#. Q&1f; JM Nor6a gk } w r Harbaugh Former Michigan all-American r ref Ce cts Jim Harbaugh is one of the reatest quarterbacks ever to play at Michigan. In his four years here (1983-86), Harbaugh set the record or most career passing yards (5,449) which Elvis Grbac broke this season. Harbaugh still holds the tingle-season mark with 2,729 ards. He led the Wolverines to a iesta Bowl triumph over Nebraska In 1986, and a trip to the 1987 Rose Bowl against Arizona State. Ile also ?earned all-American honors his se- nior season. The Chicago Bears made Har- baugh their first-round pick in the ยข1987 NFL Draft. Last year, in his "second full season as a starter, Harbaugh quarterbacked the Bears to the playoffs. Daily Sports Writer Chad Safran recently talked to Har- baugh.. Daily: You played for two of the toughest coaches in football, Bo Schembechler here at Michigan and now Mike Ditka with the Chicago Bears. Compare the two. Harbaugh: They're both very intense, we'll start there. They both want to win like all coaches do. It's hard to really compare them. Their styles are pretty different. In terms of coaching, I would say their per- sonalities are quite different. D: What is your greatest memory of playing football at Michigan? H: Probably just the friends that I made, playing with them. Both the coaches and players, running out of the tunnel. D: What is the experience of running out of the tunnel, touching the banner and seeing all the people like? H: At first, it's really a big thrill, especially the first couple of years but then it just became a part of the game. D: Why did you become a foot- ball player? H: A lot of reasons. I just liked splaying football at recess and stuff. I loved all the sports I played. I played hockey and baseball but football was .the one I was best at. It made me feel good. D: Describe how the Bears' sea- son has progressed so far. H: It's been pretty up and down. ,You know, 4-4, and we have had some great wins and some pretty tragic defeats. We've had some bad luck. Hopefully now, we can put the first-half of the season behind us and do some better things in the second half of the season. }D : "When you came out of Michigan, you were a controversial first-round selection. Then, you bat- tled Mike Tomczak for the starting ;position for a couple' of seasons. How difficult was it to be a backup? H: I wanted to play. I mean, I :just wanted to be out there on the field. I missed the competition that came with it. It was pretty much one I, on his college days year that he was in one game, then I was. Since 1990, though, I've been the starter. As far as being a backup, you learn the assignments and then you just wait your turn to play. I always felt if I worked hard I would get the opportunity. It wasn't that tough. D: How difficult is it to deal with the Chicago media? H: It is not that difficult. They're just trying to do a job. When you look at it, the media really plays an the things we had to do to win, like running the wishbone. We threw quite a bit. I mean my senior year, we threw for a couple thousand yards. I got the opportunity to throw so I don't feel shortchanged at all. D: The Minnesota Vikings have been the surprise of the NFC Central Division. Are you shocked at all by their success? H: They have done very well. There is no doubt about it. They have been really well coached. D: Do the players get more pumped up being on national television? H: I think so. Once you get in the game, it doesn't matter whether you are playing on Monday night or Sunday or Thursday. You just go and play the game. That's pretty much what I've found my whole career. Whether you are playing in high school, college, or the pros, once you get in there, you just start playing. D: What do the Bears have to do to turn this season around and be- come more consistent? H: I think we have to take every game as it comes. We have to dedi- cate ourselves each and every week. Cut down on some of the unlucky things that have happened to us. D: It seems that's what happened on the play last Monday night that (Minnesota's) Jack Del Rio returned an interception for a touchdown. H: What was unlucky about that play was that I was throwing to Tom Waddle (Chicago wide receiver), who was coming across the middle and the referee flattened him. That's kind of an unlucky thing to have happen. But, you've got to be able to rebound from situations like that, and we have not been able to. That's the biggest key. D: The Bear tradition is to run the ball. This year though it has stalled and you have been forced to pass a lot more. What has happened? H: There is no doubt about it; our running game is not the same that it used to be. We're rebuilding our of- fensive line and that's what is going to happen. D: (Bears' linebacker) Mike Singletary has announced that he will retire at the conclusion of this season. How will his absence affect the team? H: It is hard to say. I mean he is definitely the leader of the team but you don't know how it is going to affect the team. We went through the same thing a couple of years ago when Dan Hampton retired. Now they are wondering what is going to happen when Singletary retires. When someone leaves, like what happens on every team, someone must step up. Look at