The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - April 12, 1999 - 38 Home Sweet Hobey Hobey Baker Award winner Brendan Morrison reflects on college days, NHL Few players, if any, have brought the fans at Yost Ice Arena to their feet the way n4 n Morrison did during his four years at the University In fact, when he grad- 1997, there wasn't much left for him to accomplish in the maize and blue jer- sey.! In*yidually, Morrison took home the 1997 Hobey Baker Memorial Trophy as the nati's top collegiate hockey player; and left the University as the Michigan's all-time 4 point and assist leader Yet above all of the individual accolades, Morrison was an ideal team leader who not only paced the Wolverines through the 1997 National Y Championship season, but also put home the overtime game winner in the champi- ohs/ttp game over Colorado College. Now a member of the NHL's New Jersey Devils, Morrison sat down with the 4' Michigan Daily's Jordan Field to talk about the college experience, Red Berenson, and yes, capping off the National Championship season by running the naked mile. JIM ROSE Rose Beef Enough ofre tetoef mnalsm - its rhe Michigan Daily: Only two years out of Michigan, do you still feel close to the University? Morrison: Definitely. I still keep in close contact with everyone there. We had practice the other day here in Detroit, and afterwards I went out to Ann Arbor and watched the end of the Wolverines' practice at Yost. It was good to see all those guys. *TMD: You're having a great rookie season. How do you feel that your biggest competition for rookie of the year is coming from (former Michigan teammate) Bill Muckalt in Vancouver? 1M: It's kind of neat, you know. Billy's having a really great year, I like watehing him play, and I check out his boxscores every morning. I really don't thiik about rookie of the year that much, but if it did come down to the two of us at the end of the year, that *iid be unbelievable. TMD: Is the fact that both of you are hiving such great rookie seasons just a testament to Coach Berenson and the program he has created at Michigan? JIM: I think so. If you look at the guy% making the jump from Michigan to the pros they are not only getting mnlhUtes, but they are also having an d on their teams and in the league. d'hat's a big thing. Red should be veiy'yroud of what he has established at Michigan. I definitely credit him with much of the success I am now hav'in' in this league. *TMD: What is the biggest difference betwen playing in front of the crowd atYo'st Ice Arena and playing in front of an NHL crowd? BM: Oh man, it's night and day, you really can't even compare the two. ere is no comparison to skating out to te 6,000 screaming fans with the band playing the fight song in the back- ground. NHL crowds are much bigger an&iome are loud, but you just can't beat'the atmosphere generated in Yost. TMD: Did you have a favorite cheer at Yost? BM: Well, I guess the one I enjoyed the most was the Michigan fight song. All the other cheers were good, but skating onto the ice hearing 'Hail to the Victors' when the crowd was going crazy brings back good memories. TMD: What do you miss most about the life of a college student-athlete? BM: Just the camraderie. Being with your teammates, especially on a social level is so different than it is in the NHL. There really aren't too many guys on this team that are my age, so compared to college where everyone is only a few years apart, it's very differ- ent. TMD: So, is it fair to say that it's more difficult to make friends at the professional level as opposed to college because of that age gap and also lan- guage barriers in some cases? BM: Yeah, it's definitely a lot differ- ent from college hockey in that sense. In college you can make friends any- where you go, but here everyone is playing hockey as their job. I'm only 22, but there are guys on the team that have wives and families, and after prac- tice they don't really hang out or go out together. Instead they go home to be their families. In college we always hung out after games or practices, so in that way, yeah, it is harder to get to know your teammates and make friends outside of the rink. TMD: When you were in school what were your favorite places to hang out in Ann Arbor? BM: Cottage Inn and Rick's for sure. Both those places were always real hot spots for all the hockey players. TMD: Having gone to college, you arrived in the NHL in a much different manner thap many of your teammates who played their way up through juniors. Do guys ask you about college, and the types of experiences you had playing hockey for a university? WARREN ZINN/Daily Brendan Morrison has taken to the NHL well, as he Is battling with fellow alum Bill Muckalt, among others, for the league's rookie of the year honor. BM: Yeah, we all like to exchange stories. After telling them about what college was like for me, I've heard a lot of guys say, "Jeez, if I knew college would have been like that, maybe I would have gone the college route." TMD: Was it a difficult decision for you to stay at Michigan for your senior year, rather than leave early to come