At Valentino’s, catering means we’ll go out of
our way to meet each and every requirement
of your party.
•Catering or Delivery for orders of $50 or more.
•Hassle free setup to cleanup.
•Arrangements can be made for china, linens
chairs, tables, even doorprizes!
•Complimentary disposable plates, napkins, forks,
cups, and tablecloths for the buffet tables are
included with each order.
•We can even coordinate your catering to a
specific party theme.
And, of course, your guests will enjoy the same
delicious food that has made Valentino’s a
favorite for years.
LINCOLN • Sheila Koch • (402)467-1943
-•V&entinoS_
Byrne: No rush
for replacement
Mike Kluck
Senior Reporter
Nebraska Athletic Director Bill
Byrne said he has not set a timetable
for hiring a new women’s basketball
coach to replace
Angela Beck.
“Right
now, I don’t know
the answer on how
long it will take to
i nireanewcoacn,
Byrne said from
Orlando, Fla. “I’m
just getting started
- • —^- in the process.”
***** Beck ac
cepted a job as the head coach and as
sistant general manager of the San Jose
Lasers of the American Basketball
League and leaves NU as the Huskers’
winningest coach in school history with
a 191-128 record.
Since the Comhuskers have filled
their scholarships for next season,
Byrne said there is no urgency in hir
ing a head coach quickly.
Byrne, who has been an athletic
director for 13 years, said hiring
coaches is part of the job. In his four
years at NU, Byrne has hired only two
coaches — Women’s Gymnastics
Coach Dan Kendig and Soccer Coach
Jon Walker.
Byrne, who’s working with an
NCAA committee in Orlando this
week on the certification of bowl
games, said the first thing he plans to
do when he returns to Lincoln is to talk
with Chancellor James Moeser.
“I want to visit with the chancellor
and let him know what my thoughts
are,” Byrne said. “We won’t hire
people from the newspaper. We will
use the normal personnel route, where
we evaluate and get input on people.
We also want to take a look at the cur
rent staff and get input from them.”
One of the first people Byrne said
he wants to consider is Nebraska As
sistant Head Coach Theresa Becker.
Byrne said he is not bothered by
Becker’s 18-63 head coaching record
in her three years at Iowa State.
“People can learn from those ex
periences,” Byrne said. “If nobody in
this world ever got a second chance it
would be a pretty sad world.”
Byrne said he also wants to meet
with the members of the team before
making a decision.
“I’ve always considered Nebraska
a student-driven athletic program,” he
said. “This is an important decision and
one that comes to the future of those
young women. They certainly should
have some input.”
Players happy for Beck
PLAYERS from page 9
waited until we sucked, then she
wouldn’t get offers like that. It is great
timing for her in the world of basket
ball.”
Beck joins the nine-team profes
sional basketball league, which will
begin its second season of competition
in October. The ABL gives women’s
basketball players the opportunity to
remain in the United States and con
tinue their playing careers.
The loss of Beck has not stopped
current NU players from looking ahead
to next season. All said they plan to
stay at NU.
“Everybody is staying because we
want to prove next year that just be
cause our head coach leaves we’re not
going to fall apart,” Kubik said.
The departure of Beck also leaves
the speculation on whom the players
want to lead them next season. All the
players said they would like to see
Assistant Head Coach Theresa Becker
take over for Beck.
“I definitely think she would be
very good for the position,” DeForge
said. “If we don’t want to go through a
big transition, she would be the best
replacement.”
Alexander
lifter ofyear
From Staff Reports
Nebraska redshirt freshman full
back Dan Alexander was voted
1997 lifter of the year by his
Comhusker teammates.
The 5-foot-ll, 249-pounder
from Wentzville, Mo., has gained
10 pounds of muscle this season.
NU Coach Tom Osborne said it
is unusual for a freshman to win
lifter-of-the-year honors.
“He’s an amazing guy in terms
of strength and speed,” Osborne
said. “He has some unusual abili
ties.”
Alexander beat out seniors Ja
son Peter, Freddy Pollack, Grant
Wistrom and Jon Zatechka, as well
as junior Chad Kelsay for the lifter
of-the-year award.
NUtakes
two at UNI
From Staff Reports
The Nebraska softball team ral
lied fran four runs down in the sec
ond game to beat Northern Iowa 6
4 and complete a sweep of a double
header at the UNI-Dome in Cedar
Falls, Iowa.
NU (22-18) won the first game
- 6-5 before making its comeback in
the second game. Freshman pitcher
Jenny Voss earned the win in both
games to improve to 19-13.
