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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 1998)
Practice, time for work By Darken Ivy Staff writer Don’t look for too many Division I student ath letes to take advantage of the new NCAA Proposition 62 rule - allowing scholarship athletes to work and earn up to $2,000 above their scholar ship amount Most will not during their season. That’s because athletes’ schedules are jam packed with games, practices, meetings, classes, eating meals and sleeping, said Nebraska senior football player Sheldon Jackson. “Football and school takeup every moment of my day” Jackson said. “If I worked, it would take away from something. Knowing me, it would take away from my school.” Jackson’s assessment of athletes being too busy to work in their competitive season was echoed by many other athletes in different sports. Jason Betz, a senior wrestler at Penn State, said his time is devoted completely devoted to his sport and academics. He said some of the athletes who are redshirt mg or not traveling with the team may benef it from the rule change more than he would “They may have some time to work on the weekend,” Betz said. tt A lot of people think guys on scholarships have a lot of money; but a lot of the time guys on scholarship are struggling with money. I can definitely use the money Ralph Brown Husker football player That’s if they can find a job. Finding a job in State College, Pa., a town of 50,000 people, that would fit in his schedule and that was related to his interests were other reasons Betz didn’t get a job. “I couldn’t get a job (in State College) related to what I would want to do for a career,” Betz said. “I’d have much more job opportunities in a larger city.” Even with a lot more available jobs in Tallahassee, Fla., Florida State baseball player Matt Diaz opted against getting a job. The 1998 NCAA freshman of die year said in skill sports such as baseball, a lot of extra time out side of practice is spent perfecting fundamentals. “For me it’s not feasible,” Diaz said. “For any skilled sport athlete, 20 hours practicing isn’t enough.” The rightfielder, who hit .395 and had 21 home runs and drove in 81 runs in 1998, saidFSU players try to meet outside of practice for more practice. This takes up any time that could be used for working, Diaz said. Washington volleyball player Leslie Tuiasusopo agreed with the other athletes. “There is no time between practice, classroom time and playing games,” Tuiasusopo said. She didn’t know about a job during second semester, but if she would get a job she would do it for extra spending money. Some athletes said they wouldn’t rule out a job once their competitive seasons were over. Nebraska junior football player Ralph Brown said he planned to work five hours a week in the spring wrapping freight It would give him extra money to buy food. “A lot of people think guys on scholarships have a lot of money, but a lot of the time guys on scholarship are struggling with money,” Brown said. “I can definitely use die money.” Brown said the key to working, doing school work and playing football is not to get overworked. The athletes who didn’t plan to get a job said they still thought the rule change was a good thing. “Not everyone gets a lull-ride scholarship, and not everyone can afford die expenses of college,” said Notre Dame junior goalie LaKeysia Beene. Diaz also said it was a good idea. “If a person can manage their time,” Diaz said, “then they should be able to work.” At some of die smaller Division I schools, ath letes also haven’t been inclined to work. One of the arguments during discussions was that smaller colleges wouldn’t provide as many job opportunities as a larger campus. Portland midfielder Jenna Johnson saw it as an advantage to athletes who wanted to work. “It means there are fewer people competing for the jobs,” said Johnson, who wasn’t working dur ing her season. Johnson stays home to sign with Arizona ■ The Big Unit signs a four-year, $53 million deal that makes him baseball’s i second-highest-paid player PHOENIX (AP) - Randy Johnson, the most accomplished pitcher among this year’s free agents, agreed Monday to a $53 million, four-year contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The second-year expansion team won the intense fight for the big left hander for two main reasons: Johnson lives in nearby Paradise Valley, Ariz., and he believes the Diamondbacks are making moves to become a contender in a hurry. Diamondbacks owner Jerry Colangelo said Johnson would be intro duced at a news conference Wednesday. “I think there was always an interest in his part and a tug in his heart relative to playing at home,” Colangelo said. “The big question was how soon could we become competitive as compared to r~ all of these teams because