Tuesday,' February 1, 1,977
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Seven
Tuesday, February 1, 197) THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Seven
euc*1h9
HUCKLEBY RUNS OUT
Jeers offense
e " 9
. . needs reviing
By RICK MADDOCK
Slump (slump), n. - a period during 'which a person per-
forms slowly, inefficiently, or ineffectively, especially a period
in which an athlete fails to play or score as well as usual. -
(Random House Dictionary)
Michigan hockey coach Dan Farrell has never in his past three
seasons here had a five game losing streak. Now he has
one. Worse yet, league leading and number one ranked Wisconsin
enters Yost Ice Arena this weekend.
Currently the Wolverines find themselves in fourth place,
only one point ahead of Denver and three ahead of Michigan
Tech.
At one point in this season, the*Wolverine icers were battling
for first place. Now they must battle to stay in a first division
play-off spot. (Eight of the -ten WCHA teams qualify for play-
offs.)\
What's wrong?
"Our problem is we haven't been scoring. We haven't
for the last five games, and we haven't won for five games,"
Farrell said.
The Wolverines' average over the last five games is 2.2
goals per game. The local icers' average for their first 21 games
is approximately 6.48 goals per game.
"We haven't been shooting as well and we've faced five, hot
goaltenders in a row," Farrell said.
"We're getting lots of shots, but we're just not putting the
puck away. We've got to have more shooting drills, and become
more aggressive around the net," Farrell explained.
Early in the season, the Wolverines used a ferocious of-
fense. Farrell, after nearly every game, would say, "We've got
to get better defense to win in this league." He was fearing a
defensive slump, because the offense was winning the games.
"Maybe early in the year they took us too lightly. People are
now checking us more closely. That could be one of the reasons
why w.'re not scoring as well," Farrell said.
Blue needs Thayer
Injuries have attacked the Wolverines to make things that
much worse. Doug Todd is on crutches from a knee .injury; Bill
Thayer had a strep throat, and Dave Brennan sprained his neck
against Notre Dame.
"We've run into some injuries and sickness. We were free of
all thoe things until three weeks ago. That's the way things go
- you have some problems and then injuries come. Wow, things
go bad all at once," Farrell said.
How much do injuries hurt the team? The last game
Michigan won was when Thayer scored against Michigan
Tech in overtime. He also had three assists in that game.
I can still remember assistant coach Doug Hinton proudly
saying, "Thayer - the man that makes Michigan go." Thayer
is not a scorer, but he is one of the best passers on Vhe team.
When a team loses its spark plug, someone has to replice it.
The Wolverines appeared to have the potential to be a first
place team. All that they really needed was quick adjustment by
the young defensemen.
"They (the defensemen) played well in the early going, but
it's a long season," Farrell said.
When the quick adjustment appeared as a reality, then the
Wolverines looked like serious first place contenders.
"I thought we were a good enough team to play in the
top division. I don't think we thought at any time that we
were a first place team," Farrell said.
Now first place appears as far away to the icers as warm
weather does to Michiganders. What is important now is that this
teams picks itself up, and Wisconsin will not make things easy
for the Wolverines.
"This (Michigan) team is too good to lose five in a row or
to continue losing," Farrell said. "I don't see why we can't have
third place, or at least hold on to the fourth spot.
"The schedule is not in our favor. We have to win five out
of six on the road," Farrell said. "It is important we win the
next three out of four games."
Those next four games take place at Yost, two with the Badg-
ers, two with Denver. After that, the Wolverines only have one
home game (against Michigan State).
The Wolverine future depends on their ability.to regain con-
fidence. But more importantly, that future depends on their abil-
ity to turn on the red light-like they used to.
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" Name
For further information on campus, contact:
Herbert H. Paper-1017 Frieze Building-764-0353
Thinclad
By ERNIE DUNBAR
Three weeks into the 1977 indoor track
season, things aren't working out quite
as well as the Wolverine thinclads would
have liked.
Sprinter Harlan Huckleby (second in
last years Big Ten indoor 440) has de-
cided not to compete for the track team,
citing mental and physical exhaustion
after the long football season.
DISTANCE STAR Mike McGuire (Big
Ten champion in the three mile) is list-,
ed as very doubtful and Mark Foster
(third in the 1000) is out for the indoor
season with a knee injury.
