Scoreoboard
# MAJOR LEAGUE NHL HOCKEY
BASEBALL N.Y. Islanders 4.
NY.Yankees 6. MONTREAL 2
BOSTON 1 NBA
NY wins series, 3-1 BASKETBALL
Pre-season games
NFL FOOTBALL Denver 106.
N.Y. GIANTS 13, VANCOUVER 94
Dallas 10 DETROIT 118
INDIANA 116
Sacramento 107
ORLANDO 114,
Houston 105
PORTLAND 117,
Phoenix 110
Lox icIhbyi a Nd
Tracking 'M' teams
The Michigan hockey team is now ranked No. 3 in the
nat on U.S. College Hockey Online poll, behind
Bs Coege and MaIne The Wolverines moved up
from the No spot a wek ago.
Tuesday
October 19, 1999
11
Dallas 100
Long-term
contract can
lead to long-
term headache
5lipping quietly into the news
this past weekend, burying
itself deep in the fine-print
transactions' section of most news-
papers, Ohio State basketball coach
Jim O'Brien signed a contract
extension through the 2007 season.
How nice. Jim O'Brien - last
year's hit-you-right-in-the-heart
story of college basketball when he
Wok a team basically composed of
two guards and a few Randy Ayers
leftovers to the
Final Four - is
rewarded for his Chris
good work with Duprey
a generous deal
and a big hug
from the Ohio
State athletic
department.
If things work
ut for the '
Bucks, O'Brien '
will be around DUPE"
for most of the Sc
next decade
where he will show the nation that
football and basketball can peace-
fully co-exist on college campuses.
Ohio State will win six or seven
national titles under O'Brien, and
cross the country, elementary
chool kids will recite "Fight the
Team" instead of the Pledge of
Allegiance each morning.
But unfortunately for the
Buckeyes, they have not yet learned
the peril of the long-term contract.
They ignore a similar plot line hap-
pening all around them, as if things
will turn out differently. After all,
God does wear scarlet and gray,
esn't He?
Why is a simple long-term con-
tract extension such a bad idea
The Ohio State administration
foolishly thinks it has just bought
itself such a great amount of coach-
ing security within its basketball
program. Athletic Director Andy
Geiger thinks he has taken the nec-
essary steps to ensure that O'Brien
stays with the program for a long
'me. Yet while O'Brien is "flattered
ith the offer" today, how will he
el next season, or in 2003?
Surely, NBA teams will come
calling to try and lure away a talent
like O'Brien. Will O'Brien do the
honorable thing, when the time
comes, and finish out his contract?
No one knows. (This assumes that
any franchise except the Los
Angeles Clippers is doing the lur-
ing.)
Remember the actions of former
'northwestern football coach Gary
Barnett and former Gonzaga basket-
ball coach Dan Monson. After sign-
ing 10-year deals and proclaiming
to the world how great of a situation
they were in, this slippery duo bolt-
ed a he next-best opportunity, leav-
ing t1eir schools like deadbeat dads.
And Michigan State, noble neigh-
bor to the north, was so appalled at
.orge Peres' inability to beat
Central Michigan (among other
things) that the university fired him
and got stuck paying the remainder
of his long-term deal back in 1993.
Lost in academia, it appears
that Ohio State has forgotten the
basic rule of the stock market: buy
low and sell high. By rushing to
lock in O'Brien before this season
begins, they have done the equiva-
lent of buying Amazon for S300 a
pare. O'Brien may never see anoth-
et Final Four - that's a risk inher-
ent in coaching, no matter who you
are or how much talent you have -
but he'll continue to receive checks,
reflecting the university's gratitude1
for one memorable season. Geiger
isn't exactly Gordon Gecko in his
tim ing on this deal. t y
Former Tiger Doyle Alexander
*nce said, "I'm loyal to who pays
e." But in the sports world, even in
college, people are loyal to who
pays them most.
-Chris Duprey will be signing his
long-term deal with the Daily before
his boss reads this column. He can
still be reached at
cduprev(a umich.edit.
After six games, Blue
uses day of rest to heal
By T.J. Berka
Daily Sports Editor
For the first time since late August, the Michigan
football team spent a Saturday doing something
besides playing football.
While the other Big Ten teams were slugging it
out on the gridiron this weekend, the Wolverines
were sitting on the couch, watching the games
unfold on television.
