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I was 8 years old and recall…

I was 8 years old and recall my Dad telling me the miraculous outcome before the replay broadcast ended.  If you lived in the Detroit area, you know Bill Bonds let the cat out of the bag before the game was over.  I was too young to recall when exactly Bonds revealed that the USA had pulled off a massive upset or whether that was how my Dad knew we had won.  I think it was during a commercial break during the evening Olympics coverage.  Bonds took a lot of heat for that--and rightfully so!!

 

Update: a quick Google search reveals Bonds ruined the miracle on ice during the second period intermission.  I think my Dad knew the result before then because he had been listening to the radio.

Mistakenly posted as a…

Me too.  I was higher up in the stands in that corner of the endzone.  Not sure which row, but randomly, former Detroit Tigers catcher Lance Parrish was sitting right behind me.  Still one of the 10 happiest days of my life.

Me too.  I was higher up in…

27-24 Michigan.  Corum gets 2 TDs and one of the TEs scores the other. 

Rickey Green is the correct…

Rickey Green is the correct answer.  Charles Matthews would be my #2, based on his regional MVP performance in the 2018 tournament. 

Sean Higgins is #3, as he hit the game winner against the Flying Illini to send UM to the title game in 1989.  That shot was so big, there's a reasonable argument Higgins should be #2.  I went to Illinois for law school and I can't tell you how many times my Illinois friends cursed about Sean m$%&@ f%*@#^ Higgins.

As a Michigan grad and Lions…

As a Michigan grad and Lions fan living in Cincinnati, rooting for a Rams-Bengals Super bowl.  This Bengals team has come out of nowhere to compete at the highest level.  All Michigan fans need  to consider supporting the Bengals. Watching my children cry tears of unexpected joy twice in two months has been glorious. #blessed ?

 

I'll get worried when…

I'll get worried when Bolivia offers this kid.

It's a near certainty that a…

It's a near certainty that a majority of the $490M will come from UM's insurance policies, not its endowment, tuition or any other source. 

I would not be surprised if the vast majority of the settlement is funded with insurance money.  Because the abuse spanned decades, the abuse would trigger coverage under numerous policies.  And presumably UM had at least $5M (and likely > $20M) in excess insurance sitting above its primary policy for every year at issue.

When I was a grad student at…

When I was a grad student at Northwestern in the late 1990s, I had a couple NW football players in one of my classes.  I asked them for their takes on the Big Ten programs.  They both said MSU was the dirtiest team in the league.  They said when in a pile, MSU players would pinch you wherever they could reach, sometimes even going for your dangly bits.

So, at least back in the Saban years, MSU played dirty regardless of the opponent.

I don't know German, but…

I don't know German, but Google Translate indicates the appropriate word may be präventive Ablehnung (preemptive disavowal).

I guess he realized Fran was…

I guess he realized Fran was never gonna get Iowa over the hump playing mediocre at best defense. 

Kentucky is the likely choice, but I would not be surprised if Xavier was in the mix too.  Although he went to HS across the river in Covington, he grew up across the street from me in Cincinnati, where his parents still live (less than 2 miles from Xavier's campus).  He would be a very solid addition to X's team next year.

The weekend culminating in…

The weekend culminating in that win against Ohio State was probably the best sports weekend of my 4 years at Michigan.  I went to both the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight games in Lexington with one of my best friends.  We stayed in Oxford, Ohio with a high school girlfriend who was at Miami--the cradle of coaches and home to a seemingly endless array of attractive young women. 

The win over OK State on Friday night was a ton of fun but not really a surprise.  The win over Ohio State that Sunday night was a surprise.  Our seats gave us a perfect view of Chris Jent's missed baseline shot at the regulation buzzer--and of Juwan's now-famous jig when OT ended.  Every Michigan student should get to experience a weekend like that during their 4 years.

New Zealand is the best…

New Zealand is the best place I've been for outdoor adventure.  Spent two weeks on the South Island alone but needed 2 months to do it justice.  Didn't do anything on the North Island other than make a connection in Auckland to Queenstown, so I'm dying to visit the North Island.

The January after I retire, I'm flying to NZ with my wife and renting a camper van for 3 months.

Espresso Royale was the…

Espresso Royale was the first coffee shop I (LSA/English '93) ever frequented.  Was introduced to it in 1990 by a graduate assistant who held his office hours there.  Very sad news.

