April 08, 2013

Let's Get It - by Jeff Wilson

April 08, 2013/ Jeff Wilson

Editors Note: Our tailgate buddy Jeff offered to fire y'all up while I eat and drink my way through Atlanta. Thanks Jeff! You always have a place here as long as you continue the Shane jokes :)

I can't imagine I'm the only one that has pinched myself several times in the past 36 hours to make sure I'm not dreaming. Say it with me - Michigan is playing for the national championship tonight. 24 days ago they were bounced in the second round of the Big Ten tourney by a Wisconsin squad featuring a 6'6" white power forward sporting a Jew fro. Yet here they are... 8 days into the month of April... still standing amongst the corpses of Sparty, OSU, and Indiana... ascending Mt. Everest with the entire B1G on their back. Let us all take a collective deep breath and reflect upon on how we got to where we are...

That back-of-your-mind fear of repeating last year's first-round exit was laid to rest after we calmly took care of the Jackrabbits. Next came VCU, coached by tourney-legend Shaka Smart, fresh off a 46-point beatdown of Akron (that shitty school from that shittier state) in which they caused 21 turnovers with smothering defense. In 36 hours, Beilein and Co. devised and executed a gameplan that broke the full-court press and went straight for the jugular. More importantly, the potential of #4 was finally showcased. The freshman from Indiana grew from boy to man in 40 minutes, dropping 21 points, 14 rebounds, and nearly taking Briente Weber's head off with a clean pick that showed the nation that we aren't intimidated by physical play. We'll knock you on your ass, beat you by 25, and let our bench play out the final minute... you know, just to pour some salt in the wound.

Then came Kansas. For 37 minutes we were broken, battered, and beaten by an older, more experienced, and seemingly better team. But then... well, we all know what happened next. Then we cruised through Florida and sent the nation a message that we belong in the Final Four. We beat Syracuse and the "untouchable" 2-3 zone (thank you, Zack Novak, for teaching

Morgan how to take a charge). We're one game away from giving the new Crisler Center it's finishing touch - a banner. Let that sink in for a moment. Teams don't get this far by accident. A six-round, 64-team tournament is a fool-proof way to determine the best team in any given sport. Period. The team that wins five straight games against elite programs, at neutral sites, and with little preparation deserves to be right where we've found ourselves: playing for the 'Ship.

We're on to something here. I'll never forget the '98 Rose Bowl. I'll never forget when Tayshaun blocked Reggie, when Henne hit Manningham to beat PSU, when Denard found Roundtree to beat Notre Dame... and I'll never forget where I was when Trey hit that 30-footer.

And neither will you.

Why? Because in the end, that shot will not be a bittersweet memory of a tournament run that ended in a loss at the hands of Louisville. Instead it will be the highlight of a soon-to-be-released DVD summarizing our championship that you'll dust off in the future to show your grandchildren. We'll all gather 'round at tailgate, pointing and laughing at the "WE ON" tattoo that Shane will inevitably get sometime this week. You'll tell stories about this team, about how talented each player was, and how they managed to gel at the perfect time. The best point guard in the nation... the high-flying swingmen, Hardaway and Robinson... the Canadian sharpshooter... and McGary, the frosh that fuels the fire. They will all climb the ladder and cut down a piece of the nets tonight. I know it.

And so do you.

Why? Because you didn't turn the Kansas game off with less than 7 minutes left facing a 14-point deficit. Or even with 21 seconds left and still needing 5 points... to tie. It's because you know this team is special. It's because we have Trey fucking Burke. Trey is a killer. Trey will rip your heart out. If you give Trey an opening, he will kill you. Nobody goes for the kill like Trey. Trey will eat your liver and cap it off with a glass of Chianti. You can have the hall-of-fame coach, the tournament experience, and the motivation to win it for a guy who would be irrelevant if not for having the weakest right leg in the history of sports... I'll take #3 all day. And if he doesn't show up? Timmy will. Or Nik. Or Mitch. Hell, even Spike will bury a three in your face. And if he misses? Glenn will clean up the glass. Rinse and repeat for 40 minutes. Game... Blouses.

They've worn the shirts all season, but now they truly know that good things happen when everyone operates in sync. As an added insurance, their jerseys are maize and blue, thus giving them the same x-factor that helped our football team beat Notre Dame under the lights, and more recently Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl. It's a sort of arrog... er... confidence that only comes from putting on the jersey and representing the greatest university in the country.

