28 - The Michigan Daily - January 18, 2000 - SportsTuesday NFL PLAYOFFS Titans squeeze by Colts, 19-16 No. 1 'M' gymnastics second in Chicago 1 e A=ictligan Dou ATHLETE OF THE WEEK INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Eddie George did what he was supposed to do. Jevon Kearse didn't, but his pres- ence allowed his defensive mates to make plays. And Tennessee goes to Jacksonville knowing that a third victory over the laguars, whose only two losses were to the Titans, puts them in the first Super Bowl in the itinerant franchise's 40- year history. The Titans (15-3) upset the Colts 19- 16 Sunday, going ahead for good on George's 68-yard touchdown run on the third play of the second half and shutting Rams offense blows by Viki ngs; Tampa Bay next ST. LOUIS (AP) - There's this one problem with the' St. Louis Rams offense: Not enough footballs to go around. If the Rams could stretch NFL rules, they'd gladly find a way, to get footballs in the hands of Marshall Faulk, Isaac Bruce, Tony Horne and Kurt Warner at the same time. Then they'd be scoring in triple figures with regularity. As it is, they just might reach the 100- point mark before this charmed season is over. They got almost halfway there in Sunday's 49-37 defeat of the Minnesota Vikings in the first home playoff game in the city's 33-season history. They'll take those weapons into next Sunday's NFC championship game against Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers will bring a sound defense to St. Louis. But Warner isn't sure even the stingy Bucs can handle the NFL's top offense. The Vikings certainly couldn't prove it. Warner, whose storybook season took down Peyton Manning, Edgerrin James and Marvin Harrison, one of the NFL's most explosive offensive trios. George finished with 162 yards on 26 carries. Manning, a 62 percent passer in the regular season, was just 19-of-43 for 227 yards. He wasn't sacked, but he was under pressure for much of the game. James, the AFC offensive player of the year, gained just 56 yards on 20 rush- es and caught just one pass for eight yards. Harrison, who led the AFC with 115 receptions caught five passes for just 65 yards. him from the Arena League and NFL Europe to become the only quarterback other than Dan Marino with 40 touch- down passes in a season, finished 27-for- 33. He set team playoff records for yards passing and touchdowns. Rookie QB in the championship game? Bucs 14-13 TAMPA (AP) - No razzle, no daz- zle. Just another victory for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who proved you can win in the playoffs with a rookie at quarterback, 14-13 over the Washington Redskins. The Bucs have insisted all along that Shaun King is not a typical rookie, and with one of the NFL's best defenses behind him, there's no reason he can't lead them through the playoffs. The Bucs wiped out a 13-point sec- ond-half deficit with a pair of touch- downs set up by Washington turnovers, then held on to win when a bad snap botched the Redskins' 52-yard field goal attempt with 1:08 remaining. By Dan Dingerson Daily Sports Reporter Michigan's only 1999 national cham- pion, the men's gymnastics team, finally began the defense of its title on Saturday. The top-ranked Wolverines traveled to Chicago to participate in the Windy City Invitational against six other teams ranked in the top-20, including No. 2 Ohio State. The Wolverines performed well, fin- ishing second, but were unable to defeat the Buckeyes, who exacted some early- season revenge for their defeat at the NCAA Championships last year. Contributing to the Wolverines' sec- ond-place finish were a variety of injuries which kept some of