Nov. 1, 1986 Michigan v…

Nov. 1, 1986 Michigan v. Illinois.  Harbaugh and company destroyed Illinois 69-13 in what was easily their most dominant performance of the season.  Bo hated Mike White and Illinois, and it showed.

My second game was the 1988 Michigan v. Miami (YTM) game.  That was one of the most enjoyable sporting events I've ever attended.  Left a bit early with Michigan up 16.  Never did catch the final score . . .

Together, those two games were the perfect introduction to Michigan football.  Total dominance against many teams, paired with heartbreaking disappointment against top 5 teams.

This is a very good hire for Illinois

especially considering all the crap that has happened over the last 9 months.

I have a personal investment in this hire working out. I went to Illinois for law school and know the new AD. Josh Whitman is one of the smartest, most impressive people I've ever met. He's everything I'd want a Michigan Man to be, except he's a proud Illinois Man. I've been telling friends for a couple years that Josh would be a big time college AD by age 45. Josh got there 8 years early, admittedly in part because Illinois devolved into a total tire fire. But I am confident Josh will prove the doubters wrong. Hiring Lovie Smith is the first big step.

I'm a Michigan grad and fan first and foremost, but Josh has me rooting for Illinois like I've never before.

Here in Cincinnati

The big local brewers are Rhinegeist, Madtree, and Christian Morlein, which are all very solid choices but, frankly, pale in comparison to Michigan's best (Bells, Founders, Shorts, and others escaping me).  

My current favorite in town is Blank Slate, which is tiny, hard to find on tap, but worth the quest.  Also try to check out Taft's Ale House.  I have not tasted enough of their stuff to form a valid opinion, but the stuff I did have was pretty good and they have an amazing space.

Cheers!

Why were these emails produced?

As a lawyer, I'm wondering why emails about Payton Manning were produced in the Deflategate inquiry.  They clearly were not relevant to the issue the NFL was purportedly investigating.  If they were part of an email chain that was relevant, this is why lawyers make redactions.  

Obviously this is a minor issue but the more I learn about this case the more I question the quality of the legal counsel provided.  What a shitshow.

Offensive Pass Interference Non-Call

What made the PI non-call even more infuriating was the fact the official pulled his flag to call the obvious PI and then for some reason put it back in his pocket after the WSU receiver made the catch.  I noticed this in realtime from my seat (I was in the endzone stands that WSU was driving towards), but you can also see the official pocket the flag on the replay.  

I was not alone: a good chunk of the Michigan fans sitting in that endzone were livid with the non-call.  If WSU had scored on the subsequent hook and ladder, that official probably would not have made it to the tunnel.

Which one?

He broke off 2 long ones in the 1993 Rose Bowl and 1 in the 1992 Rose Bowl (granted, this one made the score 35-14 Washington--that 1991 Washington squad was awesome).

J Hackney

because you could get a contact buzz off his posts.

Faith Mostly Restored

Firing Borges restored about 33% of my faith in Brady Hoke.  This hire restores most of the remainder.  I love it.

Faith Mostly Restored

Firing Borges restored about 33% of my faith in Brady Hoke.  This hire restores most of the remainder.  I love it.

Strong move

This restores a good portion of my faith in Hoke.  The guy is not afraid to go for it on 4th down, go for 2 in the biggest game of the year, or fire a guy whom he probably respected a lot.

I agree with the OP

This is the most plausible explanation for what we have been seeing.  To say this is not to defend Borges as an OC, but rather only his raw intelligence.

If I were Borges, I'd have had DG primarily practicing about a dozen plays featuring short, quick passes during the two weeks leading up the the MSU game so those 12 plays would be second nature.  Hell, didn't Brian (or was it EDSBS) once show how Mike Leach was winning big at Texas Tech with a small number of passing plays?

Not sure . . .

Not sure if this is what you are asking, but the NCAA has required (and still does, I believe) student athletes to sign away their right of publicity in their likeness in perpetuity when they sign their letter of intent.  Having acquired a monopoly over the likeness of all current and past student athletes, the NCAA then sells those likenesses to EA Sports, which in turn creates current teams and legacy teams stocked with these likenesses.

AC Did Not Win the Heisman

But when the AP or some other organization I can't recall came out with its All-Time All-American team in the late 1980s or 1990s, AC was one of the WRs.  I believe he was a 3-time first-team All American and finished in the Heisman top 10 3 times as well, culminating in 1982 when he finished 4th behind Herschel Walker, John Elway, and Eric Dickerson.

