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"I wish there was a way to know you're in the good 'ol days before you've actually left them"

- Andrew Bernard

Some mother's day schadenfreude: Completing the hat-trick, news reports are beginning to trickle in of Titus Young's third arrest this week. This time around Young is accused of burglary and resisting arrest. 

I think it is safe to say, however, that this has quickly moved out of the realm of schadenfreude and into the category of just sad.

Random Saturday night tidbit:

Shane Morris will wear number 7 at Michigan. Following in the footsteps of Rick Leach, Drew Henson, and Chad Henne, among others.

Fiddlesticks.

Completely agree with you. If a Ducks player did this to a Wings player everyone in hockeytown would be irate. I actually love Abby as a player despite his Sparty roots, and I am certainly a Wings homer, but I do believe Abdelkader left his feet - which is a big no-no these days.

As for Abdelkader being a border-line AHL player, I'll respectfully disagree. He can be a big impact player for us when he is on his game. Bottom line is losing Abdelkader and DeKeyser could spell our doom. The wings simply were not that good to begin with, which should be clear to anyone who has followed them this season. Losing two guys certainly won't help our chances.

I would presume and hope that the type of person that reads this blog would not need this advice. 

Yet it never ceases to amaze me how people fail to turn their phones off during important things. I've seen students' phones go off during exams and in the middle of representing someone in court.

Aaand here he comes

Big Miggy with a bomb.

This could be a huge sweep of a very good Braves team. Good to see after hitting a bit of a rough patch last week.

And - gasp - it might even be time to consider Valverde for the old fantasy roster.

I'll treat this as the de facto Red Wings open thread:

Predators up 1-0 on CBJ.

Detroit up 1-0 on Dallas.

Early on, but things are looking promising for the Octopi.

Stereotypes of any group always suck.

It's going to be very difficult for anyone to ever supplant Zack Novak as my favorite Michigan player ever. He is the most underappreciated player in a long time. Part of my love affair with him is that we were students at the same time, but he was a leader in a turbulent time for Michigan basketball, and will forever be the face of the new era of Michigan basketball. 

Torii Hunter has been a difference-maker for this team. I expected him to provide a spark, but he leads the AL in hits?! Didn't expect that this early. 

I'm wearing my exact same clothing I've been wearing for every game of this tournament - in fact I will be representing Japan in a debate tomorrow in my Michigan hockey jersey. Not even changing my boxers from Saturday. 

Jimmy King and Ray Jackson said they were going together. I think Jalen had NBA commitments on Saturday, but he may be there Monday. Juwan obviously has Miami Heat commitments.

And Webber, who knows.

Can't say my problems are anywhere near as important as yours, but I can completely relate. It's been a rough couple weeks for me, and Friday's win felt almost spiritual to me. After family festivities today, I went for a long drive down some backroads and just let it soak in. Sports can indeed be more than a game sometimes.

Sometimes the sports gods deliver when you need them the most. 

I'm willing to judge a man on the strengths that overwhelmed the flaws.

...did a lot of cocaine.

The Monday morning sports hangover.

This is a lot like I felt after Bama - just replays running through my head of what could've been. I sat in Crisler for a long time after the game. I just thought about my years in the Maize Rage and all the years when we had nothing to cheer for. I thought about how close we had come. Call it nostalgia. I don't know man, it was rough yesterday.

Amen. I don't know how many times I've explained this to people who even mention John Beilein's job. I was there when Crisler was half-empty during the Amaker years and I was there cheering for NIT games.

Hell of a year, in my book. Bring on the tourney.

Want to kill myself now, but yeah.

That was the loudest I've ever heard Crisler. I don't think it was the Maize Rage being any louder (they're always good), but from my experience it was the upper section that changed the atmosphere.

Probably not as well as hotcakes.

The infamous Iowa running-back disease?

This might actually work. I just clicked on it a bunch of times until a message popped up saying: "warning, please slow down. It looks like you're using this feature in a way that it wasn't meant to be used"

Sports in a nutshell:

Soul-crushing on Wednesday. 

Soul alive again on Sunday.

Another blown lead. This is becoming an all-too-typical ending for the Red Wings this season.

Next couple minutes are important for the Wings. They haven't played well with a lead this season.

Yep. 3 shots in a period isn't gonna cut it against the Hawks.

