Little Big Horn Healing

I can't believe what I just witnessed.

This is bad. I have never been so down about being a Michigan fan. We went from being in complete and total control to getting blown out. All based on 2 plays that did not go our way. I refuse to become one of those people that rant and rave about coaching on the internet.

I need to take a break from this obsession. If anyone out there wants to take the wheel of this place for a couple of weeks, let me know. If T9 agrees, I will set you up as an author. I have nothing to say. I am done.

Gameday 2009 - Fighting Illini Open Thread

Benteen, come on, big village, be quick. Bring packs.
~ General George Armstrong Custer
June 25, 1876

Know your Foe – Illnois 2009

The Michigan football team goes back on the road to face the Fighting Illini this week. We are looking to win our sixth game of the season and notch our first road win. Historically we have dominated these guys to the tune of 66-22-2 record and we have won 8 of the last 10 games. We have not lost at Memorial Stadium since 1983. None of that matters as much as the fact that we got spanked at home last season 45-20 in one of many frustrating games in the season of horror and pain. But this season Illinois has been a nightmare and seems to have stepped back to a greater degree than we have improved. Here are some fun things you should know about this weeks foe:

History: The University of Illinois is yet another Land Grant School, in fact it is the third straight Morrill Act school we have played in a row. The stories of all these schools are all basically variations on the same theme. The school was founded in 1867 under the name Illinois Industrial University. That year the school’s first president, John Milton Gregory came to Illinois from Kalamazoo College to organize the university as the "West Point for the working world." Classes began in the spring of 1868 with two teachers and a small number of students. Two years later (1870) the Board of Trustees voted 5 to 4 to admit women to the university.

As we have seen with almost every land grant school, the educational mission of the institution was the source of significant internal struggle. On one side you have the idealistic proponents of a classical liberal arts curriculum and on the other side you have a more practical crowd focused providing an “industrial education” to the people. By 1885 the classical education side of the argument had triumphed prompting a name change to the University of Illinois. This new name helped denote the support for a comprehensive academic program and to avoid confusion with existing schools of the day for delinquents.

In 1982 the name was formally changed to The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, indicating the flagship status within the multi-campused University of Illinois system.

Location: The campus is located in the towns of Champaign and Urbana. The campus is equally split between the two, however most people just say Champaign because it is the larger of the two places. The towns are located in the center of the state, east of the state capital.

Although it is in a very a remote/rural location, all of the people I know that actually went to school there absolutely loved the campus and location. In 2002 NFL season, the campus was the temporary home of the Chicago Bears while Soldier Field was being renovated… but like most Illinois graduates, the Bears moved back to Chicago as soon as they could.

Illinois is the home for the famous National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). This place provides powerful computers and expert support that help thousands of scientists and engineers across the country better understand the world. With the computing power available at NCSA, researchers simulate how galaxies collide and merge, how proteins fold and how molecules move through the wall of a cell, how tornadoes and hurricanes form, and other complex natural and engineered phenomena.

Nickname: They call themselves the Fighting Illini. The term “Illini” first appeared in 1874 when the student newspaper, seeking a more a Greek or Latin sounding name, rebranded itself from The Student to The Illini. In 1921 the school adopted the moniker “Fighting Illini” replacing the previous name: Indians.

The actual term Illini comes from the word Illiniwek, which is a made up word used to describe the group of six Native American tribes that once lived in the area (Kaskaskia, Peoria, Michigamea, Moingwena, Tamaroa and Cahokia). The state is also named for these tribes. These Indian tribes were removed by the US government and forced to relocate in Kansas in 1832. They were then up-rooted in again 1867 after the US wanted to open Kansas to white settlers, this time to Oklahoma.

Mascot: Officially Illinois does not have a mascot. They used to have a “symbol” called Chief Illiniwek. This Native American character represented the university since 1926. The first Chief Illiniwek was a student named Lester Leutwiler. A former Eagle Scout, Lester had a strong sense of Native American tradition and knowledge. He used this knowledge to make homemade costume complete with a turkey feathered war head-dress. Leutwiler danced at the 1926 Illinois vs. Penn football game and according to the students and alumni at the game, the dance was a big hit. A new tradition was born and over the next 80+ years, 36 different students (35 of which were white males) danced as The Chief.

Illinois started to get some complaints and requests to remove the Chief as early as 1989, but those were ignored. In 2005 the NCAA officially ruled the Chief Illiniwek symbol to be “hostile and abusive” – sealing the Chief’s future. After a couple of court dates, the school eventually agreed to remove the Chief. His final performance was at a basketball game against Michigan on February 21, 2007 before a tearful crowd at the Assembly Hall. For many Illinois fans the tradition of the performances was one of the highlights of their Illinois sports experience.

