While I agree that Lewan has proven himself to be an upgrade over these guys, I feel a lot less nervous about having him out than I would about a lot of other positions. Our O line finally has some depth, and we were doing quite well there before Lewan broke into the starting rotation. Also, while Lewan is a beast, he has also made some mistakes that have stalled drives. If his head is affected, his judgment will not be improved. Letting some experience guys get the start if Lewan is questionable is fine by me. I want him ready to ride some buckeye donkeys.
That being said, if he's good to go there's no reason not to have him in there.
Meanwhile, Don has admitted in other posts on this site to be not-as-freshly-out-of-college, and he doesn't seem to have a problem with it. I'm been out almost a decade and I'd be fine with it, too.
Look, if some drunk kids who've had to watch some terrible years at the M decide to jump on the field IF (please let this be "when") we beat Wisconsin, I certainly will not judge them for it. Others may say it's silly or whatever, but I say let kids be kids and have a good time...especially if it means they (read: we) have something to be happy about on Saturday.
If only a punter could truly deliver us and "shorten the way" to the national title game. I guess if he keeps putting that crazy spin that caused Purdon't to drop that punt in the beginning of the second half it could all work out. I'm pretty sure if our offense had Illinois like field position all day against anyone we would score 83 or more.
Based on those stats, he's actually currently 1-3. 1-1 currently at Michigan. And last time we beat them they were also in the top 10 and we were way worse than we are this year. Of course, so were they...as it turned out...as their ranking was largely a pre-season one, but hopefully you get my point.
After this weekend, he will either be 1-4 or 2-3. I'm hoping for the latter.
"After seeing Mark Moundros trying to fill Mouton's spot for one game – a game by the way that featured the statistically best defensive performance of the year – I'm ready to go back to Weapon X."
I was scared, Cosmic. But then again, MSU and Iowa really look to be better teams. PSU's walk-on appears to be better than we thought and their whole team seemed to step it up and we still almost came back in that one. I am tentatively hopeful that we come out and execute in all 3 phases.
Take a look at this random and statisitcal but truly indicative of nothing info:
We have played 2 previous games in Indiana this season: they were both thrilling victories.
Against b10 opponents whose states border ours (IL, IN) we are 2-0.
Against b10 opponents who we do not share a border with or are inside our border (IA, PA, MI) we are 0-3
Based on this "data," I predict that we win out!!! Ohio and Wisconsin share borders with Michigan, too!! We can extend this for the whole season if we include New England in the teams that we beat. It's foolproof. Sadly, I am more than a fool for Michigan football.
A near-perfect metaphor. The original pain was too great and the memory too fresh. "Medical technology" can tell us all that it wants, but we're going to have be be able to run on this thing for awhile before we can even hope to trust. Let's just hope those doctors were right about our knee being ok...
However, I think that because I seriously see this O churning along to the point where we score close to 61.5 all by ourselves. I hope I am right.
Generally, if Purdue scores any points at all (inevitable) the over should be attained. I actually at least want to believe we can really put a hurting on Purdue. I mean, shouldn't we have just one (PLEASE!) comfortable win over a big ten opponent that isn't Minnesota 2008 when Nick Sheridan played the one (and only) good game of his life?
Our QB coach's name is Rod Smith. Based on what I have seen in the development of players that actually have talent and stick around (granted, I only have Tate and Denard for reference) he seems to have a decent idea of what he is doing. Obviously, Denard put in some work on his own, but also obviously, he's considerably better than last year. I expect to continue to see this kid get even better, at least in the passing game, and hopefully with some of his decision-making.
That being said, the level at which Denard performs and his running ability are already more than I could've hoped for out of this season. Our O is a juggernaut. If we get a D, we will be soooo good.
While logic says that you are right, Mouton should not make or break tomorrow's game. Either we come out swinging, or we are in trouble.
On the other hand, I believe we can score against Wiscy/OSU which means that our best chance is to get big plays/turnovers against those teams on D to give ourselves a chance to outscore them. Mouton and his ability to MAKE PLAYS (some good) could give us a legitimate shot at them...but not if he aggravates an injury against the boilers.
