The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, February 28, 1996 - 11 Final battle with State sweet for Fife By Brent McIntosh Daily Sports Editor It began with a 73-69 win in East Lansing's Breslin Center. It came to an end with a 75-46 triumph in Crisler Arena. Dugan Fife has played his allotted eight games against Michigan State - the team he grew up hating more than any other - and he has come up victo- rious in six of them. For the Michigan senior captain, son offormer Wolverine senior captain Dan Fife, this intrastate rivalry is No. 1. You win, you smirk; you lose, you swallow it and move on, knowing that the green ones among your friends won't let you forget your failure. For the rest of his life, Fife can smirk. He scored six points on a pair of 3-pointers last night, and his Wol- verines won. Fife finishes his Michigan-Michi- gan State career having won three- quarters of his eight games; his father won the same fraction, but of four contests. "For me personally, it's great to beat State," Fife said. "I've grown up a Michigan fan - I've been a Michigan fan all my life." This is not a rivalry for Fife - this is a vendetta. Everything else pales: There is no goal, except to beat the Spartans. Forget that Dugan is close to members of State's club, including center Jamie Feick -there'll be none of that here. "Feick threw me down three or four times, and he's one ofmv good friends." Fife said. "There's no 'friends' when we play Michigan State." And Fife's sentiments are shared by his teammates. "They bring the fight out in every- body," Michigan guard Travis Conlan said. Not that Fife has to tell his cohorts how much beating the Spartans means for him personally. They figure that out pretty quickly, even the ones from outside Michigan. "You find out how much of a rivalry it is when you go up to State the first time and you're shooting before the game," Fife said. "The fans get on you. They'll call you names, throw things at you, spit on you. They'll call you any- thing." That may hold true for the Spartan fans, who shouted, "Go back to the ghetto" at Juwan Howard and wore beer cases on their heads after Wol- verines Jimmy King and Ray Jackson were caught taking beer from a cam- pus convenience store three years ago. It doesn't apply to Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, though: You won't hear him denigrating the Wolverine senior. "I'm a Dugan Fife fan," Izzo said. "I've been a Dugan Fife fan since he was a junior in high school. He gives that team some leadership and stabil- ity. I know what a competitor that kid is." Most of the Wolverines will take on the Spartans in the future. For Fife, however, it's over. The little- kid visions of beating State, the antici- pation of every game against the Spar- tans. the green and white butterflies in his stomach - all past. Don't think he won't miss it. SPARTANS Continued from Page 10 down only 10-8. Then Michigan got going. Fife buried his first shot-a 3-pointer. Albert White bulled inside for his first two and Baston hit a jumper. With his team trailing, 17-8, Izzo -not exactly in a jolly mood - called time. The timeout helped ... the Wolverines. After the break, Fife promptly buried his second three and Conlan got free inside for a layup. At a TV timeout with 7:56 left until halftime, Michigan led, 22-8, and Spar- tans not named Brooks were still score- less. From there, Izzo's face just got red- der. Back on the floor and with every- thing going Michigan's way, Conlan took a rare three (why not?) - and buried it. Then on the next time down, he found Taylorinsidefora dunk. Daimon Beathea finally broke a 17-0 Michigan run with a putback at the 4:58 mark, but by that time, the Wolverines led, 27-10. The Spartans managed to crawl to the lockerroom trailing, 38-21. Michigan State finished the half 7-of-28 from the field for a tiny 25 percent. The Spartans never really threatened after halftime. They did get within 12, though, when Klein buried a three and was fouled by Fife with 10:06 left. But he missed the free throw and Willie Mitchell nailed a trey on the other end as Brooks failed to get in the Wolverine's face. An unhappy Izzo called time and gave Brooks a quiz- zical look, as if to ask: "What were you thinking?" It wasthatkind of day for Michigan State. MICHIGAN STATE (46) FO F RES MIN M-A MWA 0-T A F PTS Smith 17 1-3 0-0 1-1 0 3 2 Brooks 23 4-10 3-4 1-6 0 2 11 Feick 31 0.6 1-4 3-9 03 1 Beathea 16 1-4 1-2 1-1 0 2 3 Weathers 35 3-12 1-3 1-1 3 2 7 Garavagila 28 2-4 3-6 3-8 1 1 7 Kelley 9 0-0 0-0 040 0 0 Mull 18 2-6 1-1 0-2 1 2 5 Respert 5 1-2 0-0 0.0 0 2 2 Klein 12 2-3 0.1 01 01 6 Nicodemus 2 1-1 0.0 0-0 0 0 2 Polonowski 2 0.0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Hart 2 0.0 0-0 0000 0 Totals 200 17-51. 