The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/703389
"The awards are always cool to look at, but for the most part, those are individual awards," she said. "At the same time, I wouldn't have been able to get those awards without my teammates. They deserve credit, too." Ask about a highlight moment from her career and she comes across with last year's 10-4 win over UCLA in the Women's College World Series, a rare game in which she failed to get a hit. "I didn't play well at all," Romero said. "I was 0-fer. But it's a team sport. If you're not playing well, it doesn't mean you're going to lose the game. It was really fun for me to sit back and watch my teammates do what they do. "I saw younger girls stepping up. I saw older girls stepping up. I knew them when they first came in, and saw how hard they worked. There they were, shining in the World Se- ries." That's maturity. So many stories unfold in sports that don't generate the insane scru- tiny of the one that's just around the corner. Some of them are presented here, from All-American runner and Olympic Trials finalist Mason Ferlic to ice hockey's Kyle Connor, who parlayed a fantastic freshman season into an immediate jump to the NHL's Winnipeg Jets. They continue to unfold years later, like three-time softball All-American Marissa Young taking over as Duke head coach. We try to tell these stories in every issue, but this one is mostly dedicated to them. They're worth a long look — here, in Rio and beyond. *** Despite all of the above, the mon- ster never sleeps — especially these days. Michigan football has Notre Dame back on the schedule for 2018 and 2019, and some harbor misgiv- ings about the particulars. Of course, it wouldn't be the Wol- verines and the Irish without some angst and smoldering insinuations of someone getting slighted. This round involves Notre Dame procuring the first home contest of that couplet, four years after cutting short the series after a game in South Bend. Michigan Director of Athletics Warde Manuel explained that with imbalanced Big Ten schedules, U-M needed Notre Dame to be a home game in 2019, to secure a seventh home contest. It makes for some interesting scheduling — Notre Dame, Michigan State and Ohio State on the road in 2018, barring a further slate shakeup. In 2019, the showdown versus the Irish falls in late October, meaning Michigan plays those three rivals in the final five games of the year. The biggest news there? Jim Har- baugh wanted this series back. He's planning on fielding teams fully capable of taking on that challenge, with the talent and swagger to come out on top. Here come the Irish, and the Wolverines say bring it on. ❏ Editor John Borton has been with The Wolverine since 1991. Contact him at jborton@thewolverine.com and follow him on Twitter @JB _ Wolverine.