x
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MEN'S
BASKETBALL,
MISSOURI 96,
No.1 Kan. 94 (20T).
No.195. Carolina 84
No. 3 Ken. 79 (OT)
No. 10 CLEM. 69,
W. Kentucky 55
No. 16 V'NOVA 81,
W. Virginia 70
No. 25 IOWA 75,
No. 24 Indiana 67
WOMEN'S
BASKETBALL
No. 4 La. Tech 80,
ARK. STATE 59
No. 9 TENN. 78,
No. 23 Wisconsin 74
No. 11 LSU 79,
S.E. La. 57
No. 16 VANDY 77,
S. Illinois 47
PRO
BASKETBALL
NEW JERSEY 111,
Vancouver 105
ORLANDO 111,
Indiana 87
CHARLOTTE 115,
Minnesota 101
PRO
HOCKEY
Ottawa 4,
BOSTON 3
DETROIT 1,
St. Louis 1
N.Y. ISLANDERS 4,
Anaheim 3
PHILADELPHIA 1,
Buffalo 1
11
Wednesday
February 5, 1997
. I
1
- THE BAD AND THE GOOD -
Suspensions force State
oe
frosh to give up redshirt
Spartans'
fight for title
rests with
new goalie
By Mark Snyder
Daily Sports Writer
Western Michigan coach Bill
Wilkinson must have been salivating at
the thought - a Michigan State goal
without a goaltender between the pipes.
While this may seem to be a far-
fetched scenario, it wasn't as unrealistic
as one might imagine.
Michigan State will have to face
Western Michigan on Friday without
starting goaltender Chad Alban and
backup Mike Brusseau in the lineup.
Both are suspended for the game for
fighting.
If the Spartans lose, they could fall
nine points behind Michigan in the
CCHA standings. They play Michigan
on Saturday at Joe Louis Arena.
Immediately following Michigan
State's 3-2 loss in overtime Friday at
Western Michigan, the problems began
for the Spartans.
The game-winner for the Broncos
had been knocked in by left wing
Matt Cressman as time expired in
overtime.
Michigan State players felt that the
goal shouldn't have counted because
time had expired, and they began
protesting the non-call.
MARKR IEDMAN/daily
Michigan State's run for the CCHA title has hit trouble. Goaltender Chad Alban and his backup will miss Friday's game.
Instead of watching Big Ten hoops on television, Maurice Taylor prefers his soaps.
Sweetp Lous sweeter
--point parade rewards Bullock with honor
Then the teams began pushing each
other and six players from each side
received game disqualifications -
forcing them to sit out of their team's
next contest.
Unfortunately for Michigan State,
two of them were Alban and
Brusseau.
Michigan State coach Ron Mason
has a third goaltender on the roster, but
freshman Mike Gresl hasn't played yet
this season and was prepared to red-
shirt.
Forfeiting Friday's game was an
option Mason entertained - but not for
long.
"(A forfeit) was our last resort,' he
said. "We could have put a defenseman
in goalie equipment if we had to."
Michigan State became desperate for
a goalie to suit up Friday, and Gresl was
faced with a decision.
If he chose to play, his redshirt status
would be lost and this would count as a
season of eligibility.
"This situation arose and I told him,
'Hey, it's your decision,"' Mason said.
"(Gresl) said, 'I've been working all this
(time) and it's my chance to play."'
See GOALIES, Page 13
By Danielle Rumore
DailSports Editor
iey say one is the loneliest number,
bat,;Michigan guard Louis Bullock
wv od probably disagree.
; )lock was named Big Ten Player of
thelWeek after averaging 22.5 points and
4-' Zbounds in wins over Penn State and
Miciigan State. It is the second time this
season that Bullock was named Player of
the Week, becoming the first player
since Gray Grant in 1988 to earn the
rner twice in one season.
I nterestin gly
enough, some of
Michigan's most
notable players since
'88 Glen Rice,
Chris- Webber and f d
Juwan Howard, to
name a few - did
not achieve the same
recognition.
"I don't know what
t (statistic) says," Michigan coach
eve Fisher said. "Lou played excep-
tional'(last week). It is nice that he won
it, and it's well-deserved.
3ullock has been one of the
Wolverines' most consistent players this
season, averaging 16.3 points and 2.4
assists per game. Bullock, Michigan's
leading 3-point shooter, has buried 131
career 3-pointers.
He is just four 3-pointers away from
ipsing the Michigan 3-point record
setby Rice, who was instrumental in
giiaing the Wolverines to their only
N:A title, in 1989.
