2B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - September 19, 2005 Angels flyl- ANAHEIM, Calif.(AP) - After grinding out anoth- er critical victory behind Paul Byrd's solid pitching, the Los Angeles Angels were in a somber mood. They were mourning the death of their team chaplain, Chuck Obrem- ski, who fought cancer for two years. "I think it was amazing that he died the minute we took the field," Byrd said yesterday after beating the Detroit Tigers 5-3. "I usually take the field at :03, :04, and I was getting ready to go. But Darin Erstad wasn't ready, so it kind of threw me off a little bit. "We took the field at :05, and that was the exact minute he died. Maybe it was a coincidence, maybe not, but it was powerful. It was nice that we won and were able to dedicate the game to him." Obremski, 48, presided over the regular Sunday chapel services in both clubhouses during Angels homestands for several years, right up to the final game of the previous homestand. After the Angels won their only world cham- pionship in 2002, they gave him a World Series ring the following Easter Sunday. Everyone around the league knew how weak he was and how difficult it was for him to do his job, but they all marveled at the way he never gave in to his illness. "His goal was to last through the season - and in my mind, he did," Byrd said. "He had battled cancer for a couple of years, and he didn't feel sorry for himself. He finished strong and went out with a lot of courage and went out fighting, and that's what we want to do as mem- bers of the Angels. We want to finish strong on the field." Tigers in close game Athlete of the Week Erstad and Juan Rivera each drove in two runs and Vladimir Guerrero hit an RBI double, helping the first- place Angels maintain their two-game lead over Oakland in the AL West. Byrd (12-10) allowed a run and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings, striking out six and walking one. The right-hand- er worked with runners on base in each of the first five innings, giving up his only run on a double-play grounder by Brandon Inge with the bases loaded in the fifth. Byrd is 3-1 with a 0.91 ERA over his last four starts after going 0-4 with a 5.40 ERA in his previous seven outings. "I love the pressure, and I love that every game counts," he said. "I've been on last-place teams and first-place teams, and this is what it's all about. Coming down the wire, every pitch means something and you can't take anything for granted. It's very exciting. I think all of our guys have really turned it up a notch." Detroit center fielder Curtis Granderson, batting lead- off so that second baseman Placido Polanco could rest a sore right shoulder, was 5-for-5 with a first-inning double to set a career high for hits. "I haven't had enough time up here to go ahead and say, 'Hey, yeah, I belong.' I've only had a little scratch of the surface," Granderson said. "I was put in the leadoff role a little more this season in Triple-A in about 50 percent of the games. At first it was more of a mental thing. But then I just start to think, I'm only going to lead off one time." In Thursday's 8-6 victory- over the Angels, the 24- year-old rookie hit a three-run, inside-the-park homer and robbed Bengie Molina of a home run. In 33 games, Granderson is hitting .318 with six homers and 16 RBIs. "He's an incredible young player," Byrd said. "I was unfamiliar with him, but I threw everything everywhere, and he was on it." Scot Shields came on in the ninth for his 72nd appear- ance this season, tying the Angels' record set in 1967 by Minnie Rojas. He gave up a two-run single to pinch-hitter Dmitri Young before Francisco Rodriguez got two outs for his 38th save in 43 tries. Matt Ginter (0-1) allowed five runs and 10 hits over 4 1/3 innings in his first start for the Tigers after 13 relief appearances. He got the assignment in place of Nate Rob- ertson, who is 0-4 with a 9.41 ERA in his last four starts and 6-14 overall. Robertson complained of fatigue in his shoulder after giving up seven runs and seven hits over three innings in a 9-3 home loss to Minnesota last Tues- day night. Ginter was a full-time reliever with the White Sox before the Mets converted him into a starter last year. The right-hander did both this season with Detroit's Triple-A Toledo club, going 4-3 with a 5.09 ERA in 10 starts for the International League champion Mud Hens. A couple days ago, Tigers manager Alan Trammell said Ginter was best suited for middle relief, as opposed to starting. The Angels helped drive that point home with a three-run first, including Guerrero's RBI double, a run- scoring groundout by Erstad and Rivera's RBI single. Name: Therese Heaton Hometown: Wheaton, Ill. Team: Women's soccer Class: Senior Why: Heaton led the Wolverines to a 5-3 win over Western Michigan on Friday with her first career hat-trick. She scored her first goal 2:15 into the game, and, in the second half, netted two, including the game-winner. 