Nothing
(Continued fromPagei)
First, there are the partiers, who by
the end of the game rarely know if
Michigan won. Then there are the
zombies, who utilize game time by
sampling the latest herbs from
Columbia.
Thousands of alumni attend, and
their noise level rivals that of the
Graduate Library. Others watch the
stands instead of the field to see who
came and who they can socialize with.
With all these pseudo-fans, one gets
the impression nobody cares whether,
or not the Wolverines win. After all,
University President Harold Shapiro
doesn't call for a day of mourning
after a loss, and Saturday night par.
ties are hardly ever cancelled. But
parties are so much sweeter after a
triumph.
There are even hardcore fans
hose mental stability is put on the
ne each contest. Last, year, some
devoted fans in my dorm cursed and
pounded their wallsperiodically after
the Iowa debacle, a loss on the last.
second field goal.
The banging I like to see is on the
field. For the football connoisseur the
Wolverines offer the best in college
football. Michigan finished second in
the polls last season after defeating
Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl. Most of
that successful squad will return. Thef
defense was awesome and will be
'again.
The nation's leader in passing ef.
ficiency, quarterback Jim Hlrliaugli.
returns along with wide receivers
John Kolesar and Paul Jokisch. Yes,
one can infer that the Wolverines will
be throwing the football even with Bo
Schembechler at the helm. Passing
creates excitement which in turn
will make Athletic Director Don
Canham want to repaint the numbers
on the seats closer together to squeeze
in more paying customers.
beats 'M' footballi
Prospective freshmen customers Nobody can tell me that the
can go to the games, get drunk, and Hawkeye crowd wasn't as good as
never support the team. Yet, that having a twelfth man on the field. At-
behavior can be done anywhere on tend the games and have a good time,
campus. Warning, the surgeon but remember to enjoy the game and
general says becoming a mindless fan the outstanding team, too. Add rather
is more harmful to the continued suc- than detract from the Michigan
cess of the nrogram. tradition as victors of the West.
The Michigan Daily, Summer, 1986 - Page 19
THE SPORTIGVIEWS
Daily Photo by DAN HABIB'
Michigan kiicker Bob Bergeron and the Wolverine fans walk on air after beating defending
national champion Miami, 22-14, in the 1984 season opener.
Is it basketball.. .
.. or the opera?
By PAUL DODD
MICHIGAN BASKETBALL crowds are like
moviegoers.
Usually they recline into their well-padded, Crisler
Arena seat, serenely viewing the action on the court. If
something good happens, they'll offer polite applause,
or maybe even arise from their seat if the person in
front of them happens to stand for a good play.
Barring anything remarkable, Wolverine fais often
resemble opera buffs, the only difference being that
Michigan supporters would never be as impolite or
boisterous as those who go to "The Met" and cheer,
"Bravo!"
After all, this is one of the top ten universities in the
country. We can't allow people to think that we are
screaming maniacs just because our team has won 75
percent of its games the last three years.
No, no, that simply won't do.
For those who sit at home and see 33,000 orange-
painted yahoos for every home game at Syracuse and
wonder how they do it, don't look here for an answer.
The lackadaisical attitude and behavior of Michigan
hoop-watchers aroused the ire of Michigan coach Bill
Frieder after his team had lost two close games before
highly partisan and animated anti-Michigan crowds at
Purdue and Illinois.
"We need out band, cheerleaders, fans and students
to get off their butts and put something into our home
games," Frieder steamed, his ears still ringing from
the two-hour dins of such places as infamous Assembly
Hall in Bloomington, Indiana.
Frieder's prodding helped, as a few hundred more
fans than usual stayed for the final four minutes of the
next few games. They even managed to stand up at
times other than halftime.
As the 1986 Big Ten race wound down, Wolverine
rooters slowly worked themselves into shape for the
last drive to a second straight game against Bobby
Knight and the Indiana Hoosiers; it all came together.
It was to be the biggest game ever staged in Crisler
Arena. More than 14,000 fans were shoe-horned into the
domed building so often overshadowed by its' mam-
moth neighbor, Michigan Stadium.
Fans arrived early, after 45 minutes to an hour
before tip-off. The Michigan Basketball Band and the
Wolverine cheerleaders stirred up every trick
imaginable to get the Michigan partisans psyched up
for the showdown.
