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I took a tour of Jerryworld last year.  As part of the tour, you have the opportunity to go down on the field and throw a football around (for as long as you want, it's actually pretty awesome).  We were there during the day and played catch for a solid hour and I was shocked at how difficult it was to pick up a thrown ball when looking back at the windows at either end of the stadium.  Also, the place is so large that you get a very disoriented feeling anytime you look up or into the distance, particularly while running.  It's an amazing place that is simply huge. However, from my very limited experience it seems like an awful place to play (or watch) a basketball game and I wouldn't be surprised to see both teams struggle.

I'd be curious to see if the various shooting stats at Jerryworld are any different than at other domes.

you see Big Ten flags hanging from apartments all over the place.  Two years ago after they had beaten us, there was an MSU flag hanging with the "S" backwards.  It helped ease the pain a tiny bit.

are getting Drew Hensen's autograph (for my sister, I swear) and taking a picture with LaVell Blanchard after his senior season and thanking him for sticking through all the tough times. (I had to look up how to spell LaVell and the first google link brought me back to mgoblog)

I think the picture is of a 1984 Regal GN.  My family bought a 1984 Buick LeSabre and there was one of these in the showroom at the time.  I tried to get my Dad to buy it, but it's not much of a family car.  This thing was pretty expensive in its day, but it hauled a**.  More rare is the LeSabre Grand National.  I didn't even know this existed until I saw one at a car show a few years ago.  The Regal is a better looking car.

I'm a 2003 Ross grad who applied for the class of 2002, was rejected, reapplied for class of 2003, was waitlisted, and then finally got in off the waitlist.  My GMAT scores and undergrad GPA were more than adequate, but my 5 years of work experience was only ok at best. I did not follow the advice below, but if I had it to do all over again, I would.

There are all sorts of paths into business school, but the one that I think guarantees the highest likelihood of success is to spend a 2-3 years as an analyst at an investment bank.  It's a tough life right out of undergrad  but you actually learn a ton (from my experiences of interacting with others) and become very marketable to many different types of employers when walking out of business school. Further, most banking analysts end up at b-school at Harvard, MIT, Wharton, Columbia, etc. with not nearly as many heading to Ann Arbor.  Ross continues to seek to up its reputation with Wall St. and one way of doing that is attracting the analysts that will someday be the MD's making hiring decisioins. Having that banking pedigree on your application will be a big asset as you compete with others for a spot in the class. It doesn't matter if you don't want to pursue a long term career in banking, just get in, get the experience and name on the resume, and get out.

Also, in your essays, make it very clear how having an MBA will help you meet your career goals.  The admissions committee wants to know that you're not just looking for a place to spend a few years and instead this degree is part of a larger plan that you have and the MBA is a critical component of that.

The love for the school and the program that BH showed yesterday was important.  If he gets that excited and emotional talking to a room full of reporters hidden behind cameras, I have to imagine that he has the ability to be fairly compelling in a family room with a recruit and his parents.  I'm certainly not a salesman, but I have to do my share of convincing of others in my job.  I know that I am much more successful in convincing others when my heart is in what I'm pitching. RR grew to embrace Michigan and our traditions and busted his ass (as far as i can tell) to give us his best, but it isn't the same as what BH presented.  What I took away from BH yesterday, was an enthusiasm that has the potential to be infectious with all constituents.  Assuming it is well received by recruits, it could be a pivotal component of his ultimate success, Obviously, that's a big if, but I think it is shortsighted to simply dismiss what we saw yesterday as just good PR.

My guess is that I'm the only mgoblog reader who grew up going to RIT hockey games in the 1980's. My father left a position at UofM to join the faculty at RIT in the mid-1970s. He's now retired, but my mother still teaches there. Aside from Triple A baseball, RIT hockey was the best thing going in town. They were D-III back then and had a few seasons where they were completely dominant and won at least one NC, maybe two. I don't follow them at all now, but was excited to see them in the tournament and shocked to see them make the frozen four. As one poster noted, I thought they looked much slower than their competition.

I know the experience at Yost is something very special, but I swear that RIT's home rink (Ritter Memorial Ice Arena) has an equally impressive environment. The physical building is pretty ugly, but the fans are awesome. It holds around 2,000 people and can be deafening at times. I learned a lot about hockey going to those games and wouldn't trade the experience for anything. It was the best $4 you could spend.

RIT's win to get to the Frozen Four was labeled by the Rochester paper as the single biggest win in Rochester collegiate sports history. RIT hockey is the only D-I program in the city and the rest of the school's sports are all D-III.

It's too bad that the run had to end and I would be surprised to see them back next year, but it was fun to root for a familiar underdog. Not sure why I wrote all this other than I'm not sure when I'll be able to combine Michigan and RIT again.

To put it in perspective, I've never given walking around with a beer a second thought. I think a prior poster said it best, don't be "that guy" who draws attention to himself, stumbles in traffic, screams at people, throws beers, etc. Have one for me as I'm missing my first home OSU game in a while.

but ThreetSheridammit captured the true essence of a specific situation better than any other word - ever.

GERG makes me laugh everytime. Although, I actually missed the origin of that one, so I'm a little out of the loop and feel like Michael Scott fake-checking e-mail on his cell phone in front of the Stamford office gang.

NU - I like the experience. More laid back, but easy parking, nice environment, usually plenty of room in the stadium, solid chance for a W every time.

Wisc - Tough to get tickets on game day, no real tailgating with of a more bar scene. Also, hotel locations can make logistics a little more challenging. Wisc marching band makes appearances at various bars pre game. Stadium is loud with a good student section. Post game in town is fun.

