16 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, April 17, 2002 HORN Continued from Page13 1999 - the Knicks were the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference. They defeated the No. 1 seeded Miami Heat in the first round on an improbable Allen Houston runner that rolled around the rim for a good 25 minutes. The Knicks went on to defeat the Pac- ers in the Eastern Conference finals. The conspiracy theorists suggested that Stern and the boys rigged that series so the Pacers - from the meager Indi- anapolis market - wouldn't face the Spurs in an unprofitable final. So if you're trying to decide what will happen to the beloved Pistons this year, consider the markets. In the East- ern Conference, the teams would be ranked as follows, according to mar- ket: 1) New York (Nets), 2) Philadel- phia, 3) Boston, 4) Detroit, 5) Orlando, 6) Charlotte, 7) Milwaukee and 8), well, David Stern would sooner sell his own mother to Mark Cuban before a team from Canada is playing in prime- time on NBC for seven nights in June. The good news for Pistons fans is that any time the Lakers are in serious position to represent the Western Con- ference, the East is wide open. Con- versely, when the Bulls were dominating the East, the Western Conference Championship was any- body's game. Still, from a historical perspective, it is more likely that a Philadelphia or Boston will play in the Finals than a Charlotte or ... haha ... Toronto. David Horn will be rooting for the Spurs because he's a Spurs fan, and the Rap- tors because a San Antonio-Toronto championship wouldn't make the NBA a dime. He can be reached via e-mail at hornd@umich.edu. Tigers end 11-game losing s DETROIT (AP) - After waiting two weeks for their first win of the season, the Detroit Tigers made sure to celebrate. Randall Simon drove in three runs and Jose Lima pitched six scoreless innings as Detroit snapped an 11- game skid with a 9-3 win over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays last night. With the crowd standing and chanting "Let's go Tigers," Juan Acevedo pitched a scoreless ninth to end it. After he got Brent Abernathy on a comebacker after the final out, Dmitri Young jumped in Acevedo's arms and began to gyrate. "I knew if I was involved with the last out, I was going to do something special, something stupid," Young said with an ear-to-ear smile while opening a can of beer. "It feels great to get that first win out of the way. It's just too bad we won't be in the national spotlight anymore because I think this team is capable of playing some good ball." It was the first win for manager Luis Pujols, who replaced Phil Gar- ner after six games. While Young and Acevedo - nearly 500 pounds of them - were hugging and dancing near first base, Pujols was engulfed in several embraces near the mound as the crowd of 13,256 cheered wildly. "They hugged me, so I have no Weekend critical for postseason standings By Brian Steer. Daily Sports Writer IBUHG < Al PIP' LEV Q ,I AP PHOTO Detroit Tigers' Craig Paquette celebrates the team's 9-3 win over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays last night with Dmitri Young and Juan Acevedo. I choice but to hug them back," Pujols said. "It made me feel very good. They were playing hard to get the first win out of the way." Tampa Bay swept the Tigers to begin Detroit's 0-11 start. Only four major league teams since 1900 started worse: The 1920 Tigers and the 1904 Washington Sen- ators began 0-13, the 1997 Chicago Cubs lost their first 14 games, and the 1988 Baltimore Orioles set the record with an 0-21 start. "With the chemistry this team has, we are capable of winning 12 or 13 in a row just as easy as we lost them," shortstop Shane Halter said. Simon's solo homer in the fourth gave Detroit a 2-0 lead and his two- run single began a five-run sixth, which made it 7-0 and prompted the crowd to give a standing ovation. "It's a great feeling because we've been looking for it," Simon said. "It seems like a couple years." Lima (1-2) gave up five hits and two walks while striking out four. He had given up 10 runs in 6.2 innings this Season, including four A look at the underside of U of M