Special Request

I know this is not Wallpaper Wednesday, but we had a special request for an Ohio State themed wallpaper in a large (1920x1200) format from one of our long time friends.

Rather than produce another boring Heisman theme -- I thought I could go for something with a little more spice. I will call this one: Coach Tressel's Dirty Thirty

Special thanks to Peabody from the blog Michigan Against the World for posting the detailed history to mark this Buckeye milestone. Well done sir.

Note: if anyone can find me a picture of Kurt Wilhelm, I would be very appreciative. I can not find an image of him anywhere.

Thursday morning at the buffet table

30 days.

How can you tell we are getting close to the start of the college football season ? There are about a thousand stories flowing from every direction each and every day. Each major conference has held a media event and we are sliding into to last few weeks before the REAL fun begins.

Rather than post or comment on each and every nugget that I find interesting, I am going to from time to time just post a list and let the magic happen.

So, in no particular order... here we go....

• Charlie Weis eats Wrigley Field
• Somehow Jimmy Clausen makes the 2008 O’Brien Watch List
• ESPN expresses some concern about Penn State's Football program
• Miami's monster 2008 recruiting class has academic issues
• Somehow Kirk Ferentz keeps his job in Iowa
• Ron Zook is removed from the Mendenhall family christmas card list
• Almost everyone hates Ohio State -- except these guys
• Tressel's magic number hits thirty
• Helmet clash : at least they will lose once this year
• Meet the 2008 USC song girls
• Ball State's coach thinks Toldeo will do great in Ann Arbor
• Jake Long blocks too hard in practice
• West Virginia player appears to be in BIG trouble -- somehow this is going to be RR's fault
• The Mike Barwis media honeymoon continues
• Sparty is sick of Barwis and would like you to know they have a strength program too
• Playing football for Mack Brown is not all sunshine and lollypops
• Myron Rolle is not your typical college football player

Wallpaper Wednesday: Hello... Heisman

For my second edition of Wallpaper Wednesday I give you: Hello Heisman. Celebrating Michigan's three Heisman Trophy winners: Tom Harmon, Desmond Howard, and Charles Woodson.

In 1940 Tom Harmon became the first Wolverine to win the trophy. He led the nation in scoring and in his final college football game he absolutely dominated: going 11 for 12 for 151 yards and 2 TDs passing the ball, rushing for 139 yards and 2 more TDs. He also kicked four extra points and intercepted three passes as the Wolverines trounced Ohio State in Columbus 40-0. Legend has it that many of the 73,000 'shoe fans gave him a standing ovation at the end of the game. Oh, how times have changed !!

In 1991 Desmond Howard dazzled the college football nation. He scored at total of 23 TDs, including a memorable punt return against the Buckeyes ending with a iconic pose in the endzone.

Finally, in 1997 Charles Woodson became the first primary defensive player to win the Heisman. He was simply the best player in the country and led the 1997 team to an undefeated season and a National Championship.

Kevin Grady > Doug Worthington

Ohio State starting defensive tackle Doug Worthington was arrested this week in Columbus and charged with DUI. He is 2nd Buckeye arrested this month, following Eugene Clifford's July 7th arrest. Clifford was given his release from the program and has reportedly since transferred to Tennessee State. This is Worthington's first legal problem as a member of TUOS football team.

I've said this before. College kids make mistakes. On the heels of Kevin Grady's .281, the news of Worthington blowing between a .08 and .17 on a breath test (The legal limit is .08.) is barely worth mentioning. However, it is the location of the arrest that has me chuckling...

According to the OSU police report, Worthington was cited for driving his white Cadillac Escalade 41 miles per hour in a 25 mile per hour zone. He was stopped just outside Ohio Stadium, at the intersection of Woody Hayes Drive and Cannon Drive.

And oh yes Yost -- he does have a Buckstache....

All the Snake Oil that is fit to sell

The Media event last week has generated an avalanche of Big Ten College Football stories throughout the country. Not much real news was generated, unless you count a lesson on peer leadership and canned coach-speak responses to middle school journalism questions.

