The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, October 30, 1995 - 3B A-', Queston & nswer Dick itale . Basketball fanatic Dick Vitale talks about coaching, announcing and loving basketball RYAN WHITE White on Target T ravis Roy 's 05. injury puts sports world in bperspective t was an innocent enough looking hit. The same kind of check that is thrown dozens of times in every hockey game, every day. The hit was nothing unusual for a game like last Friday's between North Dakota and Boston. North Dakota's Mitch Vig grabbed =the puck behind his own net and shot it around the boards. As Vig unloaded -the puck, he was hit by Terrier -freshman Travis Roy. V- ' Then the innocence was lost. 'Roy lost his balance and went crashing into the boards, head first. His body went limp, falling to the ice like a sandbag. In his first shift of his first college hockey game, Travis Roy had broken -his neck. It was the kind of play that Roy had been part of hundreds of times before, -"but this time, instead of jarring an "-opponent, he came out of it with a fractured fourth vertebrae and paralysis from the neck down. .,As he lay Qn the ice, Roy told his father that he knew he was in trouble; he told him he couldn't move. Roy underwent seven hours of surgery Wednesday. The good news was that his spinal cord wasn't severed as doctors had first thought, the bad news is that the same doctors still have no idea whether Roy will ever regain use of his arms and legs. The outpouring of sympathy and well wishes for Roy has been tremendous, as it should be. It's another of those sports stories that captivates the nation. It's one of those things that reminds everyone there are more portant things than wins and losses. . first saw the replay of Roy's njury on ESPN. The sound was down, but you could tell exactly what ~had happened. You could tell by the way he lay heaped on the ice, motionless. I grew up playing hockey; I've been knocked head-first into the boards before. I broke my leg in a game once. It was scary enough not being able to move my foot, but I can't imagine not , bing able to move anything. I feel lucky I'm not in the same ppsition Roy is. But here's the thing: a lot of the people who are hoping Roy gets y better are the same people that would be screaming at him if he had given the puck up in his zone and cost Boston a goal. Some of them may have sat at a game and yelled for someone to "take opt" a player on another team. We've all done it before; I'm as guilty as the rest. This is the kind of thing that snaps everything back into focus. The most important thing in this story is Roy's health, not how the Terriers play in their next game without him. It's too bad that it takes a broken neck, or other tragedy, to remind us of that, though. Why should it be only the most extreme injuries that cause us to respond like this? Normally, when a football player blows out his knee, the first thing that comes to mind is who will replace him and how the team will do without him. It just seems out of whack to me. Shouldn't our first concern be for the athlete? An injury is an injury, some worse than others, but it's nothing to be celebrated. Stories like Roy's come and go in the sports world. They happen, they are reported, and then they are forgotten - until it happens again. Roy may never be able to walk again, or he could make a full recovery. No one knows at this point, although the statistics point more toward the former than the latter. We take risks everyday by simply getting in a car and driving down the Dick Vitale is probably best known for the enthusiastic approach that he brings to his colorcommentary on ESPN andABCcollege basketball broadcasts. Vitale's love affair with basketball has been forged not only through his role as a commentator but through his experi- encesas acollegeandprofessionalcoach, motivational speaker and fan. Before Vitale began his career in tele- vision 16years ago, he was head coach at the University of Detroit. While at De- troit, Vitale directed the team to the 1977 NCAA tournament, where he lost to a highly ranked Michigan squad. Vitale made the jump to the NBA soon thereaf- ter, when he took the head coachingposi- tion for the Detroit Pistons. With no prior professional coaching experience, Vitale's career in the NBA was short- lived. He was fired in November, 1979, just 12 games into the season. Today, Dick Vitale is also a motiva- tional speaker. Vitale recounts his own trials andtriumphs in the basketball world to aspiring and promising youngsters. Vitale candidly shares his thoughts and feelings about the game he calls "the greatest thing going" with Daily Sports Writer Nancy Berger. Daily: When you took the coaching job for the Detroit Pistons, you had no previous coaching experience in the NBA. How did that affect your career, and do you regret your decision to coach professionally? Vitale: Well obviously I think it would have been a lot better if I had the chance to coach in the NBA. But I think a lot of guys, you look at Pat Riley for' example, he is one of the real superstars in the coaching fraternity in the NBA. He rolled out of the TV booth'and onto the sideline and won a World Champi- onship - with a little help from a guy by the name of Magic Johnson, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Wor- thy. On the NBA level, it is a player's league versus a coach's league as col- lege. College, coaches