13 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 13, 2000 .Less is Moore as freshman center learns basketball ropes Van Dyke questionable; Cameron remorseful By Michael Kern Daily Sports \Vriter In the forest of Michigan basketball. the biggest ree has shed some dead weight and gotten a whole lot stronger in the process. Freshman center Josh Moore - who at 7-foot-2 is the tallest player in Michigan history- has been working out all summer to get back into play- ing shape after taking a year off. "I feel like an oak," Moore said. Moore arrived in Ann Arbor this summer at 328 pounds after spending a year at Saint Thomas More Prep School to gain academic eligibility. Since he began a daily regiment of running and kifting weights a couple of months ago, Moore has ropped 31 pounds. "I'm down to 297, but my body frame can han- dIe 350 pounds," Moore said. "I'd like to gain three more pounds of muscle and get back to 300. Hopefully, I can add more muscle and eventually get back to 330 in a couple of years." By comparison, Shaquille O'Neal last year's MVP who led the Lakers to the NBA title is 7- foot-I and weighs in at 315. The strength and agility Moore gained from his Workouts have already shown dividends in pickup games with his teammates. Once he gets into the paint, it's hard to move him out. "When I make a move, guys have to get out of the way, or they might get hit," Moore said. "I want to punish my opponents. I want my game to be punishing," Moore started his workouts this summer at Schernbechler Hall, lifting weights and running with members of the football team who were preparing for the fall season. Joined by sophomore Dave Petruziello and freshmen Chris Perry and Calvin Bell. Moore started lifting three times a week and running every other day. "It was like we started a fraternity,'' Moore said. In addition to his workouts off the court, Moore has been working with his teammates to improve his game on the court. Senior Josh Asselin and junior Chris Young have taken the freshman under their wing to teach him how to stay out of foul trouble in the physical BiT Ten. "Josh has been like a big brother," Moore said. "Chris has been like a drill sergeant. telling me to do that or make that move." Moore isn't the only Wolverine who spends his free time in the weight room. Sophomore Lavell Blanchard --- who Moore called "one of the hard- est working players in the Big Ten" _- also main- tains a strict regiment of off-court running and weightlifting. But Moore is trying to instill that same enthusiasm in all of his teammates. "I call guys up and say, Hey, I'm going down to KIMITSU YOGACHI/Dady Josh Moore called teammate LaVell Blanchard "one of the hardest working players in the Big Ten." lift weights,"' Moore said. " Let's go. I'll give you a ride." Between adjusting to life as a freshman at Michigan and working out with his teammates, Moore hardly gets a free moment to himself. His workout schedule keeps him in the weight room or on the track six days a week. "I get Sundays off," Moore said. Mid-field attack the focus for Burs, Blue HORN Continued from Page 11 Coach Bobby Williams said Van Dyke would have to be available for practice today. Otherwise, the Spartans will go with true freshman Jeff Smoker, who came off the bench to lead Michigan State past Marshall last week. "Ryan is a lot better. He's able to grip a football," Williams said. "Jeff' pretty much ran the first unit (Monday). We're just going to get Jeff ready to go. "If Ryan can be effective in prac- tice ... he'll play Saturday." INDIANA: The performance of the Atlantic Coast Conference officiating crew set coach Cam Cameron afire during and after Saturday's 41-38 loss at home to North Carolina State. Cameron was enraged with "six or eight" controversial calls that went against Indiana. The Wolfpack took the lead for good on a 47-yard touch- down pass with 54 seconds to play. At the postgame press conference, Cameron said, "You can slice it any- way you want. That football game was flat taken from Indiana University." In a more settled mood, Cameron issued the following apology yester- day morning: "How I handled that was really inappropriate. That's just not the way we handle it in the Big Ten Conference. I just want to apolo- gize for that." Cameron has been assessed a S 10,000 fine for his comments. lowA: Following a 1-10 season in 1999, the Hawkeyes have opened this season a very unappealing 0-2. The Kansas State loss was somewhat expected, but a loss in the home opener to Western Michigan was a bad break. Some in Iowa City have even begun to wonder about the prospect of going 0-12. "What we need right now is to win a football game," Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. "That would make everybody feel a lot better. Nobody's got their heads down. Nobody's hit- ting the panic button." MINNESOTA: Don't be surprised if you see coach Glen Mason signing a contract to become a spokesman for the cucumber industry. In preparation for his team's trip to Baylor this week, Mason had his players drink pickle juice. The lore is that pickle juice reduces On tap The Big Ten heads into its third week of nonconference play. Here's what's on tap for this Saturday: Michigan at UCLA, 3:30 p.m. California at Illinois, noon. Iowa State at Iowa, noon Northwestern at Texas Christian, noon Miami (Ohio) at Ohio State, 12:10 p.m. Minnesota at Baylor, 12:30 p.m. Cincinnati at Wisconsin, 2 p.m. Purdue at Notre Dame, 2:30 p.m. Penn State at Pittsburgh, 3:30 p.m. Indiana at Kentucky, 5 p.m. Michigan State at Missouri, 7 p.m. cramping. "This year at Florida, (Brigham Young) said they used to drink pickle juice to cope with the severe heat," Mason said. Add that to receiving a personal endorsement of pickle juice from one of his Texas players, and Mason was sold. NORTHWESTERN: A nonconference road trip to Texas Christian might seem ordinary if not for one reason: Horned Frogs running back LaDainian Tomlinson, a preseason Heisman candidate. Coach Randy