We Miss You Already...

In breaking news out of the ahh-nus (sorry, Borat seems to be everywhere) that is East Lansing, it seems that the John L. Smith era has come to an end. John L. has apparently accepted a $1.5 million buyout of the remainder of his contract. According to Joe Ferguson, Vice Chairperson of Michigan State's Board of Trustees, "What we need here is more players. What we need here is better recruits. We don't make excuses. What we need is more depth and more players." Which poses the question: What the hell is a Vice Chairperson of the Board of Trustees?...and do the Wolverines have one? The news has sparked mass celebrations throughout E.L., but in lieu of riots there have been just a few private couch burnings.

• Bleeding Green has the pre-presser post writing John L. off into the sunset.


• The Enlightened Spartan is elated that MSU can now be "better than average."

John L. has posted a 22-23 record for the Spartans, and has never beaten Michigan or Ohio State. He will go down in history as the only coach to lead a team to blow a 16-point 4th quarter lead (Notre Dame), and come back from a 35-point deficit (Northwestern) in the same season. It was that kind of inconsistency that made him the perfect fit for Sparty, but alas, 

the tribe has spoken

. He will coach the remainder of this stellar season in an attempt to push his record over the illustrious .500 mark and get those Sparties to the Motor City Bowl. Good bye John L, I look forward to seeing you slap yourself in the face as an assistant coach in a non-BCS conference.

It appears Ron English's name is getting tossed about on the short list for next head coach, which makes me laugh. Because we all know who the next coach will be... the Mooch and the Izzone united in perfect Sparty harmony. Love it.

Case of the Mundy's: Devil's Night Edition 10/30/06

​It's Halloween Eve, known around these parts as Devil's Night. I say "these parts" because in my neverending journey to learn something new everyday, I found out that Devil's Night is native to the state of Michigan, and more specifically Detroit. Nice! All this time I thought that people nationwide were destructing property and setting fires. But it's just us. So get out the toilet paper, eggs, and door knocking devices and head out to the streets to cause some mayhem. If you are in or around the city of Detroit, you might need to step it up a notch, so get some gasoline and burn down a crack house or two. You can always go the other route and be a big wuss and try to stop Devil's Night by participating in Angel's Night. Either way, remember that the important thing is that you have fun, dress up, and steal candy from children.

The weekend that was...

• Michigan vs. Ball State is hijacked by the Worldwide Leader and put on ESPNU so nobody can see it. Shouldn't we have ESPNU in Ann Arbor anyway? Half their crap is probably live from Cliff-Keen. [Freep]


• MGoBlog wrestles with crappy ponchos and the question of crappy offense vs. hiding the offense. [MGoBlog]


• Angel gives Michigan's Offense a B- for Saturday. Reminds me of the time a prof gave me a B- when I told him that he must have lost my final exam (that I didn't take). [Detroit News]


• Mark Snyder says Ball State will heal our offensive wounds. [Freep]


• Apparently the sun rises and sets with Mario. [Sporting News]

The injury report...

• Antonio Bass...just a week closer to a medical redshirt


• Mr. Kolodziej....just a week closer to jack squat.


• Reuben Riley: Not all that injured...and not all that good. Will probably start against Ball State.


• Tyler Ecker: right ankle injury...could return (seriously) for Ball State.


• Mario Manningham: knee...ran this week. Before you get too excited though, I can run too. I think we'll see him in Bloomington on a limited basis, then in full force in Columbus...of course, full force is a relative term.

Is It November 18th Yet? Michigan 17, Northwestern 3

​It's tough sometimes, to be a Michigan fan. So many expectations, a fair amount of disappointment, and rarely a game occurs where you walk out and say "we executed to the best of our ability." That's just the way it is. We've reached November unblemished, but you're confidence in the offense is low. There are a couple of schools of thought as to the reason why the Michigan offense has mustered only 54 points in the last three games. One is that in our current state we just are not that good, and that the boring conservatism of the Wolverines is a result of the loss of Mario Manningham, the questionable right side of the offensive line, dropped passes by receivers, and a running back by committee that seems to contain only one man that can get yards and not fumble. Maybe Penn State has a good defense, perhaps even Iowa...but Northwestern did not. Going 4 of 15 on third down against the Wildcats could be viewed as unacceptable, and it might be time to wonder if Mike DeBord, the master of 1997's conservative offensive masterpiece might just be too conservative for the available weapons on this Michigan team. The other view is that this is a giant conspiracy, with a 10-play playbook that hides everything we plan to do against Ohio State from the Sweatervest and his staff. We will run the ball (to the left) and rely on the best defense in the nation to hold our lead, no matter how small. You might think we've done this before. After ho-humming our way through Vanderbilt and Central Michigan, we dominated Notre Dame, the #2 team in the country at the time.

