Nebraskan QpODT'Q
Wednesday, November 10, 1993 ^ A
Nee reaps recruit
in early signings
By Mitch Sherman
Staff Reporter
One year after striking out in the early
signing period, Danny Nee and the Nebraska
basketball team appear to be working toward a
full class of recruits.
Chester Surlcs, a 6-foot-8 forward from
Buena Vista High in Saginaw, Mich., is ex
pected to sign soon with the Cornhuskers,
Buena Vista coach Norwainc Reed said Tues
day. The early signing period begins Wednes
day and lasts through Nov. 17.
Surlcs, who is rated as the 14th best high
school small forward by “Van Coleman’s Fu
ture Stars,” will be a difference-maker at Ne
braska, Reed said.
Surlcs “will be an impact player at the next
level,” he said. “Chester has a passion for
basketball. He can contribute right away. I
wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t start right
away — in his first year. He could start at
some colleges right now.”
Surlcs averaged 1 8 points and eight re
bounds per game as a junior while leading
Buena Vista to its second consecutive unde
feated season and Class B state championship.
Surlcs will join Andy Markowski, a 6-foot
7 forward from Ord; Chad Idcus, a 6-foot-7
forward from Adams and Leif Nelson, a 6
foot-10 center from Riverside, Calif, who all
are expected to sign during the early signing
period.
Reed, who coached former Temple Univer
sity star and current Denver Nugget Mark Ma
&
Nebraska's ^
verbal
commitments
Nebraska has received four verbal
contracts from high school players.
Nebraska still has three scholarships
to give. The early signing period runs
today through Nov. 17th.
players Ht. Hometown
F Andy Markowski 6-8 Ord
F Chad Ideus 6-7 Adams
F Chester Surles 6-8 Saginaw, Mich.
C Leif Nelson 6-11 Riverside, Calif.
DN graphic
con, said Surlcs was the best player he had
coached since Macon.
“If there has been one player that 1 have
coached that has been on Mark’s level, it’s
Chester,” he said. “I think he "has the ablility to
be as good as Mark.
“He has great range on his jumper — pro
fessional range. He’s one of the best leaders
we’ve ever had.”
Surlcs, a four-year starter, led Buena Vista
See RECRUITS on 8
Osborne says competition
makes better football team
By Mitch Sherman
Staff Reporter
If it seems like the Nebraska football team
has been playing in more thrilling Big Eight
games this season, that’s because this year’s
matchups have been decided by less points
than in any season in more than 15 years.
And Nebraska coach Tom Osborne likes
that competition — to a certain extent.
“I think it’s good for the conference,” he
said. “I think it makes us a better team — but it
also makes a more nervous coach.”
Osborne has had plenty of opportunities to
be tense.
Through five games, the Huskers’ average
margin of victory in Big Eight games has been
15.6 points, more than 10 points less than last
year’s 25.9 points per game.
It’s the lowest margin of victory since 1977
when the Huskers finished 5-2 in the Big Eight,
won each game by an average of 10.6 points,
and captured the Liberty Bowl with a 21-17
win over North Carolina.
Only this season, instead of fighting for a
chance to play in the Liberty Bowl, the Husk
ers can clinch the Big Eight title with a win
Saturday against Iowa State. With a victory
over the Cyclones, the Huskers would im
prove to 10-0 for the first time since 1983 and
ensure their third consecutive Orange Bowl
trip.
“At the present time, there are no, or very
few, easy games in the Big Eight,” Nebraska
coach Osborne said. “There are a lot of good
football teams, not necessarily a whole lot of
great football teams. You seldom are going to
go out and just get a cakewalk.
“1 think we’ve had some years that we’ve
had three or four games that were pretty well
over by the end of the first quarter. I don’t
know that you get a whole lot better as a team
playing that kind of a football game.”
Osborne said the parity among Big Eight
teams had shined during the last two seasons.
Before last year, Osborne said, Nebraska, Col
orado and Oklahoma were considered the elite
of the conference, but with an 8-4 overall
record last year, Kansas made its presence
known at the top of the conference.
The Jayhawks, who arc 4-6 this season,
have given way to their intrastate rivals, Kan
sas State, who are 6-2-1.
A week after a scare against Kansas,
Osborne said, Nebraska might get another taste
of the parity this week.
The Cyclones have shown their upset abili
ty after beating then No. 18 Kansas State last
See PARITY on 8
Kitey Timperiey/uN
Trev Alberts, Nebraska’s all-time career sack leader, pats Kansas’ June
Henley on the helmet after a play is blown dead during the Cornhuskers’
21-20 win Saturday.
