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Page 10-The Michigan Daily--Tuesday, April 16,1991
Golfers awash in heavy
rain at OSU tournament
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No surprises during
this tennis season
by Andy De Korte
Daily Sports Writer
Isn't it annoying when you go to
your favorite golf course with an 8
a m. tee time, and you still have to
wait to hit the links?
The Michigan women's golf
team could only be teed off at the
elements last weekend. Inclement
weather delayed the start of the
Ohio State Invitational and kept the
Wolverines and the rest of the 18-
team field from playing the first 18
holes entirely.
Donning Gore-Tex rain suits, the
golfers braved the elements and be-
gan the tournament. The tourna-
ment, which was originally sched-
uiled for 36 holes the first day fol-
lowed by 18 the next, was cut to an
18-18 format.
The rainout guaranteed that the
team would break 960, its pre-tour-
nament goal. Although the 320
stroke average was missed both
days, the women's 336-337 score
was good enough for eighth place on
the river-laden fairways.
Michigan's Big Ten opponents
sandwiched the team's eighth-place
finish: OSU, Iowa, Purdue, and
Minnesota bettered the Wolverines,
while Illinois and Wisconsin fell to
them.
"I thought we played terrible,"
Michigan coach Sue LeClair said,
"until I saw the other scores."
The resurgence of Wendy Bigler
may have kept the meet from being a
complete washout for the
Wolverines. After a rough spring,
she shot an 82-86 for the weekend.
Darcy Chandler also continued to
improve, shooting 83-87, after
shooting 83-84-86 the week before.
Junior Erica Zonder made the
weekend's most memorable shot.
After shooting into a puddle in the
front-left bunker on the 18th hole,
Zonder argued with the Wisconsin
coach over the drop of the ball.
Zonder lost the argument, but sank
the birdie chip from the tough lie.
"I probably enjoyed this more
than my eagle, because that was
more of a lucky shot," Zonder said.
"Also, the birdie was what I needed
to, beat Tiziani (daughter of
Wisconsin coach)."
by Adam Miller
Daily Sports Writer
There's a sports expression that goes, "This
is a tough team to figure."
It means the team is unpredictable. No mat-
ter what the opponent, you never know if the
team is going to win or lose. Or how the team is
going to perform.
This expression does not apply to Michigan
women's tennis.
At first glance, the Wolverines do indeed ap-
pear unpredictable. They opened the season with
a four-match winning streak, then lost five of
their next eight, before winning four of their
last six.
However, this is easily explained by one sim-
ple factor - the schedule. Michigan has won ev-
ery match it was supposed to win, and lost every
match it was predicted to lose.
Last weekend illustrates this point perfectly.
The Wolverines had two road matches, Saturday
at Indiana and Sunday at Ohio State. The
Hoosiers are No. 12 in the nation and unbeaten in
the Big Ter, while the Wolverines are unranked
nationally and 3-3 in the conference. Indiana
won, 7-2. Quite predictable.
Conversely, Ohio State is having an off year.
The Buckeyes were 1-3 in the Big Ten heading
into last weekend's action and are predicted to
finish no higher than No. 7 in the conference.
Meanwhile, the Wolverines are slotted for No.
4 in the Big Ten. Michigan won, 7-2. Big surprise.
The entire season has gone this way, and it
doesn't look to change. Michigan has always
been defeated by higher-ranked teams - such as
Northwestern, Wisconsin, Notre Dame - and
has always prevailed over lesser opponents, in-
cluding Illinois, Toledo, and Purdue. The
Wolverines' remaining three matches are at
home against Michigan State, Minnesota, and
Iowa, three teams picked for the Big Ten second
division. Michigan should easily win all three.
All this is nice if you're a bookie, but it
amounts to a rather ho-hum-season otherwise. If
sports always went like they're supposed to, San
Francisco would perennially win the Super
Bowl, Edmonton would have a lock on the
Stanley Cup, and the Pac Ten would always win
the Rose Bowl (well, this seems to happen any-
way).
But that's not what sports are about. They're
about tight competition and upsets. Which
would you rather watch: a match in which the
lead changes hands time and time again or one
which ends in consecutive love sets? That's the
difference that tight competition makes.
And upsets? They're the spice of athletics.
It's the upsets that make the first rounds of the
NCAA men's basketball tournament so special.
And in professional tennis, everyone roots for an
underdog teenager Jennifer Capriati when she
takes on an older "top gun" like Steffi Graf.
Upsets keep sports interesting because you just
never know what's going to happen.
However, in college women's tennis this
year, it seems you do know what's going to hap-
pen. And that's too bad. Not to take anything
away from the players, but there's just some-
thing missing when sports become predictable.
It's not just Michigan - the whole sport
seems set in stone this year. Who's going to win
the NCAA championship? Stanford - the
Cardinal hasn't lost one match since 1988, and it
hosts the NCAA tournament this year.
Who's going to win the Big Ten? Indiana -
the Hoosiers are No. 12 in the nation, unbeaten in
conference play, and should "three-peat" with
ease.
Regarding the Wolverines' No. 4 prediction,
Nostradamous couldn't have done better. Fourth
is indeed where you finish when you lose to the
No. 1-3 teams and beat the No. 5-10.
Maybe this is just how tennis is - the distri-
bution of talent is such that it practically deter-
mines the results in advance. And maybe this is
nice when you are Stanford or Indiana. But when
you're Michigan and you're stuck in the middle
of the pack, it's natural to want a little more ex-
citement, and a little less predictability.
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Phelps resigns from ND
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96Allrqet must be received by 5.8.91. Contest begins 4-4-91 and ends 5.15-91.
from staff reports
After 20 years as the head coach
of Notre Dame's basketball team,
Richard "Digger" Phelps announced
his retirement yesterday.
"There is only so much time in
the game of life," Phelps said. "I
want to live the other life, after
basketball at Notre Dame. It's what
I teach my players and what I really
believe."
SPhelps was an assistant coach at
Pennsylvania, and a head coach at
Attention Students!
Want to earn college credits while
away from campus this summer?
Cal 764-5310 or 11 regarding two
programs through the Extension
Service: Summer Reading
Program, available to students
with 3.0 grade point average; or
Independent Study, available to
any student.
Fordham prior to his arrival at
Notre Dame in 1971.
Speculating about his future,
Phelps mentioned television an-
nouncing. "Doing television is fun. I
Phelps
may write a novel about college
sports. I started painting oils a year
ago," he also said.
Notre Dame had no comment on
filling the coaching vacancy.
It's that time of the year again!
Your copy of the 1991
Mi Inr nfuip Yearbook is here!
A
v420 Maynard - Student Pub. Building
10 am - 5 pm weekdays
764 - 0561
Please bring your student ID with you
You can still purchase this year's
book by bringing $29 to the office.
Cash only please.
And for a limited time only, you can
also purchase previous editions of
the MichiganEnsian yearbook at a
reduced price! Past editions are
available for only $15 each with proof
of purchase of the 1991 book!
Included in the 1990 book is coverage
of the NCAA Tournament
Championship and Bo's last Rose
Bowl. However, supply is limited, so
you must act fast!
(editions prior to 1989 are also
available upon request)
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