2B — January 19, 2016
SportsTuesday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

SPORTSTUESDAY COLUMN

Fan provides sendoffs to remember

T

he physical act of going on 
the road, generally, creates 
little fanfare for Michigan 

teams. Sure, the football team’s 
fans frequently fill opposing 
stadiums, but the team departs 
Schembechler Hall the day before 
games with a police escort devoid 
of much of the rah-rah “Go Blue” 
fandom exhibited in Michigan 
Stadium. The men’s basketball 
team doesn’t have a fan presence, 
either, as it departs the William 
Davidson Player Development 
Center for road trips. 

The Michigan women’s 

basketball team, however, has a 
very different experience. It has 
Chuck Raab. 

To call Raab — a recently 

retired special needs teacher who 
lives in Ann Arbor — a Michigan 
fan would be an understatement. 
He is the most diehard of the 
diehards, a guy who bleeds so blue 
a smurf would be impressed. 

He grew up watching Red 

Berenson and Cazzie Russell 
play for Michigan, and at times 
over the years, he has been a 
fixture at different Michigan 
sporting events, from football to 
women’s rowing. But now, Raab 
puts most of his time and energy 
into supporting the women’s 
basketball team. 

For most, supporting any 

athletic team is a part-time hobby, 
reserved for watching games 
and keeping up to date with 
news involving the team. Raab’s 
support goes well beyond that. 

He stood on Stadium 

Boulevard on Saturday, right by 
the Player Development Center, 
Crisler Center and Michigan 
Stadium as the team began to load 
its bus to the airport for its game 
against Penn State. 

He was armed with a large 

Michigan flag and a sign that 
read, “Michigan Wolverines never 
stop.” When the bus prepared to 
leave the parking lot, Raab placed 
the handle of his flag in a cone 
sitting nearby. He grabbed his 

sign as the bus passed by, jumping 
up and down to show the players 
and coaches. Then, as the bus 
headed down Stadium toward the 
Big House, Raab dropped his sign 
and snatched the flag. 

He sprinted alongside the bus 

until it was completely out of sight. 
He yelled words of encouragement 
the entire time. He does the same 
thing every time the Wolverines go 
on the road.

 “I want to support the team as 

it’s leaving for an away game just 
to show them that we the fans 
support them wherever they’re 
playing, wherever they’re going,” 
Raab said.

His support and steadfast 

encouragement don’t go 
unacknowledged by the team. 
The players and coaching staff 
waved to Raab as he executed 

his sendoff, and many of the 
players give him high-fives as 
he screams and hollers when 
they run onto the court for home 
games. At games, Raab is a ball 
of enthusiasm, 
using his front-
row seat as a 
way to be close 
to the action 
and constantly 
yell words of 
support.

If Raab’s 

excitement 
about Michigan 
women’s 
basketball 
seems unusual, it’s because it is.

Historically, the program 

hasn’t enjoyed a great deal of 
success. The Wolverines have 
never reached the Sweet 16 in the 

NCAA Tournament, and black 
curtains rope off the upper-level 
seats for home games. The team 
has drawn more than 3,000 fans 
to a home game only once this 

season, despite 
an 11-6 record 
in a year when 
rebuilding 
was the sole 
expectation.

Those 

facts do not 
dampen Raab’s 
enthusiasm. 
He has long 
been a fan 
of Michigan 

women’s basketball, but his 
current level of devotion began in 
2003 with the arrival of former 
coach Cheryl Burnett. 

Raab remembers Burnett 

pleading with the team’s fans 
to be more passionate about the 
team. He took it as a call to action.

He decided he would support 

the team in every way he possibly 
could. He bought a season-ticket 
courtside seat that he holds to 
this day, decked himself out in 
Michigan clothing and started 
making signs to hold at games. 
He’d show up when the team 
went on road trips, too, cheering 
them on the entire way.

He hasn’t looked back, 13 

years later. His repertoire of 
signs is constantly changing 
and growing. He showed up to 
Thursday’s home game against 
Maryland with nine handwritten 
signs, all giving his favorite team 
messages of encouragement. 
He even shows up sometimes 
when the team gets back to Ann 

Arbor after road games, like 
he did Sunday night after the 
Wolverines downed Penn State 
in State College.

