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SPORTSWEAE
Sports desk: 647-3336
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Crisler changes aplenty; students to floor
By Joe Smith
Daily Sports Editor
Students will finally be brought
down to the Crisler Arena floor, in the
form of 623 bleacher seats behind both
the home and visitor's bench.
And when they do, they may not
r gnize the place - as Crisler has
undergone a huge overhaul since new
basketball coach Tommy Amaker has
arrived on the scene.
The changes, discussed by Amaker,
women's basketball coach Sue Gue-
vara and Athletic Director Bill Martin,
are all a part of Amaker's plan to both
liven up Crisler and bring back the
"timeless" and "traditional" nature of
the program.
"I don't think of Michigan being
anything gimmicky or tricky," Amaker
said. "I think of it as traditional, of
being classic, of being powerful, and of
standards - things that have lasted the
test of time."
Everything from the paint on the
floor to the size of the bathroom stalls
in the Michigan locker room have
changed, and players say the change is
good.
"I love it," senior tri-captain Leon
Jones said of the changes. "I feel like a
freshman all over again."
Work began on the project in late
June and should be finished by early
October.
The floor has been refinished for
only the third time in the building's 34-
year history, with the floor being sand-
ed to give it a lighter look. The keys
won't be painted blue anymore and the
basketball will be removed from the
top of the keys. The word "Michigan"
will still be painted behind both bas-
kets, but only in the northwest and
southeast corners.
"It's more of a traditional feel," said
Lisa Panetta-Alt, who is the manager
of Crisler Arena. The floor is "very
similar to the way (former basketball
coach) Steve Fisher had it." Panetta-
Alt added that the bleachers are "high
school styled" and will give Crisler a
"totally different look."
And that's the way a lot of the play-
ers liked it.
"When I was young, the floor was
very simple and plain - and that's
some of the reason why I came here,"
See CRISLER, Page 26A
MARJOF
The refinished floor of Crisler Arena will give it a totally different look.
assing
grae
ichigan 31,
iami(Ohio) 13
'M' capitalizes on errors
to secure season opener
MARJUIE MARSHALL/Daily
Tommy Amaker hopes that the reunion
Aill create a family atmosphere.
Amalker
ft)host
bdasketball
oe Smith
:gaily Sports Editor
As one of the first steps in new
coach Tommy Amaker's plan to create
a "family" atmosphere for the basket-
ball program, every former player and
manager has been invited, back for a
"Michigan Basketball Reunion" of
sorts on Sept. 15.
"I want our current guys to interact
our former guys," Amaker said.
" important that they get a sense of
what it's like to be a 'Michigan Man'
- someone who has gone out and
graduated, and moved on to different
things."
Amaker said all the Wolverines will
be interacting in the form of a barbeque
and tailgating before the football team
takes on Western Michigan. The alum-
r so have an option of playing golf
over the weekend with the current
players, and running the floor in a few
pickup games in the morning at
Crisler.
"Maybe some of the gang can make
it over to my house - if it's finished,"
Amaker added with a smile.
"ft's going to be a low-key weekend
-- but I hope it will be a lot of fun as
well."
ile Amaker and his wife are both
Thing the move-in process into their
new home, Amaker said he hopes this
event can be a springboard to making
some "family" of the program feel
more at home themselves.
Amaker noticed the hundreds of
alumni that returned to participate in
the Michigan hockey team's golf out-
ing and reunion in early August, and
h s that he can start a similar tradi-
t with basketball.
"We want to get up to par with that,"
Amaker said of the hockey team's fam-
ily atmosphere. "We're trying to bring
:gem back and see if we can develop
that type of tradition of coming back
- Pr
DAVID ROUCHIIJDDaily
John Navarre's performance was good enough to beat Miami (Ohio), but the Wolverines will have to make improve-
ments all around in order to contend for the Big Tep Title.
1-0, but Miclukan sti has a ways to go
By Jeff Phillips
Daily Sports Editor
In its first game of the 2001 season,
Michigan looked sluggish and inexpe-
rienced - but it still got the job done
with a 31-13 win over visiting Miami
(Ohio).
The Wolverines took advantage of
the RedHawks' three turnovers, turn-
ing them into 21 points.
"They made big plays when they
had to on their defense," Miami head
coach Terry Hoeppner said. "We had a
lot of opportunities and we didn't take
advantage of them, and obviously,
Michigan did."
The Wolverines stumbled out of the
gate, opting for a conservative series
of B.J. Askew runs and short passes
by John Navarre.
On Miami's first possession, the
Michigan defense was caught off-
guard by the RedHawks' spread
offense and surrendered a 33-yard run
by Miami's Luke Clemens. But a
heads-up interception by sophomore
linebacker Carl Diggs - playing in
the place of the injured Eric Brackins
- stopped the RedHawks before they
crossed the 50-yard line.
Senior standout linebacker Larry
Foote joined Brackins on the sideline
after an injury on Miami's first drive.
On the first play of Michigan's
ensuing possession, a 37-yard pass
from Navarre to deep threat Marquise
Walker was reminiscent of a Drew
Henson to David Terrell connection of
the 2000 season, and put the ball
inside the Miami 5-yard line.
