2B - The Michigan Daily - SportsTuesday - January 22, 2002 0
CLUBSPORTSWEEKLY
'Synchro' not as elegant
when out of the water
Michigan X-Games
AleTidFTHEWEE
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Who: Otto Olson
Hometown: Everett, MI
Sport: Wrestling
Year: Senior
By Ben Ramirez
For the Daily
When one thinks of synchronized
swimming, images of women with
swim caps diving into the water one
after the other and forming a circular
formation may enter one's mind.
But there is much more to this fasci-
nating sport besides its coordination.
Synchronized swimming is one of
the most physically strenuous club
sports at Michigan. There are two main
qualities that a good synchronized
swimmer must possess: Endurance and
flexibility. Therefore, the athletes must
subject themselves to a rigorous prac-
tice regimen.
"We do distance swimming as well
as anaerobic training such as sprints
to keep our endurance up," coach
Becky Trombley said. "Our team
members must also have flexibility
equivalent to that of a gymnast or bal-
let dancer in their necks, arms and
legs."
The team practices three days a
week, on Sundays, Mondays and
Wednesdays for two and a half hours
each day. These practices and competi-
tions are certainly not for the faint of
heart, but the rewards outweigh the
sacrifices.
"It's a great feeling of accomplish-
ment after you've put a lot of work into
and performed a routine," co-captain
Alice Knoeble said. "Also, I have a lot
of good friends on the team, which
makes it fun."
In competition, the two types of
events are figures and routines. During
figure competition, each swimmer is
alone in front of a panel of three to
seven judges to do one figure, which is
a technical element that is predeter-
mined before the meet.
The team is comprised of 13 mem-
*14
McNabb shuffle
takes Bears out
CHICAGO (AP) - Donovan McN-
abb was too elusive, too shifty, too good
for the Chicago Bears to contain.
Scrambling and dancing away from
rushers left and right, McNabb made his
homecoming a memorable one Satur-
day.
McNabb maneuvered the Philadel-
phia Eagles into the NFC championship
game, throwing for two touchdowns and
running for a third to ear
a 33-19 victory.
"It was very exciting
to have my family and
friends here," said
McNabb, who grew up
in the Chicago suburbs.
Now he's one win
19 away from the Super
. 1Bowl.
"I'm trying not to
even focus on that,"'he said.
David Akers kicked four field goals
and Philadelphia's rugged defense bot-
tled up a Chicago offense crippled when
quarterback Jim Miller was knocked out
of the game in the second quarter
because of a separated shoulder.
The Eagles will face St. Louis in the
conference championship.
bers, many of whom have previous
experience in the sport.
"About half of our team members
have previous synchro experience, and
most have at least been competitive
swimmers," Trombley said. "But we
also have a couple women with no
experience who are doing quite well."
There are currently no male mem-
bers in the club, but anyone who
showed interest would not be excluded.
While members of the team are
committed athletes, they must also be
fundraisers and artists. Each member
is responsible to help raise money to
cover team expenses such as trips for
competitions. The artistry comes in the
form of decorating their suits and mak-
ing matching headpieces for each new
routine.
There are also some unpleasant
aspects to the sport.
"In order to keep our hair looking
uniform and out of our eyes during
competition, we need more than regu-
lar old hair gel," Trombley said. "We
use unflavored Jello, also known as
Knox Gelatin, and paint it onto our hair
and then sit under a hairdryer to harden
it."
Again, this sport is not for the faint
of heart.
The first competition will be the
Maize and Blue Invitational on Sun-
day, Feb. 3 at the Canham Natatorium.
The opposition will include Iowa,
Miami (Ohio), Minnesota, Ohio State
and Stanford. On March 19-24, the
team will be in Boston to compete in
the National Competition. Trombley
likes her team's chances.
"I have been coaching synchronized
swimming for many years, and this
year's team has made more progress in
a short period of time than any team
I've coached," said Trombley. "They
have far exceeded expectations."
What: Ranked No. 2 in the nation, Otto Olson dominated the competition
at the National Duals with a 5-0 record over the two-day event. Olson '
began his weekend with a huge upset against No. 1 Josh Koscheck of Edin-
boro. This was the defending national champ's first loss in 45 matches this
year. Olson was the only undefeated wrestler for the Wolverines, who went
3-2 on the weekend. Olson
SPOIRTs BRIEFS
BRENDAN O'DONNELL/Daily
Ann Arbor resident Charlie Lane, vacationing in Vail, Colorado over the three day
weekend, takes advantage of the heavy snowfall and pulls a backflip while skiing.
