DAILY SPORTS BREAKS DOWN THE WEEKEND THAT WAS
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
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2B - Monday, December 4, 2006
'M' SCHEDULE
WEDNESDAY -12.6
W Basketball @ Miami (Ohio), 7p.m.
THURSDAY-12.7
M Basketball @Miami (Ohio), 8 p.m.
FRIDAY -12.8
WRESTLING vs. Central Michigan,7 pm.
W GYMNASTICS VS. MAIZE-AND-BLUE
SCRIMMAGE, 7:30 P.M.
ICE HOCKEY VS. NOTRE DAME, 7:35
PM.
SATURDAY -12.9
M BASKETBALL VS.DELAWARE STATE,
2 P.M.
W Basketball @ Nebraska, 8 p.m.
SUNDAY--12.10
Ice Hockey @ Notre Dame, 3:05 p.m.
'home games in all caps
*all times EST
SAID AND HEARD
"I don't know exactly what the
voters were thinking ... I don't
think there's any question that
had USC won yesterday against
UCLA, we would have remained
No. 3."
- Michigan football coach LLOYD CARR
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Eric Tannenbaum
WRESTLING
Tannenbaum was the 165-pound champion at
the Cliff Keen Invitational with a perfect 5-0
record. The redshirt junior along with his co-cap-
tain Josh Churella, led the team to a second-place
finish at the tournament.
Weekend disappointment worst of all
Two hundred and sixty five days ago, I
went through what I thoughtwas the
most gut-wrenching of all possible
Michigan sports week-
ends.
I witnessed the
Michigan men's bas-
ketball team limp to
the finish line after a
16-3 start, and put itself
on the bubble for the
NCAA Tournament.
What happened that"
Sunday night is now
well-documented - the
Wolverines were left SCOTT
out of the NCAA Tour- BELL
nament for the ninth
straightyear.
I didn'tthink that sinking feeling would
ever be matched.
Then, this pastweekend happened.
Through it all - the ups of UCLA's win
over Southern Cal and the downs of Arkan-
sas' meltdown and allithe media hoopla in
between - Saturday's events that spilled into
Sunday gave last March a run for its money.
So which saga was worse? Sounds like
something only a tale of the tape can settle:
HIGHEST HIGH:
Football: UCLA linebacker Eric McNeal's
interception in the final minutes of Saturday's
UCLA-Southern Cal matchup. The pick stifled
the Trojans' comeback attempt and secured
the 13-9 Bruins win. More than that, it ener-
gized Ann Arbor, and reinstituted hope to a
school that thought its shot at a Bowl Cham-
pionship Series Championship Game appear-
ance was over.
Basketball: Michigan knocks off No. 8
Illinois two weeks before the Big Ten Tourna-
ment and appears to solidify its spot in the Big
Dance.
Edge: Football - being one step closer to
the BCS Championship Game > being one step
closer to the NCAA Tournament.
LOWEST LOW:
Football: Michigan, ranked No. 2 in the
BCS, dropped the Game of the Century to
the top-ranked Buckeyes, 42-39, on Nov.e18.
Michigan still held its No. 2 spot in the BCS
rankings the next day, but the margin was
miniscule at best. The next week, Southern
Cal passed the Wolverines in the BCS. Michi-
gan never reclaimed second place in the poll.
Basketball: Michigan capped off a 2-7 fin-
ish to its season with a loss to lowly Minnesota
in the Big Ten Tournament opener. The next
weekend, Michigan was left out of the field of
65 for the NCAA Tournament.
Edge: Football - nothing beats the sinking
feeling of having a rival end your season.
BIGGEST HERO:
Football: The aforementioned McNeal.
His interception buried the Trojans and ele-
vated Michigan to the theoretical No. 2 spot,
pending the result of the Arkansas-Florida
game.
Basketball: Horton. Time and time again,
the then-senior did whatever he could to
bail Michigan out of tough situations. Most
notable was his 39-point performance in
Michigan's win over Illinois.
