Way Back Whensday Reminds You That It's Not Even the Biggest Drum in College Football

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I'm a quarter of the way through Three and Out by John Bacon.  So far, while it does have some criticisms of RichRod, it certainly does paint the beleaguered coach as a victim of a system led by Michigan's "good ol' boys."  All the rumors you heard about Carr...Bacon confirms them.  He also is foreshadowing Rosenburg's vendetta, making his dislike for both Rodriguez and Bill Martin apparent from some well placed quotes.  I mean, we all know where that shit ends...Bacon gives a taste of where it began for little Mikey. 

Anyway, I'm just about through the win over Wisconsin in year 1.  Totally forgot about the two-point conversion that Wisconsin made for the tie that got called back for illegal formation.

Ahhhhhhh, but this is homecoming.  And Purdue is coming to town, riding momentum from a stunning, season-saving-ish upset of Illinois that had me floating somewhere between fresh worry about a team I thought we would demolish to less worry about a future road game that I thought we'd have a lot of trouble with.  Such is the bye week...too much watching football, too much analyzing football.  Sometimes you have to remind yourself that this is a game played by young men, and it's predicated on emotion, and it's fueled by momentum.  On any given Saturday....

Today we look back at Michigan vs. Purdue 2007.  The recent Sparty game was my 150th straight home and away Michigan game...Purdue 2007 was my 100th.  It was homecoming then too, and the theme was Mardi Gras.  Pictures are below...

We also got some serious pub that day, courtesy of the (now defunct) Ann Arbor news. 

AND...we won the game,48-21:

Also, CJ fireman-carried his old man out of the game...just to have him ruin a perfectly good FJ Cruiser.  So many memories....

Weekend Roundup, I'm Not Dead Yet Edition 10/24/2011

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It's after midnight, so it's technically 10/25/2011, and that means you can get yourself a copy of John U. Bacon's opus Three and Out.  Personally, I can't wait to get confirmation that Carr and his clan gave no support to RichRod and company...so I'm heading to Kindle-ville right after this post.  So, the internets....

 

  • Speaking of Coach Carr, his alma mater...and mine...is heading to the playoffs for the first time in seven years.  They got the Colvin Cup back from Grosse Ile a couple weeks back (listen close to the video and you'll hear me), dismantled Algonac last week, and they host Chelsea this Friday.  So ya, it's me vs. Superfan, Sgt. Wolverine, and the rest of the superhero-clad Michigan fans that are all from Chelsea.  Come say "hi" fellas, I'm the chubby fella in the booth.
  • Michigan basketball comes in at #18 in the preseason rankings.  I soooo desperately want to believe in this team.  Somebody give me something to hang my hat on.  Please?  Well, that ranking puts basketball and football in similar slots in the polls.  AnnArbor.com poses a great question....which team will end up higher when it's all said and done?
  • As I stated last week...Michigan needs to find a way to buck the trend of the last couple years that has Michigan State figuring out the Achilles heel and the rest of the Big Ten copycatting/adjusting so that we don't win another game.  Poop.  AnnArbor.com elaborates on the subject.
  • And the winner of the Best Column Title of the Season award goes to Stephen Nesbitt and the Michigan Daily:  Appreciate the Attitude, Wait on the Aptitude.  Yes, that's what we shall all strive to do.

Square Pegs and Round Holes

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We were in it to the end, which is to say that Sparty was Sparty enough to keep us in it.  Unfortunately, Sparty was also Wolverine enough, or tough enough, to expose what we are....still mired in a few years of small and fast recruiting, small and fast player development.  We're built for slants and tricks and reads after the snap, but not for fights or wars in the trenches, and little brother proved to be too much on this day.

I placed a lot of emphasis on this game.  I did the same 12 months ago, using our loss at home to Michigan State to mark the end of the Rich Rod era.  It was the game to prove we were different this year.  But more importantly, it was the game that had the opportunity to end some of the suffering and take the edge off some of the pain we've felt the last few years.  That didn't happen.  

It was supposed to be different.  I wasn't supposed to walk out of what is without a doubt the worst venue in the Big Ten, wind burned and beaten, making the slow and disorganized (seriously can't you losers figure out how to manage 75,000 fans) trek down the ramps, filled with the same questions I had seven weeks ago...and the same questions I had at this time the last two years.  I don't know who we are this year.  I don't know where we're going this year.  I guess we need to find a way to wait to find out.

The problem now, just as it has been the last two seasons, is that once the formula for beating Michigan is exposed, the copycat Big Ten will jump on the bandwagon.  It's clear...punch Michigan in the face and they will wilt.  Some of our remaining opponents have the horses for this race, some will not.  In a season where we have applauded the adjusting ability of our coaches within a game, we now have to rely on our coaches to adjust after a loss, and that's assuming there's an adjustment that can be made with the given personnel....which is a very big assumption.

But listen, all is not lost.  In a conference that is as bad as the Big Ten, anything can happen.  We can win any and all of our remaining games.  In the Legends division, the division that does not include what is likely the only decent team (Wisconsin) in the conference, we have just as good a shot as anyone to go to Indy.

Stay the course.  Keep calm and Go Blue.