Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....We're Halfway There

/

​If you don't love Bon Jovi...you don't love yourself. And if you don't love Mike Hart, tell me where to meet you for your well-deserved ass kicking.

On a day that felt often felt Appstateish (a word soon to be added to Webster's) 

Mike Hart became the all-time leading rusher in Michigan history, solidifying his place among the all-time greats to wear the winged helmet. And despite a body, speed, and skill set that is likely not made for the next level, you should know that Mike Hart will be a beacon for the University of Michigan regardless of what kind of career he has in the NFL. He is the face of this team. He is the voice of this team. And I'm not just talking about this year, I'm speaking (typing) in much broader terms. Mike says all the right things, but more importantly, he means everything he says. He believes in this program more than you do. It's unfortunate that this team and this coaching staff can't get him what he so aptly deserves: a National Championship, a Heisman trophy, and the proverbial ride off into the sunset. But the funny thing is, he could care less at this point. He is content in single handedly keeping this team together, keeping this team winning. As far as Michigan Men go...Mike Hart is Maize and Blue perfection. Undersized and underestimated, a will and a determination that cannot be measured, a true believer in "the team, the team, the team." He is in a nutshell the athletic embodiment of Bo himself.

Congratulations Mike.

So, we're 4-2 after six games, the halfway point of the 2007 regular season campaign. Unfortunately, out of those 6 games, we have only managed to play well once, and that was against the worst team ever. Despite the smoke and mirrors of winning four straight, we have not recovered from the two early season losses. We still come out stagnant week after week, needing a second-half, and sometimes 4th quarter wake-up call to win games against inferior teams. We still play down to the opponent.

What looked like mid-October garbage games coming into the season are now huge. A ranked Purdue team on homecoming and a road trip to Champaign to play an upstart Illinois team that runs a spread. Follow that up with what will be (one way or another) a November to remember. What I'm getting at is that the season hasn't even started yet. And that's good, because we haven't really started playing yet.

The Urban-themed tailgate went off without a hitch. There wasn't a whole lot of Urban flair to it, but we weren't short on food. Country style breakfast, sweet potato pie, cinnamon rolls, black-eyed pea stew, and pulled pork were just some of the delicious delights that adorned the tailgate tables. Noticeably absent: cheesy potatoes...and the Godfather. Captain Michigan was forced into the leadership role once again, and with his poignant and speedy announcements, his ignoring of the newcomers to the tailgate, and his amazing move to gather us together for a group picture, he showed once again why he is not just an alcoholic crazy man...but a leader of alcoholic crazy men (and women).

Battle for 17 while we drink 40s

/

by Johnny Cleveland​

In a season with a set of continually descending goals, we have an opportunity to capture our first title. Kings of the County. The Wolverines enter Saturday tied for first place in the Big Ten standings with Illinois, Wisconsin and OSU. The Hurons Eagles travel a short 7 miles down Washtenaw Ave. with a .500 mark in the MAC West and an overall record of 2-3. Continue Reading for the tail of the tape and lots of fun linkages!



Last Meeting: 55-0 Us, Sept. 17, 2005. Series: UM 7-0

Enrollment: EMU (23,000) UM (38,006)

Coaches: EMU (Genyk, 4th year) UM (Carr, last year) *1


  1. Apparently LC coached at EMU as an assistant in the 70's!!


Discipline Issues:


Players:


OTHER NOTES and Distractions till the Urban starts @ 8 AM.


  1. Say hello to an old friend named Bob

  2. At least we are all still alive to play football Saturday

  3. Tickets less than face?

  4. Time to Laugh!

Bullet Point Tuesday: Massey's Messy Knee, the BTN, #2, Henne, and Russelloyd

/
  • Reports are in that Mike Massey is out for the season. This makes the Carson Butler reinstatement a stellar move by Lloyd. Without Butler, we are looking at walk-ons, has-beens, and never-will-bes...you know, like Mike Massey.

  • Michigan will become the first team to be a part of the BTN hat-trick, with 3 consecutive games on the network that you can't get in Ann Arbor. Ya, that makes sense.

  • Congrats to Shawn Crable on being named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the week. Five tackles for loss? I barely noticed. Oh ya, I forgot Shawn has been dead to me since this. INSIDE-OUT MAN! INSIDE OUT!

  • We now know that Henne had a ligament tear in his knee. We know because he said so. Wow. What would have happened if we were told what the injury was back when the injury happened? Way to go Fort Schembechler. You have shown once again you can keep a pointless secret.

