Sparty On 2010

"It's not the Spartans that are rioting. Usually, it's others that come here."

Wallpaper Wednesday: Michigan Panthers

We are only a couple of weeks away from the spring football game. Ahhh, spring football... what a novel idea. For those of you old enough to remember, there was a spring football league for a couple of seasons in the mid 1980's. It was called the United States Football League. I was a big Michigan Panther fan back in the day. Primarily because they had Anthony Carter AND they had the best looking helmets in professional football. I remember the night they won the inaugural USFL Championship game like it was yesterday. Good times.

VANDALS at the Big House

By: Jake Fromm
Daily Staff Photographer
Published March 30th, 2010

University Police reported yesterday that Michigan Stadium was vandalized this weekend when a strip of the block ‘M’ on the 50-yard line was stolen. The incident was reported by stadium staff at 11:30 a.m. on Monday. Diane Brown, spokeswoman for the Department of Public Safety, said the stolen strip was a 6” by 4’ piece on the edge of the ‘M’ and that there was some damage to the surrounding area. Damages are estimated at approximately $1,000 to repair the affected area of the field. There are no suspects or leads, but the incident is under investigation. University Police are unsure how someone was able to access the field.

5 things I like less than John Gravallese

I went to bed on Sunday night frustrated with the sudden and soul-crushing end of the Michigan hockey season. As a Michigan sports fan, you learn to deal with things like this -- I just woke up and went on with my day looking to find something else to focus on. It did not work. I needed to understand how and why it came to this. At the risk of sounding too much like a Penn State football fan, I needed to know more about this John Gravallese character. A simple google search turned up something from US College Hockey Online about the source of my pain. This interesting article included this terribly ironic quote:

“I just get my assignment, pack my bags and show up.... I try to blend in and let the game call itself.”

Really? You have no idea how much I wish that was true. Instead of letting this ridiculous anger go too far, I decided to get creative and make a list of five things I like less than the "senior man in Hockey East"

1) Raw onions: Sorry Mom, I can't stand them. There is no quicker way to ruin a sandwich or burger than laying a tastless foul smelling mistake on it. I generally like vegetables, but adding raw onions to a mixed salad is a crime. Want to destroy a tuna salad? add chopped onions. Looking to ensure there is left over pizza? add raw onions. The strange thing is I have no problem with cooked/sautéed onions and eat them when offered. But the raw crunch of an onion is unbearable for me.

2) Mr Met: As a lifelong Phillies phan, I am genetically predisposed to loath anything connected the National League franchise in New York . I was an undergrad at Michigan in 1986. It was bad. As a rule, I accept sports mascots as part of the entertainment package of live sporting events. When you really look at him, Mr Met is just plain creepy. Why is he always smiling? Clearly he has not watched his team play for the last couple of years.

3) Snakes: I live in Texas. It is hot here. Last summer I pulled into my garage and stepped out of my car. Something moved. It was a small harmless garter snake slithering about a foot from my safely covered toes. I yelped loudly. I quickly jumped away. Once I realized how foolish I looked, I grabbed a tool looking to kill my nemasis. Much to his benefit, he was gone. I have not gotten out of my car in the garage without looking down since.

4) Mark Dantonio: Worshiped by FDFP writers and long suffering Sparty football fans for his bravado -- I see Mark Dantonio as nothing more than a boorish moron. Time and time again he has delivered. Just a few: His memorable moment of silence comment after the Michigan loss to Appy State. Whining about Michigan players celebrating a win. Responding to Mike Hart by making fun of his size. Openly cheering for Ohio State when his team needed a Buckeye loss to have a chance at the Rose Bowl. Saying he would be embarrassed by only 3 wins minutes after getting crushed at Penn State. Allowing Glen Winston to join practice hours after being released from jail.

5) The wave: I refuse. It was fun the first couple of instances I saw it happen at Michigan Stadium. But that was in the 80's. Enough already. Pay attention to what is going on in the game. Stay focused on being loud and creating a home field advantage. Let it die.

Phew, I feel better.

Being Manny

The hits just keep on coming.

