Ice Hockey Blue-White game Friday, 7:30 p.m. Yost Ice ArenaI The Michigan Doily. SPORTS Wednesday, October 3, 1990 MICHIGAN'S CHAMPIONS OF THE WEEK OFFENSIVE CHAMPION: Matt Elliott DEFENSIVE CHAMPION: r Chris Hutchinson OFFENSIVE HUSTLER: Derrick Alexander{ DEFENSIVE HUSTLER: Martin Davis SPECIAL TEAMS CHAMPION: Otis Williams SCOUT TEAM CHAMPION: Ron Buff ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: t Bobby Powers t MICHIGAN'S LONG PLAYS OF 1990 RUSHING Jon Vaughn 63 yards 's. UCLA PASSING Elvis Grbac to Alexander 55 yards vs. UCLA RUSHING TD Vaughn 63 yards vs. UCLA t PASSING TD Grbac to Desmond Howard 44' yards vs. ND FIELD GOAL J.D. Carlson 33 yards vs. ND I PUNTING Eddie Azcona 48 yards vs. Marylandh PUNT RETURNj T. Welborne 38 yards vs. ND ' KICKOFF RETURN Howard 41 yards vs. ND INTERCEPTION RETURN Vada Murray 34 yards vs. Maryland Eric Lemont Who 's5 No. 1? Don't ask Big Ten coaches Here we go again. With the Big Ten season only a few days away, member coaches are once again engaging in their annual hot-potato ritual. In coach-ese it comes out something like this: Don't say our team is good. Hell, we've got a waaaays yet to go. But check out that Little College on the Prairie team we're playing next week. Now that's a football team for you. We're just taking things one game at a time and looking for one thing -Improvement. Ohio State coach John Cooper, for one, believes that "Illinois and Michigan are the two teams to beat in this league." But what about the Spartans? According to Iowa coach Hayden Fry, "MSU could very well be undefeated." And Hayden Fry, if you ask Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez, "always has his teams ready to play." Or, if you ask Michigan coach Gary Moeller, "The team that caught my attention is Iowa...they have a chance to win it." Alvarez's Badgers take on Michigan this weekend, whom Alvarez felt was the No. 1 team coming into the season. "I felt Michigan was the defending champion and had a great nucleus and I don't see anything to change that." No. 1? Don't mention that to Moeller. "I think that first, Illinois is as strong as anybody in the conference because of their defensive personnel," Moeller said. "I think we're a contender in the league but we're going to have to improve each and every week to keep in that position and have a chance to win the thing." So, let's see, the final list of contending teams in the Big Ten are Ohio State, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, and Michigan State. Only five teams? What about Indiana? "The team that's sort of caught everybody's eye, at least by the stats, is Indiana," explained Minnesota coach John Guttekunst. Granted they have won their three games by the scores of 45-24 (vs. Kentucky), 58-7 (Missouri) and 37-6 (Eastern Michigan). But Indiana? "They're going to beat some of those guys and some of those guys better not be us," Moeller said. For once, wouldn't it be nice to hear a coach say: I don't care if they've outscored their opponents 1000-0, they haven't seen a squad of 22 men like they'l1 see this Saturday, and they will feel it well into next week. Time of possession? Hell, we're going to hold on to the ball longer than a line to the Nickels Arcade Post Office. To quote the infamous Clubber Lang 'My prediction? Pain.' But maybe the fact that all coaches basically sound the same isn't their fault at all. After all, they are only part of a well-oiled system in which each performer - player, coach, and media person - plays his or her part. Certain questions are expected to be asked with the coach and players expected to provide certain answers. Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez, like all coaches, has trouble evaluating other Big Ten teams. Alvarez favors both Iowa and Michigan in this year's race. Wisconsin will host Michigan this weekend in Madison. This is not to say that coaches should denigrate another team. But, at the same time, it would be nice for a frank assessment of one's own team to be given if there is something good to say. If a player performs well it should be noted without the obligatory qualifier that he still needs to improve. Don't we all? By artificially building up the exploits of the opposing team while denigrating one's own, coaches shut readers out from the valuable insight that could be gained from a candid assessment. By giving pat answers to pat questions, the system force-feeds information to the fans. Yes, it's expedient and efficient. Yes, it is probably unavoidable. But, at the same time coaches lose credibility (see Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz) and fans lose touch with the reality of the game. Only in sports can you end up with five No. 2 teams. Football vs. Wisconsin 1 p.m. (WJR, WWJ, WPZA) at Madison, WI Page12 IM, cers expected' to finish in second" by Matt Rennie Daily Hockey Writer As the beginning of the 1990-91 college hockey season draws closer, the anticipation surrounding the Michigan team continues to build. The Wolverines were picked tt finish second in the Centra Collegiate Hockey Association conference in both the media ad coaches pre-season polls last week. This is the highest projected finish for the Michigan icers in their ten- year association with the CCHA. "I am a little surprised," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "It's a compliment to our program and a compliment to our recruiting This could be an exciting year for us." Michigan State was picked to win the CCHA in both polls, while Lake Superior State and Bowling Green trailed the Wolverines in third and fourth place, respectively. The fact that Michigan was ranked ahead of Lake Superior State was somewhat unexpected, main because the Wolverines are a ver young team while the Lakers return eight seniors. Berenson is wary about taking the rankings too seriously. "We haven't proven that we're a second-place team," Berenson conceded. "It will be a challenge." The Wolverines finished fourth during the CCHA regular season last year, and narrowly missed a bid to the NCAA tournament. Michigan did not beat Michigan State or Lake Superior State in four regular season games against each team. Still, Berenson cannot contain his own excitement over this year's squad. "This team's potential is the best potential of any team I've ever had," Berenson said. "We don't have to overachieve to beat anybody." Berenson said that while the increased expectations put added pressure on the team to perform, it is a welcome change from the days when nothing was expected from the team. "We want that pressure," fie said. "We don't want to be a fourth-place team." Berenson hopes that the excitement among the hockey' faithful will result in increased* attendance from the general student body at Wolverine home games, particularly when Michigan State visits Yost Ice Arena. "When we played MSU in the past, their fans came in and outnumbered the Michigan fans," Berenson said. "This year, we are actively trying to increase attendance. We want to shut them. out of the building." Student season tickets are currently on sale at the athletic ticket office. The cost is $50 for the 19 game season, including one game against Michigan State at Joe Louis Arena. The first chance for Michigan fans to get a look at the team will bb this Friday, during the team's Blu- White intrasquad scrimmage. Game# time is 7:30, and admission is $2. 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