The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - April 5, 2004 - 3B M' loses nai-b iter at the end By Matt Singer Daily Sports Writer On the court, the level of emotion was apparent. Every few seconds, a shout of triumph or frustration could be heard emanating from some corner of the Varsity Tennis Center. Even the fans got into the act. There were spontaneous cries of support r~w ju and even a "Let's Go Blue" chant from the Michigan MINNESOTA 4 faithful. But it wasMiGAN 3 not meant to be for the Michigan men's tennis team on Sat- urday. The Wolverines fell 4-3 to Min- nesota. They rebounded nicely yesterday with a 7-0 sweep of Iowa. "(The loss to Minnesota) was a great college tennis match," Michigan coach Mark Mees said. "You had five hours and everybody was busting it and going after it." With the teams locked up at three, all eyes turned to the heated battle between Michigan's No. 49 Michael Rubin and Minnesota's No. 53 Chris Wettengel. The match was as tight as the rankings indicated, with Wettengel taking the first set 6-3 and Rubin responding with a 7-5 second-set win. The final set was one for the ages, with the athletes' contrast- ing demeanors adding to the excitement. Beginning and ending each point with a loud, and often bizarre, set of spoken phrases, Wettengel's antics brought occasional laughter from spectators. Meanwhile, Rubin was the definition of cool, showing little reaction to even the most significant points. The two were knotted at four games each when Wet- tengel finally broke through, winning the last two games and earning Min- nesota the thrilling comeback victory. "We were the better team," Michigan junior Josef Fischer said. "We really should have pulled it out." The intensity of Saturday's contest was obvious right from the get-go, as the No. 48th Wolverines and the No. 43 Golden Gophers split the first two dou- bles matches. With the doubles point on the line, Rubin teamed with freshman Ryan Heller to take on Minnesota's Avery Ticer and Dusan Tabak. After trading games all match long, the Gophers earned a key break to go up 8- 7. But Tabak tightened up on match point, double-faulted and eventually allowed Michigan to force a tiebreak. Road-trippin' in a New York minute NW YORK - It began as a weekly walk to see my new best friend Mitch last Monday night. It ended Thursday night as I cruised through New Jersey in a white Chevy Impala singing "We are the Champions" with three friends. Writing this column Friday night, safely back in Ann Arbor, I don't think I'll ever fully understand how I ended up in Manhat- tan for those three fateful days. The investigation begins last Monday night at 11 p.m. MONDAY, 11 P.M.: I call my friend Seth, a first-year Michigan grad who works in New York, to tell him that there's no way I can make the trip to New York this week. MONDAY, 11:10 P.M.: Seth fin- ishes spitting fire through my cell. J. BRADY DUDE, you HAVE to come. Brady, MCCOLLOUGH you are a senior This is your last The SportsMonday chance to do things like this. Your Column classes do not matter There should be a commercial campaign about saying "No" to guys like Seth. Suddenly, the adrenaline rush takes over. I start to think about my last three weeks of college passing me by while I do nothing but procrastinate and improve my relationship with Mitch. Big Apple, here I come. MONDAY, 11:30 P.M.: Oh, Claire. Blinded by her "Jersey pride," my friend Claire tells me while we're hanging out with Mitch that she will be pulling for Rutgers in the NIT over Michigan because her state loyalty supersedes that of her future alma mater. TUESDAY, 7 A.M.: And we're off! After running the gauntlet of "should I really be doing this?" questions, I go right to sleep in the backseat with visions of NIT banners and those huge New York pizza slices dancing in my head. TUESDAY, 10 A.M.: If you are awake at this hour, you have a responsibility to get McDonald's breakfast. Is it a coincidence that McDonald's employees in eastern Ohio are wearing maize and blue? We'll find out. TUESDAY, 9:30 P.M.: Thank you to the Iowa State pep band. After losing their overtime game to Rutgers, the Cyclone faith- ful swirled out of Madison Square Garden. My friends and I take advantage and are now sitting two rows back at the Gar- den. I gush over seeing Air Georgia take off 10 feet away. TUESDAY, 9:35 P.M.: Where are all the current Michigan stu- dents? Most of the Michigan fans are from the New York area. Are my friends and I the only ones down for the cause? TUESDAY, 9:40 P.M.: Did someone from the athletic depart- ment hook Tommy up with the guys from "Queer Eye" before the game? I perform the traditional T.A. wardrobe check to see that he has dropped the polo shirt and gone with the mock turtleneck and blazer. For the first time in a decade, Michigan fans everywhere can thank the "Fab Five" TUESDAY, 10 P.M.: It becomes very obvious early in the game that the Oregon starting five has more business playing with Michigan at Hash Bash than in the Garden. TUESDAY, 10:15 P.M.: Luke Jackson might beat Michigan alone. That is, until I join in a "Luke Jackson sucks!" chant with these guys who are enjoying the Garden's $6 beers. We were clearly in the second-team All-American's head. TUESDAY, 11 P.M.: The Garden didn't become the greatest place to watch a basketball game in the world without knowing a good thing when it sees it. The Oregon cheerleaders - hot hot hot - brought the 10,000 strong to their feet while shaking it to Usher's "Yay-uh!" As they walked past the Michigan con- tingency - including the Michigan cheerleaders nearby - they stopped for pictures with numerous Michigan