SportsMonday - December 6, 1999 - The Michigan Daily - 38
A bountiful bowl of holiday fun
Think you'll be bored during the winter holidays? Well, there will be plenty of college football to keep you entertained.
So instead of staring at the window and watching the snow fall, stare at the television and watch this pigskin action...
ETHEPORTS
BERK A
Bawl
Las Vegas
Mobile Alabama
Aloha
Oahu
Motor City
Alamo
Music City
Holiday
Humanitarian
Micron PC
Peach
Insight.com
Sun
Liberty
Independence
Outback'
Cotton
Gator
Citrus
Rose
Orange
Fiesta
}Sugar
Matchup
Utah (8-3) vs. Fresno State (8-4)
Texas Christian (7-4) vs. East Carolina (9-2)
Arizona State (6-5) vs. Wake Forest (6-5)
Oregon State (7-4) vs. Hawaii (8-4)
Brigham Young (8-3) vs. Marshall (12-0)
Texas A&M (8-3) vs. Penn State (9-3)
Syracuse (6-5) vs. Kentucky (6-5)
Kansas State (10-1) vs. Washington (7-4)
Boise State (9-3) vs. Louisville (7-4)
Virginia (7-4) vs. llinois (7-4)
Mississippi State (9-2) vs. Clemson (6-5)
Boston College (8-3) vs. Colorado (6-5)
Oregon (8-3) vs. Minnesota (8-3)
Colorado State (8-3) vs. Southern Mississippi (8-3)
Mississippi (7-4) vs. Oklahoma (7-4)
Georgia (7-4) vs. Purdue (7-4)
Arkansas (7-4) vs. Texas (9-4)
Georgia Tech (8-3) vs. Miami, Fla. (8-4)
Florida (9-3) vs. Michigan State (9-2)
Wisconsin (9-2) vs. Stanford (8-3)
Michigan (9-2) vs. Alabama (10-2)
Tennessee (9-2) vs. Nebraska (11-1)
Florida State (11-0) vs. Virginia Tech (11-0)
Date
Dec. 18
Dec. 22
Dec. 25
Dec. 25
Dec. 27
Dec. 28
Dec. 29
Dec. 29
Dec. 30
Dec. 30
Dec. 30
Dec. 31
Dec..31
Dec. 31
Dec. 31
Jan. 1
Jan. 1
Jan. 1
Jan. 1
Jan. 1
Jan. 1
Jan. 2
Jan. 4
Time
6 p.m.
7:30 p.m.
3:30 p.m.
8:30 p.m.
1:30 p.m.
7:30 p.m.
4 p.m.
8 p.m.
3 p.m.
7 p.m.
7:30 p.m.
1:30 p.m.
2:15 p.m.
5 p.m.
8:30 p.m.
11 a.m.
11 a m.
12:30 p.m.
1 p.m.
4:30 p.m.
8:30 p.m.
8 p.m.
8 p.m.
Network
ESPN
ESPN2
ABC
ESPN
ESPN
ESPN
ESPN
ESPN
ESPN2
TBS
ESPN
ESPN
CBS
ESPN
ESPN
ESPN
FOX
NBC
ABC'
ABC
ABC
ABC
ABC
Teeing Off
Serene, peacefulAnn
Arbor? Yost s the
Crimson Tide rolls, Huskers ook Texas
ATLANTA (AP)- Was it really just
three months ago that Alabama stag-
gered out of Legion Field, stung by a
A rus of boos from the crimson-clad
aithful and wondering just how much
longer coach Mike DuBose would have
ajob?
On Saturday night, all was forgiven.
The seventh-ranked Crimson Tide
completely dominated No. 5 Florida for
a 34-7 victory in the Southeastern
Conference championship game, limit-
ing the Gators to 114 yards in the worst
offensive performance of the Steve
*urrier era.
Alabama (10-2) had not won the SEC
title since beating Florida in the first
league championship game seven years
ago. The Tide is headed to the Orange
Bowl to meet Michigan.
If that wasn't remarkable enough,
consider where the Alabama program
stood on Sept. 18, reeling from a 29-28
loss to Louisiana Tech after giving up a
fourth-down, 28-yard touchdown pass
oth two seconds remaining.
DuBose already was under fire, hav-
ing admitted in August that he lied about
his personal relationship with a school
employee who settled a sexual harass-
ment claim against him. Angry fans
called for his ouster.
it' amazing how coach DuBose kept
this team together,' Shaun Alexander
said. "We worked so hard. I'm proud of
this team."
Spurrier hardly feels the same way
about his team, which fell dismally short
of its sixth SEC title of the decade.
"We're not really a lively bunch"said
Spurrier, who has coached his alma
mater since 1990. "We don't have alot of
fire in us. We went downhill from the
middle of the season."
