The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - April 12, 2004 - 38 Spring Game snoozer has potential to be great JASON COOPER/Daily Lloyd Carr throws a touchdown pass to a coaching assistant in the "last play" of the Wolverines' Spring Game on Saturday. This year's Spring Game left more than a little bit to be desired. After watching players go through the motions for about two hours, a more accurate name would have been the Spring Light Scrimmage. Leaving the field afterward, I thought about how I hadn't felt so disappointed since I saw my grades on Wolverine Access after fall semester. Sure, it was good to see how Matt Gutierrez had devel- oped since last year, or who might be the first- string running back. And I enjoyed watching Ryan Mundy absolutely drill David Underwood in a game where there wasn't DANIEL supposed to be any tack- BREMMER ling. But I couldn't help but feel like I was viewing The SportsMonday a practice that I had no Column business watching. Heading in, I thought the Spring Game was supposed to be fun. And I still think that the game - and the event as a whole - should be more entertaining than it is, even if that's not necessarily the intent. There are just six home games this year - the team played seven each of the past two years. And since tickets to Michigan games are so expensive and in such short supply, it would be great for the team to give something back to the fans by putting on a free show people would want to see in the spring, instead of just holding an open practice. Maybe it's because I was in the press box and couldn't hear the crowd too well. Or maybe it's just because the crowd didn't make much noise. It's hard to tell. But I'll tell you one thing: The sight of just 18,000 fans in the Big House was eerie, and putting on a better show before the Spring Game would quickly boost that attendance figure. Right now, the Spring Game is an event where people turn to the person next to them and ask if it's over yet. Here's how I would turn it into a festivity that the entire campus would want to watch. Allow tackling I know that seeing a player go down with a serious injury in something as meaningless as the Spring Game would make Lloyd Carr squirm, but the glorified version of one-hand touch which we saw on Saturday - instead of tackling -- is just plain boring to watch. Underwood busted two big runs for about 80 total yards, but how many more would he have ran for if he were allowed to break a tackle with a stiff arm instead of being called down on the play? It works the other way, too. Tackling would make the game more exciting for the fans, as evi- denced by the oohs and ahhs after Mundy's crack on Underwood. Hold a skills competition before the game Since the Spring Game should be geared toward the fans want to watch, I say the event should parallel some of the best events in sports: the all-star extravaganzas. The dunk contest, home run derby, NHL skills, quarterback challenge - these are some of the most entertaining events in each respective sport, excluding the playoffs. Why not try out a mini Michigan football skills competi- tion before the Spring Game instead of the usual drills? I'd love to see who on the team can kick the longest field goal. Would it be Garret Rivas, Troy Neinberg or Phillip Brabbs? Or would it be a non-kicker? How long would it be? What about setting up a few targets to see whether Gutierrez, Clayton Richard, Spencer Brinton or Jermaine Gonzales (a receiver who came into Michigan as a quarterback) could hit the most? Maybe an obstacle course for the linemen. They'd all be great. For that matter, I'd love to see them bring in some other sports. Wheeling a basketball hoop out onto the field to pit Marlin Jackson vs. Braylon Edwards in a dunk contest could be as good as Jordan vs. Dominique for a Michigan fan - especially since rumor has it that Braylon's been dunking from the free-throw line at the CCRB. I bet students would pay to see this, let alone come for free. All these ideas go along the lines of playing to the fans. Teams are allowed 15 practices during the spring, with the 15th being Saturday's Spring Game. Are you try- ing to tell me that 14-and-a-half practices - 14 regular ones and then some fun before the 15th, the Spring Game - wouldn't accomplish the same thing? If the team spent half of Saturday's practice putting on a show for fans, there wouldn't have been that same feeling of disappoint- ment after the game. More Lloyd Another Spring Game highlight was watching Carr behind center to take a snap on the "last play" of the game. Carr rolled out and hit one of his assistants - who made a great catch, considering Carr's bullet of a pass - for a touchdown against a token defense to the delight of players and fans. This got me thinking. More Carr equals more fun. I'd love to see Carr get involved in some other fun aspects of the practice, especially in the same type of situation or even in the skills competitions I described above. The fact that the coach's usual demeanor is so straight-laced makes it all the more fun when he loosens up. I'm telling you, SportsCenter would pay for footage of Carr running the offense. Fix the PA system One of the funniest moments of the Spring Game came before the whole thing even started - when David Baas and Tyler Ecker sang the national anthem. No, their rendition of the song wasn't what I was laughing at -- I was laughing at the fact that a band at Touchdowns has better equipment than the Michigan Athletic Department. Baas and Ecker could barely get two words from their mouths