. 1
The Huskers have taker ilboafs fall from grace
x Kjyu mumsuiN is a
senior broadcasting major
and a Daily Nebraskan
columnist.
Sooner or later, everyone falls
from the top.
Poison, Gary Coleman, Crocodile
Dundee, the two Coreys - it happens
to the best, and now that list includes
the Nebraska Comhusker football
team. It’s only natural. When you’re
on die top, the only place to go is
down.
As a KRNU sports director and
host of‘Turf Talk,” which, I might
add, is the wittiest pre-game show
this side of Fox (and an hour before
every home game! On 90.3 on your
FM dial!), I’ve had a prime view for
the last four years as the Huskers
have gone from the highest of highs
to their current quagmire.
DntVi _1 .U_1- 1_
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been searching for answers with no
luck. However, in my finite wisdom,
I’ve diagnosed the Huskers’aliment,
and it’s as simple as explaining the
theory of relativity: They’re going
through what I’d like to call “Rocky
HI” Syndrome.
Blame it on the rickets setting in
because of the recent lack of sun
light, but the proof is in the pudding,
with Rocky Balboa being the spoon.
The 1993 campaign (“Rocky”)
ended with a heartbreaking 18-16
loss tp Florida State in the Orange
Bowl. Much akin to Rocky battling
Apollo Creed to a draw, the Huskers
about pulled out the victory, but
Byron Bennett’s field goal wobbled
'wide to the left.
One year later (“Rocky II”), the
Huskers found themselves back at
the Orange Bowl facing perhaps an
even stronger nemesis in the form of
the Miami Hurricanes, a team that
had won 62 of its last 63 games
played at the Orange Bowl.
*
Like Rocky fighting Apollo toe
to-toe once more, the Huskers played
with die gritty smash-mouth panache
of a team that practiced against sides
of beef in a meat locker. And just as
Rocky didn’t rise until the count of
nine, the Huskers didn’t seal away
the win until there were two minutes,
46 seconds remaining in the fourth
quarter.
I’d like to call the 1995-97 sea
sons the period between “Rocky II”
and “Rocky in,” which if you
remember is neady synopsized at the
start of “m” by showing Rocky suc
cessfully defending his tide. With
the exception of the ’96 sea
son, the Huskers more or less
did the same as Tommie '
Frazier and Scott Frost lead
the ’skers to another pair
of championships.
(Note to Tommie
Frazier Dude, legends
leave. They don’t make
appearances at used car lots or
deny autograph requests to kids I
when approached on the street,
which you did to my little broth
er, you chowderheaid.)
Now that the preliminary
story has been told, here’s
where “Rocky III” and
Huskers ’98
begin to
1UU*. ' y
alike.
Rocky had to
adapt to a new trainer in
the fdrm of Apollo
Creed as Mickey, his
longtime trainer
stepped into the •_ , V
afterlife. v
The Huskers had
to adapt to a new
head coach in the
form of Frank
Solich, as Dr.
Tom, their y
longtime /r-fr
coach,
wentfishin’. - *,
Rocky was handed
a stunning loss at the
hand of the hungry
Clubber Lang (Mr. “I
pity the fool” T) and
became the former
champion who ro
%
one wanted to know.
The Huskers have been handed
stunning losses at the collec
Amy Martin/DI
University of Texas and have become
the former champions that no one
wants to cheCr for.
And why have the
Huskers lost?
My man Apollo will
tell you it’s for the
same reason he
chewed Rocky’s
butt; like the Italian
Stallion,
the
Huskers
have
focused
more on the glitz tha$
the football. Even
Mickey saw it coming
before he kicked die
proverbial spit bucket.
Think about it.
In “Rocky HI,” jus]t
before his demise, Rocky
> worked out by
fighting bub
bles in his
new state
of-the-art
gym, while
making an
un-Rocky
i i like
' ' appear
ance on
“The
Muppet
Show.”
The current
crop of Huskers
i, has been playing
* under the shadow of
a new state-of-the-art
skybox that’s set to open next
season and have been making quite
a presence on the HuskerVision
screens in very un-Husker-like skits.
Unlike the previous 107 seasons,
this seems to be the first where the
action on the field has acted as
sideshow instead of the main event I
long for the days where the only dis
traction at a Husker game was the
I marching band’s halftime show and
the only form of scoreboard
" I 1 entertainment was a few lousy
pixels.
^ Sorry HuskerVision, but in
my mind’s eye, you’re the
major culprit.
From the cliched music to
j the 3-D animated turkey
flying the championship trophy, the
beauty of a college football game has
been reduced to one big advertise
ment
And about those skits featuring
players, do you really want to claim
those as yours? Shevin Wiggins
makes a big catch and he gets wiggy
wit’ it on the big screen. The defense
takes the field and punches a clock.
And let’s not even discuss the racial
undertones of the “Brown Brothers.”
Instead of wasting all that time film
ing those segments, the players could
have used that time to concentrate on
something more important - football.
If you remember, Apollo’s wis
dom made Rocky a champion once
more, and since my middle name
happens to be Apollo, I feel I’m the
most qualified to get the Huskers
back on track.
