4 September 12, 2002 michigandaily.com sportsdesk@umich.edu PORTSichigan Haag 12A 4 Irish ties run deep for Blue's Rumishek JOE SMITH By Joe Smith Daily Sports Editor Not many teenagers growing up loathed Michigan more than Dan Rumishek. The fifth-year senior defensive lineman is an old-fashioned Irish Catholic from the Chicago suburbs, and is from a large family of Notre Dame supporters. "I grew up as the biggest Notre Dame fan in the world," Rumishek said. "I hated Michigan. "It's a love-hate war. If you love Michigan, you hate Notre Dame and if you love Notre Dame, then you hate Michigan. That's just how' it was." But Michigan offered the 6-foot-4, 273-pound lineman a scholarship. The Fighting Irish didn't. And besides the fact Rumishek loved the Ann Arbor city life and the Michigan coaching staff, the scholarship sealed his early commitment to Michigan. And it's a key reason he'll be wearing a winged helmet instead of a gold one in this Saturday's much-anticipat- ed matchup against Notre Dame. His Michigan allegiance didn't stop everyone in Rumishek's extend- ed family from calling him on Sun- day. He said he received nearly 30 phone calls, and had to turn most of them away by saying, "Sorry, I can't talk right now. Let me get back to you in a week." Rumishek already had plenty on his mind. He'd circled Saturday's game in South Bend, Ind. for a while, calling it "the most special game I'll probably ever play in." He'll do battle against the same team he adored as a kid, on the same field he frequented as a teenager for Irish's spring games. And he'll be playing in front of his biggest fan, his uncle Richard Shep- herd, who also claims to be Notre Dame's biggest fan. And he has battle wounds to prove it. Shepherd inscribed the infamous Fighting Irish leprechaun into his ts about time Webber tells Struth and faces the music BRENDAN O'DONNELL/Daily Michigan defensive lineman Dan Rumishek has had Saturday's Notre Dame game marked on his calendar for years. He grew up as a die-hard fan of the Irish. flesh - in the form of a tattoo on his shoulder. But Rumishek said he's got plans to fix that. "My other uncles are working on their magic markers," Rumishek said. "So they're going to try to tackle him before the game and do some fixing." See RUMISHEK, Page 13A Stickers host Big East pair in early season 'Challenge' By Brian Schick Daily Sports Writer This weekend's action at Ocker Field features a rematch of two games that were never played. Last year, the Michigan field hockey team was gearing up for the Big East/Big Ten challenge featuring match- OCKER es against Boston College and Con- Wh: No.3 M necticut. But the attacks on Sept. 11 vs. No. 14Bos forced the games to be canceled, and (3-0) and Conr since they were nonconference matches, when:1 p.m. they were not rescheduled. 1 p.m. Sunday This season's schedule features the Latest: Six te same two opponents in the Big East/Big competing att Ten challenge. Boston College will starting Satur come to town on Saturday and Con- Ten/Big EastC necticut takes the field Sunday. This event wa "I can't believe it's been a year," last season. Michigan coach Marcia Pankratz said. "Everyone's world changed, and we tried really hard to stick together as a team in the days afterwards. To stay connected with people they considered to be their family was important." A year later, the Wolverines (3-1) look to keep rolling after a dominating performance this past weekend. Two MAC schools - Ball State and Central Michigan - proved to be no match for the defending national champions. Michigan scored five goals in each game and allowed just one - against Ball State. R FIELD Aichigan (3-1) ston College necticut (1-2) Saturday, 3y ams will be Ocker Field rday in the Big Challenge. s canceled Junior forward April Fronzoni led the weekend charge with a hat trick against the Chippewas and added two goals and an assist against the Cardinals to earn the Big Ten offensive player of the week award. Not to be outdone, junior defender Stephanie Johnson won the Big Ten defensive player of the week award. Johnson was an integral part of the Michigan defense, which allowed just 12 shots all weekend. "April is playing great hockey right goals-against average of 2.75 and 0.35, respectively. Pankratz is looking to build on the successes from last weekend while experimenting on how to make her team that much better. "I think we're trying to find and improve our fun- damentals and try to find some consistency," Pankratz said. "We have a great opportunity to work on some new things." Developing consistency against