Building A Bigger Wall

​I thought this would have picked up a little more steam throughout the day after it appeared in the Freep and on AA.com.  This is a tough one.  I mean, Braylon was that feel good story, an under-recruited legacy who came out of the dog house and into the #1 jersey...and he single handedly led the Wolverines back from 17 down with 7 minutes to play against Michigan Agricultural College, making keepsake poster moments out of every Spartan defensive back.  Post graduation, he has given back to Michigan, donating money and establishing a scholarship fund.  It's tough, really tough, not to like Braylon for what he did, and what he continues to do for Michigan.  Quite frankly, I love Braylon Edwards.  But I grew up loving Jim Harbaugh too.

On Sunday, Braylon used Sunday Night Football to perpetuate the growing rift between Ann Arbor's pro-Carr and pro-Rodriguez camps, announcing himself as Braylon Edwards from "Lloyd Carr's University of Michigan."  I'm certain that in the coming days, Braylon will spin it as not anti-Rodriguez, just pro-Lloyd.  His dad already made an attempt this afternoon to cover his son's tracks on WTKA, saying that Braylon works with players in the off-season and generally likes Rodriguez.  Already feels a bit like that asshole that tells a racist joke, then tells you "some of my best friends are black."  Ya, Braylon is a regular Dr. Watley.  And I can assure you, this isn't the first time that Stan Edwards has had to make a WTKA appearance to clean up a mess.  I can clearly remember him brokering peace between Braylon and Lloyd on the same airways in Braylon's dog house days, telling us all how "misunderstood" Braylon was.

Honestly though, I'm not here to tell Braylon that he needs to like Rodriguez.  I'm also not here to tell him to hate Lloyd Carr.  I'm just asking him to like Michigan.  What he did on Sunday was counterproductive, immature, and detrimental to Michigan.  We've got signing day coming up in a month and one of our supposed ambassadors is basically talking shit about the current coach on national television.  Think that sits well with our verbals?  Liking Michigan means you can honor your mentor, and at the same time respect the current coach.  I don't know at what point Lloyd Carr and Rich Rodriguez became rivals, became something you have to choose between.  Lloyd Carr and Rich Rodriguez are not mutually exclusive.  Lloyd Carr was not fired.  Lloyd Carr was not forced out.  Lloyd Carr retired, of his own volition, and while he tried hard to create a Bo-like legacy of coaches to follow in his footsteps, he couldn't pull it off.  App State happened.  We moved on.  We're trying something new.

This is bigger than you Braylon, which is probably the most difficult thing for you to handle.  Bigger than you, and bigger than Lloyd.  This is not, never was, and never will be Lloyd Carr's University of Michigan, nor will it be Rich Rodriguez's University of Michigan.  Not to go all "Ohio State" on you, but this is THE University of Michigan, that's where you're from.

I'd appreciate it if you started acting like it.

UPDATE:  Like I said, the spin was coming...

Michigan Basketball Starts the New Year Happy

Ahhh yes, we've ushered in a new year...a new decade even...sitting at home, wondering if we'll be sitting here next year.  But that's football, that's another day.  Michigan Basketball, from an expectations to output standpoint, has been nearly as disappointing in the 2009 portion of the season.  Three defeats in a row against Marquette, Alabama, and Boston College have seemingly all but sealed Michigan's tournament hopes.  They closed out 2009 by opening the Big Ten season with an embarrassing defeat to the lowly Hoosiers, who happened to be without their super-Frosh Maurice Creek, which does not bode well when we look ahead to the rest of the Big Ten.

But tonight, just tonight, they looked a bit like last year's Wolverines.  Don't get me wrong, they were not by any means great.  But they seemed interested, which is a step ahead of what we've seen so far this season.  Shots fell.  Turnovers were forced.  There seemed to be a somewhat cohesive unit out there, a unit that had leaders, role-players, shooters, defenders.  In short, we seemed to be a basketball team tonight.  A basketball team with confidence, wearing the gold jerseys, and forgetting about 2009.

Sure they defeated an Ohio State team that despite being ranked today, will be unranked tomorrow.   A team that is now 3-3 since losing Evan Turner, including a 65-43 drubbing by Wisconsin on New Year's Eve in Madison.  But we have to start somewhere, and if our start is defeating those bastards from Columbus, then this already is a happy New Year.

So...ya...Happy New Year folks.

