,I Men's Tennis vs. Indiana Saturday, 1 p.m. Track/Tennis Building SPORTS Softball vs. Ohio State Friday, 3 p.m. Varsity Diamond The Michigan Daily Thursday, April 6, 1989 Richarda Eisen Pinch me. For some reason, there's this creepy feeling that somebody's going to say this is all a dream. Michigan: NCAA Basketball Champions. This must be a hallucination. Rumeal Robinson's reverse power slam was just a holo- gram. Glen Rice's amazingly accurate rainbow jumpers never really occured. Sean "Trigger" Higgins really never hit that shot against Illinois. Right? Pinch me. Can't Michigan play one more game? Can't I watch Rice sting one more three pointer? Please? THIS WHOLE dream sequence of events began three weeks ago when Bill Frieder bolted for Arizona State. Frieder had the unmitigated gall to leave the Wolverines in shambles, just days after the team got shallacked by Illinois. It still hasn't sunk in that Frieder will never be coming back. Pinch me. It's surreal. With one Bo Schembechler statement, Frieder went from a Michigan man, with years of Wolverine experience, to an Arizona State man. Snip. Sorry, Bill. You're out of the Michigan will. Most of the student body seemingly wished that Frieder would leave, while knowing in the back of their heads that it would probably never happen. BUT this is Michigan, son. Nothing is im- possible here. Case in point - the Wolverine basketball team. National Champions. Pinch me. Who in their right minds thought that Michigan had a feasible chance of winning the whole shooting match? National title Page 10 Surprise, surprise - a dream to remember But then came interim coach Steve Fisher, "a Michigan man." Who in the world knew who Steve Fisher was? Oh, yeah. Wait! Didn't he sing "Tiny Bubbles?" No, that was Englebert Humperdink. Or was that Gene Keady? No. Fisher was the assistant coach and as coach, he accomplished the impossible. Plain and simple. Interestingly enough, the best facet of Fisher's feat was not his calmness on the sidelines. Nor was it his change in game plan, which included finally giving the gifted Terry Mills the rock. It was his class. At no time during the tourney did Fisher com- plain about not getting the Michigan job per- manently. His focus was always the tournament. FISHER could have made mention after he reached the Final Four what a great coaching job he was doing. But he never did. Had he said that, he could have derailed the whole national cham- pionship drive. He always cast the spotlight on his team, rather than himself. And because of that, Michigan won the tournament. Win the tournament? Did this really happen? Are we going to hear about the Michigan basketball team for the next year? You bet. Robinson canned them both, baby. Mark Hughes, Loy Vaught and Mike Griffin all played amazing games. Higgins continued his ascension toward Wolverine stardom. And Michigan won. And for the first time in my life, I actually turned the volume on my television up when Brent Musberger talked. Pinch me. I'll never forget this tournament for as long as I live. Softball loses pair to CMU BY JONATHAN SAMNICK In a mild surprise on Tuesday, the Michigan softball team lost a doubleheader to Central Michigan University, losing the opener 1-0 and the nightcap, 5-2. The Wolverines, who entered the game with an 18-6 record, were swept by a Chippewa team, which began the day at 10-10. Instead of suffering from over- confidence, Michigan might have been intimidated by a club, who head coach Carol Hutchins said, "has beaten us more times than any school in this state." In the first game, CMU pit- cher Donna Schultz continued her string by allowing only one earned run in her last twenty-three innings. The Wolverines were unable to advance a player past second base, while Central advan- ced one player as far as third, but took advantage of it, scoring her on a squeeze play to defeat Mich- igan pitcher Andrea Nelson for only her second loss of the year. The Wolverines' hoped to rebound with Jenny Allard on the mound in the second game, but she would suffer her fifth loss of the season against five victories. With Michigan trailing 5-2 in the top of the sixth inning and the bases loaded, the rain came and never let up. 14 Nelson F "Bonnie Tholl was up and I was looking very optimistic," coach Hutchins said. "I thought we had a good chance to win. It's a shame." "This is our biggest rivalry," Hutchins continued. "They got very fired up after that first win. We look at it as a minor set- back." While the Wolverines played well defensively, they struggled at the plate. The losses will cer- tainly drop them in the national polls, a fact that doesn't seem to bother coach Hutchins. "I don't care about that. The only thing that matters is the phone call we get on May 15 (when the top 20 teams are invited by the NCAA committee for a chance to win softball's World Series.)" 7ik Associated Press Rumeal Robinson, who made the two free throws that beat Seton Hall 80-79 in overtime Monday night, celebrates the win by jumping into the arms of tournament MVP Glen Rice. r - 0 Steve Blonder Fisher's fortune finishes Frieder's follies forever 4' .-r '1 .0 *ders oder Driving to the Kingdome Monday night, I felt sorry for Bill Frieder. He looked awful when I visited him in his hotel room, Monday, and he said his only wish was to go to the arena and peacefully watch "his" team play. But by the time I arrived at the Kingdome, my compassion for Frieder's plight had disappeared. Sitting with Kirk Taylor and Eric Riley before the game, I learned that Frieder had not even talked to these two players and several others after he bolted for Arizona State. These two received championship rings Monday night. Where is Frieder's ring? I LEARNED the players really are glad to see Frieder gone, and that his relationship with the team he recruited isn't as rosy as he likes to portray. Sorry, but Frieder can't attribute the players' disgust to leading ques- William Monroe preser The 6th Annual M "The Original Saturday, Al 7-9 p At the Trott The Trotter House Minority Festival ha provides an opportunity for ethnic grou This year's theme: "The Original Sym tradition of celebrating our diversity. In performing talents of students, the Tro presented to the student group who h to Trotter House and the minority com part of the festival, and will be continu tions, like he suggested. Like some of the athletes he recruits, I guess I had the wool pulled over my eyes by a veteran. I knew Frieder had told his players not to talk to me because I ask too many questions, and didn't just take his word as Gospel. Yes, coach, that was me you introduced to your secretary on Media Day as "the Daily reporter you'll learn to hate." So why did Frieder invite me to his hotel room in Atlanta and Seattle? Was it to tell me about Michigan and the school's fine tradition? Or was it to give me some of his double-talk. Since Frieder left, interim coach Steve Fisher has exuded class with his handling of the team. His team. AFTER the victory over Vir- ginia, Fisher instructed the team to "display as much class off the court as they did on the basketball court." Trotter House nts... Minority Festival Symphony" pril 8, 1989 .m. ter House as been an annual event which ups to share their cultural richness. nphony"plans to continue in the n addition to highlighting the atter House Award will be as made noteworthy contributions munity. Incidentally, this is a new ed in the future. Something which was lacking from the bench for most of the season. At each press conference, Fisher has been honest with the media and that has earned him respect. Fisher's players also hold him in high regard because he has sat down with each, and helped the players to fully understand their role on the team. The result - an NCAA championship. Frieder said Fisher hasn't been publicly critical of his leaving because Fisher understands how to handle "those type" of questions whereas "the players don't." Somehow I disagree. The players know exactly what they are saying. Fisher has done everything right in his quest to have the interim removed from his title. That is, as long as Fisher shuns his overused statement, "everything is business as usual," and forces Frieder to become a permanent fixture of the past, and not a remnant in the future. 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