The Michigan Daily- Friday, April 9,1993 -Page 11
FOOTBALL'S ANNUAL BLUE-WHITE GAME:
Match gives players chance to impress
by Adam Miller
Daily Football Writer
Imagine you are a rookie - a
redshirt freshman - just completing
your spring drills with the Michigan
football team.
Everything has been magnified
this past month. The veterans have
come out hitting harder, running
* faster, and demanding more than
ever before. The coaches have
harped on the fundamentals end-
lessly - better blocking, stronger
tackling, the "proper football posi-
tion."
Yesterday was one of those days.
You set for a simple offensive play,
and ... you missed your block.
Whoa, here comes Michigan
coach Gary Moeller with a full head
of steam. And he's looking right at
you.
Still recovering from the play,
you turn delirious. By the time Mo
reaches you, he seems to have a full
beard, and be wearing dark glasses
and a cowboy hat. Suddenly, he
shouts your way.
"Rookie," he demands, "are you
ready for some football?"
Suddenly, it dawns on you. The
annual Blue-White scrimmage is
tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. in Michigan
Stadium, with free admission for the
fans. The final event of spring prac-
tice, it's what everyone has been
waiting for.
More than just the steak-hot dog
battle (winner gets the better post-
game meal), the Blue-White game is
an event, an opportunity. Several
Wolverines have gotten their start -
broken out - in the spring game
before. Four years ago it was Alfie
Burch, then playing at wide receiver.
Everyone buzzed about the "Elvis to
Alfie" combination for days after-
ward.
'Sometimes those
things happen in
spring games from a
semi-fluke; sometimes
there's truth to it.'
- Gary Moeller
football coach
Last year, it was Greg
McThomas. Formerly a seldom-used
fullback, McThomas switched to
linebacker and got noticed. After
seeing action as a backup all year, he
finally got a start in the Rose Bowl.
This year, who knows? Moeller
said that strange things often happen
in the spring game.
"Sometimes those things happen
in spring games from a semi-fluke;
sometimes there's truth to it," he
said. "I can think of one time we
threw a touchdown pass to a guy
who no one knew his name, includ-
ing Bo. That's the extreme to it.
"Then we have the guys who
really turn it up a notch and really
try to improve. We have veterans
doing that."
Mo's right. Junior tailback
Tyrone Wheatley has been working
out like a man on a mission. Junior
quarterback Todd Collins has practi-
cally cemented for himself the start-
ing job. Junior middle guard Tony
Henderson and senior tackle Buster
Stanley have really "turned it up a
notch" on defense.
If only we hadn't been so
plagued with injuries, you think. Mo
sounded really angry about the com-
bination of injury and the shortened
spring practice time, as mandated by
the NCAA.
"That's where the NCAA rules
are really unfair," he said. "Why do
you keep a kid from succeeding?
Why do you put rules on people that
say 'You can't get any better than
this, because you're only allowed to
do this'? ... To take practice time
and limit it to 15 days? These kids
need to play."
Barring inclement weather, play
you will tomorrow. As Coach
Moeller said to you as you scraped
yourself off the turf and got ready
for the next drill:
"It's the game of the week, and
it's comin' your way; Saturday af-
ternoon is the time to play."
THE
UNIVERSITY
CLUB
COMMENCEMENT
BRUNCH 1993
Saturday, May 1
9am to 4pm
763-4648
Reservations taken
Mon. - Fri., 8:30am - 4:30pm
Muffins
Breakfast Pastries
Bagels with Lox
Fresh Fruit Platters
Herbed Scrambled Eggs
Potato Pancakes with
Applesauce
Spinach Swiss Cheese
Quiche
Caesar Salad
Broccoli Bacon Salad
Tomatoes & Feta with Orzo
Fresh Asparagus
Rice Pilaf
Stir-Fried Vegetables
Fettuccini Alfredo
Honey Mustard Chicken
Vegetable Strudel
Shrimp & Scallop Newberg
Carved Roast Beef Au Jus
Tyrone Wheatley is just one of the stars tomorrow's Blue-White game will
feature. The annual matchup begins at 1:30 p.m. in Michigan Stadium.
Injured spikers seek
revenge versus CMU
by Erin Himstedt challenging practice schedule t
Daily Sports Writer improve the team's skills and in
o
n-
The Michigan men's volleyball
team anticipates tonight's action at
Keen Arena with redemption on its
mind.
In a rematch of this year's re-
gional quarterfinal match, where
Central Michigan (CMU) eliminated
the Wolverines from competition,
the spikers will face the Chippewas
at 7:30 pm, in their last home event
of the season.
