Spo rtsWed nesdav
Crouch is
genuine in
false world
I have a sportswriter’s con
fession to make. Brace your
selves.
Sometimes, us sportswriters
tend to make things bigger and
more dra
matic than
they really
are (gasp).
Sometimes
we are too
quick to
draw to con
clusions.
(Remember
how Mickey ,
John
Gaskins
Joseph was
supposed to be the Second
Coming of Option Quarterback
Christ? Oops.)
Every now and then, we
hype athletes and coaches up
like they are deities, especially
when things are going good for
them. And every now and then,
if we’re writing about a figure
who hasn’t ever, God forbid,
pissed us off, we write kiss-ass
columns drooling with praise
about how good of a guy or gal
someone is: even if they don’t
deserve it, even if that guy or gal
really isn’t a great guy or gal
when the camera stops rolling
and the notebooks are closed.
But what else can I say about
nice guy Eric Crouch besides
nice things after reading about
him and talking to him person
ally? Not too many blemishes -
neither on the field nor off.
Okay, he did let a bunch of pop
sicles melt all over and stain his
mom’s carpet once when he was
a kid. Once. We’ll forgive him.
What else can I say about
someone who would rather talk
days on end about how much
more his brother, and his moth
er, mean to him than football
does?
After all, it was Susan
Crouch who raised him and his
younger brother by herself
while she went to college, then
worked as a cocktail waitress
until 2:30 a.m. She’s now a suc
cessful ultrasonographer in
Omaha.
What else can I say about
someone who would rather talk
about how, because his mom
didn’t have time to cook and
raised him on fast food, thought
he was a dork because he could
n’t play a single Pop Warner
game without eating a Taco Bell
bean burrito first?
What else can I say about
someone who has a firm per
spective on life, which is hard to
come by when you’re a well
pampered, well-liked college
athlete?
Crouch said a good portion
of his leadership ability came
from his sense of responsibility
and hard work, a trait he learned
from his mother, a trait he also
picked up running the house
when she was at work.
I he sports world is going to
want to know more about the
NU quarterback as he continues
to dish out impressive clutch
performances like his game
against Notre Dame.
If there was much doubt
before that game of who he was,
there is little mystery now: Just
flip open the most recent issue
of Sports Illustrated to a two
page lay-out that introduces the
story of the Irish game with a
picture of Crouch scoring the
game-winning touchdown and,
in huge letters, the title “Eric the
Great.”
What I have found out (and
take my word for it, I’m not
trumping anything up, here)
and the sports world will find
out is this: Crouch is about the
most genuine, patient, easy-to
talk-to superstar athlete you’ll
meet - at least right now.
I didn’t say funniest or most
outgoing or most interesting or
most quote-worthy or most
candid. He’s very mellow, very
soft-spoken, fairly unrevealing.
I said the most genuine.
Don’t give me this, “Yeah,
whatever, he’s nice. So are lots of
people, dude.” Yeah, well, a lot of
high-profile superstar Div. I ath
letes can easily be jerks, too.
We’ve seen some at Nebraska.
Remember the last Husker
quarterback to wear No. 7?
I rest my case.
Imagine being Eric Crouch.
You’d feel pretty damn good
about yourself right about now.
He does. Nothing wrong with
that. In his own words, after all,
he is the starting quarterback
Please see GASKINS on 9
Winless Hawkeyes search for silver lining
■ Ferenz sees improvement in squad
despite poor results on the scoreboard.
BY DAVID DIEHL
With the situation Kirk Ferentz is in at
Iowa, he must be a glass is half-full kind of
guy
His Iowa Hawkeyes rank in the lower
half in 22 of 27 statistical categories in the
Big 10 Conference, have lost to in-state
rival Iowa State three years running, and
now the Hawks (0-3) have to play the No.
1 team in the country.
But amidst the raging squall of dark
clouds above the Iowa program, Ferentz
has managed to find a silver lining.
"The thing that has impressed me
with this team is its attitude," he said.
“The guys havg been committed and they
give everything they have.”
But still, it obviously hasn’t been
enough to put Iowa over the top.
