The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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When someone approached him with the idea to have Harbaugh coach, Ausmus was all for it. "I didn't know they were down here," Ausmus, admittedly not a big college football fan, said. "Once we got the info and knew their schedule, the ball started rolling … but if he argues and gets thrown out, I'm not paying his fines." Harbaugh got to wave a couple of runners to second on balls to the gap in the first three innings, one of his goals. "I hope to get a chance to send a runner and be right," he said before the game. "I don't want anybody picked off first base. That's my main concern — have nobody get picked off and then on a personal level, don't get hit by a line drive." There was a little more pressure with 75 of his players and staff in the stands ready to heckle him. "You don't want to screw up," Harbaugh said with a grin. "Most of our guys are here for the game. I appreciate [Pirates manager] Clint Hurdle and the Pirates organi- zation for helping us out and getting us tickets." Hurdle, a long-time Michigan fan, addressed the players before the game, adding to team morale that Harbaugh said had been "exception- ally high" on the trip. PLAYERS HAVE A BALL Harbaugh is willing to think out- side the box in all aspects of his pro- gram, and the spring break trip in the heart of SEC territory certainly caught SEC Commissioner Greg San- key's attention. "It's a competitive endeavor," San- key told reporters. "We've shown our strength. We focus on making sure we're strong, yet we've got a commit- ment to properly lead intercollegiate athletics. As a result, we think it's the ABOUT IMG ACADEMY Located on 450 acres in Bradenton, Fla., IMG Academy is a private athletic training institute for youth, high school, collegiate and professional athletes. It offers basketball and football teams for some of the nation's top prep athletes — currently, six of Rivals.com's top 100 football prospects from the class of 2017 are enrolled at the school. Started in 1978 as the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, it offers programs for tennis, golf, baseball, basketball, lacrosse, soccer, football, track and field, and cross country, in addition to athletic and personal development. The academy attracts more than 12,000 athletes from approximately 80 coun- tries every year. It also offers professional and college training at its facility, as well as team training, post-graduate programs, youth camps and more. IMG bought 110 acres adjacent to its campus in 2011 and is in the process of expanding. The campus also includes an 18-hole golf course and is still home to the Bollettieri Tennis program. — Chris Balas