lo PRTSicllgan ttdy S~~oRPr michigandaily.comIsports sportsdesk@umich.edu TUESDAY MARCH 12, 2002 11 "W Blue offense sparked by Nystrom's switch JEFF PHILLIPS By Seth Klempner Daily Sports Writer While the Michigan hockey coaches made several changes during this week- end's CCHA play- off series victory HOCKEY over Lake Superior' none was more Notebook successful than the decision to reunite freshman Eric Nys- trom with juniors Mike Cammalleri and Jed Ortmeyer. Ortmeyer was taken off of the top for- PAIRWISE RANKINGS The Pairwise rankings are based on the ranking system used by the NCAA selection committee to deter- mine which 12 teams will participate in the NCAA Tournament. Team Record PWR . 1. New Hampshire 27-6-3 26 2. Minnesota 28-7-4 25 3. Denver 30-7-1 24 4. Boston University 25-8-3 23 5. Michigan State 26-7-5 22 6. Maine 22-9-7 21 7. St. Cloud 29-8-2 20 8. Cornell 23-6-2 19 9. Colorado College 24-11-3 18 10. Michigan 24-10-5 17 11. Alaska-Fairbanks 22-11-3 16 12. Northern Michigan25-11-2 15 13. Mass-Lowell 22-12-3 13 14. Mercyhurst 23-7-3 13 15. Western Michigan 19-15-4 13 ward line with junior John Shouneyia and was paired with Cammalleri upon Cammalleri's return to the lineup during last weekend's series against Western Michigan. The two have been playing together since freshman year and received heavy ice-time on the same line last year before Ortmeyer injured his knee in late January, ending his season. Nystrom, who started the weekend on a line with Shouneyia and junior Mark Mink, was placed on Cammal- leri's line midway through Friday night's game. The move reunited the trio who had played together for the majority of the season before Cammalleri went down with mono in mid-January. Over the weekend, the line scored seven of Michigan's 11 goals and tal- lied 12 points. "When you have those three players, you expect them to play well together," assistant coach Billy Powers said. "If they are going to play together, they have to be a dominant line and the coaches expect (that)." But he was unable to say whether the line was going to be kept together for the coming weekend. The Wolverines may opt instead to place one of the for- wards with Shouneyia to strengthen a second line in the absence of freshman Jason Ryznar, who is out with an injured hand. Cammalleri, Ortmeyer and Nystrom have been among Michigan's top scor- ers all season and had 30 goals through their first 24 games, accounting for 35 percent of Michigan's goals. The line had also tallied 60 points and seven game-winning goals. Selection committee like Strangelove's War Room TOM FELDKAMP/Daily Michigan forward David Moss is one of just four Wolverines that have suited up for every game this season. He had two assists last weekend against Lake Superior. ROLLING STONES GATHER NO Moss: In every class there is a person who never skipped a day and possessed a perfect attendance record, but whose efforts go largely unnoticed. In this year's fresh- man class, forward David Moss fits that description. Moss and defenseman Eric Werner are the only freshmen players who hold the distinction of having dressed for every game this season and just two other Wolverines can say the same. But lately, Moss has had more to hang his hat on, as he has scored four points in Michigan's last seven games including two assists in Friday night's loss. "As coaches we felt he has taken a huge step forward," Powers said. "When he had the chance to make a play, he has had the poise and patience to do it. "He has shown that he can play in (playoff hockey) and make a difference with his gained confidence and poise." The coaching staff's increased confi- dence also showed up Friday night when he received some time on the penalty- kill unit. But despite the increased role, Moss doesn't think that it is going to become a regular occurrence. Crew coach Caviston breaks world mark didn't want to have to do this, but they made-me. This is not the first or only ant on the inadequacies of the NCAA Tournament selection committee, but I need to get something off my chest. Sun- day evening, the committee was exposed for what it is: A know-little, uppity collec- tion of dunces. I previously imagined this group of ath- letic directors meticulously formulating every scenario possible in their hotel suite. My vision of the suite was not unlike that of the War Room in Stanley Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove." The most powerful people in college basketball making decisions that would impact the world. Well, I guess now that I think about it, that vision wasn't too far off. Like the generals in "Dr. Strangelove," the athletic directors rushed to decisions and drew conclusions that did- n't make much sense. For more, please refer to Exhibit A: the West bracket. Even when you ignore the well-docu- mented travesty of giving Gonzaga a No. 6 seed, this bracket is still a mess. It is more stacked than Anna Nicole Smith. The West includes the major conference tournament winners Cincinnati, Okla- homa, Ohio State and Arizona. It also includes Atlantic 10 champion Xavier, the aforementioned 'Zags, as well as Hawaii and Wyoming - arguably the best teams in the