The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, March 14, 1994 - 7 W ad scene for team ob Young is a memory now, a relic from back when Michigan had a men's gymnastics program. Those days appear to have ended Saturday night with the Wolverines' victory at the Michigan Invitational. Young, a sophomore, will probably never compete for Michigan again. The men's gymnastics team is being cut after this season. The Wolverines have never received much press, and they never seemed to care. Now they are suddenly clamoring for support, fighting for their competitive lives. It is a fight the athletic department seems intent on seeing them lose. Twenty years old and already a has- been. That is Young's fate. He does not deserve this, of course. Bob Young is that rare individual who has worked for his whole life to achieve MICHAEL certain goals - and, rarer still, he has ROSENBERG achieved them. He is ranked sixth in the oses are nation in the still rings and 14th in the ead all-around.He has an outstanding chance of making All-American this season. Today, this counts for nothing. Years from now, he will return to Ann Arbor, and he will try to impress with tales of his glory days. "I used to be a star for the men's gymnastics team," he will say. "Men's gymnastics?" someone will ask. "Michigan doesn't even have men's gymnastics team." * "Yes, but ..." he will say, and his voice will trail off, because what can he do? It is difficult to change the mind of someone who thinks your past never happened. 0 There are still the Big Ten and national championship meets to come, but those are competitions in distant locales. As far as the Michigan athletic campus is concerned, Bob as athletic department forces farewell 0 Young has checked out. There is an undeniable sadness here. For 50 years men's gymnastics teams have competed for Michigan. There will be no 51st.. The Wolverines' team score of 281.80 Saturday was their highest ever at home. Last week at Ohio State, Michigan scored a 282.25, a school record. After 50 years, the team is better than ever. After 50 years, the team is peaking at the right time. "It's ridiculous if it ends," said Merrick Horn, a Michigan gymnast from the early 1980s who returned for Saturday night's meet. "It's sad if it ends. Hopefully, it's not their last meet." 000 Future generations will stare at the Michigan sports memorabilia, and there will be no photos of Young. "I should be up there," he will say. "You?" someone will ask. "Who are you? I don't even know who you are." "Yes, but .." Mt0 The team is being cut because of gender equity. Or maybe it is financial restraints. Or maybe it is the lack of participation in the sport at the high school level. The gymnasts have been given all of these reasons, at one time or another, by the athletic department. They do not believe any of them. "Every reason they have given has been taken back or retracted," captain Seth Rubin said. "It's very irritating and it's upsetting. We have shown we are one of the top five teams in the country." Someday, as football players prepare for battle, their coaches will invoke the name of the legendary Tom Harmon. Basketball players will be inspired by the great Cazzie Russell. No one will talk about Bob Young. Wolverine fans will read books chronicling the careers of all the great athletes who competed in Ann Arbor. "Tom Harmon. Now he was a true Michigan man," someone will say. "I am a Michigan man, too," Young will say. "Really?" someone will ask. "How come I have never heard of you? You aren't even in this book." "Yes, but ..." These are student-athletes. They are not here to move on to a higher level, because this is the highest level. They work 25 or more hours a week for the honor of competing for Michigan. At least, they used to. The team is ranked fifth in the nation, but this is about more than wins and losses. This is about developing a work ethic, bonding with friends and the love of what they are doing. These are the things college sports used to be about. These are the things college used to be about. "We're all best friends," Young said. "We see each other pretty much all day. We spend four hours a day together in practice, and we are in a lot of the same classes, and we live together. About 16 of us live in a house, and almost all of us are gymnasts." When Young was in high school, there were several colleges that offered him scholarships. He chose