4 Wednesday, January 19, 1977 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Seven Cage coach strikes twin By HENRY ENGELHARDT The stuff dreams are made of. That describes most of Dan Fife's life. Until, like so many be- fore him, his dreams shattered in the risks of reality. Fife, Michigan's varsity reserve cage coach, worked his way through the minor leagues ant pitched a season for the. Minnesota Twins be- fore arm trouble forced a premature retire- ment. ."Every kid dreams about playing in the big leagues" Fife said, "and there I was. I just can't describe the feeling." The brown-haired, 27-year-old starred in two sports in high school and college. An all-state selection in both basketball and baseball his last two high school years, this Pontiac area product went on to earn six let- ters at Michigan. The 6-2, southern Illinois native started every basketball game his sophotiore, junior and sen- ior years for the Wolverines. His coach then and his boss now, Johnny Orr, remembers Fife the player. "Man, he Gum really played with reckless abandon. A tre- this mendous competitor he gave 100 per cent ev- iate, ery game." 11 at Today an uncertainty rules Fife's future, like unto the insecurity of his final baseball season; a summer he spent pensively resting between cortisone shots. Fife fears that the recent NCAA ruling that limi s schools to two full-time and one part- time assistant basketball coaches, down from three full-time, may cost him his job. Presently Fife's duties, 'according to Orr, are limited. He cannot recruit or travel to scout. Fife worries that a graduate assistant might replace him when his contract expires next October. "Every night I'm thinking about what I could do if that comes up." Orr views the situation differently. "I don't think he'll be cut" the nine-year Michigan coach emphasized. "If I have my way I'll never take a grad assistant." "Fife does so many things for us. He gets along very well with the players. They respect and like him. He's a super guy." Fife lived his first eight years in a small southern Illinois town near the Kentucky bor- der. "All they do in Carrier Mills is play baseball and basketball," Fife described. "I've been playing since the day I was born." The Fifes moved to Clarkston, Mi. after the coal mine, where the senior Fife worked, closed down. The brown-eyed youngster brandished his skills there too. He played varsity baseball and basketball all four years in high school. Recruited by five colleges, Fife narrowed bis choice to Michigan and Michigan State because he wanted to stay in the area. "I found no comparison between the two schools," Fife said, "Michigan just had more class about it, more prestige." Drafted by the Detroit Tigers out of high school Fife put his education first and became a hit with Michigan basketball fans. Freshmen could not play varsity at the time, but Fife played every possible game after that. Overshadowed by Rudy Tomjanovich his first two years and Henry Wilmore his senior year, Fife averaged about 13 points per game during his career. The Tigers:made Fife their second choice in the college player draft. Basketball's Milwaukee Bucks picked Fife seventh. Fife, always a fierce competitor, became a Tiger. After two seasons in the Detroit system he was traded to Minnesota even up for veteran Jim Perry. "The day I was traded was really disap- pointing. I was happy where I was, I'd made a lot of friends. It bothered me," Fife ex- plained. Despite his disillusionment the trade sped iden tity his rise to the big time. In August of that season the Twins called him up. He compiled a 3-2 rec- ord. It was the peak of his baseball career. He barely made the Twins squad the next spring. Af er a month of major league inac- tivity the Twins returned him to the minors. "I thought I l.ad a raw deal," Fife said. He pitched little that season, but his real troubles began the following winter. Playing the game he missed badly, basketball, Fife threw out his arm tossing a length of the court pass. It seems ironic that a basketball pass would begin the end of his baseball career. Fife spent the following season in pain. No longer a pitcher of promise, Fife knew he could not support his family, a wife and son at the