Jordan will leave M. Hoops to join Baseball

Burned out after two seasons at the point guard position for the baskeball team, Michael Jordan will try his hand at baseball. Michael Jordan announced his retirement from basketball yesterday. Not the MJ who has already retired from the Bulls and spent a meaningless year playing baseball before returning to hoops. Penn's much-less-heralded guard who shares only his uniform number with his Chicago counterpart has quit the Penn men's basketball team, while announcing his intention to play baseball. Jordan cited the Quakers' inability to play in the post-season in his two years at Penn as a major reason for his decision. Jordan had envisioned playing in front of a packed Palestra crowd, but the lack of enthusiasm expressed by fans forced him to look elsewhere. Jordan was also quick to point out that it was not much fun playing under Penn coach Fran Dunphy. "I'm fed up with playing here," Jordan said. "The Penn style wasn't fast-paced enough for me, and I was getting bored. I think I'll find baseball to be much more exciting. I loved playing high school baseball." The departure of its leading scorer has dealt a serious blow to a Penn team hoping to win the Ivy title after a three-year slump. Penn had planned on returning four starters from this year's second-place team, with Jordan once again serving as the offensive focal point. The Quakers coaching staff was shocked by Jordan's decision, as he never expressed any signs of leaving the team or displeasure with Dunphy. "He seemed like he was happy with the situation," Dunphy said. "There was the one time he got upset when I asked him to put a little mustard on his passes, but that was an isolated incident." Surprisingly, Jordan's teammates were not worried about the state of the team after his departure. Several Quakers believed that the team would actually be better off with a more typical point guard running the Quakers' offense. "I think our team needs a point guard who thinks pass-first," Penn forward Paul Romanczuk said. "I really miss the days when Jamie Lyren was running the show. He was a true point guard. Jordan is more of a two-guard." Jordan's departure from the team also raises the question of whether his high-school teammate Lamar Plummer would once again follow Jordan's decision and leave the Quakers. Dunphy would most likely call on Plummer next year to take over Jordan's spot in the rotation. "No way am I leaving," Plummer said. "I'll miss Michael next year, but he'll still be around campus. But if my playing time doesn't increase, I'm thinking about trying out for fencing." The Penn baseball team gains an exceptionally talented player who baseball coach Bob Seddon envisions as a possible leadoff hitter and center fielder. Despite not having Jordan's services for this baseball season, Seddon is already excited for next year. "There are three keys to winning baseball: pitching, hitting and fielding," Seddon said. "He'll help us in two of those areas, and you need to have at least two of the keys in each game to win." Jordan will stay at Penn this summer to work on his swing and fielding fundamentals. In the meantime, he'll travel with the baseball team as he tries to get used to his new teammates. "I am really looking forward to the challenge of playing baseball," Jordan said. "There really wasn't anything else I could accomplish in basketball beside winning an Ivy League title, winning the player of the year award and going to the NCAA tournament." Jordan is also considering playing for the Quaker football team if his baseball experiment doesn't work out. In fact, football may turn out to be Jordan's best sport in the long run. "I realized that I wouldn't make it to the next level playing basketball," Jordan said. "I think I have the ability to play in the NFL." Jordan's confidence stems from his performance in a few intramural football games from last year. As one of the few collegiate athletes on the field, Jordan was able to dominate play on both sides of the ball. "Man, I ran all over those guys last year," Jordan said. "It was top-level competition. There must have been at least a few of them who played football in high school. I think one guy was a kicker or punter." The intramural football league has been known for brutality and occasional injury problems. One player said he received and injury sustained from a blatantly thrown ball, but he quickly added that he was lucky it was not worse. "I am just glad it didn't hit my penis," College senior John La Bombard said. Penn football coach Al Bagnoli even attended a few games last year and came away very impressed. Although he was disturbed by one sequence that saw Jordan get sacked by a slow, unathletic lineman, Bagnoli believes Jordan would provide a much-needed spark to the Penn football team. "He is probably quicker than most of the guys on the team," Bagnoli said. "We should be able to open up the offense, we might even attempt a pass on first down." Jordan refused to say if the switch to football or baseball was permanent. A possible return is likely following one or fewer seasons. For now, it appears as if the three big sports will have to battle it out for Jordan's services.