Page 10 - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, January 25, 1990
Adam
Benson

Women gymnasts

open league action

Perles' power play
,may haunt State
I always knew that Michigan State was a dog, but I didn't know that
George Perles had the leash.
The new ruling despot of East Lansing must have been preparing his
green and white robe for a few weeks now, ever since Perles became a
candidate for the New York Jets head coaching job. Wherever he had the
best offer, Perles knew that he would be dressed in green - and living
like a king.
After all, only a king could topple a president.
He could be waking up this morning to breakfast in bed at the
Waldorf-Astoria, maybe take his wife to Bloomingdale's or go ice skating
at Rockfeller Center. But the Michigan State trustees stepped in, against
the requests of president John DiBiaggio, and awarded.Perles with the
Athletic Director's job.
Perles would stay at home in simple ol' fEast Lansing. Is Michigan
State lucky or what?
He would spend yesterday dodging questions about his flirting with the
Jets job and about his power struggle with DiBiaggio. His main concern
was to fix his damaged reputation and begin building his dream athletic
department.
de's so good. Heeven turned down a pay increase.
"I'm not interested in financial awards," Perles said at a press
conference yesterday. "I'm interested in the opportunity, period."
Isn't he great? If he just could have not made his president look like an
idiot, wouldn't everything be OK?
The Perles I first met seemed to be a pretty simple guy, not this super
political, power hungry version I see now. During July's Big Ten coaches
conference in Chicago, Perles wowed the audience of writers with his wit
and style. He spoke to people directly and firmly.
That day, coach Pcrles also dressed in green, and there is only one
reason that Perles, or anyone, should ever dress in green - to show love
for Michigan State.
The coach brought with him two Spartan stars, offensive lineman Bob
Kula and linebacker Percy Snow, who both would become All-Big Ten
players in the Perles system. Yet Perles had much more of an impact on
them than just their success on the field. Both players spoke with strength
and authority.
. Their answers were honest, and interesting. As they spoke, you could
even hear Perles' cadence in their voices. Those players, and their coach,
must have made the people at Michigan State proud to be Spartans.
I left Chicago with a strange, new feeling. I had been extremely
impressed by the Michigan State football program. Unlike most other Big
Ten schools, Michigan State had style...
...even if they did wear green.
And now, after screwing his school good, Perles has probably driven
even a few diehard Spartans away - most notably, President DiBiaggio.
Maybe Perles might be able to take the president's title too. I know
that the Phoenix Cardinals are still looking for a coach, maybe the
school's top spot can keep Pcrles once and for all.
For now, Michigan State could probably do without anymore Perles
PR campaigns. He played his hand, and won, taking the king's ransom.
He can now wear his royal gown throughout the Michigan State campus.
If he can clean out the stains.

by Dan Zoch
Daily Sports Writer
Illinois comes to Varsity Arena
this Sunday to take on the Michigan
women's gymnastics team in its Big
Ten home opener. This meet also
marks the Big Ten debut of
Michigan's rookie head coach,
Beverly Fry.
"This is a whole new thing for
me," Fry said.
"It's our first chance to perform
before the home crowd and the
team's really up for it, especially
since it's a coed meet."
Coming off a defeat at the hands
of highly-ranked LSU last weekend,
Michigan looks to vent its
frustrations on the Fighting Illini.
Coach Fry is optimistic, despite the
defeat, because of strong pertorm-
ances from first-year walk-on Debbie
Geiger and senior co-captain Jeni
Hescott. She hopes those perfor-
mances will spell victory on Sun-
day.
"Debbie's been doing a tre-

mendous job so far," Fry said, "and
we're expecting good things from
Jeni Hescott."
Illinois, under coach Beverly
Mackus, placed fourth in the Big
Ten last year with a dual meet record
of 3-4. They started their season la;t
Friday with a victory over Illinois
State. This Friday they head to
Michigan State before coming to
Ann Arbor on Sunday.
"Last year, only seven-tenths of a
point separated third and seventh
place in the Big Ten," said Fry. Of
the pack that finished the season
seven-tenths of a point apart,
Michigan ended up on the bottom.
"The Big Ten is extremely,
extremely competitive," she stressed.
Injuries have been scarce around
Varsity Arena so far this season,
with the notable exception of junior
Christine Furlong. Earlier this year
Furlong tore a ligament in her
itiumb while working on her floor
routine.