I appreciate both you and the poster you are replying to risking the massive neg bang to tell how you really feel. I admittedly don't have nearly the football knowledge or experience to understand this, but it's nice to see that Brian's word is not merely taken as truth and is at least questioned.
While I watch the struggles on Defense, I find it difficult to know who to blame. I think there is certainly culpability on the coaching staff for much and likely the majority of the issues, but I also think that sometimes we want to point to the coaches as utter failures because this also gives us hope that by switching the coaches all will be made right in the world.
Clearly, there are many factors that affect the defense. One that we have been hearing about all season long is youth compounded by injuries at positions of no depth. This is still a factor and worsening. However, other issues are clearly there with scheme or lack thereof or change of scheme. It's all been a real shitshow, but it's not just one thing and it's important we're careful not to believe that there is a quick fix.
Still, I am hopeful for the future for the defense as when combined with our offense we can truly be a force in NCAAF. I can also understand that GERG will likely be a casualty of our defense's failings who is also likely deserving of being said casualty.
"An offense at this level plus an average defense in the Big Ten will probably mean at least nine wins. If the defense makes an average bad defense improvement, it will probably be more like 9 wins."
Umm...I'm confused. Are these things co-eval, hence nine wins? Or did you mean to say a different win total in one of these cases?
I believe that we had a player suspended after Weis complained about something that happened in ND last year. It was basically a non-call in the game or at least not being hit with a suspension, but then our guy was retroactively suspended.
Rich then came back and said that if we are going to be doing this sort of thing for one play, that more plays should be looked at. The result was some Purdue player being suspended for a game for something he did that was originally not called or whatever.
Forgive the lack of specific detail above, but hopefully you get the point.
Anyway, after last year's game Hope goes to shake Rich's hand and says "Hey Rich, here's the guy you kept out of a game with all your whining earlier this season...asshole," (this is a paraphrase) and puts him in a really uncomfortable position. There a fair bit of talk about this confrontation, and most believe it has left a rather bitter taste in Rodriguez's mouth for Purdue. There was also some "snake oil selling" that Hope accused Rich of when Roundtree de-committed from Purdue to come to Michigan.
Not just top 20. I believe they finished in the top 10 each of his final 3 seasons at WVU. I miss finishing anywhere near that spot and hope it happens again soon...
Damn you and your logically logical logic! I had almost been convinced we could win this weekend. I guess we still could. I'll let you guys know if I see any pigs drinking redbulls.
A fine speech. If not for the fact that you make specific references to the season and the game, I would think that you were quoting an actualy pre-game speech from the glory days. I got tingles.
I am both so scared and so excited for this game. I guess that's what fear/paranoia level is about!
I would +1 you if I had the mgopoints to be allowed to do so.
I mostly agree with this, other than the fact that our defense manages to make me scared of ANY quarterback, concussed or walk-on or otherwise.
That being said, I'm less scared of all of PSU qb's than I have been of the last three we have faced. Of course, I wasn't very scared of UMass's qbs...
So...I guess I'm saying I'm pretty scared, but not AS scared as I could be.
Definitely nothing wrong with going after whatever quarterback a football team puts in pads and a helmet and marches out onto a football field.
I also have and ND dad (and an ND little sister). I was raised on ND and I think that there tradition, fight song, etc. actually helped me to be a better Michigan fan.
We sat together at this year's game (along with my mom who prefers ND and whose birthday it was), and while I cheered when we scored and (especially) when we won, I also showed respect to their fans and my family. I even sang their alma mater with them as is their tradition after the game. I may get neg-banged for saying it, but I still love those Domers 364 days out of the year.
I have just returned to work (and hence, MGoBlog reading) from a nice out-of-town trip for the bye weekend, and discovering this has been the high point of an otherwise horrible realization that I'm...back to work.
This truly rivals even some of Brian's best stuff. Kudos to you, sir.
Agreed. While anger is justified, anger born of ignorance is more frustrating than the difficulties we have had defensively (that have only cost us two games, to date no less).
