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Sports | Hockey

SPORTS

High school teammates having big success at MSU

Joey Nowak
December 7, 2006

Russ Cozart has been around high school wrestling for 27 years — long enough to know when he's got something special. When his son, Rocky, was 4 years old, Cozart knew Rocky could be in for an illustrious career. "When he was old enough to put on a singlet and basically try to push somebody down, he started wrestling," Russ said. A decade later, Rocky Cozart joined the wrestling team his dad coached at Brandon High School in Brandon, Florida. Two years later, Franklin Gomez transferred to the same school and joined the team. By the time the two graduated in 2005, they had combined for five national championships and four state championships.

ICE HOCKEY

Abdelkader picked for U.S. squad

Eric Fish
December 7, 2006

Sophomore forward Justin Abdelkader will be temporarily trading in his green and white sweater for a red, white and blue one later this month. Abdelkader was selected Tuesday to represent Team USA at the 2007 International Ice Hockey Federation's World Junior Championships from Dec.

ICE HOCKEY

Up-and-down Spartans search for continuity

Eric Fish
December 6, 2006

The MSU hockey team is almost at the halfway point of the season, and there have been 15 games of mixed emotions for head coach Rick Comley. The positive: The Spartans have defeated top national teams Michigan and Notre Dame. The negative: MSU's spotty offense and shallow lineup have prevented it from consistently carrying over quality play from game to game and have left the Spartans with a .500 overall record. "We don't need excuses — we just have to get better," Comley said Monday at his weekly press conference.

BASKETBALL

Hoops preview

TONIGHT'S HOOPS GAME What: MSU men's basketball (7-2) vs. IPFW (3-5) Where: Breslin Center When: 7 p.m. NOTES: • MSU leads the Big Ten with a plus-11.4 rebounding margin.

BASKETBALL

MSU supports Ohio State in suit against former coach

Laura Collins
December 6, 2006

MSU was part of an 18-university group that filed a brief last week supporting Ohio State in its bid to overturn a $2.4 million award to former men's basketball coach Jim O'Brien. O'Brien was fired in 2004 after he admitted giving $6,000 to the mother of a 7-foot-3 Serbian recruit, Aleksander Radojevic. The Ohio Court of Claims ruled earlier this year that although O'Brien committed NCAA violations, the university improperly fired him by not following the terms of his contract. All 10 Big Ten schools other than Ohio State signed the brief, as did the Big Ten, Pacific-10 and Big 12 conferences.

SPORTS

DeHaan earns Big Ten honor, is on pace to shatter MSU blocks record

Matt Bishop
December 5, 2006

After a week in which she averaged 24 points, 9.5 rebounds and 6.5 blocks, 6-foot-9 freshman center Allyssa DeHaan was rewarded Monday with Big Ten Player of the Week honors, becoming the first MSU freshman to win the award in five years. "I'm certainly excited for Allyssa to get some recognition," MSU head coach Joanne P.

BASKETBALL

Morgan has stress fracture, may miss up to 3 weeks

Ethan Conley
December 5, 2006

MSU's most promising and versatile young player has been sidelined by an injury that has plagued the program for years — a stress fracture. Head coach Tom Izzo said Monday that freshman forward Raymar Morgan will miss Wednesday's game against IPFW with a stress fracture in his right shin.

BASKETBALL

Izzo still concerned about crowd

Ethan Conley
December 5, 2006

Tom Izzo wants more from you. The MSU head coach is looking for better crowd support. He said before the season he was worried that fans have become numb to success because of the team's recent history of Final Four appearances, and his concerns haven't been helped by sparse crowds at MSU's first few home games. "I hope we're not getting fat and sassy," Izzo said. MSU has reported a sellout in each of its seven home games thus far, but plenty of empty seats have been visible in both the Izzone and the regular-seating sections.

FOOTBALL

Dantonio, new staff on whirlwind recruit trip

Ethan Conley
December 4, 2006

Mark Dantonio is wasting no time in his effort to turn around the MSU football program. On Thursday, he penciled four names into his coaching staff: offensive coordinator Don Treadwell, defensive line coach Ted Gill, offensive line coach Dan Roushar and tackles/tight ends coach Mark Staten, who also will serve as recruiting coordinator. On Friday, he named three additional position coaches: secondary coach Harlon Barnett, linebackers and special teams coach Mike Tressel and quarterbacks coach Dave Warner. All seven worked under Dantonio at Cincinnati. "When I first found out and knew that there were possibilities about coming to Michigan State, the first thing I did was check with our staff, in terms of where they would be at with everything," Dantonio said Friday.

