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2B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - November 11, 2002
CLUBSPORTSWEEKLY
Volleyball perseveres
without two top players
Smile!
AeL OFkbigaTWailE
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
6
Who: April Fronzoni
Hometown: Larksville, Pa.
Position: Forward
Sport: Field hockey
Year: Junior
By Waldemar Centeno
Daily Spozrts Writer ,
Michigan's women's club volley-
ball team entered its first tourna-
ment in Ann Arbor in pain.
Two of the team's key players,
Katie Gorman and Meredith Hasse,
were unable to play in the Michi-
gan Tournament, which was held in
the Intramural building.
Gorman suffered an ankle injury
during the beginning of the tourna-
ment and Hasse, who normally
starts in the middle, was out due to
illness.
"One of our best players got hurt
and the other one was sick," club
member Mary Altman said. "But
that did not effect us that much.
Both of the two teams did really
well in their first tournament of the
year."
Michigan dressed two squads for
the tournament, the Maize team
and the Blue team.
Adding to the teams' difficulties,
both Michigan teams had to play
without their coach, Scott Mattson,
at times because it was difficult for
him to be there for both the Maize
and Blue teams.
Despite being short-handed, the
two teams persevered and
advanced far in the tournament
that began at 9 a.m. Saturday.
Michigan's Blue team faired
well during pool play. It entered
the tournament unsure of what
kind of success they could achieve
and exited with some knowledge of
what kind of team they have.
The Blue team qualified for the
quarterfinals. Although the team
lost that match to Grand Valley
State - which later won the tour-
nament against James Madison -
it was happy with its performance.
The Maize team also had a solid
performance.
The Maize team advanced part
the uarterfinals with a tightly bat-
tled game against Michigan State.
It lost its match with James Madi-
son in the semifinals, but played
well throughout the tournament..
"There were a lot of competitive
teams at the tournament," Altman
said. "I believe that the teams did
really well."
Altman and the rest of the vol-
leyball club will head to Indiana on
Dec. 7 for its next tournament
action.
Why: The Wolverines' forward is the first Michigan field hockey player ever
to be named Big Ten Conference Field Hockey Athlete of the Year. She is
also the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, ranking eigth in the nation
among all goal scorers with her conference-leading 17 goals this season.
Fronzoni
SCHEDULE
Thursday, Nov.14
M Soccer at Big Ten Tournament First Round (State College), TBA
Friday, Nov.15
Volleyball vs. Minnesota, 7 p.m.
M Basketball vs. Nike Elite, 7 p.m. (exhibition)
Ice Hockey vs. Lake Superior State, 7:35 p.m.
M Soccer at Big Ten Tournament Semifinals (State College)
W Soccer at NCAA Tournament First Round (Campus Sitesi
Saturday, Nov.16
W Cross Country at NCAA Great Lakes Regional (West Lafayette) 11 a.m.
M Cross Country at NCAA Great Lakes Regional (West Lafayette), 11 a.m.
Football vs. Wisconsin, 12:05 p.m.
Volleyball vs. Iowa, 7 p.m.
W Basketball vs. Dominican Republic, 7 p.m. (exhibition)
Ice Hockey vs. Lake Superior State, 7:35 p.m.
Field Hockey at NCAA Regional (Campus Sites)
M Tennis at Big Ten Singles Championships (Minneapolis)
Sunday, Nov. 17
Wrestling in Maize & Blue Intraquad, Noon/6 p.m.
Field Hockey at NCAA Regional (Campus Sites)
M Soccer at Big Ten Tournmanet Championship Game (State College)
W Soccer at NCAA Tournament Second Round (Campus Sites)
M Tennis at Big Ten Singles Championships (Minneapolis)
SPOiRS BRIEFS
6
6
AP PHOTO
Ichiro Suzuki fans snap photos of their hero at the first game of a seven-game All Star
exhibition series between the MLB and Japan. Ichiro went 0-for-4 on the night.
I
Dream' announces retirement 1n Houston
0
HOUSTON (AP) - Hakeem Olajuwon relived a
moment from his past, hearing the Houston Rockets'
fans chanting "MVP, MVP," just as they did when he
won the honor in 1994.
Then, Olajuwon departed to begin his new life
away from basketball. And he promised not to look
back.