The most interesting thing in this article from the NY Times is perhaps the last known photo of Marques Slocum in a Wolverine uniform. For those of you living under a rock (or generally ignore all comments from srudoff) -- Slocum is no longer on the Michigan football team because of "Several issues, academically and football-wise".

So long Marques --- you Big Amorous Cat...

Ninja football finds empty grass

Found this funny video game link of Rich Rodriguez WVU ninja recruit Noel Devine on EDSBS. Reminds me of the old TecmoBowl game I used to play in the early 90's.

Coach McGee's list of things an offense needs to do:

1. Create mismatches : most common is slot receivers on OLBers or safeties
2. Get the ball to your play makers
3. Use Shotgun/so QB can see the defense
4. Make the defense defend all skill players, including the QB
5. Keep it simple for the O line, confused linemen can kill an offense faster than anything.
6. Make the defense play in space
   

More Buckeye Literature

Who knew they could read ?

Fresh off the release of Coach Jim Tressel's book The Winners Manual comes a brand new addition to the Buckeye library collection: The Troy Smith Story.

Written by Dave Biddle (from Bucknuts.com) this book promises an uncensored look and a riveting tale about an athlete that overcame all odds because of an unshakable faith in himself.

The book is scheduled for a mid-August release, but you can order your copy now and beat the rush of rabid buckeye fans looking to meet their G.E.D. reading goals.

A quick search of amazon.com identifies that there are 892 different books focused on Ohio State Football available for purchase. This impressive list includes the classic work: B Is For Buckeye: An Ohio Alphabet. With that many books available, you could fill an entire wing of TUOS's Library System as long as the patrons understand that they are only supposed to read in the library.

Personally, I think Mr Biddle's choice of title is a bit underwhelming. Such an important manuscript deserves something special. Calling this book THE TROY SMITH STORY is like calling Michigan "just another game". Here is my top ten suggestions for Mr. Biddle to spice up the title and get a couple of more copies sold. Your suggestions are also welcome.

10. Tuesdays with Tressel
9. BMOC : It’s Pretty Good to Be Troy
8. The Elbows of St. Edwards
7. My friend Maurcie
6. Ted Ginn's Dad loves me more than his own son
5. How I turned Robert Baker's $500 into a Heisman Trophy
4. 3 AND 1.... Bitches
3. Gator Bait: It is all Roy Hall's fault
2. Tarblooder to Buckeye: The Glenville goldmine
1. Wolverine Hunter: 316 yards and a clump of Turf

Family Values

With only 35 days or so before the kickoff, the Utah game notes are available on MGoBlue.com. My favorite thing about the 12 page document (outside the fact that Mike DeBord is no longer our offensive coordinator) is this corny Adamslike picture of the Rodriguez family.

Yes, I know...TUOS fans will be quick to point out that Jim Tressel's kids would own DickRod's kids.

Other items of note: The Purdue game on November 1st will be our 1,200th game. The UM/Adidas deal is an 8 year contract and actually starts on August 1st. Justin Boren is not listed as a "starter lost". You can listen in Michigan football games in Little Rock, Arkansas on KASR (92.7 on the AM dial). Michigan Replay is now called INSIDE MICHIGAN FOOTBALL. Stephen Threet is listed as the #1 QB with an "or" next to Nick Sheridan. Sam McGuffie will wear #2, (the number he wore in high school). Justin Feagan will wear #5. Michael Shaw will wear Mike Hart's #20. Boubacar Cissoko will wear #33 - and for some reason his name is not included in the pronunciation guide. Everyone in the Rodriguez family has the initials RR (Rich, Rita, Raquel and Rhett). Rich Rodriguez has records of 2-8, 1-7-1, and 3-8 in his previous "first" seasons as a head coach (yikes). He has a perfect record (1-0) against Ohio. Both Scott Shaffer (DC) and Calvin Magee (OC) will sit in the booth, not on the sidelines. There are 7 former Wolverines in the NFL Hall of Fame.