Raab sees a program on the 

rise, one led by what he believes 
is the best coaching staff in the 
country. If the team is working 
so hard, Raab believes, then the 
fans should be working hard to 
support them. 

“I want to help create this kind 

of atmosphere around the court 
to give our women — which they 
richly deserve — the best home-
court advantage in the country,” 
Raab said.

Raab hardly ever misses a game 

or seeing the team off for a road 
trip, estimating that he misses 
seeing the team bus depart once 
a season, but only if he has a very 
important conflict.

He was slowed down by a 

battle with stage IV Hodgkin’s 
lymphoma for a couple of years 
after 2011, and then again with 
a more recent melanoma scare. 
He was disappointed, even in 
the midst of extremely serious 
health problems, that he couldn’t 
support the team the way he 
wanted to.

 “It’s my passion,” Raab said. “I 

just want to do whatever I can to 
support the team. It’s not about … 
it’s nothing about me. It’s about 
the team, the team, the team. I’m 
just trying to support the team, 
the team, the team.”

For now, Raab may very well 

be the team’s most passionate fan. 
But if someone surpasses him one 
day, it seems like Raab wouldn’t 
mind. He might even prefer it. 

“Every year, I just dream about 

the day when we can fill this 
whole arena up and everybody 
(can) be that passionate and give 
us that home-court advantage,” 
Raab said before Thursday’s 
game. “That is my main goal.”

Cohen can be reached at 

maxac@umich.edu and on 

Twitter @MaxACohen.

RITA MORRIS/Daily

Chuck Raab has been a Michigan women’s basketball superfan since around 2003, sending the team off from Crisler Center when it leaves for road trips.

“We the fans 
support them 

wherever 

they’re playing.”

‘M’ holds on at Penn State

Wolverines hit free 
throws down the 
stretch, rebound 

from Thursday loss

By LELAND MITCHINSON

Daily Sports Writer

Though the Michigan women’s 

basketball team seemed to be 
in control for most of its game 
against 
Penn 
State 
(1-5 

Big 
Ten, 

6-11 overall) on Sunday, it took 
everything the Wolverines had 
to hold on for a 91-87 victory on 
the road.

Composure from the free-

throw line and the team’s ability 
to get the ball into the hands 
of sophomore guard Katelynn 
Flaherty, who was 9-for-10 from 
the stripe on the night, kept 
Michigan (3-3, 11-6) a step ahead 

in its first win in State College 
since 2001.

Despite allowing Penn State 

to close the gap, Michigan 
turned in a strong defensive 
performance in the first half, 
limiting the Nittany Lions to 
just 37-percent shooting from 
the floor. The Wolverines turned 
it up a notch to begin the third 
quarter, stretching their lead to 
15 at one point, in large part due 
to the fact that Penn State had 
no answer for Thome in the post 
and in transition.

Freshman 
center 
Hallie 

Thome finished the contest with 
18 points, five rebounds and four 
blocks, though she fouled out 
with 2:03 left in the game.

Fouls were a problem for 

both teams as junior guard 
Siera Thompson joined Thome 
in fouling out, committing her 
fifth in the last minute of the 
game, and the Nittany Lions also 
had three players reach the foul 
limit.

Flaherty found her groove 

in the second half to make up 
for it, leading the Wolverines in 
scoring with 23 points for the 
game, which included 4-for-5 
shooting from 3-point range.

Penn 
State 
made 
it 

uncomfortable 
for 
Michigan 

late, going on a 7-0 run with 
four minutes left in the fourth. 
The Nittany Lions continued to 
claw their way back, cutting the 
Michigan lead all the way down 
to five with only a minute left. 
The charge was led by guard 
Teniya Page, who finished the 
game with 31 points, though the 
Wolverines were able to avoid a 
big collapse on the road, relying 
on late free throws to shut Penn 
State’s window of opportunity.

“I thought Penn State did a 

tremendous job of fighting and 
fighting and battling back,” said 
Michigan coach Kim Barnes 
Arico. “Every time we got up 10 
or 12 points they would make 
another run.”

“We’ve lost three games that 

have come down to this and we 

didn’t make our free throws 
down the stretch, so tonight it 
was great to see.”

After the game began with 

a nearly two minute scoreless 
streak 
by 
both 
teams, 
the 

Wolverines found their stride, 
benefitting from strong first-
quarter performances by Thome 
and Thompson, who combined 
for 15 points on the way to a 23-14 
lead for Michigan.

