Recent Comments

Any improvement is good improvement.  There's no style points.

Save the swag for Jordan Poole.

Believe it or not, John Cooper could have said the same thing. 

He could have easily beaten us in '88, '90', '92, 96, and yes '97 if a few coinflip plays went the other way . . . Brown's pass was incomplete, OSU picked up the 4th down, we did not recover our own fumble, Springs does not slip, Jackson does not throw his stupid pick / Gresie does thtow his stupid near-pick.

Dude could have had a 7-6 winning record against us. 

But coulda, woulda, blah, blah. 

At some point, you are what your record says you are.

Remember when we were so thin at DB?

We do have things to be grateful for.

UNACCEPTABLE!

Hey, just like our backup!

No, wait . . . .

Probably wasn't even the dumbest post of the week.

My nose would get hit first, so I'm good.

They all play for him, don't you know.

All those years in the '80s and '90s when we were beating Ohio State regularly, it was because we had superior play at the QB position.

While we were starting future NFL QBs like Harbaugh and Elvis and Brady, they were trotting out Herbstreit and Stanley Jackson and Bellisari.

Until we fix that, we are going to keep looking up at them.

Isn't that kind of the point with college-age kids?  Allow them to be successful at what they can realistically do.

At least the NFL plays real games overseas.  When are some of these leagues like the Premire League, Serie A, La liga, etc. going tp play a real game over here?

Also: the name "Liverpool" makes me kind of queasy.  Just saying.

"Prove to me that you're no fool,

walk across my swimming pool."

Yeah, that is a real thing. 

I grew up in a heavily Polish and Italian (and therefore Catholic) area.  The running joke is that two neighborhood Moms were gossiping at the fence.  The first Mom says: "My son just got into Harvard!"  The second Mom says: "What's wrong, he couldn't get into Notre Dame?" 

We're lucky they did not get MAAR (Allentown PA Central Catholic).

I saw the UMBC women's lacrosse team at a Panera Bread in Baltimore last week.  I recognized their "Retrievers" script and dog logo on their jackets.

I told them "Everybody knows who you are now!".  They laughed and said that 3 weeks ago nobody would even know if they were a high school team or a club team.

That's what makes March Madness the greatest sports (and cultural) event of the year.

You could say that about 20 programs.

So yeah, I got nothing.

in the aftermath of Larry Nassar’s sentencing, leaders of the MSU basketball student section—The Izzone—spearheaded a fundraising campaign for the survivors. Using the power of fans’ common identity, they raised ... $7,000.

*Snort*

Let's not waste it again this year, OK?

Historically good defenses only come along once every . . . oops we've actually had one three years in a row, but that doesn't fit my story line.

Historically good defenses only come along once a generation!!

We've yet to actually have a game manager, so we don't even know.

Jordan Poole chasing down Sister Jean after the game to tell her what a big fan he was of her.

I already posted this in Seth's "One Shining Moment" thread, but it was so much fun I'm going to post it again:

For me, it's the confetti.  I've become all about the confetti.

My wife is a Dukie.  Last year we watched on TV as Duke won the ACC Tournament on Saturday night.  When they won, confetti came pouring down on them from the arena rafters and filled the sky. 

I thought to myself "Man, I really want that for Michigan  in the Big Ten Tournament tomorrow."

The next day on Sunday, I was in the stands in DC for the Big Ten Tournament final and got to take this picture:

Got it!

This year in NYC, we got to repeat that scene all over again.  (Duke didn't.)

Check out this amazing-angle confetti footage at 7:50:

"Let the confetti rain in New York!"

It did not stop there.  Another round of confetti awaited in the West Regional Final as Michigan hoisted a Final Four trophy and cut down the nets:

It's been a great run for confetti.

CHEERS!

M-Dog

This may be the post of the year.

Especially since sexy bits have been banned.

I know lots of Duke folks.  Coach K has specifically stated that he is going to back away from that model.  It has not worked out like they would have wanted.

Lots of snark on here, but I think it will help this time around.

Mostly for two reasons:

1) The external environment has changed some, and it's not quite the shady free for all it was at the Kentucky's and Lousiville's of the world.  Michigan will not be the extreme outlyer it was in the past.  Nothing is pure, but I would bet that Villanova recruiting is closer to Michigan recruiting than Kentucky one-and-done recruiting.

2) JB has shown that you will not be locked into just one style of play as a recruit.  Unlike the perception around 2013, JB has shown that he has a well rounded scheme that lets players slash to the rim, post up, play defense, etc.  It's not a rigid "Princeton" system that was still the narrative among media types even as late as 2013. 

