Scoreboard AMERICAN TAP YBAY 7, LEAGUE NwYork 0 Boston 4. Seattle 4. BALTIMORE 3 OAKLAND 1 TEXAS 5, Chicago 9, Anaheim 3 nA ciy 4 CLEVELAND 8, LEAGUE Minnesota 6 LE Toronto 2, 5. DETROIT 1 Ph ladelphia 1 Milwaukee 2. CINCINNATI 0 New York 4, HOUSTON 3 (11) Pittsburgh at ST. LOUIS MONTREAL 3, Florida 2 Chicago 6, SAN DIEGO 3 S ri S Want more football? Be sure to pick up a free copy of Football Saturday on the way to the game this weekend. Look for copies be distributed outside Michigan Stadium. Thursday, September 17, 1998 1OA Sammy grand slams 63! b IL MARK SNYDER SAN DIEGO (AP) - Sammy Sosa hit his 63rd home run last night in grand fashion, tying Mark McGwire for the Major League lead and record. Sosa's eighth-inning grand slam catapulted the Cubs to a 6-2 win over the Padres and brought the San Diego crowd to its feet. TH E HuI McGwVIRE: Gambibigo &pors and fans: the cege tnficta Today marks the first edition of The Daily Grind, a weekly column by Daily Sports Editors Sharat Ra/u and Mark Snyder Lookfbr it each and every Thursday in Daily Sport. GOpen a daily sports section this week and turn to the agate page. Some cwspapers call it the scoreboard, others the sportsline, but in the end, it's just the refuge for all of the meaningless statistics sports nerds gob- ble up. Buried in the corner - usually in the smallest box with very little type -- rests the heart of this campus and schools nationwide. That's usually where 'Today's Line' is posted. To a casual sports fan, interested only in his team's wins or losses, the out- come of a game can prove destructive. Following a devastating defeat - the likes of which this campus is rapidly getting used to - these passionate fans retreat into a personal shell. Even daylight becomes an enemy to the faint of heart wallowing in a loss. But anger is rarely part of their spectrum of emotions. That's left for the gamblers. These are the people who live and die by the fluctuation in a point spread. Hundreds, often thousands, of dollars are gained or lost on a last-minute field goal. The small type in the corner of the page establishes a method to their °Upnness. -The image of a gambler - a middle-aged man flanked by a leg-breaker on each side - creates the appearance of an underworld of trouble, not that there's anything wrong with that, But a deeper look into the world of first names opens our peers up to exam- ination. On a smaller scale, the bets run rampant through our halls. The degen- crates who fuel the world of illegal gambling are often sitting beside you in psych lecture or living down the hall in the dorm. Fall is a prime time for the growth of sports gambling. Football, with its national exposure and once-a-week games, elicits the largest interest from the pocketbook. That makes fall a prime target for large wagers. The process is hardly complex. A couple of betting services based in Las Vegas create point spreads at the beginning of each week for the following week's games. Various factors contribute to setting the lines - injuries, previ- . ous team records and even media analysis - and then the spreads for every football game believed to be of interest are printed in major newspapers across the country. This is where the conspiracy grows. In the past, newspapers and 900 numbers were the only method to obtain ,he lines. Now, with the expansion of the Internet and unlimited access, bettors around the world can find out in an instant what the margin is on any given game and, consequently, the market has expanded. So daily newspapers - intended to provide a public service - are now hiding and abetting criminals and yet they pass it off as newsworthy. Each week, a chosen group of games is distributed by a pool coordinator before the combatants select against the spreads. Entrants often pay a fee to participate and the winner - either on a weekly basis or for the season as a whole - takes home the bulk of the entrance fees. (Note: We at the Daily do nothing to combat the poblem, vet do not endorse the situation. On a week/v basis we select college football games - against the spread - with no reservations as to the implied gambling tenden- es., It merel serves as a simple explanation of our vast football knowledge.) Those who play the games dismiss the perils of dropping money as "a diversion" or "a reason to keep an interest in the games." But when college stu- dents wager hundreds of dollars on a single Sunday, the fun aspect begins to wane. The expansion of gambling in campus life is an underworld that walks a tightrope. At times, the pools can prove eminently profitable. But the mix of too much money (from far-away parents) and too much time (from non-exis- tent classes) can prove volatile despite its low-key nature. As an objective journalist, my conscience remains clear. So, you ask, how do I know so much about campus gambling if the scene is all hush-hush? Field research. - Mark Snyder can be reached at msnyder@umich.edu. Though he thinks gambling is a bad thing, he says take Eastern Michigan and the 35 points. Bet the house. Meanwhile, Mark L TALLY McGwire went homer- less, but narrowly missed hitting home YESTERDAY: run No. 64 off Jason 3-, HR OUBLE, Christiansen, who also 6 RBI surrendered No. 63 to McGwire. McGwire, who lW YESTERDAY: homer No. 63 off. 0-3, WALK, K Christiansen the previ- ous day, flied out to th.c warning track again.st the Pittsburgh reliever last night as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pirates 4-0. On Tuesday, McGwire ended his six-game, 18 at-bat homerless drought with a pinch-hit shot in the ninth