the team's top performers out of their best events. Sophomore Daniel Diaz-Luong did not compete at all, and Brad Kenna, Scott Vetere and Justin Toman all missed at least one event due to injury. All four were All-America selections last year. Overall, the performance was strong for the Wolverines. The team had an opportunity to work some of the gym- nasts into events in which they do not usually compete, and some very good performances emerged amid the early- season chaos. The Wolverines won three events; the pommel horse, the still rings, and the parallel bars. Michigan narrowly fin- ished second in the floor exercise behind Illinois, which finished third overall. As was the case last season, the high bar proved to be the team's weakest event. This time around, it prevented Michigan from taking first place in the competition. While the finish was a disappoint- ment for the coaches, they were not overly concerned. "We've got a plan for the entire year," assistant coach Mike Burns said. "We missed some guys this week, tried some new routines, and tried to get some of the younger guys some experience, which will all help us later." Even more impressive than the team performance were the individual perfor- niances by the Wolverines. Team co-cap- tain Toman set the school record in the floor exercise by scoring a 9.85, good enough to win the event. Meanwhile, Vetere was the bench- mark performer in two events, claiming the still rings and parallel bars with scores of 9.85 and 9.675 respectively. Vetere also placed second on the pom- mel horse, and tied for fourth in the floor exercise. Perhaps the most impressive part of the meet was the success of the three Wolverine freshmen. In their first inter- collegiate event, all three freshmen com- peted in at least one event, and all placed in the top five of one event. Kris Zimmerman competed in four events, tying for second on the still rings with a 9.8, and leading the team on the high bar with a 9.45. Jamie Hertza took third on the pommel horse, scoring a 9.5, and Conan Parzuchowski took fifth on the still rings with his score of 9.65. All three freshmen earned their varsi- ty letters by posting a score above 9.0 that counted for the team score. Who: Matt Wright Hometown: Wichita, Kansas High School: Wichita Collegiate Why: Wright advanced to the finals of the Big Tfen Singles t Championships in East Lansing yesterday. Wright lost a close 7-5, 6-4 decision to Tyler Cleveland - Iowa's No. 1 singles player. Background: 1998-99 ... All-Big Ten Conference Team . Academic All-Big Ten Conference ... U-M Athletic Academic Achievement ... listed 11th in final ITA Region IV rankings 19-12 overall record, including 12-9 record at No. 1 spot . tied for third on team with 7-3 conference record CLUB SPORTS REULTS NBA STANDINGS I Sport: Tennis Year: Senior Balance beam gives M' win over Gophers Jaguars stomp Miami; Johnson resigns JACKSONVILLE (AP) - The Jacksonville Jaguars can sing it loud. They are a legitimate Super Bowl threat. In the second-most overpowering playoff performance ever, the Jaguars routed the Miami Dolphins 62-7 Saturday to move one win away from the Super Bowl they've been pointing toward all season and singing about the past week. With Dan Marino stumbling through possibly his last game, and Jimmy Johnson stumbling through his - the coach resigned Sunday, to be replaced by Dave Wannstedt - the Dolphins (10-8) didn't offer much of a challenge. Still, for at least one day, those who doubted the Jaguars (15-2) because of their soft schedule and ridiculed them for their Super Bowl rap song can give it a rest. Only the 1940 Chicago Bears, who beat the Washington