Men's Tennis vs. Kalamazoo Today, 2 p.m. Track and Tennis Building The Michigan Daily SPORTS Wednesday, February 13, 1991 Women's Basketball vs. Illinois Friday, 7:30 p.m. Crisler Arena Page 9 Aft 11 111 2), BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK Indiana, OSU clash in mnother top-rank bout Optimistic netters take on Kalamazoo by Phil Green Daily Basketball Writer Last Sunday, No. 1 UNLV de- feated then No. 2 Arkansas in what was billed as the game of the year. This Sunday's Ohio State-Indiana match-up, which may decide the Big Ten title, should rival the ,4LV-Arkansas contest. The Buckeyes won the teams' first meeting, 93-85, in Blooming- ton. They opened up a big lead early, and then held off an impres- sive Hoosier run down the stretch. This week's game should be just as exciting. "I think it's a great match-up," Minnesota coach Clem Haskins id. "Ohio State's strong up front, d Indiana has their perimeter game. They're very deserving of their two and four rankings." With so many talented players, the key to the game could fall on the shoulders of the two point guards: Ohio State's Mark Baker and Indiana's Jamal Meeks. "Baker's as quick a guard as there is in the league. When he en- red Ohio State's starting lineup ast year, that's when they started winning," Michigan coach Steve Fisher said. "Meeks does all the things Indiana wants him to do. He gets the ball to the right people. They're both very instrumental to the success of their team."~ HOW THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN: When the season began, not only was Michigan State ex- pected to repeat as Big Ten cham- pions, but the Spartans were also expected to make a run for the na- tional title. These lofty expecta- tions were echoed by a pre-season No. 4 ranking. However, besides falling out of the national rankings, they have dropped to fourth place in the con- ference. Their 6-5 record puts them as close to seventh-place Michi- gan (4-7) as to third-place Illinois (8-3). "Our backs are against the wall in terms of numbers and making the NCAA playoffs," Michigan State coach Jud Heathcote said. "I think we have to win a minimum of four and maybe five games. We're talking about not being on the bubble, but being assured a bid." W EBBER UPDATE: Detroit Country Day's Chris Webber vis- ited Duke last weekend, and re- portedly cancelled a trip to Ken- tucky to do so. Webber had planned on visiting the Durham, N.C., campus in December, but backed out after injuring his ankle the day before the trip. While at Duke, Webber told the Chronicle that last weekend's visit was the best he has experi- encedthus far. However, he reiter- ated that "it's three-way, neck- and-neck right now between Duke, Michigan, and Michigan State." by Caryn Seidman Daily Sports Writer Exuding confidence, the Michi- gan men's tennis team is ready and eager for today's home contest with Kalamazoo College. "I want to use this match as a way to tell if we've improved," Michigan coach Brian Eisner said. "It's a chance for each individual to improve. Kalamazoo is one of the top two or three teams in Divi- sion III." Although Michigan is currently unranked in Division I, its ability and potential speak louder than any numbers can right now. David Kass, the team's No.1 player, recently returned from the National Indoor Meet in Min- neapolis where the country's top 32 amateur players competed. Kass lost in the quarterfinals, but he is currently ranked ninth na- tionally. However, Kass will get a rest on the sidelines, as newcomer Dan Brakus will start as the Wolver- ines' No.1 singles player. Brakus has been ranked third in Canada for the past two years, as well as being one of the top 30 amateurs in the world. Although Eisner is trying to in- still a "take it one game at a time" motto into his team's head, Brakus feels differently. "I am sure we shouldn't have a very hard time with them," he said. "I'm very, very, very confident." Sophomore Scott Cuppett will provide help for Kass and Brakus. Cuppett, who finished 15-17 last season, will be playing in the No.2 position for the Wolverines. Rounding out the top three singles players will be senior John Karzen, who ended last year's season, 8-23. "We are going to play our style of tennis," Eisner said. "We're not going to do anything different for Kalamazoo." But the Wolverines are still try- ing to solve some problems with their doubles pairings. Although Kass will sit out the singles portion of the match, he will be paired with Brakus as the No. 1 doubles team. The chemistry in this pairing appears good, as Kass and Brakus have played together on two prior occasions, reaching the semi-finals both times. In the No. 2 doubles spot will be Scooter Placer and Karzen. John Lingon and Cuppett will play as the No. 3 doubles team against Kalamazoo. As Michigan is beginning to gear up for its first Big Ten match against Wisconsin, Eisner is pleased that there are no nagging injuries and that the team's energy and enthusiasm are high. His assessment about their en- thusiasm appears to be correct .When asked about today's match, Brakus replied, "I think we should run over them." Ohio State's Jim Jackson has risen to the occasion whenever the Buckeyes have called on him. Jackson hopes to continue his winning ways this weekend against Indiana. NCAA legislation may SPORTING VIEWS1 NCAA reforms should save student-athletes by Mitch Rubenstein There are college coaches that are taking the "student" out of the word "student-athlete." For this reason, the NCAA was forced to regu- late the amount of hours that student-athletes can play their sports. The NCAA needed to help the victims of excessive coaches who take all they can from young athletes, leaving the athlete with nothing left to give to their academic or social lives. The NCAA acted upon the statistics that they saw: namely, low GPA's and the low graduation rates. If the NCAA knew how some &aches treated their athletes, the restrictions might have been greater. A few years ago I left my home up north to attend a college in the deep south. I was given an athletic scholarship by an NCAA Coach-of- the-Year to play tennis for the second-ranked team in the nation. What seemed to be my dream come true turned into a nightmare. I was a 17-year-old who wanted to be a college student. However, I was turned into an athletic robot with my coach holding the controls. My coach demanded practice seven days a week, sometimes more than six hours a day. The