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PRO
HOCKEY
Dallas 3.
N.Y. RANGERS 2
FLORIDA 2,
Los Angeles 2 (OT)
Anaheim 2,
TORONTO 2 (OT)
COLORADO 3,
Buffalo 2
CALGARY 5,
Pittsburgh 3
COLLEGE
HOCKEY
V. chgan State 6,
FRR 51STAT E 1
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October 29, 19979
Jake it easy,
youma/1ss,
youjumped
By Dan Stillman
Daily Sports Writer
It was painful to watch it all
unfold this past Thursday afternoon.
In fact, spending the past two
weeks covering the search for a new
Michigan men's basketball coach
was truly eye-opening.
As the search neared an end last
Wursday, the media industry spi-
raled out of control.
The media's job is to seek out
and provide the information the
public needs and wants. Many say
the media is too ruthless at times in
its pursuit of information (see
Princess Diana). This may be true,
but then again, if people weren't so
willing to buy the newspapers,
magazines and tabloids that contain
s information, maybe photogra-
jiers wouldn't be jumping onto
motorcycles
and chasing
their prey at
all costs.
What makes
no sense, how-
ever, is when
the media can
fail so miser-
ably at what is
supposed to be
its first and
foremost goal - to report informa-
tin accurately. And what's even
more mind-boggling is the massive
chain reaction one incorrect report
can set off.
Michigan Athletic Director Tom
Goss began his search for a new
coach immediately after he fired
-ve Fisher from that position on
ct. 11. While Goss, to this day,
has only revealed two of his candi-
dates, speculation about who the
others might be was rampant
throughout the media during the 13-
day search.
Several times during the search,
Goss indicated he would have a
coach by last Friday. So when
Thursday afternoon rolled around,
d there had been no word from
Ucss, every media outlet in the
area, even the country, was trying to
get the scoop and bring the infor-
mation to you, the public, first.
That's when chaos ensued.
Sometime Thursday afternoon,
WJR radio in Detroit and WGN
radio in Chicago received word that
ex-Brigham Young coach Roger
Reid was on his way from his home
* Utah to interview with Goss in
' n Arbor. The stations promptly
took the next logical step and
reported that Reid would be hired
the next day.
That's right, since Reid was
schediuted to interview with Goss
(as had at least six other candidates
since the search began) he must
have the job.
There's something called a para-
dox question on standardized tests
Ach as the Graduate Record Exam.
You know you've landed on one
when the argument to be analyzed
builds to a certain point, and then
what happens next is the exact
opposite of what you would expect
to happen. This appears to be what
happened with these two radio sta-
tions.
But there's also another flaw in
the media's thinking. For some rea-
Iin, some in the media were under
the impression that Goss, a human
being just like everyone else, was
capable of working at warp speed.
Take the day Fisher was fired, for
example. It was two Saturdays ago,
early in the afternoon, that the
University announced it would hold
a press conference at 5 p.m. Word
got out that Fisher was finished
well before five. And even before
official announcement, one
media outlet started a rumor that
California coach Ben Braun, a
known acquaintance of Goss, was
hidden away in Ann Arbor ready to
take over the Michigan program
immediately.
As it turned out, Goss did not
New-look Northwestern
no cupcake for Wolverines
By TJ. Berka
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan volleyball team is off to its best conference
start ever with a 7-3 Big Ten mark at the halfway point of the
conference season. The Northwestern volleyball team has a 2-
8 conference record and is in danger of falling to .500 overall
with its next loss.
With the Wolverines (14-7 overall) set to play the Wildcats
(11-10) tonight in Evanston, it would seem from the records
that Michigan should continue to push for an NCAA
Tournament bid and Northwestern should stay on course to fall
into the lower echelon of the conference. Or would it?
"Everyone has played everybody now, so the teams are more
familiar with each other," Michigan assistant coach Aimee
Smith said. "I expect them to play very well against us."
Not only have the Wildcats already played the Wolverines -
they were swept by Michigan at Cliff Keen Arena on Oct. 1 -
they have been much improved of late.
On Oct. 18, Northwestern forced top-ranked Penn State to
five games before losing, becoming the first team to push the
Nittany Lions the distance. In contrast, the Nittany Lions
wiped out the Wolverines in three games the night before at
Cliff Keen.
