Scoreboardm NFL FOOTBALL Minnesota at Atlanta at OAKLAND, inc. DALLAS, inc. Tampa Bay at ANAHEIM, inc. COLORADO 12, Arizona 7 Houston at PITTSBURGH, inc. Cincinnati at SAN DIEGO, inc. San Francisco at LOS ANGELES, inc. UT~w td jt§U ' at Tracking 'M' teams The Michigan club rifle team's tryouts will be Wednesday Sept. 22. Yesterday's Daily published the& CorreCt day, but the incorrect date. AMERICAN LEAGUE DETROIT 4, Cleveland 3 (10) Kansas City at SEATTLE, inc. NATIONAL LEAGUE St. Louis 7, Chicago 2 MILWAUKEE 5, Philadelphia 4 Monday September 21, 1999 12, 'M' hoops holds first scrimmage By Jacob Wheeler [aily Sports Writer The stands at Crisler Arena were nearly empty yesterday, even emptier than they are during the basketball season. In fact, only one fan and one reporter took their pick among thousands of empty seats to watch a Michigan intrasquad bas- ketball game - minus the coaching staff. The players hold scrimmages open to the public on Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons until Oct. 16 when practice officially begins, third-year coach Brian Ellerbe takes the reigns and Crisler is closed to the public until opening night. Since student ticket sales are up this year, said Tom Brooks, Michigan's director of sports marketing, the next three weeks might be the fans' last chance to see a young hoops squad in action - for free. "There's a nice spike in the ticket sales since last year," Brooks said. "People are all excited with all the new freshmen coming in - especially LaVell Blanchard." If pre-season, pre-practice pickup games are any indication - which they rarely are - the five new freshmen hoopsters will give the program a shot in the arm. "It's wide open right now," said Gavin Groninger, a fresh- man from Indiana. "I think we could have three or four fresh- men in the starting lineup. We all challenge each other." Team veterans Josh Asselin and Peter Vignier know Michigan's future rests on the shoulders of Groninger, Blanchard, Kevin Gaines, Jamal Crawford and Leland Anderson. So the "old men" didn't dictate the tempo or the mood of yesterday's pickup game, they just let the fast break, run-and-gun offense take its course. "That's going to be our emphasis this year," said senior Darius Taylor. "We don't have a real big team. But I think we have the speed to shock a lot of people." Every once in a while the hoopsters would stop and re-hash the past 30 seconds of play because they'd forgotten the score, but neither Vignier nor Asselin - the most experienced play- ers - would speak up and take charge. They preferred to remain in the background and let the freshmen get accustomed to each other. FEELING THE WEIGHT: Last year's starting center, Peter Vignier, didn't play in yesterday's pickup game, and it had lit- tle to do with his ability on the court. The senior dropped a weight on his left foot before the scrimmage when the Wolverines were pumping iron. He walked out of the tunnel halfway through the game and opted instead to take shots on a side-basket, showing a slight limp and a wince once when the ball touched his ankle. Yet the injury is only a minor setback and is considered day- to-day. "He just dropped a weight on his foot,' said Taylor. "But it's nothing." 0 CAPTAIN MY CAPTAIN: Coach Ellerbe has yet to name his captain, or co-captains, for the upcoming season, and say he probably won't do so until after practice begins on Oct. 16. But with nearly half the team playing college basketball for the first time, his upperclassmen will play a pivotal role in break- ing in the youngsters. Asselin is the likely choice because he's seen significant playing time in each of the past two seasons and improved a lot last year with the absence of Robert Traylor and Maceo Baston. } "He's emerged as a leader," said Groninger. "He's been look- ing out for us younger kids and taking us under his wing. I think he probably will be one of the captains." In yesterday's scrimmage Asselin took on sophomore Chris Young - Michigan's likely backup center - challenging him in the low post but also encouraging him to shoot the ball. "Throughout our scrimmages Chris has really improved a lot and gotten a lot more aggressive," said Groninger. "He's playing bigger." Golfers * make most of ro adtirip 0 AP PHOTO The Michigan defense must prepare