12 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, October 5, 2004
Nonroster skaters compete with varsity
FILE PMO
Coach Red Berenson must decide if he wants to add another player to his roster.
BREMMER
Continued from page 11
clips? Maybe two or three of them are
true highlights. Don't get me wrong
- I'm all for well-done, meaningful clip
montages. If you've ever seen ESPN's
Images of the Century (try and down-
load it on Kazaa if you haven't seen
it already), you'll know what I mean.
That thing brings a tear to your eye.
But calling this garbage "The Ultimate
Highlight" is like calling a Schlitz "The
Ultimate Beer" or calling North Cam-
pus "The Ultimate Place to Live."
2:39 a.m. - We're heading to com-
mercial, and Stuart is teasing Chris
Berman's upcoming top-10 plays seg-
ment (I'm sure it has its own sponsor, no
less). Stu actually says this: "The thing
about Chris Berman's Top-10 Plays of
the Week, it's usually like 17 or 18. Kind
of like a curve on a test. 10 becomes 17,
which means 7 more flava'd things for
your palate." No, I didn't mess up when
transcribing that. Yes, that's exactly how
it came out of his mouth. And no, I have
no idea in the world what he was trying
to say.
3:00 a.m. - As we hit the one-hour
mark, Stu hits us with his third "dawg"
of the night, this one geared towards
Emmitt Smith.
3:09 a.m. - "I... love, workin' on
the Abs. A trainer throwin' jabs, beatin'
on the 'Skins ... and twins." Here it is
- maybe the single worst moment in
SportsCenter history - the "Here's-to-
Football" song. OK, it was catchy as a
Coors commercial a year ago. And the
first time it hit SportsCenter last football
season, it was bearable. But now, a hun-
dred-thousand times after I originally
heard it, it makes me want to throw my
remote through my TV.
Never have I hated football so much
as when that stupid song comes on
SportsCenter. I don't get it. The gim-
mick is up. Does ESPN expect me to
say, "Oooh, wow. They changed the
words around for this week's edition"
and just sit here and enjoy it? Seriously,
I would rather listen to Roseanne sing
the national anthem while running her
fingernails along a blackboard. Someone
has got to end this awful song.
3:26 a.m. - Just as I'm about to cel-
ebrate this episode being near the end,
I have another reason to rejoice - the
greatest commercial in recent memory
comes on. Have you seen this Nike ad
for the Michael Vick rollercoaster? It's
mind-blowing. For those of you who
haven't seen it yet (you should be watch-
ing more TV), a kid straps himself
into a roller coaster-style harness and
proceeds to head into a gauntlet of NFL
defenders that are flying at him one at a
time. After a bunch of scares and a flip
at the end, he's in the endzone. The best
part? The roller coaster action snapshot
that they flash on the screen at the end of
By Gabe Edelson
Daily Sports Writer
Late in the first period of Sunday
evening's Blue/White Intrasquad
game, senior defenseman Reilly
Olson found himself in an unfamil-
iar situation. Olson - playing for
Team Blue in the Michigan hockey
team's annual exhibition scrim-
mage - looked around the ice and
couldn't see any of his Wolverine
teammates.
That was because the three play-
ers helping Olson kill off a hold-
ing penalty - defenseman Brian
Wilkinson and forwards Craig
Urwin and Justin Kozik - were not
on coach Red Berenson's roster.
The Blue/White game was more
than just an opportunity for current
players to sharpen their skills and
conditioning before Friday's season
opener against Northeastern. It also
provided a chance for 11 nonvarsity
skaters: a chance to have fun playing
hockey at a higher level for some,
and a chance to try to impress the
Michigan coaching staff for others.
With a possible walk-on spot avail-
able, several of the players - many
of whom play on the university's
club team and all of whom wore
the commercial. The kid is screaming as
loud as I did when I found out the Nets
were trading Kenyon Martin.
Is it possible someone will ever actu-
ally build this ride? I'd wait in line all
day for this one. They should look into
more of these sports-themed coasters.
I also want to find out who made this
commercial. ESPN should call this guy
and let him consult for them to help
devise a decent segment on SportsCen-
ter. Hell, you can even let him write
some of Stuart Scott's dialogue.
3:27 a.m. - Just realized how pathet-
ic it is that the best part of SportsCenter
might be the Vick commercial. Goes
to show you how well ESPN has been
doing lately.
3:28 a.m. - About two minutes left.
I wonder, can Stu blow my mind one
more time with his words of wisdom?