Add to that the fact that the Wolver-
ines have performed mediocre at best
in their first three meets, and you'd think
Michigan coach Jack Harvey would be
a little worried about the status of his
team only four weeks before the Big Ten
Championships.%
"There's no problem in picking up
the points that we're losing now with
Huckleby, McGuire, and Foster out," ex-
plained Harvey. I'm not worried about
that."
HARVEY HAS A GOOD point, seeing
that several of Michigan's top runners
did not compete in the 1976 champion-
ships.
Huckleby's second place points could
s still po
be picked up by junior James Grace or
senior Jeff McLeod, both of whom did
not run their specialty, the open 440-yard
dash, in the '76 indoor meet.
Trying to find a replacement for the
sick McGuire (out with mononucleosis)
will be a harder task according to Har-
vey. He looks for junior Billy Donakow-
ski or sophomore Bruce McFee to possib-
ly pick up points in the three mile.
One event where Michigan could cap-
italize is the 1000-yard run. Ohio State's
Tom Byers (last years 1000 champion)
was ruled scholastically ineligable after
last term, leaving the race up for grabs.
Senior Andy Johnson will be seeking his
first' Big Ten indoor championship in the
1000 and could be "a key performer in
the Wolverine's title chase.
i BESIDES LOOKING FOR replacements
for the sick and injured, Harvey is count-
ing on several runners to improve on last
year's times.
"We only had one hurdler into the fi-
nals last year," stated Harvey, "and
they're way ahead of where they were
last year at this tin e.
"Also we're counting on improvements
from Randy Foss in the shot put, points
from James Henry i the long jump, ad-
ditional points in tje\ 60-yard dash from
transfer Dwight Jones, and a possible dou-
ble (mile and two mile) from Steve Elli-
ott or Greg Meyer," added Harvey.
WHILE MANY OBSERVERS feel the
absence of sprinter Huckleby could cost
the Wolverines the Big Ten title, assistant
coach Ron Warhurst views the situation
quite differently.
"I'd rather just forget about it," said
Warhurst. "He's not running and he's nev-
er going to help us, so we're tired of hear-
ing about how he could do this and that.
Warhurst's distance men have pleased
him with their early season performanc-
es, although he's looking forward to the
second half of the schedule.
"WE'RE STILL VERY strength and
distance oriented at this point and we
haven't done any speed work at all," War-
hurst explained. "We have one interval
session (specified distances with a des-
ignated amount of test) a week."
"In another week we're going to switch
over and start doing quicker stuff," said
Warhurst. "It takes about four weeks to
adjust, so it'll be about perfect come the
Big Ten meet.'"
"I think we're probably getting more
alarmed than we should at this point,"
said Harvey. "About the only thing- that
worries me is the fact that we don't seem
to be catching fire. In the next couple
weeks we've got to start catching fire.
We've got a much better team than what
we've shown so far."
threat
Daily Photo,
SENIOR JEFF McCLEOD will be heavily counted on to
produce points for the Michigan thinclads in the upcoming
Big Ten championships.
SPORTS OF THE DAILY:
UPI Top 20
Blue slips to 5th
women cagers travel',
Well rested after being snow-
ed out at Northwestern Satur-
day, the Michigan women's bas-
ketball team (5-6> travels to:
Western Michigan tonight
where they will try to avenge
an early season overtime loss.!
Michigan dronped the 68-62
contest to the Broncos at the.
Wayne State Christmas Tour-
ney. Since the Christmas break,
however, the women are 5-3,
including losses at MSUJ and
Wayne State that were decided,
by a total of four points.
"I expect it to be cl-se again
says Coach , Carmel Borders.I
"But we've improved an awful
lot since that first game."
The Western lineup will be
improved too. Since the last
contest the team has added aj
6'2" center who was previ-'
ously academically ,ineligible.
Michigan will counter with an
addition of its own - Natasha
Cender. The 6'1" mid-year en-
rollee has been helping the Blue'
women on the boards while
learning the offense. With the
extra practice time the team
Hockey Top Ten
picked up over the weekend, i third-ranked Crimson Tide de-
Cender should be prepared to- feated Vanderbilt 96-82 in a
night. Southeastern Conference basket-
This Saturday the team will ball game.
warm up the floor at Crisler - * *
for the men by taking on Chi-
caso State at 11:30 a.m. They Johnson jolted
expect to be playing before
one of the largest crowds of EAST LANSING - The larg-
the season. est crowd in the history of reg-
---MIKE HALPIN ular season high school basket-
ball2watched Kim Beaslay pump
in 23 points Monday night to
Ralston resigns lead Lansing Eastern to a 70-
DENVER - JhnRalston62 victory over cross-town rival
EJh s Lansing Everett.
