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Page 10-The Michigan Daily- Tuesday, March 10, 1992

Disapointin debut for men's
golf team in South Carolina
by Brett Forrest
Daily Sports Writer been able to play as much as they about half the team play well e

very

The members of the Michigan
men's golf team returned from Fripp
Island, S.C., Sunday evening with
their confidence a little lower than
when they left.
The Wolverine team finished a
discouraging seventh place in the
Ben Hogan/Fripp Isle Invitational in
a field of sixteen teams. The Wol-
verines finished a total of 40 strokes
off the lead held by East Carolina.
"We really thought we could win
it," junior James Carson said.
"We're pretty disappointed."
However, there were some bright
spots. All-America hopeful Dean
Kobane finished in a tie for fourth
place in the individual standings
with a three-round total of 225
strokes on the par-72 course, despite
shooting a final round of 78.
Also, the squad logged some time
on a course that will hopefully help
them indirectly in the future. The
South Carolina course was very
narrow and took the driver out of the
Wolverines' hands for most of the
tournament.
"Florida (the upcoming South
Florida Invitational) is a takeoff on
the course we've played," Michigan
coach Jim Carras said. "It's not quite
as severe as far as demands go, but
it's a course-management course."
Many of the golfers were a bit
rusty. Although they had some prac-
tice over the break, they have not

a + +

had wanted.
"Being our first tournament, you
never know what to expect," Carras
said. "That was basically our first
time out."
There was a bit of inconsistency
within the team in South Carolina, as
well, with 30 strokes separating the
first and last Michigan golfers.
"That's kind of been our trade-
mark so far this year. We've had

tournament - not always the same
guys," Carras said. "We are not get-
ting the support from the bottom half
of the lineup, regardless of who it
happens to be."
Although it was a poor showing
in the standings for the Wolverines,
the golfers gained more indispens-
able playing time which should help
them when the Big Ten Cham-
pionships roll around in mid-May.

T- H -E
SPORTING VIEWS
by Chad Safran
Daily Sports Writer
INDIANAPOLIS - Each Memorial Day, almost
500,000 spectators gather to witness one of the crown
jewels in all of American sport. The Indianapolis 500.
It is one of those events that any sports fan must ex-
perience first-hand before they die, along with the
Kentucky Derby and the World Series. I have never
gone to Churchill Downs to see the top prize in horse
racing, nor have I witnessed the fall classic from the
stands. But I recently lived the Indy 500.
Riding around the 2.5-mile oval in a Dodge Dynasty
driven by Indy public relations director Bob Walters, I
felt the thrill of auto racing. Sure, our top speed was
only 100 mph but that did not matter to me, because all
I did was envision myself entering the winner's circle
behind pit row.
As the individual autos run low on gas and strip their
tires of rubber, they enter pit row where the cars slow
from over to 200 mph to around 100. Then the driver
must stop in an area-not bigger than a dorm room sev-
eral feet later.
The truly amazing feat occurs next. Each driver's
racing team refuels with 40 gallons of methanol, puts on
four new Goodyear Eagle racing tires and leaves the
row in under 13 seconds. And Quick Lube says they are
fast when they change oil in under 30 minutes.
Normally, the cars exit the area at about 100 mph.
This takes under five seconds. We take off from the pit
area and accelerate onto the hot blacktop at normal
driving speed (65 mph) in about 15 seconds.
The first obstacle is turn one, which greets the driver
as soon as the pit area ends. Like the other three turns,
number one is 1/4 mile long and is banked at 12 de-
grees, nine minutes. From here we go into the 1/8 mile
straight chute and then into turn two. Turn two leads to
the fastest part of the track - the back straight-away.
On this 5/8 mile strip of track, racers often push the

