What Are We Supposed to Do?

Embarrassed.  Ashamed.  Disappointed.  Words, words, and more words.  I tried to find more at thesaurus.com.  "Discountenanced" is a nice one.  "Disgruntled" and "dissatisfied" also fit the bill.  Then there's the deeper, soul penetrating feelings, like "depressed," dispirited," "heavy-hearted."  Sunday has been a long, down day.  It isn't very often that I arrive home and immediately delete a game from my DVR, but I didn't want to take the chance that I would accidentally press play in a moment of weakness, and have to re-witness a game with no redeeming value.

But I'm sorry, I cannot, and will not surrender.   Actually, no, I'm not sorry.  At the halfway point of the season, I refuse to give up on the Rodriguez era, the current season, or even next week's seemingly impending doom in Happy Valley.  You either love your team because they win, or you love them because they're yours.  This is not Michigan Basketball, who in their 10th season of killing my will to enjoy college hoops, have curtailed my fandom.  But if they were to make a tournament, I'd probably take opening Thursday off work to make my way to the Round 1 site.  This is not the Detroit Tigers, who I watched sparingly from 1988 through 2005 before making them a nightly ritual from 2006's all-star break to the World Series.  This is not the Detroit Lions, who I actively root against in jest of their mess of a franchise and mock by picking up the opposing team's quarterback for my fantasy team each week.  But if they made a Super Bowl I'd probably buy a jersey and pretend I've been there all along.

This is Michigan Football, and I HAVE been here all along.  I will continue to be here, through the worst and the best of it...because they're mine.

That doesn't mean I'm not angry at what has transpired.  That doesn't mean I don't question things.  It just means I am along for the ride, wherever it goes.  Because at some point, whether it's a year or two down the line or next week against #3 Penn State, they are going to make me feel good again.

Perhaps a more football related post will come later...gotta get out of this funk.

Defining Moments Come In All Shapes and Sizes

Prior to the kickoff against Utah, you prognosticated.  Maybe you were one of those positive people (like myself) that knew that we wouldn't miss a beat and we would be somewhere in the neighborhood of 9-4 after a New Year's Day bowl game.  Then again, perhaps you knew of the growing pains we are seemingly enduring, and you had us somewhere between 3-9 and 6-7.  Either way, and in either case, 3 wins were essentially guaranteed.  This weekend's game was one of those wins.

Taking a step back in order to go forward is something that you may not be willing to accept, but it's something you may have expected.  But the degree of the step back is what is in question with the 2008 Wolverines.  Why you may have been willing to allow the pride of the WAC to come into the Big House and exit with half-a-million dollars and an upset victory, you excused the fumblitis in the miracle-friendly confines of South Bend, and you chalked up the greatest individual performance in the history of the Big House to a minor hiccup on defense and "Juice being Juice"...there is one area of competition in which there is no room for mediocrity.  That area?  Games against the MAC.

We own the MAC.  We are, for lack of a better term, "the MAC's daddy."  24-0.  And while 15 of those victories are against Directional Michigan, it is still a quite impressive feat.  In fact, it's an honor we share with only one other Big Ten team...you guessed it...Ohio State (14-0).  And while the importance of this record is certainly up for debate, there is no doubting its importance right here, right now.  The college football world is looking at us as a team in a downward spiral, and a portion of the Maize and Blue faithful are not exactly optimistic based on what has transpired.  Patience is something we may or may not have.  We've never been required to exercise that part of our fandom.  Not at Michigan.  At Michigan, we win...decidedly more than we lose.

On Saturday this will all come to a head.  I'm not sure that the world is prepared for the first edition of Toledo vs. Michigan to end with a Rockets victory....mostly because I'm not sure how well that same world is dealing with the idea that there is a chance of a Rockets victory. There are many that feel the sky is falling right now, and it is those folks, through talk radio, talking heads, and the blogosphere, that will get incendiary if the worst were to happen.  They are the ones that are promoting the doubt that may slowly creep in to your psyche.  A loss to Toledo, on our home field, may spread that doubt from the doubters to the believers...and to the players.  A chain reaction that may be difficult to stop, and that may end with clipping a regime change before it's allowed to take root.

So we wait.  We wait for answers.  The same answers we've been waiting for all season.  We've seen a home opening loss to a team from Utah, a lifeless performance against "not that Miami,"  a wet mess of a game devoid of ball control fundamentals, and a comeback victory muddled by a homecoming massacre.

We know nothing.

We know nothing except this:  WE MUST WIN.

The Unreality Continues

Hey!  We're famous again!

Ahhh yes, UMTailgate.com...featured previously in the Orlando Sentinel and the Ann Arbor News, has found itself with some fresh new publicity.

The Free Press's food maven Susan Salasky has interviewed me a few times over the past month for an article on tailgating for the paper.  What started small has ended big, and in today's life section of the Free Press, there are a couple pieces that feature UMTailgate.com. Nice stuff.

Thanks to Tailgater Patty for helping to make all of this happen.

Articles are here, here, and even though it says that the recipe is from Kevin Miller here...it was actually from me.  That's grandma's baked beans!!!

Weekend Roundup, Now What? Edition: October 6, 2008

Here's what you might have missed around the internet while you divided your time between cursing the television and taking a candy bar quiz

• We lost, now take your medicine.  Here...and here.


• Beilein says there are better days ahead for UM basketball.  That's mainly because it cannot get any worse.


• But in his defense, we did get our third commit for the 2009 class, two of which are top 150 prospects.  It's a race to see which West Virginia coach pays off first!!!! Article with local flavor here.


• RBUAS writes like you wish you could...this time about a meeting with Coach Carr, TT, Mike Hart, the Wisconsin game, and finding people on this team to identify with.


• Rich Rod makes fewer excuses every week, putting responsibility on both the players and himself, and not using inexperience as an excuse...even though he could.  This week, he flat out says "we played soft."

A Carnival With A Dash of Hot Sauce

We were a tilt-a-whirl and a couple of carnies away from being able to sell tickets to this thing.  The carnival themed tailgate was once again our best showing.  Games, prizes, elephant ears, and a plethora of fried foods set the festive tone.  We blanketed the golf course in Cholula Hot Sauce, making friends with our tailgate neighbors and hundreds of passers-by along the way.  Special thanks to KT for creating the games and furnishing the prizes, from the duck pond to pin the sweatervest on Jim Tressel.  Thanks to KT (again) and Joe for making their way across the golf course to pass out sauce and recipe books.  Thanks to Julian Gonzales, Free Press photographer, for coming out and giving us some notoriety in the metro area.  Finally, thanks to Cholula for sponsoring our day and "spicing" things up.

Quick press linkfest:

• Article on Rich Rod's mom that is nestled next to an artsy black and white of your's truly holding up hot sauce bottles and looking like some kind of tailgate troll is here.


• Freep photos of the day, including two from our tailgate (#5 and #6) that include an action shot of steak sandwich building and our own Baby Beth and friend Drew in Cholula gear.


• Michigan Football Saturdays gives us a shout out...thanks.


• Our pics from the tailgate, courtesy of Tuba and Greg.

One more note...I'm pretty sure we are going to have an article on the tailgate pop up this week in the Freep, most likely in the Life or Food section.  I'll keep you posted.

Thanks to everyone for helping put us on the map!  GO BLUE!