SportsTuesday
suffer in
January
■A 1-7 record leaves KSU
licking its wounds and at the
bottom of the Big 12.
By Jason Merrihew
Staff writer
Luckily for the Kansas State bas
ketball team, the month of January is
over.
Unfortunately for the Wildcats,
they had to play through it.
The Wildcats suffered through
the first month of the millennium
with a 1-7 record, including a current
six-game losing streak.
The Cats, now 8-10 overall and 1
6 in the Big 12 Conference, started
the month four games over .500 with
a 7-3 record. Long Beach State was
a_ the first bump
Olir in the road for
KSU. The
problems 49ers slid past
the Wildcats
are very on January 4
' in Manhattan
70-64.
The only
TomAsbury during the
„ • month came
Kansas State , • ,
, during a home
Loach game against
Big 12 foe,
Nebraska. The Midcats ripped apart
the Huskers in Manhattan by 27
points, 97-70.
The victory over Nebraska was
short-lived, as the Cats began their
six game losing streak to in-state and
Big 12 rival Kansas. The Jayhawks
took care of their rival with an 87-79
victory at the Phog Allen Field House
on January 12.
The tough schedule of the Big 12
continued for KSU when Missouri
trounced the Wildcats by 17 in
Columbia, 73-56.
Iowa State was the next team to
put Kansas State aside. The Cyclones
blew through Manhattan with a 72
61 victory.
The Cats struggled even more
Please see KSU on 15
I
by brandon schulte
art by melanie falk
Bohl, Cook
adjust to new
responsibilities
If coaches are judged by their careers, Craig
Bohl and John Cook are on equal footing.
The concept might seem strange - Cook just
became Nebraska’s volleyball coach, while
Bohl was recently promoted to defensive coor
dinator of the football team.
But as each assumes his new role in the
Nebraska system, similarities abound.
Both are following legends. Code succeeds
Terry Pettit, who in 23 years at Nebraska
recorded 743 wins, the fifth-highest total in
NCAA volleyball history. Bohl replaces
Charles McBride who served as defensive
coordinator the past 18 seasons, which
include 10 seasons that Nebraska fin
ished in the top 10 nationally for total
defense.
(liven though the standards are
high, Bohl doesn’t see his promotion
as a case of stepping into McBride’s
shoes.
“I don’t think you can replace
someone like that,” Bohl said. “As
coaches we roll up our sleeves and real
ize that a great member of our staff is
moving on. While I recognize there is
a big gap that needs to be filled, I’m
$ confident that we’ll keep moving for
ward.”
If anyone knows the expectations
of defensive coordinator at Nebraska,
ithBohl.
He was bom and raised in Lincoln
i and graduated from Lincoln East
High School. Born men suited up
^ for the Comhuskers as a reserve
1 defensive back from 1977-79. He
| spent the next four seasons as a
£ graduate assistant for the team
before leaving before the 1984
season.
Cook took a less direct
route to the Comhusker state,
but also became indoctrinat
ed to Husker volleyball
before becoming a head
coach.
As a native of Southern
California, Cook graduated from foe
University of San Diego in 1979. He
went on to co-found foe San Diego
Please see COACHES on 14
— SPORTS OPINION —
Give me Duke or death: Crazies know how to party
David Diehl
DURHAM, N.C.— In a perfect
world, stadiums would be named for
sports figures, not dollar figures, and
every college basketball game would be
like they are at Duke. ; * „•
On Saturday I witnessed Dukeb 93
59 embarrassing of Clemson from four
rows behind the Blue Devils’ bench
inside the hallowed walls that are
Cameron Indoor Stadium. Ifs one of the
most difficult places for opponents to
play in any sport, (Duke has won 45
straight games there), and I experienced
firsthand this weekend why.
Having one of die best basketball
programs of the past decade—with two
national titles and four Final Fours —
doesn’t hurt, but the aura of the building
and the games are what elevates Duke
basketball games to the paragon of
sports events.
Of the 9,314 in attendance Saturday,
roughly 1,500 were students who
braved sub-freezing temps and 20 inch
es of snow to wait in line for as long as
eight hours just to cram themselves like
sardines into bleachers for two more
hours. You mean they pay $30,000 a
year and don’t demand chair-back seat
ing?
These students and their near-per
fect SATfe transform a basketball game
into a two-hour, electrified, shouting
contest From foe minute feey enter foe
stadium until the final horn, the
Cameron Crazies are relentless: jump
ing, chanting, cheering for foe home
team and jeering any opponent who
dares enter.
The students’approach to foe games
and their team is phenomenal. How can
you not cheer for a team whose students
hate North Carolina so much they
improvised the right song lyrics and
shout, “Carolina go to hell! Eat shit!”
each time the pep band fires up the tune.
They’re so cute at this age.
These same fans camp out for a
week in front of Cameron Indoor to get
into the Duke-UNC game, the best
rivalry in all of sports, and the best event
when it Splayed in Durham. The collec
tion of tents that gather in the week
building up to the game has gained die
moniker “Krzyzewskiville,” after
Coach Mike Krzyzewslri.
Once die waiting in line ends, die
students file in, and the heckling begins
at each and every game.
On Saturday, the Crazies were nice
enough to help Clemson with their pre
game stretching. They all counted one
through 10, then all yelled, “Switch!”
while the Tigers loosened up at mid
court
The kids do their research on die
opponents, too. “Take a laptop” was
chanted several times during the game,
directed at Clemson guard Will
Solomon, who was accused of stealing
one of the portable computers.
During player intros, the Cameron
Crazies greet any opponent with, “Hi
(insert opposing starter’s first name).
You suck!”
But more than their hatred of the
opponent, whomever it may be, the stu
dent section shows more love for their
Blue Devils than anything. Their chants
for the home team bounced around the
gym the entire game. Even with Duke
up by as many as 40, “Left go, Devils!”
kept on coming.
It seems the students and the players
have a special relationship, too. “Natels
a badass!” flowed from the student sec
tion after forward Nate James’ first half
steal and ensuing slam. “Who’s yo’
daddy? Battier!” echoes all around after
All-American Shane Battier does any
thing.
Not one chant was corporately
sponsored.
Even die mascot gets his share of
lovin’. The game was officially a royal
beating when Duke was up 30 and the
stuffed Blue Devil began crowd surfing.
Not only do die students create the
atmosphere, it is also the aura of tradi
tion and simplicity that drown die tradi
tionalist in bliss.
The arena itself is tiny, simple, per
fect and could easily be mistaken for
just another building on campus with its
stone-brick architecture. Two national
championship banners hang at one end
of the gymnasium opposite eight retired
numbers resting high among the rafters
at die other end. It all sums up the pro
gram’s storybook history.
Today’s corporate fat cat wouldn’t
like Duke basketball at Cameron. Thatls
probably the biggest reason I love it The
games are a utopian two hours for the
sports traditionalist, not a two-hour
commercial.
No smoke, no minors, no escaped
convict-searching spotlights during
player introductions. Forty minutes, 12
Blue Devils, 1,500 Cameron Crazies,
one perfect sporting ev^it
Yes, basketball purists, I can tell
how to get to the promised land.
Hang a quick right at
“Kizyzewskiville.”
David Diehl is a freshman news
editorial major and a Daily
Nebraskan staff writer.