He's the first Michigan football player I ever remember idolizing (I was born in 1971), and the reason my first and only jersey was #1.

Me too

I just passed the 4-year mark with an account, but I've been on here pretty much every day since Fall 2006 and have rarely posted due to the demands of law school, then work, and now work and 2 young boys.  

My favorite MGoBlog moment is whenever Brian mentions Jim Grobe when discussing the 2007 coaching search, as I'm the poor fool who suggested via email he might not be a bad choice.

Dukes is a huge case

and there have been a couple other big Supreme Court class action decisions recently that will make it hard, in my opinion, for the damages class to be certified.  The damages class is the one that only former student athletes belong to, and the chief reason it should not be certified is that ascertaining each former student athlete's damages will require an individualized inquiry (e.g., Ed O'Bannon's likeness is worth a lot more than some benchwarmer's who also happened to be on the 1995 UCLA basketball team).  As a result, common issues will not predominate over individual issues, and a class action is not the superior means of adjudicating the claims of the putative class members.

If I were the judge, I'd definitely deny certification for the damages class and probably grant certification for the injunctive class.  

It is easier to certify an injunctive class because the plaintiffs do not have to establish that common issues will predominate over individual issues or that a class action is the superior means of adjudicating the claims of the putative class members.  This makes sense if you think about the fact that the relief the injunctive class is requesting is simply to have the court void the NCAA's contractual provision requiring current and former student student athletes to assign their right to sell their likeness to the NCAA as a condition of playing NCAA sports.  By granting the requested injunctive relief, the court would be remedying the same injury for every member of the putative class in one stroke.  The result would be that all current and former NCAA student athletes could now sell their likeness without worrying about breaching the NCAA contract.  This is a very efficient use of the legal system, and is the reason why Congress authorized class actions.

Having given my personal view on the merits of this class action, I should add that this case is pending in federal court in California, where the trial courts liberally certify class actions, and the Circuit Court of Appeals for this region of the country (the 9th Circuit) rarely reverses such decisions.  I therefore think it is possible the trial court certifies the damages class as well as the injunctive class.  

If I were advising the NCAA, I'd appeal the damages class issue all the way to the Supreme Court because I'm 99% sure any damages class would be de-certified.  As for the injunctive class, my sense is the Supreme Court would find this class properly certified but I would need to analyze the relevant case law more closely before offering a solid prediction.  I know less about injunctive classes because my cases are consumer fraud class actions--so of course the plaintiffs are always seeking money damages.

This lawsuit will have small impact on current student athletes

I defend class action lawsuits for a living, and I think this lawsuit is actually very unlikely to impact current student athletes in the ways that people are concerned about. 

Current student athletes are included only in the lawsuit's “injunctive class,” not the class that is seeking monetary damages, which is limited to former student athletes (there are legal reasons for the plaintiffs' decision to define the classes in this way).  The Complaint says:

“For purposes of the injunctive relief class only, the Antitrust Plaintiffs also bring this action on behalf of current student-athletes competing on the teams described above, as well as former student-athletes, as both groups’ future compensation rights are impacted by the anticompetitive practices described herein.”

The Complaint also alleges:

“The Antitrust Plaintiffs, on behalf of both former and current student-athletes, additionally request injunctive relief permanently enjoining the NCAA and its members from utilizing the provisions Form 08-3a, the ‘Institutional, Charitable, Educational, or Nonprofit Promotions Release Statement,’ and any similar forms that purport to deprive former student athletes of licensing and/or compensation rights, and further enjoining Defendants from selling, licensing, or using former student-athletes’ rights.”

Even if the plaintiffs win, this just means that the NCAA cannot make current student athletes sign a waiver releasing their right to make money off their likeness.  If a current student athlete attempts to sell his likeness while still playing college basketball or football, the NCAA will be free to declare that student ineligible.  This is a powerful disincentive to start selling your likeness.

As a practical matter, then, I think very few if any student athletes will try to sell their likeness while still in school.  The smart thing for almost every person to do will be to milk NCAA exposure for all its worth, declare for the pros, and then start selling your likeness to the highest bidder.  This means that Anthony Carter, not the NCAA, will be the one selling his likeness to EA Sports if EA Sports wants to have AC on its 1980 Michigan team.  

