24 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 9, 1998
Michigan men's golf looks
4
to regain 'balance'
of old
Carras, Harris looking for four or five consistent scorers
By Tracy Sandler
Daily Sports Writer
Everything in life needs to be balanced. One needs a
good balance between work and play. In sports, each
team needs to be balanced in order to perform at its
highest level.
No one knows this better than Michigan men's golf
coach Jim Carras.
Five golfers from each team participate in a tourna-
ment, with the four lowest scores being counted. The
highest is thrown out.
Therefore, two or three good scores each weekend is
not going to cut it.
"For us to achieve the kind of success we desire, I use
the word 'balance,"' Carras said. "We need to have four
people play well. We'd like to have five, but we need to
have four. If our four best scores are 77, 78, 79 and 80,
we will not do as well.
"Two years ago we had seven good players recording
four good scores. What we need are good No. 4 and No.
5 men.
"We need to know that we have a good enough balance
that we can put five guys in there and know that four are
going to play well."
During the aforementioned season, the Wolverines
qualified for both the NCAA regionals and finals. Last
season, Michigan finished fifth in the Big Ten and did
not see NCAA tournament action.
Carras said that some of this year's goals include
returning to the success of 1997.
"We want to improve upon last year's season," Carras
said. "First of all, we have every hope of improving on
our Big Ten standing.
"Secondly, we want to return tothe NCAA regionals
and finals, as we did in 1997. We want to get back to the
finals."
So the question is: How? How do they get back to the
finals?
The answer seems to be balance. So, how do the
Wolverines achieve such balance?
Michigan returns all-Big Ten team member Michael
Harris, while Carras said that junior Mike Affeldt and4
sophomore Scott Hayes are both performing well on the
greens.
"We certainly have one of the best coming back in
Harris," Carras said. "He's the captain of our team, and
he's our anchor. But, if we depend totally on him, we'll
be in trouble. Affeldt and Hayes look like they're play-
ing rather well right now. Of the five returning starters,
those three are showing the kind of strength that we
need."
In terms of the four and five men that Carras says bal-
ance out the team, the Wolverines may find them it
youth.
"Based on the play of the kids so far, we have some
very young kids - both true freshmen and redshirt
freshmen - who may give us the balance we need. The
key term for us is balance."
The Michigan
men's golf team
is hoping to
recapture the
form that made It
tough to beat
two years ago. To
get there, the
Wolverines need
consistent play
from four or five
men.
FILE PHOTO
SNYDER
Continued from Page 22
with so many coaches in awe of his
accomplishments, it's hard to deflect
the spotlight.
The only problem may be that the
majority of those peers seem to be
eulogizing the still-active coach.
"What else can you say about Joe
Paterno," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr
said. "Joe is going to be remembered
as a great ambassador for college
. ..__ .....,._ Y.._........,......,.... ._..
football. He's leaving a great legacy."
The only problem is, Paterno isn't
leaving. He continues to want to
coach until the sun emerges on a
Happy Valley November day.
Here's to hoping the only
November sun he sees is on his next
Hawaii trip.
SNAP, CRACKLE, POP: Just one week
into the season, Michigan State is
fighting an uphill battle. After two
devastating losses in consecutive
weeks - the first a collapse against
Colorado State and the second this
week's duck-slap at Oregon - coach
Nick Saban is hardly concerned with
this week's opponent, sud-
denlysparkling Notre Dame.
"I'm not very concerned about
whoever we're playing this week as I
am about ourselves and our confi-
dence," Saban said.
He wants his team to regain "the
inner soul and the passion for the
game" that has appeared absent since
the first half of the Colorado State
game.
"We've got to get back to compet-
ing that way," Saban said.
Suddenly, Saban may have more to
worry about than his team's psyche.
Cornerback Amp Campbell, the heart
of the Spartan secondary, underwent
surgery this week for a neck problem
and offensive tackle Shawn Mason -
"our best offensive lineman" accord-
ing to Saban - is out for the year.
Not a good sign with the Jarious
Jackson show rolling in.
ARE YOU YELLOW?: Fry, who prob-
ably has forgotten more football than
his players have seen, was awestruck
by an Iowa first last weekend.
Kahlil Hill, a redshirt freshman
playing in his first game for the
Hawkeyes, caught the nation's atten-
tion by returning a kickoff and a punt
for a touchdown, despite handling
just three kicks on the day.
"It's the first time that's happened
in the history of Iowa," said, Fry, who
probably would remember. "He's an
extremely gifted, talented young man.
I don't know if he'll be in the same
category as (former Hawkeye) Tim
Dwight, but he'll be outstanding."
Fortunately for Hill, he has a head
start on the competition. His father,
J.D. Hill, played for nine years in the
NFL, with a few for the Buffalo Bills
in the 1970s with O.J. Simpson.
This week, the younger Hill faces
Iowa State - another chance to dis-
play his 'killer' returns.
- Mark Snyder can be reached at
msnyder@umich.edu.
0
4
10
,..,.
REC
SPORTS
The University of Michigan
Department of Recreational Sports
INTRAMURAL SPORTS PROGRAM
WHAT'S
HAPPENING
INTRAMURALS
Intramural Soccer
Officials Needed!!
-U
* No Experie
Necessary
nce
T
Get a Free
=Shirt
NX
Cassbi CWasskos
* Feuehs F
...L
..fr
" spinning
" Aerobic Classes
" Free Weights
" Basketball
" Cardio-Equipment
" Cybex
" Weight Loss Program
" Personal Training
" Cardio Boxing
" Self Defense Classes
At left, Marcus 4
Knight tums a
potential
interception into
a huge gain for
the Wolverines.
s Knight made five
catches against
Notre Dame on
.i Saturday in just
his second career
start.
WARREN ZINN/Daily
KNIGHT
Continued from Page 23
receiver.
"I'm from the South, and it was a
difficult adjustment," Knight says of
the transition from an Alabama high
school to college life in Ann Arbor,
"I had to stop worrying about t
things I can't control, and concen
trate on improving myself."
There were times, he admits, when
the quick-fix solution - leaving -
seemed more appealing than the
long-term prospect - sticking it
out.
"Of course, it was always in the
back of my mind," Knight says of
transferring. "Some people know
right away that this is the place for
them. It just took me a while to g
comfortable. But I've made th
adjustment well, and now I'm
happy."
And now he's getting his chance.
Instead of wondering whether he
went to the wrong school, or
dwelling on what might have been,
Knight spent the first Saturday of
this September on the field - catch-
ing passes and throwing blocks.
Knight may be new to. the spo
light, but you'd never know it by lis-
tening to him talk. He sounds like an
old pro.
"Believe it or not, Marcus Knight
has been waiting to do this for a long
time," Marcus Knight says in the
SPORTS
' Officials are INTRAMURALS * Flexible
Paid for All Hours
Games Worked
Training Clinics Begin
I
I
I I