Tuesday September 24, 2002 michigandaily.com sportsdesk@umich.edu PpORTS 8 6 Baby Askew is inspiration for fullback By Joe Smith Daily Sports Editor Last winter, a selfish B.J. Askew dreaded returning to fullback. But the senior said one tiny person in par- ticular helped him become more selfless and accept the new position gracefully. Askew's 1-year old son, B.J. Askew, Jr., gives the Cincinnati native all the motivation he could ever ask for. Askew said spending time with the "apple of his eye" after FOOTBALL football practices made him real- Notebook ize that he wants to give "Junior" a better childhood than he had. "It changed my life," Askew said. "It makes you more responsible and I just want to give him even more opportunities than I've had in my life - so he won't have to worry about what kind of car he drives or house he lives in" Askew remembers his father tirelessly working long hours and weekends at General Motors to make sure his three brothers and one sister could live somewhat comfortably during their childhood. Askew knew that moving to fullback was the best chance for him to make it in the NFL, and create the desired type of lifestyle for his son. After all, former Wolverine Leroy Hoard did it, and by making himself more versatile,; Askew feels he can catch NFL scouts' eyes. "I'm not just playing for myself or my team now," Askew said. "I'm playing for my son, and that drives me every day." And every day, Askew goes from practice to take care of his son while Junior's mother takes night class- es. It may be a hectic lifestyle, but that's nothing new to Askew - who rarely gets breaks on the football field. Askew led the team in rushing with 932 yards on the ground as Michigan's primary tailback last season. And Askew ranks second among the Wolverines in rushing yards (112) and receptions (16) this season. Askew also often finds himself trash talking with line- DAVID HORN 'Gulo gulo'granted to DANNY MOLOSHOK/Daily Michigan senior fullback B.J. Askew made the transition from tailback this summer. He put on 12 pounds and hopes to impress NFL scouts. Last season Askew was Michigan's leading rusher with 932 yards. backers while lead blocking for starting tailback Chris Perry and pass-protecting for quarterback John Navarre. And he said he's never lost a battle yet. "Until I do, whoever I block will hear about it," Askew said. But Askew knew he had to bulk up this past offsea- son to adjust to fullback. He hit the weightroom. and made plenty of visits to Subway to help gain about 12 pounds to raise his game weight to 238. "For those people who do the 'Subway Diet' and lose weight, I don't know how they do it," Askew said. If Askew's eating habits don't make him stick out, his light blue jumpsuits do. Askew sported an afro most of last season, and said he gets razzed sometimes by teammates for his "unique" outfits. Offensive lineman "Dave Petruziello came up to me the other day and asked if he could borrow my blue pants - because he said he wanted to go to a 'pimp and ho store,"' Askew said. MUM'S THE WORD: Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said he doesn't expect that defensive lineman Shantee Orr will play Saturday. Orr suffered an undisclosed injury to his right knee in the first half of last Saturday's win over Utah, and Carr said after the game that Orr may be out for "a while." Orr has been seen on campus using crutches to walk around. "We expect him back at some point," Carr said. As for cornerback Markus Curry, the other Wolver- ine missing in action for most of Saturday's game, Carr didn't discuss his benching, other than to say, "Compe- tition is wonderful." CURRY HONORED: Markus' brother, Julius, earned Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week honors for his impressive performance on Saturday. Curry, a fifth- year senior, tied a school record with eight punt returns for 105 yards, while also grabbing two interceptions. gluttonous ou may or may not know that the University of Michigan does not enjoy sole ownership of the Wolverine nickname. We share it with Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Grove City College in Grove City, Penn., Utah Valley State College in Oren, Utah and Wesley College in Dover, Del. It troubles me that a school as unique as ours, with a histo- ry of trend-setting (especially in ath- letics) would allow itself to be duplicated by various imposters, each of which we would absolutely demol- ish in field hockey. The wolverine, as many Michigan sports fans know, doesn't so much live in Michigan as in Alaska. According the Michigan State Geography Department, the last known sighting of the animal was shortly after the Civil War. It's rep- utation is that of a gluttonous and fero- cious animal, with little redeeming qualities about it - it is not without irony that Chris Webber is among the most famous of all Wolverines. The native Americans who lived in Michi- gan attached the nickname to the white men who took their land because it was the worst thing they could think to call them. Another hypothesis put forth by the Geography Department is that the nick- name was attached to Michiganders by the Buckeyes of Ohio during the Toledo War of 1835, when Michigan - violent and bloodthirsty - lay claim to the Toledo Strip, a disputed territory on the Michigan-Ohio boarder. J rove City Regardless of the connotations asso- ciated with the scientificly named Gulo gulo (gulo is Latin for glutton), the last wolverine in Michigan (stuffed, of course, since the 1860s) apparently resides in Traverse City with dentist Gary Kaberle. Dr. Kaberle was unavail- able for comment, and his receptionist was not at all helpful. Dentists - who needs them? Just sadists with newer magazines. With such a rich and treasured histo- ry as the wolverine has in the state of Michigan, it is small wonder why the school would want to