The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
7A — Friday, March 27, 2020
Sports
‘That was it’: Inside the moment ‘M’ found out its season was over
The
Michigan
hockey
team was still on the ice
when
the
decision
was
made, practicing for a Big
Ten Tournament semifinal
game that ultimately would
never be played.
At
that
point,
the
Wolverines were unaware
of the specifics but deeply
aware of the possibility.
They knew what was likely
coming. They just didn’t
know when.
On
that
Thursday —
March
12,
just over two
weeks ago —
Mel Pearson
was on the
ice running
practice
when
he
received
word
that
he
needed to be on a conference
call at 3 p.m. He left the ice
and headed straight upstairs
to his office.
Pearson told the team
they’d meet at 4 p.m. when
he was done with the call
and
after
they
finished
practice. He didn’t yet know
the extent of what he’d have
to tell them, though he had
an inkling.
“I
think
we
had
all
braced ourselves a little
bit,” Pearson said. “Earlier
in the day, we watched
the basketball team come
out (for its first Big Ten
Tournament game) and then
get whisked off and that
was it. The night before,
I’d watched the NBA stuff.
Things were starting to
happen real quick, so I think
our guys had a little sense.”
While his team practiced
one floor below, Pearson sat
on a conference call with
Athletic
Director
Warde
Manuel
and
all
of
Michigan’s
head coaches.
Manuel,
who had told
the
men’s
basketball
team
the
Big
Ten
Tournament
was canceled earlier in the
day, laid out the rapidly
developing situation with
COVID-19 and explained
the Big Ten’s decisions.
“Warde Manuel let us
know what was going down
as far as they’re suspending
all Big Ten play,” Pearson
said.
“And
essentially,
the Big Ten had also said
even if there is an NCAA
Tournament at this point,
the Big Ten was not going to
participate. That was it.”
That announcement came
at about 3:15 p.m. The call
continued right up until
Pearson had to go into the
locker room and tell his
team the news.
The
players
had
all
showered and dressed after
finishing practice and were
ready to meet, then continue
on
with
their
normal
routine. They still didn’t
fully know what Pearson
was about to tell them.
They didn’t know that their
normal, for all intents and
purposes, was gone.
Pearson
remembers
still having his skates on
when he walked into the
locker
room.
Everything
happened so quickly that
he didn’t have time to take
them off between practice,
the conference call and the
team meeting.
“When we told them, it
was really hard to tell them
and to look them in the eye,
especially
the
seniors,”
Pearson said. “Just basically
tell them, ‘Hey, we’re done.’
Just the starkness of it. The
raw words that come out
like, ‘Season over. We’re
done.’ ”
Michigan was one of the
hottest teams in the country
in the second half of the year,
notching an 11-3-2 record
and finishing No. 14 in the
Pairwise — a ranking that
had them in contention for
an at-large bid to the NCAA
Tournament,
something
that
seemed
like
an
impossibility in November.
The Wolverines moved in
the Pairwise more than any
other team in the country in
the second half, up 22 spots
between Dec. 26 and March
1, and rose even more after
sweeping Michigan State
in the first round of the Big
Ten Tournament.
In short, they were ready
for an NCAA Tournament
run. Then, in one fell swoop,
it was all over.
“It
was
emotional,”
Pearson said. “It was really
hard. I’ve been in games,
lost a national championship
game in overtime and you
have to go in the locker
room and look at your guys,
and that’s hard, but at least
you had the opportunity.
You gave it everything you
had. You left it all out on the
ice. Here, it’s like you never
got that chance to finish
what you started.
“ ... We just had that
hope we could get into
the tournament. We were
right there. Then you have
a chance. Then all bets are
off. And we had a group that
could do it.”
Now, the players have
scattered
back
to
their
hometowns,
with
just
four or five still in Ann
Arbor. The last time they
all gathered together was
in that locker room, the
moment Pearson told them
they were done.
“At that point, we just
thanked them, told them we
loved them, how we felt for
them,” Pearson said. “But
no words that I was going
to tell them were going
to make it feel any better.
It’s just something that
hopefully, over time, they’ll
heal from.”
BAILEY JOHNSON
Daily Sports Editor
ALEC COHEN/Daily
The Michigan hockey team found out its season was over after a Big Ten conference call on March 12.
You never got
that chance to
finish what you
started.
