2B - Monday, March 10, 2008
BOILERMAKERS
From Page lB
who put in an impressive first-
half effort with 10 points, eight
rebounds and three assists, the
Wolverines turned the ball over
less and played with more tenac-
ity.
Michigan's overall effort and
physical play held Purdue (15-3,
24-7) to just 26-percent shooting,
and allowed the Wolverines to
take a 31-29 lead into the half.'
Udoh garnered the biggest
applause of the evening when he
blocked the Boilermakers final
BASEBALL
From Page 1B
ney said. "And that's been the story
of where we're at this point of the
season."
In every loss this year, Michigan
has been plagued by poor pitching.
This weekend was no different.
So as Michigan headed to their
hotel in Greenville, N.C., it had lit-*
tle positive to dwell on.
But Fetter turned everything
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
shot attempt before the half. The
play was the exclamation point to
a successful 20 minutes and gave
Michigan momentum coming out
of the locker room.
But the Wolverines didn't getany
offensive help from Harris, their
star player and leading scorer. The
Detroit native had tallied a then-
career-high 25 points against the
Boilermakers in January and was
coming off a career high 29-point
perftrmance against Penn State
last week.
Harris spent most of the first
half on the bench because of foul
trouble and contributed just two
points. When he did play in the
around as he stepped onto the
mound on Sunday morning when
Michigan closed out the tourna-
ment with a win over Pittsburgh
(3-6).
Fetter led the Wolverines to a
7-0 victory, throwing 11 strikeouts
and allowing just one hit in seven
innings.
"He was simply outstanding,"
Maloney said. "If we get a few
more efforts like that, our confi-
dence will start to grow again."
Michigan started the season
second frame, the Boilermakers'
tough defense held Harris to eight
more points for a game total of10.
"He can beat you in a lot dif-
ferent ways, and sometimes it has
to happen to you before you truly
believe it," Purdue coach Matt
Painter said.
"We knew we had to stop him
first and foremost if you're going
to stop Michigan."
With less than a minute remain-
ing and the Wolverines essentially
stopped, Crisler Arena was eerily
quiet.
Just like the game, Michigan's
never-ending regular season
ended with a whimper.
with three wins against Villanova
and a tie against the New York
Mets, but has lost five of its last
seven.
"We went from feeling like we
truly were one of the top teams
to now feeling a little insecure,"
Maloney said. "When you don't
win and play well, that's what hap-
pens. But it's still the same team.
We just got to get back to know-
ing what we're capable of, and we
.showed signs (Sunday)."
Despite the Wolverines' play
in the first day of the tourna-
- ment, Fetter still had confidence
against Pitt. He started his out-
ing aggressively, locating his
pitches and throwing fasthalls
early in the count, which helped
him get ahead of the Panther
batters.
Although his fellow pitchers
have struggled recently, Fetter
said he still believes in their tal-
0
Things change get over it
0
'6
ast week, I thought the
world had practically
come to an end.
The University of Michigan
put up pictures on MGoBlue.com,
and judging by the reaction of the
Wolverine faithful, I figured it
was the most unbelievably awful
thing on the
internet not
involving two
girls, a cup and
- well, you get 2;
the point.
Fans were
disgusted,
angered and SCOTT
appalled. BELL
Curiosity got
the best of me,
and I finally had to check it out for
myself. I was surprised by what
I saw.
Brace yourselves - orange
beams!
oh, the humanity.
These "orange superstruc-
tures," as the university calls
them in the press release that
accompanied the computer ren-
ditions of next year's Michigan
Stadium, have set off an angry
contingent of Wolverine Nation
hellbent on keeping the Big House
pretty much just like Fielding H.
Yost envisioned it 80 years ago.
So for all the angry fans look-
ing for a mouthpiece to sound off
against the Athletic Department,
here Iam with a message for you:
Cry me a river. It's time to give
up.
I'm not one to condemn a
group fighting for a cause it really
believes in. I've always said I
respect someone who cares deep-
ly about an issue but disagrees
with me more than someone who
is apathetic. But when it comes to
the stadium, it's time for the anti-
renovation mob to just chalk this
one up as a loss and move on.
I wasn't exactly thrilled when
I first learned about the proposed
Big House renovations. Growing
up, I associated two things with
the Michigan football program:
the winged helmet and the Big
House. Drastically changing one
of those was a move I didn't really
see as necessary, especially for
financial reasons.
But the more I looked into the
situation and thought about it
logically, I found myself asking:
What is so bad about these chang-
es exactly?
The Big House has never been
all that visually appealing to
begin with. Its fame is more cen-
tered around its huge capacity
and the legendary games that take
place on the field, not for being a
beautiful piece of architecture.
Sure, the luxury boxes and big
brick structures will be an adjust-
ment at first, but let's be honest -
it's actually an improvement from
the pit-like feel it has now. Trap-
ping in some of the sound with
structures along each sideline will
definitely improve Michigan's
relatively tame reputation when it
comes to crowd noise, too.
For those who still oppose
the project, think about what
you're arguing about. You think a
renovated stadium is bad for the
program, but if Michigan's best
interest is truly your No. 1 prior-
ity, you need to realize a split fan
base is anything but good for the
program. The decision has been
made, and they're not going to
undo the construction. Whining
won't help.
The most important thing for
the program is the product that's
going tobe on display on the field,
not the beams or scaffolding sur-
rounding the stadium. Michigan
football is embarking on an excit-
ing new era, one with lots of ques-
tions. While entering a season
where the program is undergoing
its first true transition in 39 years,
the focus should be on football,
not on aesthetics. Isn't that how
it's always been?
When I look back on my four
years at Michigan, I have a lot of
vivid memories. There's Braylon
jumping over multiple Spartan
defenders and leading Michigan's
improbable comeback my
freshman year. There's Mario's
last-second catch to crush
Joe Paterno and Penn State's
national title aspirations my
sophomore year. There's the
undefeated home record during
my junior year. Oh yeah, and
there was some minor upset this
past season that got a little pub-
licity on ESPN.
Whether good or bad, all
these memories have one thing
in common - they're memo-
rable because of what occurred
on the field, not around it. Had
there been some orange beams
in the backdrop, I highly doubt
these lifelong memories would
be tainted.
Over the past four years, I've
come to realize that change isn't
just inevitable, but it's often
a good thing. Sure, there are
exceptions, but it's more likely
to be successful if it's embraced
with open arms.
Whether you like it or not,
change is going to be thrown in
your face for the next few years.
It's time to either make the best
of it or hop off the bandwagon.
- Bell can be reached
at scotteb@umich.edu.
0
a
4
6