October 18, 2006 - SportsWednesday - The Michigan Daily - 3B
|| Do ya have it? Nick GAS
ike I assume it does for many others of my
generation, the mention of things like the
Blue Barracudas, Merlock or Mark Sum-
mers conjures up memories of my youth.
Whether it was watching contestants collect pen-
dants, fight evil warlords in a virtual-reality world
or just take a pie in the face, I derived many hours
of entertainment thanks to the genius that was the
Nickelodeon game show division.
And armed with some free time and digital cable,
I relived many of these great moments this week-
end.
I cheered for the Silver Snakes as they
grabbed the Golden Earing of Henry
Morgan just as time expired. I rooted
for Brian "Crazy Legs" Smalling as
he recorded the perfect game in Guts,
recovering after an early slip on the
Aggro Crag to win his fifth out of five
events. I clapped as Carl pulled off an
amazing save to defeat Ace in a game of
four square.J
For those unfortunately unaware,
Nickelodeon Games and Sports offers HER
the opportunity to watch many of the Sportsf
classic sports-related game shows from Col
the Nick archives ("Guts," "Legends of
the Hidden Temple," etc.). Mix in some
shorts encouraging kids to play sports and the
hilarious "Heroes of the Game" collection (stories
of playground lore backed by NFL Films-themed
production), and you have an enjoyable experience
that appeals to a broad range of fans: kids, nostalgic
college students and Mike O'Malley's family.
The shows - like many artifacts of our youth -
provide their fair share of unintentional comedy.
I chuckled immediately after turning on "Leg-
ends of the Hidden Temple" to see legendary host
Kirk Fogg descend from the ceiling on a rope. Fogg
kept the UIC on high, awkwardly putting his arm
around the contestants. And nothing topped his
declaration that "It's not about how many sacks,
it's about how heavy the sacks are" during a game
based on the weight of objects recovered.
"Guts" might be just as funny. O'Malley exudes
such effort as the commentator, he's huffing and
puffing more than the contestants at the end of each
event. "Referee" Moira Quirk actually burst out
laughing as she announced the athletes' times in
one event, which were rather poor since each had
fallen off a set of rings used to cross a portion of the
course. And O'Malley interviewed contestants after
the events, leading to thoughtful quotes such as, "I
don't know I went out there and just, you know,
:
R
E
l
played." (At least Crazy Legs has the media train-
ing portion down when he goes pro).
I also wonder where many of these kids are today.
Does Birt "Radar" Reynolds regret pronouncing his
love of Star Trek on cable television? Does Ty from
Arkansas wish he never went on "Figure it Out" to
advertise his pickle juice drinking championship?
But in all seriousness, these shows stand the test
of time. The events in most of them are actually
pretty innovative. The games had some cool con-
cepts like combining brawns and brain ("Double
Dare" and "Legends"), and giving
.everyone a sweet (and sometimes not-
so-sweet) nickname ("Guts"). I even
came across a column from the Cor-
nell student newspaper in the course
of my research that argued, rightly
so, that pitting 12-year-old boys and
girls against each other did quite a bit
to break down the gender divide that
appears in nearly every other sport.
Most importantly, though, it's fun
~CKto watch the contestants actually have
tMAN fun.
iednesday They had little to win. Other than
umn a $50 savings bond and a CD-ROM
version of Compton's Encyclopedia,
many of the shows had no real reward
for their winners (except for a piece of the Aggro
Crag).
They also had little to lose. There's no overbear-
ing parents ready to lace into them for failing to
throw enough Nerf balls through a suspended tire.
No columnist ready to embarrass them in the next
day's paper because they couldn't put together the
monkey in the silver shrine quick enough. No multi-
million dollar endorsement to lose because they
missed an actuator.
These kids weren't training year round, waking
up well before dawn and living their weekends in
hotels in hopes of getting a scholarship one day.
It was kids on "Wild and Crazy Kids" just acting wild
and crazy. Those on "Guts"just proving they had guts.
So maybe when you're telling your grandkids
about sports of old, you won't have turn on ESPN
Classic and explain about Kobe's legal troubles or
Barry's huge head. Instead turn on channel 133 and
give them a look at old Crazy Legs, and one of the
best performances I've ever seen.
- Herman was disappointed to read on
Wikipedia that Nickelodeon Studios has closed
and the slime geyser is gone. You mad, too?
