Page 10 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, March 25, 1986

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DePorres doniinates
for Class C crown
By LIAM FLAHERTY dividends. By the end of the third
There was some surprise involved inquarter the Eagles had opened up a
saturday's Class C championship 12-point lead and coasted the rest of
game at Crisler Arena, but it had the way. Wooley, with 20, and Burton,
nothing to do with the final score. with 17, led the Eagles.
DePorres defeated Nouvel by a large RARE IS a high-school team so
margin as expected. clearly superior to its competition.
What came as a surprise was the With an average victory margin of
announcement by DePorres coach Ed twenty-eight points, this tournament
Rachal that he was leaving the school. was a case of men against boys in
Rachal gave no reason, saying he had Class C. Of course the man among
:ome to his decision around Christ- men is 6-7 senior, Willie Burton. Bur-
nas time. Whatever the reason, there ton, headed for Minnesota, has an im-
was no mystery in DePorres' pressive game, although not without
dominaton throughout the tour- some flaws.
nament. For his size Burton has an excellent
IN THE first half Nouvel stayed outside shot and strong ballhandling
:lose, with the Eagles up by only three skills. Yet, as big men who can drib-
at halftime. This was due largely to ble are wont to do, Burton puts the
the inside work of Nouvel big men ball on the floor too much.
rom Haley and Mike Menzel. He is almost always quicker than
However, just before halftime, Men- the man covering him, so he drools at
zel went down with a leg injury. the thought of doing an Isiah Thomas
Although he would return briefly in crossover dribble move to the basket.
the second half, Nouvel's already dim Unfortunately his success rate is too
hopes seemed barely flickering. close to a baseball average to warrant
Meanwhile, reserve guard Chris the number of times he attempts it.
Wooley was keeping DePorres in the Still, he will cause the Wolverines
lead with 10-15 foot jumpers. Wooley headaches for years to come.
had 10 points at the half, and star As for the rest of the Eagles they
teammate Willie Burton had eight. are all great athletes, reminiscent of
DePorres opened the second half the great Georgetown teams of past
pressing, and it paid immediate years. Their championship run was
numbing.

By JIM LANTOS
A sports club with ambition. That's
the best definition of the University's
Water Polo Club.
Eight years ago, the University
decided to drop water polo from its
list of varsity sports. But the players
were not content to let their sport
disappear. They started the Club
team, and water polo at Michigan was
rescued.
THE LOSS OF varsity status did
some irreparable damage to the
team. It had no coach, no organizat-
ion, and no recruits. Funding became
virtually nonexistent.
Despite the major setback to their
sport, Michigan's polo enthusiasts
persevered. The Club team has
remained competitive in the Big Ten
throughout its history.
Lots of hard work paid off when the
Michigan Eggbeaters fininshed the
1985 season with a 14-6 record. After
winning several smaller tournaments
around the country, Michigan put in
impressive performances at three
bigger competitons. The club took
second place honors at Ohio State's
Big Ten Invitational. They then tur-
ned in a repeat performance at the
Big Ten Champinships, losing only to
Indiana. At the Midwestern Cham-
pionships, Michigan placed third out
of eight teams.
VARIOUS FACTORS produced
such an impressive season. This fall
saw the addition of several talented
freshmen to the team's roster.
Combined with the strength of
older, more experienced players, the
newcomers freshened the club's
playing ability.
The rookies brought more than

playing potential to the team. They
brought a burst of enthusiasm.
Senior players, among them Captain
Mike Hsi and Club President Scott
Cottingham , channeled this energy
into organization.
PAUL FAIRMAN, an alumnus of
the University who earned his varsity
letter in Michigan's swimming pools,
was elected to coach this year's team.
He is one of the founders of the Water
Polo Club.

