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THURSDAY
JANUARY, 10 2002
5A
Gophers golden from the field
to give Blue first Big Ten loss
JOE
SMITH
By Steve Jackmna
Daily Sports Writer
MINNEAPOLIS - It seemed like the home team
couldn't miss a shot if it tried.
The Michigan basketball team forced 23 turnovers,
but that wasn't enough, as the Gophers shot their way
to a 90-82 win.
One statistic told the * MICHIGAN 82
whole story: The Wolver-
ines allowed their opponent & MINNESOTA 90
to shoot 81.8 percent (18-
22) from the field in the second half. How can any-
one put together an offensive showing like that?
"Coaching. All coaching," said Minnesota coach
Dan Monson, whose team scored 44 points in the
paint. "Seriously, we got good shots; we didn't settle
for the long jumper."
Michigan senior Chris Young offered a different
reason: "We just didn't play any type of defense at all
in the second half. It was that simple."
Jerry Holman gave the Gophers a huge lift off the
bench with 12 points and three blocks, but the real
difference-maker was point guard Kevin Burleson.
Burleson shared the team lead in scoring with Dusty
Rychart, posting a season-high 19 points after enter-
ing the game averaging just 5.8 points per game.
'M' out to i1pro'
m Indiaa remat
By Dot iter
Daily Sot rtr
LaVell Blanchard didn't miss a shot until 11:21
remained in the game, scoring 17 points in a losing
effort. Bernard Robinson led the team with 19 points.
"I thought Bernard did a good job on the whole,"
Amaker said. "Anytime he is attacking, I love his
shots. The only thing that really concerned me about
his game tonight was the (six) turnovers."
Michigan held a slim lead for three-fourths of the
game. The Wolverines drew five offensive fouls in
the first half and picked up 15 steals overall.
"I can't remember a game where a team had that
many steals," Amaker said.
Despite allowing Minnesota to shoot better than
60 percent in the first half, the Wolverines took a 41-
38 lead into the lockerroom. After Robinson com-
pleted a fast-break dunk with 11 minutes left, the
Michigan offense went into hibernation. After a cou-
ple of wild shots and turnovers, Michigan found
itself staring at a 14-point deficit (76-62).
'But Michigan mounted a late rally to bring the
score to 84-80 with one minute left to play. Freshman
guard Dommanic Ingerson was instrumental in
reviving the offense, hitting three treys in a two-and-
a-half-minute span.
But Kerwin Fleming put the dagger in the Wolver-
ines back, hitting a long 3-pointer early in the posses-
sion to extend the Gophers' lead to seven points.
Accused 'hockey dad'
AP PHOTO
Bernard Robinson backs in on Kerwin Fleming. The
sophomore scored a game-high 19 points.
Amaker was pleased with the effort that his young
team showed by fighting back in such a hostile envi-
ronment, but Blanchard could only feel frustration.
"Nice comebacks don't mean anything when you
don't win," Blanchard said.
For extended coverage of last night's game, go online to
michigandaily.com/sports'
To begin last season, the Michigan women's track team
tied Indiana to start the season. The tie was a victory of
sorts for Michigan because Indiana had won the Big Ten
title the previous year.
But Indiana coach Randy Heisler did not see last year's
result in the same light. On the Indiana athletic website,
Heisler is quoted as saying "last season, we didn't win and
we didn't lose. We tied, and that's terrible."
Michigan assistant coach Anne Takacs said she and the
Michigan team did not see the tie as a problem.
"Tying is not terrible. Losing is worse," Takacs said.
"We obviously want to win. If we win, it could take the
wind out of their sails heading into the Big Ten season. If
we beat them, it stings more."
The Wolverines will look to continue their hot start in
Saturday's rematch against the Hoosiers.
Michigan was successful this past weekend, "nning J3
of 15 events in its first meet of the year. This meet will
mark the start of Indiana's season.
* yWen the teams meet, at theIarry Gladstein Fieldhouse
in this heated conference clash, it will mark the seventh
time since 1990 that the two teams have battled in a dual
meet within the first two meets of the year. Last season, the
Wolverines and Hoosiers deadlocked at 81 points.
Michigan may find a slight advantage this weekend from
the scoring of the meet - it will be international scoring.
This means only the top two competitors from each team in
each event will score; thus, the teams are forced to have
two competitors finish in every event. In this manner each
event becomes more competitive making the meet's scoring
tighter.
Therefore, teams cannot put all their best athletes in one
event
Historically in the conference, there are teams that can
be seen as just distance teams, such as Wisconsin or Illi-
nois. Michigan has been much more balanced, having many
successful competitors in each event. This might be to
Michigan's advantage.
"If an event already has three or four good entries, at
Michigan we can move them to other events, and in that
way we become more diverse through training," Takacs
said.
Takacs believes that her Wolverines might be better this
year than in years past.
"Our second performers in all events have stepped up,"
Takacs said. "Our field events have improved, and we have
more jumpers. Overall we have more to offer than last
year."