Florida (9-3) will settle for the Citrus
Bowl against Michigan State.
"That was a pretty thorough beating
they gave us," Spurrier said. "Our
offense is about the worst we've ever had
at Florida. We're a bad offensive team."
How bad? The "Fun 'n' Gun"offense
managed only 31 yards rushing and six
first downs. The Gators were 0-of-9 on
third-down conversions and held the ball
for only 19 minutes, 49 seconds.
"Everybody has to be held account-
able on offense,"said quarterback Jesse
Palmer, who completed only 7-of-20 for
80 yards, with three interceptions. "We
just didn't get it done."
The previous low for total yards by a
Spurrier-coached team was 194 against
Tennessee, way back in his first season.
As for first downs, the previous low was
12 in a loss to Florida State a year ago. It
was Florida's worst defeat since a 62-24
loss to Nebraska in the 1996 Fiesta
Bowl.
No. 3 NEBRASKA 22, No.12 TEXAS 6
Nebraska's Texas hex is over.
Eric Crouch ran for two touchdowns
as the No. 3 Cornhuskers took out three
losses worth of frustration against the
No. 12 Longhorns for a 22-6 victory in
the Big 12 championship Saturday.
The Cornhuskers (11-1) had their fin-
gers crossed that this victory will con-
vince the BCS computer to send them
instead of No. 2 Virginia Tech to the
Sugar Bowl against No. 1 Florida State.
Realistically, the Cornhuskers will play
No. 6Tennessee (9-2) in the Fiesta Bowl.
Unfortunately, it didn't and Nebraska
will face Tennessee in the Fiesta bowl.
The Longhorns (9-4) are headed to a
second straight Cotton Bowl, where
they're expected to renewa once-intense.
rivalry against No. 24 Arkansas (7-4).
Despite a three-game winning streak
against Nebraska, Texas hardly put up a
fight. The Cornhuskers had a 10-0 lead
after three drives, were up 15-0 at half-
time and made it 22-0 on their first pos-
session of the third quarter.
The Cornhuskers avoided a second-
half collapse like the one last week
against Colorado that all but ended their
national title hopes. The Longhorns
avoided their first shutout since 1980
when defensive back Ahmad Brooks
returned a fumble 20 yards for a touch-
down early in the fourth quarter.
No.23 MIAMI 55, TEMPLE 0
The Miami Hurricanes finally met
one of their goals.
Ken Dorsey threw four touchdown
passes and Jarrett Payton, James Jackson
and Clinton Portis combined for 216
yards rushing Saturday as No. 23 Miami
beat Temple 55-0, sending the
Hurricanes to a New Year's Day bowl for
the first time since 1995. -
Miami (8-4, 6-1 Big East) accepted a
bid to the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville,
where they will play No. 17 Georgia
Tech on Jan. 1.
The Hurricanes started the season
with hopes of a national title, but they
had to turn their sights toward a Big East
championship after three early-season
losses. And following a conference loss
to No. 2 Virginia Tech last month, Miami
was left with one goal: get to a New
Year's Day bowl.
The Hurricanes had gone to a Jan. I or
later bowl 12 years in a row beginning
with the Orange Bowl in 1984, the site of
their first national championship. That
streak ended with coach Butch Davis'
arrival in 1995, when the Hurricanes
missed out on a bowl game because of
NCAA probation.
No.11 MARSHALL 34,W. MICHIGAN 30
Chad Pennington is bound to have
more time to prepare for the Motor City
Bowl than he did for the Mid-American
Conference championship game.
Weeklong academic and pregame
commitments prevented the star quarter-
back from doing the bulk of his home-
work for Western Michigan until hours
before Friday night's game.
It showed in the first half as No. I I
Marshall was held scoreless at halftime
for the first time in four years.
Finally, the Thundering Herd's
defense shut down Western Michigan
quarterback Tim Lester long enough to
enable Pennington to rally his team from
23 points down.
Pennington's third touchdown pass of
the half, a 1-yard strike to backup tight
end Eric Pinkerton with four seconds
left, gave No. II Marshall a 34-30 victo-
ry.
For Pennington, it was a sweet, pecu-
liar ending to a mind-numbing week.
exception to
The other day, I was talking trash
with some of my friends from
other universities. Keeping with
the general framework of these type
of conversations, I would mention
Michigan's athletic prowess while my
friends, spanning from Michigan
State to Penn State, would talk about
the poor selection of girls at this uni-
versity.
While I usually brush off these
weak potshots at my school - every-
one knows that Michigan has the
nicest, prettiest girls in the Big Ten
- there is one insult that they use
which really pisses me off.
I hear from these turkeys all the
time about how Michigan fans are
terrible. As these kids are going
through their explanation of this
ridiculous statement, they throw oat a
bevy of adjectives to describe
Michigan fans.
