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The Michigan Daily --- michigandaily.com 0
McGary still day-to-day
Wolverines in close
battle for 1st in BIG
By DANIEL FELDMAN
Daily Sports Writer
During last season's NCAA
Tournament, Michigan then-
freshman forward Mitch McGary
was the talk of the nation as -he
averaged a double-double of 14.3
points and 10.8 rebounds during
the men's basketball team's run to
the national championship game.
On Thursday, though, at Michi-
gan men's basketball media day,
he was at the center of attention
not for his on-court performance,
but for his current battle to get
back on the court.
Since late September, McGary
has been sidelined day-to-day
with a lower back injury, and
while Michigan coach John
Beilein didn't sound worried
in the long-term sense about
McGary, it remains unclear when
he will get back on the court.
"He's making great progress,"
Beilein said. "We're (being) super
cautious. He's been doing these
underwater treadmill workouts
that are really productive.... It's
still day-to-day. One of these days,
he's going to have to get out there
and see what he can do. But we're
very cautious."
When asked by reporters
about a possible target date for
McGary's return to practice, both
Beilein and McGary lacked an
answer.
"There's no target date or any-
thing right now," McGary said.
"Like I said, I'm day-to-day right
now. (But I'm) feeling really good
about my body and whatnot."
Besides McGary, no other Wol-
verines are currently injured.
However, Beilein did say a simi-
larly cautious approach was taken
with freshman guard Derrick
Walton Jr., who injured his foot in
recent weeks.
"Derrick is 100 percent, or at
least he has been in practice,"
Beilein said. "He missed about
four or five days just when we
ADAM GLANZMAN/Daily
Sophomore forwards Glenn Robinson IIl and Mitch McGary are being counted on to continue Michigan's recent sucess.
made sure his foot was fine."
STRETCHING THE FLOOR: As
recently as two years ago, Michi-
gan was using a four-guard line-
up for the majority of its games.
Packaged with fifth-year senior
Jordan Morgan, the Wolverine
lineup was incredibly small.
That won't be the issue this
year.
Currently, Michigan houses 10
players that stand at least 6-foot-
6. With such height, Beilein
envisions a plethora of possible
lineups.
At the moment, Beilein admits
the team is not as versatile as it
can be, but after McGary recovers
from his lower back issue, he will
be spoiled for choices.
"With Mitch not being in there
right now, we're not as versatile as
we would like to be," Beilein said.
"We want to have people playing a
lot of different positions.... When
Mitch is healthy, we're fairly ver-
satile where we can play a bunch
of multi-position players and just
let it roll."
With sophomore guards Nik
Stauskas and Caris LeVert each
standing at 6-foot-6, the range of
their play could come in a variety
of ways.
With one weighing over 200
pounds - Stauskas, and one under
- LeVert, Beilein sees the duo
playing a "lot of positions."
"I think Nik and Caris can both
really play a big guard," Beilein
said. "Both are two-position play-
ers. Caris can probably play guard
and Nik can play what he played
(last season) and play the off-
guard."
Speaking further on the con-
cept of LeVert playing point
guard, Beilein went as far as to say
that Michigan "could go out there
with a 6-6, 6-6, 6-6, 6-6 and a big
guy" with the four 6-foot-6 play-
ers being LeVert, Stauskas, sopho-
more forward Glen Robinson III
and freshman Zak Irvin.
INTANGIBLES: When asked in
his press conference what was the
biggest challenge that Michigan
will face this year, Beilein was
quick to answer.
"I think the biggest (challenge)
is replacing the intangibles we
had off those five seniors that left
this team and won a lot of games
in their time," Beilein said. "There
were things going on in the locker
room, in the practice and in the
weight room (and) meals that you
(can) hardly replace."
Senior leadership won't be the
only thing that the Wolverines
will have to replace this season.
Another thing will be the pro-
duction of former Wolverines
Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway
Jr. With his two biggest scoring
threats and late-game options no
longer present, Beilein is already
questioning who exactly will fill
their spaces, especially with the
game on the line.
"At the end ofshot clocks, at the
end of games, if we were drawing
up things, it was going to them,"
Beilein said. "Who are you draw-
ing up things for the end of the
game? Those are the things we're
working through right now."