This morning Manny Harris officially confirmed what most Michigan fans already knew: He was leaving early for the professional ranks (note the choice of words, I did not say the NBA). He is hiring an agent. He will not be returning to Ann Arbor for his senior season. Ho hum.

"I will always appreciate the college game and what it has done for me, but playing professional basketball has always been a goal and I feel it is the best time to pursue that. I will always be a Michigan Wolverine at heart and bleed Maize and Blue forever."

Great. Thanks for the memories Manny. This is going to be viewed as sour grapes from a Michigan fan denied the opportunity to watch an improving senior led team next year. It is not. I don't watch basketball much anymore because of things like this. Don't get me wrong... from what I have witnessed, I generally like Manny Harris. I like his game. He is a pretty good basketball player. He was the best, by a wide margin, Michigan had on their team over the last 3 seasons. I recognize and admire his skills. I also acknowledge his dream and desire of playing and making millions in the NBA. But at some point, reality needs to set in for everyone. The real story is this: Manny Harris has decided to sit at the end of an NBA bench and/or tour Europe with a pro basketball team for the next 3 years.

I am no NBA scout, but someone has done this kid a disservice in telling him he is ready to guard Kobe or LeBron. In my uninformed opinion, the chances of Manny Harris becoming a productive NBA player are about the same as the Michigan basketball program sweeping aside Tom Izzo's grip on the state's hoop dream. Over the last decade I have seen waaaaaay too many above average college basketball players believe the NBA is their destiny. And now it looks like Manny Harris is one of them. NBA ready players carry their college teams deep into the NCAA tournament. NBA ready players win big games. NBA ready players beat their rivals consistently. NBA ready players finish the game before pounding on their chest in celebration. NBA players make their all conference first teams.

I am going to miss Manny Harris. I wish him well. I just hope he adjusts well to living and playing in europe.

Hockey season ending healing

Open Thread : NCAA Regional Hockey Final

The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary


Go Blue
Beat Miami

Hunwick. Hagelin. Hello Miami

The beat goes on.

Michigan 5
Bemidji 1

Redhawks tomorrow night.

Eagle Globe and Anchor

This has nothing to do with Michigan, college sports, or semi-naked women -- but still nothing short of pure awesomeness. I received this from a friend of mine and had to share:

A living Marine Corps emblem comprised of 100 officers and 5000 enlisted marines taken at the Marine Corps Barracks in Parris Island, South Carolina in the 1920s.

For those of you that have ever served in the Marine Corps... just try to image the amount of bitching that went on as this photo was been set up. Wow.

Know Your Foe: Bemidji State

Basic facts and history: Bemidji State University (going forward, I will simply type BSU) is a public state university located in Bemidji, Minnesota. The school was founded in 1919 as Bemidji State Normal School. The name was later changed to Bemidji State Teachers College, then shortened to Bemidji State College and finally Bemidji State University. If these names sound familiar, check out my KYF on Western Michigan from last fall.

One other thing they have in common with our friends from Kalamazoo, girls, lots of them. Females make up over 55% of the student population here.

The Chippewa (Ojibwe) tribe settled near here in 1750 and continue to hold an important place the community. A band of about fifty Leech Lake Indians (The Leech Lake Band Of Ojibwe) lived and farmed wild rice along the south shore of a lake since the 1880s. The US Government established a reservation and have been dealing with the Leech Lake Indians on a government-to-government basis longer than Minnesota has been a state.

In the late 1800’s the rural roads were always a major problem for the area. Early settlers were required to pay a poll tax or work specified days just to keep up the muddy township roads. In 1913, the township board gave a resident 50 pounds of FREE dynamite to blow out stumps on "his" road. It appears that they now have paved roads and no longer need citizens and dynamite to keep things moving.

About 10 years ago, the BSU Board of Regents recommended changing the name of the university to Minnesota State University – Bemidji. The move was innocently designed to improve the brand awareness and general recognition of the school. This name change was universally opposed by students, alumni, and local bystanders. Rather than face the angry mob, the Board decided against the name change.

