Sports
Tuesday, November 15,1994 Page 7
Walden’s suspension frustrates Big 8 coaches
By Todd Walkonhorst
Staff Reporter
Big Eight conference coaches all expressed
their frustration Monday about the suspension
of Iowa State coach Jim Walden.
The coaches, though, limited their com
ments and refused to get specific about the
incident involving Walden in fear of violating
conference rules themselves, Missouri coach
Larry Smith said.
“If I say anything, then I’ll be under scru
tiny,” Smith said. “It’s sad that a football
coach can’t say anything."
WaMen was suspended for Iowa State’s
Nov. 19 game against Colorado and fined
$5,000 for his comments about the officiating
during the Cyclones’ contest against Kansas
State Nov. 5.
Iowa State has compiled an 0-9-1 record
this season, which led Walden to resign effec
tive at the end of the season.
Walden said that he had his attorney follow
up on the suspension because he was not clear
on all of the details involved.
Walden’s suspension was handed down
because it was the coach’s second offense, but
Walden said he was unsure of the definition of
second offense.
“If Tom Osborne said something (about
officiating) in 1975, and says something now,”
he said, “does that mean he cannot coach
again?”
Walden said that he was just protecting his
quarterback, Todd Doxzon, when he ques
tioned the officials’ judgment. If he gets fined,
so should the officials, Walden said.
“The guy who criticizes gets fined, and the
guy who makes the mistake gets off,” Walden
said. “I think both should be fined the same.”
If the suspension is not overturned by ap
peal, Iowa State’s game against Nebraska will
“If Tom Osborne said something (about officiating) in 1975,
and says something now, does that mean he cannot coach
again?”
■
JIM WALDEN
Iowa State coach
be the last that Walden coaches for the Cy
clones. However, if Nebraska coach Tom
Osborne had his way, Walden would coach
one more.
"I think it is not right that they don’t let him
coach his last game," Osborne said, "and I
have mentioned it to the appropriate officials.
"I think not letting him coach is bizarre and
not appropriate. 1 think a fine is an awfully
harsh penalty, and that should be appropriate.”
Walden will be putting money into the Big
Eight Conference with his $5,000 fine, but said
before he accepted another job, he wanted to
know how much money a school was going to
put into his football program.
“I wouldn’t go to a school, even as an
assistant, if I didn’t know what the numbers
were,” Walden said.
Defensive dish serves
double trouble to QBs
ly Pfk liwison
Senior Reporter
Last season, opposing quarter
backs had to worry about Butkus
Award winner Trev Alberts.
This year, it’s double trouble for
quarterbacks facing the Comhusker
defense.
Dwayne Harris and Donta Jones
are quietly becoming one of the most
feared pass rush duos.
\ *
The senior outside linebackers
have combined for 81 tackles, in
cluding nine sacks and 17 tackles for
losses.
Harris said he wasn’t concerned
with who was going to pick up the
slack when Alerts left.
"We both do pretty good rushing
the passer,” Harris said. "Either one
of us could have taken that role on (of
replacing Alberts). It didn’t really
matter. I just think that I have to get
pressure on the quarterback so the
DB’s (defensive backs) won’t have
to cover as long.”
Jones, who has more tackles but
fewer sacks than Harris, said the
Huskers had benefited this year from
having two pass rushing threats.
“We’re a good combination be
cause we can go out there and put
pressure on the quarterback from both
sides,” Jones said. "It’s a great moti
vation to see him on the other side
coming hard, and that motivates me
to go hard.”
The similarities don’t end on the
playing field.
The 6-foot-2, 220-pound Jones
played in six games games as a
redshirt freshman in 1991, was a
backup in 1992 and started eight
games last season.
The 6-foot-2, 225-pound Harris
sat out the 1991 season, played in
eight games as a backup in 1992 and
was listed as a first-teamer last year,
but only started once.
Harris, a native of Bessemer, Ala.,
said his and Jones’ careers at Ne
braska had always shadowed each
other.
“We always have played together
for years, in practice or whatever,”
Harris said. “Like when Trev and
Travis (Hill) were playing, it was
always me and Donta behind them.
It’s always been me and Donta. 1
think it’s great playing with Donta.”
Jones, who graduated from
Pom fret McDonough High School in
La Plata, Md., said the two knew they
had to step up their play to live up to
tradition.
“Every year, Nebraska produces a
lot of great outside linebackers,” he
said. “We knew we had to step it up
to fill the shoes of all the past great
linebackers. Trev was in the shadows
of Broderick Thomas, Mike Croel
and Travis Hill, and he stepped it up.