The pass-oriented offense, led by 6-6,
220-pound senior Scott Mullen, has put
the ball across the goal-line just five times
in Iowa’s three games.
But even though the offense doesn’t
light up the scoreboard each week, wide
receiver Kahlil Hill, said the Hawkeyes
were getting to the point where they
would be able to put up points.
A lot of it goes back to Ferentz’s state
ments, and the new mentality of the
team, Hill said.
“We’re not just looking to survive,”
said Hill, who is also one of the most dan
gerous punt returners in the Big 10.
“Were looking to go in and win every
game.”
But winning every game has been far
from the case in the past. Far from it.
IU has lost 18 of its past 19 contests,
the only bright spot being a 24-0 blanking
of Northern Illinois last year. Ferentz fin
ished his inaugural season 1-10 and his
record as Iowa’s coach is 1-13. The last
time Iowa even won back to back games
was in 1997 under Hayden Fry, who
retired in 1998.
But having a year under his belt,
Ferentz said there was a “world of differ
ence” between this year’s team and last
year’s.
“We’ve been around each other a lot
longer,” Ferentz said. “The camaraderie is
there, and we’re more comfortable. That
just hasn’t shown up on the scoreboard
yet.”
In fact, not much has. The Hawks are
putting up a Big-10 worst 14 points per
game on offense.
While Mullen’s passing offense still
ranks third in the conference, as a whole,
the offense is worst in the Big 10 in total
production.
But Hill said that his team was just a
step away from fixing that. And that
means winning games, he said.
“It’s just assignment errors,” said Hill,
a junior from Iowa City. "On a play we’ll
have 10 perfect assignments. We’re just
missing that one extra thing. We just have
to get to the point where we’re all on the
same page making plays.”
Hawaiians
flocking to
NU Athletics
BY JOSH CAMENZIND
It is hard to imagine that a
Nebraska volleyball player
would have an impact on foot
ball recruiting.
But when it comes to former
Husker Fiona Nepo, that is exact
ly the case.
Nepo, who was NU’s star set
ter from 1995 to 1998, received
nearly full credit from Nebraska
Assistant Coach George
Darlington for helping land fel
low Hawaiian-native Dominic
Raiola four years ago.
“If Nepo was not happy here
with her situation in volleyball or
school, we wouldn’t have gotten
any players from the islands,” he
said.
Raiola, a junior, echoed the
comments of Darlington.
“Just to see someone from
our island who made it on her
own was real instrumental,” said
Raiola, who was the first native of
Hawaii to play for the Huskers.
“I knew if I came over that
she would still be here for a year
and we might be able to get
another one or two from
Hawaii.”
Darlington and Nebraska did
one better, landing three in the
next two years.
Tony Tata became the next
recruit for Darlington, and Toniu
Fonoti and Junior Tagoa’i fol
lowed in the 1999 recruiting
class. In all, NU has four players
from Hawaii on its roster - four
more than the previous 110 years
of Husker football.
Prep football in Hawaii has
been an untapped resource for
NU and other college programs
t
3S
Steven Bender/DN
The Husker football team has four players from Hawaii. From left: Dominic Raiola (center), Tony Tata (middle linebacker), Toniu Fonoti (offensive guard) and Junior Tagoal (nose
tackle).
aside from the West Coast in the
past because of many factors.
“We never had any expo
sure," said Tata, a redshirt sopho
more. “The college coaches just
didn’t want to take a chance
because of the long plane ride, I
guess.”
Darlington said the flight was
too time consuming for many
coaches.
"You spend a whole day there
and take a red-eye back,” he said.
“You can hit six schools in
California in the same time.”
But the time has paid off for
programs like Arizona,
Washington and Colorado in the
past. And it is no surprise those
same programs were also in the
thick of recruiting the four.
But the Huskers, not the
Huskies or Buffaloes, are reaping
the benefits.
Raiola is a two-year starter at
center and Fonoti saw action last
season as a true freshman and is
now starting at left guard.
Tagoa’i, a redshirt freshman
nose tackle, and Tata, a middle
linebacker, occupy backup roles
behind proven players.
The four leave no doubt that
the talent base in Hawaii is
stocked. So why did they choose
the corn field over the beach?
