1992_03 Insight March 1992

              NHL
lives
on
ByTomZulewski	
StaffWriter
Greetings from the
Three-Puck Lounge, where
men are men and hockey is a real
game to all concerned.
I watched with interest as the
United States hockey team provided fans (and hopefully some
converts) everywhere plenty of
thrills and excitement.
But they went down with a big
thud, losing out on any sort of a
medal in losses to the Unified Team
and Czechoslovakia.
Now that the Olympicsareover,
I guess ifs time to go back to the
other winter games, basketball
with the NBA, and hockey.
Perspective
Hockey?
Yes, believe it or not, the National Hockey League does exist,
and it has for 75 years.
So why doesn't it get any respect?
I think there are two main reasons.
First, lack of exposure. The NHL
had a television contract with
ESPN until 1988, but dropped it in
favor of SportsChannel.
SportsChannel offered more
money, but ifs available in fewer
homes than ESPN.
According to a story in this
week's Sporting News,
SportsChannel is available in 10
million US. homes. ESPN is in
nearly 50 million homes.
Brilliant move.
Second, lousy star marketing.
The Sporting News story also said
that the NBA now has a staff of 79
full-time marketing representatives. The NHL has "less than 40."
Can you name any NHL "star,"
the kind of player who puts fans in
the seats to see him and his team?
Sorry, Wayne Gretzky doesn't
count
If you know that there are players like Mario Lemieux, Brett Hull,
Mark Messier, and Steve Yzerman
who will guarantee extra fans
when their teams play at home or
on the road, you're a fan in my
book.
If asked, I'd be willing to bet
that one major reason people get
turned off by the NHL is the fighting. Here's something to ponder.
Players get pushed, shoved, and
body-slammed an awful lot during the course of a game. Sometimes tempers flare.
But fights don't last very long.
The players do get tired and a
player can't stay on his ska tes very
long when he's trying to punch
out someone's lights.
Whaf s to like about the NHL?
Everything.
•The speed and power of the
players. Skates are an unnatural
extension of the feet The control
shown by NHL players as they
skate, pass, shoot, and score is remarkable.
• Drama of the games. You can't
. -leave your chair very much during an NHL game. One, two, even
three goals may be scored while
you go for that extra munchie.
•Playoff excitement. Sixteen of
the 22 teams, four from each division (Patrick, Adams, Norris,
Smythe) make the playoffs. It
seems that any team has a chance
to go all the way, like the Pittsburgh Penguins did lastyear.
•Continuous action. Play only
stops for face-offs, penalties, and
even thedreaded fight By the way,
there are only three periods in
hockey, not four.
The rules of hockey are complicated but they get easier to understand the more games you watch.
Here's one:
If Wayne Gretzky crosses his
opponent's blue line before the
puck does, offsides is called.
Penalty calls and icing are part
of the package, too.
Thaf s hockey: a passionate, intense game. I sincerely hope that
the NHL will see fit to get its act
together and fix the identity crisis
I'll be extremely disappointed
if they don't
Senior salute
During Senior Night, Thursday at Selland Arena.Tod
Bernard (33) made his final appearance as a Bulldog
against The UNLV Running Rebels. Fellow seniors Wil
Hooker, Sammle Undsey and Pat Rlddlesprlgger were
also honored Thursday night, but they couldn't give
FSU a victory, losing 84-67.
Wrestler silences critics
Robbie Dicks becomes star on squad
By Christie Ming	
StaffWriter
Wrestler Robbie Dicks was in a position two
years ago that every athlete usually only
dreams about.
The top colleges were knocking at his door, the
experts were predicting he'd claim the 167-pound
crown at the junior national tournament—his future
as a top wrestler in the nation was promising.
The dream started to turn into a reality at the
junior nationals as he had mercilessly ran up the
score 14-0 over his opponent, stopped just one point
shy of winning the match by a technical foul.
But, suddenly Dicks saw his hopes shattered, as
he was pinned moments before a seemingly inevitable win in his favor.
The top seed from Garden City College, Kansas,
found the phone calls stopped. The chances of wrestling at a Division I college were a distant possibility.
All because Dickshad finished a disappointing sixth
at the junior nationals, his career was at a standstill.
"All of the coaches were like, 'He choked.' I was
being recruited by all of these people in the nation,
but then he pinned me and that was it," said Dicks.
Fortunately, the phone did ring again. At first he
was leery thinking it was just a prank call.
"I got this call one day that says, 'Hello,' real low
and all and I thought, 'Don't play no jokes on me,'"
Dicks said. "But, he (Head FSU coach Dennis
DeLiddo] just talked to me and told me he knew I
could do better than that and I had a lot of potential.
"Then I thought. Hey, I did just havea fluke,' and
I could do better than that."
Dicks has cast aside any doubts about his ability,
posting a 50-17-1 record so far in his two-vear career
at Fresno State, which is ranked 11 th in the nation—
the highest ranking FSU has ever received.
The journey to success was not as smooth as it
could have been.
Dicks, who is ranked 11 th in the nation wrestling
in the 167 weight class, found he was facing more
than one obstacle when he squared off with an
opponent on the mat. He was also battling himself.
With his strength, speed and quick reaction time,
one wouldn't expect him to have as many difficul
ties as he's encountered. But Dicks was hampered
with maintaining his mental toughness for the full
seven minutes ofa match.
"Ifs easy to lose concentration out there. The
beginning of the year I would go out and not be too
focused. I would lose my concentration and zone
out" Dicks said.
