The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - February 6, 2006 - 3B
Super Bowl media blitz
brin
gs
old friends together
Goalie Sally Stone laid the foundation for Michigan's defensive effort, helping her team to a perfect 5-0 record for the weekend.
Perfection pervades as
water poo wins first five
By Eileen Hengel
Daily Sports Writer
Trailing by two points in the third
period, the Indiana offense was poised
to cut into the Michigan lead but the
Wolverine' goalie Sally Stone raised
her hands above her head and blocked
the Hoosiers' counter offensive.
Amid the ensuing roar of the crowd,
freshmen center Julie Hyrne bounced
a shot past the Indiana goalie into the
far left corner of the net. The Wolver-
ines took a commanding three-point
lead and never looked back, winning
the game 11-7. No. 9 Michigan ended
the Michigan Kick-Off a perfect'5-0.
Less than two minutes into the
first period, senior Megan Hausmann
ignited the Michigan offense with a
quick goal off of an assist from senior
Carly Strub. But by the end of the first
period, the Wolverines were down 2-
1 after two quick goals by Indiana.
Both Janis Pardy and Courtney Livak
found the back of Michigan's net with
lob tosses over the head of Stone.
After the break, junior Shana Welch
again came out on the offensive, scor-
ing on a pass to the top right corner
of the net. The Hoosiers answered
Michigan's attack and took a 5-4 lead
going into the third period.
The turning point of the game came
in the third period. The stanza show-
cased Stone's block and Hyrne's goal,
as well as a bullet by Strub from well
outside the post. Heading into the
final period, the Wolverines held an
8-5 lead.
The perfect record included an
upset win over No. 7 Long Beach
State. Similar to the game against No.
11 Indiana, Stone's stop off a 49ers
breakaway made the difference.
After the early-morning upset, the
Wolverines downed Colorado State
12-5. The Maize and Blue capped off
the weekend Sunday morning with
wins against No. 14 California San-
Diego 8-6 and Slippery Rock 9-5.
"(The saves against Long Beach
State and Indiana) were the reasons
why we won those games," coach Matt
Anderson said. "If they had scored, it
would have been a one-goal game,
and then it'd be a dogfight. Instead, we
made it a three-goal game, and they
got deflated."
Welch notched two goals against
the Hoosiers - giving her 10 goals for
the two-day invitational. Carrie Frost,
in her first tournament as a Wolverine,
tallied two goals in the game against
Long Beach State and a six-goal total
for the weekend.
"I think we proved we can win,"
Welch said. "That was a big win
against Long Beach, but as a team we
weren't that surprised."
The Kick-Off marked the first game
action of the season for the freshmen
laden Michigan team. In last year's
Kick-Off, the Wolverines lost to both
the Hoosiers and the 49ers. According
to Anderson, game experience is the
only opportunity for the first years to
really learn.
"(The freshmen) are looking at
the things right in front of them, and
they're not thinking a step ahead,"
Anderson said. "As soon as we learn
to see two plays ahead, we're going to
be a much better team."
If you've read any columns about Super Bowl media day
or any of the events leading up to the big game, then you
probably already know how ridiculous it can be. This
week, I was able to experience the glory, the horror - what-
ever you want to call it.
The whole thing is quite a spectacle. I was berated by Rob
Schneider ( Deuce Bigalow) for sitting on a couch a little too
close to his feet, and I saw Keith Richards tell 300-plus peo-
ple that he would eat cockroaches. I witnessed Tom Arnold
tell Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger that marriage
comes once every four years. I was present when
Mo Rocca told the quarterback his name "sounds
Jewish:'
Gov. Jennifer Granholm served food in the
media lounge, and, when Kwame Kilpatrick
was asked about business going over to Windsor
where the laws are a little less strict, he respond-
ed, "Well, I guess a bad answer is that we'll let
you get away with a little more here."
But the Super Bowl isn't just about the spec-
tacle. Most of the questions.at media day, believe
it or not, were actually football related and not
just Gilbert Gottfried acting stupid. I met three
people - or rather three sets of people - who HE
had great stories about meeting up with oldSn
friends and enjoying the week with their pals. Io
guess that's the best part about the experience.
