Weekend Roundup, Hold the Phone Edition: March 9, 2009

​I have fallen victim to another social network, so it is with great malaise that I utter type these words:  FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER.  I digress...

Huge win.  Colossal win.  Program making win.  While you can't say that Michigan did everything they could in the Big Ten to make the NCAA Tournament, you can say that they did everything they could on Saturday.  It was gritty, gutsy, clutch, and any other word you can come up with that portrays a comeback when all, including the season itself, looked lost.  On the road, against a team that needed it and wanted it as much as we did, we showed that we belong...that we are better.  You cannot take the Gophers and not take us.

And if you could somehow take out that loss at Iowa, when Manny was pulled for the duration of the overtime collapse, when we were certain we were NIT bound, then it would be time to talk seeds...to dream of brackets.  But we lost that game.  And because we lost that game we cannot rest on our laurels.  This team, with their new found focus and "us against the world" attitude, needs to shut off ESPN this week.  They don't need to see that we are no longer appearing as the last four in or the last four out, and that as far as Joe Lunardi and the rest of the world is concerned, Michigan is a lock to return to the dance.

The problem is, I don't think we are.  Some say seven, and perhaps as many as eight, teams will be in from the Big Ten.  But would it be the biggest surprise in Selection Sunday history if they only took six...or even five?  Despite the out of conference record of the bulk of us, I can't help but think that some bean counters from the selection committee saw Penn State vs. Illinois and said, as we all probably did, "hey, that's some shitty basketball."  And that's fine.  But if that is the case, then to be certain a week from tonight that Bill Martin will get a call before 8pm we have games yet to win.  We need to be playing on Saturday.

The rest of the internets that you missed while combining nipples and beer.

• Someday, somebody will realize that there are more Michigan bloggers than there are other college sports bloggers combined.  And guess what?  9 out of 10 of them are really f'n good.  And while I myself am probably #10 in that gorilla math survey, it doesn't stop me from admiring the rest of the M-'sphere.  Before the Minnesota game, Dex of the Wolverine Liberation Army took us back to his youth, and a time of extreme youth in Michigan Basketball history.  More impressively, he does it without a single reference to fornication, which is odd for a man that can only be described as the Peter North of Cover it Live.


• MVictors covers a great man in Michigan history, Red Simmons.  I spent a couple of seasons about two rows behind Red at Michigan Basketball games.  Red was there before me.  Red left after me.  And Red fielded fans throughout the game coming to catch a glimpse of a Michigan icon.  Seriously...he was hired by Fritz Crisler.


• Dylan offers up the Big Ten tournament bracket  There's not a team in our half that we haven't beaten.  There's also not a team in our half that hasn't beaten us.  Iowa Thursday + Illinois Friday + Purdue Saturday = Dancing the following Thursday.


• Fanhouse says that Michigan State is in a class of their own.  Fill in your own "class-less" joke of your own, and be sure to include riots and couch burning.  Then remember that this is MSU's first outright Big Ten championship in 10 years.  Ha.


• This year's spring game is what the media calls "intriguing."

File This Under...

​...things you always wanted to hear about the Florida Gators:

But the defense was downright humbled against Michigan.

The Wolverines racked up 524 yards of offense and scored on seven of 13 possessions. It could have been worse, too, had Chad Henne not thrown two interceptions and Mike Hart not fumbled twice near the goal line.

The Gators couldn't tackle Hart, couldn't pressure Henne and couldn't cover Adrian Arrington or Mario Manningham. Florida's coaching staff has shown highlights... lowlights, really... throughout the offseason to remind the players how much room they have for improvement.

Spikes wanted to turn away at times, but eventually decided to use it into a motivational tool."

It's great to be a Michigan Wolverine. Ahhh, but as I always say, the past is the past. For a look at the present, 

I give you Maize and Blog's Spring Practice Coverage

...first the good:

The offense involved a lot of quick rollouts and passes to the outside to one of the wideouts, mostly the slot guy which Clemons was playing. Threet was surprisingly quick and effective in these plays which made up most of the offense. The offense ran no-huddle the entire day, not huddling once during a series. Threet seems to be getting a great grasp on the offense very quickly leading the team in this no huddle. Most of those quick passes to the outside picked up about five yards and some broke for more.

OK, OK, sounds somewhat promising. My only issue is...what spread offense has ever had a problem with the Michigan defense. I kid! I kid! Some points of concern:

...offensive lineman (from LT to RT) Mark Ortmann, Tim McAvoy, Dave Moosman, Cory Zirbel, and Stephen Schilling.

Who? And this Navarre-esque tidbit:

(Threet) has about a 3/4 delivery which means alot of passes were and will be batted down at the line.

Good, because I've really been missing those.

