NEW YORK - When Michigan last met up with Arkansas, in the 1994 Midwest Regional final of the NCAA tournament, the Razorbacks had a little executive power on their side.
President Bill Clinton, an Arkansas native was in attendance at Dallas' Reunion Arena to cheer on his Hogs.
Sure enough, he didn't leave the arena disappointed as Arkansas sent Michigan packing, 76-68, with the Razorbacks on their way to winning the national championship.
So Michigan decided to use its alumni ties to find a White House link of their own - former President Gerald Ford, a 1935 Michigan graduate.
Ford had called Michigan coach Steve Fisher in Fisher's hotel room Tuesday morning as the team was about to leave for breakfast. He asked the Michigan skipper if he could talk to the players.
How could Fisher turn down an offer like that?
"He has called me two or three times every year," Fisher said. "He was absolutely fantastic. He met us at a public restaurant and stayed for an hour and a half and was the last guy to leave.
"We asked him if we could take a group picture and he went around the room and took individual shots with each member of the team. Every kid will have a picture that Ford will personalize. I know I will have mine."
Ford was also in attendance at Madison Square Garden last night, and to no one's surprise, the presidential influence worked again, as Michigan prevailed, sending the Wolverines to the championship as Clinton did for Arkansas.
No word yet as to whether Yale has asked George Bush to come by for its games next season.
Strike up the band?: As Michigan and Arkansas took the floor for warmups following the first semifinal game, there was a notable absence on Michigan's end of the floor: Michigan's band and its cheerleaders were nowhere to be found.
Apparently, both squads were scheduled to fly into New York that afternoon, but ran into some problems at Detroit Metro airport. According to several band members and cheerleaders, their airplane had a flat tire, which resulted in a four-hour delay.
"They kept saying it was a tire change and our plane kept changing tires," band director Jeff Grogan said. "Finally, they canceled the flight."
There was a minor accident at New York's LaGuardia Airport earlier in the day involving a corporate jet and a service truck on one of the runways, which caused some brief delays.
Ten minutes after the cancellation, the cheerleaders were able to hop onto a plane bound for tiny White Plains Airport, which is about 45 minutes from midtown Manhattan.
But they couldn't get to the arena because their baggage was still on the plane they were originally scheduled to take. There wasn't enough time to get their bags and still make the other flight.
So, it was off to New Jersey's Newark Airport, about an hour drive from the Garden, to meet up with their baggage and the band.
Finally, at about 9:50 p.m., eight minutes into the game, the cheerleaders charged into the arena to a half-rousing, half-derisive ovation.
The band followed about ten minutes later, receiving a similar greeting. But the delay didn't upset the crew as it played as loud as it ever had.
"It was just a real wild day for us," Michigan cheerleader Mandy Froede said.
Maybe it was a wild day for Froede and her mates, but their entrance made for a wild night for Florida State coach Pat Kennedy.
"I think the most significant event of last night was when the Michigan band entered the arena," Kennedy said. "I kept hearing that Michigan fight song all night long. My wife woke me up at five in the morning and said, 'You've gotta' stop humming that song. You have to beat that team.'"
The most notable of quotables: Michigan junior guard Brandun Hughes, never the least bit bashful with his actions nor his mouth, added to his list of great lines last night.
With 3:38 to go in the first half, Hughes charged after a loose ball heading for a row of reporters. He hopped over the table at which they were seated and into the first row of fans.
Nobody was hurt, but Hughes did knock over a fan's beer.
So what were the first words out of his mouth? You'd expect something along the lines of, "Are you all right?"
But in classic form, Hughes jokingly yelled out, "I dropped the brew, man. I dropped the brew."
AP PHOTO
Michigan's Brandun Hughes' attempted save strikes fear into the hearts of Daily sports editors Alan "Bronx Bomber" Goldenbach and "Whatcha talkin' 'bout Willis" McCahill.