As I have stated before, I think the NCAA is inconsistent in their application of this political correctness. I don’t understand how schools like Florida State and North Dakota can keep their Native American nicknames and mascots with the approval of the specific tribe, but Illinois was unable to keep their “made up word” nickname. Who exactly was Illinois supposed to ask for permission? Also, there are still NCAA teams out there that call themselves “Braves”. What is up with that?

Additionally, why is the NCAA mandate on sensitivity limited to Native Americans? Why is Notre Dame allowed to keep their “Fighting Irish” nickname and mascot? I am sure there are plenty of Irish people that find the characterization that they are all short and overly aggressive very demeaning. What about the Holy Cross Crusaders? Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns? Ole Miss Rebels? Penn Quakers? San Diego State Aztecs? You get the picture.

Colors/Logo/Helmet: They wear orange and blue. For the first 25 years of athletics, they had many different combinations including the ever popular crimson+olive green. In 1894, the university officially adopted blue (for steadfastness and stability) and orange (for freedom) as their official colors. You may have noticed it is the same color scheme used by Chicago Bears -- it’s no coincidence. Bears founder-owner and long-time coach George Halas was a graduate.

Their logo is the incredibly boring “orange block I” with “Illinois” spelled out in front of it (see above). It is a huge step backwards from their previous logos that featured proud looking Native American Chiefs. I just don’t get it.

I said this last year, and my opinion has not changed. The current Illini helmet is the worst design in the Big Ten and amongst the worst in the country. It’s a bright orange helmet with a white facemask featuring Illinois spelled out on the side in italics. I honestly think the person that designed this helmet did so using Microsoft Word. Barf.

Looking at the putrid history of Illinois football helmets has motivated me to start a project in which I re-design every Big Ten football helmet into something more interesting. Once the season ends and things get slow around here again, I will share what I come up with.

Fight Song: The official Illinois fight song is called Oskee Wow Wow. The song was written by two Illinois students (Howard Green and Harold Hill) in 1911 – but only after they decided the official school song (Illinois Loyalty) was not very good for getting the crowd fired up during a game.



Old Princeton yells her tiger, Wisconsin her Varsity.
And they give the same old "Rah-rah-rah! at each university.
But the yell that always thrills me, and fills my heart with joy
is the good old Oskee-Wow-Wow that they yell at Illinois.

Oskee-Wow-Wow, Illinois! Our eyes are all on you.
Oskee-Wow-Wow, Illinois! Wave your orange and your blue (rah, rah!).
When the team trots out before you, every man stand up and yell.
Back the team to gain a victory. Oskee-Wow-Wow, Illinois!

(There is also a second verse, which is rarely sung)
Teddy Roosevelt may be famous, and his name you often hear.
But it's heroes on the football field each college man holds dear.
We think with pride of Roberts, Artie Hall and Heavy, too.
Oskee-Wow-Wow for the wearers of the Orange and the Blue!

Academics: Thanks to Tom Cruise, Illinois has a national reputation as a "safety school" for midwestern kids that can't get into to their first choice college. Actually this is a pretty good school. According to the most recent US News' ranking of America's Best National Universities, Illinois is ranked as the 39th best school in the country. That ranking placed them as the 3rd best school in the Big Ten, behind Northwestern, Michigan (They are tied at #39 with Wisconsin). Last year they accepted nearly 70% of the applicants, which seems like a pretty high number to me. Nearly 90 percent of the undergraduate students come from the state of Illinois.

Football: The Illini started playing football in 1890. Over the years, the team has won 15 Big Ten championships, the last coming in 2001. They have been to 15 bowl games and win 6 of them, the last was the 1999 MicronPC Bowl. They have won or shared five football National Championships, two of them before they were called the Illini. The last coming in 1951.

They play in some interesting "trophy games" including the ever important IlliBuck trophy game with Ohio State. Up until 1933, Illinois was always Ohio State's last game of the season. Originally the "trophy" was a live turtle picked for its long life expectancy as a symbol of the long life of the rivalry. Since the original turtle died, there have been nine wooden replica Illibucks carved with the scores from games on its back. The Illibuck is the second oldest trophy passed between Big Ten Football programs (the Little Brown Jug is the oldest).

From an individual player perspective, it is hard to top the Fighting Illini. The school has produced three of the greatest football players in the history of the game: Red Grange, Ray Nitschke, and Dick Butkus. The university actually dedicated a new statue of Red Grange outside of Memorial Stadium this year. Pretty Impressive.

Athletics: Illinois is a charter member of the Big Ten. The university offers a surprisingly low 10 men’s and 11 women’s teams. They actually classify cheerleading as both a men’s and women’s varsity sport. Given the equal scholarship requirements of Title IX and the fact that they have a major college football team, I don’t know how they do it.