All four responded that the
other three had an impact on
their decision to come to
Nebraska.
“Polynesians are different
from many cultures, so being
able to talk to someone who is on
a level with you, who under
stands what you think an<J feel,
helps a lot,” Tagoa’i said.
Raiola, Tata and Tagoa’i all
attended St. Louis High School in
Honolulu together and the three,
along with Fonoti, still like to
hang out.
They said a normal gathering
includes Tagoa’i playing his
ukulele, singing and Samoan
card games.
“We are pretty much the only
ones who know how to play the
games, so we have to play with
each other,” said Tagoa’i, who is
originally from Seattle.
Fonoti said having the others
around his freshman year helped
him cope with being thousands
of miles away from home.
“When we get the time we get
together,” he said, “it is real good
to remind us when we get home
sick where we are from and what
we are representing.”
If Darlington has his way,
what the four are representing is
an island' that will continue to
produce quality players for NU.
The Huskers are in the
process of recruiting several
other island natives at this time,
Darlington and Fonoti said.
And the all-important role of
Nepo will be filled by actual foot
ball players in the future.
“We have the opportunity to
show that there are people from
the islands that are here and
happy,” Darlington said.
Pilakowski motivated by slow freshman year
BY BRIAN CHR1ST0PHERS0N
Nebraska volleyball Coach John Cook remem
bers the look in Laura Pilakowski’s eyes last
December.
He had just told the young freshman she
wouldn’t be suiting up for the NCAA tournament.
Pilakowski wasn’t used to playing second fiddle
on the volleyball floor after years of dominating
the hardwood at Columbus High. And she defi
nitely wasn’t used to being
“To some t°id s^e cou^n t even Put
. , uniform on.
people, SheS Instead of consuming her
come OUt of se^ *n sadness over such a set
.. . . back, Pilakowski came back
We VlUe, with determination this sea
but I knew son.
shp V1//7C "I think stuff like that
pushes athletes like her,” Cook
going to be said.
UOOd.” Something pushed her,
and it was a solid enough
. if shove to move Pilakowski onto
n un fl°or as a starter where she
NU volleyball has starred for the Huskers.
_coac^ “It was difficult going
through last year, but I learned
so much and saw how hard I had to work on the
fundamentals,” Pilakowski said.
Redshirting was a thought in Pilakowski’s mind
during that difficult freshman year. But the coach
es maintained a hunch that her talent just might
sneak her onto the floor for more playing time.
“Hindsight is always 20-20. But we really did
think she could help us last year,” Cook said.
But Pilakowski could never earn a prominent
role on the team last season playing at the middle
blocker position
This season, in a move that paid off big divi
dends, Cook switched Pilakowski from middle
blocker to outside hitter, and the switch has accen
tuated her talents.
“She has great arm swing, and she jumps so
high. She uses her athletic ability to hit shots even
if the ball is set in an unusual spot,” Cook said.
Pilakowski has taken the 2000 season by storm,
leading the team in kills with 120 through the first
nine games and collecting top honors on the team
with a .381 hitting percentage.
Cook knew the Pilakowski secret was going to
be let out of the bag this season.
“To some people, she’s come out of the blue,
but I knew she was going to be good,” Cook said.
She’s had a trail of coaches shaking their heads
in disbelief, searching for an answer to silence her
swing.
“Their offense ended up being Laura, and we
never really had an answer for her,” an exasperated
Colorado State Coach Tim Hilbert had said after
watching Pilakowski dash the Rams’ hopes for an
early-season victory.
Pilakowski doesn’t care about grabbing the
individual praise. She just likes winning, and the
winning process is much more fun when team
chemistry exists.
“We’re all connected as a team, and it helps
with the great senior leadership we have,” she said.
“It’s really exciting to play on a team where we have
just all bonded together.”
Cook also sent out a frightening line to confer
Please see PILAKOWSKI on 9
Nate Wagner/DN
Husker sopho
more outside
hitter Laura
Pilakowski has
stepped up her
performance for
NU this year. She
has a team-high
120 kills and the
best hitting per
centage at .381.
