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The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
DAILY SPORTS BREAKS DOWN THE WEEKEND THAT WAS
2B - Monday, January 29, 2007
'M' SCHEDULE
WEDNESDAY- 1.31
M BASKETBALL VS.IOWA,8P.M.
THURSDAY -2.1
W Basketball atlllinois, 8 p.m.
FRIDAY -2.2
MTrack/Fieldat Meyolnvitational,TBA
W Track/Field at MeyoaClassic,10 a.m.
M TENNIS VS.
WESTERN MICHIGAN, 6 P.M.
WRESTLING VS.IOWA, 7:30 PM.
Ice Hockey at Western Michigan,7:35 p.m.
SATURDAY-2.3
W Tennis atOregen,.2p.m.
MITENNIS VS. HAVARD, 5PM.
W Gymnastics at
:It5;
CA
SAID AND HEARD
"It did kind of spark me a little bit. I was
looking for some guys with their heads
down, but I couldn't force it. Hopefully,
I'll have better luck tomorrow night."
- Michigan defenseman JACK JOHNSON on the stu-
dent section's "Kill, Jack, kill" chant on Friday night.
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
JENNY KUEHN
WOMEN'S TENNIS
The graduate senior was instrumental in Mich-
igan's upset of No. 12 Vanderbilt on Saturday.
The Leipzig, Germany, native rebounded after
losing the first set of her No. 1 singles match to
capture the dual meet-clinching win.
NBA All-Star game: A model for success
State of
M Gymn
ICE HOC
7:35 P.M
SUNDA
W BASK
2 P.M.
W Tenni:
Wrestlin
WA
Cc
MA
AT'
41:
Michigan Classic, 7 p.m. ou probably didn't notice,
iastics at Penn State,7 p.m. but the National Hockey
-KEY VS WESTERNMICHIGAN, Y League held its all-star game
last week.
As a league with low ratings and a
Y - 2.4 small fanbase, the NHL did exactly
ETBALL VS. NORTHWESTERN, the wrong
thing. it
s at Washington, 2 p.m. screwed up
the game.
gvs.Wiscsin,2 p.m. It aired
on Ver-
home games in all caps sus, which,
*all times EST apparently,
is actually 4
a real cable
station. It
was also
NT TO WRITE played on JACK
a Wednes- HERMAN
FORDAI LY day night,
S ? dampening
PORTS? some of the excitement that an all-
star weekend can generate. And in
its biggest error, the league likely
rigged the vote in its waning weeks
)ME TO OUR to prevent Rory Fitzpatrick - an.
unremarkable defenseman who was
kSS MEETING the subject of a write-in vote move-
ment on the Internet - from playing,
7:30 P.M. AT eliminating the incentive for many
casual fans intrigued by the "Vote
3 E. HURON. for Rory" cause to watch the game.
It's a shame, too, because when
the NHL gets it right, it's one of the
few all-star games actually worth
watching.
When I think of all-star games, I
expect a series of days filled with the
sport's best players and biggest per-
sonalities. The game should resem-
ble, in some form, the sport that's.
played every other day of the season.
A cool skills competition doesn't
hurt, either. .
Baseball can't do this. Neither can
football. And it's not really some-
thing either sport can fix.
Both sports suffer because they're
not played like they are during the
restofiheseason.Inanall-stargame,
everyone expects to play, ensuring
that the starters, supposedly the best
players, have little influence over the
outcome. Nobody goes to a regular-
season game planning to see a team
use all of its bullpen or three differ-
ent quarterbacks, but in an all-star
world, -it's an unwritten rule that
destroys the flow of the contest.
Baseball hasn't helped itself with
its decision making, either. I rec-
ognize there have been some great
games and great moments, like Cal
Ripken, Jr.'s home run in his final
all-star game, but I can't help but
feel the Mid-Summer Classic has
lost some of its luster. The home run
derby was fun when I was kid, but
how many times can I watch Bobby
Abreu and Ryan Howard slug it out?
Can't the MLB devise some other
contest, like base running or a pitch-
ing game, to shake things up?
And in what is surely a column on
its own, the misguided attempt to
give the game meaning by awarding
home-field advantage in the World
Series to the league that wins should
end immediately. I know I would be
upset if I got just three home games
in the World Series because Barry
Bonds opted notto turn a single into
a double during the fourth inning of
a mid-July exhibition.
Football, on the other hand, is
pretty much out of luck. You cer-
tainly couldn't play the game during
the season, but by the time the Pro,
Bowl is played, no one really cares
about football, including many of
the players. The college games are
plagued by the same problem, and
the fact that there are more senior
games than I can keep track of
doesn't help, either. I thinkthey even
invented some cardinal directions
for some new bowl game this year.