In this case, ignorance is not bliss. It's just something that makes me even more angry (when people start talking about how Rich needs to go at half time of a game that we haven't even lost yet (Iowa) that if we lose it will make us 5-2) than my frustrations with the product on the field. Of course, part of that is because I actually follow the team, know what it is struggling against, and realize that I shouldn't be that frustrated with it...or at least not that surprised given those struggles and given that knowledge.
Stupid people who follow Michigan only because they were the team in the state that wins all the time, are really mad when that team isn't winning anymore...or at least not as much. And they don't bother to look at why the team isn't winning as much, just who's been in charge while it's been happening.
I hate to agree with you, and give Sparty any credit...but there is some truth to that. Sparty has not been great, but they have been decent enough to win some football games the past couple of years. We, on the other hand, have been abysmal. This is our first time in three years where we had a team that (we think) is even good. And they have a team that looks like it should win almost all of their football games, looking at the rest of their schedule. Iowa is the toughest game they have left. The rest is largely against the bottom of the big 10. Now, they may have their usual post-Michigan meltdown, but they may not.
If they get past Purdue, Minnesota, Illinois, Northwestern, and a very weak-looking Penn State and still lose to Iowa, that could be an 11-1 Sparty. That would be one of the best Sparty teams in a long time. I'm not really hoping it would happen, but it does shed a little light on the possibility that we got beaten by a better team. It's sad to think that MSU would have a better team than us the past 3 years, but that may be the reality of transition and attrition. It's frustrating to be a Michigan fan and have these things affect you, but..hey, Denard.
While I agree with most of what you say, I would say it was a good day statistically...only if you look only at yards and not at that INT stat.
I don't think it takes away anything he's done already or drops him out of the heisman race, but the 3 picks are a statistic that cannot be ignored and is never good for anybody.
I still think Denard has shown considerably more good than bad and is the best player in the country right now. The fact that he still helped gain as many yards on an off day is encouraging, and had he connected with non-spartans on a couple of those picks we could've still lost and the hype machine would've kept building. As it stands, a small wrench was thrown into the works of said hype machine, but I'm hoping that when the wrench gets removed the machine starts working even better than before.
I do think that referring to Denard as Dreadlock Jesus over and over again is pretty funny. Other than that, you can clearly see the bias...but then again this is to be expected. There is clearly bias/hope on Brian's part as well...but this guy seems to be pushing it a bit more.
I guess we see what we want to see. Hopefully tomorrow, this holds true, and we all see Denard/Dreadlock Jesus run for 400 yards and pass for 600...yep, I could go for a 1,000 Den-yard day.
Agreed. I don't even understand why he's in the conversation other than because he was in the conversation BEFORE the season started. He hasn't done anything particularly noteworthy other than not implode an offense that doesn't seem that impressive.
Perhaps I'm just comparing him to Denard, which is (at least so far) an unfair thing to do to any quarterback not named Denard, but there are other players who have seemed far more impressive and have far more impressive stats.
Similarly, Ingram is way up there on the heisman "balloting" after missing two games and playing well, but not amazingly in the other three. It's like the whole heisman perception is based on pre-conceived notions about players before the season just like rankings. I'm glad Denard is getting credit for being an amazing athlete who is defying reality with his performances. I wish the heisman "watch" involved more watching and less deciding that somebody they thought would have a large impact going into the season isn't doing anything that special but is still on a team ranked in the top 2 that hasn't lost yet.
I believe he is referring to the nature of rivalries and whether or not there is added significance to an in-state rivalry. I think he is saying we have more time to think about how important it is to win and what it means if we win or lose, while he's mostly working on the game plan, trying to find someone who can play defense or kick a field goal, etc...
I'm not sure how to get that stat, but I will point out that he did note that ND did not go for it on 4th down at all, which is one of those 3 contestable games. I know Indiana went for it on 4th a few times early, but I agree that would be an interesting stat to see.
Also, even though it wasn't a fourth down, the 3rd down play at the end of the first half against IN might as well have been, since there was no way there were getting off a second play with only 4 ticks on the clock.
