Tuesday February 14, 2006 sports.michigandaily.com sports@michigandaily. com ORTeSuidiIga ild 9 z t g .Bios, profiles ad .to OlMpiC Magic~ E~ o If you haven't yet been exposed to the Winter Olympics in Torino either on TV, the Internet, word of mouth or the 20th Winter Olympiad's "official brain implant chip" (I heard that technology's on its way for the Beijing Summer Games in 2008) you're probably living in a wooden cabin in the wil- derness without electric- ity, water, sight, hearing or a functional nervous system. This year's version of the games, nestled in the GABE E barrage of information - some use- less, some relevant, some downright ridiculous - so comprehensive, not even the most intrepid investigator could digest it all. For example, did you know that Lindsey Kildow - the U.S. gold medal favorite in the women's downhill whose practice crash was covered exten- sively on the websites yesterday - could speak German? If reading that fact isn't enough for you, the "Worldwide Leader" DELSON and the official Olympic Er RODRIGO GAYA/Daily Struggling with injuries, Michigan counted on Coleman, Grooms and Shepherd to spark the Wolverines offense in the 84-70 loss to Purdue last Saturday. Shepherd, Grooms fill in for Cagers mountainous terrain of honest northwest Italy, has inun- dated homes around the globe to an unprecedented degree. 1 I certainly never thought I'd hear] so much about flying tomatoes and 1 speeding white sausages while watching the world's premier sport- ing event. But sure enough, I found myself getting hungry after witness- ing the performances of American i snowboarder Shaun White and Ger- man luge legend Georg Hackl, whose 1 respective nicknames hold to a simi-j lar culinary theme.1 I've reached the point where I know more about Michelle Kwan, I Bode Miller and Apolo Anton Ohno t than I do about Michael Jordan, Joe Montana and George Herman Ruth 1 (As a matter of fact, I'm also aware1 that Hackl's second alias is "The c Babe Ruth of Luge"). Chad Hedrick is becoming a bigger name on cam- < pus than Chad Henne, and pictures of Tanith Belbin have become more 1 sought-after than images of Angelina Jolie or Anna Kournikova. Alas, I Belbin's ice dancing partner, Ben t Agosto, has yet to receive the atten- tion that Jolie's significant other has. ESPN.com and NBCOlympics. j com have teamed up to providet followers of these Games with a Gca be network even have a video clip of Kildow speaking about breaking her pole in her first race of the season aufDeutsch. Not to mention a childhood photo gal- lery, a clip of her first-ever Olympic run (2002 at Salt Lake City), a detailed bio and life story, a question-and-answer segment, career competition results and five additional photo galleries, includ- ing shots of Kildow and a cow she won for a first-place finish in France last year. Look hard enough, and you might even discover that a "14-year-old Kildow bought a replica U.S. Ski Team uniform and passed herself off as a team member who had lost her creden- tial. She was able to get into various athlete-only areas and got several auto- graphs, including that of Bode Miller." Bode who? I don't think I've ever heard of him. But Americans aren't the only ones with detailed dossiers on the web. A full 519 athletes have pro- file pages on NBCOlympics.com. While the total falls far short of the nearly 2,500 total participants in the games, it's pretty unlikely that even a majority of those Olympians with their own place in cyberspace will generate much traffic. Unless, that is, you have a burning curiosity See EDELSON, page 10 By Jack Herman Daily Sports Editor When you shoot 35 percent, give up 84 points to one of the worst offenses in the Big Ten and lose to a team that had just two conference wins, it's tough to find many positives in a road trip. But if there was one bright spot in Saturday's 84-70 loss to Purdue Saturday, it was the play of some of Michigan's less-heralded players. With wing Lester Abram and guards Dion Harris and Jerret Smith all remaining in Ann Arbor, Michigan coach Tommy Amaker called upon senior Hayes Grooms and freshman Jevohn Shepherd to fill in. The duo didn't disappoint. "Different guys really came in and competed hard for us," Amaker said. "I thought with Hayes Grooms and Jevohn Shepherd, I can find some good things with players that normally wouldn't have had the opportunity, and I'm pleased with that." Shepherd put forth a solid showing in his first career start. Amaker often looks to the young Canadian when he needs a defensive special- ist. Shepherd's offense, however, usually leaves much to be desired. But Saturday, this was not the case, and Shep- herd went for nine points. He showed toughness and tenacity on the glass, grabbing six boards. On one play, Shepherd pulled down three offensive rebounds - the third on his own shot - before finally finding the bottom of the net. There was one action in particular that spoke volumes about Shepherd's effort. Many times this season, Michigan fans have had to hold their breath when Shepherd receives pass in the corner, because it usually means an airball is on the way. But his perseverance finally paid off. Down 73-50 in the second half, Shepherd - often seen working on the shot during practice - drained a baseline 3-pointer. Grooms also received a large increase in playing time as a result of the trio of wounded Wolverines. The senior logged 28 minutes of action, a significant amount considering he has been on the court just 70 minutes all season, including Saturday's game. Grooms didn't hit a field goal, but like every other Wolverine that played, he managed to find his way to the free throw line. His 4-for-5 shoot- ing from the charity stripe contributed the four points he needed to set a career high. The walk-on also dished three assists and had two steals. In addition, senior captain Sherrod Harrell played a season-high eight minutes. Harrell, Shepherd and Grooms all had a tan- gible role in the game's ending. They helped the Wolverines close the game on a 17-9 run, making the final tally appear much more respectable. "I certainly thought later in the second half, we showed some fight there with some probably unusual and unnatural lineups that we haven't seen a