The Michigan Daily-Tuesday, November 20, 1979-Page 9
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A NEFF
IS
By Billy Neff
The Hockey Scene
Michigan falls to fifth
1. North Dakota ...
2. Wisconsin......
Minnesota ......
MICHIGAN .....
5. Michigan Tech..
NotreDame ....
Colorado College
8. Michigan State..
9. Denver ... ...
10. Minn.-Duluth ...
W L
4 2
5 3
5 3
5 3
4 4
4 4
4 4
3 5
2 4
1 5
Pts.
8
10
10
10
8
8
8
6
4
2
Pct.
.667
.625
.625
.625
.500
.500
.500
.375
.333
.167
Minnesota 5/3 at Minnesota-Duluth
4/6-
*St. Lawrence 3/0 at North Dakota 4/7
*Denotes non-league series
WMPL Radio Coaches Poll
Smoliin'Bo..
.. . just might be changing
(IGAR SMOKE filled the air yesterday at Weber's. It was the final
football luncheon of the year and Michigan coach Bo Schembechler
was animated. He could be. "Pass out some cigars," he told sports infor-
mation director Will Perry. The whole season was behind him now. But was
it? Would he be second guessed?
In Bo's eleventh season running the show in Ann Arbor, he had suffered
through his worst campaign with an 8-3 mark. Isn't it amazing that eight
wins is a bad season?
But it was a bad season in terms of winning big games. No mattephow
you look at it, the Wolverines were barely nipped in their three toughest con-
test of the season-Notre Dame, Purdue and Ohio State. Their only win over a
team with better than a 6-5 record was a squeaker over a 7-4 Indiana squad.
Yes, in analyzing this year, Bo's gridders were eight points away from
being undefeated and yes, the kicking game was primarily responsible for
the losses. But the main man himself, Bo, had his share of debatable
decisions which contributed to the defeats.
Bo may be the best coach in the country when it comes to preparing his
team for each Saturday. He also may be the finest recruiter in the nation.
But when you come right down to it, in big games, the talent is similar, so
coaching decisons can win or lose games.
This year they lost them.
Way back against Notre Dame came the first of a flurry of debatable
decisions. B.J. Dickey was replaced by John Wangler with just two minutes
left in the televised thriller as Bo attempted to revive the sputtering
Wolverines.
Of course; it made sense to bring Wangler in the game because as the
better passer, he had a better opportunity to bring the Wolverines back into
field goal position. The only question is why did Bo wait so long? Dickey had
led a good Michigan offensive show in the first stanza but could not seem to
move them at all in the second half.
So Bo waited until the final minutes on a substitution that should have
been made a lot sooner. Whenasked in the post-game press conference why
he waited so long, when the offense obviously wasn't moving, his response
was "I'm a waiter." Bo doesn't like to be second guessed and becomes quit
4 testy when questioned.
Testy was not the best word to describe later reactions to queries about
- his kicking game. After missing five field goals against California, when
asked obvious questions, he blew up in the now infamous shoving- incident.
An obvious question it was, but he did not like being second guessed.
Bo had reacted angrily many times to questions about his kickers
because he was hiding a weakness. He had never actively recruited a kicker
T and now he knew the drawbacks of that decision.
To understand his basic dislike of the media, then, is to comprehend the
inner fabric of the man. Bo reacts as negatively as he does to the media
4 because he simply sees no reason for second guessing. He believes strongly
in his actions and is rather stubborn.
This is, in my estimation, his one coaching flaw. And I say one becaue it is
the only one. He'll stick by his players through thick and think, and always
have his team extremely prepared, mentally and physically.
But in the end, this stubborness leads to such decisions as the play called
on fourth and two from the two against Purdue. His offense had a chance to
pull ahead of Purdue with a touchdown. With two yards to go, why use a play
which was used only three times all game and why run this play with a quar-
terback, Wangler, who does not run the option well.
The playyprobably should have been a quick pitch to Woolfolk, who
always seems to find the end zone. He runs hard and has tremendous desire.
But no, Bo believes in his option and feels it is the only way to come out on
top.
A better example of this same r
stubbornness occurred in Saturday's
clash with Ohio State. With a golden
opportunity totake the lead,
Michigan was knocking on the
-Buckeyes' door early in the contest.
On a crucial third down from the------------------------e
two, Bo had Rich Hewlett, the green -
freshman, attempt to run the ball in-
to the end zone. He was stopped.