Michigan. "I came here with the intention of competing for four years," Young said. "If I had known they were going to cut the team after two years I would have considered it, but I had offers from other schools. I probably would have gone somewhere else." Bob Young signed a letter of intent with Michigan. When he did, he promised to spend four years of his life competing as a Wolverine. He promised to attend practices, go to the meets and give the team his best effort. Essentially, he promised to do Michigan proud. In exchange, Michigan promised to provide him with the facilities and the support he needed to compete for four years. There were two sides making commitments when Bob Young signed his letter of intent. One of them has been fulfilled. at the U- Computer Showcase Wolverines struggle to understand decision By TONYA BARTOW evening was the possibility that it was "Why don't they come and watch, see FOR THE DAILY the last home meet. what they're getting rid of. They don'1 Unlike using Sprint, you couldn't "It was on everybody's mind to- even give us the respect of showing hear a pin drop. In fact, you couldn't day. I know it was on my mind," up here." even hear a bomb drop. junior Brian Winkler said. "I've been Men's gymnastics coach Bot The men's gymnastics team here for three years and this was pos- Darden along with his team is frus- packed Cliff Keen Arena with over sibly my last home meet." trated with the lack of support the 1,000 screaming fans last Saturday Winkler, a former NCAA cham- team has received from the people night for the Michigan Invitational pion, along with the rest of the team is making the decisions this year. which was possibly the team's last upset with the University's decision "It is especially frustrating wher ever home meet. to cut the program. the team sees some administration ai "It was the last home meet as an "If the (administration) wants to the women's meet Friday night and outgoing senior for me," senior Royce get rid of us," senior Ben Verrall said. Se SENIOlRS P.Pa e e It 9 b e e n tt d Toni said. "You see the fans, you see the support, that the Athletic Depart- ment says we don't have, but this place was packed." The underlying factor of the Discrete Deivery Check or Money Order SAFETYGIRL249E.LibertyU Ann Arbor, Ml 48104 vti~ Vr (1.w -Crlu.T Michigan won its last home meet ever Saturday. 1-800-77>m112 ie The world's largest student & youth travel organization STA TRAVEL GYMNASTICS Continued from page 1 Ten Championship March 25-26 at Penn State. The Wolverines will need to put the -horizontal bar gaffe behind them now. "I don't know if you can explain what happened," said freshman Paul Bischoff. "It just happened and it's not gonna happen again." "The team is gonna come out with the best attitude and psyche at Big Tens," Darden said. The University of Michigan Department of Recreational sports T 1994 MICHIGAN CLASSICS Summer Softball I DIVISIONS: ____j mmmoommommmmi MANAGER'S MEETING: REGISTRATION/ ENTRIES TAKEN: ENTRY FEE: [Due at day, date and time of Entry] PLAY BEGINS: POST SEASON TOURNAMENT: Mens -- C (Single game and Doubleheader leagues) Mens -- D (Single game leagues only) CoRec -- C (Single game leagues only) Womens -- C/D (Single game leagues only) (NOTE: Women's league will he formed only if six or more teams register/enterl MANDATORY FOR ALL TEAMS - Returning and New! Tuesday March 15, 1994 6:00 p.m. U of M Intramural Sports Building -- IMSB (606 E. Hoover Street) Tuesday March 15, 1994 -- Following Mandatory Manager's Meeting All Teams ---- Returning (approximately 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.) New (approximately 8:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.) [NOTE: In order for a leam to he registered, that team must he represented at the Mandatory Mgrs Mtgj Single Game Leagues ---- $495.00 per team [NOTE: 10 Round Robin League games and I Playoff gamel Doubleheader Leagues ---- $990.00 per team [NOTE: 20 Round Robin League games and 1 Playoff game] No Individual Player Fees! Game balls provided! Uniforms not required! ENTRY FEES DUE AT DAY/DATE/TIME OF REGISTRATION/ENTRY! Monday May 9, 1994 [NOTE: Ends approximately July 28, 19941 [NOTE: Practice Days/Dates: Monday May 2- Friday May 6. Sign-ups at Manager's Meetingl Friday, Saturday and Sunday July 29, 30 and 31 [NOTE: Toumey Rain Davs/Dates -- Friday, Saturday and Sunday August 5. 6 and 71 S 0 m Ki I rnau m l ;:> .