JustThinking

Spawn reader JUSTHINKING posted this in the comments section of the Five Questions post. Wanted to highlight it and thank JT for sharing his thoughts. Sorry it took me so long to get this up, I am on vacation with my family in San Diego this week.

2010 will be my 33rd year of attending Michigan football games. I'm old enough to have seen Troy Woolfolk's daddy pound the rock behind Russell Davis' lead blocking. I wanted to be Rick Leach.

Michigan ran the probverbial table for so long that it never occurred to me that it would ever be possible for them to actually have a losing season. Ever.

But T-9 Wins with her defense comment. Therein lies the difference.

Bo Era Ave Score: 29 to 11
Mo Era Ave Score: 32 to 17
LLoyd Era Ave Score: 29 to 18
Combined Ave Score: 30 to 15

Rich Era Ave Score: 25 to 28

We need to only average 5 more pts/game to reach the average of the three prior coaches, from '69 to '07.

We need to remove 13 points per game from the opposing teams to reach the same average from '69 to '07.

Offense isn't much of a reach. Defense needs some WORK.

Now, Bo really skewed those defense numbers, as 7 of his 20 seasons he kept opponents under 100 points per season (nearly 1/3 of his coaching career!) In those 7 specific seasons, opponents only scored an average of 6.74 points per game against us!! Only Lloyd came close to the under 100 mark for a season (1997) at 114 - with the average score being 27 to 10.

Bo was right. Defense Wins Championships. Bo won 13 Conference Championships in 20 years (5 outright); Mo won 3 Big Tens in 5 years (2 outright); Lloyd won 5 Big Tens in 13 years (2 outright) - not to mention a National Championship - again, in that stifling Defensive year of 1997.

In the 21 years we won the conference, the average score was 31 to 13. Actually pretty close to the 30 to 15 average scores for those three coaches over those 38 seasons. Damn, we were good.

Now, herein lies the other problem. The unthinkable has happened in our lifetimes, and it has continued far longer than we could have imagined - if we could have ever imagined it happening in the first place....which we couldn't.

What a cluster#$%^&. The insanity of all insanities. Two back to back, losing seasons after nearly 40 years of glory. Four #$%^& DECADES of WINNING FOOTBALL. All the glory. All the domination. All the great teams, great players, a few Heisman winners,and wonderful, wonderful memories of Fall Saturdays with over 100,000 of your best friends at the Big House.

Folks, it is completely understandable that we are still reeling from the shock, the loss, the unimaginable itself.

Having watched my father die a slow death from cancer at the relatively young age of 55, I don't say this lightly. It's as though a cancer has spread through our team and all we can do is sit there and watch it as it grows and destroys all the joy we once knew to be Michigan Football. All we can seemingly do is sit there and pray and watch, and hope for the best. One thing I do know - being and staying negative doesn't help a #$%^&* thing.

Many people think Rich and his system are the cancer, as we haven't had a losing season in nearly 40 years before he arrived in Ann Arbor. Perhaps there is some truth in that, but not as much as people like to think.

A new coach, a completely new offensive system, several defensive schemes, some graduations, some attrition, a shitload of young kids and not a whole lot of leadership. All in the same place at the same time.

Flashes of greatness and shades of incompetence. From the heights of ecstacy to the valley of the shadow of death, it contniues - this rollercoaster of Michigan Football. One thing I do know - speaking for myself - I'm riding the bandwagon and I'm not getting off.

I see a bunch of great kids, (most of them not old enough to legally drink a beer), with enough talent to play Division One football, thrown into a firestorm of adversity. I happen to believe that those who have stayed have bought into the new system and are paying the godforsaken BARWIS PRICE to get ready for the upcoming season. Nobody wants to win more than they do - not even us.

And I believe that the ongoing adversity that has surrounded this program over the last two years has started to unite this team in a way that perhaps winning wouldn't have. It's them against the world.

Nobody wants to return Michigan football back to greatness more than these kids that are about to take the field a month from now against UConn.

