ATrain32

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Date	Title	Body
2 years 31 weeks ago	Thank you, Kalamazoo Blue!	Thank you, Kalamazoo Blue!   Please keep spreadin' the word!
2 years 31 weeks ago	Great thing about posting on	Great thing about posting on blogs is that you get 'free therapy'.  Hope your day improves! :D
2 years 32 weeks ago	How well did Casteel and RR	How well did Casteel and RR get along at WVa?  If Casteel does come to AA, what are the chances that he is able to clean house on 'd' so to speak when many our defensive staff are people he's coached with before?  This sounds good on paper, but I am wondering how well they'd be able to mesh together after 3 years apart and lots of pressure to produce.
2 years 32 weeks ago	True.  But it gives people a	True.  But it gives people a chance to vent, rant, or whatever which can be fun I suppose.  Somehow out of the chatter, some sense will be made and help get us to next Saturday until we get to do it all over again.
2 years 32 weeks ago	"It's Michigan". Does that	"It's Michigan". Does that win actual football games?  What are the general principles that determine RR's need to go? I don't know what will happen, but surely Brandon's got to have much more vision than this.
2 years 32 weeks ago	You may not be crazy but	You may not be crazy but it's also quite possible that not everyone agrees with you either. :D
2 years 32 weeks ago	Thank you for that	Thank you for that perspective.  Didn't know the context of how well RR had done at WVa relative to that school's history.  As for RR's time at M, I hope we can win a couple more before it's said and done so RR gets another year.  I'll stick with Molk's observation that the team is very close but not yet showing it.  I know the players won't give up on this and I can't wait til Saturday to see what the team can do against Illinois. I'm all in. Go Blue!
2 years 32 weeks ago	Really?  Does the Brewster	Really?  Does the Brewster comparison really make any sense at all on any level beyond a simplistic comparison of numbers?
2 years 32 weeks ago	You sure you didn't get lost	Zwaag, you sure you didn't get lost on the way to the Alabama blogs?  : P
2 years 33 weeks ago	Peculiar part of looking at	Peculiar part of looking at the data is that wins over Illinois and Purdue would put us on track to reach the 7-5 mark.  While those games are certainly not locks, the interesting part to me is that it is still possible to reach the range of wins where people thought the team would perform.  A bit of luck versus Wisconsin or a ridiculous amount of luck versus OSU and maybe 8-4 is possible.  It just seems unlikely, however it is still possible. The fun part of the pre-season projections is the speculation.  Really we don't know what will happen or how it will go down.  That would include how the team would get to the 7-8 win total.  5-0 was fun even with a few concerns.  The last 3 suck with growing concerns.  Watching Iowa walk over MSU yesterday, I am reminded that part of college football's fun factor is that stuff happens sometimes that is hard to anticipate.  Did anyone see the Hawkeye romp happening?  I didn't but I have to admit... I loved it.  : D Our team is writing their story as they go so to speak.  They started out better than I thought they would, and emotionally I chose to ramp up my expectations some even if it wasn't rational for me to do so.  The sparkling 5-0 caused me to look past the play of the defense and I did not account for the mistakes on special teams and penalties that happened in the last 3 games.  I also didn't really see that the first five opponents would themselves have all sorts of issues. The pain and disappointment in the last 3-4 weeks is part of the 'growth' process.  (i.e. you have to grow to get bigger and better).  While there are no garuantees, I'm in for the duration. The problem is I just don't know if they will win or not from here on out.  The PSU loss is disappointing, but it's one game.  While we can tell ouselves that we 'should have' won, fact is PSU played better and won.  (guess they didn't read the memo they were supposed to suck). Looking in the mirror today, I realize there is a game next weekend and games beyond.  I plan to 'HOLD FAST' and cheer the team on.  I may not like the way the story is unfolding at the moment, but the story is not complete yet either.  Go Blue!!
2 years 33 weeks ago	Not sure about that one at	Not sure about that one at all.  After '07, Henne, Hart and Long graduate.  You think the defensive attrition would not have been an issue?  What about the depth chart on the offensive line.  The prevailing wisdom around here seems to be that Mallett was gone regardless and returing to Arkansas.  If all of that is true, we'd still would have had problems.  Tweaking implies a few changes.  I think regardless of who replaced Lloyd, the new coach would have had quite a bit of work to do.
