Weekend Roundup, Douche Edition: March 23, 2009

​The internets you missed while watching the ultimate douche coach his team to the sweet sixteen.

• The Prez had a slip of the tounge on Jay Leno, dropping a "special olympics" joke when referring to his bowling game.  This prompted the guy that bags my groceries to challenge Obama to a bowling match.  Seriously, this guy actually bags my groceries, and now he's on TMZ. [Deadspin - Special Olympian]


• Spectacular flashback article in the daily on 1989.  Would have been a bit more meaningful before we got eliminated by the gingerbread man, but it's nice nonetheless.  [Michigan Daily - 1989 and Beyond]


• Ann Arbor was ranked the city with the 5th highest quality of living by MSNBC.  [Ann Arbor Chronicle - A2:Ranking]


• Michigan got the one-seed in the East in the NCAA Hockey Tournament.  They'll face off against Air Force on Saturday at 3pm in Connecticut.  [Maize N Brew - NCAA Hockey]


• I've always wanted to be a Jayhawks fan.  Here's the Thursday/Friday schedule:  [Maize and Blog - NCAA Tournament Times and Announcers]

24 Hours From Now...

​...302 other NCAA basketball teams will wish they were us.

...32 teams that were invited to the dance will be on planes back home.

Michigan, who should have been satisfied just getting there...was not.  Despite a valiant attempt to give back a game that was decidedly all-Michigan, they persevered.  Manny was Manny, and with backs against the wall, he threw down an "and-1," solidifying an ending to a Clemson run and a victory that was, in a word, "iffy."  But I'll take iffy all day.  If iffy wins, then tattoo that shit on the warmup shirt right underneath Queme Los Barcos.  Some will use the phrase "they live to play another day."  But it's so much more than that.  They get to play again.  As gut wrenching as it sometimes is...we get to watch again.

As for Clemson, well, I can't be the only one that wasn't impressed with Clemson.  This is a team that beat Duke 74-47 six weeks ago.  Whether they played poorly or we made them play poorly is certainly a point of debate.  What's not debatable is that we were the better team...be it coaching, Manny, or whatever intangible you can come up with.

Tonight was not a miracle, but it does create the opportunity for one.

Clemson Basketball Blog Notices Our Optomistic Schedule

​Dude...have I ever posted this much in one day?  For those used to just one post per day...or every other day...or every other week...scroll down.  There's lots of content added since your last visit.  2009 UMTailgate.com Tournament Challenge information is available here.

Back to this post...

The OP, a Clemson basketball blog, has noticed that we've got a game scheduled for Saturday...which in some circles may be misconstrued as cockiness.  Well, sorry to "big boy" you fellas, but you have 8 total NCAA appearances and have never seen past the sweet sixteen...ever.  I laugh at your mediocrity, and I do so despite being on an eleven year tourney drought.

This is Michigan Basketball.

Thursday: Michigan vs. Clemson is PRIME TIME... 7:10pm!!!!

Sitting Pretty at #10...The Selection Special at Crisler

​2009 UMTailgate.com Tournament Challenge information is available here.

***UPDATE***:  Thursday: Michigan vs. Clemson is PRIME TIME... 7:10pm!!!!

We came...we saw...we crapped our pants...then we celebrated...and then Baby Beth sat in Zack's tourney chair.

The Selection Special event at Crisler arena was a great idea that almost wasn't.  I shutter to think about how bad things would have gotten if we hadn't received that bid.  As luck would have it, our regional was the last to be announced, and you could feel Coach Beilein, the team, and the crowd start to really tighten up as seed after seed went by...without mention of the Wolverines.  But the anticipation and trepidation made it that much better when we were rewarded with the #10 seed in the closing minutes of the bracket reveal.  And then...chaos.  I've seen countless selection shows in my lifetime, and always wondered just how authentic the surprise was for players and coaches when they saw their names on CBS.  I can tell you, I was watching Beilein like a hawk, and he didn't know.  He went back and forth between Sims and Harris as it came down to the final bracket, probably going over with them exactly what the rest of the experienced tournament followers already knew.  If they're taking 7 from the Big Ten, it's us vs. Penn State, and we are probably in.  If they're taking 6, we're not in, as Illinois has yet to be announced. I watched the cameraman, hoping to see some kind of signal that he needed to be ready with a shot.  I watched the cameraman's assistant, who seemed to be on a direct line to headquarters via his earpiece, to see if he was getting some kind of word about readying the feed.  Nobody knew.  Either that or they are great secret keepers with tremendous poker faces.  Poker face...yes, please cue more Lady GaGa.

That Wisconsin bid at #12 made us all nervous.  They beat us twice, and they, at a 12-seed, were one of the last in.  But then Minnesota came in at #10...and we beat them twice.  Oh the confusion.  But in the end, we got what we wanted, minus maybe the chance to play in Dayton.

Coach Beilein was the host and emcee, and spoke to the crowd both before the show and after.  This is a class guy.  He said all the right things, and he loves Michigan.  He wanted us there, the Michigan fans, not as some promotional idea, or to get more ticket sales or bolster support, but because he wanted us to share in this moment, together, as a Michigan family.  In short, I fell in love with Coach tonight.  I'm in...not that I wasn't before.

Here are some pics from the event.  Thanks to tailgaters Baby Beth and Zoe for going with me and smuggling me in to the student area, even if everybody around us thought I was their dad...or maybe an uncle.  We had a great and close vantage point, and I've got some great video footage of all of this that I will certainly try to youtube tomorrow.

Thursday bitches!  Thursday!