I'm going to be there in the crowd of 109,000+ on September 4th. Ready to watch. Ready to pray. Ready to believe in greatness. Ready to believe in my team. Ready to watch Brock Mealer lead the team out of the tunnel, onto the field and under that glorious Banner while the band plays the Greatest College Fight Song Ever Written - the Michigan Victors.

I'll be there yelling until I can't yell. Supporting my team from the stands the only way I can - with whatever voice I've got left.

I'm still All In for Michigan, and I hope you are too.

Here's a video I put together last weekend. I think the theme of this song epitomizes this team.

"We stand and we won't fall - we're one and one for all - the writing's on the wall - we are the Youth Gone Wild"

Wallpaper Wednesday: Keep Believing

59 Days.

The Huskies are coming: 60

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.

Wallpaper Wednesday: Buckeye Triple Play

This is supposed to be the biggest week of the season, but somehow it just doesn't feel that way. In celebration of "the game" -- I created three different wallpapers this week to remind Michigan fans that we have many moments to be proud of. I just hope someday soon Michigan can once again hold up our end of this great rivalry.

1940 - Tom Harmon


1969 - Bo vs Woody


1995 - Tim Biakabutuka

Go Blue !

Rewind: 1986 at Wisconsin

Rewind: 1985 at Iowa

This week I am going to take a look at a sad yet very memorable trip to Iowa. To change things up, I have chosen to rewind a Michigan loss. I remember watching this game like it was yesterday, drinking beers in T9's apartment with a bunch of friends screaming at the TV.

Michigan was ranked #2 and they went to Iowa City where the Hawkeyes were ranked #1. It was a classic match up between Bo and Hayden Fry. Iowa was in the middle of a streak where they had a couple of great teams. They had shut out Michigan 26-0 the season before, one of six losses in my initial season of pain.

The 1985 Wolverines were on a mission of redemption (sound familiar?) only this time it was not an offensive revolution. The defense was incredible throughout the 1985 season. In beating Notre Dame, South Carolina, Maryland, Wisconsin and Michigan State, we had allowed exactly one touchdown—and only 4.2 points per game, lowest in the country. Iowa on the other hand had the number one scoring offense in the country, averaging 44.2 points per game. Something was going to have to give. They were led by 5th year quarterback and Heisman hopeful Chuck Long. Something had to give.

1st half: The Iowa offense dominated the time of possession, holding onto the ball for 20 of the first 30 minutes. They kicked a FG in the first quarter and led 3-0. Michigan responded with a Gerald White touchdown "flip" from Jim Harbaugh to make it 7-3. In the second quarter Iowa appeared to have scored a touchdown with a great end zone catch by wide receiver Scott Helverson, but the officials missed the call and there was no video replay in 1985. They had to settle for another FG and it was 7-6 at halftime.

2nd half: The defensive struggle continued and there was no scoring the third quarter. Both teams kicked a FG in the 4th quarter and Michigan still led 10-9. Iowa had a chance to take the lead with about seven and a half minutes left in the game, but their 44 yard field goal was short. Michigan needed to sustain a drive, change the field position, and win the game. The only issue was that our offense basically did not do anything all day, and they couldn't and had to punt. Chuck Long and Iowa marched the ball down the field in a excruciating 66 yard five and a half minute drive. They got the ball as far as the 12 yard line and called a time out with 2 seconds left. Bo called another time out to "ice" the kicker. But it did not matter. Iowa kicker Rob Houghtlin was a walk-on. He nailed it. Iowa 12 Michigan 10. Iowa fans storm the field. Andy wanders down South University in a daze wondering why the college football gods hate him so much.

What did we learn from this game: Field goals can beat you if you don't score many touchdowns. Chuck Long was a great college quarterback, too bad he got drafted by the Lions. Above all, Bo was a defensive minded coach. I miss what a soul-crushing defense can do to a football game. Although we lost, the fact we did not give up a touchdown to the #1 ranked team in the country was amazing. We ended that season with this loss and a 3-3 tie at Illinois, beat Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl and finished ranked #2 in the country by both the AP and UPI. Most importantly, this game set up the rematch in 1986, where Mike Gillette kicked a last second FG to beat them in Michigan Stadium.

