10 - Tuesday, September 23, 2008 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Rodriguez uses bye week to fix
Blue's miscues on special teams
Michigan volleyball coach Mark Rosen has spent the last 10 years in Ann Arbor.
The Wolverines are undefeated so far this season.
Rosen still full
of passion after
decade with'M'
B]
"We
gan vo
said.
It W
the Mi
playing
tationa
The
against
Rosen
to give
tions, 1
could h
Sopi
Busch
near tl
ing to
was sto
Tech t
couldn
host sc
a stairv
Busc
but the
The
getting
"Wh
pointo
fighting
as that
seniorI
That
great d
Rosen,
coache
wife.
Leis
the vol
Ohio St
Big Tet
Year in
"We
said. "S
ner at
will be
their vc
from tb
But I
in this
his first
The
up play
Rosen f
year hi
he stop
another
He
Oregon
heading
nia Sta
coachV
"Wal
game,"
also a g
Rose
Coach ignites Ker as he coached, picking up
strategies and techniques that he
lue's volleyball still uses today. And though Rosen
playedwellatNorthridge,heknew
progam his future would be in coaching.
In 1992, Rosen got a call from
Dave Rubio, head coach of Call-
By MARK BURNS fornia State at Bakersfield. Rubio
Daily Sports Writer offered him the head coaching
position.
're going in there," Michi- He was there for two years
'leyball coach Mark Rosen before heading to Marquette to
coach Northern Michigan.
vas two weeks ago, when Rosen quickly made a name for
chigan volleyball team was himself, leading the Wildcats to a
g at the Georgia Tech Invi- Division II National Champion-
l in Atlanta. ship in 1994.
team was in a close set "I really liked the athletic
t the Yellow Jackets when director there," Rosen said. "The
called atimeout. He needed school was really committed to
his players a few direc- volleyball, and they even built a
but there was no way they separate gym for the volleyball
sear him. team."
homore libero Maggie But Rosen's stay in the Upper
headed over to a stairwell Peninsula didn't last long.
he Wolverine bench, try- Four years later, the job at
find a quieter spot, but she Michigan opened up after Greg
tpped by one of the Georgia Giovanazzi, the Wolverines' for-
owel boys. He told her they mer coach and a good friend of
't go in the stairwell, but the Rosen's, stepped down.
hool was across the court in Mark and Leisa, then married,
well of their own. knew Michigan would be a great
h was going to walk away, place to compete.
n Rosen walked over. , Rosen applied for the job
youngster knew Rosen was and started calling the Athletic
his way. Department, each time to no
tether he's fighting for a avail.
r fighting for a call or even Months went by before he
g for something as simple received the call he had been hop-
,he's always there for us," ing for, but the rest is history.
libero Kerry Hance said. Coach Rosen came to Michigan
t passion has generated a in 1999, bringing a new attitude
eal of camaraderie between with him. -
the players, and the other "There's that sense of expecta-
s - one of whom is his tion, ofwantingsuccess and want-
ing to win now," junior Megan
a Rosen is no stranger to Bower said.
leyball world. She played at Ten seasons later, coach Rosen
tate for four years, earning is on the verge of becoming Michi-
n Conference Player of the gan's winningest volleyball coach
1991. but no one's even taken notice, not
're one big family," Hance even Rosen.
Sometimes, we'll have din- "He probably doesn't even
their house or their sons know about it," sophomore setter
at practice. It's not like Lexi Zimmerman said. "He's that
olleyball family is separate humble of a person."
seir family at all." Rosen's attitude, along with his
Rosen might not have been dynamic coaching, has led to suc-
position had he stuck with cess for the Wolverines.
t passion. Inhisfirstyear, Michigansnuck
Anchorage native grew into the USA Today/AVCA Coach-
ring ice hockey. But when es Top 25 poll for the first time in
inally realized in hisjunior program history.
S future was not on the ice, Rosen has led Michigan to 20
'ped playing and picked up wins in four of the last five sea-
r sport: volleyball. sons, and he and his wife have
played club volleyball at raised the bar for the Wolverines
State for two years before ever since they made the NCAA
g south to play at Califor- Tournament in their inaugural
te Northridge under head season.
