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6B - Football Saturday - Saturday, September 23, 2006
PROCRASTINATION STATION QA
Saturday, September 23, 2006 - Football Saturday - 3B
Through thick and thin
WISCONSIN 10
MICHIGAN 28
Before every football game
this season, two of the Daily's
football writers will take the
weekend's matchup to the Play-
Station 2 and then let you know
what happened.
" Play of the game - With
Michigan trailing 7-10 with 35
seconds left in the third quar-
ter, Michigan LB #2 intercepted
a Badger pass and returned it
32 yards for a touchdown, giv-
ing Michigan a lead it wouldn't
relinquish.
" Player of the game - the
entire Michigan defense. The
unit forced four turnovers in
the game's final six minutes
and returned two interceptions
for touchdowns. The Wolverine
D also picked up five sacks for
the game.
PRESS
CON FERENCE
QUOTES:
Michigan coach Scott Bell:
"I'm not going to lie, his first-
half stall tactics got to me. It's
pretty frustrating to have just one
possession in the first half and
have it end with a fumble on the
five-yard line."
Across enemy lines:
Badger QBJohn Stocco
Leon Hall's personal trials molded him into who he is now.
By Kevin Wright Daily Sports Editor
the game. It may not be a bad idea
for him, as long as he uses them
on offense: My defenders had more
yards on their interception returns
than his offense had total yards."
"Why did I take a knee at the end
instead of running up the score?
Come on, I have some class, I'm
not like that bum coach Singer."
"I expect all firescottbell.com sites
to be shut down by early next week.
I'm back."
Wisconsin coach Kevin Wright:
"Call me crazy, but I thought I saw
two monkeys running off the field
after the game. Looks like coach
Bell can finally walk without a
hunch."
"Before we go into what our club did
wrong today, I want to congratulate
coach Bell and the Wolverines. They
flat out took it to us. Enough said."
"After my first drive went five-and-
half minutes, I thought we could
grind out another Big Ten victory."
"If QB #7 actually had a functional
arm, I might not be talking
to you about why I threw four
interceptions in the second half."
In August, Daily Sports Editor Scott Bell sat
down with a member of each of Michigan's home
conference opponents. This week, we'll look at
Wisconsin senior quarterback John Stocco. Stoc-
co is entering his third season as the Badgers'
signal caller, and he holds a 22-6 record as the
starter. He's also led Wisconsin to two straight
bowl-game victories.
ScoTT BELL: Over the offseason, Bret Bielema
replaced Barry Alvarez as your head coach.
What's the transition going to be like, and what
does Bielema bring as a coach that maybe Alvarez
didn't?
JOHN STocco: Us as players can really relate to
him, because he's a little bit closer to us in age.
He's got a lot of energy, and I think guys really
like that and feed off that. ... He's had the oppor-
tunity to learn from a lot of great coaches in the
past, so I think that will help him. I can't remem-
ber what game it was, but at halftime, he was in
the locker room, and he wasn't happy. He kicked
over a trash can. He really just has a lot of energy
to him and really gets us excited and motivates us
as players.
SB: Do you feel more comfortable entering the
year with more experience under your belt?
JS: I think I've been in just about every situ-
ation you can be in as a quarterback. I've been
in here for a couple years, and things have really
slowed down for me. So the more you go, the eas-
ier it is and the more things slow down for you.
... I think I'll be more consistent. I think I made
a lot of good throws last year, but then I'd go and
miss the easy throws - that's something I want
to work on.
Wisconsin's John Stocco doesn't interview plants.
expect, but I'm sure it's going to be a lot of fun.
SB: What do you remember from last season's
game? (A 23-20 victory for Wisconsin in Madison)
JS: It was just an incredible atmosphere, it was
extremely loud and a lot of fun. ... The fans were
absolutely crazy and really into the game.
She didn't want him to do it anymore.
Judith Green couldn't bear to watch her son take
the beating that came with the territory. So, after
one season of Pop Warner, Leon Hall stopped playing.
He was already a star on the baseball diamond. The
Vista,Calif.,native played catcher,pitcher and centerfield.
Hall even switch hit.
"We always knew he would have a future, if not in foot-
ball, something,just from when he was little," said Keicha
Green, Hall's oldest sister. "He's not a quitter."
Still, he wanted a crack at it.
He would have to wait until he got to Vista High School
when Keicha, who became his legal guardian after his
mother died, finally gave him the nod.
"I went ahead and let him do it, because I was like,
'Anything to keep him out of trouble; " Keicha said.'
He didn't play much as a freshman after he injured his
foot while roughhousing with one of his cousins. It wasn't
until Hall's sophomore year that his family realized his
future would include the pigskin.
"He was really small:"said Margaret Greenanother of
Hall's sisters. "Then, all of sudden, he started getting big
and put his head in it. I guess he just got better."
