2011: The Year of the Wolverines

Submitted by readyourguard on

Eds-[As in all of us]: Bumped from boards (!) for awesome. May 2012 be even better!

Finally for all us Wolverines fans, we have a year we can look back on fondly and anticipate the future (mostly in regards to football and basketball).  Here's a little picture page-ish post recollecting the past 12 months.  I hope you enjoy.

January:

After starting the year out unauspiciously, a new era of Michigan football took hold on January 11th as AD David Brandon introduced us all to....

...

and the now famous Hoke-point.

The Hokester brought along his buddy

which was encouraging to most, but some people were still

.

On the hardwood, the cagers started the season off right with a win over

only to go on a 6 game losing streak, including 2 narrow losses to the #2 and #3 teams in the country. 

People were starting to question

.

But Ann Arbor Torch and Pitch Fork closed it's door for the year after the Wolverines marched into Breslin Arena and ended the Spartans beloved "Days since....." calendar, forcing these assclowns

to have to scrub each other's prepubescent chests.

Get the **** off my court.

February

After just 3 weeks on the job, Hokester salvages a top20 recruiting class, including

          

 Brennan Beyer (SAM) | Frank Clark (WDE) | Blake Countess (CB)   

          

Delonte Hollowell (CB) | Desmond Morgan (WLB) | Matt Wile (K/P/KO)

...who either start or make signficant contributions in just their first year on campus.  We didn't know at the time, but these 6 turn out to be pretty damn good.

March

Meanwhile, the pipeline from Farmington Hills Harrison to Lansing is temporarily diverted west as

and

solidify their future by taking their talents to the good side.

Also in 

these 2

decide to go all

on some poor dude in a Colorado bar then flee the scene. The po-po apprehended them and sentenced them to 1 to 3 more years in East Lansing.

April

went to the NCAA finals, narrowly losing 3-2 in overtime to Minnesota-Duluth.

May

Memorial Day Weekend.  It's one of those days where you remember exactly where you were at that moment in time when

was "forced out" at Ohio State for repeatedly lying to his administration and NCAA. Turns out Cheaty knew about some shenanigans going on inside his program but didn't want to upset the winning apple cart, so he only told the owner of this car

and perhaps an FBI agent. 

Ding dong, the dick is dead.

At a team meeting to tell all the Buckeyes their coach had been fired for failing to monitor his program, which included massive memorabilia sales and trades for tatoos and questionable car deals, TP decided it would be a good idea to roll up in

with temporary tags.  TP would also be unceremoniously led out of Columbus.

Take that, Brutus.

June

In one of the saddest and most unbelievable tragedies I can remember, 16 year old basketball commit Austin Hatch survives his SECOND airplane crash. The plane went down in northern Michigan, killing Austin's father and step mother. In the first crash in 2003, Austin and his dad survived but his mother and two siblings were killed.

Thankfully, Austin's recovery has been nothing short of miraculous.  He may not play basketball again, but he'll be a Wolverine for life.

July

As a result of the aforementioned Buckeye shenanigans,

delivers another dong punch to the evil empire by switching his commitment from OSU to Meeeeeeeechigan. Buckeyes everywhere suck it.

September

FOOTBALL SEASON!!!

Finally all the speculation and predictions have come to an end and it's time to play some football. 

The boys take care of Western Michigan in grand fashion before 2 lightning delays force an early end to the game. 

Then the much anticipated

game.

Trailing 24-7 at the end of 3 quarters,

leads the Wolverines to a furious 28-point 4th quarter rally.  With 1:22 left in the game, Denard hits Vincent Smith on a screen pass that goes for 21 yards and the score.  The crowd goes nuts.  We win, we win, we.......................... fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu. Notre Dame pulls out the unthinkable and drives right down the field, and Tommy Rees hits a wide open Theo Riddick for a 29 yard touchdown.

What a f****** drag.  God******. What the hell is wrong with our D? Screw you Mattison.  FU Kelly. God da.......

Wait a minute.  There's still 30 seconds left.  Who knows, right?  Anything can happen, right?  RIGHT?

Right!

Suck it Irish.

October and November

We lose to Satan for the 4th time in a row during a trash tornado, and inexplicably look bad against an average Iowa team.  But all is not lost.  We go on to beat Illinois, run a train on Nebraska, and then, FINALLY, after a decade of OSU dominance...

10-2 !

December

SugarSugar!

Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year.  All America.

Here's a list of other

Conference Champions from 2011...

  • Field Hickey wins the regular season and conference tournament championship
  • Women's Gymnastics
  • Hockey
  • Softball
  • Men's Swimming and Diving
  • Women's Tennis
  • Men's Soccer wins the tournament title.

