SPORTS
Friday, May 4, 1984
Page 24
The Michigan Daily
'M' athletic board fires Giordano
Berenson top choice
for hockey position
By MIKE McGRAW
Athletic Director Don Canham has always been known for
his practice of never firing a coach., Instead, Canham would
ask for the resignation of a coach he wasn't happy with, or
"promote" him to another position in the athletic
department.
But last Monday at the Board in Control of Intercollegiate
Athletics meeting, Canham made the big step and
recommended that head hockey coach John Giordano not be
rehired. The board than did so unanimously. ,
CANHAM COULD not be reached to comment on the
matter, but reportedly he asked Giordano to resign last week
and the coach refused, hoping to get another chance to turn
the team around after two losing campaigns.'
Giordano leaves Michigan after leading the team for four
seasons, compiling a 68-75-6 record. He became head coach in
1980, after serving one year as an assistant at Michigan,
when head man Wilf Martin became ill early in the season
and had to step down.
That year, Giordano led the team to a fifth-place finish in
the CCHA and an upset victory over Denver in the first round
of the playoffs. After the season, he was named Collegiate
Coach-of-the-Year by the Hockey News.
THE FOLLOWING year, Michigan spent much of the
early season ranked among the top ten teams in the country,
then slumped to fifth place in the CCHA. The last two years,
Giordano's teams finished ninth in the league and failed to
make the playoffs.
But Giordano was dismissed mostly because of his style of
coaching. Be was very unpopular with the players, parents,
fans and alumni.
Two weeks ago, a letter written by one of the parents and
signed by 22 players was sent to Canham outlining
grievances they had with Giordano and stating that they felt
they could not be successful with him as coach. That letter
may have been a major factor in Canham's decision.
THE PLAYER'S complained of Giordano's negative
coaching style, constant threats of taking away scholarships
if a player didn't perform as expected, and general coaching
ineptness.
After this season, Giordano did take away partial
scholarships of Paul Spring, Greg Hudas and Doug May, and
moved goalie John Elliott from full aid to partial. Spring and
May had seen action in every game last year and May was
chosen by Giordano to be a captain for the '84-85 season.
"I think (the firing) was a good move, the program was
starting to go downhill," said junior forward Chris Seychel.
"Nobody was happy with the situation we were in."
NOW THE SEARCH begins for a replacement that can
revive a Michigan hockey program that once won six NCAA
championships in a nine-year period. Canham's number one
choice is former St. Louis Blues head coach Red Berenson.
Berenson, an All-American at Michigan in the early 1960's,
is currently an assistant with the Buffalo Sabres and said he
wouldn't mind moving back to the college level from the
NHL.
"I've discussed the job with Canham but I haven't had time
to make a decision since it just came up this week," said
Berenson. "I'm interested in looking at the job and if
something is going to happen, it should be by the end of the
month."
Other major candidates that will be interested in the job
include Ron Ullyot, a former Wolverine who is now coaching
Fort Wayne of the International Hockey League, and ex-
Michigan assistant Doug Hinton.
Giordano
... voted out by Board
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Erratic batsmen rolling
and stolen bases with 10, having been Scott Kamieniecki and reliever Ken "AT THIS TIME last year we were
By ROB POLLARD caught only once. Hayward. Kamieniecki has a 3-2 record playing consistent ball. This year we
Michigan baseball team ren- In its last seven non-league contests and a 2.65 ERA. Hayward is 6-1 with are struggling, we are fighting with
ts version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Michigan scored 63 runs, an average of three saves and a sparkling 1.62 ERA. outselves," said Larkin, who is
i the past few weeks. But it was nine per game. In their last seven Big Hayward had one of his most im- recovered from an ankle injury.
rine opponents who suffered Ten outings the Wolverines amassed pressive outings of the year in the final When asked if he was making plans
h a horror show. only 19 runs, averaging just under three game against Indidna when he tossed for another trip to the College World
higan relied on strong pitching per game. This reflects the quality of five and two-thirds innings of scoreless Seies he said: "We're hoping for it, but
id defense to win six of eight Big pitching in the Big Ten, relief in a 4-1 win. right now we're worrying about the Big
ontests. In non-league contests HE MICHIGAN arms on the other How does this year's team compare Tens."
er, the Wolveries were carried hand, have been somewhat incon- with last year's Big Ten champs and If it should win the Big Ten campion-
nsive outbursts. sistent. In the four game series at In- NCAA College World Series third place ship tournament, Michigan would then
OOK AT the team statistics diana Wolverine pitchers surrendered finisher? Shortstop Barry Larkin compete at the NCAA regionals. A
s some high batting averages'26 runs in the first two games, but only believes this year's team must develop championship there would mean
three in the second two. Michigan won more consistency. another-trip to Omaha.
More baseball,
see page 22
but some ballooned earned run
averages as well. The offensive front is
led by outfielders Casey Close and Jeff
Minick, and first baseman Ken
Hayward.
Close is leading the team in home
runs with six, and hitting with a mark of
.385. Minick and Hayward are tied for
the team lead in RBI with 37 each.
They are hitting. .322 and .315. respec-
tively. Shortstop Barry Larkin has ap-
peared in only 25 games due to injuries
but is still hitting .347. Centerfielder
Mike Watters is the only other
Wolverine sporting a batting average
above .300. Watters is hitting .313 and
leads the team in runs scored with 38
the opening game of the series 16-10. Af-
ter being blown out in the second game
16-0, the Wolverines took the next two
by scores of 4-1, and 3-2.
Michigan then took three from
Cleveland State 10 days ago, and then
last weekend the Wolverines took three
of four from the hated Ohio State
Buckeyes.
Pitching was the name of the game
for the Wolverines in the Ohio State
series. The Buckeyes could muster only
three runs in the first three games
before unloading for eight in their
game-four triumph.
THE WOLVERINES then creamed
helpless Adrian twice before splitting a
doubleheader with Toledo on Wed-
pesday. Michigan dropped the first
game, 5-4, in ten innings, but won the
nightcap, 8-7, on Jeff Minick's sacrifice
fly in the bottom of the seventh.
The only consistent pitchers for Bud
Middaugh's squad have been starter
Minick and Hayward
... big bats in Blue lineup