12B - The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - September 8, 1997

T

Continued from Page Z3
elite and never have a problem with bringing the best
swimmers in the world to Michigan. If you can watch
swimming during the Olympics, there's no reason not to do
so here at Michigan.
Catch any of that WNBA this summer? Or maybe the
ABL last winter? Women's basketball is on the rise big
time and in the span of one season, Michigan's team has
gone from Big Ten doormat to above .500. Sue Guevara
took over as coach last season and found a chemistry with
her players that was never there previously. Led by the
conference's best freshman, Stacy Thomas, and dominating
center Pollyanna Johns, this is Michigan's best hope for
postseason basketball.
Wait until the spring, when the swimmers are heading

for the beach and the basketball players hit the asphalt and
you'll see another group of Wolverines on the rise -
Geoff Zahn's baseball team. This team was ravaged by
NCAA violations in the 1980s and whose subsequent
development was stunted by coach Bill Freehan. Now that
Zahn has two seasons under his belt, improving each year,
this team will also be challenging for conference honors
and tickets to the College World Series.
Feeling better now? Call your parents. Tell them that
green and white don't suit your wardrobe and that you
want to stay in Ann Arbor. Michigan's Wolverines appear
in many different forms. Just because you don't see them
on TV doesn't mean that they don't exist, and it certainly
doesn't mean that they don't perform to the standards of
the "leaders and best."
- Alan Goldenbach can be reached over email at
agold@,umich.edu

Continued from Page 38
A: First of all, whether it did or did-
n' happen, people have to under-
stand it didn't begin with Michigan
and it won't end with Michigan. This
is a big problem across the country.
What really happened. I don't really
know.
I 'e talked to witnesses who claim
they have seen these things happen,
and I've also heard denials from
playcrs whom I trust to be telling me
the truth. So it's hard for me to actu-
ally know what happened.
I do think in addition to there

beingk a problem of boosters reach-
in, athletes without even a coach
knowing it, there is a problem with
ever finding out the truth -- as I'm
sure the lawyers on the case right
now are realizing. The NCA A is not
the police.
They can't put someone under the
hot lights and make them say some-
thing. If someone in question says
"No comment," that's the end of it.
No one can be forced to talk, and it's
hard to research.
What ever the law firms find, it
may be a conclusion, but it may not
be 100 percent correct. But it's as
much as they can prove.

kox
Continued from Page 5B
going to go in there and give it all she's
got and I have a lot of respect for that,"
Berrington said.
Cox touched a lot of her teammates
while she was a Wolverine and they
continue to speak between games and in
the off-season.
"It was exciting to play against her,
and I think she fires me up even when
she is on the other side of the net,"
Michigan junior middle blocker Linse*
Ebert said. "I definitely miss her a lot
because she is a great player, and it was
exciting to play with her as well."

IRISH
Continued from Page 1B
pointed out that the stadium may look new but is built on the same foundation
that it was in 1930, when Knute Rockne was coach.
"This is Notre Dame," Davie said to a roaring response.
Quarterback Ron Powlus, back for his fifth year but a disappointment to
many for failing to pan out as a Heisman Trophy hopeful, drew nothing but
cheers.
"I could have gone to the NFL, but I wanted to come back and be part of all
of this - something special," he said. "What we've heard all along is that this
is supposed to be fun. This is fun. This is college football."
Regis Philbin, a Notre Dame alum who hosts a television talk show with
Kathie Lee Gifford, said he wished he could be a part of it all again.
"You give me your roommate and your key," Philbin said. "I'll give you my
job, and I'll throw in Kathie Lee, too."
Don't forget: Michigan has contributed to this party atmosphere. Davie's