A series of unnecessary questions: Getting to know the Wolverines
After 32 games and five
months on a beat, you learn a
lot about a team. What plays
they run, what the rotation
is, what their strengths and
weaknesses are and even who
the mom of the team is — senior
guard Akienreh Johnson.
The things you really want
to know, though, can’t be
figured out by simply watching
the team. Instead, you’ve got
to rely on awkward-looking
19 year-olds to ask those
questions for you. So now, what
originally began as a podcast
gag and quickly turned into
crowdsourcing for new meals I
can make at college, will come
to you in a written format. I
apologize in advance.
***
Favorite ice cream:
Freshman
guard
Maddie
Nolan:
Something
called
“yellow cake batter.” At first
we doubted its existence, but a
thorough investigation yielded
multiple
other
witnesses
coming forward and testifying
to its existence.
Freshman guard Michelle
Sidor: Mint chocolate chip. She
actually said, “chocolate chip
mint,” but the only ice cream I
found that’s called that is from
a company called Cascade
Glacier in Oregon, and I had to
go to the third page of Google
for that — just to find out it’s
the exact same thing as mint
chocolate chip.
Johnson: Butter pecan.
Freshman
center
Izabel
Varejão: Salted caramel.
Favorite Christmas songs:
Sophomore
forward
Naz
Hillmon:
“Mary
Did
You
Know?” by Pentatonix. An a
cappella fan, who would’ve
thought?
Junior
guard
Priscilla
Smeenge: Mariah Carey’s “All I
Want for Christmas is You”
Senior
forward
Kayla
Robbins:
Following
in
Smeenge’s footsteps, if only by
order I wrote this.
Sophomore guard Amy Dilk:
“Mistletoe” by Justin Bieber.
Hm.
Johnson: Jingle bells.
Sidor: “Last Christmas” by
Wham!
Michigan coach Kim Barnes
Arico: Sleigh Ride. She sang it,
too. Maybe she and Hillmon
should start an a cappella
group together.
We also kept track of when
the right time to listen to
Christmas music is, but I lost all
the audio and didn’t transcribe
any of it. We all make mistakes.
Fantasy vacation spot:
Sophomore guard Danielle
Rauch: Italy. When further
pressed, she said, “I don’t know,
it just seems cool.” Michigan
has taken its past two team trips
to Italy, says communications
director Sarah VanMetre.
Hillmon:
Egypt.
Same
reasoning as Rauch.
Junior forward Hailey Brown
and Johnson: Bora Bora. The
pair both fell in love with the
location after seeing multiple
Twitter posts about it. They
obviously have very good feed
selections.
Conspiracy Theories:
Sophomore forward Emily
Kiser: A whole lot of them. The
one I feel comfortable sharing
is aliens.
Johnson: Snow isn’t real.
There’s a video out there where
snow chars after a lighter is put
to it, she uses as her evidence.
Johnson comes from Toledo,
where it snowed on Monday.
Barnes Arico: After serious
pressing,
and
confirmation
that Kiser is a conspiracy nut,
she came up with her own after
Dilk nearly got a triple double:
She pulled Dilk to prevent her
from reaching that milestone.
Recipes:
There are too many pasta
ones, so we’ll go with the crowd
(my) favorites.
Barnes Arico: Fish tacos. She
doesn’t cook anymore, she has
a husband for that.
Hillmon: Orders from Uber
eats.
Johnson: French toast bread
with eggs, bacon and a drizzle
of maple syrup for sauce. A
word from the wise: Turn off
the fire alarm when you make
bacon on the stove, otherwise
you get angry looks from your
neighbors.
Varejão:
Beijinhos.
Condensed milk, butter and
coconut. Google calls them
coconut kisses.
Peanut butter and jelly
sandwiches:
Barnes
Arico:
Creamy
peanut butter and raspberry
jelly.
Dilk: Smooth peanut butter
and nothing.
Johnson: Chunky and grape.
***
There were many more
questions and many more
answers,
but
due
to
our
youthful ignorance, we forgot
to transcribe them. So it goes.
As we social distance in the
new sports-less world, maybe
take a page out of Johnson’s
book and make some beijinhos,
find out if snow is real and
listen to some Christmas songs
to remember when times were
good two decades — I mean
weeks — ago.
KENT SCHWARTZ
Daily Sports Writer
MILES MACKLIN/Daily
Sophomore forward Emily Kiser (far left) has gained a reputation as a “conspiracy nut” among many of her teammates and coaches.