Western Athletic Con- ference and Mountain West Conference, respectively. Four teams are in the top 10 and eight in the Top 25. In addition, the West includes preseason favorites UCLA and Missouri, each of which has the talent to reach the Final Four. In all, I would say nine of the 16 teams in the region have a legitimate shot at making _ it to Atlanta. Exhibit B is the exclusion of Butler from the field of 65. Does the committee truly believe that this team doesn't belong? The answer of course, is yes, because oth- erwise the Bulldogs would be dancing. Butler has proved its worth with a near upset of Florida two years ago and by embarrassing Indiana in last year's tourney. And at 25-5, Butler was the team with most wins to be excluded. The moral of the story? Don't get punked in your con- ference tournament. But above all, the most egregious errors on the part of the committee are the recent changes made to the actual tournament - reworking the locations within regions and the addition of the play-in game, played two days before the rest of the tournament. The goal of the rearrangement of region- al locations is to reduce traveling in order to increase fan attendance and avoid send- ing Maryland teams 1,000 miles away. In theory, this is a good idea. College students should be able to attend their team's games if they make the tournament. (Excuse me while I dry my eyes). But the unfortunate result is that a few teams are privileged enough to essentially play home games. California makes the trek to the "South" region to play Penn and potentially Pitts- burgh, in Pittsburgh. The games are not at the Panthers' home arena, but it is safe to say that there will be fewer California fans in attendance. Illinois, which plays its big-time matchups at Chicago's United Center, makes a return trip for the tournament, surely to the chagrin of Florida and San Diego State. Texas also benefits by playing its first two games in the heart of the "Mid- west" - Dallas. The "quads" or "pods" have no basis by region, as Sacramento hosts Midwest and South games, but no West games. Similar- ly, Dallas does not host any games in the South region. While the idea is to give an quad to the higher-rated team, No. 4 seed Ohio State is still sent to Albuquerque while No. 10 seed Pepperdine stays in Cali- fornia. Where previously teams were rewarded by playing in their region, now the titles are in name only until the Sweet Sixteen. Tonight's play-in game is truly awful. Alcorn State and Siena fans rushed the court when their team earned the right to play in Dayton, Ohio, site of one tourna- ment game. The idea of the play-in game is make room for all of the conferences win- ners, but I would rather see a lower at-large major conference team get the boot. It is tough to make an argument that either of the two play-in teams are better than the sixth-place team in the SEC, but the early game takes away from some of the luster of the tournament. What makes the first weekend of the tournament so great is that basketball is played all day for four days with the only break for the evening news, if you care about what is going on outside the tourna- ment. Hopefully Siena or Alcorn State fans will again rush the court if their team wins and finally makes the final 64 teams. The committee likely had the fans' best interests in mind when making its deci- sions, but the changes have lead to the pos- sibility-ofa Strangelove-esque, apocalyptic end to what we all love about the NCAA Tournament. By Dan Rosen Daily Sports Writer Mike Caviston, a lecturer in Michigan's Kinesi- ology department and the Michigan rowing team's conditioning coach is no stranger to world records. Back in 1988 he set the overall world mark for lightweights in the 2000 meters. So when Caviston went to the 2002 C.R.A.S.H.-B. World Indoor Rowing Championships in Boston over spring break, he had a feeling that the Senior Lightweight record, for men between the ages of 40 and 49, was within his reach. "I just turned 40 and I had been watching the age-group record (for the some time)," Caviston said. "I knew it was something I could break. I thought if I had a good year of training, then I'd be able to get the record." Caviston was right. His time of 6:18.20 was good enough for first place in the event and a new record. He hopes that this new mark will hold up longer than his last one - which stood for just a week. "It happened so fast that I wasn't really that attached to it," Caviston said of losing his first world record. "When I pulled my test, I didn't even know what the record was. I didn't realize I had set it until about an hour later when they told me. So I wasn't invested in it." This time around, Caviston was more aware of the world mark. It served as a motivation for him throughout a rigorous workout regimen. "He does all the workouts (that the team does) plus more," Michigan rowing head coach Mark Rothstein said. Despite his busy schedule in Kinesiology, Caviston still manages to work out 10 to 11 times each week. "My schedule varies a lot, but since I work in the CCRB I can usually find time to train," Cavis- ton said. The coach's commitment to rowing