Andrew Strnad
Bitter fans:
Don’t knock
our pastime
Last weekend, while I was enjoy
ing the Nebraska-Kansas State base
ball game in Manhattan, Kan., 1
heard a grumbling fan lay into
America’s pastime.
His reckless banter was so irritat
ing. I couldn't understand wdiv he
w as at a baseball game if he didn't
like it.
“It costs too much to go to a base
ball game; the game takes forever;
the food is expensive; blah, blah,
blah.”
It seems to me that this bitter man
needs to learn the facts.
His first complaint w'as that tick
ets are too expensive.
Well, that's just not true, bitter
man. The average Major League
ticket price is SI3.60. A ticket to a
Nebraska baseball game costs noth
ing for University of Nebraska
Lfjtcoln students and very little for
aifyone else. That’s pretty cheap in
comparison to the average ticket to
an NBA game, which is S36. or a
Husker football game, which runs
about S18 for students.
In addition, nearly every team in
the majors offers cheap-seat tickets
for S5 or less.
Bitter man's second complaint
was that the game takes too long, hi
1997, the average Major League
game took 2 hours and 58 minutes.
If that's still too long, just go
watch the National League, where
uic i4dinc^ dveiduc jum jl.
Compare that with the average
NFL game, which takes 3:05. while a
Husker game lasts about 3:21.
Bitter man’s biggest complaint
involved the expensive food at the
ballpark.
Fll admit that prices are high. An
8-ounce bag of peanuts is S3 at most
stadiums, but then agam, a tub of pop
corn at the movies is just as costly.
Well, here’s a suggestion bitter
boy: Don’t buy anything!
How hard is it to go three hours
and not eat or drink anything? People
do it everyday.
And by looking at half of the
fans, it’s probably in their best interest
to stay away from the ballpark fare.
Plus, it’s not like the vendors are
putting guns to your heads and order
ina vnn tn hnv a hr»t rlrtcr
But if you’re that hungry and you
just can’t take the sight of the guy
next to you slamming down beer and
brats there’s something you can do:
Bring your own food!
Last time I checked, all but three
Major League ballparks allow fans to
bring in anything from a bag of nuts
to an 8-foot sub.
This is baseball. My baseball;
George Will’s baseball. It’s not a
game for the impatient or the hurried.
It's a timeless event m which the
only bitter things about it are the
sweet memories.
And no one likes a bitter man.
Stmad is a senior broadcasting
and political science major and
Daily Nebraskan staff reporter.
Scott McClurg/DN
HUSKER SOPHMORE Sandra Noetzel returns a shot against Kansas’ Christie Sim during their second set Wednesday afternoon at Woods Tennis Center.
Noetzel lost the match 5-7,6-2,4-6.
NU tennis team gets aced
By Sarah Dose
Staff Reporter
The Nebraska women's tennis
team didn't win a single match
Wednesday afternoon, but NU Coach
Scott Jacobson said the Cornhuskers
played the best they had all season.
Nebraska lost 9-0 to No. 13
Kansas at the Woods Tennis Center.
“The score is not indicative of the
level at which we played." Jacobson
said. “We had our chances to win in
singles and doubles, but nothing
came through.”
NU took both its No. 1 and No. 2
matches to three sets, but neither
Sandra Noetzel nor Lisa Hart could
puli out wins.
In No. 1 singles, Noetzel (13-6)
lost to KU’s Christie Sim 5-7, 6-2, 4
6. Hart (14-5) lost to Kris Sell 6-3, 5
7, 4-6 in No. 2 singles.
The three-set matches were close,
but Jacobson said he was especially
pleased with the No. 4 singles match,
even though Gina Pelazini (10-8) lost
to Julia Sidorova 4-6, 4-6.
“This was definitely the best
match I've ever seen Gina play,'’
Jacobson said.
Pelazini said she also was pleased
with her performance.
“Today was the best I've played,”
she said. “Maybe it's because it's get
ting toward the end of the season, and
I know where I need to be”
Pelazini said she played at No. 5
singles at the beginning of the season
but had to step up to No. 4 to fill in for
injured Ndali Ijomah.
This weekend, when NU takes on
Iowa State and Colorado in Ames,
Iowa, Ijomah will return, and Hart will
sit out to recover from a bruised knee.
“It’s fine with me because five is
my spot,” Pelazim said. “I felt awk
ward moving up. I think she deserves
that spot anyway. I’m glad she’s com
ing back.”
Jacobson also wras positive about
Ijomah's return but said the team
wouldn’t be the same without Hart.
“Hopefully we’ll get her healthy this
weekend," Jacobson said. “It’s a com
pletely different program without her.