Location: BSU is located on the shores of Lake Bemidji in the heart of northern Minnesota's lakes and forest region. It sits four hours northwest of Minneapolis and two hours northeast of Fargo, North Dakota. Technically, you can make the claim that Lake Bemidji is just a bulge in the Mississippi River because water Mighty Mississippi is both received and drained here before making the 2,552 mile journey to New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico.

The city derives it’s name from the local Native Americans meaning "lake that traverses another body of water". There are about 13,000 people that live here, and the average annual temperature is a chilly 37 degrees. They average about 3.5 feet of snow a year. The lake typically freezes in mid November and stays that way until mid April. BSU has an underground walkway system so the students can wear t-shirts and flip-flops all year long.

The legend of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox is very strong here. The city makes a claim as the “official home of Paul Bunyan” and include them on their seal and flag. In 1937 the community built statues of both. Thanks to the miracle of the Internet, you can watch over these statues all day every day. However they have some competition from several other places, most notably the community of Oscoda, Michigan. The Oscoda Press claims to be the REAL home of Paul and the Michigan State Legislature agrees.

Colors: In February, 1920, an assembly hour was set aside for the selection of school colors. After the balloting on colors had resulted in a deadlock, Cyrillus Freeman, a student from Minneapolis, rose and commanded attention.

“As we sat here discussing this question,” she said, “I happened to glance out the window. The sight that met my eyes was fresh, green pines silhouetted against pure white snow. What could be more appropriate than green and white?”

These colors were accepted unanimously.

Nickname: They call themselves the Beavers. The name was first used in 1932 when the school president reviewed football practice one evening, called the team into a huddle, and raised his hands and declared, “I christen this team the Beavers.” The name is symbolic of the silent, hard-working teams representing the school.

Logo: In 1998, campus-wide discussions were held on the need for new marks to represent BSU athletics. The University marks at the time had been in place since 1974, but there was no official athletic logo. The next year they issued an RFP, seeking an image that would represent pride and confidence while being gender-neutral and not appearing cartoonish. The public relations firm of Russell & Herder in Brainerd won and produced the current logo in 2001.

Mascot: They have a cute child-friendly buck-toothed Beaver they call Bucky. Other than darker fur and cro-magnon forehead, I honestly have a tough time telling the difference between Bucky the Beaver and Goldy the Gopher.

Fight song: Yes, they have one. No, I could not find any historical info about it.



Go Bemidji Beavers,
Go you Green and White.
Go Bemidji Beavers,
Fight with all your might.

We are here to cheer you.
We're out to bring you fame.
So go Bemidji Beavers,
Fight and win this game.

B-E-M-I-D-J-I Bemidji, Bemidji, Go BEAVERS!!


Academics: BSU is the only baccalaureate institution in northern Minnesota. It offers 65 undergraduate majors and 13 graduate programs. It is ranked as a Tier I institution by the US News and World Report. In 2008 they accepted 82% of the students that applied. Interesting enough, the tuition is the same for both in-state and out-of-state students.

One of the main sources I use to get information for KYF is the media guides produced by the athletic department. Bemidji needs to do a better job in updating their marketing materials. Actual media guide text: Each year, students complete internships with the likes of the NASA space program in Houston, Texas, Disneyland, Compaq, Rubbermaid and a host of architectural firms.

Compaq was bought by Hewlett Packard in 2002. It has not existed as a company for 8 years.

Sports: BSU fields six men's varsity teams and nine womens teams. All their varsity sports compete at NCAA Division II level -- except Men's and Women's Ice Hockey.

Dressed in uniforms that look like Braylon's New York Jets, their football team plays in a stadium that holds 3,500 fans and have won a total of five Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference championships since 1926. They have a single post season birth since the inception of the program (in 2006, they lost). The Beavers have had two players drafted by the NFL: In 1946 the Chicago Bears took offensive tackle Dean Widseth in the 21st round and in 1979 the Cleveland Browns selected TE John Redebaugh in the 16th round.

