"of the decade" help request
I'm going to do the following posts:
1. Worst calls (5 in favor of M, 5 against)
2. Best/worst games
3. Best performances
4. Best ridiculous extracurricular weirdness in the spirit of Hockeybear.
I am not as assured about these as best/worst moments and would like the community to chip in with recommendations for any or all of the above. Go!
Michigan had some pretty good (and not so good) assistant coaches over the past decade. Some have gone on to bigger and better things, and some will live on in infamy...
How about a best/worst assistant (or position) coaches of the decade.
Maybe 5 and 5?
Well the 07 UM-OSU game has to be in the best games catagory. Maybe not THE best but it has to be up there.
I think you mean 06. 07 was a 14-3 loss with A Shoulderless Henne and still baby Mallet.
Thanks for the correction. Thats what i meant. I was only 12 then. So I dont rememebr it like everyone else here does. I just remember Troy Smith was hit late and that essentially cost us the game.
Holy geeze you just made me feel like I was 50.
When you've got kids born in the 90's just about to drink legally, it means you, I, and most of this board are some seriously old mofo's.
Assuming you mean ref calls.
Pro M: A-Train non fumble @ Illinois in the 2000 season.
Anti M: Clock gate. Don't know if it counts as a call but I don't know what else to call it.
The A-train non-fumble was immediately preceded by a fumble by Illinois that should have been ruled down. I think those 2 need to be combined.
I think a lot of them still are. I had a friend at Illinois during that time and the way he described it you would have thought somebody shot his dog or something. He mentioned how important the game was to them, how they were a "rising power" in the conference, how they'd marked their calandars the whole year for the game, how it was a night game and the crowd was electric, etc. And then this ultimate win of their entire existance was "stolen" from them by those calls.
Little did they know that their whole team was Kurt Kittner and Brandon Lloyd and that once those guys were gone they'd crawl back into the depths of mediocrity from whence they came.
Of course, Illinois was about to punt if that fumble hadn't been ruled as such - a fact that Illini fans always conveniently forget.
Can an entire defense count for best performance? If so i would nominate the 2006 Penn State game. To go to Happy Valley and give their QBs nightmares (and some major headaches) is one of my favorite memories of the decade. Though there were games where they gave up fewer yards or points, I thought the front seven was an absolute terror in that game and I loved how everybody seemed to contribute. It kind of embodied the 2006 defense for me.
Worst call: MSU/UM 2005 where Henne "fumbled" with his arm going forward, and then that huge somoan took it to the house
Extra curricular: Sexy Delaware state cheerleaders?
Even though we won the game, the Peko "fumble" return TD has to be the worst call of the decade
Best performance 2003 Michigan State Chris Perry, 2004 Michigan State Braylon Edwards, 2001 Ohio State Drew Henson, 2005 Rose Bowl Steve Breaston, 2008 Capital One Adrian Arrington
Best Games 2006 Notre Dame, 2006 Ohio State, 2003 Ohio State, 2006 Penn State, 2010 Notre Dame
Worst Game 2007 Ohio State, The Horror, 2008 Notre Dame, 2008 Ohio State, 2001 Ohio State
edit: As I look at wiki you can add 2004, 2005 Ohio State as worst games, 6-4 Buckeyes beating MIchigan (9-1) and 21-12 lead blown in the last 8 minutes.
edit again: Hell even add 2002 OSU as worst game since it was the most frustrating pos to watch as we had no offense against the best defense in the country. Oh and the interception in the endzone to take the lead as time runs out. Also 2007 Oregon.
I agree with your worst list, but swap the 2008 OSU game with the 2008 NW game. With the rain and cold, the no chance at a bowl and it being NW and M having no viable QB...That was the low point of the decade, especially for those of us that stayed the whole game.
This says it all:
Hell even add 2002 OSU as worst game since it was the most frustrating pos to watch as we had no offense against the best defense in the country.
I'm not sure what game you're thinking of, but in the '02 OSU game we moved the ball all day. We just kept faltering in the red zone and ended up losing 14-9.
But that was osu defense style bend don't break. So I guess i should have rephrased why it was frustrating
The best has gotta be Braylonfest 2004. I stayed until the end, and that game made me a football fan.
Worst calls for: The interception at the end of the Indy game last year was not an interception.
