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As a junior at Michigan in
1988, John Scherer won the
NCAA 10,000-meter outdoor
championship, becoming the
first Wolverine to win an
outdoor national championship
since Olympic bronze medalist
Brian Diemer in 1983. Scherer,
who has one year of eligibility
left at Michigan, had
previously come in second at
the 1987 NCAA Cross Country
Championships.
In 1987, Vicki Morrow
became only one of two
Michigan softball players ever
to garner All-American honors,
and also captured the Big Ten
Most Valuable Player award
during that season. Morrow,
who played from 1984-87,
holds nearly every Wolverine
pitching record, including
most wins and strikeouts in a
career, by nearly a two-to-one
margin. Morrow is also
Michigan's third all-time
leading batter with a .300
career average.
Tony Silber
Just when you thought all of those
trite, sentimental trbutes to the
1980s were behind you, I feel a
duty to comment on films of the
past decade and how they have
changed. The cinema is a young
art form, to be sure, with only
about 100 years of history. This
peculiar, yet wonderful form of
expression has undergone
constant metamorphosis since the
first days of the makeshift
zoetrope machine and early
vaudeville silent shorts of the
1890s. The first two decades of
the Twentieth Century saw
creative filmmakers like Charlie
Chaplin establish their marks on
the young industry. Later, D.W.
Griffith introduced the epic film,
followed closely by the
development of talkies in the
'20s.
Movies grew in scope and
diversified in texture during the
'30s as they became popular
American recreation. Color
motion pictures first dazzled the
world in the late '30s. Movies
were becoming big business, and
the Hollywood studio system was
born. The '40s saw films become
tools of wartime propoganda,
news reporting, and nationalism.
The 1950s introduced many new
creative filmmakers to America,
including exiles of Nazi Germany
and the Scandinavian Ingmar
Bergman, whose impressionistic
methods changed filmmaking
forever. The new "art film"
format expanded in the '60s
expanded with the rise of the
counterculture, and a young
generation of American
filmmakers came on the scene.
The disillusionment of the '70s
can be seen in the decade's films.
Movies became personal forms of
expression and artistic variation.
They also became vehicles of
criticism and satire. Where does
that leave us now?
It is difficult at this point to make
generalizations about the films of
the 1980s except to say that there
was a lot of variety and surprises. I
believe we have some great films
to show for this last decade
thanks, in part, to the constant
experimentation in film
technology as well as the
evolution of contemporary film
genres. That leaves me with the
unattractive task of sifting
through the thousands of films we
have seen since January, 1980 to
arrive at a list of the ten best of
the decade. Be warned - this is
just my opinion, and I'd like to
hear whether you agree.
10. (tie) Glory (1989) and
Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
This past holiday season gave us
some gems, especially these two,
destined to battle for Best
Picture. Very different stories
here: one is a tale of the first
Black regiment of soldiers in the
Civil War; and the other, a
character study of an elderly
Jewish woman living in Atlanta
and the Black chauffeur hired to
drive her. Both films are
magnificent in storytelling as well
as exploring character
relationships.
9. The Shining (1980)
Definitely one of the most
terrifying films ever made.
Stanley Kubrick's sophisticated
thriller from the Steven King
novel never ceases to chill in its
tale of the hotel undertaker who
goes mad while isolated in the-.
cold Colorado Rockies. Terrific
camera work and awesome
cinematography.
8. Raiders of the Lost Ark
(1981) Even Steven Spielberg is
allowed one masterpiece each
decade. In the '70s, it was Close
Encounters, but for the '80s, this
one takes the cake. A thoroughly
fun adventure saga in the mold of
the old Saturday afternoon serials
sends new hero Indiana Jones in
search of rare artifacts,
complicated by ruthless Nazis and
other assorted creatures.
7. Pelle The Conqueror
(1987) Absolutely beautiful yet
terribly sad film featuring the
great Max Von Sydow as a
widower who migrates to
Denmark with his young son,
Pelle. The storytelling, emotional
grip of the film is draining, and
Sydow's performance pleas for
tears and endless applause.
6. Atlantic City (1980)
Thoroughly engrossing look at an
economically depressed America
from French director Louis Malle.
The focus is on the crime-ridden
East Coast gambling mecca and
all the small time hoods and
dreamers who roam the lonely
boardwalk in search of wealth and
dreams. Innovative European
filmmaking in an American
setting creates this unique find in
'80s cinema.
5. Fitzcarraldo (1982) Werner
Herzog's stunning character study
of a man possessed is a riveting
cinematic feast delighting in the
vivid visual setting of the lush
South American jungle. Klaus
Kinski is spellbinding as Fitz, a
dreamer who envisions a grand
opera house in the Amazon, but
must first make a perilous and
unbelievable journey to achieve
it. Completely captivating, but
not for everyone.
4. Blue Velvet (1986) David
Lynch's seamy portrait of the
underside of the all-American
small town makes for one of the
most shocking, disturbing, and
original films in years. Dennis
Hopper, Isabella Roselini, and
Kyle MacLaclan star in this
thoroughly weird picture which
depicts a murder investigation
and the trail it unearths to the
dark side of every community.
3. Diner (1982) Every once in a
while, a motion picture comes
along with a cast of unknowns
who all go on to be stars. Mickey
Rourke, Steve Guttenberg, and
Kevin Bacon all got their starts in
this wonderful character study of
five friends living in 1959
Baltimore and the small diner
where they partake in the foods of
friendship.
