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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 5, 1994)
Nebraskan Tuesday, April 5, 1994 SPORTS Hogs in heaven; Devils have blues CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) —Ar kansas won its first national champi onship Mondaynight, keeping a presi den t happy and placing its coach where he always felt he belonged. Scotty Thurman’s 3-pointcr with \5() seconds left as the shot clock ex pired gave the Razorbacks a 76-72 victory and deprived Duke, the domi nant team of the decade, from a third title in four years. With President Clinton once again watching his beloved Razorbacks in person, Arkansas came up wi th a gutty performance to give coach Nolan Richardson a championship ring to wave in front of his critics whom he openly challenged throughout Final Four weekend. It also offset an unbelievable final college game by Grant Hill, one of three Duke seniors looking fora third title. He engineered an early second half run that gave the Blue Devils a 10-point lead,but it wasn’tenough as the Razorbacks fought back and took the lead for good on Thurman’s long jumper. Richardson, who challenged the media’s perception of black coaches throughout the tournament, said the championship was a sweet reward. “Tonight was like the battle of a couple of heavyweights,” he said. “Your turn, my turn, your turn, my turn. “My turn.” - 46 Tonight was like the battle of a couple of heavyweights. Your turn, my turn, your turn, my turn. My turn. —Richardson, Arkansas coach -1* - Indeed, it was Richardson’s turn after nearly 13 years of coaching. This was the Razorbacks’ first championship game appearance in their fifth Final Four. Richardson brought Arkansas to the 1990 national semifinals where they were beaten by Duke. He was in search of what he called his coaching triple crown — he won the junior college national title with Western Texas in 1980 and the NIT with Tulsa the next season. The Razorbacks got him that third title by overcoming poorshooting with tenacious defense that forced Duke into 23 turnovers. The defense was at its best when Arkansas rebounded from the48-38deficitwitha 16-4 run. Duke went four minutes without scor ing and in that span the Blue Devils missed five shots and committed five turnovers. Husker football official accepts job at Kansas By Derek Samson Senior Reporter Nebraska recruiting coordinator and administrative assistant Dave G illcspie resigned Monday to accept a similar job at the University of Kan sas. Gillespie, who has been a recruit ing coordinator for eight years at Ne braska, will be the recruiting coordi nator and assistant coach for the Jayhawks. Gillesnic was also ttillP<iniP Nebraska’s assis umespie ,am athictic dircc. tor in charge of football for the past year. Gillespie, who was first offered the job at Kansas about 10 days ago, said the decision was not easy. “I’ve been looking for an opportu nity to get on the field, and when this opening came up, I took it,” he said. “It is very difficult to leave Nebraska. I just felt like the opportunity to reach my goals was there, and I could not pass that up.” Coach Tom Osborne said Gillespie was looking for a different role from what he had at Nebraska. “We’re sorry to lose Dave because he has been a valuable part of our program,” he said. “In my discussions with Dave, he wanted to coach. With the rule changes, he just wasn’t going to be able to coach here. We wanted to keep him here for recruiting purposes, but he wanted to be involved with the coaching.” Gillespie oonfi rmed than he ch a ncc to coach was the deciding factor in his decision. “The coaching aspect is something I’ve always wanted to do and be part of,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to See GILLESPIE on 8 Travis Heying/DN Nebraska’s Darin Erstad hits a ball into the dirt during the Cornhuskers’ win over Oklahoma State on Sunday. One stroke at a time Husker looks to better hitting performance By Jeff Griesch Senior Editor In the fourth inning of Nebraska’s game with Oklahoma State on Sunday, left fielder Darin Erstad launched a 1 inc-dri vc rocket from his bat that landed just beyond the 330-feet sign in right field. The ball landed almost before Erstad finished following through on his swing. Despite the speed with which the ball left Buck Bcltzcr Field, Erstad said, his swing still wasn’t perfect as the ball hit just a few inches above the handle of his ma roon-and-gold bat. And like his home run swing on Sunday, Erstad, a preseason All American selection, is finding life, as the marquee man in the middle of the Nebraska batting order, less than perfect. - it The key for me is just to stay patient and disciplined and lay off the breaking stuff. —Erstad left fielder Despite hitting .351 through Nebraska’s first 31 games, Erstad said he expected to be performing even better at this point in the sea son. “i really expected to be hitting above .400,” Erstad