SPORTS
Hankins named national team coach
MSU men's golf head coach Mark Hankins will be leading the U.S. men's golf team to the 2007 World University Games in Bangkok, Thailand. The U.S.
BASEBALL
Watching Dennis Jones? Try not to blink
Dennis Jones is fast. You can tell that much just by watching him patrol center field for the MSU baseball team. But it's hard to gauge just how fast he is unless you look at some of his cheetah-like statistics. Jones runs the 60-yard dash in 6.3 seconds — about the same pace as the MSU track team's all-time record holder in the 60-meter dash. He's stolen a team-high 10 bases in 11 attempts this season — only three players in the conference have stolen that many bases with better efficiency. Baseball scouts rate foot speed on a scale of 20 to 80.
ICE HOCKEY
Bright future in store for MSU
The MSU hockey team has barely had time to appreciate this year's national championship, but it's already looking ahead. With five seniors graduating, including captain Chris Lawrence, the Spartans will lose valuable leadership and character players.
BASEBALL
Weather postpones baseball games
Because of inclement weather, the baseball series against Penn State has been postponed. Originally scheduled to begin at 3:05 p.m.
ICE HOCKEY
Title should spurt growth in hockey, fan enthusiasm
A stone has been cast by the hockey team's national championship victory, and the ripple effect could be enormous. When I came back to South Case Hall at 3 p.m.
SPORTS
Ryan Brehm scores weekly honors
After bringing MSU to a nine-shot win and winning the individual title at the Boilermaker Invitational last weekend, junior golfer Ryan Brehm was named Big Ten Co-Player of the Week and Golfweek Player of the Week. Brehm was the only player at the Boilermaker Invitational to finish the 36-hole tournament under par.
BASKETBALL
Neitzel scores AP honorable mention
The Associated Press recently named MSU junior basketball guard Drew Neitzel as Honorable Mention All-America. Scoring 20 or more points in 17 games during the season, Neitzel averaged a team-best 18.1 points per game — good for fourth-highest in the Big Ten.
FOOTBALL
Defense wants to play on instinct
When Mark Dantonio was introduced as MSU's newest head coach, he stressed that players play their best when they play the fastest, and they play the fastest when they know exactly what to do. Knowing "exactly what to do" wasn't a common theme in the previous coaching regime.
ICE HOCKEY
NHL playoffs fun for all
State News sports reporter and hockey fanatic Matt Bishop talks about the NHL's Stanley Cup Playoffs, which kicked off Wednesday with four games. Question: So, opening thoughts on this year's playoffs? Answer: I am like a kid in a candy store right now.
SPORTS
Gymnasts ready for NCAA Regional
If anything is going to bring the MSU gymnastics team to victory, it will be its teamwork. Team-oriented workouts, spirited group cheers and a solid support system have been regular parts of the team's vigorous preparation for the NCAA Central Regional Championship meet Saturday. "It helps us bond and learn how to perform as a team," freshman Nicole Curler said of the cooperative approach. "We are much more of a full pack.
SOFTBALL
Weather dampens spirits, practices
Jacquie Joseph has never seen weather like this in her time as MSU softball head coach. The snow storm that hit East Lansing on Wednesday canceled the Spartans' game against Central Michigan, marking the fifth game MSU has lost in the last week due to weather. "I can tell you in my 14 years here that this has never happened," Joseph said.
FOOTBALL
Adams, defense adapt to scheme
For most players on the MSU football team, a new coaching regime brought new schemes and faces to learn.
