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Yet another "favorite (insert whatever)" discussion I thought could be interesting and maybe enlightening to the music fans we have around here.  What is your favorite album of all time?  I have to say "Dark Side of the Moon" by Pink Floyd.  I can't say that any individual song is among my top 10 or 20 but the album as a whole is a masterpiece. The organization of the album is perfect. It flows so well it sounds like one 50 minute song. Fantastic. "The White Album" by The Beatles is another great one. What does everyone think?

Okay MGoBloggers,

I need your help...I'm getting married in three weeks in Omaha, NE (my fiancee's home town, also the home of the College World Series), and since neither I nor none of my groomsmen are coming from remotely close to the area, I need to help out with the planning of a bachelor party of sorts...

Now, I assume not that many of you have actually been to the booming metropolis of Omaha, so I won't expect any Omaha-specific suggestions, but I wondered if you guys could offer up some bachelor party suggestions...a few stipulations:

1)  My fiancee's brother will be there, and he is only 17 (though due to his upbringing not likely to slip roofies into our drinks, a la The Hangover), plus my brothers which are 18, 18 and 20 so that rules out any over-21 exclusive places...

2) I'm not into strippers or strip-clubs or any of that type of thing...I love having fun, but the cleaner the better for me...

And yes, there can and should be U-M elements to this, I'm an alum, my three brothers are all undergrads now, six out my eight groomsmen are U-M alums, and just about every guy coming to the bachelor party is as well...

Thanks for the suggestions!

I hope I am not the only one here that finds this to be one of the funniest shows ever.  Well I have seen that they are going to start production for season 2 this month but I can't find any dates for when it will actually be on HBO again.  Anyone have any idea?  Anyone else find this show overly hilarious?

This is a great time to stop for a moment and think about the legacy we are passing on to our children.  Those of us that grew up listening to Tiger's baseball games late into summer evenings with our fathers and grandfathers are feeling a little like graduating seniors right now.  In part celebrating the memories of a cherished part of our lives, and in part mourning the end of an era.  I was never on the field for a single pitch of major league baseball.  I have never felt the crack of the bat nor the grass in the outfield as I dove for a catch.  Instead, my experience was that of a spectator in the bleachers at Tiger's stadium with my dad and uncles and brother.  I remember hot dogs and wondering why everyone was booing Lou Whitaker.  I remember keeping score in  a program and how green the grass looked in comparison to the blue steel of the stadium.  I also remember sitting in the yard by the lake and listening to Erie as the chicken cooked on the grill.

This year I took my two boys (5 and 3) to the Michigan spring game.  It was their first trip to the big house and I was way more excited than they were.  I thought of my first trip to a spring game and how Jim Harbaugh high fived us on the field after the game and gave his wristbands to my cousin.  I  remember crisp saturday mornings that fall playing football un the leaves in our yard and pretending I was Harbaugh.  I cheered for him not because I remembered following him through recruiting or because I thought that he was a better pro style QB than his predecessor.  I cheered for him because he wore a Michigan helmet and that was who my dad rooted for. 

However this season goes, winning record or not, I hope that I will cheer proudly for my alma mater and my children will be able to look back when they are adults with their own children and not have their memories tarnished by complaining about coaches and yelling at 18 year old quarterbacks.  I hope they remember loving football saturdays, maybe a little more when we won, but loving them even when we lost.  I am quickly realizing that the time I get to spend with my kids and my grandfather and dad are fleeting and I would rather spend them cheering our team than complaining about it.  

It's the story that just won't quit. I know you're sick of reading about and talking about it. You just want Delaney to announce something, damn it! 

I know you don't want to click, but I know you will.

Teddy Greenstein does a Q&A on Big 10 expansion in the Trib and puts some interesting tidbits out there...

• Number of teams:

If you'd asked me 24 hours ago, I would have said the Big Ten would add three teams: Rutgers, Missouri and Nebraska. Then I spoke to someone involved in the expansion talks, and he told me: 16 is more likely than 14 and 14 is more likely than 12.

• Are academics (and the associated research dollars) a major factor for prospective schools?  Absolutely, they are:

Syracuse's chancellor, Nancy Cantor, is said to be pushing to join the Big Ten. She previously served as chancellor for the University of Illinois and provost at Michigan.

• A defiant Notre Dame could be in a world of hurt with non-football schedules if the Big East withers on the vine. And boy, if Big 10 expansion also leads to the Big 10 taking on ice hockey, then they will really be left out in the cold and adrift alongside UAH:

[Notre Dame's] hockey team calls the CCHA (Central Collegiate Hockey Association) home, but what do you do about ND's 15 teams that play in the Big East? How do you go about making those schedules? What a potential headache.

• Big 10 revenue estimates (i.e., the validity of the $22M per team figure):

Sports Illustrated referred to the $22 million as football TV revenue, but I don't think that is right. The Big Ten's ABC/ESPN deal that began in 2007 is worth a reported $1 billion over 10 years. So that's $9 million per school if you go on the (probably faulty) assumption that the deal will not appreciate as years go by... The Big Ten Network is believed to have distributed between $7 million-$8 million per school last year. So that total is shy of $17 million.  The Big Ten has declined to confirm the $22 million. What it has released is a figure of $220 million ($20 million per school) for 2010 that covers revenue from national television contracts, bowl games, the NCAA basketball tournament, licensing and the Big Ten Network.

