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The Michigan Daily-Wednesday, February 14, 1979-Page 9
EYES BIG TEN'S, NCA A'S:
Leaper Lattan aims
B
ByiyAhEtRENBADGERJMI
ByDasr ER m Eghot b BRAD BENJAM
Marty Bodnar's right thigh has been in the wrong place at the wrong time
once too often, and Michigan's third guard is on the injured list as a result.
Bodnar was hit in the exact same spot for the sixth time this season in the
Wolverines' practice on Monday. This time the thigh is so sore that Bodnar almost
certainly will not play against Northwestern tomorrow night. His status for the
Michigan State rematch this Saturday remains questionable.
Michigan trainer Dan Campbell-who officially diagnosed the bruise as a con-
tusion-explained the situation. "With each succeeding hit, it keeps getting worse.
Right now he can hardly bend his knee, which makes him more susceptive to a
(serious) knee injury."
After stressing that Bodnar's condition is a day-to-day thing, Campbell said,
"Right now we're looking for him to play on Saturday (at MSU), and possibly for
him to play on Thursday. But I wouldn't wager the farm on that."
In the meantime, the hero from last Saturday's last-second victory over In-
diana is receiving a variety of treatment. In fact, Bodnar carries an electrical ner-
ve stimulator on his belt that is wired down to the bruise and delivers constant
stimulation and hopefuly speed the recovery process.
"The nerve stimulator changes the pain sensations to a pins and needles sen-
sation," said Campbell, adding that ice and pressure treatment are also being
used.
Bodnar is at a loss to explain why he keeps getting hit in the same place. "If
this was just the first time it's happened, it wouldn't be so sore," said Bodnar,
while'watching yesterday's practice in street clothes. "I'm wearing a pad from
how on.
"Hopefully, after today's treatment, I'll have more range of motion in my knee
and I'll be able to jog a little tomorrow. I sure couldn't play right now in this con-
dition."
By JOHN LIBBE
In the classroom, Wolverine high
jumper Mike Lattany is just your
average.junior, majoripg in industrial
design. But once on the track, Lattany
suddenly transforms into (drum roll,
please) Mr. Overachiever!
You see, Lattany stands 5-7 from
the tip of his toes to the top of the knit
hat which he is perpetually wearing.
Despite his size, Lattany has somehow
managed to fling his body over a bar set
at the height of 7-21/2. For all of you who
flunked Subtraction 101, that means
Lattany jumped 19 inches over his
head. This feat has qualified Lattany
for the NCAA Championships in March.
Lattany's career in jumping has had
its ups.and downs (pardon the pun). As
a junion at Mount Clemens High School,
he cleared 6-7%, but went straight
downhill his senior year. "I had a pretty
bad back injury and only went 6-2 in the
state meet," said Lattany at a recent
practice.
Macomb Community College was the
next stop for Lattany and suddenly as a
freshman, he cleared seven feet- / in-
ches. It was no accident, as he explains.
"Number one, I had gotten my back
injury straightened out through
chiropractic visits. Secondly, Y wanted
to go 6-9. I started out in August and
trained harder than I ever did before,
and I went consistently higher and
higher."
Encouraged by his success, Lattany
looked for a bigger school to attend as a
sophomore. He faced a slight problem
in the fact that it is illegal to recruit
freshman junior college athletes. This
wasn't about to stop Lattany. He sub-,
mitted resumes to different schools,
stating his event and his highest jump.
"I made the first initial contact. I
sent six letters and got five responses.
Michigan didn't offer a full ride, but
their academic reputation influenced
me," he said.
Lattany is basically a self-taught
jumper. "I never really had a high
jump coach. I had a big desire to excel
in my athletic endeavors." He also,
"received input from other jumpers,"
especially while attending an Olympic
Development training camp held at In-
diana University.
Like most jumpers, Lattany is a flop-
per, meaning he clears the bar head fir-
st while on his back. And like so many
athletes today, Lattany has his own lit-
tle quirks.
