Wednesday, September 11, 1996
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Notre Dame coach angry about fumbles; fewer scholarships make lineup changes hard
The Associated Press
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz has some simple advice for his fumble-prone offense. Don't.
"There has been a strong message sent: Nobody is worth a fumble," Holtz said yesterday. "If a back fumbles—and they understand this—and it causes me to lose my poise, and my vocabulary is not the type it should be to represent the University of Notre Dame, that is the fault of the guy fumbling, and he has to be held accountable for that sin."
The No.9 Irish fumbled seven times in their opener at Vanderville
Thursday, and in each case the ball was knocked loose from the carrier. The last thing Holtz wants is a similar performance this week against Purdue, so he has been working with his players to make sure they know exactly what they're supposed to do.
"You take the ball, you put in the proper position and then you squeeze the ball until you hear the ball go, 'Fesshhhhh.' he said. "And then when you do that, you back off a little bit. Not complicated."
Fumbles irritate Holtz more than almost anything, and he never expected they would come from his strong corps of running backs. With
Lou Hottz
Notre Dame coach on how to avoid a fumble
senior tailback Randy Kinder out with a pulled leg muscle, Holtz doesn't have much room for adjustment.
In past years, Holtz would have
oenched any running back who fumbled. But with scholarship numbers reduced, he no longer has that luxury. That means tailback Ball farmer, who lost the ball three
times, will still play, but he won't be near the starting line.
Sophomore Autry Denson will return to tailback from flanker. Fullback Marc Edwards, who also had three fumbles, still has his starting job, but he'll also play tailback occasionally. That will give sophomore Jamie Spencer and Joey Goodspeed playing time.
While the running backs were the most obvious to pick on, the rest of the offense isn't getting off so easy, either. Ron Powles, who's not the swifest quarterback Notre Dame has ever had, has been told he has to average three yards a carry. He averaged -0.6 yards per carry last
year.
Because of Notre Dame's lack of a strong receiver and early problems with the running game, Holtz doesn't see the Irish as an explosive offense. That doesn't mean Notre Dame won't be good, but it's going to take a little extra effort from everyone — Powhus included.
"He's going to have to avoid the sack; he's going to have to get positive yardage when he does scramble or when he runs with the football." Holtz said. "When you're not a big play football team, your quarterback's got to contribute with his arm, with his head and certainly with his feet."
Indians' Nelson a hit with team
The Associated Press
CLEVELAND — Nigel Wilson has been a No.1 draft pick and a castoff, a player whose can't-miss talent somehow kept missing. With his fourth organization in nine seasons, Wilson finally connected.
Wilson, the Florida Marlins' top selection in the 1992 expansion draft, was 0-for-25 with 16 strikeouts in the majors. He finally ended the slide Sunday night with a tie-breaking homer for his latest team, the Cleveland Indians.
Wilson gave the Indians a 5-3 lead with a 440-foot shot to right that landed in the second deck at Jacobs Field. The Seattle Mariners came back to win 6-5, but Wilson's home run still was the talk of the clubhouse.
"Ive seen a lot of high draft picks who never realized their potential because of the pressure," Indians manager Mike Hargrove said. "From what I've seen, Nigel has every chance in the world to be the kind of hitter everybody thought he was going to be."
Needless to say, Hargrove is not the first to think that.
The Toronto Blue Jays signed Wilson as an undrafted free agent in 1987 but left him unprotected for the 1992 expansion draft. The
Florida Marlins made the left-handed hitting outfielder their first pick, second overall behind the Colorado Rockies' David Nied.
Wilson has shown flashes of his potential, leading the Florida State League with 13 triples in 1991 and leading the Southern League with 34 doubles in 1992. He has hit more than 300 three times in the minors and stolen more than 20 bases twice.
The Cincinnati Reds signed Wilson as a free agent in 1995, then waived him this spring. Cleveland signed him and sent him to Triple-A Buffalo, where he had his best year in the minors — 299 with 30 homers and 95 RBI.
His progress has been hampered by injuries, from sprained ankles to torn quadriceps. Every time Wilson got a
chance in the majors, the pressure of being a top draft pick seemed to weigh his bat down.
"I would go out and say, 'I've got to get a hit,' said Wilson, called up by the Indians on Aug. 31. "Just trying to live up to everyone's expectations and being the No. 1 pick, I didn't have a chance to be myself."
The pressure still was with Wilson when he glared down the third-base line on a 3-0 count Sunday night and saw the hit sign.
"I looked down and saw the green light and said, 'Uh-oh.' "Wilson said. "I said, 'OK. Here we go. You've got to do something with it."
Did he ever. With a flick of the wrists, Wilson sent the ball high into a muggy Cleveland night, the longest home run hit at this stadium in a while. Wilson was the only one in the ballpark who didn't know it was gone.
gone.
"When I hit it, I didn't feel anything," Wilson said. "I didn't feel the ball come off the bat. I looked up, and my eyes opened up real big, and I saw first base coach Dave Nelson yelling, 'Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!' I looked up again, and it was gone."
Barry Bonds goes to bat to lower alimony payments
The Associated Press
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — Lawyers for San Francisco Giants star Barry Bonds and his former wife were in court arguing terms of an allmany ruling that allows Bonds to reduce the payments and then, eventually, halt them
Bonds' attorneys claim Sun Bonds is trying to extend her $10,000 monthly alimony until 2002 by telling a judge she needs the support while she pursues her bachelor's degree.
Kozloski had ordered Sun Bonds to come up with the vocational
Sun Bonds' attorneys argue that she shouldn't be forced into any job to comply with a court order to come up with a vocational plan.
San Matee County Superior Court Judge Judith Kozloski agreed to decide the issue after a hearing Monday.
SunBonds Former wife of Barry Bonds
Former wife of Barry Bonds
plan before deciding on long-term spousal support. Barry Bonds' attorneys hope to persuade the judge to end payments in August 1998.
Susan Stevenson, a vocational counselor hired by Sun Bonds' attorneys, testified that the Swedish native should take remedial classes in a community college, then transfer to a four-year college and obtain a bachelor's degree, a process that could take sixyears.
"I think she's entitled to the
opportunity to go to school and build her confidence and build her self-esteem," Stevenson said. Sun Bonds is enrolled in English, math and acting classes at Canada College.
However, Paulette Hunnewell, a vocational counselor retained by Barry Bonds' *etterneys*, said Sun Bonds did not have the motivation to obtain a bachelor's degree. She said Sun Bonds should enroll in a community college to learn interior decorating, child care, event planning or facial skin care.
After the hearing, Sun Bonds said she wasn't trying to extend alimony payments by pursuing an education.
"I want to get on with my life," she said. "During my marriage, I was told what to do, how to do it and when to do. Now I'm ready to do what I want to do."