Personally, I still want to have children. I don't know that I would sacrifice the lives of my future sons and daughters for a single Michigan victory...but I'd have to think about it. Kudos to you for your willingess to take one (and in so doing, lose two...) for the team.
BG stops by our tailgate after games every week. He only missed Western. His family knows this lady who is an instrumental part of putting our tailgate together and her son and BG knew each other in high school.
Even when we were winning, it was the high point of my day when he stopped out. He's a total class act all the way, and he quickly became "my wolverine" (kind of like "my tiger") after the departure of Mike Hart, so it was extra cool that my fave player on the roster was stopping by and shaking hands, giving hugs (he won't hug me lest my maize body paint ruin his warm-ups), and maybe eating some tailgate food with us.
From how nice and laid back he is, you might never know that only a few hours prior he was a total death machine. It's clear on every snap that his intensity is on a whole different level than most players on either side of the ball. If he can get his teammates to match his intensity on Saturday, maybe I won't be drinking heavily after the game...or at least not to dull the pain...
Let's fire up and show those buckeyes that WOLVERINES are the best there is at what we do, but what we do...isn't very nice.
That's so clearly the writer of the article making his own joke about something Tressel COULD say. No coach, and certainly not the sweater vest in this rivalry would tell his team to "take a couple of days off."
"I am more frustrated with us then what I see on the field and it is really starting to boil over."
And that's saying a lot. I'm very frustrated with what I see on the field, but they classless way in which so many people handle it is so much worse.
As a U-M alum who grew up on ND because my Dad is an alum from there, I have seen what has happened with that program, and it has been agonizing. Every year, my Dad gets hopeful that this will be "their year, their return to glory..." well, it hasn't happened and they haven't brought in the people to make it happen.
Just like us, early success gets their hopes up, but just like us so many people give up at the first sign of adversity. I still don't know if Rich Rod's the answer, but I don't see a better answer out there...and I hope that the answer is already here, but it just takes a few years to calculate...
Technically, you only have two "definite" losses on there at the end of the season, and if we won all the W/L games...we would be 10-2. I would also note that next year's "definite" losses are against teams we have yet to lose to this year. I mean, we probably will lose to them (this year), but...you never know.
At ND, I think Clausen sticks around to try and get a heisman...for Michael Floyd. In that case, we better see serious secondary improvement or I have no idea how we win that one.
I think that you point out the distinction between two types of people.
We have people like you who (quite reasonably) have their doubts about whether or not Rich Rod will prove to be "the answer" for Michigan. At first, I really thought he was. I still think he could be, but I'm slightly less optimistic. I think that he has a lot of obstacles to overcome, and some of those have to do with personnel. I'm really not learned enough in terms of football to be an accurate judge, and I also don't think enough time has passed. These are reasons why I don't want to see him fired, but will be more skeptical.
The other camp of people are the ones who were shouting for his head LAST SEASON and after jumping back on the bandwagon with a 4-0 start are now off said bandwagon and back to their "FIRE RR NOW!" ways. I think this is unreasonable. Once again, attrition, personnel, d-coordinators, etc. make me think that this may OR may not be RR's fault.
The thing is, I want to see if he can. In my heart of hearts, I'm hoping that he will "lead us to the promised land." At the very least, I would hate to see us get rid of a coach without a legitimate chance to prove himself. Then, I might always wonder what if.
Maybe he fails, maybe he succeeds. Right now, I don't see an alternative. I think that the fan who says we should fire him now hasn't really considered who would take his place. I think that is what makes that person unreasonable.
On the other hand, the person who says "those who question the awesomeness of Rich Rod and dares to question the 9 National titles that begin in 2011" is also unreasonable. I'm not even saying it won't happen. I'm just saying we can't predict the future.
I think someone having doubts is reasonable. For whatever reason, one might dislike Rich Rod. They might be right to. I think it's ok to be on the fence, regardless of which way you are leaning. The Illinois loss was really heartbreaking. I've heard all the excuses and all the statements that it was inexcusable. I don't know which camp is right; I just know it sucked.