E-mail him atjaherman@umich.edu.
Junior Stesha Selsky (left) and senior Megan Bowman (right) helped Michigan in a more controlled victory over
the shifty Hawkeyes Friday night.
Spiers pla 1 smart
By H. Jose Bosch
Daily Sports Editor
While he looked at the stat
sheet, Michigan volleyball coach
Mark Rosen was pleased to see
one number:
three. Fresh- -
man Veronica
Rood had
three less kills than the previous
game.
Rosen isn't promoting a new
defeatist philosophy, but he's teach-
ing smart play, something Rood
took to heart during Michigan's
three-game sweep (30-27, 30-21,
30-19) of Iowa Friday night.
Last Wednesday night, Rood
couldn't stay away from the 'net.
Overall she tallied 31 attack
attempts, good for second on the
team. And while she notched 13
kills, she was guilty of eight errors,
giving her an abysmal .161 hitting
percentage.
Rosen said that after Wednesday,
he and Rood worked at practice on
cutting down the amount of errors
by taking less chances and just
keeping the ball in play. The strat-
egy may parlay into fewer kills, but
as Rood demonstrated against the
Hawkeyes, the hitting percentage
can jump dramatically. On Friday,
Rood had just two errors and a hit-
ting percentage of .381.
"I really didn't do anything dif-
ferent," Rood said. "I just went out
and played volleyball. I focused on
keeping balls in play today, instead
of just going up and swinging away
at it."
Rood and her teammates need-
ed a more controlled style against
Iowa (1-6 Big Ten, 12-7 overall).
The Hawkeyes were a shifty team
compared to the Wolverines' pre-
vious opponent, the big-banging
Spartans.
Rosen said Iowa uses more off-
speed serves and tips and likes to
pick the floor apart, allowing the
team to exploit holes and seams
in the defense. During the open-
ing game of the match, Michigan
clearly looked out of place trying
to get into its groove, seeming too
tentative off the serves and hitting
just .241.
But that didn't last long. By the
third game of the match Michigan
hit an impressive .488 and commit-
ted just two errors. And even when
things looked bleak for the Wol-
verines, they found a way to win a
point.
Leading 21-10 in the third frame,
freshmanMegan Bowerdug anlIowa
attack and the ball went straight into
the net. The rally looked just about
over, but sophomore Mara Martin
got under the ball just as it came off
the net and set it to junior Lyndsay
Miller, who tipped the ball back
toward the Hawkeye side of the
court. It fell harmlessly between a
number of Iowa players.
"It's hard to defend until you
get into the flow of (things), and if
you get frustrated it stays hard to
defend;' Rosen said. "But our kids
figured (the Hawkeyes) out and they
did a really good job at turning it
against them a little bit."
The third game of the match may
also have been a watershed moment
for a team that has struggled with
finishing games during the Big Ten
season.
In three of their losses this sea-
son, the Wolverines (3-5, 16-5) have
had a chance to put teams away and
have failed to do so each time. Dur-
ing its first loss of the season, Mich-
igan led 11-6 in game four, leading
2-1 in the match, but failed to knock
out Indiana. Against Purdue, the
Wolverines stormed out of the gate,
9-5, in the fifth and final game, but
lost the frame, 15-10. At Minnesota,
Michigan held five-point leads mid-
way through the first and second
games, but botched both of them en
route to a three-game sweep.
But things were different on Fri-
day, and Rosen was visibly pleased
with the performance.
"Once we got into that flow our
kids really went after it," Rosen
said. "We've been talking a lot in
practice that if you have a chance
to jump on somebody pretty good
we want you to jump on them. I
thought in game two ... we had a
pretty good lead and we sat back
for a few plays. (Then) we called a
timeout (and) we talked about that,
and after we came out we got on
them pretty good"
Harriers take seventh
without team leader
Wolverines disappoint
in Pre-National meet
By Anthony Oliveira ti
Daily Sports Writer
Every team has its off days. The
Michigan women's cross country
team had its first on Saturday -
and hopes it'll be its last.
Coming into the NCAA Pre-
Nationals with high expectations,
the third-ranked Wolverines man-
aged only a tie for second place
(with No. 9 Wisconsin) in the White
Division race. With 176 points,
Michigan finished 59 points behind
No. 5 North Carolina State, a team
the Wolverines handily defeated
two weeks earlier.
