n
-.
Mitch Sherman
Boa Barr brings
professionalism
to his business
When Ron Barr speaks, people
listen.
Five million people listen.
Barr is the host of the nation’s
most popular radio sports talk show,
Sports Byline USA.
He constantly rubs elbows with
the bigwigs of the sporting world.
He owns his own radio network and
part of a new professional women’s
basketball league. He is heard
nightly on 300 U.S. radio stations
and in 120 nations on the Armed
Forces Radio Network.
He covers the Olympics, the
Super Bowl and the Final Four. His
show is on the Internet and soon it
will be broadcast in Spanish.
Tonight, Barr brings his act to
Lincoln for the third straight year
i—to predict a third straight national
title.
Barr is a guest of Gov. Ben
Nelson, with whom Ban developed
a friendship in 1994 after Nelson
called Barr’s show to bet the long
time host that the Comhuskers
would beat Florida State in die Or
ange Bowl.
Nebraska lost the game, but won
Barr’s respect.
For two years, Barr has watched
NU roll over everything in its way.
He has seen the domination on the
field, and he has seen the heap of
criticism follow Nebraska’s legal
problems.
“When you’re on top,” Barr
said, “the spotlight is always going
to be brighter.”
But Barr, unlike much of the na
tional news media, said he is not in
a position to criticize NU Coach
Tom Osborne, who will visit with
Barr tonight along with Jason Pe
ter, Grant Wistrom, Jared Tomich,
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jwuuiy rvuugcia, iiov mucus,
Roger Graig, and of course, Nelson.
Barr — who wijl meet with a
UNL broadcasting class this after
noon—has chosen not to re-hash
Nebraska’s troubles. Instead, he will
talk with Osborne #bout his new
boakand Nebraska’s chances of fin
ishing on top Jan. 2.
“What you see is what you get
with Tbm Osborne,” Barr said.“The
man has been consistent with the
way he views things, his value sys
tem and the way he applies it.”
Barr won’t talk much about pro
bation hearings and DWI tickets
tonight, but he knows Nebraska is
notperfect.
“There is a naiveness here that
you don't have a problem,” he said.
“It’s not a Nebraska problem. It’s a
problem that easts with athletes in
society, and Nebraska is reflective
of the whole nation.”
Ron Barr is not like every other
host. Visit him tonight and find out
why, along with five million other
people
Sherman is * senior news-edi
torial major and the Daily Ne
Huskers sweep No. 5 MSU
NU uses a balanced
offensive attack to
topple Michigan State.
By David Wilson
Staff Reporter
The fourth-ranked Nebraska vol
leyball team improved to 5-1 after wins
over No. 5 Michigan State Friday and
Saturday.
The Spartans, ranked No. 2 in the
preseason, fell to 1*4.
Nebraska defeated Michigan State
15-11, 15-8, 15-7 Saturday before a
crowd of 4,474—the seventh largest
crowd ever to watch a match at the NU
Coliseum.
“You can be really embarrassed if
you’re not sharp,” Michigan State
Coach Chuck Erbe said. “I feel that we
really got embarrassed tonight. It’s
been a butt-kicking weekend for the
Spartans.”
After losing the first two games on
Friday 15-7 and 15-11, Michigan State
came back to win the third and fourth
games 15-13 and 15-11. But the
Comhuskers wen the match and the
fifth game 15-13.
’ “(Friday’s) match took it out of both
Please see SWEEP on 10
Scott Bruhn\DN
FIONA NEPO, Nebraska’s setter, blocks an attack by Veronica Morales Fri
day night in Nebraska’s five-game win at the NU Coliseum. The Huskers swept
fifth-ranked Michigan State on Saturday night.
Michigan State hitters
struggle to adjust to
new setter, coach says.
By Shannon Heffelfingeb
StaffReporter
During the last nine days, the
Michigan State volleyball team has lost
to No. 2 Stanford, No. 3 Texas and
twice to No. 4 Nebraska — all 1995
final four teams.
“Not to make excuses, but we’ve
had a grueling two weeks,” Michigan
State Coach Chuck Erbe said.
MSU, ranked No. 2 in the pre
season poll, boasts of five returning
starters from last year’s 34-3, Big Ten
champion squad. Nebraska beat the
No. 5 Spartans (1-4) in five games Fri
day and in three games Saturday at the
NU Coliseum.
With senior middle bloekers Val
Sterk and Dana Cooke, both first-team
All-Americans, many predicted that
this would be the Spartans’ year to win
the NCAA championship. What Erbe’s
team has discovered, however, is that
they are missing the most important
piece of the championship puzzle.
Unfortunately for MSU, Courtney
DeBolt, an honorable mention All
American setter last season, is not back
this year. DeBolt was the emotional
leader of a team that advanced to the
NCAA Final Four in 1995.