The BSU hockey team has had a significantly more success. They first started playing organized college hockey in 1946. They did not field a team from 1951 through 1959 because the roof on their sports arena collapsed while several children were skating in the arena. Somehow they miraculously escaped and survived the falling roof.

Without an arena, they tried to play games on the frozen lake, but could not make it work and quit for a while. Nine seasons later they returned to play in a couple of outdoor venues before moving inside in 1967.


In all they have won an incredible 13 Hockey National Championships (7 in NAIA, 1 in NCAA Division 3, and 5 in NCAA Division 2). They became a NCAA Division I team in 1998, and have been to 5 NCAA tournaments. The 1983-84 went undefeated with an NCAA record 31 wins 0 ties and 0 losses. Last season, the 2009 Bemidji Beavers shocked the college hockey world when they upset both Notre Dame and Cornell to make their first trip to the NCAA Frozen Four.

Next season (hopefully after Michigan beats them), they will change conferences (from CHA to WCHA) and move into a brand new arena.

Famous Alums: I swear I looked. Their Alumni Association web page does not have a list of notable graduates. The BSU wiki entry only has former NHL player Joel Otto and Marty Turco’s backup Matt Climie. If you graduated from BSU, please send me your name and I will include it here.

Lacking any real names, I want to mention that former Oakland Raider and NFL Hall of Famer Dave Casper and Jane Russell were both born in Bemidji.

And yes, I am willing to bet those are real.

The game: I have not seen them play. But rest assured these guys are pretty good and a very dangerous team for us coming off a miracle CCHA run. While we might have better talent, you can’t take anything for granted. Notre Dame found out last year what happens when you don’t take them seriously. Based on the season we have had, I won’t be surprised at all if we come out flat and struggle.

I am still hoping for the best.

Michigan 4
Bemidji 2

Wallpaper Wednesday: Hockeypalooza

In celebration of the Michigan Hockey CCHA Playoff Championship, I decided to put together a couple of different wallpapers this week.

Classic version

Artistic celebration

Shawn "miniscule walk-on goaltender" Hunwick MVP

Hockey Bracket

All things considered, Michigan got a great draw in the NCAA tournament. They get to stay relatively close to home AND the top seed in their regional is a team they just smacked down in the CCHA semis.

Bemidji State is no gimme. Just last year the Beavers took out top ranked Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAA tournament. They ended up going all the way to the final four before losing to Miami in the national semi finals.

I am working up the energy to do a KYF for Bemidji State, likely ready on Friday.

Lucky number 7

Coming into the CCHA tournament, no one (including me) gave Michigan a chance. They were an inconsistent and undisciplined #7 seed. The streak of NCAA bids was going to end like everything else in this soul crushing era of pain ... And then incredible something happened.

Momentum.

Momentum is the life blood of college hockey. A mediocre team with momentum is a dangerous beast, just ask Lake Superior State, Sparty, Miami of Ohio, and Northern Michigan. Congrats to Red and the boys.

Somewhere there is #1 seed wondering if they are next.

HAIL !

Toledo Redo: Maybe the Women can win.....

The Women's Basketball team has advanced in the WNIT tournament, destroying Kent State 69-34 and will take on the University of Toledo in Ann Arbor SUNDAY at 2pm.

Copying straight from my friend's homework...here is the 2008 KYF for Toledo

Tickets are on sale at the door for like six bucks (or less for the kids)

Fill the house ! If we have big numbers and win, we can host the next round too
Go Blue !!!

No longer afraid of the dark

The Michigan athletic department today confirmed what was rumored yesterday -- we will host Notre Dame for our first-ever night game on Sept. 10, 2011 at 8PM.

"This will be an unprecedented game-day atmosphere that our fans have not experienced at Michigan Stadium," said athletic director David Brandon. "It's a great opportunity to showcase our program, University and Ann Arbor to a primetime viewing audience. This also adds a new chapter to the storied rivalry between our two great programs."

"Our players have always enjoyed playing night games and I think it's something that our fans will truly enjoy and embrace," added Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez. "I expect the atmosphere will be electric for this match-up at the Big House."

Michigan Stadium has never before hosted a primetime affair. I think it is about time.