"Some people go through little
rituals. I'm no exception." Before he
jumps, Lattany measures his steps,
finds his mark and then slowly rocks
back and forth. "I developed it myself.
It helps me relax. and concentrate on
the elements of the jumps." He starts
his run when he "feels ready mentally
to go through my approach to the
jump."
"I really don't worry about my com-
petitors. My competition is the
crossbar."
Lattany has been one of the most con-
sistent performers on the Wolverine
team this year, and one of the reasons is
fellow jumper Kevin Robbins.
"I always jumped by myself in high
school and at Macomb 'and my first
year at Michigan. It was lonely prac-
ticing by myself. It's nice to have a
teammate to go to meets with you.
"It's always an added incentive to
have a teammate to help you out while
jumping in meets. I'm looking forward
to Kevin and I getting some points for
the old Maize and Blue in the Big Ten
meet."
Lattany is one to set goals for him-'
self. "This year I'd like to pop a 7-4.
'Each inch at this phase is much har-
der."
"I'd like to go to the Olympic trials.
I'll train harder in the summer for the
1980 Olympic season. As of right now, I
can't say I'll have a really good shot.
But with the knowledge I have acquired
I hopeto
season.'
Oh y
ously, L
while ju
It's anoi
"It'sn
wearing
high sck
high
v be better next season than this
es, the hat. As mentioned previ-
attany wears this knit hat, even
lumping in meets. The reason?
ther one of his quirks.
my good luck charm. I've been'
it since I was a sophomore in
hool."
University of Michigan
Dept. of Recreational Sports
Intramurals
_.. /.__
,4J.
Cross Country Ski Meet
* FEBRUARY 18th (Sunday)
* FULLER ROAD FIELD
* NOVICE RACE-I1:30 p.m.-2.5 miles or 4 kilometers
* ADVANCED RACE-2:15 p.m.-5 miles or 8 kilometers
* Open to Students & User Pass Holders
* REGISTER: Intramural Sports Bldg.
(606 E. Hoover) or at the Race
For Information-Jan Wedls-763-1313
SPOR TS OF THE DAIL Y
Staub gives
NEW YORK Rusty Staub, the
American League's leading designated
hitter last season and one of the
steadiest hitters in baseball, may be
"forced to leave the Tigers" if team of-
ficials don't satisfy his need for finan-
cial security.
"I'd like to make it clear that I'm not
threatening to quit," Staub said from
his New York restaurant.
Staub, who hit 24 homers and drove in
121 run§ last year, has two years
SOPH SHRUGS OFF SLUMP
Mc Gee tries new image
ultimatum
remaining on a three-year contract that
pays him $200,000 per season. Rather
than demand renegotiation, though,
Staub simply wants an extension of the
pact to provide some long-range
security.
"I'm not asking them for $800,000 a
year, although my statistics say I rate
it," Staub said. "I'm being intelligent
and reasonable about the whole thing,
but Mr. Campbell is not willing to
negotiate."
Staub added that he has several of-
fers in the restaurant business that
could provide him with "seven-figure
deals."
"I just want a solid base," Staub said.
"I'd much prefer to play baseball in
Detroit but I'll have to accept those
business offers if the Tigers won't bend.
I can play for another five seasons and I
only want some kind of guarantee."
-UPI
Ali farewell
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Muhammad
Ali and Jimmy Ellis will fight an
exhibition match at the Civic Center on
March 12 as part of what is billed as the
champion's farewell tour, a promoter
said yesterday.
Ali, who regained his crown for an
unprecedented third time last year,
also has signed for five-round
exhibition bouts in Hartford, Conn., and
Buffalo, N.Y., next month.
Ellis, once Ali's sparring partner,
formerly held the World Boxing
Association title. Ali is currently
recognized as champ by the WBA. -AP
PLAY CUPID!
Remember Feb. 14,
and Your Sweetheart
WITH A
VALENTINE'S D
TEST flNXIOUSM
Blocking On An Exam?,
Making Stupid Mistakes On Tests?
