Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 21

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1987 LINCOLN, NE. JOURNAL 21 Bad impression Husker Knox wasn't thrilled with ASU recruiting tactic Journal Strike talks break off MMIMaMMINIIin3 1 I llj II I.J By Virgil Parker year they had a lot of good I-backs, so I practiced with the scout team and played with the freshmen on Fridays." Last season, with the departure of Tom Rathman, the NU coaches asked Knox to switch to fullback. "At that point, I would do anything for the chance to play," Knox said. "With the absence of Rathman, I felt I had a real good shot." Although that experiment didn't work out as well as he would have liked, Knox has now returned to I-back, battling Keith Jones and Ken Clark for playing time. Although seeing limited duty against UCLA, Knox led the Husker rushers.

"I'm not a shifty runner," Knox admitted. "I'm the kind of guy who looks for a crease, gets up in that hole and tries for two or three yards extra after contact. "I feel with my size, I have more punch than Keith or Ken. Clark can cut going full-speed. He's a good, shifty runner.

I admire that about him. And when I look at Keith, I admire his speed. When he gets in the secondary and somebody is chasing him, his hair goes back. He's in high gear. Nobody is going to catch him." But, Knox added, "when I look at their running styles, I say to myself, 'Some of those things don't help you until you get in a position to use You can't use the cutback ability until you get to the DB (defensive back).

And Keith can't use his speed until he gets into the secondary. The first thing for any of us to get through is that front line. That's something I think I have going for me, ie ability to blast through those up- Probable starters, rosters in Extra Point Page 4X. front people." Knox said his only goal is to "make the best of every opportunity when the coaches call on me. I have never been down or discouraged.

I'm holding my head up high. I'm always ready to go ii there and do the best I can. Besides, I have one more year after this season, so there is still time to get some things done around here." But, Knox said, he'd rather "get things done" Saturday and make the Arizona State coaches wish they had quit recruiting Harris and concentrated on him. Despite expected lOMegree heat, the game between the second-ranked Husk-ers and 12th-rated Sun Devils will kick off at 12:30 (2:30 p.m. Lincoln time) before a packed house of 70,021 and a national TV audience (ABC, Omaha ASU is the defending Pac-10 and Rose Bowl champion.

Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne said the Sun Devils are "a very solid football team. They run and throw well and have good skilled players. They replaced a couple of offensive linemen and the tight end, but everybody else is back on offense." The Husker coach said that on defense the Sun Devils "may be a little thin in the defensive line, but last year's linebackers returned, most of their secondary people are back and they have a good punter." ASU Coach John Cooper said UCLA, Journal Sports Editor Nebraska I-back Tyreese Knox has something special to prove when the Cornhuskers face Arizona State in Tempe Saturday afternoon. After graduation from high school, Knox almost became a Sun DeviL The junior from Daly City, and Darryl Harris, a running back from Pomona, were both being recruited by Arizona State. Knox said one of the ASU coaches tried to get him to sign a letter of intent by telling him that Harris was no longer being considered.

Harris, who will start for the Sun Devils Saturday, called Knox to find out what was going on. "They had told him they weren't recruiting me anymore," Knox said. "That's when he gave me a call When I found out they were still recruiting both of us, it turned me off. They were in the picture until that happened. I felt they let me down by not being up-front about what was going on." The 5-foot-10, 215-pound Knox said such things didn't happen when he made his visit to Nebraska.

"The Nebraska coaches didn't make any promises about my being guaranteed to play early in my career here or anything like that. I liked that It had a lot to do with the final decision I made," Knox said. Despite an up-and-down career to date, Knox is happy with his choice. "Right after I came here I had a shin fracture," Knox recalled, "so I chose to redshirt as a freshman. But the next IS ARIZONA picked by many to dethrone his team in the Pac-10 race, "got hurt by Nebraska because they overplayed the run.

