61 Page 8-Thursday, April 14, 1983-The Michigan Daily Netter thrives as underdog By STEVE HUNTER Few people enjoy the role of underdog. Of course, few people have the ability to beat the odds the way Jill Hertzman of the Michigan women's tennis team does. When talking to people about Hertzman, several of her qualities are repeatedly mentioned, such as her "mental toughness" and the fact that "she never gives up." As a result of these virtues she has always thrived under pressure. FOR EXAMPLE, Hertzman came to Michigan as a walk-on, and because of this, according to head coach Ollie Owens, "She went through the walk-on tour- nament, which is pure hell. Once you lose you're out." Hertzman, who had just come off Kentucky State tennis championships in singles and doubles, however, remembers it differently. "I was surprised at how easy tryouts were,"' she said. Not as easy, though, was adjusting to a new team. "The very beginning of my freshman year I wasn't really happy with the team. I felt isolated." HERTZMAN soon changed all that by becoming a team leader. Currently she is the only senior on the team and is a second year co-captain. According to fellow co-captain Mary Mactaggart, the 5-1 Hertzman treats the title as more than honorary. "We had this parents' dinner and she organized that," said Mactaggart. "She's always there to talk to, and I think everyone knows that." Hertzman helps the team in other ways too. Accor- ding to freshman Stephanie Lightvoet, who needed a cortizone shot in her knee, "She got up at eight in the morning and took me over there (to the hospital)." Lightvoet also added "She's really nice, put that in." THE TEAM environment isn't the only thing that the Louisville native helped to improve, though. At the beginning of the year according to Owens, "I had her alternating at number six." Since then, due in If you get it into your head that you're not going to walk off the court until you win, it doesn't matter how far down you are. - Jill Hertzman part to injuries, she has moved up to number three. But Owens added, "She's gotten where she is because she competes really hard. She just doesn't quit." This never-say-die spirit applies to each point for Hertzman. "It isn't over 'till the last point," she said. "If you get it into your head that you're not going to walk off the court until you win, it doesn't matter how far down you are." Consequently, Hertzman describes herself as "a better comeback player. I always have more problems keeping a lead." THE FACT THAT "she plays well under pressure" according to her doubles partner Karen Milczarski, is a great asset. Milczarski recalled one match where "I thought 'Oh shoot someone passed me' and Itur- ned around and there was Jill. I was surprised she got to the ball." Hertzman herself describes her game as "pretty much a scramble game,"but her partner Milczarzski goes further. "She's tough. She never gives up, always tries her hardest, and she doesn't like to lose." Mactaggart also admires her determination, saying "I don't care if she's down 6-0, 5-0. She just never gives up." THIS ATTITUDE carries over into Hertzman's academics. "I do better under pressure, whether its playing tennis or school." Since the psychology major has made the academic honor roll three years running and sports a 3.5 G.P.A., one would have to agree. Hertzman's fine academic credentials have earned her a place at the United States International Univer- sity in San Diego where she plans to do graduate work in sports psychology. This field seems appropriate considering her proven mental toughness, but also because of her friendliness and penchant for hard work. Grad schools are usually tough, and Hertzman will probably be an underdog . . . if she's lucky. I Slam!! M ai By RON POLLACK Will the real U of M please stand up? The Michigan football staff isn't the only group of gridiron coaches roaming about the athletic department with thoughts of blitzes and draw plays streaming through their heads. Twelve members of the 15-man University of Mexico coaching staff are being tutored in football, Wolverine style, this week. THESE MEETINGS of the inter- national football minds came to be when Michigan head coach Bo Schem- bechler met Mexico head coach Arturo Alonso at an NCAA meeting in Los Angeles. Schembechler invited Alonso Football staff hosts rngQ- coaches from Mexico and his assistants for a visit, and the latter was more than happy to accept the chance to work with the Wolverine coaching staff. "We decided to come here because we've watched Michigan for a few years in Mexico and we think it's the best team in the states, a great tradition and a well-coached staff," said Alonso through translator and of- fensive-line coach Luis Garcia. "Our system is old. So we want to learn new plays and techniques and philosophies." Thus far, the Mexico coaches have been impressed with what they've seen. "THE professionalism of all the people here, the creativity and all the facts we learn and see have been impressive," said Alonso. "The players here are so big,"said Garcia. "We don't have that. Here they're so much bigger and faster." Not only do the Mexico coaches have to work with smaller and slower athletes than at Michigan, they also have to compete for players with the sport of soccer. But despite Mexico's craze for soccer, Garcia said there is no problem setting the country's youth to play football. "FOOTBALL in Mexico is very popular," said Garcia. "We have two conferences with 20 teams in all and we have a lot of boys playing. Our team has 80 players. It's not difficult because people like football and we have American