Rewind: 1979 Indiana

Homecoming week. Indiana. It was 30 years ago that my heart was forever sealed with Michigan maize and blue.

Michigan was ranked 10th in the country and highly favored to beat Indiana. However Lee Corso‘s Hoosiers were a solid 5-2 and they held a 14-7 halftime lead. After starting quarterback B.J. Dickey got injured the Wolverines ran their way back into the lead with a 50 yard Lawrence Reid touchdown and a Butch Woolfolk two yard plunge. IU had the ball in the final minutes behind 14-21.

Hoosier QB Tim Clifford connected with Nate Lundy for 54 yards before throwing a three-yard touchdownpass to Dave Harangody with 55 seconds remaining. Down by one, Lee Corso decided against going for the win and went for the tie by kicking the extra point. Rather than try to describe what happened next, you just need to watch and listen to Bob Ufer:

Sports Science Friday: Mouth Guards

Well kids, it's that time again!!! Lace 'em up, strap 'em on and let's go HIT somebody!!!!

But before we get started, it's important to remember one other form of protective equipment--beyond the house protection previously mentioned in Sports Science Friday back in December.

If you're gonna play smash-mouth football, then ya gotta protect those pearly whites.


From the experts at the Journal of the American Dental Association 2006 Dec;137(12):1712-20
Using mouthguards to reduce the incidence and severity of sports-related oral injuries.

The whole purpose of a mouthguard (usually constructed from some sort of thermoplastic copolymer) is to distribute and decrease any forces incurred to the teeth and other hard and soft tissue structures of the mouth by blunt force. A properly fitted mouth guard has been proven over and over again to protect players from significant injury from trauma. And, many of you may know, that if you break, chip, or otherwise avulse a tooth---you don't get much healing.

There are three types of mouth guards: The "ready made" or stock mouthguard, the mouth-formed or "boil and bite", and the custom made which is either vacuum formed or pressure laminated.

The stock mouthguard comes in a few standard sizes and requires you to keep your mouth closed so the thing will stay in. Many folks find this prohibitive as it is hard to breathe and talk with them in. Because they don't fit well, they don't protect well either. But they are cheap...

Next up is the mouth-formed or "boil and bite" variety. This is the most commonly used device and the one that I'm sure you've all purchased at a sporting goods store. Actually, more than once. Because as you all know, you have to get the temperature just right and then you have to bite it and form it just so, or the thing is wrecked....
But the best of the bunch is the custom made mouthguard usually made by a dental professional. It fits better, protects better, but is a whole lot more expensive.

But here's the thing. No matter what---Wear your mouthguard!!!

Hardest Hits in College Football

To Michigan's opponents, this season, I say: BRING IT!
GO BLUE!
BEAT THE BRONCOS!!!

One that stayed

The chaos of the last week has given birth to a new season. Before we get started on the long march back to redemption, I wanted to share something that many of you may have missed. We had a great comment posted on the Excessive entry from Sunday. I wanted to make sure you all saw it.

It comes from Mike Keller, a member of the 1969 Michigan Wolverines. He lived through the Bo Schembechler transformation of Michigan football and posted this:

