:16 The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - April 19, 1999 SO LONG, GREAT PRINCE NEW YORK (AP) - Six-year-old Trevor Gretzky skipped his Little League game to see the old man off after all. Michael Jordan called during breakfast. People rushing to Madison Square Garden in Rangers jerseys with "99" stitched on the back crossed against the light in Times Square with- out getting run down. Everybody said goodbye to Wayne Gretzky in their own way yesterday, none more gracefully than the game with a tough reputation and the town with an even tougher one. National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman did so by retiring his number. Teammates gave him a large-screen TV The Rangers gave him a Mercedes-Benz. The crowd of 18,200 stood as one nearly every time the puck turned up on his stick. Everybody came bearing gifts for The Great One it seemed, except the Pittsburgh Penguins. And even the villains in the 1,487th and final game of Gretzky's career were helpless to stop him from picking up assist No. 1,963 on a nifty forehand pass that led to the Rangers' only goal. The Penguins did win a measure of revenge with a 2-1 victory on a goal by Jaromir Jagr in overtime. "Jagr said to me he didn't mean do it," Gretzky said afterward. "That's what I used to say." But even that couldn't take the luster off his day. The puck had barely rippled the Rangers' net when Jagr led his teammates in forming a receiving line to shake The Great One's hand. Countless hugs, three curtain calls and several tearful laps ofhthe arena later, Gretzky left hockey the way he came in - with his head held high and the right side of his jersey still tucked into the corner of his pants. Before the game the Rangers painted "99" on they ice between the nets and the backboards on both ends in recognition of the space Gretzky called his "office" - where he dished out literally hundredsQ of assists. On his third shift of the opening period, he set up shop there and two Penguins materialized on either side of the net, hoping to hem Gretzky in. A He began dribbling the puck, backhand then fore-, hand, keeping it tantalizingly out of the reach of both players. Neither dared lunge at him, maybe because~ they had seen the same replays the rest of us hadr hundreds of times: Gretzky threading a lethal pass through the narrowest of openings; Gretzky deli- cately flipping the puck over the net, off the back of the goalkeeper, and into the net; Gretzky spotting an onrushing teammate and caroming the puck off the corner boards, the way a pool hustler might.4 The Penguins, as it turned out, dodged the bullet ta that time and on another dozen opportunities like it. Gretzky kept setting up teammates; they kept failing to finish. But every time he did so was one more bitI of proof that the game really does slow down for the great ones, that they know not just where everything would happen, but where it would happen next. In the days before he announced his retirement, Gretzky asked Trevor whether he planned to be on hand for yesterday's game. The 6-year-old said, no, he had a Little League game scheduled and he want- ed to be there instead. And so just this once, Trevor's old man did some- thing he never did. He asked for special treatment. f "They had a practice yesterday and we talked to AP PHOTO the team, changed things around a little bit. I guess;" Wayne Gretzky may be the best hockey player ever to grace the ice, but In Canada he's a little more Wayne Gretzky said, "I had that much pull." than that. The now-retired icer was thought of by Canadians as one of the country's greatest heroes. Bs, las lead tpSi NEW YORK (AP) - The quarterbacks went as quick- ly as 1-2-3. Then the dealing began, with Ricky Williams at the center of it all. Tim Couch, Donovan McNabb and Akili Smith went to Cleveland, Philadelphia and Cincinnati in Saturday's NFL draft - the first quarterback trifecta since 1971. And five quarterbacks overall were taken in the top dozn with Daunte Culpepper going to Minnesota with the 1 Ith pick and Cade McNown to Chicago with the next choice. But they had to share top billing with the New Orleans Saints and coach Mike Ditka, who did just what he said he'd do: get Williams, the Heisman Trophy-winning run- ning back, no matter what it took. In turn, Ditka's deal helped out the Washington Redskins. He made his move when Indianapolis used the fourth overall pick to take Miami running back Edgerrin James instead of Williams. Ditka traded all his picks this year and his first and third next year to Washington, a total of eight in all. It set up the rest of the draft and it certainly set up the Redskins. After the deal for Williams was struck, Ditka emerged from the Saints' war room, pumped both fists in the air, fired up a big cigar and shouted: "The power of prayer did it." Colts president Bill Polian said it "basically was a tie" between James and Williams, although James was better at catching the football. That's important in the Colts' offense, particularly without Marshall Faulk, who had 86 catches last season but was traded to the Rams on Thursday. This' was also a socially significant draft. Of the first five quarterbacks taken, three are black: McNabb, Smith and Culpepper. That equals the entire number of black quarterbacks taken in the first round since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970 - Doug Williams in 1978, Andre Ware in 1990 and Steve McNair in 1995. Oakland, then in the AFL' chose Eldridge Dickey in the first round in 1968. "It's about time. We have maybe five or six African- American quarterbacks that will be going in the draft today or tomorrow," said Smith, whose prediction came true again in the second round when the Buccaneers took King. "Because of people like Doug Williams who have paved the way, it now becomes a burden on us to pave the way for the next generation," Smith