0 Tuesday' October 29, 2002 michigandaily.com sportsdesk@umich.edu SPORTS 8 Phantom second no longer an issue for 'M' DAVID HORN By Joe Smith Daily Sports Editor Ask Michigan fans, and they'll say it's a finalist for the most devastating second of their lives - one that wasn't supposed to FOOTBALL occur in the first Notebook place. Ask Michigan coach Lloyd Carr about the final play in last year's Michigan State game, and he'll give a stern look and say "I don't care to replay things that happened a long time ago." But ask several Michigan players, and they'll state that the "phantom sec- ond" and timekeeper controversy in last year's heart-breaking, 26-24 loss to the Spartans was "overhyped" by the media and fans. "I think it's extremely overplayed," Michigan captain Bennie Joppru said. "You should never be in the position to have anyone take the game away like that from you. And that's the bottom line." The controversy surrounding Jeff Smoker's last-second, game-winning 2-yard touchdown pass to T.J. Duckett last year led to a Big Ten rule change. Now a television timeout coordinator handi'es the official time - instead of a person hired by the home school in the press box. But, more importantly for the Wolverines, the burning motivation to avenge last year's defeat to the Spar- tans this Saturday helped them push their embarrassing loss to Iowa - the program's worst since 1967 - out of their minds. "This Michigan State game is the best thing that's going to happen this week to get over the Iowa loss," offen- sive tackle Tony Pape said. Ever since the Iowa game ended, the only thing the Wolverines have been focusing on is the green and white flag that has hung in their locker room for nearly a full year. The flag not only symbolizes the painful loss to their intrastate rivals, but also the turning point in a once-promising season that fell apart after that game. Michigan went on to lose two of its final four games, including a 45-17 shellacking in the Citrus Bowl. This year's strong senior leaders said there's no way such a collapse will occur this time around. "We're not going to let what hap- pened last year happen again," Pape said. "I promise you that." FINLEY FACTOR: Sophomore punter Adam Finley has overcome surgeries on both his knees since coming to Michigan three years ago to become Hayden Epstein's replacement at kick- 0 If its in the game: On the pus anai spot DANNY MOLOSHOK/Daily Last year, Jeff Smoker led the Spartans to a dramatic last-second victory over the Wolverines. Smoker will miss Saturday's matchup after being suspended last week. er and punter. But now Finley will finally get the chance to handle all placekicking duties, Carr said. Finley nailed a 40-yard field goal - the first of his career - in the third quarter on Saturday. He also punted eight times for an average of 43 yards per punt, and pinned Iowa inside the 20-yard line four times in the first half. CATO UPDATE: Carr said Michigan sen- ior safety Cato June was released from the hospital Sunday morning after his collision with Dan Rumishek against Iowa knocked him unconscious. "All of the reports came back posi- tive," Carr said. "It was a concussion, and he's going to be fine." June's status for Saturday is unknown. The 2002 Anaheim Angels have won the World Series, and while their grit and determination are admirable, I can't help but long for the Angels of my youth: RBI Baseball's California (Ca). Gary Pettis (Pettis), Doug DeCinces (DCincs), Wally Joyner (Joyner), Reggie Jackson (Jacksn), Brian Downing (Dwning), Bobby Grich (Grich), Dick Schofield (Schfid) and Bob Boone (Boone) filled out the roster of one of the more formidable teams on the clas- sic game for Nintendo. Rick Burleson (Burlsn) and George Hendrick (Hendrk) could match up inning for inning with Minnesota's Frank Viola (Viola) and Bert Blyleven (Blylvn), or even Houston's (Ho) Nolan Ryan (NRyan) and Mike Scott (MScott). California had it all, and was one of the more underrated teams (there were just 10) on the Greatest Video Game Ever. If my mother did not have such a pas- sion to send me out "into the merry sun- shine" when I was 9, and I wasn't trying to go to law school now that I'm 21 (which gets me out of the house and into the classroom), my entire life would have been spent playing RBI Baseball. Oh, it has its competition for the title of Greatest Video Game Ever. Tecmo Bowl deserves an obvious mention, but for games of that era (mid-'80s), charm lay in the game's nuances. RBI Baseball had the random errors, easily tired bullpens and first base throw away (and the best musical score in the history of video game scores). Tecmo Bowl, the grandfather of three generations of sim- ulation games, was almost too polished, too ahead of its time. And when run 1 didn't work and you had to go to