Scoreboard DALLAS 103, Indiana 82
MILWAUKEE 99, Phoenix 89 (OT)
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION SEATTLE 121, Golden State 102
Detroit 92, WASHINGTON 79 L.A. Clippers 99, VANCOUVER 92
ATLANTA 87, Cleveland 83 NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
MIAMI 105, Charlotte 97 NEW JERSEY 3, Washington 2
Philadelphia 101, NEW YORK 97 PITTSBURGH 3, Buffalo 0
MINNESOTA 100, Portland 97 Hartford at SAN JOSE, inc.
LA. Lakers 126, HOUSTON 115 (20T) Home teams in CAPS
Wednesday
November 13, 1996
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T per and
acker
have plans
j,.orfi/z bg
f losing a coach gives a team added
emotion, then this weekend's
t Illinois-Minnesota matchup promis-
es to be the most emotional game in
the history of college football.
Monday, Illinois coach Lou Tepper
s fired. Yesterday, Minnesota coach
Jim Wacker resigned.
And about 20 minutes after Wacker's
announcement, the two made vacation
kplans together.
"In terms of Minnesota, they're a
team we always have trouble with,"
Tepper said. "I'd rather be bass fishing
with Jim than playing football against
him."
If you're having trouble picturing the
two in a boat
with a couple of
beers and a buck-
et of bait, you
*' .shouldn't.
Tepper said the
only time he has
ever bee'n mad at
Wacker is when
RYAN the two tied in a
WHITE fishing tourna-
ment, and
White on Wacker took the
STargettrophy.
"They told me
they would send me a duplicate, but
they never did," Tepper said.
Apparently hearing enough, Wacker
broke into the teleconference from his
own press conference in Minnesota.
"That's because it was the only fish
I'd ever caught," Wacker joked.
Wacker thanked Tepper for the many
owe things he had said about him, and
invited Tepper and his wife to go along
with Wacker's family on a trip this win-
ter in Texas.
downey've got a nice golf course
down there and a little lake we can
'Wacker said.
Tepper said he might just take
tom'rgp on the offer, and Wackera
considered it a done deal.
All niceties aside, however, this is
t an easy time to be a coach in the
Big Ten. The conference has lost four
coaches in the past three weeks, three
in the past seven days.
Indiana's Bill Mallory was fired, and
Purdue's Jim Colletto resigned last
week citing, among other things, health
reasons.
"You hate to see that happen to any
of your colleagues,:" Ohio State coach
John Cooper said. "This has been a bad
ar for coaches."
Wacker said his resignation was
completely his decision. He said he had
five years to get the job done, and he
didn't do it. He even went as far as to
apologize to the people of Minnesota
N for the performance of the team.
In truth, he was way, way too hard
on himself.
The Golden Gophers play in a state
where high school hockey is much big-
r than high school football, and they
1 play in a dome that nobody goes to.
a You try recruiting under those cir-
cumstances.
Unlike Wacker, Tepper did not vol-
untarily step down. Illinois Athletic
Director Ron Guenther gave Tepper the
option to resign, but Tepper refused.
"I've never quit in 30 years of colle-
giate competition, and I certainly wasn't
See WHITE, Page 12
Ritchlin's back,
alive and kicking
By James Goldstein
Daily Sports Writer
It was a clean body check - no more,
no less.
But it could have been the hit that lost
him his right leg.
Michigan right wing Sean Ritchlin is
on a hot streak. The sophomore from
Fairport, N.Y., has scored three goals in
his last four games. He notched seven
goals for the Wolverines in his freshman
year, but he wasn't on the ice when
Michigan won the NCAA title.
He remembers the reason and looks
back to that one dreadful night.
Ritchlin was playing in a game
between the Wolverines and Ohio State
on Feb. 3 of this year at Yost Ice Arena.
He doesn't remember how the play
developed, where on the ice he was hit, or
who hit him. But, midway through the
third period, Ritchlin was checked, and
he headed to the bench, holding his right
leg. He stayed on the bench for the
remainder of the game, watching the
Wolverines struggle in a disappointing 2-
2 tie against Ohio State.
He took all the necessary measures
after the game, thinking what he had was
just a minor leg injury.
"I thought it was a charley horse at
first," Ritchlin said. "I treated it. I went
home, but things just got worse and
worse. Things just got out of hand.
That's an understatement.
Ritchlin headed back to his room at
West Quad following the game.
But his leg did not get better. As time
passed, the swelling worsened. Ritchlin
complained of the pain enough that his
friends told him he better go to the hos-
pital. At 2, a.m. the next morning,
Ritchlin's parents rushed him to the
University Medical Center. Ritchlin was-
n't even thinking of going to the hospital.
He still thought it was just a charley
horse.
When doctors saw Ritchlin's leg, they
knew it wasn't just a bad cramp. There
was something awfully wrong.
Ritchlin's thigh was expanding like a
balloon.
"The size of it was the size of both my
thighs put together" Ritchlin said. "It
was hard as a rock. You touched it,,imme-
diately, I felt pain."