Our defense will have to be very disciplined. They have to play pass first and run second. If you load up against the run, Nebraska will pass on you. That's what they did to UCLA and the Bruins' defensive backs were way out of position." It will be the first regular-season Huskers hold final prac-tice for ASU game. Page 22.

meeting between the two schools. Arizona State beat Nebraska 17-14 in the 1975 Fiesta BowL The Cornhuskers are 0-2 in Sun Devil Stadium, also losing there to Michigan, 27-24, in the 1986 Fiesta BowL NU's fall recruiting now a long-distance hassle By Ken Hambleton ters, and we wait," said Dave Gillespie, Nebraska's on-campus recruiting coordinator. There are problems, said Jack Pierce, Nebraska's off-campus recruiting coordinator. "You don't see the kid in practice. You don't see him on the sidelines.

You don't see how he fits in with the other kids and the coaches, and that makes a big difference," Pierce said. The NCAA enacted changes this year in the recruiting season, cutting the on-site evaluation period from Aug. 1-to-Dec. 1 down to Nov. 1-to-Dec.

1. The rule means no personal contacts with the high school coaches and no visits to watch practices, games or any other athletic activity until Nov. 1. Recruiters still cannot personally contact players until Dec. 1.

The change keeps Pierce on campus an extra three months, and that increases the pressure on the job both he and Gillespie must do. "Dave will have a list done for me by the time I'm allowed to go out and start visiting the high schools, but recruiting becomes more of a pop-shot kind of thing," Pierce said. "It's going to be more of a thing where we hope a kid is as good as the tapes we see rather than knowing for sure we made the right choice of player and character. "And Nebraska has made the right choice so many more times we're going to try like crazy to make sure we keep that record intact." The Nov. 1 restrictions hurt the schools located far from the population centers, Pierce said.

"We're even unsettled about the instate kids, and those are the kids we might have seen play three or four games by Nov. 1 any other year," he said. Nebraska anticipated the rule change and started its recruiting visits at the Journal Sports Writer Buying your next car by mail-order catalogue would give you a good idea of what the new NCAA recruiting limits have done to Nebraska's recruiting. Nebraska's football team might get what it wants, but no test drives, even in the driveway. Instead of visiting some 400 high schools from coast to coast as they have in the early fall in years past the Nebraska recruiters sit in Lincoln and check the maiL "We get videotapes and films, make a lot of phone calls, send a bunch of let PHILADELPHIA (AP) Talks ended Friday in the NFL strike and negotiators set no date for resuming them.

The talks to end the four-day walkout broke off by mutual consent. They began on Wednesday and were still bogged down over the issue of free agency. Though both sides met again Friday for two hours, there was little progress. No movement on Thursday chased two key management negotiators home and prompted the league to call off this weekend's games. "Any thoughts that it would be a one-week, two-week or a three-week strike is probably wishful thinking, or someone is being misled," said Tex Schramm, the Dallas Cowboys president, who left the talks Wednesday along with Dan Roo-ney, the Pittsburgh Steelers' president "If this is the only issue that is prolonging the strike, then it could be a long one." The last NFL strike, in 1982, lasted 57 days and wiped out seven weeks of the season.

More picket lines It wasn't any prettier on picket lines. Some players, once again, hurled eggs, tossed beer bottles and smashed windows of vans carrying their replacements to workouts. Charles Martin, formerly of Green Bay and now with Houston, was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct Police said he threw an egg- Jack Donlan, management's chief negotiator, surprised some players when he said that six to eight weeks of hard bargaining remained even if the free agency issue is resolved. "That's just Donlan trying to intimidate us until the next offer comes out, hoping we'll jump at it," said Neil Olke-wicz, the Washington Redskins' player representative. "They're just trying a scare tactic, trying to make us compromise more.

That's just Donlan blowing smoke," said the Redskins' Dean Hamel. "Jack's wrong," said Doug Allen of the players' union. "It can be done quickly if both sides are committed to doing it quickly by bargaining." Donlan also said that while it might take as long as two months to finalize a new contract, the strike could be settled immediately if an agreement in principle is reached. Must get to work "We've got to get to work, but that doesn't mean players can't be playing," he said. "I'd love to see them back." Union chief Gene Upshaw, however, said the owners were unwilling to move on any of the issues.

