Nebraskan SPORTS
NU recruits center from Arizona college
By Mitch Sherman
Staff Reporter_
The Nebraska basketball team hauled in its
first recruit of the spring signing period late
Tuesday night.
Chris Sallee, a 6-foot-10,235-pound center
from Phoenix South Mountain Community
College, signed a letter of intent to play for the
Cornhuskers next season.
Whether or not Sallee will be eligible to play
at the start of the season is yet to be known.
Prior to coming to South Mountain in 1992,
Sallee spent one semester at Scottsdale (Ariz.)
Community College. He then transferred to
South Mountain and played two seasons.
Stai, linemen _
are preparing to
‘run over’ foes
By Derek Samson
Senior Reporter ___ _
Last fall, Nebraska senior offensive guard
Brenden Stai broke his leg in the Missouri
game.
Stai
Buthcdidn t reali/c what
had hit him — or the Husker
offense — until Nebraska’s
next few games.
Averaging 9.1 knock
down blocks a game, Stai
helped the Huskers gain 302
yards of rushing per game
through their first seven
games. But after Stai’s in
jury. the Huskers’ rushing
average dropped 41 yards per
game.
“That was real frustrating for me because
I’ve never experienced anything like that,” he
said. “It was a complete shock but it hit me more
when I was watching everyone in practice.
“Then, the next week we played Colorado,
and that’s when it hit me smack dab in the
middle of my chest. It is definitely something
that I can use as a learning experience.”
It’s something he’s using this spring as extra
motivation for the fall.
After weighing in at 310 pounds his sopho
more year, Stai said he is back down to his ideal
weight — 300 pounds.
“I think this is perfect for me because I’ve
" always had explosiveness off the ball,” he said.
With second-team All-American and first
team All-Big Eight tackle Zach Wicgcrtl ining
up next to him on the right side, Stai said,
Nebraska’s running game should be as good as
ever. „
“Personally, I think we’re just going to run
over everybody,” Stai said. “All the experience
we have and the serious talent we’ll have in the
backficl d w it h Lawrence Ph il 1 ips, Cli nton Ch ilds
and Damon Benning, it’ll be tough to stop us.”
Barring injuries. Coach Tom Osborne said,
the offensive line should not be an area of
concern.
“They’re somewhere close to the very best
that we’ve had,” Osborne said. “Right now,
Wiegert, Stai and (Rob)Zatcchka have a chance
See STAI on 8
-44
Nebraska will love what he does. He learns quickly and has a
lot of improvement still left in him.
— Young
Phoenix South Mountain Community College coach
The NCAA has ruled that Sallee is eligible
to play 1 1/2 years at a Division I school.
But South Mountain Athletic Director Doug
Ferguson said Sallee was appealing the rule in
hopes of receiving a full two years of eligibility.
“It looks like he has a pretty good chance of
getting the full two years,” Ferguson said.
Sallee, whose main sporl was soccer until
last year, averaged20 points and 13.2 rebounds
per game last season for South Mountain.
“Nebraska will love what he docs,” South
Mountain basketball coach Willie Young said.
“He learns quickly and has a lot of improvement
still left in him.”
Ydung said Sallee spent much of the 1992
season on the bench with a nagging ankle
injury. He averaged 5.8 points and 4.6 rcJbounds
in 19 games.
But he worked hard during the off-season,
Yomig said, and dedicated himself to basket
ball>
“He chose basketball over soccer,” Young
said. “He was on a mission last year. He had the
type of season that has not been seen here. Chris
will bring to Nebraska a positive work ethic
before he ever begins to play.”
Young said Cornhusker assistant coach
Jimmy Williams did an excellent job ofrccruil
See RECRUIT on 8
---,
Shortstop Darin Petersen and the Huskers won their 12th-Waight game Wednesday with a 5-2 victory over Kansas.
With the win, the Huskers jumped to third place in the Big Eight.
Baseball team cruises to 12th-straight win
From Staff Reports '
The Nebraska baseball team won its 12th
straight game by beating No. 20 Kansas 5-2
in Lawrence. Kan., Wednesday.
With the win, Nebraska, 26-16 and 10-7
in the Big Eight, moved ahead of Kansas,
27-13 and 11-9, into third place in the Big
Eight.
Nebraska scored two runs in the first
inning and three runs in the third, and held
on to win. The win was the second in a row
over the Jayhawks, who lost their fifth home
game of the season.
Sophomore left fielder Darin Erstad went
3-for-4 with two RBls in helping Nebraska
win its 14th game in 15 outings.