www.universitysecrets.com runs in two innings of a 9-2 loss at Tampa Bay on April 4, and had lost seven of his last eight starts. "I'm happy that we were able to stop the bleeding," Lima said. Delvin James lost in his major league debut after giving up two runs and five hits in five innings. James, called up from Triple-A Durham on Monday, apparently wasn't following the Tigers' saga. "I had no idea they hadn't won a game," James said. "I knew they had started the season off with a bunch of losses, but I thought they must have won by now." James was relieved by Steve Kent, who faced just four batters and gave up four runs on three hits and a walk. Streakin' For diehard Tiger fans, it may seem like more than a year since the Tigers won their last game during the regular season. But, in reality, it had been just six months. Here is a look back at their 12-game losing streak. Date Team Score 9/7/01 Kansas City 10-4 4/2/02 Tampa Bay 9-5 4/3/02 Tampa Bay 2-1 4/4/02 Tampa Bay 9-2 4/5/02 Cleveland 10-1 4/6/02 Cleveland 5-3 4/7/02 Cleveland 5-1 4/9/02 Chicago 8-2 4/10/02 Chicago 7-5 4/12/02 Minnesota 4-2 4/13/02 Minnesota 7-3 4/14/02 Minnesota 13-7 The Big Ten season has certainly been a challenge for the Michigan men's tennis team. After compiling a 9-2 nonconference record, the Wolverines have fought their way to the .500 mark in the conference. Except for a few lopsided affairs, all these contests have been extremely close, with each outcome being decided by just one or BLOOM two matches. AND WOO Coach Mark Mees Who: Michiga cites parity in the Big 13-6 overall) v Ten as a main reason 6-14), Purdue( for the close results. When: 12 p.m "Everyone's pretty 12 p.m. Sunda good," Mees said with Latest: Michig a smile. "Right from in third place in the top of the confer- th a strong d. ence down to the bot- tom, the difference between winning and losing is pretty small." Michigan (4-4 Big Ten, 13-6 over- all) will conclude its Big Ten season this weekend on the road against Purdue (4-4, 9-10) and Indiana (0-8, 6-14), two teams that will both be hungry for a victory. The Boilmakers are trying to close out their confer- ence campaign above .500, while the Hoosiers are still searching for their first Big Ten win of the season. "We've got a tough weekend on the road at Indiana and at Purdue," Mees said. "Both teams are very capable (of winning). It will be a nice test for us leading into the Big I AIN( s. I (4- i. Sat ay an in thf inis Ten Tournament." The conference tournament will begin next Thursday in Columbus, which makes these last two matches critical for Michigan. "I don't get too caught up with where everybody is, but your seed- ing at the Big Ten Tournament all comes into play down the stretch," Mees said. Michigan is currently tied with Purdue for fifth place in the conference and JGTON still has a chance to AFAYETTE capture the No. 3 seed 4 Big Ten, if it can garner a sweep ndiana (0-8, this weekend. 4, 9-10) Without question, the turday, Wolverines' biggest vic- tory of the season was could finish their 4-3 upset of then- e Big Ten No. 4 Notre Dame. That hthisweek- win gave the team a feeling of confidence that it could hang with the elite squads. Michigan will need to main- tain that toughness if it wants to make a postseason run. "It's still in the back of our minds that we are a good team because we beat a top-10 team in the nation," Anthony Jackson said. "For us, I would say a lot of it is mental because we have the players that are capable of doing very well on this team." Following the Big Ten Tourna- ment, Michigan will have a two- week break before the NCAA Championships begin. The Wolver- ines will be looking to earn a bid for the fifth consecutive year. OPEN FRIDAY AT STATE THEATER CALL FOR SHOWTIMES 761-8667 Senior Ben Cox hopes to pick up'two victories at his No. 2 singles spot to help the Wolverines capture two wins this weekend against Indiana and Purdue. i . ATTENTION SENIORS Your Michigan career ends with graduation, but your memory can live on forever. Before you graduate, etch your name into Michigan history with a commemorative brick at Michigan Stadium. 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