Basketball
0 falls short
Both the men's and women's
basketball teams lose in the
first round of the Big Ten
tournament.
PAGE3E
Fall 2005
SPONTRTS
NEW STUDENT EDITION
Baseball
earns a spot
Despite losing in the Big Ten
tournamnet, the baseball
team earned a bid to the
NCAA regionals.
PAGE GE
SECTION E,
Yost has
the best
fans in A 2
An instant classic
MICHIGAN 45, Michigan State 37 (30T)
Blue beats Spartans
in overtime thriller
B y now, you
have probably
received that
manila envelope with
your student football
tickets. Section 31, Row
50, right?
You'll enjoy those
seats behind the end
zone. I promise. Just
imagine last year's
overtime win over Michigan State. Imagine
watching the Wolverines and Spartans battle
in a heavyweight fight, scoring over and over
in that end zone. There's no question that
you'll have similar moments and remember
them forever.
Those are the moments (along with all-
nighters in the fish bowl) that define a tenure
at Michigan.
But believe me, there's a lot more to sports
at Michigan than the four hours you'll spend
in the Big House every fall Saturday. In fact,
some of the most exciting sports moments
I've enjoyed in Ann Arbor have transpired
just a few hundred feet from the Big House.
To be honest, my freshman year was
not the best year for the Wolverines. Quar-
terback John Navarre was seriously strug-
gling, and the football team lost the first
road game of the year (something they've
done each of the last five years now, damn).
That loss to Washington essentially ended
all hope of a national title. To make it even
worse, we later suffered through a heart-
breaker to Michigan State in a game that
lasted 60 minutes plus one extra second and
lost to Ohio State at home.
So the football season was a wash. My
life-long friend Sam and I wanted something
more. And since the basketball program had
just hired Tommy Amaker as its new coach,
we felt as if Crisler Arena would be the best
place to take our loud, screaming voices and
maize t-shirts. Boy were we wrong. The team
went 11-18 that year, and all I can remember
is the 104-83 clobbering by Duke (that, sadly,
wasn't even that close) and one other game
- I think it was against Boston College -
that was quite probably the only other game I
went to that season. The crowd was dead, the
seats were empty and the team was flat.
Now, I'm not saying that you shouldn't
take yourself to Crisler. Especially this
year, basketball games could be pretty
exciting. Daniel Horton and Lester Abram
should be back, and Brent Petway might be
able to stay healthy too and perhaps touch
the ceiling. Who knows? Maybe Courtney
Sims will finally figure out how to be a
dominant big man. But Crisler is not where
the real action is.
Maybe try Cliff Keen Arena for a volley-
ball game. The fans there are always rowdy.
You can stay in the winter for men's gym-
nastics and hear the gymnasts themselves
bang on the cowbell and yell into the stands
to get the fans hyped. Water polo at Canham
Natatorium is always a blast, and the team
finished sixth in the country last year. Field
hockey won the school's only national cham-
pionship in my first four years here. Give
them a try in the fall before it's too late. Don't
forget about the up-and-coming baseball
team or the softball team that was No. 1 in
the country for most of the year last year,
either. But whatever you do, make sure you
buy yourself some hockey tickets.
Yost Ice Arena houses some of the best
athletes in Ann Arbor, and it definitely hosts
the best fans in the city - probably even
farther than that. If you go to Yost, you'll
quickly learn all the right cheers. You'll learn
when to tell the ref that he has a "porno mus-
tache" and when to tell the opposing goalie
that his mom just called.
Of course, you can't just sit there on a
cell phone like a sorority sister at a football
game. When you go to Yost, you have to pay
attention. Because it's your responsibility to
ask "how much time is left" when there's one
minute left in each period. You have to keep
track of the score and know the opposing
goalie's name.
It's not easy, but you'll have a blast. And
they say that the Yost crowd is good enough
to add a goal to the Wolverines' total each
game. The team pretty much always wins at
home, and it's as professional as any college
team in the nation - probably because more
than half of the team's players have already
been drafted by NHL squads.
When I got a chance to cover the icers last
season I asked legendary coach Red Beren-
son about Yost.
