coaches poll lhink the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll islegitimnate? Either way, it's on the Daily Sports Website. e1u'iid~i tanttiI~ PB michigandaly.com/sports TUESDAY DECEMBER 5, 2000 1.1 PP' ..7 -' . ]SS',,. CHRIS DUPREY 4;.- .. One game at.a time? That's yesterday's news ':''t ' :' y o.,, " _. , r : . ;" ',r, ^ Sophomore Mike Cammalleri is one of 34 players invited to try out for the 22-man Canadian Junior National team. Cammaller to try out for Juor team By Joe Smith with the U.S. National "Team Development Program forward Mike Comrie during the selection process Daily Sport; %Vnter and the U.S. Under-18 Junior team. But Barrv Trapp, the Director of Scouting for . rthe he davs of "taking one game at a time," "giving our best effort," and "stepping up" are long gone. Those are the cliches of old. To match the changing times, coaches have evolved. Those annual coaches meetings aren't just for dis- cussing rule changes and spending a few days in Palm Springs. There's important business at hand --the current-model-year cliches are being released. Here are a few that have cropped up recently. "I'll be able to assess what happened after I watch the tape." The best way to dodge any press- conference question about the specifics of the game. Translated: "I'm not about to get into my team's problems rgthein public. Ask me tomorrow, when we won't even be discussing this game anymore. How about you ask me about my team's effort? It was great!'' Why wait until tomorrow to assess what happened today, Coach? You've spent 20 years in the coach- ing business, you've seen just about every type of game and situation, and all of a sudden you don't feel comfortable consolidating your thoughts for the media? When properly used - someone on the line misses their assignment and a field goal is blocked - this one borders on being valid. Other times, it's ridiculous. Reporter: Player X had 33 points. Was he hot tonight or did he find your weakness? Coach: I don't know. I'll be able to assess what happened after I watch the tape." "Kit saw the game." Another product of the coaches meetings. Now, use of this one-liner is common in press conferences from the Big East to the Pac-10. I ere, coaches search for ways to criticize the officiating withow being fined. The tax loophole Oftlie coaching business. One season, coaches are speaking, out against shoddy officiating and are fined left and right. To adjust, they get coy in an effort to av i paying S 10.)00 to the eont'erencc kitty. Reporter: Do you think the o'fi- ating robbed you of a chance to win? Coach: You saw the game. Translated: I cost my wife a trip to Bermuda the last time I opened my mouth. Don't think I'm stupid enough to make the same mistake twice. "Night-in and night-out, this is a tough league to play in.t . The hedge bet of all hedge bets. Spoken the w eek before a game agiainst the con ference bottom-feed- er. No matter the outcome of the contest, the coach looks like a genius afterward. Scenario 1: The Michigan State hockey team blows out Alaska- Fairbanks. Coach Ron Mason takes pleasure in how his team "really showed up tonight." His comment didn't ring true, but his team Avon the game, and that's all that rdly matters to him. Scenario 2: The Spartans win in a close one. Mason reassures the media that "it's always a fight in this conference" and "we were just fortunate to get the victory." HIs comment appears deadly accurate Scenario 3: Michigan State hap pens to lose in an upset. "1 warne you guys all week. This is a touglh league, night-in and night-out," the. coach says. An effective way to sour-grape while handing out an I- told-you-so to the media. There they are, the current- model-year cliches. Duck and dodge them to avoid being sick. Chris DupreY can be reeachedl at c'duporep w/nlilit. edi. Instead of spending their Christmas vacations com- peting for the Maize and Blue in the Great Lakes Invitational, as many as three Wolverines may be don- ning their countries' colors in the 2001 World Junior Hockey Championships from Dec. 26-Jan. 5, 2001. The Canadian Hockey Association, in conjunction with the Canadian Hockey League, invited sophomore center Mike Cammalleri to attend the Canadian National Junior Team's selection camp from December 13-18 in North York, Ontario. A total of 34 players have been chosen, and the team will keep 22 players to represent Canada in the championships. "It's incredible, it's such an honor.'said Cammallerik who vividly remembers his experience with the gold medal-winning Canadian Under-18 Junior National team a year ago. "To be on the World Junior team is everyone's dream growing up as a kid." Sophomore forward Andy Hilbert and freshinan defenseman Mike Komisarek will be chosen to repre- sent the United States in the same tournament, a team source said yesterday. An official announcement should come today from USA Hockey. Hilbert is no stranger to the tournament. hav ing par- ticipated on the World Junior team the past two seasons along with defenseman Jeff Jillson who is too old to play this year because he was born in 1980. As one of the most experienced players returning. Hilbert could take a leadership position on this year's team. "He's a special player and I think he'd be a great Jchoice to be one of the captains on that team" Michigan assistant coach Billy Powers said. "There's no question he'll have a leadership role." This would be Komisarek's first appearance on the team, but he has international experience from playing it's a great honor to play for your country, Komisarek said. "It's more than hockey -- to put on that jersey is an