Nalt Ker. If the Wolverines want to head
It was agreat teacher of the deeper into the tournament this
Rosen said. "But he was year, they'll have to be willing to
'reat teacher for coaches." fight for every point, just as Rosen
n would sometimes watch does.
After two fumbles on
kick returns, several
players get a chance
in return game
By IAN ROBINSON
Daily Sports Editor
Six turnovers against Notre
Dame last week gave the Michi-
gan football team
plenty to work on NOTEBOOK
during the bye
week.
One area that particularly wor-
ried Michigan coach Rich Rodri-
guez was kickoff returns. The
Wolverines muffed two in the first
four minutes - the first leading to
bad field position for Michigan,
and the second, recovered by Notre
Dame, leading to a touchdown for
the Irish.
"I just hope we catch the.ball,"
Rodriguez said. "We've tried out
just about everybody back there."
At yesterday's press conference,
Rodriguez named nine different
players who have taken kickoffs in
practice. He listed four players on
the depth chart - freshman Bou-
bacar Cissoko, senior Brandon Har-
rison, freshman Michael Shaw and
senior Morgan Trent. In addition,
he said freshman Sam McGuffie,
freshman Martavious Odoms, red-
shirt freshman Avery Horn and
sophomore James Rogers took reps
inpractice.
"You got to be able to do it and
focus and just catch the ball first
in the game and know that we
are going to get some short kicks
and some kicks that aren't exactly
kicked down the middle," Rodri-
guez said. "We got to be able to
handle that."
Last Monday, he said the team
would focus on special teams dur-
ing the bye week.
"As much as we've worked on
it, we should be better," Rodriguez
said. "If not, I'd be very disappoint-
ed."
INJURY REPORT: The game of
attrition that is the Michigan offen-
sive line continues to play itself out.
As someone gets healthy enough
to play, it seems another one goes
down.
This week, Rodriguez said he
thinks redshirt junior left tackle
Mark Ortmann, who hurt his elbow
against Miami (Ohio), will be able
to play. Rodriguez will make a final
decision once he sees Ortmann
practice in pads.
But though Ortmann is close to
returningto the lineup, his replace-
ment, redshirt sophomore Perry
Dorrestein, has health questions of
his own.
Dorrestein started in place of
Ortmann against Notre Dame but
suffered a "freak" knee injury in
practice last week. Rodriguez said
he was encouraged by the progress
Dorrestein made and that he may
be able to play this weekend.
Relief along the offensive line
may come in the form of redshirt
freshman right guard Mark Huyge.
He hurt his ankle before the season
and is back competing for a spot at
guard. Huyge was not listed on the
two-deep depth .chart released at
yesterday's press conference.
One of the team's lingering
health concerns is freshman slot
receiver Terrence Robinson, who
injured his knee in fall camp.
"It doesn't look like he'll be ready
to play just yet," Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said he still has not
determined whether or not he will
redshirt Robinson this season.
ZOLTAN, FINANCIAL ANALYST:
As he walked off the podium at yes-
terday's press conference, redshirt
junior punter Zoltan Mesko, a Ste-
phen M. Ross School of Business
student, was asked to assess the
current situation on Wall Street.
He spent more than a minute
breaking down the implications
of Morgan Stanley and Goldman
Sachs switching from independent
investment banks to bank holding
companies.
"Basically, the Wall Street era is
now over," Mesko said.
He also provided an up-to-the-
minute update on Morgan Stanley,
saying that it was up 10 percent
yesterday morning. After Mesko
finished his analysis, senior line-
backer John Thompson stepped up
to answer questions.
"I can't answer no questions
like Zoltan," Thompson said as he
approached the microphone.
NOTES: Rodriguez said red-
shirt sophomore John Ferrara has
been working a lot at left guard to
compete with redshirt junior Tim
McAvoy, but true freshman Ricky
Barnum is listed as the backup
on the two-deep depth chart....
Monday marked the first time that
McGuffie, Shaw, junior Carlos
Brown, junior Brandon Minor and
redshirt junior Kevin Grady were
all listed on the depth chart.
