Ice Hockey vs. Minnesota Friday and Saturday, 7:30 p.m. Yost Ice Arena SPORTS Football vs. Northwestern Saturday, 1 p.m. Michigan Stadium The Michigan Daily Wednesday, November 6, 1991 Page 9 Frosh start! Talented rookies give new look to by Albert Lin players. But this may change by Daily Basketball Writer opening day. Members of the media met the "If three or four of those fresh- Michigan basketball team yesterday men prove to our staff that they're at the team's annual Press Day. Fol- the best, we're going to play them," lowing a press conference with he said. Michigan head coach Steve Fisher, INJURY UPDATE: The coaching players were available for photos staff received a scare last week when and comments. frosh forward Chris Webber went Fisher talked about his outlook down with a knee sprain. But Web- for the upcoming season. ber practiced yesterday for the first "I won't have to force quite as time since the injury and is making many smiles, at least for today, progress. when we start taking questions Fisher said his biggest concern. about who's going to play where, now was the health of senior Fred- because we've got a few more play- die Hunter, who has been diagnosed ers to play there," Fisher said. "And with a minor case of spina bifida. we're hoping that (the frosh are) as "I didn't experience any pain good as many of you have said they from it until last May," Hunter are. said. "So I dealt with this summer "That's the beauty of it also," he just basically trying to get it better. added. "We've got 16 players - And I was doing good, doing great four starters back, and they are not in pre-practice conditioning, and going to give up without a fight. two weeks ago the problem flared They are in for a fight, and they up again. know it. "So I just have to deal with it," Fisher said that if he was forced he added. "It's something I'm al- to choose a starting lineup yester- ways going to have. I've been doing day, it would include no first-year some things, taking painkillers, Wolverine hoops wearing a brace in practice and when I'm not in practice, to take some of the pressure off my back." "(The injury) really concerns me," Fisher said, "because you know what he brought to the program last year. He can do that and more for the baliclub this year." BLUE-WHITE: The team will hold a free intrasquad scrimmage after this Saturday's Northwestern- ; Michigan football game. "I'm hopeful that we can get a; good number of folks - the curios- ity seekers, and some that want to,, keep warm - that will come in af- ter the game and watch some of it," Fisher said. Crisler Arena will open at the conclusion of the football matchup. RUSH-ED OUT: The Nov. 14 ex- hibition vs. the Cuban National Team scheduled for the Palace has' been moved to Crisler because of a Rush concert. The women's teamn will play the Cuban women at 5:45',"' p.m., and the men will take the court at 8. Students may purchase $5 tick- ets at the ticket office or at the door. Chris Webber conducts one of many interviews during Michigan's annual Press Day yesterday at Crisler Arena. Webber returned to practice this week after suffering a sprained knee. f ._ -.. V._' y i Wrestling legend Cliff *Keen dies at age 90 from staff reports Former Michigan wrestling coach Cliff Keen died in his Ann Arbor home yesterday. He was 90. Keen coached Michigan's wres- tling team for 45 years from 1925 -to 1970. His tenure is the longest of any coach in any sport in NCAA history. Keen's teams won 13 Big Ten titles and finished lower than third only five times in 45 years. He coached 68 All-Americans and 81 Big Ten champs during his tenure. Keen also was a member of the Michigan football coaching staff for 33 years and is the only coach in .modern times to coach Big Ten champions in two different sports. He guided the Wolverine 150-pound football team to two titles in the only two years Michigan had the team and introduced the "T" forma- tion to Michigan. In 1980, he became a member of the University of Michigan's Hall of Honor. In 1990, Michigan's, Var- sity Arena, was renamed Cliff Keen *Arena in his honor. Michigan will host the Cliff Keen Invitational na- tional dual meet championship for the first time this February. Keen remained involved in the Michigan athletic community and even attended Saturday's Michigan- Purdue football game. "He used to stop and see us all the time, just to talk wrestling," current Wolverine coach Dale Bahr said. "He was so active, so Michi- gan. I told my wife today, 'They just don't make 'em like that any more. '" As an athlete at Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State), Keen was a national champion in wres- tling, an All-American in football and a sprinter on the track team. He was named to the 1924 U.S. Olympic wrestling team but did not compete because of a broken rib. Keen received his law degree from Michigan and was a member of the Michigan State Bar. He spent three years as a Naval Commander during World War II and also had a- book on wrestling published. Skrep named Lombardi finalist by Theodore Cox and Matt Rennie Daily Football Writers Michigan offensive tackle Greg Skrepenak has been named one of four finalists for the Lombardi Trophy, awarded each year to the nation's top lineman. The 6-foot-8, 319-pound Skrepenak is a fifth-year senior and the anchor of the Wolverines' heralded line. Michigan coach Gary Moeller has nothing but praise for his huge leader. "He's a kid that has never missed a day of practice; he never misses a game. He's always there," Moeller said. "The best thing I can say about Greg Skrepenak is last week he probably