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The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 7, 2000 - 29A
Griffin
booted off
fHawkeyes
Melinda Mawdsley
Daly Iowna
ibwA CITY (U-WIRE) -- Senior
I .Griffin was released from the
Iowa men's basketball team in an
anneuncement from coach Steve
"ford on Sept. I.
Rob has been dismissed from the
team due to repeated violations of
team policy," Alford said.
Current Hawkeyes contacted said
y could not comment further
egarding Griffin's situation.
Griffin joined the Iowa program
ast season following his playing days
at Southeastern Community College
in Burlington.
As a junior for the Hawkeyes,
Griffin played in all 30 games, start-
19. APPHO
} riffin finished tied for second on Here's Rob Griffin, when he still had a
team in scoring, averaging 12.2 semblance of an athletic future. Griffii
nts a game. was kicked off Iowa's team on Sept.
The 6-foot-6 shooting guard also
averaged 3.6 rebounds, while shoot- the 2000-01 Iowa team will be force
ing 39 percent from the field and 40.1 to take the floor minus a starter an
percent from 3-point range. scoring threat.
Griffin's success on the court was However, after posting a 14-1
'often overshadowed by what he said record last season, the Hawkeyes d
and did off it. have two starters and six letterme
Griffin landed in Alford's doghouse returning for Alford's second year
early last season for academic prob- the helm.
lems, as well as comments he made The hole left by Griffin will b
r the Jan. 5 game against filled by former Kentucky play
rthwestern. Ryan Hogan and Arizona guard Luk
The Ypsilanti native, said he was Recker.
'looking forward to the Michigan Both Hogan'and Recker are cligib
State game so we could get another this season after Hogan sat out th
win." required one year after transferring.
'The Spartans blew Iowa away, 75- Junior college transfer Reggie Evan
53, and held Griffin to just one point. joins five incoming freshmen as othc
Griffin said later he was "learning new faces on this year's squad that
to be more humble." expected to be a dark-horse contend
The problems never subsided, and for the Big Ten championship.
t~nada unlikely site
for Woods history
Notre Dame-Husker
hype usurped only
by ticket frenzy
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SOUTH BEND (AP) - When
Notre Dame coach Bob Davie sat
down with reporters to talk about
playing the top-ranked Cornhuskers,
the first words from his lips were the
same as those being asked by fans.
"Do you guys have any extra tick-
ets?" he joked.
Ticket prices were nothing too
laugh at though. Tickets for
Saturday's game were selling on
eBay Wednesday for more than $200
each. Face value of the tickets are
S36.
Alumni said they've heard of tick-
ets selling for more than $1,000
each.
"It's ludicrous," said Chuck
Lennon, the executive director of
Notre Dame's Alumni Association.
People were advertising in the
newspaper everything from a trade
for tickets to next years Notre
Dame-Nebraska game in Lincoln to
a weekend of duck hunting on the
Platte River for tickets.
"We're seeing a little bit of everv-
thing. One of our customer service
representatives was offered money
over the phone for their personal
tickets they receive for being an
employee," said Jim Fraleigh, Notre
Dame's director of tickets and mar-
keting.
"We're being besieged by Notre
Dame folks and Nebraska folks look-
ing for tickets."
Notre Dame had 32,000 tickets
available to alumni and received
requests for 47,865, the second high-
est demand ever for a home game.
At Nebraska, there were more
than 28,000 requests for the 4,000
tickets the school was allotted, and
500 of those had to be set aside for
students.
"The frenzy here is almost as
much as it was for the national cham-
pionship game when we played
Florida in the Fiesta Bowl," said Ed
Paquette, executive director of the
University of Nebraska Alumni
Association. "At least when we go to
a bowl game you're getting a much
larger number of tickets."
Notre Dame has sold 44 corporate
tents, more than double the previous
record of 18 for the Michigan game
in 1998.