OSU - I was there once (2002, OSU NC season) and vowed never to go back. Tailgating not friendly, fans not friendly, generally less than fun experience. For 1 hour after the game, I was actually glad we lost as I would have been concerned about my safey. I had one beer poured over my head, a few other personal space violations and I'm not a taunter, by any stretch. Stadium is crazy loud and very intimidating. I was very low in the endzone section and it felt like the upper deck was going to crash down on top of us. I wished our stadium was that intimidating.

PSU - great tailgating as everyone is in one HUGE field outside the stadium. Closest to emulating the golf course, but much less pictuesque than Ann Arbor. Stadium is very impressive and loud. Fans were generally nice and post game in town was pretty fun.

Purdue - decent tailgating field, suprisingly nice campus. Stadium is good for watching games, but all the damn train themed cheers from the student section get very old, very fast...especially when you lose on a hitch and lateral.

Metrodome - not relevant anymore, but that was as sterile as sterile can be. It was very loud even though it was 3/4 full. I can't wait to see the new stadium. I'm guessing it will be a good environment, unless the game is in November. Then it will just be cold.

ND - Always have had a good time. It's how a rivalry should be. We don't really like them, but we will respect them and it's reciprocated. Tailgating is fun and it's always nice to remind people that ND stadium was designed after the big house after Michigan taught ND how to play football.

Indiana, MSU, Iowa, and Illinois are left to visit. Iowa and Illinois lined up perfectly this year, but new baby in next few weeks is making that highly unlikely.

to express some concern about Cissoko. We have seen numerous examples in Michigan history how poor play in the secondary has had a key part in us losing games. In my opinion, Cissoko has been the weak spot in that secondary, getting beat on numerous occasions in this short season. Piling on that concern is the celebrating when he was clearly been beat. I don't understand how that can't bug people, but maybe I'm the anal one.

I had a pair of those in the 80's and wore them with my red and white CYO basketball uniform. Looked ridiculous, but I loved them. I think they're still in my parent's basement.

Cissoko's -10 further justifies me yelling at the TV everytime he would cross his arms and do some sort of I Dream of Jeanie pose after an incomplete pass in his direction. There were at least 3 instances when he was flat out beat but a poorly thrown ball led to an incompletion, yet he still struck the pose. I don't mind player celebrations, but for god's sake, use some commons sense when flaunting your talents. Because Jimmah threw off his backfoot to Catholic Tacopants doesn't mean you're the baddest CB in the stadium.

As a previous poster mentioned, a positive spin is that he remained aggressive in a tough situation. My take is he has no self awareness and vastly overestimates his abilities. I hope I'm wrong.

There have been a few comments, including Brian's, that there are secondary video feeds available to the replay refs beyond what is being broadcast by the network. Does anyone know anything further about this? I had been under the impression that the replay guys were working with what the network supplied. Is there a separate camera crew for the replay system that is used in addition to the network crew? Is this separate feed tied in with the video for the scoreboards?

One can of Rotel mixed in with melted Velveeta and a bag of salty Tostitos is a perfect Saturday afternoon artery blocker. Try it once and you'll be hooked, I promise.

I know this doesn't help with the current items and is a repeat of a prior posting, but the randomness of the collections of autographs is probably a detractor to many buyers.

I will embarrass myself for a second, but on an episode of Antiques Roadshow, an individual brought in a baseball autographed by Babe Ruth and Roger Maris. The appraiser commented that usually multiple autographs on a signle item will lead to a lower value, but this was an exception. The point being, in the future, you're probably better off going for a single autograph of prominent player rather than whoever is around and willing to sign. Easier said than done, I'm sure.

Good luck with the auction - it sounds like it's for a great cause. Unfortunately, I don't have anywhere to put stuff like this. One day, I will have a basement full of cool Michigan memorabilia, but that's a long way off.

Wolf is a great game, but it's really designed for threesomes. Because 18 isn't divisible by 4 (I went to U-M!), each player doesn't get the same number of opportunities to be wolf, making it somewhat unfair. Also, it's tough to divide up two points among three people.

For a foursome, use approximate handicaps and make teams of two. Set a dollar limit everyone can live with (say $30) and play match play on front 9, back 9, and total. Each of the three games is worth $10 in this example. That way, each hole is simply won or lost, so total number of strokes doesn't matter, plus handicap should give everyone a fair shot. Also, with 3 games being played per round, you're guaranteed to get a payout. (settle any ties on the practice green).

Growing up, I had a Slippery Rock pennant on my bedroom wall directly under my Michigan pennant. IIRC, the pennant was purchased at the MDen on Main St. circa 1985.

I don't think I've been as excited about a mixtape (sans the music) as I was about FT's since McGuffie. Hopefully this turns out a little better. It seriously looks like the video was edited to speed up FT but keep the defenses at regular speed. The track times give me some comfort that this wasn't just a case of playing against really bad competition, but damn, he made those defensive players look SLOW!

I hope I'm wrong, but I have a strong feeling that RR is going to see him catch a punt in practice, make a move, take it to the house, and then decide to blow a red shirt.

Assuming you're putting 20% down, that additional $12K of downpayment becomes $60K towards your house. $12K of cash, plus $48K in incremental mortgage. I'm not that familiar with Columbus, but I have to imagine $60K will buy some pretty significant upgrades (square footage, neighborhood, better schools, her dream closet, etc). Of course, this requires an extra $250/month in mortgage payment, but for a solid Michigan grad, that's nothing... Good luck!