If he was to have a strong senior showing, Dicks
knew he had to control his temperament. It was not
until the Las Vegas Tournament that this need for
consistency impacted Dicks.
"I didn't even really wrestle that hard and I came in
seventh place, which b pretty good because that tournament is like the best tournament in the nation before
nationals. But there all I did was try and pin people," said
Dicks
"Now,I rtavethecortikieTsce.Idon'thavetogooutand
pin someone to win. I can wrestle the fuD seven minutes
with anybody,"' said Dicks. "1 can just beat him by taking
him down, letting him go. Thaf s all"
Even with his rawfound confidence, Dicks has earned
Wrr^fthen^tjbcH\crfbangaptnmai*CT.
Of his last 15 straight wins, eight of those were pins,
pushing his two-year totnJ to 25.
In his final match of the regular season vs. Stanford on
Wednesday, Feb 19, Dicks, the only senior on the team,
completed his swan song in a mere 17 seconds — the
quickest pin by a Bulldog this season.
"I felt really ernotionaL It was the last one and I was just
thinking about all of my other matd*s. There was a lot of
pressure on me," said Dicks.
Not only did he dose the regular season withadrarnatic
pin, he collected his 50th win of his career and his 14th pin
of the season.
That feat was rewarding, but the possibility of bringing
home a ring from the WAC Crtampionships on Friday,
MirrhfitswrtatheLssfjivinefor.
"There's nothing more in life that I wan t right now than
to win the WAQ" said the native of Louisiana. This is the
last match of my life I want to be able to tdl my kids
someday, 1 did it'"
But most of all, Dicks feds he has something to prove
Tve got to prove it to myself and to my team that I can
win the big one this time. The sky is the limit," Dicks said.
T'vegot to train like theresno tomorrow. I've just got todo
iLlcan'trt^sTrdthetarxLittT.Tneshould-hi\*jsaixia)uld-
haves don't matter now. I have to do it now. 3
Missed it by that much
Luckily for the Bulldogs baseball team, Junior BYU Second Baseman Brent Turley was unable to snag the ball that ended up In right-center field.
ntramurals give everyone opportunity for athletic competition
Don Clark
StaffWriter
As the CSUF budget goes, so
goes intramural sports.
Intramural sports are just one of
the fadlities offered by Campus
Recreational Services.
Other services include: Informal
recreation, Idsure classes and outdoor adventures.
Andrea Bedell, program assistant
forintramurals, feels that intramurals
are a benefit for the campus.
"We offer five sports: football,
basketball, volleyball, softball and
soccer, all of the sports have differ-
entdivisionsof skill as well as having men's, women's and co-ed
teams."
In addition to team competition, intramurals offers special
events like the all school team of
the year championship and en
courages partidpation in tournaments and provides officiating for
all sports.
Bedell says that most of questions concerning intramurals are
questions of application deadlines
and guidelines.
However, intramural sports, as
areothercampusorganizations,are
facing cutbacks in light of the budget crisis on the CSUF campus.
Bedell says the cutbacks have left
her frustrated at times.
" We can't afford new equip-
S— Intramurals: paga 11
Tarkanian: from page one
duced to Lois Huter. The two were later
wed and now have four children and three
grandchildren.
"When I left Fresno State, I never had any
intentions of coaching college basketball,"
he said. "It just happened.
"I wasn't a great player, I never played
for a big time coach and I didn't play in a big
time program. Those are the things you
usually have to do to be a college coach."
Tarkanian, who has been dubbed 'Tark
the Shark" by UNLV fansand students, said
his aspirations were quite less elaborate in
the years following his college graduation
than in 1992.
"When I left Fresno State, what I wanted
more than anything else was the Edison
(High School) job," he said. "I wanted that
job so bad.Theprindpalout there was great
to me and he wanted me to be the 13' coach."
Luckily, a friend of Tarkanian's had a
friend at San Joaquin Memorial and was
able to land his buddy the head coaching
job.
"I loved Memorial," he said. "I would
never have left Memorial except they don't
pay you very much."
Lookingforabigger paycheck, Tarkanian
then went after the head coaching job at
Bullard High School.
The final dedsion was that of Bullard
athletic director Jerry Jury.
If Jury had dedded to assign himself as
head baseball coach at Bullard, the basketball job was Tarkanian's.
But if Jury chose basketball, the baseball
job would op to Bob Bennett, who has been
coaching TOsebaII at Fresno State for 25
years.
"My wife and 1 were so nervous,"
Tarkanian recalled. "We wanted that job so
bad and he wound up taking the basketball
job and we wound up leaving the Valley.
"If he had taken the baseball job, I'd
probably still be a Bullard teaching driver's
ed. on Saturdays."
Tarkanian went south to Riverside City
College where he coached the Tigers to fou r
straight California Junior College Championships. After the third, the head coaching
job at Fresno State opened, but Tarkanian
was not considered.
"1 wanted that job so bad that I would
have come here for room and board," he
said. "Cedl Coleman, the athletic director,
had a policy that they would not hire any
Fresno State graduates. He called it 'inbreeding.'"
The winninglest basketball coach In the NCAA to date, UNLV Running
Rebel head coach Jerry Tarkanian, was nearly FSU's head coach.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Currently, Tarkanian's career is up in
the air. After submitting his resignation to
UNLV President Robert Maxson In June,
heresdnded it last month, though Maxson
said he would not be party to any further    said.
discussion on the matter.
What does the future hold for the
winningest coach in NCAA history?
Tmabout n-ady to goout and water the
flowers and drink some buttermilk," he