3:29 a.m. - Booyah! Stu doesn't
disappoint. Someone just flipped on
his "awkwardly misplaced pop-culture
reference" switch. "You can either lean
back and do the rockaway or lean back
and crank it. This is how we roll. Pump
up the volume, week four flavor."
3:30 a.m. - Whew. It's finally over.
I feel as disoriented as that kid on the
Vick ride.
Keep up the good work, ESPN. In the
meantime, I wonder what's on E!
Daniel Bremmer can be reached at
bremmerd@umich.edu.
jerseys without their names on the
back - were giving their all for a
place on the varsity team.
"I just play in beer leagues for
fun, but that's about it." junior
Varujan Arman said. "I thought I'd
come and see if I could work my
way onto the team."
Arman has added inspiration in
his quest to make the team: His
brother, Krikor, played for the Wol-
verines from 1997-2000.
But Berenson knew that not every
new face was quite so ambitious.
"Only a handful of the players are
really focused on trying to make
our team," he said.
For senior Adam Zussman - a
member of the club team - the
experience itself was enough to
keep him satisfied.
"I was just pumped to get out
there," Zussman said. "This is just
to have a good time. I'm dedicated
to the club team and that's where I
want to play. I'm not ready to give
that commitment to the varsity."
But regardless of individual agen-
das, the nonroster players agreed
that the level of play during Team
Blue's 7-2 victory was a notch or
two above what they're used to.
"It's a completely different
world." Arman said. "It's definitely
a nice change of pace.
"Passes are a lot crisper, guys are
making the right decisions all the
time and everybody is supporting
each other. It's not an individual
game like it is in beer leagues or
Juniors, even. Everybody's doing
their job."
Junior Mike Pereira noticed the
difference in conditioning between
club and varsity play.
"All the guys are in real good
shape," he said. "It's a little bit
more physical."
For Zussman, there was defi-
nitely an adjustment period to the
frenetic tempo.
"The first couple of shifts in the
first period, you just have to adapt
(to the pace)," he said. "Once you
get the speed down, you just play
good position and you don't need to
worry about it."
Despite the talent gap, the little-
known group did have an impact on
the game.
Kozik scored a goal for Team
Blue late in the second period, with
the assist credited to another non-
roster player, Chris Fragner. Arman
also got in on the action by assist-
ing on a third-period goal scored by
Conerence
action heats Up
on Saturday
By Adam Wallace
For the Daily
This weekend will mark the turning point of the col-
lege football season. Conference powers will collide
and many games may be decided by a costly penalty or
a crucial kick.
ABC has dubbed the weekend "Showdown Saturday,"
and there are plenty of games in which top-25 teams
play each other, but no games will be bigger than the
ones that will take place in Dallas and Los Angeles.
No. 5 Texas (1-0 Big X1i, 4-0 overall) vs. No. 2
Oklahoma (1-0 Big Xli, 4-0), noon, ABC
The annual Red River Shootout pits two top-five
teams against each other. Oklahoma
has dominated the series lately and
shows no signs of letting up. Senior Nc
quarterback Jason White is still in
Heisman form, and freshman run- 9 i
ning back Adrian Peterson has given
the Sooners the balanced attack they
lacked at the end of last year. The Longhorns will
counter with another Heisman hopeful: running back
Cedric Benson. Benson has rushed for 746 yards and
seven touchdowns already this year. But the Sooner
defense will be up to the task of stopping Benson, and
the Longhorns will have no answer for the No. 2 team
in the country.
Oklahoma 38, Texas 21
No. 7 Cal (1-0 Pac-10, 3-0) at No. 1 Southern
Cal. (1-0 Pac-10, 4-0), 3:30 p.m., ABC.
Cal holds the distinction of being the only team to
beat the Trojans in nearly two years. The Golden Bears'
victory last season prevented Southern Cal. from win-
ning an outright national championship outright. Cal
has played very well this season and showed no signs of
rust last week - beating Oregon State 49-7 after having
two weekends off due to poor weather. Cal quarterback
Aaron Rodgers has been nothing short of spectacular so
far, throwing for 614 yards and two touchdowns while
completing almost 75 percent of his passes. The Trojans
still have the sour taste from last year in their mouths
and will use that as motivation. Look for the combi-
nation of quarterback Matt Leinart and running back
Reggie "The President" Bush to lead the Trojans to a
victory in front of their home crowd.
USC 28, Cal 17
No. 17 Tennessee (1-1 SEC, 3-1) at No. 3 Geor-
gia (2-0 SEC, 4-0), 3:30 p.m., CBS
Tennessee found out what type of team it was last
sophomore forward T.J. Hensick,
who won CCHA Rookie of the Year
honors as Michigan's leading scorer
last season. Needless to say, it was a
memorable moment for Arman.
