MEN'S NCAA
1BASKETBLL
(1) Duke 85,
FLORIDA STATE 59
AUBURN 81,
Vanderbilt 63
(6) CINCINNATI 82
UNC-Charlotte 69
(9) KENTUCKY 92,
Georgia 71

(11) Ohio State 69
(17) INDIANA 67
(23) Minnesota 69,
PENN STATE 63
USC at
(15) UCLA, Inc.
North Carolina State at
(12) NO. CAROLINA, Inc.
Texas Tech at
(25) TEXAS, Inc.

NHL
HOCKEY
DETROIT 3,
San Jose 1
Montreal 6
N.Y. RANGERS 3
N.Y. ISLANDERS 3,
Pittsburgh 1
Florida at
DALLAS, inc.

SPORTSuIu ~aj

Want to see the Michigan-Michigan State hockey game
at Joe Louis Arena Saturday? Don't have a car? Take an
Athletic Department-sponsored bus from Crisler Arena.
The bus leaves at 5 p.m. and costs $7.50.

Thursday
February 18, 1999

5A


sunny
start for
'M' softball
S1tephon A. Rom
sponswri e
Having a lengthy offseason to relish last
season's 56-7 record, the Michigan
women's softball team is ready to pull up
its socks and play ball. And after a cold
winter, what better place to kick off the
new campaign than in sunny Florida?
"It's going to be good to get back in the
dirt and the sun;' Michigan coach Carol
utchins said.
The fifth-ranked Wolverines will travel
to Gainesville, Fla. this weekend to play in
the Louisville Slugger Classic, pitting them
against two other USA Today/NFCA top
25 teams.
On Friday, the Wolverines will open up
the regular season with a doubleheader
against highly touted No. 4 Washington.
The match should prove to be a difficult
one for the Wolverines, who will be playing
in their first regular-season game in nearly
jjne months.
Sunday's game will offer a matchup
against a Florida team that will have the
luxury of playing in front of its home
crowd. Although the Wolverines haven't
been able to make handbags out of the
Gators in any of their prior meetings, they
have pulled out consecutive one-run wins.
For a nice sandwich break, Michigan
will toss in a Saturday matinee double
header against an unranked Virginia Tech
Iad. The two teams have never met and
the Hokies will try to catch Michigan off
guard.
The Wolverines will go into these con-
tests with untested pitchers who have never
faced these opponents before.
Nevertheless, Hutchins is not overly con-
cerned with her young team's lack of expe-
rience.
"I don't care about the opponents,"
Hutchins said. "I just want to get them out
and give them a chance to have suc-
In its 21 previous seasons, Michigan has
only ventured south one other time, nor-
mally hitting the California trail for its sea-
son opener. But this time the Wolverines
are happy to be staying in their time zone.
"A weekend trip to California is exhaust-
ing;' Hutchins said. "This is a lot shorter
trip."
Currently, the Wolverines have won their
four season openers.


SHARAT
Rau
Sharat In The Dark

The Michigan women's swimming team will compete in the Big Ten Championships in Minneapolis today. The
Wolverines are searching for their 13th consecutive Big Ten title.
Big Tens await ''tan.kersa

By Michael Kern
Daily Sports Writer
Historically, the number 13 has
been synonymous with bad luck.
Hotels don't have a 13th floor. Miami
Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino,
the most prolific in NFL history,
wears number 13 and has never won a
Super Bowl. And in 1986, 13 years
ago, the Michigan women's swim-
ming team began a streak of 12 con-
secutive Big Ten championships that
will likely end before it reaches
unlucky number 13.
Even though No. 9 Michigan is the
highest ranked team in the Big Ten,
No. 14 Minnesota is the favorite to
end the Wolverines' streak of Big Ten
championships this weekend in
Minneapolis.
The Golden Gophers are the deep-
est team in the Big Ten, which gives
them a big advantage in the meet.
Though Michigan will only compete
with 16 swimmers due to injuries,
Minnesota could bring 23 swimmers.
The Gophers also defeated the
Wolverines in November at the
Carolina Invitational by a score of
230.5-139.5.
"It doesn't take a crystal ball to see
Minnesota is the best," Michigan
coach Jim Richardson said. "They are
just a little bit deeper than everybody

else."
The Big Ten is one of the elite con-
ferences in women's swimming.
Seven of the 11 teams received at
least one vote in the latest CSCAA
top 25 poll.
But none of the other teams -
including Michigan -have the depth
to compete with Minnesota. As if that
weren't enough, the Gophers have the
advantage of swimming in their home
pool.
"The Gopher fans are terrific."
Richardson said. "It's Minnesota's
meet to win or lose."
No. 12 Northwestern and No. 16
Wisconsin are also expected to chal-
lenge the Gophers and the
Wolverines.
Richardson said that on paper, the
Badgers match up well with both
teams. But two late season injuries
have left them without depth and one
of their top swimmers.
The Wildcats, led by junior Amy
Balcerzak, have been the second-
ranked team in the Big Ten all season.
And on Jan. 22, they defeated the
highly touted Gophers in a dual meet.
"(The Wildcats) are like us in that
they have a good support group,"
Richardson said. "They are really
strong in the medley relays."
Michigan's hopes will rest mainly

on senior Jennie Eberwein, junior
Shannon Shakespeare and sopho-
more Jennifer Crisman.
Eberwein has won 14 Big Ten titles
and was named Big Ten swimmer of
the Championship in the Wolverines'
title run last year. But she missed
most of this season due to a mono-
like virus and has not raced up to her
potential since before the semester
break.
"She is very close to having the
type of speed she has had in the past
but her endurance is questionable,"
Richardson said. "She will race well,
though, because she is a tremendous
competitor."
Shakespeare, who won Big Ten
swimmer of the year as a freshman in
1997, and Crisman, who won four
Big Ten titles last year, have been the
most consistent swimmers for the
Wolverines during the last month and
a half.
If they don't perform, Michigan
can kiss its already slim chances at
unlucky number 13 goodbye.
For Michigan to win, every swim-
mer on the team will have to swim to
her fullest potential because they are
so out-numbered.
"It's a numbers thing," Richardson
said. "(Minnesota) can just swim
more people than we can."

