The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, October 8, 1997 - 11 'M' field hockey's defensive unit dominates, frustrates opposition Quintet of defenders has played large role in Michigan's success If the current trends continue, the Michigan men's basketball team won't get the dreaded "death penalty" from the NCAA. Ugest of NCAAs penalties rarel iven KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - As the Michigan men's basketball program awaits its fate in the face of an investi- gation into possible wrongdoing, it may Ake some comfort in the fact that the CAA hasn't been hitting schools with its stiffest penalties at a high rate. The;dreaded "death penalty," which the NCAA enacted in 1985 as the ulti- mate weapon against cheaters, is now rusty, having been used only once. A lengthy investigation by The Kansas City Star also found the number of another hurtful punishment - televi- sion bans - has dropped as television contracts grow fatter for NCAA schools *d conferences. Television bans were once common. According to The Star's analysis, during the 1970s, TV bans averaged nearly 12 yearsannually. In other words, in a typ- ical year the NCAA might have given 12 teams one-year TV bans. Then, when a flood of television rev- enue in the 1980s left college sports awash in money, television bans began t drop. Yet the rulebook kept getting thicker - an indication that schools were try- ing even harder to make sure no rivals took unfair advantage. Through this decade, TV bans - now more costly because of multimil- lion-dollar contracts - have continued to drop, averaging less than three years annually, The Star reported. Athletic conferences, such as the Big 12, share television revenue among their embers. "If we take a school off TV for a year or tw o,it affects the entire conference and other schools get a penalty, in a way," said David Swank, chairman of the NCAA's committee on infractions. The NCAA can also hand out the "death ,penalty." A program is entirely shut down for one or more seasons, with all games, practices and granting of scholarships banned for that period. * When Southern Methodist was given the death penalty, all football scrim- mages,,,games and even most practices were banned for 1987. The school also sat out1988 and since then has won just 19 of.93 games. The NCAA member schools had overwhelmingly voted in the death penalty at a special conven- tion, and everybody believed the ruling body was finally going to get tough and dismantle programs that repeatedly vio- ,ted the rules. Bgi.tafter SMU, the NCAA nevei deployed the death penalty again. In,its special convention in 1985, the NCAA, set mandatory minimum penal- ties for certain violations, except in cases judged to be "unique." Soon every school began arguing that its case~ was unique. The Star's comput- er analysis shows that the infractions committee found more than 80 percent *f the cases it reviewed to be unique - thus eligible for a penalty reduction. The NCAA has tagged a dozen col- leges as repeat violators without assess- ing the death penalty, the Star said. NCAA officials say seven of those schools received a portion of penalties specified under the rule, such as pro- hibiting college officials from serving leagues escape the death penalty. "Once we didn't give it, and then twice, and then three times," Niland said. "I would finally go to meetings and say, 'Well, I suppose we are going to have an exception again today."' The result, the Star said, is that with its big guns silent, the NCAA wages mostly a public relations war against corruption in college sports. The Star said NCAA officials defend the system. "The purpose is not to punish people; the purpose is to try to get compliance," said Jack Friedenthal, a member of the Division I infractions committee and dean of law at George Washington University. Besides, said the NCAA's Swank, schools still complain about heavy penalties such as scholarship reduc- tions, which he said have increased. "The scholarship penalty, I think, is the harshest sanction we have," Swank said. But even though schools are injured, few wounds are disabling. The Star also discovered a wide- spread belief that the NCAA's 13-person investigative staff is inadequate. "They don't have the manpower to look at everything, even if they wanted to," said Swank. Many investigators are inexperienced when they join. In 1982, the enforcement division had 16 retired FBI agents on staff. But five years later the NCAA decided the for- mer agents were too aggressive and too expensive. Turnover now can be high - NCAA enforcement chief David Berst said he loses four or five investigators in some years. As soon as they learn the ropes, many investigators get snapped up for more money by colleges looking for experi- enced compliance officers. At least one, Michael Glazier, has become a specialist in helping schools work way through NCAA investiga- tions. Glazier's law firm receives hun- dreds of thousands of dollars each year from schools that run afoul of the NCAA's complicated rules manual and have to go before the committee on infractions. "We have kidded a lot about the cot- tage industry