This injury was relatively minor
and Furlong's all-around talents are
sorely needed to make the
Wolverines a contending force in the
Big Ten.

help give the Wolverines an edge on
Sunday. The team gave a fine
performance on the beam last
weekend at LSU in a last-minute
surge that eventually came up short.
"The beam is only four inches
wide and when you're under pressure,
you get nervous and bad things tend
to happen," said Fry.
"I think the beam takes the most
concentration and the most nerve,
but when we've been down, we've
been able to come back and do a
good job on the beam."
"Knock on wood," she added.
Coach Fry feels that the outcome
from the meet could actually come
from fan turnout on Sunday. "We
really are trying to promote
Michigan gymnastics by getting
more people to come to the meets.
More specifically, we need fans to be
as loud as they can. It gives us a
better chance to win." ' B

Furlong

Coach Fry is looking for strong
performances on the balance beam to


HOARD
Continued from page 1
years, he has helped me a lot and I
look at it as that. He ; now the head
coach, it won't change that much if I

Career Stats

Rushing
A'1T YDS TD
1987 22 122 2
1988 130 752 11
1989 162 832 6
Rose Bowl

Receiving
REC YDS
0 0
14 97
13 87
Stats

Rushing
AIT YDS TD
19 142 2
17 108 0

1989
1990

Michigan would hand off top ball
carrier responsibilities to either
senior-to-be Allen Jefferson,
sophomore-to-be John Vaughn or
maybe even a top first-year recruit,
like tailback Ricky Powers from
Buchtel H.S. in Akron, Ohio, rated
by some as the top recruit in the
Midwest.
Boles commented that his
rehabilitation was "going great", but
that they still would not know if he
could return to the tailback spot
until the knee was full recovered.
Hoard's possible defection does
not affect Boles plans.
"That's not the thinking," Boles
said. "We're concerned about the
pounding my knee can take. If it can
'If there's any
doubt in my mind,
then I won't leave.
I'm going to be 100
percent sure.'
-Leroy Hoard
hold up, I'll probably be back (at
tailback) next year."
Both backs agreed that Michigan
could fill the hole at tailback if
neither Hoard or Boles could return
to that position.
"They got plenty of backs,"
Hoard said. "Jon Vaughn, Allen
Jefferson are very capable."

was to stay. It has nothing to do
with coaches. I get along perfectly
well with all the coaches."
Hoard is discussing his options
with his coaches, who give him
"very good reasons to stay, but I
have to decide on my own."
Moeller was on the road
recruiting and could not be reached
for comment.
If Hoard jumped into the NFL
and tailback Tony Boles has to move
to flanker because of his knee injury,

Road weary swimmers
face third straight test

by Michael Bess
Daily Sports Writer
The men's swim team will be on
the road again for this weekend's
Dallas Morning News Invitational.
The meet will feature some of the
nation's best swimmers and provide
tough competition, something the
Wolverines are becoming well
accustomed to.
Michigan has faced three of the
country's premier squads in the last
two weeks and now must prepare for
teams of comparable quality in
Dallas.
The invitational will include
Texas, Nebraska, Southern
Methodist, and UCLA, which edged
Michigan last weekend in a dual
meet in Los Angeles.
Although the meet will showcase
high caliber talent, it is not a focal
point of Michigan's season.
"We're not preparing 100 percent
for this meet," coach Jon Urbanchek
said. "Last year we finished second
but now we're just looking to go
down there and do the best we can."
Eight Michigan swimmers, led
by Brent Lang and Mike Barrowman,
will be competing in a collection of
sprint, breaststroke, backstroke, and

butterfly events. In addition,
Wolverine diver Mike Bayerl will
make the trip south to the Lone Star
State.
Despite last weekend's heart
breaking losses to USC and UCLA,
Urbanchek is very pleased with his
team's progress thus far in the
season.
"We are right where we should be
for this stage in the year,"
Urbanchek said. "Things are falling
into place as far as team unity as
well as individual performances are
concerned."'0
This weekend's invitational, like
most meets throughout the regular
season, is simply a prelude to the
NCAA championships in March.
Urbanchek's squad is hoping that its
difficult January schedule will better
prepare it for the rigors of future
championship competition.
The Wolverines have already
qualified seven times in six events
for the NCAAs and are looking too
improve upon that in the coming
weeks.
The Wolverines will be looking
to capture their fourth consecutive
Big Ten title when the conference
championships are held at the
beginning of March.

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Pepsi will be on campus to source:
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Michigan Union, Pendleton Room
7:00-9:00 p.m.
We invite both graduate and undergraduate students to
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Date:
Time:
Place:

Thursday evening, January 25, 1990

8:30 pm
Hillel
1429 Hill Street