UMTailgate.com 2000-2010: We Celebrate 10 Years of Tailgating the Internets

10 years ago, things were different.

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Back then, there were questions going into the season, but not the kind of questions we have today.  We wondered if redshirt freshman John Navarre could carry the reigns until Drew Henson's stress fracture healed, pondering if that would be what stopped us from winning all of our games.  Because we used to think like that.  Not a season was started where we didn't feel like we had legitimate chance of beating everybody on our schedule.  We didn't think in terms of bowl games, because they were an absolute given.  We didn't wonder how many wins it would take for Lloyd to keep his job, we only bitched about his offensive playcalling.  It was a time just before recruiting coverage got out of hand, so we were mostly blind to the shortcomings of our secondary, and we didn't care, because we knew we had enough, because we always had enough.  We were in the midst of the longest streak of being in the top 25 in the history of college football.  At this time of year, we would complain because our ranking was too low.  Now we wonder if we will crack the "other's receiving votes" paragraph at the end of the list.

Our team was full of nationally recognized names:  David Terrell, Anthony Thomas, Steve Hutchinson, Drew Henson.  Some of them were even Heisman trophy contenders.  We spent half of 2000 in the top 10, only falling out after the Drew vs. Drew debacle in West Lafayette.  I was 24 years old, Purdue overcame that 28-10 halftime deficit, and I heard my dad drop an F-bomb for the first time.

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Ahhh, the memories.

Tailgates were different back then too.  I didn't really know these people...

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I remember feeling left out when they did this.  I wasn't quite in the family yet.  And take a look at this pic...

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Seriously, click on it to zoom in and look at the food in the background.  We used to eat fiddle faddle and fruit salad.  A simpler time indeed.  Now we do this...

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Also, Captain Michigan used to leg wrestle...

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...now he doesn't do shit except sit around and make people feel sorry for him because he's gotta drink root beer and regular rum by doctor's orders.  Just kidding...I love you Larry.

Anyway, as we make our way to the new tailgate space at Pioneer for our season opening Luau this Saturday, we will reach a milestone.  A milestone that I'm particularly proud of, and that I'm pretty sure nobody else has crossed...

10 years of tailgating exploits plastered all over the internet.

Sure, I could have realized how much people enjoyed pictures and commentary on those pictures, and then went on to invent facebook...but I didn't, and that's good because I would have been one of those really pompous asshole rich people.  I would have had Zingerman's bring the food in every week for the tailgate, and I wouldn't have invited any of you poor folk.

So ya, there's that.

5 days.

Weekend Roundup: August 23, 2010

​It's becoming pretty clear that QB1 is not Tate's job to lose anymore.  However, Tate spoke this weekend and I gotta say, if his actual maturity level is anywhere near the maturity level he's been coached into portraying, he's going to be a tremendous leader.  He's saying all the right things:

I got a big head. ... The thing I learned after last year was to be humble. It's such a big jump. It would be hard for any freshman to come in here and do that. You're not just at any university. You're at Michigan. It's Michigan. That's why I came here. It's Michigan. It's different. It's the top stage for everything. It was hard for me to handle last year, and I learned from mistakes.

And regarding Troy Woolfolk...

I stop by his..room every day.  Every since that day he called me out I feel I’m obligated to show him, show the rest of the seniors, that I’m all in on this team and it’s all about Michigan.

Getting a little bit fired up over here.  It's like 11 days away people.

The huge Media Day post over at MGoBlog will take care of all of your interview needs from the weekend, and Maize and Brew provides a nice summary of the scrimmage.

Meanwhile....in Columbus...

Everybody's favorite Buckeye (who was ineligible in 2002, just like the Reggie Bush situation, but nobody did anything about it for some reason so OSU got to keep their tainted-by-bullshit-interference-call national title) Maurice Clarett, who is currently taking classes at OSU, is planning to try out for the Omaha Nighthawks.  We wish the best to Mo in his continuing quest to get his goose on.

I told you last week that the Troy Woolfolk thing was no big deal, Maize and Blog gives you 5 more reasons why you shouldn't worry.

Prepare yourself for this year's first theme with this Inception-remixed trailer for Caddyshack.

"Our Defensive Backfield Sucks" and Other Things You've Said Every Year Since 1997

Please be aware that the writing of this post was rudely interrupted by the great "Titties Twitter About Tate" fiasco.  It was supposed to be about how nobody should panic over the Woolfolk injury because having a crappy and/or inexperienced secondary is as much of a Michigan tradition as winged helmets, the inability to stop running quarterbacks, and predictable offensive playcalling.  I mean, you were likely to be calling for Cullen Christian to get in the game by week two anyway.  So here you go.  The future is now.