Busted! Minnesota in
trouble with CA
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Separate
investigations have turned up NCAA
violations in two University of Min-
nesota athletics programs.
The NCAA found evidence of
major violations by former Gophers
women's basketball coach Cheryl Lit-
tlejohn that could result in the program
being shut down for up to two years.
The evidence mirrors that disclosed
after the university's own investigation
last year.
In another investigation, the school
found six minor NCAA violations in
its wrestling program since 1999 and
improper use of university resources
by head coach J Robinson.
In a report sent to University Presi-
dent Mark Yudof this week, the NCAA
warned that the women's basketball
violations, along with the academic
fraud in men's basketball under Clem
Haskins, could subject the university
to penalties under the "repeat violator
rule."
University general counsel Mark
Rotenberg said the penalties that apply
for repeat violators shouldn't apply in
the Littlejohn case. The university
reported major violations last spring.
They shouldn't be considered repeat
violations, he said, because they
occurred before Oct. 24, 2000 -
when the NCAA placed the university
on probation in the fallout involving
Haskins.
Rotenberg will argue the school's
case before the NCAA's Infractions
Committee in April, and the panel will
rule sometime after that, he said.
His airness returns to
Chicago in new colors
CHICAGO (AP) - For all his com-
petitiveness, this was one game Michael
Jordan didn't want to play.
After 13 years and six NBA titles
with the Chicago Bulls, playing against
them in his old house was like facing
family. And no matter how many fights
or squabbles you have, no matter how
far away you move or how long you've
been apart, family is always family.
"I've got a lot of gratitude for this
city, for what they gave me and the
motivation of playing, and here I am,
I'm playing against their team," he said
after his new team, the Washington
Wizards, beat the Bulls 77-69 Saturday
in Jordan's first game in Chicago as a
visiting player.
"It was a tough night. Tough," he
said. "I played like it, too. I don't want
to put blame, but the enthusiasm and
motivation was not quite the same as I
normally play with."
Sam ras' drought
reaches 21 events
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -
Another tournament turned into one
more disappointment for Pete Sam-
pras, whose winless streak now
stretches to 21 events.
Marat Safin hurt Sampras with
his power game early and then held
off a late comeback bid by the
Grand Slam king to advance to the
quarterfinals at the Australian Open
with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (8) vic-
tory Sunday.
Safin saved two set points in the
final tiebreaker before finishing
Sampras off.
During the three-hour, 33-minute
match, both players were upset by
some line calls, and the normally
reserved Sampras vented his frus-
tration at a spectator at one juncture
in tie second set.
"I was one point away from tying
it up," said Sampras, who is winless
since capturing Wimbledon in 2000
for his record 13th Grand Slam
tournament title.
Blue light special:
Linebacker arrested
MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) - Purdue
linebacker Ladrelle Bryant was arrest-
ed on charges he helped a woman
steal items from a Kmart store. and
then struck a parked car as he drove
away.
The 18-year-old freshman from
Muncie was apprehended Sunday as a
suspect in a merchandise theft that
occurred at a Kmart. According to
police, Bryant sat in a car in the store's
parking lot waiting for a woman to
leave the store with stolen merchan-
dise.
After the woman was in the car,
Bryant backed the car from the park-
ing space and hit a parked car, then
left the parking lot before police offi-
cers arrived.
Officers spotted Bryant a short time
later and caught him after a brief car
pursuit.
Bryant was arrested on preliminary
charges of assisting a criminal, crimi-
nal recklessness and leaving the scene
of an accident.
Detroit's Yzerman
gets 1,000th assistS
D TO,
, ;Rlt4 k fF 13'
s
NEW ORLEANS,'.'....
YY' t.YY a A
Snow job: Oakland
16 loses review, game
13
FOXBORO, Mass. (AP) - A snow-
storm and an apparent fumble didn't
stop former Michigan quarterback Tom
Brady and the New England Patriots
from adding an amazing victory to their
magical season.
