michigandaily.com/sports PRS
TUESDAY
SEPTEMBER 25, 2001
8
JON
SCHWARTZ
Askew steps up as No. 1 back
Former lineman Maurice Williams finally earns degree
Meet the Mets. Team
USA for our new era
In the middle of October on the sports calendar, baseball usually
reigns supreme. The World Series captivates the eyes of fans as they
watch the season's culmination unfold.
Not so much last year, though.
Last year, the majority of voices, particularly those away from the East
Coast, spoke of little interest in the World Series. They said they hated
both teams and that the series only applied to people from New York.
It's no surprise - people from outside of New York rarely like the
city's sports teams. They view the clubs as proof that the most money is
equal to the most success.
But this year, it seems that a new mentality has taken hold.
I'm going to be perfectly honest here - I'm a lifelong Mets fan, and
would like nothing more than to see the Mets in the playoffs again this
year. A month ago, they seemed completely out of contention for the
postseason, and people seemed intent on pointing out - at every possi-
ble opportunity - that they hated the Mets and that the World Series run
last year was a fluke.
I was optimistic that maybe the Mets could turn it around, but deep
down, I knew it was impossible.
And suddenly ...
The Mets have won 22 of their last 28 games. They're now four games
behind the National League East leading Braves. With a win Sunday, it
would have been two.
But what's going on now is more than just a comeback. Now, even
though it started before Sept. 11, the Mets seem to be carrying the coun-
try on its shoulders, bringing Americans back emotionally.
"I'm definitely pulling for the Mets," said LSA junior Matt Bechtold, a
Traverse City native and Cubs fan. "I think it's good to see the Mets
come out and get a bit of recognition'
The Mets have brought the tragedy into their daily routine on the field.
Since the second game back, the team has worn hats recognizing the
New York rescue workers. Relief pitcher John Franco, who had many
friends in the New York Fire Department that were lost in the wreckage,
has become the face of the team struck hardest by the national tragedy.
"I think these terrorist attacks have brought America together," said
sophomore LSA student Raehan Qureshi. "New York has suffered the
most from the attacks and I think for that reason, a lot of people want to
cheer for the Mets."
All baseball fans are seeing what the Mets are doing. And for the first
time that I can remember, there's resounding approval, and even happi-
ness from long-time Met-haters.
"I saw the Mike Piazza home run and I felt a sting of patriotism," said
fifth-year LSA senior Michael Alber. On Friday night, Piazza homered in
the bottom of the eighth to give the team the lead, and after a scoreless
top, the win.
Alber wasn't too big a fan of the Subway Series last year, but he
wouldn't mind seeing one this time around.
"I think it would completely different," he said.
It would be different. For the Mets to make the postseason, they will
have to continue a miraculous comeback. The odds of it happening are
slim, which makes the story even more intriguing. Senior LSA student
Matt Engel is a Braves fan, the Mets biggest rival, but he knows that it
would be easier to handle a New York comeback this year than in years
past.
"I wouldn't be too mad," he said, "because it would be good for the
city. Normally, though, it wouldn't be kosher."
Sure, the circumstances are horrible, and I'm not about to say that any-
thing good might come out of the tragedy. But like it or not, the Mets
have, in a way, become America's team, as a result. The Yankees are
expected to be good every year - winning four of the last five World
Series will do that for a team.
But just a month ago, the Mets were the city's red-headed stepson.
Now, everyone wants to see them win.
It's not about money anymore. It's not about the supremacy and arro-
gance that comes with New York teams.
It's about America's love for underdogs.
And the Mets - and the city - are certainly underdogs.
"With everything going on, people want to give all their support to
New York," LSA junior Samara Cherne said. "It's sort of like cheering
for the underdog all der again."
Jon Schwartz can be reached atjlsz@umich.edu
By Raphael Goodstein
Daily Sports Editor
After his three touchdown, 178-all-purpose yard
performance against Western Michigan, junior run-
ning back B.J. Askew is beginning to realize that he
might have to carry the offense - game in and
game out.
He carried the ball just 15 times, but ran for 112
yards and two touchdowns, catching five passes for
66 yards and another touchdown.
The performance was made all the more important
because of Chris Perry's knee injury.
"Last year I got a lot of experience and that helped
me out a lot this year," Askew said. "Now I can run
the ball, block, catch.... "
And throw the ball?
"We'll see," he said.
Perry's injury means that Askew is Michigan's
only running back that has seen a significant amount
of playing time, which becomes all the more impor-
tant with the Big Ten season opening this weekend.
"You still have to run at 100 percent," Askew said.
"If you do, you probably won't get hurt as long as
it's not a freak injury or something."
