24A - The Michigan Daily -Thursday, September 7, 2000
MMMMM9
Racing to make the cut
MARK FRANCESCUTTI
The Michigan basketball progam:
It's like a backward 'Survivor'
For Princenton, a new
hoops coach in a flash
PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) -
Princeton wasted no time in filling
the vacancy left by the departure of
basketball coach Bill Carmody and
will promote John Thompson Il to
the position today.
The school has scheduled a news@
conference for 2 p.m. today to make
the announcement official.
Thompson is the son of legendary
Georgetown basketball coach John
Thompson. His brother Ronny is cur-
rently a Georgetown assistant under
Craig Esherick.
A 1989 graduate of Princeton,
Thompson ranks third on the school's
all-time list with 358 assists.
He is also 70th on the scoring list
with 535 points.
Thompson has been an assistant at
Princeton for the past five seasons
under Pete Carril and Carmody, who
was named coach at Northwestern
yesterday. Carmody replaces Kevin
O'Neill, who left to become an assis-
tant with the New York Knicks.
he Pulau Tiga winds blew in
from the South China Sea.
Slowly but surely the tribe of
Michigan basketball castaways crept
forward, each member and coach hit-
ting the gong prior to entering the
tribal council area. All of them were
there, from Chris Webber to Steve
Fisher to the nost recent, Kevin
Gaines.
All have added to the on- and off-
court problems that have brought the
Michigan basketball program to a
crushing halt.
All were playing the game of
Michigan Basketball Survivor.
Looking a lot better than the cast-
aways, Jeff Probst delivered his
greetings and asked them to sit down
on the logs of wood placed before
the council fire. Carrying their
torches lit with the flames of the life
of amateur basketball. the adventur-
ers sat down ready for the game
show hosts' ever-probing questions.
"Did you take any money from a
booster Mr. Hatch - excuse me - I
mean Mr. Webber?"
"Is their an alliance between you
and Ed Martin?"
"Is Barry Henthorn an agent,
Jamal?"
"Just what were you doing over the
weekend, Mr. Gaines?"
The questions kept coming, but
the answers were clear, something
has gone terribly wrong with the
Michigan basketball team the past 10
years.
It's like the program has a big tar-
get on its back - oh wait that's
Gervase.
Usually covering basketball in this
town is the toughest task for a writer,
because instead of a sports writer,
you becomd a crime-beat reporter.
Instead of blocked shots, you try
to find how many shots players had
at the bar that night.
Instead of good passing and
assists, you look for who was an
accessory to that public disruption.
And instead of steals - well, you
get the picture.
Brian Ellerbe just wants to coach
basketball. His players just want to
play it.
But at Michigan, that "just" can
never happen.
Chris Webber, Robert Travlor and
Louis Bullock all took money.
They did it under Fisher and
Bullock may have done it under
Ellerbe.
The coach doesn't seem to matter,
the players don't seem to matter. The
Michigan basketball team seems to
always find a way to dig itself a new
hole.
Last season it started with the
usual booster violations against
Jamal Crawford.
Nothing unusual, the Athletic
Directors around here keep the
NCAA infraction policy in their
offices, their cars and their bath-
rooms.
But then Brandon Smith, a would-
be captain, transfers, as does fresh-
man Leland Anderson - -all encom-
passed in the mess of the theft of a
student's Palm Pilot.
Then, Crawford goes pro, leaving
Michigan with little to go on. And
now Kevin Gaines gets kicked off
the team for DUI. That's four play-
ers, three likely starters, gone in four
months.
The castaways just keep leaving,
and scandalous brewings keep hap-
pening on the set.
And unlike "Survivor," it seems
the treachery will never end.
What needs to change to actually
keep players on the floor -- playing
- but also playing by the rules?
Maybe we need a Susan to go off
on a raging rant about a snake and a
rat. Maybe we need Rudy to put
these kids through some good Navy
SEAL training, but "not in a homo-
sexual way - that's fer sure."
Maybe we need Richard Hatch to
bring in a corporate training plan to
bring these players together into a
stronger alliance.
Or maybe, we should just stop.
Stop listening to this mess.
Stop paying attention to the end-
less scandals. Maybe we should buy
hockey and football tickets, enjoy
men's and women's soccer and the
other great sports around Michigan
and forget that men's basketball ever
happened.
Maybe we should kick it off our
island.
Then, Jeff Probst can finally say
"The tribe has spoken."
The Daily Grind
runs every Thursda.
Alark Francescutti can be reached
at m/iances (a! iich. ed u.
LOUIS BROWN/Daily
Michigan men's cross country team members sweat to make the lineup during
time trials at the Michigan Golf Course on Tuesday.
Four years, $31M for Lions QB
Updated at 12.p.m.
Home teams in CAPS
M' SCHEDULE
Tomorrow: Volleyball vs. Northern Illinois.2 p.m. at
Cliff Keen Arena
Womens soccer vs. Washington. 4:30 p.m.at
Michigan Soccer Field
Volleyball vs. New Mexico. 7:30 p.m. at Cliff Keen
Arena
MLB STANDINGS
AMERICAN LEAGUE
PONTIAC (AP) -- Detroit Lions
quarterback Charlie Batch agreed to a
four-year contract extension Wednesday
worth S31 million, which includes a S 13
million signing bonus.
