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Home - Sports
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Link Lack - |
High-tech golf lessons can even fix Gumby’s swing
by Adam Froemming
I used to think that I had a decent golf swing. Teeing up a handful of times each summer, I golf for the camaraderie and relaxation than the sport. I’d proudly boast that no instructor had ever tinkered with my swing, which I thought was pretty solid.
However, I’m not a consistent player. Give me a half-dozen shots and you’re likely to get balls sent in six different directions.
Golf TEC’s website boasts that they’re the premier source for golf improvement in the world, and that in 2007, they taught more than 10 percent of the total golf lessons in the United States. I was sold.
Their Omaha location, a sleek, modern facility tucked between a bank and a Mexican restaurant in a plain strip mall on 114th and Dodge, offers training areas that look like television studios, with golf mats and nets replacing anchor desks and teleprompters.
I quickly realized my swing resembled that of Gumby. My instructor, Jamie Stogdill, had 60 minutes to cure more than a decade of bad habits and poor posture. Through the assistance of a trio of video cameras and all the patience Stogdill could muster, we set out to correct my swing.
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The Jump - |
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The Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights might have been foolish if their move to the Quad Cities was based mostly on lagging attendance. The Quad Cities Flames averaged 3,523 over 40 games this season, while the franchise averaged 3,543 during its final stanza in Omaha. Omaha averaged 4,621 over three playoff games last year, fifth in the American Hockey League. The QC Flames didn’t make the Calder Cup Playoffs this season. |
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Spring Surprise - |
Walk-on linebacker earns his face time
by Mike Babcock
Tyler Wortman entered the interview area of the expansive weight room in the Tom and Nancy Osborne Complex and set his Brook Berringer Citizenship Team plaque on a folding chair on his way to the podium. The initial question was predictable. He was asked about the first play of the Nebraska football team’s Spring Game.
Before discussing his answer, some background …
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The Jump - |
Omaha Royals pitcher Jorge De La Rosa accomplished a feat last week that no Omaha hurler had managed in nearly six years; he was honored as the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week.
De La Rosa went 2-0 with a 0.81 earned run average, scattered seven hits over 11 innings while striking out 10 as he picked up a road win at Memphis and a last Sunday’s home win over New Orleans.
He’s the first O-Royals pitcher to earn the PCL accolade since Brett Laxton on July 14, 2002. Former Omaha slugger Craig Brazell is the last hitter to capture POW honors, he earned the award last May 28.
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Appearing Permanent - |
Glenn turning, knocking heads on defense
by Mike Babcock
The last Nebraska football fans saw of Cody Glenn, if they saw him at all, he was standing on the sideline, waiting for an opportunity that never came.
Glenn played as a true freshman. He was the short-yardage back in a four-man I-back committee in 2005. And his future appeared bright.
He scored eight touchdowns as a sophomore, with limited carries, before suffering a foot injury late in the season. He recovered, but never really returned.
Though he maintains he was healthy, he played in only five games last season, including only one of the final six — and then for only one carry.
He watched the final three games from the sideline, a forgotten man. |
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The Jump - |
Omaha Beef Head Coach Steve Warren’s D.R.E.A.M. Foundation hosts a second-annual “Big Weekend” in Omaha and Lincoln this Thursday through Saturday. The weekend will feature a meet-and-greet with former Husker football legends at Farrells Elite Sports Bar, 902 Dodge St., 9 p.m. Thursday night, and a benefit dinner ($50) at InPlay, 1502 Cuming St., from 6-9 p.m. Friday.
The event ends with an autograph session at Lincoln’s Rococo Theatre, 13th and P, 10 a.m. Saturday, before the Red vs. White Spring Game.
Among former players expected at the events: current National Football League stars Ahman Green, Correll Buckhalter, Carlos Polk, Fabian Washington and former Husker quarterback Tommie Frazier.
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Kicking Breast Cancer - |
NU-CU on the pitch
by Adam Froemming
As the Creighton Women’s Soccer team prepares to host Nebraska Saturday, April 19, at Morrison Stadium, there will be more going on than just a game on the pitch.
CU is hosting the third-annual “Kicks For A Cure,” featuring four soccer games on Saturday, as well as a soccer clinic for the Girls and Boys Club and Girls, Inc., and a banquet Friday night.
The event has raised more than $250,000 for Liz’s Legacy, a charity that supports cancer research, education and patient care at the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Eppley Cancer Center. |
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The Jump - |
Omaha is hosting another NCAA Championship this week, this time for women’s bowling. Thunder Alley, just off 209th and Dodge, welcomes eight of the top teams in the nation, including top-ranked University of Nebraska.
Joining the Huskers in Omaha are Maryland-Eastern Shore, Arkansas State, Central Missouri, Minnesota State-Mankato, New Jersey City, Sacred Heart and Vanderbilt. Bowling became an NCAA Championship sport five years ago.
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Fan Focus - |
Royals add dollar beers, top pitching prospect in 40th season
by Adam Froemming
As the franchise prepares to celebrate its 40th anniversary, the Omaha Royals roster is sprinkled with a solid nucleus of returning veterans and some of Kansas City’s top prospects. The team hopes for some celebrating on the field when the season is over.
Perhaps the biggest name in the group is pitcher Luke Hochevar. The former University of Tennessee star was KC’s top choice in the 2006 Major League Draft, and sported a 4-9 record with a 4.86 earned run average and 138 strikeouts last season, splitting time between Wichita and Omaha before a late-season call-up. He went 0-1 with a 2.13 ERA for the parent club, mainly in relief duty.