before the microphone cut out, prompting Baas to state, "This is horrible," during one of the few points when the microphone cut back in for the whole crowd to hear. If it wasn't for the crowd's collective impromptu anthem, they might still be there now, waiting for the game to start. As much as the Spring Game bored me, there were some things I enjoyed. Specifically, watching the refs was hilarious. I don't know exactly why - I can only guess that it was funny seeing these zebras taking the game so seriously when not many other people were. Where exact- ly do you even get refs for a Spring Game? Are these the same guys who would do a real Michigan game, or did they pluck these guys from the high school leagues? I also had a good time watching Braylon go up against Marlin. These are two legitimate All-America candidates going head-to-head, both working hard. Since most prac- tices aren't open for anyone to watch, this was one of the only chances for fans to see two of Michigan's best go one-on-one. Now, if we can just get them some basket- balls to dunk, I'll see you at next year's Spring Game. Daniel Bremmer can be reached at bremmerd(aumich.edu. SPRING GAME Continued from Page 16 wanted to do. We battle in practice all the time - when you have two good guys who are competitive, it's a pretty heated battle. He wins his fair share, and I win my fair share." With Jackson's move back to corner, there is competition for one of the free safety spot - strong safety is locked down by senior Ernest Shazor. Joining Shazor on the first-team defense on Saturday was youngster Ryan Mundy, who has impressed Carr throughout the spring, making him the clear-cut favorite to win the position. Michigan was hit with one piece of bad news during the week. Carr announced after the game that defen- sive lineman Jeremy Van Alstyne had injured his knee last Tuesday in prac- tice. Though the injury was initially thought to be minor, it was later learned that Van Alstyne - a starter last season - would require recon- structive surgery that will prevent him from playing in 2004. "Jeremy Van Alstyne was a starter on this team, and was one of the better football players on this team, even though he's still a young guy," Carr said. "The good news is, he'll be back next spring, and he'll still have two years of eligibility left." Several other Wolverines, including expected secondary contributor Leon Hall and starting offensive lineman Adam Stenavich, were held out of yes- terday's practice. ROWING Rowers make important strides against ACC foes By Chastity Rolling Daily Sports Writer The Michigan women's rowing team excelled in every race against No. 20 Duke and its varsity four boat beat No. 6 Virginia by open water on Saturday at the Big Ten/ACC Double Dual at Lake Monticello in Virginia. This was a vast improvement from last week's regatta against Ohio State, in which Michigan walked away with just one win in six races. The Wolver- ines recovered from last week's loss by taking four of their six varsity races. "Last week we rowed, this week we raced," Michigan coach Mark Roth- stein said. The Wolverines vastly increased their speed, making it a difficult day for their opponents. In the morning, Michigan dominated. Duke, winning all of its races by open water. Improvement was the word of the day for Michigan. "We raced better this week," Roth- stein said. "Even our losses (to Vir- ginia) were not by that much." After changes in the afternoon, Michigan's highly-successful morn- ing results could not carry over, it only managed to win the varsity four race over Virginia, dropping both the varsity eight races. This single win did give the Wolverines a bit of hope for a rematch at the NCAA Championship. "We get another shot at Virginia," Rothstein said. When Michigan competes against * Virginia again, the battle should be engaging. Despite the Wolverines' loss, the races were relatively close. Just 1.8 seconds separated the two varsity eight boats. But Virginia won't face the same Michigan squad it did this weekend if the Wolverines continue to improve. "We want to keep stepping it up a notch," assistant head coach Emily Ford said. "We want to keep doing what we are already doing (in terms of competition and race strategies), only better." Ford feels that Michigan is racing well, but it needs to be better. The team knows that it must improve on the technical aspects of its strokes if it wants to have success for the remainder of the season. These alterations are a must because the competition is just going to get more intense from here. "There are no easy races on our schedule," Rothstein said. "We want personal growth - we want to win though." But winning is not everything. "I want to see their hard work pay off," Ford said. "I want them to feel good about their rowing ability." Michigan will test its ability again against Michigan State on Saturday. RESULTS JASON COOPER/Daily Tyler Ecker, left, and Davis Baas team up for a rousing rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" prior to the start of the Spring Game. Unfortunately, most fans were unable to hear them due to faulty microphones. MORNING SESSION First Varsity Eight 1. Michigan 6:49.2 2. Duke 6:53.2 Second Varsity Eight 1. Michigan 6:43.6 2. Duke 7:02.5 First Varsity Four 1. Michigan 7:45.7 2. Duke 8:01.6 AFTERNOON SESSION First Varsity Eight 1. Virginia 6:38.0 2. Michigan 6:39.8 Second Varsity Eight Virginia 6:55.0 2. Michigan 7:02.7 First Varsity Four L Michigan 7:45.3 2. Virginia 7:53.5 I I wa O..:wwsw. iw s..ww "w...w w O w..r Lww.w... w.iw e___ -__a