"It was awesome," he said with
a smile. "You work hard all game,
so that's a great feeling out there. I
kind of got lucky that Hensick shot
the puck."
Despite the game-time success.
Berenson doesn't want any of the
walk-on hopefuls to become too
optimistic.
"Whether or not (a walk-on)
would get a chance to play at Michi-
gan this year remains to be seen,"
Berenson said. "But they're really
good kids and they're pretty good
players. They didn't come to Michi-
gan to play on our team, so this is a
bonus if they make (it)."
Nevertheless, Arman is keeping a
positive attitude.
"It's been a dream of mine (to
play for Michigan) since I was a lit-
tle kid and my brother played here,"
he said. "It's definitely something I
hope works out.
"If it doesn't, I gave my best,
and such is life. I'm just going to
work as hard as possible and let the
coaches decide."
I
PERFECT
FOR DINNE
R.
(OR DEPENDING
ON WHAT TIME
YOU GET HOME,
BREAKFAST.)
Adrian Peterson looks to run over Texas this weekend.
week after being embarrassed at home by Auburn, 34-10.
The Volunteers' test this weekend will be even tougher
as they travel to Athens, Ga. The Bulldogs played their
best game of the year last week while destroying LSU,
and they finally look like the national title contender
they were expected to be at the beginning of the sea-
son. Georgia quarterback David Greene is playing like
the senior he is, having thrown for 755 yards and eight
touchdowns. Look for Georgia's defense to smother
Tennessee quarterback Erik Ainge (nephew of former
NBA star Danny Ainge) and cruise to an easy victory.
Georgia 35, Tennessee 10
No. 24 LSU (1-2 SEC, 3-2) at No. 12 Florida (2-1
SEC, 3-1), 7:45 p.m., ESPN
LSU has really struggled lately. It has lost two out of
its last three games and does not look like the team that
shared the national championship with Southern Cal.
last year. Now the Tigers have to go into The Swamp
and play a Florida team hungry for a win. Florida
quarterback Chris Leak has been phenomenal, having
already throwing for 1,113 yards and 10 touchdowns.
The LSU defense has not been very good this year, and
gave up 45 points to Georgia last week. Look for the
Gators' offense to put up very similar numbers, and
LSU's offense will not be able to keep up.
Florida 41, LSU 24
M MEN'S TENNS
Hung, Heller suffer early exits
By Tyler Hagle
For the Daily
As the professional ATP tennis tour
season draws to a close, another ten-
nis season is just beginning. Michigan
sophomores Brian Hung and Ryan
Heller made the trip down to Chatta-
nooga, Tenn., yesterday to compete in
the 2004 Icy Hot/ITA (Intercollegiate
Tennis Association) Men's All-Amer-
ican Championships.
More than 70 schools are par-
ticipating in this year's tournament,
which includes 192 singles players.
Hung, a sophomore from Hong Kong,
is one such player - he competed in
both singles and doubles play, but
unfortunately came up short in each
effort.
Hung's preseason ITA ranking of
94 allowed him to forego the pre-
qualifying over the weekend and
catch up from there. Oullete held his
own serve relatively easily through-
out the match as he continued to
break Hung. When asked about the
match, Michigan assistant coach
Michael Kosta said he was particu-
larly "concerned with the unforced
errors" that plagued Hung from start
to finish.
"I expected Brian to be more com-
petitive, but I am happy with the way
he fought. And his opponent did play
well," Kosta said.
Hung looked to salvage his day
later in the afternoon when he
teamed up with fellow sophomore
Heller for their qualifying doubles
match against a pair from Middle
Tennessee State University. Their
opponents included the No. 63
ranked singles player in the nation,
Andreas Siljestrom. The match was
far closer than Hung's morning
was happy with the doubles. They
had very good energy and competed
hard. They just need to get better
together as a team. They're a good
team and can be a great team."
The statement seems to describe
the outlook for the entire 2004-05
Wolverine squad. The team is under
brand new leadership with Kosta
and first-year coach Bruce Berque.
The two have revamped the pro-
gram, instilling such new practices
as weekly weight lifting, track run-
ning and individual lessons.
Kosta thought that having to
"adjust to new things in practice"
may have even contributed to Hung's
singles loss.
And because the tournament is
full of some of the nation's stiffest
competition, Kosta concluded that
such an early departure for the Wol-
verines was far from the end of the
- A