'M' SCHEDULE Date Event 9/21 9/23-5 9/23 9/23 9/24-5 9/24-5 9/24 9/24 9/24 9/25 9/25 9/25 Volleyball at Michigan State M Tennis Tom Fallon Invitational Field Hockey atiOhio State W Soccer at Ohio State M Golf-Wolverine Intercollegiate W Golf-Lady Northern Invitational M Cross Country Roy Griak Invitational Football at Wisconsin Volleyball at Indiana Field Hockey at Kent State M Soccer vs. Northwestern W Soccer at Oakland Location East Lansing South Bend Columbus Columbus Ann Arbor Bloomington Minneapolis Madison Bloomington Kent, Ohio Ann Arbor Rochester Time 7 p.m. TBA 4 p.m. 7 p.m. TBA TBA 11 a.m. 6 p.m. 7 p.m. 12 p.m. 2 p.m. 2:30 p.m. 0 01 Detroit falls hard to the Bears CHICAGO (AP) - The points came from all areas - offense, defense and special teams - in rapid procession as the Chicago Bears trampled Joey Har- rington and the Detroit Lions. Chicago's 38-6 victory Sunday in the home opener was emphatic. The Bears intercepted Harrington a career-high five times and battered the Lions along the way. "We were resilient this week," Bears wide receiver Muhsin Muham- mad said. After a 9-7 loss at Washington in the season opener, the Bears looked more like the playoff contender they have claimed to be since the start of training camp. The 38 points were their most since a 47-17 victory over Tampa Bay in September 1993. Nate Vasher intercepted Harrington twice and Mike Brown returned one 41 yards for a touchdown. Brian Urlacher added two sacks. Thomas Jones rushed for 139 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries, and quarterback Kyle Orton was 14-of-21 for 150 yards with no interceptions. Bobby Wade returned a punt 73 yards for a score in the second quar- ter and Brown added that intercep- tion return in the final minute of the half as Chicago took a 31-6 lead to the locker room. "We did what we said we were going to do," Urlacher said. "We got in (Har- rington's) face, and we got some pres- sure on him and got him to throw the ball sometimes when he didn't want to. And we got some takeaways - what we got to do every week." And what the Lions weren't able to do Sunday. Detroit's defense, which sacked Brett Favre four times and held Green Bay to its lowest point total in 13 years in last week's 17-3 victory, had trouble breaking through the Bears' line, and Chicago's offense sprang to life after being held to 166 yards against Washington. Harrington, meanwhile, looked lost. He struggled against the pressure, com- pleting 19 of 37 passes for 196 yards. Detroit managed just 12 yards rushing in the first half - and 29 in all on 18 carries. "We made a lot of mistakes, and I compounded it," Harrington said. Harrington's troubles started on the opening possession, with an intercep- tion by right tackle Ian Scott. The Bears drove 43 yards for a touchdown, with Jones running it in from the three. The Lions immediately responded. After a 41-yard kickoff return by Eddie Drummond, Harrington found an open Roy Williams, who beat Charles Tillman on the right for a 51- yard touchdown that made it 7-6. The Bears blocked the extra-point attempt by Remy Hamilton, signed Friday to the practice squad and acti- vated before the game with Jason Hanson nursing a hamstring injury. That ended Hanson's streak of 209 games, the third longest among active NFL players. The rout was on from there. Chicago's Doug Brien kicked a 48- yard field goal on the ensuing drive to increase Chicago's lead to 10-6. It grew to 17-6 early in the second quarter when Wade, inactive last week, returned a punt 73 yards up the left side. Harrington, who had thrown four interceptions in a game twice, contin- ued to struggle. Vasher intercepted a fade in the left corner of the end zone intended for Williams, and that led to an 80- yard scoring drive. Orton zipped a 28-yard touchdown pass to Muhsin Muhammad, who held on despite being sandwiched by cornerback Fer- nando Bryant and safety Kenoy Ken- nedy, to make it 24-6 with 1:14 left in the half. Muhammad was fine, but Bryant left with a shoulder injury. On the next play from scrimmage, Brown intercepted Harrington as he was hit and ran it in from 41 yards. Besides Bryant, the Lions lost defen- sive end James Hall (groin), backup free safety Vernon Fox (left elbow) and tight end Marcus Pollard (concussion), who took a helmet-to-helmet hit from Brown in the fourth quarter. Brown said he's "prepared" for a fine by the NFL, but wanted to make it clear the collision of helmets was accidental. "I saw the ball in his hands," Brown said. "I was going for the ball first. It happened so quick out