Keep calm, and beat the piss out of the Cardinals.

GO BLUE

April 08, 2013

Weekend Roundup: Championship Monday Edition 4/8/13

April 08, 2013/ The Webmaster

Sorry this is brief/late, I've been stuck in Atlanta all weekend on business. I kid, I kid.

Whatever superlative you wish to throw on the pile for tonight will work. Simply put, an amazingly unexpected run for our Wolverines has us 40 minutes from a National Championship. I was just a young teenager the last time we were in the Championship Game, but I remember it like it was yesterday. And despite the bitter ending, and despite the fallout years later, it's one of just a handful of Michigan memories that will be with me for a lifetime. My on again / off again relationship with Chris Webber notwithstanding, it's very difficult not to love the Fab Five. And it's even more difficult not to appreciate his mission to get the band back together for this momentous occasion...

Meanwhile in blatant self-promotion news...a large man in yellow (me) and his financé with hands on face in horror star as Jiminy Cricket in the critically acclaimed feature "Please Make Your Damn Free Throws"...

And how about a picture gallery?

And a preview from UMHoops to keep you educated...

No mistakes. No regrets. Nothing but a celebration.

Let's Go Blue! Shock the World!

April 04, 2013

Congratulations Trey...

April 04, 2013/ The Webmaster

...now get to work. See you in about 48 hours.

April 02, 2013

Shakes on a Plane

April 02, 2013/ The Webmaster

Late to the game
Dangerously on a plane
But f'n cool just the same...

March 31, 2013

Smile. Everything's Peachy.

March 31, 2013/ The Webmaster

We've sucked since the internet. There, I said it. Well, maybe not the early internet, but this blog filled internet...this post 1997 internet. UMTailgate.com launched in November of 2000, and you can count on one hand the number of times Michigan has been somewhat nationally relevant in the revenue generating sports from that day until today. But, like Notre Dame, we have a certain caché because of our history. We've been consistently good to very good at winning football games for quite sometime. Actually, we invented this football shit, or we at least taught a class in it in South Bend in the late 1800's.

In hoops, we broke our Final Four cherry in the mid-60's with back-to-back trips. We faced and fell to that undefeated Indiana squad and a young Bob Knight in the championship game in '76. We had our football coach dismiss our basketball coach on the eve of the tourney in '89, and we cut down the nets in Seattle anyway. And paid for or not, we changed the entire face of basketball (not just college basketball) with five freshman armed with showmanship, baggy shorts, black socks, back-to-back championship games, and the ability to wipe their collective asses on the center court 'S' in East Lansing.

I had a sweatshirt in 8th grade that had 1989 National Champions on the front. On the back it said "As if that weren't enough...1989 Rose Bowl Champions." We used to routinely dominate both sports folks. I'm a firm believer that it's not arrogance if you actually are THE SHIT.

In other words, we've been here. We were here before you, and we will be here after you. It's just been so long, and those times are so undocumented. There were two newspapers, maybe 2 or 3 beat reporters. Not 50+ twenty to forty year olds documenting every second of every game with passion and prejudice. A veritable hoard of fans with a voice, waiting for a moment like we saw today. Following many of these writers on a daily basis, I've seen them all deal with crisis, heartbreak, controversy, and occasional relief....but never flat joy, real dominating joy of a national accomplishment.

Four years ago, we had a party because we made the tournament...

Today, we are partying like it's 1989.

I am excited to read these here internets in the morning.

And while I hate to think of the Final Four as a final destination, the sports world has made it so...hell, Sparty lives by it. Regardless, a new banner will hang in "the house that Brandon built with your donations," and the wound left from of the two that Mary Sue stuck in the Bentley Library will start to sting a little less.

Along with that banner, the stuffy annals of Michigan history welcomed a new group of young men into permanent historical relevance today. This team will be remembered forever. You'll tell your kids about how Trey Burke stole an entire basketball game away from Kansas. How he has molded Mitch McGary in to his second in command. After that, pick your poison, either Nick or Tim is going to be hot from behind the arc. This is a really great team, one with a level of youth that led to underachievement during certain times of the year, but that seems to have found its stride and confidence at the perfect time.

Seriously...Dave would love to put the halo back up

Today is for the fans that have waited so patiently, paying prices and jumping through hoops as if we won the national championship in EVERY sport EVERY year.