Synchronized Swimming
Michigan Invitational
Saturday, 1 p.m.
CCRB

SPORTS

Men's Volleyball
vs. Ball State
Friday, 7:30 p.m.
CCRB
Page 9

"'The Michigan Daily
One

Thursday, January 19, 1989


of

a

kind: Sharples skates to the
beat of a different tune


"BY MIKE GILL
In Warren Sharples' first few
,weeks at Michigan, his teammatesj
learned what they were in for during
the next four years.
A missing-persons-report almost
had to be filed out on behalf of
Warren. But some will say that one of
those could be filed on him almost
everyday - because be's a goalie, and
goalies belong in left field.
The team was in the process of a
five-mile run in preparation for the
upcoming season. In came the first
runner. In came the second runner. In
came the last runner. But no Warren
Sharples. Ten minutes passed, then
twenty, then thirty. Warren Sharples;
was nowhere to be found.
He had made a wrong turn, and
never got back on track. "He wasl
unharmed and he hasn't been lost<
since," Rob Brown assuredly reported.
j BUT NOW, Sharples is on the
rightntrack, making save after save,-
turning up the heat, and leading the
Wolverine troops into battle. Last
weekend, the junior netminder allowed
only three goals to a high-scoring,
Bowling Green squad. In the first1
Wolverine sweep of the Falcons since!
1979-80, Sharples turned away 56
shots.
This weekend looks just as1
promising. Sharples has had two
shutouts in his career, both against
Ferris State, which heads to Yost for
a weekend set of games. It's a!
turnaround from what he termed a
disappointing first half of the season,
in which Sharples began alternating
time with first-year goaltender, Tim
Keough.t

"I was disappointed with my first
half. I just didn't have the consistency
which was needed. I have to make up
for it in the second half."
So far, it's being made up. He was
named All-Tournament Goaltender in
the Great Lakes Invitational, which
Michigan won. Winning the GLI is
one of Sharples' proudest moments
since it was a goal of his when he
arrived at Michigan. Another is
receiving the Carl Isaacson Award last
year, given to the top student-athlete
on the team.
'He has a normal state, and
a weird state, and a flaky
state. You only see the
normal. state when he's
sleeping or before bedtime,
when he's wound down.'
-Teammate Randy Kwong
But Warren Sharples is a
goaltender. And by definition,
goaltenders are a breed by themselves.
As one player put it, "Who would be
crazy enough to stand still with a
puck flying straight at you?"
GOALIES WOULD. So will
Warren Sharples. Is he a flake?
"Oh, definitely," teammate and
former roommate Randy Kwong said.
"He has a normal state, and a weird
state, and a flaky state. You only see
the normal state when he's sleeping
or before bedtime, when he's wound
down."

"Before bedtime Sharples engages
in a ritual, just like scratching the ice
in front of the net before each period.
With this ritual, you see that Sharples
is not always a flake, but rather a
quiet Canadian who relaxes and makes
sure to give thanks.
Sharples washes up, goes to his
room, and locks his door - for
privacy and so that no practical jokes
will be pulled during the nighttime
hours.
THEN HE spends 10-15 minutes
reading the Bible while listening to
classical music (Mozart is his
favorite). Blinders are placed over his
eyes, the lights turned out, and
prayers are said. Then, it's time for
sleep.
"I don't go to church a whole lot,
but I find it's important to read the
Bible," Sharples said. "I know I got
this far because God gave it to me -
I know I couldn't have done it
myself."
But blinders? While sleeping?
"I got them on an airplane. It puts;
pressure on the eyes. If you have
trouble sleeping or want to nap,
they're really good.";
When he's ready to take the ice,,
Sharples is everything but sleepy.,
Call it intense. Call it determined.
Like a madman. Like an animal. Like,
a...
"He's like an ornery old lady,"
Mike Moes said. "He's so sensitive to
everything around. He's so sensed up;
and ready to go."
ADDED BROWN: "You feel
his determination and leadership goI
around the locker room. He's outI
there to win."

ROBIN LOZNAK/DoIIy

Michigan goalie, Warren Sharples, leads the team in off-the-rink antics.

Forward Ryan Pardoski played Calgary Flames. Later he would like
against Sharples before they both left to become involved in coaching. ,
Calgary for Ann Arbor. The two Sooner or later, hockey will end1
exchange Christmas presents each and Sharples recognizes this fact. "I
year and it was Pardoski who Sharples have high goals. I hope I'll know
called when seeking advice on whether when to hang up the skates and get on
or not to come to Michigan. with real life. I've been in a bubble
"He's got to be one of the most for years, and one day, I'm going to
dedicated people I've met," Pardoski have to poke it. But I'll tell you this,
said. "He takes everything upon I don't see the day when I look in the
himself, whether it's the game or mirror and don't see a hockey player."
school work. He puts a lot of time SHARPLES describes himself as
in." a "happy-go-lucky guy. Nothing
When Sharples leaves Michigan he much bothers me. There's no point of
hopes to play for Team Canada and getting too upset about anything."
have a shot at the Olympics. He also _ So as teammates point out, it
has a shot at professional hockey, didn't bother him too much when he
being a ninth-round draft choice of the accidently blew up a tub of margarine

