Last Chance to Dance...and a Web Roundup

Just a reminder to everyone that Brackets are due today (Thursday, March 15) by noon along with your donation.

**UPDATE*** Entry Now Closed

Click here to see picks and standings.

Meanwhile back at the Little Dance, the Wolverines outlasted Utah State 68-58 behind 14 points from "The Sims that is not Courtney." Perhaps just a little bit of a bright spot as we look in the the deep abyss that is the future of Michigan Basketball. Michigan continues their undeserved vacation with a trip to Tallahassee to take on Florida State tonight at 7pm. A win gets the Wolverines into the NIT's Elite Eight. That's craptacular!

Rounding up some interesting tidbits from around the internets....

• It's easy to be good at sports when you aren't actually a University. [Poor Performance on SI.com]


• The latest ESPN "without sports" commercial...not exactly suitable for work. [Youtube...created by the MZone]


• Here's a movement you can get behind... [Hire Rudy T]


• Adrian Arrington and friends have been misbehaving. Looks like it will be a lonely bench during the Spring Game. [mgoblog]

That's all for this morning. Good luck with your brackets!

Blue Cagers Maintain A Little Dignity; Winter (Spring) Reunion Date Official

​So, it's tough to look past what took place last night, as I rarely miss an opportunity to take a jab at Sparty. Michigan beat Michigan State 67-56, splitting the series with them for the second year in a row. But given the status of the abomination that is Michigan Wolverine basketball, you might not have known, or even noticed. The front of the Free Press sports page contains only a small blurb, and it's a negative one at that. It seems like only yesterday (OK, more like the early to mid 90's) that this game was front page material on a local level and sometimes even a national level. Quite frankly, other than holding serve over the half-wits around my office, I myself care very little. This program cannot be fixed by a single win, or even a winning streak. Not today. Not on Saturday against Ohio State.

Saturday will be senior night, and the Michigan faithful will gather to pay homage to a group of young men whose talent and skill set has only regressed over their time here. What will really hit home for me is the end of the career of Courtney Sims. 

Big Ten Basketball Guru "The Wonk" remarks:

I don't know that I've ever seen a situation quite like the Sims case. Here's a senior who started the first game of his freshman year and has more or less started ever since. And he's benched in the February of his final season. Wow.

Ya, wow. The fact is, every year there was a story about Courtney's off-season. "Courtney put on 35 pounds of muscle to get tougher." "Courtney lost weight to get quicker." "Courtney went to big man camp." "Courtney joined a cult." "Courtney grew a pencil-thin mustache." In the end, Courtney played like, well...like a Courtney. I feel like I've been bitching about him for ten years. And it's probably not all his fault. However, I don't think a coach can stop you from being a girl. It's in the genes.

Anyway, we've got Saturday against #1, then the Big Ten tourney starting next Thursday. A win Saturday plus a win in the tourney, and we just might find ourselves in the NCAA Tournament. Any other scenario (aside from a Big Ten tournament championship) will land us in the NIT. Either way, without significant improvement, next year could be the last tour of duty for Amaker's Army, a "don't ask, don't tell" type of organization.

Winter (Spring) Reunion

The official date has been set for the 2007 Winter Reunion. It will be Saturday, March 31, at Fraser's Pub in Ann Arbor. Join us for food, drinks, and to meet Goody's next wife. Festivities will start at 1:30pm, and roll all the way thru the Final Four games. Hope to see you there.

Big Easy...Meet Little Easy

Hurricanes and Hand Grenades

New Orleans is all about survival. Want to pace yourself? You can't. The fervor of thousands of people that are more drunk than you will instinctively cause you to catch up. Want to relax and hang out in your Bourbon Street hotel room? You can't. The crowd noise from outside the window will call you to the street.

The drink of choice is the hurricane, made of equal parts liquor and sugar with a hint of fruit juice, they only come in one size, extra-large. Knock down a couple of these thirty-two ounce demons, and you won't be able to fend off the barrage of two-dollar-shot-girls, which are scantily-clad dressed waitresses armed with the ultimate selling pitch: getting a shot from them is akin to getting a quick and clothed lap-dance.

The four UMTailgaters survived the temptations, the alcohol, and became creatures of the night. Oh ya, I almost forgot, there were games too! Syracuse defeated Kansas 81-78 as the final game came to an end on Monday night, starting an evening of street-wide celebration by the raucous and often rude Orange faithfull. Even Carmelo Anthony hit Bourbon Street, with an entourage that ran behind him as if he were the pied-piper.

All in all the trip was a success, even though it was capped off by a longer than expected all night road trip back to Ann Arbor. We're all back, and we should reach normal equilibrium sometime before football season starts.

