The Wake

Best Club Team: Men’s soccer
-After another great run at Nationals, highlighted by a 3-0 win over Weber State, helps make a case for a men’s varsity soccer team at the ‘U.’Best Intramural Team: The Sanford All-Stars
-Think of the ‘U’ men’s hockey team without all the exposure, national championships, beards or jersey chasers. Best Quote: Jerome Stewart of the Young Gunners Intramural Basketball Team
-“This is Jerome’s team, anyone that has any problems with that can f#*@ off.”
Hey, if y’all ain’t peepin’ what Jerome’s speakin’ ya best step or he’s gonna have to busta cap.Biggest Moment By A “Meet The Gophers Athlete:” Rhys Lloyd and his game-winning field goal against those pesky Wisconsin Cheesemakers.
-Lloyd’s clutch kick brought back an axe wielded by a lumberjack who has absolutely no meaning in his …

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The University of Minnesota women’s basketball team’s success relied on a highly-touted senior leader, a pillar-like presence in the paint and confident players riding an emotional tidal wave. But as the team progressed further into the season, adaptability also proved vital to its success. The Gophers were still adapting to a second-year head coach and learning how to deal with high expectations heading into this season. Now they have to deal with the pressure of being labeled the best basketball team on campus. Considering their track record, I won’t be the one to say this group of players will fail. Coming off a Sweet 16 appearance in the national tournament last year, the Gopher women knew opponents would be gunning for them this season as a top team in …

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You know you’re good when the University of Minnesota men’s tennis coach Dave Geatz wants you to play for his team after he watches you at a national tournament at age 14. You know you’re really good when you’re the first freshman in the state of Arkansas to win a state tournament at the high-school level. And when you beat a No. 1 seed and a No. 2 seed on your way to Big 10 singles tournament championship in 2003, everyone begins to notice how good you really are. This is the story of Chris Wettengel, a fiery and confident player holding the No. 53 ranking in college tennis. He switches off playing the one-and-two-spots for the 31st-ranked Gophers men’s tennis squad meaning he plays the best players each university offers. …

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Comedian Denis Leary, who smokes like a chimney and guzzles longnecks, isn’t a ringing endorsement on the state of health in America, but had insightful commentary on exercise in one of his bits. “I’m not a workout guy, but I understood Nautilus. It made sense. There were arm machines and leg machines. But have you seen these people who are using the stair-master? Huh? Have we turned into gerbils ladies and gentlemen?”It isn’t the stair-master and it may still be on a stationary bike, but there’s certainly nothing stationary about it. Simply put, a spinning class would send Denis Leary into convulsions. Spinning classes at the University Rec Center have become the workout du jour for those looking for a cardiovascular ass-kicking. As far as group therapy goes, spinning is yoga’s evil twin. The group …

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“The Dynasty Begins.” This was the inscription on a sign held by Thomas Vanek and Tyler Hirsch of the Gophers men’s hockey team, who attended the men’s hockey intramural championship game at Ridder Arena. Along with Vanek and Hirsch, nearly 30 spectators witnessed the youngest hockey intramural team ever to win a championship, intramural supervisor Steve Schreader said. The Sanford All-Stars, comprised of 10 freshmen and two sophomores, outlasted the Perenium Falcons for a 2-1 victory and the championship. The championship game proved to be more of a struggle for the All-Stars than they may have expected seeing as how they steamrolled their competition through the majority of the regular-and-post-season games. The Falcons held a 1-0 lead throughout the majority of the game. The All-Stars waited roughly 35 minutes …

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“What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” Ever heard that line? It’s the one and only commandment in Sin City. Because if Hugh Hefner and Heidi Fleiss had a baby, it would be christened under one name only…Vegas, baby, Vegas!!! I thought about South Padre Island, considered Cancun and contemplated Panama City Beach for Spring Break, but one place always came up aces in my mind: Las Vegas. Maybe it was the Travel Channel’s Top-Ten-Bathrooms-in-Vegas special or The World Poker Tour pulling me and my wallet to a Disneyland for adults. Whatever the case, gambling has captured the interest of many and I wanted a piece of the action.Thanks to cameras in the table, Poker is the hot new spectator sport because it allows viewers to see the cards before they’re played. NBC premiered a Texas …

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In his 15th year as head men’s tennis coach at the University of Minnesota, David Geatz has proven himself as a premier coach in the Big Ten. He led the Gophers to five Big Ten championships, was Big Ten Coach of the Year three times and helped clinch numerous births in the NCAA tournament. This year is not one of large successes for the Gophers, but with Geatz at the helm, Gopher fans can look forward to a team that will not give up. Players will continue to work hard and put in their time during the off-season to prove themselves next year. The team is 2-1 in Big Ten conference play. The Gophers lost to Illinois in the Big Ten, but struggled in their non-conference games, posting a .500 record. After 11 straight years of …