"We had some people who were
alittle bit off form,"Michigan coach
Mike McGuire said.
Returning from a cold, gradu-
ate student Katie Gwyther couldn't
quite find her stride in her first
six-kilometer race as a Wolverine,
finishing 63rd (21:22.5). Redshirt
sophomore Nicole Edwards's day
also proved difficult, clocking a
21:24.9 for 67th, well off the 20:34
she recorded at the Sundodger Invi-
tational in mid-September.
Even though the team struggled
at Terra Haute, Ind., redshirt junior
Erin Webster (fourth place) contin-
ued to lead the Wolverines, finish-
ing nine seconds behind the leader,
North Carolina State's Julia Lucas.
Webster's personal-best time of
20:10.2 was four seconds faster than
her previous race and a 58-second
improvement from last year's 22nd-
place performance at Pre-Nationals.
She received her second Big Ten
Conference Runner of the Week
Honors yesterday.
Junior Elisabeth Uible also
recorded a personal best, finishing
30 seconds faster than her previous
six-kilometer effort for 53rd place
(21:14.7).
Besides Webster, only junior
Alyson Kohlmeier and senior cap-
tain Arianne Field finished under
the 21-minute mark. Webster, Kohl-
meier (20:43.8) and Field (20:58.7)
were also the only runners to place
in the top 50.
Regardless of the team's result,
Field finds nothing to worry about.
"I think we look pretty good,"
Field said. "A couple of ourtop girls
had an off day, butthen others really
stepped it up.I think it looks good"
The Wolverines couldn't take
control early in the race as they
did in their victory at the Notre
Dame Invitational.
Having watching the slower-
paced Blue Division race minutes
before its own race, Michigan was
deceived, according to McGuire,
by the faster pace of the White
Division race in the first 1,000
meters. The fast pace hurt several
runners, creating a slightly dif-
ferent dynamic for the remainder
of the race.
"I think I would have liked (the
race) a little bit slower," McGuire
said. "But we don't live in a per-
fect world; we don't race in a per-
fect world."
Field wasn't so sure the pace
caused some to fall behind.
"I don't know if it was nec-
essarily fast - we've just been
training really hard the past cou-
ple weeks," Field said. "I think
people are kind of tired, and it
was just an off day."
Michigan's entries in the Open
Race were strong. Freshman Eileen
Creutz's performance earned her
a sixth-place finish at 21:45.5. The
other participants in the Open Race
were three redshirts: sophomore
Lisa Canty (22:10.0), junior Laura
Glynn (22:20.1) and freshman Katie
Williams (22:44.4).
Since 25 of the nation's top 30
teams competed in the weekend
meet, McGuire and the Wolver-
ines got a comprehensive look at
their competition for the upcoming
championship part of the season.
Observing the Blue Division race,
Michigan found out why Stanford
is the top team in the nation: Four
of its seven runners finished in the
top 10.
"(The meet) definitely showed us
how strong Stanford is, and we also
got to see other Big Ten teams per-
form," Field said.
After tying with Wisconsin,
Michigan sees the Badgers as its
main contender for the Big Ten
championship. But with six Big Ten
teams in the top 30, any team is a
threat.
"This is the best the (Big Ten)
has been since the 15 years I've
been coaching," McGuire said. "If
the conference is better, we need to
be better."
The Wolverines will put their
wake-up call behind them and use
this week to refocus for the champi-
onship part of the season. To avoid
another off day, the plan is simple.
"No strategy needs to be
changed; we just need to execute,"
McGuire said.
By Mirgim Jusufi
For the Daily
Like going for a nice jog every
once in awhile?
So does the men's cross coun-
try team - for a nice 100 miles
each week. But it's probably safe
to say the Wolverines are not just
"jogging" those miles.
The Wolverines are running
100 miles every week and run-
ning them fast for races like
this past Saturday's NCAA Pre-
Nationals in Terre Haute, Ind.,
where they finished seventh out
of 36 teams.
No. 18 Michigan placed five
runners in the top 100 of the 246-
man field. Sophomore Lex Wil-
liams led the Wolverines for the
third consecutive race, setting a
new personal best in the 8,000-
meter race with a time of 24:02,
good enough for 23rd. Williams's
performance was no surprise to
him, even on one of the more dif-
ficult courses of the year.
"Competition was really good,"
Williams said. "It's easy to run
fast when you have so many guys
running fast, too."
