Weekend Roundup: Big Ten Meetings Edition 7-30-12

My god it's nearly August.  Jet plane for Jerry's World leaves in less than a month.  Game with defending national champion in 32 days.  Whoa.​

Here's what happened across the internets while you pondered how much it would cost to actually become Batman:​

• ​AnnArbor.com takes a look at Michigan's new roster, which now includes the incoming freshmen.  Of note, everybody is fully embracing the Gittleson plan, packing on pounds and no doubt getting slower, namely Jibreel Black and Craig Roh.  We are about to Lloyd the shit out of this team.  Soon after its release, Mgoblog took that roster and analyzed it like it was their job...which I guess it is.   You wish your job was that cool.
• Denard comes out of games for injuries.  You've seen it.  I've seen it.  His style of play makes it an inevitability.  So it's a good idea to have a good back up.  We have a serviceable one whose abilities have yet to be tapped...and we've decided that he needs to get time at wide receiver.  I guess we've got to appease him before Shane Morris gets here and forces him to switch positions in the name of pro-style philosophies., but does it make sense for THIS season?  Anyway, the Freep says he's busy adjusting to his role.
• From ESPN...Brady speaks at Big Ten Media Days about being the preseason Big Ten favorite, moving Roh and Black, and Will Campbell's abs.
• ​Denard Robinson, whose 3229 rushing yards is just 667 shy of Randle El's Big Ten QB record, spoke at the Big Ten media days.  
• Black Shoe Diaries covers the six top recruits that have decided to reaffirm their verbals to Penn State.  I sympathize ​with what the Penn State blogosphere is going through...it sucks and its not your fault it sucks.  I also appreciate the fact that this is good news for Penn State right now.  I also want to be clear that these six kids will not be signing with Penn State in February.  You'd have to be bat shit crazy to sign up for four years of no bowls, a team short on scholarship athletes, and no ability (short of a fifth year of eligibility) to reap any benefits of your efforts.
• Urban Meyer's camp "Friday Night Lights" debuted in Columbus this weekend.  From the sound of the Eleven Warriors recap, it was a resounding success, and it gave onlookers a chance to gaze upon the horseshoe's new scoreboard and new and louder music.  And the scoreboard wars continue....​
• Boiled Sports presents 2012's pivotal Boilermakers, players that are going to need to step up to get them the success they pine for, which is apparently 8 wins.​
• Derrick Walton, who is about a year from his arrival at Michigan, lead his AAU team to the Adidas Super 64 Championship in Las Vegas on Sunday, and was named the tournament MVP.  UMHoops has more.
• Iowa has beaten Michigan three times in a row, a first in the series that dates back to 1900.  No player our team has beaten Iowa.​..or Michigan State for that matter.  Damn you Rodriguez Years!  Anyway, Hawk Central reminds you of your Hawkeye problem.
• For all things recruiting, you need yourself some UM BBQ.  Maize and Brew covers the event in great detail.​
• People in glass houses are occasionally allowed to throw stones.  So, despite this...I still take great pleasure in this.​  Maybe if Brady and Urban get together they can universally decide not to have their players miss playing time in a closed door meeting.  That way, nobody can talk shit about the other, and Fitz can start in Texas.
• AnnArbor.com covers Brady Hoke's proficiency in night games.  3-0 last year....9-0 in that Ball State miracle year.  Good news considering the schedule is skewed toward the latter part of the day on Saturdays this fall.​
• They're going to let students into the Big House to watch the Cowboys Classic on the big screens.  Very cool.  Good luck keeping the alcohol out of there on a Saturday night on welcome weekend.​
• Jalen Rose will join ESPN College Gameday...the hoops version...this fall along with Bruce Pearl.
• Eleven Warriors doesn't exactly pine for Shane Morris, but they certainly do pine for there own version of this recruiting recruit.​

One Step Closer to Yellow Jerseys

I believe a day will come when we will look back at the absolute ridiculousness of what the Oregon Ducks have done with their gameday wardrobes over the past 10 years, and call it normal.  The Michigan - Michigan State game last year was nothing short of an embarrassment...us in our bumblebee whites, and MSU in their "ode to Colorado State," battling it out, looking like a couple of fictional pro teams from a movie that couldn't afford to pony up the cash for the uniform rights.  But maybe I'm just getting old.  The kids seem to like this playing dress up stuff, and swoon at words like "pro-combat" and "legacy"...as do the players.  And nobody loves it like Dave Brandon loves it.  Let's be honest, every alternate uniform is a money grab.  Fortunately, Dave seems to be getting the picture that you have to spread these things out for them to continue to have an impact.

