The Michigan Daily - Friday, February 9, 2001- 11 WOLVERINE FOREVER: GANDY'S 'M' TATTOO BY DAVID ROTH. DAILY SPORTS WRITER Most Michigan enthusiasts claim that they bleed maize and blue. Most do - but only figurative speaking. Word play isn't for everyone. Michigan women's basketball freshman Stephanie Gandy redefined bleeding her school's Opolors by subjecting herself to needles Uith blue dye punctur- ing her skin in the form of a block "M" tattoo. After signing a letter of intent to play hoops for the Wolverines, Gandy etched herself a reminder of what team she's on, one that doesn't wash off with soap and water. On her right shoulder, a blue "M" representing the Michigan logo, along with a basketball and the printed letters, "Steph G.," show her school spirit and reduce her maize, white or blue jer- seys to a redundancy. So far, the "M" tattoo has been a good omen to start Gandy off in the right direction. Starting most games, she has become a leader who generates for her teammates both points and .motion - and definitely pride. THE CHOICE As an upperclassman at Detroit Northern High School, the idea of getting a tattoo appealed to Gandy. With a 4.0 grade- point average, the class presidency and All-State First Team honors in her hands, Gandy enjoyed the leisure of picking which university she wanted to attend. Luckily, her first- choice school also had an emblem that could suffice as arm ar. "Right after I signed with Michigan, I wanted a tattoo, but I didn't knouv of what," Gandy said. "I thought the block 'M' Was real sweet. There's no other school that has a sweet 'M.'" But her parents didn't exactly hop in their car and offer her a ride to the tattoo parlor. "They were against it at first, so I[begged and pleaded to let me have one," Gandy said. "My mom told me when I was 18 I could just get whatever I wanted to get." As her 18th birthday passed, Gandy prepared for the trip to Motor City Tattoos. "I was hesitant with her decision at first,' said Geraldine Gandy, Stephanie's mother. "I didn't know if she really want- ed it." At Motor City Tattoos, Gandy was introduced to artist Logan Dunavanz. Gandy's first question to him was a natural one. "Mostly people ask how it's going to feel," Dunavanz said. "All I can say is it doesn't really feel like anything else other than a tattoo." "I didn't really think I could handle the pain," Gandy said. After concluding that the decision was the right one for her, Gandy focused her attention on making sure the tattoo she envisioned would be the same one that ended up on her upper- arm. She showed Dunavanz the block "M" and both felt mutu- ally ready to proceed. But before busting out the needles, he made sure to put the process into perspective. "Two years after you die, you will still have this tattoo," he said. THE PAIN "She can take pain," Geraldine said of her daughter. "She's usually just very quiet. I have to get it out of her to see what's wrong and only then she'll tell me." Good thing Gandy had a high tolerance for pain, because Dunavanz was no masseuse. Getting a tattoo involves a group of needles in a machine that make holes in the skin, with a particular dye injected in the holes. "No two people deal with the pain in the same way," Dunavanz said. "Some people find it unbearable, and others manage." Gandy, who got a second tattoo just days after getting her wisdom teeth pulled, qualified it. "I had two wisdom teeth out the day before I got the one on my leg and the wisdom teeth felt good compared to getting the tattoo," Gandy said. Michigan coach Sue Guevara "asked me if I liked pain." THE REACTION "My friends just couldn't believe I got it " Gandy said. Neither could Michigan players who were already on the squad. "The first time I saw it was when she was still being recruit- ed," teammate Raina Goodlow said. "I was so shocked that she had that big old block 'M' on her arm." After showing it to her mother, Stephanie finally won over Geraldine. "I think it looks nice Geraldine said. "It seemed to work out fine for us and she likes it." Gandy's coach also had a favorable reaction. But as the only other person on the women's basketball team to a pair have tat- toos, Guevara didn't want Gandy to outnumber her. "I love her 'M,' but I told her she can't have more tattoos than me," said Guevara, who herself has tattoos of a purple rose and an infinity sign on her ankles. "She's got two now, so that's enough," Gandy's mother said. "I don't want her to have too many." Though Gandy is unsure if more tattoos are to come in the future, it's unlikely that her teammates are going to follow suit in showing external team spirit. "I talk about where I'd get one and what I'd get, but I don't think I'd ever do it" LeeAnn Bies said. "I've had few press-ons." THE Now After getting the "M" tattoo, Gandy splurged last month to add masks of happy and sad faces on her leg, doubling her repertoire of branding. She said she might get one or two more, but right now she's happy. Gandy's venture was indeed a daring one, permanently staining her skin before even stepping foot on campus as a stu- dent. But now that she has gotten more than a heaping spoon- ful of a taste of the Michigan women's basketball program and the University itself, she has no regrets. "I feel like I represent Michigan," Gandy said. BRENDAN O'DONNELLtIU Stephanie Gandy signed her letter of intent two ways. One on paper, and one in ink permanently etched into her skin. Women's tumbler Senior hopes to have last laugh against Georgia Seeking a REWARDING SUMMER Job? Payment is room + board