Destination: Bleachers

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We overcame a lot of mistakes last week.  I honestly don't know how you turn the ball over 5 times and force only 1 turnover, yet manage to put up 45 points in regulation against what was the 15th ranked total defense in the country.  We single handedly dropped Illinois from 15th to 43rd in that category in a single week.  Add in the special teams, which had the Illini starting drives north of the 40 yard line more times than I care to remember, and never had a Michigan returner move it past the 25 until a trick play was called, and it is nothing short of amazing that we stayed in that game long enough to win it.  Must have been destiny.  Hemmingway's tip-drill catch certainly made it seem that way.  Every team needs a little luck, and that tip was the first gift from the football gods that we've been on the positive side of all year...maybe in three years.

Three games remain, and I'm exhausted with the "how many wins will it take?" talk.  I'd like to just concentrate on this next game, not for Coach, but for us...for Michigan...for me.

I'm the one who is going to sit in those wooden high school bleachers, on the end of the "stadium" with the crappy food and the port-o-johns.  I wonder if this will be the year that I'm actually allowed in to Ross-Ade stadium.  I doubt it.  I'm sure that we-the-visitors are still fenced-in down in our own little endzone.  Assholes.

While I'm certain that this weekend's trip to West Lafayette is yet another must win for Coach, I'm more concerned with falling to Purdue for the third consecutive season.  You see, Purdue is like Northwestern in the pecking order of the Big Ten, only they think that Drew Brees makes them relevant.  That's right, they went to a BCS bowl 10 years ago.  It's their only one.  They didn't do anything of note for 40 years before that, and they've done nothing since.  But somehow they swear that because Drew Brees saved New Orleans they're not on par with Indiana...and yet that is their chief Big Ten rival.  Ahhhhh, but Purdue is a basketball school.

A basketball school without a single Final Four appearance.

Whew.  Feels good to talk a little shit.  This is what winning does for you...it makes you a cocky bastard even though the game you won was an atrocity in the eyes of football purists.  By the way, without getting into too deep of a discussion on the relative evils of shootout victories vs. defensive struggle based victories, I would like to just say that winning against Illinois 67-65 is a hell of a lot less embarrassing than our 10-7 victory over Utah in 2002.  It's also less embarrassing than every loss ever.  So f*ck the critics.  We're moving on.

Of note:

Denard.  He needs 145 yards to break the NCAA record for rushing by a quarterback.

Toussaint is probable to play.

Steve Fisher is still alive and has the Aztecs in the Top 25 for the first time.

Best youtube compilation video ever...every Michigan trick play in the last 34 years.

Flashback photo album of the week:  Our trip to West Lafayette in 2004...

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Something

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Me on Wednesday...

A 3rd down stop or two would suffice, or a decent kick return, or even a field goal.  Show me something that keeps the fire lit.

We got all of those things.  We will play 13 games this year.  We will not be home for Christmas.

And once again, winning fixes everything, if only for 7 days.

Pictures from the Thanksgiving Themed Tailgate...

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Penn State Stuff

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​Lost in the shuffle of the devastating loss was a spectacular tailgate.  The 5th iteration of the annual RV trip was a resounding success, and included tons of great food, including three giant stuffed Chicago style pizzas from our friends at Fat Rickey's.  Thanks to them and to the fellas that came together to make the trip great.

Pictures are here:

The Big Fade

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Fandom is predicated on emotion. And these swings are just too much. From knocking on death's door to being back in the hunt, and back again. Five wins in a row followed by three losses. It's taking it's toll on the fanbase, it's taking a toll on me, and it certainly must be taking a toll on these kids that bleed for us each Saturday. Their words say everything is fine, that they're not phased, that they are still going to turn it around, but no matter how you slice it, we're about as close to turmoil and anarchy as we can get. Until proven otherwise, we are safe to assume that this season is the same as the last. Penn State was but another nail in the coffin, and I am just being honest when I say I am still not over the initial nail that was Michigan State. They say that this next game is a must win. They said that about the last game. They'll say it about the next one too. But we're running out of must wins, and are coming dangerously close to having to do what is seemingly impossible...beat the Badgers or the Buckeyes.

What is our hope?  What is our end result?  Grab that elusive 6th victory and go to Detroit? or Dallas?  Hope to win there, snag an extra 15 practices, and move on to installing a new defensive coordinator with a new system and a new excuse as to why we can't stop anybody.

Or worse, lose out.  Suffer the embarrassment of two Big Ten wins in two years, lose the Coach that turned the worst offense in the Big Ten into the best offense in the Big Ten, and ride out a regime change that could set us back another three years.  We're a hair away from becoming Notre Dame.

There are no good outcomes remaining for the 2010 Wolverines...unless you believe in miracles.  Like winning the next two, and stealing one of the last two.  That's the dream scenario.  That's what we've come to, dreaming of beating the likes of Illinois and Purdue.  Praying to be competitive against Wisconsin and Ohio State, hoping that one of them will make enough mistakes so that we might steal a victory.

This is in no way, shape, or form Michigan Football.  And there's no way out.  There's no good solution.  I've become indifferent to the future, to Coach Rodriguez.  I so badly want him to turn this around, and yet I don't see how it is in his hands.  Worse yet, I'm not sure he could do anything about it if it was in his hands.  I'm just not sure about anything...outside of my loyalty.  I will be there when they take the field.  I will be there to watch them fight the good fight.  I will hope for that dream scenario.

On Saturday I just want to see something positive, some kind of progress, something that says we're moving forward.  A 3rd down stop or two would suffice, or a decent kick return, or even a field goal.  Show me something that keeps the fire lit.