Adam and Rich
According to Adam, maybe the title should be Rich
and Adam. You might have heard of Rich Eisen, former
Sportscenter anchor and current host on the NFL Network.
But Adam Schefter probably isn't a name you know. He's
only written three books, covered the Denver Broncos for
15 years (he said he averaged 540 stories a year) and is now
a reporter for the NFL Network - so he hasn't really done
much that you might have seen.
Both Eisen and Schefter went to Michigan in the late '80s,
and they both worked here, at The Michigan Daily. Schefter
said he wasn't planning on working at the paper, but when
he didn't get into a frat, he went looking for something to
do. Eisen said he always knew he wanted to be a television
anchor, and he said what he's doing now is his "dream job."
They were both sports editors - Schefter's column name was
"The Schef Specialty" and Eisen's - then Richard - was
"Get Rich Quick."
"To think that we worked together in the '80s, and we
work together now is a little bit mind-blowing," Schefter said.
A phone call from Eisen got Schefter on board at the NFL
Network, and the Super Bowl in Detroit got both of them
back to the area. Last Saturday, in fact, the two came back
to Ann Arbor. They went to Red Hawk for dinner, and then
made it over to Rick's afterwards.
"Rich was never cool enough to get into Rick's when he
was at Michigan," Schefter said.
They didn't work together too often at the Daily, but
Eisen now calls his buddy "an invaluable part to NFL Total
Access."
They couldn't have taken more different routes from Ann
Arbor to the NFL Network, but seeing them together at the
Renaissance Center in Detroit and hearing stories about com-
ing back to Ann Arbor for dinner and drinks made it clear
that the Super Bowl could be about more than Tom Arnold
and Gilbert Gottfried.
"I'm just thrilled that the two of us are back together,"
Eisen said.
RI
;RiL
Speaking of making it back to Ann Arbor ...
The most popular players at Seahawks media sessions
were always Shaun Alexander and Matt Hasselbeck. But
Steve Hutchinson was a trendy choice as well. The Detroit
media swarmed the Pro Bowl lineman, asking not so much
about Hutchinson, his NFC Champion Seahawks or the
league MVP that he blocked for all season, but more about
his best friend: Lion lineman Jeff Backus.
Backus and Hutchinson still talk regularly, but this week
they got together and went to Mr. Spot's.
"Normally, six or seven years ago, we would
have had a contest," Hutchinson said. "But we're
getting a little older now, and we're not able to
eat as much."
Michigan fans remember Backus and
Hutchinson as two of the Wolverine's great
linemen. They were drafted back-to-back in the
first round of the 2001 draft, and, like Rich and
Adam, they've had two different careers since
leaving Michigan. Backus has had a decent
career but has played on one of the worst teams
in the NFL during the last five years. Hutchin-
N son, of course, is now in the Super Bowl.
BERT He said that they don't talk much about how
londa. things could have been different, but he said
Backus is excited to turn things around.
It's possible that Hutchinson and Backus will
eventually make it back together, like Eisen and Schefter, and
play on the same team. But not right now. For now, they have
the phone calls. And whenever there's another Super Bowl in
Detroit, they'll make it back to Mr. Spot's.
40 and counting
I talked to a handful of other Michigan graduates through-
out the week - Dhani Jones, Jerame Tuman, Jeremy
LeSueur and Larry Foote. But probably the coolest group of
people I met at media week was one that I would never have
even expected to run into. I didn't get their names, but on
Thursday I sat on the couch - the same one as the Rob Sch-
neider altercation - next to two couples who have been to all
40 Super Bowls.
One of the couples had been married for more than 60
years and the other two have been together for 40-plus. They
live in Colorado and Texas, but the four of them get together
every year to go to the Super Bowl. The guys sat there next
to me and reminisced about Super Bowl II and the '85 Bears.
They told me that my idol - Redskins quarterback Doug
Williams - had a great day, but probably shouldn't have won
the Super Bowl MVP.
Their wives showed me pictures of guys at the first Super
Bowl and told me about their kids. They talked a little bit
about the Super Bowls, but mostly they just wanted to know
about my girlfriend.
"Do you have a cute girlfriend?" one asked.
I wasn't expecting to get a credential when I first
applied back in the fall, but I certainly wasn't going to
turn it down. It ended up being the last thing I'm going to
do for the paper. I can only hope that, in the future, I'll
meet up with some of my best friends at Super Bowl LX
- wherever it may be.