Michigan, Alexander stepped in and filled Des- mond's shoes. Now, someone's going to have to fill in Singletary's shoes. The Michigan Daily - Sports Monday - November 9, 1992 - Page 3 John Niyo Who can knock off the Bulls? It would be easy to just say Chicago. It would be easy to say three- peat. If you follow conventional wisdom, you can't really pick anyone but the Bulls. But here it goes (in order of predicted finish): WESTERN CONFERENCE -PACIFIC DIVISION: Phoenix made the biggest move in the offseason and will likely reap the biggest benefit. Charles Barkley, the fiercest player in the league, now suits up in a Suns uniform. He has always wanted to win. Now he finally has the chance. As long as Kevin Johnson can get healthy sometime - anytime - before May, they will be the team to heat in the West. Danny Ainge is another perfect addition to a talented team. Ainge's old team, though, decided Rod Strickland could solve some problems. Strickland is not the answer to any team's problems. When a team is as close as Portland was to winning it all, they need to make sensible offseason moves. And with Clyde Drexler ailing and Kevin Duckworth still fat and soft, letting Ainge go and picking up Strickland is not sensible. Portland is likely on the way down in the Pacific Division. Seattle is headed the other way, with Shawn Kemp and Derrick McKey leading the way. But the team is still a bit unstable with George Karl and Benoit Benjamin playing mind games. When will Golden State find a center? That seems to be all they need. Billy Owens is ready to emerge as an all-star, but will be counted on to rebound and do all the things a center should do. The Los Angeles Lakers arc obviously hurt by the second retirement of Magic Johnson, but they are healthy again - something they certainly weren't last year. You could do worse than a James Worthy-Sam Perkins-A.C. Green front line. A lot worse. And Anthony Peeler will impress immediately. The Los Angeles Clippers traded away Charles Smith. They shouldn't have. They may have stalled their rise to the top temporarily. WESTERN CONFERENCE -MIDWEST DIVISION: Utah made a good move in acquiring Jay Humphries from Milwaukee. John Stockton can now rest every once in a while without watching the team disintegrate. Karl Malone, now that worries about AIDS are appeased, can go back to scoring at will. And David Benoit is the best player that nobody has heard of. One question for Houston fans? Who was the genius who cane up with this strategy? Let 's piss off Hakeeni O ajuwon until he refuses to playfor us. Probably the same guy who blurted out Dave Jamnerson's name at the 1991 draft. But this team is still talented and in the league's weakest division. San Antonio needs to get healthy. Until then, it is hard to say what will happen. Except that Tarkanian will keep everyone playing hard. Minnesota may finally be headed in the right direction for good. Laettner is already proving himself, and the addition of Chuck Person and Michael Williams will at least make things somewhat exciting. Denver has too many new faces to do anything yet. Good faces, but new faces. Dallas coach Richie Adubato may have said it best. "We're going to be like an expansion team," he said. Amen. EASTERN CONFERENCE -ATLANTIC DIVISION: The knock on New York is that they made too many moves in the offseason. Too many good moves has rarely, if ever, hurt a team. They gave up Gerald Wilkins and Xavier McDaniel. They got Charles Smith, Rolando Blackman, Doc Rivers, Bo Kimble and Hubert Davis (in the draft). And they have the best coach in the NBA. Miami has the talent to win a lot of games. But the expectations have risen along with the win totals. Glen Rice plays every game now See NIYO, Page 8 important part in the NFL's popular- ity and sports in America. They get the fans out and ultimately they're the ones who pay our salaries. It benefits us all. D: What about the fans in Chicago? How tough are they on you? H: They're like most fans in the NFL. Put it this way, you've got a lot more friends when you are win- ning than when you are losing. D: Now at Michigan with Gary Moeller at the helm, the Wolverines have opened up their offense, more passing, using the no-huddle. How do you think you would have fared in this situation? H: Good. I think I would have faired good. I think I would have Loved to play in that situation. D: Does it make you jealous looking at it? H: Jealous? Sure. I mean I would have loved to throw the ball to guys like they have now, receivers like Desmond Howard and Derrick Alex- ander. I would have loved it, but the main thing is to win. At the time when I played there, we did some of FLL Ei ,O TulDily They've turned their program around there. It's only one half of the sea- son, so a lot of things can happen in the second half of the season. They've gotten a lot of breaks to go their way. You never know what the second half holds. D: What is it like playing on Monday Night Football compared with the normal Sunday game? Is there a different atmosphere out there? H: I think so. You think about it a little bit. I think a lot of people that don't normally watch football, watch playoff games and they watch Mon- day Night Football. 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