The Fighting Illini can claim twenty-five National Championships dating back to 1900. Surprisingly they have only won two National Championships in any sport since 1958 — Men's Tennis in 2003 and Men's Gymnastics in 1989. No women’s team has ever won a national title.

Like our favorite local land grant college in East Lansing, most fans think of Illinois as a basketball school. They have won 17 Big Ten titles and been to five Final Fours. Sadly, their basketball success has always ended in ruin as they hold the record for playing in the most NCAA tournament games without a winning a championship. Most recently the 2005 team that went undefeated until the last game of the regular season (where they lost to Ohio State) and lost in the NCAA Finals game to North Carolina. Also, important to Michigan fans, they lost in the 1989 Final Four Semis to us – after they had twice routed the Wolverines in the regular season.

Famous former Illinois athletes include NBA stars Derek Harper, Eddie Johnson, Nick Anderson and Kendall Gill. Baseball Hall of Famer Lou Boudreau. NFL top pick Jeff George and Pro Bowler Simeon Rice.

Famous alums: The list of famous people that attended Illinois’ is pretty impressive. They claim to have 21 Nobel laureates and 20 Pulitzer Prize winners. Famous names include Playboy Hugh Hefner, actor Gene Hackman, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, Congressman and Presidential candidate John Anderson, Lincoln Memorial Architect Henry Bacon, Phoenix sports owner Jerry Colangelo, BET founder Robert Johnson, former GE Chairman Jack Welsh, and the creator of the Harlem Globetrotters Abe Saperstein.

It is safe to say that without the University of Illinois this blog (all blogs for that matter) would not be possible: They produced the developer of the first graphical web browser Mosaic (Marc Andreessen) and the co-founders of YouTube (Jawed Karim & Steve Chen).

For those of you are keeping score… Illinois has zero presidents and five NASA astronauts.

The Game: Who the heck knows anymore? From all indications Illinois is one of the worst Division I football teams in the country. They have only won one game this season, against Illinois State (a FCS school). They have gotten rolled by Missouri, Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan State. Juice Williams has regressed so badly that he has lost his starting QB job. Ron Zook appears to be working the same great recruiter/poor coach magic he worked at Florida.

I am not buying it. This is going to be a tough game for us. No matter how bad they are, we are still a very young team on the road. We need to not turn the ball over and make defensive stops to get a win, and we have not been doing either very well lately. We can and should win this game, but it will rest on the defense. Gotta get this one to take the pressure off for next week against Purdue.

I am not comfortable at all with this one, but here we go...

Michigan 32
Illinois 24

Wallpaper Wednesday: Kelvin Grady

Last week Dusty created a Kevin Grady wallpaper, this week he delivers a Kelvin Grady wallpaper.

He also wanted me to pass on: If you have any requests or ideas for a wallpaper, leave a comment and we will try to get one done.

And NO... before you ask... we are not doing a Boubacar Cissoko wallpaper.

Spawn Fantasy Football Week 7

Submitted by BigAssHammm, Spawn Fantasy FB czar.

Another weekend of miserable football action. Both in college and of the professional variety. Lots of blowouts this week and not a lot of parity. The same can be said of the Spawn FF this week as their was only one close game. On to the action...

Starting off with our Game Of The Week SleepingwiththeEnemy managed to knock off the league's #1 Smooth Operators during the Monday night game. Although Mcnabb's numbers weren't spectacular he did enough combined with kicker David Akers to propel Sleeping over Smooth. Smooth played a good game but came up short in a few key categories and that made all the difference.

In other news He Hate Me went on to bludgeon the Bursley Busses by almost 40 points. Big games from Chad "Don't Call Me Johnson" 85 and the Pittsburgh Steel Curtain D led the way to this performance. Bursley's players played for winning teams but they were not able to compile the stats needed to elevate the team.

Zoltan's Heroes was able to hold off 9 Finger Freaks in a somewhat close game. Phillip Rivers is starting to climb back to FF greatness while Cedric Benson obviously couldn't get out of Chicago fast enough. 9 Finger had an overall good performance but it just wasn't quite enough to get them the victory. Braylon Edwards continues his career path of NFL bust with another poor injury riddled performance.

In this week's final game Bigasshammm was trounced by league juggernaut Defenstrators. Bigasshammm had one of their better weeks but it was nothing compared to the 150+ point performance of the Defenstration. With 5 out of 9 player positions scoring above 20 points you will be hard to beat every week. The biggest surprise was the fact that Drew Brees was not the high scorer, that honor went to the Eagles Desean Jackson. Bigasshammm continues to struggle to find a consistent running game but seems to have shored up a solid receiving corps. We'll see where FA takes them in the next week or two.