And for only the third time ever,
the pregame. prep rally Friday night
is being moved from the I 1,418-seat
Joyce Center to Notre Dame Stadium
because of the expected crowd.
The two teams have won 16
national championships between
them and played in more than 150
games combined involving teams
ranked No. 1, so the fervor may seem
a little much for a game against a
team ranked only No. 23.
But the Irish are known for knock-
ing off No. 1 teams, with an 8-13-1
record overall against top-ranked
teams and 7-4-0 since 1971. Given
the inspired way in which Notre
Dame beat Texas A&M last weekend,
the Fighting Irish could have a fight-
ing chance.
"Everybody's thinking that this
could be a Notre Dame moment,"
Lennon said.
The Cornhuskers have had a few
moments of their own, including
being tle only team to beat the Irish
during the Four Horsemen era during
the 1922-24 seasons. And they did
that twice.
In the last meeting between the
two teams, Nebraska beat Notre
Dame 40-6 in the Orange Bowl in
1973. The Irish hold a 7-6-1 edge in
the series.
Officials at both schools say they
expect thousands of Nebraska fans
without tickets to travel to South
Bend for the weekend.
"Nebraskans are pretty optimistic
people. When they want to see the
Huskers play they find a way of doing
it. It wouldn't surprise me to see at
least 10,000 to 15,000 Nebraskans in
the stadium," Anderson said.
"There's a lot of Nebraskans that
just want to be there even if they
have to go to a local tavern or one of
those tailgate parties to watch a
game."
The Chicago chapter of the
Nebraska alumni association has
Tracey Wistrom and his Nebraska teammates have stomped on the rest of the
country for several years. This weekend, they finally get a crack at Notre Dame.
rented out the College Football Hall "I think people just want to have a
of Fame, located in South Bend,'and piece of this history," Paquette said;
will be holding their pregame "Notre Dame holds what, 80,000'
"Husker Huddle" there. Fans who My guess is 10 years from now If,
don't have tickets to the game can you count up everyone who says they'
watch the game in the hall's theater were at that game it 'will probably be'
for S20. 160,000."
OAKVILLE, Ontario (AP) - Tiger
Woods already has the career Grand
Slait.
.&ext up is a chance to win the Triple
blown, a feat not nearly as prestigious
but no less iare.
That's not the reason Woods has
selected the Canadian Open as his final
tournament of an unforgettable summer,
bathe is aware of what a victory would
mean. Only Lee Trevino, in 1971, has
won the U.S. Open, British Open and
Canadian Open in the same year.
"Lee has taught me a few things in
* game," Woods said yesterday. "It
wuld be nice to share something in
common with him."
He might as well, since Woods shares
something in common with just about
every other great player in golf history.
Already this year, Woods had the
longest PGA Tour winning streak since
Ben Hogan in 1946, won the most tour-
naments in back-to-back seasons since
Byron Nelson in 1944-45, and joined
Hgan, Jack Nicklaus, Gene Sarazen
Gary Player as the only players to
wIn all four majors.
'The Canadian Open, which starts
today at Glen Abbey Golf Club, was
first played in 1904 and ranks as the
third-oldest national golf championship
behind the British Open (1860) and the
US. Open (1895).
Woods won those by eight strokes
ad 15 strokes, respectively, and anoth-
*omp would not be terribly surpris-
After all, he is coming off an I1-
stroke victory against a world-class
field in the NEC Invitational at
Firestone.
That was followed by his Monday
Night Golf exhibition loss to Sergio
Qarcia, when Woods was dragging from
fatigue and the flu and !ooked as if he
were in dire need of some time off. That
will have to wait one more week
"After this tournament, I can shut it
sn for a while and get ready for my
home stretch," Woods said "I know that
this is my last tournament for a while,
which means I can go ahead and take it
hard."
This is the first time Woods has
played the Canadian Open since 1997,
when he suffered the only blemish of
his young career at Royal Montreal --
he missed the cut.