And at 6-foot-3, 228 pounds, he's more likely to
do the injuring than get.injured.
"I learned from (Anthony Thomas) that you gotta
give them a pounding," he said.
Coach Lloyd Carr doesn't know yet if Chris Perry
will play - or at least if he does know, he wouldn't
say - but did say that he's day-to-day.
TiHiE GRADUATiE: After being selected in the second
round of the NFL draft last April, offensive tackle
Maurice Williams came back to Michigan to finish
his degree.
"I just found out this morning - and it's some-
thing that makes me extremely proud and happy
about" Carr said.
"He was an hour short when the draft ended. He
finished a course and he's a graduate."
Williams is also the Jacksonville Jaguars starting
right tackle.
BIG ELvis: At 6-foot-6, 299 pounds, sophomore
offensive lineman Tony Pape has never had a prob-
lem standing out.
Now, that he's surrounded by other players his
size, he once again has found a way to stand out in
the crowd.
Pape has wide, lambchop sideburns that almost
cover his entire face.
"You know, every year its something," Carr said.
"Anthony Thomas after the Miami (Ohio) game said
'coach,' as he was shaking his head, and I thought he
was going to be critical of the running game, he said
'we couldn't wear those wide sideburns.' "
Because of the sideburns, Pape's teammates gave
him the nickname "Fat Elvis."
"I like it and everyone else likes it. They think it's
original."
BEING PUNCTUAL: Carr is placing extra emphasis
on details this week, noting that little things often
cause major problems in games.
"For want of a nail, a shoe was lost," Carr said.
"Because of a shoe, a horse was lost. Because of a
horse, the battle was lost.
"They say Robert E. Lee was late for the first day
at the battle of Gettysburg. So it's the little things."
MARJORIE MARSHALL/Daily
Offenisve lineman Tony Pape sports wide lambchop sideburns
under his helmet, earning him the nickname "Fat Elvis."
Hockey meets new faces
I,,
f I.
as it holds
By Naweed Sikora
Daily Sports Writer
This season, Yost Ice Arena has a brand
new scoreboard, seating section and a
team with 10 brand new faces.
The sights and sounds of college hockey
echoed from Yost yesterday afternoon as
the Michigan hockey team began its offi-
cial practice schedule, hoping to answer
some lingering questions about its upcom-
ing season. With the Wolverines' season
opener - the "Cold War" game against
Michigan State - only two weeks away,
head coach Red Berenson has only made a
few decisions about the makeup of his
lines and defensive pairings. But despite
the uncertainty surrounding the lineups,
the players are mainly concerned with get-
ting themselves prepared.
"I think it was a good day," Michigan
captain Jed Ortmeyer said. "It was the first
day so the guys were getting used to the
coaches, but they were working hard and
we had a good start.
"I think everyone is pretty up-tempo
and the effort is definitely there. We're not
crisp with our passes yet, but as long as
we're working hard and skating well, you
can't really complain."
With the Blue-White intrasquad exhibi-
tion game coming up Friday night,
Berenson had the team concentrate on
game situations and neutral zone play for
the majority of practice. Overall, he was
pleased with the effort put forth by the
team.
"When you're down on the ice with the
team, you can not only see them, but you
can feel them," Berenson said. "You could
feel the chemistry out there, and it felt
good.
rst practice
"It's a different team than last year. I
can't tell you if it's a better team than last
year or how good a team it's going to be,
but I like the attitude out there."
The team was divided into five forward
lines and two defensive groups for the pur-
pose of running drills. Although the lines
weren't randomly put together, Berenson
said that the lines were hardly set in stone
and that there are still many "ifs" remain-
ing about several of his players and where
they will end up.
Although it was their first collegiate
practice, the freshmen were thrown into
the fire right away. Several freshmen
played key roles at practice and much is
expected out of the young players for the
regular season. Freshman Jason Ryznar,
who was on the U.S. National Team when
it plaed the Wolverines at Yost last year,
skated alongside Ortmeyer and senior
Craig Murray.
"I think it was fast-paced," Ryznar said.
"Last year, I played juniors and this was
definitely a little faster, but hopefully in a
few days we can get up to speed. It really
feels good to be playing with the older
guys - they gave me pointers in drills and
told me where to be.
"Personally I felt a little bit nervous
today with the coaches out there, but I
think I should be able to pick it up out
there soon."
Among other veterans, Ortmeyer was
pleased with the effort put forth by Ryznar
and the other freshmen.
"I think they look great," Ortmeyer said.
"They were working hard and they're very
enthusiastic. Hopefully they can bring a lot
of energy to the team. It'll be really excit-
ing this year."