Olajuwon formally announced his retirement before
an adoring audience Saturday night, during a ceremo-
ny at halftime of the Rockets' game against the Gold-
en State Warriors. The home team retired his No. 34
jersey and hoisted it to the rafters of Compaq Center,
where Olajuwon played 17 of his 18 seasons and led
Houston to consecutive NBA titles in 1994 and '95.
"It's a wonderful feeling, just to see that you're still
so welcome and still so well-received," Olajuwon said.
"That was something that was personally satisfying,
and I'm very grateful for that."
Olajuwon was an All-Star 12 times, holds the all-
time record for career blocked shots and was named
one of the NBA's 50 greatest players when the league
celebrated its first half-century in business in 1996.
"I don't look at this as the end; it is the beginning of
the next phase of my life," Olajuwon said. "You know
what you accomplished over the years, and now it is
time to sit and watch."
Olajuwon appeared most moved when owner Les
Alexander told the fans that a life-sized statue of Ola-
juwon would be placed at the Rockets' new downtown
arena, which opens next season.
"My image at the new stadium - I think that is the
ultimate," Olajuwon said. "That is something you
can't express your appreciation for, and your grati-
tude."
The Rockets won their first NBA title in Alexan-
der's first season as Rockets owner.
"I had the greatest player in the universe on my
team; you can't get any better than that," Alexander
said. "Without Hakeem, that (title) would have been
impossible. Without him, there would be no Clutch
City."
Houston was denigrated as "Choke City" when
they fell behind Phoenix in the Western Conference
semifinals in 1994. They made a dramatic rally to win
that series, and went on to beat the New York Knicks
in a seven-game Finals.
"He's the greatest player in Houston history,"
Alexander said. "If you had Hakeem on your team,
you knew that you were going to win. He's the best
all-around center to play the game."
Olajuwon averaged 21.8 points and 11.1 rebounds
during his career, but he decided to retire after a disap-
pointing final season with Toronto, in which his pro-
duction slipped to 7.1 points and six rebounds.
One of Olajuwon's finest moments came during the
1995 Western Conference finals against the San Anto-
nio Spurs and their center, David Robinson. It's still a
painful memory for Robinson.
"I was in my prime defensively, and I felt I could do
a good job, but I really didn't," Robinson said. "I did-
n't stop him very well, and that was really disappoint-
ing for me. I remember sitting there in Game 6 and
being really disappointed that I wasn't able to stop
him. He just controlled the series."
AP PHOTO
Hakeem Olajuwon waved goodbye to Houston Rockets fans
Saturday night as he officially announced his retirement.
Houston's new center, 7-foot-6 Yao Ming, was a
quiet observer of Olajuwon's retirement celebration.
He's known of Olajuwon since he was a teenager in
China. The two players met briefly in the hallway at
halftime.
"I've seen him for a long time, and I've learned a
lot of things from watching him," Yao said. "I knew
this day would come, and I'm sorry that it has. I hope
he can come to Houston and become a coach and
teach me more."
Olajuwon, 39, has real estate interests in Houston.
He said he'd be occasionally visiting the Rockets t
see how his old teammates were getting along. .
Williams picks up
first triple-double
CHICAGO (AP) - An hour before
Saturday night's game, Chicago Bulls
coach Bill Cartwright called Jay
Williams into his office and shut the
door.
His rookie point guard had been
struggling the last few games, worry-
ing so much about creating shots for,
everyone else that he was forgetting the
game that got him here.
"He said, 'I just want you to play,"'
Williams said.
He definitely got the message. In his
best NBA game yet, the No. 2 pick of
the draft had a triple-double and made
a 3-pointer with 34 seconds left to seal
the Chicago Bulls' 100-93 victory over
the New Jersey Nets.
"Lately it was hard. I was trying to
be the team orchestrator," said
Williams, who got the game ball.
"(The talk) kind of took a big burden
off my chest. I just went out and
played."
He finished with 26 points, 13
assists and 14 rebounds, Chicago's first
triple-double since Michael Jordan had
one in April 1997. Jalen Rose also had
26 for the Bulls, who snapped a four-
game losing streak.
Beane denies GM
position for Red Sox
OAKLAND (AP) - Boston will
not be Beanetown. Oakland Athletics
general manager Billy Beane with-
drew from consideration for the same
job with the Red Sox yesterday night,
ending a whirlwind weekend in which
he was widely expected to leave.