Now we have to step it up.”
On the receiving end of Jones’ and
Hariis’ “stepping it up” lately are the
Big Eight quarterbacks.
“It wouldn’t be fun (to go up
Travis Heying/DN
Nebraska linebacker Donta Jones reaches for Colorado quarterback Kordell Stewart. Jones has
44 tackles and four sacks this season.
against the duo),” Jones said. ‘‘We try
to go out there and put a lot of pres
sure on the quarterbacks, and they
have a tough job when they get that
kind of pressure on them.
‘‘We wanted to be the best pair of
outside linebackers in the Big Eight,
so we’ve been really stepping it up
lately against the Big Eight teams."
Not only are the outside lineback
ers rising to the occasion, but so is the
entire defense, giving up only 52
points in its six conference games.
‘‘If we get out there and play like
we should, no points should go on
that board,” Harris said. “We’re fo
cused on stopping them three plays
and getting the offense back on the
field.”
jay Calderon/un
Nobrasha llnobaokor Dwayno Harris goes for tho sack of
Kansas quarterback Mark Williams. Harris has 37 tackles and
five quarterback sacks on tho season.
Many college sports succumb to a new opponent: greed
One of the enduring qualities of
sports is that it can go beyond the
boundaries of the field of competi
tion and teach its participants lessons
about real life.
Sports teach athletes how to work
as members of a team striving for a
common goal.
They teach pride, humility, re
sponsibility, discipline and self-sac
nfice.
Sports are supposed to help stu
dent/athletes become mature, pro
ductive members of the community.
These lessons are being learned
by many athletes.
Kirby Puckett, Kevin Johnson and
Boomer Esiason are just a few ex
amples of professional athletes who
learned their lessons well while in
school. Now, they are giving back to
their communities.
Nebraska student/athletes also
participate in numerous activities
designed to get the Huskers involved
in the lives of other youth as positive
role models.
But increasingly, sports are teach
ing athletes some far more disturbing
lessons.
On Saturday night, I turned on the
Aubum-Georgia football game on
ESPN just in time for the kickoff.
Before the opening kick, field an
nouncer Mike Adamle appeared from
the sidelines to analyze the 102-year
rivalry between the Tigers and the
Bulldogs.
ESPN used the miracles of tech
nology to create a black and white re
enactment of two good old boy pro
fessors, one from Auburn and one
from Georgia, counting the gate re
ceipts from the football game.
The two professors collected all
the money in a couple of cigar boxes
and then divided it up at one of their
homes after the game.
The money went to buy a couple
of leather helmets for each team for
future games.
Adamle returned in color to re
Jeff
Griesch
mark how amazed the two professors
would have been if they could have
been alive to see the 85,000 fans that
gathered for the 1994 game and the
millions of dollars taken in from gate
receipts.
However, Adamle failed to men
tion the amazement the professors
would have had at the additional mil
lions of dollars in concessions, mer
chandise and radio and television
revenue.
Then Adamle remarked about how
proud the professors would be if they
could only see their beloved alma
maters now.
If the two good old professors are
l,
close to the men I hope they would
be, both would have been disgusted
at the exploitation of the game they
loved.
For ESPN to glorify the amount of
money the game makes was sicken
ing, especially when one of the par
ticipants — Aubum — is on NCAA
probation for rules violations.
These violations stem directly
from the desire to win more football
games and make more money for the
Aubum athletic department.
Despite Auburn’s punishment for
cheating, the team and school have
been glorified for winning 20 straight
games over the past two seasons.
After beating Florida, Coach Terry
Bowden even cried for some national
championship consideration, a slap
in the face to fair competition, justice
and the essence of sports.
But the hypocrisy of the lessons
taught by college football go far be
yond Aubum.
The fact that college football
coaches and athletic directors con
tinually shy away from a national
championship playoff is based en
tirely on the quest for bowl money.
Claims by coaches and athletic
directors that a playoff would be too
demanding are excuses.
The bottom line is the dollar sign.
Ironically, dollar signs are not
lauded as a crucial lesson taught by
athletics.
Fans are sick of reading, watching
and hearing about free agency, strikes,
salary caps, revenue sharing, lock
outs, signing bonuses, television con
tracts and everything else to do with
money in professional sports.
Don’t make me listen to the same
crap in college sports.
Forget the money and let them
play.
Griesch la a senior news editorial major
and Dally Nebraskan staff reporter and col
umnist.