Doctors moved Ritchlin into the inten-
sive care unit and told his parents that he
was suffering from compartment syn-
drome, a condition that is common to car
accidents, not hockey. The malady entails
severe internal bleeding that builds up
enough pressure to require surgery.
Ritchlin underwent emergency
surgery early on the morning of Feb. 4 to
relieve the pressure in his right thigh. He
needed two more surgical procedures
later that week.
But the problem wasn't getting better.
Ritchlin developed an infection in his
right leg, and it kept getting worse. If the
infection had continued, there was a
severe option doctors had to consider -
amputation.
Ritchlin's father only told his son that
he could have lost his leg after Ritchlin
had recovered. Fortunately for Ritchlin,
the antibiotics kicked in and stopped the
infection.
"Thank God, the antibiotics worked,"
he said.
Ritchlin doesn't remember that much
when he was in the hospital, but he can't
forget the pain. It even pains him to talk
about it today.
"The pain was so, so unreal," Ritchlin
said. "You can't imagine the pain I was
in. It was ridiculous. Ugh, when I think
about, I get so ..." he paused for a long
time and cringed before continuing "... it
was awful."
Ritchlin remained in the hospital for a
month with his mother by his side. He
spoke of how supportive his teammates
were, especially Michigan forward Jason
See RITCHLIN, Page 12
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Sophomore right wing Sean Ritchlin rais-
es the Great Lakes invitational trophy
above his head after the Wolverines won
their eighth consecutive GLI champi-
onship. The moment was one of
Ritchlin's last on the ice last season. He
suffered from compartment syndrome In
his right leg after a hit he took on Feb. 3
against Ohio State that forced him to
miss the rest of the season. Ritchlin
thought it was just a charley horse, but
it turned out to be more serious.
Moon rises on time at ITA Rolex
By Nita Srivastava
Daily Sports Writer
Individual play for the Michigan women's tennis team
came to a close with the ITA Rolex Midwest
Championships in Madison this weekend. Junior Sora
Moon led the Wolverines with the best finish as she
advanced to the quarterfinals of the 64-player draw.
Moon showed her best performance of the season so
far in'her victory over Iowa's Natalya Dawaf, 6-1, 6-2, in
the first round. She defeated Wisconsin's Barbara
Urbanska, 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4, in
the third round, and lost to
Purdue's Mary Beth Maggart,
7-6, 6-2, in the quarterfinals.w
"I think I played really well is pp -
in singles," Moon said. "I d
stayed focused, and my serve our double
was key."
The Michigan doubles team e miss d
of senior Sarah Cyganiak and
Moon was the top seed in the easy shots
championship. The duo"
reached the quarterfinals via an-
opening-round forfeit and a Michigant
victory over Notre Dame's
Kelly Zalinski and Kelly Olsen,
7-5, 6-3. They lost their final
match against Wisconsin's Urbanska and Zobrist, 6-2, 6-
3.
"I was disappointed in our doubles play," Moon said.
"We missed a lot of easy shots."
Fifth-seeded Cyganiak suffered a shocking loss in the
second round of singles. She ended her bid for the sin-
gles title with her loss to Illinois' Stacy Shapiro, 6-2, 6-
4.
"It was not a good performance on my part at all,"
Cyganiak said. "I played really poorly."
The Michigan freshman finished their first individual
season with more losses than victories in this champi-
onship. Freshmen Brooke Hart, Erryn Weggenman and
Danielle Lund wete all defeated in the first round of sin-
gles, but Weggenman and Lund managed to pull their
games together for the consolation round.
Weggenman defeated Detroit-Mercy's Jennifer
Wioncek, 6-1, 6-0, before losing a close three-set match
to Indiana State's Kathy Najbert, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.
"In my match against Wioncek, I played the best all
fall season," Weggenman said. "I exe-
cuted everything well and was focused
on what I had to do."
ed in
a ,play.
a lot of
- Sora Moon
tennis player
Lund advanced further in the conso-
lation bracket, with two victories over
Purdue's Johanna Hall, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3,
and Drake's Amy Hensen, 6-2, 6-1. She
ended her play with a loss to Najbert, 6-
4,6-2.
"I need to work on my mental game
and learn to be more relaxed when I
play," Lund said.
1Hlart and Lund played their first dou-
bles match together of the season. The
tandem defeated Illinois' Shapiro and
Bruce, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4 in the first round
but lost to third-seeded Marquette duo,
Joanna Bauza and Elisa Penalvo, 6-4, 6-7, 7-5.
"I think that we played well considering it was our first
time together," Lund said. "We'll probably play together
for the dual team matches next semester."
As the Wolverines begin to prepare for the upcoming
season, they will concentrate primarily on individual
weaknesses.
"Everyone needs to improve in different ways, so that
is what we'll probably focus on in practice," Cyganiak
added.
FILE PHOTO/Daily
The Michigan women's tennis team finished up individual play with this past week-
end's ITA Rolex Midwest Championships. The Wolverines look to improve on Indi-
vidual weaknesses before next semester's dual team matches.
t% £yCon ratulationsl Irib~na~
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for
HIRING
Winter Term!
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