Weekend Roundup, Yea or Nay Edition: October 13, 2008

Kinda funny, I think I've made my peace with it...it being the program's perceived circling of the drain in the dirty dish filled sink that is my college football supporting life.  Gotta move on.  Gotta be forward thinking.  Gotta believe.  Yes, the sting of Saturday still lingers a bit, as the media, especially locally, won't let me forget how bad we are, and how good Michigan State is.  More firsts and freshly broken streaks of positivity seem to appear each day.  They say we've swapped roles.  Michigan a bottom feeder...Michigan State on the road to greatness.  I think I've seen this before. 

Unfortunately for reeling (and unranked) Michigan, it will not be able to turn to Braylon Edwards on Saturday when it visits 11th-ranked and surging Michigan State in a Big Ten Conference clash. (ESPN, October 1, 2005)

Penn State?  A BCS championship contender at #3.  Then the line...my god the line.  Penn State -24.  Penn State, who hasn't mustered a victory in the series since 1996, is -24.  A team that has a coach that can't even pace the sidelines anymore...is -24.  The way they manhandled Wisconsin...it reminds me of, well, the way WE manhandled Wisconsin in the second half.

Alright, that's enough confidence building material for a team that has seemingly regressed with every snap.

Here's the reactions you missed while drawing a warm bath and preparing to share it with a plugged in toaster...

---

Rich Rod's Monday presser in it's edited glory is right here courtesy of Mlive.  Rich Rod picked a Rod Marinelli catch phrase that made me throw up a bit in my mouth.

We've got to stay the course.

I think he meant "we've got to stay on the course," referring to the tailgate.

---

Ahhhhh yes.  A fresh new website probably created by some google money hungry asshat in silicon valley posing as a disgruntled Michigan fan.  Welcome to firerrod.com.

---

The downward spiral summarized simply by Athlon Sports.

---

Buckeyes rub it in.

Yes, that Toledo…the same team that lost to Florida International by 19 points.

So let's laugh!

This afternoon, a very sternly-worded letter was sent to Toledo's University President on behalf of the student body from Appalachian State.  They want their notoriety back.

I can't wait for Pryor to be ruled inelligible.

---

The Big Ten power rankings...or in our case, lack thereof.

Rich Rodriguez came into this season as a realist, but even he couldn't envision how bad this thing would get.

---

More from Buckeye country, where they are "dancing on our grave."

---

The Wall Street Journal tells us the spread is offense sucks.  The Wall Street Journal should probably stick to fixing my 401k, being that they agree with Gary Danielson. MGoBlog tells it like it is.

---

Maize and Brew celebrates Zoltan's need to warm up on third down.

After six games, Michigan's third down conversion rate (22/81=27.2%) puts the Wolverines at 116th out of 119 Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams.

---

The Conquering Heroes say they are ready to return our defective coach.

The kid gloves are off. Our trust has ended.

---

Genuinely Sarcastic takes some shots at the fanbase.

Wake up, people. This program was decaying. At the risk of sounding like a certain political candidate, CHANGE WAS NECESSARY. You can bitch and moan all you want about Les Miles being robbed of a chance to coach here, but get over it. The Michigan Internet is ablaze tonight, and I'm close to a psychotic break.

---

We're gonna need more lights

Michigan State will attempt to break yet another Michigan streak in this year of streak-breakers, that being not having won in Ann Arbor since 1990 (BTW, Desmond's 2-point conversion was good).  Kickoff has been set officially for 3:30pm.

Also of note, Bubba would like to remind you that THIS IS NOT MICHIGAN BASKETBALL.  In other words, DON'T BE DUMPING YOUR TICKETS TO THE GREEN AND WHITE FAITHFUL. If you find yourself unable to go to the game, then sell your tickets to someone wearing Michigan gear...and check to make sure that they don't have a green shirt on underneath it, because they are crafty couch burning little bastards these Spartans.  If I have to hear a GO GREEN, GO WHITE chant in the Big House that is unable to be drowned out by The Victors, I'm going to get Butters to start shooting people in the dick.

Remember who they are....they have 5 wins against us since 1988.  THEY ARE LITTLE BROTHER.

GO BLUE!

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!!!