Old Brickyard
provides thrills
speeds of their automobiles to extraordinary measures.
The car I am in approaches 100 mph. On race day, as'
the drivers shift into sixth gear, the speedometers on the
fastest turning cars in the world will be climbing to-
wards the 230 mph plateau.
The Dynasty heads into the treacherous turn three.
This is where the force of gravity really takes hold of
the car. We come within a foot of the retaining wall. It
looks more like an inch as I see my life pass before my
eyes.
Scattered about the pavement in this area are multi-
ple, skid-mark-formed figure eights, the result of nu-
merous crashes over the years. These souvenirs of terror
heighten my fear.
We come into the home stretch. All I see is the
tower.
It rises out of the concrete like the monolith in the
movie 2001. With the bright orange windsock on its
top, blowing in the slight breeze of this warm late-win-
ter afternoon, it stands out among the 300,000 seats
with the 33 starting positions painted white on each of
its four sides.
Near the tower's top are the darkened lights racers
dream of each night. The pinnacle of auto racing. The
winning position in the Indianapolis 500.
The Dynasty zooms down the home stretch with all
its might. I envision the black and white checkered flag
being waved in the wind. I know I have crossed the
magical line of victory when I hear a thump.
A row of bricks in the middle of the front straight
causes the sound. These stones are the remainders from,
the original 3.2 million bricks used to lay the speed-
way's original foundation. Thus, the dubbing of the
track with the nickname, "The Old Brickyard."
The Indianapolis 500 used to be just one of those
images I saw on the news each Memorial Day. Now, it
will capture and captivate my imagination forever.

STANDINGS THIS WEEK

V 5BmAMAU WEEV

Team W
Indiana 13
Ohio St. 13
Michigan St. 9
Iowa 9
Michigan 9
Minnesota 8
Purdue 7
Illinois 7
Wisconsin 4
N'western 1

L
3
3
7
7
7
8
9
9
12
15

Pct GB
.813 -
.813 -
.563 4
.563 4
.563 4
.500 5
.438 6
.438 6
.250 9
.063 12

Wednesday
Michigan at Purdue
Minnesota at Michigan St.
Northwestern at Iowa
Illinois at Ohio St.
Thursday
Wisconsin at Indiana

Big Ten
Player of the Week:
Michigan's Chris Webber,
who had 11 points and 18
rebounds in the Wolverines'
68-60 victory over Indiana.

Saturday
Wisconsin at Northwestern
Illinois at Michigan
Indiana at Purdue
Sunday
Ohio State at Minnesota
Iowa at Michigan St.
Schedule Note:
Saturday's Michigan-Illinois
contest will start at 1 p.m.


'M' spikers

take sixth

4

at Big Ten
tourney
by Dan Linna
Daily Sports Writer
Big Ten Championships are often
taken for granted at Michigan.
Students, alumni, and fans expect
the football and basketball teams to
compete for one each year and then
when other Michigan teams win ti-
tIes they just shrug as if, "What else
would you expect?"
However, Big Ten Champion-
ships are tough to come by. Just ask
-the Michigan men's volleyball team.
The Wolverines ventured to Min-,
neapolis this weekend with aspi-
rations of bringing home a title of
their own in the Big Ten Cham-
pionships. Unfortunately, it was not
to be as Michigan never got on track
and had to settle for sixth place.
"A lot of people just didn't play
up to their capabilities," sophomore
Justin MacLaurin said. "It's disap-
pointing, but when you consider the
level of competition in the Big Ten
this year, sixth is not that bad."
Michigan began pool play Satur-
day by splitting with Ohio State and
Purdue before downing Iowa in two.
However, the Wolverines could
not seem to find themselves as they
split with Wisconsin in their final
pool match.
Michigan's 5-3 pool record
earned them the No. 4 seed in tour4
nament play and a rematch with No
5 Ohio State.
The second time around was even
worse as the Buckeyes downed the
Wolverines in two straight.
"We were a little leery of facing
Ohio State again," Michigan coach
Tom Johengen said. "We knew they
were very talented and they came
out very aggressive."
Michigan came back to dro4
Wisconsin in two games to put them
in position to clinch fifth place with
a victory over Purdue. The
Wolverines came out flat and the
Boilermakers rolled over Michigan
in two games.
"We just didn't perform well at
all," senior Curt Schroeder said. "It
was a definite lack of something.
Energy, spirit ... I don't know -
something wasn't right."
Michigan State captured the title
with Minnesota, Ohio State, Illinois,
and Purdue following close behind.
Except for the Gophers, Mich-
igan had defeated each of the top
five teams at least once at some
point of the season.
"We didn't play defense well, we
didn't block well, and we didn't dig
well," Johengen said. "This was on.
of the highlights of the season an
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