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Thursday
November 4, 2004
sports. michigandaily.com
sports@michigandaily.com
SPORTS
10A
- ' ' +. 1OA
Cameron's return
can't fix 'M' woes
The Heisman campaign
is heading to Ohio, too
a
4
By Jamie Josephson
and Anne Ulble
Daily Sports Writers
With the return of two star players from
injury - senior Knox Cameron and junior
Chris Glinski - the Michigan men's soc-
cer team (13-1 Big Ten, 9-5-4 overall)
was hoping these comebacks would spark
a win on the home field yesterday.
But after two overtimes, the game
ended in a 0-0 tie against Oakland (3-1-1
Mid-Continent, 10-4-3 overall).
Like the scoreless tie, you can't put a
number on intensity.
"There was a A
big fight from both CG
teams," Cameron
said. "We matched their defense, and they
matched ours. So I think (the tie) was a
just result.:
When the whistle had blown to signal
the end of the second overtime, the Wol-
verines had set a record. They have kept
their opponents scoreless for 310 consecu-
Jive minutes - the longest streak in pro-
gram history.
Unfortunately, Michigan set another;
record: the longest it had gone without
scoring a goal itself - 220 minutes.
Kept on the sidelines all season with a
0 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
F.reshme:
By Stephanie Wright
Daily Sports Writer
ACL tear, Cameron entered yesterday's
contest all smiles.
"It felt really good," Cameron said.
"For about the first two minutes, I couldn't
stop smiling. Then I realized I couldn't
breathe after that. It just feels good to be
back and playing in meaningful games
once again."
Michigan's offense started off slow,
unable to fire a single shot on goal in the
first half.
Going into halftime, Michigan coach
Steve Burns made changes in Michigan's
attack.
"We talked about the fact that our shape
was good, but we had 45 minutes of poor
execution," Burns said. "Now that (the first
half) was out of our system, we wanted to
come out and execute and keep the ball on
the ground and move it quickly."
But Michigan still struggled. As the
final seconds of the clock wound down in
the first overtime, senior Mychal Turpin
broke away from the Oakland defense and
had a clear shot on goal. But Golden Griz-
zlies goalie Jeff Wiese made a key save.
This was just one among several late-
game Michigan attempts.
The Wolverines did come into the sec-
ond half aggressive on the defensive end.
"(Oakland) was doing a good job
FILuPHO
Michigan forward Knox Cameron, shown here in 2003, got his first action of the
season in yesterday's scoreless draw with Oakland.
bringing the energy, tackling and the atti-
tude into the game," Burns said. "We need
to be bringing what they were bringing. I
think for the most part in the second half
and in both overtimes, we did."
The Wolverines' defense was the strong-
hold that kept the Golden Grizzlies' offense
quiet. Burns picked out senior Matt Nie-
meyer as a strong contributor at midfield.
The defense was in high spirits with the
return of junior Chris Glinski, who was
also previously injured with a fractured
ankle. But the defender was still transi-
tioning from being on the sidelines.
"It feels good and frustrating at the same
time,"Gilinski said. "I'm definitely not 100
percent right now. I still have a fracture, and
I want to get out there and do all the stuff I
normally can do. And I really can't."
Yesterday's stalemate marked the ninth
time this season that Michigan played into
overtime. Despite Michigan's must-win
attitude nearing the Big Ten and NCAA
Tournaments, the Wolverines couldn't
produce results.
"It felt like a tournament game," Burns
said. "The boys are doing a great job defen-
sively. We've just got to score goals."
SHARAD MATTU
Mattu fast, Mattu furious
en it comes to the tradition-
rich football program at Michi-
gan, there's just some things
we'll never see.
Well, on Monday, I learned of another
thing that will likely never happen: A
Heisman Trophy campaign for a Michigan
Wolverine.
Receiver Braylon Edwards is finally
getting national recognition, but if he's
going to win the trophy, he'll have to do it
without the help of a website or highlight-
filled DVD. Lloyd Carr made it clear that,
if Michigan has a Heisman candidate, it
should be Edwards. But that was as far as
he would go.
Now, if Edwards is going to be sworn
into football lore on Dec. 14, he'll have to
get the job done in the same swing state
that decided that other election on Tues-
day: Ohio.
After 11 catches and three touchdowns
against Michigan State, Edwards, who
already had strong support from Midwest
voters (voters are split into six regions),
now appears to have the northeast constit-
uency energized (the schools in that area
are so bad that nearly all of Michigan's
games have been aired in New York, so
Edwards has definitely gotten enough
exposure in the area).