With the end of week 7 that takes the FF league to it's halfway point. Playoffs begin week 15 of the NFL season and the top 6 teams will play for the crown. Current standings are as such. Defenestrators sit atop the throne at 6-1 with a whopping 790 points. Smooth Operators is alone in 2nd place at 5-2 with 753 points. A 2 way tied for third has SleepingwiththeEnemy and He Hate Me at 4-3. Zoltan's Heroes is alone in the 5th position with a 3-4 record. Finally it is a 3 dog race for the final playoff spot with 9 Finger Freaks, Bigasshammm, and Bursley Busses clawing it out at the bottom each at 2-5 on the year. Trade deadline is Nov 20th not that we've seen much action in that area but the information is out there.

Rewind: 1981 vs Illinois

I decided to take a look one of my favorite Illinois games of all time. The 1981 Michigan Wolverines came into the game ranked #12. The unranked Illini were coached by Mike White and led on the field by talented QB Tony Eason and a bunch of junior college transfers. One defense, they had future Super Bowl hero Jack Squirek at middle linebacker. Michigan had a very impressive team, led by WR Anthony Carter, QB Steve Smith, RBs Butch Woolfolk & Stanley Edwards. Our offensive line was awesome and the defense was tough, even if Mike Boren was one of the starters.

This was the first game following the death of Bob Ufer. It was not broadcast live on TV, rather it was presented in "tape delay" on something called ON TV.

1st Quarter: Illinois took the opening kickoff and marched right down into the end zone in less than 2 minutes. Michigan answered with a quick strike of their own, Steve Smith hitting Anthony Carter on a beautiful post route. 7-7. The rest of the quarter, it was all Illini. They could not be stopped, scoring twice with ease. The Michigan crowd was stunned and things did not look good. The quarter ended with Michigan losing 7-21.

2nd Quarter: Illinois started the 2nd quarter as fast as they did the first quarter. They marched the ball into the red zone and were a dropped pass away from taking a three touchdown lead. Then it all turned around for the Wolverines. Tony Eason threw an interception to Jerry Burgei at the goal line turning the momentum towards the Wolverines. Michigan quickly tied the score 21-21 on a Steve Smith one yard run and a touchdown pass to Craig Dunaway. Everything pointed to a tough battle.

Late in the quarter, Michigan got the ball in their own 20 yard line with 1:02 left. Normally you would have expected the very conservative Bo Schembechler to sit on the ball and take the tie into the locker room. But a couple of nice runs by Stanley Edwards put the ball on the 42 yard line. Steve Smith dropped back, saw that everyone was covered and took off untouched up the middle of the field for a touchdown. Michigan went into halftime with an improbable 28-21 lead.

3rd Quarter: The momentum of the 2nd quarter carried over as Steve Smith hit Anthony Carter again for a touchdown and ran for his third TD of the game. Michigan led 42-21 and things just kept getting worse for Illinois.

4th Quarter: The scoring fest continued with Lawrence Ricks, Stanley Edwards, Rick Rogers all scoring running touchdowns and BJ Dickey throwing a TD to Tom Hassel. Final Score: Michigan 70-21

What did I learn from re-watching this game: Despite what you might believe, Bo was not afraid of the forward pass. Denard Robinson is not the first really fast Michigan quarterback to wear #16- Steve Smith won this game with both his feet and arm. Watching Anthony Carter play amazes me, even 30 years later. He was the most exciting player to ever put on a Michigan football helmet. College football is a different game, the depth and talent differential between Michigan and Illinois was incredible.

Do you want to see the game for yourself ? You can download this game here.

Reality Check

I want to apologize to anyone looking here for "healing" after the beat down we suffered on Saturday. My son is going away to college next year. One of the schools he is considering attending is LSU, so I took my son to the LSU/Auburn game so we could see the campus and experience the gameday atmosphere.

I did get to watch most of our game thanks to a very friendly group of LSU fans, a satellite dish mounted in a home depot bucket, and a 6:30CST kick off. If you are a college football junkie like myself, and you have never been to a game in Baton Rouge, I would strong suggest you do so.

When Michigan started the season with four straight wins -- everyone (including myself) was feeling euphoric. After the nightmare of 2008, we had returned to our rightful place amongst the top tier college football teams. The reality was something much different.

We lost to Sparty, but the feeling was still positive because we almost came back in miracle fashion and Tate was more than just an average exciting freshman. Then we lost to Iowa, but we could all still fell good, after all we lost to a top 10 team on the road by 2 points, and we turned the ball over 5 times. Even that was "respectable".

Things took a dramatic turn in the rain on Saturday. Before the season started, the Penn State game was not one I placed a "W" next to. Our fast start and improbable victory over Notre Dame had me believing this was a game we could have won. If a couple of things went our way, we could beat these guys. The thud you heard on saturday was Reality setting in.

