Devaney plays host to Huskers ERQM STAFF REPORTS Some sporting events are so huge you need to watch them with 14,000 of your closest friends. Such is the case with the Nebraska-Notre Dame football game Sept 9. Athletic Director Bill Byrne announced Tuesday that fans will be allowed to watch the 1:30 p.m. Notre Dame game on the HuskerVision screens inside the Bob Devaney Sports Center, rhere will be no charge for admission. Byrne said events like this have been in demand. "Ever since we installed the big screen replay boards at the Devaney Center, many fans bave been asking for an oppor tunity to watch a game together with other Husker fens,” Byrne said. "We like to think of it as an extension of the knothole sec tion." The knothole section was the common name for the bleachers behind the end zones, which were of minimal cost to spectators. The doors to the Devaney Center will open at noon for first-come, first-served seating for the telecast. The broadcast will be a live feed of the nation ally televised game from Omaha’s NBC affiliate WOWT. It will also feature pre- and post game shows hosted by WOWT news director Dave Webber. Fans will be able to purchase food, drink and souvenirs dur ing the event, and free parking will be available on the state fairgrounds. Proceeds beyond staff and facility costs will be donated to the Husker Athletics Fund. Saltdogs baseball 5ALTP06S from page 10 cot name '‘Saltdogs” defeated the “Prairie Rre* and the “Larks."'Ihe three finalists were chosen by a vote of Lincoln residents. Meyer also unveiled the name of die new ballpark that will play host to the Saltdogs and the University of Nebraska men’s baseball team Haymarket Park, which has been under construction since May, is expected to be ready for the2001 spring season. The 6,000 plus-seating stadi um will be located at 6th and Charleston, within walking dis tance from the Haymarket and Memorial Stadium New coaches ready to win ISSKTANTSfrom page 10 to be great, a chance to go to the Final Four right away,* Skinner said The journey to such goals begins on Friday night, when the Cornhuskers open at home under a new regime against Northwestern University. Wolfe is just glad the noisy NU Coliseum fans in red are behind her these days. “These fans are the best. It was so fun to play here, to coach here on the other side of the ball* Wolfe said. “And now to be on this side of the ball with Nebraska, and have the fans behind you.... I can't wait’ The DN online dailyneb.com Rituals mentally charge-up Huskers RITUALS from page 10 hotel before every home game. Walker said staying in a hotel was a big advantage. "It keeps us off our feet and keeps outside distractions away,” he said. Once 6:30 a.m. on Saturday rolls around, Stark said he had certain expectations of the play ers. “If you eat the same food, shave the same way and even the little tiny things get your mind ready and prepared,” Walker said. “It is critical.” Crouch said visualization was a big part of his preparation. Repeatedly thinking about what he will do in the game actually makes it easier to do. “It’s kind of like a pass or an option pitch,” said Crouch, who would drive himself to games in high school to get in a game mindset. Most of the players inter viewed said they had a certain routine they followed once they received a wake-up call at the hotel. Volk said he immediately jumps in the shower after awak ening. He then goes to chapel with other players and heads off to eat breakfast. If he has time, he will go back up to his room and relax. Some like it quiet; some like it loud. Walker said he prefers a quiet environment “I like to visualize things I am going to do on the field,” he said. “You just have to focus mainly on what you have to get done as an individual.” NU’s starting quarterback prefers not to be in solitary con finement. The junior said he doesn’t mind kicking back in his room to the complimentary hotel paper. Reading gives Crouch an alternative to what most players do prior to game time - strap on the head phones and get pumped up. The various types of music known to be blasting over head phones across the locker room varies. Brown said he listens to everything from country to Guns N’ Roses, while Volk said heavy metal such as Deftones was on his list. Russ Hochstein said AC/DC was his choice. "A lot of guys put the head phones on and don’t blink because they are focusing so hard,” Brown said. Most of the players use the music to get psyched up, but linebacker Carlos Polk uses it for the opposite affect "Most players like listening to something heavy,” he