lot this year," Amaker said, NoTEs: The new top-25 rankings were released yesterday, and, for the first time in two weeks, Michigan was not ranked. The Wolverines earned 18 votes in the Associated Press poll and 14 votes in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' poll. Before joining the polls the week after it claimed victories over Michigan State and Wisconsin, Michigan had not been ranked in eight years..... Ohio State's Jamar Butler was named Big Ten Player of the Week yesterday. Against Michigan last Thursday, Butler dropped a then-career-high 20 points. M ICE HOCKEY Wolverines future success hinges on first-period offensive production WRESTLING New Blue Crew. bolsters support' By David VandeVusse Daily Sports Writer They badger referees, taunt opponents and applaud their team. They cause home fans to smile and visiting parents to look on in disgust. They're Mich- igan's newest student section - wrestling's Blue Crew. The perennial success of the Michigan wrestling team has always attracted fans of the sport to home meets. But the general student population doesn't seem to have caught on. "It seems like we have had full houses at some of our matches, but it wasn't loud enough," Michigan coach Joe McFarland said. McFarland attributes the subdued crowds to a lack of student involvement. Other top-name programs, such as Iowa, Iowa State and Oklahoma State have organized energetic student sections, but the third-ranked Wolverines lacked one until just a few weeks ago. McFarland's staff decided the atmosphere needed to improve. "The coaches were talking to us about getting more crowd noise," red- shirt freshman Kenny Halloran said. "They left it to us to come up with something." What the team produced made an immediate impact. A group of 20 to 30 fans, made up mostly of Michigan wrestling reserves, showed up at Cliff Keen Arena clad in blue for the team's Jan. 28 match against Northwest- ern. Behind their self-made banner that read "Blue Crew," section members were comical, relentless and encouraging all in one. They pounded cowbells and hounded Wildcat wrestlers. A few even boasted their dancing skills in between matches. The crew's energy stifled Northwestern and helped propel the Wolverines to a 22-15 victory. See BLUE CREW, page 10 By Mark Giannotto Daily Sports Writer Michigan is doing exactly what it hoped to avoid at this time of year. With just four games remaining before the CCHA playoffs begin, the Wolver- ines are treading water. With last weekend's split against Lake Superior State, Michigan com- pleted a stretch of 11 games in 26 days in which it went 5-4-2. At no point during that span did the Wolverines reel off more than two straight wins. They have not had a weekend sweep since defeating Nebraska-Omaha on Dec. 9-10. But for all of its inconsistency, Michigan still sits at second place in the CCHA. And if the Wolverines win out, a first-round bye in the CCHA playoffs awaits them. But they have yet to separate themselves from the middle of the conference pack. Michigan is just one point ahead of third-place Michigan State. The Wolverines have a three-point lead over fourth-place Lake Superior State and Nebraska-Omaha. But treading water seems to have a direct correlation to how Michigan begins its games. Nearly every time the Wolverines jump out to an early lead, they win. And in games in which they allow the opposition to score first, they are far more likely to lose. To be exact, Michigan is 12-2-1 this season when it scores the first goal of the game. When the opposing team gets the initial tally, the Wolverines are a mediocre 6-9-2. The series with Lake Superior presented a perfect example of what a good start meant to the Wolverines. On Friday night, Lakers forward Steve McJannet notched the game's first goal seven minutes into the first stanza and propelled Lake Superior to a 3-2 overtime victory at Yost Ice Arena. But on Saturday night, the Wolverines scored four first-period goals to put the game out of reach early and cruised to a 4-2 win. The senior duo of captain Andrew Ebbett and Brandon Kaleniecki highlighted the scoring outburst with a combined three goals. "They had a great first shift, and they were all over (Lake Superior)," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "That just translated into the rest of their games." Throughout the season, scoring early has had a domino effect on other players on the team. After Ebbett and Kaleniecki tallied their goals, the fourth line of freshmen Danny Fardig, Tyler Swystun and Brandon Naurato teamed up for a rare goal to cap off the first period for the Wolverines. Quick starts were much more prevalent for Wolverines in the beginning of the season. When Michigan started off the year 9-1-1, all but one of its wins began with scoring the first goal. The team has yet to grasp what made it a fast-starting squad in October and November. The recent off-and-on struggles in the first period are some- thing the players are concentrating on with just four games remaining in the regular season. "I'm not really sure if it's preparation, or other teams are just ready for us," Ebbett said. "I think we really need to worry about ourselves and focus on that consistency right now. Everyone has to put as much as they can into that first period because, obviously, that's playing a huge factor in the games right now." In all sports, teams looks for a fast start because it sets the tone for the remainder of the game. But in any given hockey game, only one team can start fast. Michigan hopes that last Saturday's quick beginning is a sign of things to come. "When we get off to a good start, we are a totally different team," Ebbett said. "That's huge for the rest of the season for our team." NOTES: Senior captain Andrew Ebbett's moved into a tie for 17th on the Michigan forwards career assist list with 98. He is tied with David Oliver, who played at Michigan from 1991 to 1994 ... With an assist in last Saturday's game, junior defensemen Jason Dest set a career best by registering points in three consecutive games. I Hey, Sophomores and Juniors... ...Is your , simply not cU .. ', ...... .:' ',s ae', { i 'sx 'ix¢x y;,a.ar< x '. t. .?a,> o'zo >: kz kcai",::.'.. z a, :..:. x";: . ... .. i