Tuesday
October 10, 2006
sports.michigandaily.com
sports@michigandaily.com
SPe RiSligan tilg
1o1
Cricket not too easy for a Yank Manningham
BRIGHTON, England -
I know, it's been done before.
Whether it's
the literary critic
who thinks he can t
write a book, or the
actor who thinks he t
can sing (in David
Hasselhoff's case,
both), we humans _..,:
want it all. By Eileen
I'm no exception.
I'm the sports writer who wants to
be an athlete.
Now, since I've failed at every
American sport there is, from golf to
softball and, yes, even cheerleading,
while traveling abroad I decided to
try my hand at the sport referred to
by Americans as Britain's baseball:
cricket.
Being the great reporter that Iam,
I did absolutely no research for my
mission. My kinowledge of the sport
was on par with my understanding
of the BCS ranking process.
Before we even started, my coach,
Emily Cridland, confessed that she
wasn't sure where to begin. Although
she'd been playing the sport since
childhood, she admitted that even
she occasionally came
across obscure rules
she never knew about.
The rules of the
game, which I learned
during a 30-minute
N A crash course, could
fill close to 200 pages.
Hengel And don't even get me
started on all the ways
to get out, or "dismissed"
"There are three logical ways for
the batsman to get dismissed, and
about 10 illogical ways," Cridland
said.
Cricket and baseball share similar
principles in that there's a bowler
(pitcher) and a batsman (batter). But
that's where the similarities end.
There are no bases. Instead, the
batsman stands in front of a wicket
- quite simply, three sticks in the
ground with bails (small balls or
sticks) resting atop the stumps so
that when the stumps are hit, the
bails fall. Essentially, if the batsman
rounds the opposite wicket - trad-
ing places with his partner - and
slides the bat (yes, the batsman holds
on to the bat once the ball is hit)
along the crease before the ball is
returned to the catcher or the bails
are knocked over, the offense earns
a run.
And that's just the beginning.
Now for the best part. Me making
a fool of myself.
I held the bat incorrectly and thus,
swung incorrectly.
I dropped the bat every time I hit
the ball - a big no-no.
I forgot to round the wicket when
I did hit the ball.
The errors were endless.
By the end of the lesson, I had
come to one sound conclusion about
the sport: Cricket is painful.
I was covered in bruises because
cricket players don't wear gloves
- players field the 5 oz. wooden ball
(much likea croquet ball) without a
glove.
After two hours I was even more
perplexed than I had been before I
began. The sport was, quite literally,
foreign to me.
But I was still flabbergasted by the
statistics. With about 3.3 billion fans,
cricket is second only to soccer in
worldwide popularity. Half the world
watches or plays cricket. Imagine the
prices for Super Bowl ads if there
were 3.3 billion viewers watching?
As I walked out of the training
session, I stopped for minute to
watch the Sussex University Ameri-
can Football Club practice. The team
got set on the line of scrimmage,
the center snapped the ball as the
offense and defense set into motion.
The quarterback dropped back and
threw a quick pass across the middle.
Catching the ball, the receiver ran 20
yards for an easy six points.
Now that was a sport I under-
stood.
Quietly, Emily snuck up behind
me and said, "Now, please, explain
this sport to me."
I wasn't quite sure where to begin.
- Eileen Hengel is studying
abroad in England. She will
offer updates about her sporting
adventures throughout the semester.
Spikers' perfect weekendrights
sh* ts team back on track
By Dan Feldman
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan volleyball team
can stand a little straighter now'
that it has the monkey off its,
back.
The Wolverines (15-4 overall,'
2-4 Big Ten) returned to their
winning ways this weekend with
wins over Northwestern and Illi-
nois after starting the Big Ten;
season 0-4.
"Certainly it's hard when you
start the Big Ten and you start
down," Michigan coach Mark
Rosen said. "Emotionally, it's hard.
It puts a lot of pressure on you. \ -
Every time things start to go bad,
everybody gets a little nervous:'
Rosen admitted his team
played that way Friday against .
Northwestern, but the Wolver-
ines came through with a 30-28,
30-25, 30-28 sweep.
The Wolverines held a 29-s
20 lead in game two before the
Wildcats rallied to pull the game
within four. Then Rosen subbed
freshman Veronica Rood for mid-
dle blocker Megan Bowman and
slid junior Lyndsay Miller from
the outside to the middle to allow
Rood to play on the outside.
"Rood is a very offensive play-
er," Rosen said. "She can get upj
and bang it high.... (Bowman) is£
more of a defensive, blocking mid-
dle. Then we can throw Rood in 7
and now we've got two really good
offensive players. It injects offense
into our lineup if we feel we have
to get a little more offense."
