4
Baseball
vs. Bowling Green
Today, 3 p.m.
Ray Fisher Stadium
SPORTS
Softball
vs. Wayne State
Tomorrow, 3 p.m.
Varsity Diamond
The Michigan Daily
Mike
Gill
Where is the sacred game going?
Wade Boggs and Margo's sex life, Steve Garvey
breeding like a triple crown winner, and Pete Rose
putting his legendary career in jeopardy. Baseball has
its problems.
Added to those is the story developing right here
about Bud Middaugh and his Michigan baseball team.
It hits hard, real hard, like one of those suction cup
arrows which lands right in the middle of one's
forehead.
This is Michigan, son.
Who hasn't heard that line before? These things
aren't supposed to happen at Michigan. Michigan and
Northwestern are the only Big Ten schools that have
never had an athletic team sanctioned by the conference
or the NCAA. But now, a huge cloud of dust sprawls
around the program as the Big Ten investigates 28
instances of alleged improprieties in recruiting and
other practices.
There are plenty of questions being asked and as
many rumors surrounding the purported activities as
there are kernels on a cob of corn. The facts have yet
to be defined - yet something must be happening if
Middaugh's fellow colleagues from Ohio State,
Michigan State, Iowa, and Illinois have asked the Big
Ten to investigate.
Middaugh has enjoyed quite a successful stay at
Michigan. This season he will be attempting to
capture his seventh Big Ten title in ten years as coach.
The numbers are of legendary proportion.
Yet, now, if these allegations become fact, you just
want to say: "Who the hell cares?"
Tuesday, March 28, 1989
Page 10
A
Sports problems can
hit home at Michigan
If the program is dragged into the ground due to
possible illegal misdoing involving recruiting, it
black-eyes an awful lot of people. It doesn't just stop
at the head coach, or any other misdoer of action.
It affects every single player who has ever walked
through the Michigan baseball program. They are
suspected of wrongdoing, if not immediately
convicted, just by association. Jim Abbott, Chris
Sabo, Barry Larkin to name of few, will have to dust
off their uniform.
It also affects you, whether or not you are a sports
fan, or supporter of Michigan athletics. While the
University may be well-known for its strong pursuit
of academic excellence, you don't see that every
Saturday afternoon on television. Many people form
their image of a school by their sports teams.
Former Athletic Director Don Canham and current
AD and football coach Bo Schembechler have built the
athletic program to signify one of extreme honesty.
You don't embarrass the program. Notice that Bill
Frieder no longer resides in Ann Arbor.
Middaugh is in hot water to say the least, pending
the outcome of the investigation.
He definitely needs to answer to his players. They
deserve better. A coach sets the example. More takes
place in a locker room than mapping out x's and o's,
or how to lay down the perfect suicide squeeze.
Each team is told: "You represent Michigan
athletics. Represent them well." When a player is in
public they have extreme consciousness of this fact.
Well, Middaugh also represents 'M' athletics.
And you have to wonder if he deserves to be.
Steve
Blonder
RI-a~ T~
2 I Yes, real basketball
__ fans exist in Michigan
cplunuw runuclao
F
For Saturday's game against
Virginia, Rupp Arena was jammed
with Michigan supporters.
Everywhere you turned, be it outside
the arena before the game, or inside
Rupp's corridors, maize and blue
was the norm.
The crowd did not resemble the
likes of any home crowd for a
Michigan basketball game this
season. This crowd actually cheered,
hooted, and hollered in support of
the Wolverines, who looked like
they could have beaten Virginia
blindfolded.
My question is simple - Why
do fans have to drive 325 miles to a
town better known for horses than
Wolverines to get excited over a
basketball game?
Tickets for the weekend cost $18
a game, as opposed to the home
price of $10.
All season long, Crisler Arena
crowds could best be compared to the
inhabitants of a county morgue, and
not followers of a top five basketball
program. For half the games, the
crowds couldn't even make it to
Crisler on time.
When the fans did show up, the
only times they displayed emotion
was when ex-coach Bill Frieder was
announced, and that response was
not exactly positive.
The loudest home crowd of the
season was against Iowa, when most
students were off enjoying spring
break.
But this weekend was different.
Many hundreds of students made
the trip to Lexington, and the result
was obvious. Students didn't sit on
their hands and wait to be invited to
cheer like they do at home, nor did
they show up after the 1:58 starting
time.
The Michigan fans at the game,
most of whom were students, began
congregating in the streets and local
drinking establishments around
Rupp at 8:30 a.m. It was like the
game was being played in Ann
Arbor, and not some foreign state.
Students didn't care where they
were sitting, people were just glad to
get in and watch Michigan handle
the Cavaliers.
Virginia fans didn't even get
excited when their cheerleaders tried
to get a "Go Virginia" chant going.
It was like the two schools' fans had
switched roles.
But why don't the fans make a
ruckus at home?
Many students say the lack of a
clearly defined student section is the
cause.
Frieder agreed, even going so far
at one press conference to suggest,
"making the old folks go sit at the
top," and replacing the blue section
with benches which students could
fill on a first come, first serve basis.
But there wasn't a clearly defined
student section in Lexington, and
most students were sitting in the
nose-bleed section of the balcony.
Michigan's weak home schedule
doesn't justify the lack of response
either.