Where those two sports fail, basket-
ball - and hockey, if it chooses - get
things right.
The NBA has it down pat. Com-
missioner David Stern has trans-
formed the three-hour All-Star
Game into All-Star Weekend, an
event. .
Activities commence on Friday
with the Rookie challenge, where a
team oftop rookies takes on ateam of
second-year stars. The games haven't
been too competitive recently (the
sophomores have won by at least 20
points the past four years), but still,
it's a way to showcase younger tal-
ent and get people ready for the next
two days of competition.
Saturdaynightisfilled with skills.
There's two shooting competitions
- the 3-point contest and "Shooting
Stars," which teams stars from the
NBA, WNBA and an NBA alumni
- that are solid. There's also a rela-
tively new skills competition that
involves essentially an obstacle
course of different tasks. The last
four winners have been Dwyane
Wade, Steve Nash, Baron Davis and
Jason Kidd, so there's some tough
competition in this each year.
And, of course, there's the Slam
Dunk contest. The event was elimi-
nated in the late '90s after a few
years of declining interest, but it was
brought back in 2000, and Vince
Carter single-handedly revived the
art with a performance that includ-
ed finishing a dunk with his elbow
through the hoop. And if the dunks
aren't enough, the reactions of the
league's more veteran players on the
sideline could probably be a show of
its own.
Most important, the NBA shines.
It isn't plagued by the problem like
baseball and football, because most
basketball teams have a large rota-
tion, so everyone is going to get in.
Defense might be lacking, but recent
games have been high-scoring, com-
petitive and exciting.
And as dissimilar as the sports
may be, the two can provide similar
all-star experiences.
Hockey teams have big rotations,
so everyone can hit the ice with-
out dramatically changing how the
game is played, just like basketball.
The hockey skills competition is
just as fun to watch than the NBA
pre-game festivities. Promote it and
make it Friday or Saturday like it
used to be. Turnit into an event.
And remember NHL, the game
is supposed to be for the fans, so let
them have their fun. If they want
Rory Fitzpatrick to start, let him
start. It's tough to argue that it will
challengethe sanctity of a gamethat
has gone through a number of format
changes over the past few years.
Do this, and I might take the time
to figure out what channel Versus is.
- Herman can be reached
at jaherman@umich.edu.
0
No 'fast-skins', no
problem for Blue
WotpS BASKETBALL
Post players show range
By COURTNEYRATKOWIAK
Daily Sports Writer
COLUMBUS - You had to won-
der if Brutus the Buckeyetwas stifled
by the smell of chlorine - or if he
was just feeling suffocated by his
team's inability to win.
Fifteen feet from the Michigan
men's swimming and diving squad,
the Ohio State mascot stood silently
with a group of red- and gray-clad
cheerleaders as they watched the
Buckeyes lose their first-day lead
over the Wolverines. During Friday
and Saturday's double-dual meet,
No. 12 Michigan came from behind
to defeat No. 14 Ohio State, 171-163,
but lost to No. 8 Northwestern,
189.5-144.5.
After Friday's events, the Wol-
verines trailed the Buckeyes by four
points and the Wildcats by 14.
"The meet got away from us with
Northwestern (on Friday), so we
knew that even if we had a great
meet (on Saturday), it'd be hard to
catch them," Michigan coach Bob
Bowman said. "With Ohio State, we
felt like we had a chance to get back
and win, and the guys swam well to
do that."
Bowman said freshman Scott
Spann's second-place finish in the
100-yard breaststroke "basically
won the meet" for Michigan against
Ohio State. Spann passed the third-
place swimmer in the race's final
lap.
"I was really focusing on my own
race, because I knew if I had a good
race, it would be better than Ohio
State's," Spann said. "It was a lot
closer than we hoped it would be
going into the last two races. We
needed a guaranteed win over Ohio
State in the breaststroke so that we
could have confidence coming into
the last relay."
Also helping defeat the Buck-
eyes were sophomore Matt Patton
and junior Alex Vanderkaay, who
set pool records in the 1,000-yard
freestyle and 200-yard butterfly,
respectively.
For their final regular-season
meet before the Big Ten cham-
pionships, some Ohio State and
Northwestern swimmers wore
"fast skins" - swimsuits generally
used for end-of-the-season meets
by athletes in peak training condi-
tion after tapering. Bowman said
this weekend's double dual contest
was not intended to be a taper meet
for the Wolverines, a decision that
temporarily proved difficult for the
Wolverines to overcome.
