SoortsWeekend
Athletes,
agents
are equal
As a child, I idolized Ryne
Sandberg, the great second base
man for the Chicago Cubs.
Second base became my favorite
position, and
23 was the
number I
wanted to
wear on the
back of my
jersey.
As each
year passed
by, I realized I
had no athlet
Jason
Merrihew
ic aDimy. My
dream of being the next Sandberg
faded away, yet my ambition of
making a major impact in sports
still remained.
That same type of idolization
led a promising young attorney
to the sporting scene in 1975.
Without a single statistic in
any athletic record book, Leigh
Steinberg continues to be a very
influential figure in today’s pro
fessional sports scene.
You may never have heard of
Steinberg, but he has influenced
sports behind the scenes as the
industry’s premier agent.
As a dorm counselor during
his last year of law school at the
University of Califomia-Berkeley,
Leigh Steinberg met Steve
Bartkowski, a freshman quarter
back for the Cal Bears.
In 1975, Bartkowski asked if
Steinberg would represent him.
Shortly after, Bartkowski became
the first overall draft pick in the
NFL by the Atlanta Falcons.
When Bartkowski and
Steinberg reached the Atlanta air
port, they stepped into a media
frenzy.
At that time there was no
sports law. Steinberg had to write
the how-to book on being a
sports agent.
“Agents weren’t guaranteed
rights to represent their players.”
Steinberg said.
Because of the competition
between the NFL and the old
USFL to sign the top talent,
Steinberg was able to negotiate
the largest rookie salary in history
at that time.
“We flew into Atlanta to sign
the contract, there were these
lights flashing in the sky at the air
port like for a movie premiere, a
huge crowd was pressed up
against the police line,” Steinberg
said.
That is when I saw the
tremendous idol worshipping
and veneration athletes were
held in and it was then I saw the
opportunity that existed in terms
of role modeling.”
Steinberg's sporting career
snowballed from there. His clien
tele began to expand rapidly. His
agency now represents 150 ath
letes in a variety of sports includ
ing baseball, basketball, boxing
and even hockey. But Steinberg’s
real niche is in football, especially
quarterbacks.
Among his most noticeable
quarterbacks are Troy Aikman,
Drew Bledsoe, Mark Brunell,
Kerry Collins and Ryan Leaf to
name a few.
With his success, followed
fame. When writer and director
Cameron Crowe did research for
Jerry Maguire, he used Steinberg
as inspiration. Actors Tom Cruise
and Cuba Gooding Jr. shadowed
Steinberg to help aid them in
their Oscar-nominated perform
ances.
“Sports-itheme movies start
ed using me as technical advisor.”
Steinberg said. “Then I started
acting in some of them.”
HBO uses ideas given from
Steinberg for its hit series Arli$$, a
comedy about the daily life of a
super agent
“With Arli$$, I give them the
worst idea I have that I can never
practice in real life.” Steinberg
said.
The sports representing field
will continue to grow with the for
mation of teams, leagues and
sports.
“A really good set of ethics and
values will help a person make it
in this field.” Steinberg said.
Although I will never wear a
jersey, a jersey with the number
23 on my back and roam around
Wrigley Field as the second base
man for the Cubs, my dreams of
making it to the big leagues
haven’t been shattered.
I can now sit in front of my tel
evision set on football Saturday
and Sunday, wear my suit and tie
and daydream about being an
agent. Leigh Steinberg proves
that
Tigers game may mirror Iowa's
■The Cornhuskers look to
improve their special teams and
defensive attack against Mizzou.
BY JOSHUA CAMENZIND
Nebraska players may be feel
ing a little bit of deja vu this week
end.
The Huskers play host to
Missouri on Saturday night for a 6
p.m. matchup. The game, accord
ing to NU Coach Frank Solich,
could be very similar to last week’s
42-13 win over Iowa, especially for
the Husker offense.
“Their scheme (defensively) is
very much like Iowa’s," Solich said
of the 1-2 Tigers. “They will have a
lot of movement up front and
bring the linebackers and blitz you
more than the old Missouri teams
would do.
"The game against Iowa gave
us a good degree of preparation.”
Solich also compared the
physical play of both teams, say
r~-i
ing Saturday’s matchup with
Mizzou will be as hard-fought as
last Saturday’s Iowa game, a game
in which the Hawkeyes were down
only two touchdowns until late in
the fourth quarter.
The Tiger defenders do sport
one advantage over the Hawkeyes.
His name - Justin Smith.
Smith gives Mizzou the pres
ence of a star defender that was
lacking for Iowa. The senior defen
sive end, who was tabbed as a pre
season All American, has 20 tack
les - five for losses.
Despite Smith’s being one of
the top defenders in the country,
Mizzou is still giving up 343 yards
per game and lost to Clemson 62
0.
Stats like those and NU’s new
look passing attack against Iowa
does not bode well for Tiger Coach
Larry Smith.
"The best way to defend their
offense is to keep them off the field
with your own offense,” said
Smith, whose Tigers lost 13-10 to
Michigan State two weeks ago.
While the Tigers may be
dreading NU’s offense, the Mizzou
offense will give the Blackshirts a
different and sometimes wacky
look under first-year offensive
coordinator Bill Cubit.
“They run all different kinds of
formations and split people all
over the field,” Solich said.
Solich said many of the Tigers’
formations may seem unconven
tional, but when they executed
them well, they were effective.
Tigers Quarterback Kirk
Farmer said MU’s offense would
try to keep NU’s defense on its toes
with a no-huddle offense.
"I like it because it’s up-tempo
and not really a way to catch them
off-guard but a simple way of call
ing plays,” he said.
