2B - December 6, 2010 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 2B - December 6, 2010 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Gator Bowl puts Michigan's coaching farce in spotlight Caporusso and Wohlberg help * Blue end drought There's one thing that's clear to me after waiting on bated breath for Michigan's bowl invitation: Rick Catlett is the smartest man in the room. The Gator Bowl president's elation at his committee's unanimous choice for the Wolverines to play in the New Year's Day bowl was surprising at first. After all, RYAN both Michigan KARTJE and No. 21 Mis- sissippi State lost two of their last three games and aren't exactly tearing up the college football landscape. The logical choice for a Big Ten counterpart would have been Iowa, a team that beat Michigan when the Wolverines were playing arguably their best football of the year and a team whose fan base travels incred- ibly well. But Catlett and the rest of the Gator Bowl selection committee saw something stronger than a pas- sionate fanbase - they saw dollar signs. Better yet, they saw dollar signs attached to a flaming trainwreck. And don't kid yourself, fans love nothing more than watching immi- nent doom unfold before their eyes. Catlett told the Daily lastweek that he was certain the game would , come downto Penn State, Iowa or Michigan, with Penn State probably accepting a bid to the Outback Bowl. When it came down to Michigan or Iowa though, there's only four words that Catlett and the rest of the committee probably needed to hear: "You Raise Me Up." At the team's banquet last Thursday, in an effort to convince God-only-knows-whom to sup- port him as Michigan's coach, Rich Rodriguez made an absolute fool of himself, standing hand-in-hand with his entire team and staff while Mr. Josh Groban's song blared over the loud speakers. He emotionally addressed the attendees at Laurel Manor in Livo- nia, assuring them that he wanted to be a Michigan Man - two words that have clearly haunted him since his arrival in Ann Arbor. It was the second time Rodri- guez had "gotten emotional" at the podium during his tenure here - the first being when the NCAA alle- gations were announced. And for a coach at the helm of America's win- ningest college football program, twice is two times too many. Josh Groban himself couldn't take the embarrassing display seriously. @joshgroban: Coach Rodriguez, I'm veryflattered but crying to You Raise Me Up is SOfive years ago. #playwelcomnetothejungle When Josh Groban makes fun of you for playing his own song, then you know you've become a laugh- ingstock. And that's all the nation will be thinking about come New Year's Day at 1:30 p.m., when the Wolver- ines kickoff in Jacksonville, Fla. Because, let's be honest, it matters very little to the rest of the nation whether a 7-5 Michigan team wins this game. Instead, the nation will be tun- ing in to watch Rodriguez go down in flames. They'll be listening for talk of his job security. They'll take over/unders on how many times "You Raise Me Up" is mentioned. (Hint: take the over). And that's exactly what's wrong with this coaching farce. This all could have been prevented. With one flick of the wrist, Athletic By MICHAEL FLOREK Daily Sports Editor COLUMBUS -- The top shelf is usually reserved for momma's cookies, but inside Value City Arena this weekend, it was only filled with pucks. In both games of the No. 11 Michigan hockey team's series split with Ohio State, the Wolver- ines sent the puck just under the crossbar. For the culprits, senior forward Louie Caporusso and junior forward David Wohlberg, the top shelf was the key to break out of their goal-scoring slumps. But more important, both goals broke 1-1 ties in the third period. On Friday, Caporusso carried the puck into the Buckeye zone. After a forehand-to-backhand deke, Capo- russo pulled the puck wide back to his forehand and let go of a quick shot just inside the blue line. Ohio State goalie Cal Heeter couldn't even get a piece of it. It was Caporusso's first goal since he scored two against Alas- ka six games ago. "Sometimes goals, they come in weird ways and sometimes, they are not always going to come to you," Caporusso said after Friday's game. "Youjust got to keep battling and keeping working hard you'll get your bounces. Stay positive that's the biggest thing because you gotto keep shooting the puck. I just took that shot and it happened to find its way into the net. " Ever since Caporusso scored 24 times in his sophomore year, he's been expected to score big goals for the Wolverines (8-3-1-0 CCHA, 9-5-4 overall). Michigan hadn't scored a goal in the third period to tie or take the lead since early November. And despite Michigan giving up a late goal and losing in overtime, Caporusso's individual effort revealed that he can be the clutch scorer the Wolverines desperately need. "I want to be looked upon," Caporusso said. "I like having that pressure on me to come up big in the big games. Hopefully I can do that this year." But it's been Caporusso's line- mate, Wohlberg, who has scored the big goals for Michigan this season. Wohlberg scored to tie the game with 13 seconds left a month ago against Ferris State. But after leading the team in goals at the beginning of the year, he hit a slump in November, with only one goal and one assist since the matchup with the Bulldogs. On Saturday, with Michigan in danger of getting swept by Ohio State (3-6-1-1, 6-8-i) for the first time since 1989, Wohlberg stepped around the opposing center off the faceoff, intercepted the puck and put it on net. The puck eventu- ally came back to Wohlberg on the backdoor and he sent a backhand over Heeter and into the upper netting for the winning goal. The goal was his seventh of the year and his