"They had the fast suits on, which
putus at a disadvantage for nowbut
it won'tlater,"Bowmansaid. "Every-
one makes their own choices. It's
our commitment to be focused on
Big Tens and the NCAAs, and we're
not going to sacrifice those goals for
any steps down the line."
In three weeks, Michigan will
return to Columbus for the Big Ten
Championships. Despite North-
western's 13 first-place victories
this weekend, the Wolverines were
unconcerned with the possibility of
a similar dominating performance
by the Wildcats at the conference
meet.
"Northwestern is a perfect dual
meet team because of the way that
(dual meets) are set up," freshman
Chris Brady explained. "For first
place, you automatically get more
points than everyone else. At Big
Tens, the second, third and fourth
places mean a lot more than just
winning, and I think we have a
much better shot there."
This weekend provided the
opportunity for Michigan to swim
at this year's Big Ten Championship
site before the meet. With the dif-
ferentformatofthe conferencemeet
and the added advantage of swim-
ming after taper, the Wolverines
believe the Big Ten championship
will be marked by Maize-and-Blue
victories.
"I think everyone's ready," soph-
omore Bobby Savulich said. "We
just need to tune up a little bit. In
three weeks, we're going to come
out, fight like hell for Michigan and
win."
By ANDY REID she took.
Daily Sports Writer Phillip's range added another
dimension to the game which the
For the Michigan women's bas- Hoosier defense had no answer
ketball team, the basket felt about for. When preparing for a tall,
as wide as the ocean yesterday physical presence in the post like
when the Wolverines outlasted Phillips, a team can't anticipate
Indiana 65- her shooting threes. The Indiana
63 at Crisler NOTEBOOK post defense was no exception, as
Arena. Phillips faced little contention on
The 3-point stripe was espe- her three-ball attempts.
cially kind to Michigan. Another freshman post play-
And for a team that ranks last er, LeQuisha Whitfield, found
in the Big Ten in 3-point field goal her stroke as the game wore on.
percentage, these days don't come Whitfield couldn't miss during
around often. Michigan's second-half come-
Three Wolverines shot bet- back, hitting three clutch trifec-
ter than 50 percent from behind tas in the waning minutes of the
the arc, registering a season-high game.
team percentage of 44.4 percent. "I just didn't want to lose,"
And you might not believe who Whitfield said of her late surge. "I
had the hot hands. played intense with passion, and
Michigan's post players I was just confident in what I was
accounted for nine 3-pointers, doing."
and that's just the way that coach Whitfield had ice running
Cheryl Burnett had in mind. through her veins during her last
"I've always been a coach that's two triples. The Detroit native
wanted a (post) player to shoot hit shots to tie the game and then
the three to stretch the defense," to put Michigan ahead where it
Burnett said. "One of the things would stay.
we wanted was for those players BENCH CONTRIBUTIONS: While
to shoot the three (today). ... We Indiana had a seven player rota-
wanted to take advantage of their tion for most of the game, Michi-
(defensive scheme), and I think gan went deep into its bench to
we did." find some of its biggest contribu-
Freshman Krista Phillips was tions. Burnett may have started
on fire all game. Although she has to use her bench extensively to
shown her range in a handful of ware down the Hoosiers, but the
games, Phillips had only taken bench outplayed the starters in
sporadic attempts from behind many ways.
the stripe. The 6-6 freshman Not a single Michigan starter
proved that her stroke was no recorded an assist, relying heavi-
fluke, hitting all three deep shots ly on freshmen Kalyn McPherson
and Sireece Bass to dish the ball
around. McPherson shattered a
personal best with seven assists,
easily beating her old game-high
of two. Bass added three more,
rounding out the 10 assists tallied
by the Wolverines.
McPherson also added a defen-
sive element the starters couldn't
provide. Giving The Hoosiers fits
all day, she recorded five steals.
Slipping through the Indiana
offense to intercept a pass on sev-
eral occasions, McPherson gave
the Wolverines easy transition
points in the process.
"I don't know. I got lucky,
I guess," McPherson said of
her productive afternoon. "We
stressed (drop rotation) in prac-
tice alot this week, and I got alot
of opportunities-from that."
The bench's big game wasn't
lost on Burnett. While the game
was up for grabs with just a few
minutes left, the coach confident-
ly kept four bench players on the
floor. Her strategy worked, and
the young players closed out the
game with a win.
