2002 Winter Olympics
OLYMPIC UPDATE: Thirteen bison will be trucked from the Great Salt Lake’s Antelope Island State Park to Soldier Hollow, joining nine wild horses and three wild burros at the cross-country and biathlon venue. The Old West icons will be on display for the duration of the Olympic and Paralympic games.
MARCH TO THE MEDALS: Jen Davidson has filed a grievance with the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation against former partner Jean Racine, demanding a race-off and claiming Racine’s choice of another brakewoman was unfair. A week before December’s Olympic trials, Racine surprised Davidson when she booted her out of her sled and chose Gea Johnson to be her brakewoman. Racine and Johnson ended up qualifying as the top American pair and set a track record on the course that will be used for the Winter Games.
CARRYING THE TORCH: The torch will begin the day in Phoenix, pass through Yuma, Ariz., and head for Jacumba, Chula Vista and Coronado, Calif., before ending the day in San Diego.
NCAA Basketball
DETROIT (AP) _ One has to look no further than the couch at Calihan Hall to know Detroit Mercy’s homecourt is fan-friendly.
“The couch” sits along the baseline nearest Detroit’s bench and is reserved for the most raucous students, along with the neighborhood folks who always seem to mingle there.
“I’m close to the floor, so I can hear everything that they say,” said senior guard Greg Grays, who transferred to Detroit in 1999 after two years at Penn State. “They’re tough on who we’re playing against because they’re right on top of them.”
The couch may be cozy, but it’s no place to rest for fans who, with the Titans, have combined to become unbeatable at venerable Calihan Hall.
Detroit’s 75-74 win over Wright State on Saturday was its 37th straight home victory, giving the Titans the longest such streak in Division I basketball.
Michigan State had the longest home winning streak, but the Spartans lost to Wisconsin 64-63 at the Breslin Center in East Lansing on Saturday, ending their run at 53 games.
Calihan Hall has been Detroit’s arena since 1952, and it has played home to several greats, including Dave DeBussschere, Spencer Haywood, John Long, Terry Tyler and Rashad Phillips, the school’s career scoring leader.
Despite the Titans’ streak, the 8,837-seat arena has rarely been sold out like Breslin Center or Crisler Arena at Michigan. When Dick Vitale coached the Titans in the 1970s, they routinely drew huge crowds, but only 3,036 fans showed up for Thursday’s 63-54 win over No. 24 Butler.
“There may not be a lot of people there, but they can get loud,” junior guard Willie Green said. “certain times, it gets louder than at Michigan or Michigan State.”
Despite the sparse crowds, Titans coach Perry Watson sees Calihan Hall as a distinct advantage.
“It’s a great place to coach and play in,” said Watson, a native Detroiter who often attended Titans games as a child. “The players and the fans both take a lot of pride, as Detroiters, of being here.”