Michigan vs. Kate: Sort of Live Blog...

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​Life is full of difficult choices. Tonight, it was Kate vs. Michigan. Michigan wins. Kate and I will meet up in TiVoLand this weekend.

Thanks to Rhode Island vs. UMASS, which was a sweet matchup  12 years ago, we missed the tip live from the barn. No matter, because as they switched to the action in Minnesota, the announcers welcomed us with "the Gophers are on an 8-0 run. It was 15-4, and it felt a bit like old times. Old times being two weeks ago, that is.

Michigan battled back and eventually took the lead, at which point the announcer made the obligatory poke...

Remember that Michigan Final Four team (referring to the 1991 squad)? No. No you don't. Because it never happened."

Yep. The NCAA got out the big eraser on that one."

But that's not the best quote of the first half. It's this one:

Minnesota has lost 2 in a row. Michigan has won 3 in a row.Something's got to give."

Actually sir, no. Nothing HAS to give. In fact, if Michigan wins, nothing has "given." Both teams will have continued their current streaks. Try that again sometime when the two teams are on winning streaks, or the two teams are on losing streaks. That way, no matter what, somebody's streak is coming to an end. Come to think of it, that doesn't even make sense. OK, I've got it. If Michigan had the #1 offense, and Minnesota had the #1 defense, or vice versa....then something would have to give.

Michigan leads 35-34 at the half in a game that is not unbearable to watch so far...aside from ESPN being too cheap to send the HD crew to Minneapolis.

Offensive rebounding at both ends keeps the game close for the first 10 minutes of the second half. Michigan, however maintained their halftime lead until Minnesota tied it at the line with 10:30 remaining. The announcers then take a shot at the Michigan facilities as CJ Lee makes a quarter quart dish to Gibson for an and-1. It's amazing how the world loves to hate Wolverine nation. 'Sota takes it's first lead of the second half on an alley oop with 9 minutes to go.

Timeout sends us to highlights of American Christian vs. St. Anthony. It's a slow night in sports out there folks.

Things appearing to begin to unravel as we got to the 8 min officials TO. Minnesota up 55-52.

A bad call is followed by two big Gopher threes, one of which is flat out stupid. Really starting to unravel, but lots of time to go despite the fact the jackass announcer would like you to think this 6 point lead is insurmountable with 5:12 to go. This asshole would like to give Tubby a Marcellus Wallace.

Hmmmm. Unravelling continues. TV timeout with 3:44 to go...63-55 'Sota. Keep the faith?

In an impromptu review of Ohio State's tournament resume (because that's what I was dying to see), Michigan was listed as one of Ohio State's "bad losses." That's where we are folks. We're a bad loss. A three-pointer makes it 11, and then, as I have a flashback of Louis Bullock tapping his head, Michigan violates the shot clock. 2 minutes to go.

Should've picked Kate.

CJ Lee just got blocked so hard that his mother felt it. As we trade turnovers and the game comes to an end, the announcer reminds you that we have 6 points in the last 13 minutes. Ugh.

Michigan is 5-24 from three. That, as they say, is not good.

69-60 Minnesota. Final.

Now get over it and go see Jalen Rose at halftime on Saturday.

More Link Fun:

Basketball. Petway. Basketball.

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​Thanks to MGoBlog for turning the Michigan world on toUMHoops.com. There's some great stuff over there and they obviously have a thankless job covering what is considered these days to be the "other" sport...so, ya, props. While visiting I couldn't help but notice the words "dunk contest" and "Petway" in the same sentence. It caused flashbacks to so many great memories of bad Michigan teams whose best moments came during warm-ups...and most of those moments featured Air Georgia. Well, Air Georgia has moved on to the league now...the D-League that is...and has once again made a name for himself as a circus act dunker.

Deadspin had remote coverage of D-League all-star weekend through Hardwood Paroxysm

, which is genius on their part. The coverage had this to say about the former Wolverine 7th/8th-man:

But in the Finals, Petway killed him. After a massive lob East-Bay Funk dunk, he then place the ball on the ground under the goal, stood, leaned down, then jumped up and dunked it, standing. It wasn't impressive when you watched it. Then you thought about it. And realized how much leg power that took. The man's a freak of nature.

That he is. What'd Brent think? Well, he's got a blog, and his post regarding the evening is called "I Came, I Saw, I Conquered."

I always surprise people when I get under the lights because I show a completely different side of myself. What can I say l'm an entertainer and I love to put on a show. If you wanna see exactly how good our dunk contest was just go to YouTube and type in "dleague dunk contest."

OK...done. Then comes the challenge, or um...challege.
Also be watching YouTube in the upcoming week, I will b posting a challege to the NBA Dunk Contest winner Dwight Howard. I'm gonna do every dunk he did and put it up because I don't think my message got out that we wanna challenge the league. He's a Georgia boy, I'm a Georgia boy so let's set it up.

Hmmmm. Yes, perhaps that would be fun. Then maybe later you guys can PLAY ACTUAL BASKETBALL against each other.

Finally, in the interest of equal time for coach audio clips, I give you MLive.com's audio coverage of Beilein on WTKA on Wednesday. The program is on track? Maybe. Just be careful tonight on that weird floor in the barn in Minnesota.

Off topic...look at this crazy rap....Tressel's Cheating, but we knew that...Mike Hart combine news.

Weekend Roundup: Knight Rider Edition: February 18, 2008

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​I'm sure there will be a YouTube or BTN video clip of it soon enough, but head coach Rich Rodriguez addressed the crowd at halftime of the Michigan-OSU basketball game. It came off of an alumni weekend and a Friday event that had 300 plus in attendance. From the Sporting News:

During his remarks, several hundred Ohio State fans seated in the upper bowl of the arena began chanting "Tressel," referring to Buckeyes head coach Jim Tressel, and held up a sign that said "1,548 days," which referred to the number of days since Michigan had defeated Ohio State in football.