It is time for a sanity check:
1) We are a very young football team. As such, there will be more mistakes, strange turnovers, bad decisions, and losses on the way.
2) We are a much better football team than last year. We have infinitely more talent playing at the quarterback position. Our offensive line is more experienced and more capable.
3) It is going to take some time to get back onto the national stage. There is no quick fix to this situation. Acting irrational or overly emotional will not help.

The goal at the start of the season was 6 WINS and a bowl invite. Looking at the schedule we realistically have a shot at winning the next 2 weeks. Neither of those games is a "gimme". If we are going to get to the 6 win mark and a bowl bid - we have to get one of the two.

Don't under estimate Illinois. I know they have looked terrible all year. I know Ron Zook is the village idiot. They still have a ton of athletes, they are playing at home, they have nothing to lose, and they kicked our asses last year. Expecting a win from our young team on the road is a risky proposition.

Purdue looks to be the most improving team week to week in the Big Ten. They took Notre Dame to the last minute and have already beaten Ohio State. Certainly not an automatic W.

The goal is still 6 wins. I still think we can get there. Anything more, don't count on it.

Game Day GACK.

Oh my. Epic Fail. So much head-shaking.....
Now Penn State is the real deal, and they are a great football team, but holy moly football fan---we WHIFFED on that game.
No execution. No offensive flow. No go.

I can't even really be mad. I'm mean how young are these kids??? First rain game. Crazy hype with the flyover and the opening TD, followed by complete collapse. I at least give Rich Rod credit for saying that this one was mostly on the coaches and that he was really disappointed.

4 turnovers today, which is one less than the 5 against Iowa. A safety? Molk gone. Warren and Hemingway kneecapped in one play??? oh. my.

The one shining star?? BRANDON. GRAHAM.

discuss....

Game Day Open Thread: Penn State

“They are not stupid, you're just pissed off you cannot do it.”

----Coach Barwis

pic from dictailgate.com

Know your Foe – Penn State 2009

Saturday afternoon the 11th ranked Penn State football team will play the unranked Michigan football team in Ann Arbor. The game will be broadcast on ESPN/ABC. This will only be the 15th meeting between these two traditional college football powers. Michigan holds a 10-4 series advantage. Penn State won last year 46-17. Here are some other things you should know about our guests from central Pennsylvania.

History: The institution now known as Penn State originally started out as a “high school”. It was founded in 1855 under the name Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania. Like many new schools outside of major cities, the place was created to teach the scientific methods of farming. When the 1862 version of the Morrill Act was passed, the school took the Land Grant money for Pennsylvania and changed the name to The Agricultural College of Pennsylvania.

Like many of the original Land Grant schools, the internal struggle for the educational mission of the school created tension and division. As the curriculum drifted between the purely agricultural and the more profitable classical, public confidence fell and the student enrollment went with it. By 1875 there were only 64 undergraduates were enrolled. Eventually they righted the ship, renamed themselves again to Pennsylvania State College, and grew to the largest non-governmental economic engine in the state of Pennsylvania. The school now annually generates more than $8 billion in direct economic impact to the Commonwealth and supports more than 60,000 total jobs.

Location: The main campus is located in State College, Pennsylvania, though the mailing address is actually University Park, Pennsylvania. The area is commonly referred to as Happy Valley.

If you are confused, join the club.

In 1953, when the institution went from being a college to a university, Penn State President Milton S. Eisenhower wanted the town to also change its name. However the locals refused. Not to be dissuaded, Eisenhower asked his older brother Dwight (who just happened to be the US president) give the university its own post office and zip code and named it University Park.

Whatever you want to call the place; the people I know that went to school there love the campus and are very proud of their school. The most famous building on campus is called Old Main, and it serves as the administrative center of the school, housing the offices of the president and other officials.

They also have their own ice cream factory on campus called the Berkey Creamery. PSU’s Department of Food Science runs the largest university creamery in the United States, using about 4.5 million pounds of milk annually, around half of which comes from a 225-cow herd at the University's Dairy Production Research Center. They offer over 100 flavors and sell 750,000 hand-dipped ice cream cones per year.

Nickname: They call themselves the Nittany Lions. The name is derived from the mountain lions that roamed the area for thousands of years before they were all killed by local citizens in the 1880s. Penn State claims to be the first university to choose a Lion as their mascot after one of their baseball players (Joe Mason) went to a game at Princeton in 1904. He was jealous of the Tiger moniker used by Princeton and somehow convinced everyone to adopt “Lions” in 1907 without a vote or contest. The origin of the word "Nittany" is a little more obscure. The most commonly accepted explanation traces its derivation to Indian words meaning either "single mountain" or "protective barrier against the elements”.

Mascot: In the 1920s, a pair of stuffed mountain lions was placed in the Recreation Building to watch over athletic events. About that same time, the tradition began of having a student dressed in a furry lion costume clown around on the sidelines at football games.