O'Neal likely to miss scheduled return
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. - All indi-
cations are that Lakers center
Shaquille O'Neal will not return to
action tomorrow night.
O'Neal has been on the injured list
all season recovering from right toe
surgery. The Lakers
had pinpointed yes-
terday night's game
against the Atlanta
Hawks at Staples
Center as the game
O'Neal would play.
But after practic-
ing yesterday at the O'Neal
Lakers' Health South practice facili-
ty, it didn't sound as if O'Neal would
be able to suit up.
"Right now, I don't think that he's
in a position where he feels comfort-
able enough to play," Lakers coach
Phil Jackson said.
O'Neal and his doctors said he
might be able to play eight weeks
after the surgery nine weeks ago on
Sept. 11.
Jackson said O'Neal still is feeling
pain in the bottom of the right foot.
"I still think he has some ques-
tions about dealing with that," Jack-
son said.
O'Neal didn't talk after practice
yesterday. But he did work out with
his teammates until Jackson pulled
him out.
Jackson said he didn't want to
push O'Neal in practice. When
O'Neal does return to play, he will
play just 30 minutes per game until
he gets into shape, Jackson said.
"I think it's a matter of testing out
what he can possibly do," he said.
"It's just getting comfortable and
starting to feel like he can start to
move with that freedom that he
wants to be able to move with."
O'Neal's teammates don't want to
rush him back.
"We have an understanding that
it's up to Shaquille to determine
when he's ready," said Rick Fox, who
played in his first game of the sea-
son Friday night after missing the
first six serving a suspension for
fighting.
"So we have to prepare ourselves
like we've prepared ourselves for the
last seven games, which was go on
without him," said Fox. "If he wants
to put on a uniform, it would be a
pleasant surprise. But right now,
more importantly, we can't think of
him as being here because we've
heard nothing along the lines as a
return."
When the Lakers lost their first
two games of the season, O'Neal
asked Jackson if he wanted him to
come back earlier. Jackson.told him
not to rush to return to the game.
The Lakers just finished an 0-3
road trip, losing to Cleveland,
Boston and Washington.
"Basically my message to
Shaquille has been, don't come back
just because we're 2-5," said Jack-
son. "That's not reason enough to
come back. When you get back,
come back when you think you're
going to be healthy. We want you
back entirely when you come back.
It's not going to do us any good to
have him for two games, or some-
thing, and then he's going to have
to go back and regroup again to
get himself ready. So when he's
ready to come back, he'll tell us
then."
"He left a very attractive offer on
the table," A's spokesman Jim Young
said. "He felt he belonged in Oakland
and obviously we couldn't be happier."
The A's scheduled a news confer-
ence for Monday morning to discuss
Beane's reasoning for remaining with
the small-market team he has built into
a perennial playoff contender.
Earlier yesterday, a baseball source
had told The Associated Press the deal
was all but done, saying Beane had
agreed to become Boston's GM pro-
vided the teams could settle on com-
pensation.
Beane received a three-year contract
extension with the A's earlier this year
that takes him through 2008, and Oak-
land would have expected extensive
compensation for releasing him from
the deal.
The AL West champion A's already
let manager Art Howe leave for the
New York Mets without compensation
this offseason.
Howe was replaced by former bench
coach Ken Macha, who was pleased to
hear Beane will still be his boss.
"He's a very hot commodity and
very well respected," Macha said yes-
terday night from his Pittsburgh-area
home. "He does a great job as general
manager and I think as long as he's at
peace with what he's doing, it's good
for the Oakland A's.
"The things he's done out in Oak-
land have drawn attention to him. He
deserves a lot of the credit for every-
thing that happens there. I look for-
ward to working with him."
Tax troubles plaguing
ex-Giants manager
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Former
San Francisco Giants manager Dusty
Baker owes more than $1 million in
back taxes and penalties due to sbme
bad investments he made in the early
1980s.
Baker's Oakland-based tax attorney,
Karen Hawkins, told The Associated
Press on Friday night that Baker
invested in four tax shelters on the
advice of his brother.
The tax writeoffs he received from
the shelters were disallowed in 1981
and 1982. The tax liabilities are under
$400,000, but with interest over the
years what he owes has reached more
than $1 million, she said without giv-
ing an exact figure.