I am a little bit late in posting my comments so maybe no one will read them but they also need to be said. This is a witch hunt, largely by players no longer in the program who have an axe to grind and quite simply are a bunch of spoiled cry babies. Those of us who were in Bo Schembechler's first off season conditioning program and subsequent off seasons and years will recount the massive quiting that went on by players unable or unwilling to pay the price of excellence. The Michigan football team went from 150 members to less than 75 for the 1969 season...many of the casualties were scholarship players. The drills we went through would make water boarding seem like a walk in the arboretum! This year in Michigan football is what generated the team motto "Those who stay will be Champions". Bo was trying to do anything to stem the tide of quitters...but he wouldn't change the way he coached and drove us harder. The result was that we did become Champions...and we loved it. Nobody died, everyone (mostly) kept up their grades and those of us who made it through became closer and more dedicated to the ideals of Michigan football and the University. Everyday...before crossing the "Blue Line" guys with names like Seymour, Brandstater, McKenzie, Taylor, Darden, Seyferth, Grambeau, Oldham, Gusich and Murdock plotted on how we would quit the team and hang out on the Diag with the coeds. It sounded so wonderful compared to the Schembechler torture regime. The fact is none of the above ever quit and they led a team that won almost thirty games in three years and played in two Rose Bowls. "Nuff said". Let Coach Rodriguez, his staff and the players who want to stay, work as hard as they want! Mike Keller

Thanks Mike!
We are honored you read our blog and feel compelled to post here.
Go Blue !

Wallpaper Wednesday: Bo Fiesta

The 1986 Fiesta Bowl win was one of the best football memories I had as an undergrad at Michigan.

Michigan was being dominated and by halftime they were down 14-3. But Nebraska fumbled the ball a couple of times and we came roaring back to take the lead in the 3rd quarter. The defense held on to beat Nebraska 27-23. Jamie Morris had 150+ yards and Bo got his third bowl win.

YouTube highlights.

Wallpaper Wednesday: Substitute Teacher

Well, as you all know, Andy is off galavanting across Europe with his family.
I have not yet received any calls from the consulate, so I'm assuming all is well.
Hopefully Shorty's got his back....

Anyway, no way I can give you the wonders of wallpaper, but I know another M-fan who can.
For those of you who know yvgeni, his site Nothing Is Illuminated is fantastic!
He has graciously allowed me to provide an example of his work here, but I HIGHLY recommend you check out his other creations. Mad Skills.


Big HT to yvgeni!

Spawnicon winner: Bo

Congrats to Spawn of MZone reader "scottcrocker" for his winning 'Bo Schembechler' entry in the Spawnicon contest from February. I got an email from him last week looking for the winners announcement -- but as you know I was in Florida (and not checking the Spawn mail account). Sorry for the delayed celebration scott, I will be adding your iconic creation to our sidebar sometime today.

It really was not much of a contest. Bo secured over 50% of the 180+ votes in the final poll. There is no truth to the rumor that Desmond Howard hired Urban Meyer to campaign for him during the last days of the voting. I am hoping that Maurice can comment on this crushing loss in his blog.

Thank you all for voting in this contest.

HAIL scottcrocker !!!

SpawnIcon Contest : Coaches Division

We had some good entries for the SPAWNICON contest. Rather than just choose a couple and risk forgetting someone -- I decided to break them into different divisions, vote for divisional finalists, and then we can select the final winner. So here is the "Coaches Division".

Tressel	Dantonio	Paterno
Weiss	Woody	Schembechler

Online Surveys & Market Research

Other divisions to follow.

Fun with art...

...until someone decides to sue you.

Last week I read a story where The Associated Press is seeking compensation for the use of their image in the famous Obama HOPE posters created by LA based artist Shepard Fairey. This will be an interesting case to watch as it develops. Fairey is claiming "Fair Use" while the AP is determined to "safeguard its assets".

What does this have to do with Michigan or our football program ? Quite fankly, Nothing. It is the off season and I thought it would be an interesting topic of conversation. As a professional photographer, I understand the desire of the AP to safeguard it's images. I get pretty upset when I see one of my photos used without my permission or compensation. But I also think that the AP waited entirely too long to seek a resolution here. They knew this image was widely being used and allowed it to be turned into a cultural phenomenon without doing anything for months. To go back now and seek compensation would be difficult at best.

