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Sports

SPORTS

Iowa looks for Big Ten title

This is the second in a series of Big Ten men’s basketball previews.Heading into Steve Alford’s second year as coach of the Hawkeyes, the team has the highest expectations of any Iowa squad in recent memory.Last year, Alford’s first after taking over for Tom Davis, the Hawkeyes went 14-16, their first losing season since 1994.But with steady senior point guard Dean Oliver returning, and a cast of talented newcomers, the Hawkeyes believe they can turn the team around and win the Big Ten.“We have a lot of new faces, and things are looking real good,” said Oliver, who last year averaged 13.6 points and 4.2 assists per game.

SPORTS

Kickers advance in tourney

Justin A. Rice
November 10, 2000

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The MSU men’s soccer team opened the Big Ten Tournament with a 6-0 first-round shutout over Northwestern on Thursday at Ohio State’s Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. The win advances the kickers to a second-round match against Penn State at 2:30 p.m.

SPORTS

Women golfers follow through with win

James Jahnke
November 10, 2000

A record-shattering day resulted in a tournament victory for the women’s golf team in Pinehurst, N.C., on Wednesday.The squad won the three-day Pine Needles Invitational by firing a 288 in the final round, breaking the school mark of 290 set twice last season.Pinehurst will be the site of the 2001 U.S.

SPORTS

Icers eye on Northern Michigan

James Jahnke
November 9, 2000

The exhibition basketball game between MSU and Northern Michigan wasn’t much of a contest, with the Spartans winning 93-40, but this week’s series between the two schools’ hockey teams promises to be more competitive.The hockey series will feature two squads that are nationally-ranked and in a three-way tie atop the CCHA standings.No.

SPORTS

Smoker gains maturity, unexpected playing experience in freshman season

Jeff Karzen
November 9, 2000

Sue Smoker insists it’s her humble son, not a cocky Big Ten quarterback, who telephones home periodically just like any other college freshman.But, as the mother of a talented football player, Smoker realizes her son Jeff isn’t living the normal college experience.“Jeff will say, ‘Mom, it’s not normal to have to turn your phone off, or to have 70 e-mail messages every day,’” Sue Smoker said from the family’s Manheim, Pa.

SPORTS

Spikers play for pride over rivals

Eric Mckinney
November 8, 2000

When MSU and Michigan compete in women’s volleyball, it’s about more than wins and losses - it’s about pride.To be specific, it’s about the State Pride Flag that goes to the winner of head-to-head play each year.The tradition started in 1990 when the flag was awarded to U-M.

SPORTS

Cager recruits to officially sign with U

Krista Latham
November 8, 2000

If men’s head basketball coach Tom Izzo was happy to hear verbal commitments from three recruits - among them one of the most highly-touted players in the nation, Kelvin Torbert - then today should be Christmas in November.Flint Northern shooting guard Torbert, Minneapolis guard/forward Alan Anderson and Indianapolis shooting guard Chris Hill are all expected to sign letters of intent today to play for the Spartans next fall.Torbert will be MSU’s newest Flintstone, following the heels of former players Antonio Smith, Mateen Cleaves, Morris Peterson and senior guard Charlie Bell.

SPORTS

Lions coach Ross resigns

Arthur Alcid
November 7, 2000

In such dire times where MSU has had to deal with losing more often than winning, it’s good to know coach Bobby Williams still has a sense of humor.He showed it at his Monday press conference when asked how he’ll simulate the Purdue offense this week in practice.“We’ll put in 10 receivers, run them all out there and just have the quarterback stand back there and throw it because that’s basically what it’s like,” he said.

SPORTS

Canadian gridders adjust to college life at U

Jeff Karzen
November 6, 2000

Ziehl Kavanaght’s teammates call him “Frenchie.”Mike Labinjo misses his favorite ketchup chips.And Luc Mullinder doesn’t get to eat West Indian food anymore.These are just some of the transitions three Canadian natives on MSU’s football team deal with in a foreign country.Kavanaght, a Brossard, Quebec native, has had the toughest transition because of the language barrier.

SPORTS

Pistons can improve on team image

Eric Lacy
November 6, 2000

The names are synonymous with winning. James “Buddha” Edwards, Vinny “The Microwave” Johnson, Dennis “The Worm” Rodman, John “Spider” Salley, Isaiah “Zeke” Thomas, Bill “Lambo” Laimbeer, Rick “Bad Boy” Mahorn and of course, Joe Duuuuuuuuumars.Rodman smothering opponents with clutch defense, Laimbeer exchanging pleasantries with the referees after controversial calls, Rick Mahorn banging opponents to the ground with his hefty posterior - those were the good ol’ days.

SPORTS

Spikers defeat Purdue, lose to Illinois

Eric Mckinney
November 6, 2000

The MSU volleyball team continues to struggle in the Big Ten.The No. 22 Spartans split their weekend matches, losing to Illinois (6-15, 15-4, 12-15, 15-1, 12-15) on Friday, then rebounding to beat Purdue (15-6, 10-15, 15-5, 15-6) on Saturday.Through 14 Big Ten games the Spartans (14-9, 7-7 Big Ten) are still in sixth place.

SPORTS

Smoker faces rabid attack of Buckeye blitzes, sacks

Arthur Alcid
November 6, 2000

COLUMBUS, Ohio - For all the success he’s had this season, Jeff Smoker is only a freshman and his youth showed against Ohio State.After MSU (4-5 overall, 1-5 Big Ten) jumped ahead 13-3 in the first quarter, the Buckeyes (7-2, 4-2) began blitzing the first-year quarterback from Manheim, Pa., disrupting Smoker and the MSU offense en route to a 27-13 defeat of the Spartans.“They didn’t blitz too much early,” Smoker said.

SPORTS

Fumbling in Columbus

Jeff Karzen
November 6, 2000

COLUMBUS, Ohio - For the first quarter Saturday, the Spartans put their scoring woes behind them. MSU scored touchdowns on its first two drives of the game, and were dominating the line of scrimmage to the tune of 115 total yards and a 13-3 advantage after 15 minutes of play.Then, as has been the theme all season, the Spartans (4-5 overall, 1-5 Big Ten) succumbed to mistake-laden football, resulting in a 27-13 loss to Ohio State (7-2, 4-2).MSU was clinging to a 10-point lead when senior safety Richard Newsome intercepted Buckeye quarterback Steve Bellisari’s pass at Ohio State’s 34-yard line with 11:18 remaining in the second quarter.

SPORTS

Williford learns from setbacks in U career

Justin A. Rice
November 6, 2000

Sometimes sports fans get so wrapped up in the glitz and glamour of big time college athletics they forget intercollegiate athletics is more than just entertainment - it is a tool used to shape athletes as people.The core of this process can be seen more clearly when looking at athletes like MSU senior forward Steve Williford, who plays soccer - a nonrevenue sport where the media does not cake-on layers of hype.“I think I learned the most in life through soccer,” Williford said.