Fair-weather. Spoiled. Weak.
Spineless. As I here these words pour
out of the mouths of my friends, rage
boils within my blood. But that anger
is changed to amusement when my
Spartan friend came up with what he
thought was the most damaging
insult of Michigan fans.
He called Michigan fans quiet.
A wry smile crept across my face
as I listened to this nimwad talk. He
was going on and on for eons about
how Michigan State fans were so
much louder and rowdier, but it did-
n't faze me one bit.
Why? Because I knew he had
never set foot in Yost Ice Arena. If he
had, he never would have accused
Michigan fans of being as noiseless
as church mice.
If you think about Michigan foot-
ball and basketball fans, the word
"quiet" would probably be a good
description.
Although Michigan Stadium seats
more people than any other stadium
in the nation, the noise level the
Michigan fans very rarely reflects
that. Except for the occasional ruckus
when Ohio State comes to town,
Michigan football fans tend to sit on
their hands and wait for the
Wolverines to do something.
Crisler Arena also is lacking as far
as decibels are concerned. The Maize
Rage fans, try as they might, have a
long way to go to reach the level that
the Cameron Crazies have attained at
Duke.
But theBig House and Crisler
might as well be a million miles away
from Yost Ice Arena. While Yost seats
only 6,500 people at one time, the
noise generated is similar to the
amount emitted by a jet engine.
Being at Yost is an awe-inspiring
spectacle. After a goal, a great glove
save, or a bone-crushing hit, the
noise builds to a crescendo. As I
stood in the press box, overlooking
the rink, I felt this energy rush into
my ears and through my body.
During these moments, my body
the rule
would break into chills due to the
pure emotion put forth by the Yost
backers.
But it's easy for fans to get hyped
when their team makes a big play. As
maligned as they are, Michigan foot-
ball fans and basketball fans are
prone to riot after a big play by their
teams.
But Yost fans don't need a big play
to get into the game. They really
don't need for the teams to play at all
to become a raucous bunch. The
Yosties - with the possible excep-
tion of drunk fraternity pledges at
Deja Vu - bring the highest amount
of energy and enthusiasm to what
they do.
The most effective way that the
Yost faithful translates this enthusi-
asm is using the age-old method of
ripping on the opposing team. While
this is a common practice for fans of
all sports, Yost fans take it to a whole
new level.
They have numerous insults for the
opposing contender, ranging from
"sieve" to "ugly" to simply, "you just
suck." Goaltenders are lucky to come
out of Yost Ice Arena with any sort of
self-esteem.
But, while goaltenders receive the
majority of the insults, they don't get
the most vulgar. That honor goes to-
any player who decides to commit a
penalty against the beloved
Wolverines.
The penalty chant, while it starts
innocently with "See ya" goes south
from there, ending with words that
would be banned - or at least
bleeped out - of most network tele-
vision programs.
Even the opposing team's parents
are subject to the derogatory com-
ments spilling from the Yosties.
Whenever the opposing team scores,
comments of "ugly parents" or "your
kid sucks" keep the older members
of the crowd in check.
Due to this, there is always some
whining about how Yost fans are out
of line, about how they should be
more honorable and respectful.
But that's what makes Yost the best
athletic atmosphere on campus. On a
campus that sometimes seems too
cool for its own good, seeing over
6,500 people go nuts for their team is
a refreshing thing.
Plus, it's just a game. Hockey
games aren't a cure or cause of social
problems. It's a form of entertain-
ment which allows its fans to let out
their feelings and emotions.
So don't try to control the Yost
fans. They make hockey games one
of the most fun things to do at this
university.
Unless your version of fun is join-
ing the Crisler faithful for a round of
golf claps.
- TJ. Berka has never been called
a sieve, but has been graced with
many other names. He can be
reached at berkat@umich.edu.
STAFF
PICKS
All picks made against
the spread.
Home teams in CAPS.
Correct picks in bold. T.J. Berka
MARSHALL (-20.5) vs. Western Michigan Marshall
Navy (-6.5) vs. Army Army
MIAMI, FLA. (-29 .5) as. Temple Miami
Nebraska (-8) vs. Texas Texas
Florida (-7) vs. Alabama Alabama
Best Bet Texas
Last week 2-3 (0-1)
Overall 8814 (2-11)
Rick Freeman Josh Kleinbaum Andy Latack
Marshall Marshall Marshall
Navy Navy Army
Miami Miami Miami
Texas Nebraska Nebraska
Alabama Florida Florida.
Alabama Florida Florida
3-2 (1-0) 3-2(0-1) 2-3)01)
87-82-4(7-6) 85-844(5-8) 84-854(6-7)
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