fi"c
Daiy forum.
Si.oy excited for tomorrow's spring football game'
Ar xu disappointed by your favorite team's coverage.'
J t plin bored?
SC,,p ' flhng from the sidelines. Speak your mind at
lniitIiihandauiv. omlfln-um. We'll see you there.
michigandaily.com /sports
PORTS
FRIDAY
APRIL 13, 2001
8
Amaker addresses plans and
hopes for Blue's program
Five things
I hate
about
'U'
JESSICA
JOHNSON/Daily
Michigan QB
John Navarre
Spring fling
The Michigan Athletic Department's
,annual "Springfest" takes place
tomorrow. Set your alarms and throw
on some grubs for the following:
* 9 a.m. - 5K Fun Run/Walk at
N ighigan Stadium
* 9 a.m. - men's and women's
track hosts Central Michigan and
Michigan State at Ferry Field
9a.m. - hockey equipment sale
'at Yost Ice Arena
Ye40 a.m. - "Garage Sale" at Cliff
,Keen Arena
4 1,p.m. - Spring Football Game at
,the, "Big House"
After the pep rally in his honor yesterday,
the new Michigan basketball coach,
Tommy Amaker, agreed to sit down with
The Michigan Daily. The following are excerpts
from the conversation.
The Michigan Daily: What do you, as a coach,
have to do to get.fans back in here?
Tommy Amaker: I think as a coach, we need to
provide a team that the students can identify with.
By that I mean the way in which we're going to
play - we're going to do those five things: We're
going to be passionate, we're going to be prepared,
we're going to be honest, we're going to have fun
and we're going to be Michigan.
And I think our students can identify with that
because those are the things I'm hoping we all are
going to learn from and get better from and I think
we can do other things.
We're going to be able to do things in the com-
munity, we're going to go around to some of the
dorms in the fall and try to talk to some of the stu-
dents and bring some of the players and see if
that's a way we can drum up some support.
TMD: In New Jersey, the newspapers haven't
exactly been kind to you. What hurts you more,
seeing people criticize the season you had at Setonf
Hall and your coaching ability or when they criti- E.
cize your character and say that you're a liar?
Amaker: It's never fun or exciting when people
say things about you that are negative. But I think .
we've all come to know what to expect in ther
world of college athletics or sports in general.
Everyone's not always going to be satisfied in the {..
things that maybe they want and they see. I thinkx
the thing that holds me together about any of those _
things is the fact that you always want to be true
to yourself and you always want to try to do what .;
you feel is right. It's not always going to be right,
but you're always going to try to do what is right. Do b t y a l h b r B
TMD: Does it bother you at all that befire Bill
Martin went to you, he actively pursued Rick Pitino?
Amaker: (laughing) If I were an athletic direc-
tor at a university that was trying to fill a basket-
ball coaching position and Rick Pitino was
available, he'd be my first choice. I'm flattered '
that I had a chance to come here to be a represen-
tative of our school.
That's Rick Pitino. He's one of the best that's RACHEL FEIERMAN/Daily
ever walked the sidelines and I'm sure that if I had Tommy Amaker (left) speaks with Director of Ticket Opera-
See AMAKER, Page 9 tions Marty Bodnar at yesterday's "team meeting."
Pitching will strive to
avenge Gopher sweep
By Steve Jackson
Daily Sports Writer
It's the middle of the 2001 cam-
paign and Michigan is in the middle
of the conference standings.
This weekend's pivotal four-game
set against Minnesota could land the
Wolverines in the Big Ten pent-
house - or the outhouse.
"This is the season basically,"
junior firstbaseman Nate Wright
said.
'Either we are going to be on top
or we'll be on the bottom."
Michigan has won its last four
conference battles - all against
Indiana - to bring its fifth-place
MIN N EAPOLIS
Who: Michigan (5-3 Big Ten, 16-12 overall) vs.
Minnesota (8-3, 20-13)
When: 3 p.m. today, 3 p.m. tomorrow, I p.m.
Sunday
Latest: Minnesota was 2000's champion in the
regular season. The competition is Michigan's
most important thus far.
record up to 5-3.
A sweep in Minneapolis would
solidify the Wolverines as con-
tenders to the crown.
"The rankings will change a lot
with four games, hopefully we will
just keep moving up," sophomore
pitcher Brad McCloskey said.
See GOPHERS, Page 9
Wen I first joined the Daily I
wasn't sure which section of
the paper I wanted to write'
for. I narrowed my decision down to
writing sports or movie reviews for the
arts section. The movies editor wanted
me to write a few sample reviews and
told me he may or may not be hiring '
new reviewers that semester. So here I
am.
Don't get me wrong. I am a huge
sports fan and grateful for all of the
opportunities that writing for the spo
section has offered me. But after three
years of it, I've had enough. I'm just
tired of writing about Drew Henson or
Brian Ellerbe.
So with my final column, I thought
I'd do something a
little bit different.
Everyone writes
about how wonder-
ful their experience
has been at the
Daily or how col-
lege has been the
best four years ofry',YI
their life. MICHAEL
College has been KERN
a great time for me, Finish
and I couldn't have Ln
picked a better Le
place to do it than
here in Ann Arbor. But over these last
few years here, there are a few things'
about this town that have really gotten
under my skin.
So without further ado, here's a list-
of my top five least favorite things'
about Ann Arbor and the University of
Michigan.
5. I can't get a decent slice of pizza
anywhere in this town.Y',
There must be 20 different places t&
buy a slice of pizza here, and for one'
reason or another, they all suck. EitX*
the slices are too small (Backroom a't
Bell's). It's really shitty pizza (Diag
Party Store). Or it costs way more than
anyone should charge for a slice of'
pizza with some noodles on it (NYPD).
4. MSA
I'm sure I'll get a few responses for
this one, but so what. The Michigan
Student Assembly is full of a bunch of
pretentious resume builders who do lit-
tle if anything to actually improve stur-
dent life. In my four years at this
University, I can't tell you one thing
that MSA has done that has affected'my
life in any possible way. So screw
3. Off-campus student housing'
Everyone has their horror stories; aid
to this point, I've never met a student.
who said that he/she had a truly wn -,
derful experience and got the full value
of what they spent for their living spac*
Currently, my roommate and I are
dealing with a sliding glass door that'
won't fully shut and lock. To keep out
unwanted guests, we have to jimmy the
door shut with a metal bar. To name
just a few of the 500 other problems,-
the front hall of our building smells like
stale cigarettes and our front porch i"'
littered with broken beer bottles on a
daily basis. And I'd say our apartment*
is nicer than at least half of those on
campus.
On that note, I'd like to send some
special thanks to Juan the maintenance
man for keeping our humble abode in
such excellent condition. It truly is
worth every penny of the $900 we
spend each month.
2. Ann Arbor is a hopelessly
mediocre bar town.
I've traveled all over the Big Ten a,
the eastern part of the United States
covering sports for the Daily, and while
Ann Arbor isn't the worst bar town I
have ever been to - Evanston wins
that in a landslide - it certainly is
nowhere near the best.
The drinks are weak, especially if'
they are part of any kind of deal. Aside
from Dominick's, none of the campus
bars have any kind of originality. Ande
except for the occasional garage band at
Touchdowns, live music is rarely seen
this side of Main Street.
1. Cell phones
* I hate cell-phones and the people that
use them. Cell phones have gotten to
the point in this town where they are ,
Sun Shines at the University of Michigan
SunDay kicks off
Sun Microsystems' 2001
Matching Grant
promotion
l0un representatives
will be on hand
Tuesday, April 17th
In the Media Union,
first floor hallway
10:00 am - 4:00 pm