The Club has grown rapidly over the
past few years. Cottingham, a senior
English major at the Universtiy, is
president of the club: During the four
years he has played, "There's been a
steady improvement," he said.
"We've got a lot of new players and
fresh talent combined with older,
more experienced players. With Paul
as our coach, we can use that talent
and experience."
But what's going to happen when
the seniors leave? "As for the future,
it's uncertain," admits Cottingham.
"U of M is building a fifty-meter pool.
After that's done, Urbanchek (the
men's swim team coach) wants his
swimmers to start playing polo in the
fall. That would mean varsity
status."
VARSITY STATUS, however, is
a mixed blessing. It means
more money, professional coaching,
and strong competitive swimmers.
But the older players who aren't
students anymore and the rookie ball-
handlers will suffer.
"A lot of teams have no place for
less experienced players. Club sports
here at Michigan offer that place.
They do that very well," said Cot-
tingham, who is firm in his praise of the
University's recreational sports
program.

But water-polo isn't just
recreational. It's a competitive
grueling sport. And there needs to be a
place for the gifted player as well as
the less experienced competitor. Cot-
tingham predicts,"I see two teams in
the future - a varsity team and the
sports club. We're here as a com-
petitive team, but more importantly
we're here to make our sport ac-
cessible to all who are enthusiastic and
dedicated. We're here to have fun."
As a sports club, the water polo
team welcomes anyone who wants to
play. Members range from freshmen
to older, working people. A group of
talented swimmers, anything from
law students to engineers to auto
mechanics during the day, these
young men and women have one thing
in common - their love of the sport.
Most are students at the University;
several are native Ann Arborites.
Unlike competitive swimming,
water polo is not only for the young,
the quick, the strong. "It takes years
of practice to make a good polo player,"
maintains Fairman.
He gestures toward the splashing
arms. "All these freshmen you see
now? They'll be good if they play for
one year here. They'll be great if they
play for four."

Water Polo Club makes waves

Under Fairman's guidance, prac-
tices became grueling workouts. Two
or three thousand yards (80 to 120
lengths of the twenty-five yard pool)
of sprints are followed by a little ball
passing and some shooting drills.
Practices usually end with about a
half-hour of scrimmaging, which can
be rough.
The polo players have become
serious about fundraising as well as
practicing. "We're operating out of
our own pockets. The University
gives us $900.00 a year, and we're
competing with teams that are on a
5,000 to 10,000 dollar budget," ex-
plains Fairman.
THE CLUB has sent out letters to
businesses, parents and old . polo
players in search of sponsorship. A
fundraising party this fall brought in a
few dollars, as did an all-night rental
of Rick's American Cafe.

Netters tripped up at
Rice Invitational

I I-- - -


From staff reports
Special to the Daily
HOUSTON, Texas - The men's
tennis team travelled to Houston this
weekend for an unsuccessful showing
in the Rice Invitational individual
tournament. The Wolverines par-
ticiapted in seven singles and three
doubles matches.
Jim Sharton lost 1-6, 3-6 to Paul
Coscielski of Texas, at the first singles
slot.
At second singles, Dan Goldberg

of Trinity College, 3-6, 5-7. Greg Sailla
of Long Beach State defeated Ed Filer
1-6, 1-6, at third singles, and Brent
Parker of Trinity College put away
John Royer, 6-1, 6-1.
Jon Morris, after beating Chris
Mayer of Georgia Tech in three sets 3-
6, 6-3, 6-2, went on to lose to Todd Kors
of Rice University 3-6, 5-7 at fifth
singles. Brad Koontz split sets with
Fred Thome of Texas, but couldn't
hold on in the final set and went down,

Women tumblers take
sixth in Big Tens

was defeated by Grayson Underwood 6-3, 3-6, 5-7.

CORRECTION:
PRYOR ENTREPRENEURIAL AWARD
Deadline for Contestants is
April 17th, not April 1st.
YOU STILL HAVE TIME!

