2B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - January 6, 2003

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CLUBSPORTsWEEKLY
Orange Coast CC still stands in way of 'M' dancers

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

By Waldemar Centeno
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan dance team is more than a bunch
of pretty faces. The women who make up the
team are competitive athletes with a clear goal on
their minds. In early January, the team will enter
the national competition in Orlando, Fla. with the
hopes of bringing back a championship to Ann
Arbor.
"I wouldn't say we are nervous about the competi-
tion' junior captain Lorin O'Toole said. "I would say
that we are excited for this upcoming event. I believe
we have a good chance as long as we bring our per-
formance together and take it up a notch."

Michigan will face many competitive dancers
including Orange Coast Community College and
most of the Big Ten. Orange Coast, the defending
national champion, is expected to be Michigan's
toughest opposition.
"The national competition is going to be chal-
lenging for our team," O'Toole said. "Because
this is the only collegiate competition we have all
year, it puts all the pressure on it."
The Wolverines have already had one victory
this season.
For years, the dance team has been persistently
requesting a place in the Michigan Stadium on
football Saturdays.
Earlier in the season, the dance team's per-

formances in the Big House were temporary, and
the team lobbied hard to remain a permanent part
of the festivities. Michigan asked its student pop-
ulation to help by sending emails, phone calls
and other forms of encouragement for the team's
cause.
On Sept. 21, when Michigan played Utah, the ath-
letic department announced that the dance team
would be allowed to remain in Michigan's south end
zone for all home football games. The team felt that
this was a great accomplishment.
"When they approached my coach and I before
the game and gave us the news, I was extremely
excited," O'Toole said. "We have been trying to
do this for a long time now."

Who: Kyle Smith
Hometown: Butte, Mont.
Position: 197 lb. weight class

Sport: Wrestling
Year: Senior

Why: Just over three minutes into his match with Oregon's Jake Leair,
Smith scored Michigan's second pin in the Wolverines' 35-6 romp over the
Ducks. The ninth-ranked captain improved his record to 10-6 on the sea-
son, and his pin of Leair was his third fall this year.

Smith


Wild

card


Giants gives

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Buried
in a 24-point playoff hole after a sea-
son of missed opportunities, the San
Francisco 49ers finally woke up.
After that, Jeff Garcia and Terrell
Owens could do nothing wrong - and
the New York Giants made a monu-
mental collapse, all the
way down to their new a


long snapper.
Garcia hit Tai Streets
with a 13-yard touch-

(tip

down pass with 1
minute left, and the
Giants botched the snap
on a 41-yard field-goal
attempt as time expired
in San Francisco's 39-38
victory yesterday. It was-
the second-biggest
comeback in NFL play-
off history.
Right down to a con-
fusing, contentious
ending, it was a game
with more twists, turns
and dramatic moments
than most teams would
see in years - from Amani Toomer's
three touchdown catches to Kerry
Collins' impressive performance, from
Garcia's impossibly gutsy leadership to
the fight that broke out at the height of
the tension.
The 49ers (11-6) trailed 38-14 with
4 minutes left in the third quarter, but
they scored 25 straight points on two

AP PHOTO
New York quarterback Kerry Collins looks on in disbelief that he and his Giants
gave up a 24 point lead to San Francisco. The Giants lost 39-38.

Steel curtain falls on Browns in fourth

d goal by
iners win
TD passes and a scoring run by Garcia,
as well as two two-point conversion
catches by Owens.
After Garcia drove the Niners 68
yards in just over two minutes for
Streets' score, Collins got New York
to the San Francisco 28 with six
seconds left. But long snapper Trey
Junkin, signed earlier in the week,
made a low snap that Matt Allen
couldn't handle.
Allen threw a desperate pass that fell
incomplete, and after New York was
penalized for illegal men downfield,
the Niners leaped, sprinted and col-
lapsed onto the field in a raucous cele-
bration before an exhausted
Candlestick crowd.
The 49ers advanced to face Tampa
Bay next Sunday, but the Buccaneers
will have no idea which San Francisco
team they'll face - the one that stum-
bled through the first 40 minutes, or
the one that flattened the Giants with
an unbelievable rally.
Divisional matchups
NFC
Atlanta at PHILADELPHIA, 8 P.M.,
Saturday, FOX.
San Francisco at TAMPA BAY, 1 P.M.,
Sunday, FOX.
AFC
Pittsburgh at TENNESSEE, 4:30 P.M.,
Saturday, CBS.
New York Jets at OAKLAND, 4:30 P.M.,
Sunday, CBS.
NFLBRIEFS
Colts non-existent
in New York romp
EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey
(AP) - Chad Pennington threw for
three touchdowns and LaMont Jordan
ran for two as the New York Jets showed
they belong in the NFL
playoffs with a rout of
the Indianapolis Colts.
New York (10-7)
began the 'season 1-4,
but won seven of its last
4 1 nine to storm to the AFC
East title on the final
day of the season. The
surge continued against
the wild-card Colts (10-
7), who never were in
the game as the Jets
recorded their biggest
victory in the playoffs.
It was their first post-
season victory since
1998, when they made
it to the AFC champi-
onship game, and the
score matched the last
playoff game at Giants Stadium, when
the Giants beat Minnesota for the 2000
NFC title.
Vick overcomes
curse of Lambeau
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) - It
looked so perfect for Green Bay.
Snow falling. Packers in green and

gold. Lambeau Field
in January. Only it
wasn't Brett Favre
making all the plays.
It was Michael
Vick. The 22-year-old
improvisational genius
led the Atlanta Falcons
to a 27-7 upset of the
Packers in a wild-card
playoff before a record
crowd of 65,358
stunned souls Satur-
day night.
The Packers (12-5)
were the only team to
go unbeaten at home
7 during the regular sea-
son. And they had
never lost a home play-
off game since the

