0 Page 8- The Michigan Daily- Thursday, January 16,1992 SPORTING VIEWS Spartan spikers come to CCRB Wolverines hold their home opener this weekend Foolish APvoters forget irergei by Ken Su gura Daily Sports Writer I was in the UGLi Tuesday, looking for an open table, when the red corner of the USA Today sports page caught my eye (actually, both eyes). I thought to myself, "Self, who needs to study economics when there's a sports page to be read." With utmost care and attention, I flipped through this most sacred of journals. Finally, after some America's Cup coverage and a Monica Seles feature which I neglected to read, I came to the box scores and statistics on the last page. I like to roam around this page because there are so many scores here that you can't find most places. For instance, the good folks at USA Today include soccer scores from Europe, so I can follow my favorite team, Tottenham Hotspur (Okay, I admit; Tottenham isn't my favorite club. It is a great name though, isn't it?) On this day, however, I came upon the voting for the AP Male Athlete of the Year, won by Michael Jordan. Now, being from Chicago, I could write for days extolling the virtues of Mike, but I envision broken bones and a significant amount of agony if I do, so I won't. The focus of this column-is who isn't in the voting, and the order of the whole thing. My first problem - Sergei Bubka, the best pole vaulter and, in my opinion, the best track and field athlete in the world, finished eighth. Sergei cleared 20 feet this summer, the first human ever to do so, and basically, like he does every year, owned pole vaulting. Yet, he finished four points behind Jimmy Connors. Don't get me wrong, I certainly don't hate Jimmy. But all he did was make it to the semifinals of one tournament. Granted, it was the U.S Open, but he did have an easy road to get there. He didn't set any records; he didn't even win a tournament, for crying out loud. Hear me cry AP writers, I want more Sergei votes! And another pretender above Sergei: Nolan Ryan. It's a given he's an incredible pitcher. But wouldn't it make sense that the best pitcher in baseball, whether it be Tom Glavine (one scrawny point) or Roger Clemens (the big zippo) should be ahead of him? The name of the award is 'athlete of the year', not 'athlete we'll all tell our grandkids about.' And my last gripe with the dopes at AP. Not a single point for the best swimmer in the country and possibly the world. I won't mention his name, because we all here at Michigan should know who he is. In this palindromic year, he reset a world record not once, friends, but twice. Two times! Let's look at the clowns ahead of him. Specifically, race car drivers Rick Mears, Michael Andretti, Dale Earnhardt and Harry Gant. Sure, they know their way around a stick shift, but are these guys athletes? And even if they are, what did they do to get votes? Certainly not set two world records, or anything comparable. The only way I'd vote for a race car driver is if he or she did a "Dukes of Hazard" jump to win the Indy 500. I'll vote for Super Dave Osborne before I vote for Rick Mears. And how about second-place finisher Mike Powell, the long jumper who broke Bob Beamon's long-held record. It was a great jump, I'll be the first to admit it, but if he's going to win something, it's 'Athlete of the Long Jump.' Powell, so far as I know, hasn't done a whole lot the year through. Well, I've said my piece. I guess I can forget about an internship at AP. by Dan Linna Daily Sports Writer Although life on the road has been kind to the Michigan men's volleyball team, the Wolverines are eager to open their home season tomorrow against Michigan State at 7:30 p.m. at the CCRB. Michigan State has won the Midwest Intercollegiate Volley- ball Association championship the last three years and that alone makes this a big match for the Wolverines. "For the past few years, us and Michigan State have been two of the top teams in the Midwest," sopho- more Tony Poshek said. "It is more than the intrastate rivalry that makes this a big game. To beat State would give us a shot at bragging rights for the Midwest.,, The Spartans lost their veteran setter to graduation last year but still have four returning players from the championship team. "We can beat State," junior Steve Arellano said. "We'll all have to play well. State is about as tough a team as we are going to have to play in awhile." The Wolverines' weekend con- tinues Saturday against Wisconsin at the IM Building at 7:30 p.m. Michigan has faced Wisconsin twice this year. In the preseason Big Ten tournament, the Wolverines took both games from the Badgers, but split two games when they met at the MSU Comeback