WE CAN HELP
As of February 14th there are only 22 places
left in our Test Anxiety Reduction Program.
For more information contact: 763-6311 or 764-8567
or come to K 103 West Quad.
Program under the direction of Dr. James Papsdorf
AY CARD
By DAVE RENBARGER
Mike McGee has changed his image.
Perhaps not by his own choice, the
Wolverines have a new McGee on their
hands.
As a rookie last year, McGee quickly
made a name for himself around the
conference. Relying strictly on his in-
credible quickness and his accurate
outside jumper, McGee scored more
points than any freshman in Big Ten
history.
THIS YEAR has been a different
story. Oh, the quickness is still there,
and it's becoming more obvious with
each passing game. But McGee's
shooting touch mysteriously vanished
sometime last December, and, try as he
might, he cannot seem to locate it.
In his search, McGee has apparently
discovered that the game of basketball
is more than a two-team, run-and-shoot
competition. Accordingly, the
sophomore from Omaha has been con-
centrating on things like defense and
rebounding lately, and the results have
been encouraging. A new image is born.
McGee's shooting woes have reached
the acute stage. At Purdue he went 7-
for-20, at Northwestern he was 3-for-14,
and against Illinois two weeks back, he
could manage no better than 10-for-27.
In 12 Big Ten games, McGee has yet to
hit more than half of his shots., and his
percentage is an almost embarrassing
.402.
DESPITE THESE statistics, McGee
maintains he's not in a slump, but one
gets the distinct impression that even
he's not so sure.
"I'm not really slumping," he said
more than once yesterday at practice.
"I can score when I want to. .My
shooting's not really off."
No more than two minutes later, the
SCORES
NBA
Cleveland 117, Los Angeles 111
New Jersey 111, Kansas City 102
Denver 104, Chicago 94
NHL
N.Y. Islanders 6, Colorado 1
One of the
interviewer wondered aloud if McGee's
flourishing defensive and rebounding
prowess could possibly be a by-product
of his shopting frustration. His response
was simple: "If you can't shoot, you
gotta do something."
HE CONTINUED., "I averaged 19
points a game last year and this year
my shooting's been off and I'm still
averaging, whatever (21.2 ppg). I don't
call that a slump."
McGee uses the rationale that his im-
proved overall play makes up for his
shooting drought, and here he's cer-
tainly got a point. Barely 6-5, he's still
the second-leading rebounder on the
team and few defenders have been able
to prevent him from scoring when he
gets the ball underneath. Not many
players draw more cheap fouls than
McGee, and he has an uncanny knack
for rebounding his own missed shots.
So McGee can no longer be thought of
as a pure gunner, and all these charac-
teristics make up a part of his new
image. But a good chunk of the n-w
Mike McGee can be observed in his
defensive work. Last Saturday against
Indiana, for example, he made one big
defensive play after another, coming up
with four steals.
BUT THERE ARE still plenty of
rough spots to iron out before McGee is
really a complete player. His great
quickness becomes his own worst
enemy at times, resulting in frequent
traveling violations.
"Sometimes I get to be going too
fast," he admitted. "Once I get started,
it's hard to slow down sometimes."
If he can keep himself under control,
McGee's value to a fast-breaking team
is tremendous. And if Michigan's offen-
se could only break as fast as it used to,
it would be a lot easier to overlook his
erratic shooting.
"We ran more last year and that's
more my game," McGee said. "I can
get a lot of baskets in the transition
game."
ASSISTANT Coach Bill Frieder
agreed. "So much of his game depends
on running, and we just haven't been
running well this year," Frieder said.
"Then most of the other teams key on
McGee. They sag on him in the man-to-
man and when he drives, they peel off
on him."
All things considered - the missed
shots, the steals, the travels and the
rebounds - McGee isn't down on him-
self. "I'm satisfied with the things I've
been doing," he said. "I've got nothing
to be ashamed of."
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WE WILL BE ON CAMPUS:
Thursday, February 22, 1979
Please contact your Placement Office or send your resume to:
PROFESSIONAL PLACEMENT