The Michigan Daily -- Thursday, September 28, 2000 - 11k~ U."knocks off Cuba, wins surpie gold SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - No names, no more. "I said that' when this is over, everybody in ,the world is going to know about these play- ers," manager Tomn Lasorda said. "And by 4 olly, they do" By doing what no one thought possible, a ragtag bunch of US. minor leaguers won their ,country's first baseball gold medal and ful- filled the prediction of its blustery Hall of Fame manager.' A 4-0 victory yesterday night over Cuba gave the Americans an. identity as well as a medal. Ben Sheets_. the pitcher who brought the Cuban baseball dynasty to its knees. Mike Neill - the outfielder who homered and mrade the diving catch that clinched America's first Olympic baseball gold medal. Ernie Young - the player who shoved the Cubans' catcher and beat their hardest thrower. ,Beat them? They shut them out, leaving thea without a gold medal for the first time in the three Olympic tour-naments, 1The Big Red Machine of international base- ball tore through the competition in Barcelona and Atlanta, going undefeated while picking up a matching set of gold medals. Cuba brought the core of that team to Bg Ten play. enters second week AP PHOTO America's band of minor leaguers knock~ed aft Cuba 4-0 to win the gold yesterday night. Sydney, where professionals were allowed for the first time and bats were made of wood, not metal. Thirteen of the Cubans already had Olympic gold medals. The Americans? They had a pitching staff of high draft picks and an everyday lineup of big-league castoffs. The most prominent play- er was 37-year-old catcher Pat Borders, the MVP of Toronto's 1992 World Series champi- onsh ip. "I know that when this team was picked, a lot of people looked at the list and said, 'Who are these guys?"' said D)oug Mientkiewicz, who twice won games with homers. In the end, they were the guys celebrating on the field with flags draped around their shoulders and a look-at-us-now expression on their faces. By Nathan Unsley For lk Daily The Big Ten season continues on Saturday with week two of confer- ence play. After upstart Northwestern shocked then-No. 6 Wisconsin, the perennial cellar- dwellars of the conference are alive with new hope for upset wins and possible ________ b o w I Across the appear- ances. ~~~ Illinois ____ ____" ___ looks to rebound from a disappointing loss to Michigan, in which the officiat- ing was deemed so poor by the league that the conference issued an apology to the Fighting Illini. And Drew 13rccs returned to his All-American ways, passing for over 400 yards in a romp over Minnesota. Most teams will look to pick up where they left off, or begin anew in the second week of conference play. No. 19 PURDUE~ (3-0, 1-0) Nr PENN~ S'v-vram (1-4, 0-1) There are four things that fans in Happy Valley want to see this week. First, freshman cornerback Adam Taliaferro leaving the hospi- tal under his own power.[)octors say spinal fusion surgery went well for the freshman, and the I 8-year old is determined to walk again. Second, a bye week. Penn State has to wait for Oct. 14 before a week to regroup. Third, an offense. Excluding a thrashing of Louisiana Tech, the Nittany Lions have scored just 1 7 points in four losses. And finally, the fans would be happy to see a team that struggles to score as much as their beloved Lions. Unfortunately, Heisman Trophy candidate Brees leads a poweiful Purdue team into State College. After throwing just 22 passes in a loss to Notre Dame. Purdue returned to its pass-happy offense last week, and Brees completed 23 passes in the first half alone. The Boilermakes hold the nation's third-longest winning streak against unranked opponents, with 16 consecutive victories. Through four games, they are aver- aging 38 points per contest. Penn State will conic out onl fire with Tlhiaferro on their minds, ,but they do not have the fire power to keep up with Purdue. Purdue 52, Penn State 13 No. 22 I.I~rois (3-1, 0-1) u-~ MINNitsUTA (2-2, 0-1) The consensus in Champaign is that the Illini are 3-0 against foot- ball teams and 0-1 against football referees for the season. Whether that is true or not, Illinois is looking for revenge this week against a Minnesota team that has had pr~ob- lems this season. Last week, Drew .Brews torched the Golden Gophers for 409 yards and two touchdowns. Illini quarter- back Kurt Kittner lit up Michigan for 352 yards and two scores. Look for an even bigger week from Kittner against Minnesota. Last season, the Gophers domi- nated Illinois in nearly every phase of the game, posting a 37-7 road victory. It definitely will not be that easy for the Gophers this week --junior college transfer Travis Cole will be making his first start at quarterback. But, the biggest obstacle for the Gophers will be finding a running game that punishes the Illini like the Wolverines did last week. Minnesota alternates two running backs, Tellis Redmion and Thomas Tapeh, who combine for 11 5 yards per game. Un fortunately, no matter how many runni ngbacks the Gophers throw at Illinois, none of them are named Anthony Thomas. Look for Illinois to get all the calls. Illinois 34, Minnesota 19 NoR'rA-iW SrE:RN (3-1, 1-0) 01 No. 15 MiUIIGAN S'iA-vri: (3-0, 0-A Thle Wildcats are riding high' after beating the week-four versioi o th Wi c ni a g rNorthwestern has as mainy victories as it had all of last season, and taifk' of a bowl berth is sweepillg Evanston faster than Michad_ Bennett ran through the WildcatI defensive line (293 yards on 48 car- ries). Two weeks in a irow, the Wildcats have given up over 200 yards on tlh;"+ ground, and it doesn't look to y much better Michigan State running back'!4 Duce tt is averaging 164 yards game and 5.8 yards per carrv Coach Bobby Williams has won lli * first three regular-season g ame$ becoming the first Spartans coaciZ:f. to accomplish that feat since 191 8:4 But after the Wildcats' emotioii. al victoryz the Spartans must try t(* avoid becoming Northwestern second upset victim this season. The Wildcats' victory last week" was their first B~ig Zen road v ictoi" since the 1997 season. TIhin should return to normal Cori Northwestern this week. tm Michigan State Northwestern 16 _ M~ a+r I Iir w .. .-.-,..e..-.. ,. :.. °'°'R j,'. 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