inning. McGwire was 0-for-3 with a walk, his 154 of the season. He needs 15 walks in the final nine games to tie Babe Ruth's 1923 major See SOSA, Page 12A Sosa had three hits and six RBI in the victo- ry, which kept the Cubs a half game ahead of the New York Mets in the National League wild card race. Slammin' Sammy electrified the crowd with his trademark hop after the home run, which landed in the third deck of Qualcomm Park and led to a massive pileup of fans in search of the ball. AP PHOTO Sammy Sosa's eighth-inning grand slam last night tied him with Mark McGwire for the major league home run record. jump:s at his chance By Sharat Raju Daily Sports Editor Of all the Michigan football fans watching last Saturday's debacle, there were probably only a few who were actu- ally happy with the game. One happy person was Anthony Jordan's father. "I didn't even tell my father that I was starting this week' Jordan said. "So he found out when he watched the game." And boy, did he get a surprise. Jordan, a redshirt freshman line- backer, got his first chance to start for the Wolverines. And he didn't disap- point, recording 13 tackles - enough to make a dad feel good. "He said he was very proud of me Jordan said. Instead of sh xv ing off and calling friends and family to come down and watch him play, Jordan concentrated on stopping Syracuse's offense. "I really didn't tell many people," Jordan said. "The only way people found out was if my roommate, James Whitley, told people. I don't know. I guess I real- ly didn't want to focus on it too much." And although quarterback Donovan McNabb was scampering all about the field, one linebacker was at least doing his job the best he could. Jordan's best was, in fact, the team's best - he led the Wolverines in tackles. "Here at Michigan, we say that the 'expectation is for the position,"' Jordan said. "That means it doesn't matter who plays, he just has to get the job done. So we had a couple guys who were out and fortunately I got the chance to play. "And I just wanted to do my best." More than just a couple of guys are out for the Wolverines. Essentially, if you are a linebacker at Michigan this season, odds are that you aren't at 100 percent. Linebacker Sam Sword is hobbled by an upper leg/neck injury anomaly. WARREN ZINN/Dai4 - Anthony Jordan made the most of his chances last Saturday, even if the rest of the team didn't. His13 tackles led the Wolverines. Linebacker Ian Gold has a cast on his left leg. Linebacker Eric Rosel was not in uniform on Saturday. So, out of necessity, Jordan got the job. "I was practicing with the first team last week, and they were trying to see if Ian (Gold) was ready to go," Jordan said. "Obviously he wasn't. By yesterday, I knew I was going to be the starter this week." With these gaping holes in the defense, it provides a prime opportunity for a third- or fourth-stringer to make an impact. Jordan took that opportunity and did a better job than most would in his situa- tion - his first game was in front of the biggest crowd in NCAA history. "It was pretty much a challenge for me, making my first start, Jordan said. "I was pretty nervous, but I figured I knew what we had to do. And it was just a matter of going out and doing it." Throughout the year, the Michigan defense has been referring to itself as a family, with defensive coordinator Jim Herrmann in place as the father figure. Jordan talked to "Dhani (Jones), Sam, Ian - Ian talked to me a lot," Jordan said. "And before the game, I had a talk with Marcus (Ray). That helped calm me down a little bit." Whatever they said got Jordan riled up - at least enough to see him stop McNabb and the Orangemen more effectively than anyone on the team. "The guys on the team, they helped me out,' Jordan said. "They gave me pointers and just told me to relax and' play just how I knew how to play. And everything would take care of itself." Making plays on the football field is nothing unusual to Jordan, a Jersey City, N. J., native. Jordan was a top linebacker recruit coming out of high school. In fact, Jordan was awarded the high school Heisman Trophy by the same people who name the 'real' Heisman. With the linebackers hurting, Jordan will probably get more and more playing time. And if he starts again, hopefully he'll tell his dad. "He said the next game he's coming out for is Penn State,' Jordan said. By then Jordan might be firmly in place as a linebacker. I ill U Tickets are required and can be purchased in advance at Hillel or by phone. Students will receive a ticket free of charge by showing a valid ID. Tickets can be picked up at Hillel before the Holidays or in the Fishbowl or Diag (Sep. 14-17). Non-students may purchase tickets in advance at Hillel or by phone. MASS MEETING TONIGHT! 7:30 AT THE STUDENT PUBLICATIONS BUILDING. 4ZO MAYNARD. 76-DAILY. Ros 4 4 n'a erie t ti Conservative Orthodox Sun., Sep. 20 7:30 pm* 7:15 pm Mon., Sep. 21 9:00 am* 9:00 am 7:30 pm 7:15 pm Tue., Sep. 22 9:00 am 9:00 am 7:15 pm * These two Conservative services are at the Power Center (121 Fletcher St.) Reform 7:30 pm 10:00 am All other services are at Hillel Ann Arbor #257 Ann Arbor #486 Test 1 Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Class 4 Sat Oct 3 Sun. Oct4 Tue. Oct6 Sun. Oct 11 Tue. Oct13 9-1 1-4:30 6:30-10 1-4:30 6:30-10 Test 1 Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Class4 Sat Oct3 Mon. Oct 5 Thu. Oct8 Mon. Oct 12 Thu. Oct 15 9-1 6:30-10 6:30-10 6:30-10 6:30-10 Mon., Sep. 21 Meet at Hillel (1429 Hill Street) at 4:30 pm A l * t r r_ - .._....Z-:-- J -' t.. - [I L . L j A -. I tL