Along with youth, injuries are another
I
BRENDAN O'DONNELL/Dairy.
Michigan's Mike Cammalleri is one of several aching Wolverines, making coach Red
Berenson's decisions about his lines tougher than usual.
factor hindering Berenson's ability to
determine his lines. Currently, four veteran
players are not skating due to a variety of
injuries. Michigan's best forward entering
this season, junior Mike Cammalleri, is
sidelined with a hip injury.
"The injury has to do with my hip flexor
muscle," Cammalleri said. "I injured it in
the summer, but I don't think it's too seri-
ous. It's been on and off, but I tweaked it a
little bit recently so I am going to sit a cou-
ple days. It's a day-to-day injury so I don't
know when I'll be back, but hopefully we
can play it by ear."
Juniors Jay Vancik and Mark Mink are
sidelined with a separated shoulder and a
broken finger, respectively. Berenson said
that both could possibly return to the line-
up by the end of the week. Finally, sopho-
more David Wyzgowski is unable to play
due to a swollen spleen.
With four veterans unable to suit up for
practice, Berenson focused mainly on
basic team drills in order to get the fresh-
men accustomed to the team's style.
"I wanted the team to get comfortable in
game situations today," Berenson said.
"We worked a lot on neutral zone play and
breaking out of our own zone."
The team cannot help but look ahead to
its season opener on Oct. 6 at Spartan
Stadium. Weather permitting, the game
could turn out to be one of the most mem4
orable events in college hockey history.
Still, Michigan wants to take full advan-
tage. of its exhibition games this weekend
to prepare for its monumental season
opener.
"The Blue-White game is going to be
important for us," Ortmeyer said. "We're
going to use that game to prepare for the
'Cold War' game. We have to go out and
take it as seriously as we can and make
sure we execute as much as possible."
Carmody's goal is improvement
Inside the paint
NORTHWESTERN WILDCATS
2000 REcORD:
3-13 BIG TEN, 11-19 OVERALL
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BIG TEN PREVIEWS
As the college basketball season approaches, the
SDailybasketball writers will give you the inside i
t scoop on every Big Ten team as they count down
the days until they release their special section m'IIF E
"Tipoff" in November.
By Benjamin Singer the traditionally hapless Wildcats of
Daily Sports Editor Northwestern. With a finesse offense
relying on good passing and consis-
Bill Carmody has already taken a tent shooting that brought Carmody
private school known more for its aca- success at Princeton, he plans on
demics than athletics and turned it slowly but surely building a program
into a tournament team. He coached at Northwestern that the Big Ten can-
Princeton to a 92-25 record in his four not take too lightly.
years. Carmody maintains the season's
But last year, Carmody handed his goal is merely improvement. In his
stripes back to the Tigers in favor of first season, he took a team that won
z 771 Congregation
eed of Abraham Zera AVraham
A MessIanicJewsh Congrgation
just five games (all nonconference)
and finished with a record of 11-19,
with three wins in the Big Ten includ-
ing a 75-70 season finale win at
Crisler Arena.
"Our team got a little bit better as
the year went along. We had a lot of
young guys and a whole new staff,"
Carmody said. "What we're trying to
do is continue to improve and build up
and really be competitive in this
league because we haven't been com-
petitive for a few years."
After having a starting lineup with
an average height of 6-foot-4 last year,
Carmody tried to boost the size of his
roster. Unable to recruit big men from
the United States, since he and his
coaching staff were brought to
Northwestern just last September,
Carmody went abroad. '
"The way things work now in the
NCAA basketball, if you don't get
involved with the kids when they get
out of little league, you can't even talk
to these guys," Carmody said. "So
after a few failed attempts to get
involved with some guys, the guys we
can get iniolved with who are left are
RETURNING STARTERS:
Pos. NAME
F Winston Blake
F Tavaras Hardy
G Jitim Young
G Collier Drayton
KEY ADDITIONS:
Pos. NAME
F/C Thomas Soltau
F Vedran Vukusic
F Davor Duvancic
KEY LoSSES:
Pos. NAME
G Ben Johnson
2000 STAT
11.9 ppg
29 blocks
47 steals
101 assists
I
from high school to college, they area
going from one country to another
country. They're going to need time to
mature."
The Wildcats' starting guard from
last season, Ben Johnson, who aver-
aged 10.7 points per game, asked for a
release from his scholarship last April
and is not returning to the team for his
junior year. But Northwestern still has
experience with two seniors. Tavaras.
Hardy and Collier Drayton give the
Wildcats seniors for the first time in.
1 Find One of Over 180 Ways