BASEBALL
MSU tops Broncos in matinee
Lansing — Some people have to wait years to get redemption for their mistakes. Brandon Doherty only needed a few pitches. Moments after making a throwing error in the ninth inning that brought the go-ahead run to the plate, Doherty made a lunging grab on a line drive to preserve the MSU baseball team's 6-5 win against Western Michigan on Tuesday at Oldsmobile Park. "If that error cost us the game," a smiling Doherty said afterward, "I'm not going to be happy the rest of the night, that's for sure." The Broncos (8-16), who entered their final at-bat down two, had a runner on second with two outs when Chris Lewis grounded weakly to Doherty, a junior shortstop. "I kind of looked away right there because I thought it was an automatic," MSU head coach David Grewe said. But Doherty's throw was wild, allowing the runner from second to score and Lewis, the tying run, to move into scoring position. The next hitter roped one to Doherty's right, and for a moment, it appeared his error on the previous play would prove extremely costly.
ICE HOCKEY
Icers receive praise from distant source
Following the Spartans' 3-1 national championship-clinching win Saturday night over Boston College, junior defenseman Daniel Vukovic's voice mail in-box was completely full. The most important message was from his brother Nick who was watching the game on DirecTV from his home in Australia with friends. "He moved over there, I think two years ago, and I haven't seen my brother for the two years," Vukovic said Monday.
BASEBALL
MSU splits doubleheader
Two runs. That's all that separates the MSU baseball team from a perfect start to conference play. The Spartans dropped the opener of Monday's doubleheader against Purdue, 1-0 — their second one-run loss in the conference — then blanked the Boilermakers, 3-0, in the back end to take the series at Kobs Field and improve to 13-10 overall, 5-2 in the Big Ten. Only once in the last decade have the Spartans gotten off to a better conference start — 2004, when they won their first six games. "The crazy thing is we're that close to being undefeated in the Big Ten," head coach David Grewe said, holding his fingers an inch apart.
BASEBALL
WEB EXTRA: Brookes stays hot on mound to help MSU beat Purdue, cold temperatures
How cold was it on Sunday at Kobs Field? So cold that junior second baseman Steve Gerstenberger wore four layers of Under Armour under his jersey to fight the game-time wind chill of 23 degrees. "I can hardly move," he said, "but at least I'm warm." So cold that despite the grounds crew's attempts to clear the field before the game with leaf blowers, snow was still piled along the fences — something home-plate umpire Bruce Doane said he has never seen in 35 years. So cold that Purdue rented a microwave from the hotel it was staying at and used it to heat chicken soup in its dugout. But not cold enough to cool down senior pitcher Craig Brookes, who threw seven innings and allowed two runs — one earned — to lead the MSU baseball team to a 3-2 win against the Boilermakers. "Good old Brookesy," MSU head coach David Grewe said of his ace, who kept his conference-leading ERA at 1.29 on an afternoon that felt more like Christmas Eve than Easter Sunday. What was supposed to be the finale of a four-game weekend set ended up being the series opener because of the weather.
ICE HOCKEY
21 years in the making
St. Louis — Justin Abdelkader wasn't even born when Mike Donnelly scored the game-winning goal in the 1986 NCAA championship game to earn the crown for the Spartans, but the sophomore forward will take his place in the hockey history books alongside him. Abdelkader, like Donnelly, scored the game-winning goal to give MSU the national title.
ICE HOCKEY
Comley answers critics, leads MSU to NCAA title
St. Louis — MSU head coach Rick Comley has been picked apart by the media, fans and the public ever since he was named Ron Mason's successor in 2002. He has dealt with two seasons in which the team failed to meet lofty preseason expectations, ultimately falling short of an NCAA Tournament bid. But with Saturday's 3-1 victory over Boston College to give MSU its third national championship in program history, Comley has met those lofty expectations, silencing the critics in the process. "I want to publicly thank Ron Mason," Comley said of MSU's athletic director.
ICE HOCKEY
WEB EXTRA: From wrong turns to national championship, St. Louis road trip had it all
State News sports editor Eric Fish kept a running blog of his journey this past weekend with hockey reporter Zack Colman and photographer Mike Itchue at the Frozen Four in St.
ICE HOCKEY
WEB EXTRA: Spartans stick with game plan to bring home national championship
St. Louis — Boston College registered 13 shots in the first period in Saturday night's national championship game.