Sports Science Friday: Neck Collars

From the sports medicine team at Virginia Tech-Wake Forest.

Rowson S, McNeely DE, Brolinson PG, Duma, SF. Biomechanical analysis of football neck collars. Clin J Sport Med 2008; 18: 316-321.

Three different neck collars are available to protect players from sustaining a "stinger". Technically a stinger occurs when the brachial plexus is stretched, pinched, or otherwise pissed off.

Interesting that the neck collars worn by football players had not been tested (from a biomechanical standpoint) before being introduced to the game. So, the research team said, HEY! Let's get a crash-test dummy, dress him up like a Hokie and pound his head to see which collar works best in minimizing the forces generated to the head and neck after getting plugged.

There are 3 different types of neck collars. Ya got yer COWBOY COLLAR that gets laced into the shoulder pads and is meant to prevent extension of the neck more than lateral flexion. Think Brian Urlacher. The BULLOCK COLLAR is simply strapped to the shoulder pads and is meant to prevent hyperextension with some restriction to lateral flexion. The KERR COLLAR rests on the shoulders and is also laced into the pads. The base of the helmet touches the collar thereby restricting movement (in theory) in a variety of directions.

Methods: From a real-world application standpoint I have a bit of an issue with their method since they used an instrumented 50th%ile male dummy ie, yer standard issue crash test dummy dude, suited him up with a set of Douglas CP25 shoulder pads and a medium Riddell VSR4 helmet. Now I'm sure that we can ALLLLL agree that no member of any collegiate football team these days is in the 50th percentile for height and weight. Cripes, not even the kickers fit that criteria as I'll bet those pipsqueeks are in the 30th percentile for sure! Unless you measure girth of course....

Anyway, they took this Joe Average Jock Dummy and hit him in the head after varying the neck collar, impact velocity, impact location, and shoulder pad positions 48 different times. No one has done any studies to figure out just how hard you have to hit someone to give them a stinger, so they settled on 5 m/s and 7 m/s. I'm thinking that this hit (extra points for anyone who can ID the hitter and the hitee) was a hell of a lot more than that...but never mind.

Overall the KERR COLLAR is the winner as it was best in a top impact as well as a front impact because it nicely reduced head acceleration and force transmission. Because it contacts the base of the helmet, the forces get distributed more evenly with some of the load being shifted off to the shoulders. None of the three were very helpful in decreasing forces from a side impact.....

no surprise there.

The COWBOY and BULLOCK COLLARS are really only useful in front impacts, and the COWBOY was useless for top impacts.

So, given the data, if my kid were playing, I'd say wear the Kerr, make sure your helmet touches and for godsakes keep your eyes to the sky when you hit the guy and keep your legs moving to drive thru!!!!!

Man Up Lisa Leslie

Pardon the interruption into the land of the WNBA but the whole Lisa Leslie vs. Rick Mahorn "fight" has me pretty pissed off.

Why???

Because her comments and the media's incredulity about some bad boy pushing down a delicate woman/mother completely undermines the strength of Title IX (the law).

Don't believe me?? Check out Jason Whitlock over at FOX. SERIOUSLY>>>

Here's how I see it. You Lisa Leslie are a professional athlete who plays the game with passion and intensity. You want the same facilities as the men, you want the same press and pay as the men. But then, when you actually TRULY engage in the sport at it's highest level, and tempers flare and frustrations and some fists fly---including yours at Rick Mahorn's head by the way!---you get all self-righteous?? "I don't even know why (Mahorn) was pushing me down," said Leslie, who called herself a role model and mommy during an overdone postgame interview. "I wasn't swinging or hitting anybody. I was just going to help my teammate up."