By DOUGLAS VOLAN
A disappointed women's gym-
nastics team returned from the Big
Ten championships yesterday after
placing sixth out of a seven team field.
Powerhouse Ohio State finished first
for the fourth consecutive year,
edging out second place Minnesota,
181.8 to 181.35.
"It was disappointing," said coach
Dana Kempthorn. "I had expected to
hold on to fourth (Michigan finished
fourth last year). But OSU and Min-
nesota were just too tough."
The Wolverines also failed in the in-
dividual competition, as none of the

women placed in any of the events.
In spite of these shortcomings,
Kempthorn is eagerly looking for-
ward to next season already. "I have
a young team, there were six fresh-
men," she said. "I know that they will'
be better sophomores. Now, they
know what collegiate pressure is all
about. They'll have more experience
for next year."
Kempthorn was ambivalent about
the 1986 season. "We started off real
strong. The first two meets we did
very well. However, it was an unfor-
tunate year due to injuries.,"

I I

Tip of the Kap3
By Rick Kaplan
Loss of 25th man...
., rat-ties base ball
BOSTON: Asked waivers on Ed Jurak, infielder, for the
purpose of giving him his unconditional release.
T HE above item appeared in last Thursday's baseball transactions.
"Who's Ed Jurak?" you ask.
Jurak is a 28-year-old utility man with a lifetime batting average barely
higher than his weight. He has had a nondescript four-year career. Jurak
has been sent down 1-95 from Boston to Pawtucket, R.I., home of the Red
Sox' Triple A affiliate, so many times he probably can rattle off the name
of every exit on the 50-mile trip.
Jurak is well known in New England not for his bat, but for his glove.
several years ago, a rat got loose in the Fenway Park infield (possibly
an escapee from the Boston Garden) and nerd up the game. Jurak tiany
came to the rescue, scooping up the rodent with the first baseman's mitt
and depositing it in a dugout trash can.
The incident was one of the highlights of a typically mediocre Red Sox
season. The film clip of the play was seen on Boston television almost as
often as Doug Flutie's Miracle in Miami. Jurak became a cult hero, ear-
ning the nicknames "Rat Patrol" and "The Terminator."
Last week the Red Sox terminated Jurak's employment. With many
major league teams cutting back from 25- to 24-man rosters this spring,
other utility men and pinch hitters will receive their walking papers. The
owners may save a few bucks, but they are sacrificing an important and
unique part of the game.
The 25th man on a baseball roster is unlike any other player in sports.
In hockey, the only other sport with a roster of similar size, every non-
goalie is expected to contribute every game. In basketball, the last man
on the bench never matters. In football, the non-starters are counted on to
play special teams.
In baseball, the last man on the bench sits and waits. Often he will go
weeks at a time without an at-bat. When he gets his chance, it almost
always comes with men on base and the game on the line. He is taken out.
of the deep freeze and thrown in to the pressure cooker.
The final man on the roster may not appear to have an important job,
but over the run of a baseball season, he becomes the most important. On
teams with similar starting lineups and pitching staffs, a pinch hitter who
wins two or three games a year can put a club over the top.
Ask Earl Weaver. He had never had the best starting nine, but he had
been successful because of his deep bench. Weaver always has a John
Lowenstein or a Terry Crowley to bring in to provide a clutch hit. The
Red Sox had Jurak. Guess which team has won more pennants?
With the pennant on the line last year, Toronto blew a 3-1 lead to Kansas
City in the American League playoffs. The Blue Jays, a talented team,
had a glaring weakness at the end of their bench. Toronto was forced to
keep Manny Lee and. Lou Thornton, two Class A players, on its major
league roster due to a compensation draft loophole.
While the Blue Jays could not afford to go deeply into their bench, the
Royals could trot out veterans like Dane Iorg, who became a post-season
hero.
Some of the heroics of the sport will be lost to the 24-man roster. After
all, what's more exciting than a pinch-hit home run in the bottom of the
ninth?
The Red Sox will lose Jurak. No big deal. But if other teams lose impor-
tant role players just to save one man's salary, it's a big deal. Without the
25th man, some of the fun of baseball will vanish.
Rats.

'
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14

FAMOUS LAST WORDS
FROM FRIENDS TO FRIENDS.
"Are you OK to drive?"
"Whats afew beers?"
"Did you have too much to drink?"
"I'm perfectly fine."
"Are you in any shape to drive?"
"I've never felt better"
"I think you've had afew too many."
"You kiddin, I can drive
with my eyes closed."
"You've had too much to drink,


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