SI have gotten a little bit better since
then," said Woods, whose streak of 55
consecutive cuts made is the longest
ative streak, and fifth-longest in tour
Food for Thought
Invasion or civil war?
Many leaders of the
National Liberation Front
*nd Viet Cong fled South
Vietnam and became "boat
people" themselves after
North Vietnam's victory.
The reason was that they
learned they had been
duped all along by North
Vietnam as to its intentions
in South Vietnam.
Sources upon request.
Gary Lillie & Assoc.,Realtors
www.garylillie.com
history.
The Canadian Open used to be one of
the top events in golf. While never
reaching the status of a major champi-
onship, it still attractedi Ihdiagst
naites in golf and has a toll iall oh In ia
ch'ampions that includes Walter HIagcit
Sam Snead, Bobby Locke and Arnold
Palmer By David Uchlyama
"When I was a kid, winning the Indiana Daily Student
Canadian Open was a big thing," said
defending champion Hal Sutton. "I BLOOMINGTON
always looked at the Canadian Open Former Ohio State a
as a national open and I wanted to win coach Les Fertig has
it, and I think that has a great deal to basketball coaching
do with why Tiger is in the field this istrative assistant.
week. Fertig arrived on
"To win the U.S. Open and the and was in Assembly
British Open and the Canadian Open, coaching basketbal
all three in the same year, that has a morning. He will spi
large impact as.to why he is here." week moving fron
Woods says it isn't so, but he always Bloomington and a
seems to raise his game when history - Sept. 12.
any kind of history - is riding on the "There are two ap
outcome. tion," Fertig said. "0
"It does have a wonderful history,"he Knight and having t
said. "This is one of the biggest tourna- work with someonet
mients there ever was on the tour, and it's second is that I'mv
a tournament you'd like to win:"
ia hoops has tolerance for new assistant
I (U-WIRE) -
ssistant basketball
joined the Indiana
staff as an admin-
campus Monday
Hall teaching the
1 class Tuesday
end the rest of the
m Columbus to
ssume his duties
peals to this posi-
ne is coach (Bob)
he opportunity to
of his ability, and
working at a pro-
gram that is one of the nation's finest,
in terms of basketball tradition.
"When the opportunity was offered
to me and I jumped at it. I feel very for-
tunate to be here."
Fertig will handle administrative
duties for Knight and help assistant
coaches Mike Davis, Pat Knight and
John Treloar with their duties. Norm
Ellenberger held the position before he
took an assistant coaching job with the
Chicago Bulls earlier this summer.
"While I can't go on the floor and
coach during practices, I'll do things
along the line of scouting our own
team, so I get a lot of coaching input,"
Fertig said. "And I'll be teaching the
(coaching basketball) class and doing
other administrative things to help
Coach out.
"This isn'tjust a job, it's a special job
in major college basketball. It's one of
the premiere opportunities in Division I
basketball."
Treloar is said he is excited to have
Fertig on the staff.
"He's coming on board, and I think
he's going to bring a lot of knowledge
and experience," Treloar said. "He's
been in the Big Ten, so he's seen what
it takes to win in the Big Ten. I think
he's going to be a great asset."
Junior Mike Ward, a student in
Fertig's first coaching basketball class,
was impressed with Fertig's teaching
ability.
"He's a smart coach,"Ward said, "He
realizes that this class needs to go at a
slower pace. He had us do a footwork
drill that didn't even involve a ball."
Fertig, 55, started his coaching
career at the University of Oklahoma
working under coach Dave Bliss who
was Knight's assistant at West Point
and Indiana. He then coached at West
Point and at Ohio State from 1989-92,
but he's been out of the profession for
the last eight years, working various
business ventures.
"I want to continue to learn and get
back into the profession," Fertig said.
"I've seen the other side. I've been
away from it, and like a lot of situa-
tions, you learn to appreciate it and
realize that you're in it because you
love it.
"I found that this is what I really
want to do. This is what I think I'm
best at. Very few people get a second
chance when they've left it."