Efw Bidhigan ailg, Sports Desk: 647-3336 i * ~~ ~____________________________________________________________ . :. .,.., . ., on ..+ u.. > ; 22.:. r ~ w vL ( v '. .$n " 'w^ ? ,''",i '4~ :I Players: Fisher is a scapegoat By James Goldstein Daily Sports Writer Former players and present Michigan coaches showed feel- s s of disgust yesterday over the firing of Michigan basket- coach Steve Fisher. The news reached far beyond the Ann Arbor limits. Former Wolverines and their families from all across the nation blew steam about the way things were handled and felt sorry for the players in the post-Fisher era. The harshest reaction came from Fab-Five phenom and now Washington Wizards NBA star, Chris Webber. "After all the things he's done for Michigan, it's rather spineless of the University," Webber said in an Associated Press report. "I know a lot of basketball players who have Wn through the program the last 50 years that feel like they e no allegiance to the school anymore." Webber, who was the first of the talented recruiting class to bolt to the NBA in 1993 after Michigan lost to North Carolina in the NCAA championship game, 77-71, spoke highly of his ex-coach and said that it is going to hard to replace him. "They used to call him Barney Fife, because he was so honest," Webber said. "And that's the way he is. I wouldn't want to be the next guy coming in. It's going to be hard for him to get some love." It looked as though Fisher received that love and support over the weekend. The Detroit News reported that the scene inside Fisher's house Saturday night was an emotional one. According to the report, freshman guard Brandon Smith said that everybody inside Fisher's house was crying. A spokesman for Fisher at his home Sunday night said the former Michigan coach refused to comment and that every- thing he had to say would be at an afternoon press conference today. Current Michigan coaches of other sports not only were angered by Athletic Director Tom Goss's firing of Fisher, but, now with Fisher gone, were upset with the ways the last few Michigan basketball coaches have been treated. "It seems all the high-profile basketball coaches here at Michigan walk in the door and are carried out feet first," Michigan wrestling coach Dale Bahr said. "It happened to Johnny Orr, Bill Frieder and now a wonderful family-man in Steve Fisher. They don't get the respect within the Athletic Department." Frieder left uncerimoniously from Michigan in 1989 to become coach of Arizona State. Just before the 1989 NCAA tournament had begun, Frieder said he was going to take the position at Arizona State. Athletic Director Bo Schembechler chose Fisher to run his team, beginning immediately with the first round of the tournament. Fisher and the Wolverines went on to win the championship, beating Seton Hall, 80-79 - SARA STILLMANIDaily Steve Fisher hugs Sabrina Lloyd, Maurice Taylor's aunt, after Michigan won the NIT in March. giving Fisher a perfect 6-0 career coaching start at Michigan. Rumors circulated, though, that Frieder and Schembechler didn't get along. See FISHER, Page 38 ust like old times Michigan 3, Minnesota 2 Michigan 23, Northwestern 6 Icers upset Gophers, pummel i BySharat Raju ~Sports Writer V INNEAPOLIS - It takes some time for a team to mature into a single, cohesive unit. For the Michigan hockey team, it seemed to take a whole period. The Wolverines won two games in their first weekend of action. After defeating Minnesota, 3-2, on Friday, the Wolverines demolished Toronto, 9-2, yesterday. A come-from-behind victory Friday he Target Center in Minneapolis set stage for yesterday's blowout at Yost Ice Arena. The Wolverines were running on all cylinders in their first home game of the season. After freshman defenseman Bob Gassoff scored Michigan's first goal in his first collegiate game, the Wolverines never gave the Varsity Blues a chance to win. "Toronto wasn't as strong a team as 0 were," Michigan coach Red erenson said. "But they're big and strong and the same age as we are. We The Michigan hockey team sur- sed Minnesota' on Friday night, beating the Golden Gophers,n 3-2. The game, played at the Target Center in Minneapolis, drew 16,106 fans. MALLORY SE. FLOYD /Daily oronto just took advantage of this as a tune-up game. " For the first eight minutes, the Wolverines allowed the Varsity Blues to keep the game close. Michigan couldn't capitalize on a Toronto penalty 1:08 into the game. But after Gassoff's goal, the flood- gates opened with a three-goal first peri- od for Michigan. "They shouldn't have played with us even for a minute," said freshman Scott Matzka, who also scored his first career goal. The Gassoff goal was an all-freshman score, as Josh Langfeld and Troy Kahler each notched an assist. Nine newcomers competed in the blowout, with Gassoff, Kahler and Bill Trainor seeing action for the first time this the season. "The freshmen seem to be fitting in' Berenson