said. NFL Draft on tap First Round picks Women's golf takes sixth place By Mark Francescutti Daily Sports Writer Four freshmen and two sophomores on the Michigan women's golf team almost grabbed some limelight from their hosts this past weekend. The Wolverines finished sixth, a few strokes away from tournament holder Iowa, at the Hawkeye Invitational. In its final regular season tournament this past weekend, Michigan coach Kathy Teichert sent a young group to compete for the Wolverines, while resting her upperclassmen for the Big Ten Championships that begin April 30. "It's really exciting to see what our future will be like' Teichert said. "We showed that we're going the right way" After a lackluster 331 Saturday out- ing, Michigan finished strong on Sunday, lowering its score to 324 to fin- ish with a 657 total for the weekend. Led by freshman Bess Bowers (80-80, 11th) and sophomores Amy Talbot (83- 82. 25th) and LeAnna Wicks (84-79 19th), Michigan finished to a tune that Teichert thought would elevate her team above the fifth-place Hawkeyes. But as the afternoon ended, the Wolverines fell short by four strokes. Sophomore Trish Watkins, who com- peted as:Michigan's individual and there- fore was a non-scorer, couldn't con- tribute her 83-81, two-day performance. "Had we been able to use Trish's score, we would have beaten Iowa and taken fifth," Teichert said. Men grab fifth place at tourney By Uma Subramanian Daily Sports Writer All season long the Michigan men's golf team has been puzzled. Who are the top five players? Week in and week out, the Wolverines have been varying the lineup to try and answer the question. And still no answers have appeared as various players have led the team on various occasions. But this past weekend at the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate in Columbus, the picture cleared up a little. Under poor conditions which Michigan coach Jim Carras described as his fifth-worst day on the golf course, the team had one of its most successful outings. The tournament was composed of 15 teams that created one of the strongest fields the Wolverines have faced this year. Regardless of the bad conditions, the team finished fifth with a score of 915 that was only eight strokes out of second place. "The weather won the war,' Carras said. "It was a good tournament for us." Michigan was paced by junior Mike Harris and sophomore Scott Hayes. The two both shot 228 for the tournament. Andrew Chapman, Andy Matthews and Brian Siepke composed the remainder of the five-man squad. _ Pos 1 Tim Couch QB 2. Donovan McNabb QB 3. Akili Smth QB 4. Edgerin James RB 5. Ricky Williams RB 6. Torry Holt WR 7. Champ Bailey DB 8. David Boston WR 9. Chris Claiborne LB 10. Chris McAlister DB 11. Daunte Culpepper QB 12. Cade McNown QB 13. Troy Edwards WR 14. John Tait OL 15. Anthony McFarland DL 16.Jevon Kearse LB 17. Damien Woody OL 18. Matt Stinchcomb OL 19. Luke Petitgout OL 20. Ebenezer Ekuban DL 21. U. Shelton OL 22. Lamar King DL 23. Antoine Winfield DB 24. Reggie McGrew DL 25. Antuan Edwards DB 26. Fernando Bryant DB 27. Aaron Gibson OL 28. Andy KatzenmoyerLB 29. D. Underwood DL 30. Patrick Kerney DL 31. Al Wilson LB Kentucky Syracuse Oregon Miami (Fla.) Texas N. Carolina St. Georgia Ohio State- USC Arizona Central Florida UCLA Louisiana Tech Brigham Young Louisiana St. Florida Boston College Georgia Notre Dame North Carolina Eastern Mich. Saginaw Valley Ohio State Florida Clemson Alabama Wisconsin Ohio State Michigan State Virginia Tennessee rs in the di 6 3 2 6 361 NFL Team Cleveland Philadelphia Cincinnati Indianapolis New Orleans St. Louis Washington Arizona Detroit Baltimore Minnesota Chicago Pittsburgh Kansas City Tampa Bay Tennessee New England Oakland NY Giants Dallas Arizona Seattle, Buffalo San Francisco Green Bay Jacksonville Detroit New England Minnesota Atlanta Denver raft Tem Washington Pittsburgh San Francisco NY Giants Indianapolis' snub might have surprised him, but Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams Is all smiles here after being selected by New Orleans with the fifth pick. Ever feel Ann Arbor housing is overcrowded, overpriced, and low quality? Is it the same for your classes? Check out http //universitysecrets.com 1, MEDIA ASSISTANT ' / Work with cutting edge and ~Y traditional media formats " Assist with multimedia and information resource materials. " Operate reservation systems. * Perform light clerical tasks ' $7.25/hr., part-time, paid training. " Friendly, empowering environment. " Customer service oriented. " Looking for self starters Contact: iris.circ@umich.edu or Donna 647-2418, Michael 647-2413 Michigan Phaver Jon Jansen Jerame Tuman Tai Streets- Andre Weathers player 2Q E oL2 TE 5 WR6 DB Prospects Marcus Ray and Sam Sword were not drafted. The Browns' pick was preordained after the new team signed the Kentucky junior before the draft. So was Philadelphia's selection of McNabb, the Syracuse quar- terback, although Eagles fans wanted Williams so badly that a group seated in the gallery booed and shouted "We want Ricky!" when the team selected McNabb. 0 I Here' the teXtbook Rteservation_ 5% DISCOUNT ON ALL TEXTBOOK RESERVATION FORMS RECEIVED PRIOR 10 AUG. 1 ST Your books will be ready for pick-up four days before classes begin. Books will be held until the third day of classes. No Deposit Required!!! please fig out the form below. t Fill out this texbook reservation form and drop it off at the Michigan Union Bookstore, or mail, call, or even e-mail it (basically any way you can get it to us) Name Current Address: Phone ( .We' " Additional 5% off the price of textbooks " One-stop shopping * Guaranteed lowest prices in town " More used books yr youg inySep5tembe "The Students' Bookstore" Located in the Michigan Student Union I -4 Please drop off at our Customer Service Desk or mail to: Michigan Union Bookstore 530 S.State St. I I