Hochevar, Omaha’s opening-night starter on Thursday, is ranked third by Baseball America among KC’s top 30 prospects. |
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The Jump - |
The ‘Nebraska Assassin’ jumps back into the octagon this weekend at UFC Fight Night 13 in Broomfield, Colo. Omaha’s Houston Alexander, 8-2 on his career, is fighting for the first time since he lost to Brazilian Thiago Silva by technical knockout at UFC 78 last November. Fellow American James ‘The Sandman’ Irvin, 13-4-1, will be Alexander’s opponent, matching two players with crafty nicknames in one of six bouts on the main card.
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CU vs. NU - |
What to look for as Jays and Huskers resume their baseball rivalry
by Mike Babcock and Adam Froemming
The Nebraska baseball team is young, certainly.
How young? During pre-season practice, coach Mike Anderson joked that some players were asking about recess. “They’re that young,” he said.
The team was so young and inexperienced that senior pitcher Johnny Dorn expected it to struggle early on. “Hopefully, by the time the Big 12 rolls around, we’re hitting our stride,” he said two weeks before the opener at Stanford.
The Cornhuskers hit their stride, all right. They were riding a 10-game winning streak when they opened conference play at Kansas State. And they extended the streak to 14 before losing the second game of a mid-week series against Arkansas. |
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March Madness Returns - |
Kansas and K-State bring star power to town
by Jason Krivanek and Adam Froemming
The long wait is over. March Madness, the annual rite of spring that captures the collective consciousness of sports fans around the nation, is back in Omaha.
It’s been 31 years since the NCAA Tournament has come to town. Marquette used the Civic Auditorium as a springboard to its only national championship that year. Kansas has high hopes of repeating that feat this time around, as do their legion of fans descending on the city this week.
This time fans will make their way down to the river. They’ll be joined by Vikings, Trojans, Titans and even Runnin’ Rebels. This could be so historic that it could spur the formation of a “Save parking lot C” group because they don’t want to lose the place where they tailgated. This is what the Qwest Center was made for.
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The Jump - |
One Husker basketball team got a ticket to the Big Dance this year. The eighth-seeded NU women (20-11) will travel east to College Park, Md., for a first-round game against Atlantic 10 Champion and ninth-seeded Xavier (24-8) on Sunday, March 23, at 11 a.m.
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New Faces, Same Game - |
Former Husker Steve Warren leads Omaha Beef into 2008 season
by Adam Froemming
It has been seven years of whirlwind for Head Coach Steve Warren of the Omaha Beef.
Drafted by the Green Bay Packers in 2000 after an All-Big 12 career at Nebraska, the defensive lineman spent four years in the frozen tundra before trading his snow shovel for sunglasses, and a pair of seasons with San Jose and Arizona of the Arena Football League. Last season, he served as a volunteer defensive coach for the Beef, in addition to starting the DREAM Foundation, a non-profit that helps at-risk youth find role models. |
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The Jump - |
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The Community Bicycle Shop of Omaha is holding an open house Saturday, March 15, from 5-7 p.m. The non-profit shop, located near Gifford Park at 525 N. 33rd St., is a grassroots organization that provides a safe, positive environment for learning the basics of bicycle mechanics, repairing and distributing bikes and building community interaction. For more information, visit omahabike.org or email omahabike@gmail.com. |
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Arch Madness - |
Jays set to fight for ticket to the Big Dance
by Jason Krivanek
However the chips fall for Creighton in St. Louis, seniors Nick Bahe, Pierce Hibma, and Dane Watts will never forget their senior night, nor will anyone lucky enough to be among the 16,257 to pack the Qwest Center last Saturday night.
What they witnessed was a thrilling 111-110 double-overtime victory over Bradley, highlighted by Sophomore Cavel Witter’s 42-point performance, the most by a Bluejay since Benoit Benjamin scored 45 back in 1985. |
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The Jump - |
While Lincoln gears up to host this weekend’s boys state basketball tournament, opening round games for Nebraska’s smallest classes will once again be played in high school gyms. While space is always a concern when hosting a large-scale event, so is providing first-class facilities for student athletes vying for a title in one of six classes.
The Jump checked in with a pair of neighboring states to find out how they managed their prep hoops tournaments. |
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Uphill Climb - |
Creighton seniors take final bow Saturday night
by Jason Krivanek
As the careers of Creighton’s senior cagers wind down, they also wind through familiar territory. Like the past few seasons, the Jays probably will need to capture the Missouri Valley Conference tournament title to tango in the Big Dance.
A close loss on the road to Valley cellar dweller Evansville, followed by a 87-59 blasting by Bradley two weeks ago, put a big dent in the Jays’ resume, and their confidence. |
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The Jump - |
Lincoln will be buzzing the next two weekends as the top boys and girls high school basketball teams from six classes try to claim state titles. The downside is that many of the state’s top prepsters will again be forced to play early-round games in high school gymnasiums.
It’s time for the Nebraska School Activities Association to iron out the scheduling wrinkles so all games are played at the Bob Devaney Sports Center or the Pershing Center in downtown Lincoln.
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The Rivals Class - |
Recruiting services are here to stay, and that’s not a bad thing
by Sam McKewon
Recruiting is the core of a college football team’s success. Great material directly correlates to great creation. To achieve the “Indian Yellow” of “The Girl With a Pearl Earring,” the painter Vermeer had to use the urine of cows fed exclusively by mango leaves, a rare, expensive process so, uh, “inbovine” that it was outlawed in the 1900s.
So, yeah, it matters. |
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