First, the Big Red Faithful need
to actually become the Big Red
Faithful, not the Fair Weather Suzies
vthey’ve been acting like. When the
Huskers lose, fans need to realize
they lost a game and nothing more. I
know that next to Carhenge, Husker
football is Nebraska’s only claim to
fame. However, none of the Huskers
comb the city softball fields to jeer
the dolt who pops out to end a game;
so why should these stellar athletes
get hate mail from lunatics without
normal lives?
k/VWUM) WAV VUV&ltfl T V uuv uwuu
to get mean in a hurry. Center Josh
Heskew is quite possibly the nicest,
most mild-mannered, 290-pound
fella in existence. Could his conge
nial attitude be the reason the Husker
running game goes about as far as a
hamster in a wheel? Probably not,
but if Heskew led by example and
developed a mean streak, even if it
started by pummeling a 175-pound
weakling in the form of myself, I’d
wager that the Huskers’ rushing
attack would become an actual
attack.
Finally, when the Huskers return
to Memorial Stadium die day after
Thanksgiving, HuskerVision should
be toned down a notch or 10; that
way the focus would solely rest on a
Husker team fresh off a dominating,
skull-crunching win against their
Clubber Lang - former No. 1,
Kansas State.
It’s the eye of the tiger....
Revitalizing Republicanism
. • \ ■ '
GOP needs to rebuild on its original principles
ADAM KLINKER is a
sophomore English and
history fnajor and a Daily
Nebraskan columnist
Congratulations, America.
On behalf of the Republican
Party, let this be a thank you to all
voting Americans for their hard work
in ousting several Republican mem
bers of Congress and restoring some
sanctity to this nation.
You read that right.
While Republicans maintain con
trol of the Senate and Congress as a
whole, the GOP lost five seats in the.
House of Representatives. What may
be more, the Republicans lost House
Speaker Newt Gingrich, the heart
and soul of conservative
Republicanism. \
Gingrich resigned his seat Friday.
Indeed, America sent a message,
and congressional Republicans nobly
came through with a resolution.
America is ready to get over
President Clinton’s fiasco, and the
Republican Party should be ready to
sever ties with the radical fringe
groups that have obsessed over the
scandal for the past 10 months.
With last week’s election, the
Republican Party has become the
laughingstock of American politics.
With Gingrich’s resignation, there
was recompense. While far from
heroic, altruistic levels, Gingrich did
make a sacrifice for the good of the
party and the benefit of die nation.
Now, in the current shambles of
the Republican Party, expect to see
some turnover.
Expect to see congressional •'
Republicans such as Rep. Steve
Laigent of Oklahoma and Rep. Bob
Livingston of Louisiana stepping up
and, with the help of the rest of the
party, ousting the decaying party
leadership.
Expect to see some change com
ing out of the 1998 election. Expect
the triumphant entrance of a user
- friendly Republican Party.
In this, an election diverted from
the issues to a judgment on Clinton’s
morality, the GOP failed miserably.
This was supposed to be the year of
total domination for the Republican
incumbent juggernaut.
Instead, tied to the drowning rock
of the Christian Coalition and mired
in the self-concocted swamp of filthy
politics and intern scandals, the GOP
sank to the depths of embarrassment
on the political scope.
But then there was a miracle -
Gingrich resigned. There was a
breath of life from other Republicans
in Congress.
It is tune for revolution in the
Republican Party.
The GOP can no longer with
stand the type of press it receives in
connection with die Christian
Coalition and the other organizations
that latch on to coattails of the GOP’s
conservative front
Fiscal conservatism, yes. .v
Humanitarian conservatism, no.
Dwight Eisenhower, a revered
hero in Republican ranks, once said
that it was the duty of a Republican -
nay, an American, to be conservative
when it came to matters of money
and liberal in dealing with people.
America as a collective society
cannot afford to be an intolerant
judgmental, isolationist nation. In
short, America cannot afford to be
pulled down by the perceived notions
and stereotypes of conservative fac
tions.
Behind the fresh strength of new
Republicans such as Largent,
Livingston and J.C. Watts of
Oklahoma, the Republican Party just
might step into the 21st century with
some vim and vigor. Members can
strive to be more than the decrepit
gargoyles who have haunted the
party in the latter half of this century.
Largent should emerge as die
new House majority leader replacing
Rep.Dick Armey of Texas, and
Livingston should admirably fill die
void as Speaker.
With new leadership should come
new policy. The religious right, hie
imposing bastion of the Republican
morality and family values platform,
needs to be dropped entirely from its
Republican association.
Such an organization can lead
only to a constriction of freedom, and
the self-righteous rhetoric of leaders
in die movement has no place in
America today.
Other shifts away from the puri
tanical witch hunts of the religious
right can amount only to ajjreater
credibility and openness in the party.
This shake-up was exactly the
kind of thing that the GOP needed.
There was a realization; a sense of
urgency that transcended all the petty
squabbles over impeachment pro
ceedings and hit Republicans like a
ton of bricks. V
There is a peace. Appertain feel
that says let it be and get on with die
business of America.
And America needs a Republican
Party that can create that business
and bring it to fruition in tax cuts and
balanced budgets, not to mention
unity in die party and in government
as a whole. *
Republicanism got a wake-up call
on Nov. 3, one I hope it will not soon X
forget.
The dawn of a new party era,
complete with teamwork and com
passion for all America, should
strengthen the GOP. The Republican
Party should now seek to be a more
welcoming, inclusive institution in
American politics.
What brought it to greatness 140
years ago - the basic principles held
sacred in the Constitution and the
Declaration of Independence - will
now seek to bring it to consolidated
national prominence again for the
next century.