Third baseman Derek Dukart went 1 -for
3 and extended his hitting streak to 20
games.
Designated hitter Troy Brohawn went 2
for-5, and right fielder Matt McKay went 2
for-4.
Tom Bcrgan, 4-4, picked up the win for
the Huskcrs. Jayhawk pitcher David Meyer
dropped to 5-4 with the loss.'
Nebraska and Kansas will play three
games this weekend in Lincoln. The Husk
ers and Jayhawks will play singly games on
Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.rn. and
Sunday at 1 p.m., at Buck Bcltzcr Field.
Nebraska 203 000 000 — 5 11 1
at Kansas 010 010 000 — 2 6 2
E—Nebraska, Petersen; Kansas, English, Wilmot
DP — Jayhawks 2. LOB — Huskers 6, Jayhawks
10.
2b — J. Dalton (7) 3b — A Shepherd (2).
SB — Dalton (21); Kansas, D Rude
Talk show host lets guests, callers speak their mind
Let’s talk talk.
Sports talk.
Yoooooou’re on, America.
And I’m ofT.
Here’s a static-free bulletin for the
loudmouthed, opinionated sports talk
show hosts everywhere:
Your shows have grown tiresome.
You’re doing little more than yap
ping. Yacking. Yammering.
Taunting pro players. Getting beat
up by pro players.
Moaning about officiating. Crying
about calls. Cutting off callers.
It’s time to dial up a reality check:
Your hot air is overheating the air
waves.
Unless, that is, you’re Ron Barr.
Barr is sports radio’s Ted Koppcl
— with a personality. His show,
“Sports Byline USA,” might as well
be called “Sports Nightlinc.”
“My show’s a little different from
other people’s,” Barr said Tuesday
before broadcasting live from the Ne
braska Union. “We don’t deal with
just the Xs and Os. We deal with
issues.
“And we let our listeners talk with
the people who have left their mark on
others.
On Tuesday nfght, more than 100
people at the Nebraska Union joined
the thousands listening on 250 sta
tions nationwide as Barr interviewed
Nebraskans who had left their mark.
Tom Osborne, Ben Nelson, Johnny
Rodgers, Trev Alberts. Tommie
Frazier and Jaron Boone took turns
behind the mike.
But they weren’t there to get
burned.
Barr is the anti-Jim Rome,
broadcasting’s big-mouthed bul ly who
recentlypicked a Fight with Jim Everett
on ESPN II
“1 try to keep my opinions out of
it,” said Barr, whose show airs week
Todd v
Cooper
nights on KFOR. “My job is to give
information to people. Then they can
say, ‘You know, I felt this way, but
now that I know this, I feel differ
ently.’”
Mostly, Barr brings out the human
side of athletes.
On Tuesday night, he drew en
dearing emotions from former Ne
braska wingback and Hcisman Tro
phy winner Johnny Rodgers.
Barr talked a bit about Rodgers’
noted punt returns. But the talk show
host spent most of his time probing
Rodgers’ return to school 20 years
after his Nebraska glory days.
And Barr brought out the reason
behind Rodgers’ resiliency.
“Sports give you a good attitude,”
Rodgers said. “They give you the atti
tude tone vergivc up. Itdoesn’t matter
how many times you fall down;, it’s
how many times you get back up that
matters.”
Barr has received more than a few
comments like that in the past.
He’s elicited emotional responses
from the likes of Lee Trevino and
Billie Jean King.
And he has investigated issuesfrom
steroid use to gender equity to the
pressure that surrounds athletes.
“I try to use this show as a social
forum,” he said. “I take that part of the
show very seriously.”
Not that he doesn’t have fun with
his callers. Barr sometimes adds
cheesy controversial comments, like
his declaration Tuesday night that the
Big East crew who officiated the Or
angc Bowl should stick to basketball.
But most of the time, Barr doesn’t
have to spark responses.
“There’s acertain passion for sports
out there,” he said. “People have opin
ions about everything. They may not
express themselves about rel igion and
politics.
“But they will express an opinion
about sports. And the beauty of it is no
one’s really wrong.”
Callers can’t go wrong with Barr,
unless they don’t have a reason for
their opinions.
“People don’t want to embarrass
themselves on national radio,” Barr
said. “I’ll let anyone have their say
unless they don’t have any reasoning
behind what they say.
“I don’t need the wise guys.”
, Neither does radio. But it could use
a few more professionals like Barr.
Cooper i« t senior news-editorial Major
and tbe Daily Nebraskan sports editor.