Just When I Thought We Ran Out of Tailgate Food Ideas...

​Back on January 12th, the weekend roundup featured the BBQ Explosion from the genius folks at BBQAddicts.  Then the New York Times picked up on it (obviously because any self respecting NY journalist reads UMTailgate.com) and I received countless emails about how we need to make our own come tailgate season.  I wholeheartedly agree, but that is just one dish at one of eight (YES EIGHT) home tailgates.  What do we do to wow the crowd the rest of the season?

Enter This is Why You're Fat, a website dedicated to chronicling the biggest, most unique, and most calorie containing food available on the planet.  From the "Heart Attack Sandwich," which makes the Heart Attack Grill fare look like something you'd find at Whole Foods, to the alternate take on the BBQ Explosion, "the BBQ Explosion Wellington," everything included on the site has tailgate written all over it.  I mean, can you imagine a pile of Fry Daddy Frank's crispy sides adorning a Sloppy Joe on a Krispy Kreme?

Just something to look forward to while we wait for Spring Practice.

Also, the Spring Game is April 11th.  I'm down for a full tailgate for those interested.  But before I get too crazy, or take the grill out of storage, I would like to gauge some attendance.  Who's in?  Drop me an email message or a note in the comments.

Sparty Week

​Your green goes in the bottom drawer this week.

Wins and losses are what counts, but Michigan did put up a solid effort Saturday night in Connecticut.  We've played the top of the ACC, the top of the Big East, and the top of the Pac-10.  We beat two of them.  Now we need to take down the best of the Big Ten, which consequently is our hated little brother.  So many things to win for, but getting ourselves back to .500 in conference play is priority one.  Add in this being the only game we play against the midget and his minions, and another ESPN game where the committee will be watching, and we find ourselves hovering in that area of "must win."  Finish strong fellas.

Plus, I really enjoy knocking off little brother in sports where they have a perceived advantage.

Quick roundup of the rest of the internet...

• Not a big wrestling fan, but I have to link to any article that has "Wolverines Dominate Spartans..." in the title. [Freep]


• Remember Larry Coker?  He's having trouble finding work since he was dismissed from the Hurricanes.  Now he has applied to coach a team that currently does not exist.  [Fanhouse]


• UCONN roundup from UMHoops.com.


• More on the next Pirates head coach.  [Freep]

Michigan to Play Delaware St. on Oct 17

​Ignoring my plea for a decent home-at-home matchup, Michigan has taken the easy road once again and will play 1-AA Delaware State on Oct 17, 2009.  Good luck promoting that one Mr. Martin.

Schedule reads as follows:

Sept. 5 Western Michigan
Sept. 12 Notre Dame
Sept. 19 Eastern Michigan
Sept. 26 Indiana
Oct. 3 at Michigan State
Oct. 10 at Iowa
Oct. 17 Delaware State
Oct. 24 Penn State
Oct. 31 at Illinois
Nov. 7 Purdue
Nov. 14 at Wisconsin
Nov. 21 Ohio State

The Big Finish

Some say we're back in the game.  I say we never left.

• Stokes


• More Stokes


• And More Stokes


• (William) Campbell and [J.T.] Turner are the top-rated players in the state of Michigan and Ohio, respectively. This is the first time that the Wolverines had the top-ranked athletes from both states since 2002: Prescott Burgess (Ohio) and LaMarr Woodley (Michigan).


• Michigan did well despite coming off their worst season since Bo Schembechler was in kindergarten. That reflects the tradition of Michigan football, Rich Rodriguez's recruiting prowess, and the blatantly obvious fact that every position on the field is up for grabs.


• Florida’s Scot Loeffler (the popular quarterbacks coach for Lloyd Carr and of the Detroit Lions last season) and who just joined Urban Meyer and the Gators last month, apparently tried to woo Turner to Gainesville in the past three weeks.

It's Like the NFL Draft...Only It's Children. Giant, 4.3-Forty Running Children.

​National signing day is here, which can mean a lot.  Scratch that, it DOES mean a lot.  Say what you want about the first year performance of Rich Rodriguez...the recruiting class that has been tentatively assembled by the snake oil wizard is tremendous.  Respect that, if nothing else.  If a few fringe non-verbals pull the trigger and LOI to the Maize and Blue...the hype machine will be full steam ahead.

Typically, the rich get richer on this day, as the best of the best from high school pick the best of the best football programs, continuing the cycle that keeps Utah outside of the BCS.

We are one of the rich...and we've got Rich.

We've morphed very quickly into a team that emphasizes national recruiting.  You can chalk up the perceived successful MSU recruiting class to the fact that we allowed them to have the home state.  Yes, the Big Ten can be won with a team comprised of the State of Michigan's finest.  But we didn't bring in Rodriguez to win the Big Ten.  And while we would be ecstatic at the idea of a Big Ten championship right now, that is not the ultimate goal here anymore.

Rebuild.  Eliminate Ohio State.  Win Bowl Games.  Win National Championships.  Yes, that order.  Yes, that's plural.

It all starts tomorrow....roundup of announcement times courtesy of The Wolverine.

Update (11:30am): Denard Robinson and Adrian Witty to Michigan.  Pearlie Graves to Texas Tech.  We are one step closer to no chance of Sherithreet.