So to sum up, doubts=totally justified. RICH ROD IS GOD or RICH ROD IS SATAN=not really justified just yet.
I'm not totally 100% certain I really know exactly what you are talking about right here, but it was still grandfockingbrilliant.
Pure chicken soup for my soul dong right there.
He was referring to last year's offense blowing it for the defense. The two signal callers in question being Threet and DEATH (Sheridan). The lack of any production on offense last year led to a defense that was completely exhausted as games wore on, leading to a lot of games that were reasonably close at half, and turned into blowouts in the second half. This happened last year against you guys (PSU) as well as OSU, IL, and probably a few others that I have repressed from my memory.
Thus far this year, the offense has improved enough to a)keep us in the games by scoring points to potentially overcome our defense's shortcomings and b)give the D some rest every now and then to allow them to at least have energy to chase down receivers after we give up big 3rd and long plays.
Personally, I'm fine with it. He's a leader both on and off the field. Kid plays (and works) so hard. If this were the type of team that had dedicated captains, I'm pretty sure he'd be one of them.
...it's Goalkeeper. It's usually shortened to either goalie or keeper...keeper being slightly more common in general and much more common in Britain and by tv commentators.
A plethora is a whole bunch of something. Also see myriad, profusion, bounty, ampleness, copiousness, or "a lot."
We would also accept a "crapstack," a "$#!t-ton," or a "f*ck-load."
Brandon Graham will get 4 sacks tomorrow. You heard it here first.
As to the betting, reports on the radio say that many people are betting on MSU, leading to speculation as to whether Tate's injury is worse than we think and purposely being kept hush hush. I hope not.
I really think that while both defenses look rather swiss cheese-like, we may see one D step up and make a difference in the game. As you can see from my earlier quote, I think the D that steps up will be ours. Look for big plays from the "other" Brandon, whose Rage may fall hard on the heads of the Spartans.
Here's hoping the Spartans are not carrying their shields after the game tomorrow, but being carried on them.
We get to every tailgate regardless of game start time at approximately 7am. That's over 12 hours from when the tailgate starts to when the game starts. I can't drink for that long and not die (Irish blood).
Night games are cool, but I prefer them on tv after returning from a Michigan tailgate. It's way easier (and more kosher) to nap in front of the tv than in the Big House.
Well, you asked for an English major, so...
First thing, you called Minor Rage a noun, but then described the action of running between the tackles violently...which is a verb. Your usage in a sentence would be a noun however. So, I think we have:
Minor Rage-v. to run violently between the tackles.
Minor Rage-n. the attribute being displayed while a Michigan tailback runs violently through tackles, only stopping until the blood and gore becomes so deep on the field that he can no longer keep his footing.
...or something like that. I'm paraphrasing Brian's description for my noun definition and his was probably much more amusing.
As to whether we should change it for a new tailback, it may depend on whether a new tailback can exceed or even match the sheer rage shown by one Mr. Brandon Minor.
Recent Comments
Good point. I think Jonas will be hard to keep off the field.
Also, I've been wanting to +1 you for your avatar for a long time now and finally have the mgopoints to do it. So...there you go. Nicely done.
While I agree that Lewan has proven himself to be an upgrade over these guys, I feel a lot less nervous about having him out than I would about a lot of other positions. Our O line finally has some depth, and we were doing quite well there before Lewan broke into the starting rotation. Also, while Lewan is a beast, he has also made some mistakes that have stalled drives. If his head is affected, his judgment will not be improved. Letting some experience guys get the start if Lewan is questionable is fine by me. I want him ready to ride some buckeye donkeys.
That being said, if he's good to go there's no reason not to have him in there.
Meanwhile, Don has admitted in other posts on this site to be not-as-freshly-out-of-college, and he doesn't seem to have a problem with it. I'm been out almost a decade and I'd be fine with it, too.
Look, if some drunk kids who've had to watch some terrible years at the M decide to jump on the field IF (please let this be "when") we beat Wisconsin, I certainly will not judge them for it. Others may say it's silly or whatever, but I say let kids be kids and have a good time...especially if it means they (read: we) have something to be happy about on Saturday.