can dictate a lot of tempo, they can dictate the status of the team with the multiple defenses. The NBA's 24-second clock, it is man- to-man defense. The bottom line is that the best talent is going to prevail be- cause most of the guys all know the game up on top. I think the big question Vitale (right) with Steve Fisher. outfit. I write about it in my new book. I dressed like them. We were just little kids down the road, playing against the majestic maize and blue who had a su- per team. They were just unbeliev- able. They were No. 1 with Ricky Green and Phil Harbor, and my kids were ready for the challenge. I of- ten said that I think we cost Michigan a national title. We played them so tough on that day, even though we lost, I think we took so much out of them emotionally and physically that they got beat like 36 hours later. They got beat by North Carolina- Charlotte who went on to the Final Four and then Marquette won the National title. Michigan to me, on paper, was the better team than the Marquette team that year. D: You are the ultimate advocate of college basketball, you have said that it is the greatest game due to the students, pageantry, etc.... What do you see as the most urgent problem facing college basketball? V: Well, like I said in my book, I have so many stories in there about the frills of the game and the positives of the game. Basically the situation in college comes down to a couple factors. Num- ber one: I think the players today need more than just room, board and books. I think that they deserve some spending money. They can't work during the school year. Academically, an athlete has so much pressure on them. It is a 12- month ordeal. Coaches demand so much of the kids. With the NCAA receiving $1.7 billion from CBS, some of that money should go to the kids. Number two: I think the problem we have is that there are too many kids in college ath- letics today, both in football and bas- ketball, who, one, don't want to be there and, two, have not prepared them- selves academically. I think that we have to do a better job to make sure that the kids who walk on the college cam- pus have taken the necessary courses in algebra and algebra two, the core cur- riculum, and have really prepared for college. D: Which role do you relish most: motivational speaker, coach or com- mentator? V: I think that there is a correlation. I have an absolute love for my job. I've often said that if you combine these three things, you will be successful. If you have a passionate love for what you are doing, a great work ethic and make good decisions about drugs and alcohol - if you have those three going for you, a lot of beautiful things are going to happen. I happened to have a job that I just absolutely love. Who wouldn't love it? I mean I sit on courtside for Michigan, Indiana, North Carolina, Duke, Kentucky, Arkansas and Ari- zona. If my bosses only knew, I would probably do it for nothing, but please don't tell him that. D: Recruiting is one of the toughest aspects of a coach's job. Why do you think that Steve Fisher has had so much success? V: I think they're a hot school in America. I think that kids really identi- fied, especially with the Fab Five. I thought that they started a real fad with the baggy pants, with the black shoes, the socks, the whole bit. Michigan brings to the table a great combination aca- demically and athletically. They have a great national network of alumni. Let's face it, it is one of the top schools in the United States when you combine all arenas. They have a lot of things going for it. They do a great job of selling the Big Ten, selling the fact that they play in Crisler and what a game is and what it means. I think with all of that, year in and year out, they are going to be one of the real, real schools right in the hunt for all the superstar players. D: What do you think about his cur- rent freshmen recruits? V: I think that they are outstanding. If you look at Louis Bullock, he looks like a guy who can answer the question for them shooting the basketball. You look at Traylor, I love "Tractor" Trayloi. I just told a reporter about him. He is agile, mobile and he is not fragile. He has a great smile and he plays the game hard. I had Traylor and White in the Magic Johnson Roundball Classic. I was really impressed. I didn't have Bullock, but I saw him shoot a ball' in one of the games on TV; he looks like he can shoot it. They are going to be very outstanding. They are going to have a very good team. D: What are your feelings on women's basketball and how it has evolved in the past years? V: I am happy for women's athletics. In general form, being what it is, I am prejudiced in a way. I had two girls who were on full scholarship at Notre Dame for tennis. I love that the girls saved me lots of cash. Title IX was great for them. They got room, board, books, tuition, full scholarships, and they deserve it. They deserve what the guy receives. I think women's basketball is getting better and better, and the coaching is getting better. The women that play are much more skilled than they used to be, and I think that they will continue to improve. The visibility and the exposure that they are going to get on ESPN is even going'to help them more. There are going to be more young ladies starting out at a young age who want to be a part of that environ- ment, whose dads are taking them to the playgrounds, taking