in the microwave, and later a steak.
Another time he was caught just
before he could put a metal pot into
it. "Those things are just too advanced
for me I guess," he joked.
A goalie deeds to be special.
Maybe the goalie will blow, up
some margarine. Maybe wear blinders
to bed. Maybe be a good student-
athlete, with a firm outlook on life
and a courteous personality. Maybe
play the game with great dedication
and resolve. Maybe play like hell
while in goal.
And you know what?
Michigan's got a pretty special
goalie in Warren Sharples.


K..
(1 }

THE SPORTING VIEWS

Time for NHL to
clean up its act

BY JONATHAN SAMNICK
Now that the National Hockey
League has reached its halfway
point, it seems like a good time to
evaluate an anything but normal
season.
First of all, let's just say that
the NHL has problems, especially
public relations-wise. Before this
season even started the NHL
switched its cable television rights
from ESPN to Sports Channel
America. They went from national
television to regional exposure just
because of a few dollars.
As a result, fans living in an
area withoutt Sports Channel will
be unable to watch, the playoffs,
All-Star game, or any other hockey-
related event. Penalty: Two minutes
for Greed.
IN AUGUST, the NHL held
its own version of insider trading
and The Home Shopping Network.
The Los Angeles Kings purchased
hockey's and Canada's most prized
possession in Wayne Gretzky.
The Kings became the Traveling
Gretzkys and gave credence to the
phrase "if you can't beat 'em, buy
'em." Canada almost declared war
and Edmontonians almost killed
team owner Peter Pocklington.
Penalty: Double minor, two
minutes for stupidity and two for
stealing.
Perhaps the NHL's greatest
fault, however, has been the num-
ber of player suspensions this year
as a result of violence.
WHILE SOME say violence
is a part of the game, what has
gone on this year is certainly not.
The league has issued 10
suspensions this season. Maybe
F hockey players are getting jealous
of the attention given to those in
the World Wrestling Federation.
Someone once said, "Ballet is a
contact sport, football is a collision
sport." Hockey must be the
contusion sport.
The worst of that violence came
. earlier this year when Philadelphia
Flyer forward Rick Tocchet jumped
A off the top rope and body slammed
New York Islander rookie Dean
Chynoweth and proceeded to eye-
gouge him. Okay Rick, deliberate

you'd think that players and coaches
would get the idea, but they don't,
and really why should they? These
suspensions are irrelevant because
they occur during the regular
season, and everybody knows that
those games don't matter.
CRITICS have been trying to
make the NHL game more wide
open by proposing each team have
five players on the ice instead of
six, making penalties three minutes
instead of two, and finally, by
ejecting any player who drops his
gloves. These suggestions, how-
ever, change the nature of the game.
What the NHL needs to do to
curb violence is change the playoff
format. Currently, 16 out of 21
teams make the playoffs.
If John Zeigler, the NHL's
absentee commissioner, and the
board of directors want to make
suspensions mean more, then they
have to make the games missed
mean more.
They can do this by allowing
fewer teams to make the playoffs.
Players would think twice about
head-butting and instead, play
hockey as it should be played.
In addition, fans would have
new-found interest in the regular
season and this would generate
more revenue for the owners.
Zeigler may have to cut his
vacations in St. Tropez short, but
the playoffs would run only one
month instead of three months. The

money would still remain the same
because of regular season
attendance.
HOCKEY is the fastest paced
game in the world. It is also the
second most popular, behind soccer.
The NHL has managed to harness
this excitement so that most
Americans only watch hockey every
four years in the Olympics.
The NHL is also blessed with
two superstars in centers Wayne
Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.
Unfortunately, they are head and
shoulders above the rest of the
players and the only two
personalities in the game. The NHL
doesn't have any Ickeys, Boomers,
or Refrigerators. The true hockey
fan can only name maybe three
owners and four Hartford Whalers.
Hockey will never compete
with football or baseball to be our
national pastime, as it is in Canada
because there is still a large
untapped market out there that the
NHL is not reaching.
There are no drug problems to
speak of, no out of control salaries,
just the most exciting sport around
that is not accessible to the public
because of the NHL's bowing to
the power of the almighty dollar.
The first step towards public
acceptance is for the NHL to clean
itself up and stop looking for
potential troublemakers who just
know how to skate and how to
fight.

Associoted Press
New Jersey Devil, Jim Korn, exchanges punches with Philadelphia Flyer, Craig Berube.
Korn is one of ten players already suspended this season in the National Hockey League fQr
fighting. Events such as this have caused the league to be criticized for the unnecessary
violence associated with the NHL.

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