said. "They have things to learn, but they seem very coachable." The game was so secure after the first period that Berenson pulled starter See SWEEP, Page 78 Third time's a charm for Michigan By DanIelle Rumore Daily Sports Editor The way the first quarter was going, it appeared that the cycle was going to continue. Two offsides penalties in the first six plays of the game, seven penalties overall and trouble finding the end zone from the red zone early on made it look like Michigan was still struggling to rip its albatross, Northwestern, from around its neck. But after another reliable defensive performance, timely third down conversions down the stretch and a little bit of luck, the sixth-ranked Wolverines (2-0 Big Ten, 5-0 overall) put together a good enough game to beat Northwestern for the first time in three attempts, 23-6, in front of 106,048 at Michigan Stadium. The Wildcats (0-3, 2-5) have given the Wolverines fits the past two years, beating Michigan two years ago at Michigan Stadium and last year in Evanston. The Wolverines, like in Saturday's game, entered each of the previous two contests with a No. 6 ranking and an undefeated record before losing both games, leading to back-to-back subpar seasons. "Yeah, it (the two losses) was brought up a lot," Michigan wide receiver Russell Shaw said. "I'm just glad we beat them, because they have been in our way the past two years." The Wolverines were plagued by another shaky offensive effort, including two consecutive turnovers in the third quar- ter. The Wolverines amassed 141 total rushing yards, but tail- back Chris Howard was the only Michigan player to rush for more than 20 yards. He carried the ball 18 times for 90 yards, 39 more yards than fullback Chris Floyd, tailback Clarence Williams, running back Anthony Thomas and quarterback Brian Griese combined. Griese was steady in the pocket, completing 23 of 36 passes. for 244 yards and two touchdowns. But he and the rest of the Wolverines had trouble converting in the red zone early on, and he was sacked once. The Wolverines' offensive sputter forced them to rely on their defense, which turned in yet another near-perfect performance. For the second-straight game, the defense held its opponent See WILDCATS, Page 5B Defense will have to cany this team y ou can hear them now. All the believers counting down until the Penn State game, making plane reservations to California (and Florida, just in case). But this time, there is no doubt the Wolverines have the kind of defense that can win games all by itself. Two touchdowns allowed all season. The six points that Northwestern put on the scoreboard actually raised Michigan's points JOHN per game average from 5.0 to 5.2, LEROI still tops in the nation. Out of Well, if the 5-0 Wolverines want Bounds this year to be different from the past four, their defense had better win some games, because the offense probably won't. Not that they've been bad with the ball - they haven't - but Mike DeBord's offense is meant to con- trol the ball and make the most of its opportunities. The only nroblem is. sometimes. Michigan can't even hold MARGARET MYERS/Daily Jerame Tuman (80) celebrates one of his two touchdown receptions with linemen Jon Jansen (77) and Zach Adami (68). Tuman caught five passes in all, for a total of 79 yards. M' volleyball looking for 'Magic' combo By Josh Klelnbaum Daily Sports Writer Oliichigan volleyball coach Greg Giovanazzi has been searching for the "Magic Two." Saturday, he found them, as Karen Chase and Jane Stevens helped Michigan beat No. 25 Illinois at Huff Hall for the first time since 1983, 15- 12, 15-12, 15-13. But on Friday, he did- n't, and No. 10 Wisconsin swept the Wolverines, 15-12, 15-7, 15-10. The victory over Illinois improved Wolverines' conference record to 5- 1, the best start in the program's histo- ry. The Magic Two is Giovanazzi's term for the right combination of outside hit- ters. Chase, Stevens, Sarah Behnke and Anne Poglits are the candidates, and the pairing can change on any given day. A oninct Wienncin the Wolverines played one game and returned to the bench with only one kill, four errors and an attack percentage of minus-.600. "Karen just played poorly on Friday," Giovanazzi said. Chase's struggles affected the whole team. In the first two games of the match, the Wolverines' attack percent- ages were a measly .128 and .122, respectively. So Giovanazzi plugged in Behnke, and the freshman responded. She had 10 kills, all of them in the third game, as the Wolverines jumped out to a 7-0 lead. "She was just on fire in that third game," Giovanazzi said. "All of her skills showed in that game." But then, what is typically the Wolverines' biggest strength, their side- out game, collapsed, and the Badgers came hack to take the game cdesnite the Dhani Jones and the Michigan defense kept Northwestern quarterback Tim Hughes on the run all afternoon. Jones, who led oi .a,.it h - -'- -r°