0 Page 10-The Michigan Daily--Tuesday, April 16,1991 Golfers awash in heavy rain at OSU tournament r en O~rt:4. -n- 0 .... 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. i i r a 1 Phelps resigns from ND i C .TRIVIA n I EVERY EEK I II *Just answer simple questions about sports* * Football * Baseball * Basketball * Horse Racing Only 51.95 cents a aminute.Touch tone phones only * I S No purchasen . Must be US. Resident and 18 years or older to play. Lmit of 3 calls per telephone per day. To prtiipae olffre o torecivecoplee cntst ule s ndapied, 3"x5 card in aS.ASE (WA and VT residents Emay omit return postegel handwritten request to: Telecreations, inc. 12228 Venice Blvd. Suite 530, Los Angeles, Calif. 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) 0I 0