Capturing the vote in the four other
regions - Mid-Atlantic, South, Southwest
and Far West - will be much tougher. So,
to the remaining voters who aren't con--
vinced by Edwards' 69 catches, 995 yards
and 11 touchdowns, who haven't seen how
he's made the freshmen backfield's transi-
tion to college football immensely easier,
you leave me no choice. Let the bashing
begin.
First of all, in Southern Cal. and Okla-
homa, we've got two parties that need to
give away a nomination once and for all.
Since they won't, let's do it for them.
As you have to be 35-years old to be
president, Heisman winners must be
juniors or seniors as well. That would elim-
inate sophomore Reggie Bush and fresh-
man Adrian Peterson, the running backs
for the Trojans and Sooners, respectively.
And then there's quarterback Jason
White, Peterson's running mate. Like the
man who won'Tuesday, White is looking
for re-election, even though many believe
he shouldn't have won in the first place.
Last year, just one week before his
inauguration, White turned in an awful
performance in the Big 12 Championship
game. But enough voters had sent in their
absentee ballots before the last debate to
ensure White the hardware.
With Bush out of the picture, that leaves
Trojans quarterback Matt Leinart joins
Cal quarterback Aaron Rodgers as the top
candidates. When the two went head-to-
head earlier this year, both played great,
but Southern Cal. won, so Leinart gets the
edge. But some may still vote for Bush,
taking away from Leinart's chances.
All the remaining candidates have
even bigger flaws. Utah quarterback Alex
Smith, BCS bid or not, has been playing
bad teams all year, and Auburn quarter-
back Jason Campbell has benefited from
playing with the team's real star, who
boasts a sweet nickname, running back
Carnell "Cadillac" Williams.
Now back to Edwards. Right now,
Ohioans probably don't think too much of
Edwards. They may even think that their
own receiver, Santonio Holmes, is just as
qualified. So the campaign trail will have
to hit the state hard on Nov. 20.
But even if he has a great game,
Edwards will have trouble convincing
some voters simply because of the position
he plays. But remember, two Wolverines
who won the Heisman - Anthony Carter
and Desmond Howard - were receivers.
And Pitt receiver Larry Fitzgerald finished
second last year.
Well, if they're not convinced by now,
these old fashioned, conservative folk must
have forgotten that people were predicting
the Alamo Bowl for this team three weeks
into the season. Now, the same people are
hoping for a Rose Bowl.
If that's not enough, Edwards will be
the first person to sign up for the draft. The
NFL Draft, that is.
Sharad Mattu approves this message,
and can be reached at smattu@umich.edu.
ready to gain experience
Senior forward Tabitha Pool is the most experi-
enced player on the Michigan women's basketball
team. But it's not hard
for her to remember what
it felt like before she had s N GH T,
ever played a game for the
Wolverines. Athee& n Acnon
As a freshman, Pool T p
wondered what the pace of
a college basketball gameM
would be like. Practices
helped, but it was her first exhibition game that really
prepared her for the season.
"It felt like an actual game," Pool said. "Then, when
we played our first game, I was like, 'All right, that's how
our exhibition game was.' It helped me a lot."
After replacing eight players that either graduated or
left the program with seven freshmen, Michigan's first
exhibition game tonight against Athletes in Action will
be even more important than usual.
"Really, our first exhibition game will tell our coaching
staff as much about our team as any first exhibition game
in all the years I've coached," Michigan coach Cheryl
Burnett said. "Because there are a lot of unknowns, going
back to the fact that we could be starting three of those
young players."
But that uncertainty doesn't mean Burnett has changed
her approach to tonight's game. Burnett still plans to
determine the starting lineup based on which players
have worked the hardest and played the best defense in
practice - even if it means putting an unusual assort-
ment of players on the court.
"I've had walk-ons start, I've had four guards start
- it doesn't matter," Burnett said. "(Those players) will
be rewarded the first exhibition game, and we build the
chemistry of the basketball team off of that."
One area that Burnett will focus on is finding a point
guard. Right now, Burnett believes Michigan has three
- freshmen Becky Flippin, Krista Clement and Sierrah
Moore.
"Becky has watched the program since being a sixth-
grader, so she knows the style," Burnett said. "Krista is
one of the best basketball minds and leaders that I have
ever seen. And Sierrah is very physically gifted. She's
very strong, very athletic.
"(But) there's no question that a point guard is going to
have to step forward."
For the freshmen, the opportunity to play in an actual
game - exhibition or not - is the culmination of a sum-
mer of hard work.
"It'll be good for us to experience things in a real
setting together," Flippin said. "We're all really
excited to see what's going to happen, to take on the
challenge."
..U ... .......... . . .