Page 10 -The Michigan Daily -Thursday, February 8, 1990 David Yw Hyman Hylights In Arkansas' 103-96 overtime victory over Texas Sunday, Razorback coach Nolan Richardson showed he couldn't take the heat. With 14 seconds left in regulation, Richardson walked off the court, disgusted at an intentional foul called on guard Lee Mayberry. Down by three points, Richardson saw his third- ranked team about to lose for only the third time this season and called it quits. Great example to set for your team, Nolan. And as Richardson hit the showers, Mayberry answered with a three-pointer, with five ticks remaining, to send the game into overtime. Just when ABC returned from commercials before the start of overtime, guess who returned to the bench. You got it, Richardson. He originally left the court protesting the official's call, but came back to the bench when his team over- came the deficit to put the contest into overtime. After the game, Richardson said he considered not returning to the sidelines when he was told the game was in overtime. Why should he even need to consider returning after leaving in protest? This coaching move has to go down as one of the worst in sports history. If you are going to protest a call, you leave and do not return. You do not decide to return at your leisure, especially if your team comes back in the final seconds. When Georgetown coach John Thompson walked off the court in a game last year protesting Proposition 42, he did so before the game to express his feelings on Richardson falls out of bounds this controversial subject. He didn't show up later be- cause the game became exciting. He said he would leave the court before his next game to protest what he felt would be damaging to college athletics and did so. Richardson lost his composure and acted like a child. When he saw his team had the possibility to win, he jumped on the bandwagon and the opportunity to coach his team again, forgetting about his action only 14 seconds earlier. ABC color commentator Cheryl Miller best summed up the situation during overtime. "This doesn't make him or the team look good," she said. "If you're protest- ing the game, he should have stayed out." Richardson added that this was a great game and felt he should return to watch the extra five minute period. Maybe he said to himself, "What was I thinking leaving such a great game. If I come back during the com- mercial break, maybe nobody will notice." Did he really feel his players, the Texas team, the fans, the announcers and the television viewers would forget that he left the game? When was the last time you saw a baseball manager kick dirt on an umpire, get tossed out and return to apologize saying he did not mean to do what he did? Things like this just do not occur. When you make a stand - keep it. Thompson proved that this could be done even with objectors surrounding you on all sides. Richardson could not stand the heat and left the kitchen. Even though it is only February 1990, Richardson may have just won coaching blunder of the decade. Mike Gill Fisher hopes Blue finds right tradition The end for Bill Frieder started at last year's Indiana game. They announced that the coach for Indiana was none other than the dreaded Bobby Knight. There were boos. Then the PA announcer proclaimed that Michigan "is coached by Bill Frieder." And there were more boos. The handwriting was on the wall. "It bothered him that he was not better received at times - at least from the crowd. He's made mention of that," Fisher remembered. And now, heading into the first home game after the Purdue shellacking, Fisher will find himself facing folks who for the first time since he became Michigan coach, booed him and his team. When Michigan gave up at the end of the last Wednesday's show- down and let Purdue take with them some nice departing gifts - slam dunks - those still around let out resounding boos. The media haran- gued the Wolverines for individual- istic play then Fisher lost Sean Higgins to injury. A tough week. Will the boo birds continue chirping after Knight's name is call- ed and into Fisher's introduction to- night? No. But Fisher is not in as comfortable a seat as he was before the conference schedule began a few weeks ago - not without Higgins, not without first place in the Big Ten, and not with three conference losses. Earlier this season Fisher told of his own gameplan to try and quiet the cynics - one to which Frieder never subscribed. "Sometimes the best thing to do is nothing. Rather than get in there and stir everything up and tell them all the reasons why what they are saying is wrong, you just kinda bite your lip and not say anything," Fisher reasoned. Now, that strategy has to be put to use. The lip might start to get a little bloody from all the bites. And Fisher has reiterated the same belief in recent days. There is the Michigan basketball tradition - never quite playing up to expectations despite unlimited potential. Fisher has heard about it frequently. And Fisher knows all about traditions. As a young boy growing up in Herrin, Illinois, Fisher's family made the youngster learn the importance of tradition. "We had a lot of traditions," Fisher recalled. "Every Sunday after church we would go to my grand- mother's house for Sunday dinner, you know lunch, but we called it dinner. And we fished. There were a lot of little lakes around Herrin. Either Crab Orchard Lake or Little Grassy Lake, those were the two main ones. My dad was a big fisher- man. We would fish every weekend during the spring and summer." Traditions were firmly entrenched on Fisher. Church, family, Sunday dinner at lunch time, fishing - the* whole spiel. He must have learned that you don't change a tradition. Unless, of course, it is the tradition that seems to pull down Michigan basketball every year: missed opportunity and missed po- tential. "So often they kept saying, 'Well, they got all these great All- Americans and now they don't have enough basketballs to go around,"' Fisher said earlier this year. "That was never true. It was never true and that was the image some people had of our kids and our program. Sometimes you never change that." It disappeared briefly, but now it has returned. The old rap is back. It has been sad to see the beleaguered and tired look on Fisher at times during the season, but as he points* out, "The most important thing is to look at your heart and say 'I am doing everything I can on the floor and off the floor."' In this case, he probably is. After the Purdue game, Fisher pointed to another Michigan tradition - bouncing back in times of adversity. This time definitely qualifies as adversity, especially with the loss of Higgins. And in Wisconsin, Michigan- played a consistent, steady basketball game with a more even flow of the offense. Could this be a new Michigan tradition? Time will tell. And time will tell which Michigan tradition - underachievers or fighters in adversity - will mark the 1990 season. J 1 Gain valuable experience with an opportunity for advancement. Work for your school newspaper in the Clas- sified Department. Responsibilities include: * servicing walk-in customers * responding to phone sales * managing special promotions assisting Account Executives " processing classified ads ON N Living te pot E~xpience con North Campus For just five dollars a term you can be joining the fun in North Campus' own Intramural program. Members join in one of the four sports offered that last throughout the term: Volleyball, Basketball, Racquetball or Table Tennis. Students, Faculty, and Staff (as well as others) are highly encouraged to join no matter which part of the campus you R E S E R V E OFFICER S' T R A I N I NG C 0 R P S come from. If you are interested in joining and YOUR UNCLE WANTS TO PAY FOR COLLEGE. BUT ONLY IF YOU'RE GOOD ENOUGH. Army ROTC offers qualified students two- year and three-year scholarships that pay for tuition and required educational fees and provide an allowance for textbooks and supplies. You'll also receive up to a $1000 grant each school year the scholarship is in effect. So find out today if you qualify. LEA have others who would like to join, we have re- duced rates for groups (as well as year and lifetime memberships). So give us a call to have some fun -JUSTDOIT! North Campus Rec Club 763-3821 or 763-2646 0 i o pt PRM11OFI 1A I'T vT TY TEN7 "