Happy Trails Nick Sheridan

One of the nice things about the start of spring practice, is we can get some actual football news. This week RR announced that former starting QB Nick Sheridan will forego his 5th year of eligibility to "go into the coaching profession". Sheridan's father is a former Michigan assistant and is currently on the staff of the Miami Dolphins.

Through no fault of his own, Nick Sheridan is the face of the transition pain we have experienced over the last two years. He was just a good kid looking to play football at Michigan. He became an ill-prepared walk-on starter thrust into the harsh spotlight as the QB for RR's new spread offense. As expected, he stuggled as much as the doomed 2008 team.

The highlight of his career came late in the 2008 season, where all by himself he led Michigan to a 29-6 win at Minnesota. He looked like a real college football quarterback as he threw for 203 yards and a touchdown. Two years into the transition, that game remains as the only road victory of the RR era.

Thanks for the effort Nick. Good luck!

Wallpaper Wednesday: Those who stay

Spring practice started this week. Yeah!

Standing ovation to my friend MG (visit his site mghelmets.com) for the unbelievable rendering of the winged helmet with a grey facemask. His photoshop artistic skills make me drool.

Sparty Manifesto

Brian linked to this at the bottom of his giddy M/MSU hockey playoff weekend recap. I felt it was so important, I decided to give it additional exposure and save it here for eternity.

The Humiliation, and Destruction of One of many Hockey Players by the Michigan State Hockey Coaching Staff: Rick Comley, Brian Renfrew, and Tom Newton. Provided via Spartantailgate College hockey fans, here we are, it's senior week. Where we usually celebrate and say farewell to the seniors on the MSU ice hockey team. But this year is very different. The class of 2010 was meant to be eliminated by this coaching staff. Just look around the arena - the seniors pictures usually found on the entrance doors of the arena have been put in a very obscure place, and disrespected by erecting a booth to block them. With the exception of Sucharski, of course, who was hated by many of the players for the last five years, but coach loves him, so go figure? The class lost a couple of players along the way, but three remained to be part of the team. But this writing's about #16 Justin Johnston. He left the team today, and couldn't take being humiliated and not dressing on senior night. He was recruited by this staff and accepted an the invitation to MSU proudly (as this is always where he wanted to be), but did so under the clear expectation that being in the line-up and playing were the most important thing. He had many choices of colleges to play for along the way, but dreamed of playing at MSU, and jumped at the chance to be here. His freshman year, the 2006-2007 national championship year, he played three games, was of course humiliated, and was given virtually no reason as to why this was happening. The next two seasons he saw limited ice time in order to prevent any type of meaningful development, and no promotion whatsoever, except for Ron Mason saying to Smiegel (Comley), "Why aren't you playing him?" Justin was given the most improved player award, to "make things look good," he was already very good. But the coaches had their foot on his head, and would not take off, while touting other equal or lesser players. Players said early on when he was a freshman, "I can't believe it, the players spend most of their time in the locker room planning Comley's death and laughing about it. The success of the team has nothing more to do with the coaches." Justin had nothing but the best coaches previous to MSU. Psych major? No, this coach has an authority complex and significant issues as a person in society, let alone a D-I hockey coach. (Are you kidding, the guy should be in the nut house.) Of course, this school does have convicts playing D-I sports, so why not have a nut-job as the head coach of your hockey team? It's really sad. Everyone knows he should have been fired four years ago, but the emergence of Jeff Lerg saved him, although everyone is sure that was a total surprise, and gift to him, that the team turned itself around that year and won the NCAA title. This coaching staff is clearly sick. Other premier programs don't treat their recruits this way. Justin has been a good kid, not drunk every night like the hockey house crowd. He has practiced hard to get past whatever false issues the coaches used. Johnson was given scholarship money his sophomore year, and was told in his junior and senior years would be paid for as well. He never saw a check after the first one, and they had the nerve to say, "Maybe if you played a little better, who knows?" Well, we sat back for four years, and took this crap, and we are all relieved it's over. But the damage has been done. So, we will be carrying the torch from now on for all the players/families (too many to mention) who just got screwed and kept their mouths shut. We promise! Go MSU players! - The Freshman Class of 2006

Who wants to take bets this was written by Johnston's girlfriend or Dad?