This rest was welcomed by the Wolverines, as it
gave them a chance to heal the wounds suffered in
the season's first six games.
"Our goal was to get as many guys back to 100
percent as possible," Michigan nose tackle and co-
captain Rob Renes said.
As Michigan healed the bumps and bruises sus-
tained before the bye week, the squad also had to
heal the mental nicks that came from its last game,
a 34-31 loss to Michigan State.
"My main question is how we are going to
respond to a loss and a bye week,' Michigan coach
Lloyd Carr said. "Eventually you are going to have
a game when you aren't as mentally prepared as the
other team. That's how you get beat."
But, although the Wolverines admit that they
weren't as excited for Michigan State as they were
for other games, they weren't sure of the reason
why.
"We came out against MSU a bit flat," corner-
back Todd Howard said. "It seemed as if we were
hanging back, waiting for things to happen instead
of making things happen."
Senior safety Tommy Hendricks agreed with his
secondarv mate.
"I used my off week to think about myself as a
player," Ilendricks said. "I didn't make enough
plays. I thought I had an opportunity to make things
happen."
Michigan didn't have the opportunity to make
things happen on the field this weekend, as it fell
mercy to ABC and ESPN.
Carr was frustrated by this, as the Wolverines
were forced to root for teams ahead of them to lose
instead of being in the position to control their own
destiny.
"When I watched the games, i couldn't stand it,"
Carr said. "You are rooting for some teams to lose.
You can't do anything but watch."
When Carr was asked which teams he was root-
ing for, he just gave a sly smile.
But fullback Aaron Shea had no problem
expressing his rooting preferences in the games this
past weekend.
"I enjoyed seeing Michigan State lose," Shea said.
"We needed them to lose - I'm not going to lie."
Shea's opinion wasn't the only one present on the
Michigan football team. Hendricks refused to
watch Purdue's 52-28 whipping of the Spartans.
"As far as I'm concerned, the MSU game is in the
past," Hendricks said. "I didn't even watch the
Purdue-MSU game. Those teams are worth nothing
to me now. I'm concerned with Illinois."
The Fighting Illini are an unfamiliar sight for
Michigan, as the two teams haven't squared off
since the Wolverines beat Illinois, 20-8, in the open-
ing game of the 1996 season.
Howard, a native of Bolingbrook, Ill.; has some
working knowledge of the Fighting Illini.
"I got a couple of boys on that team," Howard
said. "I was excited that they got on TV this week-
end. They aren't on there that often."
While Illinois hasn't had a winning season since
1994, Howard is warvy, as Illinois is 3-3 (though 0-3
in the Big Ten) and loaded with a lot of young tal-
ent.
"They got a lot of athletes," Howard said. "A lot
of them were on the all-state team ahead of me.
They got recruited for a reason."
A Su)N - SCARE: After visiting his family dur-
ing the bye weekend, freshman running back B.J.
Askew was rushed to the hospital on Sunday with
possible appendicitis.
But, after a few tests, Askew was released and
should be ready for Saturday's game.
"I'm fine now" Askew said. "They don't know
what it was, but they said it wasn't appendicitis.:
"I'm definitely playing on Saturday."
Askew, who has eight tackles on special teams
this season, is the only running back besides
Anthony Thomas to score a touchdown this season.
Carr wants to get Askew more involved in a stag-
nant running game, which ranks 10th in the confer-
ence with an average of 108 yards per game.
"Askew had a good week of progress, as did
Charles Drake" Carr said. "I'm looking forward to
them playing more."
A week after the bitter defeat in East Lansing, Ian Gold (right)
had a chance to recuperate.
DANA LINNANE/Daiiy
and the Michigan footbnall team have
'M' saves utility outside hitter for upcoming seasons
By Dena Krischer
Daily Sports Writer
There's that one who's always there
- smiling and cheering on the side-
lines during every Michigan volley-
ball match. But she's never in uni-
form. She never gets in the game.
So who is she and why is she
there ?
"There wasn't really a set spot for
me this vear," redshirt freshman
Nicole Poquette said. "So I didn't
know if I wanted to waste a year.
(Michigan coach Mark Rosen) didn't
know if he wanted to waste my year if
there wasn't going to be a spot for
me."
And, for the 6-foot-2 outside hitter,
there is little or no time for her to
waste.
