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.