unbelievable feeling. Once you put on that jersey, you're all brothers, you're all from the USA" While the selections of Hilbert and Komisarek will be set in stone once they are announced, Cammalleri's quest to represent Canada isii't over yet. He will compete with the other 33 Canadian players in two intrasquad games, as well as a couple of contests against the Canadian College All-Stars. Coaches will cut 12 players along the way, including five forwards. The past two years, the team cut former Michigan Canadian National Team, was impressed with Cammalleri. Trapp said he felt that Cammalleri will have as good a chance as anyone to make the team. "lie's everything we look for in a player, Trapp said. "We look for players who can skate and think out on the ice. Mike does them both well - - having excel- lent character on and oif the ice." Cammalleii, this week's CCI IA Ofkcnsivc Player of the Week, said he's just excited to be a prt of the rich Canadiai hockey tradition -the National Junior team won seven gold medals in the 1990's. 'It's a time wvhere eve rone is watching the game See CAMMALLERI, Page 12 Get your hands on Hobey Former Michigan Hobey Baker winner: 1997 ./ , Last year's Hobey Baker winner: Mike Mottau Boston College Brendan Morrison (well, at least get a hand in the voting.) The Hobey Baker Memorial Award, presented annually to college hockey's most outstanding player, is accept- ing fan nominations for the 001 trophy. To tally your vote, head to: www.hobeybaker.com K E I l t C Heisman finalists announced' The Heisman winner will be handed out Saturday at the New York Downtown Athletic Club. Yesterday, the four finalists were announc Josh Heupel - Oklahoma Chris Weinke - While his statistics are not as Florida.State prestigious as other quarter- Leads the nation with 4, 67 backs this year, he is the only yards passing. In Florida State's unbeaten candidate for the only loss he threw for nearly 500 Heisman, not unlike Charles yards while battling the flu- At Woodson three years ago. He has 28, Weinke is older than raw' thrown for 3,172 yards, 18 touch- professional.quarterbacks. downs and 11 interceptions while De facing every ranked Big 12 team. Is the career leader in Big Ten passing yards with 11,517. He has also led the BoilermakeSW' there first Rose Bowl since 1967' with 3,909 total yards, 29 touch downs and 12 interceptions. Volleyball not quite over the hump in 2000 EASON WRAP By Richard Haddad DJiiy Sports Wrjtcr The Michigan volleyball team began its 2000 campaign under the weight of heavy expectations. A veter- an nucleus coming off of an NCAA Tournament appearance and a presea- ,n top-25 ranking fostered grandiose creams. An 8-1 start and subsequent five-week stay in the national polls further entertained hopes of playing deep into December. For the third time in four seasons and the second in coach Mark Rosen's two-year tenure, Michigan qualified for the NCAA Tournament to achieve "something we'd all hoped for," Rosen uid. "This team has a lot to be proud for making the tournament." And a, first round victory over talented Louisville (26-8) provided another source of team pride. gut Friday night, the Wolverines' season was terminated at the hands of -No. 5 Arizona and for the second straight season and third in the last four, that termination came in the tournament's second round. Somewhere between a promising beginning and a bittersweet conclu- sion, adversity struck. Injuries --to seniors Sarah Behnke and Joanna Fielder toward the begin- ning, and freshman Chantel Reedus and sophomore Katrina Lehman near the conclusion "prevented our line- up from being as consistent as we had thought it would be," Rosen said. In the nation's best confierence. a lineup marked by injury and iiconsis- tency led to a 3-9 start in the Big Ten. "Over the course of such a long sea- son, problems will happen,' Rosen said. "But the best teams are those that overcome adversity." Against Purdue on Nov. 3, Michigan took the offensive in its bat- tle with that adversity. "Purdue sparked things; it really got us on a roll," said Rosen of the con- vincing sweep of the Boilermakers. "We started to play a lot better and to get used to what proved to be our best ilieup ." That lineup, utilizing freshmen Reedus and rin Moore, Lehman and tjunior Shannon Melka to complement the leadership of senior captains Behnke and Alija Pittenger, spurred Michigan to a finish in which it won five of its last eight matches. That stretch was highlighted by triumphs over No. 25 Michigan State and No. 13 Ohio State. "Our depth was our strong pointt, Rosen said. "Our young players did a great job making an impact as soon as possible to overcome a lot of adversi- tv." All in all, an 8-12 record earned Michigan a seventh-place finish in the Big Ten - one spot higher than last year. The improvement represents "not as big a step as we wanted, but a step in the right direction," Rosen said. "One of our goals was to get to the Sweet 16," Rosen said. "But our record was- Food For Thought The Leaacv n't good enough to draw as high of a seed as we would have liked." Due to that low seed in the Tournament, the Wolveries ran into mighty Arizona prematurely. And despite Michigan's myriad of team and individual accomplish- ments, "I don't think we fulfilled our potential," Rosen said. "We had a tremendous amount and fell short a little bit." AP PHOTO LaDainlan Tomlinson - TCU He led the nation in rushing f'W the past two years and is fourth in NCAA career rushing yards. Some consider him an also-ran' because of the weaker WAC competition. f 4 .4 M1r ~ :. . It's never too early to look ahead irY i a