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Many of us traveled to the sandy beaches of Florida or the scorching sun of Arizona for Spring Break to take in the beautiful scenery including some of the best golf courses in the country. Those states may have the courses, but snowy Minnesota is home to one of the nation’s best golf teams for the last two years. And one of its best players. Justin Smith, a 21-year-old senior from Franklin, Pa., is the No. 7-ranked college golfer in the nation. The intercollege-programs major is taking half of his courses in communications, and half in business, but plans to turn professional after he graduates. But before that, he will lead the No. 11-ranked Gophers golf squad into the Big 10 and NCAA tournaments coming this …

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The Skeewaksur Club formed on the University of Minnesota in November 1966 which allowed groups of students to gather and go downhill skiing in Minnesota. Though the club’s members may not have know it back then, they were laying the groundwork for what now is the Center for Outdoor Adventure (COA) on the Twin-Cities campus. Until about a year and a half ago, COA operated solely out of the St. Paul Gym where students could plan trips, rent equipment and climb the walls. But now to better serve the entire student body, COA is constructing a $100,000 office in the Minneapolis Rec Center that will be the central hub for adventurous students looking to get involved in the variety of activities the organization offers. The new office is a remodeling …

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From now on, fantasy games aren’t just associated with the comic book, Magic card lovers who’ve served as punching bags for schoolyard bullies. Fantasy games have transcended the world of Dungeons and Dragons and entered into the testosterone-charged world of professional sports. The lucrative fantasy sports industry has slowly changed the way average fans watch their favorite sports. Now a college student has a reason to get up before noon on a Sunday. Blurry-eyed, hungover students slave over their computers trying to outthink their opponents all in the name of fantasy sports. On any given Sunday, over 15 million fantasy-sports players are feverishly adding and dropping players to their roster, considering trades, proposing trades, making posts and trying to finalize their starting lineups before kickoff. For fantasy football fans at the University of Minnesota, the obsession …

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When Aleksey Zharinov came to the United States three and a half years ago from his native Russia, he had few expectations and a great deal of questions. But he did know the United States had prominent tennis competition and, of course, his beloved Metallica. Zharinov, often called “The Tank” or “Russia” by his teammates and friends, is a senior sports management major from the city of Novosibirsk, Russia, roughly four hours from Moscow. Though many wouldn’t consider Russia’s frigid climate to be ideal for tennis, Zharinov developed into one of the best talents in the central part of the country for his age, he said. He met and became friends with a businessman from Minnesota who thought Zharinov should test his tennis talent against superior competition in the …

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As University Rec Center patrons circle the track in the Fieldhouse and intramural-soccer games heat up nearby, the Men’s Rugby club is plopped right in the middle of the action taking part in what some may call Rugby 101. Spring is the season of a fresh start and high expectations for the club which has a high turnover of new athletes each season. The majority of the competition, including the national tournament, takes place in the fall so the newcomers and veterans can use the spring to get back to basics and build a chemistry heading into big-time competition. The whole idea of a fresh start came two years ago after current head coach Loren Lemke took over the program. There was never a problem of getting …

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So the ref blew a call. So what? The zebra turned his head and missed the illegal screen under the hoop. Big deal. Big deal!? “The refs need to see both sides of the game. They can play physical, but we can’t play physical,” said former Minnesota Golden Gopher and current NBA player Bobby Jackson last April. “I’d rather have high school refs than NBA refs.” It comes as no surprise his comments came after the Sacramento Kings lost to the Utah Jazz that night. Hopefully, Jackson remembers to file the $7,500 “donation” in his tax return after the NBA fined him for those comments.Moms, dads, Bob Knight, it doesn’t matter; freaking out over a tickey-tack foul is the most enjoyable and entertaining part of the game. Ever since Dr. James Naismith rigged a peach …

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A mode of transportation like nothing else is skiing across country. All you need for the sport are some skies, poles, snow and some open trails. The University of Minnesota Nordic Ski Club team consists of a great mix of people who have experience with the sport and also some who are just interested in learning. Cross country skiing is a physically exhausting sport. If you want to be able to compete, you must have great endurance, so the team spends much of its time getting in shape. During the winter months, the team practices daily at local parks, a nice blend of flat land and hills. There are numerous members of the club who only attend the practices because of their talent level. But, frequently, those who work hard at practice soon get the …

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So what makes Aaron Robinson move so darn quick on the basketball court? Is it the Jay-Z album bumping in his headphones before the game or his motivational prayer during the national anthem? Both of these pre-game rituals and a desire to change the game to a faster level has made Aaron Robinson one of the scrappiest players in the Big 10. The junior guard from Rockford, Ill. relishes in his spark-plug style of play and loves to use his energy to change the tempo of the game. Coaches welcome that attitude from any player but especially coming off the bench when the team looks lethargic. The host of schools recruiting Robinson includes the Universities of Connecticut, Miami (Fla.), Michigan and Minnesota, proving players with his aggression cannot …

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