to meet 252-pound Ron Dayne, who broke Archie Griffin's Big Ten career rushing record last Saturday. Defense aware of Dayne-ger z By Sam Duwe For the Daily Colorado offered more than just a low scorecard to the Michigan men's golf team this past weekend. A lot more. To Brent Baribeau, it mean receiving support in the battle for his life. Baribeau, a junior, made the golf team as a redshirt freshman. But two summers ago he fractured his spine in a diving accident, leaving him paralyzed below the waist and with- out the use of his fingers. Numerous surgeries and constant rehabilitation followed. Even though he no longer play*, Brent still keeps in touch with his teammates. "As far as we're concerned, he is still a member of the team," coach Jim Carras said. When Carras and his players received word that Brent would be receiving potentially fatal spinal cord surgery in Denver this week- end, less than a hundred miles from the tournament, they decided a visi* was in order. "We went to the hospital and total- ly surprised him," Carras said. "It was wonderful. Brent was really happy. "The guys are really a bunch of great kids. They aren't just success- ful at the game of golf, they are suc- cessful at being good friends." The Wolverines competed last weekend at the Falcon-Cross Creel Invitational, a 24-team tournament held in Colorado Springs. They tied for third place, along with Grand Canyon and New Mexico State. Notre Dame won top honors, beating the competition by eight strokes. "There was no way to win with what Notre Dame shot in the first round," Carras said. "I have never seen anything like it. They burie* everyone, The only other Big Ten school, Illinois, didn't finish in the top 10. "A third-place finish isn't bad, I didn't think we played as well as we could," Carras said. "The success of the team will be based on everyone contributing, not just one or two See ROADTRIP, Page 14 By Andy Latack Daily Sports Writer Ian Gold has always been a little undersized for his position. At 6-foot-l, 220 pounds, the Michigan inside linebacker's frame seems more suited for playing running back - the position at which he began his Michigan career. But Gold makes up for his lack of size with fierce intensity and an uncanny nose for the ball. And while he may be on the small side, Gold hasn't been seriously outweighed by any opposing ballcarriers. Until now. On Saturday, Gold and the rest of the Michigan defense will be faced with the task of bringing down the Badgers' Ron Dayne, one of the largest running backs in the coun- try. Tipping the scales at 252 pounds, the 5-10 Dayne is a bruising back that runs through opponents as often as he runs around them. So an arm tackle is out of the question. "He's got about 30 pounds on me, so I've got to take out his legs," Gold said. "That's the name of the game." And if Gold and the rest of the defense are going to stop Dayne, they are going to have to do it before the Badger bowling ball gets a full head of steam. "We're going to have to come up and hit him before he gets downfield," Gold said. "Once he gets going, he's a struggle to bring down. " The Michigan defense never let Dayne get going in last year's meeting between the two schools, holding him to a season-low 53 yards on 16 carries in Michigan's 27-10 victory in Michigan Stadium. Dayne was held to under 100 yards just one other time last season, gain- ing 93 against Penn State. "It was a tough loss last year," Dayne said. "We are focusing on doing what we can do this week to play well Saturday. We know what we have to do against Michigan." One of the things Wisconsin has to do is use its mammoth offensive line fo open some holes for Dayne to run through. Although they lost mammoth tackle Aaron Gibson, the Badgers return four other starters on the line, giving them one of the conference's best units. "They've always had a big offensive line, and our front seven has to step up and stop the run against them," Michigan defensive line- man Eric Wilson said. "We like the challenge that they want to run the ball down our throats " And Dayne is the perfect back to do just that. Although he is nimble for a back his size, Dayne is most effective when he is running between the tackles. Of his 2,109 yards last season, over half of them were gained after contact. The