Batch, who missed the Lions season-
opening victory against the New Orleans
Saints, will get SI0 million of the bonus
up front.
The four years will be added on to the
two years Batch still has left on his orig-
inal contract, meaning he's under con-
tract with the Lions 2005.
Batch suffered a fracture beneath his
right knee in the offseason and decided
to sit out Week I rather than risk further
injury. Backup Stoney Case completed
13 of 25 passes for 100 yards in Detroit's
14-10 victory.
The Lions still don't know Batch's sta-
tus for Sunday's home game against the
Washington Redskins.
He took three-quarters. of the snaps in
Wednesday's practice and said afterward
he would expect to start if he felt good
Thursday.
Batch asked coach Bobby Ross to
delay his decision until Thursday, even
though Ross had hoped to name a starter
earlier.
Selected in the second round in 1998,
Batch has completed 324-of-573 passes
for 4,135 yards with 24 touchdowns and
13 interceptions in 23 career games.
Central
Chicago Sox
Cleveland
Detroit
Kansas City
Minnesot a
East
NY Yankees
Boston
Toronto
Baltimore
Tampa Bay
West
Seattle
Oakland
Anaheim
Texas
W L Pct GB
82 56 .594G
74 61 .548 6.5
70 67 .511 11.5
65 73 .471 17
61 78 .439 21.5
W L Pct GB
78 57 .578-
72 63 .533 6
71 67 .514 8.5
63 76 .453 17
59 79 .428 20.5
W L Pct GB
75 63 .543
72 65 526 2.5
68 70 .493 7
62 76 .449 13
NATIONAL LEAGUE
East
Atlanta
NY Mets
Florida
Montreal
Philadelphia
Central
St. Louis
Cincinnati
Milwaukee
Chicago Cubs
Pittsburgh
Houston
West
San Francisco
Arizona
Los Angeles
Colorado
San Diego
W L Pct GB
81 57 .587
80 59 .576 1.5
67 70 .489 13.5
56 79 .415 23.5
56 81 .409 24.5
W L Pct GB
80 58 .580
71 68 .5119.5
60 78 .435 20
59 80 .424 21.5
58 79 .423 21.5
58 80 .420 22
W L Pct GB
81 56 .591
74 62 .544 6.5
73 66 .525 9
71. 68 .511 11
67 72 .482 15
"
Wednesday's Games
AL
Minnesota 4. Baltimore 1
Oakland 6, Boston 4
Cleveland 6. Tampa Bay 2
Anaheim 1. Detroit 0
*Toronto 7. Seattle 3
Chicago Sox 13, Texas 1
Kansas City 3. NY Yankees 2
NL
Cincinnati 11. NY Mets 8
Chicago Cubs 8. Colorado 5
Atlanta 7, Arizona 1
Houston 13, Florida 5
Montreal 7. St. Louis 20
Pittsburgh at Los Angeles, Inc.
Milwaukee at San Diego. Inc.
Philadelphia at San Francisco, Inc.
MLB LEADERS
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Batting Average
1. Nomar Garciaparra .362
2. Carlos Del ado .361
3. Darin Erstad .360
4. David Segui .337
5. Mike Sweeney .336
Home Runs
1. Frank Thomas 41
2. Troy Glaus 40
3. Carlos Delgado 39
4. Tony Batista 37
5. David Justice 35
RBI
1. Frank Thomas 129
2. Edgar Martinez
3. Carlos Delgado 1
4. Mike Sweeney 126
5. Bernie Williams 111
5. Magglio Ordonez 111
ERA
1. Pedro Martinez 1.66
2. Roger Clemens 153
3. Albie LopezA
4. Mike Srotka 3.69
5. Mike Mussira .91
Wins
1. David Wells 19
2. Andy Pettitte 17
3. Pedro Martinez 16
4. Tim Hudson 15
5. 3 tied with 14
Strikeouts
1. Pedro Martinez 250
2. Mike Mussina 180
3. Bartolo Colon 168
4. Chuck Finley 164
5. Hideo Nomon158
5. Roger Cleens 158
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Batting Average .8
1. To Helton38
2. Moises Alou .361
3. Jeffrey Hammonds .350
4. Luis C astillo .349
5. Vladimir Guerrero .347
Home Runs
1. Sammy Sosa 46
2. Barry ons43
3. Garry Sheffield 40
3 Jeff "a well 40
5. Ken Grilfey Jr. 38
5. Jim Edmonds 38
RBI
1. Sammy Sosa 126
2. Todd Helton 122
3. Ken Griffey Jr. 114
4. Jeff Kent 113
5. Jeff Bagwell 112
ERA
1. Randy Johnson 2.45
2. Kevin Brown 2.62
3. Mike Hampton 3.22
4. Robert Person 3.30
5. Al Leiter 3.33
Wins
1. Tom Glavine 19
2. Randy Johnson 17
3. Darryl Kile 16
4. Four tied with 15
*1 1
I n r EIAPA rrh
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