On fourth down from the one Bo w4=z
once again stuck with his famous op-
tion play and once again, Bo was
stuck. It almost seemed that he was .
trying to prove to the media who was
boss. Everybody in the stadium and
even Woody Hayes, in his history of-
fice, knew what would be called.
Nevertheless, it was called.
When questioned about this play, Stubborn ...
Bo responded testily, "I liked it;
does that satisfy you?" Bo, once again, had been second guessed and we all
know that it is unthinkable for him to admit maybe a judgment mistake.
Sure he is smarter than all of us but that call sure contradicted that
statement. It's one thing to have confidence in yourself, and another to be
- beyond reproach.
The final bone of contention concerns the amount of time Hewlett played
in the game. One can only speculate how the barnburner would have turned
out had Wangler entered the fray in the first quarter as opposed to near the
end of the first half.
This question was never asked in the post-game press conference
because after just a few short minutes, Bo had stormed out of the press
room. Another writer had persisted with questions about Bo's pet peeve, the
kicking game. No, he was not necessarily wrong but he should field queries
1. North Dakota (8)..............
2. Wisconsin .....................
3. Cornell....................
4. Minnesota .................
5. Tie: MICHIGAN ...........
Boston U ................
7. Northern Michigan ..........
8.qMichigan Tech ............
9. Notre Dame ..............
10. Clarkson ................
WCHA Friday/Saturday results
MICHIGAN 4/0 at Wisconsin 8/2
Michigan Tech 5/8 at Colorado -
College 6/4
Michigan State 5/3 at Notre Dame
4/5
88
70
68
56
49
49
44
34
30
14
With the world-famous Gridde Picks
season coming to a close, the Gridde
Commissioner has decided to make the
last week of the Griddes the largest
schedule of the season. The popular
Griddes will be tougher than ever this
week, because of the expanded 40-game
schedule.
KINGSLAND CAMPBELL of 808
Tappan correctly picked 18 of 20 of last
week's games. One of Kingsland's key
picks was the Daily Libels over the OSU
Lantern; perhaps the Libels' next game
will be the most crucial on this week's
Griddes, when they face WCBN Radio.
In any case, you can't win the Grid-
des and the small one-item pizza from
Pizza Bob's that accompanies the honor
unless you turn in your Gridde Picks to
the Daily at 420 Maynard by midnight
Friday. So make your choices and get
them in soon.
November 23
1. Florida St. at Florida
2. Texas Tech at Houston
November 24 -
3. Clemson at South Carolina
4. Virginia at Maryland
5. Pittsburgh at Penn State
6. East Carolina at William & Mary
7. Rutgers at Louisville
8. Connecticut at Holy Cross
9. Tennessee at Kentucky
10. Mississippi vs. Mississippi St.
(Jackson)
11. LSU at Tulane
12. Ohio U. at Northern Illinois
13. Cincinnati at Memphis St.
14. Nebraska at Oklahoma,
15. Oklahoma St. at Iowa St.
16. Missouri at Kansas
17. SMU at Arkansas
18. Baylor at Texas
19. Brigham Young at San Diego St.
20. Wyoming at New Mexico
21. , Aizonaat Arizona St.
22. USC vs. UCLA (Los Angeles)
23. Long Beach St. at Fullerton St.
24. Utah St. at Fresno St.
26. North Carolina at Duke
PICKS
27. Temple at Villanova
28.. Oregon St. at Oregon
29. Notre Dame vs. Miami (Fla.)
(Tokyo)
30. Georgia at Georgia Tech
0 December 1
31. Boston College at Holy Cross
32. Army vs. Navy (Philadelphia)
33. Alabama vs. Auburn (Bir-
(Birmingham)
34. Florida at Miami (Fla.)
35. Vanderbilt at Tennessee
36. Rhode Island at Florida A&M
37. Texas at Texas A&M
38. Arizona St. at Hawaii
39. Houston at Rice
December 2
40. Campus Broadcasting Network vs
DAILY LIBELS
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Taste the pride of Canada.
1.Molson.
more easily.
. Bo can not be considered a bad
best coaches in America. Any per-
son who even mumbles anything
concerning his leaving probably has
never seen a football game. It would
be great if Bo stayed at Michigan a
long, long time. It would be even
greater if he was a little less 'stub-
born. The more stubborn he is, the
farther he moves from grabbing a
coveted national championship.
At yesterday's press luncheon, he
admitted that "kicking is our No. 1
priority." Already, he sounds like a
changed man. That's what cigar
smoke will do to you.
coach. He is excellent; he is one of the
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