers are in third place in
the Big Eight behind Colorado and
Oklahoma. Nebraska’s only two con
ference losses are to those teams.
Kansas State is last in the Big Eight
with a 0-6 mark. The Wildcats arc 7
14 overall.
The Huskers defeated the Wild
cats 15-5,15-7,15-9 in their first Big
Eight match of the season. After
Wednesday’s match, the Huskers
come home for a match against Col
orado Saturday. The Buffaloes beat
the Huskers in five games in Boulder,
Colo., on Oct. 13.
But most Huskcr practices haven’t
been devoted to preparing for Colo
rado, Novak said. Even though the
Comhuskers have won their last two
matches, they are focused on improv
ing, Novak said.
“We’re practicing for Colorado,
but we’re practicing more for us on
our side of the net,” she said. “We
can’t worry about Kansas State or
Colorado.”
Alas, ifonlv baseball season could last forever
Thank you Joe Carter. We’ll re
member your dramatic blast and miss
you and your baseball buddies until
spring.
While my prediction for a World
Series ring for Terry Pendleton and
the Atlanta Braves was wrong, I am
not bitter at all toward the Philadel
phia Phillies or the Toronto Blue Jays.
It was apparent once again that the
Blue Jays were the best team in Major
League Baseball.
Isn’t it nice, that in an era of selling
talents to the highest bidder in profes
sional sports, a guy who turned down
a few million bucks and a chance to
play for his hometown Kansas City
Royals, stayed with the Blue Jays for
a shot at another title? ———
To me, that is what baseball should
be about and Carter was rewarded for
his character.
Carter’s three-mn homer to end
the World Series put a huge exclama
tion point at the end of one of the best
baseball seasons in modem history.
It was a season filled with two new
teams, record attendance at the
ballparks totalling 73 million fans,
one of the most exciting pennant races
in history, the retirement of legends
George Brett and Nolan Ryan and
great postseason play.
October is always a rough transi
tion period for me.
After the baseball season ends, I
have to try to satisfy my craving for
baseball by watching the other sports.
Their sole purpose is to keep me
amused when the news from baseball s
winter meetings is slow and arbitra
tion hearings and free agent signings
are in a lull.
Big Red football can keep my at
Jeff
Griesch
tention until New Year’s Day, and the
Denver Broncos usually hold my in
terest until the end of January. After
that, college hoops does a good job of
securing my interest until spring train
ing comes around.
But of course, I have to keep cop
ies of The Sporting News and Base
ball America around to satisfy any
uncontrollable desires for baseball
information.
Peter Gammons’ “Diamond Notes”
still comes on ESPN about once a
week, so 1 am sure to catch that.
Somehow, he always manages to make
me feel like the season is only just
around the comer, instead of months
away.
Most people feel that the baseball
season is too long. With the new
divisional realignment coming next
season, it will be even longer.
But I wish it lasted 12 months.
I know it gets cold in Kansas City,
Milwaukee, Chicago and almost ev
ery other baseball city, but, wait a
minute, before you start calling me an
idiot.
I know that the players don’t want
to try to hit a 95-mph fastball in on the
hands in six inches of snow in subzero
temperatures. I alsp know that I don’t
want to see it come to that but 1 want
to see something.
Maybe, for all of us baseball junk
ies in need of a fix by late November
or early December, ESPN could
broadcast some games from the win
ter leagues in the Dominican Repub
lic or Puerto Rico.
These telecasts probably wouldn’t
be economically feasible for ESPN or
any other sports network competing
for a buck against college football
and basketball but I, along with a lot
of other crazy baseball fans, get pretty
desperate by mid-winter.
So, while I wait for the progression
of sports television to bring me base
ball year-round, I’ll use the image of
Joe Carter’s bomb and my other
memories of seasons past to help me
endure the offseason.
Grlesch Is a Junior news-editorial major
and a Dally Nebraskan senior reporter and
columnist.