Performances: Adrian Arrington and Chad Henne in the Capital One Bowl. Braylon in Braylonfest. Brandon Graham annihilating Bulaga vs Iowa last year. Woodley takes out Stanton to stop MSU's offense in 2004.
it was def a pick .... tv angles showed that d. warren got his hands on it first and then he came away with it
the worse call for us that i can remember was form the 08 msu game ... our first td should have been ruled not a catch and everyone in the stadium knew it except for the review operator
The Antonio Bass "fumble" against Iowa rings a bell as one of the worst calls I can remember.
that antonio bass 'fumble' against MSU when his elbow HITTING THE GROUND caused the fumble. they reviewed it upstairs. DO THEY EVEN HAVE RULEBOOKS IN THE REVIEW BOOTH? HOW ABOUT THE INTERNET?
MORANS!!!
WORST GAMES (that haven't been previously mentioned)
2007 Oregon as worst game candidate... two, two, statue of liberty plays against Michigan were successful. That and Dennis Dixon started his Heisman crusade.
2002 Citrus Bowl vs. Tennessee and a-hole Phillip Fulmer schlacking.
2004 Rose Bowl. Ah! The SI Jinx... that and Keary Colbert and those damn Trojans.
EXTRACURRICULAR
I thought the couple of fans dressed up as Wolverine was pretty sick last year against Notre Dame (may have been other games, I just didn't notice (I, meaning the camera crew)).
Edit.. This has to fit in some category, am I right?
Agree on 2007 Oregon and 2002 Tennessee. Also 2002 Iowa (L9-34). In general, any game where Michigan got killed like Michigan used to kill other teams. Also includes more than a few games from the last two years I suppose.
If Henne's trip makes it into a category, we need to include Zoltan's banner touch as well.
Another extracurricular weirdness for me: The Lloyd Carr/Russell Crowe relationship.
Worst calls: Spartan Bob is obviously #1, but how about the late hit on Troy Smith. Not even in terms of the call, but that was the biggest stomach punch of a call.
The replay where Arrington (I think) sort of stepped on part of the pylon but wasn't actually in bounds against MSU as one for us.
Best games: 2006 ND, Braylonfest, 2003 OSU, 2003 Minny (for Water Buffalo Stampede), 2008 not-Citrus, 2005 Rose Bowl (even though we lost), 2006 OSU (ditto), 2009 ND, even if it was a mirage in retrospect.
Honorable mentions for hilarity: 2003 ND, 2007 ND. "Houston's better" was a Yost-worthy chant in 2003.
Worst games: The Horror, 2003 Oregon, 2003 Iowa (we win either we play OU for the title, potentially, win both and for sure), 2005 ND, 2006 OSU, Spartan Bob, 2007 OSU, 2006 NW even though we won that's among the most miserable I've ever been at Michigan Stadium the weather was awful. I think you titled the game post "Grounds for Murder."
Best performances: not sure if it counts but Brady and Terrell in the '00 Orange Bowl; Chris Perry: ND '03, Minnesota '03, MSU '03, OSU '03; Braylon: OSU '03, Braylonfest; John Navarre (that's right): Minnesota '03, OSU '03; Mike Hart: his entire fucking career. Manningham: ND '06, obviously; Henne: '05 Rose Bowl, '06 ND, '06 OSU, '08 not-Citrus Bowl; Breaston '05 Rose Bowl, '05 PSU; Larry Foote, I think '01 MSU? He had one absolutely dominant game against them while Duckette was there; Marlon Jackson against Washington in the Brabbs game; Woodley/Branch/Harris/Hall/Burgess: ND '06, the first four of those in basically any game in that entire season; Graham last year, pick a random game; Zoltan's mere existence; Lloyd Carr's speech about Bo and general classiness.
Extracurricular weirdness: the aforementioned "Houston's Better" chant; the brief, ended too soon by the stadium people career of Hot Dog Man; St. Patrick's Day Nerd Massacre; it's not directly related to Michigan, but the bizarre power of the Coulter-Kos Award must be recognized.
I think that's all I've got. I seem to have written a lot.
I live out of town and go to one game a year. I picked poorly that season.
I remember staying in the bathroom because the mist created by aerated piss was at least warmer than the sleet outside.
Things no one has mentioned:
Best games: 2002 vs. Washington (Brabbs game winner after missing 2 others and Nienberg missing like a 27-yarder)
Worst calls: The entire 2005 Alamo Bowl. In particular I remember Manningham going over the middle one play and getting completely mauled with no flag. But there were several egregious calls or no-calls in that game. Sun-Belt refs!
Worst games: 2002 vs. Iowa (Hello Brad Banks, a 34-9 drubbing in the rain at the big house)
That was my first game at the Big House. I had all but blocked it out until you mentioned it here. That's got to count for something in the worst games category.
Ouch.