ranked opponents has been an area to work on in the early stages of the season. So far, the Wolverines are 1-1 against ranked oppo- nents, defeating No. 6 North Carolina 2-0, but drop- ping a 1-0 contest to No. 7 Wake Forest. This year's schedule contains nine more matches against oppo- nents ranked in the top 20, including the 14th-ranked Eagles this weekend. Pankratz likes the format of this tournament, which allows the Wolverines to play teams they wouldn't normally face. Typically teams in the Big East are some of the more dominant ones in the nation. "It's important for us to play out of region," Pankratz said. "For us to go out of conference and battle teams out east, we need to go out and play our best." 've now heard a few different versions on who banned "booster" Eddie Martin really was. He was a warm and generous man who was a father to many inner city kids who maybe never had such a figure in their life. He put "clothes on your back and shoes on your feet." Sounds like a modern-day Robin Hood? At least until you hear the other side. "Uncle" Eddie was also a sleezy, sneaky creature who "befriended" unassuming high school kids, promised them the world and showered them with small gifts from time to time. He was a predator who "preyed" on such kids' naivete. The problem with these two ver- sions? Both are public statements from the same man, former Michigan "Fab Five" superstar Chris Webber, over the past year. Ridiculous? Such contradictory comments symbolize the lies and -obscure cloud of smoke Webber is blowing in front of everyone's face. As late as yesterday, Webber pleaded inno- cent to perjury and obstruction of jus- tice charges. He said he'll fight until he's "vindicated." It's about time Webber grows up, tells the truth about the relationship with Eddie and faces the music - which in the $123 million man's case most likely is a slap on the wrist, a fine and proba- tion. It's in the best interest for himself, his family and the University. The latest indictment says Webber lied to the grand jury, to Michigan investigators, to everyone. Eddie's admission in court that he did in fact loan Webber and other former Michi- gan players more than $600,000 in a money laundering scheme also points to Webber lying. The bottom line is that Martin said he gave $280,000 of that cash to Webber in the form of rent, hotel rooms and food. That's the problem with Webber - it's usually take, take, take. How much time has Webber spent returning to Michigan, to give back to the school he "loves" and help in the recruiting and rebuilding efforts? I'd ask him, but he'd probably lie. Webber's strategy? Deny, deny, deny. He even protected Eddie, the same guy who "preyed" on him, by denying he ever took money Anything he could do to shift the blame and hope it goes away. Well, Webber's legal problems aren't going away soon, especially since his plea of innocence yesterday. The black cloud cast over the Michigan basketball program surely isn't going away soon either, as the NCAA probably will wait until Web- ber's case is done before laying the hammer on Michigan - which has been suffering from de facto proba- tion ever since the whole ordeal started nearly a decade ago. And the charges against his father, Mayce Webber, and his aunt aren't going awhy either. According to the indictment, they lied to investigators as well, hoping to help Webber weasel his way out of a mess he helped start a while back. "I didn't get cars; I didn't get noth- ing," Webber told The New York Times Monday night. "I got $20 here and there, a lot of times. I'll be honest, it happened a lot." Maybe Webber mowed Eddie's lawn 14,000 times at $20 a pop. Maybe Eddie paid Webber 28 installments of $10,000 to wash his car. Either way, the truth needs to come out. Louis Bullock, Robert Traylor and Jalen Rose all admit- ted to taking money from Martin. All Michigan, the NCAA, and the FBI want is for Webber to take responsibility. Is that too much to ask from a "Michi- gan man?" Joe Smith can be reached at josephms@umich.edu. 'now and I consider her the best player in the country," Pankratz said. "Stephanie is the founda- tion of our defense, and was critical to our shutout." Fronzoni and Johnson will be called upon again to lead the Wolverines this weekend against No. 14 Boston College (3-0) and Connecticut (1-3). Both teams boast stingy goalies: Connecticut's Maureen Butler and Boston College's Lauren Hill have a *Special student rates are only available to college students in select calling areas of the U.S. See tracfoneu.com for details. . - l- V u FV7 <7AU x. M. 0 M A