plus stipend. The Michigan Intercollegiate tomorrow Is the final meet before the Big Tens. crave itle in Ypsilanti By Shawn Kemp aily Sports Writer It's just two weeks before the Big Ten track and field championships. But the Michigan men's track and field team has another meet to conquer. Tomorrow, the Michigan Intercollegiate takes place in Bowen Field House at Eastern Michigan, and the Wolverines are looking for a team title. "Our intended goal as a team is to go there and win the, team championship," dichigan coach Ron Warhurst said. "We're looking to win something this year." The team lost its only scored meet this season against Indiana, 85-77. But the Wolverines have gained experience through invitationals and practices since that loss. Facing teams such as Eastern Michigan and Michigan State in prior. *nvitationals allows Michigan to better estimate its O S chance of YPSILANTI winning the Who: Michigan (0-1) title. When: Field events 3 p.m., While win- running events 5 p.m. ning the meet Latest: Ike Okenwa in the is the primary 200-meter was Michigan's goal of the only first-place finish at the team, qualify- Meyo Invitational. ing for nation- als is a side concern of many of the ath- letes. Athletes need to attain certain utomatic or provisional NCAA quali- fying standards in order to compete in the meet four weeks from now. But Warhurst is not worried about his athletes qualifying. He said merely com- peting against others should produce the standards, and he doesn't want his ath- letes worrying about making the marks. "I'm not concerned about their dis- tance or their height or their times - I vant them to perform and compete against these people. They've got to learn how to race, and when it comes time to race fast and hard, they'll have that feeling in them" Warhurst said. Some of the athletes received the opportunity to compete at last week- end's Mevn Invitational at Notre Dame. By Chris Burke Daily Sports Writer Four years ago, Karina Senior had a decision to make. The talented gymnast was about to make the jump from high school to college athletics and had to decide which college would reap the bene- fits of her ability - Michigan or Georgia. After a visit to Ann Arbor, her mind was made up. "I came here and loved the team," Senior said. "The Michigan atmos- ATHE phere just dominated. It Who: Michil wasn't a hard decision." Georgia (10 Now Senior, in her When: 7:30 fourth and final year, will Latest:TheI lead the No. 8 Michigan coming offa women's gymnastics team last meet ag into a big regular season and Aubumn showdown tomorrow nation's ben night against the team that she turned down, fourth-ranked Georgia. The 'GymDogs'' have had the Wolverines' number during Senior's career, defeating them all nine times the two teams have met in the last four years. Those losses include the 1999 national championships where Georgia won the title by holding off the Wolverines by the slimmest of margins, 196.850-196.550. "It's still a little motivating," Senior said of trying to get over the hump against Georgia. "We know that we just have to go out there and beat them, so we've really tried to stay away of focusing on this one team." Adding to the pressure of trying to overcome the Georgia curse is the fact that Michigan is battling to shake off a disappointing perfor- mance last weekend in a loss to Florida, a team that Georgia has already defeated this season. Senior struggled right along with m EN igan p. sw as gai 1, itta her team last week. Problems on the balance beam and the floorexercise caused Senior to total only a 37.825 in the all-around competition - her lowest score of the year. Despite that, Senior is confident in her abilities. "I don't think I've hit my highest level yet," Senior said. "I don't real- ly think of it individually, but I don't think I've peaked yet." Sitting eighth in the national rank- ings, Michigan is in prime position to make a run to the national S, GA. championships at the' n(7-4) at end of the year. That 1) competition will be m. hosted by Georgia at the overines, same location as #it in their Saturday's meet. nst Florida This meet gives ok to make Michigan a golden gainstof the eeafs opportunity to not only rebound from last week's performance, but also to make a statement at the arena they hope will be sight of its national title celebration come April. There's no question that a long weekend trip to compete against a RoUtimE SCORE vault: 9.715 uneven bars: 9.819 balance beam: 9.560 floor exercise: 9.725 all around: 38.725 Senior leader Senior gymnast, Karna Senior, could have chosen to attend Georgia. But instead, Michigan has benefited from her play this season instead. PERO RAS 5 4 5 5 4 very talented Georgia team will pose a challenge for Michigan. However, a win serves notice to the nation that the Wolverines will be a major factor the rest of the year. * "We have to regroup from last week;' Senior said. "We've just got to go in and compete as a team. "I think we can do it." LOWEST PRICES! HIGHESTQUALITY! E * FASTEST SER VICE! * 1002 PONTIAC TR. U 994-1367 - - - - -- M Wanted Coach/Assistant Coach for 13 year-old children's travel baseball team. Contact Bruce Curtis at 734-669-0930 or brucecurtis@mediaone.net - - - - - - Classic Japanese Cuisine" 734-930-2 O-3115 Dak Valley Dr.' Ann Anrb r m - - - - - --o m m m m _- r I I I I I I I I I I I - - - - Are you. independent? (usd Re e~nfulai wf energeth? taking initiative working with a fv >::> 1 ~1 1 '1 :1 '1 The uitimute reaIIif, ,xpnirne in Israel and Interested in building a unique resi