Rodriguez turned to the Ohio State fans and told them, "I hope you guys up there enjoy your seats." Wolverine fans than began counter chanting, "Beat the Buckeyes." To that, Rodriguez said, "Amen. I hear ya!"


1548 days? Just threw up a bit in my mouth. Further quoting fun from the Detroit News...

"When you come in the Big House, when the maize and blue come out of that tunnel, I guarantee you they will play hard and they will play physical," said Rodriguez amidst cheers.

What if I just want them to be really really fast?

Michigan Hockey is on a serious roll. They swept Lake State over the weekend, solidifying 1st place in the CCHA and their #1 National Ranking. To summarize, I give you The Blog That Yost Built, which covers hockey like I cover Southern Omlettes in sausage gravy:

Michigan is now 5 points ahead of both Miami and Michigan State with all schools having 4 games left to play. Notre Dame is nine points back and has been officially eliminated from contention. That means that Michigan needs only split their last four to win the CCHA title outright, and can finish no worse than 3rd in the conference.

According to a Freep article, Amani Toomer isn't very friendly with Lloyd Carr:
The last time I heard a word from Lloyd was when I was playing in a (Michigan) game; it was my last play of my senior year. I caught a touchdown from Brian Griese, and I was walking off the field and Lloyd looks at me, looks at Griese, looks at me again, and goes, "Good throw, Brian." And that's the last thing he ever said in my direction.

Uhhhhhh. OK. Of note...is that a painting of Amani Toomer attached to this article?

Bullet points, baby, bullet points...

Will There Ever Be A Day...

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​...when teams rush the court after knocking us off? Maybe. For now we bask in the glory of defeating the Buckeyes at SOMETHING. It's the first win over OSU in the Thad Matta era. For those that don't follow Columbus coaching changes, we last beat them in 2004.

The students and fans took to the floor. The act of a desperate fan base? Maybe a little. Ohio State WAS unranked. But hey, we are in the midst of baby steps here....so back off. Just to reiterate some of the same feelings from after the Iowa game, our best case scenario for this team is not to be completely embarrassed by them. A three-game winning streak is a good place to start. DeShawn Sims and Manny Harris combined for 49, including 21-24 from the free throw line. That's our future right there. Cue Beilein:

The way we have climbed out of it and put together a nice winning streak lately shows the kind of poise and character that this team is comprised of. We have had a lot of players step up recently that have made this winning streak even possible.

Poise...check. Character...check. Talent?

They really didn't look like freshman out there," Beilein said. "I think both of their clutch performances today show you how much they have grown as basketball players this year. They were cool, calm and collected and hit clutch free throws."

OK, so we're learning...we're growing. Time for the stretch run, and before you completely count the upstart Wolverines out, remember that there is a reason they call it March Madness.

Turning This Thing Around...Right Now?

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​The Pirates fell tonight by 3 to Grosse Ile. Pretty big game. Huron league title on the line...but we couldn't pull it out. So on the long trek back from The D.R. to Ann Arbor, I was pretty pissed. I couldn't find anything on satellite radio to listen to. The two CDs in rotation in my changer have run out of steam. I rotated between Lithium 24 and The Coffee House. The bitch of it is...I forgot Michigan was playing a basketball game. This is what it has come to. Fairweather? I guess. It's just that it has become so irrelevant. How horrible is that?

I arrived back in A2 with a halftime text message. Wolverines trail by 11. Not the end of the world, right? Well, what if Iowa only has 27 points? That leaves us with....wait for it....16 points in the first half. Disgusting. So I'm at home in time for the 2nd half, and as a special added treat, the game is on a non-BTN network, good ol' ESPN. Nice. Gotta be honest though, I considered not bothering. Hey, I had Lost in the DVR. But I opted to do the manly thing and settle in for some brutal Big Ten basketball.

What a pleasant surprise it was to find a Michigan team come out of the locker room swinging. They quickly closed the gap with Iowa, and controlled the pace for the remainder of the game. Anthony Wright, who before tonight I couldn't pick out of a lineup, hit a couple of big shots down the stretch with Manny Harris and Epke Udoh in foul trouble. Michigan pulled away, eventually outscoring Iowa 44-25 in the 2nd half, and winning the game 60-52. Iowa is no world beater, but they have managed to knock off Ohio State and held Michigan State to 36 total points on this same court. After a six game mid-season Big Ten skid, the Wolverines have managed to put together a couple of wins. We call that a streak folks.

What's the best case scenario for the remainder of the season? Not being completely embarrassed, I suppose. Maybe getting a little momentum going for next year. When they hit their shots, they are certainly watchable, so it may be time for you to get to know these Wolverines if you haven't already. Their next two are non-BTN too, starting with the Buckeyes at Crisler on Sunday (CBS) and a trip to Tubbyville on the 21st (ESPN).

And get your brackets dusted off....the 8th Annual UMTailgate.com Tournament Challenge is right around the corner. Yessir.

I'll end with a little housekeeping:


  • Thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of the victims of Thursday's senseless attack at Northern Illinois University. This college campus shooting crap has run its course. I just wish these assholes wouldn't be so cowardly as to take their own lives, so instead we can find a way to make them suffer.

  • In political news, UMTailgate.com is officially announcing its support for presidential candidate John McCain.

  • In college football rules news...they're trying to shorten games. Right, because in the 4th quarter of a college football game at Michigan Stadium, I'm always thinking about how I wish it would end as soon as possible. Whatever. For a funny take on said rules adjustments, visit EDSBS. It's worth a read...and you don't want to be the only one sitting in the stands yelling about how the clock is running before the snap after a play that ended out of bounds.