CRISLER ISN'T SO FRIENDLY: The
Wolverines may have fallen on
some hard times during the past
couple years, but that hasn't
stopped them dominatingIndiana
in Crisler. The last time the Hoo-
siers left Ann Arbor victorious,
"Titanic" was the No. 1 movie at
the box office (Feb. 1, 1998). Since
then, Michigan has given Indiana
a slew of longbus rides home. The
Wolverines have won six straight
over the Hoosiers at home.
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Winless weekend weighs heavily on struggling grapplers
By MICHAEL EISENSTEIN
Daily Sports Writer
EAST LANSING - In a matchup pitting
heavyweights Michigan against Michi-
gan State, no one seemed to be surprised
that the dual meet came down to the final
match of heavyweights.
The Wolverines hoped the match would
result in a victory - not a heavy weight
placed on their shoulders.
With Michigan down 18-17 after coming
back fromback-to-back pins (133- and 141-
pound) and a 15-0 deficit, redshirt junior
Omar Maktabi walked up the stairs to
the wrestling mat, exchanged an intense
series of high fives with Michigan coach
Joe McFarland, and was ready to match
the intensity of the green-and-white-clad
crowd.
But Maktabi fell short of elevating
Michigan to a win, falling 2-1 in double
overtime after failingto register an escape
in the final 30 seconds despite starting in
the down position. The three-point deci-
sion sealed a Spartan victory, 21-17, in East
Lansing.
"It's not Michigan wrestling," junior
Tyrel Todd said. "It's not how I look at
Michigan wrestling, it's not how anyone
who knows Michigan wrestling looks
at Michigan wrestling. It's frustrating.
We got some young guys who got a lot of
learning to do and just got to put in more
time. Just losing in a match like this is ter-
rible, especially to (Michigan) State."
Maktabi had a couple of opportunities
inthe firstthree periods, butwas unable to
close on any of his moves. He found him-
self facing Spartan Alan O'Donnell in the
neutral position throughout the match.
"I knew anything could happen,"
McFarland said. "I knew it was going to
be a great match, and it was a great match.
It's always nice to win those great match-
es, though."
The team's frustration from the result
of this match, just the second loss to the
Spartans in the past nine meets, was
exemplary of the meet - the Wolverines
simply had a difficult time scoring.
"I thought we wrestled hard," McFar-
land said. "(We) just didn't do enough.
Just in doing enough in terms of being able
to score (and) put some points up there. I
thought (the 174-pound weight class) and
heavyweight have to be able to score. I
thought we competed well, wrestled hard,
but it's just one of those things."
Co-captain Eric Tannenbaumexpressed
similar sentiments following the Wolver-
ines' disappointing defeat.
"A lot of times it comes down to heavy-
weights, and it's obviously a huge match,"
Tannenbaum said. "There's a lot of pres-
sure on the guys out there, but I was
hoping Omar would push a little more
offense."
Competing on a raised platform at Jeni-
son Field House, rare in collegiate wres-
tling, Michigan was unable to bounce
back from their 29-6 defeat at the hands
of No. 1 Minnesota on Friday night. Sec-
ond-ranked Tannenbaum (165 pounds)
and Nick Roy (197 pounds) were the only
Wolverines to take home wins against the
Gophers, with Tannenbaum just one point
shy of a major decision.
No. 3 Josh Churella (149 pounds) tied
top-ranked Dustin Schlatter, but the rid-
ing-time advantage gave Schlatter the
decisive point.
McFarland thought the team had put
the lopsided loss to the country's best
team behind them, but after the Michigan
lightweights dug a 15-point hole for the
team, the match - and the season - con-
tinued to spiral out of control.
"It's been a rough weekend," Tannen-
baum said. "It's been a rough season so far.
...(For) a couple guys, this is their first year
in the lineup, so stuff like that plays into
effect. I'm hoping that towards the end of
the year, we can start turning around and
startbeatinglteams that no one expects us
to beat. There's no more pressure really on
us anymore."
With a 1-5-1 record (0-2 in the Big Ten)
and no wins since their lone victory over
Lehigh Nov. 16, the loss to the Spartans
has magnified the effects of the loss of
Steve Luke to an MCL injury and the
youth Michigan has in the lightweights.
Though the Big Ten season is just
beginning, and McFarland has repeatedly
mentioned thathis team is more suited for
tournament competition (with five top-20
wrestlers), the Wolverines certainly have
their work cut out for them this week.
They will face No. 5 Iowa and No. 9 Wis-
consin this weekend.
"It's not where we want to be, but it
is," McFarland said. "We just got to keep
working hard and not get down about it.
What else can we do?"
I