Page 12-The Michigan Daily- Friday, March 6,1992 'M' hitters regroup, SPORTING VIEWS Sullivan Award turns into popularity contest travel to L by Tim Rardin Daily Baseball Writer The Michigan baseball team, which heads out to Las Vegas this weekend after enduring an eight-day trip to Florida over spring break, has logged frequent-flier miles aplenty. Unfortunately, victories have not come in such generous quantity for the Wolverines. Michigan lost seven of its eight games in Florida, with the lone vic- tory coming against St. Leo, 11-7. The good side of this 1-7 record lies in the fact that five of the seven losses were decided by no more than two runs. Coach Bill Freehan, though disappointed with the record, saw some bright spots in addition to the problem areas for his young club. "I think we learned that we've got to improve in a lot of areas to be a good baseball team," Freehan said. "Individually, we saw some pluses, especially from some of our veteran players. We also saw some areas that we need to work on. "We learned the importance of as Vegas the little things, the fundamental things, and how important they are in close games," Freehan added. "That's what we did not do. In five of those losses, we actually had op- portunities to win in the last inning." The Wolverines must now re- group as they head to Vegas to play a pair of doubleheaders against Nevada-Las Vegas and San Diego State Saturday and Sunday. The Rebels currently sport a 12-7 record, while the Aztecs are 11-5. "It'll be tough competition, espe- cially for a young team," Freehan said. "We are faced with the realiza- tion that 18 of the 28 players we took to Florida had little or no expe- rience with Michigan baseball. We just need to dwell on one key thing - improving every time we go out on the baseball field." With players still vying for start- ing positions, Freehan intends to juggle the lineup a bit this weekend. "I will probably continue to ex- periment a little," he said. "I hope to have a starting lineup set by the start of the Big Ten season." by Andy Stabile Daily Sports Writer INDIANAPOLIS - It may be more than ironic that with the disintegration of true ama- teur athletics, the integrity of its most cele- brated award may also be falling by the wayside. Monday night, Mike Powell was awarded the 1991 Sullivan Award at the Indianapolis Westin Hotel. With the announcement of his name, this prestigious award lost some of its sparkle. The Sullivan is given each year by the Amateur Athletic Union to the nation's out- standing amateur athlete, based on qualitites of leadership, character, sportsmanship and ideals of amateurism. Some athletes, like last year's winner, wrestler John Smith, lay claim to the award without much notoriety. For others like Olympians Eric Heiden in 1980 and Greg Louganis in 1984, world-wide fame preceded their Sullivan Award distinction. The common tie is this: the winner of the Sullivan Award is the best and most deserving amateur athlete of the year. Unlike the reputa- tion of the Heisman Trophy, or a Presidential campaign, the Sullivan is not a popularity con- test. Or was not. Not until this year. This year Mike Powell won the award. Powell is most famous for his long jump of 29 feet 4 1/2 inches at the World Championships in Tokyo last summer. In fact, athleticly speaking, Powell is only famous for that jump. Powell's achievement is spectacular by all means, but it is just one jump. In the shadows of Carl Lewis his entire ca- reer, Powell beat Lewis one time and broke a world record in doing so. Bob Beamon's world record in the long jump was the most talked about in sports, but it's Lewis who gets credit for that. It seemed only a matter of time until Lewis soared past Beamon's near iconical mark of 29-2 1/2, the standard since 1968. He did in Tokyo, 29-3 1/4. Powell went further. If you put six monkeys in a cage for six-mil- lion years, one will eventually write Shake- speare, or so the addage goes. Powell is an immensely talented athlete, but he might have been lucky. Eventually someone was going to break Beamon's record. Lewis didn't. Powell did. But let's talk about some athletes who did - more than once. Ex-Michigan swimmer Mike Barrowman not only owns the world record in the 200m breaststroke - he breaks it like toothpicks. Barrowman has set the mark five times in a row, lowering it some four seconds since his onslaught began four years ago. Track star Michael Johnson runs the two hundred me- ters. Although he doesn't have the world record, like Barrowman he has owned the distance since 1988. Freestyle skiier and Olympic gold medalist Donna Weinbrecht has been best in her business ever since freestyle skiing was recognized as a sport. Going into his Olympics, boxer Eric Griffin is a world champion three years running and may be the first person ever to make the 106 lbs. weight class popular. Although it is impos- sible to empirically determine the 'best of all time' in these sports, Weinbrecht and Griffin de- serve mention. As for Powell, his record-breaking leap may have made him a finalist for the Sullivan award, but the subsequent media exposure locked up the victory. Although Barrowman was thrilled to be a Sullivan finalist, he could not help but think about the 2,200 person voting panel's selection process. "It's like picking between apples and oranges," Barrowman said of choosing a winner from the ten finalists. "But the Wheaties cover. Arsenio. You just can't compete with that." Funny, could these athletes have actually somehow competed for the award, cereal box covers and talk shows wouldn't much matter. 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