Court Wenley

I have about a hundred updates for my computer and I have finally gained access to some high speed internet, but now I have to kill time while I wait. One thing I have always wanted to do is see a game at a different venue for the entire regular season. I thought I would share what my plan would be this year if I could make all the trips. So I hope you enjoy my theoretical game plan of travel based out of the Washington DC area.  Attendance numbers – Wikipedia, Mileage – Google, Pre-Season Ranking – Bleacher Report (I know this means nothing)

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/232349-2009-2010-college-football-rankings-full-120-team-rankings

 Week 1:  Lots of good games but a trip up to New York is possible, so I chose Minnesota(43) @ Syracuse(93). Carrier Dome in Syracuse holds 49,500. 374 miles from DC. 6 hour and 18 minute drive. Would be strange being inside for the first game of the season, but should be a good game in which Minnesota wins.

 Week 2: Notre Dame(36) @ Michigan(75). My ticket is purchased. 521 miles. 8 hour and 36 minute drive. You know the rest.

 Week 3: Nebraska(29) @ Virginia Tech(8) Lane Stadium holds 66,233. 265 miles. 4 hour and 19 minute drive. Should be a big game, especially if VT beats Alabama in their first game.

 Week 4: Iowa(23) @ Penn State(4). Beaver Stadium holds 107,282.  215 miles. 3 hour and 45 minute drive.  Both teams should be 3-0 at this point, plus woo night game.

 Week 5: Virginia(89) @ North Carolina(35). Kenan Stadium holds 60,000 and is supposed to be very scenic. 269 miles. 4 hour and 36 minute drive.

 Week 6: Duke(82) @ NC State(48). Carter Finley Stadium holds 57,583. 281 miles. 4 hour and 32 minute drive. Should just stay in North Carolina for the week after the Virginia – UNC game. I’d get to see what should be two easy wins in one state!

 Week 7: Marshall(98) @ West Virginia(18). Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium holds 60,000. 207 miles. 3 hour and 27 minute drive.

 Week 8: Georgia Tech @ Virginia(89).  Scott Stadium holds 61,500 and has what might be one of the longest full names in college football. The Carl Smith Center, Home of David A. Harrison III Field at Scott Stadium. 111 miles.  2 hour and 13 minute drive.

 Week 9: Miami(41) @ Wake Forest(39). BB&T Field at Groves Stadium holds 31,500. 337 miles. 5 hour and 33 minute drive. Starting to get later in the season, but what should be a solid ACC matchup.

 The next three games are a bit of wishful thinking, but could be done, technically.

 Week 10: Florida State(31) @ Clemson(56). Memorial Stadium holds 80,301. 530 miles. 8 hour and 37 minute drive.  Death Valley!

 Week 11: Florida(1) @ South Carolina(55). Williams-Brice Stadium holds 80,250. 479 miles. 7 hour and 30 minute drive.

 Week 12: Vanderbilt(51) @ Tennessee(34). Neyland Stadium holds 102,037. 483 miles. 7 hour and 38 minute drive. Lane Kiffin drives an orange lamborghini with OMG shirtless Eric Berry on the hood onto the field for their Heisman campaign.

 Week 13: Boston College(76) @ Maryland(65). Byrd Stadium holds 51,055. 0 miles. Yay metro!

 Week 14: Cincinnati(47) @ Pittsburgh(17). Heinz field holds 65,050. 246 miles. 4 hour and 14 minute drive. Brian Kelly in an NFL stadium?

 Week 15: Army(77) @ Navy(32). Lincoln Financial Field holds 68,582.  139 miles. 2 hour and 37 minute drive.  More NFL stadiums?

 15 games. 29 football teams. (Cavaliers twice.) 4457 miles driven. 1,048,374 screaming fans. (If they all sold out). The fall of a lifetime.

 Anyone ever dream of doing something like this? What games on the list would you skip/ replace? What region of the country would you base out of? It’s tough and takes a bit but if you have the time make your own. What games/stadiums have you always wanted to go to? One year in my life I will get to do something like this and it will be epic. Only 15 minutes longer to finish my download!

http://roadgames07.blogspot.com/2008/10/concerning-unspeakable-acts.html

Hello, since the internets are burning with flame wars and talks of firings, I don’t want to waste your time. This post is a recap of my Michigan Football experiences in my life and my opinion about being a student the past four years. It contains ideas on what the future holds for our team. It is also long. If you don’t want to read about this, stop now. Therefore no one will waste their time, have to tell everyone they don’t care what I think, or tell everyone that Coach Rodriguez is not the answer. I am fine with the fact that most won’t care what I think and have to say or agree with me.

It started a really long time ago, before I can remember. Fall days in Saturday either meant waking up and driving to Ann Arbor to watch football or watching the Maize and Blue on TV because we were on the road or I couldn’t go that week. Mom and Dad both went to Michigan and had season tickets so it was natural for me to cheer for them. I grew to love the Wolverines and there were some great memories over the years. Some of these included a lifetime hatred for Kordell Stewart, attending the parade after we won the National Championship, getting my picture taken with Woodson, Griese, the Heisman, and the national championship trophy, knowing that Jeff Smoker did not spike the ball in time, burning plastic gators on our January trip to Florida,triple overtime, and the 100^th game.

