I
Scoreboard.
COLLEGE NHL HOCKEY
FOOTBALL Buffalo at
123) Georgia Tech at WASHINGTON, inc.
CLEMSON, inc. Montreal at
NY ISLANDERS, inc.
Edmonton at
OTTAWA, inc.
Florida at
PHILADELPHIA, inc.
Toronto at
CHICAGO, inc.
Vancouver at
CALGARY, inc.
Nashville at
LOS ANGELES, inc.
Carolina at
SAN JOSE, inc.
ow Ij£kifm 1&rtl
Tracking 'M' teams
Check out the Michigan soccer team this weekend.
Michigan travels to South Bend to face fifth-ranked
Notre Dame in the second round of the NCAA tourna-
ment. The Wolverines kick off Sunday at 1 p.m.
Friday
November 13, 1998
10
Big
cheese
Giant tackle key
to tomorrow's
first-place battle
0
Peter Vignier and
the Michigan bas- /
ketball team
hoop it up for real
tonight in Miami
against Florida
International. The-
Wolverines beat
the Golden
Panthers at
Criler Arena last
season.
WARREN ZINN/Daily
Asselin1, 'M' look to
beat the FlU heat
I
i
By Rick Freeman
Daily Sports Writer
MIAMI - It's already four days after
Josh Asselin threw down the Dunk Heard
'Round the World. OK, OK, but calling it
the dunk heard 'round Crisler Arena is
unfair, too. Sometimes, like just before
Asselin slammed -home Athletes in
Action, the conversations at the conces-
sion stands can be heard 'round Crisler.
However far'round it was heard, it's in
the past, and if Asselin tries something
similar tonight against Florida
International in the regular season open-
er for the Wolverines, it probably won't
work as well, since most of his team-
mates downplayed the electrifying
effects of the dunk.
After the game Michigan coach Brian
Ellerbe, in particular, downplayed it.
"Josh can do that, last year he was the
best dunker on the team," Ellerbe said.
"Well, think about it, he's a Division I
player - one dribble and he dunked the
ball"
But what a dunk, right?
Asselin "got overplayed, and he left
him with one dribble and dunked the
ball."
End of story.
Begin regular season ...
This happens tonight, but the regular
season worries have already begun.
The concerns are not over Florida
International's intimidating small for-
ward Raja Bell, who averaged 16.6
points a game last season, but simply
over the ambush Ellerbe suspects when
Michigan enters the arena.
"We're going into a very difficult
environment .:. that team probably
should have been in the NCAA
Tournament last year," Ellerbe said.
The Golden Panthers, of course, are
due to upset someone big this season.
Well, maybe not, but they'll have plenty
of chances with a killer nonconference
schedule including the Wolverines and
North Carolina.
That's the scheduling philosophy of
Florida International coach Marcos
'Shakey' Rodriguez, who has himself
said that his schedule is "ridiculous."
And Michigan, a team that might be
the underdog in most of its games this
season, is the 'Bad Guy.'The Wolverines
are the big-school, Tournament team
from last season, at least as far as Florida
International is concerned. And Ellerbe
knows it.
"They moved the game to 9 o'clock,
so you know there's something up their
sleeve for us," Ellerbe said.
And this time, a big dunk will likely
ignite the home crowd against Michigan.
This time, it's for keeps.
"We'll have to respond under duress, I
think for the entire 40 minutes," Ellerbe
said. "And we'll find out how we handle
that."
By Mark Snyder
Daily Sports Editor
Sitting across a table from
Wisconsin offensive lineman Aaron
Gibson is comfortable. He's easygo-
ing, humorous and quick with a joke.
Standing next to him (actually, in
his Bunyanesque shadow) is where
the shivering starts.
Listed at 6-foot-7, 360 pounds,
Gibson appears even larger than that
in person, filling a room as soon as he
enters.
His ability to command a presence
stems not from his dominant stature,
but instead from the reassuring
atmosphere he fosters.
Making anyone's life easier will
not be Gibson's priority tomorrow,
however.
When the Badgers travel to Ann
Arbor to face the Wolverines at noon
tomorrow, all Gibson's thoughts will
focus on protecting the man behind
him, not those across the line.
Ron Dayne, one of the nation's top
tailbacks and no small man himself at
260 pounds, will be looking for huge
holes to pound the ball through and,
more often than not, such holes
emerge following a Gibson pancake.
Entering this week, Lloyd Carr's
largest concern (literally) was the
Wisconsin offensive line. These big
boys - who average more than 300
pounds - are the root of the
Wisconsin running attack.
"I think Wisconsin, as long as
Barry (Alvarez) has been there, has
been a program that likes a big,
strong, physical lineman," Carr said.
"Aaron Gibson is something like
360 and was even bigger than that in
high school and a lot of teams didn't
recruit him.
"But what happened was
(Wisconsin) got a guy that had a real
determination and was willing to
work to gain strength and has turned
into an absolutely great tackle. They
have two guys that will be drafted and
Gibson may be the first offensive
lineman to be drafted."
