Sports
Thursday, April 13, 1995 Page 7
Linebacker coach
appreciates Huskers
By Derek Samson
Senior Reporter
Not much has changed since linebackers
coach Craig Bohl was a graduate assistant for
Nebraska from 1981-83 — except the players.
Learning the players was about the biggest
adjustment for Bohl, who was named as Kevin
Steele’s replacement as linebacker coach in
February.
“It was hard coming up with names, espe
cially with guys that weren’t in my position,”
Bohl said. “I was calling defensive backs by
their numbers. Heck, I didn ’t know who No. 15
(Tommie Frazier) was for a while.”
Bohl, a 1977 graduate of Lincoln East High
School, played for Nebraska from 1978-81 and
had his latest coaching stint at Duke Univer
sity, where he was the defensive coordinator.
He said his lack of familiarity with the
players may have promoted a more competi
tive spring.
“I studied some film from last year because
I had to have a starting point, but we threw
everything wide open,” Bohl said. “That’s true
at all the positions, though. But when there is
a new coach coming in, it will be a whole new
evaluation.
“I think that’s good. Sometimes it takes a
guy out of a comfort zone. Sometimes it helps
a guy who thinks he was mis-evaluated. That’s
what spring football is all about, but it’s even
more important with a new coach.”
But Bohl hasn’t seen anyone trying to play
favorites with him.
“I think they’re just competing,” Bohl said.
“I don’t think there is any big deal. This place
is such a well-run organization. There aren’t a
lot of egos here. They’re just trying to do the
7 was calling defensive backs
by their numbers. Heck, I
didn't know who No. 15 was
fora while.”
■
CRAIG BOHL
Nebraska linebackers coach
best they can to get on the field.”
After coaching at North Dakota State, Tulsa,
Wisconsin, Rice and Duke, Bohl said his ap
preciation of Nebraska had grown.
“It’s not like other places where you’ll have
one or two good players at a position, and then
there is a huge drop-off.”
The Blue Devils had an 84 record in 1994
and earned a berth in the Hall of Fame Bowl,
which Bohl credited to Duke coach Fred Gold
smith.
Bohl said Goldsmith was instilling an atti
tude similar to that at Nebraska.
“Fred Goldsmith did a great job of changing
Duke’s losing mentality,” he said. “Before,
when a mistake would happen, players would
turn on each other. Fred was able to change
that. Players here have the same mentality that
was here when I was around — they expect to
win.
After 12 years of being away from Lincoln
and Nebraska football, Bohl is grateful to be
part of it again.
“It has been close to a dream come true,”
Bohl said. “The players, the coaches — they’re
a good group of guys to work with. Each day is
a new challenge.”
Huskers add two players
to basketball recruit class
From Staff Reports
The Nebraska men’s basketball team added
two high school seniors to its recruiting class
Wednesday, signing Tyronn Lue and Larry
Florence to letters of intent.
Wednesday was the first day of the spring
signing period, which runs until May 12.
Lue, from Raytown High School in Kansas
City, Mo., signed with the Huskers on Wednes
day afternoon after visiting no schools other
than Nebraska.
The 5-foot-11 point guard, who led Raytown
to a 27-1 record last season, averaged 23.5
points, 8 assists and 6 steals per game.
Florence, a 6-6 forward from Phenix City
(Ala.) Central High School, averaged 19.1
points, 14 rebounds and 4.3 blocks per game as
a senior. Phenix City coach Bobby Wright said
Florence had not yet met Proposition 48 re
quirements to play in the fall.
Nebraska has now received letters of intent
from four players. Alvin Mitchell, a 6-1 guard
from Omaha Burke High School and Bernard
Gamer, a 6-7 forward from Western Nebraska
Community College, signed in the fall period.
Nebraska coach Danny Nee is not permitted
to comment on the signees until the letters of
intent, sent via Federal Express, arrive in Lin
coln later this week.
Crunch time
JonWaller/DN
Nebraska fullback Todd Uhlir runs over defensive back Darren Schmadeke
in Saturday’s scrimmage at Memorial Stadium.
Two seniors quit football team
From Staff Reports
Two Comhusker football players have quit
the team, Nebraska coach Tom Osborne said
Wednesday.
John Livingston, a senior split end from
San Marcos, Calif., and Brett Popplewell, a
senior split end from Melbourne, Australia,
did not report to winter conditioning, Osborne
said.