Please don't pull all the delicate feminine "don't hurt me I'm a girl" shit. Don't undermine all the work that has been done since 1972 to overcome the idea that women somehow need to be protected and coddled and can't handle the real world as men do. Don't let the media get away with using allllll the euphemisms about women: I heard one commentator say "no hair pulling in this brawl, fists actually flew". And another say "an abundance of testosterone tonight at the Palace"

I call: BULLSHIT

Wallpaper Wednesday: Lamar Woodley

I have decided to start a fun recurring feature on this blog. So, for better or worse I give you Wallpaper Wednesday.

I am a very visual person and I frequently change the "desktop wallpaper" on my computer because I get bored pretty easily. My plan is to feature original Michigan wallpaper each Wednesday. If you have any ideas or completed wallpapers to share, go ahead and send them. Any wallpaper that I create will be sized at 1280x800 (which happens to be the resolution of my computer). You can click on the picture to get the full-sized image.

This week I give you Lamar Woodley in the 2006 Notre Dame Massacre. This is one of my favorite Michigan games of all-time. This fumble recovery for a touchdown put an exclamation mark on the blow-out of the #2 ranked Irish and set the tone for the memorable 2006 season.

Titletown--ESPN in town 7/21/2008

Twentyfour by Charles Woodson

From the website:


APPELLATION: Stags Leap District, Napa Valley
PROCESS: hand picked, hand sorted, 21 day extended maceration
AGING: 18 months in French oak
ALCOHOL: 14.5%
HARVESTED: October 12, 2005
PRODUCTION: 202 cases
RELEASE DATE: November 2008
TASTING NOTES: Intense wild berry aromas, dark ruby in color. Seductive entry, bright fruit with dense middle, supple tannin increasing in intensity for long, persistent finish. Broad, velvety texture, dark fruit, cassis, dry crushed stone flavors with long return. French oak integrated but not dominant, lifting the wine. Harmonious with assertive, fine grained tannins.

And, I can attest to it's wonders, after participating in a wine tasting/fundraising event this past weekend at The Chop House in Ann Arbor. Robert Ruiz, the cellar master for Twentyfour, and Gustavo Gonzales, the wine maker for Twentyfour (both from Robert Mondavi Winery) were on hand to pour and discuss the 2005 Single Vineyard Cabernet from the Stags Leap District, barrel samples of the unreleased 2006 Cabernet, and some of the last of Charles’s personal favorite - his 2001 Merlot. The Chop House will be the exclusive restaurant in Michigan to offer the amazing wines of Twenty Four which is already sold out until the 2007 vintage.

The event benefitted the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, and Charles presented the hospital with a check for $10,000+ that night. Not only that but $10 from EVERY bottle sold EVER will go to benefit the hospital. Really. Every bottle. Forever.

Along with superstars from the hospital, a few of Charles' former teammates and a particular coach were in attendance. Charles Woodson was a perfect host, graciously talking with almost all of the 100 in attendance individually, signing memorabilia and taking pictures with anyone who wanted to pose with him. The clear affection between former Coach and star-player was evident as well. Oh---and The Chop House makes some amazing Kobe beef "sliders" that went perfectly with the wine!

The Detroit Free Press covered the event, and pointed out that the NFL is none to happy with Charles Woodson "touting" alcohol. They actually insisted that pictures of Charles in his NFL uniform be removed from the winery's website. Why you ask???
Well, apparently now that Roger Goodell is at the helm, the league's alcohol policy states that any interviews supporting alcohol would be seen as an endorsement and "may have a detrimental effect on the great number of young fans who follow our game."
Yeah---but those billion dollar Anheiser-Busch commercial spots during TV timeouts? No harm there, right Roger???
And, there's no way for the NFL to get a piece of Twentyfour's action so it must be banned!

Duplicatous douchery from the NFL! Imagine.....


Bottom line?? Great wine from a great Michigan champion that will benefit the new C. S. Mott's Children and Women's Hospital and a really great event held right here in Titletown!

Telling Noah how it rains

Former USC and current Bengals (and now my 2nd favorite NFL) QB Carson Palmer has some not so nice things to say about a certain college program about a 100 miles to the Northeast of his home office in Cincinnati.