The Devin Gardners and even Jadeveon Clowneys of the world will almost always wait until after going pro to sell their likeness because the benefit of remaining a student athlete will almost always outweigh the cost of being declared ineligible.

Well said

The first half was the most exciting and interesting first half of basketball I've ever seen, and the second half was a great display of college basketball as well.  

Even if I were a neutral observer, I'd be viscerally pissed about the foul on Burke's clean block (I was viscerally pissed at the quick jump ball whistle at the end of the UL-Wichita St. game because it robbed fans of a potentially great finish).  

Although I think Louisville was the more complete and therefore better team, that call changed the complexion of the last 5 minutes and might have robbed college basketball of an all-time great finish.  Both teams were playing at such a high level and the game was so interesting in multiple respects--I would have liked to have seen Trey Burke with the ball and Michigan down 2 points with 30 seconds left.

That said, my two emotions today are sadness that I'll probably never see Burke play for Michigan again--and pride for my alma mater.  Go Blue.

English major correction

As an English major (LSA '1993), I have a correction to your thread title, which should read: "Michigan has an 81.45 percent chance of winning the NCAA tournament."  But your maths look perfect to me--that's the important part.

Bo Ryan is the grinch who stole basketball

As a Google search on "Bo Ryan looks like . . ." reveals, I'm not the first to point this out:

Agreed

I said this when the Freeh Report came out and the NCAA imposed its sanctions: even if the Freeh Report had 100% vindicated Joe Paterno (which obviously it did not), Penn State should still get massively sanctioned because the fucking President, AD, and a high-ranking VP of the university clearly made a decision not to report credible allegations of child sex abuse to the proper law enforcement authorities.

The fact that the President, AD, and a high-ranking VP failed to report McQuery's allegations shows a greater lack of institutional control than if Paterno was solely responsible for the cover up--a university's adminstrators are supposed to be a check on the football coach, not his protector or (if you think JoePa was in on the conspiracy, which I do) his enabler.  As someone who worked in academic adminstration at another Big Ten University (not UM or PSU), I actually find the actions of the President, AD, and the VP more shocking and appalling than anything JoePa might have done.

This is why all the PSU apologists need to STFU.  Even if JoePa was an angel, your school's administration was completely corrupted by the football-first culture.

Fear the turtle?

Adding Maryland to the BIG makes even less sense now.

I thought I read somewhere that after losses, Woody would hold court with the press in the locker room wearing nothing (except perhaps a snapping turtle).

My last sentence wasn't clear

I was operating on the assumption that class cert would be denied (which is most probably the right ruling), at which point the NCAA would already be on record saying some players create value and some don't.  

My take is that class cert should be denied due to the problem of allocating damages among the class members (there are probably additional reasons for this ruluing).  But California courts - even the federal ones - are notorious for liberally certifying classes.

Even if the class is not certified, however, I think there are enough high value former NCAA athletes to incentivize plaintiffs' attorneys to bring individual suits.  The class action mechanism is there so when we all get overcharged $3 on our ComEd bill for a year, we can bring 1 lawsuit to recover.

Either way, I look forward to the NCAA going down in flames on this one.

Class action

The plaintiffs are limited to MBB and football players because that is the only plausible way to define the plaintiff class with any hope of getting the case certified as a class action.

Even then, it is going to be difficult to get class cert because the class will consist of players of varying skills, marketability, and accomplishments, and thus arguably the class will not be able to satisfy the legal standard for being granted class treatment.

The present motion appears to be a motion to strike some new allegations that I assume O'Bannon et al. added in an amended complaint.  There are procedural rules about whether and when you can add new allegations, and the NCAA was hoping to strike the new allegations so the plaintiffs would be limited to recovering money only for rebroadcasts, not live broadcasts.  It's a big win for plaintiffs because the potential damages just increased several fold, but the real battle is going to be over class cert.

The NCAA's position against class cert is interesting because I assume they will have to argue that it requires an individualized inquiry to determine each player's value.  If that is true, which certainly seems the case, class treatment is probably not proper because there is not an efficient way to allocate damages between the walk-on benchwarmers (who deserve very little $) and the superstars (who deserve lots).  In arguing this, the NCAA will be conceding that players create value, which is probably not a position they want to be taking post-class cert.

We should add them to the BIG

and put them in the same division with Maryland.  Then Delaney can name the divisions Debtors and Creditors.