Teaming up
Alberts helps NU hang tough
By Jeff Singer
Senior Editor
His teammates call him “a one-man
wrecking crew.”
An opposing coach said he “is a tremen
dous. tremendous player.”
And his own coach isn't short of compli
ments: “I haven’t seen every player in the
country at his position, but 1 can’t imagine
any of them being any better than him.”
Onlookers don't seem to be short of
praise when talking about Nebraska outside
linebacker Trev Alberts, who is letting his
individual statistics this year speak for them
selves.
Alberts, a 6-foot-4 senior captain for the
Comhuskcrs, is getting national recogni
tion and helping lead his team into the
national limelight this season.
Alberts, who is a Butkus Award semifi
nalist as the nation’s top collegiate line
backer, leads the Huskers with 84 total
tackles and 14 sacks for 87 yards lost this
year. He also leads the other 10 Butkus
semifinalists in sacks — three ahead of his
closest competitor.
However, Alberts would rather talk about
the team’s success than his own accom
plishments. Third- and fourth-ranked Ne
braska is off to a 0-0 start and in the hunt
for its first national championship in 22
years.
“We’ve got to feel good that we’re hang
ing in there,” Alberts said. “The bottom
line is, we’re undefeated, and it does feel
good that we’re finding a way to win.”
Nebraska has been able to find a way to
squeak out wins all season, usually with the
help of Alberts and his defensive team
mates.
The Huskers were able to hold off late
SeeALBERTS on 8
Couch potatoes, unite to overthrow cocky sportswriters!
College football fans: The power
to change the current poll and bowl
situation of the game rests in your
hands.
Nebraska fans have a right to be
upset with the conspiracy started by
Associated Press writers who voted
Miami ahead of Nebraska in hopes
of seeing the Hurricanes get a rematch
with Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl.
But all college football fans around
the country should be jumping off
their couches and spilling beer and
chips on the carpet in anger at televi
sion analysts and writers who think
the Huskers don’t deserve a shot at a
national championship if they remain
undefeated.
Football fans, this is the time to
unite.
Join together in revolt against the
people who manipulate the polls at
their own discretion.
Dig a pen and a piece of paper or
even a slightly used, crumpled-up
napkin from the depths of the couch
that you spend most of your Saturday
afternoons on and write to newspa
pers.
Write to Craig “C’mon y’all. I’m
not so dumb to call a win a tic”
James, and tell him how you feel.
Write the NCAA, and tell them
you want to see playoffs, instead of
relying on writers to screw up the
football season.
And while you’re scribbling all
your gripes on that greasy, pizza
stained napkin, encourage the NCAA
to conduct an investigation into pos
sible misconduct by the voting AP
writers.
We all know that if the Irish and
Gators fixed their games with the
Seminolcs or if West Virginia threw
their game with the Hurricanes, the
distinguished voting writers who de
termine the fate of college football
Jeff
Griesch
teams would cry for Lou Holtz’s,
Steve Spurrier’s, and Don Nchlen’s
jobs.
Writers and TV analysts would
constantly ask:
“What has the world of college
football come to?”
“Has the integrity of college foot
ball been sacrificed in the desire to
see an undisputed national champi
on?”
These same writers who did a fa
vor for the Fiesta Bowl would proba
bly call for sanctions, probations, and
possibly even death penalties for
Notre Dame, Florida and West Vir
ginia to send a message that game
fixing can’t be tolerated.
What a bunch of hypocrites.
If you need any more evidence to
the extent of this hypocrisy, just look
at the writers and analysts who are
saying that fans arc becoming too
much a part of athletic events.
The writers point the finger at
baseball fans in New York and
Toronto. They show pictures of the
mayhem in Wisconsin and scenes of
the parachutist getting pummcled
during the Evander Holyficld-Riddick
Bowc heavyweight championship
fight.
They say fans should keep from
going where they don’t belong and
let the athletes decide the events on
the field.
I agree.
But the writers and the NC'AA
should follow their advice and take
power from the writers.
The writers’ jobs should be to re
port the outcome of sporting events
to fans, not to decide which teams
should play and which teams should
win.
Write the NCAA and support a
college playoff system. Formulate a
plan that you think can work.
But if that’s too much pressure,
grab another cold one from the fridge,
tear open a new bag of chips and call
Domino’s for another large peppero
ni pizza.
Just watch the game and forget
about a mythical national champion
ship for any team because as long as
the bowl system is in place and bi
ased writers have votes, any claim
for a title is going to be wishful think
ing.
Griesch is a junior news-editorial major
and a Daily Nebraskan senior reporter and
columnist.
■i