A look at total offense reveals that the last three games were our lowest outputs of the season. We peaked at Minnesota, amassing 514 yards, which was 130 yards more than any other game, but only beat the Gophers 28-14. But maybe the powers that be know what it is that wins championships. It's defense. And until we need it, the offense can go three and out every time. We'll get into the common opponent comparisons when we get closer to Armageddon, but let me leave you with this for now: The most total yards Michigan has given up this season is 323 to Minnesota. Ohio State gave up 343 yards to Northern Illinois and 339 yards to Bowling Green. Hmmm.

In the worst weather conditions since the famous 5-0 affair against Purdue in 1995, the Wolverines defense came out in the near-freezing rain and completely dominated Northwestern. Forcing 5 turnovers, they single-handedly won the game for an offense that only managed 17 points, most of which came from great field position gained by the defense. For the 2nd time in three games, Michigan's defense held its opponent to negative rushing yards, and lowered their nation-leading per game average to 28.4 yards per game. Michigan wins, 17-3.

The tailgate was moved from our cushy surroundings on the golf course to our alternate spot at a house on Main St. Wet and muddy, we tried to stay dry under our tents, and tried to stay warm with the appropo Soups and Stews theme. Next week, we gather for Fried Turkeys, and will end the day with our yearly banquet.

It's Homecoming! The Northwestern Preview

​We now take you to the cushy part of the Wolverine's 2006 schedule, with the three-headed monster of Northwestern, Ball State, and Indiana before we head to Columbus. How easy should these games be? Really easy. How vanilla will the offense be for the next three weeks? Super vanilla. We will spend as much time hiding plays that we unleash on the Buckeyes as we will actually preparing for games. We will rest Mike Hart. We will suspend Adrian Arrington. We will rehab Mario Manningham. We will celebrate the near guarantee of a BCS bowl game.

So let's have fun and enjoy it...first up, the Wildcats of Northwestern.

The School:

• Established in 1851


• Enrollment: 13,000


• Mascot: Willie the Wildcat

Notable Alumni:

• Jerry Springer


• Julia Louis-Dreyfus


• Charlton Heston

The Numbers:

• Michigan leads series 50-14-2, and is 27-5-2 at Michigan Stadium


• Northwestern blew a 35 point lead to Michigan State last week, the biggest choke job in the history of NCAA football


• Michigan is 33-5 in their last 38 homecoming games.


• Chad Henne has a league best 65% completion percentage in Big Ten play


• Michigan will be going for their 400th win all time in the month of October, Northwestern will be going for their 437th win all time...in all months.

This Year:

• Northwestern is 2-6 on the season, with their only wins coming against Miami of Ohio (21-3) and Eastern Michigan (14-6)


• Northwestern is 94th in the country in total offense, and 93rd in total defense

Watch For (I guess):

• Tyrell Sutton, RB, averages 84 yards per game


• Nick Roach, LB, leads team with 7.75 tackles per game

Predictions

The Hammer:

Who do we play this week? Oh, that's right Northwestern.Man that was a whirlwind first eight weeks! Still undefeated and the redemption tour has taken a hiatus and now its just getting down to good old fashion fine tuning. Don't sleep on these teams though. We need to perfect our execution. We have three weeks of preparation and it starts with the Wildcats.

1st half prediction:
Michigan 24
NWU 3
2nd half will be on the second team so I leave that up to them.

Go Blue.

The XBox:

Michigan 52
Northwestern 14

The Webmaster:

Tough to make predictions when the team is only going to play a little over a half, but I think our 2nd team would still dominate this poor excuse for a Big Ten team. Mike Hart better have less than 20 carries. Can't wait to see Brandon Minor get his game legs under him. Oh, and Jason Forcier...that should be fun.

Michigan 42
Northwestern 7

What Could Be Better?

​by Tuba

Michigan is undefeated and the Tigers are in the World Series! Fantastic. While the exterior is bright and often times blinding, we often forget to see the turmoil of the inner workings. There are many stories that wind up next to the dirty pans on the back stove when things are going this well. But the potential trouble Adrian Arrington is in, the injury to Mario Manningham and the early dismissal to the jovial Dmitri Young from the Tigers have been underlying tremmors in what is a relatively joyous and calm fall. 

Each pre-season in Ann Arbor the hopes of an undefeated season run rampant. Will the defense hold up? How about the quarterback position? Play calling? Question after question finally gets answered during the arduous campaign and yet only one team will remain the victor. And by week eight only a few are left with the same hopes they started the season with. Thankfully, 2006 is one of those seasons for Michigan, and yet the obstables week in and week out are unpredictable...Injuries, court cases, girlfriends...Each player has their own demons. We all have our own demons. So let us pause and take note of what we have and what we are willing to sacrifice to improve upon each day, to make ourselves better and to be productive people in our society no matter our short comings. So at some point this weekend raise a glass (whether it be morgan's, beer or orange juice) to what we have today and not what we hope to have tomorrow.