The Fashionably Late Weekend Roundup, Strength and Honor Edition: 9/18/07

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​No time to rest. Led by your grandpa, a top ten team is coming into the Big House on Saturday. What would have been billed as the first test for this edition of the Wolverines has turned into just another test. It's a stepping stone in a season that will be filled with questions until the very end. For now, we look back at the weekend (+Monday) that included the biggest upset of the millennium...the French threatening to wage war:

Now Who Sucks?

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​With everybody tripping over themselves trying tobury our fair Wolverines headfirst, or headcaochfirst as it were, who would have thought that the hot seat had room for an ass the size of Charlie Weiss's?

The Wolverines did exactly what you didn't expect them to do this weekend. Show up. Or at least it felt like they showed up. Perhaps we just ran into a team that is playing the worst football in Division 1-A...or Division 1-AA for that matter. Either way, it felt good. It looked good. It was good. There was a new feeling at the Big House on Saturday. A combination of relief and disbelief. We are certainly not #1, but we can't possibly be #119.

Of course everything isn't bright and sunny at Schembechler Hall just yet. The team is probably not as bad as they looked in games 1 and 2...but they're certainly not as good as they looked on Saturday. A simple gameplan: Hand it to the man that is seemingly decided to carry the Wolverines on his back, make tackles on defense, repeat as necessary. Three yards and a cloud of ground up old tires works for me.

With something to build on now, can the Wolverines make a run at #10 Penn State and the Big Ten? Uhhhh...probably not.

But there's no doubt the conference is hitting a historic low point. Just this weekend, we had Florida Atlantic over Minnesota, Iowa State (who has losses to Kent State and Northern Iowa) over Iowa, and Duke (without Krzyzewski) ending a 22-game losing streak with a win over Northwestern.

We shall see.

#1 vs. #2

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Giant Douche vs. Turd Sandwich

The Cripple Fight

Well, it's pre-game again. Refocus time. Quiet time. Pad-free walk thr---- Wait, didn't we do this last week? Did it work? Nope. So let's try something else. Remember the last time you loved the Wolverines, I mean really loved them? I do. It was 2003. Michigan-Ohio State...the 100th game. They made a lithograph out of it. You bought one....maybe two. It's hanging somewhere nearby. Look at it. It was the largest crowd ever to watch a football game. Why? Because we count the people on the field. And on the field were former Michigan Football letterwinners, strong in number, making a tunnel for the players to run through on the way to the banner. That's what we need.

And it seems there has been a call to arms. (courtesy (AKA stolen from) MZone):

This Saturday approx 1:45pm, we want every former player to meet just outside the tunnel (at Michigan stadium), to support (and remind!) our team on why they wear that winged helmet! We want to show our unity for the Wolverines, when they step off the bus.

MZone

 has taken it a step further, asking fans to show up too. "Support the support" is what they call it. Sounds like a plan...which is more than I can say for the coaching staff in the first two games

Mystifying

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​Quick link to an ESPN.com article. Lots of interesting stuff in it...including this gem from Herbie:

Every February, Michigan recruits really well. But I think their strength and conditioning program has cornered the market on taking five-star guys and somehow finding a way to slow them down. It's mystifying to see it every single time they line up against that type of spread look." - Kirk Herbstreit

Hey! Stay away from the chicken! Bad chicken! Mess you up!

That's not gonna be good for business.

That's not gonna be good for anybody...

Henne Out for ND...Welcome Ryan Mallet to Our Nightmare

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​I've never really spent a lot of time reading Jim Carty, but Jesus H. Christ, he really loves Michigan Football. He isn't just writing fluff pieces, he is a real life fluffer...he's fluffing the shit out of us. I'm literally uncomfortable talking about it. I feel dirty. Let's look at the titles of his last few article titles...all written in the wake of the "season on the brink" :


And while I scoff at his blind love, and can't help but appreciate it, just a little bit. There's certainly something to be said for loyalty here. Through thick and thin...for richer or for poorer...and what not.

But there needs to be a change. And I'm scared of it...and there's a part of you that's scared too. We are Michigan. We fear change. We don't want Noah's Arcade coming in here and screwing up Wayne's World.

Imagine if Bo hadn't retired in the early 90's due to deteriorating health and he continued to coach, you know, like JoPa. The results would have probably been basically the same over the past 17 years. Maybe a little better, maybe a little worse. What we, the Michigan fans, and the scrutinizing public are calling for, is the firing of Bo, or at least Bo's legacy. He built this program in the modern era. He, even after his passing, is still your coach. So yes, the prospect is a bit scary.

No doubt, the game has passed by our antiquated Michigan system. But we've skated through. We've always been good (or at least serviceable). So there has been no urgency for a revamped system. But now...now we are not good. The bubble has burst. We are the only Big Ten team without the taste of victory. Our rival has our number. So, do you give Lloyd one last chance to change it, just to keep it in the family? Or do you finally break this family up and go back to 1969?

Does Lloyd want that chance?

All tough questions. Certainly a much tougher decision than choosing to boo a group of innocent 20 year olds...or chanting "Fire Lloyd"...or pining for the benching of your 4-year starter at quarterback, then for all intents and purposes cheering his injury. BTW...as if you didn't know, Mallet is staring on Saturday. Shame on you...you know better. So suck it up. I'm not saying you have to like it, but your character will be better if you do more than just endure it. Ten more weeks, then maybe a bowl game...and then we can answer all the questions...

...or just simply bring on Chucky.