Helped by a controversial video
replay that overruled the fumble call
with 1:43 left, the Patriots beat the Oak-
land Raiders 16-13 Saturday night in
overtime after trailing 13-3 going into
the fourth quarter.
Adam Vinatieri, whose 45-yard field
goal tied the game with 27 seconds left
in regulation time, sent the Patriots into
the AFC championship game with a 23-
yard field goal in overtime.
The Patriots, who finished in the
AFC East cellar at 5-11 last season and
started 0-2 this season, are 12-3 since
Brady succeeded an injured Drew Bled-
soe in the third game.
Pack's0' rammed
by St. Louis D'
Grbac useless in
loss to Steelers
PITTSBURGH (AP) - The Steel
Curtain would have loved this.
The Pittsburgh Steelers held the
defending champion Baltimore Ravens
to three first downs in three quarters,
harassed former Michigan quarterback
Elvis Grbac into numerous mistakes and
advanced to the AFC championship
game with a 27-10 rout
Sunday.
It was the kind of
dominating defense that 27
allowed the Steelers to
win four Super Bowls '
during the 1970s - and,
if they can beat New
England on Sunday at 10
Heinz Field, will get
them back to the NFL title game again.
"When you come here, you hear
about Jack Ham, Jack Lambert, the Hall
of Famers, the tradition of the defense;'
Steelers linebacker Mike Jones said. "It
makes you understand what you have to
do to live up to that."
The Ravens did plenty of talking
beforehand, bragging about their ability
to win playoff games on the road, only
to see their chances of repeating ended
before they got their initial first down.
DETROIT (AP) - There isn't
much left for Steve Yzerman and the
Detroit Red Wings to accomplish this
season - other than winning the
Stanley Cup.
Yzerman assisted on Mathieu Dan-
denault's game-winning goal 59 sec-
onds into overtime, giving the Red
'Wings a 3-2 victory over the Ottawa
Senators on Sunday night.
It marked the 1,000th assist of Yzer-
man's career, and the Detroit captain
became just the ninth NHL player to
reach that milestone.
"There's a lot of respect for the play-
ers that have achieved that," Yzerman
said. "I look at it that I've played a long
time on a good team with a lot of good
players and it's slowly added up, so I
don't really look at it as a real great
achievement."
45
e
17
ST. LOUIS (AP) -'Members of the
St. Louis Rams kept running into the
end zone with the football, just as they
always do. There was one significant
difference: These were Rams defenders
scoring all those points.
Marshall Faulk and Torry Holt got
touchdowns, too, as did seldom-used
fullback James Hodgins. They, and
league MVP Kurt Warner, were over-
shadowed, however, by Aeneas
Williams, Tommy Polley and the rest of
the vastly improved St. Louis defense.
All-Pro cornerback Williams led the
way by returning two interceptions for
touchdowns, an NFL playoff record, in
a 45-17 rout of the Green Bay Packers
on Sunday. The overwhelming ball-
hawking display against Brett Favre,
along with the Rams' usual offensive
theatrics, lifted St. Louis into its second
NFC championship game in three years.
Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles
come to the Dome at America's Center,
and they'd better be more careful with
the ball than the Packers were.
'M'OC HEDULE
Thursday, Jan. 24
M Basketball at Ohio State, 7 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 25
Wrestling vs. Minnesota (Crisler Arena), 7:30 p.m.
Hockey vs. Bowling Green, 7:35 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 26
Water Polo vs. Cal-Santa Barbara, 11 a.m..
M Tennis vs. Western Michigan, 12 p.m.
M Basketball vs. Vermont, 2 p.m.
Water Polo vs. Michigan State, 2 p.m.
M Gymnastics vs. Penn State, 7 p.m.
W Gymnastics at Ohio State, 7:30 p.m.
Hockey vs. Bowling Green, 7:35 p.m.
W Track/Field hosts Michigan Intercollegiate
Sunday, Jan. 27 -
11 a~m.RYAN LEvENTHAL/Daily
Water Polo vs. Hawaii, 11 a.m. Michigan will face Minnesota at
Wrestling vs. Purdue, 1 p.m. Criser Arena this Friday night.
Water Polo vs. Indiana, 2 p.m.
W Basketball at Illinois, 3 p.m.