As Coach Hoke will tell you, it wasn't a "great" season because we didn't achieve our goal, which is the Big Ten Title. But after the last 3 years, and since 2006 frankly, this year has given us reason to be very optimistic for the future. I'm proud to be a Wolverine. My wife and I (also an alum) are fortunate to have a son who was accepted into UofM last week and hope he will grow as attached to this great institution as we are.

Thanks for the memories 2011.

Comments

aiglick

December 27th, 2011 at 12:27 PM ^

Cool post. Reminiscent of the Bronxblue diaries only slightly more positive since, as you point out, we have a lot to be thankful for these days.

Congratulations to your son and have a great holiday season.

turtleboy

December 27th, 2011 at 12:56 PM ^

I loved hearing the announcers getting fired up during games. They couldn't help it either. Heard it from at least 3 different broadcasters: " this is Michigan football." So true.
Us welcoming Nebraska into the conference is worth a mention.

MGoShoe

December 27th, 2011 at 1:01 PM ^

...Men's Gymnast Sam Mikulak and Women's Gymnast Kylee Botterman each won individual NCAA All-Around titles on April 15.

Besides the Hockey team's runner up performance, there were these national top ten team finishes in 2011:

  • Men's Gymnastics: 5th
  • Women's Gymnastics: 6th
  • Men's Swimming: 9th
  • Women's Tennis: 9th
  • Field Hockey: 9th
  • Men's Golf: 10th

If you list the Men's Soccer B1G tournament title (earned in Fall 2010), you should also note its College Cup appearance and 3rd place finish.

BlockM

December 27th, 2011 at 2:26 PM ^

Could not be more thankful that I got to experience the last 12 months as a Michigan student. I only had three semesters there, but they were some of the best times of my life.

Mabel Pines

December 27th, 2011 at 2:29 PM ^

and congrats to your son.  My oldest is 11 and already knows that he needs to keep up his straight A's to get in to Michigan!   The 6 year old, however, is convinced he is Denard's cousin (we are white) and also thinks he can out run Denard!?!  So it's a work in progress.

BlueDragon

December 27th, 2011 at 3:02 PM ^

Things sure are different when I chew the fat with Ohio fans. Whenever things get too chippy I'm all like "40-34, that is all." And they can't do anything about it!

RDDGoblue

December 27th, 2011 at 3:28 PM ^

Awesome post sir.  

 

And as a clueless freshman inside linebacker in a 5-2 defense back in the summer of 1993, I heard enough "READ YOUR *$&##'in GUARD" to make me laugh out loud when i saw your username.

michiganfanforlife

December 27th, 2011 at 3:46 PM ^

Nice post. It's fun to take a turn and see where we were, and where we're headed. this offseason is going to be a million times better than last. I remember being really worried and frustrated among some oher emotions... Go Blue!!!

joeismyname

December 27th, 2011 at 3:56 PM ^

January 11th is my birthday, and I will admit, Last year I was really hoping for Les Miles to be announced as the next coach of Michigan as a little bonus birthday gift for me, but in hindsight, I think I got  what I really wanted. Thanks Coach Hoke for an awesome 2011, hope you keep it up!

 

rockydude

December 27th, 2011 at 6:10 PM ^

Thanks for reviewing another great year for the mighty M, and congratulations to your son and the whole family. Glad to hear that the school is getting some MGoIncomingTalent to keep the place respectable . . . 

streaker

December 27th, 2011 at 6:32 PM ^

Kudos sir.

 

Oh, and my son's graduation banner at home read:

 Hail! To The Graduate

Brian 2010

Leaders & Best

 

I hope your son's years at Michigan will be just as rewarding!

 

 

Blueroller

December 27th, 2011 at 7:49 PM ^

Great post, and congrats on your son. My dad (and his dad) were Michigan alums and it was the only school I applied to. One day my dad announced Congratulations, you got into Michigan! I said how do you know? He said your acceptance letter came. I said and you opened it?! He said yeah, it's got my name on it (I'm a Jr.). He had me there… 33 years ago and I still remember it like it was yesterday. Great to carry on the legacy.

Go Blue!

cbrown30

December 28th, 2011 at 10:14 AM ^

This year's U.S. Army All-American Bowl has 5 Michigan commits: OL Kyle Kalis, LB James Ross, LB Royce Jenkins-Stone, DL Ondre Pipkins, and OL Erik Magnuson! Michigan has the most commits out of any school! The Bowl game will be played Saturday, January 7 at 12pm CST live on NBC! Who's going to watch?