fact that Wisconsin even keeps track of this statistic is a testament to Dayne's punishing running style. Michigan coach Lloyd Carr uses a fairly big back himself in 225-pound Anthony Thomas. But Thomas is nowhere near the size of 'The Great Dayne.' See DAYNE, Page 14 Lessons That Will Last F~A Lifetime. McGwire hits No. 59 to close gap. on Sosa Slugger breaks up pitcher's perfect game in head-to-head match-up of home run giants Put that college degree to use by enrolling into the Air Force Officer Training School. Upon successful completion of the Officer Training School, you will become a commissioned Air Force officer with earned respect and benefits like - great starting pay, medical and dental care, management and travel AIM HIGH opportunities. For more on how to qualify and get your career soaring with the Air Force Off icerTraining School, call 1-800-423-USAF, or visit our website at www.airforce.com www.airforce.com CHICAGO (AP) - Mark McGwire's 59th homer was the perfect way to end a perfect game last night. Big Mac broke up Jon Lieber's bid with two outs in the seventh inning, moving McGwire within two home runs of Sammy Sosa for the major league lead and sparking the St. Louis Cardinals to a 7-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs. Sosa flied out to the wall in the first, walked, singled and struck out to stay at 61 homers. McGwire finished 1-for- 4 in the opener of a three-game series at Wrigley Field. Lieber struck out'nine of the first 17 batters, including McGwire in his first two at-bats, and had retired 20 straight on a chilly 61-degree night. The game was scoreless when McGwire cranked an 0-1 pitch over the center-field fence into a 16 mph wind. After that, Lieber - winless in 13 starts since July 10 - fell apart. In an ensuing span of six pitches, Lieber gave up two singles and two- run homers to Thomas Howard and J.D. Drew. After a single by Marcus Jensen, Lieber (8-11) was lifted and St. Louis scored two more on an RBI sin- gle by Eduardo Perez and run-scoring double by Edgar Renteria for a 7-0 lead. McGwire, who hit 70 homers last season to beat Sosa by four, broke his own record of 128 for most homers in two seasons. He now has 129, combin- ing this season and last. He has homered four times in his last four games. Mark Thompson (1-2) allowed just four hits in six scoreless innings to get his first victory since April 4, 1998, when he was with Colorado. Shane Andrews hit a two-run homer in the Cubs ninth off Ricky Bottalico. The closest the Cardinals came to a hit before McGwire's shot was with two outs in the sixth when Thompson hit a liner that Cubs first baseman Mark Grace jumped high to catch. Grace had dropped Renteria's foul pop for an error leading off the game, but Lieber came back and retired him on a grounder. Then the right-hander took off, working quickly and getting help from home plate umpire Ian Lamplugh's liberal strike zone. With flashbulbs popping all over, McGwire struck out on three pitches in the first. Sosa sent the crowd to its feet in the bottom half, backing Howard to the wall in right center. McGwire fanned again in the third, while Sosa drew a walk in the fourth and singled to right in the sixth. McGwire ran out of the Cardinals' dugout during batting practice and jogged out to right field to chat with Sosa. He'd planned to congratulate Sosa on becoming the first player reach 60 homers twice. "People think getting to 50 now is a piece of cake," McGwire said before last night's game. "You can't name the people on one hand who have hit 50 homers consistently. You can't." And he said Sosa's latest accom- plishment deserved more attention than it got. "I personally thought when he hit 60, it should have been the top story on every sports television network, wb. it wasn't. He deserved it." NOTES: McGwire has 16 homers in 22 career games against the Cubs.... He and Sosa have homered in the same game just three times over the last three seasons. ... McGwire has five homers against the Cubs this season and Sosa four against St. Louis. ... McGwire now leads Sosa by one RBI 136-135. ... Lieber has lost eigt straight decisions. ... The crowd 38,085 was about 2,000 short of a se - out. Mo os eAW.C. m The best equipment and outerwear in the world...and some nonsense. TUESDAY DRINK SPECIAL