"Management has taken the position they will not compromise at all" Upshaw said. "Hopefully, we can reach an agreement but the time is not now. We haven't accomplished anything so far." And Donlan said they probably won't on the free agency issue. "I think all the issues are doable except free agency," he said. The union wants unrestricted free agency for players with more than four years experience; the owners have only offered to reduce the compensation.

"We have an absolute difference of opinion on that issue," Donlan said. "It won't be different tomorrow." Picketing players blocked buses, stormed past police barricades and continued to harass non-striking substitute players. Former Nebraska player Anthony Steels has signed to play with the San Diego Chargers during the strike. And, former Kearney State player Scott Cooper has signed with the Cleveland Browns. Cooper is a 6-foot-5, 285-pound defensive end.

Striking players for the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles barred buses carrying replacements from entering their training headquarters this morning. The Cowboys' bus was allowed to enter after only about a minute, and players gave the driver a doughnut when he drove back through the picket line. The Eagles' bus was turned away entirely, although peacefully, and picket-ers expected the bus to return later in the day with a court order. "We're just trying to make their lives miserable, just like they're making our lives miserable," Eagles player representative John Spagnola said. Southeast rising to the occasion end of February through May 1.

"The early start helped. But this year we don't have that feel for the recruits the way we did in the past," Gillespie said. "I don't think we'll be hurt, but it's going to take a lot more concentrated effort to catch up to where we usually are at this time of year. "We might be behind from the standpoint we haven't had the contacts with the high school coaches, but from the standpoint of actual recruits, we think we're going to be all right." The change is dramatic for Pierce, See RECRUITING on page 23 Southeast out-volleys No. 1 East By Curt McKeever Journal Sports Writer Chalk one up for the brat pack.

Playing in its north gymnasium alias the old, leaky, hot and badly lighted facility Lincoln Southeast threw another loop at the Class A volleyball field Thursday by knocking off top-ranked East 15-10, 7-15, 15-13 before a near-capacity crowd. The victory was Southeast's second of the year against six losses. Of those setbacks, four were in three sets, including one to East, and all came against rated teams. "I was on the ceiling," Southeast's Tracy List said. "You have to be when you play a team ranked number one.

I think we finally got it into our heads that we can play volleyball with the best." The Knights did that even though they weren't competing in the school's best gym. The Prasch Activities Center, where Southeast usually plays, was being used for a gymnastics meet. That sent the volleyball teams to the smaller gym that probably wasn't constructed with volleyball in mind. "The lighting is terrible," List said. "You can't see some balls when they're up high.

It leaks and it's hot. We're kind of babies about that north gym." "I call them spoiled brats," Southeast Coach Marsha Beauchamp said. But after Thursday, the Knights might consider calling the north gym home. It didn't seem to hamper either team from making spectacular plays plenty of which came at the end of each set. The Knights jumped out to a 6-1 lead See VOLLEYBALL on page 22 By Ryly Jane Hambleton Journal Sports Writer The real Lincoln Southeast football team stood up Thursday night.

Three weeks ago, Southeast was reeling from a 42-16 loss at the hands of second-ranked Omaha Central The Knights have won three games since then, including a 24-0 victory over Omaha Northwest Thursday at Seacrest Field. "We weren't ready to play a big-time team with big-time speed," Southeast Coach Chuck Mizerski said of the loss to Central "But when you lose like that, you can either fall apart or get better. Luckily, these kids got better." The Knights added a lot of emotion to the experience gained in the first three games and the result was that they held Northwest to 123 yards total offense. "Our special teams set the tone for the game," Mizerski said. "They blocked two punts, tipped another, Marcus Rowe had some good punts, we contained them on kickoffs and we got a pretty nice kickoff return to start the second half." Southeast also recovered two re-directed Northwest punts, both in the first quarter.

The Knights weren't able to capitalize on those miscues, but it kept Northwest deep in its territory on offense and facing Southeast's offense near mid-field or on the Huskies' side of the field most of the game. "We had really good field position and as the game wears on, that's a big factor," Mizerski said. "You can only play so long with your goal post right behind your back before you feel it. "And then, the first time we got the ball in the second half, we went right down and scored. That's pretty demoralizing." Neil Volker gave the Knights a 6-0 halftime lead on a pair of field goals one from 34 yards out and one from 39.

