ROSE BOWL REPORT

Michigan Coach Lloyd Carr has been to the Rose Bowl as an assistant coach, but none of his players has been there before as a participant.

When the top-ranked Wolverines visit the venerable stadium Wednesday for picture-taking sessions, he plans to tell his players to savor the moment, as he savored his first view of the field and the surrounding scenery.

“The first time that you go into that stadium, you never forget what it was like,” he said Sunday. “You look up over the rim of that stadium and see the mountains. We’ve all seen it on TV, but there’s nothing quite like seeing it [in person].

“You look at the end zones, which are painted in the teams’ colors. You look at the mountains. The turf is perfectly manicured. And I thought to myself, ‘How lucky I am to be here.’ ”

*

All of Michigan’s practices have been closed to reporters, which usually says more about coaches’ paranoia than anything else. But Michigan players agree closed sessions are better because they can concentrate and accomplish more.

“There’s a lot of distractions here,” defensive tackle Josh Williams said, “but for us it’s a business trip. We’re here to have fun, and we’re all happy to be here, but we do have a game to play.”