Now that is more like it

Friday Night: Michigan 5 Sparty 1
Saturday Night: Michigan 5 Sparty 3
On to the CCHA Final Four at Joe Louis Arena.

Beano

Somewhere, somebody, somehow, pays this guy.



Regardless of your opinion of curling - this has to be the most idiotic and incoherent thing I have ever seen produced. I like old people. They have a lot to offer. But what is this guy doing? More importantly, what is ESPN doing giving this guy a microphone?

Do you think they just wake Beano up, prop him up in front of a camera with a cityscape backdrop cloth hanging on the wall and just let him ramble?

If you are having trouble following, here are the highlights: New Yorker Magazine, Olympics, Curling, Scotland, Scotch whiskey, golf, 44 pound stone, shuffleboard, bowling, bridge, boxing, capped off with Mary Tyler Moore, Archie Bunker, and reality TV.

Mercifully, It ends

As if this nightmare could have ended with any more of a painful conclusion. The basketball season is over. Sigh.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Evan Turner drained a 37-footer at the buzzer to give Ohio State (No. 7 ESPN/USA Today, No. 5 AP) a 69-68 win over Michigan on Friday in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals.

Turner took the inbounds pass, dribbled upcourt and pulled up barely past halfcourt. The Big Ten player of the year left his arm in the air after the release, confident the long shot would fall.

His attempt was so close to the buzzer that the play was reviewed. When officials signaled the shot was good, the red-clad section of the crowd erupted.

Turner finished with 18 points and eight assists for the Buckeyes (25-7), who advanced to play the winner between Illinois and Wisconsin (No. 18 ESPN/USA Today, No. 13 AP).

Michigan's Manny Harris hit a jumper from 11 feet with 2.2 seconds left to give Michigan a 68-66 lead. Harris led the Wolverines (15-17) with 26 points.

MAKE THE BAD MAN STOP!!!

The nightmare that is the 2009-2010 sports calendar marches on. I honestly believe in my heart that eventually we won't stink in every sport that anyone cares about. This faith keeps me going. But for now, it really fucking sucks.

We will try again with Ice Hockey against Sparty this weekend. I am not confident in anything other than pain is inevitable. Until then I will watch this on a continous loop.

HT: NYWolverine via MGoBlog. Wow.

Wallpaper Wednesday: Detroit Rock City

Something to consider

Honestly, it doesn't take much to get me to include KISS as a potential solution for our football nightmare... based on our performance over the last 2 years and the impact The Hottest Band in the World had on the 1974 Cadillac Vikings... it seems like a no brainer to me.



HT: GoBlueBob

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner: WBB to play Sparty

Michigan, the seventh seed in the B10 Tourney, tallied a 67-54 victory today over #10 seed Northwestern.



And the recap from mgoblue.com

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The University of Michigan women's basketball team raced out to a 38-16 halftime lead and weathered an 18-2 Northwestern run in the second half to earn a 67-54 win over the Wildcats in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday (March 4) inside Conseco Fieldhouse.

All eight Wolverines that saw floor time scored, with five reaching double figures. Sophomore Courtney Boylan (Chaska, Minn./Chaska) led the way off the bench with 14 points on 3-of-6 shooting, including a perfect 7-for-7 from the charity stripe. Sophomore Carmen Reynolds (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard) scored 13 points with seven rebounds, while junior Veronica Hicks (Chicago, Ill./Thornwood) chipped in 12 and senior Krista Phillips (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan/Aden Bowman Collegiate) had 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Freshman Jenny Ryan (Saginaw, Mich./Nouvel Catholic Central) also stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, eight boards, four assists, two steals and a block in 40 minutes of action.