them at a young age to maybe make something happen in their life athletically, to be in a position to receive grants somewhere across America. D: What is March Madness like from your point of view? V: It is the best, I absolutely go ba- nanas. It is so special to see people cutting the nets down. It is an exciting time to see the enthusiasm on campuses all over. It is a time of year when every- body seems to be rejuvenated, even the people who don't follow basketball all year. With college basketball the 9x- plosion has become unreal. I am so happy to be a little spoke in the wheel and to be part of it all because it is such an exciting time. in the NBA is you need the superstar talent. You are not winning without it. D: Do you regret your decision to jump right into the NBA? V: Oh, no I don't regret it all. I never look back on decisions that I make and say: Wow, I regret this. I wish it could have turned out a lot better. I wish I could have had more success, but if you would have told me at the time that television would have been what it is for me, and now I got my fifth book out, "Holding Court". Things have happened in my life; I pinch myself. It never would have happened if I didn't get fired. So I thank the Pistons in a way for firing me, and I thank that moment. D: The last game you had ever coached at the University of Detroit was against the University of Michigan in the NCAA tournament. What do you remember the most about playing Michigan? V: Oh, I remember that they had a great team. They were No. 1 in the nation. I rememberthe fact that I walked in that night with a maize and blue Wisconsin takes women's cross country title By Nancy Berger Daily Sports Writer The Michigan women's cross country team was seeing red this past Saturday at the Big Ten Championships in Minne- apolis. The red the Wolverines were seeing was not part of the various colors of the fall foliage, nor was it the rosy cheeks of the competing runners. The only red Michigan was seeing was the color ofthe Wisconsin shirts that were finishing ahead ofthem on the Les Bolstad Cross Country Course. Wisconsin took over the reign as Big Ten champion with a score of 37 points. Michigan narrowly finished second with 65, four points ahead of Penn State. "We look for Wisconsin colors and try to stick with them," senior Mayrie Richards said. Michigan could not stick with Wisconsin's Kathy Butler. Last year's runner-up captured the individual title. The Badger's next three runners all came in ahead of Michigan's first runner. - Freshman Katie McGregor came in first for Michigan and placed eighth over- all with the time of 17:59. McGregor's performance merited her Big Ten Fresh- man of the Year, as she was the first freshman in the field to finish. "Kelly Chard and I were running to- gether with two Wisconsin girls, but Wis- consin beat us with one kilometer to go," McGregor said. Both Chard and McGregor ran their best races of the year, with Chard finish- ing two seconds behind her running mate for ninth place. Sophomore Michelle Slater, a redshirt freshman, came in 12th in 18:10. Trailing seven seconds behind was senior Katy Hollbacher in 17th place. Rounding out the top five Michigan runners was senior Courtney Babcock who finished 19th in 18:25. Babcock, running in herfirstmeet since Boston College, had been sidelined with a back injury. "I have only been training for a week; I didn't know what to expect," Babcock said. Coach Mike McGuire was happy with how Babcock performed under the cir- cumstances. Not only did Babcock con- tend with herback injury but also with the torrid running conditions. "The course was very muddy and the downhill was very slippery; that was the worst conditions I have ever run in," Babcock said. "We had to take the turns wide." McGuire also saw the course as a bit of an obstacle. "That was as tough of a scenario as you are going to get," McGuire said. "(Babcock) would have placed higher on a different type of course, but most im- portant is that she isn't hurting anymore." Sophomore Eileen Fleck led the group that finished behind Babcock. Jen Stuht, Jennifer Barber and Mayrie Richards all placed behind Fleck. Even though Michigan was unable to beat the Badgers, it was important that they beat Penn State for two reasons. The first is that Michigan will be ranked ahead of Penn State in the polls, and the second is that Penn State is the only Big Ten team not in regionals. Michigan's performance at Big Ten's will be important when they compete in the NCAA District Five meet in two weeks. The top two teams in each district will go to Nationals. If Michigan is un- able to place in the top two, they will automatically get an NCAA berth any- way because they beat Penn State. . 1 744iMz7(r- RECORDS11 I 4 Manage Your Own Team of Your Favorite Wolverines & Other Big Ten Players MICHIGAN HOOP FANS!!! College Basketball Fantasy Leagues Big Ten. Big East, & More... "I .0 ., Realistic Head to Head Format Start a League With Your Friends Ask About Student Discounts CHEMICAL ENGINEERING GRADUATE PROGRAM MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY We invite seniors in Engineering and Natural Sciences to apply to the M.S. and Ph.D. programs in Chemical Engineering at Michigan State University. We support all students we admit to our programs. The stipend for the 1995/96 academic year is $15,240.00. 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