had the best game of his career at Michigan, and that really means a lot to me to see a guy keep his motivation up." Skrepenak passed up the opportunity to enter the professional draft at the conclusion of last season. "Even if I wasn't named a finalist for the Lombardi Award my fifth year has been great," Skrepenak said. "The team has been successful and we're on the right track now hopefully to get to the Rose Bowl." The Wolverine co-captain believes that the award is more of a tribute to the entire offensive line, rather than to a single individual. "Hopefully, I could win the award," Skrepenak added, "because I think it will go down not just as my award, but an award deserving of past Michigan linemen and be a reflection of the program as an entire team and the entire offensive line unit, which works very hard and sometimes goes unnoticed." BRING ON MICHIGAN: The two Northwestern upsets over Illinois and then Michigan State have given the Wild- cats so much confidence that the players actually chanted "Bring on Michigan" in the tunnel following their Spartan vic- -tory. "The press is trying to make much more out of it than it is," Northwestern coach Francis Peay said. "If you scratch and you scratch hard enough and long enough, you're eventually going to draw blood." Wide receiver Mark Benson may not being drawing blood, but he certainly is causing problems for defensive backs. The Wildcat scored twice against the Spartans Saturday, including the game-winning touchdown with 1:48 left. For his efforts, Benson was named Big" Ten offensive player of the week. Iowa defensive end Leroy Smith took the defen- sive honor. KENNETH SMOLLERIDZ Yesterday, Wolverine tackle Greg Skrepenak was named one of four finalists for the Lombardi Award. Berman banters to Blue fans by Chad Safran Over 1,000 people came out to see the man who makes sports fun. ESPN's Chris "I'll Never Be Your Beast of" Berman spoke to a crowd of laughing and cheering fans who packed the house at Rack- ham Auditorium last night. LSA sophomore Dave Dayen was excited about the opportunity to see Berman live. "I watch too much ESPN. I am an admirer of him," Dayen said. First-year LSA student Kim Bardakian agreed: "I've seen him on T.V. and wanted to see what he is like." Students like Bardakian welcomed Berman to the podium with a stand- ing ovation. Berman, the first speaker in a new lecture series called Sports Speak, sponsored by UAC Viewpoint Lectures and the LSA Student Government, is one of the most popular broadcasters in sports television. When the name Chris Berman is mentioned, inevitably everyone asks him how he got into the the nickname business. He gave a list of his favorites to the crowd, such as John "Tonight Let It Be" Lowenstein and Bert "Be Home" Blyleven "It started at Brown. We were big sports fans and made up the names while sipping our favorite beverage-Perrier," he began. "In 1980 at ESPN, it was late, I was doing the 3 a.m. show, and it just slipped out. It was prob- ably Frank Tanana 'Daiquiri' or John May- berry 'FRD.' I created a monster." An imposing figure on the stage with his 6-foot-5 frame, Berman managed to intensify the audiences enthusiasm with his rousing opening comment, "See ya at the Rose Bowl." Berman continued on the subject of Wolverine athletics, specifically the basketball team. "The best and most dangerous expression in sports is 'unlimited potential,"' he stated. "It is good because who knows how good Chris Webber and the boys will be. It will be exciting to see the players develop and learn, but at the same time they are only 18 and 19 years old. They are going to be real, real good." Berman went on to detail his life in broad- casting. He began his career in a small town in Rhode Island, then moved on to Waterbury, Conn., where he hosted a 90-minute radio sports talk show. In addition, Berman said he did traffic re- ports from his car in the mornings and late af- ternoons. When Cha'nnel 30 in Hartford was looking for a weekend sports person in the summer of 1979, Berman was hired to work the 11 p.m. news. ESPN began broadcasting Labor Day week- end in 1979 and Berman began there as "the low man on the totem pole." He worked the 3 a.m. sign-off show. Back in the early years, ESPN was a small network and their success has not changed Berman's outlook "We were the underdog back then, and we still are underdog because we are the ones who are taking the time to do it right," he said. "We are the ones doing it every day." The Sport Speak series will continue with such noted speakers as Mitch Albom and Bernie Smilovitz. According to Marc Bernstein, chairman of the View Point Lecture Series, "This is just the beginning of a very ambitious program. KENNT IH SMULLtR/Dally ESPN Sportscaster Chris Berman, famous for his baseball nicknames, speaks to a crowd of over 1,000 Michigan students at Rackham Auditorium last night. Read David Schechter on Michigan Baktbl f qy (* WHAT'S HAPPENING Success can be a matter of making the right connections. Reporting & Writing Q Magazine Publishing Q Broadcast Journalism Q Newspaper Management QI The new curriculum Q Wednesday, November13,1991 10:00 am - 4:00 pm Michigan Union Graduate School and MBA Day Meet with recruiters to investigate advanced degree options Compare costs and content of programs across the country RECREATIONAL SPORTS Intramural Sports Program WRESTLING MEET (TUES, WED & THURS NOVEMBER 19, 20 & 21) Conference Highlights Graduate School: The Forms, The Funds, The Focus "Map out a plan pnor to meeting + Wednesdav, November i3 with ,graduate cholreprese',ntatives.10:0 -fy 1100,- Iam