As you can imagine, this is getting a lot of play in college football blog world.

"I cannot stand the Buckeyes and having to live in Ohio and hear those people talk about their team it drives me absolutely nuts."

I applaud and agree with Carson's heartfelt honesty.

I have three suggestions :
1) Based on some of the responses I have read here, you might want to consider an alternate NFL location (I am sure the Detroit Lions would love to find you a new home)
2) Hire a body guard. My favorite from an Ohio State Brain Surgeon named BABBAGASHUTTHEFUCKUP: If you have Molatovs, and find yourself in the vicinity, throw ‘em.
3) Stand in line.

The things you see on ebay

Every once in a while I go to ebay and search for unique Michigan items.

Well... last night I found a gem. For only $1500 you can have Anthony Carter's actual Michigan Varsity Jacket. The seller (from Grand Rapids) claims that he is selling it because his daughter is getting married, I assume he needs the cash for an ice sculpture or something like that. The listing says the jacket was obtained from Mastro Auctions and comes with a Letter of Authenticity from Mastro Auctions, authentication from Mears Memorabilia Evaluation and Research Services, and a Letter of Authenticity from PSA/DNA.

As much as I would love to slap the $1500 down on the table and take it - at 5'10" and 160lbs AC's jacket is a bit too small for my frame.

"Sports" Science Friday--BEER PONG AND BONG

Well dear reader, in the spirit of keeping Yost alive, I present to you these pretty cool links for our Science Friday:

A) the physics of beer pong as demonstrated by some truly industrious collegians brought to light by Adam Weiner over at http://www.popsci.com/
For the physics savants in the crowd Adam offers up an explanation of two- and three-dimensional projectile motion, utilizing the constant downward acceleration due to gravity calculated with:

Δy = v0 sinθ t – 1/2gt2

and a constant velocity once the ball is released, calculated using:
Δx = 2.4 m = v0cosθ t



B) The Instantaneous Acceleration and Force of Beer from a Beer Bong as calculated by Alec Venechuk. He calculates the instantaneous force from a double beer bong as 7.59 newtons.

No idea if that is a lot or not. Any physics phact phinders out there to help????
Or do you just not care with all them bikinis down there with their hands in the air??? WORD UP


C) for extra credit....and gosh knows how many billions of our tax dollars, straight from NASA a description of forces on a baseball


I kid you not!

Enjoy the weekend!!
It's hot and humid as all get out here, and the place is crawling with Art Fair folks..........

Know Your Coach: The Offense

Calvin Magee, Associate Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator

Replacing everyone's favorite (?), Mike DeBord as OC, Coach Magee was previously the OC from 2004-2007 at West Virginia, duties that were added on to his running backs coaching responsibilities that began upon his arrival there in 2001. Interestingly, WV's running game rated among the top four nationally all three seasons that he was offensive co-ordinator: 2007 = 3rd (297.2 rypg), 2006 = 2nd (303 rypg), 2005 = 4th (272.4 rypg). Michigan's rypg's those years??? er....2007 = 42nd (164.9 rypg), 2006 = 20th (175.5 rypg), and 2005 = 44th (161.6 rypg). As I'm sure you all know, the Navy's Midshipmen led the nation each of those years. Go ahead and make your arguments about competition and schemes and talent etc. but if you check out the stats over at ESPN your angst and anguish regarding the last few Michigan seasons will be justified.....

So from whence doeseth our new Offensive Coach hail??? Born in New Orleans, LA in 1963 (yes, he's only 45) he graduated from Southern University (of the SWAC) in 1984 where he was a two-time first-team All-American playing tight end. He was team MVP twice in 1983 and 1984, leading his team in receptions all four of his seasons. According to his bio, he was named MVP of the Freedom Bowl in 1985......not the Freedom Bowl where Washington beat Colorado 20-17 in Anaheim. Oh no. We are talking a totally different Freedom Bowl: The Inaugural Freedom Bowl All-Star Classic held in Atlanta, GA. pitting a SWAC all-star team, coached by the legend himself, FROM?