N'1l be proud of myself, but I see it as
jupart of the game," Bullock said of
the-accolade. "I don't think about
refirds. It's only a number"
st' only a number that would take
But ock, a sophomore, not even two full
sesons to achieve. The 3-point line was
tiuted after Rice's freshman season,
-ie had just three years to set the
record (1986-89). But Bullock will
break the record in less than three sea-
sons - a testament to his long-range
prowess.
Bullock set the freshman record with
70 3-pointers last season, and thus far
this season, he has 61 triples, surpassing
the school record of 52 threes in one sea-
son for sophomore players.
A PERFECT 10: Michigan has not won
a Big Ten title since 1986, and all eyes
have been on this crop of Wolverines to
bring the title back to Ann Arbor for the
first time in more than a decade.
The Wolverines sit at 6-3 in the con-
ference, good for a third-place tie with
Purdue behind Minnesota (8-1) and
Iowa (6-2). So is it possible to chase the
Gophers for the coveted title?
"It's definetley realistic,' Bullock
said. "We know Minnesota will eventu-
ally lose in the conference."
The Wolverines started Big Ten play
at 2-2, after dropping their home confer-
ence opener to Ohio State (4-5), which is
currently in a four-way tie for sixth
place, and then losing at Minnesota.
Since that time, Michigan has won its
past four of five conference games, los-
ing at Indiana, 72-70, on Jan. 21.
"Our long-range goal since Oct. 15.
was to win the Big Ten," Fisher said.
"But I have not lost a lot of sleep over
not winning the Big Ten. I have lost a lot
of sleep over losing games.".
NOTABLE QUOTABLE: Six-foot-nine
forward Maurice Taylor says he's super-
stitious. But he didn't mention a pre-
game ritual or doing warm-ups the same
way every game.
"I'm superstitous that I don't watch
any other Big Ten games," Taylor said.
Not even to scout opponents?
"I wait until films. I'll watch high-
lights on ESPN;" Taylor said.
So what does he watch?
"I'll watch soap operas before other
Big Ten games."
Sloan works overtime
By Jim Rose
Daily Sports Writer
For some guys, hockey is life.
For other guys, hockey is a part of
life.
Blake Sloan plays hockey for
Michigan. But most people know
that.
Most people know that Sloan is a
senior defenseman, and an assistant
captain on the best college hockey
team in the nation. Most people
know that he is, as coach Red
Berenson says, "one of the top
defensemen" on the team.
But that's just the Blake Sloan that
most people know.
There is another side to Sloan, and
the people familiar with that side are
not hockey fans. They are elemen-
tary school students, charity organiz-
ers and hospital patients.
In an age when it seems that the
only athletes making the front pages
are the ones denying allegations or
appealing suspensions, Sloan is the
type of athlete you don't hear
enough about.
He is involved in the University's
M-PACT Society, an organization of
students trained to help other stu-
dents with personal problems. He is
a participant in SHARE, in which
student-athletes read to area elemen-
tary-school children and answer
questions. He has been to the cancer
ward at C.S. Mott's Children's
Hospital. As part of the DARE pro-
gram, he has spoken to fifth-graders
about the dangers of drug abuse.
"It's something that I've always
been a part of," Sloan says. "It's a
way to give back, and it's also a little
bit of a chance to step back and see
the kids who are not too privileged.
"It makes it seem a little less
important if you have a good game
or a bad game. It definitely puts
things in perspective.
"It allows me to realize that my
life is pretty darn good."
Berenson says that Sloan's activi-
ties are even more amazing consid-
ering his personality on the ice.
"Nobody competes any harder,"
Berenson .says. "You'd never dream
he'd be the one to organize trips to
the hospital or participate in other
(campus activities). Because when
he's around the rink, he's all busi-
ness.
"But Blake is one player who has
been able to participate, and still
take an interest and try to do some-
thing more than just be a hockey
player."
As varied as Sloan is in his activi-
ties outside of his sport, he makes it
clear that hockey isn't just some
hobby, not just another event he
squeezes in during his spare time.
Blake Sloan is a hockey player.
"Hockey is a very big part of my
life," he says. "But I would say I've
used it as a vehicle to establish
myself in some other activities. If I
was just doing those other things
(and not hockey), I think I'd be lack-
ing the competitive aspect of my life.
Hockey fills that void beautifully."
The ironic part of Sloan's story is
See SLOAN, Page 12
FILE F
Doing much more than skating, Blake Sloan has become a hero to many.
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