Husker defensive coordinator
Craig Bohl is wary of Farmer and
hopes his defense will make
strides against Mizzou after not
meeting his standards last week.
“The bar is pretty high for us,”
said Bohl, who sees his defense at
this point as a leaking dam, where
“The game against
lbwa gave us a good
degree of
preparation. ”
Frank Solich
NU football coach
one hole gets plugged and anoth
er springs loose.
Bohl also wants improvement
from the Blackshirts at the start of
the game - a point where oppos
ing offenses have had their way
with NU up to this point.
“We made improvement from
the first half to the second half
(against Iowa),” he said. “That is
somewhat indicative of where our
football team is at. We did that in
the first game and so we are just in
hopes that trend continues."
Solich also is looking for
sharper play from the special
teams - an area that has plagued
NU in its three games this season.
Nebraska vs.
.Missouri
—(When:
-(Where:
—(Radio:
And the coach is holding noth
ing back now. Solich said some
starters would be put back on spe
cial teams, including middle line
backer Carlos Polk.
“We are looking at getting it
done special teams-wise at all
costs,” said Solich, whose patience
is running out on this matter. “It’s
taken us way too long to get there.”
-m.— -■---w—■—t—1
—^-tifc I—1——am
Scott McClurg/DN
Four Huskers describe most important plays of their careers
BY JOHN GASKINS
Being Missouri week, it is
awfully hard to resist making Matt
Davison take his thousandth stroll
down memory lane. To remember
the miraculous diving catch he
made on the last play of regulation
to preserve NU’s fifth national title
three years ago.
We’ll spare you the one-thou
sand-first rehashing of Davison's
catch.
We all know what happened,
and we’ve all heard Davison talk
about it over and over and over
again.
But in light of the great
“Miracle in Missouri” week, the
Daily Nebraskan offers a collec
tion of four other unforgettable,
game-making plays made by cur
rent Huskers in the past three
years since that game.
Joe Walker - punt return,
Oklahoma State, 1998.
Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas
City became a huge Big Red Party
in this "neutral” setting. Lucky for
Walker, a sophomore from
Arlington, Texas, he had several
relatives - including precious Aunt
Mamie - in the area to stop by and
watch him play for the first time.
How convenient.
Before a slew of injuries and
heartbreaks that led to a “disap
pointing” four-loss campaign in
Frank Solich’s debut season, the
Huskers were coming off a nation
al title, ranked No. 2 and 4-0.
For some reason, harmless
Oklahoma State crashed the party
and had the Huskers on their
heels. The NU offense was down
right dismal, and the game was
tied at 17 with under eight min
utes left. Upset city lurked. NU
needed a spark.
Then the Cowboys punted to
Walker, who had already busted a
99-yarder in an earlier win over
Louisiana Tech.
Walker said he didn’t feel
much pressure from coaches and
players to make a huge play, even
though it was desperately needed.
“It was more of a pressure that
I had on myself. I knew it was a
close game. In games like that, you
have to step up to the play and
make big plays. At any given time,
I’m capable of breaking one. I was
kind of anticipating it. Thank God
it came at the right moment.
“It was a quick kick - not high,
not low, but right at me. Anytime
you get kicks like that, it allows you
to catch the ball clean and get up
the field without a lot of confu
sion.
“We had some good blocks
that allowed me to find a crease up
the middle, and I kind of broke it
JoshWolfe/DN
Canadians such as goalie Karina LeBlanc come to U.S. colleges because of better programs and more scholarships. Canadian col
leges have little support for women's soccer, adhering to a stricter view of the "student-athlete."
7 just remember her saying to me after the
game, ‘Boy you sure can run.’ It kind of made
me feel like a little kid again.”
Joe Walker
Husker defensive back
toward the left, broke a couple
tackles, and then I saw daylight
and ran on from there.”
The 73-yard score turned out
to be the game winner, as NU
barely held on, 24-17. It felt like a
game winner to Walker once he
was in the end zone.
“It kind of felt like a dream. You
get stuck in the moment. You see
everything going on, but you kind
of end up in a twilight zone. It was
more like a zone where you were
in the center of everything. It’s a
great feeling, a sense that makes
you feel proud of yourself.”
And your Aunt Mamie even
prouder.
“I just remember her saying to'
me after the game, ‘Boy you sure
can run.’ It kind of made me feel
like a little kid again.”
Keyou Craver - interception
at the 1-yard-line against
Southern Miss., 1999.
Craver had been the whipping
Please see PLAYS on 9
Soccer players flow
by Canadian pipeline
BY SAMUEL MCKEWON
So she had her visit.
Nebraska soccer forward
Christine Latham had a look
around the megalith that is the
Nebraska Athletic Department,
toured the Abbott Sports
Complex, surely marveled at its
support system and concluded
yes, here is where I’ll be.
“Everything was awesome,”
she said.
Not that the sophomore had
considered otherwise. This was
Nebraska, where Athletic
Department dollars flowed like
red wine (and occasionally over
flow the glass).
And Latham was from
Calgary, Alberta - you know,
Canada - where support wilts in
comparison to the boost soccer -
specifically women's soccer -
receives in the United States. Club
programs, the new one-way ticket
to athletic stardom, had neither
the monetary commitment nor
the year-round scheduling
America affords its athletes.
Canadian colleges give sports
only a passing glance; they don’t
offer full-ride scholarships,
adhering to a stricter view of“stu
dent-athlete.”
"(Canadian players) are look
ing for the type of emphasis that
the U.S. has on its sports,"
Nebraska Coach John Walker said
of the six current Canadian
Huskers. “There’s more equip
ment, more coaching, better
training facilities. All of that."
* Please see PIPELINE on 9
