ftie £ooimlo&u 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 %Iol I WednesdayQ 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. 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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. WI i I I V.