run 2 or - heaven forbid - a pass play, terri- ble things could happen - especially if your buddy Mikey over there on the couch had wandering eyes. But RBI Baseball and Tecmo Bowl still stand out against the rest of the NES field. its gaming The field? Ice Hockey and Blades of Steel intro- duced a generation of NES players to the misunderstood world of hockey. The former offered the fat guy/skinny guy debate that captivated video game hock- ey players for years. Bases Loaded gave RBI a run for its money on the virtual diamond. John Elway's Quarterback was the first football simulation to offer the shotgun set, and 10-Yard Fight was a game only a wedge buster could love. Jordan versus Bird - which pitted Larry Legend against His Airness in a game of one-on-one - was a dark- horse favorite of mine. What all these games lacked, though, was true interaction. One year for Chanukah, my parents bought me the Power Pad, which allowed players the opportunity to run as fast as they could on a touch-sensitive plastic sheet. The speed of the animated player on the game corresponded to how quickly you ran. It was fun as hell for about three hours that wonderful Chanukah night. Then the Power Pad was crumpled up and stuffed in a cabinet in my basement, until a Labrador puppy who will remain nameless found, chewed and digested that novel piece of gaming equipment. There were other tools offered by NES, such as the Power Glove and the Zapper Gun. But don't get me started on Mike Tyson's Punch-out (for which the Power Glove was best-suited). That deserves an entire column all to itself. I would also like to suggest that play- ing marbles is a sport; so too, for that matter, is duck hunting. Anyway congratulations, Anaheim. Your story is great, but your team will always be an RBI team to me. The game of baseball is made up, in no small part, by the ... nevermind. I've got next. Honors unimportant for Wisconsin s Penney By Chare. Paradis Daily Sports Writer CHICAGO - For the second straight year, Kirk Penney sat alone at a table at Big Ten Media Day, fielding questions about himself and the rest of the Wisconsin team. Penney, whose thick New Zealand accent and affa- ble attitude make him one of the most charismatic players in the conference, sat by himself, while some other BASKETBALL schools sent as many as four Notebook players to represent their teams. But this was only fitting for Pen- ney, who has been one of the few constants for the Badgers in the last three years. The only returning first-team All-Big Ten player from last season, Penney was an obvious choice for both the coaches and the media as a preseason all- conference selection. But the 6-foot-5 guard does not let the early accolades go to his head, or even think about them much for that matter. "It isn't something you really want to dwell on," Penney said. "You are a part of a team, you're not an individual and if you ever think that's not the case, then you are subtracting from what the team is trying to accomplish." As a senior, Penney is ready to lead and teach the younger players on the team, something his experience and personality make him more than qualified to do. Penney "doesn't do anything half-way," Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said. "In personality, socially, he's an A. Work habits, he's an A. Leadership, he's an A. He just does everything well ... The rest of the players look at him and say 'Wow, that's what it takes to be pretty good.' I'm hoping all of them say, 'This is what we have to do."' Penny was the first Badger to be named a first-team All-Big Ten selection since Michael Finley in 1993. Last February against Minnesota, en route to a share of the Big Ten title, the Badgers first since 1947, Penny poured in a conference-best 27 second-half points. GoLDEN Boy: Rick Rickert was there when Penney took over in the second half against Minnesota. As a freshman, he watched as the Badgers avenged the loss to the Golden Gophers a month before. But now, a year older and a little bit stronger - Rickert put on 10 pounds in the offseason - the Big Ten coaches tabbed Rickert as the preseason conference player of the year. But like Penney, Rickert does not concern himself with any preseason recognition. "That's a great honor," Rickert said. "It is something to look at and say, 'Yeah that's great.' But the goal, the focus is obviously my team, not me. I've got to keep that in perspective and focus on my team." Last season's Big Ten Freshman of the Year has got- ten even better, a scary thought for opposing coaches. "I've gotten a lot stronger and fitter," Rickert said. "I've put on some weight, and I've gotten quicker. Just every aspect seems to get better every year." David Horn can be reached at hornd@umich.edu. 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