second game-win- ning tally this season. Because of his fast start, the slump-breaker put him in a three-way tie for the team lead in goals. "He's way overdue," Berenson said. "Here's a guy, he scored five goals in the first seven games and then for one reason or another he's been snake bit, so good for him." Wohlberg's goal also gave the Wolverines their first win in the past four games. And though Michigan filling up the top shelf didn't break mom- ma's cookies, it did break the Wol- verines' slumps. Michigantcoach Rich Rodriguez walks out of Ohio Stadium after the Wolverines' 37-7 loss to Ohio Stole two weeks ago. Director Dave Brandon could have made this all go away. If he wants to keep Rodriguez for another year, it easily could have been done by now. If he wanted to can him and start the coaching search, that could have been done too. But instead, Rodriguez will remain under the pressure cooker while the rest of the nation laughs and points. And as far as I can tell, there's only one logical reason Brandon is sitting silently on the sidelines, watching while Rodriguez gets tossed around in the national media, one reason this comedy of errors is all worth it: Brandon is waiting for a certain coach from Stanford to finish coaching his bowl game. If that really is the case, if this whole embarrassment was neces- sary to ensure that Jim Harbaugh quietly packs his bags for Ann Arbor, then so be it. I just hope in the long run that it was worth it for Brandon and the program. Because with the way this cha- rade has been going, it sure will be worth it for the Gator Bowl and its viewers, who get to watch the car- nage along the way. Daily Sports Editor Tim Rohan and Daily Sports Writer Nicole Auerbach contributed to this report. Kartje can be reached at rkartje@umich.edu Stanford AD: Harbaugh indicated he will accept sweetened contract deal Youngsters impress in Las Vegas STANFORD, Calif. (AP) - Stan- ford athletic director Bob Bowlsby has made a pre-emptive offer to sweeten Jim Harbaugh's contract before the coach even gets offered other jobs. "We have a proposal in front of Jim and he's indicated he plans to accept it," Bowlsby said Sunday. "He's got this year and four more on his contract. I expect that he will be our coach in the foreseeable future." Bowlsby spoke Sunday after the fifth-ranked Cardinal (11-1) accept- ed a bid to play in the Orange Bowl against Virginia Tech on Jan. 3, a remarkable turnaround from the 1-11 team Harbaugh took over four years ago. Harbaugh's name has been men- tioned as a possible NFL coachor for higher-profile college jobs, includ- ing his alma mater of Michigan if the Wolverines decide to fire Rich Rodriguez. Michigan athletic direc- tor Dave Brandon has said he will not make a decision on Rodriguez until after the Wolverines play in their bowl game Jan. 1. "When you have high quality people you're going to have others coming after him," Bowlsby said. "Whether it's the NFL or another university, we have to be prepared to make pre-emptive offers and do the things it takes to put tools in place that make Jim or any other coach want to stay here. In the case of a football coach, those things tend to be a little more expensive than with some of our other coaches." Harbaugh has said he will not talk about other jobs and is happy at Stanford. By DANIEL WASSERMAN Daily Sports Writer Just two weeks after an embar- rassing loss at Lehigh, the No. 21 Michigan wrestling team headed to the Cliff Keen Invitatiorfal in Las Vegas looking to bounce back. It did just that, in abig way. The 36-team tournament field featured eight of the nation's top 11 teams. And the Wolverines finished sixth, thanks to another dominant performance from 3rd-ranked junior Kellen Russell and a surprise run by sophomore Ben Apland. Freshman Dan Yates and senior Anthony Bion- do also placed. "We're definitely making some strides, no question about it," Michi- gan coach Joe McFarland said. "Overall, considering the depth and the quality of the teams here, if you can be in the top 10 it's a good per- formance. But we were capable of more, we didn't have a good round Saturday morning, and that hurt us a little bit in what we were capable of. I was really proud of the four guys that placed." Russell set the tone for the Wol- verines, winning the 141 lb. weight class. Success in Las Vegas is noth- ing new to the junior, who placed first and third in his previous two appearances there. "I wasn't really surprised by my win," Russell said. "I've been wres- tling pretty well and working hard. I went into the tournament expecting to win. It was a good tournament for me to make a statement." As the second seed, Russell had highlight wins over the third seed, Illinois's Jimmy Kennedy, and fourth seed, Cal Poly's Boris Nova- chov. Russell made quick work of Kennedy, pinning him 1:16 into the match. And after a strong start against Novachov, he hung in long enough to secure the championship, 3-2. "It's not a surprise," McFarland said. "He's solid, he's a great com- petitor and he wants to win in the worst way. He's willing to do what- ever it takes to win. That's the best way I can put it. He knows what he needs to do to gethis hand raised." While Russell's play came as no surprise, Apland's performance was arguably the top story of the week- end. Apland, the 12th seed, stormed through the heavyweight bracket. He was finally defeated in the finals, but not before knocking off three of the top five seeds. His highlight vic- tory came over in-state rival No. 1 Jared Trice of Central Michigan. "It was a great (feeling) knowing that I'm one of the top heavyweights in the country," Apland said. "Com- ing into this tournament, I really wanted to make a name for myself because I knowI'm good. I'mtrying to prove it to