there." Harrington hopes he never has anoth- er game like this. He has extra time to think about it, with the Lions off next week before visiting Tampa Bay. "It's going to eat at me, but it could be a good thing to kind of clear your head," he said. *I Michigan alum Braylon Edwards scored the Browns' second touchdown in their 26-24 win over the Packers. Edwardseds past Packers GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) - They lived up to Reggie White's legacy on the day his number was retired, playing with a menacing mix of passion, poise and precision. Not the Green Bay Packers, the Cleveland Browns. Trent Dilfer won for the first time in nine trips to Lambeau Field, guid- ing Cleveland over the mistake-prone Packers 26-24 for new coach Romeo Crennel's first win. Dilfer threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to Braylon Edwards and a game-icing 62-yarder to Steve Heiden with 1:50 remaining. Dilfer, who lost six times as a starter at Green Bay, completed 21 of 32 passes for 336 yards - the sec- ond-highest total of his career - and three touchdowns. His 62-yarder to Heiden, who slipped a tackle by safety Mark Roman, made it 26-17, too much for the Packers to overcome even behind Brett Favre. The Packers wanted desperately to honor White with a win. So did Dil- fer, who like so many others, counted himself a friend of the "Minister of Defense," who died unexpectedly last year at age 43. "I guarantee you, he and my son were watching the game together today," said Dilfer, who lost his 5-year-old son, Trevin, to a rare infection in 2003. Dilfer recalled White's "kind words after football games when they beat us up. That meant the world to me." "I think I'm third all-time on his sack list. Reggie and I got to know each other pretty intimately on the football field," Dilfer added. "What a special day for his family to honor him that way. In my 12 years, by far the classiest person I've ever met in this league. He had a huge influence on me personally, spiritually." Favre broke John Elway's single- stadium NFL touchdown record of 180 with a 4-yard toss to Tony Fish- er with 4 seconds left, but Brodney Pool recovered the onside kick for Cleveland (1-1). "I've been 'Favre'd' twice up here,"' Dilfer said. "So, I was a wreck on the sidelines. It was big to erase some of those demons." The Browns were backed up and facing a crucial third down after Favre, who also joined Dan Marino and Elway in the 50,000-yard passing club Sun- day, pulled the Packers to 19-17 with a 19-yard TD to Robert Ferguson with 3:40 remaining. With the crowd chanting "Reg-gie! Reg-gie!" in honor of the late White, whose number was retired at halftime, Dilfer calmly hit running back Reuben Droughns for a 12-yard gain on third- and-5. Then, following the 2-minute warning, he found Heiden over the middle to put the game out of reach. "We blew the coverage," Roman said. "But I still have to get the guy down." The Packers (0-2) looked at first like they wouldn't miss Javon Walker, their star receiver who went down with a season-ending knee injury last week. They went ahead 7-0 on their first pos- session when Donald Driver caught a short pass over the middle and raced past Ray Mickens and Chris Crocker for a 42-yard score. The Browns (1-1) responded with an 80-yard drive capped by Dilfer's 1-yard throw to Heiden. Phil Dawson added field goals of 21 and 39 yards to give the Browns a 13-7 halftime lead. His first field goal followed the first of Favre's two interceptions. The Packers came out of the locker room early to watch White's No. 92 unveiled beneath the north end zone alongside those of Don Hutson, Tony Canadeo, Bart Starr and Ray Nitschke. White's widow, Sara, spoke to the crowd, and highlights were shown of White sacking quarterback after quar- terback and holding the Lombardi Tro- phy aloft after the Packers' Super Bowl win following the 1996 season. Then, it was back to 2005, and the Packers continued their sloppy play in losing their home opener for the third straight season. "A loss is a loss, I don't care what day it is," Packers linebacker Nick Bar- nett said. "It hurts regardless of if it's Reggie White's day or Brett Favre's day or Bart Starr's day." Two plays after Gary Baxter intercepted a Favre pass in the end zone, Dilfer hit Edwards, who split split defensive backs Joey Thomas and Nick Collins and raced 80 yards for the score. "It's very disappointing that we lost in front of Reggie's family," corner- back Al Harris said. "We didn't give him much of a tribute today." 0 Only $2 each s IAO cak° t1t, ° onE C l ,t: DOWNLOAD 'EM NOW AS EASY AS A TEXT MESSAGE TEXT MICI5 % To 64000 2 TEXT MICH TO 64000 s qTEXT MICeN? TO 64000 Buy a Mac. Get a free iPod mini. Anrl~ %AI,4k r-ir Acarvr ni I A i.rntinn mu m