Q SCHEDULE
Tuesday, Jan. 7
M Tennis vs. Milwaukee Tennis Classic
WednesdayJan.8
M Basketball vs. Wisconsin, 8 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 10
W Tennis vs. Michigan Invitational, TBA
M Swim/Diving at Stanford, 4 p.m.
W Swim/Diving vs. Toledo, 5 p.m.
Ice Hockey vs. Western Michigan, 7:35 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 11
M Swim/Diving at California, 4 p.m.
M Basketball vs. Penn State, 4 p.m.
W Gymastics vs. Ohio State, 7 p.m.
M Gymnastics at Windy City Invitational, 8 p.m.
Ice Hockey at Western Michigan, 7:05 p.m.
M Track/Field vs. Jack Harvey Invitational
W Track/Field vs. Jack Harvey invitational
Sunday, Jan. 12
W Basketball at Purdue, 2:00 p.m.
'M' NOTES

SPORTS,

BRIEFS

K:nee not mloney, He is averaging 22.9 points, 10.3
, money, rebounds and five assists this sea-
haunts Webber now son for the Kings
.. . ? PrtetrS il h

PITTSBURGH (AP) - The Cleveland Browns have been
haunted for 16 years by The Drive. Now they've got to live
with The Comeback by the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Tommy Maddox, the Comeback Player of the Year, led
one of Pittsburgh's great comebacks ever,
throwing three touchdown passes in the
final 19 minutes as the Steelers rallied
from a 17-point deficit in the second half
to stun the Browns 36-33 yesterday in an
AFC wild-card game.
Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala's three-yard
touchdown run with 54 seconds left won it as
the Steelers, coming off so many playoff dis- 36
appointments at home under coach Bill
Cowher, kept their postseason going with one
of the franchise's most memorable victories.,
"I don't think anybody in the building
thought we weren't going to win," Browns
quarterback Kelly Holcomb said. "I think
everybody thought we were going to go on"
They Steelers denied the Browns their first
road playoff victory since 1969, their first
playoff win of any kind since returning to the 33
NFL in 1999 and gave themselves a huge
momentum lift going into Saturday's divisional round game at
AFC second-seeded Tennessee.
The Jets, shutout winners Saturday over the Colts, now play
next Sunday at top-seeded Oakland - no doubt after thinking
for most of the afternoon they were going to Tennessee.
"I was already in Oakland," Browns receiver Kevin John-
son said, wistfully, referring to where Cleveland would have
played.
Not even the Steelers of the '70s ever pulled off a come-
back from a deficit like this mostly because they rarely fell
behind like this. Even in the famed Immaculate Reception
game, they trailed Oakland only 7-6 before Franco Harris'
game-winning tipped pass scoring catch in 1972.
"It's one of those wins that you can't see happening, but
you just keep hoping it will keep going the way it's going,"
Steelers coach Bill Cowher said of the frantic comeback.

For the Browns, it was an eerie flashback to John Elway's
memorable 98-yard "The Drive" to beat the Browns for Den-*
ver in a 1987 playoff game.
The Steelers were shredded all afternoon by Holcomb, who
threw for 429 yards and three touchdowns, and trailed 24-7
until Maddox's six-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress
with 3:50 left in the third quarter.
"I can't say how many times I must have said, 'We've got
time. We have time, so don't panic,' " offensive coordinator
Mike Mularkey said. "I never felt there was a panic button
pushed by anyone."
Except the Browns.

Winter break ends
poorly for grapplers
The No. 7 Michigan wrestling team
suffered its first loss of the season at the
hands of No. 13 Central Michigan, los-
ing 19-13 yesterday in Mount Pleasant.
After losing the first four matches, the
Wolverines rallied back to tie the score
in the meet with two matches left. But
the Chippewas won the remaining bouts
to seal the victory.
Senior Kyle Smith, ranked ninth
nationally, led the way .for the
Wolverines by winning at 197
pounds. Redshirt freshman Greg
Wagner dominated in the heavy-
weight bought with a 9-5 win.
Senior Foley Doud and A.J. Grant

also won their respective matches at
125 and 133 pounds.
But after the score was tied, Clark
Forward and Jeremiah Tobias lost
the final two matches against ranked
opponents.
Saturday night, the Wolverines
donimayed Oregon by winning eight
of the ten matches on the way to a
35-6 win. Freshman Rob Sulaver
and Smith registered falls at 157 and
197 pounds, respectively.
At the Midland Championships,
Michigan finished tenth out of six-
teen teams.
Doud won the 133-pound division
and Grant finished fourth in the
125-pound division, and Smith fin-
sihed sixth at 197.
-Staff reports

