Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 19

CLASSIFIEDS, 5C-10C Brewers 'waste Abbott's first hit, 3C Journal Star Wednesday June 16, 1999 Questions, comments? Call John Mabry. 473-7320 Page desigrt Karl Vogel SCORES EVENTS FEATURES 1 2 Husker signee Crawford's deal with Devil Rays specifies no football rini Green Bay plots to rule IFL world Details of the Devil Rays' contract offer to Crawford were not disclosed. Jennings declined to discuss any of the terms of the contract other than that college football is out and that Crawford will report to Princeton, W.Va., today and start in the outfield when the team begins play Friday. 7 However, the Associated Press reported that Crawford received a $1,553,000 signing bonus, the fourth-highest ever for a player drafted after the first round. Crawford was unavailable for comment Monday and Tuesday.

"I know he signed a contract, and I am praying it's the right thing for him," said his mother, Leisha Crawford of Houstoa "I so much wanted him to get a college education at Nebraska. I know he talked to the baseball team about making sure he would still go to college some." BY KEN HAM3UET0N Lincoln Journal Stf Nebraska quarterback recruit Carl Crawford will be in West Virginia Friday, playing baseball with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays' advanced rookie league team, and he wont be playing football or coming to Lincoln anytime soon. Crawford signed a contract with the American League baseball team Tuesday and, in doing so, has apparently ended his chances of a career in football. Dan Jennings, director of scouting for the Devil Rays, said, "Part of the contract will be no college football." Crawford was the first player chosen in the second round of the Major League Baseball amateur draft on June 3. He said he wanted to play pro baseball and possibly college football, I.

too. "Well have to wait and see what they put on the table," Crawford said at the time. I Nebraska head football coach Frank Solich said he knew the Huskers were taking a chance on recruiting Crawford because the Houston native was considered such a good baseball player. 'j'. NU assistant coach Turner Gill, who was a second-round pick of the Cleveland Indians out of high school in faced a similar choice and accepted a Nebraska scholarship instead.

Solich said he wished Crawford well. "He is a high-quality young man and we wish him and his family the best in the future." Solich said. "He was so strong about playing football and we recruited him as hard as anybody we recruited. We considered Carl to be able to play at quarterback, wide receiver and defensive back. You don't usually find guys More on RECRUIT, Page 5C INSIDE vr Nebraska outside hitter Nancy Meendering to play for U.S.

in World University Games. Page 4C Assault charges against Seattle Seahawks njming back Ahman Green, a former NU star, are dismissed. Pago 5C 'Dominntor' strikes again NU swim coach to have prostate cancer surgery BY TOPO HENRICHS Lincoln Journal Star Nebraska Swimming Coach Cal Bentz will undergo V. surgery next week for prostate cancer. 7 Bentz, 66, on Tuesday said his condition was caught in its early stages and he plans to continue coaching for several years.

The Cancer was spotted during a routine exam in February. He's been in therapy for four months to facilitate the surgery. "It wasn't one of those kinds, Aimii'HT--r-- In the first year of the Indoor Football League, the fledgling Lincoln Lightning has put up with two inadvertent whistles that cost touchdowns in losses to the Madison Mad Dogs and the Green Bay Bombers. In an overtime game at Dayton, the IFL league rules said both teams get TWO possessions in the 1 overtime. Lincoln failed to score on its first try.

Dayton scored on its first try and everybody left the field. Rules changed. The clock runs after an incomplete pass. The clock doesn't run after an incomplete pass. Statistics are still a matter of interpretation, with some teams, including the Lightning, using a formula not previously known in the Western world.

Of course, if you followed the Lightning at all this season, you'd know rules change from game to game depending on the site and the whims of the IFL heads. A linebacker can blitz, if he raises his hand, or a linebacker can blitz without raising his hand. You make the calL Either way, on any given night, you might be right. j. OK.

It's a new league. New people. New game. The early-season games took more than three and a half hours to play. The last Lightning game lasted just over two hours.

I But now, the Lightning has been given the biggest slap of all. In a Tuesday press release, it was said, 'The Lincoln Lightning will (play) host in the first ever IFL playoffs July 2 at Pershing Auditorium," the release begins. "At this time, it appears that the Lightning will face off with the second-seeded team in the North, which will likely be the Green Bay Bombers -What? Just a few days ago, when the owner of the whole league, Keary Ecklund, and IFL commissioner Kellen Winslow were in Lincoln, it' was announced that Lincoln won the South Division and would play host to the South Division runner-up Dayton or Topeka. The rules changed again. 1 "We thought it would be more interesting than having a rematch of two teams that already played twice," said IFL president Tom Tomaszewski.

