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STS

TUESDAY
SEPTEMBER 11, 2001

10


JON
SCHWARTZ

'M' tight ends
thriving with
extended role
By Jon Schwartz
Daily Sports Editor

Ripken may be leaving,
but the game will live on

SEATTLE - While here for the
football game, I had an opportuni-
ty to check out a game Safeco
Field, the new home of the Seattle
Mariners.
The place is incredible, worthy of a
team as good as the Mariners, much like
Comerica Park deserves a better team
than the Tigers.
And while I was sitting along the
first-base side, one thought that kept
coming to mind as I watched the crowd
go wild for the visiting Orioles' Cal
Ripken was, "Man, think about all of
the memories that Cal is leaving behind
this weekend when he plays in Safeco
for the last time."
Obviously, I'm being facetious. But
it's a bit ridiculous when you look at he
way the earth has recently started spin-
ning on an axis wearing No. 8.
I'm a big fan of Cal Ripken. He's an
incredible baseball player. I think that
he has been nothing short of a tremen-
dous ambassador to the world of base-
ball.
And I'm not going to put down his
consecutive-games-played record like
some people do. Sure, he didn't go 3-4
with two homers in each game, but to
stand on the field every day for 2,632
games in incredible. I rarely go three
days without skipping a class. He went
17 years.
In all seriousness, that record says
everything about Cal Ripken's character
that you'll ever need to know - he
always came to play.
So let me make it clear that my gripe
is not with Ripken. But my god, people,
he's not some sort of deity.
I don't think that Ripken enjoys hav-
ing to step out of the batter's box every
game to tip his helmet to the fans.
I don't think that he cares when peo-
ple ask him if he's going to miss play-
ing in Comerica Park, a field that he's
played all of seven games on.
I don't think that he wants a ceremo-
ny at every stop on his farewell tour.
But Cal Ripken doesn't have a
choice. He has to tip his cap. He has to

say how much he'll miss playing in
Comerica Park. He has to accept the gift
and graciously acknowledge that how
lucky he feels to be so appreciated.
He does it because he's a classy play-
er, and if he didn't, it would be looked
down upon.
If he asked, in as polite a way as pos-
sible, for all of the attention to die down,
he'd be crucified by the media for not
caring about the fans enough to let them
grieve. People would say - incorrectly,
I might add - that he's aloof and that
he doesn't respect the game enough to
realize the impact that he's had on it.
That's foolish, but it would happen.
So he appeases the fans and the media
by letting them treat him the like only
game in town.
Without Ripken, baseball will go on.
Ichiro-mania will continue to sweep the
nation, George Steinbrenner will still be
Satan and the Tigers will not be very
good.
So why is America acting like the
baseball is losing its only son?
The sport will miss Cal Ripken.
He should be missed.
Along with Sammy Sosa and Mark
McGwire, Ripken really brought base-
ball back from its darkest days in recent
memory, the strike that cancelled the
World Series. Ripken gave fans some-
thing to cheer about again, a reason to
fill the seats.
Ripken showed elementary school
teachers everywhere that it's true that it
doesn't matter whether you win or lose
- it's how you play the game. It didn't
matter if he couldn't get a hit in three
straight games. He was always there.
So miss him. Tell your grandchildren
about the "Iron Man." Remember the
way that the entire country watched him
hit a homer in the game that broke Lou
Gehrig's record and also in his final All-
Star Game.
Miss Cal Ripken.
Just wait until he's actually gone.
Jon Schwartz can be reached
atjlsz@umich.edu.

In the first game of the 2000 football season,
Michigan's star tight end Shawn Thompson went
down with a knee injury that would keep him out of
action for the entire season.
As a result, the tight ends did not seem to fit in
much with Michigan's offensive plans. With David
Terrell and Marquise Walker catching nearly every-
thing in sight, tailback Anthony Thomas powering
through the line and Drew Henson standing in the
pocket and creating positive situations out of noth-
ing, the tight ends served primarily as blockers.
So it has come as a bit of a surprise this year that
after two games, Michigan's tight ends are finding
their way into the box scores.
"It's exciting to finally be an important part of
this offense," senior Bill Seymour said. Seymour
has already caught five passes for 65 yards after
making only eight catches for 95 yards all of last
season.
The Wolverines' are still waiting for Thompson
to make a full recovery. The fifth-year senior --
Michigan's offensive captain - has yet to catch a
pass this season and has seen very limited time.
Going back to the tight ends
Unlike last year, the Michigan offense has start-
ed incorporating the tight ends into the game
plan. Tight ends have caught nine passes in the
Wolverines' first two games.
Here is a breakdown of the tight ends' perfor-
mance in comparison to last year's first two
games, based on catches and yards gained.
Player: Last year: This year:
Shawn Thompson 1-9 0-0
Bill Seymour 0-0 5-65
Bennie Joppru 1-5 4-26*
* - Joppru caught the game-winning touchdown
pass against Miami (Ohio).

