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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 24, 2000)
Walker set sights on title ■ Spring exhibition season holds promise for erasing bad memories. By Brian Christopherson Staffwriter It’s spring time. The grass is a little bit greener, the birds are singing, tee times are being arranged at golf courses and still John Walker works. Walker is the coach of the Nebraska soccer team, and he sees spring as the puzzle piece that squeezes Nebraska in the national title picture year after year. Spring is the exhibition season which separates the contenders from die pretenders in Walker’s book, and it’s been a high-flying start for NU to this point Nebraska is 1-0-1, with a 2-2 draw on the road with Florida. NU then handed out a 4-0 whipping to Southern California on a West Coast trip. The scary news to die opposition Is that Walker says the team hasn’t yet reached its pinnacle. “In those two games, we played well against excellent competition, but there were certain things we did that we can do better and will do better as the season continues,” Walker said. There’s a reason Walker’s women are running through top-10 competi tion, and the coach credits that to the work ethic of his team. “We establish a new team identity, work on the individual development of players and maybe even attack the spring season at a higher level than many other schools,” Walker said. “We have game tests in which we try to play the very best in the country, and that competition only makes us bet ter in the fall.” There is no rest when titles are to be won, and the last memory of the fall season for Nebraska players was a teary-eyed view of a Notre Dame dog pile after an Irish shoot-out victory in the quarterfinals. “We’ve never talked about that game or dwelled on that game,” Walker said. Instead, Nebraska places its high hopes on the 2000 season and is using the exhibition season to work on replac ing four seniors. “Every spring, the personality of the team changes, and each person puts their own imprint on their position,” Walker said. “The lineup is not set in stone, and the great thing about having so many players that can compete is that they are able to push each other.” Sophomore Kelly Rheem says the hard work is paying dividends already. “We’re really coming together as a team, after we lost the four great seniors we had,” Rheem said. Rheem said it also doesn’t hurt to get back on the field and begin erasing the memory of that gut-wrenching loss to Notre Dame. “We try to not worry about the past, but I think we still will remember that game,” Rheem said. “But it just gives us more motivation to not let it come down to penalty shots next time.” The Huskers will have their first spring game at home at the Abbot Sports Complex on April 2 against Iowa. The schedule doesn’t ease up with the likes of North Carolina and Notre Dame making trips to Lincoln. It’s become a routine for Walker. “It’s the commitment of the players, not the coach, that makes us success ful,” he said. On Thursday afternoon, rain was pouring buckets, making even home work look good. Practice was still on. SPORTS BRIEFS Women's Gymnastics Nebraska gymnast Heather Brink, fresh from winning the Big 12 Gymnast-of-the-Year award Saturday night, has been named one of six finalists for the AAI All America Award. Brink, a senior and six-time All American at NU, is ranked fourth nationally. She is aiguably one of the best gymnasts in Comhusker history. Nebraska Coach Dan Kendig said Brink might be able to take home the honor, given away April 15. “She has meant so much to this program over the past four seasons, and it would be great for her to win this award,” Kendig said. “For Heather to be a finalist is a tremen dous honor, and we feel like she has the potential to win it.” Brink has won eight conference titles and leads the Big 12 in the all around with a regional qualifying score of 39.505. She also has a stronghold on NU’s record book. Brink holds records in the vault (perfect 10), the uneven bars (9.95), the floor exercise (9.95) and the all-around. Other finalists for the award include, Larisaa Fontaine from Stanford, Arizona’s Heidi Hombeek, Elizabeth McNabb of Arizona State, Mandy Mosby of Massachusetts and Florida’s Chrissy Van Fleet. Men’s Gymnastics For the third straight year, a Nebraska gymnast has taken home the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Athlete of the Year award. Husker senior Derek Leiter took home the honor after