One of our readers (I think it was GoBlueBob, but the original email is gone. Please let me know if it was you and I will give specific credit) sent us this BO icon image he created using the now popular OBAMICION generator. I tried to create a similar Rich Rodriguez icon during the season using photoshop, but the ease of use of this web-based application is amazing. At this point my mind is buzzing with other fun iconic images and the possibilities are endless. I quickly created a RR NINJA FOOTBALL this morning to test it out.

As a result, I am now motivated to launch the Spawn of MZone OBAMICON contest for the most original and entertaining reader submitted icon.

1) Send us your images to our email address spawnofmzone (at) gmail dot com
2) T9 and I will gather them up and select 10 finalists from the entries.
3) We will have a vote for the winner.

Entries must be received by midnight on Thursday -- I will post the voting poll on Friday. Voting will close out a week later. Winner will claim the title of ICON KING (or QUEEN) OF THE SPAWN NATION and have their winning image posted as part of our sidebar.

Wallpaper Wednesday: Ford, AC, and Bo

A couple of weeks ago when I was looking for a wallpaper capable photo of Gerald Ford as a Michigan football player I ran into this great photo of Ford, Anthony Carter, and Bo at the Michigan practice field on South State Street. According to the Gerald Ford Web Site, this photo was taken on November 10th, 1982.

I know this sounds absurd, but if there was ever a Mount-Rushmore-like monument created for Michigan Football -- I would not be surprised to see all three of these faces carved into stone.

Special Wallpaper Wednesday: Vada Murray

Last week my friend (and blogging cohort) T9 brought the story of former Michigan player Vada Murray to our attention. I promised her that I would make a special wallpaper if I could find a decent picture of Vada. Well, earlier today I found one in the book Michigan Memories.

Writer Jo Mathis started her AA News story with Bo's ringing words to Vada Murray when he was a player: Fight hard. Stay tough. Never give up. There really wasn't anything more I needed to put on this image.

If you want to leave a support message for Vada, you can do so here.

Wallpaper Wednesday: The Team

This weeks Wallpaper Wednesday selection focuses on Bo Schembechler's famous "THE TEAM" speech. In 77 seconds, he uses the word “team” 15 times.

This season has not gone as well as Michigan fans had planned. The most impressive thing has been how this team, despite the losses has stayed together and continued to play hard.

Better days are ahead.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween to all of our readers. Thanks for clicking here, I submit to you on this day two pumpkins to express my feelings. The ancient Gaels believed that on October 31 (now known as Halloween) the boundary between the alive and the deceased dissolved. The dead become dangerous for the living by causing problems such as sickness or damaged crops (or losing football programs). Believing that the head was the most powerful part of the body, containing the spirit and the knowledge, they used the "head" of a vegetable to frighten away any bad ghosts.

1) In order to prevent a visit from the ghost of a 2-10 season - I found a VERY COOL Michigan Pumpkin picture on absolutemichigan.com. I wish I had that much talent and patience. If you live in Columbus or East Lansing, don't try this. It will only get smashed by some little kid after he takes your candy.

2) This is how I feel so far about the 2008 Michigan Football season. BARF.

Wallpaper Wednesday: Bo

Yes, we are 2-5. Yes, things look bad. Yes, we are can't beat Toledo. It is time to invoke a little Schembechler spirit into this program.

Bo did not care for Michigan State.

He always said the most bitter defeat he ever did NOT happen on the football field. In 1973, the Wolverines were again 10-0 before the Ohio State game. When that game ended in a 10-10 tie, both schools expected that Michigan would go to the Rose Bowl based on the Big Ten "no-repeat" precedent. Even Ohio State coach Woody Hayes appeared to concede defeat, "We knew we had to win this one to go (to the Rose Bowl)".

However, in a absurd 6-4 vote the Big Ten Athletic Directors decided to send Ohio State to represent the conference in the 1974 Rose Bowl. The one vote that caused Bo the most outrage was that of Michigan State Athletic Director Burt Smith (who was a Michigan graduate). It was a stunning and stupid move that eventually caused Smith to lose his job. Bo never forgot and went 17-4 against Sparty.

Also available in a 1280x800 format.