Redskins 73-0 for the NFL title, have scored more points in the playoffs. The 55-point margin also is the second-largest in playoff history. WRIGHT Continued from Page 1B On the final rally, Wright hit a topspin lob, which looked like it was going out, but spun down to hit the line. Ramey responded by initially letting it go, but changed his mind in the middle and yelled, "Oh wait, no!" and played on. Flustered, Wright thought Ramey called the ball out, and then stopped playing. An argument then ensued because Wright thought the judge should have overruled Ramey's call and give him the final point. In the end, the point was replayed and Wright yelled an emphatic, "Out!" after Ramey's shot sailed past the baseline. "Ramey changed his mind and Matt had a good complaint;' Michigan coach Mark Mees said. Every Wolverine won his first match, a feat unmatched by any other team. "We're really happy with the way the guys played," Mees said. "But we need to continue to play this well." Of the six Wolverines to win their first match, two players knocked off one of the top eight seeds. Senior Ron Nano defeated third-seeded Northwestern's Brad Erickson, in straight sets. Sophomore Danny McCain defeated the sixth-seeded Michigan State's Francisco Trinidad, after Trinidad was forced to withdraw because of an injury. Beam had one of the most impressive victories of the day, blowing by Minnesota's Tyson Parry. Beam used an overpowering serve and a nice forehand return to defeat Parry, the No. 7 seed and Minnesota's top player. "What I tried to do was hit the serve hard, hit the return hard and hope that they go in," Beam said. Four Wolverines advanced to the quarterfinals on Sunday. Senior John Long fell to Minnesota's Harsh Mankad. McCain also lost a close match to Ohio State's Chris Porter, 7-6, 7-5. After flying past Ramey in the first set, Beam tripped up and lost a close sec- ond. In the third, Beam was up 5-4 with match point, but was unable to close it out. "I hit a really nice serve, but he (Ramey) flicked his wrist and the ball tripped over the net and in," Beam said, The final set tied 6-6, Ramey was able to get past Beam in the tie breaker. "It was still a good way to start out the season," Beam said. "I didn't really expect to beat the people I did." By Richard Haddad Daily Sports Writer Saturday night, the Michigan women's gymnastics team battled yet another elite opponent. And in the form of the No. 4 Minnesota, another top-14 squad fell at the hands of the mighty Wolverines for the fourth time of the young season. "We won't see any tougher competition than we have so far" Michigan coach Bev Plocki said, alluding to the Super Six Challenge that Michigan participated in last week, as well as Minnesota. "We've held our own against the best, so anything from here is just another meet. Now we've seen it all before." In Minneapolis, Michigan senior cap- tain Sarah Cain secured the all-around title with a 39.200 and led a vault lineup that swept the top four individual places in the event, as Janessa Grieco, Sarah-Elizabeth Langford and Christine Michaud all earned a second-place tie with a 9.700. Michigan experienced uncharacteristic struggles on the uneven bars. The event was the only one in which Minnesota pro- vided the high score, but Michigan's Bridget Knaeble managed to tally a per- sonal season-best 9.825. While the Wolverines didn't have any falls on the event, they just "didn't per- form the routines as beautifully and effort- lessly as they ideally should have," Plocki said. After the slight scare allowed the Gophers to diminish Michigan's lead, an excellent performance on the balance beam put