2 years 33 weeks ago	'07 revisited	Are you remembering the same '07 season I watched?  Which game is the only disaster?  Appalachian St. or Oregon the following week?  We started out '07 ranked #5 in the nation.  (yes, I know pre-season polls).  But following 'The Horror', the Ducks walked all over us to put us at 0-2.  The Oregon game was one of the worst in terms of being totally dominated at home I have seen in 30+ years of watching M football.  Yes, Henne was hurt early but still the D looked terrible that game too.  That 0-2 start was pretty humbling. I could also note the Wisconsin game was not pretty and we don't have to review the ugly game vs. OSU do we?  Personally, I think Tressel just sat on the ball once he got a lead in that one because he was trying to show some respect for Lloyd and knew he had the game.  It could have easily been much worse. Honestly, there were some ugly performances in '07 that we probably tend to gloss over because of a wonderful bowl win. But yeah, your main point does make sense.  Lloyd did win Big 10 games that year and the D played better after the Duckwalk.  Bowl games?... I miss them too.   /nod
2 years 37 weeks ago	Just curious... Why is it	Just curious... Why is it that you seem to think UMASS is such a 'crappy team?'  Watching that game, they actually look like a very good FCS team.  I think BG would have a tough time beating UMASS and some other MAC teams might not beat them either.  I really don't think UMASS is the worst team we have faced this year. But yeah, your first point stands.  I agree with the opposing QB's having the game of their lives bit.  That's been a bummer.
2 years 37 weeks ago	Hadn't thought of it, but	Hadn't thought of it, but yeah you're right.  The D never gave up and really didn't look that winded.  How many plays did IU run? Go Barwis!!
2 years 37 weeks ago	I dunno.  What Denard and co	I dunno.  What Denard and co are doing seems to be pretty repeatable.  Maybe not the long plays for touchdowns, but piling up yards and points yes.  The O line has performed well and the receivers are blocking and making plays.  The sample size now has grown to five games.  The numbers say fantastic.  The patterns say M can do it over and over again.  It's the spread with an amazing playmaker at quarterback.
2 years 37 weeks ago	Woo Denard!  Just keep 'em	Woo Denard!  Just keep 'em coming.
2 years 37 weeks ago	Interesting comment.  I am	Interesting comment.  I am thinking that every week from here on out seems to be the 'biggest game of the Rodriguez era' because each 'win' brings us closer to a bowl game return and having him around longer.  That said, the natives might be very uneasy if MSU wins.  So yeah for now, this is the next 'big' game untl Iowa comes to town.
2 years 37 weeks ago	I'm glad your excited.	I'm glad your excited.  That's cool. But I'm with Oracle on this one.  I am very uneasy about this game.  MSU beat Wisconsin today even with their early mistakes.  Sparty seems to stay in games and has the ability to make plays.  One concern is that I think MSU's linebackers will play much better than IU's for instance.  I'm not sold on the idea that those open throws in the middle will be there against Sparty.   They certainly won't be as easy to run on as IU or most of our previous opponents.  Can we beat them?  Yes.  Denard is that awesome, howeva this will be a nailbiter IMHO. The real problem with this game is that we really won't 'be back' if we beat MSU.  It's more of a just one rung on the ladder to getting back to where we want to be.  MSU is simply not an elite team.  If we lose, it will be a visit to the Pain Train Station.  It will be hard to be around the Sparty faithful should they win.  So in some janky way, this is a 'please dear God let us win' game.
2 years 37 weeks ago	I do like your optimism.  I	I do like your optimism.  I am curious what someone like Magnus or one of the D coaches out there would say.  I do see some athleticism out there and the guys did seem to flow to the ball after the catch well.  The trouble was Chappel played a pretty smart game and executed well much of the game.  I am very curious to see if IU actually turns out to be a decent team or not.  Simply put I am not sure how much it was a function of IU running a good gameplan versus our D just not being able to handle the 'pistol' and the pressure it seems to apply to the flats.  Would love to hear more thoughts.....
