The Michigan Daily - Thursday, October 26, 1989 - Page 11
Family
Ties
Mallory stars in reunion episode
dally File Photo
Michigan field hockey All-American Sharon Cantor is eyeing a spot on the 1992 Olympic team. Cantor enters the
last three games of her collegiate career when the Wolverines take on Ohio State this Saturday.
Cantor spells trouble for 'M' foes
by Adam Benson
Daily Football Writer
Curt Mallory's dad is going to
come see his son play football for
Michigan this week for the first
time. You would think that Curt
would be excited to greet his father
before the Homecoming game and
that he would hoping to be a part of
a big play, one that would make
good ol Dad proud.
However, Curt's dad, Indiana
coach Bill Mallory, might not be so
eager to see his son perform too
well. For the Hoosier coach knows
that a loss to the Wolverines could
knock his team out of the Big Ten
title race.
The mixed feelings go both
ways.
"It's an odd situation," said Curt
who will be playing on the kickoff
team Saturday. "This is one week
I'm not looking forward to. This is a
big game for my father and his team,
and of course its a big game for me."
THE PRESSURE continues to
grow throughout the week, with
Curt going through days filled with
taunting from his teammates.
"Normally on the end of a work-
out sheet it will say something like
'Beat the Hawkeyes,"' Mallory said.
"Today, it said 'don't trust Curt
Mallory this week.' But it's all out
of fun, I know they're just kidding
around."
But Michigan coach Bo Schem-
bechler warned that "if we kick off,
there's going to be steam coming
out of his ears."
Defensive tackle Chris Hutch-
inson, Mallory's roommate, added:
"It's kind of funny to see him. He is
so intense for Indiana week, even
last year. He didn't even play, he
was just going crazy. He talked to
his dad on Sunday and said afterwards
'Well, that's the last time I talk to
my dad for a while.' He's just
getting real jacked up, like always."
To go a week without calling
home to Bloomington will be
different for the sophomore line-
backer, who keeps his folks up to
Bill, after sons Mike and Doug came
to Michigan to play football for
Schembechler.
"I doubt he has any problems
with it," Curt said of his father's
attitude towards facing his children.
"More or less, its just like any other
game, except for you look across the
field and see him. It's going to be a
little bit different. I'm sure its just
like any other game for him, and it
should be like that for me."
Said the Hoosier coach: "It's all
the same. When you line up, you are
so involved with that, you don't
think about that. But I'm pleased
he's there. He is playing under a
great coach, great staff and a great
program. I'm very proud that he is a
part of it, as I was the other two."
The successful Michigan football
careers of older brothers Mike and
Doug had must have helped sway
Curt away from the nest in
Bloomington.
"It came down to there and
Michigan," Curt said. "Growing up,
I wanted to play for my dad. Then
when I came down to it, I saw the
things my brothers went through and
I thought maybe it was time to get
away. That's what it really came
down to."
The only unattractive element
that accompanied attending Michigan
would be that one weekend every fall
when dad comes up. Yet Curt
prepared for the matchup well before
he crossed the state line into enemy
territory.
"When I chose to come here, I
knew that there was going to be a
time when I'd have to go against
him," Curt said. "It was one of those
things I had to accept when I did
come here.
"I'm glad I'm here, I have no
regrets, but this is a big week for
me. I hope I do well, I'd like to do
well in front of my father."
by Jamie Burgess
Daily Sports Writer
Some of the finest athletes in the nation are among
us, everyday, in class and around campus. And often
" times they are unmistakable-when the guy in the next
seat casts a shadow on your side of the room, chances
are he plays ball for Michigan.
But others you would hardly recognize if you saw
them. No one at the MUG seemed to identify the dining
biology major from Cheshire, Connecticut as an All-
American athlete. But Sharon Cantor, Michigan field
hockey midfielder and Olympic Sports Festival partic-
ipant, doesn't seem to mind.
In fact, Cantor is quite laid-back for a big-time col-
lege athlete. "I was born in New Jersey-in Wayne, I
"4 think. Patterson or Wayne, I always forget. Whichever
one has the hospital."
Teammate Judy Burinskas, who was definitely born
in Omaha, is not surprised. "I wouldn't call her an
airhead," she said of her roommate, "but she is more
intuitive than anything else. And she can't spell."
DESPITE her nonchalance, Cantor is typical of the
self-motivated student-athlete. "My goal is to make the
Olympics. I'd also like to work with athletes, either in
medicine or designing knee braces."
Or making shoes.
Shoes?
"I was always trying to find the right turf shoe," she
explained of her early playing days. "Nothing ever
worked. I'd search forever trying to find a good shoe. So
I want to design one."
Be it as a sports physician or a cobbler for Converse,
Cantor realizes that she'll have to make her way
without the aid of a stick and shinguards. While certain
athletes can look forward to professional careers, field
hockey provides little more than leisure, even to a
player of Cantor's caliber. "I'm going to try out in
December (for the U.S. Reserve Team), but if I get cut,
that's pretty much it."
Don't count her out, though, despite the compe-
tition. Her teammates have confidence in her. "She's
definitely driven from inside," said midfield companion
Josee Charvet. "And she's exceptionally intense in
everything. Except spelling."
It seems curious that a field hockey player would
leave the seaboard where her sport has such a following.
But Cantor's choice to go West is indicative of her
well-rounded outlook on life. "I wanted a combination
of a good school and to play field hockey with a
competitive schedule, and Michigan was the best
combination for me."
But what about fans? A typical home game at Tartan
Turf draws only a handful of people, and many of those
are roommates and relatives. Yet ego and exposure don't
seem to be part of her down-to-earth game plan.
Mallory
date on life at Michigan, except for
those discussions in the football
locker rooms.
"I talk to my parents quite a bit,
but it's more about other things,
like school and stuff," Curt said.
"I'll probably talk to him (Bill) one
more time, wish him good luck,
he'll wish me good luck, and then it
will just be 'how's school?' It will
be a little bit shorter than usual, I
guess."
BUT CURT doesn't expect his
father to find the experience unusual.
In fact, facing a son in a Wolverine
uniform has become the norm for
--Read Jim Poniewozik Every
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