There's a Rumor...

...being bantered about at MGoBlog and Maizenbrew courtesy of Rivals.  It is about the defensive coordinator names "making the rounds."

In short, it's about Jim Herrmann.

Per ususal, the Freep picks it up, because they get most of their news from MGoBlog, and spits out a title like "U-M Could Bring Back Jim Herrmann."  Sure, they could.  Michigan could also bring back Larry Harrison, swinging dick and all.  Brian poops quickly on the idea of the retread DC...

Of course, everyone's first reaction to Jim Herrmann is "aigh!" Then everyone thinks about the 2005 season and doubles down on "aigh!" And then, no doubt, this will all be put behind us shortly. Herrmann makes no sense in a number of ways.

By number of ways, I think Brian means a big number, like a really big number...like the kind of number you need look up the name of.

What everyone is not realizing here is that Jim Herrmann is a fairly common name.  Perhaps they don't mean the Jim Herrmann whose entire career manifested through the riding of the coattails of Charles Woodson...

In fact, I would like to put my support behind this Jim Hermann for defensive coordinator.  He's been selling and negotiating for 17 years, which will make him a recruiter to be reckoned with.  He has also received a 5 star rating based on 39 votes.  But don't ask me, scroll down to see what Kari Johnson says:

Jim was awesome to work with... a great negotiator, very proactive, knowledgeable, honest, and down-to-earth just to mention a few. There isnÂ’t anything he could have done to make the experience any better. I will definitely recommend Jim to my friends.

Hopefully, this will all pass quickly.  Meanwhile, hunker down in the cold weather by making yourself a Bacon and Cheese Roll.  Seriously, what project have you ever taken on that has a first step that reads: "Weave Bacon."  Chase that greasy goodness with some beers...shotgun style.  Repeat as necessary.

Stay warm kids...@ Champaign tomorrow, 8:30pm, BTN.  Get'er done.

Weekend Roundup: Return of Demetrius Calip Edition, 1/12/09

Here's what you missed while making a sausage roll out of bacon and sausage and bacon.  Ya, I said that.

• Michigan Basketball hosts Ohio State on Saturday, and will be celebrating the 20 year anniversary of the 1989 National Championship team.  Gotta find a way to get to this one.


• After the roller coaster ride win in Bloomington and the demolition of the Hawkeyes, Michigan Basketball finds itself in the top 25...in both polls.


• Some sad news for the Committee to Reinstate the Luau Tailgate, as Alfred Shaheen, inventor of the Hawaiian shirt, has passed.


• Far be it from me to usurp the planning comittee, but do you think we can coordinate the Winter/Spring tailgate reunion with the Spring Game?  Maybe even have a tailgate?  Godfather?  Are you there?  The Spring Game will return the Big House on April 11, 2009.


• Jr. Hemmingway can't wait to come back from his medical redshirt season and help the Wolverines to more than 3 wins.


• Stadium and Main has returned from the dead with some great analysis of the Bowl season.  Welcome back and we hope to hear more from the corner.


• Thom Brennaman has just bought another years worth of knee pads as Superman announces his triumphant return.


• Scholarship availability roundup, presented by Varsity Blue.

I Don't Know What This Is, But I Like It

We played nearly perfect today, at least when the game mattered...and we didn't need to.  We can win without playing perfect.  And that is the real difference between this year and last.  Michigan completely dismantled the Hawkeyes, from the 11:30am tip to the basket by Eric Puls, winning 64-49 in front of a hungover student section at Crisler arena.  64-49...and it wasn't nearly that close.

I'm a big fan of winning, and that seems to be what Michigan Basketball plans to do this year.  This run is nothing if not improbable, and delightfully unexpected.  The bulk of the season is still in front of us, but we seem to be able to manhandle the bottom of the conference, play tough against the middle of the conference, and based on our preconference "upsets," just might steal a couple from the top of the conference.  We are dangerously close to NCAA buzzword time...rank, seed, RPI, strength of schedule, signature wins, bad losses, and perhaps even BUBBLE.

By all accounts, playing .500 basketball for the next 8 weeks is all that needs to be done in order to dance, which is all that we have wanted for the better part of 10 years.

Next up...Illinois for the second time in 10 days.  This time, it's in Champaign.  And maybe it wasn't an elbow, but legion is still a dick.  Wednesday, 8:30pm, BTN.

Mass Debate? I Don't Think So

This entire Bowl Season has sucked.  Why?  Because we were not in it.  I've watched, perhaps this year more than any other due to the lack of a bowl trip to manage.  No sightseeing Orlando, Pasedena, or the Riverwalk over the holidays, only the quiet comfort of riveting contests like the Poinsettia Bowl to calm my nerves as we wait for recruits to commit and decommit...and the arrival of a new defensive coordinator.  I think I would have had a better time attending the world championships of beer pong.  I can't figure out how it isn't televised on ESPNU.  Anyway, the season, while over for us on November 22nd, and over for most by Jan 1, ended for everybody tonight.  Florida won the BCS championship game on Thursday 24-14, but in this era of hope and change, some other one-loss schools (USC/Utah/Texas/Boise) have staked a claim.  Here's why no one but Florida has a leg to stand on.

USC: Lost a game at home to Oregon State.  Oregon State lost to Penn State 45-14.  Lose to a team that lost to a Big Ten team...outta here.  Slight conundrum that USC dismantled Penn State in the Rose Bowl...but then again, they are automatically disqualified from NC contention for playing their bowl game against a team from the Big Ten and not winning by 35.  Sucks to be in the PAC-10 with that forced Big Ten matchup.

Utah: Plays in Mountain West Conference.  That should be enough.  But, they also only beat Michigan by 2 points....Toledo beat Michigan by 3 points.  Outta here.

Boise State: Play most games on Thursday nights.  Have a blue field.  Outta here.

Texas: Did not make their conference championship game.  Played a Big Ten team in their bowl game, and won by less than 35.  Outta here.

So, congrats to Florida and to Tim Tebow, who will likely end his career with only one bowl loss...

We Were Merely Freshmen

Michigan decided to replay the Savannah State game on Wednesday night, falling behind by 17 by the half, then 20 early in the second half before climbing all the way back, forcing overtime, and pulling it out in the extra frame.  Abysmal from the floor at 38%, including 25% in the first half...lackluster D that gave up 39 points to an Indiana team that scored 42 points TOTAL in their only other Big Ten game.  Oh, and Indiana just lost at home to Lipscomb.  Lipscomb.  Lipscomb has a huge conference matchup on January 22nd against Kennesaw State.  That's Lipscomb.

But hey, who am I to judge?  We got ran out of Crisler in the first half against Savannah State, and Savannah State would sell their soul to get into Lipscomb's conference.  Anyway...

A win.  A big win.  A gritty, come from behind, against all odds win.  And the first in Bloomington since January of 1995, when I (and many of the fellow UMTailgaters) were freshmen at Michigan.  It was before Ed Martin.  It was Jimmy and Ray's senior year, and the first year of Fab Five II...and the win ended a 56 game home winning streak for Bobby Knight's Hoosiers, their longest in school history.  It was historic, so much so that I saved The Michigan Daily from the next day.  The headline read "Michigan Halts General's March in Bloomington" and I would share it with you from an internet archive...but there was no internet.

Had I known it would take 13 years to repeat the feat, I would have framed it.