kids. It reminded me of when I got my picture taken with my waitress at Hooters in seventh grade. TUESDAY, 11:15 P.M.: I remember the feeling of walking down the Eugene, Ore., main drag after Michigan lost in foot- ball and take some satisfaction in ending their basketball sea- son. But I still love Autzen Stadium and everything about those crazy Ducks. TUESDAY, 11:20 P.M.: Who would have thought that there would ever be chants of "Dani Wahl!" and "Amadou Ba!" in the Garden? Man, I love this team. WEDNESDAY, 4 P.M.: My friend Pete, a native of the Upper East Side, can't believe I'm dragging him to Times Square. Excuse me, but where else can you spend an hour in a Toys "R" Us and be totally entertained? WEDNESDAY, 7 P.M.: At dinner with some city-dwelling friends of my friends, we try to explain the significance of this whole basketball tournament thing we're in town for. When we're finished, the young lady across from me asks "So, this is the last game of the NCAAs?" Before we can tell her "Yes, exactly," her boyfriend explains to her that as far as college bas- ketball is concerned, this is like the Junior Olympics. Ouch! WEDNESDAY, 11 P.M.: The picture of why I am in Manhattan is becoming clearer. Ken, a fellow senior, joins us at a bar near NYU after taking an 8:30 flight out of Detroit. Talk about devo- tion to your team - or refusing to let the last moments of col- lege slip by without a fight. THURSDAY, 7:20 P.M.: No. 1 from Rutgers looks like Emeka Okafor, sending back everything our big men attempt. This old Rutgers fan behind me starts yelling, "Welcome to the Big East! You can't go inside against us!" THURSDAY, 8:30 P.M.: I sit in silence as the Red Sea in the Garden has taken over. I would yell, but there's nothing to yell about. Michigan looks scared and the Rutgers faithful have turned this into a road game. I'm dreading another quiet and depressing ride home to Ann Arbor and immediately start blaming the officiating. Who else, right? THURSDAY, 8:55 P.m.: We are PRETTY, PRETTY, PRETTY, PRETTY (imagine Larry David's voice and inflection) good at basketball. I look over to my persuasive friend Seth and yell "I can taste it, baby!" He responds like only Seth can, "As soon as it hits your lips!!!" I'm sure Frank the Tank from "Old School" loves the NIT, too. THURSDAY, 9 P.M.: I love holding onto comments from opposing fans early in the game as ammo for later. With the game well in hand, I turn to the Rutgers fans and yell "Wel- come to the Big East!" a few times. Some old guy responds, "Where's Connecticut?" The "good by association" argument has always been one of my favorites. THURSDAY, 9:15 P.M.: I'm beginning to think that there is a split national championship, a la college football. I rush down to the court level so that I can watch our feisty little Wolverines cut down the nets on the biggest stage. I'm swelling with pride, until B-Rob nearly falls off the ladder on his way up. We love you, B-Rob. FRIDAY, 1 A.M.: On the road back to Ann Arbor, I've got one special call to make as I drive through the armpit of the world that is New Jersey. Claire doesn't pick up her phone, but my friends and I call her a turkey for pulling for Rutgers and actu- ally gobble incessantly into the speaker for 30 seconds. Sorry. You probably had to be there. FRIDAY, 3 P.m.: Time to check my e-mail after my excursion. Here goes ... the reminders have poured in, of course. Statistics exam coming up on Thursday - OK, I can handle that. Sociol- ogy paper due on Thursday - this is really going to hurt the chances of hanging out with Mitch on Wednesday. The nerve. Two years ago, I would be freaking out, but priorities have a funny way of changing in your last month as a senior. Here's to friends, last-gasp adventures and national champi- onships. J Brady McCollough can be reached at bradymcc@umich.edu. WILLATRACOSAS/LDaily Junior Michael Rubin lost a tight match to Minnesota's Chris Wettengel 6-3, 7-5, 6- 4 on Saturday, but beat Iowa's Sebastian Gonzales 6-3, 6-3 yesterday. The tiebreak proved to be a nail-biter, with neither team able to put together a string of points. Finally, Minnesota cracked, as Tabak's shot into the net sealed Michigan's 9-8 (8) victory. With the doubles point in the bag, the Wolverines kept on cruising - or so it seemed. They locked up two of the first three singles matches, with senior Anthony Jackson (6-4, 6-1) and junior David Anving (6-4, 1-6, 7-5) coming out on top. The strong performance early on meant that Michigan needed to win just one of the last three singles matches to close out the Gophers. "It was there for the taking," junior Vinny Gossain said. Hampered by a rotator cuff injury, freshman Steve Peretz could not capi- talize on his first-set victory, falling 6- 4, 4-6, 0-6. Fellow freshman Brian Hung had a chance to seal the match during his second-set tiebreaker, but fell short (6-2, 6-7(3), 4-6), setting up the epic Rubin-Wettengel match. Despite the eventual outcome, Mees felt that Michigan's effort left nothing to be desired. "When the guys lay it all on the line and leave it out on the court and do everything that they can do to win, I'll never be upset," Mees said. "And I'm not upset. Each guy who played out there put in a good effort, but we came up a little short." The Wolverines showed no ill effects from Saturday's heartbreaking loss yes- terday, as they burst out of the gate against Iowa and never looked back. They won all of their matches in straight sets, finishing off the Hawkeyes in less than three hours. "We were a little bit more even- keeled than we were yesterday," Fischer said. "Today we were just trying to take care of business."