The added pressure also pumped
up Williams's teammates.
"It was definitely the most com-
STICKERS
Continued from page 1B
Michigan (3-1 Big Ten, 9-7 over-
all) continued to press throughout
the contest, matching the Hoosiers
shot for shot (both teams finished
with seven) and out-cornering
Indiana, 6-5.
"We like to play as if we're los-
ing, so we never let up," senior tri-
captain Eleanor Martin said.
Michigan coach Nancy Cox said
she was extremely pleased with her
team's showing against the Big Ten
powerhouse, especially the Wol-
verines' ability to adjust to tactical
changes in the middle of the match.
"We knew that they were going
to play four across the midfield, so
we had to match up our midfielders
and our center forwards with them,"
Cox said. "We had to effectively
manage their midfield, and I think
our team really did do that."
Cox said the team also dealt well
with the somewhat alien environ-
ment of Mellencamp Pavilion, an
indoor field.
Indiana's field resembles Ooster-
baan Fieldhouse, but it has the same
close-clipped turf as Ocker Field. The
surface at Mellencamp Pavilion plays
even faster than that in Ann Arbor. In
addition, visiting teams must adjust
petitive meet I've been in," soph-
omore John Black said. "Almost
all of the top-ranked teams were
there, so it was definitely motivat-
ing lining up next to them."
Black's excitement helped him
finish second for the Wolverines
and 46th overall. His time of 24:23
was just four seconds shy of the
personal best he set at the Notre
Dame Invitational a week ago.
Michigan's next three finish-
ers all clocked in personal-best
times. Sophomore Brandon Fel-
lows came in at 59th (24:31),
and junior Victor Gras crossed
the line less than a second later
for 61st place. Sophomore Justin
Switzer rounded out the top 100
with a time of 24:51.
Michigan put together a strong
team performance even though
it was without junior captain
Michael Woods, who was out with
a sore foot. The Ontario native
placed 11th at the same race last
year. A similar performance
could have boosted the team to
third overall, ahead of Florida
and conference rival Iowa.
But Michigan runners aren't
worrying about finishing behind
Iowa at Pre-Nationals. Instead,
the Wolverines are gearing up
for the Big Ten Championships
to the difference between indoor and
outdoor lighting and the communica-
tiondifficultiesthatresultfromcheers
echoing off the walls.
The Wolverines' hard-fought win
only enhances the momentum they
have been building for the past sev-
eral weeks. Michigan is 9-3 since
its 0-4 start, and one of those losses
was in overtime to No. 1 Maryland.
"(The victory) was huge, of
course," Cox said. "You go in and
you beat the team that's undefeated
in the Big Ten. The thing that we've
been saying all season long to this
group of young women is, 'Once we
get healthy, and once all 20 of you
are out there, and all 20 of you are
on Oct. 29. Last year Michigan
finished a disappointing fifth in
the Big Ten, just one point behind
Iowa. Expectations are little
higher this year.
"If we run well and work as a
team, I don't think a high placing
is out of the question," Black said.
"Once we get Woods back and
once everyone is healthy, I think
we have a good chance at taking
(Iowa) and a couple other teams."
Before the Big Ten Champi-
onships, the Wolverines have to
swing over to Dexter for the EMU
Classic this Friday. But Michigan
coach Ron Warhurst does not plan
on running any of the harriers who
will compete in the Big Ten Cham-
pionships. Some runners have been
injured, and Warhurst wants to
make sure his athletes are ready
for the tough championship stretch.
The Wolverines will start tapering
down from the usual 100-miles-
per-week routine this week to put
some spring back into their step.
"We're headed in the right
direction, and we're still running
really well on heavy legs," War-
hurst said. "We're getting better,
and when we start coming off of
our hard mileage, everybody's
legs will start feeling a whole lot
stronger."
contributing at practice on a consis-
tent basis, we can do great things.'
"The thing about this group is
they believe in that, and they have
continued to overcome adversity.
Hopefully we've put the adver-
sity behind us. But now if we have
adversity along the way, we know
that we can manage it."
Michigan has just three games
left (two against Big Ten foes, one
against a nonconference opponent)
before the Big Ten Tournament,
which will be held in Ann Arbor.
The Wolverines will face Virginia
Commonwealth tomorrow and rival
Ohio State on Sunday, both at Ocker
Field.