Sports
Tuesday, March 26,1996 » Page 7
Domes benefit
all basketball
fans, purists
MINNEAPOLIS — At least I
got a seat.
What I saw at the Midwest Re
gional this weekend at the
Metrodome is the latest fad in
NCAA basketball. Domed stadi
ums are becoming the premier ven
ues for regional and Final Four ac
tion.
In fact, after this year’s Final
Four at the 20,000-seat Meadow
lands Arena, there never may be
another Final Four in a non-domed
stadium again.
A new NCAA policy that takes
effect next year requires future Fi
nal Fours to be played in venues that
seat at least 30,000 fans.
The result is that the next five
Final Fours are scheduled for
domed stadiums, including the
Georgia Dome, the RCA Dome and
the Metrodome in the year 2001.
The city of Minneapolis consid
ered this year’s Midwest Regional
a dress rehearsal for the upcoming
Final Four. Experimenting with a
new seating setup, nobody was de
nied a seat for this year’s event. Al
most 35,000 fans, most of whom
seemed to be dressed in Kentucky
blue, packed the Metrodome.
More than 50,000 people could
easily watch an upcoming Final
Four, even more depending on how
well they want to see the basketball
court.
Even though I sat so high I lost
more than a pint of blood from my
nose and watched several people
using oxygen masks on their walk
up to their seat, the view was not as
bad as one would imagine.
For the first time all season, I ac
tually saw a team rebound and box
out when Kentucky shellacked
Utah on Thursday night.
I had to ask the Kentucky fans
in front of me what was going on.
They were a little puzzled, but I
explained to them that I was from
Nebraska, and then they under
stood.
Basketball purists are up in arms
over domed stadiums. Apparently
their favorite team has never made
it to a regional or Final Four.
More than likely, these purists
are scalpers.
Tickets outside the Metrodome
were selling for face value. The
games did not sell out. Saturday at
the Meadowlands, only 1,000 tick
ets will be available to the public
with prices that surely will sky
rocket on the street.
Imagine a championship event
where every booster who wanted
tickets could get them just by go
ing to the ticket office. This would
drive the University of Nebraska
nuts.
It’s a win-win situation for fans
and schools. All the fans who want
tickets get them, which makes
happy boosters. And happy boost
ers mean big paydays in the dona
tion tray.
Now if they could only make a
120,000-seat football stadium.
Wrikeahorst is a seaior broadcasting
major aad a Daily Nebraskan coiamaist
Huskeis hope to ‘go out with a bans’
By Trevor Parks
Senior Reporter
The Nebraska basketball team
finds itself in a similar position for the
fourth straight game.
The Cornhuskers are playing a
team that was considered on the
bubble to receive an at-large bid to the
NCAA Tournament, and Nebraska
must stop a key player who averages
more than 17 points per game.
That team isTulane, and the player
is Jerald Honeycutt.
Nebraska, 19-14, plays the Green
Wave, 21-9, in the semifinals of the
National Invitation Tournament at 6
tonight in an ESPN nationally tele
vised contest at Madison Square Gar
den in New York.
The Huskers will play either St.
Joseph’s or Alabama Thursday night.
Senior guard Jaron Boone said he
was surprised the Huskers had made
it this far in the NIT.
“We are very happy to keep going,”
Boone said. “The seniors want to go
out with a bang, and this gives the
younger guys some good experience
of how to play in the postseason.”
That experience has increased with
Nebraska’s three tournament wins
over Colorado State, Washington State
and Fresno State, all three of which
had 18 or more wins.
In those three game? the Husker
defense has kept an all-conference
player at bay.
Against the Rams, Nebraska held
All-WAC guard David Evans to nine
points, 10 below his average. Wash
ington State All-Pac 10 forward Mark
Hendrickson, who averaged 17 points
SeeTULANE on 8
Basketball Starters\JT3B
Nebraska (19-14) HL Wt Class PPG RPG
G TyrormLoe 64 165 Fr. 8.2 3.0
G Jaron Boone 64 195 Sr. 14.0 2.7
H 210 . Sr. 14.6 4.8
F Bernard Gamer 6-7 225 Jr. 10.6 6.5
ft.: •• 9.1 5.8
Tulane (21-9)
m'&4r< 12.4 3.9
0 Chris Cameron 64 180 Jr. 9-3 - 5.1
T . " llir:l^1 "J15; S•" ■■V 6.6 3.1 ’
F Jerald Honeycutt 6-9 245 Jr. 18.1 7.2
% J§ill ■ | 'M: ■ % t- • .5.2 • 3-6 :
1_
^.rai^'st°p y» H>«*j. sophomore Ahman Green (right) and senior DamonB^i^
stretch Monday before the beginning of the Huskers’ first spring workout at Cook Pavilion.
