Tuesday
October 5, 2004
sports.michigandaily.com
sports@michigandaily. corn
Secondry
duo bonds
on and off
gridiiron
By Gennaro Flilce
Daily Sports Writer
When the hours hit the a.m., sophomores Leon Hall
and Ryan Mundy are no different than any other Michigan
student.
"We'll probably play 'Madden' all night," Mundy said.
Hall mans the Buffalo Bills, while Mundy runs with
the Jacksonville Jaguars - they've both agreed to choose
teams with an overall game rating below 80.
"The games get pretty intense," Mundy said. "We might
be messing around sometimes, but when we say we're
going to play for real, the games get really intense."
While Hall plays the silent assassin role, Mundy - a
Wilkins Township, Penn., native - lets it all hang out.
"If I'm losing, I don't like that, so I'm gonna start yell-
ing and screaming," Mundy said. "But if I'm winning, I'm
gonna start talking trash and everything, getting in his
head, and then he'll get all mad."
But at the end of the night, the games are just that.
"That's my boy, Leon - we're pretty much like this,"
Mundy said as he crossed his fingers. "We're next-door
neighbors in the dorm, so if you find me, you find Leon.
"(He's) real laid back - he's a fun-loving guy. He really
enjoys life, and that's why I can relate to him, because I'm
the same way."
Mundy and Hall bonded last year when they both
logged playing time as true freshmen.
"Not every freshman travels, and we were in the same
class, so we had to stick together," Mundy said. "We really
didn't know what was going on. We became really close
during our freshman year."
During the season, both players learned from the elder
statesmen of the Michigan defense.
"I just kinda learned from (Marlin Jackson) along with
the coaches, really, just how important it is to get the little
things," Hall said.
"It's really all been done through (Ron) English,"
Mundy said, complimenting Michigan's defensive second-
ary coach. "He's an excellent coach, and he really knows
how to get the best out of you. We really realized the
opportunity we had coming in here - we talked about it
a few times together. We knew we could do big things if
we worked hard."
Best friends off the field, Mundy and Hall currently
share additional time on it as members of the Wolverines'
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SPORTS
11
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Booyah! Stu Scott
is ruining my ESPN
DANIEL BREMMER
Garden State of Mind
Wen I sit down to watch my
TV, there are certain things I
can bank on. When I put on
E!, I know I'm going to see celebrities.
If I tune to CNN, I know I'm going to
get the news.
But nowadays, when I put on ESPN,..
I don't know what the hell I'm gonna get.
Lately, the self-proclaimed "worldwide
leader in sports" is losing its credibility
- as evidenced by the decline in the
network's flagship show, SportsCenter.
SportsCenter used to be about hard-
hitting sports news. But now, it's the TV
equivalent of the loser in high school,
who thought that if he called himself
cool enough times, he would be.
C'mon ESPN - don't be that guy.
Anchor Stuart Scott is the personifi-
cation of this problem with SportsCen-
ter. Years ago, he used to be one of the
better anchors they had. Now, he spends
more time thugging out his writing than
thinking about whether or not he even
makes any sense.
To prove my point, I sat down and
watched ESPN's 2 a.m. SportsCenter on
Sunday night. Here's a rundown of the
disappointment I witnessed:
2 a.m. - SportsCenter introduction.
Less than 30 seconds into the show,
and Stuart Scott has just referred to the
audience as "dog" for the first time (or
is it "dawg?"). This is the first of what
I'm sure will be many Stuart Scott
"let-me-be-as-unnecessarily-urban-as-
I-possibly-can-be" moments. I can only
imagine how painful this is to watch for
people who actually talk like that.
2:01 a.m. - Too bad my watch
doesn't have a second hand. Less than
a minute later, and Stu just called the
audience "son." Much like his "dawg"
comment, this one is quite forced and
awkward sounding. You think Dan
Rather uses "son" on the evening news?
2:02 a.m. - After the intro, the
camera cuts back to Linda Cohn sitting
next to Stu. Before I even have time to
think of another sarcastic remark, Stu
declares,'Alongside L. Co - Linda
Cohn, I'm double-S, Stuart Scott." Did
that really just happen? What the hell is
an L. Co? Someone should tell Stu that
J. Lo 's (I'm assuming this is the bad
reference he was trying to make) career
is almost as much of a joke right now as
his own. Two minutes in, and already, I
don't know if I can take much more of
this crap.
2:08 a.m. - Just as we get to the
fourth quarter of the Patriots-Bills high-
lights, Stu hits us with this call on a Tom
Brady touchdown pass: "Play action.