"You could write a chapter about that," he
said. "It's a players' rink. The noise in here,
By Gennaro Filice
NOVEMBER 1, 2004
Daily Sports Writer
With just under nine minutes left in the
game, the Big House was as quiet as it has
been in years. DeAndra Cobb's 64-yard
touchdown run gave Michigan State a seem-
ingly insurmountable 27-10 lead. But the
Wolverines weren't quite ready to fold in the
97th meeting with their in-state rival.
"One of the things that we always talk
about around here (is) the things that it takes
to be a championship team," Michigan coach
Lloyd Carr said. "There's a lot of things you
have to be able to do: You have to continue to
believe in yourself when things look bleak."
True freshman quarterback Chad Henne,
who finished 24-of-35 for 273 yards and a
career-high four touchdowns, adhered to
Carr's demands for optimism: "We were
sitting on the sideline and everybody was
down, and I was thinking in my head,
'There's still a chance.' "
And following an unbelievable finish to reg-
ulation, three Braylon Edwards touchdowns
and three overtime periods, the Wolverines
had completed one of the most improbable
wins in school history, prevailing 45-37.
"This is the greatest game I've ever
played in," senior cornerback Marlin Jack-
son said. "The feeling is unexplainable. It's
one of the greatest victories I've ever been a
part of, and maybe one of the greatest ever
at the University of Michigan."
Michigan moved from 12th to 10th in the
Associated Press rankings and remained
unbeaten in the Big Ten.
Michigan began on the comeback trail in its
drive following Cobb's touchdown. The Wol
verines put together a nine-play, 86-yard drive
that ended with a 24-yard Garrett Rivas field
goal with 6:27 left to bring Michigan within
14. The drive was fueled by a 46-yard bomb
to Edwards, who had struggled in the game's
first three quarters. -
On the ensuing kickoff, sophomore
fullback Brian Thompson recovered
Rivas's onside kick.
"It was not meant for us to lose," Edwards
said. "If you get an onside kick, it's like maybe
we're supposed to win. It's divine intervention
- it comes from above. I got down on my
knees and thanked God. I said, 'God, you put
us in a situation to make it happen.'"
Henne got the Wolverines in the endzone
in just 15 seconds, completing an li-yard pass
to Mike Hart - which was coupled with a
15-yard face-mask penalty against Michigan
State - and then airing it out to Edwards
for a 36-yard touchdown. On the reception,
Michigan State cornerback Jaren Hayes had
positioning, but Edwards just reached over
Hayes's head and ripped the ball away before
coming down in the endzone.
After two penalties on Michigan State's
next drive - a problem that marred coach
John L. Smith's team all day as it accumulat-
ed 14 penalties for 123 yards - the Spartans
punted to Michigan with 3:24 left.
Hart started the drive with a 26-yard
run up the Michigan sideline. Immediately
following the run, Edwards reflected the
mounting excitement with a shimmy at the
Michigan State 20-yard line. And on the
very next play, Edwards sent Michigan Sta-
dium into absolute pandemonium, as he once
again beat Hayes in single coverage for a 21-
yard touchdown, tying the game at 27.
"(Edwards) made some unbelievable
catches, and if he doesn't make those plays,
we're not standing here," Carr said. "He was
an All-American today, and he's been an
All-American all year long."
Michigan State (3-2, 4-4) tried to end
the game with a 51-yard field goal into a
strong wind as time expired, but kicker Dave
Rayner missed short and left.
In overtime, Michigan State won the
coin toss and elected to play defense first.
The Wolverines failed to get a first down
in their drive and took a 30-27 lead on
a 34-yard field goal by Rivas. Michigan
State drove the ball effectively in its pos-
session and faced a third-and-one from
the four-yard line. The Spartans sent
See STATE, page 2E
RYAN WEINER/Daily
Senior Braylon Edwards makes the game-tying touchdown late in the fourth quarter against Michigan State to send the
game into overtime.
Edwards's clutch touchdowns lead 'M' to win in 01
A s Michigan State running back 1
DeAndra Cobb scampered
down the sideline for his secondI
touchdown, you were all thinking the i
same thing - "Hello, central Florida." t
Saturday's game came dangerously closet
to joining a seemingly endless number ofc
other Michigan football disappointments
in recent years.1
Braylon Edwards was thinking the c
same as well.1
Edwards became emotional with fel-
low senior Marlin Jackson before the c
game, realizing that it was the duo's sec-t
ond-to-last game ever at the Big House. 1
But the first 50 minutes of Saturday's i
game were far from what Edwards had
envisioned when deciding to return for
'M' edges
Bruins for
national
title
By Scott Bell
JUNE 1, 2005
Daily Staff Writer
OKLAHOMA CITY - After 1299
days of waiting, three more innings
couldn't hurt.
