The Michigan Daily - Sports Monday- January 15, 1990 - Page 3 Fisher he new coach talks about life at the top Richard Eisen Everyone knows the story of Steve Fisher. He led the Michigan basketball team to the national championship as an interim head zwach and now has the Wolverines off to an 11-2 start this year. During Winter Break, Fisher mulled over lunch and questions from Daily Bas- ketball Writer Mike Gill. Daily: What's your opinion on Penn State joining the Big Ten? Fisher: I can't comment intelli- gently enough on what kind of effect that is going to have. The thing that don't like, that most don't that's in Ahe business, is that we read about in the paper. Not as much me as the athletic directors. I think they should have been involved and consulted and their opinions valued rather than no input. ' It has some drastic ramifications on scheduling, travel, all those things. It was almost like, 'well they're in, we'll worry about all *Lhose things later.' D: Do you see it as something the presidents just went out and did without even giving a thought to the people it would most affect? F: They just looked at Penn State as being a plus for the Big Ten. I do think they have an image and a reputation that's quality. From that standpoint, I think it will be good for the league. Time will tell whether or not what's happened will be a plus for the total scope of the Big Ten. , D: I know you don't want a Big Ten basketball tournament, but with the possibility of that and now eleven league teams, what do you envision as a possible schedule? F: I have no idea. I don't have a ;clue. Football's not going to com- pete until the mid-90's and I don't know when they'll start in basket- ball and whether it will continue to be a round robin where now you're locked into 22 games and then if they (the NCAA) cut back to 25 (games) like they say they are, that doesn't give you much flexibility to bring in the Duke's and the Northern Michigan's or anyone else you want *to bring in. (Editor's note: Since the interview, the games have been cut) D: Since this is your first year as head coach, what has surprised you most about the job? F: Well, I don't know if it would be labelled a surprise, but the de- mands on your time have been even more than I anticipated. I think we're *coping with it satisfactorily, but it's hard, from the standpoint of all the things that you are either responsible to do, or feel you are, or that you're asked to do, starting from speaking requests, and the mandatory obliga- tions that come with the job. down and turning on an NBA game at night you have to go - we have a play room - and play with the kids. So you use the time you've got when you got it when you can. D: What is it that scares you the most? F: (Pause) Oh, I don't think scared is the right word because when I find myself looking for things to worry about it usually cen- ters around recruiting or who we're going to have a year from now, or losing four seniors. I try to have that be a fleeting moment and we're working hard on continuing to re- cruit. But I'm worried more about this team than next year's team. I mean, I want to enjoy the success that we're going to have, be a part of it, and still have the foresight or the ability to look down the road and know that we've got to fill some big holes. D: Does it bother you when you see someone like Dick Vitale come on - I'm sure you saw a videotape of the Duke game - and says first, that you needed an identity and sec- ond of all, that you couldn't recruit because of what has happened so far this year? F: I don't know that he was... he talked to me in Vegas about some of those things and how he's not say- ing I can't recruit. It's a natural to compare who we get with who Frieder gets. But no, it really doesn't. If we're mired in tenth place five years from now then it will bother me. So that's once again, an image you have no control over what other people say.cYou just go about your business, feel you're do- ing it the way you want to do it. Time will tell whether you're con- tinuing to get the players. D: Did you ever fathom the chance that you might be able to move up to head coach at Michigan when you came here? F: Not really. No. D: Did you ever consider that? F: No. No. I didn't think that it was even a possibility for me. I thought Bill (Frieder) was a lifer here. Born, raised, schooled here, coached here. I never envisioned him leaving. But I felt this would be an