4 Thursday April 1, 2004 sports.michigandaily.com sports@michigandaily.com SPORTS 1OA 'M' tennis 0 survives State Scare By Matt Singer Daily Sports Writer So long, Sparty. In front of a large and noisy crowd at the Varsity Tennis Center, the Michigan men's tennis team squeaked past Michigan State, 4-3. The victory ended a three- M match skid for the Wolverines (1-2 Big Ten, 9-4 overall). "It's always going to be pretty emotional," Michigan coach Mark Mees said. "In any sport between Michigan and Michigan State, it's very competitive, and today was no different." After the Wolverines split their first two doubles matches, junior Vinny Gossain and freshman Steve Peretz came through with an emo- tional 8-4 victory at No. 3 doubles. The all-important doubles point would end up being the difference- maker in the match. For Gossain, an East Lansing native, the win was especially sweet. "It'll be a nice feeling to go home and say Michigan got it done this year," Gossain said. After picking up the doubles point, the Wolverines needed three singles wins to clinch the match. But it would not be easy. Four of Michi- gan's six singles players dropped the first set of their respective matches. "Was I concerned? Absolutely," Mees said. Of the four, only junior David Anving ended up with a win. With a strong forehand down the line, he completed his comeback (5-7, 6-1, 6- 2), and clinched Michigan's victory. "David came out and he was a little tight in the first set," Mees said. "To his credit, he picked it up and hung in there. He's a tough kid." Anving wasn't the only Wolverine What am I? Tired of the NCAAs new ad campaign COURTNEY LEWIS Full Court Press There are a lot more than 360,000 NCAA basketball fans, and just about all of us would like to hurl our televisions at whoever created the NCAAs latest advertising campaign. OK, I don't have any proof of that, but I'm fairly sure it's true. I, for one, cannot take it anymore. I just might snap the next time I have to listen to the pyschology major/basketball player ask, "What am I?" (Answer: Nobody cares!! Seriously.) These irritating ads debuted dur- ing last year's basketball postseason, and by April, they were so popular that every time they appeared on the Jumbotron at the 2003 Frozen Four, the crowd booed. The Michigan fans were more hostile toward the com- mercials than they were toward the Golden Gophers. But were the people in the NCAAs marketing department dis- couraged? Of course not! They just poured it on even more this year. Give them points for persistence, I guess. Now, those of you who aren't basketball fans (I've heard you exist; I'm not sure if I believe it.) are probably wondering why I don't just change the channel or turn off the television. That's the thing - I can't. And I have to admit that there's a certain genius in cramming as many ads as possible into the March Madness television cover- age. This is one of the very few events for which I implement a no- channel-surfing rule (unless I'm flipping between CBS affiliates). These ads appear during the one event where I won't risk flipping during commercials because I always end up missing a buzzer- beater or a bricked free throw. Besides, what else would I possibly want to watch? Even if I could pull myself away from the television during the month of March, it wouldn't matter. You see, the NCAA prepared for that. Its campaign of monotony goes way beyond hoops games on TV. On Sunday, I drove two hours to Grand Rapids to watch the hockey Midwest Regional final only to find the messages waiting for me at Van Andel Arena. I think the ads played on the video boards during intermis- sion, but I'm not sure (see, my brain cells are already starting to curl up and die rather than be subjected to any more of this.) What was disturb- ing was that an all-text version of the ads scrolled down the center-ice jumbotron throughout the ENTIRE GAME. It was like the NCAA was trying to brainwash the crowd or some- thing. Somewhere in the arena, an unsuspecting Minnesota-Duluth fan looked up in search of a replay, and instead, quickly slipped into a trance. "Did you see that move? That guy - and just about all of us will be going pro in something other than sports. Will be going pro in something other than sports. Will be going pro... " But that's not all! Apparently the enterprising NCAA didn't think sports fans' lives were quite saturat- ed enough with its campaign, and it went in search of even more places to stick the ads. Thus, when I went to the NCAA administrative website (ncaa.org) on Monday, I couldn't find the Frozen Four media information that I need- ed, but I was given the chance to watch an online version of that poor psych major, who still hadn't fig- ured out what she was. At that point, I was starting to worry that I would soon be mum- bling the slogan in my sleep and having hallucinations of the other See LEWIS, Page 13A WILLA TRACOSAS/Daily Senior Anthony Jackson's straight-set victory helped boost Michigan over the Spartans last night. to fight back from an early deficit. Freshman Brian Hung turned it on in the second set, only to fall in the third (3-6, 6-1, 3-6). No. 49 Michael Rubin, who recently returned from injury, locked horns with No. 100 Andrew Formanczyk. The players played a fierce No. 1 singles match, with Rubin eventual- ly succumbing in a third set tiebreaker (4-6, 6-3, 6-7[5]). "That's the best tennis Michael has played since his injury," Mees said.' While his teammates were strug- gling through three-set matches, sen- ior Anthony Jackson hurried to complete his No. 2 singles match. When his opponent