It appears that that costume from the 1940 is still in use today. It looks like it has been on the sidelines longer that Joe Paterno himself. Quite frankly, the Penn State Lion costume sucks and is embarassing for a traditional football power like Penn State.

In contrast to the stupid middle school quality mascot, Penn State has a dignified mountain lion statue in the place they call “Lion Shrine” on campus. The Class of 1940 gave their alma mater $5,430 to pay for the construction of the shrine located between the Recreation Building and Beaver Field. German sculptor Heinze Warnecke carved the lion on site in the summer of 1942, from a thirteen-ton block of limestone. He finished just in time for it to be dedicated at homecoming ceremonies on October 24th.


Colors/Logo/Helmet: Unless you have been living in a cave for your entire life, you know that Penn State wears blue and white. But that wasn’t always the case. In 1887 a committee was appointed to develop color options from which the student body would select the school's official colors. Dark pink and black was the unanimous choice of the student body after considering the color combinations presented by the committee.

The baseball team was the first to sport pink and black. However, issues arose when the pink faded to white after several weeks of exposure to the sun. The students then opted for blue, rather than black, and white. The official announcement of the new choice was made on March 18, 1890.

As you would expect, Penn State has a solidly designed / recognizable logo (displayed above). This is the second time around for this stylized mountain lion head icon, because it was actually replaced in 2001 with more modern logo designed by a professional market branding company. This change was met with disdain and only lasted three years before they went back to the old logo.

Penn Staters are as proud of their plain white helmets as we are of our historic winged masterpieces. Combined with their plain white pants and white or blue jerseys they wear the most ordinary, and yet at the same time most recognizable, uniforms in all levels of football. Penn State doesn’t even put bowl game patches on their jersey when they go to a bowl game, but they do have that omni-present Nike logo. There really isn’t any history to their helmets, except for a 5 year period (1968-74) where they put numbers on their sides (like Alabama). Just like the new logo, they went back.

Fight Song: Just in case you have not gotten the theme of this place, you need to listen to their fight song: Boring.

For my money, the most recognizable sounds coming out of Beaver Stadium is either the amplified toilet flushing sound they call a Lion Roar or Kernkraft 400 by Zombie Nation. The Penn State Fight Song is as boring and about as non-descript as you can get from a major college football program. It doesn’t even come close to any of their top Big Ten rivals. It sounds like a circus tune.



FIGHT ON, STATE
Fight on State (GO!)
Fight on State (GO!)
Strike your gait and win, (LET’S GO STATE!)
Victory we predict for thee
We’re ever true to you, dear old White and Blue.
Onward State, (GO!)
Onward State, (GO!)
Roar, Lions, roar: (LET’S GO STATE!)
We’ll hit that line, roll up the score,
Fight on to victory ever more,
Fight on, on, on, on, on, Fight on, on, Penn State! (S-T-A-T-E GO! STATE!)

Academics: Academically, Penn State is faced with a similar situation as Michigan State. When not compared to the in-state University in Pennsylvania, they stand on solid academic ground. Unfortunately for Penn State (and Sparty) the comparison with another major university in the same state is natural and not favorable.

The school is currently ranked as the 47th best National University in the US News and World Report rankings. That places them fifth in the Big Ten conference behind Northwestern (12), Michigan (27), Wisconsin and Illinois (both at 39). Their 2008 acceptance rate was 52%, however this a little misleading because many Penn State students begin their college careers at a satellite campus and transfer to the main campus after one year.

Football: Any conversation about Penn State football needs to start with Joe Paterno. He has been at the school for 60 seasons, including the last 43 years as head coach. He has delivered two National Championships and has the most victories by any Division I coach. He has coached won more bowl games and delivered more undefeated seasons than any other coach in college football history. Paterno is one of four active coaches inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

In 1969 Michigan Athletic Director Don Canham contacted Paterno to see if he would accept the vacant Michigan job. Paterno turned down the offer and Michigan went on to hire Bo Schembechler. That same year, Paterno was also offered the Pittsburgh Steelers job before Chuck Noll took over and created an NFL Dynasty.

In 1993, after years of beating cupcakes like Temple, Maryland, and Rutgers, Joe and the Nittany Lions joined the Big Ten Conference. Life changed and Penn State has found the football a little tougher in the Big Ten. They have won only three Big Ten football titles since joining the conference and have set a new standard for complaining about the officials. They also currently (and temporarily) have the stadium with the largest seating capacity in the country, although they did not lead the nation in attendance last year.

The program has had such a propensity for producing great linebackers, the school has earned the nickname “Linebacker U.” The great Penn State linebackers looks like a who’s who of college football defensive greats: Jack Ham, LaVar Arrington, Brandon Short, Mark D’Onofrio, Andre Collins, Shane Conlan, Paul Posluszny, Dan Connor, and of course, Matt "NFL franchise killer" Millen.