All of that happened and the next year was different. It was senior year of high school and I wasn’t sure if I’d get into Michigan. I had applications to a bunch of schools, but I was specifically hoping for one response. Well on November 20^th, 2004 I got a call at about 11 AM that I needed to get home as soon as possible to open a large envelope. Sure enough, I got into Michigan just in time to watch our 7^th rankedteam fall to the Buckeyes. I wore that Michigan shirt to school Monday with pride, I got ridiculed of course, but man it felt good, I was going to attend the University of Michigan.

That’s where the article above comes in. It describes the next four years as the most torturous for a fan base of any school in college football. It made me think, have my four years here been the worst four years for a University of Michigan football fan to be a student?

So I had to think back to my memories over the past four years.

Freshman Year

-       First game against MSU is at MSU, I go to the game, overtime win. Awesome.

-       #8 Penn State touchdown with 53 seconds left. Silence. 0 seconds left. Bedlam.

-       5losses. Wisconsin, scores TD with 24 ticks on the clock. Last second tie breaking field goal to Minnesota. 24 seconds left again, this time Ohio State.Nebraska debacle.

Sophomore

-       11 Straight wins, which included a visit to Notre Dame in my favorite away game. Hot Damn!

-       Seniors last home game, Balls out for Ball State (3-7), in which was the closest win of the year, unless you look solely at points (Penn State).

-       The loss of Bo. Honestly the eeriest feeling I’ve ever experienced was felt on campus that day. Candlelight vigil on the Diag.

-       1 vs. 2

-       A plundering in Pasadena

Junior

-       Watching the remake of the Longest Yard’s most infamous scene for Michigan Fans and Hot! Hot! Hot! several times. The horror. The statue of liberty.

-       8 wins, 2 more losses

-       Overcoming all the adversity, beating the speedy gators of the SEC, and watching Lloyd go out the way he deserved to go out.

-       The coaching fiasco, and excitement in a good coach, a good offense, a new sponsor, a new stadium, a new quarterback, and the departure of pretty much everything I ever knew about Michigan Football, just in time for senior year.

Senior

-       We don’t need a breakdown, as we all know what happened so far this year.

 Wisconsin was the best game I’ve ever experienced in the Big House, although the win will probably mean nothing by the end of the season. And now with two home games left in my college career, I wonder if this will be the only savior of the season. In my opinion we will win two more games. But the last three years have taught me that anything can happen. We could lose all six or we could win all six. If we don’t make a bowl and all of our streaks and records are broken, it will be a true restart for our team. 2008 will be the ultimate restart of a year. Our team that consists of mostly freshman; they will have a new coach, new offense, new defense, new sponsor, new stadium on the way, new recruiting style, new records to set, and a new outlook on Michigan Football. It is weird to be a senior right now. We could be the first class in 40 years to see a losing season and 33 years to not make it to a bowl. Plus we are the first class of only three that will have experienced the old and the new. A full system reboot will take longer than 6 games, but it will happen so everyone will have to be patient. I believe Coach Rodriguez can take us there, with the raw talent he has this year and with the upcoming recruits Coach Rod is building the kind of foundation that we will grow from. With patience in our coach and our players, Michigan will return. As you may have heard, those who stay will be champions.

So are the past four years the most torturous for any college fan base? Depends on how you look at it. For me, 3 wins over MSU so far, Mario in the Penn State game, winning 11 straight games, being on campus to say goodbye to Bo, the Florida win and what it meant for Lloyd, and watching the beginning of the new era with the Wisconsin win have been plenty of ups to the many number of downs that I have experienced. Am I setting my standards too low, you may think so, I don’t, although beating Ohio State would be nice. Being a part of the University of Michigan and optimistically supporting every aspect of their football team is enough for me. Do the same if you can, support Rich Rodriguez, support Nick Sheridan, support Morgan Trent.

PS. The last four years were not a picnic, so here are few favors (last wishes as a student) I ask,           

1. Try the best you can to not sell your tickets to MSU fans. Be as loud as possible during this game. Wear maize.
2. Don’t be a Negative Nancy. Don’t leave the game early. Don’t ever think like the guy that posted the above article. Asking if it is time to switch to soccer is not a joke, as that is not funny. Never give up on Michigan Football.
3. Cut the student section a little slack. We got flamed for the wave last time because somehow a group of kids in the 30^th row got it started. I hope we get to do it all the way through one last time for the seniors regardless of the score of the Northwestern game, plus the freshman still need to learn the correct thing all the way through. We will at least do it in the third quarter.
4. I’d love to see someone organize something for the seniors. Whether it be the one time return of hot dog man, marshmallows, the 1,2,3 HIT HIM IN THE FACE on the kickoff cheer, etc. or something else. Ideas are appreciated.