DAILY SCOEDBOAR D
I - m- - II~I--VON" ~
18 0
LSAT
COMPANY
One of the best LSAT tutors
in the nation is offering her
first Ann Arbor Workshop
on logic games.
Seating is limited. Call today for
information and screening:
(313) 600-8366
(734) 368-3361
By: Mayssoun Bydon, J.D.
On: Friday, January 25, 2002
GRE students welcome
NBA STANDINGS
NHL STANDINGS
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division
W
New Jersey 2
Boston 24
Washington 1
Orlando 2:
Philadelphia 1
New York 14
Miami 1
Central Division
W
Miiwaukee 26
Toronto 2'
indiana 2
Detroit 19
Charlotte 19
Atlanta 14
Cleveland 13
Chicago 8
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Midwest Division
W
Minnesota 31
Dallas 29
San Antonio 2
Utah 22
Houston 13
Denver 1
Memphis 1
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division
L PCT GB PF PA
7 13 .675 - 95.7 91.0
4 16 .6003 95.7 .93.2
.19 .5007 90.5 91.8
?21 .500 7 100.6 97.7
.21 .475 8 89.7 88.4
.25 .359 12.5 88.6 92.7
.3 26 .333 13.5 84.9 89.1
L PCT GB PF
? 13 .667 - 98.3
4 18 .585 3.5 92.0
2 21 '512 6 97.2
.20 .487 7 94.0
.21 .475 7.5 93.7
26 .350 12.595.0
3 28 .317 14 91.8
332 .200 18.5 85.3
PA
96.4
91.5
97.5
93.5
95.5
100.8
97.1
94.7
Philadelphia
NY Islanders
NY Rangers
New Jersey
Pittsburgh
Northeast Division
Boston
Toronto
Ottawa
Montreal
Buffalo
Southeast Division
Carolina
Washington
Tampa Bay
Florida
Atlanta
W
29
24
22
20
19
W
26
25
25
20
20
W
21
19
18
17
12
L T OTL Pts GF GA
13 5 1 64 153 110
165 2 55 129 125
214 3 51 133 149
196 3 49 119 120
225 2 45108133
L T OTL Pts GF GA
143 6 61 141 115
155 4 59141121
174 3 57 154 124
217 2 49 131 137
234 1 45 128 125
L T
19 7
23 8
23 5
27 3
28 6
OTLI
5 !
0
2
3
3
Pts GF GA
54 139 150
46 135 153
43 96 109
40 109 153
33 119 176
i
A
STUDY IN
JAPAN
5 iiiiN3tt
(
.,+ .+
i/86*t.4-
Pacific Division
Sacramento
LA Lakers
Seattle
Phoenix
Portland
LA Clippers
Golden State
w
3W
28
21
21
1
VL
Q 10
?9 12
?7 11
2 19
3 28
2 27
.227
L
M39
1 19
0 20
3 20
?0 21
.327
PCT GB PF PA
.750 - 102.2 95.3
.707 1.5 103.4 99.6
.711 2 98.9 92.8
.537 8.5 96.7 95.3
.317 17.5 91.3 95.9
.308 17.5 92.5 97.4
.308 17.5 90.4 97.4
PCT GB PF PA
.769 - 103.4 96.4
.7571 102.0 92.1
.525 9.5 97.5 96.5
.500 10.5 98.6 97.4
.500 10.5 94.2 93.2
.488 11 94.9 95.2
.325 17.5 94.9 99.6
Detroit
Chicago
St. Louis
Nashville
Columbus
Northwest Division
Colorado
Edmonton
Vancouver
Calgary
Minnesota
Pacific Division
San Jose
Dallas
W
34
29
27
18
13
W
26
24
23
20
17
W
25
23
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Central Division
L T OTL Pts GF GA
9 4 2 74 155 107
149 0 67149135
126 3 63 139 107
238 0 44 124 130
287 1 34 96 138
L T OTL Pts GF GA
166 1 59 122 99
197 2 57 133 123
244 1 51 149 141
188 2 50118124
218 3 45 119 142
Affordable - Scholarships Available
m W .rmm ..= =.- - 2i.
/ 46
Yesterday's games
Charlotte 111, NY KNIcKs 68
ATLANTA 95, Houston 91
L T
14 6
16 6
OTL Pts GF GA
3 61 141 117
4 56 134 128
o:
&I