to the Devils? BM: No, it wasn't difficult at all. I felt I was still developing as a player, and besides, I went to Michigan to get my degree and education. I wasn't going to leave without it. TMD: Looking back on all of your years playing hockey, can you say that the overtime goal against Colorado College to win the NCAA title was the biggest goal of your life? BM: I guess personally, yeah, that was a big thrill. But the important part of scoring that goal was that we won the title together as a team, and all worked so hard and sacrificed so much throughout the whole season. TMD: Aside from that goal and the national championship, your last year at Michigan, you were also honored with the Hobey Baker award as the nation's best collegiate hockey player. Did that change the way you were treated on campus, or were you still able to main- tain a low profile in class and when you went out? BM: Well, I think the first couple of years at Michigan I wasn't that big and really no one knew who I was. But the last couple years I did start to get a lot more attention because the team was doing so well. The attention started to pick up, but it wasn't the case where people would come up and ask for autographs in class or at the bar, but sure, people would recognize me and come over to shake my hand or say 'good game' or something like that. TMD: So you stayed your senior year for an education, but also left with a pretty good memory. BM: My whole class, the nine seniors on the hockey team did it together. We lined up in a row, and off we went wearing our helmets and noth- ing else. -For questions or suggestions reganr- ing future or past Q&A &you can reach the Michigan Daily ' Jordan Field at jmfield@umich.edu. How tough can it be?" I often used to wonder, looking up at the press box. "They watch the game, they eat some free food, they write a quick story - they get paid for that?" "There must be more to it,"' I thought. "It can't be as easy as it looks." (Yes it can.) "That must be a great, great job," I used to think. Not anymore. A few years ago, before I reached college, I was sitting in the stands for the now-infamous Michigan-Colorado football game - the one that ended with the impossible Hail Mary. I can remember with absolute clari- ty the crowd's reaction to the final, amazing play that ended the game in a loss for Michigan. Nobody even breathed for a few seconds - not even the obnoxious, flag-waving Colorado fan who had been scream- ing all game, two rows / A~ behind me. It was too impossible to believe. It S@P was as close to absolute PO silence as 100,000 people embai will ever be. ano My friend and I stood colle there in the stands for a to pro good 10 minutes, not I nom knowing what to do. We AM t barely even moved. We just looked at each other, open- ab mouthed, and blinked. ------- And now, years later, I still love thinking back on that game, outcome and all, because of what happened afterward: nothing. Just disbelief. I had all the time in the world to sit there, incredulous, and let it sink in. And that's exactly what I did. I don't imagine the people in the press box had the same luxury. In fact, I know they didn't. Some people - the truly great jour- nalists, I guess - would probably have loved that post-game crush of frenzied energy. Not me. I needed a few minutes to sit and collect my thoughts. For some people, some truly lucky people, journalism is the epitome of that rare blessing: a fun job. I have close friends who fall into this category, and I can't tell you how much I envy them. I wish I loved it as much as they do. But at some point, for me, an awful thing started to happen: The sports stopped being about fun, and theystart- ed being about work. I started to notice, more and more acutely, the things I disliked about jour- nalism. I hated the hours. I hated the numbingly predictable press confer- ences. I hated the uncooperative com- puters. I hated, more than anything else, the negativity. There's a machismo, in journalism, associated with being critical in print. It's like a sign of toughness. Read the papers, it's no big secret. Write some- thing critical, people react to it. It sells. It's the same phenomenon that shapes those talk-radio shows that everyone seems to love. It doesn't matter if you're right or wrong, or even if you believe what you're saying. Nine times out of ten, criticizing someone is the best way t 0 r. ti a t " Fn~ once again to cause a stir - especially if it's some- one important. People build careers on that premise. And it makes me sick. That's not to say there isn't a place for criticism. When Red Berenson shrugged off the ridiculous hockey tick- et price increase this fall, he deserved to be criticized. When Marcus Ray tele- phoned an agent for help with a hotel bill, he deserved to be criticized (and probably should have been kicked off the team, too, as a senior co-captain). In some cases, the press has an obligation to be critical. But it's another thing to be critical because it gets you noticed. Or because it shows you're "willing to face the issues" That kind of criticism doesn't prove anything - it just