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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 1995)
Sports Tuesday, February 7, 1995 Page 7 Baseball given one day to settle dispute WASHINGTON (AP) — President Clinton gave baseball one more day to settle its labor dispute before federal mediator W.J. Usery presents his own proposal to end the strike. Presidential spokesman Mike McCurry said Monday that Clinton was “not overly optimis tic that they’re making significant progress” based on what the White House had heard. Clinton had asked Usery to give him a proposal to end the 179-day walkout by 5 p.m Monday, but reluctantly agreed to the exten Knee injury ends season By Trevor Parks Staff Reporter Nebraska gymnast Laurie McLaughlin learned Monday that she would receive a medi cal hardship this season after suffering a sea son-ending knee injury last week. McLaughlin suffered a dislocated right kneecap in practice on Jan. 30 and had surgery Saturday. I Coach Dan Kendig said McLaughlin was under the NCAA limit since she had competed in only three meets. MCLaugnnn participated McLaughlin against Utah State, at Boise State and Southern Utah and Jan. 27 at Mis souri. See MCLAUGHLIN on 8 Back injuries sideline player for two years From Staff Reports _ It was announced Monday that Nebraska volleyball player Stephanie Clerc will miss the next two years because of back injuries. Clerc, a sophomore, will receive a medical hardship granted by the NCAA for the next two years. The backcourt specialist has struggled with back injuries since coming to Nebraska. She was named the Big Eight Backcourt Specialist of the Year in 1993. The Nebraska volleyball team, coming off of a 31-1 season, will also lose two other players to graduation. Senior outside hitter Kelly Aspegren and senior middle blocker Peggy Meyer will be lost to graduation. sion. “I don’t think the president wants to extend it much past mid-afternoon,” McCurry said of the new deadline. With no progress toward a negotiated agree ment after 25 months of talks, Clinton stepped in and essentially filled the vacant role of baseball commissioner by trying to get his mediator to recommend a solution. “They’re working at least,” Clinton said before Usery arrived. “I just keep telling them I to play ball. “It’s just a few hundred folks trying to figure out how to divide nearly $2 billion. They ought to be able: Jo figure that out,” Clinton said. On Jan. 26, six days after owners adopted plans to start spring training with replacement players, Clinton announced his deadline for a settlement. With the sides still billions of dollars apart, Usery said he would hand the president his proposal first, then give it to players and own ers. “I would be hopeful that they would accept it,” he said. Neither side knew what Clinton would do if the plan was rejected. The president could propose special legislation to enact terms of a settlement or binding arbitration, but both types of bills would have to be approved by the House and Senate. -1 Travis Hey inq/DN Nebraska gymnast Richard Grace concentrates before beginning his routine on the pommel horse. Grace, the defending national champion in the parallel bars, is the only senior on the Husker squad. Gymnast gets serious, leads youngteam By Mitch Sherman Senior Reporter Richard Grace has fond memories of last April. So fond are the senior gymnast’s memories that he would like nothing better than to relive them once again this April. Grace, a 5-foot, 125-pound graduate of Millard South, is the defending NCAA parallel bars champion. He is also the on the-mat and off-the-mat leader of the defending national champion Comhuskers. But this year’s Nebraska squad, he said, shares little in common with the group of experienced Huskers that captured the school’s eighth national title in 15 years last spring in Lincoln. Four seniors, who each played a major role in the 1994 championship run, are gone. “Last year,” Grace said, “our whole idea was to get through it all. If we lost a See GRACE on 8 Managers see the big and small of Husker basketball Two of the most successful people in Nebraska basketball history have never even put on a uniform. They have gone without notice, except for a little ribbing from fans and friends every now and then. That is, until now. One has seen the Comhuskers amass a 100-45 record over five years and is hoping for a fifth NCAA Tournament appearance. The other has been to three NCAA Tournaments and has helped the Comhuskers to a 74-37 record. And the tandem isn’t Erick Strickland and Jaron Boone. Or even Beavis and Butt-head. It’s Benji and Bemie. This dynamic duo is student managers Benji Greenberg and Bemie Inbody. Greenberg has spent the past nine years being a basketball manager — five on the Nebraska sidelines and four on the sidelines at Omaha Burke High School. But he will manage his final home game against Iowa State on March 5, and his presence courtside will be left to just a visit every once in a while. “I don’t want it to end, and the last home game against Iowa State will be pretty emotional,” Greenberg said. “It’s the last time I will be there.” Greenberg has been around the program so long he is beginning to act like Coach Danny Nee. “You see Coach Nee and you see me,” he said. “Now I won’t be there after this year, so it will be different. I’ve got to go on my own.” Being a student manager has virtually given both Greenberg and Inbody a spot on the team. “I love every part of it,” Greenberg said. “Sometimes you hate to lose, and I’m a competitive person, so whenever we lose I take it pretty hard.” Greenberg could become part of history, though, if the Huskers make it to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth straight time. Trevor Parks “It’s hard for anybody to get there one time, let alone fiver times,” he said. “We’re kind of used to it.” Another person used to it is the person who sits next to Greenberg on the bench, Inbody. But he came to Nebraska under different circumstances than Greenberg. Inbody was coming off a stellar high school basketball career at Wahoo, where he had plenty of "success. In his varsity career, from 1989 91, the Warriors were 90-0. Inbody helped accomplish that with current Husker Jason Glock. Inbody had offers to play basketball at Midland Lutheran, Nebraska Wesleyan and Hastings, but he didn’t really see himself contributing much to those pro grams. “I just wanted to be involved in Division I” Inbody said. “It drew me not only to be a manager, but to come to school here.” But instead of shooting basket balls, Inbody is cleaning them. He has been Nee’s mainstay on the Nebraska bench for the past three years. Inbody said he planned to manage for one more season after this year. A typical home game day begins two hours before tip-off, when everyone has to be at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. Before the game, the two managers get everything ready for both benches, the referees’ locker room and the visiting locker room. “It’s pretty easy,” Inbody said. After the game, they clean up the home, visiting and referees’ locker rooms. “It doesn’t take long unless we come up with a win, and Norm Stewart and Billy Tubbs used to stay in the locker room for an hour after the game,” Inbody said. Those wins may have propelled the Huskers into March Madness. And the trips to the Big Eight and NCAA tournaments have made the job worthwhile. “Being a part of March Madness and the hoopla that goes along with all that is great,” Inbody said. The biggest victory both have been involved in was the Huskers’ victory over Oklahoma State to win the Big Eight Tournament. They’re both hoping for an encore performance this year. Both want to go the NCAA Tournament again. Except this time they want to leave with at least one victory. Parks is a jaalor news-editorial major and a Dally Nebraskan staff reporter and coinmnist