said. "But I am usually wound up so much that I listen to rhythm and blues to wind me down a bit” The middle linebacker becomes so in tune with the game he begins to break down plays in games he watches before kickoff, he said. * Hochstein said the coaches try their best to make sure that no players get over-hyped on a game. Stark’s plan is also devised with those same goals in mind. ^normaU^eeT^^ fatigued on a normal day. But on a game day, you wake up and feel pretty dam good.” Erk Crouch NU quarterback "They should be able to block everything off and it should come down to a V with them being mentally ready,” said Stark, who is in his 13th sea son as the team psychologist No players interviewed revealed any strange quirks about any of their teammates - something Hochstein was thankful for. "I don't think we have any body that spits in each others mouth before a game like they used to,” he said. "Or anybody that throws up. I don’t think we have anybody like that any more." Even without fluids leaving their bodies, the players admit waking up on a game day is heads above rolling out of bed for a 8:00 a.m. political science class "You know you got to go out and play,” Crouch said. "I nor mally feel fatigued on a normal day. But on a game day, you waike up and feel pretty darn good. "I don't know what it’s from. It is probably from some of the chemicals. But you do have a lit tle extra bounce in your step.” Miami back makes hard-running return I THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MIAMI — After almost a year of watching, waiting and working out, Najeh Davenport unleashed most of his frustra tion on his teammates. He also saved some for the McNeese State Cowboys. Davenport, a Miami Hurricanes running back who missed the majority of last sea son with a knee injury, ran roughshod over the defense in fall practice. Tough to catch and even tougher to tackle, Davenport showed the No. 5 Hurricanes what they missed while he recovered from a tom ligament in his right knee. "It’s like you’re standing on the tracks and he’s the train ? and it’s coming. There’s nothing you can do to stop him,” safety A1 Blades said. "When he’s back there, you’re just hoping for a pass play.” McNeese State won’t be so lucky. The Hurricanes plan to get Davenport — a 6-foot-2, 248-pound junior who ran the 40-yard dash in 4.34 seconds this summer — plenty of play ing time in tonight’s season opener against the Division I AA Cowboys. "I want him to have success. It’s important for him psycho logically and emotionally,” Miami Coach Butch Davis said. "He’s been romping and stomping in practice. But once he gets in the game, gets hit and gets tackled and gets this game behind him, he’s going be fine.” Davenport carried 13 times for 83 yards before injuring his knee late in the fourth quarter of last year’s opener against Ohio State. He missed the rest of the season and did not participate in full-contact drills during spring practice. In die meantime, Davenport added 15 pounds, lowered his body fat and increased his strength and speed. He did it all while counting down the days until the season opener. "I thought about it every day,” said Davenport, who led the Hurricanes with a 7.0 yards per-carry average in 1998. "It’s a hunger inside of me that grew and it’s still growing. Thinking about playing kept me going. ”1 think my first snap the defense will have to be scared because I’m going to unload all this frustration from the last year." Davenport rushed for 387 yards on 55 carries as a fresh man, playing behind Edgerrin James and James Jackson. He will share time again this season with Jackson, Clinton Portis and Jarrett Payton. "When they get their shot, they better be ready,” Running backs Coach Don Soldinger said. "It’s just like coming out of the bullpen or off the bench. They better get the strikeout or hit the home run when they’re in there. They have to make their reps count” That shouldn’t be too diffi cult against McNeese State, which finished 6-5 last season and is playing its first Division I A team since 1990. The Hurricanes have outscored its last five Division I-AA oppo nents 280-29. "We understand that coach Davis and his staff have done a great job of getting the program back to competing for national championships every year,” said first-year McNeese State Coach Tommy Tate, who replaced Kirby Bruchhaus after Bruchhaus resigned in June following an investigation that he gambled on professional football There’s no cover on Thursdays and we offer the best specials in town! 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