time, in, baseball. About this time Jim Dutcher left his Michjga assistant coach job for the number one spot at Minnesota. Fife applied to fill the void. "Orr joked that he hired me because I was from a- little further south than him, and he wouldn't be the only hillbilly around," Fife said. No longer a basketball or baseball player, Fife, now a father of two, would like to make his mark in coaching. "I want to coach because it's connected with athletics" Fife explained. "And I love athletics." -Photo copyright Topp's Chewing AT ONE POINT you could get eight Wayne Comer's for Michigan varsity reserve basketball coach. As a colleg Fife won six letters playing basketball and basebal Michigan. TRACK - TENNIS BUILDING OVERCROWDED Big Top By ERNIE DUNBAR When Ringling Brothers popularized the circus, they probably never be- lieved there would be a permanent show located in Michigan's Track and Tennis Building. Yet, between 2:30 and 6:30 any week day, the Track and Tennis Building turns into a three ring circus any ring- master would be proud of. It doesn't have the customary bears. and lions. Instead the building is fill- ed with athletes from five of Michi- gan's intercollegiate sports teams. TRY TO IMAGINE the track team running interval sessions, the men's tennis team hitting overheads in the center of the track, the baseball team having pitching practice, the womens tennis team jumping rope to warm up, and the womens track team warm- ing up on the sidelines. Probably the team that gets affect- ed the most by the confusion is the men's track team. Once a week the Michigan distance men come inside and join the sprint- ers and hurdlers to run intervals. This can't house Blue circus adds an additional 20 athletes to the building and causes problems for dis- tance coach Ron Warhurst. "We've had guys step on tennis balls and twist their ankles," com- mented ~Warhurst. "We've also had giys get run into on the back stretch of the track by people who weren't supposed 'to be jogging on the track anyways." A TYPICAL DAY'S set up for train- ing at the Track and Tennis Building has the tennis teams on the infield, the polevault set up on the three o-tside lanes of the track on the back- stretch, the inside lane used for in- tervals and two lanes for jogging. "The building is just not adequate to handle six or seven teams," said FM', rh'urst. "But it's the only facility - have so everybody gets pushed in there together. It's a great training facility, but it's not adequate or big ennigh to handle meets." That could create yet another prob- lem since the Wolverines host both the Central Collegiate Conference and Big Ten Championship indoor meets at the Track/Tennis Building. The major area of concern in a big' meet is locker space. Currently visiting athletes must change at the old intramural building and walk across to the indoor track. THROUGHOUT THE three year ex- istence of the building, Warhurst has seen several near accidents take place.. "The tennis team hits balls into the back net and they -bounce out, or a tennis player throws his racket and almost hits one of the guys doing in- tervals;" said Warhurst. "Just last week we had Bowling Green up here for time trials and one of their pole vaulters stuck their pole out onto the track. Doug Henniger (one of Michigan's sprinters) swerv- ed to avoid it and Dwight Jones (tranfer sprinter from Arizona State) tripped over him and banged his knee" Two solutions were offered by War- hurst and Greg Eyphax, the Wolver- ines sprint coach, who must put up with the confusion everyday. "YOU COULD BUILD another build- ing and put tennis courts in it and have a small area for baseball," said Warhurst. "That way you'd alleviate a lot of the problems." "The first thing they got to do is build more locker rooms and train- hng rooms," Syphax said. "They've definitely got to do something where they expand the building." Both Warhurst and Syphax said that spreading out the time that the teams practic would not be a solution. "With the way the class scheduling is set up, my guys (sprinters) are having a hard time getting every class they need by 3:00," said Syphax. We have guys finishing class at all times which means I usually can't can't start a workout before 4:00. "That gives