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 :.