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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 10, 1997)
Antone Oseka A look back reveals much to remember So, this is college. Or, should I say - this was col lege. I’ve experienced events other people only dream about. I was on the field when Tom Osborne won his first national championship. In fact, I’ve never missed more than half of a Nebraska football home game in the past five sea sons. I’ve seen that same Comhusker team lose one of its own. I’ve seen the grief death can cause an entire program. I’ve seen Lincoln get its first hockey team and go hockey crazy. I’ve been on the athlete side of things. Before I became a journal ist, I was part of the Spirit Squad, a mascot for the 1994-95 school year. I saw the ’94 national champi onship. I know Tracy Jensen, the cheer leader, and I was here at the news paper the night she was injured. I almost considered quitting journalism. I almost considered quitting school all together. I got a C in my first reporting class. Not even a C-plus, a C. Luckily, for me, the university did n’t support the minus system. But that teacher, and three great blondes from that class, kept telling me to stick with it. Now I’m glad I did. Through the encouragement of the current sports staff, I came to the Daily Nebraskan in 1995. My first assignments sent me to cover the women’s golf team. I soon inherited the wrestling beat, and learned then I wanted to be a jour nalist. t * I wanted to be a special kind of journalist. I wanted to be a sports writer. For life. That sounds weird. There was a time I didn’t know what I wanted for dinner, let alone what to do with my life. But eventually, it came to me, and I excelled at what I chose to do. Now, I’m ready to move into the “real world” and see if I can cut it. I made it through college, two jobs and 12 credit hours per semes ter at times. I think I can cut it with one job and no classes. You can cut it, too. Don’t let this be the semester where you drop out. Don’t settle for a C as I did. Ace your finals. Eventually things will fall together for you. Have confidence in yourself and seize every day you have left in your college life. It’s a time you’ll look back and tell your grandchil dren about. I know I will. Oseka is a senior news-edito rial major and a Daily Nebraskan senior reporter. DN File Photo TOM OSBORNE denied rumors Tuesday at his press conference that he will retire in the near future. Osborne has been Nil’s head football coach for 25 years and will lead the second ranked and undefeated Huskers into the Orange Bowl against Tennessee on Jan. 2. Osborne says he s staying COACH from page 1 Osborne said he typically stays up until 2 or 3 a.m. looking at tapes. “If you want to call the plays and you want to be able to make adjustments on Saturday, and you want to be actively involved, that’s what you have to do,” Osborne said. * The alternative, he said, would be to assume a supervisory role and transfer responsibility to die assistant coaches. “But I think in my case, that would be self defeating because I enjoy the football and I enjoy the players,” Osborne said. “And the other parts of it - it’s not bad, but it’s not what I choose to do. I don’t think I can do that until I’m 70.1 know I can’t.” Since his 250th victory Nov. 1 against Oklahoma, Osborne said he had been surprised at the amount of attention he received. “It hasn’t been bad,” Osborne said, “but it’s been a little embar rassing because we have, as a pro gram, won quite a few games. “The head coach is kind of out in front and people know who he is and therefore, often he gets singled out - good or bad.” Defensive Coordinator Charlie McBride, who has coached under Osborne for 21 seasons, said rumors of Osborne’s retirement had come up before. “Unless something went hay wire, I think our staff would be the first to know,” McBride said. “And they’re all on the road.” NCAA regulations permit coaches to visit high school.athletes face to face beginning Dec. 1 and Osborne is one of three Nebraska coaches - along with McBride and Rush Ends Coach Nelson Barnes - that didn’t hit the road for recruiting visits this week. After NU’s 77-14 victory against Iowa State Nov. 15, Osborne was hospitalized overnight because of concerns about an irregular heartbeat. “What happened to me, the atri al fibrillation, is something that people can live with, but it can cause strokes and it can cause heart attacks,” Osborne said. “It’s not a good condition to have and it prob ably will come back. “I’ve had some warning signals, there’s no question about it,” Osborne said. “But I’m here today and that’s the main thing. “When the time comes, you’ll be told.” Huskers, CU set to renew hoops rivalry By David Wilson Senior Reporter With momentum in its favor, the Nebraska basketball team travels to Omaha tonight to face Creighton, the only other Division I basketball team in the state. Though not everyone calls the matchup a rivalry, consensus is that hie game’s intensity level will be high. The Cornhuskers (7-1) look to extend a two-game winning streak at the Civic Auditorium at 7:05 p.m. against the Bluejays (3-2). Nebraska leads the series 20-9 winning each of the past seven meetings, including a 71 - 52 win last season. “Creighton is realty going to play us nara Because its rseDrasKa, inu center Venson Hamilton said. “If they beat us, that’s going to make their season. To them, it’s probably a rivalry, but for us, it’s just another step to the NCAA Tournament” Nebraska Coach Danny Nee said the Huskers are excited to take on the Bluejays. “We look forward to the game,” Nee said. “Our players and their players know each other. Wfe do consider it a rivalry..” Creighton is led by forward Rodney Buford, averaging 19.8 points per contest “Creighton has greatly improved from last year,” Nee said. “They’ve improved their athleticism, their outside shooting and they play good defense.” Defensively, Creighton holds its ■* opponents to an average of 67 points per game and has out-rebounded its foes 194-169. But the Huskers have built momen tum and are playing their best basket ball of the season, Hamilton said. Against North Carolina-Wilmington in the first round of the Ameritas Classic chi Friday, Nebraska shot 72 percent from the field - the second-best mark in school history-jind shot 51 percent against Grambling State in an 85-48 champi onship game win. Scheduling divides Big 12 By Shannon Heffelfinger Assignment Reporter With every swing of Lisa Reitsma’s powerful left arm and each resounding slam caused by the contact, Nebraska Volleyball Coach Terry Pettit gains growing incentive to turn the Big 12 Conference sched ule upside down. ‘ Reitsma and other leading hit ters pound the ball 100 to 180 times during back-to back weekend matches, a demanding task that leaves Pettit and Nebraska Athletic Director Bill Byrne cringing. “We are beating up our athletes,” Byrne said. “Lisa Reitsma takes 120 swings a weekend. That’s like asking a pitcher to go out there and throw a dou bleheader. You just wouldn’t do that So why are we going and asking these vol leyball players to do the same?” Two seasons after adopting the cur rent Friday-Saturday scheduling format for league matches, Big 12 coaches and administrators remain tom between the benefits of a solid bottom line and the drawbacks of aching athletes. In the former Big Eight and Southwest conferences, schools played primarily' on Wednesdays and Saturdays, When the leagues merged two years ago, coaches and athletic directors bowed to the pressure of a new format to avoid excessive travel costs. Many schools could not - and still cannot - afford to charter flights from the Midwest to Texas, a necessary aspect of a Wednesday-Saturday sched ule. The coaches voted unanimously in 1995 to modify the schedule. Instead of playing matches on Wednesday and Saturday, the Big 12 universities would play its matches on Friday and Saturday nights. Today, several coaches regret that decision, and in March the league’s ath letic directors will vote on a proposal designed to reverse it “We had it all,” Oklahoma Coach Miles Pabst said. “We had everything the way we wanted it, and the coaches went and voted it out” Evidence of physical and emotional strain on the athletes points to a conclu sion coaches hadn’t expected to see so soon. The time has come to alter the cur rent format Pettit said. “In the old Big Eight the quality of the product just was not the same,” Pettit said. “The game has evolved to the point where it is much more physical now, and the matches are more demanding.” Big 12 coaches have voiced their opinions numerous times during con ference calls organized to discuss the league’s schedule. “For the most part, we are not going to come to a consensus on this,” Texas A&M Coach Laurie Corbelli said. “It’s unfair to even expect that. But the majority of us want (the old format), and we are going to fight for it.” Strain on athletes An obvious strain on the volleyball players constitutes Corbelli’s argument for a move back to Wednesday-Saturday scheduling. With the exception of non-confer ence tournaments, A&M competed in back-to-back weekend matches 11 con secutive times over a 2 ‘/2-month span. Corbelli does not allow Stacy Sykora - the Aggies’ top hitter - to participate in attack drills during practice. “My eyes have really been opened to the risk of injury,” Corbelli said “We have a senior-dominated team. These girls have been playing on consecutive nights for four years. “About the middle of the season, fatigue really set in, and we were upset by some teams we shouldn’t have lost to. Maybe some of that can be attributed to the fact that the girls get really emo tionally and physically drained” NU setter Fiona Nepo backs Corbelli. Volleyball cost Below are the operating cost for the Big 12 conference volleyball programs, and their support for a schedule change. Ftrtftesclmiuleckaaie School Operating costs John Frank/DN Source: Kansas City Star “Your body just does not get enough rest,” Nepo said. “Around the middle of the season, we’re just mentally and physically tired.” Pabst, the OU coach, said Patrice Arrington, the Sooners’ most effective attacker, often swings 160 times per weekend. Much like other heavy hitters, Please see SCHEDULE on 8