Livingston transferred to Nebraska from
Arizona State prior to the 1994 season. Playing
behind Reggie Baul and Brendan Holbein, he
did not catch a pass last season.
“He was doing well,” Osborne said. “He
just decided he didn’t want to play football
anymore.”
Popplewell, who had traveled the greatest
distance of any Husker to play in Lincoln, saw
time as a wingback and a split end during his
three-year career.
He played in seven games in 1992 and
caught one pass in 1993, a 14-yard touchdown
in Nebraska 76-14 win over North Texas.
Popplewell, hampered by a hand injury, did
not catch a pass last season.
Fan strike would teach major league valuable lesson
The strike’s over.
The regular players are coming
back.
That’s bad news for Chicago
Cubs fans, but also bad for base
ball.
The owners and players seem to
think they are doing fans a favor by
returning to play a partial season.
Unfortunately, all that will come
out of the strike-shortened season is
a record book full of asterisks.
Eighteen fewer games this year
will leave fans wondering ‘what if
as records come close to being
broken.
The revamping of baseball
schedules has left less-than-ideal
situations for fans who normally
vacation to major-league cities.
The Kansas City Royals were
able to schedule their season
opener against Baltimore at the
traditional afternoon starting time.
But it is the first and only game in
a non-traditional one-game series.
Two more one-game sets are on
tap for the Royals later in the
season.
After playing a game for real,
why not play another exhibition
game? So the Royals travel up 1-29
to play their minor-league club in
Omaha.
The Royals will probably
welcome the practice since, after
all, they only play 12 spring
training games.
The Minnesota Twins play
opening day in Boston, but will
they’ll be back in Minneapolis the
next day. Major-league players
should be able to take advantage of
their extra frequent-flyer miles
when they go back on strike in
August.
But this restructuring of sched
ules is not necessary.
Baseball fans are ready to fill up
stadiums that have been empty for
the last 243 days. Fans are going
through withdrawal.
Fans love the history and
tradition of baseball, and the
players supposedly just love
playing the game. So let’s play 162
games.
Two options could be instituted
to keep the season intact.
The season could be played as it
ToddWalkenhorst
was originally scheduled, just a few
weeks delayed. With the inaugura
tion of the new three-tier playoff
system, what’s a few extra weeks
tacked onto the end of the season?
The NBA and NHL seem to play
all year long, with a never-ending
playoff system, why not Major
League Baseball?
I can not think of anything better
than watching the Nebraska
Oklahoma football game followed
by Game Six of the World Series
on Thanksgiving Day.
Of course outdoor playoff games
at Yankee Stadium during the last
week of the season may not be
desirable.
Option No. 2 involves double
headers with a 23-week season.
With 18 games to make up,
Sundays can be declared national
doubleheader days. Not only would
a full season get played, but two
for-one Sundays may be the
opportunity for owners to patch up
hard feelings with fans.
But not all fans are planning to
patronize America’s ball parks this
summer.
Camden Yards in Baltimore, as
well as the rest of the stadiums in
the United States, could see a
drastic reduction of population in
the bleachers if Ed Bunker has his
way.
Bunker is the founder of Fan
Out America, a Baltimore-based
organization seeking to launch a
fan boycott of the first week of
major-league baseball games.
Bunker’s boycott is limited to
seven days, one day for every
month on strike, just to remind
baseball not to take advantage of
fans.
“I’m not trying to destroy
baseball,” Bunker said. “Instead
we’re trying to preserve it from
being threatened by strikes and
lockouts.”
Bunker has set out to discover if
there is popular support for a
boycott of the first week of Major
League Baseball.
And apparently the support is
not there.
FOA may be DOA — dead on
arrival. A Baltimore Orioles
representative said she had heard of
Bunker’s efforts, but they appar
ently had not been a factor.
The Orioles did not have a
problem selling out opening day
against Milwaukee as 25,000
tickets were sold on April 3, the
day after the strike was settled. So
FOA will try to focus a boycott in
the fourth game of Baltimore’s
opening home stand.
Bunker realizes that an opening
day boycott may be a lost cause,
but what if a fourth-game boycott
proves to be successful?
Walkenhorst is a Junior broadcasting
major and a Daily Nebraska sports reporter
and columnist
