12 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, February 3, 1998

Thompson
unfulfilled
despite wi
THOMPSON
Continued from Page 10
weighed on his mind as he slipped
into the warm-down pool.
He swam his laps slowly, thinking
about the missed turns, the choppy
breathing.
Fine. OK.
"I mean, that was a good 1,000,"
said Thompson, dismissing his dis-
Rppointment. "It was kind of frus-
trating, but I'll have more chances
we're going to do the mile (1,650
yards) this week (against Michigan
-State and Ohio State), so I'm look-
ing forward to that."
The 1,000 free is not an event at
NCAAs, but the 1,650 is. Thompson
said swimmers have to find excite-
ment in races that don't offer any
.significant competition from the
opponents.
"That's one of the great things
about the sport - there's always a
goal there," Thompson said.
PACKING THE POND PART ii:
Three more Wolverines may have
earned trips to Auburn for the
NCdAAyChampionships during
Saturday's meet.
Owen Von Richter earned consid-
eration in the 200 Individual
Medley (1:49.00) and the 500 free
(4:28.04). Scott Werner posted an
NCAA consideration time of
2:01.34 in the 200 breaststroke and
former olympian Toni Malchow
swam to a 1:48.04 in the 200 butter-
fly.
CONFIDENCE CRISIS: Indiana
assistant coach Bruce Zimmerman
said the Hoosiers had a "confidence
problem" this past weekend. The
Hoosiers "didn't expect to come in
and upset the Wolverines," he said,
but he expected better races from his
swimmers.
"They just didn't believe they
could win," Zimmerman said. "The
coaches believe, but we don't get in
the water and swim."
DIVING SURPRISE: The
Wolverines were expected to be
knocked out in Saturday's one- and
three-meter diving events. But
junior Brett Wilmot managed to
steal second place in the one-meter
and first in the three-meter. Only the
top three divers score points for
their team in diving.

Goss leads charge to increases
women's basketball crowds

SEATS
Continued fromPage 10
that we will give away at games throughout the
season," Humphries said. "If, for instance, there
is a game on a Friday and a game on a Sunday,
we will run two print ads the week of the game.
"The ads will run in the Ann Arbor News and
the papers in Chelsea, Saline, Dexter and
Livonia. Basically, we stay within a half-hour
drive of Ann Arbor."
In terms of peaking student interest, the
University has decided to put that phase of mar-
keting on hold.
"Traditionally, students have not been a good
draw for us," Humphries said. "Our goal for now
is to go after our target market, which is families.
"In the second and third year of our plan, as
the program develops, we will put more of a con-
.certed effort (directed toward the students)."
Next year, Humphries said the school will
look to stop the distribution of complimentary
tickets.
Instead, the University hopes to make avail-
able discounts on tickets and season packages.
"We're in the test-driving phase right now,"
Humphries said. "Our objective is to get people
to the event. Once we get people into the build-
ing, we believe we can provide an entertainment

Bringing 'em in

The Michigan women's basketball program
hopes to attract larger crowds with the help
of new marketing strategies. Here's what
they have to live up to:
1996-97 Division I Attendance Rankings

6

School
1.Tennessee
2. Connecticut,
3. Wisconsin
4. Texas Tech'
5. Texas
6. Purdue
7. Penn State
8. SW Miss. St.
9. Stanford
10. Iowa
- Michigan

Average
1.0,500
10,474
8,536
7,876
7,467
7,329
6,792
6,780
6,250
5,395
2,314

Change
+ 2,458
+ 2,291
+ 652
- 56
.28
+821
656
-328
+ 1300
+130
-282*

0

*1997-98 (through 10 home games)
product.
"We believe that they will come back on thei
own. After they see the product, people will want
to come back and buy into it on their own."

[IL E OTO
Michigan Athletic Director Tom Goss has visions of a packed Crisier Arena for the women's basketball
team within three years. The team averages less than 3,000 attendees at each game.