Edge: Basketball - it's not fun having oth-
ers do your dirty work.
GOAT:
Football: Reggie Fish, Arkansas' punt
returner. With his team ahead of Florida by
four in the third quarter, Fish tried fielding a
punt ... over his shoulder ... on his own 3-yard
line. He subsequently muffed the return, and
the Gators recovered the ball - along with the
momentum -in the end zone, and never relin-
quished the lead.
Basketball: Michigan coach Tommy
Amaker. Many people could take the blame
for the late-season collapse last season, but
in the end, the responsibility rests in the
hands of the coach, who was consistently out-
coached as the season drew to a close.
Edge: Football - no question for anyone
who actually saw that inexplicable attemptto
catch a ball Saturday night.
PLAYER INPUT:
Football: Mike Hart following Michigan's
regular-season finale loss to Ohio State: "Do I
think there shouldbe a rematch? Probably. I
think we're both the top teams in the country,
regardless of what anybody says. On a neutral
site, it wouldbe a big game.... I guarantee if
we play them again it would be a whole dif-
ferentgame. We should have got them the
first time around. We didn't. So if it doesn't
happen, that's our fault. You know, but if we
played them again, it would be a whole differ-
ent game. Guarantee that."
Basketball: Daniel Horton following
Michigan's regular-season finale loss to Indi-
ana: "I don't understand why people keep
asking us - we're in the Tournament. If we
don't make the Tournament, then there's
something wrong. If we don't make the tour-
nament, then I don't know who else deserves
to."
Edge: Push - both statements were ballsy,
and both players poured out their hearts after
frustrating events.
COACH INPUT:
Football: Lloyd Carr refuses to campaign.
Basketball: Tommy Amaker refuses to
campaign.
Edge: Push - both may have been classy,
but sometimes class isn't what's the most nec-
essarything when others are campaigning all
over the place.
MISLEADING EVENT:
Football: Media "experts," including
ESPN, CBSSportsline.com and FOXsports.
com, all placed Michigan in the BCS Champi-
onship Game over Florida in their respective
Saturday night projections.
Basketball: Joe Lunardi, the man behind
the near-flawless Bracketology, put Michigan
in his final projected field of 65. Other ana-
lysts, such as CBS's Clark Kellogg and ESPN's
Jay Bilas said "Michigan has nothing to worry
about."
Edge: Football - both times Wolverine
fans' hopeswere unnecessarily raised, but
once again, muchmore was on the line for
football, making the hurt much stronger.
IRONY:
Football: Florida's last national title came
after a rematch with Florida State, who beat
the Gators in the regular season. Florida
coach Urban Meyer continued to stress over
the past month that Michigan didn't deserve a
rematch and that the fans wanted the Gators
to play - a myth most polls on major sports
websites completely debunked Saturday night
Basketball: Teams like Air Force and
Seton Hall got the nod over Michigan, even
though neither had the marquee wins that
Michigan possessed (Illinois, Michigan State,
Wisconsin).
Edge: Football - let's be honest, the hoops
team probably would have been trounced in
the first round of the tourney just like Seton
Hall and Air Force were.
BOTTOM LINE:
I don't think I'm going to complain about
last March ever again. Just when I thought
things couldn'tget any worse, thispast week-
end trumps the pain from last March, and
by quite a large margin. The emotional roller
coaster Michigan fans went through on Satur-
day will possibly never be matched (though I
should be careful what I wish for).
So football team, take solace in this:You
won this competition, and it's something that
Urban Meyer could never steal from you - no
matter how much he campaigns.
- Bell can be reached at scotteb@umich.edu.
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SHORTAGE OF DIAPERS IN MICHIGAN?