new defensive coordinator is none other than Greg Mattison, who spent the
past five seasons with the Wolverine's creaing one of the most feared defenses
in the Big Ten.
Mattison's front seven this year is young, and the defense as a whole isn't
expected to be a source of pride. The Irish had hoped that Powlus, a four-year
starter, would use his experience to simply outscore the opposition each day.
But the pressure is there to succeed for himself, his players and his friend
Davie, with whom he coached at Texas A&M years ago. Mattison has tem-
pered the enthusiasm of Davie's new era with workouts of such ferocity that
some of the Irish were taken aback.
Like everything else this year, however, even that strain has been given a
positive spin.
"There are some times when things get even more emotional than they would
otherwise, because you and the kids know how much work went into produc-
ing a victory," Mattison said. "They know what people say about them, but it
doesn't matter. They've got a sense of urgency. You can see it in their eyes."
Powlus's eyes, too, are aglow. Long berated for not producing up to the stan-


dards of the national media and NBC-generated hype, Powlus could not wait to
play for the pass-oriented Davie, who said Saturday that if need be he would
throw "40 or 45 times a game."
The record Powlus has set at Notre Dame for career touchdown passes (43)
has not been enough. Davie, and the rebirth that he promised would come with
him, drew Powlus away from a potential NFL contract to give it one last shot.
Powlus graduated in May with a degree in marketing, but he "wanted to hel
build something here," he said. "When would I ever get this opportunity again.
This is one of those deals where you can't go wrong."
That feeling, that things can't go wrong, kept the hecklers from assaulting
Powlus's ears Saturday. He made two large errors in the fourth quarter that
probably would have cost the Irish the game if Notre Dame's friendly ghosts
had been kicked out during the renovations.
Behind, 13-10, the Irish looked to Powlus deep in his own end of the field
for help. He dropped back, fired to the sideline and - interception! It was the
Powlus of old, but it was the Dave Frakes of old, too. Frakes, the Georgia Tech
kicker who entered the game four for his past I1 field-goal attempts, was wide
right from 43 yards.
So the Irish took over, again deep in their own end. And again, Powlus fire
to the sideline, and again - interception! And again Frakes was foiled by Irish
luck, Notre Dame phantoms and a weak leg. He was short from 48 yards.
"We had two negative events," Powlus said, "and a very positive reaction"
from the defense led by Mattison, who wore maize and blue less than a year
ago.
So the Irish took over, again deep in their own end. They marched out, look-
ing like the Irish of old. Junior tailback Autry Denson, a 5-foot-10, 190-pound
fireball who has replaced Powlus as the Irish's Heisman hoopla recipient, fum-
bled. But the ghosts were kind again, and the Irish recovered.
"We had to be patient," said Davie, who had pulled Denson aside at halftime
to calm his fears after a dismal first half. "We've said all along that it comeO
down to patience. And when it comes down to it, we feel more confident about
putting the ball in Autry Denson's hands."
As it turned out, that act of faith would win the game for Notre Dame. Denson
carried the ball the last two times for the Irish, punching a one-yarder in for a
touchdown with 2:37 remaining.
The place nearly buckled with noise. A broken water main that flooded the
concourse couldn't dampen the enthusiasm. The fans who had continued to
cheer for Powlus and the Irish after the interceptions thrust their hands to the
sky as if they had witnessed the immaculate conception.
Notre Dame had won, 17-13, when most teams would have folded. They go
the breaks no other team seems to get. New stadium and new coach asid
Touchdown Jesus still kept watch over a bowl full of fans of faith, an outpost
that cynicism has yet to completely devour.
There is less Notre Dame mystique here than there is an uncommon Notre
Dame naivete that the Irish will win and, if they don't, they will win soon again.
There are critics, and they are right. Davie isn't likely to win a national cham-
pionship this year.
But unlike the pessimistic fans in Ann Arbor - faithful and true as they may
be - no one here seems worried. After all, this is Notre Dame, and in the end,
nothing's changed.


b

The University of Michigan
MEN'S ROWING TEAM,

For immediate information call
313-998-0365.

invites all MALE ATHLETES
to compete for Michigan in
the 1997-1998 season
(no experience
necessary). Attend our
Mass Meetings:
Monday September 8,
7-9pm in the Union
Ballroom and Tuesday
September 9, 7-9pm in the
Kuenzel Room.


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