After two unsuccessful runs by
Askew, he finally punched it in on a
controversial dive across the end line.
It appeared he may have fumbled
before he crossed the plane, but offi-
cials ruled that he scored before drop-
ping the football.
"I was pretty sure I held onto it,"
Askew said.
After another punt by Miami, the
Michigan offense was again able to
easily breakdown the RedHawks'
defense.
Receptions of 15 and 19 yards by
junior Ronald Bellamy set up the first
of two Calvin Bell reverses to put the
ball back inside the RedHawks' five-
yard line.
The Miami defense didn't break as
it stopped a Chris Perry run and a
short pass to Walker after Navarre
tripped and fell for a loss of four on
first down. Senior Hayden Epstein
tacked on a 22-yard field goal to up
the lead to 10-0.
After a 22-yard field goal by senior
Hayden Epstein made the score 10-0,
Miami got on the board with a quick
six-play drive that lasted less than
three minutes. Freshman quarterback
Ben Roethlisberger connected with
junior wideout Eddie Tillitz for a 21-
yard score.
The extra point was blocked by line-
backer Shantee Orr, and the score
remained 10-6.
"Shantee is a tremendous athlete,"
head coach Lloyd Carr said. "He is a
guy with great jumping ability."
The Miami touchdown began a
scoring drought as neither the Red-
Hawks nor the Wolverines could man-
age a first down.
The frustration of Michigan culmi-
nated with a failure to pick up the first
down on a fourth-and-one run attempt
by B.J. Askew at the. 50-yard line.
The momentum swing was short-
lived by Miami as Roethlisberger
again caved under the pressure of the
Wolverines' pass rush and threw an
interception to junior cornerback
Brandon Williams.
"We had some pressure and I think
(Roethlisberger) made a couple of bad
throws - really threw the ball under
See MIAMI, Page 20A
Any win is a good win. And this
past Saturday
afternoon, the
Wolverines
were able to
stay out of the
loss column.
So that's good.
But an ugly
victory over an
inferior oppo-
nent is still
cause for trou-
ble. And on
Saturday, the
JON
SCHWARrL
The Schwartz
Authority
might see what happens to a good
team that doesn't get it together in
time to take the field. It would be a
realization similar to the one suf-
fered last year in the scorching heat
of the Rose Bowl after a 23-20 loss
to UCLA in the third game of the
season.
In last season's first two games
over Bowling Green and Rice, the
Wolverines looked very good. So
did their record.
But then-backup John Navarre
was not ready to face the Bruins. His
solid performances against the Fal-
cons and the Owls were not indica-
tive of his ability against the
nation's elite.
So what does Michigan's average
performance against Miami say
about its chances in Seattle this
weekend or in the Big Ten race?
It's hard to tell at this point. The
Wolverines were rusty in their first
game -not a rare occurrence, by
any means. They were without two
of their star linebackers, Eric Brack-
ins and Larry Foote. They were
christening an almost brand new
offensive line and a new starting
quarterback and tailback.
So there's no need for the dooms-
day fears just yet, unless Michigan
doesn't shake off the rust and do
what it takes to secure a victory in
See SCHWARTZ, Page 20A
Wolverines did look tremendously
sloppy. That's troubling.
This coming weekend, Michigan
I -
Hershey's defense not enough to stop 'M' field hockey
By David Roth
Daily Sports Writer
Louisville field hockey goalkeeper
Christy Hershey played sweet defense, but
Michigan forward Adrienne Hortillosa
managed to squeak one shot by to give the
Wolverines a 1-0 victory Sunday.
On the scorecard, Michigan (3-1) domi-
nated, out-shooting the Cardinals 21-3 and
holding the penalty corner advantage 8-0.
But Hershey's relentless defense kept
Louisville afloat until the Michigan fresh-
man used solid stick work to give her team
the lead with 7:50 left in the first half.
"If you take just straight shots on her,
she's going to get you," Hortillosa said.
"So I pulled right and saw she left the goal
nnen between her nads and the nost."
why she's here."
It was the second time this season that
Hortillosa had provided the game's only
offense. She gave Michigan a 1-0 win
against last year's national champion Old
Dominion on Aug. 26.
Louisville was playing in its season
debut. Of the four teams Michigan has
faced, the Cardinals are the only one not in
the Top 15, but Hershey's netminding
made the contest just as much of a chal-
lenge as Michigan's games with more
highly acclaimed opponents.
"Louisville has really come on in that
last couple of years," Pankratz said. She
added that head coach Pam Bustin "has
taken that program to a whole other level
and they're getting better and better."
Though the Wolverines' offense had a
Pankratz said. "Our concept is a team
game to pass the ball and to pass it quick-
ly."
Michigan's 21 shots-on-goal were the
most the offense had put up this season.
Facing such a tough goalie kept Michi-
gan's persistence high.
"It's great to see the forwards down
there diving on the ground," Tasch said.
"They wanted it real bad."
"We should've gotten more than one
goal in there," Hortillosa said. "We had a
lot of shots on goal and we could have had
a lot of tip-ins."
It didn't take long for the Wolverines to
figure out that Hershey was a brick wall.
"We went down there the first 10 sec-
onds and got a dead stop," Fronzom said.
"That goalkeeper was amazing."
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