Walker compared Tomlinson to Travis Prentice, who he coached at Miami (Ohio) before leav- ing the school to take the Northwestern job. Prentice graduated after the 1999 season and holds team records in career carries as well as rushing yards in a game. Tomlinson "has( better speed than you think," said Walker. PENN SrATE: A win was crucial for the Nittany Lions, but coach Joe Paterno sure isn't celebrating his team's 67-7 victory over Louisiana Tech. "Louisiana Tech just didn't play very well, giving us the ball five or six times," Paterno said bluntly. "I don't know if we got any confidence in this game - I hope we did." Now 1-2, Paterno takes his team to Pittsburgh to resume the annual in- state rivalry. Penn State has played Pitt with top-10 teams and had trouble. So this Saturday will surely be a dogfight. "It will be an emotional game, the last game they play in Three Rivers Stadium (against Penn State) before they move into a new stadium next year," Paterno said. By David Horn Daily Sports Writer Competition manifests itself in the middle of things. Monkey in the middle; Malcolm in the Middle; The Mid-American Conference. For the Michigan men's soccer team, success in their increasing- ly rigorous schedule will depend on their ffectiveness in the middle third of the 8ield. "We're not making things happen in the middle third quick enough," coach Steve Burns said. A soccer pitch is generally divided into thirds - the defensive third, the offensive third, and the middle third. This division creates the opportunity to approach offensive and defensive strategy in a manner similar to hockey, vhere the blue lines create comparable :imensions for the rink. In this past Sunday's exhibition against Schoolcraft College, the Wolverines scored two goals - one on a penalty kick, the other on a 40-yard pass by junior Matt Murch to Kevin Robinson that Robinson was able to con- vert into a goal. The team is hoping that they can develop a style of play that yields scor- *ng opportunities like Robinson's on Sunday. The Michigan players -- many of whom are accustomed to the slower- paced game of club soccer that allows for multiple touches in the middle third - are working this week on forcing their first touch to be an aggressive one to Robinson or sophomore forward Robert Turpin, probably the fastest play- er on the team. "We need to look for the first strike:' Burns said. "That's the buzzword. We want to play it short, but we need to look for our targets and see our options." Midfielder Murch is commended by Burns as "a good player with a great awareness of the field." He compares him to Larry Bird and Magic Johnson in his ability to know where every player -- teammate and opponent -- is on the field at all times. "Some players have a better sense right now," Burns said. Thus far the Wolverines have not been scorned by their reliance on the more moderate style of play. But as their com- petition becomes fiercer, the importance of adapting that offensive aggressiveness becomes urgent. "It hasn't hurt us vet,' senior captain Will Purdy said. "But the teams we've played haven't been too difficult. It could be big when we play Penn State. "We're used to the possessional style of play. The coaches are pushing us to make that first look - that first attack. We're trying to break our habit and adjust to the new style. The final step in converting these long passes into talleys on the board is in the finishing. The team was chastised throughout Sunday's games by their coaches, urging them to fire off shots from long range --- 20-25 yards out. "We need to build confidence from that distance:' Burns said. "We need to realize that good things happen when those shots are taken." The Wolverines continue to work on their aggressive attack tomorrow against the University of Illinois-Chicago, at 7:30 at Elbel Field. BRAD QUINN/Daily The first 200 students to attend Thursday's 7:30 p.m. men soccer game will receive a free blue horn. The loud and obnoxious horns should mean trouble for Illinois-Chicago. Martha Cook Building 906 S. University Ann Arbor, M 48109' A Very Few Double Spaces vailablefor Fall/Witer Occupancy. Call Marion Scher: 763-2084 Email: mschcr urnich.edu There are those who shy away from challenges. °j £' And then there are those who travel 9,000 miles looking for them. University of Michigan Information Meeting & Video " Wednesday, September 13 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm 9 Michigan Union * International Center * Room 9 On-Campus Interviews * Pick up an application and sign up for an INTERVIEW at the Peace Corps Office (MI Union - International Center) or call (737-647-2182) for an appointment. Applications mustbe completed prior to the actual interview. r " , ~ _ i w www.peacecorps.gov Visiting Students Take a break. Spend a semester at Columbia. Explore New York City. Study Abroad " Columbia University in Paris " Berlin Consortium for German Studies - Summer Program in Italy (Scandiano) Summer Program in Beijing Summer Session 2001 Join us for an exciting summer! It's not too early to plan for 2001. The bulletin will be available in February-reserve yours today. i (212)854-6483 cesp-info5@columbia.edu www.ce.columbia.edu/ys G Columbia CONTINUING EDUCATION AND SPECIAL PROGRAMS Postbaccalaureate Programs" The Special Students Pro gam - Foreign Languages Study Abroad Computer Technology and Applications " The Creative Writing Center"TheHigh School Programs * It takes less than four years for the world to add another U.S. in population. " Last year, astonishingly, the U.S. grew at a faster rate than China-largely because of immigration, the majority of which is legal.2 * Ninety percent of the growth rate in U.S. population in this century will be driven by the current record-breaking wave of mass immigration. . Immigration rates are now so high that 11am To 2im Sn the W1ag Live Band-Prizes- Giveaways Featuring: of Muolar BatToin 1s Mslar cgr Jgg Fart Dilam leycle Iam Sylvania *aauma a rifu i..