So long, Michigan, it's been a fun trip

WILL McCAHILL Whatcha talkin' 'bout Willis?

Five years is a long time. And you know what? It's been almost that long since I first walked into the Daily. But strangely, it seems no longer ago than yesterday afternoon.

Sports are a huge reason I came to Michigan. Not that I ever had any hope of competing at the varsity level, but the Fab Five first went to the Final Four my senior year in high school, as I was deciding between Michigan and Montreal's McGill University. It didn't take me long to realize they don't know what basketball is in that part of Canada. My decision was made.

It's only fitting, then, that the crowning accomplishment of my five-year Daily career was covering the men's basketball team. After all, it was that very team that lured me here in the first place.

And covering the basketball team couldn't have been more fun, really. I've roamed all over the Big Ten, from State College to Iowa City, and even got to go to New York. The experience means more to me than any class I've taken, any assignment I've done.

One thing I've noticed about the Daily's sports coverage, particularly of the major sports, is the lack of respect and credibility the newspaper seems to get, at least from the coaches involved. Not that I'm criticizing these people, though. There are reasons why this is so.

The Daily is a student newspaper, and there is a huge turnover every year. As you advance through the ranks, you are generally rewarded with higher-profile beats. It makes sense. You can't have freshmen covering the football team, but also you can't have someone covering that team for years at a time.

And therein lies the problem. The reason Steve Fisher or Lloyd Carr don't take the Daily as seriously as they take the big Detroit papers is because they have to deal with different people every year. While Jim Spadafore covers the Michigan basketball team every year for The Detroit News, Fisher never knows who he's going to get from the Daily. He sees the same mistakes being made each year, the same process of adjustment. I know that if I were to cover the basketball team again next year, I'd do a much better job. But the Daily really doesn't have that option. It's a year and out.

There's one thing that comes from having to scratch and claw to get even the slightest crumb of respect from coaches like Fisher. What ends up happening is that, in an effort to assert our credibility, in an attempt to gain the respect of those we're covering, we become that team's and coach's harshest critics. Because we feel we are treated as mere mouthpieces, any positive take on the big teams becomes nigh on unacceptable. And while that can be unfair to those involved, it must be said that negative results - losses and scandals - do make it easier to criticize the team we're covering. An unfortunate way to earn respect, perhaps, but it doesn't often seem that good writing and thorough coverage achieve that goal.

(The fact that the big programs operate under more secrecy - and lately, with much less success - than the Manhattan Project doesn't score any points with the media either, but that's another story.)

Not that I'm saying the Daily automatically deserves the same measure of respect as the big newspapers with which it competes. But it certainly deserves more than it gets. It's the best college newspaper in the country, as shown by the number of Gold Circle Awards (the college version of the Pulitzer Prize) we pulled in this year. Hell, we had an alumna win the Pulitzer Prize this year (the second to do so in the last decade). We have alumni covering Michigan hockey for the Ann Arbor News, the Pistons and Red Wings for The Detroit News, and even one who's a SportsCenter anchor. That's not too shabby. It's something for coaches and administrators to keep in mind.

Anyhow, I couldn't make this column complete without some thanks. I wouldn't be writing with the confidence I have today if it hadn't been for some great editors who were here when I started writing for the news staff in the fall of 1992: Henry Goldblatt, Melissa Peerless, Bethany Robertson and Andrew Levy. Almost every single friend I've had here has been made through some connection to the Daily, and what great pals you've been. Thanks in particular to Barry, a great writer, editor and friend (not to mention dog-walker). And to the Canucks, particularly Andrew, Shawn, Anne-Marie and Angela - thanks for everything. To say what you guys mean to me would take many, many more words, if such things were even possible to put in writing.

This column is dedicated to Mark Jackson. If I can make even half as many people smile as you did, I'll have lived a worthwhile life.

I miss you, man.

- This is Will McCahill's final column for The Michigan Daily. He can be reached over e-mail at wmcc@umich.edu

04-22-97