The No. 1 Michigan softball team put
together its second comeback victory in as
many nights, defeating No. 7 UCLA 4-1 in
10 innings to win the 2005 Women's Col-
lege World Series. The national champion-
ship is the first title that any of the 26 varsity
teams at Michigan (65-7) has won since the
field hockey team won its title in 2001.
"This is obviously a great moment for
his senior season. A potential third-down
catch went right through his hands. He
fumbled the ball after a reception deep
inside Michigan State
territory, a play that could
have cost the Wolverines
dearly.
On top of that,
Edwards hadn't had a big
catch in the Wolverines'
previous two games
against Illinois and Pur- BOB HU
due. While this did not
bother Edwards at first, Unleash
he started to become NOVEMBER:
increasingly frustrated
against the Boilermakers because he was
unable to change the game like he had
earlier on in the season.
Edwards did not forgo the NFL in
order to be another face in the crowd.
During a Michigan career in
which he was considered by
many people a selfish player
who dropped passes, Edwards
has often felt that he is misun-
derstood. That started to change
this season when Edwards
changed his image both on and
NT off the field. He was making
incredible catches, and helping
?d his team through his excellent
2004 blocking and leadership. That
image started to fade - fairly
or unfairly - after his recent perfor-
mances.
But then Edwards turned Saturday's
game into what Lloyd Carr told his team
afterwards was the greatest game ever
played at Michigan Stadium and broke
the all-time Michigan career receiving
yardage record.
Down by 17 with eight minutes to
go after Cobb's run, the Wolverines
were in dire straits. For a team that had
trouble scoring in the red zone all sea-
son, they had just one option - throw
it to Braylon.
"If we don't get something going, it's
not going to happen," Edwards said to
his teammates.
The plan worked.
Michigan quarterback Chad Henne
connected on a 46-yard bomb to
Edwards, setting up a field goal. Then
backup fullback Brian Thompson
recovered an onside kick, allowing
Henne - who had been uncharacteris-
tically inaccurate with his passes going
into the fourth quarter - to throw it
up again. The throw was short and was
headed for the hands of Michigan State
cornerback Jaren Hayes. But Edwards
jumped up from behind Hayes, used
his six-inch height advantage and
snatched the ball away.
One minute, Michigan State was well
on its way toward its first win in Ann
Arbor since 1990. The next, it was hold-
ing on for dear life.
"If (Edwards) doesn't make those
See HUNT, page 2E
U:
he
I,
SICE HOCKEY
Icers blow a 3-0
lead at regionals
By Gabe Edelson
MARCH 28, 2005
Daily Sports Writer
GRAND RAPIDS - The players on the Michigan hockey team didn't
travel to the NCAA Midwest Regionals for this.
They didn't take the ice at Van Andel Arena to see their three-goal lead
evaporate into the tension-filled air, their national title hopes obliterated by four
unanswered goals from the Tigers of Colorado College. They didn't pour out
blood, sweat and tears all season long only to be denied a trip to the Frozen Four
for the second straight season. And they certainly didn't plan on Saturday's
game being the swan song for Michigan's 10 seniors.
But that's exactly what happened in the Wolverines' heartbreaking 4-3
loss to Colorado College on Saturday night, just a day after ousting Wis-
consin in an impressive 4-1 win. The defeat knocked Michigan out of the
NCAA Tournament and ended its season earlier than senior captain Eric
Nystrom would have liked.
"It's ridiculous," Nystrom said. "I'm so upset. I'm so pissed that we lost this
game tonight that I can't even talk about it without wanting to throw this micro-
phone across the room."
Despite first-period power play goals by juniors Jeff Tambellini and Bran-
don Kaleniecki and Nystrom's own score 1:32 into the second frame, the Wol-
The Wolverines beat UCLA 4-1 in the final game of the National Championship series.
the plate to give Michigan a 4-1 lead.
"I tried to keep my head down on the ball
because I had been pulling it out earlier,"
early. Seldon then got junior Grace Leutele
to strike out looking with a pitch that caught
the outside corner of the plate.