The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, April 23, 1998, Page 10, Image 10

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    Shannon Heffelfinger
Auto racing
deserving of
second look
When 1 was 11 years old, I got
my first taste of auto racing at the
Lexington Speedway.
1 hated it.
My parents dragged my brother
and me there for something new to
try. It was so loud that 1 couldn't even
turn to my mom to tell her I hated it
and that 1 wanted to leave.
She probably wouldn't have
heard me between my coughing fits,
which were caused by the smoke that
engulfs the stands after an engine
blows or a car smashes into the
guardrail or another car. 1 didn't
understand why this could happen.
How hard can it be to drive in a circle
and not hit something?
I left vowing never to return.
Wrong.
It's a long story, but nine years
after I said I'd never go back. 1
returned to the races Saturday night - -
instead of attending my sorority's
formal. As you can imagine, 1 was
pretty pleased with that whole situa
tion.
I wore a T-shirt, jeans and sandals
to the races at the 1-80 Speedway. It
was 65 degrees when we left
Lincoln. It was about 30 degrees
when we arrived in Greenwood 25
minutes later.
1 stuck out like a sore thumb
Some old guy I'd never met before
approached me and told me he didn't
think I'd last long that night. 1 rolled
my eyes and paid 16 bucks to get in.
What a np off.
But as I was sitting in the stands,
I decided I might as well watch the
races. And I kind of started to have
fun. You get an adrenaline rush
watching the cars crash into each
other. The smoke wasn't that bad.
and the races were pretty competi
tive.
I used to think that auto racing
wasn't a true sport. The drivers aren't
athletes. All they do is sit behind the
wheel. What's physically challeng
ing about that? And what strategy is
involved? Anyone can drive fast. 1
know - Lve gotten four warnings
and one ticket for speeding on 1-80.
But as I sat there and talked rac
ing with these two old guys, I really
started to appreciate the time, strate
rr\ ’ onrl mnnov r tUof V mi /rvltrarl in nutrv
racing. The sheer power and speed
auto racing offers cannot be found in
any other sport.
I also was amazed by the drivers,
who don’t get a lot of recognition m
Nebraska. They race only for the love
of the sport. And just like any athlete,
they are determined and persistent.
So just as my fellow senior
reporter Sam McKewon applauded
tennis last week, I’d like to wave a
checkered flag and salute auto racing.
Yeah, the athletes aren’t physi
cally challenged, but it’s kind of like
track -with no runners.
It’s practically a real sport.
Heffelfinger is a sophomore
news-editorial major and a Daily
Nebraskan senior reporter.
DANIEL LUEDERT/DJN
NEBRASKA LEFTY Jay Sirianni tossed one inning of scoreless relief Wednesday in the Cornhuskers 8-3 win over
25th-ranked Texas Tech at Buck Beltzer Field.
NU defeats No. 25 Tech
By Andrew Strnad
Staff Reporter
They did it again.
For the second time this week,
the Nebraska baseball team won a
series against a nationally ranked
opponent.
Last weekend, the Cornhuskers
swept l-T^-ranked Oklahoma in a
three-game series.
This time it was 25th-ranked
Texas Tech which left Lincoln w ith
a loss as Cornhusker starter Matt
Schuldt pitched 7 2/3 gutty
innings, helping propel Nebraska
to a 8-3 win in front of 421 fans at
Buck Beltzer Field Wednesday.
“This is a huge win for us.
Every game for us from here on out
is just huge,” Husker catcher Brian
Johnson said.
Johnson's two-run homer in the
seventh provided the Huskers (21
15 overall and 7-8 in the Big 12
Conference) two insurance runs
and helped give NU momentum
going into this weekend's three
game series in Stillwater, Okla.,
against Oklahoma State.
Texas Tech manufactured a run
in the first and added two more in
the second as Schuldt (4-0) had
trouble finding the strike zone in
the early innings.
“I was struggling early,”
Schuldt said. “It wasn't my arms,
but my legs that were getting tired.
But I had to stay out there and
throw strikes.”
After getting through the sec
ond frame, Schuldt limited the Red
Raiders to just four hits as the
senior right-hander lowered his
conference leading earned run
average to 2.40.
At the plate, the Huskers
responded by slugging out 12 hits
Please see WIN on 11
Osborne chosen for Hall
By Sam McKewon
Senior Reporter
Just months after leaving the head
coaching position at Nebraska, Tom
Osborne will be honored as one of the
game's legends.
Osborne will be inducted into the
College Football Hall of Fame this
year, the National Football Foundation
announced Wednesday.
Osborne, who retired after last sea
son’s Orange Bowl, and 12 players
were elected for the honor and will be
inducted into the College Football
Hall of Fame at the National Football
Foundation’s Annual Awards Dinner
Dec. 8.