Cameron Mar- shall stalled and caught his breath, Jackson called for the umpire to resume the match. "I wanted to finish," Jackson said. And finish he did, doing away with Marshall 6-3, 6-2. Peretz joined Jack- son in the win column. He cruised through the first set, before surviving a much tougher second set to beat Joseph McWilliams 6-0, 6-4. The more competitive second set came as no surprise to Peretz, who had prior experience playing McWilliams. "I lost to him once where I won the first set," Peretz said. "Then he really stepped up his game." A win's a win, but the Wolverines believe they are capable of much more. "We've got to play better tennis - we've got to take care of some little things," Mees said. "I've stressed all year long we've got to be able to put nine matches on the court where we play good tennis." With Minnesota and Iowa coming to town this weekend, the Wolverines will have to be on top of their game. But for now they can savor their vic- tory over the Spartans (0-3 Big Ten, 13-8 overall). "Any Big Ten win is big," Gos- sain said. "Especially against Michigan State." Cagers aim for NIT title in Big Apple By Daniel Bremmer Daily Sports Editor NEW YORK - It might not be where Michigan hoped it could be, but at least the Wolverines are playing in April. Tonight, Michigan looks to be one of two division I teams ending its season on a win when it takes on Rutgers in the NIT Cham- pionship in Madison Square Garden. A victory for the Wolverines would be their first title in a national postseason tournament since the 1989 NCAA Cham- pionship. Michigan won the NIT in 1997, but all of the games played in that tourna- ment were forfeited as a result of NCAA sanctions. Standing in the way of Michigan's first tournament victory in 15 years is Rutgers, which defeated Iowa State 84-81 on Tues- day to reach its first-ever NIT final. The Scarlet Knights (7-9 Big East, 20-12 overall) are strong on the perimeter and aren't afraid to launch from downtown, as evidenced by their 23 attempted 3-pointers on Tuesday. The squad from New Brunswick, N.J., has several main scoring options. Though junior guard Ricky Shields and 6-foot-10 senior Herve Lamizana led the team in scoring, averaging 16 and 13 points per game, respectively, guard Quincy Douby has recently emerged as Rutgers' best scor- ing option. The freshman spent all season coming off of the bench, but has started each of the team's four previous NIT games and has been red-hot for the Scarlet Knights. Douby has scored 96 points in the tournament, including 35 points in Rutgers' overtime win on Tuesday. He dished out just one assist in the game and grabbed just one rebound, but both came in the final 1:09 of overtime. "Their guards are really fast and they can shoot," Michigan senior Bernard Robinson said. "We have to make sure that we get out on them on every shot and make sure we get back on defense because they are a very explosive team." The Wolverines (9-9 Big Ten, 22-11) have also been explosive over their past few games. After a long season of inconsis- tency, the Michigan offense has finally been running on all cylinders since the NIT began, especially over the team's past two contests. The Wolverines put up 88 points on Hawaii last Wednesday and dropped 78 points on Oregon on Tuesday - both well above their season average of 69 points per contest. Michigan has benefited from a solid effort on offense all across the board. Six Michigan players have already posted dou- ble figures in at least one NIT game. Fresh- men Courtney Sims and Brent Petway have both contributed in each game, while fail- ing to hit double digits. "I think (with balanced scoring) we become a very dangerous team - a team where you can't key on one or two guys because there are many other weapons that can hurt you," Michigan coach Tommy Amaker said. "I think the team is starting to feel that and is playing really unselfish right now." In addition, Michigan's defense has also been peaking at the right time. The Wolver- ines held the Ducks to 53 points - 22 points below their season average - in their semifinal win. "I think we're finally getting to the point where we're just getting better and better and where we're competing every night," Michigan guard Daniel Horton said. "We're really concentrating on giving it our all on the defensive end, and I think it's really starting to pay off for us." While Madison Square Garden is techni- cally a neutral site, Michigan will have to contend with a strong Rutgers following. Many Scarlet Knight faithful made the trip across the Hudson River on Tuesday for the semifinal game, and they were easily the loudest crowd in attendance among fans of the four teams in New York. And with Michigan's road woes this season - the team is just 3-7 in games played in oppo- nents' arenas - these fans could be a rea- son for concern. But if the Wolverines keep playing like they have been as of late, Michigan may be one of those two teams that ends its season with a win, regardless of what type of crowd is in the stands. 4 RYANWEINER/Daily a Sophomore guard Daniel Horton is playing his best basketball of the season. ---- -------- F, -19 leceaIIos? Michigan Head*Pain & Neurological Institute is conducting an in-clinic research study evaluating an investigational medication for migraine. Participants must be 18 to 60 years old and suffer no more than 15 headaches per month. A total of three clinic visits are required. Visit 2 is a four to six hour treatment visit while having an acute headache. Participants f 4q, 9 5 KOB a k NID M NOW HIRING JCC DAY CAMP STAFF I I I m