SPORTS

Broken nose? No problem

Joey Nowak
December 4, 2006

Senior forward Katrina Grantham played Sunday's game with a protective face mask after suffering a broken nose when she collided with senior guard Victoria Lucas-Perry in practice Saturday. "We almost lost two players before this game," MSU head coach Joanne P.

ICE HOCKEY

Special teams struggles limit Spartans to split

Eric Fish
December 4, 2006

The story of the season so far for the No. 12 Spartans has been inconsistency of play and inability to carry momentum from game to game. After splitting a home weekend series with Ohio State, the Spartans aren't any closer to solving those problems. Following a 4-1 win against Ohio State in the series opener Friday night, MSU gave up two shorthanded goals and two power-play goals in a 4-1 loss Saturday — the Spartans' first regular-season loss at Munn Ice Arena this season. "I was hoping we would take a step (Saturday) and take the game to them," MSU head coach Rick Comley said. "I didn't see that." Friday's contest could have been called The Tim Kennedy and Chris Mueller Show.

BASKETBALL

Trannon out, others step up

Joey Nowak
December 4, 2006

Bradley's four-guard lineup Sunday normally would have meant extended minutes for senior forward Matt Trannon, whose versatility has helped neutralize smaller post players in the past. But Trannon didn't play a single minute Sunday and won't for the rest of the season — head coach Tom Izzo announced Friday that Trannon won't return to the basketball team and instead will prepare for the NFL Draft. Trannon averaged 4.6 points and 4.3 rebounds a game last season and was one of MSU's best defenders.

SPORTS

Monday musings

Tom Keller
December 4, 2006

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick was fined $10,000 for extending both middle fingers toward Georgia Dome fans after getting booed at the end of a 31-13 loss last week. Vick apologized in a statement, saying, "I guess I misinterpreted how to do the Dirty Bird." The Houston Texans gave a tryout last week to Justin Gatlin, the former gold medal-winning sprinter who was banned for eight years because of a positive testosterone test. Scouts liked Gatlin's potential, but team officials are concerned about the impact of him having to give a urine sample in every huddle. The Lincoln University men's basketball team scored a Division III-record 201 points in a win Saturday. Lincoln's players said it was the easiest time they had scoring since they convinced some freshmen girls they were headed to the NBA. Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Troy Williamson claims he was struck in the face last week while at "Sharperpalooza" — an annual birthday party held by teammate Darren Sharper. Police have only one suspect: Frank "The Tank" Ricard, also a suspect in last week's mysterious mass streak through the quad and into the gymnasium. Ohio State football head coach Jim Tressel didn't vote in this week's final USA Today coaches poll in order to avoid controversy about who he wants his team to play in the national championship game. Strangely, poll directors received one unmarked ballot with the words "Ohio State should play Boise State" scrawled in crayon. Former 98 Degrees singer Nick Lachey purchased partial ownership of the Tacoma Rainiers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, last week. Lachey said he would have the club turned around in just one night (una noche).

ICE HOCKEY

WEB EXTRA: Goebel returns to East Lansing as Buckeye

Eric Fish
December 1, 2006

It will be somewhat of a homecoming for Ohio State junior forward Tommy Goebel when the Buckeyes invade Munn Ice Arena on Friday and Saturday for a two-game series. Goebel donned the green and white at MSU for two seasons, from 2003 to 2005, before transferring to Ohio State following his sophomore year. In his freshman season at MSU, Goebel earned a spot on the CCHA All-Rookie Team after scoring 15 goals and tallying 32 points.

FOOTBALL

7 Cincinnati assistant coaches resign, likely headed to MSU

Steve Highfield
November 30, 2006

Seven members of Cincinnati's football coaching staff have resigned on the heels of former head coach Mark Dantonio's departure and are likely to assume a role on Dantonio's staff at MSU. Tom Hathaway, Cincinnati's assistant athletics director, confirmed the resignations Wednesday afternoon and said the coaches will return to prepare and coach Cincinnati in its bowl game. The coaches who resigned are: • Offensive coordinator Don Treadwell • Tight ends coach Mark Staten • Defensive line coach Ted Gill • Linebackers coach Mike Tressel • Secondary coach Harlon Barnett • Offensive line coach Dan Roushar • Quarterbacks coach Dave Warner Defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi, Cincinnati's interim head coach, told the university it has until Dec.

SPORTS

Athletics spending in complicated debate

In the college world, it seems like athletes are treated like royalty. Drew Stanton and Drew Neitzel sightings on campus are a bigger deal than students seeing a celebrity in East Lansing.