I remember even the commentators taking it to the refs. I remember one line in particular, though I can't remember which commentator said it.
"No disrespect to the sun belt, because they've got some fine athletes down there, but I don't think these refs are up for this game. I think they see an athletic play, and they assume since nobody in their conference could do it, then it can't be done. They're just not prepared to ref for this caliber of athlete."
that comment was one of the few times I was shaking my head and thinking man these commentator's know what's up
It was Mike Tirico who said it, which made it all the more forceful, as he is the play-by-play man (as opposed to the color guy) and usually plays it pretty close to the vest in that role. Although he's a Syracuse grad, he actually resides in Ann Arbor, by the way, and has a bit of a soft spot for M, which is obviously good. He kind of blurted that quote out during the game, sort of losing himself for a moment, which I found hilarious, as he's normally very smooth, cool, and collected; the absurdity had reached such levels that he couldn't help it.
It must be added that Kirk Herbstreit (who was also doing the game) was right there with him on the officiating. I remember him chuckling in disbelief, saying "Sun Belt officials."
If I had to pick a worst call from the 2005 Alamo Bowl, since one HAS to make the all-decade list, it would be Henne's "fumble" with his arm moving forward. I remember it being reviewed and saying to my friend "this will get overturned. We can't get burned by the same blown call TWICE in the same season (happened against MSU that year too)" then the call stood as a fumble.
2008 Wisconsin game.
2005 @MSU.
Refs blew a blatant QB arm going forward when the ball pops out call. Let the call stand as a fumble, and MSU returned it for a TD.
Let them back in the game, they forced OT. Luckily we pulled it out in OT on a FG. East Lansing was quiet as a tomb after it split the uprights. It was fantastic.
Apparently bringing up a bad call deserved a Neg?
Whomever you are, sir or madam, I hope you accidentally turn the faucet to hot the next time you go to get a refreshing glass of water.
1: Don't talk about your MGoPoints
2: A lot of negs have been flying around lately. I think we've got some script kiddies or something messing with stuff.
I hope you accidentally turn the faucet to hot the next time you go to get a refreshing glass of water.
Damn man. That's pretty ruthless.
the fumble/incompletion thing that set up the brabbs kick against UW was a ridiculous call
aso, does larry harrison count as extracurricular weirdness?
Also, the 15-yard 12 men on the field penalty against Washington on the final drive, coming out of a timeout. Rick Neuheisel's face is hilarious
was at the game and even w/o replay remember thinking it was a pretty bad call that we were fortunate to get.
Absolutely not.
Worst call pro UofM - Minor's touchdown catch against MSU in 2008
Exracurricular Weirdness- Hot dog man
Agreed on the Minor touchdown catch. That might be the single worst call I've ever seen in a football game, aside from that infamous Oregon onside kick against Oklahoma. At least with the various disputed fumbles listed throughout this thread, there is some tiny possibility that the ball was coming out before the player was down; in the case of this one, it was a clearcut horrible misinterpretation of the rules.
First thing I thought of when I saw "worst call in favor of Michigan." Can you imagine if we had won that game because of that touchdown? The meltdowns at the RCMB would have been mindbogglingly epic.
That mind-boggling comeback from three or four touchdowns down with Navarre leading the way. Not as significant as a bowl game perhaps, but it was a vintage Carr-era comeback.
The Navarre buffalo stampede TD is the only Michigan TD I'd consider nominating for worst play.
That was my freshman year and I was the only one of my friends that stayed to watch the end of it...probably because I was trying to work my magic on one of our female cohorts, but I still got to talk smack to all my friends for leaving. Such a great finish.
I'd actually say that game was very significant - for both teams and both coaches. We were 4-2, suddenly in a funk after dropping two of three. Minnesota was 6-0, had a rare sellout crowd at home, and its fickle fanbase was finally warming up to Glen Mason's program. Then they went up 28-7 and it looked like the statement win Mason had never gotten, while for Carr you had to wonder if the wheels were coming off. This was supposed to be the year that UM returned to Pasadena (where Carr had only been once in his career up to then), and it seemed to be slipping away. Then we came back, regained our early-season momentum, and ended up winning the Big Ten. The season was salvaged and any heat that might have been building up on Carr vanished. Meanwhile, it was a colossal missed opportunity for Mason that he never regained. He did finally beat us two years later, but he never again had such a good team (they rushed for 400+ yards on us!) and ended up being fired.
That hilarious "Hot, Hot, Hot!" promo video put out by Appy State.
Ha, ha, ha, huh, uh, um ...... fuck.