Gymnasts shine at Crisler

The Michigan Daily-Friday, December 12, 1982-Page 17

By PAUL RESNICK nastics team.
and CHUCK WHITMAN Of course, they had to wait for all the
formalities to end. First, there was the
The people who went to Crisler last playing of the Soviet and American
night got what they wanted to see: an national anthems. Then, there was the
exhibition of strength, grace and gym- exchange of gifts, the seniors on the
nastic skill by the visiting Bourevestnik Michigan team and the visiting Soviets.
(Soviet National) University gym- Finally, spectators had to wait through
THE SPORTING VIEWS
Women's basketball scheduling
BG . no easy solutions
By PAUL HELGREN
While 'watching the women's basketball team play Cleveland State the other
9night, I couldn't help but feel that something could be done to attract a few more
fans to the games, because a few is exactly flow many fans showed up.
The unofficial attendance count was 150 but this must have included both team
: benches, concessionaires, the Cleveland State bus driver, the band, etc. Yes, the
Michigan basketball band was there, but to tell you the truth it's a little spooky to
hear "Hail to the Victors" echo through an empty Crisler Arena as the women's
team runs on the court.
True, the team is 0-4, and also true women's basketball has never been a
a great draw at Michigan. But these aren't the only reasons attendance is so poor.
An important but often overlooked reason is uninnovative and inconsistent
scheduling.
The Athletic Department has been toying around with various scheduling ideas
for women's basketball in the last few years, without finding any satisfactory
solutions. They tried scheduling women's games after the men's games, hoping
people would stay and watch. The few that stayed usually left after the first half
and the games were, by nature, anti-climactic. They tries scheduling the before
men's games (like last Wednesday) but that doesn't solve anthing because they
required the fans to leave at the end of the women's game.
Until this year, there wasn't even a Big Ten schedule for women's basketball.
This season's schedule, which includes home and home series for all Big Ten
teams, is light-years ahead of what they've had in the past, but it still leaves a lot to
be desired.
The way the schedule works is when the men's team goes on the road to In-
diana, for example, the women host that same school and vice-versa for when
the women go on the road. But while the men play on Thursday nights and
Saturday afternoon, the women play on Friday night and Sunday afternoons.
Who wants to watch women's basketball at either of those times? Nobody.
There have even been grumblings by the women cagers themselves about this
choice of playing dates. There are a couple of alternatives tothis dilemna.
The most obvious solution is to switch the games toThursday and Saturday. Ac-
cording to Michigan women's basketball coach Gloria Soluk, the Big Ten coaches
decided against this because it would "conflict with televised men's basketball
games." They argue that people would stay at home and watch men's hoops in-
stead of going to see the women play. While this is no doubt correct it is not
necessarily true - the two audiences are one and the same. People that stay home
and watch Saturday afternoon basketball probably wouldn't go to the women's
game anyway. In other words, the schedule, as it stands now, is an inconvenience
to the few fans women's basketball does have.
Another, more inovative solution would be to let the women play three hours
before the men, and allow fans admittance to the women's games with their men's
basketball tickets. this was early-comers to the men's games might find that they
actually enjoy women's basketball. Also, some people might come merely
because they feel they're getting to see something for free (admission to women's
basketball is now $1.00). In any case there would certainly be more'people at the
games than there are now.
There are a few problems to overcome if this idea were ever to become reality.
First of all, coach Soluk insists she wants the team to draw fans "on our own" and
doesn't want a "second-half only" crowd. Well, the logical response to that is: 1) a
second-half crowd is better than no crowd, 2) the fact that women can't draw fans
on their own is the whole problem.
Women's athletic director Phyllis Ocker offered more practical negatives.
"What if the games go into overtime? she asked, "What then? And five hours is
a long time to ask people to sit and watch basketball."
Her points are good ones, but even with an overtime period the women's game
would finish in two hours, leaving E.T. and the boys plents of time to warm up.
And if you came for only the second half of the women's game, it would only be four
hours of watching, and the time goes surprisingly fast.
This year's schedule does go a long way in improving the women's basketball
situation. But the athletic departments of the Big Ten in general, and Michigan in
specific, could do a lot more if they wanted to take a chance and go out on a limb for
.womenis sports.
Unfortunately, the apparent athletic department policy of men first, then women
it and only it they don't interfere with the men, makes this scenario unlikely.
k43
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10

a three-minute warmup session in floor
exercise.
BUT IT WAS worth the wait. After a
shaky start, by the Soviets, who allowed
Michigan to take the lead after the first
two gymnasts' routines, the Olympic-
candidate squad proved why they were
selected to make the tour.
Valentin Mogilnuy was a real crowd
pleaser as he topped the all-around
scoring for both teams with a score of
58.30 and finished first in four of the six
events. His 9.9 performance in the final
event, the high bar, was the climax of
the evening.

Soviet team. It's also the highest score
that the Wolverines have earned this
year.
"The Michigan performers proved
themselves proud and it was worth the
time and effort in arranging the meet,"
said Loken. "We'll probably try some of
the moves we saw."
The spectators, too, were treated to a
great show. Loken summed it up by
saying, "I hope the crowd enjoyed it."
Both the men's and women's teams
are now gearing up for this weekend's
Wolverine Invitational. The women will
get a chance to take on Big Ten runner-
up Michigan State, along with four
other schools. The men will attempt to
turn in another top team score and cap-
tain Milan Stanovich will try to improve
on his winning individual performance
at last week's Capitol Classic.

Cinci Beer, WJJX,
and
The University Club
invite you to a
ROSE BOWL PARTY.
December 14, 4-9pm.
Specials!

Barno
... Soviet captain

Soviet captain Sergei Barnov placed
third in all-around competition and
second on the high bars with a score of
9.85.
Dino Manus was the top all-arounder
for Michigan, scoring a career high of
55.55. He placed second on the parallel
bars with a 9.75 score and finished four-
th in the horse.
Michigan top performers included
Kevin McKee who tied for first in floor
exercises with a 9.7, and senior Nevin
Hedlund who placed second to
Mogilnuy on the horse with a 9.65. In
addition Rick Kaufmann tied for second
on rings with a score of 9.7.
"GREAT SHOW, excellent perfor-
mance," said Michigan head coach
Newt Loken. "It was a class perfor-
mance by the USSR."
The Soviets racked up a team score of
285.35 to Michigan's 274.80. That's the
second highest score an American team
has earned competing against this

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