“Courtney had a spirit that refused
to lose,” Erbe said. “Right now, we
Please see ERBE cm 11
Soccer team
survives Fran,
defeats: Kike
By Vince D^Adamo
Staff Reporter
The 25th-ranked Nebraska
women’s soccer team scored 14 goals
in its first two games this season.
umy a
natural disaster
could have
slowed down
the
Cornhuskers.
Friday, it was
Hurricane Fran.
The Husk
ers were sched
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Friday and sixth-ranked Duke an Sun
day. Friday’s game was postponed.
On Sunday, NU won 3-1 in what
may have been the biggest victory in
the three-year history of Nebraska soc
cer.
Hurricane Fran pushed inland into
North Carolina, forcing the Huskers
flight out of Lincoln to be delayed. It
also caused the team to miss its con
necting flight into Raleigh, N.C.
The team finally arrived in Raleigh
on Saturday morning for its Sunday
matchup with Duke.
Nebraska upped its record to 3-0
with the win. Husker Coach John
Walker said despite the scary experi
ence reaching the game site, winning
made the weekend worthwhile.
Please see SOCCER on 11
»
OSU Coach Simmons
vows to win once again
- i-: ■ •*
By Mike Kluck
Senior Reporter
The Dec. 7 Big 12 Champion
ship game in St. Louis isn’t even.
mentioned in the Oklahoma State
media guide.
Any reference to the postseason
would go against Coach Bob
Simmons's plan to bring the Cow
boys hack to respectability.
When Simmons, Colorado's
former defensive coordinator, took
over the Cowboys’program on Dec.
12,1994, he vowed to return Okla
homa State back to the level it was
at in the 1980s.
In the eight seasons between
1981 and 1988, the Cowboys went
to six bowl games. In the Cowboys'
95-year history, they have played in
only 12 bowls.
And although the Cowboys went
4-8 in their first season under
Simmons, they did achieve some
notable wins. Oklahoma State won
three road games, the most it has
won away from Stillwater, Okla.,
since 1988.
Most notably for the Cowboys
was their 12-0 shutout of intrastate
rival Oklahoma. It was the Cow
boys’ first win at Oklahoma since
1996 and the first time Oklahoma
had been shut out at home since
1982.
“What that did, in my opinion,
is really add a great attitude and a
great place in our own football pro
gram and also with our alumni,”
Simmons said. “There is a new atti
tude about this football team, and
kids are actually feeling good about
themselves. So going into the
spring, we went in with a positive
attitude.”
But now as Simmons is enter
ing his second season with the Cow
boys, he wants to stick to the goal
set last year of taking one game at a
time.
“Fortunately for us, we played
well toward the end of the season,”
Simmons said. “We really went into
the season trying to learn how to win
and realizing what it takes to win.
OSU opened its season on Aug.
31 with a 23-20 overtime victory
over Southwest Missouri State. But
on Saturday, the Cowboys lost to
new Big 12 rival Tfexas Tech 31-3
at Texas Stadium in Irving, Tfexas.
Oklahoma State, which plays
Tulsa this Saturday and Utah State
the following week before resum
ing Big 12 action against Tfexas,
does not face Nebraska this season
for the first time since 1959.
• 9
Cross country
squads finish
second at meet
By Gregg Madsen
StaffReporter
A partial squad of runners for the
Nebraska men’s and women’s cross
country teams got a taste of action Sat
urday at the Bearcat Distance Gassic
in Maryville, Mo.
Both teams placed second, with the
women scoring 58 points and the men
scoring 42. Division-Ill Washington
(Mo.) won the men’s title and the host
Northwest Missouri State women fin
idled first.
“What I tried to do was take run
ners that weren’t in the top five,” Ne
braska Coach Jay Dirksen said. ‘Tor
the women, it was the top four, with
the idea of getting the people into the
meet, and getting their feet wet.”
Freshman Jaime Pauli, who fin
ished fifth, was the Cornhuskers’ top
women’s finisher.
“For her first race in college,”
Dirksen said, “she did a really fine
JOD.
Also placing in the top 10 for the
Huskers were freshmen Melinda Mohr
(seventh) and Anne Finkner (10th).
Sophomore Aaron Scheer finished
second in die men’s race. Sophomore
Lou Petricca was seventh, freshman
Aaron Camzales placed eighth and
junior Alex Lamme finished 10th.
“Overall we had a good meet,”
Dirksen said. “We didn’t take anyone
over there that really ran poorly.”
Dirksen said he was more con
cerned with individual improvement
this weekend than the team's finish.
“With our sport, it really doesn’t
matter what we do now,” he said. ‘This
is just a necessary step along the way
to get to where we want to Ire.”