Nebraskan
Thursday, April 7, 1994
Sports
Frazier back in the game after ankle injury
Another quarterback goes down
From Staff Reports
Ncbraska’sdepth at quarterback
got even thinner Wednesday when
Matt Turman went down with a
knee injury during practice.
Comhusker coach Tom Osborne
said he wasn’t sure how serious the
injury was.
“I think his ligaments arc OK,”
he said. “Obviously, he has a pretty
sore knee. He might be question
able for the rest of the spring.”
Osborne said a defender ran
into the back of Turman’s leg as he
was throwing the ball.
Nebraska’s top three quarter
backs all have missed practice time
because of injuries.
Osborne said he hoped the lack
ofdepth at quarterback wouldn’ t be
a problem at the start of the season.
But if any of the quarterbacks
suffer long-term injuries, Osborne
said, Tony Vclandmay get another
look at quarterback.
Vcland moved over to free safety
after last season.
“With any serious injury that
could be long-term, Tony knows
he'd have to come back to quarter
back,’’ Osborne said. “But we’d
like to give him a shot at free
safely.”
By Derek Samson
Senior Reporter__
One week ago, when Tommie
Frazicr dropped back to pass, a defen
sive lineman was blocked into him,
rolling over Frazier’s ankle.
For that moment, Frazier said he
I--1 felt a severe case of
deja vu, especially
after his injury
filled season a year
ago.
But, Frazier
said, being prone to
injuries just comes
with being aggres
sive at quarterback.
some people
Frazier just seem to get in
jured more just by the style of their
play,” Frazier said, “I don’t think it’s
bad luck or anything; injuries just
happen.”
Frazier sat out Friday’s practice
and Saturday’s scrimmage but re
turned to practice Monday.
The junior quarterback from
Bradenton, Fla., said he regretted the
time he missed.
‘it was good to gel back into prac
tice,” Frazier said. “I don’t look at
sitting out as a learning experience.
“I have to be out there participat
ing. That’s where you learn. That’s
where the work gets done, and that’s
where you improve. You can watch as
much film or practice as you want, but
it gets done on the field.”
But if there is an ideal time to get
injured, Frazier said, that time is now.
-M
I have to be out there
participating.... That’s
where the work gets
done, and that’s
where you improve.
—Frazier
Nebraska quarterback
-ft -
“I don’t think it is as important
right now because we have the two
and-a-half or three-month layoff for i t
to heal,” Frazier said. “If this would
have happened the week before our
first game or something, it would be
See FRAZIER on 8
Sophomore softball player continues to challenge herself
By Derek Samson
Senior Reporter
When Tobin Echo-Hawk’s 15
game hitting streak ended after
Saturday’s second game against Kan
sas, she searched for her next chal
lenge.
But finding a
new goal shoulun t
be difficult for
Echo-Hawk.
After a freshman
season when Echo
L Hawk recorded
I team highs with 42
1 hits and a .328 bat
I ling average. Echo
Hawk knew the
Echo-Hawk next challenge was
to improve this season.
The sophomore from Louisville,
C o., has answered that call by posting
a .407 batting average, third in the
Big Eight. She also has four home
runs in 1994, compared to just one last
season.
Echo-Hawk said she wanted to
avoid the sophomorejmx this season.
“I didn’t want to remain where I
was," she said. “I wanted to improve,
but I fell the pressure after having
some great things happen as a fresh
man. I really didn’t want to drop off
this year, and I worked very hard to
make sure that didn’t happen.”
But there was another challenge
awaiting Echo-Hawk this season.
After shortstop Ali Viola tore the
anterior cruciate ligament in her knee,
Echo-Hawk moved to shortstop from
the third-base position she had played
her entire life.
“They decided to put me there, and
I was up to the challenge,” she said.
"It was not that I didn’t have confi
dence in one of my teammates to fill in
that position, but I just did pretty well
at third, so I wanted to see how I’d do
at shortstop.”
Echo-Hawk said her role hadn’t
just changed on the field.
“I feel like I have lobe a leader this
In-the-park homer
Genk Parmele/DN
Nebraska’s Tobin Echo-Hawk, right, slides safely past the Northern Iowa catcher to finish off an in-the-park home run
Tuesday.
year,” she said. “I definitely feel more
comfortable this year. Last year I came
in and didn’t know what to expect.
I’m only a sophomore and I’m not
much of a vocal leader, but I do try to
lead by example.”
