ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 12, 1996 TAG: 9612120042
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
GREG LISTER wants to be on the winning team in this year's Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl.
Although it will be a shock to the people who run the game, it must be reported.
Somebody who came to Salem last year for the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl didn't have a good time. Sure, the banquets were appreciated. Sure, the hospitality was great. Sure, all those goodies in the bags were neat, and thoughtful, too. But it wasn't enough to make Greg Lister's week.
``I did not enjoy myself one bit,'' said Lister, the Rowan College quarterback who Saturday will play in his second consecutive Stagg Bowl.
It's not that Lister is ungrateful. He tried to have a good time, he really did. But that's hard to do when you can hardly breathe.
A week before the Profs' Stagg Bowl loss to Wisconsin-La Crosse, Lister broke two ribs when he was tackled by a Washington and Jefferson player. He wasn't wearing a flak jacket at the time.
Unfortunately, Lister didn't wear one the next week, either. It was bad enough that to ease the pain during the entire 12-hour bus ride in snow from Rowan to Salem, Lister was forced to lie on his back in the aisle on a pile of blankets.
The problem became worse in the second quarter of the Stagg Bowl when a Wisconsin-La Crosse player made a flying tackle at Lister's torso. ``After that, honestly, I couldn't throw the ball to the sideline,'' Lister said.
``I should have pulled myself right there.''
But players at Rowan aren't supposed to pull themselves out of the game. Many of them are players who have been pulled back from the brink of college football exile. They are players who didn't get the chance they wanted at other schools, or didn't realize what they wanted out of football when they first left home for college. There are 26 players on Rowan's team who began their college careers elsewhere. Twelve started out in NCAA Division I, six were in Division II and seven were from junior colleges.
They are all part of the formula that has put Rowan in the upper echelon of Division III football. ``There certainly are some teams that have separated themselves in Division III,'' said K.C. Keeler, Rowan's coach. ``I think we're one of them.''
Keeler also mentioned Washington and Jefferson in the South Region, Mount Union in the North and Wisconsin-La Crosse in the West. All have made it to at least two Stagg Bowls since 1992. Rowan has done it three times.
Keeler said he's helped by the fact there are good players in New Jersey, the state Rowan calls home. He credited his assistants for doing much more coaching than he ever does. Keeler's duties are in the sales department, or in other words, recruiting. Keeler's main philosophy is this:
``If going 5-5 and having a good time is what you want to do, there are other places to go,'' he said. ``This is what we do - we win.''
Lister wanted to do the second part, although getting a chance to play was enticement enough. The 6-foot-3, 235-pounder first attended Maryland, then went to Pittsburgh. He didn't get the opportunity he wanted. That's when Keeler came to mind.
``I called him,'' Lister said.
Wars have been fought and two presidential terms have ended since Lister, 25 and a junior, graduated from high school in 1990.
``I'm kind of old for the college life,'' said Lister, who lives in his own apartment in Brigantine, N.J., and drives almost an hour and a half to attend class and practice at Rowan in Glassboro, N.J.
Lister doesn't have to do that. He can get his degree without putting so many miles on his car and welts on his body. But like so many of his teammates, he has talent and he wants to put that talent to good use. And anyway, it's worth it if he he can erase all those bad memories of his first Stagg Bowl.
``I'm glad it was on ESPN2, because a lot of people couldn't get it,'' he said. ``Last year ate at me all year.''
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Listerby CNB