Yeah, but hooking up in dorms and frat houses is what college kids do - that's what your supposed to do. The alternative seems creepy and weird to me. Maybe I'm biased because I'm a dude who didn't mind hooking up in a beer-soaked frat house basement, though. 

Started March off with a loss. Gonna be another long month. I can never seem to get past the 10-11 streak. 

I think beating MSU alone would make up for the PSU loss. But I'll be happy if we don't get embarassed on our home floor the next two Sunday's, because I'm afraid that might happen.

3 bleach references and 2 urine references thusfar, nice.

The undervaluing of Zack Novak has never been more apparent. I'll take last years team over this one at this point.

Good lord this defense isn't working. 

Beat me by seconds. 

That's a sorry-looking student section in Happy Valley. Can't really blame them, I suppose, those students have been through hell in terms of PSU athletics over the past year.

Actually, there was some victory rioting on South University after the 1989 National Championship - cars overturned, street signs uprooted, glass-breaking. But yeah, no burning couches. 

Although quite honestly, if I was in college during the '93 timeout, I probably would have set a couch on fire or something similar.

I would like to see more pieces from Brian a la "The Age of Miracles" (one of my all-time favorite articles from any source) - some more personal experience-type stuff. I was an English major, so the statistical stuff doesn't appeal to me quite as much as the emotionally-fueled content. Not a critique in any way, just my own personal thoughts.

I have an odd love affair with the late night playoff starts on the West Coast for the Wings, so I like being in the Western Conference. But I know I am in the minority on that one. 

That said, I support any realignment that puts us in the same division as Toronto and Montreal. 

Wings are pretty hard to define this year. They're actually better than I originally anticipated, as in they can compete with just about any team, but they struggle with leads and closing out games. 

And say what you want about Tootoo, but he is one of the most entertaining players on the Wings this year. 

I thought they could've done a better job with the rededication in general. But yeah, to leave out the Fab 5 is a travesty. Like it or not, they were a huge part of Crisler's history.

Minnesota's collapse is perplexing. They looked like they could contend in the Big Ten at the beginning of the year.

100% agree. My friend and I were actually talking about this at the game Sunday. The atmosphere would benefit tenfold if we could even get some Rage seats behind each basket. The atmosphere suffers greatly from the large majority of the lower bowl - the so-called blue hairs who don't get much into the game. It's pathetic that the lower bowl was half empty during the rededication Sunday. I feel like even the alumni season ticket holders at the Breslin show up early and contribute to the atmosphere at the Breslin.

Spartan Bob strikes again!

I just started reading this whole thread and honestly thought the same thing. Most celebs know better than to get into it with others via Twitter b/c every celeb is lambasted with crap all day... at least I would hope. Maybe I'm being an optimist.

Any Michigan-Michigan State game day is truly my least favorite social media day of the year. 

I'm here for the late night gang-bang

How sad is it that I turned my laptop on just to see if there were Muppets?

Hail.

A little disappointed with this  year's hampster blimp. Puppies were great, per usual.

Yeah, I don't really get ragging on a college student for wearing a shirt with the bowl game his school went to. 

Even more mind-boggling to me is that ESPN portrays him as such a role model. Sometimes ESPN can have that meathead, former athlete mentality (a lot of them are former football players) and completely brush character issues to the side. 

I'mcertain players on every team in America feel entitled. It's the coach's job to deal with those players appropriately.

If I understand it correctly, college athletes are entitled to legal counsel. They can get advice from counsel, but a lawyer becomes an agent for eligibility purposes if the lawyer talks to any pro teams or discusses any potential pro contract on behalf of the athlete. 

Andy Oliver (former(?) Tigers pitcher) sued the NCAA on this issue.

I love me that Canadian!

Hate how the student section is situated on the same side as the TV cameras.

this is an excellent idea

If you really think coming to a Michigan site and calling Denard Robinson a bad player is going to fly you are delusional. We appreciate him just as much for his personality as for his on the field heroic as well, and if you can't understand that this isn't the site for you.

Raise your hand if you thought Brian Lashoff would have the first goal of the Red Wings season.

Let's go New England Tom Brady's.

So Schapp wants us to believe that Teo recieved a call from his dead girlfriend and STILL didn't know he was being duped? That he actually believed she may have been alive, and had to fake her own death to avoid drug dealers? 