People may have questioned a guy like Charles Matthews coming here in the past, but nobody would question it now. 

The next time around, a 4/5-star guy like that may come here directly in the first place instead of transferring here.

That's rude.

But being rude is not the same thing as being racist.

AFAIK, Paul Johnson has never shown any signs of any kind of racist behavior.

I get the point you are trying to make, but the context of the post is not right.

When I looked at your avatar really fast, I thought it was a shark symbol.

Checks out.

Yep.

Yeah the tone was a little odd.  They kind of just slid it past you that they were still buying a $1.4M "bargain" house, and this somehow changed their lives. 

If $1.4M was all they could "scrape up", they would have still gotten a palace in Gainesville, FL with or without McElwain's help.

So . . . that family still bought a $1.4 million house.  That's not quite the spin the article puts on it, where if not for McElwain's generosity the family would be sleeping on the streets.  They would have just bought a lesser mansion.

Can't do it all with one line.

Almost did, actually.

Watching NCAA tournaments in April with your team in it is fun.  It puts an edge on everything else that you do during that time.  It's all you think about.

We all know the risk of falling of that steep a cliff, but we'll be lining up next year to do it again.

The team looked tired, trying to do it all with pretty much one line.  And it bit them in the end.

But at no time did they look like they were not well-organized and well-coached.

Add some depth and broader talent, and this program will be a machine.

Oh well.

We would have just lost even more painfully in the National Championship game.

The story of Michigan basketball and hockey this year is this: 

We found money. 

Lots of money.  And we kept finding it over and over.

Then we used some of it to buy two $10 Million Powerball lottery tickets.

It sucks that those lottery tickets did not win.

But guys, we still found a lot of money.

I was one of those guys.  Thank God I got to see all of that stuff first.  It makes this stuff now easier to take.

I don't know how you guys do it.  I give you all the credit in the world for sticking with it when it keeps pulling the rug out from under you.  I don't know if I could do it.

Was there any plan there at all?

That may have been it for this game.

There's a line. . . 

At least all the maize matches.  That's huge progress.

They had gotten me flummoxed to the point where I thought it was technically impossible to match yellow on different surfaces and I should stop expecting it.
 

Our unis look good.

Why are we losing 4-star non-OL's to Stanford?

Yes, that was the point where Villanova got separation and kept it.  Poole was completely out of control.

Had he made that and avoided the 5 point swing, it could have been interesting perhaps.  Perhaps.

They were missing some shots around then and we were making some.  The swings in confidence for us and them could have been a reset.

And if all that had happened . . . I still think they would have won.

*sigh*

Is what it is.

We'll just have to lick our wounds and console ourselves with a final #2 national ranking and occupying a third of "One Shining Moment".

Rich People Problems.

It ends in pain for all but one team.

We got a giant-ass Final Four banner asprin for our trouble.

For me, it's the confetti.  I've become all about the confetti.

My wife is a Dookie.  Last year we watched on TV as Duke won the ACC Tournament on Saturday night.  When they won, confetti came pouring down on them from the arena rafters and filled the sky. 

I thought to myself "Man, I really want that for Michigan  in the Big Ten Tournament tomorrow."

The next day on Sunday, I was in the stands in DC for the Big Ten Tournament final and got to take this picture:

Got it!

This year in NYC, we got to repeat that scene all over again.  (Duke didn't.)

Check out this amazing-angle confetti footage at 7:50:

"Let the confetti rain in New York!"

It did not stop there.  Another round of confetti awaited in the West Regional Final as Michigan hoisted a Final Four trophy and cut down the nets:

It's been a great run for confetti.

CHEERS!

Me too.

Only in my case it's a misdemeanor, because it never worked.

Shhhhhhh!  Don't tell him.

“I told some guys if you continue to stay hurt, continue to stay in the training room, you have no tape. I can’t grade you if you’re not on tape. I can’t grade you in the training room. And all of a sudden some guys got well."

Hello: Lawsuit.

At least we beat our 11 seed.

Well we did see a perfect game and an off game.  Just not by the right teams.

That's a lesson for us.  That's how you win a National Championship.

Somebody has to step up and play out of their minds with an all-time performance.

That's what it takes . . . your best performance ever as a team, not one of your worst like 3/23 on threes.

Spike had it for a while in 2013, but it was not sustained.

He was asking who Sister Jean is.

OK, now do Sparty's lineup.

This entire March was like finding money.

In every single pocket . . . behind the couch . . .  in tbe car . . .

We had the #1 one-seed and last year's National Champion on our side of the bracket.

And they got crushed.

