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. MAYO CLINIC Nursing Graduates Paid interview expenses Generous relocation package Benefits start first day Tuition assistance Competitive salaries Continuing Education Mayo Clinic Nursing in Rochester, Minnesota invites new graduates to embark on an adventure and discover unparalleled opportunities for career mobility and growth. Our hospitals are world-renowned acute care teaching facilities where quality nursing is our tradition and mission. For the new graduate we offer clinical and classroom- based orientation to foster professional and personal growth and development. A primary preceptor is assigned to PrcirP a IcrcSfiitransitio~n fromcstudent to t?+<< I