Hawkins said the situation with the
Internal Revenue Service would be
resolved by the end of this year.
ESPN first reported Baker's tax
problems on Friday.
6M(NOTES
U.S. Rowing honors
Michigan graduate
Michigan graduate Kate MacKenzie
was named US. Rowing's 2002 Female
Athlte of the Year. Mackenzie helped
the vomen's eight win the gold medal
at the 2002 FISA World Rowing Cham-
pionships in Seville, Spain, in Septem-
ber.
Mackenzie earned her first varsity
letter for Michigan back in 1997 when
she raced inMichinan's first arsitv boat
DAMY SCOREBOARD
NBA STANDINGS
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division
NHL STANDINGS
Orlando
New Jersey
Philadelphia
Boston
Washington
Miami
New York
W
5
5
4
4
4
1
1
Pct
.833
.714
.667
.667
.571
.200
.167
Pct
.833
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division
GB W L
Philadelphia 9 3
5 Pittsburgh 7 4
. New Jersey 8 4
N.Y. Rangers 6 9
1 N.Y.Islanders 4 9
1.5
NFL STANDINGS
AMERICAN CONFERENCE
East
W L
Miami 5 3
Buffalo 5 4
New England 4 4
N.Y. Jets 3 5
3.5 Northeast Division
4 W
Boston 8
Montreal 6
Ottawa 5
GB Toronto 4
- Buffalo 3
Central Division
Indiana
New Orleans
Detroit
Milwuakee
Atlanta
Chicago
Toronto
Cleveland
WESTERN CONFERENCE
MidwestDivision
Dallas
San Antonio
Houston
Minnesota
Denver
Utah
Memphis
Pacific Division
Seattle
Sacramento
Phoenix
Portland
L.A. Lakers
L.A. Clippers
Golden State
.800 .5
.714 .5
.500 2
.500 2
.429 2.5
.333 3
.286 3.5
Pct GB
1.000-
.667 2
.600 2.5
.571 2.5
.333 4
.333 4
.000 6.5
Southeast Division
W
Tampa Bay 8
Carolina 7
Washington 8
Florida 6
Atlanta 2
L
2
4
6
9
8
L
4
4
6
6
9
South
Indianapolis
Tennessee
Jacksonville
Houston
North
Pittsburgh
Cleveland
Baltimore
Cincinnati
West
Denver
San Diego
KansasCity
Oakland
W
4
4
3
2
W
5
4
3
1
W
6
6
4
4
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Central Division
W L
St. Louis 10 2
Chicago 8 5
Detroit 7 5
Columbus 7 5
Nashville 1 6
NATIONAL CONFERENCE
East
PF
200
248
206
160
PF
160
183
164
107
PF
192
205
139
113
PF
207
186
259
226
PF
221
113
155
115
PF
203
256
187
111
PF
227
158
152
186
PF
203
150
166
145
PA
167
269
165
206
PA
167
212
157
214
PA
160
195
162
214
PA
170
163
240
188
PA
118
132
191,
155
PA
109
209
136
117
PA
164
220
199
230
PA
164
158
172
180
Northwest Division
W
Minnesota 10
Vancouver 6
Calgary 5
Colorado 4
Edmonton 4
L
3
5
4
3
6
Pct
.714
.571
.500
.429
.286
.200
.143
GB
1
1.5
2
3
3
6
Pacific Division
W L
Dallas 8 3
Los Angeles 7 5
Phoenix 6 8
Anaheim 5 6
San Jose 5 7
NHL GAMES
Philadelphia
N.Y. Giants
Washington
Dallas
South
Tampa Bay
New Orleans
Atlanta
Carolina
North
Green Bay
Detroit
Chicago
Minnesota
West
San Francisco
Arizona
St. Louis
Seattle
W L T
7 2 0
6 2 0
5 3 0
3 5 0
W L T
7 1 0
3 5 0
2 6 0
2 6 0
W
6
4
4
3
NBA GAMES
Yesterday's games
New Orleans 97, New York 91
Sacramento 105, Atlanta 97
Yesterday's games
NY Islanders 3, Dallas 2
Minnesota 1, Anaheim 0
Nashville 4, Colorado 3
W
6
4
3
2
L
2
4
5
6
T
0
0
0
0
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