opportunity for me to be a head coach someplace. D: Do you see yourself as a lifer here at Michigan? F: Uh-huh. D: So in time we'll be talking about the gray-haired Steve Fisher at Michigan. It's a great place to live. You can strip off the university and the job and to live in Ann Arbor and have everything that we have to do and friends it would be very difficult to say 'hey let's leave.' D: Did you feel you were being deserted or did you know this for a while before it went public? F: I didn't feel like I was being deserted, no, this was a business where, maybe more than most, change is inevitable. Sometimes you make change when it is least ex- pected, for a lot of reasons but every year coaches are hired, fired, or leave on their own. But it was a situation when I came in, I didn't think it would ever happen with Bill. And I was surprised when he said he was going to take the job. I D: Did you see the job wearing on him - he's talked about the fans booing him, and things like that? F: No I really didn't. I still think he enjoyed it. I think it bothered him as he has stated, the negatives that were either written or said about ei- ther him or the program. Sometimes the best thing to do is nothing. Rather than get in there and stir ev- erything up and tell them all the rea- sons why what they are saying is wrong, you just kinda bite your lip and not say anything. D: What did you think you had to prove to have a shot at the Michigan job? F: I thought we had to play well, get a little lucky, win a few games. The longer we're playing, the longer I'm in the spotlight. The more Bo and others are going to get to know and see what I can do or at least see me in that type of pressure-cooker. D: If you would have lost to say North Carolina, would you be here today? F: I don't know. I don't know. I think I would have had a shot at be- ing here. But whether I would have been here, I don't know. D: Are you still in frequent con- tact with Bill Frieder now, even dur- ing the season? F: Yeah. Yeah. To be honest, Angie and Janice talk more than Bill and I do. I mean, they talk all the time. D: When you started coaching at Rich East High School, what kind of goals did you set for your career and how have they changed? F: I wanted to be a head coach. When I came to Rich East, I wanted to be a head high school coach. When I came to Western I want to be a head college coach. But I wanted to coach and I stated repeatedly that I did not think there was a great deal of difference between the coaching here as is Rich East. Lot of the same drills we did there, we're doing them now. It's teaching. You have to teach to get the most out of them, you have to be a psychologist and all those things rolled in. I wanted to be a head coach. I wanted to see if I could do as well as I thought I could do. PASADENA - I bet not many of you folks out there know it, but last January 1, at the Rose Bowl, we were all in "A World of Harmony." In fact, we can say - and we're stretching it a bit - that we all just finished a "Winter Break of Har- mony." But, that's really stretching it. I'm not kidding. Rose Bowl officials decided to dub the 76th Rose Bowl game and the 101st Rose Parade "A World of Harmony." They placed flags with the slogan all around Pasadena, letting everyone with a pulse know we were, indeed, living in "A World of Harmony." My first reaction to this was, what "A World of Crap." Why must every event under the sun have some ridiculous, corny theme attached to it? The only reason why we were all in Pasadena in the first place was to see a bunch of college students try to knock the stuffing out of one another. ? ;: 4 5 But then, for some reason, I paused. I think I stopped because I felt a belch coming on, but I was probably pondering this as well: What if we do live in such a harmonious world, what if it is a small world, after all? What if everything does indeed come up Roses? Of rapturous joy at the Rose Bowl Kirk Cameron to participate in the parade. When you've got to plan a parade commemorating a sports event, of course you call up Zsa Zsa Gabor, a boorish woman who wouldn't know a football if Arnold the Pig hit her in the head with it. Wonder if she gave Michigan coach Bo Schembechler any tips before the game. Dahling, you've got to stop running da vishbone all da time if you vant to vin. Much to the surprise of most parade on-lookers, Ga- bor rode horseback amidst all the harmony and roses. One of the most garish