To kick the olddead-horse sports cliche, the rest is
history. Frieder's hoopsters massacred the suddenly
subdued Hoosiers, and became the only major college
basketball team to repeat its 1985 conference cham-
pionship.
Michigan's performance so impressed the nation in
the Indiana title game that one sports writer from The
Washington Post wrote, "If Michigan plays as hard in
the NCAA tournament as it did against Indiana, we
might as well just phone in the scores and give them
the trophy now."
Needless to say, no one followed up on the idea and
the Wolverines went out in Round Two for the second
straight year.
It should be noted, however, that if the Wolverines
could impress one natonal reporter to that extent-in a
game with the home crowd 2,000 percent behind
it-who's to say how much it would help if such fan in-
volvement carried through the whole schedule?
More than 12,000 season tickets were sold to Univer-
sity of Michigan basketball games last year and 5,000
of those went to students. Even with the silent; docile'
alumni and the big-money contributors who get the
great seats, the (loud) voice of the student section must
be heard.
When the band starts playing, cheer. When the team
comes out of the tunnel, cheer louder, When Michigan
takes the floor, stand up, go crazy, and ignore anyone
who tells you to do otherwise. If you want to catch a
nice, quiet game without being disturbed, do the team
a favor: sell your ticket to a real fan and turn on your
MARK MYWORDS*
__ By Mark Borowsky
Icers have no '. .
...but no No Doz for fans
F LAST YEAR'S Michigan football and
nasketball teams represented two
squads maturing from awkwardness to:
winners, then the hockey team was lost'
somewhere in between, mired in
adolescence. It often used poor judgement,
took unnecessary risks, and made
mistakes as often as pimples pop up on a
fifteen-year-old.
Yet despite having a mediocre year -
going 12-24 in the regular season - the
Michigan hockey team was in many ways
more entertaining than either the football
or the basketball team.
In his two years as head coach, Red
Berenson has built his team in his own
image. Having been a forward for
lichigan and in the NHL, Berenson
stressed offense in the last two seasons,
hoping that the Wolverines could outscore
their usually more talented opponents.
Sometimes this worked; witness the 11-10
overtime upsetlast year against defending
national champion RPI.
However, when the offense failed, the
defense...well, perhaps such messy tales
are better left unsaid. With frequent
defensive lapses and goaltending that of-
ten bordered on awfulness, 1-0 games
became a distinct species.
Add a potent offense to a porous defense
and the results were non-stop weekend
thrills at Yost Ice Arena. Even though the
Wolverines more often than not found
themselves on the short end of a shootout,
they were certainly more entertaining
than watching the football team level Big
Ten opponents or the basketball team
sleepwalk to a victory over the likes of
Chicago State.
And as the excitement at hockey games
often exceded that at the football games,
the crowdenthusiasm did too. Half of the
students at football games were looking
for a fraternity/sorority pickup, while at
Crisler Arena the best seats were well-
stocked with No Doz to keep the alumni
awake so that they could politely clap a
"good play."
It seems that Michigan hockey fans are
of a different breed: they actually come to
watch a hockey game and actually cheer
loudly for Michigan to win.
Although the cheering couldn't help
Michigan beat up on the Central Collegiate
Hockey Association, the Wolverines did
make life miserable for the top two
finishers in the conference, Michigan State
and Bowling Green. The Wolverines split
their season series with the two league
powerhouses.
One of the main reasons for Michigan
losing against the crummy teams was
junior center Brad Jones. The team's
leading scorer in 1985-86 played like Wayne
Gretzky against Michigan State, but like a
cadaver against Ferris State. If Jones can
exhibit half of the enthusiasm and hustle
he displayed against Michigan State and
Bowling Green all of next year, then op-
posing goalies may be left shell-shocked.
In fact Berenson's squad could leave a
lot of teams shell-shocked. They return a
young team; last year's team MVP Jeff
Norton was only a sophomore. Also,
Berenson and assistant coach Mark Miller
have gone out and recruited aggressively.
Next year will bring one of the finest
freshmen classes ever.
Without A doubt, next year the hockey
team will be "the toast of Yost." Whether
that will mean a compliment or a slice of
burnt bread depends on how much the
players grow up between now and October.