who once responded to a Den- A crowd of 9,772 jammed into
ver Broncos player revolt by Acodo ,7 amdit
saying he'd never quit as head Michigan State University's
coach of the National Football Jenisen Fieldhouse as No. 5
Leagule team, resigned yester- ranked Eastern knocked off the
day. top-ranked Class A high school
The 49-year-old Ralston guid- team.
ed the Broncos to a 9-5 record All-State center Jay Vincent
last season, the best in the scored 18rpoints and pulled
clib's 17-year history. But he down 14 rebounds for Eastern
failed to deliver the playoff while holding Everett's All-Am-
team he promised the fans when erican Ervin Johnson to just 14
he took , job early in 1972. oints. That wasy Johnsons low-
In five years under him, Den- est total in three years. -UPI
ver was 34-33-3.! -______
Ralston came to Denver from
Stanford, where he had coached SC O R E S
successive Rose Bowl victories.
In nine seasons at Stanford, heV
captured two Pacific-8 Confer- NHL
ence titles and compiled a 54- Atlanta 7, Toronto 3
36-3 record. -AP College Basketball
SCincinnati 88, Memphis Sta'te 82
IAlabama 96, Vanderbilt 82
SLreSouth Carolina 64, Rhode Island 54
Duke 76, Duquesne 49
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Rick- Auburn 72, Mississippi 65
e'y Brown's 17 points led seven Kentucky 92, Mississippi State 85
Alabama players who counted
double figures last night as the
1. San Francisco (51)......402
2. U.C.L.A. (7)..........303 By United Press International
3. Nevada-Los Vegas (2) ........ 191 The University of San Fran-
4. Marquette.................. 185 cisco, a last-second winner Sat-
5. MICHIGAN..................167 urday night over unheralded
7. Louisville..... . 165 Santa Clara, remained atop the
8. Wake Forest (1)....... ...1621 UPI college basketball ratings
9.Aibama....................:103 as UCLA jumped from ninth
10. Tennessee..........821
11. Cncinnati..... . ........64 place to second.
12. North Carolina...........:...54 Michigan skidded from sec-
13. Arkansas ..... . 45 ond to fifth and was a shade
14. Purdue............. ........ 3
15. Arizona.....................301back of Marquette with 184
16. Minnesota...................26 points after suffering a 99-87
17. Providence.24
18. Clemson.....................22
19. Missouri.....................18
20. Utah........................ 161i S E I L
____ Ew ...
upset loss to Northwestern last
week.
The major casualties were
North Carolina, which lost by 20
points to Clemson and dropped
from third to 12th; Alabama,
which slipped from fourth to
nin h after being beaten by Ken-
tucky; and Tennessee, which
fell from sixth to 10th despite
winning its only game.
r f E
i
Wolverine
skiers split
with State,
While Ann Arbor closed down
due to the sub-zero tempera-
tures last weekend, the Blue
men's and women's ski teams
traveled to Alpine Valley.
The men slalomers split the
winning honors with Michigan
State. Michigan took the gold
medal in the slalom while fin-
ishing in the runner-up slot in
the giant slalom (148.923 to
148.815).
THE WOMEN swished to a
victory in the giant slalom while
ending in the second position
in the slalom.
--SPECIA L-
Sunday, February 6
CANNED
HEAT
AND
Advance Tickets on Sale Now-
CALL 426-3917
THE ANCO N
PICKNEY, MICH.
11980 McGregor Roa.
(Portage Lake)
By United Press International
1. Wisconsin (9) 21-6
2. Clarkson (1) 18-4
3. Notre Dame 17-9
4. North Dakota 16-10
5. New Hampshire 18-5
6. Boston College 13-5-1
7. tie MICHIGAN 14-12
Cornell 11-6
9. Michigan Tech 14-11-1
10. Denver 13-10-1
9
85
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63
60
58
21
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18
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I
See JACK WHITE
INTERNATIONALLY FAMOUS
POCKET BILLIARDS
& TRICK SHOT ARTIST
in a FREE Pocket Billiard Exhibition
in the UNION BALLROOM
MONDAY, FEB. 7
at 4 :00 p.m. & 8 :00 p.m.
- - -U
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