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Home - Sports
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Blast to the Future - |
Boxing looks for return to glory
by Adam Froemming
The sport of boxing, like the aged prizefighters that have graced the ring, always seems to come out of the corner fighting, despite the odds against it.
With the rise in popularity of mixed martial arts and the decline of big-name American superstars like Evander Holyfield and Oscar De La Hoya, the sport could easily slide into a black hole, never to return. Like Mickey was to Rocky, Dustin Talacko is determined to bring boxing back from the brink in Omaha.
“Boxing is hurting right now,” Talacko said. “A couple of years ago when I did my first event, people thought I was crazy to promote fights. Boxing just needs a little promotion and production and a little re-branding. It can come back.” |
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The Jump - |
High-fives all around for ex-Husker and current United States bobsledder Curt Tomasevicz.
Tomasevicz is a brakeman for the U.S. Bobsled Team and helped lead the Americans to the gold medal in the four-man event, our nation’s first medal in the event since the 1948 Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland.
In the win, considered a huge upset over the highly favored German squad, Team USA bested the Germans down the mountain in a time of 3:24.46 to 3:24.84. |
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On a Roll - |
UNO is looking for love in all the right places
by Leo Adam Biga
Since replacing Kevin McKenna in 2005-2006, UNO basketball coach Derrin Hansen has retained many principles of the man for whom he served as top assistant.
McKenna favored the up-tempo style of mentor Dana Altman. He recruited and coached to it well enough that UNO posted four straight 20-win seasons.
The low-key Hansen helped stock and coach those teams. Now in his fifth year at the helm, he’s continued the program’s success utilizing the same full-throttle approach. Despite an appealing brand of winning ball and a roster of local talent, UNO home attendance averages 700. The players swear the paltry support is not an issue. Indeed, they create their own energy at home and weather storms on the road. |
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The Jump - |
I’m almost ashamed and embarrassed to admit this. Despite hitting the dusty trail and trekking down I-29 from Omaha to Kansas City more times than I can count over the years, I’ve never stepped foot inside the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.
Even more embarrassing is my admission of gorging myself on Arthur Bryant’s Barbecue upon nearly every trip south; a restaurant located mere steps from the museum.
Hopefully, the next time I’m in KC, I’ll still have that opportunity. The Associated Press recently reported the museum lost nearly $200,000 a year ago and is struggling financially in 2010. |
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The Jump - |
Nothing quite says ‘I love you’ like some Valentine’s Weekend fisticuffs at the Victory Boxing Club.
Next Saturday night, the venerable South Omaha gym at 30th and R, will open its doors for 15 bouts of amateur boxing, with clubs from across the region bringing their top fighters to Omaha.
“We’ve got teams coming in from all over the Midwest,” Victory Coach John Determan said. “It’s going to be one of the better amateur boxing shows the area has seen for quite a while.”
While the card is still being set, boxing fans can expect to see some of the top young boxers in the area and hopefully a barnburner or two. |
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Comeback Cagers - |
Women’s hoops
come of age in Lincoln
by Leo Adam Biga
Arguably, the state’s best sports story this year is the Top 10 Nebraska women’s basketball team and its Wooden Watch national player of the year candidate, Kelsey Griffin.
Sure, NU football’s resurrection and Ndamukong Suh’s ascendance captured hearts and minds. But while renewed gridiron excellence built on a strong 2008, the emergence of NU women’s hoops as relevant Big 12 and national contenders follows last year’s forgettable 15-16 campaign. |
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The Jump - |
Like most media outlets, our tiny civic hearts burst with pride when one of our own athletically-inclined achieves a certain level of success. Be it on the wrestling mat, the soccer pitch or the indoor football field, there’s never any shame in giving an ‘attaboy’ to those who deserve it, including the Omaha Beef who’ve won two division titles and made the playoffs in each of their 10 seasons.
It was with great curiosity that a team missive popped into the sports email box from the local indoor football franchise last Friday. Part press release and part Craigslist posting, it read like a classified ad for the team, albeit with a handful of minor grammatical errors. |
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Hometown Heroes - |
Lancers return to Omaha, reignite fans’ passion
by Brian S. Allen
Six Lancers have been chosen to represent Omaha in this year’s USHL (United States Hockey League) All-Star game Jan. 26 in Indianapolis. Among them are forwards Matt White, Erik Haula, and Seth Ambroz. On the defensive side CJ Ludwig, Dennis Brown, and goaltender Jeff Teglia will join them. White, a third-year Lancer from Whittier, CA, (who is committed to UNO) leads the USHL in total points with 56 and 24 goals. Ambroz is tied at first in the league with nine power play goals and Teglia is also tied for first with most wins as a goaltender in the league with 19. |
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The Jump - |
For my buck, the biggest surprise of the winter so far (besides the Husker women’s basketball team) has to be the Creighton Bluejays.
As always, CU flew into the season with sky-high expectations, but this squad has had trouble figuring out how to close out games, and fight back on the road. With a one-point win last Saturday at home against Wichita State, the Jays left many faithful scratching their collective heads and wondering if this team was a hoops version of Jekyll and Hyde. |
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Sports talk with Adam - |
It's been quite the exciting week nationally for sports, while we wait to see which (if any) geezer quarterback will get a shot at the Super Bowl … my hope is that Brett Favre gets a chance to meet Shawne Merriman up close and personal in Miami.