Michigan is led by April Phillips, who reached a new
personal best last weekend by throwing the shot-put 52 feet
and 4 inches. That ranks fourth in the nation currently and
would land her a spot at the NCAA Championships in
March. Senior Nicole DeNamur competes in the high
jump, and can set a good tone for the season with jumps of
five feet and eight inches or better.
Freshmen Sharifa Jones will make an impact in hurdles,
sprints and the long jump.
"We have a good team. We need to keep getting better
and we need people to come to our home meets," Takacs
said.
With a crucial meet in Indiana on the horizon, the team
is looking to validate its belief that they are one of the best
in the Big Ten. With a victory against a tough opponent,
they can do just that.
has no leg
Listening to Thomas Junta on the
stand yesterday once again baf-
fled my mind as to how
hideously immature grown adults can
be, and what tragic consequences can
result from such behavior.
In what has been labeled as the
most extreme case of "sideline rage,"
42-year old truck driver Thomas Junta
is facing manslaughter charges for his
senseless beating of 40-year old
Michael Costin on July 5, 2000 in
Reading, Mass. Junta faces 20 years in
prison if convicted of the crime.
But that's not enough. Junta's
heinous act proves that he should
spend many more years in prison, and
not be given responsibility of his chil-
dren when he returns. Parenting is an
important privilege, and he just lost it.
Sure, parents go off the deep end
sometimes when intensely watching
their kids play the sports they love.
Sports are all about emotions, and
sometimes these get the better of usu-
ally respectable men and women when
they argue bad calls by referees,
harass coaches over playing time and
even get into shouting matches with
other parents.
But they don't beat each other to
death.
Not only was this horrific incident a
eye-opening example of parents taking
children's sports way too seriously, but
could also be the most hypocritical
form of violence I've ever seen by a
supposed role model and father of
two.
Junta was apparently upset when
Costin, who was supervising several
children in their routine "stick prac-
tice," let the hockey scrimmage
involving nine-to-11 year olds get
"too chippy." Junta didn't like the fact
that there was some elbowing and
"cheap shots" being allowed - and
didn't like Costin's response even
more.
"He said, 'That's hockey. That's
what it's all about,' " Junta said on the
stand. "Bull-. It's not. It's sup-
posed to be fun."
At least Junta made one good point.
Sports are supposed to be fun, not
deadly. When played, sports are to be
taken seriously by competitors, but not
over-analyzed by parents.
Junta's comments would lead one to
believe he realizes the "fun" in sports,
to stand on
but his actions spoke otherwise.
In just a few minutes, Junta's appar-
ent chivalrous and maternal thoughts
of caring for his son's well-being
transformed into an animal-like,
enraged Junta pelting Costin's head -
turning Junta from truck driver and
father into Mike Tyson.
Outweighing Costin by nearly 100
pounds, Junta still claims that it was in
self-defense that he pinned Costin to
the floor, punched him until both of
his hands were sore and then slammed
his head against the ground a few
more times for good measure. This
came minutes after Junta was kicked
out of the arena, only to force his way
back into the doors and bruising the
same arena assistant manager that
kicked him out.
As for "defending himself" - yeah
right, who's kidding who here?
The worst part of the event was
Junta's audience. Junta's crowd for
"Fight Night In Reading" was nearly a
dozen young children, including his
own son. Not to mention another
small boy, one of Costin's sons, who
was seen by a witness crying and
grabbing at the men, pleading:
"That's my daddy" the boy sobbed.
"Daddy" lay motionless, his color
was ashen gray and his eyes open,
staring straight ahead. He had suffered
deep hemmorages on the left side of
his neck and a torn artery in the brain
after being beaten severely.
The coroner called the autopsy pho-
tos "horrific." I call them tragic.
The first officer to make it to the
arena said he immediately yelled for
the children to be moved away from
the "traumatic" scene and began CPR
on Costin.
But it was too late, the damage had
been done.
And Junta's response explaining the
extent of his barrage on Costin: "He
could've been a black belt for allI
know."
Nope, Costin wasn't a black belt.
Just a father, who will leave three kids
behind.
All because of some "chippy play"
in hockey practice and an adult that
couldn't act his age.
Joe Smith can be reached at
josephms@umich.edu.
ALYSSA WOOD/Daily
Center LeeAnn Bies may get some time on the bench tonight against Ohio State, but coach Sue
Guevara knows her presence will be necessary If Michigan Is to Improve on the defensive end.
Wo-men need to jump.
statdefense aaimnstOSU
By Bob Hunt
Daily Sports Writer
While Sue Guevara might not have circled Jan.
10 on her calendars back in the fall, tonight's tilt
with Ohio State has now become extremely
important for the Wolverines.