"We're using the NFL format of seeding the playoff teams of 1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3." Tomaszewski said Winslow and Ecklund must have misspoken or been tired from traveling. Tomaszewski said this from his office in Neenah, Wis. (near Green where the thing had gone undetected for a long period of time," Bentz said during a break in his second week-long summef skills camp.

"It hasn't generated a great deal of alarm, at least to this point, I just have to trust what the doctors have Surgery is scheduled for June 23 at the University of Southern Cali-fornia's University Hospital in Los 06 mi 1 i nit 1 Mm, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Angeles. The surgeon, Bentz said, BENTZ was recommended by a friend there whose recent bout with cancer required the same pro-, cedure. Bentz will undergo a prostatectomy, the surgical removal of the prostate gland. Prostate cancer is the second-most common malignancy among men. 1 In recent years, golfing great Arnold Palmer and New York Yankees Manager Joe Torre have been treated for prostate cancer.

Palmer eventually returned to the Senior PGA Tour. Torre returned to the Yankees' dugout May 18. barely more than two months after he was first diagnosed. Doctors have told Bentz that his condition is less acute than was Torre s. He expects to be hospitalized for three days, then will convalesce in the Los Angeles area until returning home "sometime after the Fourth of July." Coming to grips with his condition hasn't been easy, Bentz said.

1 "If I had a bump on the side of my head or a lump on my arm or something like that, I could see that," Bentz said. "With this, I had no idea." Bentz was first prepared to miss this year's Big 12 and NCAA Championships, saying it was the doctor's decision to wait until after camps wrapped up at NU this week. 1 The Husker men finished 11th and the women 12th at the NCAA meets in March, giving Bentz the 17th and 18th top-25 finishes of his coaching career. Both teams finished second at the Big 12 Championships behind" Texas. Bentz said he has -every' intention 'of returning, to' f'- work and challenging the Long horns for the title next season.

His teams have won 21 conference champion- Dallas Stars player Jamie Langenbrunner (center) gets sandwiched between Buffalo defenseman Dean Smehlik (left) and goalie Dommik Hasek (39) after Hasek prevented a goal by deflecting Langenbrunner' first-period shot Tuesday night in Game 4 of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals. The Sabres won the game 2-1 to even the series at 2-2. Story, Page 5C Jackson takes Lalters' offer LOS ANGELES (AP) Phil Jackson, who coached the Chicago Bulls to six titles with an tp- i oiibeat approach, is about to become coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. Jackson whose coaching style is a mix of Zen philosophy, the triangle offense and the power Of persuasion reached an agreement in principle Tuesday to begin coaching the Lakers next season, team spokesman John Black said. The new coach, who will $24 million deal to Jackson, who took this season off after leading the Bulls to their sixth championship of the decade.

He also was courted heavily by the New Jersey Nets, and to a lesser degree by the New York Knicks before they made their improbable run to the NBA Finals. The Lakers, who fired Del Harris 12 games into last season and promoted Rambis from his job as an assistant, were swept out of the playoffs for the second year fh a row, losing in the second round to San Antonio. Jackson, 53, had a 545-193 record in nine seasons at Chicago and was 11141 in the playoffs. Michael Jordan keyed Jackson's run of NBA titles at Chicago, where Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman also played major roles in making the Bulls one of the best teams in league history. With the Lakers, he inherits three of the NBA marquee players, Shaquille O'Neal, Glen Rice and Kobe Bryant.

li would De crazy to quit at tnis he said. The people that work for me are great. The people I work (Bst-of-MVn) i SAN ANTOfO vs. NEW YORK Gam 1, today New York at San Antonio, 8 p.m. TV: NBC (WOWT 6).

RAOtO: KUN (1400). INSIDE i When he entered the NBA, San Antonio center David Robinson drew compansons to the legendary BiH Russell. Now, it Robinson's chance to get his first ring, something Russell has In abundance. Commentary, Pap 2C loraregreai. a-, "What more can I say? I just have to keep eating my Wheaties in the morning." P.