Other Famous Penn State football players include Heisman Trophy winner John Cappelletti and Pro Football Hall of Famer Franco Harris. More recently they have produced NFL players like Larry Johnson, Kerry Collins, and Michael Robinson.

Other sports: When most people only think Penn State athletics, they think football. Most people don’t know that Penn State has one of the most successful overall athletic programs in the country. They have finished in the Top 25 in the NACDA Director's Cup every year since the inception of the program. Sports Illustrated recently ranked their overall athletic program as the 6th best in the nation. They have won 62 National Championships in sports other than football, the most recent being the 2009 Men's and Women's Fencing teams.

Famous alums: The Penn State Alumni Association—a network of 161,234 members—is the largest dues-paying alumni association in the world. Names that you might recognize: Mark Parker, CEO of Nike, Former Secretary of Defense William J. Perry, Former Pennsylvania and first Director of Homeland Security Tom Ridge, Steve McCurry, photojournalist (most famous for the National Geographic photograph of the “Afghan Girl”); Herman Fisher, co-founder of Fisher-Price toy company; Richard T. James, Inventor of the Slinky; Jef Raskin, human-computer interface expert (best-known for starting the Macintosh project for Apple); John Aniston, soap opera actor and father of actress Jennifer Aniston; ESPN sideline reporter Lisa Salters; Hugh Rodham, Hillary Clinton’s brother, and Tom Verducci, writer for Sports Illustrated.

Penn State also can claim two pretty cool fictional alumni: Bruce Banner (better known when he is green and angry) and Dunder Mifflin’s HR rep Toby Flenderson.

I have missed this over the last couple of weeks because Iowa and Delaware State did not have any US Presidents or Astronauts. Penn State can claim four astronauts including Guion Bluford, the first African American in space. No Presidents.

The Game: Going into the game last year, I could not have had lower expectations. We were terrible and they were undefeated. They were ranked #3 in the nation. After nine straight losses to us they were motivated to grind us into little bits. The fact we were actually ahead at halftime (17-14) is one of the small miracles in my lifetime. As expected, this euphoria did not last as we were out scored 32-0 in the second half. Penn State had finally beaten Michigan and everyone was finally Happy in Happy Valley.

This year, I don’t have the same low expectations. Strange things happen when Penn State comes to Ann Arbor. Penn State is a good football team, but as Iowa showed a couple of weeks ago, they can be beaten. I honestly believe the 2009 version of the Michigan football team is capable of winning this game. We will need to take care of the football, eliminate the big play defensive breakdowns, and get a little magic from a healthy Tate Forcier.

Michigan 27
Penn State 24

Roadkill

One of our readers sent me an email asked me to "make a wallpaper" out of this iconic 2006 image of Alan Branch at Penn State. I had some time yesterday afternoon and I was feeling creative. Here you go. Enjoy.

Despite what the Bearcats, Redneck Rocker, or Terrelle Pryor might have you believe, this is Penn State week. As such, it is probably a good idea to spend sometime thinking about them. I've watched Paterno's 2009 team a couple of times, and outside of a nasty rainy night against Iowa -- they are pretty darn good. We are going to need to play a very solid mistake free game to beat them.

Regarding this game this year... For the life of me, I don't understand why Brandon Graham has to say things like 'We had them last year'. Dude, we lost 46-17. Now, don't get me wrong - I LOVE Brandon Graham. He is the rock this program has leaned on during this brutal transition. But I wish someone would tell him to stay silent and wreck shop during the game.

I guess it doesn't really matter. Penn State doesn't need any bulletin board material to get them motivated to come into Michigan Stadium.

Ohio's Best team

HT: MATW and BAHammm

Oh my.... I don't know how I have missed this, but a local Cincinnati radio station is having a lot of fun with Buckeyes fans.

Radio Station WLW is the home of the UC Bearcats. They are undefeated and currently ranked #5 in the BCS standings and not very humble about it. I took a look at the future OSU football schedules and I see that the Buckeyes and Bearcats are scheduled to meet in 2012 and 2014. It looks like Governor Tressel needs to get his state under control.

A word of warning to Bearcat fans from a humbled Michigan fan: I am not sure how smart it is to antagonize these guys this way.

UC Radio 1: Two hands no thumbs UC Radio 2: Call your football team UC Radio 3: Pushed around by Navy UC Radio 4: Arbitrary UC Radio 5: Beat a ranked team

UC Radio 6: I'm gonna laugh UC Radio 7: Who is the second best ? UC Radio 8: Buy a ticket UC Radio 9: Bandwagon jumpers UC Radio 10: Embarrassing the state

Wallpaper Wednesday: Kevin Grady

Another one from our new wallpaper czar: Dusty.