- This is Ian Herbert's last column for The Michigan
Daily. He hopes you enjoyed the ride and hopes you
have fun with Sharad Mattu and Matt Venegoni, who
will be writing the Sports Monday Column the rest of
the year. Ian can be reached at iherbert@umich.edu.
WR ESTsfNG -
Final match seal s win for Blue
By David VandeVuss
Daily Sports Writer
You win some, you lose some.
Fortunately, the No. 4 Michigan wres-
tling team has been doing more of the for-
mer this season.
This weekend, the Wolverines won two
dual matches to remain unbeaten in con-
ference play. In impressive fashion they
downed Big Ten foes Purdue and Illinois
on the road.
Yesterday, Michigan (5-0 Big Ten, 13-
2) defeated the unranked Boilermakers
(0-6,8-9) in a commanding 27-11 win.
In the 125-pound weight class, fresh-
man Michael Watts jump-started the Wol-
verines with a 12-7 victory over Brandon
'TIcker. After dropping the 133-pound
bout, Michigan reeled off five straight
individual wins to put Purdue out of reach.
Fifth-year senior Greg Wagner capped off
the day with a pin at the 4:41 mark in the
heavyweight class.
"We did agood job," Michigan assistant
GOPHERS
Continued from page 1B
Broback was able to cut through the key
and lay the ball in off passes from center
Liz Podominick.
"In the opening four minutes, we were
pushing the ball very well and getting
good looks," Broback said. "Defensively,
we did what we needed to in the first four
minutes, and that translated right into the
offensive end. That's one of our biggest
goals this year is to start the game quick-
ly and just keep the momentum going."
But the Wolverines' problems didn't
cease with guarding the junior forward.
Michigan had trouble finding its own post
players throughout the afternoon. More
often than not, freshman Jessica Min-
nfield attempted to pass the ball inside
to Carly Benson or Stephany. Skrba, only
to have it blocked down or intercepted.
Minnesota's man defense aggressively
sealed off every outlet into the post.
Minnfield passed the ball off to sopho-
mores Melinda Queen and Janelle Coo-
per along the perimeter, who were also
unable to find open teammates.
"In this game, (Queen) really single-
handedly took over, With her confidence
and with her offensive reads and her abil-
ity to dribble penetrate and make some
nice decisions," Burnett said.
Cooper opened the second half by
coach Kirk Trost said. "We didn't have a
letdown today after beating Illinois."
On Friday against No.3 Illinois (3-1,8-
1), it was all but over for the Wolverines.
Trailing 17-12 with just one match to
go, Michigan needed a clutch perfor-
mance. Wagner delivered it with a dra-
matic pin to earn his team the needed six
points. With 1:09 remaining in the second
period, Wagner swept the leg of Illinois'
Matt Weight and brought Weight's shoul-
ders to the mat, lifting the Wolverines to
an 18-17 victory.
"I happened to get him in a good posi-
tion, and I jumped on it," Wagner said.
"He fell right to his back, and I covered
him pretty quick."
The result handed the Illini their first
loss of the season and provided Michigan
with the bragging rights after last year's
17-17 stalemate.
"We were close to winning last
year," Trost said. "So it was nice to
win it this year."
Fifth-year senior Ryan Churella came
up big for Michigan as well claiming a 6-5
overtime triumph against Mark Poeta in
the 165-pound weight class. Poeta had a
big takedown to end the final period, forc-
ing the extra session. But he was called for
an illegal hold when his hand was caught
underneath Churella's kneepad, giving
the winning point to the Michigan co-
captain.
Redshirt freshman Steve Luke -
who defeated Illinois' Alex Tirapelle in
December - came up short in his much-
anticipated rematch with the top-ranked
senior. Tirapelle scored two early points
and never relinquished his lead. The 157-
pound Luke managed one escape, but
could not mount a takedown.
Despite the defeat, wins by redshirt
junior Mark Moos and redshirt soph-
omores Josh Churella and Eric Tan-
nenbaum paced the Maize and Blue
early on.
The 10 matches were split five apiece,
but Michigan snatched one more bonus
point to take home the win.
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