Aaaaaaaaaaaand Done

/

​Wisconsin 51, Michigan 34. At the half? No. End of game. End of season.

34

34

34...cue wikipedia...

34 is the ninth distinct biprime and has four divisors including unity and itself. Its neighbors, 33 and 35 also are distinct biprimes having four divisors each, and 34 is the smallest number to be surrounded by numbers with the same number of divisors as it has. It is also in the first cluster of three distinct biprime, being within; 33,34,35, the next such cluster of biprimes is; 85,86,87. It is the ninth Fibonacci number and a companion Pell number. Since it is an odd-indexed Fibonacci number, 34 is a Markov number, appearing in solutions with other Fibonacci numbers, such as (1, 13, 34), (1, 34, 89), etc.

and...

34 is also:


How dare they leave off Hayes Grooms.

"The Great Michigan Spirit" Brings More Afternoon Delight

/

​We did it folks, and we did it together. My cubical row had their headphones in and gametrackers loaded on screen...what about yours? Aside from a ten minute scoring drought for both teams (In case you are wondering, ten minutes is a full quarter of an NCAA basketball game) that seemed like 3 hours, it was a decent performance and a good win. Just round one folks, keep the faith. Tongue and cheek game review from MGoBlog...

Victory! Michigan's road to San Antonio began today with a thrilling 6-4 victory over Iowa that featuerd a 12-minute field goal drought for both teams combined. Prediction for tomorrow's game against Wisconsin (noon, ESPN): Michigan 7,000, Wisconsin 5. Suck on that, BAD-gers. Zing!

Here here...by all means Barry Alvarez, suck it.

Amazingly enough, Iowa still cares about athletics, and they are somewhat perturbed with the loss. Here's Black Heart Gold Pants for ya...

That just happened. Not exactly a "march" on San Antonio. Perhaps "stagger" back to Iowa City is more fitting? The loss today was every bit as ugly as the entire season. You could show today's game to someone who hasn't watched a second of Iowa basketball this year and they would know. They'd just know. The inconsistent defense and turnovers may not have been enough to lose it today, so we added a new weapon to the mix. That weapon? Getting Cyrus Tate to the free throw line 17 times. See, this is bad, on account of Cyrus being one of the worst free throw shooters in school history. We went over 16 minutes in the second half with no field goals -- none -- and just 8 made free throws. It was hard to watch, like the entire season, and now it's mercifully over.

I have a funny feeling I might be using the same words tomorrow. For now though, we continue to visualize what it will be like when we win that lottery, and thank god we're not Northwestern...

69 NCAA Tournaments and we STILL have yet to qualify. Fun times.

Well, at least they live a world without expectations.

So You're Saying There's a Chance

/

​Ever bought a lottery ticket? Sure you have. It's funny how we often wait until the number goes over $100 million before we consider buying tickets, as if that minimum $12 million payout isn't enough. The truth is, most of us buy lottery tickets to be able to dream of what we'd do with the money. If only for a moment, we imagine what it would be like to tell the boss what we think, to travel the world, or to buy the corner of Main and Stadium from Ann Arbor Golf and Outing and build a party barn. What's a party barn? It's a place where I put all the tailgate stuff so I don't have to lug it back and forth to my home. There's a stove in there, large meat smokers, a couple of bathrooms, a home theater with satellite tv, and air conditioning. OK, I'm getting off topic...my point is that those 10 easy pick numbers you buy give you only an infinitesimal mathematical advantage over someone that doesn't even buy a ticket. The difference? You get to dream and they get to be naysayers. It almost makes it money well spent.

I've seen a lot of basketball, and while I'm not exactly well versed in the intricacies of the 1-3-1, I am well versed in what Ufer once called "The Great Michigan Spirit." Because I am so in tune with the Maize and Blue, and because I have seen shades of competitiveness from this team, and because the Big Ten is a lackluster conference at best, I can tell you this: That which you covet is not impossible. Tap into that part of your psyche that you use when buying that lottery ticket. Think about winning the next four games. Think about everything that is wrong with Michigan Basketball disappearing in a single weekend.

Just how ridiculous would it be for Michigan to win the Big Ten tournament? Well, it would be pretty nuts. But not more ridiculous than, say, a team from the Colonial Athletic Association making the Final Four. Not more ridiculous than Michigan dominating the Florida Gators in the Citrus Bowl. Not more ridiculous than The Giants over the Patriots. Not more ridiculous than Goody being married for more than 6 months.

So, yes, I'm saying there's a chance. And because there's a chance, it is your duty to support that chance until there is no more chance. Dream...don't naysay. And while it is much more likely that the chance will disappear at about 2:30pm Thursday, we don't deal in likely. Jalen is back. He's named the names of the once damned but still fabulous five. The demons have been exorcised. We are about shocking the world. For god's sakes boys, you've packed for it, now do it.

High noon...Thursday...Hawkeyes...

Adieu Ron Coleman, I Wish You Were Ron Coleman

/

​There was a time when I hated you Ron Coleman, now I only loathe you. Back when you were a Sophomore, I was a season ticket holder for basketball. You were a chucker then, and I watched as you failed to improve as your career progressed. I watched as we had to "move in a different direction" from your former Romulus teammate Jerret Smith. I watched your stats taper off in your senior year. Sure, you were injured. Sure, it was a new system...and you were the lone senior. Maybe that's not fair, maybe we should count David Merritt, whose best basketball stat is that in his Freshman and Sophomore years he didn't play basketball but was on the Dean's list. That Dean was most likely Mrs. Amaker, which is probably how he made the team last year. Anyway Ron, I expected some leadership out of you. I expected more minutes. I expected, well, too much I guess.

I wanted you to be remembered Ron. But it was not to be. You haven't even managed to be the best Ron Coleman. That's right Ron Coleman, I am saying that you are no Ron Coleman. Take Big Ron Coleman for example, he's an 8-time Mr. Olympia. Ron Coleman mining is a successful purveyor of quartz in Arkansas. Ron, you don't even know what a cichlid is. Meanwhile Dr. Ron Coleman is living his life among the cichlids, unlocking the secrets of evolution. I really wish you were the Ron Coleman that writes for one of my favorite blogs, RightWingNews, at least then I could respect your ideals.

Michigan closed out the 07-08 campaign and Ron Coleman's Crisler career by playing exactly the way they have played all year. Outplay the opponent for the majority of the game, shit the bed for 3-4 minutes, turn the ball over 20+ times, and lose by around 10. The cliche of the "score not being indicative of the game" should be attached to every contest that involves this team. Michigan did fall 72-58 to Purdue at Crisler, and it wasn't for lack of effort from Epke Udoh. Udoh was all over the place, and it was obvious that he had something to prove. The announcers recognized it, the fans recognized it, and Beilein recognized it. At the end of the game, Udoh was the only player that had the right to say this:

We always come out and play hard," said Michigan's Ekpe Udoh. "We just don't play hard the whole 40."

Don't I know it. Make me a liar and an idiot and make a little noise this weekend fellas...please.