Basketball. Petway. Basketball.

​Thanks to MGoBlog for turning the Michigan world on toUMHoops.com. There's some great stuff over there and they obviously have a thankless job covering what is considered these days to be the "other" sport...so, ya, props. While visiting I couldn't help but notice the words "dunk contest" and "Petway" in the same sentence. It caused flashbacks to so many great memories of bad Michigan teams whose best moments came during warm-ups...and most of those moments featured Air Georgia. Well, Air Georgia has moved on to the league now...the D-League that is...and has once again made a name for himself as a circus act dunker.

Deadspin had remote coverage of D-League all-star weekend through Hardwood Paroxysm

, which is genius on their part. The coverage had this to say about the former Wolverine 7th/8th-man:

But in the Finals, Petway killed him. After a massive lob East-Bay Funk dunk, he then place the ball on the ground under the goal, stood, leaned down, then jumped up and dunked it, standing. It wasn't impressive when you watched it. Then you thought about it. And realized how much leg power that took. The man's a freak of nature.

That he is. What'd Brent think? Well, he's got a blog, and his post regarding the evening is called "I Came, I Saw, I Conquered."

I always surprise people when I get under the lights because I show a completely different side of myself. What can I say l'm an entertainer and I love to put on a show. If you wanna see exactly how good our dunk contest was just go to YouTube and type in "dleague dunk contest."

OK...done. Then comes the challenge, or um...challege.

Also be watching YouTube in the upcoming week, I will b posting a challege to the NBA Dunk Contest winner Dwight Howard. I'm gonna do every dunk he did and put it up because I don't think my message got out that we wanna challenge the league. He's a Georgia boy, I'm a Georgia boy so let's set it up.

Hmmmm. Yes, perhaps that would be fun. Then maybe later you guys can PLAY ACTUAL BASKETBALL against each other.

Finally, in the interest of equal time for coach audio clips, I give you MLive.com's audio coverage of Beilein on WTKA on Wednesday. The program is on track? Maybe. Just be careful tonight on that weird floor in the barn in Minnesota.

Off topic...look at this crazy rap....Tressel's Cheating, but we knew that...Mike Hart combine news.

WVU vs. RichRod For Dummies...The Website

The busy law students at the Harvard of the East Washtenaw Community College of the Appalachians have gathered together and made a new blog. This should be a wake up call to any of you out there that thought creating a blog was too difficult to manage or too technical. The fact that I have one should be enough...but that some backwoods inbreds have managed to throw one together should really inspire you. I imagine that these "people" live in caves not unlike members of the Taliban. So for them to have to drive to downtown Morgantown and get to a library to use the internet and make a blog that breaks down what for them is the trial of the century...well I just want to tell them I'm proud of them. Taking time out from the squatter's rights studies and hunting accident recreations to do this for us is downright charitable of them.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the West Virginia University Sports and Entertainment Law Society, and richrodriguezlaw. blogspot. com. Please be warned...you will need akey bump or two to remain alert while reading this.

Of note, the advisor for this little club has four names, of which he chooses to capitalize none: andrÃé douglas pond cummings. Note the accent mark on the e in andrÃ. Ever met someone that has one of those that wasn't an asshole? Now look at his picture. There. That should do it. I just made you the reader of UMTailgate.com feel better about yourself, if only for a moment.

Get Yourself Fired Up

​I knew that someone somewhere was going to post video of the halftime activities of Sunday's victory over the Buckeyes at Crisler. As you know, Coach Rod spoke, and he had to do so over the jeers of the congregating Buckeye fans in the rafters...

Someday I will update the software on this blog to allow for embedded video...for now click through to Varsity Blue for the YouTube goodness.

The end is the best part, so hang in there. Coach makes his way into the Maize Rage and is enveloped in high fives and chants of "it's great to be a Michigan Wolverine." Also nice to see Fred Jackson get some solid applause, which is no doubt directly related to him getting Mr. Mixtape to A2.