10.2110430 518 46 FG%: .333. FT%: .476. Three-point goal.: 2-6, .333 (Klein 2-3, Weathers 0-3). Blocks: 3 (Beathea, Garavagila, Klein). Turnovers: 16 (Brooks 3 Feick 3, Weathers 3, Smith 2, Garavagila, Hart, Kelley, Mull, Respert). Steals: 3 (Feick, Kelley, Weathers). Technical Fouls: none MICHIGAN (75) FS FREB MIN M-A M-A O-T A F P1% Conlan 35 4-10 0-0 0.5 6 0 10 Taylor 30 8-14 0.1 1-5 0 3 16 Baston 27 5-6 2-2 2-11 2 4 12 Bullock 33 3.9 2-2 0.0 2 1 9 Fife 31 2-3 00 0-0 0 4 6 White 21 4-8 4-6 0-6 2 2 12 Mitchell 15 1-4 0-0 2-3 1 3 3 Morton 2 0.1 2-2 0-000 2 Oliver 2 0.1 2-2 0-0 1 0 2 DeKuiper 2 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 3 Szyndlar 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 00 0 Totals 200 28-57 12-15 5-30 1417 75 FG%: .491. FT%: .800. Three-point goals: 717, .412 (Fife 2-2, Conlan 2-4, Dekupier 1-1, Mitchell 1-1, Morton 0-1, Oliver 0-1, White 0-2). Blocks: 6 (Baston 2, Taylor 2, White 2) Turnovers: 10 (Taylor 4, White 3, Bullock, Conlan, Mitchell). Steals: 5 (White 2, Bullock, Conlan, Fife). Technical Fouls: none. Michigan State . 21 25- 46 Michigan ..........38 37 - 75 At: Crisler Arena; A: 13,562 1f Ray Weathers and the Spartans fell to Dugan Fife and Michigan last night. It's oicial: The Great ,One traded to Blues ST. LOUIS (AP)- Wayne Gretzky, the ambassador of hockey, has a new address: St. Louis. Gretzky, who failed to win a Stanley Cup in Los Angeles, was traded to the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night, end- -ing weeks of rumor and speculation about his future. "'m emotionally drained," Gretzky said at a new conference in Los Ange- es. "I'm disappointed to be leaving Los Angeles but I'm excited to play in St. Louis. ... It's always tough when you move. Nobody likes to make changes. Sometimes it's just timing." To get the most prolific scorer in NHL history and a hockey icon whose name is synonymous with the sport, the Blues gave the Kings three young play- ers - Craig Johnson, Patrice Tardif nd Roman Vopat - and their No. I 4Wck in the 1997 draft. The 35-year-old superstar said he expects to sign with the Blues in two to three weeks. a '"It wasn't a financial issue," he said. ""Finances never really were a factor." Gretzky can become a free agent af- ter this season, and the Kings risked losing him without compensation ifthey failed to sign him. He said it "could conceivably happen" that he plays out Ohe season with the Blues, then signs elsewhere. "I think it's been tough on everyone," Gretzky said. "It'sbeen very unfair forall of us. I think everyone is relieved." Word of the trade from St. Louis. came while McMaster and Kings gov- ernor Bob Sanderman were meeting into the evening at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif. Earlier in the day, Sanderman an- nounced there was "no conclusion" to the negotiations with Gretzky and his agent, but the talks were to resume. "We want to do what's right for Wayne," Sanderman said at the time. "At the same time, we owe it to our fans to do what's right for the Los Angeles Kings." However, Gretzky has played his last game for the Kings. And now, like the NFL's Rams before him, Gretzky is off to St. Louis and is expected in the lineup for the Blues on Thursday night in Vancouver. "I just follow the Rams," he said. "Wherever they go, I go." That initial announcement dampened anticipation in St. Louis, where the news conference was watched by reporters on a monitor and the team had a podium ready for a satellite news conference of its own. Sanderman described the 1 1/2-hour meeting as cordial, and said he was optimistic about reaching a conclusion concerning Gretzky this week. The reso- Spring/summer and fall/winter term ADVERTISING JOBS are now being offered at The Michigan Daily. * Sell advertising to local and national businesses * Earn commission-based pay " Create ad copy and layout *Manage your own account territory * Work for an exciting student-run newspaper If you are creative, ambitious, and highly motivated come to Student Publications building " 420 Maynard APPLICATION DEADLINE IS TOMORROW BEFORE 5:_#00 PM Dethroned AP PHOTO Wayne Gretzky, also known as The Great One, is no longer a King. Gretzky was traded from Los Angeles to the St. Louis Blues last night. Gretzky Is the NHL's all- time leading scorer and won four Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers. lution came much sooner. Gretzky was in the meeting while the Kings practiced for Wednesday night's game. He and Barnett left the building before the news conference began. CAREER SEARCHING! 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