The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 30, 2004 - 13A

Busy schedule
pushes Walter

Bradley receives

By Heather Blebuyck
For the Daily
You roll over in bed and the clock says
6 a.m. But you still have a few more hours
until your dreaded nine o'clock class
begins, so you happily return to slumber.
But the Michigan women's cross country
team doesn't have this luxury. The Wol-
verines are already up and running.
When you get home from class and
you're eating your dinner on the couch,
guess what the cross country team is
doing. Yes, you guessed it - running.
Sacrificing sleep and leisure time has
paid off for junior captain Rebecca Wal-
ter. Placing first for the Wolverines in
every race she has run in the past year
and being named an NCAA All-Ameri-
can and Big Ten cross country's Athlete
of the Year in 2003 are just few of the
many accolades Walter has collected
since beginning her college running
career.
Walter credits six-day-a-week practic-
es and strength training to her high per-
formance level against the best collegiate
runners in the country.
"It helps to get into a routine," Walter
said.
On a typical day during the season,
Walter wakes up for her early morning
run, goes to class, attends practice, and
is home in time to do her homework and
be in bed by 11:30 p.m., so she can get up
the next day and do it all over again.
NBA
KShaq, Kc
NEW YORK (AP) - Separating
Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal
on different teams on different coasts
has done nothing to lessen the animos-
ity between the one-time Los Angeles
Laker teammates. If anything, the feud
is escalating.
Yesterday, O'Neal dismissed as
"ridiculous" Bryant's allegations that
O'Neal had paid up to $1 million in hush
money to various women and then took
his own shot by saying, "I'm not the one
buying love."
O'Neal made the remark over the
telephone to a staffer at ESPN, the net-
work said, after the Los Angeles Times
quoted a police report as saying Bry-
ant told detectives in Eagle, Colo., "he
should have done what Shaq does ... that
Shaq would pay his women not to say
anything" and already had paid up to $1

For coach Mike McGuire's team, prac-.
tice is not something to be taken lightly.
"Our motto this year is that you race
the way you practice," Walter said. "Our .
training is geared to steadily improve
throughout the season, so when the Big
Ten Championships roll around, we are
at our best. This isn't the case for most
teams who tend to train hard, get the '
rankings and then teeter out."
Walter believes that the ability her
team has to steadily improve is what x
makes it so strong.
The Wolverines run an average of 60
to 70 miles a week, which is roughly
equivalent to running from Ann Arbor to
East Lansing. That is a lot of strain to put '
on one's body, and Walter attributes much
of her success to staying injury-free.
"A lot of girls have the talent, but they
are just so plagued by injury." Walter .. .
said. "I have been able to stay away from
injury by paying attention to stretching
and strength training."
Michigan is off to a promising start,
finishing first at the Indiana State Invi-
tational, and receiving six top-10 per-
formances at the Spartan Invitational.
With the Wolverines returning 16 letter
winners from last year's roster, the team
has experience on its side. According to i i
Walter, the team has just one weakness: l. R
Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
The Wolverines travel to Allendale to TONY DING/Daily
compete in the Michigan Intercollegiate Junior Rebecca Walter, captain of the women's cross country team, keeps extremely
on Oct. 8 at 4 p.m. busy during the week. Walter believes her training has helped to prevent injuries.

four -game
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Dodg- decisionc
ers outfielder Milton Bradley was Bradle
suspended for the rest of the regular runs and
season by Major League Baseball yes- with Los)
terday, a day after a bottle-throwing of the re.
tantrum during a win over Colorado. to the D
A contrite Bradley said he will day.
seek help to deal with his anger and Bradle
wouldn't appeal the suspension. night's ga
"From the bottom of my heart, I bottle ath
apologize for my outburst," the 26- error on7
year-old Bradley said shortly after the bases
learning of the suspension. "Getting Bradle
upset has caused me to hurt fam- his positi
ily, hurt friends, hurt my team, hurt approach
fans. yell at a
"I need to talk to somebody about bottle int
anger, get treated, find a way to cor- "I dese
rect that situation. It's not even about that way
baseball. This is about what I need to approach
do for my life. I let anger get the best Bradle
of me." recently.
The Dodgers entered last night's "In Sa
game against the Rockies leading the lessly," he
NL West by three games over San at me in1
Francisco with five remaining. that reall
Bradley also was fined an undis- fan or wh
closed amount by Bob Watson, Teamm
baseball's vice president of on-field Cora cam
operations. Earlier this season, Brad- calm dow
ley was suspended for four games after with ump
throwing a bag of balls onto the field ejected.
following an ejection. He has been As Bra
ejected from four games this year. to the D
"You can't condone an action like jersey an
that," Dodgers manager Jim Tracy behind t
said. "I'm not standing here trying gestured
to convince you guys that I condone fans on.
what I saw last night. It was wrong. Bradle
He embarrassed himself, he embar- his jersey
rassed the organization. He realizes about his
that. He admits as much to that. And The ga
now you've got to move forward, four mini
you've got to help the guy and keep five runsi
trying to help the guy." beat the I
Dodgers owner Frank McCourt said Bradle
that while the team didn't condone support b
Bradley's actions, it supports him. pension.
"I think Milton Bradley has made a "It's s
huge step today, accepting the fact that a team,"
he can reach his potential as a human crossed b
being by seeking help," McCourt said. Mariot
"Milton came to the conclusion on his who alleg
own. It's a courageous decision and I detaineda
support it wholeheartedly." LAPD s
Both Tracy and McCourt called chez sai
the episode a "blessing in disguise" throwing
because this allows him to get help the intent
during the offseason as opposed to tract a pl
letting the problem continue into next McCou
season. problem,
McCourt called the suspension "sig- after wat
nificant," but added he was pleased a it was han