At Least He Isn't Crazy

Say what you want about Rich Rodriguez, I'm fairly certain he's never locked a player in the electrical closet and posted a guard outside.  That's what Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach did, and he probably would have got away with it if the player in question wasn't Adam James, the son of Craig James.  Yep, Craig James the ESPN announcer slated to provide commentary for the Alamo Bowl in which his son is participating.  Pretty sure that's already a conflict of interest, but now that he's behind the indefinite suspension of the head coach, that's just not going to work.  According to the worldwide leader, that announcer lineup has since been changed.

Then there's Urban Meyer, who retired two nights ago, then changed his mind last night and went on a leave of absence instead.  Sounds like there isn't anything physically wrong with him, and this is more about mental health than physical health....which in the end just makes Urban Meyer look like a pussy.  Which is good if you've got a wizard hat, some snake oil, and are willing to poach some kids under the guise of "who knows when that loon is coming back?"  Head on down there Coach Rodriguez...I like cornerbacks and safeties.

A Month is Long Enough

The scary thing about all of this?  I really am getting used to it.  Apparently it only takes two years to erase the 30+ year habit of Michigan going to bowl games.  I'm sitting here, Bowl Pick'em sheets in hand, watching other teams play what have so far been meaningless bowl games with sparse attendance.  It kind of reminds me of all those years of watching the NCAA basketball tournament without Michigan in it.  There's a dance, but we weren't invited.

I went ahead and picked against every team in the Big Ten, and assigned the highest confidence points to each of those games.  That strategy has served me well in recent years, because, as you know, the Big Ten really sucks.  Also of note, Michigan tied for last place in the Big Ten this season.  That makes us the king of suck in a conference of suck.

Super.

It's the kind of thing that makes you question your path in life.  Okay, okay, that's a little melodramatic, but it's the kind of thing that shuts down a tailgate website for a month.  That and unabashed laziness.  More troubling however, is that the future does not look bright.  The defense, which often baffled us with it's ineptitude, loses its only two decent players, and will replace them with walk-ons and freshman, and I'm talking freshman next year.  Warm bodies, that's what we're looking for.  Knowing where to line up and who to cover, that would be a bonus.

The offense will search for a running back to replace injury plagued Brandon Minor and Carlos Brown, and will try to figure out why they continue to cough up the ball at a level that put them at 115th in the nation in turnover margin.  Minus the turnovers, we'd be in a different place.  Unfortunately, the idea that the problem would fix itself is what we went with last year.  Obviously, this needs to be addressed, in lieu of finger crossing and blind hope.

We're just sitting here, waiting.  Waiting for either a magical turnaround or for the other shoe to drop.  No doubt that if I'm not typing up some kind of Bowl Preview post at this time next year, it will be the latter.

A belated Merry Christmas to you all.

A Tailgate to Remember, A Season to Forget

It's Thanksgiving week, so I just want to take a second to thank everyone that participated in our transition year of tailgating as we left the golf course for greener (actually more asphault colored) pastures.  You guys really blew my mind this year with the turn out, the donations, and the enthusiasm.  So much so that we are going to have to move this thing to a bigger venue.  Stay tuned this offseason to find out where we end up.

I want to also give special thanks to a few folks...

• Gus, Mel, and the gang from New York.  You guys were all amazing.  Your hard work and generosity made things so much easier for me this season, and I would like to express my deepest gratitude for everything you did, up to and including the massive amount of filet mignon you showed up with for what was truly a grand finale of tailgates this past Saturday.  We look forward to many years of having you as part of our group.  It's nice that after all of these years to have the tailgate family still growing.


• Our hotdog crew, Joe and Jeff, who feed 100+ people in the postgame.  I can't even imagine what the count was in total dogs for the season....not to mention the pounds of scortching hot peppers.  How ever many it is, it's a huge load off for me, especially in these past couple of years when all I want to do after the game is curl up in a ball and cry.


• My load-unload crew of Kristen and JJ, who while noticeably absent for several games, occasionally provided the manpower needed to unload the car and get me to the couch as fast as possible after returning from these on the field debacles.  OK, really it's only JJ, but Kristen does provide inspiration through her motivating dialogue, like "hurry up I want to order Pizza House."  Love you both...wouldn't be the same without you.


• Also, thanks to any and all of you that helped with setup and takedown...too many people to name, but you know who you are, and it is much appreciated.


• Finally, thanks to James Dickson of AnnArbor.com, who has put my name in the paper more times in the last three months than I'd like to admit.  He's become kind of an embedded tailgate reporter at UMTailgate.com, and his articles are all great reads, especially when they include quotes from our group...like this week.

Commence the run to the Final Four.

GO BLUE!