U-M scored the first four points out of halftime to take a 42-16 lead before Northwestern made its run, an 18-2 spurt over eight minutes that cut the lead to 44-34. A pair of Boylan free throws with 8:47 remaining ended a 7:45 scoring drought for the Wolverines, pushing the lead back to 12. Back-to-back three-pointers from Hicks and Reynolds on the ensuing possessions allowed Michigan to regain the momentum and keep the lead in double digits throughout the rest of the half.

After coming up empty on the first two possessions to open the contest, the Wolverines took control early with an 8-0 run in a span of 1:17, courtesy of three-point baskets from Phillips and Reynolds along with a shot-clock beating 18-footer from Ryan. The Wolverine lead increased to 25-9 with 6:38 remaining in the half when Hicks banked in a three-pointer from the left lane line to beat the shot clock.

The Maize and Blue closed the first half on an 11-2 run to take a 38-16 lead into the locker room. U-M shot 46.9 percent (15-for-32) from the field in the first half, hitting six three-point baskets, while Northwestern managed only a 25-percent (6-for-24) clip. The Wolverines took advantage of a 25-11 rebounding edge, leading to 12 second-chance points. Ryan and Phillips led the way, both scoring eight, while Hicks and Boylan chipped in six apiece.

The Wolverines advance to the quarterfinals of the conference tournament and will take on No. 2 seed Michigan State on Friday (March 5) at 11:30 am.

Wallpaper Wednesday: Hockeytown

In addition to delivering some very entertaining games, the Olympics reignited my love for hockey. I had basically stopped watching the non playoff games since the NHL lockout five years ago.

While the RedWings may not be as strong as they have been in the past, I am very much looking forward to the rest of the NHL season. Once the playoffs begin and intesity and passion kicks up another notch - I will be glued to my TV.

Lightning Rod

This weekend my wife and I went on a date. We saw Craig Ferguson perform his comedy routine at a local theater. If you have never stayed up past Letterman to watch his show - he is pretty funny. The live stand up routine differs from the TV show primarily with the use of the word FUCK, a lot. This made my wife uncomfortable, but I thought it was entertaining. One of the things he talked about was the chaos and irresponsibility inherent on the internet. He suggested that anyone posting on the net should ask themselves these simple rules

1) Does this need to be said ?
2) Does this need to be said by me ?
3) Does this need to be said by me now ?

I've been thinking for a while what to say about the chaos and coaching situation at Michigan - and have decided it was time to add my opinion to the steaming pile out there. So to answer Craig's three questions: Yes, likely not, and sure why not.

The first and most important thing to me on this subject is simply... I am a Michigan fan. I grew up in the state and have been a fan for as long as I can remember. I attended and graduated from the University. In the past, I have donated money to both the University and the athletic department. I run this blog with one of my best friends from Michigan for fun. I have brainwashed my kids into thinking this institution is great. For many years, I was a season ticket holder despite the fact there are 1,373 miles between my house and the Big House. None of this qualifies me for anything other than a personal opinion. In short, my college football loyalty sits with Michigan. The events and struggles over the last two seasons have not shaken that loyalty. It pains me greatly to watch the program struggle, but I have no doubt we will emerge from this dark period as a stronger program.

Rich Rodriguez is our football coach. As such, I support him. I still believe he is a capable football coach. Rich Rodriguez has been successful as a football coach in the past. As such, I am willing to give him more time to make it work here. I still believe he is a capable football coach. Rich Rodriguez is a human being. As such, I do not expect him to be perfect. I still believe he is a capable football coach.

For some reason, Rich Rodriguez is a lightning rod for controversy. His short time as our football coach has been nothing short of a ridiculous soap opera. Some of these controversies have been self inflicted (#1 jersey, Captains, piped in music) while others have been nothing more than a sickening character lynching. I am far from unbiased, but there is no doubt in my mind Rich Rodriguez is and has been the target of witch hunt designed to ensure his failure. Many of these attacks come from expected sources and are part of the fun of coaching a major college football program -- but others are criminally irresponsible.