other people, too. But being a12-seed, it was nice upsetting some of the higher seeds, which is surprising. But deep down, I knew I had it in me." In the finals, a matchup of two Cinderellas, Oklahoma's Nathan Fernandez, the 11th-seed, came away with a convincing 4-0 victory over Apland. "I think he turned a lot of heads this weekend, and he was right there to win the championship," McFar- land said. "It's got to do a lot of good things for his confidence. To come in here and dowhathe did,it wasgreat" Michigan benefited from sur- prisingly strong play from another youngster, Dan Yates. The redshirt freshman was forced to default out of his last match due to a knee problem he suffered in his previ- ous match, but his three wins were enough to place him eighth. McFar- land held Yates outfor precautionary reasons and hopes that he'll be able to compete this weekend. Despite strong play from a few underclass- men, some of the team's veterans left hoping that "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." Though McFarland was pleased with what he saw out of No. 2 Biondo, losses to two Big Ten opponents limited him to a fourth- place finish. Junior Zac Stevens got off to ahot start Friday, but two Saturday-morning losses prevented him from placing. "Anthony was pretty disappoint- edwithhismatches,butIthoughthe * battled hard," McFarland said. "He was right there in all of his matches. Saturday morning, I don't think Zac had a good match. He really need- ed to pick his intensity up and he never got himself back in the match. There's no reason he shouldn't have placed this weekend, but it didn't work out for him. You just can't make big mistakes in a tournament like this." The Wolverines now turn their attention to next Sunday's Big Ten opener with Wisconsin. The fourth- ranked Badgers finished second in Las Vegas. The meet in Madison will have two sets of rematches from the Invitational, where Apland knocked off No. 4 Eric Bugenhagen and junior Justin Zeerip was defeat- ed by No. 9 Benjamin Jordan. "Obviously, we had a good chance to see Wisconsin this past weekend," McFarland said. "We were battling with them and they've got a great team. We've just got to be ready to wrestle up there. We'll have to have 0 some guys extend themselves and wrestle tough with a lot of grit." 208 E. Woshington St. Ann Arbor, Ml 48104 (734) 997-7030 www.salonxl.corn Fe curing Produc s by KERASTASE ,'5JBE . U D K U Blue unable to repeat last year's comeback * By ALEX STEINHOFF For TheDaily Entering the final day of com- petition, the Wolverines had their opponents right where they want- ed them. Or so they thought. Last year at the USA Swim- ming Short Course Nationals, the Michigan men's swimming team was in second after two days, only to come from behind and clinch a second consecutive Short Course Nationals win. This year, how- ever, the third day wasn't as kind. The Wolverines couldn't complete the three-peat and finished sec- ond to rival and host Ohio State. But the Wolverines were con- tent with their second place fin- ish, given the circumstances. This year, the team competed in many more events than it had in the past two years at the Short Course Nationals, which meant less rest and more swimming. Junior Dan Madwed was the lone Wolverine to medal at this year's Short Course, finishing third in the 200-yard butterfly. For Madwed, who was a member of Michigan's previous two Short Course champion teams, the meet wasn't about medaling or even coming in second place as a team - it was about learning what this team has going forward and how hard it can push itself. "We swam in as many events as possible," Madwed said. "Other teams didn't do that and scratched some events, but we really wanted to see what we have for later in the year. You never know how hard you can push yourself until you do it." The Wolverines didn't view the event as a must-win, but rather as a chance to improve and bond together as a team. The Short Course Nationals was the last opportunity for Blue, before the Orange Bowl Classic in January, to see what theyhad in the tank. "We treated this like a train- ing meet to see what we have for later in the year," Madwed said. "I think it was a good step forward although it may not look like it." For many swimmers, the meet was a great learning experience. Freshman Kyle Whitaker was among the many swimmers who stepped up and contributed to the Wolverines' effort. He notched a fourth-place finish in the 400-yard individ- ual medley, sixth place in the 200- yard individual medley and also a 12th-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly. Whitaker was the highest scor- er of all Wolverine swimmers this weekend. "Confidence and being excit- ed really helps swimming fast," Whitaker said. "We really did a great job of supporting each other, and getting behind each other." This great team spirit didn't go unnoticed by Michigan coach Mike Bottom. "(Finishing second) this week- end was a matter of swimming against teams that were ready to go," Bottom said. "The fact that we were able to compete against more prepared teams gives us the confidence that we can step up and swim against anybody." Despite losing to the Buckeyes, the second-place finish gave them swimmers confidence moving for- ward. For some swimmers, they learned their limits. For others, they learned what it takes to win races. But for all swimmers, this weekend gave a taste of competi- tion they'll be facing all season and a great deal of confidence to go with it. "When you do good jobs in races, you build confidence," Whitaker said. "Swimming fast also really builds our confidence and confidence helps with swim- ming fast. It comes hand in hand. Where we are at this point in the season we were really happy with how we swam."