ban


came down so quickly.
y is hitting .267 with 19 home
67 RBIs in his first season
Angeles. His temper was one
asons Cleveland traded him
odgers right before opening
y was thrown out of Tuesday
ame after a fan threw a plastic
him shortly after his two-out
Mark Sweeney's liner with
loaded.
y picked up the bottle, left
ion in right field and angrily
ed the stands, appearing to
fan. He then slammed the
o the front row.
rved to be booed for reacting
," Bradley said. "You can't
the stands."
y did say he's been a target
n Francisco, I got it relent-
e said. "I got a bottle thrown
San Diego. It was the bottle
y frustrated me, being an LA
hoever it was."
hates Steve Finley and Alex
ie to right field and tried to
vn Bradley, who was arguing
pire Jim Joyce before being
adley walked from right field
odgers' dugout, he took his
nd hat off. With the crowd
he dugout booing, Bradley
with palms up, urging the
y said yesterday he took off
because he felt embarrassed
behavior.
ame was delayed for about
Lutes. The Dodgers rallied for
in the bottom of the ninth to
Rockies 5-4.
y's teammates expressed
but wouldn't criticize the sus-
omething we expected as
Cora said. "The line was
oth ways."
Garcia, 33, of West Covina,
gedly threw the bottle, was
and arrested early yesterday,
pokeswoman Adriana San-
d. Garcia was charged with
an object on the field with
t to interfere with play or dis-
ayer.
urt said security wasn't a
and that he was convinced
ching tape of the matter that
ndled properly.

Abe continue feud

million "for situations like this."
The statement came near the end of
a lengthy interrogation about a hotel
employee's complaint that Bryant had
raped her.
The Times said it was unclear precise-
ly what Bryant meant by his remarks.
Prosecutors dropped criminal charg-
es against Bryant earlier this month at
the accuser's request, but the woman has
filed a federal civil suit against him in
Denver, seeking unspecified damages
for pain and suffering since the case
began.
O'Neal was informed of Bryant's alle-
gation last September, and the relationship
between the two was cool throughout the
2003-04 season. O'Neal was subsequently
traded to the Miami Heat.
"This whole situation is ridiculous,"
O'Neal told ESPN. "I never hang out

with Kobe, I never hung around him. In
the seven or eight years we were togeth-
er, we were never together. So how this
guy can think he knows anything about
me or my business is funny. And one last
thing - I'm not the one buying love.
He's the one buying love."
O'Neal's latter comment was an
apparent reference to a ring - reported-
ly costing several million dollars - that
Bryant gave his wife, Vanessa, after he
was charged with felony sexual assault
last summer.
There have been no published reports
of O'Neal ever being accused of any sex
crimes. He was charged with misde-
meanor battery in Orange County, Fla.,
in 1998 after a 23-year-old Walt Disney
World employee claimed he grabbed
her neck, but the case was dismissed in
2000.


TONY DING/Daily
Junior alternate captain Jeff Tambellini fights for the puck in a game against
Minnesota. The hockey team has been holding captains' practices this week.

PRACTICE
Continued from page 10A
captain Eric Nystrom and alternate
captains Brandon Rogers, Al Mon-
* toya and Jeff Tambellini. These four
take the team through the same activ-
ities (stretching, scrimmaging and
a variety of drills) that it would go
through otherwise.
"We're trying to get prepared
for our first exhibition game," Nys-
trom said. "We're trying to get back
in shape, get the chemistry back
between the guys on the team and
work on our skills a little bit.
"It's the same exact thing except
a it's just us running the drills. So

these practices, but he is never far
away. The regulation forces him to
stay away from practice, and, dur-
ing practice times, he remains in his
office on the second floor of Yost Ice
Arena.
"Well, they have to make the
most of it," Berenson said. "And
the one thing that they need is that
they need to get their legs and get
their condition and get comfortable
with the puck and just get into all
kinds of game time situations. So,
even without the coaches, it's a big
benefit."
The players said that practices
are obviously more productive with
coaches on the ice. They admitted

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