women of our times smiled broadly as the crowd began to boo. All the Rose Bowl officials, who were dressed in white suits that made them all look like the mysterious Mr. Roarke, flinched and gasped at the scene. And then Mr. Pigskin himself, Kirk Cameron, came rolling down Colorado Boulevard to wipe the memory of Ms. Gabor away. As the men sat on their hands, un- derage women began to screech as if they just saw Paul McCartney. Cameron, who shared the beautiful float with his bestest of friends, D.J. Jazzy Jeff, waved to the crowd with the cheesiest of grins. Oops, I forgot that darn pledge again. I love Grow- ing Pains, I really do. I adore Alan Thicke, too. I like this harmony thing; I think these Tournament officials unearthed something catchy. But, of course, there were some events that reminded us that not everything in this world can be harmonious. Like Schembechler's Rose Bowl tirade, for instance. During and after the game, as we all know, Schembech- ler blasted the officials for ignorance and incompetence. Schembechler knew he wouldn't face the consequences of his actions because he would be gone from coaching. But who knew he would be gone from Michigan completely just days later? Schembechler has no more ties to intercollegiate athletics at all. Michigan neatly calls it a leave of absence and Schembechler says he remains closely in contact with the University. Now that's harmony. But we know that it's a "World of Crap." Schembechler coached here for 21 years and deserves our respect and deep admiration because of it. But his leaving the athletic director position just days after the Rose Bowl upsets me. It happened way too fast. Maybe it upsets me just because he works for the Detroit Tigers now. I despise pizza king/vile owner Tom Monaghan for his treatment of former-loyal Tigers Kirk Gibson and Lance Parrish. I can't stand Sparky Anderson because of all the optimistic garbage that he spews day in and day out. And now Bo associates himself kith those people everyday. But, we can forgive him. He's Bo. And re- member, it's a world of harmony. Gabor . So, with this in mind, I've decided to declare this space "A Sports Monday Column of Harmony." No more complaining, no more sarcasm. And keeping in line with this new era of good feel- ings, we can nicely mention that the Michigan March- ing band actually played "Malaga" at the Rose Bowl. With the eyes and ears of more than 300 million people from Japan to the United Kingdom upon them, the Marching Band chose to knock their socks off with this internationally famous tune of harmony. Which reminds me of my own aforementioned pledge of harmony. So, I must say that "Malaga" re- mains, always and forever, number one in my heart. During the Tournament of Roses Parade, with obnox- ious Trojan fans crawling everywhere, the Michigan Marching Band inspired Wolverine fans to proudly dis- play their spirit. Arms flailed and goosebumps popped as the 225-member band high stepped down Orange Grove Avenue. And then came "Malaga." Truly a climactic follow- up. We saw the tension build at the parade and then ex- plode during the halftime show. Keeping with the Get Rich Quick theme of Harmony, I absolve the Marching Band for playing "Malaga" in front of millions of hu- man beings despite my continued warnings of how in- credibly insipid the song is. Damn this pledge. But we must continue with the "Sports Monday Column of Harmony." So, I also forgive the Tourna- ment of Roses officials for allowing Zsa Zsa Gabor and aJ N r r- Lap- %;; H, jfN'ANNUAL I 4Qd 49 0 Mn Mn VR N 09F 0, ,p 4c fOGAO OG'P .r o s Fys r 9 OG. Off, qB y D: Do you have as much time to F: The no hair. The no haired. spend at home now? Steve Fisher has no hair. F: At this time of year I don't, You never know what life's go- *biut even as an assistant, I didn't ing to bring for you. I was 11 years have time. You have to utilize the at Rich East. I'm midway though tilne you've got. Instead of plopping my eighth year here and we like it. R ES ER VLAT I O N A I NO ESERVATIONS AVAILABLE NOW! THE REEF AND CAROUSEL HOTELS & KITCHENETTES " 7 NIGHTS SOUTH PADRE ISLAND rom$129 I SHERATON CONDO & HOTEL, GULF VIEW LANDFALL TOWER, SAIDA CONDOS, HOLIDAY INN " 5OR 7 NIGHTS 1 I SH ADOW RUN CONDOS OR OVERLOOK HOTE L " 2, 5 OR 7 NIGH TS WITH A LL LIFTS - PICNIC - RACE LAUDERDALE BEACH HOTEL o 7 NIGHTS HILTON HEAD ISLAND BEACH & TENNIS RESORT CONDOS 7 NIGHTS PORT ROYAL OCEAN RESORT CONDOS " 5 OR 7 NIGHTS