Pathological state of denial

It's really amazing to see such denial.  Franco Harris has convinced himself that because McQuery didn't see "intercourse," therefore what McQuery did see was not a sexual assault.  Because, you know, there is nothing sexually inappropriate about a grown man pressing his naked body against a naked prepubescent boy in a shower at 9 p.m. on a Friday night.  I wish they had gotten the death penalty for 4 years.

You recall correctly

Alexander's injury opened the door for Desmond to be the go-to receiver - which resulted in Hello Heisman!

One of my favorite adages

"Luck is the residue of design."

--John Milton

Be careful what you wish for, BOT

 

I hope this appeal progresses because it is going to bring to light only more bad facts for JoePa and the PSU administration who conspired to cover up Sandusky's crimes.  I'd love to be the prosecutor handling this case.

JoePa’s handwritten notes on Sandusky's retirement contract are probably the most damning piece of evidence in the Report.  They show that as early as 1999, Paterno was sufficiently aware of Sandusky’s status as a likely pedophile to jot down a note to this effect while reviewing Sandusky’s retirement contract.  Think about this scenario for a minute—JoePa is reading a longtime colleague’s retirement contract and the salient fact that occupies his mind when reading the clause about ongoing facility access is: “Hey, this guy may try to abuse Second Mile kids in our facilities, so we better not let him bring the kids here.”  This concern is so significant to JoePa that he actually writes it down in the margin of the contract.  This is a remarkable fact that would have been the centerpiece of any criminal prosecution of, or civil trial against, JoePa.

Anyone who doesn’t recognize the damning import of JoePa’s note is delusional.  When you combine this fact with McQueary’s eyewitness report to JoePa in February 2001, no rational person could conclude that JoePa did not have a reasonable basis to report Sandusky as a possible pedophile in 2001.  Despite the apparently commonly held belief among PSU fans that the evidence against JoePa was miniscule, rest assured that the evidence Freeh found would have been sufficient to uphold a criminal conviction of Paterno for failure to report likely child abuse.  It's a shame JoePa didn't live long enough to be cross-examined under oath about his notations and the other undisputed facts in the record.

JoePa's estate's recourse is probably to sue PSU, not NCAA

The NCAA is not a state actor, so there is no constitutional basis for JoePa's estate to bring a cause of action against the NCAA based on a due process violation.  PSU is of course a state actor, so the estate could theoretically sue them for violating procedural due process.  The estate's best basis for suing  PSU probably lies in contract--but I suspect PSU can argue that JoePa breached some provision of the contract by participating in the cover-up.  Should be interesting to see how this plays out.

Anyone old enough to remember Bill Bonds

spoiling the 1980 miracle on ice for those watching the tape-delayed broadcast in Detroit?  What a jackass.  OP should have his avatar changed to a pic of Bill.

Why did the PSU Administration decide not to report?

I agree the NCAA's decision had nothing to do with any supposed competitive advantage (see my comment above).  However, I disagree with your statement that this "entire action was based on moral outrage at the non-action of PSU, not on anything at all to do with football."

The NCAA punished PSU because the school allowed its culture to reach such a point that the President, AD, and Sr. VP of the university chose to protect the PR image of the football program over the welfare of boys whom, they had very strong reasons to suspect, were at grave risk of being abused by a former assistant football coach.  If the accused pedophile was a physics professor with the same track record as Sandusky, do you think Spanier, Curley, and Schultz would have behaved the same way?  Hello no!

That's why this whole scandal was all about the warped culture that had grown up around PSU football.  The football-first culture is what corrupted the university's highest ranking leaders.  And for this massive and reprehensible failure of leadership, the NCAA was warranted in punishing PSU's football program.

I agree

The competitive advantage argument is pretty tenuous, but I think the sanctions are justified for the reason you give (LOIC).

If a PSU fan ever complains to me about the sanctions, I'm going to pose this hypothetical: Suppose the Freeh Report completely absolved Paterno of any responsibility (e.g., McQuery went to the AD instead of JoePa and JoePa never knew anything at any time), but the report still leveled the same charges against Spanier, Schultz, and Curley with respect to failing to report someone whom they had very strong reason to believe was a pedophile.  Would anyone have any problem with the sanctions handed down yesterday?  I would not.