began back in 1979 when he was an undergraduate at the University. As a freshman, he saw a race on TV and decided it would be a great sport to get involved in. "I saw a flyer on campus for anyone interested in the rowing club, so I showed up and got involved," Caviston said. He rowed with the club program throughout his undergraduate ,tenure. After graduation, Caviston continued his connection with the sport by coach- ing novices for the club program off-and-on for 15 years. Rothstein, who knew Caviston as a rower with the men's team and a coach for the women's club program, approached the coach before last season about joining the women's varsity staff. For the last two years, Caviston has played an impor- tant role in the team's preparation. "He designs the workouts, as well as helps to evaluate the data, advise the coaches on the train- ing (and) serves as a source of education for the (team as a whole)," Rothstein said. Even though his involvement with the sport has greatly changed - Caviston now spends his time coaching rowers rather than being in a boat him- self - the personal attachment that he developed as an undergraduate 23 years ago remains strong. "It's a unique sport for sure," Caviston said. "I definitely like the physical challenge." Although he's unsure if he'll make it back to Boston to defend his victory next season, Caviston is positive that he will continue to push himself through a difficult training schedule. "I set my personal record this year, I've set a new personal record each of the last five years, so I'm just curious about how far I can go," Caviston said. "I definitely want to train intensely just a lit- tle bit longer and see if I can get still faster times." Jef Phillips can be reached at jpphilli@umich.edu. More charges filed in case agamst Williams FLEMINGTON, N.J. (AP) - Prose- cutors filed more charges yesterday against Jayson Williams in the shooting death of a limousine driver at his man- sion, alleging the former NBA star wiped his own fingerprints off the shotgun and told guests to tell police it was suicide. Williams, 34, has already been charged with manslaughter in the Feb. 14 shooting of Costas Christofi. Prosecutors have said the former New Jersey Net was handling the shotgun recklessly. The new charges are hindering apprehension, evidence tampering, wit- ness tampering and conspiracy to obstruct the law, which carry a com- bined penalty of more than 12 years in prison. Manslaughter carries up to 10 years in prison. Williams surrendered at the court- house yesterday and posted $20,000 bail before leaving. His attorney, Joseph Hayden, declined to answer questions about the new charges. "When we have our day in court, we will address all relevant facts and alle- gations, and we are confident Mr. Williams will be cleared of all charges," Hayden said. According to court papers, Williams removed the clothing he was wearing when Christofi was shot and gave investigators other clothes. He also allegedly tried to position the shotgun at an angle to make it seem as if the driver shot himself. Williams wiped his fingerprints off the shotgun, then "attempted to imprint the victim's fingerprints upon the very same shotgun in an effort to convince investigators that the shooting had been self-inflicted," prosecutors said. Several witnesses at Williams' estate 30 miles from Trenton told police Williams told them to lie "in order to convince detectives that the victim's death had been self-inflicted," prosecu- tors said. Two of his guests, Kent Culuko, 29, and John W Gordnick, 44, were also charged yesterday with evidence tam- pering, hindering apprehension and conspiracy to obstruct the law. Culuko, a former NBA player who was waived by the Nets in 1997, was also charged with witness tampering. Neither Culuko or Gordnick returned calls seeking comment. Both were expected to surrender yesterday or be arrested. Acting prosecutor Steven C. Lember said more than a dozen people were at the estate when the shooting occurred, including two children and four mem- bers of the Globetrotters. He did not release their names. Williams removed his clothes after shooting Christofi and told Culuko to dispose of them, the court documents say. Gordnick took the clothing away but has since turned it over to investi- gators, the documents say. Culuko helped Williams to wipe the shotgun clean and also told witnesses to lie to investigators about how the shooting occurred, authorities said. Williams told guests to tell investiga- tors that everyone in the home had been in a downstairs recreation area when Christofi was shot in a master bedroom upstairs, the court documents said. >is you AVoel SNAVKA featuring Natalie Knaizk $100-i1st $50-2nd $25-3rd Free Me~tfi >your first time traveling abroad, that is. >europe from $55 a day! our textbooks cost more than that. contiki has 100 worldwide trips to choose from and you can do it with people your own age. with such a great deal what are you waiting for?!??!!! S h re > greek island hopping > mediterranean highlights 14 days from $969 14 days from $859 to0go: > european getaway > simply italy 8 davs from $589 13 days from $749 ,. w f +.