The move paid off. Northwest-#
ern couldn't locate the 6-foot-2N
Miller, and, on the next play, she
got a kill to clinch the game.
gtakltocicthgae Fifth-year senior Erin Penn had JEnRMYCHO/Daiy
two kills, separated by a North- Beth Karpiak tied for second on the team in kills in both matches this weekend, with 14 and 13, respectively.
western timeout, to break a 28-28 finishing with 14. She followed responded well. It's going to said. "In game three, they played
deadlock in the third game and put that up with 13 kills against the free up our hitters a lot more, awesome.It wasn't just like we got
the Wolverines into the win col- Illini. She totaled just 10 last and it's going to not allow other bad, they also get hot. (If) a team
umn in the Big Ten standings. weekend when Michigan was teams to fully commit on our gets hot, you've gotta ride that out
Michigan diversified its attack swept by Minnesota and Wis- outside. I was very pleased." a little bit."
over the weekend. Beth Karpiak consin. Michigan won the first two Rosen also said the Illini
celebrated her 20th-birthday "We need that," Rosen said. games against Illinois on Sunday exploited a Michigan defen-
weekend by tying for second on "It's something we've been in strong form (30-24, 30-26), but sive weakness, but refused to
the team in kills in both match- working on this weeklast week- fell in game three (24-30). identify it. But the Wolverines
es. She repeatedly spiked balls end, the last two or three weeks, "There is another team on the adjusted in game four for a 30-
to the court against a relatively getting her more involved in other side of the court and some- 23 win, sealing a much-needed
unathletic Northwestern team, the offense. I thought she really times their level raises," Rosen two-win weekend.
end oft)
S top, take a deep breath
and look around.
Everything's the same.
Classes are still
being held, Michi-
gan is still ranked
No. 4 in the nation
and that weird kid
is still twiddling
his thumbs in the
back of your lec-
ture.
Life is still going
on as usual. SC
Twenty-four hours BE
ago, that looked like a
50-50 shot. Too S
Monday morning,
like a lot of other people I'm sure
(by people I mean other sports
nerds who bring their laptop to
lecture so they can check Michi-
gan football message boards
during class), I came across the
dreaded news:
Report: Manningham hurt.
I cringed at the thought of
those three words, but hey, it
was just a message board - not
exactly the most reliable of
sources.
But as time passed and
more and more sources began
reporting this, I knew this prob-
ably wasn't just "some Internet
rumor."
After leaving the lecture early
(sorry Mom and Dad) to make it
to Lloyd Carr's press conference,
I was prepared for the worst.
What I got when I arrived was
typical coach speak - annoy-
ing, but understandable consid-
ering the circumstances
No comment, I don't have
anything to tell you, etc....
I don't have a problem with
that. If I was a coach and my
star player was hurt, I wouldn't
want to tell others about it. And
who is to say he's hurt for sure?
Maybe Carr was being honest
and really doesn't have anything
to tell us.
Carr's comments and the
injury reports quickly traveled
from inside the Crisler Arena
press room to the rest of campus.
What began as an Internet mes-
sage-board rumor had turned
into a near campus-wide panic.
By the time it made the ESPN.
com front page, I knew we were
in for a near riot.
But, in an I'm-really-stretch-
ing-this-to-find-some-silver-lin-
ing kind of way, yesterday was
actually a refreshing contrast
from last season.
No, I'm not happy that Man-
ningham is supposedly hurt. But
it was pretty cool to see Wolver-
ine nation this concerned about a
player and the team itself.
After a 7-5 season last year
in which about half students on
campus suffered their own knee
not the
?te world
injuries jumping off the Wolver-
ine bandwagon, it's refreshing
to see football mean something
again.
Why does it mean
something again?
For the exact same
reason why no one
should panic: This
year's team is spe-
cial.
Even if Manning-
ham is hurt (yes,
ITT once again, that's
:LL an if), there will still
be some pretty decent
>oon? players taking the field
against Penn State Sat-
urday night.
I don't know if you've heard
of any of them: Mike Hart, Chad
Henne, Steve Breaston, any
member of the Big Ten's leading
defense ... any of those ring a
bell?
This year's team has beaten
every opponent by at least two
touchdowns, and Wolverine fans
haven't had to sit at the edge of
their seat yet. So if one piece of
the puzzle is gone for Saturday
(or more), the world is not going
to end.
Breaston was the No. I
receiver heading into the season
anyway. He's also playing in his
home state for the first and only
time of his career on Saturday
and has shown the last two
games that he really can have
sure hands. Think he'll be ready
to play?
Adrian Arrington has
emerged as a playmaker in the
last two games. Three touch-
downs, including an acrobatic
catch last Saturday, showed that
he's ready for a role increase.
And Carr has spoke very
highly of true freshman wide
receiver Greg Mathews all
season long. He decided not to
redshirt Mathews right away,
because he knew Mathews was a
special player.
Hey, that sounds like someone
I remember from last season.
Here's the bottom line: If
Manningham is hurt, it will
suck. He's emerged as a rising
star in college football, and has
the opportunity to break a lot
of receiving records at the pace
he was at following Saturday's
game.
But as we can see, the world
is still turning, oxygen is still
available, and Michigan is still a
dominating force.
But don't feel stupid if you
slip in a prayer or two that Man-
ningham is OK, I'll be right
there with you. You know, just to
feel safe ...
- Bell can be reached
at scotteb@umich.edu.
' 'NOTES
Time set for Iowa football game
The Michigan football game against Iowa will be played at the Big
House on Saturday, Oct. 21 at 3 p.m. The game will be televised live
on ABC. The men's hockey home series against Miami (Ohio) will be
played at Yost Ice Arena at 7:35 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 19, and on Fri-
day, Nov. 20, at 8:05 p.m.
Walk-On Try-Outs
For the Michigan
MEN'S
BASKETBALL
TEAM
Monday,October16, 2006
at Criser Arena
You must be a full-time student registered for a minimum of 12
credits. You must register with the basketball office in Weidenbach
Hall. You must also submit a physical to the same office. For further
information, please contact the basketball office at 734-763-5504.
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