us till 5:00 to do a workout. Since the women's track team uses the track then. That's just not enough time." Whether the Track and Tennis Build- ing is expanded as Warhurst and Syphax wish is up to athletic director Don Canham. But as far as Syphax is concerned "They got to do something." THE TOP 20 By The Associated Press 1. San -Francisco (38) 19-0 2. Cincinnati (4) 11=0 3. Alabama (3) 14-0 4. North Carolina (4) 12-1 5. MICHIGAN (1) 10-1 6. Kentucky 10-2 7. Nevady-LasVegas 14-1 (tie) Daily Libels 14-1 8. Marquette 11-2 9. Wake Forest 12-2 10. U.C.L.A. 13-2 11. Minnesota 11-1 12. Louisville 10-2 it. Maryland 12-2 14. Tennessee 11-2 15. Providence 12-2 16. Arizona 12-2 17. Arkansas 12-1 18. Memphis State 15-1 19. Purdue 10-3 20. Syracuse 13-2 982 798 773 679 584 495 397 397 317 262 241 211 210 113 112 100 95 87 74 73 17 N we re going to give you on emphatic statement aout the future of the compter industry and the future of your career., If you have a, degree in Electrical Engineering, or Computer Science contact your placement office for further details. Oigital Equipment Corporation is an equal opportunity em- ployer, m/f digital equipment corporation --- WUO)M- ANN ARBOR Makes It A Little Bit Easier To Get Through The Day 9 I _-,,uw.m% A SPORTS OF THE DAILY: Marquette. squel By The,Associated Press Guard Butch Lee's basket.. . .............. with five seconds left gave No. 8 Marquette a 62-60 victory over 1.Dil Drake in collegiate basketball last night. t fart s Drake led the Warriors by nine points twice during the fi- NIGHT EDITORS: nal period. HENRY ENGELHARDT But then Lee ran off nineP I D straight points, and Marquette . RODE controlled the pace in the final minutes to survive the rally by -- 15 in the second half. Bo the inspired .Bulldogs, 4-10. Ellis added 14, including two Lee finished with 19 points baskets in the final five min- I. aks past Drake maining, and the Bulldogs were with 10 straight points, six byI not able to contro1 the Warriors, Tomjanovich.,C who are 12-2. The Rockets, by winning- last * * night, remained in first plate ahead of Cleveland in the Cen- Rockets roar tral Division. * * * HOUSTON - Calvin Murphy Cleiehind cruises scored 25 points and - formerI Michigan star Rudy Tomjano- MILWAUKEE - The Cleve- vich added 21, including six in land Cavaliers, sparked by Aus- a third-quarter surge, to lead tin Carr's 22 points, opened a the Houston Rockets to a 103- 21-point third-quarter lead and 85 NBA victory over the Chi- held on for a 101-93 victory over Bulls last night. the crippled Milwaukee Bucks cago Blast night. Murphy hit 13 of his paints Campy Russell ex-Wolverine in yhe irst1alfasthesRock-sstandout put in two long shots in the first half as the Rock- and Jim Brewer tipped in two ets built a 53-45 htalftime pad. rebounds as Cleveland built a 72-54 spread in the third period. Leading 68-62 late in the third The lead reached 82-61 with 2:39 Michigan's eight remaining basketball games in Crisler Arena are sold out, but Wol- verine fans still will be able to watch five of those home games, Purdue, Indiana, Min- nesota, Michigan State and Marquette, on television in addition to two others on the road. Athletic Director Don Can- ham announced Monday an agreement with WWJ-TV (Channel 4) to televise four games at Crisler Arena. WWJ will also televise the Michigan game at Ohio State Jan. 24, and will carry the NBC nationally televised game at Indiana (Feb. 13). 15c 1~.* MR'S. SUBMARINI 15c. 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SCORES NHL quarter, Houston -iced the game. left in the quarter. A COLLEGE RING. I Montreal 3. Washington 0 New York Islanders 7, Minnesota 2 i NBA Cleveland 101, Milwaukee 93 Houston 103, Chicago ,5 New Orleans 99, Boston 89 Los Angeles 113, Kansas City 111 College Basketball Arkansas 62, TCU 45 Notre Dame 98, Stonehill 70 Detroit 70, St. Peters 68 Kansas 73, Iowa St. 62 Marquette 62, Drake 60 Providence 82, Rhode Island 71 It's a symbol for life ALL YOU CAN EAT! Wednesday Special 5 to 10 P.M. Baked Lasagna DINNER INCLUDES: * Home Made Baked Lasagna * Large Pretzel Bell Salad with Choice of Dressing " Steaming Hot Basket of Russian Rye Bread with Creamery Butter $3.95 ADU,.TS CHILDREN Under 12-$1.75 -rwLn nrAv enerrAI I i