Pete Carroll jumping ship to re-join the NFL should come as a shock to absolutely no one. With the cloud that's hung over the program lately (as in, the Reggie Bush and Joe McKnight allegations) and ESPN's seemingly constant reporting of alleged NCAA violations with both the football and basketball programs, I'm thinking ol' Pete saw the writing on the wall, grabbed his cap and headed up the 5 to Seattle. |
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Conference Check - |
Jays’ Valley foes ride high
by Jason Krivanek
In recent seasons when the Missouri Valley Conference has made a splash nationally the Creighton Bluejays have been right in the thick of the discussion. The Jays chipping in their share of non-conference wins to bolster the league’s credibility. Not so this year. While the Jays keep finding ways to crumble during crunch time, their league rivals have been busy chalking up victories.
Preseason conference favorite Northern Iowa has run off 11 straight wins including a 60-52 victory over the Jays in the Valley opener Dec. 29 in front of 17,152 at the Qwest Center. |
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The Jump - |
I’d be staring at my crystal ball if I could (don’t worry, it hasn’t been repossessed) but she’s running on fumes lately, so here’s my lucky swing at what you just might see in 2010:
Construction crews hauling dirt at Chili Greens. The long-awaited athletic facility development (including sports fields and an arena) gets underway at Chili Greens in 2010. With former hockey coach Mike Kemp at the helm of the project, funds are being raised for a feasibility study. Here’s hoping the project gets its feet this year and we see the Mavs making progress.
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Keep On Truckin’ - |
Monster Jam
rolls into the MAC
by Adam Froemming
Most kids want to be something noble when they grow up. A police officer, a hockey player, a teacher or a doctor are likely common career aspirations for today’s tykes. Seemingly rare would be the child who wants to grow up to drive a nearly 10,000-pound truck, jacked-up on 60” tires, through piles of dirt and over junked cars in stadiums and arenas across the globe. But Marc McDonald does exactly that, and it is exactly what he dreamed of as a child. |
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Back to the Future - |
Lancers, Huskers and Royals, oh my!
by Adam Froemming
What’s that in the rear-view mirror? Oh yeah, it’s 2009. As we get older (Yes, I’m getting older. My 10-year reunion was last summer) the days seem to get shorter, the memory gets foggier and the gray hairs longer.
Looking back on the year that was in local sports, there were plenty of big headlines, but here are a few that jumped out and are worth remembering.
The Sarpy County Stadium
How close were the Omaha Royals from becoming the Sugarland/Loudon County/“Your City Here” Royals? Thankfully, we’ll never know, because they’ll be calling the metro home for … well … a very long, long time. |
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The Jump - |
Bear with me, it’s the slow time of year here at the ’ol sports office …
Want a fuzzy story to keep you warm during the doldrums of winter? Look down the road to a 33-year-old outdated metal building in the Star City, built with cigarette tax dollars and home to a Big XII basketball title contender.
With their 77-63 dismantling of then-No. 5 LSU on Dec. 20, the 11-0 and 14th-ranked Husker women’s basketball team showed the rest of the conference (and the country for that matter) that they’re not to be taken lightly. |
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Countdown to Ten - |
Holiday Bowl win
would mean progress for NU’s program
by Mike Babcock
We’re not talking about 10 as in perfection — a perfect 10. The Nebraska football team has fallen short of perfection in Bo Pelini’s second season as coach.
“It’s (just) a number, but it’s an important number,” defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh said.
How so?
The Cornhuskers play Arizona in the Holiday Bowl Dec. 30. And a victory would be No. 10.
“I’ve never had a 10-win season,” said Suh, who has earned more national awards in one season than any Nebraska defender in history. “So I’d love to start it now and leave that mark.”
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THE JUMP - |
It’s time to open my big bundle of Holiday goodness and pass out some gifts and wishes for 2010.
To Creighton men’s soccer Coach Bob Warming, a bounce-back year next fall, with a strong recruiting class, and a return trip to the NCAA Tournament.
To Omaha Royals fans, may your stockings overflow with one last year of memories in South Omaha before the trek to Sarpy County, and hopefully a berth in the Pacific Coast League playoffs. May the sun never set on the summer of baseball in Omaha in 2010. |
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THE JUMP - |
With the streets of Omaha covered in ice, I figured it was high time to catch up with one of the greatest skaters this city has ever seen, save Gordie Howe.
For Scott Parse, good things come in fours. The Michigan native spent four years practically rewriting the record books for the Nebraska-Omaha Mavs, and after four years of paying his dues in the minor leagues, he finds himself with the Los Angeles Kings. Through 24 games this season, Parse has recorded four goals and seven assists to go along with 12 penalty minutes. |
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Beating the Clock - |
Controversial call seals Big 12 Championship
by Mike Babcock
The problem was, and remains, one of perception.
Some, maybe many, Nebraska football fans were convinced the Cornhuskers wouldn’t get a break in the Big 12 Championship game, not only because of its location — Arlington, Tex. — but also because their opponent was Texas, which needed a victory to play for a national championship.
The conference had a vested interest in Longhorn success, in what was effectively a home game. Certainly, Nebraska was well represented in the crowd of 76,211 at Jerry Jones’ $1.3 billion Cowboys Stadium. But Cornhusker fans were clearly out-numbered by those in burnt orange. |
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The Jump - |
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* ’Tis the season to be jolly and start celebrating the last year of baseball at Rosenblatt Stadium. Get an early jump on 2010, which will no doubt be a solid year of marketable memories for the venerable lump on 13th Street. Said memories, can likely be yours for just three monthly payments of $29.99, plus shipping — or something like that. |
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