i L David Wilson Baseball: out with old, in with new John Sanders was a typical baseball coach. He had a gruff voice, a nice gut, and he was rarely seen without his cap on. He never wore his jersey with out a long-sleeved liner and never turned down an opportunity to talk about the game he loved. Sanders knew baseball inside and out. He could sit in the dugout and notice small glitches in his players’ batting stances as he answered a reporter’s questions - seemingly without breaking eye contact with the reporter. In 20 years as Nebraska’s head baseball coach, Sanders compiled a 767-453-1 record and saw 84 of his players go on to play profes sional baseball. He was comfortable. Maybe a little too comfortable. .Sanders was relieved of his duties Dec. 4 - a move that every one knew would come eventually. The announcement came after a tense period within the Husker baseball family. Assistant Coach Mike Anderson was rumored to have applied for a position else where - and apparently didn’t get a very good reference from Sanders. “When Coach Anderson was out of the office for a month or so, I knew some kind of change was going to take place,” NU pitcher Jarod Bearinger said. But sometimes, change is nec essary. Over the past few years, Sanders’ teams started to slip a little. Since 1988, the Cornhuskers have finished above .500 in conference play just once. Newly hired Coach Dave Van Horn hopes to change that. After being named NU’s head coach Jan. 8, Van Horn set his sights on qualifying for a regional tourna ment and possibly the College World Series in Omaha. Sanders never talked too much about the College World Series. “We haven’t had a regional bid in 12 or 13 years,” Bearinger said. “We needed to find something to get us going again - to get us where Nebraska is supposed to be.” Van Horn just might be the man. Though he didn’t wear a hat or a long-sleeved liner to the press conference last week, Van Horn can talk the talk. “He’s very energetic,” Bearinger said. “He’s going to come in here and be positive with us and get us headed in the right direction.” As for Sanders, he will always wear his stirrups high - wherever he may end up. Wilson is a junior news-edi torial major and the Daily Nebraskan sports editor. i gymn ■ The Huskers look for a confidence boost at the University of Denver. By Darren Ivy Assignment Reporter The Nebraska women’s gymnastics team knows it wants to be at the NCAA Championships at the end of the season. But just wanting to get there isn’t good enough, All-American Misty Oxford said. Today’s dual at the University of Denver will give the Comhuskers a chance to polish their routines and improve on their score of 189.350, which they scored at the Maui Invitational in Hawaii. “Our goal is to try to get into the 190s,” NU Coach Dan Kendig said. “Obviously, it is just a matter of climb ing the ladder from there. From 190 to 191 or 192 or 193 and then keep climb mg. To make the jump to higher scores, Kendig said, NU’s gymnasts will need to gain more confidence. “Confidence is everything,” Kendig said. “If you can develop that sense of confidence now, it should carry through. It will become even stronger and stronger.” Two Huskers who have a lot of con fidence right now are Oxford and Heather Brink, a sophomore All American. In the all-around at Maui, Oxford won and Brink claimed second place. But there are also a lot of other gym nasts who wifi play key roles for NU this season. Kendig said the people who lead off an event are important because they set the tone for the event. Three other key gymnasts - Jess Swift, Courtney Brown and Amy Ringo - compete in three events each. Brown said NU is looking forward to its second meet. “I think this meet will be a lot better than the one we just had since we got out all the first-meet jitters and with the freshmen now knowing how everything is going to be run,” Brown said. Kendig agreed that the Huskers will continue to improve now that they have the opening-meet j itters out of their sys tems. But Kendig said NU didn’t have as much time to practice as they normally do between fnk and second meets. With hethiidcsnextwB^wffl^em^^^^^ tant “1 think our biggest jiunp between meets will be between Denver and our first home meet (Jan. 31),” Kendig said, “because we have two full weeks of practice prior to that meet” Although Denver is not one of die os in the country, Kendig^ said, tftii$i^j§et is important for NUl because it will help determine who will | be in the lineup die nod meet. % * * “You realize that you’ve got team mates on the team and they are your biggest competition,” Kendig said. “If you don’t do well, you have a teammate who wants that spot just as bad as you do.” ^I III IIM^— Matt Miller/DN NU GYMNASTS Misty Oxford (loft) and llnithnrnrinlrrlehid the tap tupete lithe all ewdattheMaMlevttatlonal Saturday. The duo, along with the wet of the weewe> team, wHIcoapoto tedey at the Ueherrity of Beaver. Lue, Brewer clash at Devaney 2 of Big 12 s top guards share mutual respect• By Sam McKewon Senior Reporter Victory in Sunday’s Nehraska Oklahoma basketball game may end pbg«s in the.§ig3g Conferenced ’ Cprnhusker po inT^^^Tyfomr square off in a 12:05 p.m. start at the Bob Devaney Sports Center “It’s a great matchup,” said Colorado Coach Ricardo Patton, who has faced both Nebraska and Oklahoma this season. “I would love to just go buy a ticket to that game and watch those two go at it” The Brewer-Lue showdowfi could figure heavily in a contest between two teams on a roll. Nebraska (11-5 overall and 2-1 in the Big 12 Conference) has won two straight and is 8-0 at home. Oklahoma (13-4 and 4-0) is atop the Big 12 South Division and is on an eight game wmningrstreak. “Whichever one of us plays better, that’s probably who’ll win,” Brewer said. “We’ve got to stop Tyronn Lue. He’s the key to their whole team.” When breaking down the two play ers, several similarities surface: Both played on the USA Under-22 National Team this summer and both rank high among the league’s top scorers this season. Lue enters the contest averaging 21.1 points ^er game, which ranks third in the Big 12. Brewer, a 6-foot-2 senior, ranks fifth in the conference at 19.4 points per game. Both guards also ragkqpaong the top 10 in free-throw percentage. ~ Lue and Brewer are both coming offjolid performances in their previ cusj^mes. Lue scored 30 points in an over Collado, while Brewer recorded a career-high 36 points in mi 89-73 victory