The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, February 15, 2000 - 11 Gym Dogs still hold mental advantage over Blue Lions sign back to five-year deal PONTIAC (AP) -- The Detroit Lions took dead ainm on free-agent running back James Stewart. Yesterday, they got their man. Stewart, who led the Jacksonville Jaguars with 931 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns last season, signed for $25 million over five years, including a signing bonus of $5.75 million, The Lions, who got by with virtu- ally no running game after the sur- prise retirement of Barry Sanders on the eve of training camp last season, outbid the Cleveland Browns for Stewart. "A lot of it came down to how I felt after my visit here last Friday," Stewart said at a news conference in the Silverdome. - "The staff, the coaches, everybody really made me feel welcome" Stewart said he also was influenced by the fact that Detroit seems closer to winning a championship than the Browns do. "This is like a puzzle here,"Stewart said. "I fit into this puzzle real well. I think in Cleveland I'd have to carry the load. Here, I'll just be a piece." Hasek to return for one more year BUFFALO, N.Y.(AP) - Dominik Hasek wants a different kind of farewell, and intends to do something about it: The star goaltender of the Buffalo Sabres will play another sea- son. . Hasek, one of the great goalies in NHL history, missed three months this season because of a groin injury. He had planned to retire after this sea- son but has reconsidered. "What changed my mind, very sim- ply, was the injury," he said during a news conference yesterday. Hasek announced in July that this season would be his last. He said at the time that the longer he stayed in the United States, the harder his son Michael's adjustment would be to life in the Czech Republic, where Hasek wants to return when he retires. "When I made the announcement I didn't expect to be out for more than half of the season," the 35-year-old goalie said. "I expected to have a full, good season for the Buffalo Sabres." The two-time Hart and five-time Vezina Trophy winner aggravated his groin injury Oct. 29. He is 2-0-2 since returning Feb. 1.y By Richard Haddad Daily Sports Writer Friday night, the Michigan women's gymnastics team had the chance to make a statement. A sea- son-high crowd came out to watch No. 3 Michigan take on No. 2 Georgia and the Wolverines were hoping to knock off the Gym Dogs for the first time ever. Unfortunately for Michigan, the results were not what it had hoped for. The Wolverines fell - literally and figuratively - 195.700- 196.725. But the subpar performance can- not be attributed to a lack of ability. Michigan is just as good a team as Georgia is. The difference lies in the mental aspect of the sport - the magnified intimidation and nervous- ness' of sharing the mat with the mighty Gym Dogs toppled the Wolverines. "It bothers me to hear Sarah (Cain) and Karina (Senior) say we prepare differently for Georgia than we do for other teams," Michigan coach Bev Plocki said. "We shouldn't be preparing differently for anybody. What we try to do every time out is continue to be in control of our own team, and if they were distracted by Georgia, we were not paying atten- tion to what we needed to pay atten- tion to. And look what happened." What happened was that Michigan suffered a fall on the uneven bars, two falls off of the balance beam, and several stumbles on the floor exercise. In contrast to the Wolverines' recent performances, the lapses represent a significant depar- ture. "When you have a string of meets,like we've had, without count- ing falls, I don't want to say it's bound to happen, but you always wonder how long that string can con- tinue and when it will be broken," Plocki said. "It's just unfortunate that it was broken here, in this arena." Michigan's faults can be attributed more to mental lapses than to physi- cal inadequacies. "When you're nervous, beam is the event that you take the hit on," Plocki said. "The thing I was most disap- pointed in is that we had falls on the floor; those are extremely uncharac- teristic of