Pistons fire Collins after 21-24 start

DETROI"T (AP) - Doug Collins was
fond of saying, "If I'm the problem. I can
be removed."
Yesterday, the Detroit Pistons gave him
no argument.
They fired their coach after lie failed to
get his team above .500 this season and
alienated many of his players with his over-
bearing style.
He was replaced by assistant Alvin
Gentry, whose first game was last night at
Washington.
"You're always going to have friction
when you have a coach that pushes you to
attain that level," Pistons president Tom
Wilson said yesterday from the team hotel
in Washington. "It worked for a long time,
and at some point it becomes more difficult
to do, and we felt it was getting to that
point."
The Pistons said Collins was informed of
his dismissal by team owner William
Davidson on Sunday night. Rick Sund will
assume Collins' job of director of basket-
ball operations.
Many of the players, including those who
liked Collins, greeted the news with relief
because it brought an end to the recent ram-
pant speculation.

"They've been hemming and hawing
about these things and rumors have been
circulating," forward Jerome Williams said.
"They've finally done what they have to do
and the team has to move on. ... Sometimes
personalities collide,
and we'll just have to
see what happens.
"We don't have any
more excuses. They've
eliminated a piece of the
puzzle where people
have pointed the finger
for whatever reason.
Now it's up to the play-
ers. They can't point
Collins anymore fingers now.
Anything that happens
from here on out is on us."
Detroit's 21-24 start can be attributed to
a number of factors: New players have been
slow to mesh: injuries have weakened the
lineup; and Grant Hill has been unable to
carry the team down the stretch in tight
games.
"This year we've struggled and had some
chemistry problems," Wilson said. "We had
to decide whether weVk re going to
improve as things go on, or allow them to

fester. We felt it was best to do somethin4
now and move forward."
But Hill had regrets.
"It's unfortunate he's got to get the brunt
of the blame," he said. "We're all to blame.
We didn't play well."
The Detroit players also reportedly had
tired of Collins and his intense approach.
Some said they had begun to tune him out.
Collins was aware of the problems, but
apparently unable to change.
There had been reports that Collins
angered Davidson and Wilson when he
renegotiated his contract over the summer.
His contract was reduced fron three years
to one, with Collins getting all the money
up front.
Still, Wilson said, it was a "very diffi-
cult" call.
"We had great success our first two years
and probably overachieved, based on what
our goals were," he said.
Wilson said Gentry, a 10-year assistant
with the Spurs, Clippers, Heat and Pistons,
will remain coach at least through the end
of the season.
"It is an opportunity for me," Gentry
said. "But one of my very best friends lost
his job. There is no joy in that."

Alabama's Hobbs
to go aafstear season
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) -Alabama men's basket-
ball coach David Hobbs will be fired at the end of the
season, University of Alabama officials said yesterday.
Athletic director Bob Bockrath announced the deci-
sior,- saying it was made after consultation with the
coach,
Hobbs was not present at the news conference.
He did issue a statement saying he disagreed with
Bockrath's decision, but he thanked the administration
for the confidence it showed in him when he was hired -
in 1992.
"Over the past six years there have been some very
good times and some very tough times," he said.
Hobbs, now in his sixth season with the Crimson Tide,
has a record of 104-72 but has come under fire in recent
years, particularly after a 94-40 loss to state rival Auburn
this season.
That was the worst loss in school history.
The Crimson Tide are 9-12 this season.
Bockrath said the decision was not based on any one
event but on "a whole culmination of events over the
course of the year."
He said there was a negativism around the program this
year that was taking its toll on the coach and players

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TUDY ABROAD
I N ISRAEL
On Tuesday, February 3rd,
Michigan Hillel and the Jewish Greek Forum
invite you to meet with representatives from:
* Hebrew University
* Tel Aviv University
" Ben Gurion University
* Bar-Ilan University
" Haifa University.

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