It was a big weekend for all of our college and pro teams, as Sportsbeat expanded in Sunday’s edition to 12 pages. Sure, the section used to be bigger in the past, but still Sunday editions are a chance to get everything in and put your best foot forward.
Front and center was Michigan’s near upset of No. 1 Connecticut Saturday night. Michigan State’s domination of Indiana earned a top billing, too.
The Headline “No Stu for U” was debated in the office as the Wolverines approached another impressive upset of a Top 5 team. Stu Douglass connected on six 3-pointers en route to a career-high 20 points.
As we listened to the game in the background, all we could here was some variation of “Douglass with another 3,” and being U-M’s leading scorer, he would be a natural choice as a reference in the main headline.
How the name got in was a chore for headline aficionado Matt Mowery, who harkens back to an old episode of ‘Seinfeld’ and a friendly fellow named the Soup Nazi. The character used to say, “No soup for you!” as he shout ed at customers he wished not to serve in his bistro.
We debated the reference and decided a great percentage of readers would understand the reference, plus “Thabeet goes on” lost in the voting.
Of course Crean and Green is a reference to former MSU assistant Tom Crean, who now leads Indiana.
Pat Caputo’s column about Dontrelle Willis’ loss of command was an interesting jaunt down memory lane. Notice ‘The Thing’ hanging over Willis’ head mentally, and thanks to us, literally.
If you venture inside to B4, there is an excellent feature on Lake Orion bowler Jeff Suma Jr., who has an interesting way to bowl. We were able to capture the two-handed style through the photos of staff photographer Jose Juarez.
Read the Suma Jr. story at miprepzone.com.
Lastly, our apologies to subscribers who get the early edition, late Pistons start + overtime + early press deadline (11:15 on Saturdays) = no Pistons results in the first edition. Don’t fret, it’s an odd combo and had the game not gone to overtime, it would be in first run.
All the extra space and no new Phelps news this weekend? Well, we do what we can.
As always, I look forward to your comments and e-mails.
(Eds. note: The Associated Press spelled Douglass' name with one 'S,' and that is the reason for the discrepancy in the spelling Sunday. The double-S spelling has been confirmed by the University of Michigan's athletic Web site and beat writer Paula Pasche.)