DENVER (AP) - Sacramento
Kings forward Chris Webber did not
play against the Denver Nuggets on
Saturday night due to a sore left
knee.
The former Wolverine practiced
with the team Saturday morning in
Sacramento, but didn't travel to
Denver after his knee flared up.
"As soon as I went back to the
training room, I found it was just
bothering him too much with run-
ning," Kings coach Rick Adelman
said. "We decided to go ahead and
leave him at home to work on some
things."
The forward was unable to play in
yesterday's game agaunst Miami.
This was the same knee that trou-
bled Webber earlier this season."
Webber had an MRI on his knee
before Sacramento's 119-113 over-
time loss to Portland on Dec. 28.
Webber had 20 points and 10
rebounds against the Trail Blazers,
but missed 16 of 24 shots and had
six turnovers.

banned from Masters
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) - Protesters
who. intend to picket outside Augusta
National Golf Club during the Masters
might have difficulty getting close to
the club.
Two civil-rights groups - Martha
Burk's National Council of Women's
Organizations and the Rev. Jesse Jact-
son's Rainbow/PUSH coalition -
intend to demonstrate outside Augusta's
gates to protest the club's all-male mem-
bership.
Richmond County Sheriff Ronnie
Strength told The Augusta Chronicle
that law-enforcement officials will "not
even consider the sidewalks around the
Augusta National," and that public safe-
ty will take precedence over planned
protests.
Strength said the sidewalks are too
narrow and there will be too many
pedestrians and vendors on Washington
Road to allow a large protest there.
The Masters will be held April 10-13.

DAMY SCOREBOARD

NBA STANDINGS
EASTERN CONFERENCE

NHL STANDINGS

Atlantic Division
New Jersey
Boston
Philadelphia
Orlando
washington
New York
Miami
Central Division
Indiana
Detroit
New Orleans
Milwaukee
Atlanta
Chic ago
Toronto
Cleveland

w
25
19
19
18
16
12
12
w
23
21
19
13
12
12
8
7

PHOTOG/Daily
Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala's three-yard touchdown with under a
minute left gave Pittsburgh a 36-33 win over Cleveland

Pct.
.735
.594
.576
.514
.485
.414
.375
Pct.
.697
.677
.559
:406
.375
.364
.242
.200
Pct.
.844
.606
.594
.548
.531
.313
.219
Pct.
.727
.636
.613
.500
.406
.394
.364

GB
5
5.5
7.5
8.5
10.5
12
GB
1
4.5
9.5
10.5
11
15
17
GB
7.5
8
9.5
10
17
20
GB
4
7.5
10.5
11
12

EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division
W L
New Jersey 21 12
Philadelphia 19 10
Pittsburgh 17 15
NY Islanders 17 16
NY Rangers 15 20

Northeast Division
W
Ottawa 24
Boston 21
Toronto 20
Montreal 16
Buffalo 10
Southeast Division
W
Washington 18
Tampa Bay 17
Carolina 16
Florida 12
Atlanta 10

L
9
13
15
15
22
L
16
15
16
12
23

T
2
8
3
5
6

U sF1 1]

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WINTER TERM
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WESTERN CONFERENCE
Midwest Division
DiIlas
San Antonio
Utah
Houston
Minnesota
Memphis
Denver
Pacific Division
Sacramento
Phoenix
Portland
Seattle
Golden State
LA Lakers
LA Clippers
NBA GAMES

W
27
20
19
17
17
10
7
W
24
21
19
16
13
13
12

WESTERN CONFERENCE
Central Division
W L
Detroit 22 9
St. Louis 21 12
Chicago 19 13
Columbus 14 19
Nashville 10 18

PTS
47
47
42
40
37
PTS
54
47
45
41
27
PTS
43
42
40
40
25
PTS
52
49
45
34
31
PTS
53
50
46
45
35
PTS
54
39
39
39
37

Northwest Division
W
vancouver 24
Minnesota 21
Colorado 16
Edmonton 18
Calgary 13

GF GA
89 77
87 78
1.6 118
108113
101131
GF GA
129 86
121 104
113 96
110122
87 110
GF GA
107 113
115116
91 103
94 114
92 142
GF GA
119 92
131 102
93 86
108117
82 109
GF. GA
127101
108 93
116100
107 105
85 108
GF GA
125 82
100 107
97 101
104120
105121

L
11
12
10
13
18

Pacific Division
W L
Dallas 22 10
Los Angeles 16 16
Anaheim 15 15
Phoenix 15 17
San Jose 15 17
NHL GAMES

jR~i !
+% I'

OT,

Yesterday's games
San Antonio at LA CLIPPERS, inc.
New Orleans at TORONTO, inc.
Portland at NY KNrCKS, inc.
Miami at SACRAMENTO. inc.
Phoenix at LA LAKERS, inc.

Yesterday's games
Philadelphia at ATLANTA, inc.
Detroit at CHICAGO, inc.

I 621D.. .112 j" I


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