By BRAD WHIPPLE
Daily Sports Writer
With consecutive victories
against Big Ten teams this past
weekend,,the No. 10 Michigan
women's soccer team inched
ever closer to
the top spot
in the Big Ten. MiChian
But, three at IlnOiS
more tough
games stand Matchup:
btente Michigan 12-2-
between the 1; Illinois 8-6-2
Wolverines
and the Big When: Fri-
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ment. Though Where: Illinois
Michigan is Soccer and
starting to Track Stadium
look like a TV/Radio:
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ship team as it
moves toward
the end the
season, it's important not to
look too far ahead.
"Your best shot at winning a
conference championship is to
win these games," said Michi-
gan coach Greg Ryan. "I think
this team is as good, if not bet-
ter, than the team we had last
year."
Michigan (6-1-1 Big Ten,
12-2-1 overall) is comingoff two
huge wins
last weekend
against Indi- -h
ana and Pur- "I th
due, which
ended with team isa
senior for-
ward Nkem if not bet
Ezurike th
becoming the team
the pro-
gram's new a y
scoring lead-
er with 45
career goals.
The Wolverines are now sec-
ond in the conference stand-
ings with 19 points, two behind
Nebraska.
"Coming off those two wins,
I think we really need to refo-
cus," said senior defender She-
lina Zadorsky. "Those are in the
past now, and all that matters
are the three games we have
left."
This weekend, Michigan will
play its final two road confer-
ence games.
Friday, the Wolverines will
head to Champaign, IL, host of
the conference tournament in
November. Sunday, Michigan
will face Northwestern, closing
out the weekend in the Windy
City.
The Fighting Illini (3-4-1,
8-6-2) are a powerhouse on
offense. They are led by for-
ward Jannelle Flaws, who has
tied the Illinois single-season
scoring record with 18 goals,
which leads the conference.
In addition to Flaws, 12 play-
ers have added to the Illini's 41
combined goals, good for sec-
ond-most in the Big Ten.
Even with the offensive fire-
power, The Illini have been
shorthanded, missing their
two-time NSCAAAll-American
forward Vanessa DiBernardo.
DiBernardo has missed the last
six games due to a knee sprain.
It remains to be seen if she will
return Friday.'
"They've been very unfortu-
nate not to have Vanessa," Ryan
said. "She's certainly a differ-
ence maker."
On defense, Illinois' goal-
keeper Claire Wheatley will be
hard to beat. She has reached
a career-high nine saves three
times on her way to 79 total
saves this season, second most
in the conference.
The Wildcats (1-7, 3-11-2)
have won only one conference
game - largely due to their
struggling offense that has
scored just 15 goals this season,
worst in the Big Ten.
On a five-game win streak,
their longest since 2001, the
Wolverines are more focused
than ever and hope to finish
strong, claiming the Big Ten
title. For weeks, they have been
in a tight uphill battle with the
Cornhuskers for first place.
If Michigan wants to come
out of this weekend ahead of
the Cornhusk-
ers, assuming
Nebraska falls
ik this to Ohio State
or Penn State,
iS g(04 it will need to
maintain the
ter, than momentum
created by an
we had impenetrable
ea. defense and a
,ear' hard-hitting
offense that
has carried
the team lately.
"Defense win games, and
that's just the fact of the mat-
ter," Zadorsky said. "If we can
continue going collectively and
have each individual know their
role, I think we'll have success."
Added Ryan: "We have great
defending, we're fast in the
counter attack and we have the
Nkem factor."
The key to success for the
Wolverines may lie in early
scoring opportunities, as Mich-
igan is 10-0 this year when
scoring first.
Zadorsky said capitalizingon
these early chances is extreme-
ly important to the team's suc-
cess, as it allows them to pick
up on the game's momentum.
"It's critical to score early,"
Ryan said. "We want to get on
top of (Illinois) and not be the
team chasing the game and try-
ing to play from behind."
"The focus isn't on Big Ten
Championship or going unde-
feated. The focus is on playing
Illinois Friday night, and if we
keep our heads right, maybe
things will turn out good for
us."
