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8A - Thursday, January 29, 2009

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com


Blue's fourth line finds niche.

WILL MOELLE/Dal
Senior Phil Goldberg, an All-American, hits the pommel horse ear ier this season
Chan and Goldberg
shine as co-captains

Different leadership
styles push Blue
past ranked teams
By COLT ROSENSWEIG
Daily Sports Writer
Four years ago, junior David
Chan was leading a platoon as a
lieutenant in the Singapore army.
He didn't even know Michigan
had a men's gymnastics team.
Four years ago, senior Phil
Goldberg walked on to the Michi-
gan men's gymnastics team, con-
stantly wondering if and when
he'd be cut.
Now, they're both All-Amer-
icans. Early last semester, their
teammates elected them co-cap-
tains.
"I guess I was surprised," Gold-
berg said of his selection. "It's a
great honor, honestly."
Neither Wolverine expected
his selection, but both take the job
seriously. They are determined
to do a better job preparing their
team for performance under pres-
sure than previous captains have
done.
Goldberg tends to be more
vocal, while Chan leads by exam-
ple - hitting pommel horse three
days in a row at the 2008 NCAA
Championships, for instance.
In the "setting a good example"
department, Goldberg is no slouch
either, coming back from injury to
anchor the Wolverines' ring team
last year.
Buthittingtheirsets is only part
of the hattie.
"They're listening to the team,
working with the team," senior
Jamie Thompson said of the co-
captains. "They're actually mak-
ing it more of a team than it has
been."
Though many of Chan's team-
mates saw his leadership expe-
rience in the military as a plus,
Chan called leading gymnasts "a
completely different beast."
"In the military ... you could tell
someone to do something and they
would have to do it,"said Chan, who
will turn 24 on March 18. "(With
the gymnastics team), you have to
be able to gain someone's trust and
someone's idea that they will listen
to you, that when you do say some-
thing, they pay attention."
Chan said this year he real-
ized his own spirits could affect

the atmosphere in the gym. Since
then, he's tried to ensure that he
stays upbeat, even if he's having a
bad day.
"If you don't believe it, at least
look it," Chan said. "Sometimes,
if you keep doing something long
enough, you actually believe it in
the end."
Goldberg thought about Michi-
gan's 1999 NCAA Championship
team, whose lore is well known
among the gymnasts, and decided
that the Wolverines had been too
tense in competition.
By encouraging the long work-
outs and tough strength circuits
the team already had in place,
Goldberg hopes to foster a bolder
style among his teammates.
"I want to lead the team in an
aggressive manner in competing,
kind of get rid of that timid style
that's come back to haunt us in the
past," Goldberg said.
Under the new captains, the
Wolverines have seen positive
results. Michigan was ranked No.
6 coming into the season, and it
won the season-opening Windy
City Invitational easily, upsetting
higher-ranked teams like Ohio
State and Illinois. With their two
captains showing nothing but
confidence, the Wolverines calmly
brushed off mistakes and got back
to hitting routines.
And though of the two, only
Goldberg competed against No. 3
Penn State last weekend, the same
effect was apparent. He led off the
meet with a hit on pommel horse,
hit his rings set and helped guide
the Wolverines to an encouraging
comeback attempt thatended just
short of victory.
Last season, Michigan often
allowed teams to jump back into
the competition or retake the lead
on the final two events. At the
intimidating Rec Hall, the Wol-
verines used those final rotations
to push the Nittany Lions to the
brink.
The two captains have made
taken on more responsibility and
paid extra attention to how all
their teammates are doing in the
gym. After the Penn State meet,
Goldberg tacked up individual
comments on each of the week-
ends routines, including his own,
on the team's bulletin board.
"They're both good students,
they're both diligent trainers, and
they got elected forbeing who they
were," Golder said. "I want them
to keep being (themselves)."

Chemistry on the ice
gives Michigan new
level of consistency
By MICHAEL EISENSTEIN
Daily Sports Editor
It's difficultto describe the Mich-
igan hockey team's fourth line with-
out listing off a handful of cliches.
Hardworking. Positive energy.
Outhustling.
"That's what they're doing in
practice, just working hard, out-
working, and then when they get in
the games, they're outworking all
the lines they're playing against,"
associate head coach Mel Pearson
said.
And it's easy to get tied up with
the same words when describing
.what senior Danny Fardig, junior
Anthony Ciraulo and freshman
Luke Glendening have brought to
the ice the past few weeks.
"We just work hard on working
hard," Glendening said.
That's exactly what the coaching
staff wants out of those three for-
wards. Michigan coach Red Beren-
son uses the fourth line to spark a
sometimes energy-sapped team.
The line is also a critical part of the
Wolverine penalty kill, which is
32-of-34 in its past three series.
Playing on the fourth line doesn't
seem like a role that requires a scor-
ing touch or a knack for stick han-
dling. So why does it matter that
Fardig, Ciraulo and Glendening are
filling those responsibilities?
The three have developed a rap-
port and turned a constantly rotat-
ing line - in terms of who plays and
who's scratched - into a reliable
anchor on Michigan's forward line
chart.
"They're in the lineup because
they're adding something every
time they're on the ice," Berenson
said. "And there's the chemistry
- they've got something to prove,
they don't play on the power play
(and) they don't get premium ice
time on this team.
"But when they play, they play
hard, and they add something to
our team."
Before the Bowling Green series