After ripping off 10 straight vic-
tories and netting the program's
highest-ever ranking of 12, Michi-
gan (1-3 Big Ten, 11-4 overall has
lost to Illinois, Purdue, and Wiscon-
sin. So the Wolverines need a
strong showing against the Buck-
eyes (3-1 Big Ten, 8-7 Overall) who
are off to their best start in the Big
Ten since the 1998-99 season.
CRISLERP
Who: Michigan (
Ten, 11-4 overall
State (3-1,8-7)
When: 7 p.m.
Latest: Michigan
get back on trac
Big Ten.
"We had a nice rotation of about seven and
now we have a nice solid rotation of around five"
Ohio State coach Beth Burns said.
The amount of injuries has forced Burns, who
has employed man-to-man defense her entire
coaching career, to implement a match-up zone.
In an attempt to turn things around, Guevara
has made a couple key changes.
Senior guard Susana Jara will start
ARENA at the point in place of Heather
1-3 Big Oesterle. Guevara hopes the move
) vs. Ohio will jump-start the play, of Alyane
Ingram. In conference play Ingram,
while being the team's shining star at
i needs to Purdue, has not shown the defensive
k in the intensity that Guevara and the
coaching staff would like.
"She's got to stay always in the attack mode,"
Guevara said.
Guevara is going to try to give starting post
players LeeAnn Bies and Jen Smith more rest in
the first half tonight.
"They're playing a lot of minutes" Guevara
said. "I have to give them more of a break in the
first half of a game to give them a little bit more
rest to have fresh legs down the stretch."
To keep them fresh, look for Katrina Mason to
get more time throughout the game.
But while Michigan is 1-3 in conference, there
is no need to panic with 12 games still to go.
"It is still way to early," said Burns, who voted
Michigan as the No. I team in the conference at
the beginning of the season. "I think standings
are a little bit overrated right now."
Netters resume practice;
Jackson plays Milwaukee
By Brian Schick
Daily Sports Writer
Since Michigan started Big Ten play, its inten-
sity on defense has gone south. In Michigan's
Big Ten opener against Illinois, the Illini poured
on 50 second-half points to upset the Wolverines.
Sunday in Madison, the Badgers buried a team
record 11 three-pointers.
"We, as a coaching staff, have to get back to
basics and stick a firecracker up their tails to
make them play some defense," Guevara said.
At least Michigan will be playing a team that
is banged up as well. Ohio State is now down to a
meager seven players. After losing four players
during the nonconference schedule, guard Tome-
ka Brown went out with a knee injury in the
opening moments of last Sunday's game against
Northwestern, and the Buckeyes later lost start-
ing center Courtney Coleman to a concussion.
Many athletes have trouble keeping
up with their training table over the
two-week winter break. But the men's
tennis team has had to endure a much
longer hiatus.
It's been more than two months
since members of the team have faced
any competition, but the Milwaukee
Tennis Classic begins tomorrow. It is
an individual tournament: Participants
compete unattached from their respec-
tive teams. Members of the Michigan
team were given the option to compete
this weekend, but coach Mike Mees
indicated that sophomore Anthony
Jackson is the only member of the ten-
man squad competing.
"Anthony is from right there in Mil-
waukee, so he is going to go play,"
Mees said. "The other guys are going
to stay back here to practice and work
out."
While Jackson will be in Wisconsin,
the Wolverines will begin practicing
for the team season, which begins a
week from Saturday with a home meet
against DePaul. Up until this point, the
members of the. squad competed as
individuals at several tournaments. In
the meantime, the team has begun to
resume official practices, which ended
in the middle of November.
"We've continued to do some indi-
vidual work with the guys and the
team continued to work during that
time on their nwn." Mees said "We did
I
Track takes show to Bloomington for dual meet
Dy Kir.. CopuM d
Daily Sports Writer
Whereas most sports use the regular season to
determine conference championships - track and
field has but one meet to determine who wins the Big
Ten.
"Track and field is a whole different animal,"
rc ~ ~ ~ n 1 lnin...h1,"Wr-tca
the 400-meter dash gave Michigan its only victory in
the season's opening meet.
"He's been really determined," Warhurst said.
"We'll need him to step up."
Okenwa will have to pick up the slack for another
captain, Derek Applewhite.
Applewhite, the team's top hurdler, injured his
hamstring last week and could not finish his race.
NP hai..c h tainati - x an.A r+ t rih inl frtr the
Athlete of the Year in cross country, ran during the fall
and will compete both indoors and outdoors. Three
seasons (in addition to national championship meets)
could be draining if he is not careful.
Warhurst noted that he must be wary that Allan has
much more on his plate than just the indoor season -
a problem that many coaches would love to have.
"Allan probably wouldn't have to run a race and
mol ill w+1 in at Rig Tn-," Warhurst said.
Anthony Jackson will be the only
Wolverine making the trip to Wisconsin.
season saw it moved before break, in
an attempt to keep all individual meets
together and have the majority of them
completed in the fall.
"I liked that tournament right out of
the chute in the second semester,"
Mees said. "It was a good way for