Page 10-The Michigan Daily- Thursday, March 25, 1993
GYMNASTICS NOTEBOOK
Long lines plague Big Ten meet
by Thom Holden
and Mike Rancilio
Daily Sports Writers
Women's gymnastics enthusiasts witnessed excel-
lent competition both on and off the floor during Sa-
turday night's Big Ten championships. Beth Wymer
came away with the conference all-around title, and
some lucky spectators came away with a hot dog.
An underprepared, understaffed Crisler Arena crew
met the hordes of fans by directing the assembled mass
one by one through the service entrance. Each pass or
ticket was checked by a man with an uncanny resem-
blance to Karl Malden's grandfather after he inquired
into the ancestral background of each would-be spec-
tator. The process resembled that of prospective
admission into a New York nightclub. Everything
seemed to hinge on who you were, who you knew, or
who you paid.
Of course, it was sleeting. Of course it was cold.
And of course the meet already started before fans took
their seats. That was a result of one factor: concession
stand gridlock.
This free-for-all was nearly as time-consuming as
the battle for admittance. There were two employees
hustling dogs and Cokes: a 15-year-old high school girl
and her younger brother. Petey was on the grill and
Shari was on the phone, and in between shots of hair
spray a lucky patron could receive a Ballpark wiener.
Hopefully the next tournament Michigan hosts, offi-
cials will prepare a little better for the expected showing
of an event. The 4,500 people present at the champi-
onship could have used a few'more employees to sling
grub.
RECORDS ROOM: Sophomore All-American
Wymer capped off a successful evening by breaking
three Michigan records. Saturday night, she broke the
records on the uneven bars (9.975), the balance beam
(9.925) and the all-around (39.45) en route to the Big
Ten individual title for the second straight year.
"My ultimate goal is to have 10s up there (on the
record board at the Sports Coliseum) so that they can
never come down." Wymer said.
COACH'S CORNER: Michigan coach Bev Plocki
received the Big Ten Coach -of-the-Year award for the
second year in a row. The format for selecting this
year's winner was changed from previous years, when
the Big Ten team champion's coach was awarded the
title. This year, the conference coaches voted for the
honor.
"This year's award was extra special to me because
it was by a vote of my colleagues," Plocki said.
Penn State's Allison Barber benefited from this
new format by taking home the Big Ten Gymnast-of-
the-Year award. Wymer won the award last year, and
was the top scorer this year at the championship, but
voters passed her up for the award this year. Despite the
result, Plocki is happy with the new system.
"The (new voting system) is fairer than the one used
last year," Plocki said. "Allison Barber is a great gym-
nast and a great choice for Gymnast of the Year."
MOLLY STEVENS/Daily
Michigan sophomore Beth Wymer captured the Big Ten all-around title for the second consecutive year Saturday.
'REACTION
Continued from page 8
Department to examine the recruit-
ing trends of its other varsity sports.
"Does Michigan get its swimmers
from the high schools or from
private clubs?" he asked.
UniversifyActivities Center Peter Kormann, Ohio State gym-
niver flynastics coach, questioned the an-
nouncement based on the fact that
Jack Weidenbach, Michigan's out-
going athletic director, made a deci-
sion that will not go into effect until
a new athletic director is appointed.
Kormann asked, "Does the Uni-
versity of Michigan let all their old
Be a part of the organization that brought athletic directors make their de-
Soul Asylum, Spike Lee, Tim Allen, Girbaud, visions?"
and Edwin Meese to the University of Michigan. SOFTBALL
Be a Committee Chairperson for the largest
student-run organization on campus, the Continued from page 8
g p ting average.
University Activities Center. Applications are Consolation runners-up a year
now available at 2105 Michigan Union and are ago, the Wolverines expect an even
due April 5 at noon. Call 763-1107 for more info, better outcome this time around,
even with four other Top 20 teams
(Cal State-Sacramento, Iowa, New
Mexico and Utah State) in atten-
dance.
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Will NFL owners succeed.
where baseball's fa?
by Michael Rosenberg
Daily Sports Writer
Now that free agency has arrived in football, we can only hope that NFL
owners recognize the mistakes of major league baseball owners and that
sport's free agency debacle.
Baseball owners have a habit of signing players before seeing if the
players can do minor, unimportant things, such as hit. Baseball owners sign
players for publicity. For example, if a baseball owner is exposed for having
a poor record in hiring minorities, he or she will react by signing a backup
shortstop to a three-year, $17 billion contract (guaranteed, of course).
I can already see football owners doing the same thing. I can see the Fal-
cons signing Marcus Dupree and proclaiming Atlanta, "The land of DuPree
and the home of the Braves." I can see teams scrambling to sign flamboyant
personalities like Tony Mandarich, a lineman who plays softly but carries a
big shtik. I can see the Raiders signing Jay Schroeder and ...
Now. Football owners do not have a history of this kind of thing. But for
every good thing they do, they throw something bad in as well. For every
Super Bowl, there is a Bud Bowl. For every brilliant television innovation,
like Monday Night Football, there is a television disaster, like Dan Dierdorf.
For every NFC, there is an AFC.
The major problem the NFL owners have is that they are owners. Own-
ers have this weird thing about them: they love to spend money and com-
plain about it later. The owners will realize their mistakes, and then go re-
peat them.
A similar phenomenon occurs during Congressional elections. "What an
idiot this guy is!" the voters scream. "Let's vote for him again!"
If you look up the word "owner" in the dictionary, you are more ener-
getic than I am.
I don't know if NFL owners will make the same mistakes that the base-
ball people made. They were smart enough to institute a salary cap. But I
read the newspaper in class today, and I saw that the Chicago Bears gave
quarterback Jim Harbaugh a four-year, $13 million contract. There are at
least 15 better quarterbacks in the league than Jim Harbaugh. That makes
him an average signal-caller.
Is an average quarterback worth $3 million a year?
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