And let me be the dispenser of all the "everything's gonna be all right" kool-aid tonight...Forcier is going to transfer at some point anyway, it's part of his genetic code, so if tonight's the night, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

Probably not the time for this type of musing, but this post is all over the place anyway, so I should mention that barring what I would perceive as a miracle, this is likely Rodriguez's last year as the Wolverine coach.  As you might know, it's not as simple as stay or go.  It's much more black and white...much more concrete.  He is going to be fired, or he's going to get a contract extension.  College coaches don't play out final years of contracts, they get extensions so they can assure recruits that they are going to be here.  So if I told you that those are the options...fired or extension...which one would you bet on happening at the end of the 2010 campaign?

I want to believe.  I want to imagine that Michigan will be walking out of the Horseshoe in November with heads held high, whether it be in victory or defeat, and that I won't be home for New Year's.  I just don't see it....yet.

Some other things you should know:

• The New York Times wrote an article about Joe Paterno, and how he is nearing retirement.  The amazing thing is, they wrote the article in 1989.


• Craigslist lovers will appreciate this well-made spoof on WLA.


• The Journal picked up a John U. Bacon article on Zoltan.


• Michigan picked captains the old fashioned way.

Pausing for Effect

Water is wet, the sky is blue, Tom Izzo qualifies for midget benefits in 14 U.S. states, and I don't spend enough time on this site.

Ya, well, I'm busy.

But we're getting close to things getting serious around here, so my efforts are bound to pick up.  Besides, I can sum up the whole summer in a few paragraphs...

Practicegate is a complete sham.  Whatever went wrong had nothing to do with Coach, and was perpetrated by a couple guys with an agenda.  Brad LaBadie was one of those people...he's gone.  Scott Draper will be next.  Pizza Man ain't f'n around.  Coach is going to be given every opportunity to be successful by Brandon.  He knows we are better united.  Meeting with the NCAA this past weekend did nothing except rack up frequent flyer miles for the twittering media members.  There's going to be some kind of judgement at some point, and I don't expect anything to be added to the self imposed wrist slap.  And quite frankly, I don't care at all about it.  Wins.  I only think about wins.

RB Vinnie Smith's repaired knee apparently is ready for action.  Is it just me, or doesn't 9 months seem be a little quick?  Torn ACL to starting running back in 9 months.  Despite the optimism coming out of Fort Schembechler, I'm thinking mid-season action at best.  Unfortunately his replacement Michael Shaw, the heir-apparent if you will, is an asshair away from being academically ineligible.  I think we find out more about that this week.  After that the depth chart is just another edition of "I hope that (fill in Freshman here) can make an impact."

Demar Dorsey didn't get admitted to Michigan, the first of two five-star DBs to exit the program in the last few months.  For those that were in the "we should just let the kid into Michigan" camp (that would include me), it looks like it was more than just a checkered past that needed to be ignored, as he has yet to appear on the roster of any other school.  JT Turner, redshirted last year for arriving late for weight and academic issues, showed up fat for camp again this year, and after being placed on the third string defense, likely given a solid blue wingless helmet, and probably being asked to run...alot....he decided his future was better served at another school.  He also will require the services of Goody's tattoo guy to fix the block M on his forearm.  Rainbows and whatnot.  So how thin are we at DB?  Godfather's hair thin.

Tate Forcier, who won your heart by pointing with both arms in the air as he slayed the Fighting Irish, who started every game last year, who made you buy a t-shirt...is, by expert witness accounts, not the even the second best quarterback in fall camp.  Denard or Devin?  Yes.  What does this mean?  4 different starters in 4 years.  So much for continuity.

Anyway, as it has been for the last couple years, the field is the best place for us to fix things.  It's by all accounts a pivotal year.  How many wins will it take for Coach to keep his job?  7?  8?  9?  While wins are obviously important, I think a lot of it has to do with how we play late in the season.  A strong finish could be the deciding factor.  That and beating Sparty, because I can't deal with 3 straight years of those little bitches running their mouths.  This "1000 days since" shit that they've been peddling really pisses me off.  Joining the numbers club, I say 8 with a MSU and a bowl victory and Coach gets the OK.  Less and it's iffy.

Soon we'll talk tailgate! GO BLUE!

19 days.

Agenda?

From AnnArbor.com yesterday...

Instead, compliance office administrators spent more than a year-and-a-half cajoling football administrators to turn in the Countable Athletically Related Activities forms, but never copied Rodriguez on the e-mails.

With the university and Rodriguez headed to Seattle for meetings Friday and Saturday to defend themselves against allegations they broke five NCAA major rules, there are still no answers about exactly why the compliance office never told Rodriguez about the missing forms.