this team. "Our kids are human, and every once in a while they're going to have a fall, but we need to be able to bounce back from that - to not allow one problem to turn into a lot of problems." Failures on the beam have been a common factor in Michigan's last two regular season meets against Georgia. This was just the most recent episode in a series. A season- low 48.075 on the final rotation of the Super Six Challenge earlier this year cost the Wolverines a victory over the Gym Dogs. Last season in Ann Arbor, three falls led to Michigan's 47.725 on the event and another Georgia win. Georgia coach Suzanne Yoculan went as far as attributing the Gym Dogs' historical dominance over the Wolverines to the same mental laps- es. "Many times, Michigan has had teams on the floor that had the abili- ty to beat Georgia," Yoculan said. "Part of it is not necessarily a deficit that Michigan has, but an advantage that the Georgia team has, in terms of our tradition and our legacy. We know how to win." That tradition and legacy mani- fests itself in the form of the- etn tiousness conveyed by the Ge ra squad. Each gymnast walked in synchro- nization from event to event, i g- ing their arms and tiptoe1in in rhythm with each other. GymDog star Kristi Lichys floor exercise epitomized cool arrogarfce Instead of beaming and playing to the judges likermost gymnasts, Lichy wore sly, subtle grins throughgu Calm and relaxed, barely fired up and refusing to beam or overly play to the judges like most gymnasts do, Lichy scored a 9.875. Yoculan's comments verbalized more of that cool arrogance. "We've beaten Michigan every time we've competed against them, haven't we?" Yoculan asked.. "'The time they were second in the fouttrv, we were first. And when they were fourth we were third. They roll over to us a little bit, and the dayv will come when they stop doing -that because they're a good enough team." While Michigan's gymnasts adit- ted to feeling a bit more nervous in the face of a perennial power, Georgia was lacking any similar sen- timents. "Georgia's not intimidated . by many teams. I've never known them to be intimidated at all," Yociilan said. "The Georgia team has t istf heart, a lot of desire to win.". And when it comes down toitin close competition, Georgia's going to win, and that's the bottom linL' JAM Hll N-,lUC1a) The No. 3 Michigan women's gymnastics team fell to No. 2 Georgia this weekend at home. The win for the Gymdogs was their third in the past two seasons over Michigan. Boston U. bans popular cheer (MCHIGAN MONDAYS By Erik Malinowski Daily Free Press (Boston U.) (U-WIRE) - When the Boston University Terriers took the ice last night to challenge Boston College in the Beanpot Tournament championship, stu- dents missed what has come to be a stan- dard line of defense against the Eagles. In conjunction with the Boston University Athletics Department, BU Band Director Joe Wright has nixed one of the more popular cheers from any future Terrier hockey games, due to crowd profanity and inappropriate behavior. "It's a tune called "Eat 'Em Up," Wright said. "It was here when I got to BU eight years ago. It was around, but it wasn't the power-play tune. We didn't even have one. Then about four years ago, we decided on that one. All kinds of college bands play it" For the last four years, every time an opposing player has been sent to the penalty box, Wright would strike up the band for "Eat 'Em Up." Recently, Terrier fans started ending the cheer with the words, "F*** 'em up, f*** 'em up, BC sucks." After recent complaints from some BU alumni, Wright and members of the Athletic Department decided to look into the issue. "I've had conversations with people in the Athletic Department," Wright said. "There have been alumni who have been upset at the kind of stuff that's been going on. I don't know if they have any way of solving it. But they've wanted to know if there's anything we do to encourage it." "I've talked to him about this situa- tion," said Gary Strickler, BU's Director of Athletics. "We've had complaints before [in past years], but we've had more than usual this season. I