  • And in the MUST SEE VIDEO OF THE YEAR, an ESPN story on Russelloyd, (viaMGoBlog) the hottest couple since Bennifer whose relationship is single handedly replacing recruits lost by the App State disaster. Better yet, it's narrated by the My Wish Guy, Chris Connelley.

Weekend Roundup: Inelligible Player Edition: 10/1/07

/

​First of all, Happy Birthday to UMTailgate.com's own Johnny Cleveland, who turns [age redacted] today!

And now the possible bad news...

During the post game tailgate on Saturday we were listening to ESPN Radio and the announcers said something about Michigan losing a player "off the field" in some weird way. Of course, the satellite radio crapped out on us before we heard what the situation was. And during the long ride home, we were unable to find out. Now the news has hit. Artis Chambers, who played special teams in our first four games, has been ruled ineligible for Big Ten play. From what I've gathered, Bill Martin screwed up on some logistics, and while he can't actually tell us what the problem actually was, it seems (according to the experts) to be academically related. Then came the scary possible outcome...Michigan may be forced to forfeit the Big Ten game in which Chambers participated. That would be the Penn State game. Most pundits are now reporting it's more likely to be a "slap on the wrist" situation, and we won't lose that game. What is really odd is that he was elligible by NCAA rules...just not by Big Ten rules. Ya, um, what? Let me say this: If we somehow bow down and give up a game for this mistake...I'm going to drive to Big Ten headquarters and attempt to fist fight teach a lesson to Jim Delaney. Then I am going to return to Ann Arbor and fist fight teach a lesson to Bill Martin. For good measure, I will fist fight get someone to teach a lesson to Artis as well. Why? Because I can think of two instances in which an ineligible player (by NCAA rules!) was used in a game, and forfeiture was never even mentioned:

1. Troy Smith

2. Maurice Clarett

This is bullshit. On to the rest of the weekend that occurred while you were busy becoming a genius...

A Weekend Of Upsets...Relax, We Already Had Ours

/

​It was everything you didn't want it to be, except a loss. When you travel to Evanston, which is the most disconnected campus in all the land, the last thing you need is to be thinking about is if your team is going to win, especially in the 4th quarter. 'Twas another lackluster first half of Michigan football that included a two quarterback system, the "don't finish a tackle" defense, and a bend don't break strategy in combination with the "donut" coverage package. "Pissed off" doesn't quite do it justice. A more blue than purple group of onlookers were less than enthusiastic to welcome back the Wolverines of week one and week two....and that's exactly what it looked like.

The second half was a slightly different story. Freshman Ryan Mallet went back to the headset and clipboard that we all (or most) hope he will don for the remainder of the Big Ten campaign. The defense, in absence of actual coverage or stopping big plays, decided to let Northwestern implode. A collective thank you to Northwestern as bad passes, dropped passes, and turnovers on their last four possessions did exactly what we needed it to do...hand us this game on a silver platter. Though it seemed as we were trying to reject their offer of a free road opening victory, behind Henne we took just enough advantage of the miscues of the Wildcats to win. Actually, let's call it "not losing" this week.

Aside from the disappointment in the flat performance, we'll take the road victory (obviously). The three remaining away games will be very serious tests, so perhaps it was good to get the rust out in Evanston.

There is still a glaring problem though...placekicking. Jason Gingell, heretofore known only as "Ginger," is 3 of 9 on field goals this season. I'm done asking why we don't have a kicker. I've been asking that question for the better part of my adult life. Northwestern's kicker...better than ours. App State's kicker...better than ours. When we get to the 30 yard line, we should know that we are getting at least 3 points. That should never be a question for a football program like Michigan. Instead, we have a guy that is 1 of 3 on 20-29 yard kicks. Unacceptable. I don't care if this guy is routinely draining 60 yarders in practice...which I am certain he's not...we need to try somebody else. Or perhaps we can go the Duke route and have open goddamn tryouts. Ya...were about as good as Duke.

Michigan 28, Northwestern 16...Duke 20, Northwestern 14. Hmmmmm.

Hurry Up and Tailgate

Our theme-less tailgate went off without a hitch. Mini-burgers, sausage and cheese chowder, and cheesy potatoes were quickly shoved down our throats in the 3-hour tailgate before the 11am (local) kickoff. Brats and a re-hash of leftover mini-burgers made an appearance in the postgame. Good stuff. We are certainly in mid-season form and ready for the battle of Washtenaw County.