If only a punter could truly deliver us and "shorten the way" to the national title game. I guess if he keeps putting that crazy spin that caused Purdon't to drop that punt in the beginning of the second half it could all work out. I'm pretty sure if our offense had Illinois like field position all day against anyone we would score 83 or more.
That's a great avatar. Did you make that up yourself or did you get it from somewhere (possibly this site?)? Brilliant, either way.
...see what you did there. I really hope their coaches aren't doing their jobs as well.
Based on those stats, he's actually currently 1-3. 1-1 currently at Michigan. And last time we beat them they were also in the top 10 and we were way worse than we are this year. Of course, so were they...as it turned out...as their ranking was largely a pre-season one, but hopefully you get my point.
After this weekend, he will either be 1-4 or 2-3. I'm hoping for the latter.
I could definitely go for Superman. As in mistake-free 500 yards of offense Denard.
Let's stay away from the Rocky Road though, okay?
"After seeing Mark Moundros trying to fill Mouton's spot for one game – a game by the way that featured the statistically best defensive performance of the year – I'm ready to go back to Weapon X."
Put me in, coach!
I was scared, Cosmic. But then again, MSU and Iowa really look to be better teams. PSU's walk-on appears to be better than we thought and their whole team seemed to step it up and we still almost came back in that one. I am tentatively hopeful that we come out and execute in all 3 phases.
Take a look at this random and statisitcal but truly indicative of nothing info:
We have played 2 previous games in Indiana this season: they were both thrilling victories.
Against b10 opponents whose states border ours (IL, IN) we are 2-0.
Against b10 opponents who we do not share a border with or are inside our border (IA, PA, MI) we are 0-3
Based on this "data," I predict that we win out!!! Ohio and Wisconsin share borders with Michigan, too!! We can extend this for the whole season if we include New England in the teams that we beat. It's foolproof. Sadly, I am more than a fool for Michigan football.
A near-perfect metaphor. The original pain was too great and the memory too fresh. "Medical technology" can tell us all that it wants, but we're going to have be be able to run on this thing for awhile before we can even hope to trust. Let's just hope those doctors were right about our knee being ok...
Definitely agree with you about taking the over.
However, I think that because I seriously see this O churning along to the point where we score close to 61.5 all by ourselves. I hope I am right.
Generally, if Purdue scores any points at all (inevitable) the over should be attained. I actually at least want to believe we can really put a hurting on Purdue. I mean, shouldn't we have just one (PLEASE!) comfortable win over a big ten opponent that isn't Minnesota 2008 when Nick Sheridan played the one (and only) good game of his life?
But yeah, just win...and I'll be mostly happy.
Our QB coach's name is Rod Smith. Based on what I have seen in the development of players that actually have talent and stick around (granted, I only have Tate and Denard for reference) he seems to have a decent idea of what he is doing. Obviously, Denard put in some work on his own, but also obviously, he's considerably better than last year. I expect to continue to see this kid get even better, at least in the passing game, and hopefully with some of his decision-making.
That being said, the level at which Denard performs and his running ability are already more than I could've hoped for out of this season. Our O is a juggernaut. If we get a D, we will be soooo good.
with you.
While logic says that you are right, Mouton should not make or break tomorrow's game. Either we come out swinging, or we are in trouble.
On the other hand, I believe we can score against Wiscy/OSU which means that our best chance is to get big plays/turnovers against those teams on D to give ourselves a chance to outscore them. Mouton and his ability to MAKE PLAYS (some good) could give us a legitimate shot at them...but not if he aggravates an injury against the boilers.
Help me, Tessel-ball be wan-Kenobi, you're my only hope.
I appreciate both you and the poster you are replying to risking the massive neg bang to tell how you really feel. I admittedly don't have nearly the football knowledge or experience to understand this, but it's nice to see that Brian's word is not merely taken as truth and is at least questioned.
While I watch the struggles on Defense, I find it difficult to know who to blame. I think there is certainly culpability on the coaching staff for much and likely the majority of the issues, but I also think that sometimes we want to point to the coaches as utter failures because this also gives us hope that by switching the coaches all will be made right in the world.