football games on TV." Although his team typically plays before 15,000-20,000 fans during home games, Garcia said that he is not that, surprised or overcome with awe when he watches a Michigan game on televison and sees 105,000 fans in the stands. "In the last game of the season in our country, there were 90,000 people;'he said. "It's like the national champion- ship." WHILE BIG crowds aren't that thrilling a concept to Schembechler's guests, the projects benefits of this week's clinic do have Garcia excited. "This will help us very much," said Garcia, noting that he and the rest of the coaching staff are only entering their second season at the University of Mexico. The team finished with a 5-3 record last year. "We are changing now and we have much problems about mentality and techniques. We think we're learning from the best in the USA. We'll try to apply that to our team." And will Mexico use this new-found information to someday return to Ann Arbor and defeat Schembechler's squad? "That's impossible," said Gar- cia with a broad grin on his face. "We wouldn't have any chance." - U CClassic savings Detroit Pistons' guard Walker Russell watches Boston's Robert Parish soar over head for a slam in yesterday's NBA action at the Pontiac Silverdome. See story, Page 7. y Vs See It' By LARR YMISHKIN Want to have fun?... .read the sports page W HEN YOU PICK up the paper in the morning during the summer, what is the first section you turn to? Front page? Horoscopes? Sports? Comics? (Don't be embarrassed, I read Dondi every day.) Well, the only two sections it would seem anyone should care about are the sports-and weather. Explaining the second half of that combination will be easy. You turn to the weather to see if it will be raining or not. The sports section, however, will provide you with all of the relevant in- formation you need to know to live an enjoyable life. In fact, unless we've just declared war with another country, there's no reason to look at any other section of the paper. By now, all you non-sports fans must be thinking I'm a nut and this is just another example of "irresponsible journalism." Now before you all run out with a new set of petitions, give me a chance to explain myself. What do you read on the front page of a paper? Well, there's usually a story about our spiraling inflation or staggering level of unemployment, some ridiculous racial flare-up like the recent Chicago mayors election in which two grown men have acted like children for three weeks, or the idiocy of two countries fighting over the citizenship of a 19-year-old girl. (The fact that she is a tennis player is a coincidence.) Sure we should all be concerned about what's going on in our world, but we're also entitled to have some fun with our lives. With summer vacation coming up and the recent start of a new baseball season (and I don't care what anyone says, baseball is still THE national pastime), we should all give ourselves a vacation from this daily barrage of bad news and concentrate on some funnews for a change. "But what about Soviet arms buildup?" someone is bound to argue. "We have to be concerned about that." Forget about the Soviets and let those guys in Washington earn their living for a change. After all, what would you rather sit around worrying about? Who has more bombs or who is going to win the World Series? (Chicago Cubs fans excluded). After all, suppose the damn bombs drop. Then you'll never have anything to worry about again. At least if your team is in the pennant race you have something legitimate to worry about. And if they lose, there's always next year. Participating in, and following, sports has to be one of the most sensible and healthy endeavors a person can participate in. All people have a natural competitive nature in them, so isn't it more practical to use up that com- petitiveness by trying to beat your friend in tennis or in predicting the out- come of the Rangers-Islanders Stanley Cup playoff series than to become emotionally involved in that silly election? Who cares about that damn elec- tion anyway. Republican or Democrat, black or white, it doesn't matter. You can't trust any of them anyway. If I'm going to be lied to, I would rather it be by Sparky Anderson telling me what his starting lineup is going to be than by Reagan telling me the Soviets have more nuclear warheads than we do. See, the whole key to my argument lies in a very basic principle: You only live once and so you have to have fun with your life. Fun is going to a baseball game, playing frisbee or jogging. Fun is not counting nuclear bom- bs, reading about murders, or worrying about the price of crude oil. Now my whole argument becomes very simple to understand. Our goal in life should be to have fun. Sports are fun. Front page stories are not. So what should you do? I got it, read the sports page! My advice to you for the summer is this. Read the sports page and have fun. If some incurable worrier of nasty events should come up to you and tell you that the United States just decided to grant political asylum to a Russian window washer and the Soviet Union is going to cancel discussion with us on land-based missiles, just answer him the way my roommate would, "Ain't nobody care." If you don't agree with this column please feel free to send in your letters- to-the-editor. It won't matter to me though because they don't print those let- ters on the sports page. I-6 on ALL Pro-Arte! Get 10% off all regular priced Pro-Arte classical albums and cassettes in stock, plus special sale prices on these featured recordings. 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