Holla at a playa when you see him in
the street. Brady to Daniel Graham."
Which part of this line is worse? The
whole "holla at a playa" to describe a
touchdown? Or the "when-you-see-him-
in-the-street" add-on? I'd have an easier
time trying to translate one of Sean
Paul's raps into English than tell you
what Stu was trying to get across with
"in the street."
2:09 a.m. - I've never been so happy
to see a commercial in my life. It's like
a two-minute-long Advil in the midst of
my Stuart Scott headache.
2:14 a.m. - Stu and Linda team up
for this blockbuster commentary during
the Atlanta-Carolina highlight:
Stu: Muhsin Muhammad on the
reverse. He's hit, and he (cough, cough).
Linda: Want a lozenge?
Stu: No I'm good. Muhsin coughed it
up, though.
Ah, I get it. Instead of just saying
"cough," Stuart decided that he'd actu-
ally cough. That's clever.
2:15 a.m. - Less than a minute later,
Stu says Kevin Mathis was "drinking
some Hater-ade" on an interception. I'm
speechless, wondering how Stuart Scott
still has a job.
2:32 a.m. - We come back from
commercial to the announcement of "the
Ultimate Highlight." First of all, why
don't they just call it what it really is: a
below-average music video. Do we really
need to see this crappy compilation of
See BREMMER, Page 12
Safety Ryan Mundy (21) and cornerback Leon Hall (29) have become friends playing real and virtual football.
No. I defense. While Mundy has started at free safety
all season - recording 23 tackles and two picks - Hall
earned his starting status just two weeks ago. He had been
pushing senior Markus Curry all year for the job before
Curry was injured prior to the Iowa game. Hall snagged a
highlight-reel interception against the Hawkeyes and, fill-
ing in for an injured Steve Breaston, returned a punt for
a touchdown last week against Indiana. While Hall has
turned many heads in the last two weeks, one person who
is not surprised by the Vista, Calif., native's explosion onto
the scene is his coach.
"He started some games a year ago," Michigan coach
Lloyd Carr said. "We learned a lot about his toughness,
about his competitiveness. He's a guy that has unbelievable
presence, poise and confidence - he had that from the
first day he got in here.
He represents this program just the way you would want
it to be represented."
Mundy mirrors Carr's words: "(Leon's) work ethic is
unbelievable. He works as hard as anybody on the team.
He's a technician. Once a coach tells him something, he
goes out and he executes it on the practice field."
Playing football's version of center field, Mundy fre-
quently communicates with Hall during games.
"I see things that he doesn't see, and I get him lined
up," Mundy said. "Formations and formation shifts -
it's the safety's responsibility to get the corners aligned.
And if the corners bust the coverage or blow the cover-
age or don't know the coverage, then it's pretty much the
safety's fault."
Both 19-year-olds try to take the rare opportunity of
starting at such a young age in stride. And, while each of
their schedules is currently swamped with film sessions,
meetings and practices, in the second semester, the players
plan to go full throttle on that other form of football.
"We get some pretty good (video) games in, but we're
really not going to perfect it until after the season, when we
have some more time on our hands," Mundy said.
TONIGHT,
LEARN HOW YOU CAN LEAD
THE MOVEMENT TO END
EDUCATIONAL INEQUITY.
Tuesday, October 5, 7:30 pm - Michigan Union, Pond Room
Elections 2004
The Risks of Computerized Voting
Dr. Barbara Simons
Tuesday, October 5, 2004 4:00-5:30 p.m.
Whitney Auditorium, School of Education, University of Michigan
610 East University Avenue, Ann Arbor
Dr. Simon was a member of the National Workshop on Internet Voting and participated in the Security Peer
Review Group for the U.S. Department of Defense's Internet voting project. She is a Fellow at the
Association for Computing Machinery's Public Policy Committee and of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science.
Elections 2004: Too Long, Not Nice, Not Cheap
A Panel Discussion featuring Dr. Michael Traugott
Friday, October 22, 2004 3:30-5:00 p.m.
Pendleton Room, Michigan Union
530 South State Street, Anti Arbor
Michael Traugott is Chair of the U-M Dept. of Communication Studies, Senior Research
Scientist, Center for Political Studies, Institute for Social Research, and author of numerous
books on politics and the media, most recently The Press, the Polls, and Democracy. Other
panelists are Vincent Hutchings, U-M Associate Professor of Political Science, Research
Associate at the Center for Political Studies, and author of Public Opinion and Democratic
Accountability: How Citizens Learn About Politics and Bill Ballenger. Editor of Inside
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