In the first game, the Camhuskers
jumped out to a 3-0 after the first two
innings before the Panthers cut the
NU lead to 3-2. NU added two runs
in the top of the fifth when Alice
Brewer singled home Rachel Dun
ham and Jamie Bleazard.
Northern Iowa forced extra in
nings in the bottom of the seventh
with three runs.
In the eighth, Kelly Pinkepank
knocked in Jennifer Lizama for the
game winner.
London finally gets chance to play
66
As far as quarterbacks go, he’s as talented
as anybody we’ve got on our team.”
Tubneb Gill
NU quarterbacks coach
LONDON from page 9
position coach, the once-heralded re
cruit from Lake Charles, La., chose to
stay on board at Nebraska.
“I came to the reality that I had to
stick it out,” he said. “Everybody has
to get out there and play, and they have
to work for it. 1 had to put all the things
in my mind that were negative aside.”
London’s negative thoughts cen
tered around his lack of progress dur
ing his first two seasons as a Husker.
Recruited by NU coaches as Tommie
Frazier and Brook Berringer engi
neered the Huskers to the first of two
straight national championships, Lon
don entered the Nebraska program with
large shoes to fill. And he never got
the chance to fit in.
After shoulder surgery in 1995,
London dropped to 167 pounds and
proved too fragile to direct the NU of
fense last spring, injuring his hamstring
and falling to fifth on the depth chart.
“We knew he had some talent,” Gill
said, “but you can’t do it physically at
that weight. And mentally, he just
didn’t know our offense that well.”
Playing behind Scott Frost, Matt
Turman, Jeff Perino and Monte Christo
as a redshirt freshman, London found
little motivation last fall and partici
pated in just four games, rushing the
ball three times for six yards.
“I got down on myself for a while,”
he said. “All through the season at No.
5,1 really didn’t have that much to lode
forward to. I was using it as an excuse
to sit back and not work. A good player
would have stepped up and showed the
coaches what he could do, which I
didn’t.”
About the time the Huskers began
preparing for the Dec. 31 Orange Bowl
against Virginia Tech, London took his
game to another level. In pre-bowl
workouts in Lincoln and Miami, Gill
said, London demonstrated the skills
coaches saw on tape two years ago,
when he ran for 800 yards and threw
for 1,500 as a senior at LaGrange High
School.
But still, London wasn’t satisfied.
“That was somewhat of a good
thing,” he said. “It was probably the
best I’ve practiced since I’ve been here,
but I didn’t really have much of a
chance to get out there and play.”
So London seriously considered
leaving Nebraska. And although he
didn’t contact any other schools, he
immediately brought his concerns to
Osborne and Gill.
“We explained to him what the situ
ation was,” Gill said, “and he’s done
the rest. He’s a competitor, and any guy
who’s down on the depth chart is frus
trated and disappointed. But they’ve
got to take it upon themselves to make
a change and do something.”
London has added 15 pounds to his
6-foot-1 frame since January, and he’s
moved past Christo and Perino on the
depth chart. Next fall, highly-touted
high school stars Eric Crouch and
Bobby Newcombe join the crowded
stable of signal callers. London said he
doesn’t plan to surrender his spot.
“When the coaches told me that I
had a chance to really do something
this year, work my way up to No. 2 and
go from there, that’s what sparked me,”
he said.
“Now I want to get to the point
where Coach Osborne has the same
feeling with me that he had with
Tommie and Brook.”
In Saturday’s Red-White Game and
entering fall workouts, Gill said, Frost
owns an advantage over the rest of the
quarterbacks because of his experi
ence. But one bad step in Nebraska’s
run-oriented offense can shelve a quar
terback for weeks, and Gill said he
expects London to be prepared to take
over at any moment.
“As far as quarterbacks go,” Gill
said, “he’s as talented as anybody
we’ve got on our team. The question
is can you put it all together on die foot
ball field. I feel very confident that
you’ll be hearing of him pretty soon,
whether it’s this year or next year. He’ll
be somebody to be reckoned with in
our program.”
I
Living Befor
Deadweek
Friday, April 25
Green Space
3:30 - 9:30
• The Edge will be here a1
3:00 to kick things off
• Free CD's and
Hemp necklaces
• Volleyball
• Free Food
• Raffles
5:00
Sponsors:
AmigoS'The Cookie CompanyDaVind's*
The Edge*Exotica*Sarlic Breath Pizza*
Homers*Pepsi*Pizza Hut*P.O. Pears*Runza
Between The tones
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