the conference’s championships on March 17 and 18. Jason Hardabura and Marshall Nelson won the award for Nebraska in 1999 and 1998, respectively. Leiter has led NU this season after fellow co-captain Nelson went down with his second ACL injury. He ranks first in the nation in the vault with a score of 9.883 and second in the all-around at 57.867. Leiter is also ranked ninth and 10th on the high bar and pommel horse respectively. He won the all around title in six out of eight appear ances this season and has 20 individ ual event titles to his name. The Lincoln Southeast graduate achieved a career-high score in the all-around at the conference champi onships with a score of 58.3. He has been ranked No. 1 in the nation in that event for two weeks in March. Compiled by staff writer Joshua Camenzind Changes mark baseball season NEW YORK (AP) - Derek Jeter dances around the word, almost afraid it might bring a jinx. Let others call his New York Yankees a dynasty. Let them compare this team with the ones of Ruth, DiMaggio and Mantle. He’s too busy trying to achieve greatness to boast. “You don’t really sit and dwell on how many championships we’ve won in the past,” Jeter said. “We’ve had a good run. I don’t see any reason why jt can’t continue.” Only 25, the All-Star shortstop has earned three World Series rings. And as the Yankees try to become the first team to win three in a row since the 1972-74 Athletics, all of baseball is asking: Can these Yankees be stopped? 1 m sure a lot of people, not just us but teams in the National League, are trying to find ways to beat them,” Texas general manager Doug Melvin said. Ken Griffey Jr. hopes so. Traded from Seattle to his hometown Cincinnati Reds, he’s eager to win a title - and not the one for beating out Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa in the Home Run Central. Neither Junior, Big Mac nor Slammin’ Sammy seem excited about the great homer race shaping up. That’s 4 OK, because there will be plenty of tote boards keeping track. “I just want to go out, play ball and win games,” Griffey said. - John Rocker would settle for that, he ’If hear it'froifo cipwds ^Il-over when he sprifflsifr from Hie bullpen, especially when he makes, his first appearance at Shea Stadium on ” I just want to go out, play ball and win games.” June 29. Suspended for two weeks, the Atlanta reliever will miss opening day. Then again, most fans in America will miss it, too. Baseball 2000 begins March 29 at the Tokyo Dome when Mike Hampton makes his New York Mets debut, facing the Chicago Cubs. First pitch with the new Bud Selig-signed balls is at 7:05 p.m. in Japan - that’s 5:05 a.m. EST. Rickey Henderson already is grip ing about the 7,400-mile trip for the two-game series, set up to promote international ball. Of course, these wouldn’t be the Mets without a little turmoil, would they? In other places, there’s optimism as the opener approaches. Chalk it up to: ■Three new ballparks. Enron Field in Houston replaces the Astrodome, Comerica Park in Detroit takes over for Tiger Stadium and Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco replaces old Candlestick Park. ■ Seven new managers. There’s Don Baylor (Cubs), Mike Hargrove (Baltimore), Charlie Manuel 1 ■ (Cleveland),:* 'iDaVey •*. ^T-ppes - .. (Milwaukee), Mike Scitwia (Anaheim), Buddy BeU (Colorado)and Phil Gamer (Detroit). “ • V Ken Griffey Jr. Cincinnati Reds centerfielder ■ Bunches of stars in new places. Along with Griffey and Hampton, Juan Gonzalez, Shawn Green, Raul Mondesi, Chuck Finley, John Olerud, Greg Vaughn, Vinny Castilla, Dante Bichette and Darryl Kile moved. “I didn’t anticipate so many changes,” said Colorado general man ager Dan O’Dowd, who completely revamped the Rockies’ roster. Plus, there’s the Comeback Club. Kerry Wood, Andres Galarraga, Moises Alou and Kerry Ligtenberg return after missing all of 1999. Jason Kendall also returns after sitting out much of the season with a broken ankle. Atlanta ace John Smoltz, however, will be out the whole year after tearing an elbow ligament, an injury that hap pened after the NL champions seemed to be getting over the controversy Rocker created with disparaging remarks about minorities, foreigners and gays. Darryl Strawberry also is gone, suspended for the season because of a cocaine problem. His former Yankees , teammates, Wade Boggs and Chil i j iQttws^havemtired. And#99^1KSka(ts Tony Fernandez and DaVid w tojokvteams in Japan. ~v . - Johnson to return, save Phoenix Suns PHOENIX — Jason Kidd? Out of the