Leading by nine to start the 

second quarter, the Wolverines 
turned 
to 
their 
bench 
as 

starters Thome, Thompson and 
Flaherty each picked up two 
personal fouls.

The foul trouble, along with 13 

turnovers, allowed the Nittany 
Lions to cut their deficit to four 
at the half.

“Our 
turnovers 
were 
so 

unforced at times,” Barnes Arico 
said. “They were in transition 
when we had numbers and we 
had opportunities … so that 
will be something that we’ll 
definitely emphasize.”

RITA MORRIS/Daily

Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico’s team pulled out a close victory over Penn State on Sunday, led by sophomore guard Katelynn Flaherty’s 23 points.

MICHIGAN
PENN STATE 

91
87

WOMEN’S TENNIS
Michigan rolls in 
first tournament

By ORION SANG

Daily Sports Writer

The No. 14 Michigan women’s 

tennis 
team 
struggled 
with 

injuries during the fall season, 
with 
many 
lineup 
regulars 

unable to play.

But 
this 
weekend, 
with 

everyone healthy and back in 
the mix, the Wolverines showed 
little sign of rust, competing in 
their first tournament since the 
end of the fall season as they 
hosted No. 23 Georgia Tech, 
North Florida and Tennessee for 
the Michigan Invitational at the 
Varsity Tennis Center.

Led by strong performances 

from sophomore Alex Najarian 
and freshmen Brienne Minor 
and Kate Fahey, Michigan was 
able to win the majority of both 
its singles and doubles matches 
over the weekend.

Both Najarian and Minor won 

all three of their singles matches, 
while Fahey won each of her 
doubles matches.

“We got a lot of quality, tough 

matches,” Bernstein said. “They 
were put in a lot of difficult 
situations — you saw a lot of 
tiebreakers today and big points. 
Overall, I think it was the 
perfect weekend to get us ready 
for next weekend.”

Friday, the Wolverines got 

off to a sluggish start in doubles 
play, dropping three out of four 
matches against the Yellow 
Jackets, 
but 
Bernstein 
was 

unconcerned with her team’s 
slow start.

“With 
the 
new 
doubles 

(rules), 
everything 
happens 

pretty quick, so we just need to 
be ready,” Bernstein said. “We 
had new teams — a couple of the 
kids in doubles hadn’t played in 
the fall. After that first round, I 
had a feeling that we would be 
OK and that we’d settle down. I 
think as the weekend went on, 
the doubles definitely picked up.”

Michigan proved Bernstein 

right 
by 
improving 
from 

their inauspicious start to the 
tournament. 
The 
Wolverines 

swept Tennessee in three doubles 
matches before later winning all 
seven singles matches against 
North Florida to close out the 
first day.

Michigan 
continued 
its 

success from the previous day 
on Saturday, winning three of 
four doubles matches against 
the Volunteers and all three 
of its doubles matches against 
the Ospreys. The Wolverines 
continued 
the 
momentum 

forward, winning five of their 
eight singles matches against 
Georgia Tech.

The last day, though, proved 

to be the toughest competition 
for the Wolverines in singles 
play, as they split eight matches 
with Tennessee.

Minor was broken several 

times in the first set of her 
match against Sadie Hammond 
at the third singles position, but 
came back to win the first-set 
tiebreaker. She went on to win 
the second set, 6-3, to finish off 
her perfect performance over 
the weekend.

“I thought I did well in singles 

and doubles overall,” Minor said. 
“I’m feeling pretty good going 
into season.”

Both Fahey and Najarian 

were in similarly tough matches, 
as Fahey dropped a highly 
contested first set en route to 
a 5-7, 1-6 loss. Najarian, on the 
other hand, battled her way to a 
7-6, 7-5 victory.

Bernstein was pleased with 

the mental toughness her team 
showed.

“You don’t always feel your 

best or play your best,” Bernstein 
said. “But you have to figure out 
a way to compete, and I think we 
did a good job of that.”

The Wolverines will look to 

continue their hot start next 
week at the ITA Kick-Off.

“I 
definitely 
think 
(this 

weekend) 
gave 
us 
some 

momentum,” Minor said. “I 
thought our whole team has been 
playing well, even though some 
of us lost. I think we’re all ready 
for the season.”