Clearly, there are many factors that affect the defense. One that we have been hearing about all season long is youth compounded by injuries at positions of no depth. This is still a factor and worsening. However, other issues are clearly there with scheme or lack thereof or change of scheme. It's all been a real shitshow, but it's not just one thing and it's important we're careful not to believe that there is a quick fix.
Still, I am hopeful for the future for the defense as when combined with our offense we can truly be a force in NCAAF. I can also understand that GERG will likely be a casualty of our defense's failings who is also likely deserving of being said casualty.
"An offense at this level plus an average defense in the Big Ten will probably mean at least nine wins. If the defense makes an average bad defense improvement, it will probably be more like 9 wins."
Umm...I'm confused. Are these things co-eval, hence nine wins? Or did you mean to say a different win total in one of these cases?
I believe that we had a player suspended after Weis complained about something that happened in ND last year. It was basically a non-call in the game or at least not being hit with a suspension, but then our guy was retroactively suspended.
Rich then came back and said that if we are going to be doing this sort of thing for one play, that more plays should be looked at. The result was some Purdue player being suspended for a game for something he did that was originally not called or whatever.
Forgive the lack of specific detail above, but hopefully you get the point.
Anyway, after last year's game Hope goes to shake Rich's hand and says "Hey Rich, here's the guy you kept out of a game with all your whining earlier this season...asshole," (this is a paraphrase) and puts him in a really uncomfortable position. There a fair bit of talk about this confrontation, and most believe it has left a rather bitter taste in Rodriguez's mouth for Purdue. There was also some "snake oil selling" that Hope accused Rich of when Roundtree de-committed from Purdue to come to Michigan.
So yeah...there's some bitterness there.
Not just top 20. I believe they finished in the top 10 each of his final 3 seasons at WVU. I miss finishing anywhere near that spot and hope it happens again soon...
This sad but true fact makes me truly sad.
Damn you and your logically logical logic! I had almost been convinced we could win this weekend. I guess we still could. I'll let you guys know if I see any pigs drinking redbulls.
A fine speech. If not for the fact that you make specific references to the season and the game, I would think that you were quoting an actualy pre-game speech from the glory days. I got tingles.
I am both so scared and so excited for this game. I guess that's what fear/paranoia level is about!
I would +1 you if I had the mgopoints to be allowed to do so.
I mostly agree with this, other than the fact that our defense manages to make me scared of ANY quarterback, concussed or walk-on or otherwise.
That being said, I'm less scared of all of PSU qb's than I have been of the last three we have faced. Of course, I wasn't very scared of UMass's qbs...
So...I guess I'm saying I'm pretty scared, but not AS scared as I could be.
Definitely nothing wrong with going after whatever quarterback a football team puts in pads and a helmet and marches out onto a football field.
I also have and ND dad (and an ND little sister). I was raised on ND and I think that there tradition, fight song, etc. actually helped me to be a better Michigan fan.
We sat together at this year's game (along with my mom who prefers ND and whose birthday it was), and while I cheered when we scored and (especially) when we won, I also showed respect to their fans and my family. I even sang their alma mater with them as is their tradition after the game. I may get neg-banged for saying it, but I still love those Domers 364 days out of the year.
I have just returned to work (and hence, MGoBlog reading) from a nice out-of-town trip for the bye weekend, and discovering this has been the high point of an otherwise horrible realization that I'm...back to work.
This truly rivals even some of Brian's best stuff. Kudos to you, sir.
Agreed. While anger is justified, anger born of ignorance is more frustrating than the difficulties we have had defensively (that have only cost us two games, to date no less).
In this case, ignorance is not bliss. It's just something that makes me even more angry (when people start talking about how Rich needs to go at half time of a game that we haven't even lost yet (Iowa) that if we lose it will make us 5-2) than my frustrations with the product on the field. Of course, part of that is because I actually follow the team, know what it is struggling against, and realize that I shouldn't be that frustrated with it...or at least not that surprised given those struggles and given that knowledge.