we created here," NCAA Infractions Committee member Yvonne Slatton said of Glazier. "But it is really a mansion industry." By Kurt New For the Daily Mention the term "dominating defense" around Ann Arbor these days, and you're likely to start a con- versation about Michigan football, Charles Woodson and safety blitzes. Bur, there is another defensive unit at Michigan that, while largely unheralded, has been every bit as dominant and instrumental to its team's success this year: the defense for the Michigan field hockey team. To see just how masterful the defenders for the field hockey team have been, one needs look no further than the statistics. In different games this year, the Wolverines have out- shot their opponents by margins of 32-3, 42-2, 41-1 and 24-1, as well as o u t s h o o t i n g conference foe North western 10-1 in the see- ond half to escape with a 2- I victory on Sept. 28. The reason for the outstand- ing play of the Michigan defen- Wilkinson sive quintet is a combination of raw talent and a total commitment to the team defensive philosophy. On the individual level, each of the five starting defenders brings differ; ent strengths to the team. Senior Sandra Cabrera is the veter- an of the defense, having been a starter for three years. Cabrera pos- sesses blazing speed that is rivaled only by her ability to anticipate pass- es and intercept them before they ever reach their intended target. Cabrera is joined by two other seniors in the defensive backfield, Shelley Johnson and Aimee Remigio. "Shelley's fitness is outstanding," Michigan coach Marcia Pankratz said. "She is relentless, she dives for the ball, and she never gives up." Remigio switched to defense after three years as a forward, and adroitly uses her knowledge of the forward position to anticipate the opposing player's moves before she makes them. "Aimee has a lot of forward finesse and poise back there, and she might be the turning point of our defense," Johnson said. Michigan to open its hockey season this weekend in Minnesota if you want to be an informed fan - in the know about the Wolvernes nine newcomers, returning stars and opponents -then you must pick up a copy of Faceoff '97 on Monday. Included will be profiles of senior winger Bill Muckalt, the NCAA's top returning scorer, and the freshmen. There will also be team and position pre views. Get Faceoff '97. The coverage is priceless. Wa.TaJ A COLLEGATE- HOCKEY Rounding out the defensive unit are junior Loveita Wilkinson and sophomore Ashley Reichenbach. While only a junior, Wilkinson has quickly become one of the team leaders. "Loveita is really the backbone of our team," Pankratz said. "She never gets beaten. She's really our field general out there." Despite being the youngest mem- ber of the defensive corps, Reichenbach has shown she is more than ready to handle pressure situa- tions late in the game. Never was this more evident than in the game against Iowa, when she batted away a ball heading toward an open net to preserve a one-goal lead with less than 10 minutes to play. But, while the Michigan defenders are very talented as individuals, their greatest strength lies in their ability to play together as a team. "This spring we worked a lot on our cohesiveness as a unit, and read- ing each other on the field," Reichenbach said. The defensive players' extensive knowledge of each other allows them to play a complicated and aggressive defensive style that focuses on attacking the opposition and denying the opponent the ball whenever pos- sible. "When you're on defense, it's a territorial thing," Johnson said. "You're not going to let an opposing team come into your circle. It's just the law of the land." That territorial attitude was dis- played at its finest in the game against Iowa on Sept. 26, when Michigan defenders spent the final minutes regularly diving after loose balls in a frantic determined effort to keep Iowa from tying the game. The togetherness of Michigan's defenders is also apparent in their uniform dedication to being as well- conditioned as possible. This condi- tioning has been paramount in many hard-fought games this season that were close throughout. "When you see the other team huffing and puffing, then you know you've got them," Remigio said. Such a high level of fitness will be especially key during the final stretch of the season, when a domi- nating defense becomes necessary, if Michigan hopes to advance deep into the postseason. FILE PHUO Almee Remiglo and the Michigan field hockey team's defensive unit have all but thwarted the opponents' offensive attack this season. _ _ LEADERSHIP & FLIGHT TRAINING for STUDENTS T Ha CSCUDB OROFIE -PAID SUMMER INTERNSHIPS WITH NO OBLIGATION- -SEVERAL OPPORTUNITIES INCLUDING AVIA TION AND LAW- WOULDN'T IT BE GREA T IF... > YOU WERE GUARANTEED THE CHANCE TO FLY MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR AIRCRAFT? >YOU WERE PAID $30,000 PER YEAR WHILE YOU LEARNED AND $50K WITHIN 4 YEARS? > YOU WERE GUARANTEED THESE THINGS WITH ONLY COMMITMENT BEING~ SUMMER TRAINING AT Marine Corns Officer Candidate School? THIS OPPORTUNITY DOES EXIST!! 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