pressure to practice was exceeded only by the pressure to win. My teammates and I had to live in an athletic dormitory, isolated *om the rest of the student body. Our tremendous practice schedule - which included early morning workouts and an afternoon practice that went well into the evening - made it hard to study or even be friends with other students. I dealt with so much abuse that my personality became distorted, and my grades and athletic skills were nearly ruined. I was forced to transfer to avoid any more suffering. What I took away from the experience was the terrifying knowledge that I may not be the only one who's had to deal with these unsympa- thetic coaches. I also learned that too much practice only hurts your per- #omance. It is easy to measure the success of a program in terms of wins and losses, but college sports have to be placed in their proper perspective. Winning cannot be stressed if it is to be achieved at the expense of the athletes. Coaches must realize that if an athlete chooses to go to col- lege, then that athlete should be able to enjoy the same freedoms as those around them. Coaches must realize that athletes share the desire to succeed. by Mitch Rubenstein The NCAA governing body took their show to the music capital of the world last month to continue their seemingly eternal debate over how to reform college sports. After a week of discussion, the legislative congress of college ath- letics passed amendments of un- precedented reform. Athletic pro- grams that once operated with a free reign, now must operate with less practice hours, competitions, coaches, and scholarships. The NCAA felt all the reductions were necessary in order to benefit the student-athlete. These changes recorded in Nashville were met with mixed re- actions by student-athletes and their coaches. The greatest opposi- tion to these highly publicized amendments has come from the athletic programs, for which the Olympic Games is the only non- collegiate competition. Most of the objections have come from college swimming pro- grams. Many of these select NCAA programs currently provide U.S. Olympic swimmers with ideal Olympic-training facilities while simultaneously offering the oppor- tunity for an education. Michigan boasts one of these impressive practice grounds in its Canham Natatorium. Michigan men's swimming coach Jon Urbanchek, whose swim program currently features four U.S. Olympians, feels it is the re- sponsibility of American universi- ties to train the nation's Olympic athletes. "If people have the opinion that colleges are not suppose to prepare athletes for the Olympics, then they are un-American," Urbanchek said. "Swimmers have shown the ability as student-athletes, so why punish their Olympic dreams?" According to Urbanchek, NCAA legislators view universities solely as academic institutions which are not responsible for train- ing U.S. Olympic hopefuls. This type of thinking has caused re- sentment of coaches and swim- mers. hurt Olympi Collegiate swimming has tradi- tionally been a sport where its stu- dent-athletes must work hard both in the pool and in the classroom. Because the sport provides no pro- fessional opportunities, only a chance at Olympic competition, these athletes labor long hours for the love of their sport and for the reward of their scholarship. "They are young, strong-willed student-athletes who achieve 3.0 GPA's or above on a national av- erage," Urbanchek said. Since the turn of the century, college sports have produced many great U.S. Olympic athletes. The late Jesse Owens, possibly this country's greatest Olympic cham- pion, did all of his Olympic train- ing while he was a student at Ohio State. Owens used a system that has been proven to give two gen- erations of deserving student-ath- letes the ability to dream of both Olympic glory and a college scholarship. Michigan's Mike Barrowman, who won a gold medal in swim- ming at the 1988 Summer Olympic Games, feels that the NCAA has unjustly punished his sport. "(The college presidents) did it because it was a scapegoat for the NCAA," Barrowman said, "which is taking too much heat for the programs that are failing academi- cally all over the country." Many football and basketball programs are confronting academic Ic hopefuls problems concerning academically ineligible athletes and low gradua- tion rates. Barrowman feels that new legislation should not have been applied to all sports, but only those where academic quality was in question. Swimming requires the student- athlete to achieve a balance be- tween long practice hours and studying. Collegiate swimmers learn to master this challenge and become efficient with an increased workload. "If the NCAA's intent was to give students-athletes more time to study, it does not realize that swimmers perform best on a busy schedule," Michigan women's swimming coach Jim Richardson said. "Free time causes problems for all students." Concern lies with how the re- duced practice time will hurt the elite swimmers, who want to get their diplomas while continuing to train for the Olympics. "The NCAA scapegoat will at- tempt to destroy Olympic sports in the U.S., Barrowman said. "Fortunately, elite athletes will always seek alternative means to be the best that they can be. "Unfortunately, that will mean taking away an education from someone who cannot afford it, and is entitled. All programs will go downhill. Qualities and standards will never be met again until the old standards are returned." 'If people have the opinion that colleges are not suppose to prepare athletes for the Olympics, then they are un-American. Swimmers have shown the ability as student-athletes, so why punish their Olympic dreams?' -John Urbanchek, Michigan Swimming Coach I ~. 71 .- -= - - . - -=- - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - ms - i -J 'I (hi Winning in sports cannot be made more important than winning in ,41 life. I thank the NCAA for saving student-athletes from abusive coaches. These coaches had to be stopped. I never wish my experience on any- * I *ne. F r Eg RESTAURANT- -CHEF JAN 26 years of experience TOP GOLD MEDAL WINNER OF DETROIT COBO HALL NATIONAL CONTES Sponsored by Michigan Restaurant Association Michigan Chefs D Cuisine Association Grand Teton Lodge Company COME TO TIE MOUNTAINS This SUMMER live and work in the magnificent Grand Teton National Park in Jackson Hole. Wyoming. One of the most .. . 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