2. Local Hero (1983) Director
Bill Forsyth's priceless picture has
an indescribable magical quality
to it. A Texas oil exec is ordered
to a small coastal Scotland town to
purchase the local beach for a
refinery site, but he (as well as all
of us) falls in love with the town
and all its crazy citizens in this
charming, offbeat delight.
1. Raging Bull (1980) Martin
Scorsese's account of the life of
prizefighter Jack LaMotta in
black and white is surly one of the
most gorgeous motion pictures
ever made. Countered with
Robert DeNiro's performance of
the decade and the brilliant
screenplay by Paul Schrader and
Mardik Martin, the choice of the
best film of the '80s is pleasantly
easy to make.
And now, we embark with
optimism on a new decade of
movies with the hope that an end-
of-the-'90s list ten years from now
will contain motion pictures
likewise destined for classic
status.
program in the '80s. As the
country's top-rated player in
'87, Abbott, who now pitches
for the California Angels,
pitched for the us Olympic
team in Seoul in 1988. Other
Michigan products now in the
Not to say that nothing of
consequence transpired
before the spring of11988,
but the decade ended well
for Michigan.
champion Iowa last year, they
were facing very difficult
competition. Iowa, which had
won 98 straight conference
dual meets, was as close to
dynasty status as the Mings
were a few years prior. Led by
John Fisher, Larry Gotcher,
Joe Pantaleo, Sam Amine and
Mike Amine, the Wolverines'
own Murderers Row, Michigan
snapped Iowa's winning streak
and made history in the
process.
While the women's
basketball team has struggled
over the past decade, it shined
back in 1981-82 when all-time
leading scorer Diane Dietz was
leading the way. Dietz, who
played from 1979-82, led the
Wolverines to a 17-9 record her
senior year, scoring a career-
high and school-record 45
points in a 101-93 victory over
Illinois in the second-to-last
game of the season. For her
career, Dietz scored 2,076
points and averaged nearly 20
points per game.
Even though Brad Jones
never played on a winning
team in his tenure at
Michigan, the current
Winnipeg Jet was the most
prolific scorer during the
Wolverine hockey decade.
Jones, who led the team in
scoring three straight seasons,
holds the school record for
assists with 138 and is the
school's second all-time
leading scorer with 227 career
points. Jones went to the Jets
after his senior season and is
currently playing in the NHL
with former defender and New
York Islander Jeff Norton, who
played with the 1988 United
States Olympic team.
Michigan men's tennis
coach Brian Eisner has
captured seven Big Ten titles
in the past decade, making his
the most successful program at
this school. Led by All-
Americans Matt Horwick,
current assistant coach Mark
Mees, Jim Sharton, Malivai
Washington, Ed Nagel, Dan
Goldberg, and 1982 NCAA
singles champion Mike Leach,
the Wolverines have
dominated throughout the
'80s. In what is generally
considered a warm-weather
sport, Michigan has been able
to keep pace with perennial
powerhouse schools like UcLA,
Stanford, Georgia, and
Pepperdine by finishing in the
nation's top 15 nearly every
year.
E If the men's tennis team is
the program of the decade,
swimmer Mike Barrowman
deserves consider
Michigan's athlet
decade. The 1988
Barrowman set a
world's record in
breaststroke this
making him the
Wolverine athlete
to hold a world re
Be Sc
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Mark Binelli
Top Ten Films of the '80s (in no
special order)
1. Sid and Nancy
Best Overall Film - Everybody's
making such a big deal about how
gritty and realistic Drugstore
Cowboy is, but what about Alex
Cox's much grittier and much
more realistic (Matt Dillon makes
it seem awfully easy to just decide
that he doesn't want to be a
junkie anymore) account of the
strung-out romance between Sex
Pistols bassist Sid Vicious and his
girlfriend-groupie Nancy
Spungen? A surreal, darkly funny,
severely tragic update of Romeo
and Juliet, with the star-crossed
lovers meeting at methadone
clinics instead of moonlit
balconies.
2. This Is Spinal Tap
Best Comedy - And definitely
best soundtrack of all time.
3. Raising Arizona
Second Best Comedy - Nicholas
Cage's hairstyle and the'knuckle-
scraping fight scene insure this
film a permanent place in the
archives.
4. Do the Right Thing
Best Film with Extreme Social
Importance - Regardless of
whether or not you agree with his
politics, Spike Lee is passionate
about what he has to say, and his
passion resulted in a thought-
provoking, innovative,
entertaining film, one of the most
important films ever about racism.
5. Amadeus
Best Epic Biography - Tom
Hulce's insane laughter showed
that director Milos Foreman could
tell the story of the life of a great
man without deifying him, and in
the end beat out some stiff
competition from Gandhi and The
Last Emperor. Plus, a very cool
soundtrack by Mozart.
6. The River's Edge
Michigan's women's track
and field teams sparkled early
in the decade (1982-83) when
they finished second in the
conference for two straight
years. Led by two-time All-
American discus hurler Penny
Neer in '82 and two-time All-
'American middle distance
runner Suzanne Frederick in
'83, the Wolverines finished
higher than they had ever
previously or subsequently
placed.
. Golden Spikes Award
winner Jim Abbott highlighted
the parade of stars to travel
through the.Michigan baseball
major leagues include Barry
Larkin, Chris Sabo, and Hal
Morris. But with all the great
players to emerge from the
baseball team this decade, the
program has the unenviable
distinction of possibly being
the first Michigan program to
be put on probation for
violation of NCAA rules. A
ruling on Michigan and the
baseball team's fate is due in
the very near future;
0 When the Michigan
wrestling team travelled to
West Lafayette, Indiana for
their January 28 dual meet
matchup with perennial
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WEEKEND
Januariy19,1990