The Winners Are...

Congratulations to Randy Wallace, Roger Trim, and Vik Bhatia for taking 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place respectively in the 2003 UMTailgate.com Tournament challenge. Prizes are en route. Thanks again to all that participated...especially to those that paid.

A Truly Super Sunday

I Remember

Dateline: Saturday, December 13, 1997.

Michigan took to the court at Crisler Arena to face off against the number one ranked team in the country, the Duke Blue Devils. The Wolverines came back from a 17-point second half deficit and won the game 81-73. As if we knew exactly what we were supposed to do, the students and fans took to the court in celebration. We weren't without practice, however. Just three Saturdays prior to this date, Michigan football fans rushed the field following a 20-14 drubbing of Ohio State that capped off a Big Ten Championship and undefeated regular season.

Following the game, buzzing with excitement, we returned to 1213. Later that evening, in possibly a more stunning upset, Charles Woodson beat out pre-season favorite Peyton Manning to become the first primarily defensive player to win the Heisman trophy. I still have the Sportscenter from that evening on tape. It was a great day for Michigan, both on and off the court.

Fast forwarding to today, 1/26/03... The Freshman, who I presume will soon be known as 'The Sophomores', came through with an extra ticket in the Maize Rage section. We arrived early and made camp just four rows behind the Spartan bench, basically within throwing distance (sooooo tempting) of Lansing-legendary coach Tom Izzo. The ebb and flow excitment of the game could only be outshined by the strict chanting organization of the Maize Rage, who's candor and ingenuity was impressive to a level only previously seen at Yost Ice Arena. They battered and embarassed Izzo, dressing a blow-up doll in a dress-shirt and MSU tie, as well as gluing a perfectly modeled Izzo-face onto the doll head. They chanted "Angry-Midget" early and often, and jumped all over him at his every outburst.

As the game neared its end, Michigan turned up its defense, holding the Spartans scoreless for over six minutes. Several fans nearby began to discuss an impending 'court-rush'. Two desparation three pointers fell for the Spartan's in the final seconds, but they were not enough to overcome Michigan's impeccable free-throw shooting. Michigan passed the ball in to Bernard Robinson Jr., who tossed the ball down the court as the final 1.7 seconds expired. Michigan wins 60-58. And then....bedlam. They were not strangers to the Crisler hardwood, having rushed the same court only a few weeks earlier following an amazing come-from-behind victory against Wisconsin. Pouring out on to the floor, we celebrated the first victory over the Spartans in almost 5 years. Why storm the court after beating a 10-8 team whose tournament hopes are now on the level with our sanctioned team? Because hopefully we won't have to do it again. Excessive celebration is often the product of a mediocre team that enjoys big wins because they are not expected. The victory on Sunday afternoon was a turning point for Michigan Basketball. Not that winning will be taken for granted every night, as this program has NCAA rulings to endure and a lot of growing to do. However, losing will not be the expectation. Rushing the court will be reserved for championships...and wins over Duke.

Tommy Boy

After days that seemed like weeks and being shunned by Rick Pitino, apparently a decision has been made regarding the head coach position for the maize and blue basketball team. Tommy Amaker, former Duke assistant under Mike Krzyzewski (yes I spelled it right), and current head coach of the Seton Hall Pirates (that Tuba was pulling for in '89), has been offered a five-year deal to be announced this Friday. So its not the closure that some of us wanted, but its closure nonetheless. After looking at a picture of him, my stomach dropped (consequently a 1.3 on the Richer scale). I remember this guy all too well on the sidelines when we were in a hated rivalry with the Blue Devils. Alas, he was but a punk kid then, and now I feel pretty comfortable calling him coach. I tried to put a clown face on his picture, and it just didn't fit, so that is a good sign.

In a side note, I've come to the realization that we created the magic that is Ben Braun. Every time we get an opening, this guy gets an extension on his contract. What is Cal thinking? Ben Braun is the only coach in the PAC-10 that lost in the first round, and he gets a 4 year extension. Why? Because people fear us. What I did like about this whole deal was the reports saying that Amaker was moving to a Big Ten power. I was really tired of hearing that Michigan is a one sport school. Where were these people when we were winning the Rose Bowl and winning the National title in the same year? Where were these people when we won the Big Ten all those years in a row in football, right in the middle of having the greatest class ever recruited and going to the final four for two years in a row. Screw 'em...well, that is enough ranting for today...gotta get my sh*t together for the FROZEN FOUR. By the way tailgaters, if I don't make the trip, we should get together for the finals (assuming we make it) at a local bar...