inflates egos and makes people loathe the media. With good reason. I have no problem admitting that I tend to shy away from being critical in print, especially since Sdon'rt we're talking about college sports. We're not debating Sthe foreign policy in these nt Of pages. We're not even dis- TSSIng cussing regents' meetings. - Wier We're talking about an ge kid interception on third-and Ve that 15. We're dissecting free W What throw shooting. It's almost comical, when you stop and think about it. OU Thisisn't life and --------- death - it's sports. It's supposed to be a diversion. It's sup- posed to be fun. I just don't see the point of embarrassing another college kid to prove that I know what I'm talk- ing about. It doesn't seem right to me. But that attitude is frowned upon in journalism. It's like a sign of weakness. It's why I would never make it as a journalist. And at the same time, it's why I would never want to. Newspapers - even small, student newspapers run by volunteers - have an enormous amount of power, an often disproportionate amount of power. Believe me, if I wanted to embarrass someone in print, I could easily do it (remember that, Michigan Review kids). I'd rather highlight the positive. In a community of 35,000 students, there ought to be enough good things going on that I can avoid being negative week-in and week-out. It might be a naive way of seeing things, but I dis- covered a while ago that it was the only way I could keep having fun while writ- ing. I guess I'd rather be naive and enjoy it, than worldly and hate it. But now, with all that behind me, I'm looking forward to getting out of the press box and back into the stands, for good. I'm looking forward to sitting in the bleachers and taking in a game at leisure - no deadlines, no bylines, no annoying post-game press conference lines. I'm looking forward to watching the games, and not rushing to analyze them after they're over. It's been fun. But it's been enough. I'm looking forward to once again being a fan. Thanks for reading. - This is Jim Rose'sfinal column, for The Michigan Daily or any other newspaper E-mail him atjwrose@umich.edu. Little things lead to victory for Blue women Dena Kschr Daffy Sports Writer It's the little things that count. The split-second hesitation after the starting gun, how tightly tied both shoelaces are, the direction the wind blows the orange dust clouds from the track. The little things make all the difference. This past weekend, all the little things amounted to a Michigan victory in the San Diego Quad over San Diego State, hington and New Mexico. The Iverines took first place with an over- all score of 197, just barely surpassing Washington's overall score of 196. One whole point. "The team that wanted it more was going to win," freshman Tasha Phillips said. "And we wanted it more"' Michigan and Washington were painfully close throughout the meet. The Wolverines placed first in six events, the hskies won eight. But Washington 'ced second in only three events, directly behind Michigan in two. Five of the Wolverines' nine second place finishes were behind the Huskies. "We did a really great job," freshman Erin Massengale said. "We didn't have our regular crew, but we kept fighting that much more. We didn't give in" The Wolverines were without top scoring juniors Maria Brown, Olive Ikeh, Tiffany Hodge and Julie Froud who were resting for this weekend's competition. Michigan junior distance runner Elizabeth Kampfe ran the 5,000 meters in 17:00.30, coming in second behind Washington's Anna Aoki by seven and a half seconds. Senior Nikki Keith threw 43-4 1/2 in the shotput, coming up short to Washington's Sesila Thomas by 5-7 1/4. Massengale heaved 145-2 in the dis- cus throw, coming behind Washington's Cecilia Barnes by 18-8. Junior hammer thrower Julie Presley threw 153 feet, 15-4 shorter than Washington's Rebecca Morrison. In the 4x400 relay, Michigan just missed first place with 3:46.39,2.04 sec- onds behind Washington. But the Wolverines dominated in the 4x100 relay, coming in first with 46.31 seconds while San Diego settled for sec- ond. Senior Nicole Forrester also overpow- ered the competition, picking up four more inches than Washington's Fran Richardson, jumping 5-8 in the high jump. Senior Katie McGregor took a huge first place in the 1,500, coming in 10 seconds ahead of Washington's Deeja Youngquist. McGregor and sophomore Katie Clifford then dominated the 3,000 meter run, taking both first and second place. Michigan senior Angie Stanifer and junior Lisa Ouellet took .both first and second place respectively in the 800 meter run. Junior Brandi Bentley leaped 20-4 1/2 in the long jump, coming in first over San Diego's Lisa Domico by and one quarter inches. The four teams will be competing against each other again this upcoming weekend at the Mount SAC relays in Walnut, Calif. "The hard work is paying off," Phillips said. "We need winning competition to keep our confidence up in the Big Ten." It was a close meet. Both Michigan and Washington showed their strength. Michigan was able to pull out ahead and win. One whole point. That's all it took. . , ,,,