THAT'S PROBABLY BECAUSE ALL u soccer capure crown
OUR BABY SUPPLIES WERE SHIPPED
TO FLORIDA THIS WEEK. By ROBERT KAITZ period that I've been here," Michigan coach Jeff After Michigan lost its firstgan
me in the tour-
Daily Sports Writer
Any trip to Arizona in mid-November sounds
like a great vacation. But the Michigan men's
club soccer team didn't go down to Arizona
State with leisure on its mind - it simply want-
ed to take care of business.
Mission accomplished.
The Wolverines won the National Intramu-
ral-Recreational Sports Association's (NIRSA)
soccer national championship in Tempe, Ariz.,
on Nov. 18.
Michigan compiled a 5-1 record to win the
third National Championship. After a loss to
North Carolina in its opening game, the Wol-
verines caught fire.
"We played one of the worstgames of the sea-
son (against the Tar Heels)," said Aaron Swick,
senior midfielder and team president. "But we
were able to come back so quickly and gain
momentum, and then we kept on rolling from
there."
Tournament Most Valuable Player Brent
Medema's first-half goal off a corner kick held
up as the game winner in the championship
game against Illinois. Senior goalkeeper Alex
Lubyansky was unbeatable, recording five con-
secutive shutouts.
The championship was the pinnacle of
immense success over recent seasons.
"We've put a lot of work over the six-year
Shuk said. "Every year we've come close and
every year the goal is to win it. To have it come
true is amazing."
The National Championship was the Wolver-
ines' sole focus throughout the season.
"We finished up every practice with a
'champs' cheer," junior striker Cyrus Shabrang
said.
But the appeal of joining the team is hardly
limited to its on-the-field competitiveness.
"It's nice cominginto college fromhighschool
with the opportunity to meet a lot of great guys
as a freshman making the team, since freshmen
are looked at as completely equal," junior mid-
fielder Jeff Jackson said.
Looking at the athletic and social opportuni-
ties the team presents, it's little wonder the team
has earned such an impressive reputation. Each
year more than 70 students try out for a coveted
spot on the 24-player squad. But the team's rep-
utation extends beyond the Ann Arbor campus.
Junior midfielder Brad Murphy was 14 years
old when he first heard about the club soccer
team.
"I was refereeing a soccer game, and I men-
tioned how I wanted to go to Michigan," Mur-
phy said. "And then somebody started telling me
about how great the club soccer team at Michi-
gan is and howI should play."
Former players also stay connected to the
happenings of the team.
nament, it received calls of encouragement from
seven former players and Michigan varsity
coach and former club coach Steve Burns.
The camaraderie among the players is clear;
they are responsible for organizing and running
the team by themselves.
"We have to raise or pay for pretty much
everything, whether it is hotel rooms, gas, air-
plane tickets, or anything else," Swick said.
"There is a huge financial commitment playing
on the team."
Shuk credits another group for its uncondi-
tional backing.
"The parents are vital," Shuk said. "So many
parents traveled with us to Arizona and were
always there to help us with keeping the water
coolers full. And with six games in three days,
makingsure we had enough ibuprofen."
Michigan also receives financial support
from campus favorite Big Ten Burrito. But
the team still feels underfunded on occasion.
Nothing illustrates this point more than the
place it calls home, the not-so-picturesque
Elbel Field.
Regardless, the Wolverines are having a blast
playing the sport they love and bonding with
each other. The season is over, but a familiar
goal has already been set for next year's team.
"We are only losing three or four players, so
a repeat is definitely on our minds," Shabrang
said.
The Yaffe Center 2006-2007 Speaker Series
Persuasive Communication:
Yaffe Cent er What's Breaking Through Today?
for Persuasive Communication
MICHIGAN
ROSS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Open to the public.
Admission is free for U-M students,
faculty and staff; $25.00 for those
not affiliated with the University.
Limited number of seats available.
Please call John Hogan of the Ann
Arbor Ad Club at 734.780.8113 to
reserve a seat,
Parking: University lot near the
corner of Hill and Tappan Streets.
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