Monday July 30, 2007 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 11 sports@michigandaily.com 734-764-8585 McGuffe will Former Wolverine and current Chicago Cubs pitcher is 6-6 with a 3.59 earned run average this year. Former Wolverine Hill is a fixture in the Cubs' rotation By ALEX PROSPERI Daily Sports Writer Former Wolverine and current Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Rich Hill is on cloud nine these days. "To go to a major league field every day and play on the best field in the country and play in front of packed stadiums, especially being a Chicago Cub, where everywhere we go we, have a huge following of loyal fans, it's tough to describe." "It is surreal. I like to go every day when I come into Wrigley and just kind of go into the stands and look out - sit in one of those seats and kind of get the feeling of what its like to sit on the other side, not in the dugout. It's real special." But the road to Chicago's North Side from his hometown of Boston had a few bumps. Hill went 7-16 with a 5.54 ERA for the Maize and Blue from 2000-2002. The Wolverines didn't fair too well either in that span, going 69-92-1. But he learned how to pitch and com- pete in Ann Arbor. "The stuff was there, the talent was there, just how to develop it now and kind of hone it in and to continue to fine tune everything," Hill said. "It was more trying to get to the point where I was consistently throwing strikes." "Playing at Michigan, playing teams like Michigan State and Ohio State, coming in from out of state and coming to Michigan, I didn'treallyknow too much. I knew they were great rivalries but I didn't really know it was all about playing in those rivalries because I had never been to games like that. It's what it's all about. Being part of the tradition there at Michigan, it was just a lot of fun." With more confidence on the mound after three years as a Wolverine, Hill was taken by the Cubs in the 4th round of the 2002 MLB Draft. But Hill still had a lot of time before finally experiencing the glory of the majors. He would pitch for six Cubs minor league affiliates. He went from Boise (Idaho) to Lansing, back to Boise, to Daytona (Fla.), to Peoria (Ill.), to West Tennessee, and then AAA Iowa. Finally, on June 15, 2005, Hill made his major league debut, giving up two runs in one inning in a 15-5 Cubs loss. Since that rough debut, Hill has bounced back and become one of the Cubs most dangerous pitchers. The 27-year-old, who features a nasty curveball and a fastball in the low-90s, has a 6-6 record with a 3.59 ERA this year. Still, he knows he can't keep playing for- ever. Hill doesn't have his college degree, but plans to return for some kind of communica- tions degree in order to stay around baseball via radio or television. Life as a student-athlete, although not a walk in the park for Hill, proved tobe a great stepping-stone to life as a major leaguer. "I know the times that I was there we didn't have great records or winning teams but we did have a lot of fun," Hill said. "And the guys that (I got) to know (and got) to have some really great friendships that continue on today, which I think that's the most memo- rable thing to me ... just the people that I met there and still know today and continue with those relationships" keep 3 undreds of thousands of kids put on hats each day. Some do it for style, some for comfort and some might just be self-conscious of a - possibly developing bald spot. But when Sam McGuffie, a kid who hasn't even started his senior year of high school yet, put on a blue Michigan SCOTT hat Sunday night, it BELL was more than just a cosmetic decision. It's what could keep the Michigan football team around the top of the college football landscape for another half decade. That's because last night, the wunder- kind running back announced his deci- sion to leave his home state of Texas to play his college ball at Michigan in 2008 by placing a blue hat with a maize block 'M' onto his head. That simple action, along with six words- "My heart was just with Michi- gan" - from the mouth of a 6-foot, 188- pound high school senior-to-be were enough to energize a fanbase at about 11:45 late Sunday night, when most nor- mal people were already in bed resting up to start another work week. McGuffie chose to don the maize and blue winged helmet over more than SO other suitors, including Texas A&M, Southern Cal, Florida and Notre Dame. He is rated by Rivals.com as the No.1 all-purpose back in the country. But even if you're just a casual fan and don't follow recruiting to the point where you were online for three straight hours Sunday night, repeatedly hit- ting refresh to be the first to hear the McGuffie news, you may have already come across the newest Wolverine without even trying. Maybe instead of spending hours upon hours of internet time trolling through recruiting mes- sage boards, you're more of a YouTube person. If that's the case, you may have come across some McGuffie highlights, like the one of him leaping - yes, leap- ing - over an opposing defender last fall (501,000+ views as of Sunday night). A phenomenal high school highlight tape reminiscent of Reggie Bush's is just one of the reasons he's being compared to the former Heisman Trophy winner. Some are even calling him the "White on top Reggie Bush." But whether he's black or white, tall or short, shy or boisterous, McGuffie's addition to an already decorated class of 2008 should keep the Michigan fan base excited for years to come. McGuffie is the ninth four-star recruit committed to the Wolverines in just the class of 2008. And even with all the hype that follows McGuffie, he's actually just the fifth highest-ranked Wolverine in that class. And that's one of the reasons why last night's announcement was so sweet for Michigan fans. The excitement surround- ing McGuffie's commitment can really be attributed to three different things: 1. Obviously, people are excited because he's a great player. Whenever a great athlete, especially one at a mar- quee skill position like running back, commits to your program, you should be ecstatic. 2. The competition that Michigan took down for McGuffie needs tobe noted. Yes, the Wolverines have pulled in nine four-star recruits already. But few of the recruits, if any, got the full- court-press attention from so many high-profile teams as McGuffie did. Michigan battled with the best for McGuffie, and it came out on top. 3. McGuffie's addition to this class makes a strong class even stronger. Most expect this to be a top-five nationally ranked class, which is good considering teams from the North rarely break the top-five mark. Couple that with the class of 2007, which includes impact players like Ryan Mallett and Donovan Warren, and the future is bright for Michigan. Really bright. So while some branches of Wolverine Nation may be ready to hit panic mode after the upcoming season - whether it's Hart, Henne and Long's graduation, a rumored early bolt to the NFL from Mario Manningham or the potential retirement of Michigan coach Lloyd Carr looming in the near future - don't be ready to jump off any cliffs just yet. Because if you jump now, you may miss future jumps. Whether it's a pro- verbial jump in the polls or another McGuffie jump over a defender, Michi- gan football will still be alive and kick- ing, even if all the doomsday scenarios after this season come true. - Bell can be reached at scotteb@umich.edu.