Michigan will wear its traditional home and road uniforms for the remainder of the regular season. 

Ya, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a impromptu last minute reveal at the Notre Dame night game...so take that statement with a grain of salt.  

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Not so bad.​

All of that being said, a couple of good things have come out of this iteration of the Michigan away jersey, unveiled today for the Cowboys Classic vs. Alabama:.  First, I kinda like it.  It seems to be a step back towards normal.  I'm glad to be rid of the early 1900's striping trend we seemed to be in love with.  Second, it was made clear that the helmet number will appear for the Alabama game (even though for some reason it's not shown here)...and then disappear for the rest of the season.​  That would be great.  Again, cool shit needs to be spaced out to have an impact.

Last season's practice of placing the player numbers on the famed winged helmet will be suspended after the season opener in Dallas.

Suspended?  You mean like indefinitely?  Dammit Fitz!  Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.

Go Blue!​

The Answer is....More Stuff

So this thing​...

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Broadcasting propaganda to the masses​

...has been approved by the regents.  It's going to run about $2.8 million, and not only does it have a giant screen, but it also makes noise!.​  I'm sure we'll recoup some of that cash with pay per line birthday announcements, and eventually we'll sell tickets to people standing around outside during games so they can watch on the big tv yet still hear the crowd.  Sound crazy?  Well if it's good enough for Jerry Jones, then it's good enough for our own Jerry Jones.

Great Expectations

I'm not an avid recruiting follower.  A lot of my fellow Michigan fans are.  Knowing of my extreme fandom, these peers often come to me with questions such as "what do you think of (fill in pre-pubescent athlete here) making his visit to Ann Arbor today?"  I don't know.  I try not to be interested.  I only glance at MGoBlog's "Hello" posts.  Why?  Because I subscribe to Rich Rodriguez's policy of only talking about players that play for Michigan.  The amazing class purported to have been assembled for 2013, verbally at least, is somehow indirectly increasing the expectations of the present.  We are overrated already.  The preseason tv ratings hype machine will try to make us more and more relevant leading up to the nation's biggest game of week 1, so it's not likely that we will be hearing a lot about our current deficiencies until the Sunday morning quarterbacks hit the air waves.

The players that are here, as well as the class that is arriving in less than two-months (remember them?) are being done a disservice.  Team 133 does not have Shane Morris dropping back for passes and running Al's pro-style juggernaut.  And no matter how many letters from the Buckeyes Logan Tuley-Tillman burns, no matter how many death threats he gets from the toothless assholes of Ohio, he will be going to his high school homecoming dance as team 133 begins to fight its way through the Big Ten schedule, not helping our depth on the offensive line.  He's a Peoria Manual Ram...and yes, I had to look that up.

Michigan has a rich history to say the least.  In wins and losses, they are the greatest team of all time.  They hold significant advantages all-time over every other Big Ten team.  Teach that in your classrooms.  Explain that (slowly) to a Spartan.  Use that.

Michigan had a great season last year...when compared to the last few seasons.  But the reality is that they lost handily to a shitty Iowa team, couldn't beat Sparty, and won the Sugar Bowl over the least powerful of the BCS bowl participants on two prayer-filled blind throws.  I feel like I'm always saying this, but I will say it again anyway:  stay grounded.

It seems the fanbase so aptly known for talking about the past, is now taking to talking shit about the future.  Making your point to a rival using players that won't have an impact until 2014 or 2015 (if ever) is a tactic reserved for Notre Dame.  Ask them how much recruiting classes matter.  

I'm not saying you can't be happy about this....or even this. (#1 nationally in football, #2 nationally in hoops)  But know that we are 8 months away from signing day, which is markedly more important than these seemingly never ending verbal days.  We'll be talking in the past tense about team 133 by then.  And remember, they're not all going to sign...they never do.

79 days 'til Dallas.

GO BLUE!

Dissecting New Orleans

Well, hello.  I've missed you.  Gonna try to get things back on track over here, something regular, something more than its been.  Something.  In the meantime, I'm going to shutdown comments.  Commenting is rare and/or limited to a select few readers anyway, so I'm going to give them a break until (read:if) we start getting more regular content.  Okay, that's all from the logistical department.  On with the chlorophyll...