Such high praise for the opposition
is unusual for Carr, but most of his
knowledge stems from the fear that
the Badger boys are going to eat his
defensive front seven alive. Not one
of Michigan linebackers is even with-
in 100 pounds of Gibson, with Sam
Sword as the only one to even tip the
scale past 250.
The defensive linemen are in an'
even worse position. Going toe-to-toe
with the dominant O-line of the
Badgers is a prospect some of the
front four need to get used to - fast.
"Technique is going to be the key."
rush linebacker James Hall said.
"Staving low and using your hands is
going to be another key. We need to
get below their offensive linemen. We
need to stay in our stance and use
proper technique."
Using strategy to topple the
Badgers - who pass about as often
as Michigan travels to Hawaii - will
be the only out in a game where
strength and endurance will be more
important than 10-yard curls and but-
tonhooks.
"We need to practice at a high level
this week to prepare us for the inten-
sity and physical nature of the
Wisconsin game" linebacker Dhani
Jones said Monday. "They are the
biggest offensive line that I have seen
in my life and we need to put 200-per-
cent effort toward practice and prepa
ration."
Even with 200-percent effort;
Michigan may not have enough. After
all, who could play if Gibson blocks
the sun?
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4
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MARGARET MYERS/Daily
Juaquin Feazell and the Michigan defense will have five big obstacles to fight
through tomorrow - the Wisconsin offensive linemen. Led by 360-pound Aaron
Gibson, the Badgers have rolled to a 9-0 record by controlling the line of scrimmage.
BATTLE OF BRA W
OK, folks. The big day is -' .
tomorrow. By mid-afternoon, the '
19n a ei D lajai a w.iIl h a Ls
9
Road tu rasadena wi ue much
clearer. Will there be more cheese
or winged helmets in California on
New Year's Day? Only time
will tell.
ay
day awa
'M' hockey hopes to halt two red-hot teams
I
The +4m nW lUId classified
section is currently hiring creative,
business-minded freshpersons and
sophomores. Interested students
can apply at:
Students Publications Building
420 Maynard St.
Deadline: November 20
By Mark Francescutti
Daily Sports Writer
Break time has ended.
The Michigan hockey team returns to
CCHA action tonight against Alaska-
Fairbanks (2-4-0 CCHA, 3-5-0 overall)
and then tomorrow night in South Bend
against the Fighting Irish (5-1-0, 7-1-1).
The Wolverines are coming off of a
two week break that wasn't much of a
break at all.
With an unusual mid-season bye,
Michigan coaches were unable to hold
practice last week. But that didn't stop
the Michigan players from holding their
own practices, run by the team captains.
"Last week was really good for the
team;' Bubba Berenzweig said. "We had
time to hang out and keep building on
coming together as a team."
Off-week .activities included a team
bowling night, dinner and a trip to Mott
Children's Hospital.
"It's a great trip," Berenzweig said.
"People should do it all the time."
The Wolverines will need the extra
time to tackle the hot Nanooks tonight,
and the Irish, who are even hotter.
First on Michigan's hit' list is
Fairbanks. For the first time in their pro-
gram's history, the Nanooks won a week-
end series versus a CCHA opponent,
squashing Miami this past weekend.
After Michigan went to Alaska and
pounded the Nanooks 6-1 and 2-1,
Fairbanks would love to return the favor.
And the fun doesn't end there for the
Wolverines, because 45 minutes after the
game tonight, they will take a bus to
South Bend to battle the Irish.
Sixth-ranked Notre Dame is off to its
best start in school history after finishing
a successful road trip in the Northeast.
The Irish fought to an emotional tie ver-
sus No. 2 Boston College, and came
back the next night to defeat
Northeastern.
After a close playoff series loss to
Michigan last season, Notre Dame coach
Dave Poulin believes that a rivalry is
starting to form between the two teams.
But he also admitted that the
Wolverines have a strong front line,
especially with the addition of freshman
Mike Comrie.
"Comrie adds another strong presence
up front;' Poulin said. "This weekend
will be a difficult test for us."
The biggest news of the week for
Michigan was the announcement that
defenseman Dave Huntzicker will most
likely return to action. After incredibly
recovering from a separated shoulder
suffered in the game versus Bowling
Green on Oct. 30, Huntzicker should
play at least one game this weekend.
Junior defenseman Sean Peach is still
recovering from a recurring lace-bite
injury and will not play this weekend.
But Peach did say that he has switched
back to his old skates, which should
speed up the healing process.
KELLY MCKINNELL/Daily
The Michigan hockey team plays tonight against Alaska-Fairbanks, its first game
since a 6-1 home loss to Northern Michigan Halloween night. After facing the 0
Nanooks, the Wolverines will get on a bus and travel to Notre Dame, where they
play the first-place Irish tomorrow.
HOW ABOUT A
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