If that were true, Te'o would be the stupidest person on the face of the planet.

I don't like Whitlock either, but that about sums it up. I was actually a bit of a Teo sympathizer when this all began, but this move reeks of insincerity .

ESPN released quotes from the interview already: Teo: "when they find out the facts".

Yeah, this interview sounds like it's gonna be worthless. 

Nice work. 

In other news, the Florence (KY) Freedom, a minor league baseball team, has announced it will have a promotion as "Manti Teo's Girlfriend Bobblehead Night" during their upcoming season. 

ND teammates are now throwing Te'o under the bus. I can't even keep up with this story.

Posting "Guarantee I'm smarter than you are" on the internet. Seems legit.

ND just used the MTV show Catfish in defense of Teo. Hahahaha.

I'm still willing to give Teo the benefit of the doubt at this point and I'm willing to believe he actually was duped. The most shocking part to me is how incredibly naive he must have been to have bought into this in this day and age, where we literally have an MTV show fully devoted to exposing the absurdity to online relationships that are almost always fake. 

On the bright side, I think it is a testament to this team that we could play that awfully yet still be in a position to win at the end. Everyone knew the B1G would be a gauntlet. Beilein will be able to use this game as a teaching point, and we will get better as the season marches on.

Exactly what I was thinking. GRIII is critical to our teams success. Also, Stauskas? 

Nyquist in Grand Rapids is a bit of a head-scratcher for me. Granted, they can call him up at any time, but in my opinion he should be practicing with the Wings. The Red Wings are no longer a Cup-threat and are, for the first time in a long time, at a bit of a rebuilding stage. So why not get your top young star playing at the top-level? 

That said, I fully expect him to be called up relatively soon. Feels good to have hockey back!

Shane Morris congratulated Samuelson as well, for what it's worth

Grantland is the best thing to happen to sports journalism in a long time. Michael Weinreb (Michigan-disdain aside) wrote some excellent pieces on the Penn State saga and generally writes really interesting pieces on college football. And occasional contributor Wright Thompson is one of my favorite writers around.

Man, Jake Ryan has some beautiful locks. 

Also, sounds like a hell of a first basketball game experience. 

I'm not exactly sure what a golden flash is, but I certainly can't figure out why it would have eyes.

This is just filthy. Iowa looked like a decent team but Michigan is on an entirely different level.

Yeah I've heard a lot of people say that. I'm willing to admit that my life is so boring that I will immediately be glued to my tv watching hockey as soon as its back. 

I actually think a condensed season could benefit the somewhat older Red Wings.

Reminiscent of the pitcher in Hardball? ("I love when they call me big papa")

Shane getting lit up. Do not want.

I think I might root for Notre Dame if the national championship was between ND and Ohio State. But that is just about the only scenario in which I would root for them. 

I put 35 confidence points on Bama. Not because I am that confident in Bama, but because I don't even want to picture the media reaction should Notre Dame win.

this is actually making me nervous about Notre Dame's chances Monday night. I didn't think Nebraska would compete with UGA either.

I was also really looking forward to having my first (legal) drink in the Big House for this year's NHL Winter Classic. 

I'll stay away from the coaching commentary.

Anyone else feel like the karma of the game/ momentum was just completely screwed up by that bad first down call on the measurement? I don't know if the game would've resulted any differently, but that bad call fired up SC. And it was right when the momentum pendulum was starting to turn our way. 

all of today's games have sucked. I was a little excited to watch USC, but they look asleep out there. 

What a genius, coordinating a drive of 4 yards.

Make that 1-3! Guess I missed that Navy-Arizona State game, although by the looks of it I didn't miss much.

Vegas was a bit off on this one. 

Would rather be at the game! Was thinking about heading down there but the weather made me think twice about that.

No need to apologize for this. Prayers your way. 

Framed Sports Illustrated covers: '97 Griese commemorative issue and the Desmond Howard "Hail, Hail" cover. Should fit nicely with the Rick Leach and "Take That" David Boston covers! Getting Michigan stuff truly makes me feel like a kid again.

Merry Christmas all.

haven't heard from ya in a while. good to see you back.

Got my longest ESPN streak for the cash streak on Temple +15. Was pretty nervous about that pick. Let's go Owls.

ditto

A man after my own heart.