Kevin Grady has certainly had his issues during his time in Ann Arbor. I have not always been nice or supportive. But, I am glad that he had taken his second chance opportunity and made the most of it.

I am sure was nice for his parents to see both Grady brothers score a touchdown in the same game last week.

Rewind: 1993 at Penn State

This week Michigan plays Penn State for the 15th time in the storied history of both programs. It may be hard to believe, but prior to Penn State joining the Big Ten these two schools had never met on the football field. This week I am going to rewind to the initial game between the Wolverines and Nittany Lions. The game was nationally televised (on ABC) and was called by the classic team of Keith Jackson/Bob Griese/Lynn Swann.

Heading into the game Penn State was undefeated and ranked in the top ten. Michigan had 2 losses, including one the week before in East Lansing. Key players for Michigan on offense include QB Todd Collins, RB Tyronne Wheatley, WR Derrick Alexander, and a very young Jon Runyan.

1st Quarter: Michigan took the opening kickoff and marched right down to field in ten plays to the Penn State 20 yard line. At this point the ridiculous "college football crowd noise" rule that was in place became a factor. The Beaver Stadium crowd was so loud that the game was delayed 3 times and it cost Joe Paterno a time out. Eventually it was quiet enough for Michigan to run a play. The offense failed to convert and Peter Elezovic missed an easy field goal, much to the delight of the Penn Staters.

Penn State took over featuring RB Ki-Jana Carter and QB Kerry Collins. Their inital drive was essentially an exact replica of the Wolverines drive, minus the crowd noise penalty. They slash and smash the ball for 11 plays taking it inside the 5 yard line, but were stopped in the shadow of the goal line. Penn State kicker Craig Fayak missed his 25 yard FG attempt.

Penn State does eventually hits a field goal near the end of the quarter to take a 3-0 lead.

2nd Quarter: Penn State opens the quarter much like they spent the 1st quarter, riding on the shifty moves of Ki-Jana Carter. Collins throws a beautiful touchdown pass to Bobby Engram to give Penn State a 10-0 lead. Things do not look good at this point for Gary Moeller's team.

A couple of series later, Derrick Alexander breaks off an exciting 48 yard punt return for touchdown. Making the score 10-7 with about 5 minutes left in the half. There was no more scoring heading into halftime.

3rd Quarter: Michigan opens the 3rd quarter much like the opened the game, running the ball into the teeth of the Penn State defense with Wheatley and Ricky Powers. Just like with the first drive, Michigan misses a short FG -- but Penn State was flagged for being off sides, giving Todd Collins a first down and another chance inside the 20. Collins hits Mercury Hayes for a diving toe-touching 16 yard touchdown. Michigan now leads 14-10.

Penn State gets the ball back and quickly marches inside the five yard line, helped by two questionable pass interference calls made on Ty Law. At this point, the Michigan defense prevents a touchdown run for 3 straight plays and the quarter ends.

4th Quarter: Penn State starts the 4th quarter inside the one yard line facing a 4th down. Paterno goes for it and our line beat the Penn State line like it was the 2007 wolverines and Ki-Jana Carter was stuffed. The defense celebrates a HUGE goal line stand.

Michigan digs itself out from the 1 foot line with the help of freshman Jon Ritchie. He is a Pennsylvania native that eventually transferred to Stanford and played for fullback for 49ers and Eagles in the NFL. But we had to punt, giving Paterno great field position. Penn State takes the ball, drives inside the 10 yard line but stalls and settles for a field goal. Michigan still leads 14-13.

Following the Penn State field goal, Tyronne Wheately took over literally carrying the team inside the 10 yard line with about 6 minutes left in the game. The long 47 yarder was classic a Wheatley rumble, combining speed/size/power better than any Michigan back in history. On 3rd down, Todd Collins hits fullback Che Foster on a swing pass for a touchdown. Michigan expands the lead to 21-13.

Penn State's offense is silent on the next drive and punts the ball down 8 points with 4:20 left. Wheatley and the offensive line officially welcome Penn State to the Big Ten , grinding out several first downs and chewing up the clock. With about one minute left, Moeller goes for a fourth down on about the 35 yard line, looking to close the game out. However, Foster is stuffed and Penn State gets the ball back with 52 seconds and no time outs. But Kerry Collins shows why he was last in the B10 conference in passing, throwing an interception to Shante Peoples.

What did we learn ? The crowd noise rule sucked. Despite the two losses, the 1993 version of Michigan was a strong team. A strong offensive and defensive line can make a difference in a tight game. Goal line stands can provide a huge emotional lift for a team. Penn State fans learned how to deal with the first of many heartbreaking losses to Michigan. Both Tyronne Wheatley and Ki-Jana Carter were great college running backs. Joe Paterno was really old in 1993.

You can snag a copy of this game here or watch the Wolverine Historian's YouTube highlights.