2 years 37 weeks ago	I assume you are referring	I assume you are referring just to Michigan's history.  If it's defenses in general, I can't agree with you.  As an example, I'm pretty sure that BG's defense is worse than ours. Still, your observation is not a surprise or even a pithy statement.  The struggles our of defense are not news.  We knew going in that this would be tough.  We haven't seen anything we didn't already suspect last August.   Is Chappel's success today really that shocking after the Mass game result a few weeks ago? On the plus side, there were some moments that guys did step up and make some plays.  I do like the way the D never gave up.
2 years 37 weeks ago	Bleh!  Rooting for Sparty?	Bleh!  Rooting for Sparty?  Ummm... NO!
2 years 39 weeks ago	Wow! Prayers go to MD, MSU and family	While I am no fan of MSU or MD, my heart goes out to everyone in their community, his family and him.  They had an exhilirating win last night and he should have been able to enjoy it and celebrate the victory over ND before getting back to work for week 4.  It's sad news to hear. I will definitely have Dantonio in my thoughts and prayers.  It's a major market correction in my thinking about the week 3 outcomes.  The concerns about our special teams and D, while trying to enjoy the sugar plums of 3-0 had been roaming around my head, but now I am thinking that this game is really about the people and it stinks that he has suffered this setback.  Even though, Dantonio is on the 'other side', I hope he has a speedy recovery.  God bless Dantonio and his family.
2 years 39 weeks ago	Master strokes of genius all	Master strokes of genius all over.  Wonderful splicing and editing.  I can't just get enough! lololol! Well done, sir, well done!
2 years 39 weeks ago	Scintillating... stunning....	Scintillating... stunning.... that was 'happening'.  Great work!
2 years 39 weeks ago	Whoops!  Have a great day.	Whoops!  Have a great day.  My bad on double post.  Sorry!
2 years 39 weeks ago	Very good news!	Very good news!
2 years 39 weeks ago	No question here for me.  Go	No question here for me.  Go Irish!  M is starting out 2010 on a roll... and I would love to see it continue deep into the season.  I want the teams we've beaten already to do well (even if I do dislike ND very much).  I want to believe we are for real and that what our O and D even has shown is not a mirage of wins over paper tigers.   I want some glaring weakness that MSU has to be exposed that we can exploit when we face them.  At this point, I am more concerned about RichRod piling up wins and earning another year (actually years!) and M being relevant again.  I certainly don't want MSU to be a problem for us.  : P   Simply put, there is not any way that I can root for MSU or Dantonio.  I really want ND's D to be pretty good so that Denard's and the O's superb day is legit in the big picture.  2-0 is a great start, but I would really luv to see 6-0.  I want to drink the cool-aid deeply and see M back at the top.  I am happy, but still remember last year.  Honestly, I'm not really interested in having a good game when we play MSU.  I just want us to beat them (41-21 sounds good to me) so Sparty can go back to being Sparty and we can move into contention for the Big 10 title.    So yeah, it's hard to say... but 'Go Irish'.  Ugh.  Really what I am screaming is, "GO BLUE!".  Anything that continues the good feelings from the past two weeks, I am all over.
2 years 39 weeks ago	Denard is a beast.  Luv it.	Denard is a beast.  Luv it.  Want to see more of it!
2 years 40 weeks ago	Thank you!	Thank you!
2 years 40 weeks ago	Irish	Feelings aside, I think Notre Dame wins.  Considering feelings, I like the idea of MSU having a weakness get exposed that we can exploit.  I hope ND unmasks them for the pretender they are.  We need to win Big 10 games this year and a win over Sparty following a triumph over the Hoosiers would be great way to start off the Big 10 season.  (ie. 2-0in Big 10 and 6-0 overall).  ND winning helps us in the sense that a 'good' ND season after we beat them makes us look better.  Either way, will be interesting to see those two teams go at it.  It's easier for me to root for ND after we beat them. I really can't root for MSU in anything while D'Antonio is their coach.   : D

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