Huskers start practice
By Mike Kluck
Senior Reporter
Nebraska football coach Tom
Osborne was concerned Monday as
the Comhuskers walked through
their first spring practice at Cook
Pavilion.
Osborne wasn’t worried about
the Huskers’ chances of winning a
third straight national champion
ship. He was more concerned about
the amount of aggressiveness in the
team’s first live contact since Jan.
2.
“As usual, they’re pretty aggres
sive,’!’ Osborne said. “It’s been a
long time since they have had con
tact. Considering the fact they were
in sweat clothes, I was a little con
cerned about the number of guys
on the groundand flying around out
here.”
Nebraska’s practice Monday
was the first of 15 spring workouts.
The Huskers will practice cm Mon
day, Wednesday, Friday and Satur
day for the next three weeks, and
Monday and Wednesday the week
of the Red-White Spring Game,
which will be played April 20.
Several new laces dot the pre
spring depth chart, which features
two redshirt freshmen listed No. 2.
“I was a little concerned about the number of
guys on the ground and flying around out
here. ”
TOM OSBORNE
Nebraska football coach
At SAM linebacker, Tony Ortiz is
behind only Jamel Wiliams, a se
nior next fall. And at left guard,
redshirt freshman James Sherman
IS second to senior Chris Dishman.
Quarterback is the team’s least
experienced position. Senior Matt
Turman is No. 1. Junior Scott Frost
is second, followed by sophomore
Monte Christo and redshirt fresh
men Frankie London and Jeff
Perino. London, who had shoulder
surgery last fall, will not scrimmage
this spring, but he can practice.
Senior defensive tackle Larry
Townsend, who had knee surgery
this winter, will miss spring drills,
as will senior wingback Riley
Washington, who is out with a groin
injury.
Larry Arnold, a senior SAM
linebacker who quit the team last
has returned. Although he had to
forfeit his scholarship, Arnold
would be given a fair chance this
spring, Osborne said.
Junior Aaron Taylor has moved
to center, replacing three-year
starter and All-American Aaron
Graham. Chris Dishman has moved
from left tackle to left guard and
AdamTreu from right tackle to left
tackle. Jon Zatechka is slated to
start at right tackle and Eric Ander
son at right tackle.
Taylor, a junior, earned All-Big
Eight honors last season at left
guard. He has not played center
since his high school days at Rider
High School in Wichita Falls,
Texas.
Even though Taylor fumbled
four snaps Monday hiking the ball
See FOOTBALL on8
Wrestlers
fail in bid
to improve
By Antone Oseka
Staff Reporter
MINNEAPOLIS — After return
ing four All-Americans and a national
champion, the Nebraska wrestling
team was in good shape to improve
on last year’s finish at the NCAA
Championships.
It did, but not by very much.
Last year, Nebraska finished in
sixth place. The Comhuskers wanted
to set a new school best by finishing
in the top two this season. Nebraska’s
best NCAA finish was third in 1993.
They were on track to finish sec
ond, right behind national champion
Iowa. But Nebraska didn’t wrestle
well when it had to. The Huskers
ended in a disappointing fifth place,
with four All-Americans.
“This is what we work 12 months
a year for,” Nebraska coach Tim
Neumann said. “To not do it is dis
tressing.”
Nebraska put three of its nine quali
fiers into the quarterfinals and was
second in the team race, but remained
12 points behind Iowa.
When wrestling began on Friday
evening, Nebraska held a four-point
lead on the field, including Cal State
Bakersfield, which moved into third
place with 34 points.
The Huskers then hit a brick wall.
They dropped from second to
ninth, gaining only 1 1/2 team points
when Chad Nelson advanced to the
medal round in the consolation bracket
at 167 pounds. He finished the tour
nament an All-American in eighth
place.
Unfortunately for Nebraska, that
was the highlight on Friday.
At 118 pounds. Brad Canoyer lost
and was out. x
At 134 pounds, Tony DeAnda lost
and was out.
At 142 pounds. Dusty Morris lost
and was out.
At 177 pounds, Erik Josephson lost
and was out.
126-pounder Jeramic Welder, who
lost twice Thursday, was the only other
Nebraska qualifier who didn’t claim
All-American honors.
Nebraska’s hopes rested on the
three semifinalists, Tcmoer Terry at
158, Ryan Tobin at 190 and Tolly Th
ompson at heavyweight.
All lost, Terry to defending national
champion Ernest Benion of Illinois by
default; Tobin to eventual national
champion John Kading of Oklahoma;
and Thompson, the defending national
champion, to Justin Harty of North
Carolina.
The Nebraska trio, however, came
back to win third on Saturday.