The stinging memory of the last
meeting is an inspiration for Michi-
gan, who had defeated Central in the
early rounds of regional play.
"We have it out for revenge for
this team, because they knocked us
out of (the Midwest Intercollegiate
Volleyball Association finals),"
coach Pam Griffin said. "We've
worked really hard all week, and I
think everybody's really psyched up
for the match."
CMU's impressive performance
at regionals came as a relative sur-
prise. Traditionally, the Chippewas
have not been considered a strong
club, but this season has shown a
marked improvement in their play.
Nevertheless, the Wolverines are not
intimidated.
"They're a good team. They beat
us once, but they were on a hot
kAK/Dailystreak at regionals. They were
pumped, they were hot, they were
ready to play," junior Justin
MacLaurin said. "They've improved
a lot since last year, but they're not a
powerhouse."
After last weekend's disappoint-
ing losses to Michigan State and
Notre Dame, Griffin implemented a
crease its intensity.
"Hopefully, this match will be a
lot different from last week. We're
working on defense, not letting balls
'We've worked hard all
week, and I think
everybody's really
psyched up for the
match.'
- Pam Griffin
men's volleyball coach
drop. We're also working on serve
receives, and to increase aggressive-
ness all-around.
"I think they had a lot of fun in
practice this week, and that makes a
difference. Last week, I don't know
if they were sick or burned out, but
the team didn't seem to care. This
week they do, and they're really
getting geared up."
Michigan players also said they
hope that illness, which was such a
disadvantage for the team in last
weekend's matches, will not be a
factor tonight. However, several
players have been sick or injured
again this week.
Above all, tonight's match will
be preparation for the national cham-
pionships in Austin, Tex. next week.
"We definitely need a win before
nationals, something to get us a little
more pumped, to get a positive feel-
ing out of our team," MacLaurin
said. "Hopefully that'll come against
CMU. We'll be out to get them."
French Bread
Beverage
Delicious Dessert Buffet
Adults, $12.95
Children, $5.95
THE UNIVERSITY CLUB
in the Michigan Union
530 SOUTH S TATE STREET
eOl
Oa
The men's volleyball team is ready to payback Central Michigan after losing to the Chippewas earlier this year
Golfers face tough competition at
second Lady Buckeye nvitational
by Jaeson Rosenfeld
Daily Sports Writer
If the Ohio State women's golf
team had a birthday party, it would
invite guests and make them watch
as they ate all of their own cake.
Coming off a victory at Indiana,
the red-hot Buckeyes will host their
second tournament of the year. The
last time the Buckeyes hosted a
tournament, they were anything but
hospitable.
In the Wolverines' last tourna-
ment of the fall, Ohio State senior
Tami Dugan shot a torrid one-over-
par 217, helping the Buckeyes bury
the field in their divots with a 931
team total.
The Wolverines finished fourth
in the fall edition of the Lady Buck-
eye Invitational with senior Wendy
Bigler leading the way on the par-72
Scarlet Course. Bigler shot rounds of
79,78, and 85 for a total of 282, pac-
ing the team to a 988 mark for the
54-hole event.
Michigan will accept its second
invitation of the year to play at the
Buckeyes' 6,037-yard course this
weekend. While the Wolverines
know that the Buckeyes will proba-
bly take the cake again, they hope to
at least take home a parting gift.
"They (Ohio State) played really
well last week," Michigan coach Sue
LeClair said. "And being on their
home course, I think they'll have a
major advantage. If the girls just
play their game, we can be right up
there in the top 4, just like we were
in the fall."
The spring version of the Lady
Buckeye Invitational features every
Big Ten team except Purdue; Mid-
west foes including Notre Dame and
Illinois State; and Southern nemeses
Tennessee, Mississippi, and James
Madison. According to LeClair,
conference rivals will provide most
of the Wolverines' competition.
"We should be ahead of all those
teams that are not Big Ten teams,"
LeClair said.
For the first time this spring, the
Wolverines will take six golfers to a
tournament allowing junior Tegan
McCorkel to join the lineup.
"We're taking six players this
time," LeClair said. "Tegan is going,
so that will give us another reliable
player."
The Big Sleep
Humphry Bogart stars as Raymond Chandler's tough
private eye, Philip Marlowe. Marlowe is hired to
investigate the gambling debts of a wealthy general's
daughter, played by Lauren Bacall, and sparks fly
between the two as the investigation leads to blackmail,
deception, and violence. Directed by Howard Hawkes.
In black and white.
I'
BORROW
EPSON 11,
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