This year, one of the other Final
Four teams, and three other NCAA
tournament teams, none of whom
were eliminated in the first round,
visited Crisler.
But judging by the reaction of the
home folk, the visitors might as
well have been Northwestern every
game.
Michigan fans have now shown
that they understand a home court is
supposed to be an advantage.
Or else they are suggesting
Michigan reschedule its home
basketball games in Kentucky.
ALL YOU CAN EAT ALL YOU CAN EAT
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Tuesday& DINNER
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$3.75 $4.50
6-9 5-9
CORNER OF STATE AND HILL
994-4040
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4
_a
The LSA Student Government
Speaker Series Presents:
Sponsored by The Maduigan Student Ammbiy
Dr. Arthur
Schlesi nger
Former Advisor to President John F.
Kennedy, Pulitzer Prize Winner
Wednesday, March 29
8:00 pm - Power Center
A damThe Schef's Specialty
There they were, clustered together in front of the
ticket office on State Street, between Yost Ice Arena
and the Athletic Department, like starving children
waiting in a bread line. Michigan basketball fans
waiting for their meal ticket to Seattle's Final Four.
The line began to form after Saturday's win over
Virginia. The line grew and grew and then some.
But despite the size of the group, and the stakes
being so high, there were no security guards stationed.
There were no sawhorses to make sure people stayed in
a line. There was nothing to help control the potential
mess.
Isn't this Michigan? A school that supposedly can
afford anything. The least they could have done was
buy turnomatic machine from a bakery, where each
student would take a number and be served accordingly.
Someone should have informed the athletic
department that eleven people were killed in Cincinnati
during 1978 in a mad rush for Who concert tickets?
So when one door to the building opened at 7 a.m.
Monday morning, it isn't hard to imagine what
happened. Students all crammed into the room, as if
only two or three would be lucky enough to get
tickets.
People who didn't even sleep out for tickets snuck
in the side door.
People towards the back of the line cropped up and
powered their way into the office.
All while an older man sat at the door and futilely
urged students to relax, that their would be tickets for
everyone.
It did not matter. The room filled. The temperature
rose. Elbows flew. It would have been more
Athletic deparment
bungled ticket sales
comfortable to have been Salman Rushdie in a room
full of Iranians.
And pity the person who had to stand in front of the
guy who had been waiting all night and hadn't seen an
ounce of Aquafresh in hours.
An equivalent: the University saying, "OK, CRISP
is Wednesday morning. No scheduled times necessary.
No ropes needed to keep students in line. Just come on
down. You'll all get classes."
Can you imagine? Students would be throwing each
other to the ground like Sumo wrestlers to get the
classes they wanted. This was no different; upper and
lower level seats in the Kingdome were at stake.
Shame on the athletic department. They say the
situation will be handled differently next time. They
said the same thing last week after a ticket war for the
regional finals not nearly as bloody as yesterday's.
Look what happened.
And while we are at it, let's not forget the students
that waited on line solely to sell their tickets to
scalpers who could care less if Michigan wins the
tournament. If Bo found out who you were, he'd send
his offensive linemen after you.
After all, Michigan is allotted 2,000 tickets. With
those seats, it is the job of Michigan fans to make as
much noise as possible. Certainly the fans were
instrumental in Lexington this past weekend. Ask any
of the players.
Now when they take the floor this weekend, there'll
be less fans who have their faces painted. There won't be
as much maize and blue. And the new fans won't know
the words to the Victors either.
Look who choked this year.
A terrible way to start a wonderful week.
'-M' looks*
to down
Falcons
BY DAVID HYMAN
The Michigan baseball team (12-
4) looks to continue its seven-game
winning streak today at 3 p.m.,
when Bowling Green comes into
Ray Fisher Stadium.
Finishing their last week of play
before the Big Ten season, the
Wolverines are preparing for
Saturday's conference opener against
Northwestern.
Righthander Jason Pfaff (0-1) will
take the mound for the Wolverines
today. He is a newcomer and is
looking to break into the starting
rotation that currently includes lefty
Ross Powell and righthanders Mike
Grimes, Tim Lata and Jeff Tanderys.
"If they throw well, I'll get them
out early and if they're not (throwing
well), I'll let them throw a little
longer," Michigan coach Bud
Middaugh said referring to Pfaff, Kirt
Ojala and Russell Brock.
Ojala and Brock are expected to
start in tomorrow's twinbill against
Western Michigan and are also
looking to break into the rotation
with some solid pitching this week.
The Falcons are 8-2 after having
gone 6-2 on their spring trip,
earning coach Ed Platzer his 200th
career win.
Kelly Hochman has a .361
average and is looking to increase
his hitting streak to seven games and
nine in the last 11. Scott Schoemer
leads the Falcons in batting at .424
and has 9 RBIs.
4
Admission is Free
Take a long hard look
into your future...
On March 30th and 31st in the Michigan Union,
the interfraternity council will sponsor it's fifth annual
COMPUFAIR. This computer trade show is designed
to bring to the Ann Arbor community, the opportunity to
investigate the latest computer hardware and software.
If you are contemplating a purchase in the near future,
for components or an entire system, you owe it to yourself
to get the best possible products from the finest
in computer manufacturing.
COMPUFAIR 1989
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