Classic. "Wisconsin is a must-win match for us," senior Curt Schroeder said. "We're at home against a team we should beat. It would be very disap- pointing to lose to them." Michigan has been hobbled by in- juries lately, but it appears that the club will be at full strength when it takes the floor tomorrow. Arellano and Poshek didn't travel to Western Michigan last Sunday but should be ready to play this weekend. "We are still a bit rusty," Michigan coach Tom Johengen said. "We are trying to continue to focus on playing together. We want to make sure that we put forth a good team effort where everyone is sup- porting each other. When one person can pick another one up, the team tends not to dwell on mistakes." While Johengen has stressed that the Wolverines need a strong team effort to do well this year, he has made it no secret who the team de- pends on in a tough situation. "Mike McCune is probably our most important offensive weapon," Johengen said. "If we need a point, a lot of times we will set up a play for Mike. " "Mike is definitely a key," Arellano said. "If he can out play the opposing middle hitter, we have a really good shot. When he is blocking well and hitting well he is a force. You can go to him every time and he'll get a kill." While Michigan is still looking ahead to its best performance on the court, the team has already earned an invitation to the Collegiate Club Nationals this April in Buffalo. However, the taste of early season success hasn't clouded the team's view of reality. "In the past we could be used to winning 85 to 90 percent of our games," Johengen said. "We'd like to be able to match that, but parity is taking over our league. We have been one of the top teams for the last few years, but now other teams are improving and it will be much more difficult." Michael Jordan continually flies past defenders in the NBA and also flew past pole vaulter Sergei Bubka in the AP Male Athlete of the Year Award voting. A small travesty in the mind of at least one Daily sports writer. Bay area Giants hope I to head for San Jose MICHIGAN- 9 SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - The San Francisco Giants unveiled on Wednesday a fourth and final plot to escape from their windy prison in Candlestick Park. This time, the Gi- ants are making a break for San Jose. "I feel confident for the first time that the home (needs) of the Giants will be satisfied," owner Bob Lurie said during a news confer- ence. "We have struggled through this process for what seems like 100 years ... but I feel good about this. I can't wait to see the first shovel in the ground." Thwarted by a lack of voter sup- port in three previous tries, the Gi- ants hope this time to move into a proposed 48,000-seat, $185 million stadium in northern San Jose by the beginning of the 1996 season. Again, the move will be up to the voters. The Giants, who would change their name to the "San Jose Giants," have been looking for several years for a San Francisco Bay area alterna- tive to Candlestick Park, where the team has struggled with icy winds and fog since 1960. Their Candlestick Park lease ex- pires after the 1994 season. "I have said that it has been my desire all along to keep the team in the Bay area, and we're going to do it," Lurie said. "All the factors needed for a good ballpark are here." Asked if this would be his final bid to keep the team in Northern California, Lurie said, "It's the last, and the best." The Giants were unsuccessful in three tries at the initiative process. San Francisco voters rejected sta- dium proposals in 1987 and 1989. In November 1990, the 15 cities in Santa Clara County failed to ap- prove an initiative to build a sta- dium in the city of Santa Clara. The Giants and the San Jose city council reached agreement on a 30- year lease Monday night after months of "tough, protracted, no- nonsense" negotiating, San Jose mayor Susan Hammer said. She promised a campaign to con- vince voters to approve spending for the stadium. The initiative will probably appear on the June ballot. A M U N (.......A. ...............1 .............. .. ..... LIS W ITTY .............2ND......... ..it....8...... tiT ..3 . :.......... :P LAN .7TH 6Q'7: -w (WRITE .FOR~ii] THE M~ICIAN DAY'ILY(±~~ I F 1 I :1N7i ( ::N: SLAL::?Hc ::E . :i::i>:i :si MCHIAN: TE:AM:' :'1ST >OVERALL..... ::> - -- "I MEMMMM19 Enough Food To Turn Your Family Meal Into A... With One Topping BREADS' (Excludes Extra Cheese) Two 4-Piece Orders Iff ITNI 0 f ..................... % % I- L. VOW lTff1 ) f DRINKS 16 oz. Size CnneMPr'Mic- Overseas TravQ'1 x.A " . Offer valid for a limited time only at participating stores. No coupon necessary. 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