Whatever the numbers are, it's clear that the Big Ten and SEC are playing at a different level than the other four BCS conferences. No conference commissioner disputes that.

I'll be back next week to see what he has to say about this:

Teddy, It's clear that expanding BTN revenue will be a key driver for conference expansion; with metro NYC cable systems being the #1 target. What's the math on getting the BTN onto basic cable packages in metro NYC? (e.g. XX cents per subscriber per month?) How does it all add it up? What's the incremental take per school for a 14 or 16 school conference? William Dunlevy, Columbus, Ohio.

Check back to chicagotribune.com next week, William. I'm working on a TV-related piece that will address those questions

Now let's round things out with talk of a potential Big 12 - PAC-10 television alliance...

•  In this Orlando Sentinel piece:

[Big 10 expansion] has forced the other conferences to figure out ways to make themselves more attractive to rake in the type of cash they do. Currently the SEC has $3 billion in TV deals with ESPN and CBS; The Big Ten has its own network and gives its schools about $22 million annually from TV deals.

So it comes as little surprise that the Big 12 and Pac-10 have discussed potential TV alliances and a scheduling partnership over the last several days. Both have TV deals that expire after the 2011-12 year. The deal makes plenty of sense for both conferences as they are currently configured, giving them an entire foothold from the Mississippi River to the West Coast. Non-conference games featuring USC and Texas would be huge TV draws, the money would surely flow, and their profiles would be raised.

• And this Dallas Morning News piece:

Officials from the Big 12 and Pac-10 examined possible TV alliances as well as scheduling partnerships in football during preliminary talks Wednesday and Thursday in Phoenix.  Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe and Pac-10 counterpart Larry Scott attended, along with conferences athletic directors. The talks came against the backdrop of possible Big Ten expansion.

"Larry and I have talked for several months in regards to collaborating to enhance media value and working in any ways that might aid the two leagues and be a helpful alliance," Beebe said, confirming the talks.

Possibilities include working together on TV contracts or perhaps even a shared network.

The moral of the story: Delaney and the Big 10 are not operating in a vacuum.   

On November 21st, 2008 I printed out Brian's "The Age of Miracles" post and put it up in my office at work. (http://mgoblog.com/content/age-miracles)  When I first read it it really struck a chord with me, and from time to time when things get crazy and nothing makes sense I re-read it and it makes me feel better. 

I know this is completely off topic, but you guys have always been helpful and I'm kind of in need of objective advice from people who don't know me personally.  I haven't told a lot of my friends about this (or any of my family) because I'm not entirely sure what to do and am terrified that things won't work out.  (This is obviously a consequence of the off-season--stupid self-introspection!)

I'm 26 and graduated from Michigan in 2006 with a BA in Poli Sci.  I always wanted to ultimately pursue policy, but after an health policy internship in DC decided I wanted to become a physician who was knowledgeable enough to truly shape health policy.  I completed the pre-med requirements and after I graduated began working at a health disparities research center in Detroit.  I started out as an unpaid intern and have worked my way up to a really well-paying, high-level research position (particularly given my relative (lack of) experience/clinical degree.)  About a year ago I was accepted into a Masters in Physiology program with the option to get a PhD.  I work for a university and thus am getting free tuition as well.

The original plan was to earn the Masters, get a solid science foundation and apply to med school.  To make a long story short, my interest in medicine has always been from an urban/advocacy for the underserved perspective.  It's kind of been building for a while, but I realized I really don't like what I'm doing.  I don't want to be a physician, I want to affect policy head-on.  My commitment is still to the underserved and always will be, but I've decided that I want to go to law school.  This is terrifying because I'm 26 and feel like I'm really old (even though everyone tells me I'm not); I always thought I'd have much more accomplished in my life by age 26 than I do.

I registered for an LSAT prep course that begins in June and am taking this semester off from Physiology classes to re-compartmentalize and study for the October LSAT.  I still haven't told anyone at work, including the amazing mentors (physicians) I've grown really close to who everyday tell me what an amazing physician I'll be. 

There's a better than even chance that because I want to pursue advocacy work, I'll never, ever make close to the money I'm making now and will then also be contending with paying student loans from law school.  Money has never, ever been important to me, but I'm kind of all heart and don't really think these kinds of things through as much as I probably should.

I guess ultimately my question is this: have you ever had to reconcile what you really think you would be awesome at and what you really love with a much more stable, more concrete option?  I'm an overly-optimistic and hopeful person in general so I'm afraid I'm ignoring logic when I keep telling myself things will work out.  Sorry this is so long--I appreciate all of your help in advance. 

Oh, and Brian's "The Age of Miracles" post is now in my LSAT prep book.  In some weird way it helps me keep perspective and gives me hope in this super scary, uncertain time.