said. “But 1 ha ven ’ t gotten to see too many good pitches to hit. I started getting a little frustrated.” Last season, opposing pitchers didn’t concentrate as much on shut ting down Erstad because they had to worry about slowing down an other. All-American, Marc ¥ ¥ Sagmoen. But with Sagmoen gone, and Troy Brohawn — the Big Eight’s first-team designated h itter last year — out of the lineup with a broken foot until this weekend, the opposi tion could afford to be careful with Erstad. “I think I saw five fastballs all weekend,” Erstad said of Nebraska’s three-game scries with Oklahoma State. ‘‘It was all just breaking balls and ofT-spccd stuff. See ERSTAD on 8 New baseball season brings changes, second chances When I woke up Sunday morning, I prayed and gave thanks. It wasjust a coincidence that it was Easter. I was giving thanks to the gods of baseball for bringing the renewal of life that comes with the new season. Opening Day arrived Sunday and the devout gathered around televi sions and watched from their reclin ers, couches and kitchen tables as Cincinnati and St. Louis launched another crusade. It didn’t take St. Louis’s first bat ter, Ray Lankford, long to provide the first phenomenal feat of the new sea son by sending a 3-2 pitch from Jose Rijo into the heavens. It was the first time that a lcadoll hitter had belted a home run since 1986, when Dwight Evans hoincred to begin the Red Sox’s season. But long before Lankford con nected to ensure nimsclf a spot in the hal lowed record books Of baseball, a dark cloud had already begun to form over Opening Day. First, Marge Schott, the dog-lov I ing, player-hating owner of the Reds, took publ ic relations and team promo tions to new depths by saying the game between her Reds and the Car dinals didp’t mean anything. Schott decided Sunday’sgamc was just some kind of final exhibition game rather than the first regular season game and wasn’t afraid to tell every body that the “real” opening day was Monday, not Sunday. It looked like the fans believed Ms. Schott because Riverfront Stadium was half-empty. Not only did the fans seem to think Opening Day really was Monday, the Reds looked like they were saving themselves for Monday as they lost to the Cards 6-4. Schott, who was suspended from the controls of the Reds last year for making racially insensitive remarks, obviously didn’t use her spare time to learn how to think before she shot her mouth off, and it cost her again. Along with getting the Reds off on the wrong foot. Schott’s remarks were a promotional disaster for all of ma Jeff Griesch jor-league baseball. The owners had appeared to be unified in promoting a new image for the game by adding new divisions and more playoff teams. Management is trying tobring base ball into the 1990s by making the game more exciting and attractive to fans. But how is Joe Fan supposed to get excited about baseball if the own ers say the games don’t mean any thing? From now on, maybe Schott should let her ugly dog Schotzie do the talk ing. While Schott takes the early lead for the dumbest move by an owner, Los Angeles Dodger outfielder Darryl Strawberry may have the honor for the most moronic move by a player for the entire season. For 24 hours this weekend, Straw berry was lost. OK., maybe I am being too gener ous because we all know that Straw has been way out there since his last years with the Mets. Despite his less than perfect past. Straw appeared to have tnings turned around with a stronger back, a new wife — one without all the cuts and bruises that go along with years of marriage to Straw — and a positive outlook. But when Straw woke up Sunday morning, he apparently forgot to look at his calendar and didn’t realize he was supposed to be at an exhibition game in Anaheim, Calif. Maybe Straw thought the game was optional. A fler al 1,11 d idn' t count against the Dodgers record. Or perhaps Straw heard Schott’s comments and decided he would wait until the real Opening Day to start playing baseball. Regardless of the reason, Straw berry will be extremely fortunate to have a job Tuesday. The Dodgers are young and tal ented, and they don’t need an over paid, underproductive veteran to set a bad example in the clubhouse. The Dodgers have been more than patient with their hometown boy. But with his latest unexcused absence, Straw should be expelled. It’s just too bad Marge Schott can’t be fired or released like Strawberry. Call me a purist but if Strawberry and Schott can’t musterat least a little enthusiasm about the new season and a new era for baseball, maybe they shouldn’t be part of the game. But the worshipers that give offer ings at the altar of major-league base ball are a forgiving group. They will give Straw and Schott one more chance because baseball is all about forgiving and forgetting and starting over. Just look at Steve Howe. Griesch is a junior news-editorial major and is the Daily Nebraskan assistant sports editor.