He barely missed from 44 yards on his first attempt, which came after Jeff Scherer blocked a Northwest punt Scherer pressured punter Steve Craig four minutes later when the snap went over his head. Craig retrieved the ball and got off a punt in the end zone that landed a yard behind the line of scrimmage at the Huskies' 15-yard line. Volker opened the second half with a 32-yard kickoff return. Six plays later, Kyle Emsick took a pitch around the SeeLSE on page 23 JMMf Mm m-i-ii 1 DAN DULANEYUNCOLN JOURNAL Omaha Northwest's Paul Wallace is brought down by Southeast's Jason Baker (61), Brian Bechtel (77) and Matt Morrison (right) during first-quarter action Thursday night. New TV series gives sports writers another in the face Ken Hambleton Columnist The first sports writer I ever saw portrayed in the movies was Walter Bren-nan playing the friend of Lou Gehrig in the old "Pride of the Yankees." He was a loyal friend, willing to protect Lou Gehrig from the other nasty sports writers who don't see the halo around Lamipin' Lou's head.

Brennan was always hanging around Lou's house helping to hang curtains, and we never got to see him typing like a madman, trying to beat a deadline. The next time a sports writer got any notice in drama was Walter Matthau as the slob Oscar Madison in the play and movie "The Odd Couple." Jack Klugman filled the role on the television series. The character Oscar Madison wrote a "olumn now and then, and mingled with flinty, hard-bitten and cynical world of newspaperdom. For some reason, sports writers always have a loosened tie, baggy pants, wrinkled sports coats and low (if any) morals. Their best friends are bookies, bartenders and bums.

No wonder my mother has sat by the phone for the last 14 years waiting for the call that I've gotten a real job. The people who work in newspapers outside of sports certainly feel that way about those of us who work in the "Toy Shop" of the paper. ABC-TV is making another attempt to cash in on the glamorous life of the sports writer with the new show "Slap Maxwell" pn Wednesday nights at 8:30. Slap Maxwell played by Dabney Cole ana introducing cocaine to the golf circuit The releases promise more in next week's show. As the second show opens: "A fist smashes into Slap Maxwell's jaw.

He falls down. Looming over him is a nun." Oh boy. I know my colleagues and I can identify with this stuff. We get punched out by nuns every week. It's part of the job, isn't it? We run into a lot of cocaine-sniffing gay golfers, too.

How about shady football players who run guns to terrorists? This program could go on for years just telling about the real lives of sports writers. Maybe future episodes will include man, is "a crusty sports writer for a two-bit paper in the Southwest" according to the press releases from ABC. He has a managing editor, an estranged wife and a stunning girlfriend. Slap is a good writer. The only problem is that his columns are filled with rumors, libel and defamation and some people tend to take umbrage.

Oh boy. Dabney Coleman, the same guy who played the sleazeball boss in "9-to-5," the creepy government guy in "War Games," and the jerk team owner in "North Dallas Forty." Sure enough, the first episode has Slap (Dabney) in baggy pants, loosened tie, sitting in a bar after he's been punched by a golfer he claimed was gay the stories about volleyball players who punch out sports writers who write about spikers giving away government secrets to communists. And don't forget about the psychotic field hockey teams that hijack airplanes and bomb U.S. embassies. I don't know how many times I've had to write about the basketball players who kidnap children and sell them to the Libyans.

Of course, according to TV, we can only write about these things in the rare instances when we're sober and not busy making connections with our bookies. I'm sure this new show will clear the air about what sports writers really do and make my mom rest assured that I've chosen an honorable profession. In big-name sports figures. For the most part, he yelled at Felix Unger, put. ketchup on everything, gambled, downed a lot of beers and slept in a messy bedroom.

In television and in the movies, sports writers usually have been slammed into the Damon Runyonesque cage of the i t-ih it iii jfr jfc ft if-lt fTiiffl jHi iffmfll.JI 0.