picture. Kevin Johnson? Out of the NBA nearly two years, he’s back in. The Phoenix Suns might have ended their run of bad luck with a master stroke - signing Johnson to play point guard for them hours after Kidd broke an ankle. Johnson, 34, a three-time All-Star who hasn’t played since the 1997-98 season, was the Suns’ floor leader until they acquired Kidd in December 1996. He signed a contract Thursday to finish the season. Kidd broke a bone high in his left ankle one second before halftime Wednesday night against Sacramento. Doctors inserted three support screws during a successful, two-hour operation Thursday. The injury was a serious blow to Phoenix, which lost forward Tom Gugliotta for the season when he tore ligaments in his left knee March 10 and guard Rex Chapman because of an appendicitis attack last week. Earlier in the season, Coach Danny Ainge resigned, uugliotta had a near fatal seizure and Penny Hardaway and Shawn Marion were injured. “When you list the players who have gone down with illness and injury, it’s like taking a number ofbul lets and still be standing,” CEO Jerry Colangelo said. “It’s a tremendous accomplishment, and I think the job that the players and coaching staff under Scott Skiles -what they’ve done and accomplished - makes it a very special team. This is some icing on the cake. To bring back someone the caliber, as a player and a person, of Kevin Johnson under these circum stances makes it very unique.” The beaming Johnson joined the team shoot-around. He handled the ball, joked with teammates and spoke quietly with Assistant Coach John MacLeod. He skipped the trip to Los Angeles to play the Lakers on Friday night, remaining in Phoenix to prac tice, but will suit up Sunday in a home game against Golden State. “He left at the top of his game, and it wasn’t that long ago,” Colangelo said. “So you’ve got a young, athletic body, and all we’re talking about is timing.” “I had a hard time taking two days off, but I was certainly not as gifted an athlete as Kevin Johnson,” said Skiles, who said Randy Livingston would start at the point for the time being, with shooting guard Hardaway sharing some of the responsibility of breaking opponents’ traps and getting Mill zc<2n Restaurant and Bar Fridays Free Pizza In The Bar during our Happy Hour 4:00pm - 6:00pm 2nd Happy Hour 10:00pm - 11:00pm Located In The Historic ^ It’s like your country calling you. You have to accept that challenge.” Kevin Johnson Phoenix Suns point guard the ball into the frontcourt. Johnson said he stayed in good enough shape to enter 10-kilometer races but avoided playing basketball so he wouldn’t be tempted to resume his 11-year career. However, he said he felt an obligation to help the Suns, who acquired him from Cleveland on Feb. 25,1988. “The organization said, “We’re in a bind, and you’re the only one that can help us,”’ Johnson said. “You get a call like that from (Senior Vice President) Cotton Fitzsimmons on behalf of Jerry and (President) Bryan Colangelo, you realize it’s something you have to consider. It’s like your country calling you. You have to accept that challenge.” Johnson knew he was going to return as soon as he spoke with Fitzsimmons, who called while the game was still in progress. Kidd is questionable for the play offs, and Skiles said Johnson’s name leaped at him when he got to the bot tom of a list compiled by Fitzsimmons and Bryan Colangelo. Johnson ranks 10th in the NBA with 6,687 career assists. He is the Suns’ career-assists leader (6,494) and third in scoring with 12,707 points, averaging 18.0“poinfs per game. jonnson s career-assisi average oi 9.2 trails only John Stockton, Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson, and he is only the sixth player to record 11,500 points, 6,000 assists, 2,000 rebounds and 1,000 steals. He averaged at least 20 points and 10 assists from 1988-91. Only four other players accomplished that feat — Nate Archibald, Johnson, Robertson and Isaiah Thomas. “Seeing him here made me happy, and once they said he signed, I was really happy because I know what he can bring to this team,” Hardaway said. “Kevin put pressure on the defense his entire career and made life hard on a lot of people. I’m sure he still can do it.” THE ARMY OFFERS $12,000 CASH BONUSES Volunteer to serve in one of the Army’s top priority occupational skills, and you could receive a cash bonus of up to $12,000, if you qualify. Find out more about this and other Army benefits. 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