GRAMBLING!

Eddie Robinson vs. a MEAC all-star team. Extra points to anyone who can find the details on that classic. Girlfriend needs a fact checker since I found Coach's football curriculum vitae details a bit hard to track down................

Coach Magee then went on to play tight end for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1985-1988, where he put up some interesting numbers for a tight end, playing with the likes of Vinnie Testaverde, Steve DeBerg, Steve Young, and Jim Zorn. He then bounced to the "Houston Oilers, Houston Oilers, Houston Oilers Number 1"...(good luck getting that little ditty out of your head today!) to finish his career in 1989. But, well....if you look up the roster for the Oilers in 1988-1989 Coach isn't listed.....making me wonder if they bought his rights but then he couldn't play thereby technically "finishing" him and his NFL career with the Oilers?????

Coach Magee went back to school to get a graduate degree from University of South Florida in 1990, in what? I dunno, couldn't find it... and then coached there from 1996-2000. He was a member of the first coaching staff for the Bulls, responsible for tight ends and special teams. He also coached the running backs starting in 1997--and became the team's running game coordinator for his last 2 seasons. Seems that Coach is comfortable with a lot of hats.

Magee's departure from WVU after Rich Rod left was fairly controversial. A story printed in January 2008 in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette did not mince words regarding the accusations of racism against the 'folks' down in Morgantown. According to the story, despite his being named the American Football Coaches Association's Assistant of the Year in 2007, he did not warrant an interview for the head coaching position. According to Mike Brown (T9: R2's agent extraordinaire), who declined to identify the person involved in this incident, "Calvin was in discussions with this West Virginia University administrator, and Calvin kind of politely asked him, 'Do you think I have a shot [at becoming the next Mountaineers head coach]?' The administrator said, 'No you don't,' and pointed to his skin. That's why Calvin got on the plane."

Doubt it? Check out WVUs jaw-dropping website, "A History of Integration of Sports at WVU". It is completely mind-numbing to me that in this day and age a major university in America would have a WEBPAGE about it's own integration.......if you google "integration at Michigan" it's all about the integration of technology or genomics. Hell yes I'm proud to be a naive Northern Girl.

What else do we know about Magee's successes at WVU?

6 College Bowls: (note that his bio on www.mgoblue.com has it alllll wrong)

12/28/2002 Continental Tire: Virginia 48 WVU 22

1/1/2004 Gator: Maryland 41, WVU 7

1/1/2005 Gator: Florida State 30, WVU 18

1/2/2006 Sugar: Georgia 35, WVU 38

1/1/2007 Gator: Georgia Tech 35, WVU 38

1/2/2008 Fiesta: Oklahoma 28, WVU 48

and, well, Steve Slaton

Discuss.

They are back....

In August of 2006 Yost introduced us to the Sleepy Rappers. I can't believe this has been on YouTube for a year without our notice. Word.

Sweet!?

Let the frenzy begin. Sign up at mgoblue.com

What is on your IPOD ?

Yes, I was looking for something to kick David Beckham down.
You are welcome guys - this is going to happen from time to time as I get used to sharing the keyboard with a girl. I am sorry for the Hoff thing. I regret it.

I spend a lot of time on airplanes these days. A couple of years ago I got a generic mp3 player -- and thought I was really cool. However, nothing is more essential to passing the airplane time than my video IPOD. It did not take me long before I had figured out how to transfer movies from my DVD collection to be watched on my IPOD. I also have a pretty extensive DVD library of Michigan football games -- which I am currently converting to IPOD format. And then I discovered MGOVIDEO.COM -- and it quickly became one of my favorite sites on the net.

So here is the question, if you wanted to watch one Michigan game from the past, which would it be ???

and....a black eye for the ladies

gentlemen, you have been warned.......
i'm serious!






SHA-ZAM!!!!!!!