of his fierce competitiveness and desire to win.” Arizona was Johnson’s choice ahead of the Anaheim Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers and Texas Rangers. Colangelo said Johnson had bigger offers but chose to stay close to home. ‘Tor us, it’s obvious there are family issues, and he’s pleased to spend his life in the Valley for hopefully the rest of his . baseball life,” Johnson’s agent, Barry Meister, told radio station KMVP in Phoenix. “But also from the top, we have a commitment that the Diamondbacks are going to do what it takes to get to the World Series, and we believe that” The average annual value of his new contract is $13.25 million, the second highest in baseball behind the $13.33 million Mo Vaughn will get under the $80 million, six year contract he agreed to with Anaheim. Johnson’s contract also contains a c lub option for a ffth year with a buyout provision. Johnson, 35, was 10-1 with a 1.28 ERA and 116 strikeouts in 84 1-3 innings this year for the Houston Astros, who acquired him from Seattle on July 31. Unhappy with the Mariners after they refused to give him a contract extension after the 1997 season, Johnson had asked for a trade. When Seattle refused, he was grumpy all through spring training and die first half of the season, going 9-10 with a 4.33 ERA before Seattle dealt him just minutes before the trade dead line. Houston had hoped to re-sign him, but dropped out of die bidding Nov. 24 after becoming convinced it would take a four-year contract to keep Johnson. He struck out 329 this season, lead ing the major leagues. Johnson has a 143-79 career record, striking out 2,329 in 1,978 1/3 innings. He joins an Arizona team that hopes to improve drastically from 1998, when the Diamondbacks went 65-97 in their initial season, finishing last in the NL West, 33 games behind the division winning San Diego Padres. The perfect holiday gift. No assembly required. Combining state-of-the-art features with simple setup and operation, iMac* is also an incredible value. It boasts the advanced performance of the lightning fast PowerPC G3 processor, high speed ethemet networking, a 56K modem, and pre-loaded software that combine to get you to the Internet in 10 minutes right out of the box. Your special UNL student price:$ 1,199.00 The gifts keep coming because you also get a coupon book worth $2,500 in additional value for things like software, games and accessories._ - _ ^ C1998Apple Computer, Inc AU rights reserved Appieandtbe Apple logo are registered trademarks and iMac Is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc PowerPC is a trademark of IBM Corp. Purchase from a participating Apple-authorized catnpus reseller orfrom the Apple Store for Education. College athletes battle asthma ASTHMA from page 7 pete on the floor exercise because her lungs are not strong enough to make it through the entire routine with los ing her breath. McLaughlin, who has allergy induced asthma, has just finished three years of allergy shots. She said she is getting better, provided she is not around cigarette smoke. “I’m like a radar,” McLaughlin said. “I can find it anywhere. My (bronchial) tubes will tighten up.” Football player Carlos Polk isn’t allergic to smoke, but he is allergic to something more common and harder to avoid - grass. When he was younger, he almost had to give up football because of his allergies. “In middle school, my doctor told me to quit,” Polk said. “My parents and I had a little talk, and we decided we’d take our chances.” In high school, Polk became acclimated to grass. He still takes pills and uses his inhaler twice a day. If he didn’t use an inhaler, Polk said he would be out of breath after a kickoff and possibly have an attack. In high school, Polk said he would use his asthma as a way to get out of hard workouts. That was the case until his dad lectured him one day. “I never used that as an excuse anymore,” Polk said. Junior gymnast Amie Dillftian is another athlete who doesn’t use her asthma as an excuse. She hasn’t had an attack since her freshman year. Even though attacks can be scary, Dillman said, it’s important to stay calm. “You can’t allow yourself to get scared, because then it gets worse,” Dillman said. “Your emotions take hold, and you hyperventilate.” Albers said Husker athletes who have asthma are monitored by train ers. He also said they are screened for asthma when they arrive on cam pus. The toughest job Albers faces as a physician is convincing athletes they have asthma. “We are dealing with a healthy population,” Albers said. “They don’t want to take medication if it’s not necessary.” Even if athletes have asthma, Albers said, they still can perform at championship levels. “The emphasis is athletes need not be discouraged at all from com peting as hard or successful as they can.” w D