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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 19, 1998)
-JBi John Gaskins Hey! Hey! It’s the DN sports exam I figure you’re sitting there in your boring class reading this because it’s more fun than whatever your instructor is babbling about Well, to make this a little more academic so you’re not completely slacking off, I thought I’d give you the DN Sports version of a midterm. So grab your No. 2 pencils and good luck. And stop cheating off that nerdy looking dude next to you - he’s not that smart, anyway. * nm_ _ m n rw% ut « ■ 8 1. iucin >i ui mencuntsiut a) Michael Bishop. b) Eric Crouch. c) Eric Crouch’s face mask. 2. Iowa State and Oklahoma are to Big 12 football what: a) Mike Tyson is to speech therapy. b) Michael Bolton is to tolerable jmusic. , , * ^ . c) Bill Ctt'ntbkikfo tfie moraf fiber of America 3. In order to be a successful starting quarterback in the NFL this year you need: a) a cannon arm. b) the National Guard as your O line. mnokSi c) to be collecting Social Security and wearing dehtiues. 5 " * 4. Watching the Kansas City Chiefs offense is about as exciting as: a) Bill Snyder press conference. b) a Mike Johanns speech. c) calling NRoll. 5. Kansas State plans to fill its last non-conference game on its schedule by playing: a) Prairie View. b) Cofieeville Junior College. c) Manhattan Pee-Wee League’s runner-up. 6. The Nebraska basketball team will lose in its own Ameritas Classic when: a) pigs fly. b) Dan Quayle is elected presi dent ' c) they schedule areal foe. 7. Most NBA players are spend ing their time off: a) disputing the salary cap. b) in theirdiapers. c) trying to find someone to choke and blame their mistakes on. 7. The best video byte on Hus kerVisionis: a) “Count ofMonte Christo.” b) “Gettm’ Wiggy Wit It” c) any one that does not have a corporate sponsor. 8. Who would yon least want to have a beer with: a) Saddam Hussein. b) Ken Starr. c) Bill Snyder. Well, that’s about it Congratulat ions if you answered correctly. Of course, we don’t provide answers, so you’ll gsvei know. s * John Gaskins is a sophomore broadcasting major and a Daily Nebraskan staff writer. Pine learns from narrow losses By John Gaskins Staff writer Seventeen-hundredths of a second. Seems like an amazingly short span of time, and it can’t be detected by the human eye. Unfortunately for junior swimmer Adam Pine, it can be detected by a stop watch. That’s what separated die NU team co-captain from winning the national title in the 100-yard butterfly last year. “After the race, I said, ‘Damn, you know, I’ve done faster than I’ve ever done before’... and I still wasn’t happy,” Pine said. That’s just the way it is in swim ming. While Pine posted a career-best time of46.35 seconds in the fastest 100 yard Dutterriy neid ever assembled at the NCAA Championships, the glory went to Southern Methodist University’s Lars Frolander, who came in at 46.18. But Pine’s time wasn’t even good enough for second place. Or third. He finished fourth. “Everyone touches the wall within fractions of a second,” Pine said, “and that decides who wins and who loses.” It was dej& vu for Pine, who one year before finished second at the NCAAs, once again playing bridesmaid to Frolander, falling 0.12 of a second short And that’s not even the native Australian’s most crushing heartbreak in swimming. That came in the 1996 tri als for a spot on the Australian national team in the Olympics. l just missed the team by two tenths of a second,” Pine said. “I thought, ‘It’s time for a change. I need to get out ofAustralia.” So, after grow ing up in a nation where children are born into swim ming, training at Australia’s Oly mpic training val ue in Canberra and competing at the -wi_international level Pi*® for four years, Pine set off on a new endeavor- college. Pine’s arrival wasn’t expected, NU Assistant Coach Keith Moore said. The coaching staff went to Australia to recruit Pine’s fiancee, Sasha Van Hambuig, who committed to Nebraska alter promised NU would recruit Pine. “He just kind of fell into our lap,” Moore said The rest is history. As a freshman, Pine won every time he competed in the 100-yard butterfly before the NCAA Championships, where his second place finish was the highest in NU swimming history for that event Still, he was second fiddle. But die laid-back Pine doesn’t seem to be flus tered by his narrow setbacks. Instead be learns from them. He attributes his suc cesses, and close failures, to the stiff competition of his fellow Australians. “At the moment, we have four swimmers in the top 10 in die world in Please see PINE on 13 . iVf/’s Johnson lives to get (to the wall first, even during practice t . i ■ By Brandon Schulte Staff writer Friends arethere" through thick and thin, the good times and the bad times, but rarely does a friend have to remind you of your winning time. Yet that’s exactly what NU junior swimmer Beth Karaica has to do for her close friend and ' teammate, sophomore Shandra Johnson. “She’ll swim the fastest time and not remem * ber it because it doesn’t register,” Karaica said. “After the race someone will ask her what she swam, and she’ll have to ask me what she swam.” Johnson, a five-time Big 12 Conference gold medalist and first-team All-American as a fresh man, always wants to be in the lead. • “I always want to be to the wall first,” Johnson said. “Even in practice, when we’re sup posed to be working on technique rather than speed, I try to be in the lead lane.” There are plenty of reasons Johnson has been so successful. Johnson points tbtier competitive ness and the high expectations she places on her self. ' - ** ' The buzz around the swfgi team leads one to think otherwise. “The guys decided tins weekend that they, were going to get shirts because they think thev I reason she swims so fast is because her brain doesn’t register the pain,” Karaica said, “.They want the shirts with her face on them to say, ‘no brains, no pain.’” - •.«*., Karaica also offered a more plausible expla nation. “i. . . ^ “She had so many accomplishments when she was young, and since she was that good when she was younger, she wants to be that good when - •*-_ she’s older. She doesn’t want to get beat, because sib’s used to winningevery event,” Karaica said. “If that means killing herself in practice, that’s what she does.” , With her ability to come through as the anchor of relays, Johnson has had a knack for performing well under pressure. Johnson attributes this success to an ever-pre sent case of nerves. She says this nervousness is natural and positive ahd that it helps her swim well. She has even been known to get nervous before practice. “The nervousness gets me worked up, build ing tension that helps me swim faster,” Johnson said. “My heart rate gets higher, and my muscles get really tense, allowing me to explode off of the blocks.” Please see JOHNSON on 13 o