MAX COLL S / aily
Freshman Michael Show is one ot nine players in the mix to return kicks for Michitan as it starts conference ptay this Saturday.
WOMEN
ER
Solo and past don't rattle new 'M' coach,
I.
Even with
surprise guest,
Ryan stays calm
By RUTH LINCOLN
Daily Sports Writer
U.S. Women's National team
goalie Hope Solo has a well-pub-
licized, tumultuous history with
Michigan women's soccer coach
Greg Ryan.
So, when Arizona State
announced on Saturday that Solo
would sign autographs during
halftime of last Sunday's matchup
between the Sun Devils and the
Wolverines, it was bound to get a
little awkward.
"Based on a lot of the things
that Hope did, said, the way she
behaved towards her team, I just
don't have a lot of respect for her,"
Ryan said in a postgame phone
interview. "And that's not going to
change."
Ryan, the U.S. National team
coach from 2005 to 2007, benched
starting goalkeeper Solo in favor
of veteran Brianna Scurry in the
2007 Women's World Cup semifi-
nal against Brazil. Scurry had not
seen considerable playing time
since the 2004 World Cup, and
allowed all four goals in the 4-0
loss.
Ryan was criticized for his move,
and his contract with the National
team was not renewed for 2008,
but it was Solo's comments after
the game that drew attention.
"There's no doubt in my mind
I would have made those saves,"
Solo said after the loss. "And the
fact of the matter is, it's not 2004
anymore. ... It's 2007, and I think
you have to live in the present.
And you can't live by big names.
You can't live in the past. It doesn't
matter what somebody did in an
Olympic. gold-medal game in the
Olympics three years ago."
After those remarks, the vet-
eran players ostracized Solo from
the team. She wasn't allowed to
play or train with the squad and
was forced to eat her meals alone.
Solo left the team, but eventually
rejoined this year and went on to
win an Olympic gold medal in Bei-
jing.
The Sun Devils made the
announcement about the special
guest over the loudspeaker just
before halftime. It was at that
point that Michigan became aware
of who was in the building.
"We were like, 'Oh I wonder if
they planned that?"' senior goal-
keeper Madison Gates said. "Or,
'why would she be here when Greg
(Ryan) is coaching?' I mean, we all
got a laugh but of it."
Arizona State women's soc-
cer media relations contact Steve
Rodriguez said bringing Solo to
sign autographs on Sunday was
a marketing decision to provide
more exposure to women's soccer,
and he insisted it was just a coinci-
dence that Ryan happened to be on
the sidelines that day.
"Hope Solo could have been Mia
Hamm," Rodriguez said. "It could
have been anyone who could get
more fans out there."
Hope Solo's outburst was the
biggest story in the world of wom-
en's soccer last year. It's hard to
imagine that the Arizona State
athletic department wouldn't try
to capitalize on a dramatic sto-
ryline.
But regardless of whether there
were underlying intentions, Mich-
igan didn't seem phased. Ryan
emphasized the importance of the
game, and didn't let the situation
interfere with his coaching.
"We heard it over the loud-
speaker at half time, but he
never brought it up during the
game," Gates said. "It was after
we got out of the locker room,
after we had showered and
headed to the airport. Noth-
ing was brought up or awkward
during the game."
Ryan may be famous for unpop-
ular reasons, but he's completely
focused onhis current team.When
Ryan was hired in February, he
was branded with the Hope Solo-
World Cup fiasco. But the Wolver-
ines, in need of a coach, saw hope
and excitement.
"It was really an encouraging
time for us to have this amazing
coach who's been at the top of his
game and at the top level soccer to
come coach for Michigan," Gates
said.
Michigan's attack and defen-
sive presence has improved tre-
mendously since a year ago. Big
Ten play begins on Friday, and the
Wolverines (3-4-2) have already
tied their number of wins fromlast
season.
"It's no problem," Ryan said.
"She was here signing autographs
and doing what she does. I was
here coaching and doing what I
do."
Do you recycle?
Recycling is easy and free!
4
A