And in "I swear I'm not bitter" news, Mallet hurt his thumb:

The sophomore struggled to move the second-team offense at the start of Friday's scrimmage, and he missed a considerable amount of snaps after injuring his right thumb.

So voodoo dolls do work! Well, he can't play this year anyway, despite his whining.

No Apologies From RR

Jim Carty, fresh off a diatribe about athletics and academics at Michigan that stirred up about 1/10th of the attention he thought it would, scored a phone interview with RR. A year ago, we would have likely gone on without any rebuttal from our coach. Actually, a year ago, Lloyd would have probably banned Jim Carty from University property and not accepted his phone call. Not the case anymore.

Don't mess with the family Justin:

My players and my coaches are my family. They're coached that way.

But we're not going to apologize for being demanding. We told that to the players. We also told them our job is to take them some place they can't take themselves, on the field and off the field, and I think the majority of our players understand that."

There's lots more worthwhile quotes in the article, check it out here.Also, MVictors provides audio of RR on Jim Rome today, which was hosted by the Sklar brothers.

One last thing...if the information provided here comes to fruition, I...I just don't know what to say.

Dude

​I can't begin to describe the disdain I have for Justin Boren's press release. I hate to harp on someone that is a student athlete, and I rarely find myself taking the time to pick apart a 20-year-old kid. That being said, let's start with this...

I regret leaving behind my friends and teammates, but I need to stand up for what I know is right,"

Delusions of grandeur much? Unless the new coach has supported the forcing of an object into one of your orifices, or has told you that you aren't going to play because you are Caucasian, or you are uncomfortable with a swastika watermark on each of the pages of your playbook...I can't imagine what could be wrong. Let's not pretend you are attempting to save the souls of the remaining members of the Michigan football team by walking out based on what you "know is right." There is no right or wrong, there is only Coach and Player. You are the player, and outside of something illegal, you do exactly what the coach says, or you pack your bags. 

We follow orders, son. We follow orders or people die. It's that simple. Are we clear?

Michigan football was a family, built on mutual respect and support for each other from (former) Coach (Lloyd) Carr on down. We knew it took the entire family, a team effort, and we all worked together. I have great trouble accepting that those family values have eroded in just a few months.

The erosion of family values is something I'm used to seeing from the Democratic party... and Murphy Brown. Is Michigan Football sleeping with an intern? Does Michigan Football have a second whole wife and kids on the west coast that it visits under the guise of business trips? Is Michigan Football living with it's domestic partner? Please tell me Justin, what the hell are you talking about?

I don't understand. You want to be coddled? Did Lloyd coddle you? When he asked you to run, and you were tired and whined about it, did he just let you off the hook?

This really validates my worst fears of the last 5 years or so. Lloyd Carr, the delightful, grandfather-like figurehead of Michigan Football, was outwardly a nice guy. In fact, I think Lloyd is genuinely a nice guy. But I always imagined...always hoped...that once the gate to Fort Schembechler closed behind him he was a tough sonofabitch. I thought he got every last ounce of effort out of his players, that he was the ultimate motivator. Perhaps that's not true. As we saw at the Citrus Bowl, there seems to have been a lot left in the tank. And whatever is left, RR is going to get it. Even if he has to beat it out of them.

This is football kids. This isn't supposed to be fun. It's a war. It's a business. You don't want to work harder? Fine. But don't slander the program because you need a bullshit excuse to tell your dad. We are still a family here J.B...you're just no longer a part of it. Now run home to daddy...or walk, if you're tired.

Boren is Another Way to Call A Cat A Kitty

​Is this possible? Did Justin Boren just leave the team because practice was too hard? I mean seriously (from the first day of practice)...

Rodriguez said he's working with "a blank canvas for all the guys," saying he'll have an idea of players who will help by the end of the spring.

"Every coach says that, pretty much," said left guard Justin Boren, a returning starter who is adjusting to racing back to the line of scrimmage instead of jogging back to a huddle. "They've been watching a lot of film from last year. Of course, your position's never set in stone.

"If a starter from last year doesn't perform, then they're not going to be a starter anymore. But as long as you take care of business and do what you've been doing, you should be all right."

Or, if you are too much of a vag to run, you're not gonna be all right. You are going to go home. You are no better than Jason Nadaskay. Yes, I know, most of you have no idea who Jason Nadaskay is. But those those of you who do are wallowing in the perfection of the correlation.

Whatever the reason, and I hope there's a better one than "practice was too hard", this leaves us with one returning starter on the line. At best, we've had a defection from the program by a legacy...and that is not good however you slice it.

The first-year U-M coach refused to discuss specifics, saying he talks only about guys who play for Michigan.

Let's hope RichRod doesn't run out of people to talk to. Hey Justin: "Those Who Stay Will Be Champions" ...history is coming full circle.