But if (Ijomah) is healthy, she's a player.”
Nebraska has just three duals and
the Big 12 Championships before the
NCAA Regional Tournament on May
15. Jacobson said he wasn’t sure what
kind of a chance NU would have to
get there.
“We’ve got a great region,” he
said. “And we’re right on the bubble.
It could very' well come down to a win
in the conference tournament.”
But if Nebraska continues to
improve on what it has been doing,
Jacobson said, the Huskers could
have a chance.
“The thing is, every single person
walked on the court like she looked like
she thought she could win,” he said.
“They played with fight, with
heart, and that’s all 1 can ask.”
Australians help out NU
By Darren Ivy
Assignment Reporter
They come from the land down under.
And they are three men hard at work. But they
play golf rather than musical instruments.
Sophomore Peter Smith and juniors Josh
Madden and Jamie Rogers have helped the
Nebraska men's golf team win three tournaments
this spring.
“The combination of Nebraska players and
Australians have created the competitive situation,”
NU Coach Larry Romjue said. “We’ve always had
good Nebraska kids, but it’s hard to find five at one
time.”
The return of Rogers this year and improve
ment of the other players have the Comhuskers on
pace for their best season ever.
ivugcia icdub uic nu5Kci5» m miukc avciagc wiui
a 72, Madden is third with a 73.76 and Smith is
fifth with a 75.87. Rogers also has won three indi
vidual titles this spring.
Romjue said he discovered his first Australian
golfer with a tip from Athletic Director Bill Byrne.
When Byrne was the athletic director at
Oregon, he had a good Australian golfer and knew
there were a lot more. When Byrne came to NU, he
gave Romjue the name of a golf contact in
Australia.
Romjue contacted that person, went to
Australia, and pretty soon he landed Trent
Morrison, his first Australian recruit.
“Once you get the first one, recruiting others is
easier because they have friends,” Romjue said.
That is how it has worked with Rogers.
Morrison and Rogers played together in a 1993
Australian golf tournament. At the time, Morrison
had already committed to Nebraska and told
Rogers to be sure to send his credentials to the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln when he came
over.
Rogers, a Maroochydore native, sent out letters
to 26 schools, and Romjue was the first coach to
contact him.
“I probably wouldn’t have picked Lincoln if it
weren’t for Trent,” Rogers said.
Rogers moved in with Morrison, and they lived
together until Rogers went home for personal rea
sons after one semester.
After Rogers left, Romjue looked for another
player and found Madden.
Madden, a Gold Coast native, said Morrison
also influenced him.
“I only knew one Australian in the U.S.,”
Madden said, “and I knew if 1 knew somebody it
would be easier.”
Once Madden was here, he got Romjue to
recruit Smith, his Queensland golf teammate.
Smith wasn t familiar with America but trusted
what Madden had told him.
“I didn’t even know where Nebraska was or that
it had a good football program,” said Smith, who
has now been to 16 states because of golf.
Since arriving in Lincoln, the Australians have
become good friends.
Smith and Madden now room together in the
same apartment complex as Rogers and Morrison.
“It’s very rare to catch us without one of the
other two,” Rogers said. “We can’t pick up any
American accents or we get grief back home.”
Smith said he has friends back home who want
to come to UNL, but Romjue doesn’t have any
scholarships right now.
It’s no wonder more Australians want to come
to the United States, Smith said.
“It’s a perfect life for Australian golfers,” Smith
said. “You come here on a scholarship and play
against the best collegiate golfers. If you want to
become a great golfer, it’s important to come here.”
Co-champions
to be honored
by president
- |
By Sam McKewon
Senior Reporter
Don’t be surprised if a football game
between Nebraska and Michigan breaks out on
the White House lawn today.
The Cornhuskers and Wolverines, co-col
lege football national champions last year, will
be honored today in Washington, D.C., by
President Clinton.
In a perfect world, NU fullback Joel
Makovicka said, the 200-or-so yards in front of
the White House would be a proving ground to
find the best team in college football.
As it is, Nebraska will just have to settle for
shaking hands with the president.
i a love to strap n up ngni mere ana go at
it,” Makovicka said. “I’m sure they would, too.
But obviously that’s not going to happen.
“There will probably just be some good
natured joking around out there.”
Nebraska visited the White House after the
1994 national championship, but declined in
1995, since most of the players had been there
the year before.
This year, Makovicka said, the 1997 nation
al championship team consisted mostly of
players who had never been to the awards cere
mony before, and therefore the team decided to
make the trip to the nation’s capital.
“It will be a good experience to see the cap
ital and see the president,” Makovicka said.