4 SPORTS WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 12, 2001 14. Game on? Sports world mourns, considers postponement of more of its events 0 NEW YORK (AP) - Major league baseball postponed its entire schedule of 15 games last night following terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. Baseball commissioner Bud Selig made the decision about Status of M' sports Because of terrorist tragedies, the status of Michigan's sporting events this weekend is up in the air. Here are the contests that may be affected. FOOTBALL: Saturday's game between Michigan and Western Michigan is on for now. A decision wMll be made this afternoon in a teleconference between 10 NCAA football commissioners. FIELD HOCKEY: It is uncertain whether Michigan will make a trip to Connecticut for the Big Ten-Big East Challenge. Coach Mar- cia Pankratz may schedule a game against Central Michigan on Sunday instead. VOLLEYBALL: Today's game in Notre Dame is still on, as of now, but Michigan is scheduled to host the Nike Invitational in Ann Arbor this weekend. So far, Montana will not participate and Vir- ginia Tech is "on the fence," according to Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations Bruce Madej. Coach Mark Rosen is trying to find local teams to fill the spots. SOCCER: Michigan has not received any response on the status of both the men's and women's games in Louisville, Ky. and Storrs, Conn., respectively. GOLF: Women are still planning on participating in Mary Fossum Invitational in East Lansing this weekend. But it's uncertain whether the men will travel to Minneapolis on Monday. three-and-a-half hours after the attacks began in New York: "In the interest of security and out of a sense of deep mourning for the national tragedy that has occurred today, all major league baseball games for (today) have been can- celed," Selig said in a statement yesterday. Selig did not make any decisions about today's games. "I will continue to monitor the situation on a daily basis and make ongoing decisions accordingly," Selig said. "My deepest sympathy and prayers go out to the families and victims of this horrendous series of events." The minor leagues - their regular seasons over - post- poned postseason games in all nine leagues that were to play yesterday. "Out of respect to the families and friends of those people who lost their lives or were injured in today's tragic events, we have postponed all playoff games scheduled for tonight in the United States," Mike Moore said yesterday. Moore is president of the National Asso- ciation of Professional Baseball Leagues, the governing body for the minors. The International, Pacific Coast, Eastern, Southern, Texas, California, Florida State, Midwest and South Atlantic leagues were affected. One of the minor league baseball teams, the Newark Bears, has a view of the lower Manhattan skyline, where smoke filled the air after the World Trade Center was destroyed. Major League Soccer postponed all four games that had been scheduled for tonight. I 6 AP PHOTOU Enron Field was not the only empty stadium last night, as every Major League baseball game was cancelled. In Columbus, the U.S. Women's Cup doubleheader at Crew Stadium involving the United States against Japan* and Germany vs. China was postponed. The PGA Tour canceled tomorrow's start of the World Golf Championship and two other tournaments. Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said the American Express Championship in St. Louis, featuring Tiger Woods and top players from tours around the world, would begin Friday with 36 holes. "This is a sad, sad day in America," Woods said after playing a practice round, which he began about two hours before the initial attack on the World Trade Center. Curry adds new dimension to special teams By Raphael Goodstein Daily Sports Editor For the first time in recent memory, the Michigan punt return unit made a major contribution, returning five punts for 93 yards against Washington. Junior Julius Curry returned four of those punts for 78 yards, and was a shoe-string tackle away from turning one 32-yard return into a touchdown. "We've done a tremendous job with that team," football coach Lloyd Carr said. "(Coaches) Bobby Morrison and Brady Hoke have done a tremendous job in terms of creating enthusiasm for that type of team. It started some- where last season before Ronald Bellamy got banged up at the end of the year. This year, that performance on Saturday was as good a punt return team since I've been in coaching. Julius did a great job." Michigan has had great return performances before - Charles Woodson, Amani Toomer and Derrick Alexander all come to mind - but many of their best returns were individual plays, where they forced opposing players to __ MARJORIE MARSHALL/Daily Strong safety Julius Curry sparked Michigan's special teams by returning four punts for 78 yards to add to his three tackles on defense. miss tackles. While Curry's returns where impressive, they were set up by the entire punt return unit applying pressure on the punter and opening holes for Curry. "There are a lot of young guys up there playing hard," Carr said. "The guys who jam our wide receivers - Marlin Jackson, Markus Curry, Zia Combs - did an excellent job. Brandon Williams came off the corner, Mar- quise Walker made a great strong move to block the punt. We've got some guys who take great pride in what they do." Curry also credited his performance to his teammates. "The thing about a good punt returner is getting a good rush," he said. "Some teams are man on one side and zone on another. If we get a team that is zone on both sides we'll be good. Markus Curry, Marlin Jackson and Zia Combs did a good job on their gunners." When asked why the Wolverines suddenly turned it up a notch - both on defense and special teams - Curry pointed out that the Wolverines play bet- ter in bigger games than they do when playing, unranked teams. "Our intensity went to another level knowing we were going against Washington, one of the top schools in the country," Curry said. "We knew we had to bring it 10-times harder." Curry made three tackles as well. The Washington game was also the first time that the Wolverines have ever played a game on field turf - an artificial grass which is softer than astroturf - though Oosterbaan field, the indoor practice facility, uses the surface. "I like the turf, actually" Curry said. "Our field indoors is good. I liked Itheirs too, it was softer, it felt more like real grass. It's always good to have it a bit softer, for harder grasses when you stomp on it, you might get your :leats caught." The jury on Curry Curry is averaging 12.8 yards per return on the season. Only eight Wolverines have ever averaged better than that: Player Year Average 1. Desmond Howard * 1991 15.8 yards per return 2. Terry Barr 1955 14.8 3. Tripp Wilborne * 1990 14.7 4. Anthony Carter * 1982 14.2 5. Barry Pierson 1969 14.0 6. Gene Derricote 1946 13.9 7. Anthony Carter * 1980 13.3 * All American I _ _ Offensive. Tasteless. Informative. < the ONION LDISPATCLU Rfm LE Arabs, Israelis Loved ones Recall Local Man's Get the new book from B ' Screw Cowardly Battle With Cancer the #1 New York Times Peace' Accord bestselling authors of 2 Our Dumb Century. enth Circle Added To Rapidly Crowing Hel Oprah Viewers Patfiuy i Outselng Await Instruc'ons ResposW Don't start 2002 without Onion calendars IS PATF EN T IRCLE 2002 wall calendar 'A OUR 2002 wall calendar n .1 I ,