Under this hypothetical, the only sanction that seems dubious is vacating the wins, particularly from 1998-2001.  All of the other sanctions would be justified because PSU's President, AD, and Sr. VP chose to prioritize the football program's and school's PR image over the safety and welfare of children whom, they knew, were at grave risk of being abused by a pedophile.  Setting aside JoePa's involvement in the cover up, this is a textbook case of lack of institutional control - protecting the football program was dictating the decisions made by the school's purported academic leaders.

Having worked in the central administration of another Big Ten school - not Michigan and not PSU (thank god) - I cannot imagine the president of a university making a decision as morally bankrupt as the one Spanier did.  It just goes to show you that the tail was completely wagging the dog at PSU (congrats, Pres. Gee, you are no longer the worst school president ever in this category).  For that, PSU has to pay a massive price regardless of Joe Paterno's role in the cover up.

So I wonder if you remove JoePa from equation, would more PSU fans be able to recognize why the NCAA was warranted in handing down a very severe punishment?  I don't hear many PSU fans defending Spanier, Schultz, and Curley, probably because you'd have to attack McQuery's credibility to make this argument.

Note: based on the evidence in the Freeh Report, I personally believe JoePa played an instrumental role in the cover up and find the JoePa apologists' attempts to deconstruct the Freeh Report idiotic.

Creepy behavior by Sandusky was probably well known before 1998

I've heard (admittedly second-hand but from two different people who are close friends) interesting stories relayed by two different former PSU players dating from the mid-1990s.  One said that a nude Sandusky would come up behind nude players in the shower and give them "bear hugs."  Sandusky would also work out in just a jock strap, peddling away at his workout bike while the players were working out.  This behavior was characterized by the former player as weird if not creepy but obviously this was a far cry from serial child molestation.

The other former player, whose dad was a high school football coach in Pa., said that it was something of an open secret among Pa. high school coaches that Sandusky had a weird thing for boys.  I don't think people suspected at this time that he was a serial pedophile, but clearly Sandusky was engaging in behavior that struck lots of folks as highly unusual and at least a little suspicious.

If anyone read the Sally Jenkins article, she dropped a line about it being a running joke among PSU administrators that you didn't want to drop your soap when Jerry was in the shower.  I suspect she heard stories similar to the one relayed to my buddy by former PSU player #1 re Sandusky's bear hugs.  Perhaps this behavior was discussed in the Freeh Report (I read only portions of it).

At any rate, take these second-hand anecdotes for what they're worth.

I agree with Costas

If this had happened at Michigan, I would have already written a letter to the university President saying we should voluntarily put football on hiatus for a year, maybe longer.  It's the most appropriate way to show remorse.  This shameful cover-up  happened because football was king at PSU.  Show that something matters more than football by voluntarily suspending the program for a year (or more).

Elvis Grbac

Why did Bob include Elvis among the most memorable people he dealt with?  I graduated in '93 and knew some guys on the team then.  Based on what I heard from them, I would not be surprised if Elvis was not among Bob's favorite people.  Are you at liberty to confirm this speculation?

Still holding a candle for RR

For the record, I agree Snyder and Rosenberg authored a hatchet job that significantly harmed the program and our already unfairly beleaguered coach at the time, and the Freep's editors committed journalistic malpractice in allowing their "expose" to be published.

But every time I read one of Section 1's open letters, I have two thoughts:

  1. If/when Michigan wins the MNC sometime in the next decade with Hoke as its head coach, Section 1 will write yet another MGoPost in which he asserts RR was wrongfully fired by Dave Brandon.

     
  2. Section 1 must have been one of those Michigan fans who was convinced RR would without doubt transform Michigan into a football superpower akin to USC under Pete Carroll (except without the cheating)--and Section 1 broadcast this belief to anyone and everyone within earshot.  I say this because amongst my Michigan fan friends, I have found that there is a direct relationship between the degree to which one still (!!) laments the "wrongfulness" of RR's firing and the vociferousness with which one proclaimed RR's preordained success upon his hiring.  Section 1 is just one example of this peculiar strain of Michigan arrogance.  To some extent, I fell into the same trap, and I've found that the best way to let go of the bitterness is to approach the Extended Horror that was Sept. 1, 2007-Jan. 1, 2011 with humility and humor.  It also helped that I was at a wedding with an open bar when the Horror happened.
I hope

our fearless leader Brian Cook doesn't get any ideas from this.