JACKSON replace interim Coach Kurt Rambis, is expected to be introduced during a press conference today, barring a last-minute snag in contract details. i The Lakers reportedly offered a four-year, Rain forces CWS to alter schedule 1J7TU gfji lsJlli9 TV legend ends retirement from ABC, IIUdL IN Ciliei will return to air starting with NU-Cal The two College World Series elimination games scheduled to be played Tuesday at Omaha's Rosenblatt Stadium were rained out, forcing the NCAA to shuffle its schedule to keep Bay). Ecklund owns a trucking firm in Neenah, Wis. (near Green Bay). Tomaszewski worked for the Green Bay Bombers last year.

Ecklund owned half of the Green Bay and half of the Madison franchises (near Green Bay) in the defunct (get used to that word with indoor football) PIFL last year. (Note: Some teams left over from the PIFL are now in the Indoor Professional Football League, or IPFL,) Now, Ecklund owns all the teams in the IFL. And, out of the blue sky (near Green Bay) Lincoln gets Green Bay (8-2 and near Green Bay). Topeka. and Dayton are 4-6 and not near Green Bay.

On the Internet's Indoor Football Message Board, and we know how full of truth these things are "Talk about your puppet masters playing with their toys." And remember, Ecklund was quoted in the Billings Gazette (home of one of the many expansion IFL teams for 2000), which was quoting the Duluth News Tribune, "What's wrong with it (IFL) being my toy or my hobby? I'm not going to deny that." Hah. The next thing you know it will turn out that Ecklund has ties to the Texas folk who control the Big 12 and conspire to hamper the Huskers. The Lightning is just a toy. A puppet for the plan to put Green Bay on top of the IFL. They're treating the Lightning like lightning bugs.

You know, throw them in a glass jar with some grass, only to find them dead the next morning. Please. Get some minor league baseball in Lincoln. Before you know it, somebody will turn home of the Lightning, the Thunderdome, into a roller rink and the Lightning will be but a flash in the pan. said.

"I guarantee I would not have done this if not for this deal. This cuts my travel by 90 percent. I still can stay at home and sleep in my own bed." Actually, Jackson's first broadcast will be from Lincoln for the Sept. 11 California-Nebraska game, but he said he had planned to the tournament on pace for a Saturday championship game that will be broadcast live by CBS-TV. Rice will battle Alabama at 2 30 p.m.

today, with Cal State- Fullerton to face Florida State at 6:30 p.m. Session 6 tickets for Tuesday's games will be honored for today's games. On Thursday at 2:30 p.m., Stanford will face a true No. 1 announcer for college football next year. Instead, the big games will be split between Brent Musburgcr and his partner Dan Fouts, and Brad Nessler and Gary Danielson.

As for the Bowl Championship Series title game, Katz said one of the announcers will get it this year and the other next year. "Nobody could really replace Keith," Katz said. "There are enough big games to go around. We'll try to schedule them as intelligently as we can." If Jackson sticks around long enough, he could work the 2002 national championship game, which will be played at the Rose Bowl. Jackson says his deal is year-to-year, but that he believes he has another two or three seasons left in him.

As for all the retirement gifts given to him, Jackson joked that he would be handing them over to the College Football Hall of Fame. "Except the rocking chairs," Jackson said. "I'm keeping those." BY ED SHERMAN Chicago Tribuna CHICAGO Whoa, Nellie on that retirement Keith Jackson isn't quitting after all. In what might be the shortest retirement in history, ABC announced Tuesday that Jackson will be back in the booth next fall He will do 12 or 13 Pac-10 games and the Rose Bowl. Last season's Fiesta Bowl was supposed to be Jackson's finale, ending a season full of tributes for, the voice of college football Jackson, though, changed his mind when new ABC SporU President Howard Katz approached him about doing games only on the West Coast Jackson, who lives in Los Angeles, liked the idea and decided to unretire.

He reportedly had entertained some feelers for an unspecified role at CBS, "It would seem to be a little self-serving to retire and then Jackson, 71, K. JACKSON attend that game for the dedication of the new Memorial Stadium press box. It will be the farthest he travels from his home this year to call a game. "I still enjoy what I'm doing," said Jackson, who will continue to be teamed with Bob Griese. "This is what I do.

I love college football and I love being a part of it." Katz also disclosed that ABC won't have the winner of the Rice-Alabama game. Session 7 tickets will be honored for that game. At 7:30 pjn. Thursday, Stanford face either Cal State- i Fullerton or Florida State. Session 8 tickets can be used for that game.

CWS scheduls, Pag 2C.