The most blatant offender in the public lynching of Rich Rodrigez has been the Detroit Free Press. From now on, I will simply refer to this publication as the "FDFP" (Fucking Detroit Free Press). From day one of RR's tenure the writers and editors of the FDFP have demonstrated their anti-RR-bias. The constant drum beat from the FDFP has been comical, but now this bias has delivered NCAA investigators and ridiculous rules violations to the program. Enough is enough. The FDFP lied about the rules violation in an effort sell newspapers in a bad economy. The damage was unnecessary and reprehensible. If you are a subscriber to this publication, you should call and cancel your business. If your business advertises with this paper, you should eliminate that expense. If you link to or read the words created by this paper online, you should remove the URL from your bookmarks. This is not misplaced or redirected anger. The FDFP needs to be put out of business from the supporters of the institution they have damaged.

If I were the the Athletic Director at the University of Michigan, I would revoke all media privileges and access for any writer/reporter from the FDFP. This ban would be in effect until the paper terminates the employment of Michael Rosenberg and Mark Synder. I would also require Drew Sharp to publicly apologize to the family of incoming recruit Demar Dorsey. The irresponsible "journalism" and outright lies delivered by these idiots -- resulting in the chaos and subsequent NCAA investigation was nothing more than yelling fire in a crowded movie theater. These guys are not journalists, they are fiction authors, and should not qualify for access to coaches and players. If the FDFP were somehow transplanted to Columbus, State College, or Austin and tried to pull these shenanigans, the paper would quickly go out of business because the building would be burned down.

But Andy, what about the actual NCAA Violations committed by RR and staff ? There is no doubt specific rules were not followed by the current staff. Yes, an assistant lied. Michigan needs to stand up and fix these errors. The assistant needs to be fired. But that should be the end of it.

Say what you want about major or secondary violations, the binary nature of the NCAA rule book and the violation categories is a joke. If the NCAA ran the criminal justice system in America, a parking ticket would be a felony and punishable by death. Every football fan in the country knows it. Every football coach in the country knows if their program were investigated in the same manner, similar violations would erupt. Good football teams work hard. What happened in Ann Arbor was not "major violation" of anything. Holding up what our program is accused of in the face of a team beat down of engineering students, illegal payments by a booster to a player, widespread academic fraud, and a player receiving cash, a car and a condo is laughable. We practiced too long and hard and our coaches made sure our players were going to class. Yawn.

But Andy, Michigan has a higher standard. To this I say bullshit. There is not one standard for everyone else and a higher one for Michigan. There is ONE standard and we need to committed to follow that standard. This elitist mentality is not productive or sustainable. I don't care that this incident has stained our spotless program. The basketball team and Ed Martin did that long ago. These apparent NCAA violations committed are equivalent to a paper cut. Get over it.

But Rich Rodriguez is not a Michigan Man. At this point, the myth of a so called Michigan Man is the most self-serving and arrogant thing I have ever heard. No wonder the rest of the college football world hates us. Is there actually a nominating committee that sits somewhere and determines entry into the exclusive club ? Did Bo somehow make the grade from an Ohio State Man to Miami Man to Michigan Man? What about Fielding Yost ? Did he go to some special class before he left West Virginia that Rich Rodriguez failed to enroll ? Give me a break.

The myth of the Michigan Man is just that... a myth. Bo used it in 1989 to describe Steve Fisher in his anger over the resignation of Bill Frieder. I ask you this, is Steve Fisher the model Michigan Man ? What about Gary Moeller ? Rick Leach ? This myth needs to vanish because it is preventing us from moving forward. I love Bo, but he is dead. He is not coming back to coach the team or pick the next coach.

You are just a Rich Rod supporting robot. I want to be proud of my school. Period. At this point, yes I still believe that RR can still win football games for my school. I am frustrated with the lack of success so far, but I know the damage of firing a coach right now is far greater than staying the course and letting the system develop. I have read and watched enough to understand the issues and believe they are going to be improved. He was given a terrible hand and we expect him to win the World Series of Poker. If RR fails to win enough football games, rest assured, I won't support him. He just has not been given enough of a chance so far.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I have shared mine. The only thing I ask you is that you recognize the situation and give the program a chance to be successful. If he fails to win ball games, yes he needs to go. But now is not the time.