Minnesota back in its place. Coming off of a subpar showing on the beam at last week's Super Six, in which the Wolverines recorded a meet-low 48.075, they rebounded to outscore Minnesota 49.025-47.425. Freshman Cami Singer tied Cain for first place in the event with a 9.850 to earn her first collegiate win. Grieco, Katy Nellans and Shannon MacKenzie tied for third to paint the event's top five places maize and blue. "The fact that the meet came down to the balance beam just like it did at Georgia, and that we competed success- fully this time, shows me marked improvement in the last week or so," Plocki said. "They knew what happened mentally, and they didn't let the pressure get to them this time. They approached it like they would in practice and were able to attack the apparatus calmly and aggres- sively" Michigan's progressive improvement over the course of the meet left Plocki pleased. She noted that the Wolverines started out a little bit nervous and didn't perform up to their caliber. But instead of panicking, the gymnasts settled into the meet and stepped for the win. "Watching our reactions to adversity, the way they relaxed and did better in the face of it, was a great thing to see," Plocki said. Michigan's ability to end aggressively and competitively was particularly impressive. "In the preseason, our focus is 90 per- cent physical and 10 percent mental," Plocki said. "Now, its 90 percent mental and 10 percent physical. Our improve- ments now come from the mental stand- point, and that allows us to compete to our full physical potential." After going 4-2 on the road against strictly top-10 opponents, Michigan will finally get to show off its talents in Ann Arbor next Thursday. And the rest of the country should be worried, because as Plocki puts it, "We're always better at home" Riflers shoot past Michigan State and HMA The Michigan rifle team is on its way to achieving its 15th league championship in as many years. The Wolverines were victorious over Michigan State and Howe Military Academy in a 3-way match Saturday. Paul Moore led the team with a score of 526, while Michigan fin- ished the event with a team score 1,862. The Howe Military Academy, which is located in Indiana, finished second with a score of 1,827, while the Spartans finished with 1,746. Ray Braekevelt tallied 455 points and finished second for the team. - compiled from staff reports 'M' SCHEDULE Wednesday January 19 Men's basketball vs. Northwestern, 8 p.m., Crisler Arena Thur-da- Januaw 20 Women's gymnastics vs. Michigan State, 7 p.m., Cliff Keen Arena Women's basketball at Wisconsin, 8 p.m. Wrestling vs. Northwestern, 7 p.m., Cliff Keen Arena ice hockey at Ohio State, 7:05 p.m. Sal Iar Jaua 22 Men's swimming/Diving at Purdue, Noon Women's swimmngDiving vs. Rice, 4 p.m., Canham Natatorium Men's gymnastics vs. Iowa, 7 p.m.., Cliff Keen Arena - Men's basketball at Iowa, 8 p.m. Men's track and field hosts Red Simmons Invitational, TA, Indoor Trad and Field Building Women's track and field hosts Red Simmons Invitational, TBA, Indoor Track and Field Building Snda Januay23 Men's Tennis vs. Western Michigan, 1 p.m., Varsity Tennis Center Wrestling vs. Michigan State,1 p.m., Cliff Keen Arena Women's basketball vs.Iowa, 2 p.m., Crisler Arena COLLEGE BASKETBALL (8) Kansas at TEXAS A&M (6) SYRACUSE 80, Notre Dame 57 St. John's 82, (4) CONNECTICUT 77 MICHIGAN 95,(21) Illinois 91 (OT) (5) Auburn 51, MISSISSIPPI STATE 45 (22) Tulsa 67, RICE 49 (7) Duke 85, FLORIDA STATE 54 (19) DePaul 77, HOUSTON 68 (25) UCLA 71, (14) NORTH CAROLINA 68 (10) INDIANA 86, Minnesota 61 (18) Ohio State 58, NORTHWESTERN 44 (15) TEXAS 79, (17) Oklahoma 66 (1) CINCINNATI 