"

MARJORIE MARSHALL/Daily
Shawn Thompson is still recovering from an injury that sidelined him for all of last season. He's seen limited
action so far this season, but in the meantime, the team's other tight ends have been turning heads.

In his stead, Seymour, Bennie Joppru and Eric
Rosel have become "the strongest, deepest position
on our team," coach Lloyd Carr said. Joppru has
caught four passes for 26 yards.
"We have great talent at tight end," Thompson
said. "Our tight ends are getting the job done."
Against Miami (Ohio) and Washington, Carr
made the tight ends an extremely important part of
the Wolverines' sets.
Generally having them run a fade pattern on a
play action, quarterback John Navarre has seen the
ends and gotten them the ball nine times so far this
season. Joppru caught the winning touchdown
against Miami (Ohio) on fourth and goal from the
two-yard line.
"We've been doing our best trying to get open
and John's been doing a great job of feeding us the
= ball," Seymour said. "We're just hoping that con-
tinues throughout the rest of the year."

More than the positive yardage that they've
gained on their catches, Carr sees the improved
tight end play opening up the offense.
"If you can throw the ball to the tight end off the
play action, that really helps your running game,"
Carr said.
In the coming weeks, it will be interesting to see
how the group adjusts to the increased role that
Thompson will be playing. Still the leader at the
position, Thompson feels like he's almost back to
where he was before the injury.
"Each week I'm getting better and better,"
Thompson said. "I'm just going out there and doing
whatever I can to help the team out."
Seymour knows that whenever Thompson does
get back to 100 percent, the tight ends should con-
tinue to pace the offense.
"Shawn is one of the best tight ends in the coun-
try," he said.

0

Young ready to lead
cagersinto new era
Moore a no-show at Pete Newell's Big Man camp

Daily Sports.
We've been around for
110 straight years.
Eat that, Ripken.

By Joe Smith
Daily Sports Editor
Chris Young is a man on a mis-
sion.
The Michigan senior forward
proved it in his latest trip to the
Pete Newell Big.Man Camp in
Honolulu, Hawaii this past
August. Young not only banged
bodies with some top post players
in the camp, but he also faced the
challenge of climbing a 3,000 foot
mountain with some fellow big
men one afternoon.
And they only had 35 minutes to
complete the feat, as the trail
closed at 6 p.m.
"We thought 'Hey, we're ath-

FILE PHOTO
Last year, Chris Young was often Michigan's emotional leader on the basketball court.
This season, he's going to have to establish himself as a force in the paint, as well.


A U T O M A
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letes,"' Young said. " 'We can do
this."'
But they soon realized that run-
ning up a mountain after going
through three hours of drills at
camp that afternoon wasn't that
easy.
"When we started to come
down, the sun had set," Young
said.
After dealing a fiasco trying to
catch their taxi, a 35-minute trip
had turned into an eight hour
adventure.
But the exhausted Young didn't
mind at all. He wanted to take
advantage of every opportunity he
had on the trip, including climbing
mountains, parasailing and visiting
Pearl Harbor.
"I don't want to have any
regrets," Young said. "I'm all
about going and doing it."
Young also took advantage of
all the drills at the camp and the
tutelage he got from coaches Pete
Newell and new Pistons coach
Rick Carlisle.
"The drills were quite new to
the majority of the players," camp
coordinator and former Chaminade
coach Merv Lopes said from his
office in Hawaii. "Such as learn-
ing to play out on the wing, using
a specific pivot foot while facing
the basket and putting the ball on
the floor and attacking the
defense."
Lopes said Young grabbed the
staff's attention by how quickly he
grasped the new techniques, and
pointed out how well Young's
footwork improved over the dura-
tion of the camp.
And Lopes wasn't Young's only
fan at the camp. Carlisle spent
some time working with Young at
different stations and was
impressed as well.
"I likedhis enthusiasm and his
work ethic," Carlisle said. "I think
he's got some real skill and the
ability to step put and shoot. He's

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