Normally, a coach or a player must
be out of the game three years before
being selected. However, Osborne,
whn rnmnlied a OSS-dQ-'t rarppr
«—
Coach Osborne has done so much
o ff the field, and hes done a great deal
for college football ”
Rick Walsh
College Football Hall of Fame
“We were in total agreement in waiv
ing the three-year waiting period that
is customary for all coaches.”
Osborne’s last five seasons at
Nebraska were among the best com
piled by a college football coach. NU
was 60-3 between 1993-1998, win
ning three national titles, including
back-to-back titles in 1994-19995.
In his career, Osborne never won
fewer than nine games in a season, and
his 25 straight bowl appearances are
the best by any coach in history.
Osborne also had been to 17
straight major bowls, only three short
of former Alabama Coach Paul “Bear”
Bryant, who is also in the Hall of
Fame.
Rick Walsh, director of special
projects for the Hall of Fame, said that
Osborne’s induction was an easy
choice to make considering his cre
dentials.
“There’s no need to wait with a guy
like this,” Walsh said. “Osborne’s
record speaks for itself.”
Walsh said that Osborne easily
met the criteria to get into the Hall of
Fame statistically. What made
Osborne stick out as a first-year
inductee was his accomplishments off
the field.
“We look at that a great deal,”
Walsh said. “Coach Osborne has done
so much off the field, and he’s done a
great deal for college football. He’s the
type of person that belongs in it.”
Walsh said that Osborne, who has
had to deal with some players’ off
field problems in recent years, has
greatly contributed to the community
of Lincoln and the atmosphere of col
lege football.
While Osborne will be honored on
Dec. 8, he will not be enshrined to the
Hall of Fame until summer 1999 when
an awards ceremony will take place in
South Bend, Ind., the home of the Hall
of Fame.
Osborne could not be reached for
comment Wednesday evening.
record at Nebraska, was given an
exemption by The Honors Court of the
National Football Foundation. The
same was done for former Grambling
Coach Eddie Robinson.
Chairman Gene Corrigan of the
Honors Court and Bob Mulcahy, of
the awards committee, both agreed
that the three-year waiting period
should be eliminated, allowing
Osborne to be enshrined now.
“Tom Osborne’s legendary status
warrants him being placed directly
into the Hall of Fame,” said Jon F.
Hanson, chairman of the Hall of Fame.
Fine-tuning
is goal for
Drake game
By Shannon Heffelfinger
Senior Reporter
Catcher Jenny Smith expects her
mind to wander a little today when
the Nebraska softball team travels to
Drake.
After sweeping Missouri and
Kansas last weekend, Nebraska
maintained its undefeated Big 12
Conference record and needs to win
only two of four games this weekend
to capture its first league champi
onship since 1988.
So NU Coach Rhonda Revelle
may have to forgive Smith if her
thoughts drift a little south of Des
Moines, Iowa, today when NU takes
the field at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. for a
somewhat meaningless nonconfer
ence doubleheader with the
Bulldogs.
Revelle certainly can’t blame
her.
“(It’s) not about playing Drake,
it’s about going out and maintaining
your skills,” Revelle said. “And we’ll
be doing that with our uniforms on
instead of on our practice field.”
Revelle hopes to accomplish
some fine-tuning against Drake (14
15 overall and 5-5 in the Missouri
Valley Conference), a team the
Huskers (36-8 in the league and 14
0 overall) defeated in offseason
competition last fall.
But Revelle also said the
Bulldogs could give seventh-ranked
NU a challenge if it loses focus.
Drake has won seven of its last eight
games and nine of its last 12. The
Bulldogs have defeated several good
teams this season, including UNC
Charlotte, Wisconsin and San Jose
State.
“We need this to keep us sharp,”
Revelle said. “The focus is on us
playing well."
Smith said the Huskers must
play well today to create momentum
going into the weekend.
Oklahoma, the No. 2 team in the
Big 12, awaits NU Saturday. The
Sooners (42-10 and 10-3) were only
one game behind the Huskers in the
league standings before splitting
doubleheaders with Texas A&M and
Texas last weekend.
The Sooners now have three
conference losses, but they can still
steal the league title with a sweep of
the Huskers combined with an NU
loss to Oklahoma State (33-14 and
7-6) on Sunday.
“We can’t take it for granted that
the conference championship is eas
ily ours,” Smith said. “Personally, I
want to leave this place with an
undefeated Big 12 season. My
major goal when I got here was to be
Big 12 champions, and 1 couldn’t go
away without it knowing that we are
good enough to win it.”
But today when the Huskers face
Drake, Revelle wants to put
tnougnts or a mg \z cnampionsmp
temporarily on hold.
“I think (NU shortstop) Ali Viola
put it best when she said we haven’t
won anything yet,” Revelle said.
“We can’t start celebrating tomor
row.”
Note:
Christie McCoy earned National
Softball Player-of-the-Week honors
for her play against Missouri and
Kansas last weekend. For the week,
she had 25 total bases, 10 RBIs, a
.700 batting average, a 2.500 slug
ging percentage, an on-base per
centage of .813 and was perfect in
the field.