can't be sure that they were all alumni, though:' College of Arts and Sciences junior Rebecca Sansom, who plays trumpet in the band, understands and agrees with Wright's decision. Because of the band's role as a representative of BU, she feels the song should be scrapped. "Part of our purpose is to promote good sportsmanship at BU,' Sansom said. "We understand it's better for us not to play the song. We're all good-natured people, and we never participate in the cheers. People do understand that our role is to be a representation of Boston University." Still, fans showed their disapproval last Friday as BU took on the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. off Pints of Michiqan Brewed Beers 9 pm -Close Bells Arcadia Dragonmead Local Color Motor City * ..>, 338ssats LATE NIGHT S399-9191 FOOD SPECIAL www.Ashley's.com al pmWlam I NCAA Basketball N,, : i SET ON HAL ;1' No I i TL i NB, SAStERN W L' 1'11Ilhia'I27 22 (kf ttlc ' 24 26 NM Jc NLY 19.30. 613NThtAL W LI iidi~fodl 2 16t t :iticu > 27 2Q. T.'ro,r., 254 2 Iiiw ki, 26 24 . Cic~c1i.1d 19 50. Cltlwb , 10 >7i MDWEST -W LI Si-n 'toni.t 32 17A Uth 7 p2918. Nlimiw,..ui: 27 20.' l~mcr 212?. 12tllas 20 28 . Ho,[(i v>20 )O J;I~t N+ t 14 34 . kACIFIC W L L.A L~ws 3? It Siatuk 31 20 G(i~n staL J12 15.2 LA C ippj Ir I ii . Tut 's (ianw,: N.' i tu teat,- r No.. ol'1MIHIGAN 5S'TT N., I FLr,,.. .it ARKIA NIAS BA Standings PCT .48J) . 574 .5, i 320 1 04 4.38't }k F: GB 4. 7.5 10 12 l0 HOME AWAYSSTK 17-6 I3-11 Won, 185 < t.Ii Won 1 178 10.14 Woo 1 12i2 12.14 Won 4 7.) 4-11) iLo-. i 15.11 4.19 Ltu 1 10-14 5-20 L.3 Universit y of Michigan Career Planning & Placement _ - Fair REC SPORTS INTRAMUJRALS The University of Michigan Department of Recreational Sports INTRAMURAL SPORTS PROGRAM WHAT'S GB HOME AWAY TK 1 1 _ +14 Aon2 20-3 7,17 Wis, 3 i5 16"1. 10113 LmI 7 :17-7. 8-16 won 3. 7 X.10 12.14 Lo-.t 3 12.5 14-10 :4-13 Won I 1 3i ; i9 4.21 Lot 4 21.5 6-16 -.4.21 LoUYA 2 Zoday February 15, 2000 3:00pm - 7:00pm Michigan Union PRE-SEASON VOLLEYBALL PCT GB .617 2- .574 4 .438 10 .417 )LS. .292 17.5 HOME AWAY 20-4 12,11 18.7 1942 ,5.8 1242 15.10 W7 i? 11.12 9.16 13-1 "7-17 STK Wn 2 won 2 Wo I STI W 4 Won 4 Wien 2 wo 1 Won , Woo 3: L. it 1 776 .771 .6«7 .004 .255 .224 GB NOME AWAY IS; 20-S .5 234 14-7' 6 15.8 -1642 8.5 21-i 5.11 16, 7417. 518 27 S-16 1-22 Explore Internet/New Media Careers advertising marketing NIKE ENTRIES TAKEN: Mon 2/14 to Weds 2/16 11:00 AM to 4:30 PM ENTRY FEE: $35 per team MANAGER'S MEETING: MANDATORY Thurs 2/17, 6:00 PM, IMSB TOURNAMENT DATES: Sat & Sun 2/19 & 2/20, IMSB RELAYS MEET ENTRIES DUE: Tues 2/22, 4:30 PM, IMSB ENTRY FEE: $25 per team MEET DATE: Weds 2/23 U of M Track Building EVENTS: 800m (each runs l lap) 1200m (2 = 1 lap; 2 = 2 laps) 1 600m(each runs 2 laps) 3200m (4 = 2 labs; 2 = 4 laps) NIKE YoufaNT.roue., Uetft'ir Naaiflk- 21 CEdmonon 2 -A Lk.5R1'.1(r (tit.l.. titA mn t '.ccrt ih: .rlY~rc; -I'Inir i..L1 NH-L Standing'; __________________________----I_______________ '3 20 19 W' 27 20 17 L 15 17 its 28 L 22 22 27 27 T 6 6 t, 'T Rr h- 5 PT5 ROME ,76 :7i 7-4 73 2-6-2 51 10J-14-3 47 ;9-144 PACMFC W L''T iux ' 3019 6 Sjo~-~* 24 29 7 Ux-An - 25 22 7 Ai i2n 23 26 s NORTHEAS W L ,T Tonont 0 20 6 Otaw 1620 9 "Kit o 23 2 8 K - ., is~ 24 1S RT PTS HOME I 63 1773 7 6 7 126-9 3 55 15-7-4 6 50 9.17-4 2 69 16-10.1 7 62 1W-2 13 . 60t4-10- 3 1 55 12-12.4 R T S HOME 3 69) 1974 2.6.3 - 14-KS5 2 56 14-Its-S 4 :.55 9-129 AWAY 12-114 1Q-16.3 1014-4 AWAY 8-166 S-20-2 AWAY 15.10.4 -14.10-4 11.17.5 11124 11.14-4 AWAY 11-11-2 12-124 9-I6-3 9.126 1 1 publishing retail human computer interaction ® and more... NIKE ENTRIES TAKEN: Monday 2/21 ONLY 11:00 AM to 5:30 PM, IMSB ENTRY FEE: $72 per team MANAGER'S MEETING: MANDATORY Weds 2/23, 7:15 PM, IMSB PLAY BEGINS: Tuesday 3/7 Sports Coliseum MINI-SOCCER Yd r-J " ENTRIES TAKEN: Monday 2/21 ONLY 11:00 AM to 5:30 PM, IMSB ENTRY FEE: $55per team MANAGER'S MEETING: MANDATORY Weds 2/23, 6:00 PM, IMSB PLAY BEGINS: Monday 3/6 Yost Ice Arena Recruiters will be targeting all majors Plan to attend the pre-fair program NIKE I..__.L -.. .a ... *I .. . I.... G 4-fn4 %r" ~ - lnrwmT. ighA xi''1