adopt this nasty creature as its nickname. But Morris Brown? Grove City? What are they thinking? As little sense as it makes for Michigan to be the Wolverines, it makes less sense for these other schools. Beyond that, though, their logos put ours to shame. Indeed, the Michigan logo does not even display anything remotely wolverinish, whereas the other schools have made great strides in Wolverine logoing. Those logos are displayed below. My personal favorite, as I imagine yours will be, is Utah Valley State. Notice the stout nose, teeth, fur and scowl. Very wolverinish. Grove City, despite the headline's alliteration, comes in second. The blood and the GCC beanie earn it major points. Michigan- home of the original gluttons - comes in dead last. 6 6 Wdcats give Spartans chance to rebound David Horn can be reached at hornd@umich.edu. By Brad Johnson For the Daily After three weeks of way too many lopsided nonconference drubbings, it's time to let the real battle begin. AROUND THE NORTHWESTERNT AT MICHIGAN STATE, G EN 1:05 P.M.: Between getting dismantled at home by California two weeks ago and losing Saturday to Notre Dame, the Spartans have to be angry. The Irish squeaked by them last week, 21-17, on the strength of backup quarterback Pat Dillingham's late fourth-quarter touchdown pass to wide receiver Arnaz Battle. This Saturday the Spartans will have a golden opportunity to get back on the winning track when the Wildcats travel to East Lansing. The Wildcats of yester- year are long gone, with former talents like running back Damien Anderson and quarterback Zac Kustok quickly becoming distant memories in Evanston. They have been replaced by a team that barely got by Duke and Navy earlier in the season and tends to wander aimlessly around the field each Saturday looking confused as to why it is wearing purple. The Spartans will use this opportunity to take out some of their aggression from the past two weeks, and will make the Wildcats look just plain silly. Fortunately, this game is not on tel- evision, because it's going to be uglier than a Philip Brabbs field goal attempt. Michigan State 41, Northwestern 3 INDIANA AT No. 6 OHIO STATE, NOON, ESPN-Pius: Last week, the Buckeyes barely got past inferior Cincinnati by a 23-19 score. Of course, this close call came without the aid of Ohio State's star running back Maurice Clarett, who was on the sidelines recovering from arthro- scopic knee surgery. If Clarett had played Saturday, the Buckeyes would have put up 23 points in the first quarter. Clarett should return this week for the Buckeyes' Big Ten opener against Indiana. The Hoosiers will come to Columbus with little optimism under new coach Gerry DiNardo, since their two wins have come against the vaunted football powerhouses of William & Mary and Central Michigan. Clarett will run wild in his return, and will lead the Buckeyes to victory on Saturday. Ohio State 34, Indiana 7 IowA AT No. 12 PENN STATE, 12:05 P.M., ESPN: After Ohio State's struggle with Cincinnati last week, Penn State is starting to look like one of the dominant teams in the conference this year. The Nittany Lions picked apart then-No. 8 Nebraska two weeks ago and got an easy win over Louisiana Tech last week. Iowa comes into this game at 3-1 with its only loss coming against a decent Iowa State squad. But Penn State is not Iowa State. The Hawkeyes will have a tough time getting past the solid Nittany Lion defense. Look for Penn State to get off the blocks in the Big Ten with a rela- tively easy win against Iowa. Penn State 28, Iowa 14 MINNESOTA AT PURDUE, 6 P.M., (ESPN2): Out of all the games in the Big Ten this week, this contest has the potential to be the closest. Minnesota rolls into West Lafayette with a perfect 4-0 record after taking care of perennial MAC doormat Buffalo last week. Pur- due is stumbling into this game after a bizarre home loss to Wake Forest on Saturday. For the record, Winston- Salem, N.C. (where Wake is located) is home to Krispy Kreme donuts, not to schools that have any business beating Big Ten teams at home. Dangerous and much-improved Minnesota quarterback Asad Abdul-Khaliq will lead the Golden Gophers to victory in their first big chal- lenge of the year, spoiling Purdue's homecoming festivities as a result. Minnesota 21, Purdue 17 IMNOTES Ex-rowers win gold with U.S. national team Three former members of the Michigan rowing team powered the U.S. national- team's top boat to the FISA World Rowing Championhip Sunday in Seville, Spain. Kate John- son, Kate MacKenzie and Bernadette Marten were members of the United States' eight, which clocked 6:04.25 and beat out Australia by .85 seconds for the gold medal. The American team's last medal in this event was a silver in 1999, and the U.S. hadn't taken gold since 1995. -From StaffReports The imposters? The following schools present some stiff competition to Michigan for the title of "best Wolverine logo in college sports." Congrats to champion Utah Valley State. Utah Valley State Wolverines 1st Place Grove City Colege Wo ven nes i Th ihia aily Display TeamUz-ayza 4 Iheshh Weep L'n sa t AE of ,, .e' Sponsored by D'Amato's Italian Restaurant FOOD LFOR THOUGHT INVASION OR CIVIL WAR? After North Vietnam' s vic- tory, many Viet Cong and NLF leaders fled South Vietnam and became "boat people." The reason; they learned they had been duped by North Vietnam and it was truly an inva- sion. GARY LILLIE & ASSOC. REAUOCAS WWW.GARYLILLIE.COM 2nd Place 3rd Place 4th Place I Wesley College Wolverines OLWNES Morris Brown College Wolverines Corner of lst and Huron St. Downtown AA (734) 623-7400 www.damatos.com at I i N NMM , ' m>.v , .. .:. L~ ...... ?:.A.. ..:: . ta. ...... ): YT.r..u ., ..a. . , " 2 "". "."""" # A Ce)ebrartioiof Lael l Mc Kenny Union and Campus Life F and EMU Convocation Center present Live in concert Friday, September 27 EMU Convocation Center