Sports Science Friday---with apologies to NPR and beer bongs

EYE BLACK


From the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Yale University:


DeBroff BM, Pahk PJ. The ability of periorbitally applied antiglare products to improve contrast sensitivity in conditions of sunlight exposure. Arch Ophthalmol. 2003;121:997-1001

To determine whether glare-reducing products such as eye black grease and anti-glare stickers reduce glare and improve contrast sensitivity during sunlight exposure, these intrepid eye doctors found 46 subjects (52% were women) and used a Pelli-Robson contrast chart (see above right) to assess the benefits of eye-grease, anti-glare stickers, and petroleum jelly applied to the infraorbital rim. Each subject was their own control and was randomized to one of the three eye treatments.....

Bottom line?

Eye-grease wins. Better than stickers, better than petroleum jelly

but, probably not better than this for some of you......(work warning)

you're welcome

Football's Valhalla

shout out to 616goblue for this link!!!!

and, according to legend--the play called was a playground audible between Wangler and Carter. Wangs and AC noted that the route had been open all game (or so I've been told) and they decided to wing it......

the rest is Maize and Blue history

This internet thing...

...I am thinking it is pretty cool. Fields of Glory from Hulu.com


HT to ErocWolverine

Order your copy today

The Winners Manual is the book OSU fans have been waiting for – filled with never-before-told stories from one of the most remarkable coaches in college football. This book provides a rare glimpse into the mind of OSU’s head coach.
Inside The Winners Manual, Coach Tressel reveals key principles which apply to achieving success in life both on and off the field.

If every book, in every library, in every city, in every state, in every country was checked out and this was the last thing sitting on the shelves, I would not check it out.

There is always something ironic about an athlete or coach in the middle of his career writing a book like this. I wonder if there is a chapter dedicated to Maurice Clarett or Ray Isaac.

Maybe included in the appendix would be this or the book can be dedicated to Robert Baker ?

The Law of Karma = Whatever you do to others - will be done to you, in this or any future incarnation of your soul.

What could you do with $4M ?

This morning it was reported the long drama between West Virginia University and new Michigan Coach Rich Rodriguez was finally over. (Thank God !!!!)

According to news reports, Rodriguez will pay $1.5 million in three annual payments beginning January 2010. The Wolverines athletic department, his new employer, will pay $2.5 million by the end of July and cover Rodriguez's legal fees.

"To help Rich focus on the challenges ahead, we have worked with him to resolve the dispute between him and West Virginia University over the terms of his buyout," Michigan athletic director Bill Martin said. "Although he continues to disagree with the validity of the terms, Rich and the rest of us at Michigan felt that it would be best to get this distracting issue behind us."

The WVU Board of Governors held a special meeting Wednesday and approved the agreement, settling a case that attorneys Tom Flaherty and Jeff Wakefield were set to try this fall.

The settlement got me thinking -- what could a state like West Virginia do with a cash infusion of $4,000,000 ?

According to the US Census Bureau There are roughly 1.818 million people that live in West Virginia. Divided equally, they could receive $2.20 each. With a coupon, you could buy a six pack of good beer.

The average per capita income for a resident of the Mountaineer state is $16,667 per year. A shocking 16.2% of the population lives below the poverty line. That is almost 300,000 people that really can't afford a nice vacation.

One idea I have : the state could build some publicly accessible vacation homes. You know... nice mountain views, fresh air, indoor plumbing, the works. The good people of West Virginia deserve a nice vacation after what DickRod has put them through.

In West Virginia there are 40,000 licensed motorcycle drivers. Sadly motorcycle fatalities represented 7 percent of all motor vehicle fatalities compared to only 3 percent of registered motor vehicles. You could purchase 20,000 nice (the special $200 kind) safety helmets for West Virginians and save countless lives -- all in the name of Rich Rodriguez.

We all know that West Virginia is a game hunting heaven. At about $180 per weapon (via Wal*Mart) -- the state government of West Virginia could purchase 22,222 rifles for the local population.