73, Ohio 59 Bowling Green 77 vs. Central Mich 74 Chattanooga 68 vs. The Citadel 59 Col Of Charlston 82 vs. Geo Southern 68 East Carolina 66 vs. George Mason 75 Eastern Mich 64 vs. Miami Ohio 73 Kent 73 vs. Northern I 54 EASTERN Miami New York Philadelphia Boston Orlando New Jersey Washington CENTRAL Indiana Detroit Milwaukee Toronto Charlotte Cleveland Atlanta Chicago W L GB 2511 - 21 15 4 21 17 5 20 17 5.5 18 17 6.5 16 21 95 PCT HOME AWAY STK .694 15-2 10.9 Won 3 .583 13-5 8.10 Won 3 .553 13.6 8-1 Won 1 .541 12-8 8-9 Lost 1 .514 13-2 5-15 Lost 7 .432 12.8 4.13 Lost i 13 2211.5 .371 10-8 5 29 19 .147 4.13 3-14 Lost 1 1.15 lost 3 WESTERN CONFERENCE MIDWEST W L GB PCHOMEAWAY STK Utah 24 11 - 066 15~3 9-8 Won 2 San Antonio 24 14 15 .632 14.3 1011 Lost 2 Minnesota 18 16 5,5 .529 11-8 7-8 Lost I Denver 17 19 75 .472 14.7 3-12 Lost 4 Dallas 12 2412.5 .333 7-9 5.15 Won 2' Houston 12 2412.5 .333 6.11 6.13 Won 2 Vancouver 10 27 15 .270 5-14 5-13 Lost 3 PACIFIC W L GB LA Lakers 32 6 Portland 28 9 3.5 Sacramento 2312 75 Seattle 24 13 75 Phoenix 21 15 10 LA Clippers 10 26 21 Golden State 6 30 25 PCTHOMEAWAY STK 842 18-2 14-4 Won I .717 13.3 15.5 Lost 1 .657 15-2 810 Won5 $ 649 12.6 127 Won 4 .583 165 510 Woni .278 7.9 3-17 Lost 4 .167 3-16 3-14 Lost 12 (Till" o tSords'e gam.6 EASTERN CONFERENCE YESTERDAY'S RESULTS Boston 105, WASHINGTON 101 Milwaukee 107, ATLANTA 101 PHILADELPHIA 101, New Jersey 96 Seattle 82, LA LAKERS 81 GOLDEN STATE 113, Orlando 100 NEW YORK 105, Detroit 94 Toronto at Charlotte, inc. Indiana at Minnesota, inc. Houston at Dallas, inc. San Antonio at LA Clippers, inc NHL STANDINGS (Through Saturdays gamesi WESTERN CONFERENCE 24 12 22 14 21 163 16 20 16 22 15 21 12 261 2 3.5 8 9 9 13 ,667 .611 .568 .444 .421 .417 .316 12-5 12-4 12-7 13-6 7.11 11-10 7-11 12-7 10-10 9.9 3-14 9-11 4-11 5-IS CENTRAL Detroit St. Louis Nashville Chicago W 27 27 16, 15 NORIF W Colorado 23 Calgary 20 Edmonton 14 Vancouver 14 L 13 12 24. 24 L 17 19 191 21 L 17 21 18 21 T RT P73 HOME AWAY 5 3 60 18-5-2 9-8-2 6 0 60 15-5-4 12-7-2 5 3 40 9-11-2 7-13-3 6 2 38 7-123 8-12-3 T RT PTS HOME AWAY 5 1 52 14-5-1 9-12-4 5 1 46 13-6-3 7-13-2 12 6 46 10-5-8 4-14-4 8 4 40 7-12-3 7-9-5 T RT PTS HOME AWAY 5 2 53 129-1 11-8-4 5 0 53 12-7-2 12-8-3 5 3 50 129-2 9-12-3 7 3 46 9-8-3 9-10-4 5 1 44 11-9-3 8-12-2 Won 2 Won 1 Won 2 Won I Lost 6 Lost 1 Lost 3 0 W L GB PCTHOMEAWAY STK I ,' x i PACIFIC Dallas Phoenix San Jose Los Angeles Anaheim W 23 24 21 18 19 EASTERN CONFERENCE NORTHEASTW L Toronto 26 16 Ottawa 23 15 Boston 14 19 Buffalo 17 21 Montreal 14 24 T RT PTS HOME AWAY 4 3 59 18-5-2 8-11-2 6 2 54 126-4 11-9-2 12 2 42 7-9-7 7-10-5 6 1 41 11-10-3 6-11-3 6 1 35 6-11-4 8-13-2 T RT PTSHOME AWAY 5 3 62 17-4-2 10-9-3 6 1 57 15-5-3 10-8-3 3 5 44 12-6-2 6-16-1 7 3 42 10-10-2 6-10-5 6 0 26 5-15-3 5-12-3 ATLANflC New Jersey Philadelphia Pittsburgh N.Y Rangers N.Y Islanders W L 27 13 25 13 18 22 16 20 10 27 SOUTHEAST W L TI Fonda 26 14 3 Washington 18 17 7 Carolina 17 19 8 Tampa Bay 11 25 6 Atlanta 11 28 4 YESTERDAY'S RESULTS RT PYS HOME AWAY 3 58 15-3-2 11-11-1 1 44 11-46 7-14-1 0 42 9-9-3 8-10-5 4 32 8-9-3 3-16-3 3 29 8-12-1 3-16-3 0 Ottawa 4, N.Y ISLANDERS 3 (OT) Washington 6, TAMPA BAY 3 Atlanta 3, BOSTON 3(0T) FLORIDA 3. Philadelphia I Phoenix at Colorado, inc. NEWJERSEY5, Carolina 2 San Jose at Chicago, inc. Toronto at Vancouver, inc. Buffalo at Anaheim, inc. Attention All U of M Students! it's a New Year and a New Century. Start a New Beginning with the Student Organization of Your Choice at... I., W -ter- Is't confidence, pride, [grit] and plenty of time to shower before calculus. 4 Over 130 st4 dent onzctions 4Informawtive wat'#hopt! Cha*pohn I.