Stupid people who follow Michigan only because they were the team in the state that wins all the time, are really mad when that team isn't winning anymore...or at least not as much. And they don't bother to look at why the team isn't winning as much, just who's been in charge while it's been happening.
I also got it. But I've heard that's more of a post-marriage thing than a smart thing. Still, pretty funny.
I'd like to believe that, but worry about the ten points Indiana scored against OSU.
I hate to agree with you, and give Sparty any credit...but there is some truth to that. Sparty has not been great, but they have been decent enough to win some football games the past couple of years. We, on the other hand, have been abysmal. This is our first time in three years where we had a team that (we think) is even good. And they have a team that looks like it should win almost all of their football games, looking at the rest of their schedule. Iowa is the toughest game they have left. The rest is largely against the bottom of the big 10. Now, they may have their usual post-Michigan meltdown, but they may not.
If they get past Purdue, Minnesota, Illinois, Northwestern, and a very weak-looking Penn State and still lose to Iowa, that could be an 11-1 Sparty. That would be one of the best Sparty teams in a long time. I'm not really hoping it would happen, but it does shed a little light on the possibility that we got beaten by a better team. It's sad to think that MSU would have a better team than us the past 3 years, but that may be the reality of transition and attrition. It's frustrating to be a Michigan fan and have these things affect you, but..hey, Denard.
While I agree with most of what you say, I would say it was a good day statistically...only if you look only at yards and not at that INT stat.
I don't think it takes away anything he's done already or drops him out of the heisman race, but the 3 picks are a statistic that cannot be ignored and is never good for anybody.
I still think Denard has shown considerably more good than bad and is the best player in the country right now. The fact that he still helped gain as many yards on an off day is encouraging, and had he connected with non-spartans on a couple of those picks we could've still lost and the hype machine would've kept building. As it stands, a small wrench was thrown into the works of said hype machine, but I'm hoping that when the wrench gets removed the machine starts working even better than before.
I do think that referring to Denard as Dreadlock Jesus over and over again is pretty funny. Other than that, you can clearly see the bias...but then again this is to be expected. There is clearly bias/hope on Brian's part as well...but this guy seems to be pushing it a bit more.
I guess we see what we want to see. Hopefully tomorrow, this holds true, and we all see Denard/Dreadlock Jesus run for 400 yards and pass for 600...yep, I could go for a 1,000 Den-yard day.
BroekhuiZen is our more starting-ish kicker, who has been handling pas and kos largely. He missed a 38-yarder late in the 2nd quarter.
Agreed. I don't even understand why he's in the conversation other than because he was in the conversation BEFORE the season started. He hasn't done anything particularly noteworthy other than not implode an offense that doesn't seem that impressive.
Perhaps I'm just comparing him to Denard, which is (at least so far) an unfair thing to do to any quarterback not named Denard, but there are other players who have seemed far more impressive and have far more impressive stats.
Similarly, Ingram is way up there on the heisman "balloting" after missing two games and playing well, but not amazingly in the other three. It's like the whole heisman perception is based on pre-conceived notions about players before the season just like rankings. I'm glad Denard is getting credit for being an amazing athlete who is defying reality with his performances. I wish the heisman "watch" involved more watching and less deciding that somebody they thought would have a large impact going into the season isn't doing anything that special but is still on a team ranked in the top 2 that hasn't lost yet.
I believe he is referring to the nature of rivalries and whether or not there is added significance to an in-state rivalry. I think he is saying we have more time to think about how important it is to win and what it means if we win or lose, while he's mostly working on the game plan, trying to find someone who can play defense or kick a field goal, etc...
I'm not sure how to get that stat, but I will point out that he did note that ND did not go for it on 4th down at all, which is one of those 3 contestable games. I know Indiana went for it on 4th a few times early, but I agree that would be an interesting stat to see.
Also, even though it wasn't a fourth down, the 3rd down play at the end of the first half against IN might as well have been, since there was no way there were getting off a second play with only 4 ticks on the clock.
I know Mattinboots, so