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
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^ 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.”
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