We have to play who they put in front of us.  We can't customize our tournament opponents to our liking.

Otherwise we would just play Sparty 6 times.

Playing defense the way they do has an impact on their shooting.  It does take a lot out of them.  They've stated this previously.

This is new.  It's something they have to get acclimated to.

He's not coming back.  But man, Moe, you gotta be able to put two good shooting nights in a row together in the NBA.

Clock has struck midnight.

Where's our guy that steps up like that?

If we can't even get Robinson to hit a three on an open look, it's over.

Nova no longer worried about our outside shooting.  Open looks are there every time.  Got to hit them.

Z's gonna get a clean block that will be called a foul.

You know that is coming.

Teske gets mugged.

We're playing like we mean it.

This is it.  The end of the road.

This is the last game of the season.

No survive and advance.  No worrying about going home early.

There is only one game left, and we are in it.

The game does not start until 9:20 PM EST, there will be a ton of commercials during it, and I'll be back on here after the game no matter what.

I'm definitely taking a nap.

Welcome.

I just doubled your point total!

Jordan Poole is such a nice boy.

Or Michigan - Texas A&M.

If its an unsightly blowout tonight, I'll gladly switch that on.

What kind of drive-by fan are you?

At least stick around to watch us cut down the nets.

Hey Guys!  I just had a dream where I was on MGoBlog and everybody was talking about how Michigan was going to win the National Championship in basketball based on defense.

I know, right?

We'll get to see how good our defense really is. 

If it does cause them problems, they'll have a huge "Uh oh" moment where the pressure of the moment will start to impact them.

We've seen this ourselves in basketball and hockey, rhythm offenses do not like defensive pressure that takes them out of rhythm.  

To have that happen to you with 20,000 Wolverine fans screaming in your ear is not a recipe to get back on track easily.

The Bill Self difference.

I definitely had my issues with Beilein's recruiting / system approach.  I own that.

Here's a typical comment:

But I was wrong in not seeing how well (and quickly) that John Beilein could develop that talent, and then ultimately put it into a syatem that became more and more multi-dimensional - defense, post play, driving to the rim - as the talent caught up.

His ability to adapt well into his 60's like an aggressive young coach caught me completely by surprise.  I still can't quite wrap my head around it.

Whatever complaints I had at the time are certainly not relevant now.

It's universal.

Even Alabama ande Ohio State people get on Saban's and Meyer's cases after a loss.

As long as it's ours, I'm OK with it. 

John Beilein is a benevolent dictator.

We should have to play great to win a National Championship.  That's how it's supposed to work.

If we can beat Nova without even playing great, we should go down in history as a team to be analyzed forever.

Because Bill Self is not a smart coach.

Thanks Bill, for showing us what not to do against Villinova.

You were like one of those "It could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others" posters.

A timeless tradition!

I'm willing to help fund it this time around.

We need to start out making some easy shots.  If we do, we'll calm down and hit them throughout the game.

Beilein needs to give each player an early "five yard pass to the flat" easy shot to let them see the ball go in and get them in the zone.

Nova was much more calm than us.  They were shooting their three's slower, more square, and they got under the ball more.  We were a lot more frantic on our releases.

We have nothing to lose and we've seen the court now.  We calm down and we'll hit some shots.

Moe's mom is there! 

We're undefeated in the BTT and NCAAs when Moe's mom is there.

Um, actually we're undefeated when she's not there too.

But work with me here.

Moe's mom is there!

But offense prevents heart attacks.

This is awesome.

Oh, to be young again.

For some reason, we didin't do this during our magic 1984 NIT run.

I switched to it in the second half.  I'm glad I did.  Like a breath of fresh air.

Well . . . at least people won't keep saying that Villanova - Kansas was the de-facto National Championship game.

Or some defense.

Maybe they are good?

For all you young 'uns . . . this is kind of what that 1990 Loyola Marymount - Michigan game that you've heard so much about looked like.

Still waiting . . . 

As it should be.  Nobody should be able to back their way into a National Championship.

It's the National Fucking Championship.  We should have to play our best game of the season to win.

Wow.  Villanova is us with really good shooting.

So, not really us.

I want Villanova to win this game by 50.  Get them complacent and over-confident.

Yes.  And our "maize" is darker now, so it seems like we could do it.

That's the best part.  The Michigan fans did not just rely on numbers, they relied on passion.  It showed.

That's cool.  They didin't just forget us when we left town.

If they can't have Rutgers, they'll just adopt us.

Yay!

FEELIN' IT!!

Carve 'em up inside.

Outnumbered, but the Michigan fans are doing their part.

it might be time. Nothing else is working.