Poquette's ultimate goal is to play
for the women's U.S. Olympic team,
and she feels that the extra experi-
ence playing for Michigan will be her
ticket.
"I'd never want to limit anybody,"
Rosen said. "I think Poquette has all
of the physical attributes as a matter
of how much she's going to develop,
and how much better she's going to
get. She's somebody I think has got
as much drive as anybody I've ever
seen, so I think she's got as good a
chance as anybodv."
And staying with the team for five
years rather than four -- with that
extra year of practice - will only
benefit Poquette.
She's more than prepared for that.
"I'm very excited," the outside hit-
ter said. "I love it here, and I'm real-
lv glad that Mark, Leisa and are here
because I want to be with them for
the next five years."
Everybody else on the team is
learning and accepting their roles as
players on the court.
Poquette's only time on the court is
during practice.
"You travel with the team, but you
don't get to play," Poquette said.
"You go, and you watch and you get
to take stuff in, and you get the expe-
rience of traveling and bonding with
the team, but you just don't get to
play."
That's exactly what an aspiring
Olympian needs to do.
"Her role right now is to get bet-
ter," Mark Rosen said. "She has to try
to get more developed, learn our sys-
tem, learn her role within that, and
make the starting team better.
"Every day in practice, she gets to
play against them. The better she
plays, the harder she makes it for our
starting team, and the better our start-
ing team has to get, and she's doing a
great job at that. She fills that role
really, really well. She comes in
every day, she works hard, she keeps
a real positive attitude, she does
everything that you'd want her to do."
After all of that hard work, it has
got to be difficult for Poquette to
stand tall on the sidelines, continue
smiling as she cheers on the team,
and somehow manage to resist every
aching tempation to run out on the
court during a match and tear things
up with the rest of the team that she
has, in her own way, helped build.
"In high school, there were all of
these people who were really good
and always played, and then sit on the
bench (in the NCAA)," Poquette said.
"It's different, but Mark, Leisa, and
Jun (Liu) have really helped me
improve."
Despite her urges to do her part on
the court during games, Poquette is
still working hard and maintaining
her positive attitude.
"It's not a fun role all of the time,"
Rosen said. "Nobody joins this sport
to prgctice. As a redshirt, it's tough
because you work hard every day,
and you bust your butt, and then you
don't get a uniform or a chance to
play. But she's handling it as well as
anybody."
Due to her absence on the court
during game-time, Poquette has not
yet experienced firsthand the tough
competition in the Big Ten - which
could cause for a rude awakening for
her next season.
But on the plus side, she can use
Yogi Berra's words of wisdom and
"observe a lot by watching," and-pos-
sibly see things from the sidelines
that she wouldn't see while in court
action - which can only benefit her
in the long-run.
"My feeling is that she's going to
be a great player,' Rosen said. "I
would never redshirt somebody
unless I think they're doing to be. We
only redshirt players when we think
that they're not physically ready yet
to make an impact, but we think that
they're going to be really, really
good. I think (Nicole) is going to be
really, really good."
Great, even.
Damn! Yankees World
Series-bound again
BOSTON (AP) - Blame the curse
and bad calls or El Duque and Derek.
Blame any Yankee from DiMaggio to
Dent.
In the end the story was the same:
New York wins, Boston loses.
Orlando Hernandez pitched shutout
ball into the eighth inning and Derek
Jeter hit a two-run homer as the Yankees
won their record 36th pennant and a
return trip to the World Series, beating
Boston 6-1 last night in Game 5 of the
American League Championship Series.
The Red Sox brought out all their
good-luck charms, and yet it did no good
against their longtime tormentors.
Babe Ruth's 82-year-old daughter
threw out the first ball - trying to
reverse the Curse of the Bambino - and
Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez roused the
well-behaved crowd of 33,589 from the
dugout and bullpen.
And still, it will be the Yankees head-
ing off to defend their World Series title
while the Red Sox, after an eighth-
See YANKEES, Page 12
YOU CAME TO
COLLEGE WiliH-A-
LOT OF STUFF.
UNFORTUNATELY,
ACNE
CAME ALONG FOR
Some people simply don't1IIE R ID E*
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AP PHOTO
The Yankees celebrate their third trip to
the World Series in the last four years.
d I
WE WANT YOUR
LETTERS ON
MICHIGAN
BASKETBALL
FoR TIPOFF '99.
STUDY JAPANESE
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