Happy New Year!  Wait, what?  I'm a month late?  I blame New Orleans, which I'm sure is an excuse that has been used by many a men better than I.  The siren song of Bourbon Street,  the food, the 3-for-1 drinks, and the fact that everything...and I mean EVERYTHING, is within walking distance of, well, EVERYTHING...it can break a man.  There's a festival in that town almost every weekend.  It's an entire society based on hosting events.  It might be the best place on Earth (to visit for a predetermined amount of time of less than one week).

I've never been much for posting city reviews or road trip reviews on here, and I don't plan to start tonight, so with as much brevity as I can muster:

• Eat, but not on Bourbon Street.  Mother's for breakfast or lunch.  Johnny's for Po Boys.  Napoleon House for muffaletta and boudin sausage.  Emeril's Nola for your obligatory touristy celeb chef joint...which happens to serve giant portions of fancy deliciousness.  Jacques-Imo's for the alligator cheesecake and to get out of the quarter for a night.  Cafe Beignet for, you guessed it, beignets...everyday.
• Drink on Bourbon Street.  Doesn't matter where.  In the heart of Bourbon, everything is "Huge Ass" and/or 3-for-1.  Meaning you can't buy just one drink.  For example, red bull and vodka is served in a 32oz souvenir cup.  Crown and water is served in a 32oz cup.  Whatever you get normally is multiplied by three and served in a 32oz cup.  It's crazy, and it's why you spend the next morning (or early afternoon) playing hopscotch through puke piles along the city's sidewalks.  It's fun.  No, really, it's fun.
• Go to the WWII museum.  It's a good story with a great ending, but it's a 2-3 hour event, so plan accordingly.
• Sign up for a walking tour: cemetery, French quarter, or voodoo.  Interesting stuff abound in New Orleans.

Another nice feature?  You can walk to the Dome.  So, we "tailgated" on Bourbon Street, and then stumbled to the stadium, which was about a mile away.  Nothing is more than a mile away in New Orleans.

I had been to the Superdome in 2003, pre-Katrina, but there have been a lot of renovations since then.  Our "club" seats came with a nice lounge area attached in the concourse.  And my drunken recollection is that the food in the stadium was tremendous.  I had a big brisket sandwich that would bury any of the shitty BBQ joints north of Kentucky...and yes, they're ALL shitty...I'm talking to you Blue Tractor.

And then the game was played.  And it was awful.  But you know it was awful.  Va Tech owned us for the bulk of the evening, and it would take a roughing the punter penalty combined with not one, but two blind up for grabs ("500!") tosses that resulted in touchdowns.  Michigan's 2010 to 2011 turnaround is classified in some circles as miraculous...and if that is the case, the Sugar Bowl will forever be the calling card for that miracle.  Outplayed in almost every facet of the game...aside from intelligence.  Beamer made some really stupid calls, and the Hokies made some really dumb mistakes.  Va Tech eventually lost on the foot of their third string kicker, who had already connected four times previously, but shanked a 37-yarder to start the extra frame, leaving Michigan to eventually connect on their own 37-yarder for the OT win.

And there was much rejoicing, even though Michigan had just followed one of it's worst defensive performances of the season (OSU) with one of it's worst offensive performances of the season (184 total yards in Sugar Bowl).

Yes, I'll take it.  And as I continue to bang my drum of "perception is reality," I cannot ague that the season as a whole was a resounding success in the public eye, and the record will have it's place in history, sight unseen.  But we, my dear friends, are not that good.  This BCS bowl and the victory we achieved there...it's wonderful...and it's all a bit too early.  We are a few years away from being able to make the claim that this is the direction we want to go.  Next season will be another uphill battle, requiring another set of miracles, perhaps even bigger ones, to keep this rate of success going.

Team 132 was built on the heart of a group of seniors that had been through hell and back.  Three head coaches, 5 different defensive schemes, walk-on quarterbacks, and NCAA investigations.  They persevered and willed their way to the results we witnessed.  They're gone now.  And who and how that torch will be carried will determine where this team is going.  How the young arriving talent will mesh with Rich Rod's leftovers, how Denard progresses, if Denard is the quarterback, and how we plan to replace the bulk of the line on both sides of the ball....all GIANT questions on a team that is likely going to be ranked at or near the top 10 in the preseason.

How will we deal with expectations?

Oh, and we play the defending National Champions in a not-so-neutral site game to start it all off.  Wow.

Spring Game in 72 days.  Pictures from the bowl game coming, I swear.  Go Blue!