A man could feed his family for years with the proper weapon.

Please submit your ideas for West Virginia. We will gather them and ensure they get into the correct hands.

Kevin Grady's new number

Despite reports that Kevin Grady would wear #24 for the Michigan Wolverines in 2008, we have discovered that the former East Grand Rapids star could be sporting a new number... that is after he gets done running the stairs at Michigan Stadium 281,000 times and doing 2.81 million pushups.

For those of you that have been living under a rock, a vehicle driven by University of Michigan running back Kevin Grady was pulled over in Wyoming, Michigan last week. He was arrested for allegedly having a blood-alcohol level more than three times the legal limit.

According to the ticket issued to Grady, he had a blood-alcohol level of 0.281. Michigan's legal definition of drunk is 0.08.

District Judge Pablo Cortes found Grady was "unable to render an intelligent or knowing acknowledgment of the charges" and ordered Grady to appear for arraignment July 9. Grady remains free on bond.

More TUOS YouTubery

In the crazy time suck that is YouTube, this stands out.

If someone told me that I had exactly 1 minute and 54 seconds to explain why Ohio State fans annoy me -- I would simply point to this:



Interesting notes about this future pizza delivery specialist besides the fact he uses his mom's computer and web cam when she is out. He calls himself acedeucebuckeye. He is actually from Ann Arbor. Besides being a TUOS fan, he is a BIG Red Wings, Tigers and Pistons fan. And he is studying to become a youth pastor and is very concerned about world events.

YouTube hate

Who knew that Harry Hasselhoff was a buckeye fan ?

The Black Heart Gold Pants response to the "where amazing
happens" Michigan video re-exposed the wide world of Michigan Schadenfreude to me.

Now... I know that that there are a significant number of people out there that openly cheer against the Wolverines, but it also seems to me that many of them carry cell phones with video camera these days:

Example 1 Ohio State & Penn State friends watching "the horror" at a DC bar.
Example 2 Fans at the 'shoe celebrating (not their win over Youngstown State) but Michigan's loss.
Example 3 More jubilation at the 'shoe.
Example 3 Penn State fans enjoying the horror.
Example 4 Little brother reacts with joy.
Example 5 ESPN Zone in Las Vegas.
Example 6 Oregon fan enjoying his visit to Michigan Stadium.
Example 7 Purdue Trainers re-create the horror.

And my all time favorite from YouTube video game reviewer and cartoonist theclaw2011 , Nice work kid - you have a future.

Here is hoping that Karma works its magic soon.

Why we LOVE Michigan Football...it's where amazing happens

HT to andy for sending this!





and, for the haters......
the 'rebuttal'

Happy Fourth of July

Thanks for your votes/comments below. I will stay the course here, and look forward to the community that we will create over the summer.

Now that my power is back on (16 hours without) I've decided a) electricity is the greatest invention of the modern era, b) I'm addicted to the internets, and c) LIFE IS DAMNED GOOD HERE IN AMERICA


Thanks to all who have served, and are serving. Thanks to all who vote and participate to the fullest in the greatest political success story in the history of our planet----our democracy.

But, everything has it's price.....so as you head off into the holiday weekend, be safe, be smart, and be careful!

BLOGGER INDECISION 2008

Clearly, I'm not Yost. Long way to go to get close to his league.
Some of the regular M-zone participants have gone over to mgoblog (joshua and catie!)http://www.mgoblog.com/ now has new features which allow individuals to post their own 'diaries' as well as follow along commenting on Brian's wonderous offerings, or joining into the Beavis and Butthead streams of consciousness if you so desire.
I'm happy to keep trying here, but wanted to get community consensus.....especially if we can put up our own diaries over at mgoblog

SOOOOO....In the spirit of democracy, please cast your vote and let's see what we get!!!

To the Leaders and Best,
T9

Should we stay or should we go now????
	Stay and SpawnNation
	Move and 'regentrify' mgoblog
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