Echo-Hawk broke Nebraska’s sort
sail record of 14 straight games with
a hit in the first game Saturday but
could not extend the streak past 15
games.
“1 didn’t even know 1 had a streak
until after about 12 games,” she said.
“When I was up to bat in (Saturday’s)
first game, I was really nervous. I
knew it would probably end after that.
but I kind of wish I would have never
known about it.”
She didn’t let it get her down. On
Tuesday. Echo-Hawk came back to
hit an insidc-the-park home run
against Northern Iowa.
Echo-Hawk said her final chal
lenge this year was trying to turn
around the Huskers’ 12-20 season.
“We’re definitely not giving up on
this season," Echo-Hawk said. “We’re
not going to quit.
“Hopefully we can pull it together
at the end of the year, and 1 think we
will. That’s what I like about this
team; they’re not quitters.”
Byrne shouldn t have made call to raise ticket prices
University of Ncbraska-Lincoln
students have made Renee Swartz’s
job hell for the past week.
Swartz is Nebraska Athletic Direc
tor Bill Byrne’s graduate assistant.
Make that his bodyguard.
Ever since the 50 percent price
increase — from $8 to $ 12 a game —
for student season football tickets was
publicized, Byrne’s ofTice has been
flooded with calls.
“We got bombarded,” Swartz said.
“ 11 may not seem I ike a lot, but we took
at least 20 phone calls, mostly on
Thursday and Friday.
“It was definitely interesting.”
It washed. With Byrne at the Final
Four last week and away “on busi
ness” this week, Swartz couldn’t oc
casionally transfer students to the ex
ecutioner himself.
Most likely, Byrne wouldn’t have
wanted to hear the callers’ comments
anyway.
“They weren’t pleasant callsat all,”
Swart/, said. “Some students were real
mad.”
Swart/ did anything she could to
protect herself from the shelling. She
tried to take a name and number. She
practically guaranteed Byrne would
return the critics’ calls.
But the majority of the ticked-off
ticket holders didn’t want to leave
their names.
“Most of them wanted to relay a
message,” she said. “They were basi
cally just saying that it's not fair.”
Has that message been heard by the
ticket price-raiser?
“Oh yeah, he has an idea,” Swart/,
said. “We let him know.”
Itremains tobescenwhcthcr Byrne
will reconsider his decision when the
lottery rolls around next year.
But Byrne should consider a few
things before he bums students again.
Among them:
• The ticket price increase doesn’t
make sense comparatively.
Todd
Cooper
At Texas this fall, students will pay
a measly $57 for an all-sports pass,
which gets them into the five home
football games and all of the Long
horns' home basketball games.
At Oklahoma, students will pay
$40 for five home football games, or
eight bucks a shot.
At Colorado, students paid a mea
sly $22 for six home football games
last year.
That’s $3.67 per game.
UNL students are paying three
times as much as Colorado students.
And Nebraska’s home schedule cer
tainly isn’t three times better than
Colorado’s.
• The increase doesn’t make cents
economically.
If Nebraska sells as many student
season tickets this year as last — and
that’s a big if — increasing student
tickets by $4 a pop will net the athletic
department $144,000 more this year.
That’s beans compared to the ath
letic department’s $18 million bud
get.
True, the athletic department re
ceives no state money or student fees.
It’s self-supporting. But it’s not any
where near needing life support, ci
ther.
Byrne should know that there are
better ways to raise money than
through students’ pockets.
The athletic department is bound
to make far more than $ 144,000 a year
in additional revenue if it follows
through on its plan to bring concerts
to Memorial Stadium.
And once the athletic department
begins to devour its share of profits
from the $100 million football con
tract, its budget will be more plump
than ever before. That money doesn’t
even include the revenue that will
come from a lucrative basketball con
tract.
All the price increase amounts to is
another thorn in the side of the stu
dents, who arc still hurting from
Byrne’s decision to move their seats
from the 50-yard line to the southeast
corner of Memorial Stadium.
Now,even those cheap seats aren’t
cheap.
“I understand the students’ posi
tion,” Swartz said, “but I also under
stand where the athletic department is
coming from. Because they’re not
state-supported, they have to raise
funds. It’s a real hard call to make.”
More accurately, it’s a call Byrne
shouldn’t have made.
Cooper ii a senior newt-editorial major
and the Daily Nebratkaa iportt editor.