Andrew Strnad
Green Bay
is better at
mediocrity
I CAN’T STAND GREEN BAY
PACKERS FANS!
But I am a Packer fan. Let me
explain.
I grew up in Milwaukee during
the Bart Starr glory years. Not the
glory years of Vince Lombardi, but
ithe glory years when Starr was the
coach, and the Pack was always 8-8,
(with an occasional winning 8-7-1 sea
son m there somewhere.
1 loved those days, when Lynn
Dickey hooked up with John
Jefferson and beating the Bears actu
ally meant something.
The fans w'ere as loyal then as they
are today, but something happened
after the dark Gregg and Infante days.
Some guy named Ron Wolf came
along and hired a guy named
Holmgren and traded for a quarter
back named Favre.
Packer fans started to lose it.
I blame Pittsburgh wade receiver
fYancey Thigpen. He dropped a touch
down pass in week 17 back in 1994,
giving the Packers their first division
title since the Lombardi days.
Ever smce then, the Packers have
become the most important item in
the lives of all 5.2 million Wisconsin
residents, most of whom are currently
in San Diego for Sunday’s Super
Bowl against the Denver Broncos.
There was a guy who used to live
near me in Milwaukee who painted
his van green and gold. It had a large
mural of Sterling Sharpe on one side,
with Brett Favre on the other.
I’ve seen goal posts in people’s
yards, life-size cutouts of Coach Mike
Holmgren in picture windows. Not to
mention Holmgren look-alike con
tests, which are quite popular consid
ering that nearly everybody in
Wisconsin looks like him.
Big beer gut. Thick mustache.
Packers coat.
I’ll go to church thinking I won’t
see any of these wackos, and I’ll see
about 100 people wearing Packer jer
seys, sweatpants and jackets.
Every year it’s a Packer
Christmas, complete with Packer
rosaries. I’m not kidding.
Want to see a Packer wedding?
Drive up to Ashwaubenon, Wis. - or
any city in Wisconsin.
This sounds painfully similar to
the obsession with Nebraska football,
but there’s a difference.
Packer fans can be very obnox
ious. Whether at Lambeau Field or at
a bar any day, any time of the week,
these people live on a diet of ATF.
Alcohol, tobacco, and football.
Foiget the brats and kielbasa. Give
these people a case of Blatz and a
Packer game to watch, and you’ll get
pure pandemonium.
Andrew Strnad is a senior
broadcasting and political science
major and Daily Nebraskan staff
reporter.
Texas outguns Huskers
By Mike Finger
The Daily Texan
AUSTIN, Texas - After posting
just 53 points in its victory over
Oklahoma Sunday, the Nebraska
men’s basketball team entered its
matchup with Texas Wednesday night
ready to push up the tempo.
Unfortunately for the
Cornhuskers, the Longhorns gave
them more than they bargained for.
Texas blew open the fast-paced
contest with a 14-2 run midway
through the second half, and the
Homs held on down the stretch to put
the Huskers away 105-91.
“It was a tough road game,”
Nebraska Coach Danny Nee said.
“We probably played 25 minutes of
basketball, but against a team like
Texas you have to play all 40.”
Nebraska fell to 12-6 overall and
3-2 in Big 12 Conference, but didn’t
lose any ground on conference-lead
ing Baylor (10-6 and 5-1), which lost
to Colorado Wednesday. Texas
improved to 8-9 and 2-4.
After leading for the majority of
the first half, the Huskers fell victim
to a scorching UT shooting perfor
mance after the break.
NU point guard Tyronn Lue
scored 16 points and had six assists in
the first half, which helped the
Huskersjump out to an early lead.
Lue, who finished with 23 points,
scored in double figures for the 35th
consecutive game.
“(Lue) carried us and carried us
tonight,” Nee said. “I thought he
played great, and we can’t ask for
more from him.”
Nebraska took a 44-43 lead into
the locker room at halftime, but Texas
battled back in the second half.
The Horns converted on 10 of
their first 12 possessions, as fresh
man center Chris Mihm began to take
control in the paint.
Nebraska managed to match
Texas’ offensive output up until the
12-minute mark, when the Horns
took control for good. Ahead 69-67,
Matt Miller/DN
BILL MULHOLLAND, Nebraska’s lone senior, captains the sixth-ranked men’s gymnastics team this season.
Huskers vault into action
By Darren ivy
Assignment Reporter
Four returning national qualifiers
and a top recruit have Francis Allen
excited about his team’s chance to win
a record-tying ninth national champi
onship.
“If we can stay healthy, we will be
as good as any team in the country,”
said Allen, coach of the Nebraska
men’s gymnastics team.
Avoiding injuries will be impor
tant, because there are only seven ath
letes on the team. Allen said five of
the gymnasts will compete in the all
around this year.
One of the top returners who will
compete in the all-around for the first
time is Marshall Nelson, a two-time
NCAA champion, four-time All
American and school-record holder
in the parallel bars.
In 1997, Nelson competed in five
of the six events - excluding the still
rings - and claimed national titles in
the parallel bars and pommel horse
while earning All-America status in
the vault.