"They were the only team to take Penn State the distance,"
Smith said. "They were actually up 12-8 in the fifth game until
Penn State came back."
Much of Northwestern's resurgence can be attributed to
first-year coach Kevin Renshler. The Wildcats, who sported a
30-game conference losing streak entering the season, have
adopted a more aggressive defensive stance, in which they try
to force more powerful offensive teams into making errors.
Renshler "has instilled a lot more confidence in the
Wildcats," Smith said. "They are a really scrappy team who
will frustrate you if you don't put them away early. They serve
(well), and due to their lack of size, they are very quick on the
defensive end."
The Wolverines also have many things about which to boast
from the first half of their conference season. Not only are they
off to their best Big Ten start ever, the Wolverines have also
attained their highest-ever national ranking (No. 26) and
defeated archrival Michigan State, who was ranked fourth in
the preseason USA Today/AVCA poll.
"I feel like we are a completely different team than we have
been in the past' junior defensive specialist Chereena Tennis
said. "We feel we can play with anybody in the country if we
play our game."
Much of the Wolverines' confidence has come from their
depth, which has been a savior thus far this season. Mihign
has seen 12 different players get meaningful minutes this year,
which has helped the team to adjust to the sometimes grueling
regular season schedule.
"Our depth has been a big factor for us," Smith said. "Both
our first- and second-team players are capable of contributing
in games, which helps us a lot in practice."
Despite the depth the Wolverines have this year, fatigue has
been a factor in the past couple weeks. Michigan is coming off
a listless four-game loss to Ohio State in Columbus on Sundae
night, its 20th-consecutive loss to the Buckeyes.
With tonight's rare midweek match, there is some concern
about the Wolverines' energy level at this point in the season.
"By the time we played Ohio State on Sunday, the kids were
wiped out due to midterms," Smith said. "Midweek games are
not an ideal situation because the players are going to miss
some class and won't get back until 2 a.m."
The players themselves are not as concerned about the early
game. In fact, many of them are looking forward to it.
"We play very well midweek," outside hitter Jane Stevens
said. "We normally come out pretty fired up during the first
game of the week because we want to try things we've worked
on in practice."
JOHN KRAFT/Daily
Freshman outside hitter Sarah Behnke and the rest of the Michigan volleyball
team head to Evanston to face Northwestern tonight.
Bzer stadium?Back
l AAr 7
To oldta icu
Minutes of the Oct. 28 Board
n Control of uhh ... Cool
Things Meeting, in which
plans for an expanded Michigan
Stadium were proposed:
After reviewing student complaints
regarding the split-season football
tickets distributed this year to some
first-year students, the Board com-
menced discussion regarding possible
solutions.
Dumb board member: "Boy, some
of them were
really mad about
,that. I'm glad
they figured out
nail polish
remover will get
><.rid of the
NICHOLAS J. 'VOID' and pen-
COTSONIKA cil can be used
to write fake
The Greek numbers. I hate
Speaks, to leave people
out."
Old, crusty board member:
"What?! In my day, when we had to
get tickets, we didn't have nail polish
remover. And we liked it. We loved
it. We had to steal tickets from little
kids."
Athletic Director: "I won't allow
that stuff in my administration. That
goes against my four core values of
getting tickets. Accountability: Our
accountants must get a lot of money
for all tickets, and student tickets are
too inexpensive. Integrity: It is inte-
gral that we make a lot of money.
Honesty: I honestly want us to make
a lot of money. Responsibility: We
need to make sure there are no nega-
tive responses to any move we
make."
Basketball booster board member:
"Hey, let's make some kids buy bas-
ketball tickets. There's plenty of
room in Crisler. And if you want, I'll
throw in a birthday cake to each kid
to gets them. Recruits will love it."
Dumb board member: "What if it
isn't the kids' birthday?"
Basketball booster board member:
"That doesn't matter - never has.
But if you don't like it, we could
have a contest. Like, if you're good
enough to play for the team, you win
a Ford Explorer!"
Steve Fisher: "That wasn't my
fault!"
Athletic Director: "I decided to
gan ways
make a change. Go away."
University President: "Dismissed!
Be gone! Um, if my athletic director
says so. I refrain from commenting
further."
Old, crusty board member: "No.