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FiLE PHOTO
Senior Danny Fardig has seven points in 181 games and has heen a strong member at the Wolverines' penalty-killing unit this year.

two weekends ago, the fourth line
often changed on a nightly basis.
Those who were in the line's rota-
tion, including the three currently
on the line, often got just one night
ofplayingtimeinatwo-gameseries.
But when sophomore second-line
center Matt Rust was a last-minute
scratch due to sickness before the
Saturday night game against the
Falcons, Ciraulo was added to the
lineup and something clicked.
Ciraulo's line set up the game's
only goal midway through the
second to salvage a split for the
Wolverines against the CCHA
basement dweller. As a result, the
trio played in both games against
Michigan State and will likely play
in each contest against No. 1 Notre
Dame this weekend.
"Those are the guys that are
taking advantage and are helping
push other players," Berenson said.
"We've got pretty good players not
even dressing because these guys

goal in the GLI and he looked good,
and now we've given him another
look and he's taking advantage of
it."
Fardig, winding down the last
few months of his Wolverine
career, is playing some of his best
hockey, according to Berenson and
Pearson.
And Glendening,the youngest of
the three by more than two years,
is providing a combination of quick-
ness and strength to the line.
"That's why having a younger
guy like Luke - who works so hard
- is fun for an older guy like me,"
Fardig said. "He's young and full
of energy and just tries to push you
everyday."
And that's exactly what the
fourth line does best for the Wol-
verines.
"You get certain guys who just
want to work hard and that's what
we want, just (to) outwork every-
body," Fardig said.

are working so hard and they're
helping our team win."
Prior to the Great Lakes Invita-
tional in late December, Ciraulo saw
action in just two games.
"Ciraulo has been the odd -man
outmostoftheyear," Berenson said.
"Then he played thatgame, scored a

Basketball community loses legend in Yow

Borseth and
Merchant reflect on
a great loss for
women's sports
By CHANTEL JENNINGS
Daily Sports Writer
For most coaches, 700 victo-
ries would be the thing crowning
achievement of his or her career.
But North-Carolina State coach
Kay Yow wasn't most coaches.
Instead, she will be remembered
for her competitive nature on the
court and her mild manner off it.
She will be remembered for her
integrity, class and unwavering
happiness for others' success
just as much as when she had
success herself.
She will be remembered for

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giving breast cancer hell for 22
long years, rather than falling vic-
tim to it.
Last Saturday, women's college
basketball lost a legend when Yow,
66, lost her battle with cancer.
"She's one of the original coach-
es that started the game of wom-
en's basketball," Michigan coach
Kevin Borseth said. "She was in on
the ground floor."
Yow was a fierce and fearless
leader on the sideline, accumu-
lating 737 wins over her 38-year
coaching run. She was among the
pioneers who helped bring wom-
en's college basketball to the fore-
front of NCAA athletics.
"She started coaching when
maybe 10 people came to the
game," Michigan State women's
basketball coach Suzy Merchant
said. "We played a game against
Wisconsin on Sunday that had
10,000 people at the game. What

she did was pave the way for these
young girls today to play in front of
crowds like that."
In her 34 years at the helm for
the Lady Wolfpack, she defined
herself as a coach and mentor. She
is one of just six Division-I women's
basketball coaches to have amassed
more than 700 victories,joiningthe
impressive ranks of Connecticut
coach Geno Auriemma and Ten-
nessee coach Pat Summitt.
Yow's teams received bids to 20
of 27 NCAA Tournaments, making
it to the Final Four in 1998. And
she is the only coach who has won
a gold medal at both the Olympic
Gaines (1988) and the FIBA World
Championships (1986).
"She's obviously a legend and
an icon," Borseth said. "That goes
without saying."
Fifteen of her former players
went on to coach or play in the
WNBA, and in 2002, her accom-
plishients were recognized
when Yow became just the fifth
female to be inducted into the
Naismith Memorial Basketball
Hall of Fame.
Off the court, Yow raised
money and awareness forbreast
cancerby starting the Kay Yow/
WBCA Cancer Fund. The char-
ity raises money in conjunction
with The V Foundation for Can-
cer Research started in 1993 to
honor former North Carolina

State men's basketball coach Jim
Valvano, who passed away from
cancer in 1993.
Through Yow's lengthy cam-
paign against breast cancer, she
taught her players the importance
of resilience and strength.
"You think your minor knee
injury is a problem," Merchant
said. "You think your back hurts.
You think your ankle is bothering
you. But Kay had poison and che-
motherapy in her system and came
out and had energy and enthu-
siasm to fight each day for (her)
team. I think that's a message that
transcends every team and pro-
gram that came into contact with
her."
The longtime general of the
Lady Wolfpack leaves a legacy
behind her that extends beyond
wins or losses. The impact she
made in the lives of her players,
her staff, her friends and those
struggling with cancer will long
outlive her records and awards.
"There won't be another Kay
Yow," Merchant said. "Therewon't
be another person who has won as
many games, who is as dignified
and as classy of a person as she is.
She'll be greatly missed.
"She was a friend to many and
a mentor to a lot of young women
who are going to make a difference
in this world, and it'll be because
of her."


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