Weekend Roundup, Media Guide Edition: August 12, 2012

The 2012 Michigan Football Media Guide is out (actually it's been out for a little while).  I remember when the media guide was a heavy $20 bible you'd run out and get at the MDen before the season started, and you'd go through page by page, marveling ​at the amazing history and tradition of Michigan Football.  There's probably some old timers from the tailgate that remember when the media guide was reserved for the media.  Now it's a publicly distributed pdf file, and those same old timers are squinting and reading a manual to figure out how to download it and save it as a file on their "internet boxes."  Ah, times they are a changin'.  It's available here in all of its glory.  And it's a big pdf, so be patient....especially if you're still rolling free dial-up internet from Net Zero.

Anyway, here's what happened around the internets​ while you sat in the fetal position in a corner wondering if the fact that Fitz was cleared to practice means he might play in Dallas.

• ESPN's power rankings discuss Michigan at #8.  The have the weight of the world resting on Denard's shoulders.  Denard covers some boilerplate keys to season, and the pundits talk about our difficult schedule, and O and D line issues.
• Michigan Basketball is on the map.  ESPN hopes to cover a rekindling of the rivalry of the 70's and 80's between Michigan and Indiana when Gameday travels to Bloomington on February 2.  I'm in.  Somebody find me some tickets.​
• The Shreveport Times covers the flame out and exit of the Honey Badger, who will be taking his talents to FCS football in the hopes he can make an impact worthy of an NFL draft position.  I'm not sure what Musburger and Lundquist will do with all that airtime during LSU games that has been freed up now that they don't have to suck Honey Badger's nuts.
• ​MVictors breaks down the media guide records section, and covers the historical numbers that might be in play this season.
• Trey Burke is thinking national championship, and an ESPN blogger thinks he's not crazy.​
• Ugh Ugh Ugh.  Roy Roundtree had arthroscopic knee surgery and is out for the next two weeks...as in  "A lot of guys come back in two weeks (from surgery like this)," Hoke said. "Our doctors did a tremendous job, we have a great medical staff."  Let's hope it's as minor as everybody at Fort Schembechler says it is.

Foreward

The last couple of seasons have taken the edge off of my ability to hate. It's hard to pick on your rivals when they're beating you, it's even harder when everybody is beating you. So I went into this season focusing my efforts inward. What's wrong with my team? What does my team need to do to be relevant again?  How do we get back to 8-4, so we can move forward to 13-0?

They've taken it step by step...game by game.  And with each step, the doubters only added doubts.  First UCONN is good, then we beat UCONN, so now UCONN sucks.  Somehow our Notre Dame win (on the road) wasn't nearly as impressive as MSU's (home, overtime, fake field goal).  The UMASS win was treated as a loss.  The Bowling Green win was brushed off.  And Indiana, despite having the #11 passing offense in the country BEFORE the Michigan game, is still considered Indiana.

But why can't the sum be greater than its parts?

I had an epiphany during the Indiana game on Saturday as I sat amongst the Michigan fans in Memorial Stadium (which was not sold out):  As long as teams don't figure out a way to score more than one touchdown in a single drive, we're going to be alright.  I mean, Indiana basically scored every time.  They put up astronomical offensive numbers.  It's impossible for it to be any worse.  I guess they could have scored faster, but then we would just have gotten the ball more.  Basically what I'm saying is that when it comes to offenses playing our defense, Indiana = UMASS = Florida = the 1999 St. Louis Rams.  So bring it on Big Ten.  You are all so lucky that our defense is super super shitty.  Because if it was just shitty, we'd be polishing that crystal football in January.  By my calculations, we've got two years to figure out how to put together a shitty defense, and when we do, you're all screwed.

And this just in....you might be screwed anyway.

We Were Merely Freshmen

Michigan decided to replay the Savannah State game on Wednesday night, falling behind by 17 by the half, then 20 early in the second half before climbing all the way back, forcing overtime, and pulling it out in the extra frame.  Abysmal from the floor at 38%, including 25% in the first half...lackluster D that gave up 39 points to an Indiana team that scored 42 points TOTAL in their only other Big Ten game.  Oh, and Indiana just lost at home to Lipscomb.  Lipscomb.  Lipscomb has a huge conference matchup on January 22nd against Kennesaw State.  That's Lipscomb.

But hey, who am I to judge?  We got ran out of Crisler in the first half against Savannah State, and Savannah State would sell their soul to get into Lipscomb's conference.  Anyway...

A win.  A big win.  A gritty, come from behind, against all odds win.  And the first in Bloomington since January of 1995, when I (and many of the fellow UMTailgaters) were freshmen at Michigan.  It was before Ed Martin.  It was Jimmy and Ray's senior year, and the first year of Fab Five II...and the win ended a 56 game home winning streak for Bobby Knight's Hoosiers, their longest in school history.  It was historic, so much so that I saved The Michigan Daily from the next day.  The headline read "Michigan Halts General's March in Bloomington" and I would share it with you from an internet archive...but there was no internet.

Had I known it would take 13 years to repeat the feat, I would have framed it.

Thank You Tulsa...and Some Quick Hits

To my competitors in the Bowl Pool...  Stan Parrish?  Really?  Realllllllly?

For the past two weeks, Brady Hoke has been packing his bags and making daily 5pm dinner plans at Rams Horn with a geriatric Steve Fisher, leaving Stan the man to lead the Cardinals into postseason play for the first time since, well, ever.  So, ya, I took Tulsa, and ya, I clinched the pool regardless of championship game outcome.

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Ohio State kept the momentum going on the basketball court, losing 67-58.  Unfortunately, it came at the hands of Sparty.  So in short, the desired outcome, a release of copius amounts of sarin gas into the Breslin Center, did not occur.

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Scot Loeffler, who is still too cool for that second "t," has been named the QB coach of the Florida Gators.  If this whole Rich Rod thing doesn't work out, we'll give you a coordinator spot on Harbaugh's staff.

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Rosters for the Shine Game on January 17th have been set, TT is on the East, along with Morgan Trent. Look for draft stock to rise on the 3 QBs on the West Roster.

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BIG GAME TONIGHT.  Michigan looks to end a 13-year drought in Assembly Hall in Zack Novak's homecoming.  LIVE 6:30pm, BTN.

Game Times Set For Homecoming & Winnie Game

​Get your calendars out kids.

Sometimes I think Bubba sits in front of MGoBlue.com hitting refresh all day. And if he does, that makes him a lot cooler than all of you. I received a voicemail just yesterday from him, a voicemail that really does indicate the start of the "thinking about football season." It was simple, straight to the point, and had the same level of excitement you may hear from someone coming from a root canal.

The Illinois game is at night.

Aside from marking the first known time on the 2007 schedule, it makes for great news for the dueling Winnie crews, who will get full use of their rentals...and no doubt fill their waste tanks over the course of the long day (Get them rubber gloves on Baby Gorilla). Bad news for the "in-and-out" twins, who will no doubt be on that midnight train to Naperville.

Upon checking the official site of all good Michigan News, I found that not only was the Indiana game finalized, but the good folks at Schembechler Hall decided to give us the time for the October 13th match-up against Purdue as well. A noon start for Homecoming, which will also be (if you allow me to mark out to myself for a moment) my 100th straight Michigan game.

Makes me want to put up the schedule, themes, and the countdown timer...but it's time for bed.