Got better indeed. Heading into his senior season at
Michigan, Hall was placed on the watch list for the Jim
Thorpe Award, given to the best cornerback in the nation.
"I'm very excited (about the preseason awards);' said
Hall, labeled a shutdown corner by teammates LaMarr
Woodley and Mike Hart. "I appreciate all the love I've
been getting from everybody. But at the same time, I real-
ize that I'm looking for the postseason awards and the
great bowl game we want to go to."
Three games into the season, Hall has lived up to the
attention. After Vanderbilt and Central Michigan ignored
his side of the field, the senior cornerback showed his
prowess against Notre Dame.
When Fighting Irish quarterback Brady Quinn tried to
squeeze a pass into Jeff Samardzija in the fourth quarter,
Hall jumpedback across his body to intercept the ball and
end the Notre Dame drive.
It was a highlight of the young season.
HEARTACHE
"He closed up. He didn't show any emotion."
Those are the words Edward Green uses to describe
the 12-year-old Hall's demeanor after his mother, Judith,
died suddenly of heart failure.
Judith,a single mother,raised Hall and his three sisters.
Hall's mother, an electrician, got sick and stopped work-
ing after he was born - raising him and his sisters on a
fixed income. Judith had a tendency to baby the young
Hall, the lone boy in the family.
Hall spent his childhood spending time at the beach.
He played T-Ball with his sister Margaret and visited his
older sister's house frequently.
In August 1997, Hall's world changed.
His mom was gone.
"It made me look at things differently," Hall said. "I
was young, but at the time Iwasprobably just thinking the
world wouldn't end: It really makes you ralize that this
person can be gone the next day. I embraced my family a
lot more; I can't take it for granted. That's really what my
mom was like. She didn't take things for granted. I think
it molded me to be howI am now."
Hall, a shy but always smiling kid, couldn't find a way
to express his feelings after the death of his mother. Even
as his family grew closer, Hall kept the pain inside.
His family especially saw his angst. On holidays, Hall's
birthday and his mother's birthday, Hall would got quiet
and depressed. Keicha makes sure to call him on those
days just to check on him.
Each year, he opened up a little bit, and now, with help
from his fiancee Jessica Cobb, Hall has made significant
progress.
"He had to come to it on his own terms," Edward said.
"It was something he needed to find out for himself, find
his own direction, how he was going to handle the situa-
tion. I think each year he's handling it a lot better."
FINDING THE WAY
After Judith's death, Hall and two of his sisters, Mar-
garet and Katrina Green, moved in with Keicha, who
already had five children of her own.
"She already had a lot of kids,so I'm very thankful that
she was able to take us in," Hall said. "She's been there
since it happened; she's been one of the greatest people
in my life."
The transition was relatively smooth considering the
tragic circumstances surrounding the move.
Hall and his sisters already spent a lot of time at Kei-
cha's house, which was always within walking distance
from Judith's.
During his senior year at Vista High School, Hall's
family faced more adversity.
Keicha had been planning to move to Florida because
her fiance at the time had just gotten out of the military
and lived there. She told her younger brother about it, but
said she would wait until he finished school before she
completed the move.
Hall didn't want to hold back his sister. He told his
sister not to worry, and in January of his senior year, he
moved in with his uncle, Edward Green. Either Edward
or his girlfriend gave Hall rides to or from school, and
with fewer people around the house, Hall had more space
to select a college.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
It was new to him.
Hall had never seen snow until he stepped onto Michi-
gan's campus during his first visit to Ann Arbor.
"It was the first time I was out here, and it was snow-
ing:" Hall said. "It was the first time that I saw snow in
my life. I had a little attitude because I was irritated at the
snow, but I had a good time."
The snow didn't deter Hall from choosing the Wol-
verines over a list of Pacific 10 schools like UCLA and
Southern Cal. Hall needed to leave California according
to his family. His uncle, Edward Green, wanted his neph-
ew to go to a school that played Atlantic Coast Confer-
ence teams because those teams throw the ball on a more
consistent basis.
In the end, Hall - who grew up as a UCLA fan -
thought maize and blue fit him best.
"Throughout the recruiting process, it was Pac-10,
and then Michigan came into the picture," Hall said. "It
was something about the school; I couldn't really picture
myself playing anywhere else. I couldn't see myself in
Southern Cal's colors."
The real eye-opener didn't come until Hall, who has
now played in 40 career games as a Wolverine, suited
up for his first game at the Big House. After seeing the
110,000 fans sitting in the stadium, Hall finally realized
he had made it.
See HALL, page 7B
"I caught coach Wright trying to "This loss hurts. Personally, I blame
talk some of my defensive players Lee Corso for giving away my hot-
into transferring to Wisconsin after route signals."
A preseason All-American, Hall has come out strong for the Wolverines this
season. He has already recovered a fumble and collected an interception.
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