ADAM GLANZMAN/Daily
Michigan Stadium is always packed with fans, but few people see the stories of some of the most important people in the building, the stadium workers.
Over 50 years on one phone-
6
By LIZ VUKELICH
Daily Sports Editor
While masses of spectators
pile into Michigan Stadium on
football Saturdays, a different
kind of stampede is going on in
the press box.
There are hordes of people
moving in and out of the box: beat
writers, television personalities,
sports information directors and
bowl game representatives.
People come and go. But
amongst the hubbub, there's
a duo that hasn't moved in 50
years.
Art Parker and Ken Collica,
who answer the press box phone,
started working for the Athletic
Department in 1955 and 1968,
respectively. If there's anyone
who's seen history at the Big
House, it's these two.
At its core, their job is simple
- Parker and Collica answer the
phone to provide game statistics
to media outlets. If a radio sta-
tion or TV network has questions
about the game, Parker and Col-
lica are the ones they talk to.
The two have received every
kind of call imaginable, from a
mother demanding to speak to
her injured son on the field to
bomb threats in the late 1960s
and early 70s.
"We've had a lot of fun with
the media," Collica said. "They
rely on us a great deal, particu-
larly after the game. It's been a
fun job."
After this past weekend, Park-
er's consecutive home-game
streak is now. up to 434. It very
nearly ended in 2001, though.
On Sept. 8, 2001 the Wolver-
ines played Washington in Seat-
tle so Parker and his wife decided
to head down to San Francisco
afterward for a mini-break. Fol-
lowing the 9/11 terrorist attacks,
planes were grounded indefi-
nitely, it seemed unlikely Parker
was going to make it back to Ann
Arbor in time for Michigan's next
matchup against Western Michi-
gan. But the game was postponed .
until the following week and the
streak survived.
"It's selfish, but (the delays)
kept (the streak) going," Parker
said smiling.
From .Michigan's last minute
heroics against Notre Dame to
Desmond Howard's Heisman
pose, there have been many icon-
ic moments at the Big House.
But out of those 434 games,
it's not hard for Parker to pick a
favorite. Anthony Carter's touch-
down catch against Indiana in
1979 is a close second, but Mich-
igan-Ohio State in 1969 takes the
cake.
Michigan fans don't need to
be told how the story plays out.
Looking back, Parker has never
seen anything like it in a press
box anywhere after the Wolver-
ines upset the Buckeyes, 24-12.
"The local Detroit media ...
said 'No way Michigan can win
this game,' " Parker said. "It was
like an impossible game. It got
down to the last minute, this
whole place started vibrating. It
just went ballistic."
There's a very strict policy
about not showing partisanship
in the press box. But on that day,
all rules went out the window.
"They came on the PA and
said, 'There's no cheering in the
press box, but today, we'll make
an exception,' "Parker said.
The 1969 edition of The Game
is Collica's favorite too, but for
a different reason - by the time
November 22 rolled around, his
pregnant wife was three weeks
overdue. And when the phone
rang for Collica, he knew it was
his wife saying she had gone into
labor before he even picked up.
The pair could talk for hours
about their stories from over the
decades, from the time the field
flooded and former Michigan
Athletic Director Don Canham
jokingly demanded a thousand
squeegees to mop it up, to the
time the first cell phone was used
in the stadium.
Parker and Collica have time
to reminisce now - games are
less hectic than they used to be.
Before the advent of the Inter-
net, even in the early 2000s, the
phone would ring after every
play, with radio stations needing
to know every single detail.
Now, things like Twitter and
statistic websites mean that peo-
ple can find that kind of informa-
tion on their own without having
to go through an actual person.
But that doesn't mean the duo
thinks they're obsolete.
"Are we still needed here?"
Collica asked. "Yes, because
phone calls still need to come in.
Like any demographic, things
have changed, and technology
has changed."
When the old press box was
torn down after the 2009 season
as the whole stadium underwent
renovations, employees were told
they could take anything, they
wanted as a memento.
Collica took the old phone, the
one that had been his and Park-
er's friend those many years. It's
sitting at his house, and though it
won't be ringing any time soon,
the sounds of Michigan football
continue to echo in Collica's ears.
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Freshman goaltender Taylor Bucklin has collected 44 saves on the season.
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