Page 10- The Michigan Daily - Friday, February 3, 1989
NT PRESIDENT TALKS ON SPORTS
Giamatti
speaks
ROIN LOZNAK/Daily
First-year player Ted Kramer slides in for a score against Ferris State last weekend. The
Wolverines hopes to Add on to their eight-game win streak this weekend against Western
Michigan.
BY ANDREW GOTTESMAN
To some he is an intellectual; for
others he is simply a baseball fan.
But all who heard A. Bartlett
Giamatti speak this week now know
he is both.
Giamatti, President of the
National League and future
Commissioner of Baseball, spoke
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday,
as part of the William W. Cook Lec-
tures on American Institutions. A
packed Hutchins Hall auditorium
listened to the talks, titled
"Americans and their Games."
"We thought that the subject of
the role of sports in American
culture would be something of
interest to the entire University
community," said Law School Dean
Lee C. Bollinger, who chairs the
committee in charge of the Cook
lectures. "We also knew that
Giamatti was a highly intelligent,
thoughtful, articulate person."
HE BEGAN the series on an
intellectual note, talking about the
role of leisure in America.
"In freely chosen leisure activities
more can be told of a culture or an
individual's condition than in tedious
work because leisure is freedom, our
most precious possession," he said.
He concluded Tuesday's lecture by
tying leisure in with childhood, a
time when most people learn about
sports. "Sports or games only
repeat, repeat and repeat our effort to
go back, back to a freedom we
cannot recall, except as a moment of
play in some garden now lost."
Giamatti focused his attention
Wednesday on the growing pressures
placed upon our athletes and how
sports are becoming increasingly
commercialized.
HE TOOK the blame off
athletes for many problems currently
plaguing the sports world. "Many of
the abuses, including the abuse of
drugs, or alcohol or steroids among
some college athletes or some pro-
fessional athletes stem from, I think,
the complete athleticization of life,"
he said.
In addition, Giamatti feels ath-
letes are being taught to think they
are above many rules of life. "It is
not the fault of the athletes that they
are given, at the earliest age they
show a special gift, the belief that
they have a special world," he said.
Giamatti summed up Wednesday
with a warning that sports will only
become increasingly money-oriented
in the future, "Unless those re-
sponsible for public pleasure in
public places realize that there is
nothing inherently magical about
their game. What is magical is the
experience sought by the players and
spectators through the game."
Without a doubt it was
Giamatti's third and final lecture,
yesterday, that was the most
inspiring for baseball fans.
Michigan football coach Bo
Schembechler introduced Giamatti,
and originally threatened to steal the
show. Schembechler joked with the
academic, saying, "This man has 19
honorary degrees, one of which is
from Notre Dame, which doesn't
mean a whole lot."
BO FINALLY surrendered the
floor to Giamatti, introducing him
as somebody who has "chosen this
position (commissioner) for the love
of the game."
And Giamatti's true and simple
love of baseball began to show in
his voice. "Baseball is grounded in
America in a way unique to our
games," he said. "Baseball is part of
America's plot, part of America's
underlying spirit."
The lecture included an example
of this special culture which
surrounds baseball. Giamatti de-
scribed the lobby of a St. Louis
hotel during the National League
playoffs in 1987, where everybody
was concerned only with baseball.
q
Bronco
busting
Icers look to stop Western
BY MIKE GILL
Never in the 1980's have the Wolverines won
eight in a row.
It's 1989. And it's Michigan coach Red
Berenson's last chance in the 80's to make a stand.
Time runs short. Only Western Michigan stands
between him, his team, and this feat.
Berenson pulled his gun and shot down Bowling
Green, after an early struggle. A week later, he did
the same to Ferris State. Last week, he strolled into
enemy territory - Ohio, no less - and again
returned unscratched and unharmed. Now, Western
stands in his path.
Michigan has put together six Central Collegiate
Hockey Association wins in a row, which is a first.
But now Berenson must look to the future and
further his goals as the team heads down the home
stretch to the playoffs.
"WE'VE BEEN on a little bit of a roll now,
but we can still play better hockey," Berenson said.
"We've had to rely on good goaltending at times.
We've missed scoring chances. As much as we're
playing the best hockey of the season, there is a lot
of room for improvement and we want to be our best
when the playoffs get here."
If this sounds strange, it should. Never did
Berenson have the opportunity to fret over having to
rely on good goaltending to win. Never before did he
have to worry about missed scoring opportunities,
because he had bigger problems to worry about.
Michigan, at least for now, has reached the nit-
pick stage. It's what comes with success.
On the other hand, a team which should be
experiencing success, has wallowed near the
basement of the CCHA this season. It's name:
Western Michigan. The Broncos, at 7-12-5 in the
CCHA, have been a major disappointment sinking
to seventh place, a point behind Ferris State and two
points ahead of Ohio State. In the pre-season CCHA
coaches poll, the Broncos received a vote for first
place, and were predicted to finish in third place.
"IT'S BEEN one of those years for them
because they had one of the best nuclei coming back
from last season," Berenson said. "They were highly
rated in the polls. I thought they'd be a tough team
this year, but who's to say they won't be before it's
all done?"
It's difficult to pinpoint where the Broncos were
thrown from their own horse. Recently, though, they
have been besieged with injuries. Last weekend the
Broncos, with six players out of the lineup, dropped
two games to last place Miami.