Allen thinks Nelson should be
considered a favorite to win the all
around this year.
“I think he is going to be the most
decorated gymnast at the NCAA
Championships,” Allen said. “He is
definitely a key player and one of the
leaders on the team.
“He has established a name for
himself. When he competes, people
know he is a champion. Marshall is
going to reap the harvest this year. He
is going to see some really good
scores, and he’s earned it.”
Another gymnast who has estab
lished himself is senior Bill
Mulholland, a two-time NCAA quali
fier. Last year he ranked eighth
nationally in the all-around and his
average score was 57.247.
“I often tell people that scoring a
57 in the all-around is like running a
four-minute mile,” Allen said. “Bill
averaged better than a 57 all year. That
is a tremendous feat. He looks like he
is going to have a tremendous year,
and I think he is going to average no
less than a 57.50.”
Other returning national quali
fiers are sophomores Derek Leiter
and Blake Bukacek.
Last year, Leiter, a Lincoln
Southeast graduate, was ranked 10th
in the all-around and ended the season
with a n^-place finish at the NCAA
Championships.
Bukacek, a Lincoln High gradu
ate, qualified for nationals in the hori
zontal bars.
NU also will rely heavily on 22
year-old freshman, Jason Hardabura,
a member of the Canadian National
Team since 1993. Hardabura will be
Allen’s first foreign athlete, but
66
We are going to
set the tone at this
meet for the year ”
Bill Mulholland
Nebraska captain
according to Allen he has the potential
to be one of the best gymnasts in NUs
legendary history.
“He’s the best recruit coming in
here in a long, long time,” Allen said.
“He’s not the best 18-year-old fresh
man, because he’s not 18, but he is the
best freshman I have had, other than
Jim Hartung. He’s better than Scott
Johnson, and (Johnson) was an
(Olympic) gold medalist in 1984.”
The Huskers’ first test of the year
will come Friday and Saturday at the
Rocky Mountain Open in Colorado
Springs, Colo.
The meet will feature five of the
top 19 preseason teams including No.
4 Oklahoma and No. 10 New Mexico,
but Mulholland said NU is just wor
ried about itself.
“We are going to set the tone at
this meet for the year,” Mulholland
said. “We won this meet last year, and
we are going back to win it again this
year.”
UT’s Kris Clack hit back-to-back 3
pointers to spark a huge Horns run
that put Nebraska in a 16-point hole
four minutes later.
“Everything was clicking for us,”
Clack said. “We knew we were going
to have a breakout game someday,
and I think this was it.”
Both squads played solid on
offense for most of the night, as nine
different players combined to reach
double digits in scoring.
Behind Lue, NU’s Cookie
Belcher added 19 points and Andy
Markowski scored a career-high 17.
The Horns were led by Mihm’s
game-high 29 points. Luke Axtell
added 25, and Clack’s 22 points
Please see TEXAS on 8
NU women
can’t handle
Bear attack
By Shannon Heffelfinger
Senior Reporter
Nebraska Women’s Basketball
Coach Paul Sanderford knew the
Cornhuskers needed to enter their
Wednesday night game against Baylor
mentally prepared.
But the game appeared to be the
furthest thing from the Huskers’ minds.
Baylor (11-5 overall and 4-2 in the
Big 12 Conference) defeated 19th
ranked NU (14-6 and 3-3) 76-71 at the
Ferrell Center m Waco, Texas.
Nebraska is now 1-4 on the road in
league games.
“I don’t know what the heck we
were doing,” Sanderford said on his
post-game radio show. “We were space
cadets out there.”
Despite NU’s lack of concentration,
the Huskers put themselves in position
to steal a road victory late in the contest.
After trailing by more than 10
points for most of the second half, NU
cut Baylor’s lead to five when Anna
DeForge hit two consecutive 3-point
field goals to make the score 71 -66 with
2:06 left in the game.
BU and the Huskers then traded
turnovers before DeForge - who led the
Huskers with 28 points and 12 rebounds
- nailed her second shot in a minute,
bringing NU within three. DeForge
scored 10 points in the final 1:31.
But foul trouble and poor fiee-throw
shooting were too much for Nebraska to
overcome in the final minute.
The Huskers converted only 16 of
35 fiee-throw attempts
Jami Kubik, Nicole Kubik, Brooke
Schwartz, Charlie Rogers and Cori
McDill fouled out of the game, while
DeForge played part of the second half
with four fouls.
“I’m not complaining about the offi
ciating,” Sanderford said, “but for the last
three weeks the Big 12 teams have been
beating each other up. Then tonight, we
have the commissioner and a supervisor
there, and they call every touch. We did
n’t adjust our defense to that”
Sanderford said Baylor’s pressure
defense also hurt Nebraska, which
plays host to Texas next Wednesday.
“Mentally, we were in left field all
night,” Sanderford. “I’ll take the blame.
The girls played hard but they didn’t
execute. We weren’t prepared tonight.
I’ll have them prepared next
Wednesday.”