Weekend Roundup: Knight Rider Edition: February 18, 2008

​I'm sure there will be a YouTube or BTN video clip of it soon enough, but head coach Rich Rodriguez addressed the crowd at halftime of the Michigan-OSU basketball game. It came off of an alumni weekend and a Friday event that had 300 plus in attendance. From the Sporting News:

During his remarks, several hundred Ohio State fans seated in the upper bowl of the arena began chanting "Tressel," referring to Buckeyes head coach Jim Tressel, and held up a sign that said "1,548 days," which referred to the number of days since Michigan had defeated Ohio State in football.

Rodriguez turned to the Ohio State fans and told them, "I hope you guys up there enjoy your seats." Wolverine fans than began counter chanting, "Beat the Buckeyes." To that, Rodriguez said, "Amen. I hear ya!"

1548 days? Just threw up a bit in my mouth. Further quoting fun from the Detroit News...

"When you come in the Big House, when the maize and blue come out of that tunnel, I guarantee you they will play hard and they will play physical," said Rodriguez amidst cheers.

What if I just want them to be really really fast?

Michigan Hockey is on a serious roll. They swept Lake State over the weekend, solidifying 1st place in the CCHA and their #1 National Ranking. To summarize, I give you The Blog That Yost Built, which covers hockey like I cover Southern Omlettes in sausage gravy:

Michigan is now 5 points ahead of both Miami and Michigan State with all schools having 4 games left to play. Notre Dame is nine points back and has been officially eliminated from contention. That means that Michigan needs only split their last four to win the CCHA title outright, and can finish no worse than 3rd in the conference.

According to a Freep article, Amani Toomer isn't very friendly with Lloyd Carr:

The last time I heard a word from Lloyd was when I was playing in a (Michigan) game; it was my last play of my senior year. I caught a touchdown from Brian Griese, and I was walking off the field and Lloyd looks at me, looks at Griese, looks at me again, and goes, "Good throw, Brian." And that's the last thing he ever said in my direction.

Uhhhhhh. OK. Of note...is that a painting of Amani Toomer attached to this article?

Bullet points, baby, bullet points...

• Michigan's first recruiting class under Rodriguez gets an 'A'. Unfortunately, it's from a magazine/website that uses the team nickname for the title of its periodical. (Ask the Expert - Freep.com)


• You know what you can do with your stupid gold pants? Wear them to the NIT, bitch. (OSU Goes For Four Year Sweep... - The Plain Dealer)


• Good content with a condescending title. (Michigan, finally, Beats Buckeyes - Freep.com)


• Reason #1 why chicks and sports don't mix. (...Maryland Coach Gives Birth - ESPN.com)

Will There Ever Be A Day...

​...when teams rush the court after knocking us off? Maybe. For now we bask in the glory of defeating the Buckeyes at SOMETHING. It's the first win over OSU in the Thad Matta era. For those that don't follow Columbus coaching changes, we last beat them in 2004.

The students and fans took to the floor. The act of a desperate fan base? Maybe a little. Ohio State WAS unranked. But hey, we are in the midst of baby steps here....so back off. Just to reiterate some of the same feelings from after the Iowa game, our best case scenario for this team is not to be completely embarrassed by them. A three-game winning streak is a good place to start. DeShawn Sims and Manny Harris combined for 49, including 21-24 from the free throw line. That's our future right there. Cue Beilein:

The way we have climbed out of it and put together a nice winning streak lately shows the kind of poise and character that this team is comprised of. We have had a lot of players step up recently that have made this winning streak even possible.

Poise...check. Character...check. Talent?

They really didn't look like freshman out there," Beilein said. "I think both of their clutch performances today show you how much they have grown as basketball players this year. They were cool, calm and collected and hit clutch free throws."

OK, so we're learning...we're growing. Time for the stretch run, and before you completely count the upstart Wolverines out, remember that there is a reason they call it March Madness.