No. No. We should cram everybody
in. In my day, we had to stand on one
toe and throw marshmallows all day.
And we liked it. We loved it. Yep,
back then in 1948, we even won a
national championship."
Realistic board member: "Hey, get
with the times. You can't get that
close to people anymore; that's polit-
ically incorrect. We don't win nation-
al championships anymore; that's
practically impossible."
Student rep: "Uhhh. Us kids, like,
watch this show on a music televi-
sion station. And on it, they, like,
think it's cool if we make things, you
know ... bigger. Heh-heh."
Athletic Director: "Bigger? As in
bigger budget?"
Basketball booster board member:
"Bigger ? As in bigger cars?"
Dumb boardmember: "Bigger?
Huh?"
Old, crusty board member: "Let's
make the stadium bigger!"
Basketball booster board member:
"Does that mean I get more compli-
mentary tickets? And 12 parking
spots, for my, you know, buddies?"
Athletic Director: "No. But let's do
it.: Five thousand more seats would
do it, and we'd be the biggest in the
nation! We'll be Michigan again!"
Dumb board member: "Won't that
cost a lot?"
Athletic Director: "I guess so. But
if all the kids want to get in, they'll
just have to pay. They said it, 'bigger
is better,' and I get to keep all my
values. We'll raise ticket prices!"
Realistic board member: "Yep.
We'll be Michigan again."
GRADES: Now that Michigan has a
plan for an expanded stadium and its
best starting record since 1986, it's
that time again.
We're halfway through the Big Ten
season, so here are-the midterm eval-
uations for each team.
Purdue (4-0 Big Ten): Has a coach,
Joe Tiller, that looks like the mascot,
Purdue Pete. That would be enough
for at leasta 'B,' but the Boilermakers
also happen to be 4-0 and were victo-
rious over Notre Dame. Problem is,
WARREN ZINN/Iy
Jerame Tuman could play in an expanded stadium next year that will seat 107,401. The extra seat is for the ghost of Fielding
Yost, not a selected basketball booster. What remains to be seen is whether the Athletic Department, which wants to
appease students by raising capacity, will upset them with the proposed increase in ticket prices as well.
they're still located in West Lafayette,
which has the night life of an Iowa,
and they have a tough upcoming
schedule. 'A' for effort, but finals are
a killer. Grade: C+
Michigan (4-0): Student always
starts strong, does well on midterms,
then sleeps through rest of classes.
Always awake for Ohio State, but
extra credit is not given. Doing
exceptionally well so far, but still is
not strong in history. Grade:
Instructor has not submitted grade.
Penn State (3-0): Respect for Prof.
JoePa gets students riled up enough
to brush their tooth. Class bully.
Problem child always picking on
Michigan, usually winning fight.
Grade: A
Wisconsin (4-1): Star pupil
overeats. Fat but fast. Could squash
some people (Michigan) later in the
year. Grade: A-
Ohio State (3-1): Not very smart.
Not smart at all. Actually, pretty
damn dumb. Never could get through
to this one, and even though usually
does well on homework, always fails
final exam. Grade: C
Iowa (2-2): Biggest disappoint-
ment in entire class. Talent with
offensive numbers should have
equaled better arithmetic in stand-
ings, but hasn't kept up on studies.
Has night life of a West Lafayette.
Grade: D
Michigan State (2-2): Not very
smart. Not smart at all. Actually,
pretty damn dumb. Likes nachos and
breaking stuff. Talks too much.
Grade: D
Northwestern (1-4): Purple pantsi
Grade: F
Minnesota (0-4): Napoleon com=-
plex. Bites at ankles of bigger kids,
but never wins a fight. Gets points
for trying. Grade: B+
Rest of league (bad): How did
these guys get into this school?
Grade: Incomplete
- Nicholas J Cotsonika is an equal-
opportunity offender. Any references
to actual persons or places are pure-
ly intentional, though he is just kid-
ding most of the time. He can be
reached via e-mail at
cotsonik@umich.edu.
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I I
University of Michigan
Corporate Presentation
October 29, 7 pm - 9 pm
in the Union Pond Room
On-Campus Interviews i
The Psychology Peer Advisors Present
on Wednesday, October 29, 1997, from 7:00-9:00 p.m.
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