Of those who missed action last weekend, only
Jeff Green will definitely be out of the lineup against
the Wolverines with a fractured ankle. Brad Turner
should return to the Michigan lineup after missing
three weeks with a knee injury.
Michigan defenseman Alex Roberts points to off-
ice problems; as the cause for Western's woes.
"From what I heard, talking to some players on their
team, they don't have much team morale," Roberts
said. "There are a lot of cliques and they don't really
care about winning. They just want to hurt people."
The hurting starts tonight (7:30) at Yost and
again tomorrow in Kalamazoo.
"(This is) where the game is truly
told; told again and again," he said.
"Each time it is played and replayed,
the fable is refined and the nuances
are tarnished the color of old silver."
Like the fans he was describing,
Giamatti became entranced with the
subject. "All the cross-cutting, over-
lapping, salty, blunt, nostalgic,
sweet conversation was about only
one thing: Baseball."
Michigan looks to continue
win streak by sinking Iowa
I-
BY JODI LEICHTMAN
A check in the win column is not
the only thing the Michigan men's
swimming and diving team is aiming
for today in Iowa. They are out to
continue the 44-meet winning streak.
The NCAA has not kept records
on the longest winning streak ever,
but maybe they'll start if the
Wolverines can continue their do-
minance. The Wolverines' last loss
was in 1983 against Indiana.
But ,Iowa is out to stop the
Wolverine's dead in their tracks.
"We are definitely the under-dog,"
said Iowa swimming coach Glenn
Patton."Michigan is the best in the
Big Ten and perhaps the finest team
in the country. But we have upset on
our minds."
Michigan diver Rob Silverman
views the meet as "the biggest cut-
throat dual."
The dual against the ninth-ranked
Hawkeyes will be the Wolverines'
third consecutive dual meet against a
top ten team. Earlier this season,
Michigan defeated then second-ranked
Stanford and fourth-ranked Berkeley.
This will also be Michigan's third
consecutive meet on the road.
"There's no team I'd like to beat
better than Iowa," diver Lee Michaud
said. "Every year that I've been here,
they've had a real strong team and so
have we. It's come down between
them and us for the Big Tens.
"It's always been pumped up in
the press down there about how good
they are - how they're all fired up
that they want to beat us," Michaud
continued.
Head swim coach Jon Urbanchek
is showing a bit of concern toward
the dual meet. "If we come back alive
from Iowa, I'd be really pleased. I
could start concentrating on the
NCAAs and get these dual meets out
of the way."
6
Blue hopes to flip Gophers
BY MARK KATZ
Fresh off last weekend's best
score of the season, the women's
gymnastics team heads to the
University of Minnesota tomorrow
for a dual meet.
The team put together an overall
score of 180.55 points against Ohio
State last week, but coach Dana
Kempthorn still feels that her squad
has the potential to'reach scores in
the 182-183 range.
"As long as we have the strong,
healthy lineup, we are definitely
capable of improving on last week's
score," she said.
Kempthorn plans to start senior
Angela Williams and sophomore
Kristine Furlong against the
Gophers. Williams, who placed 18th
in last year's NCAA National All-
Around Championships should help
the Wolverines' obtain that goal.
In addition, sophomore Janna
Klepek returns to competition on the
balance beam after recovering from
an injury. Klepek only participated
on the bars last week, but will
compete in both the bars and beam
events at Minnesota.
Although Kempthorn expressed
disappointment with the way her
team started the season, she is very
optimistic about the team's chances
this weekend.
"We've had a slow start due to
some injuries," Kemp-thorn said. "I
felt like we were a little behind in
our routines, primarily because of
our lack of endurance. But we're
coming back since we're getting
more kids healthy."
Kempthorn made no concrete
predictions about the meet. "We're
just going for a good, consistent
performance.."
Weakened Wolverines
still ready for Indiana
BY ERIC LEMONT
This Saturday in Bloomington, the Indiana Hoosiers will provide the last
tune-up for the Michigan women's swim team before the Big Ten
championships. And coach Jim Richardson is more concerned about his
team than he is about Indiana's.
Fighting words?
No, Richardson is genuinely concerned because three-fourths of his
medley relay team - Susie Rabiah, Jennifer Eck and Molly Hegarty -
contracted the flu earlier this week and will not swim in the meet.
Nevertheless, Richardson said that he was "pleased with just about
everybody" when asked how the team was swimming.
Michigan has decreased its practice distances and is now at "race pace" as
it enters the speed phase of its season. While this has the Wolverines fit
physically for the upcoming Big Ten championships, Richardson is hoping
that the Wolverine's will have what it takes mentally.
"That kind of toughness can only be developed when your back is to the
wall. We haven't had any real close dual meets this year and that's O.K, but
it does have a tendency sometimes to breed some complacency," he said.
Richardson said his swimmers will just have to draw from past
experiences in order to swim their best.
For the Indiana meet, Richardson's main goal is to see some
aggressiveness in his swimmers even though the 4-6 Hoosiers ( 3-4 in the
Big Ten) are heavy underdogs.
Indiana's Anne Kiddoo and Caroline Teskey will give the Wolverines the
most competition. Kiddoo is the Hoosier's leader in the 50 through 200-yard
freestyle events, while Teskey holds several team season-best times in
backstroke and individual medley events.
Klepek
...on the beam again
LA.. Y wi
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