14 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, July 24, 2000
IM softball top sport in summer
8y Jeff Phillips
Daily Sports Writer
During the summer months, Anns
Arbor becomes a pretty desolate
place for people looking for sports
action. For them, Intramural Softball
is the only game in town.
The lack of sporting options cre-
ates a diverse environment often
unseen in other IM sports.
"There is an extreme variety of
players - from former varsity base-
ball players down to people who
have never swung a bat." said
Intramural umpire David Rigan.
Fifty softball teams compete in
four different leagues: Co-
Recreation A and B, and
Independent A and B. The A leagues
are for the more skilled teams, while
the B leagues are for teams without
much softball experience.
While the goal of the participants
is to have fun, the degree of compe-
tition varies greatly.
r_ "(IM Softballl is fun as long as
people don't take it too seriously,"
said IM Softball player Kris Enlow.
Enlow plays on Co-Rec team con-
sisting of friends, whose goal is to
have fun. This tends to be the case
with most of the teams in the league.
"All players are very sociable,"
said Rigan. "They are less conscious
of winning and losing."
For some players - who are very
conscious of winning and losing -
the IM leagues are just too easy.
One player, who requested that her
name not be used, said that the IM
league is just not competitive
enough.
"Everyone knows (the IM league)
is just for fun," said the woman.
She and her teammates have won
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Earn $60 in a fo
experiment that
- throughout July.
Days: Sunday t
Times: 5:00 and
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the title four years in a row. This
made the team go looking for some-
thing more fulfilling. They found it
in the Michigan Classics.
"The competition is better and
people take it more seriously," said
John Carlson, one of the woman's
teaummates.
Michigan Classics is a league
operated through the IM department.
The league is for the more serious
softball player who want more than
just a friendly game of softball.
Unlike IM Softball, the Michigan
Classics leagues do not require play-
ers to be Michigan students. This
allows for the best teams from inside
and outside of Michigan to compete.
Perhaps to even the parity between
teams in the league, the IM depart-
ment is tovinr with the idea of insti-
tuting a system that would allow
players to pitch to their own team.
In the system, each batter would
be given a maximun of three pitch-
es from one of their teammates. This
would eliminate walks and would
give each batter a better chance to
get a good hit.
Not everyone welcomes this pos-
sible change. One woman called this
the "lamest idea ever."
Umpire David Rigan does not
welcome the change.
"(The changes) would eliminate
all good pitchers in slow-pitch soft-
ball," said Rigan.
Whether the changes are instituted
remains to be seen, but until then the
only certainty is that IM softball will
remain hot fun in the summertime.
SCARBROUGH lowing year will be the big year, as he
i Vplans to run his first marahon, only
Continued from Page 12 two years after his bout with ,ly
Does Scarbrough think he achieved phoma.
something great? Apparently not. "My goal is to run, and it'll be to
"I feel lucky, I don't feel like I've celebrate three years of cancer free
done anything great. I just feel lucky life, and my fiftieth birthday,"
that I've been able to do the things I Scarbrough said.
have, because many people haven't or For Scarbrough, the marathons have
can't," he said. been something that has provided a lot
About 90 people from Michigan of support through his recovery, along
went with Tim to Alaska, and 3000 with the support he's received from his
people participated overall, raising wife and two daughters.
over S7 million for research. "(Marathons) absolutely are something
Tim is already planning to partici- that has helped me get over cancer
pate in at least three more marathons emotionally," Scarbrough said. "Also,
over the next year and a half. He will my family handled it really well, and
be a team captain at the Hawaii my wife has been my main support."
(December) and the Anchorage ForTim, life is good. He's alive, isn't
(spring) marathons, meaning he will he?
not participate, but he'll be in charge of For all of those laboring to help the
fundraising, training, and social fight with cancer, it's all about staying
events. alive, some way, some how. And many
He will then travel to San Diego, and times, as with Tim, sports isn't just
also to Tahoe for a bike ride, then walk about having fun, it's about appreciat
the Dublin, Ireland marathon. The fol- ing life.
Camps give kids an
early taste of college
By Arun Gopal kids per group. They might take more
DalySports Editor other schools, but it is too tough for us
with limited ice space."
Each summer, hordes of pre-teens and Although the main motive of a sum-
teenagers descend on Ann Arbor. Many mer camp is to educate youngsters on the
students may have come across these fundamentals of sport, there can also be
foundlings traveling in packs from the some fringe benefits for the school host-
South and West Quad dorms where they ing the camp.
are housed to the athletic campus. "A camp could be a chance to recruit,"
They are sometimes noisy and often Berenson said. "For example, Mike
block traffic. Cammalleri came when he was 14 or 15.
And they all come for one reason: to We were really impressed with him, and
receive instruction from Michigan it turned out we recruited him.
coaches during summer sports camps. Camps can also help recruit studetS
Colleges across the country stage who are not planning to play sports.
sports camps, and their continued exis- The opportunity to spend a few days
tence is proof positive of their populari- on campus, see the dorms, and observe
ty. general campus life can be a powerful
"For our hockey camp, we split the tool to convince a high schoolerto attend
kids up into three age groups: 10-12, 13- Michigan instead of a different universi-
15, and 16-18;' Michigan hockey coach ty. The mutually beneficial nature of
Red Berenson said. "There are about 30 summer camps has convinced coaches
of their worthiness.
"It's good for both sides," MihigN
men's gymnastics coach Kurt Golder
* said. "The kids can go to different camps
and get a well-rounded experience."
"It's really amazing, Berenson added.
"We get kids from nearly every state."
With so many camps to choose from
in any given sport, athletes have a variety
Sav of things to consider before choosing the
S e right camp for them. But one thing that
they generally won't have to worry about
p s the level of teaching.
"The instruction is pretty equal acro
I AdVe'~e the board," Golder said. "Sometimes,
Sp'tnetuC with gymnastics camps, coaches from
I ACCO ___ the area will come in. But there isn't a
whole lot of difference"
For most, summer sports camps are
about one thing: fun. While the students
who attend them can expect some hard
work, they also get to enjoy the experi-
ence of learning frort the best.
"There are more and more hock
S d jBjj4y rinks being built around the country,
would like ,Berenson said. "So, our hockey camp is
helping to bring the sport into some non-
our advertisers traditional environments. It's not just a
for their dOi'n0 l'O . local thing anymore"
BRAD QUINN/Day
While he may not be invited for a tryout with the Tigers, GSI Joel Weingarten and
many like him have found relaxed competition in the form of IM softball.
ur session computer-mediated negotiation
is being held in the Business School
Experimental sessions last under an hour.
hrough Thursday
6:30 PM.
n the pool of possible subjects, register at:
.bus.umich.edu/~summerOO
ou must be over the age of 18.
e , a x a x a t x a. t x e 5 a a a a x *. t t t 9 e s.. e , t