Spartans enjo yiJng
I f payback is a bitch, then Michigan State basketball be thy name.
Retribution is the indefinable motivator, and it is one that is seldom out-
wardly expressed in athletics.
In the movies, it's no problem. You always hear the I'll-be-back-to-get-you-
and-your-dog threat by the protagonist. Every good action flick worth its salt
has payback in it.
But you don't get to see it all that much in college basketball. You won't
hear Purdue coach Gene Keady say, "Well, we wanted to go out there and
beat Minnesota so senselessly that the mothers of the starting five would
have to be admitted into the Mayo Clinic. All because they beat us twice last
year."
It's too bad it doesn't work that way. It would be fun - in a twisted, mor-
bid way - to see Mateen Cleaves chuckle aloud on television. We could all
watch in sick fascination as Cleaves described his intense hatred for the
maize and blue. He could talk about how Michigan had embarrassed the
Spartans, for the most part, since the mid-1980s before Tom Izzo's recon-
struction in East Lansing began.
Cleaves would no doubt have to include the Spartans' collapse in Chicago
at last year's Big Ten Tournament - only to see nemesis Michigan take the
title.
He would likely have to further his contempt of the Wolverines by relating
the sketchy details of the now-infamous Ford Explorer "roll-over" on M-14,
which happened back when the Wolverines were recruiting the Flint native.
But now, Cleaves has the last laugh. He should rub it in Ann Arbor's face.
'My team's the talk of the conference and your team is trash,' he should say.
It's hard to blame him, as detestable as the Spartans are in this neck of the
woods. He's come a long way, baby. Although he is, arguably, the most over-
rated player in the country who has still not taken a single lay-up while under
control, he has catalyzed his team. The.Spartans, after Tuesday's thrashing of
the Boilermakers, have proved that they are heading in the right direction.
Currently going in the wrong direction ... look no further than Crisler
Arena.
The Wolverines are definitely a train wreck this year. You don't want to
look, yet you cannot turn away. There it is, right in front of you in all its
grotesque, frontcourt-less form - the Michigan basketball team.
The once cocky, chest-thumping, crotch-grabbing, Fab Five-led
Wolverines are a thing of the not-too-distant past. Now their counterparts in
East Lansing have taken up the slack - at least in the crotch-grabbing
department.
So if you happen to be down in Crisler Arena tonight and notice that there
are just as many green-and-white shirts as there are maize-and-blue ones,
remember what goes around, comes around.
It has gone around and come back to bite Michigan until it hurts. And
Michigan State should remember that it can come back around, as well.
- Sharat Raju can be reached via e-mail at sraju@umich.edu.
SNo Love Lost
Tonight'sbattle for state bragging rights at Orisler
Arena should be a slugfest, and you can read all about
in tomorrow's Daily. The Daily's basketball game on
Friday against the hapless State News, on the other
hand, will be not be covered. Nor will it be as close.

Track's Harvey to
retire at season's end

By Ron Garber
Daily Sports Writer
The week leading up to the Big Ten
ampionship meet is perennially an
intense one for coach Jack Harvey's
Michigan men's track and field team.
But this year, there is something
considerably different about this cru-
cial week.
Yesterday, Harvey announced his
retirement after 25 years of coaching,
a decision that will become effective
Jan. 1, 2000.
It seemed like the right time to
make this decision;' Harvey said in a
released statement. "It seemed to
work into the flow of things. It has
been a long ride."
Harvey's successful career began
in 1974 when his team winning the
indoor and outdoor Big Ten champi-
onships.
The winning tradition continued as
Harvey won six outdoor titles and

four indoor championships through-
out his career. He is only the third
coach in Michigan track and field
history to win ten or more Big Ten
crowns.
Not only has his success been
acknowledged in the Big Ten, but he
is nationally recognized as one of
track and field's leaders. Harvey won
the 1980 national outdoor coach of
the year award.
This season has been especially
satisfying for Harvey.
He has guided his young and inex-
perienced team through the season
without all-American John
Mortimer.
This weekend, the Wolverines
hope to send Harvey out in style with
a strong performance in the coach's
final Big Ten indoor championships.
The likely candidates to succeed
Harvey are current assistants Fred
LaPlant and Ron Warhurst.

U.S. IMMIGRATION
The law firm of Dobkin & Sherman. PC., specializes in
obtaining both temporary and permanent U.S. visas. We
have over 20 years of experience assisting University of
Michigan foreign students and faculty. Contact: Ted S.
Sherman, Esq. at:
Law Offices of
DOBKIN & SHERMAN, P.C.
32901 Middlebelt Road, Suite 500
Farmington Hills, MI 48334 U.S.A. -
Tel. (248)855-8600 Fax (248)855-9788
E-mail: xgreencard@aol.com

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Summer Job Fair
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