Monday, August 29, 2011

Craig's MGoMix 2011

[Author's note: Today, I'll be breaking down the songs that I put on this year’s MGoMix, the "mix tape" that I make for driving to Michigan football games. As I noted last year, it should be noted that this is not a hype mix, these are songs which reflect where I am right now as a Michigan football fan. As is the rule, until Michigan wins a Big Ten title, no repeat non-Michigan songs from the previous year’s MGoMix. Also, this entire endeavor owes a debt of gratitude to Geoff for giving me the idea to do it in the first place.]

Also new this year...a Spotify link!

1). "Flash's Theme" by Queen (from the soundtrack to the 1980 film Flash Gordon)

This is a slight hold over from last year, but I thought that Denard Robinson had earned the right to the ultraheroic and over the top theme from Flash Gordon (remember, in the film, Flash is a New York Jets quarterback with awesome hair.)  Consider if you will the adjectives used to describe Flash:

"He's a miracle"
"King of the impossible."
"He'll save everyone of us."
"Just a man, with a man's courage, you know he's nothing but a man and he can never fail."

Yeah, no pressure Shoelace.

(Also, in the song itself, there are snippets from the movie which calmly say "There is seemingly no explanation for these extraordinary intergalactic upsets" and "This morning's unprecedented solar eclipse is no cause for alarm." which kind of sums up the last four years.)

2). "Jumpin' Jack Flash" by The Rolling Stones (from the 1968 single "Jumpin' Jack Flash")

It's for this lyrical section:

I was drowned, I was washed up and left for dead.
I fell down to my feet and I saw they bled.
I frowned at the crumbs of a crust of bread.
Yeah, yeah, yeah
I was crowned with a spike right thru my head.
But it's all right now, in fact, it's a gas!
But it's all right, I'm Jumpin' Jack Flash,
It's a Gas!  Gas!  Gas!


Sound familiar?

3). "Out of Control" by U2 (from the band's 1980 debut album Boy)

Kind of an easy pick, since ESPN made great use of it in their promo about strikers and the Power of 10 for the 2010 World Cup*, but is there any better summation of something the Michigan fanbase can agree on coming in to the 2011 season than this lyrical refrain:

"I had a feeling it was out of control
I had the opinion it was out of control

I had a feeling it was out of control
I had the opinion it was out of control."

*-No pressure Jeremy Gallon, no pressure.

4). "Gray Cell Green" by Ned's Atomic Dustbin (from the band's 1991 album God Fodder)

Or welcome back power running game...and play action passing.

You're telling me it's in the trees, in the trees
It's not it's inside me now

You're telling me it's on the ground, it's all around It's not it's inside me
You're telling me it's in disguise well use your eyes It's not it's inside me

You're telling me it's mother earth some sign of birth
It's not it's inside me

Plus, I think this will appease the football gods by having Green and Gray mentioned.

5). "Having an Average Weekend" by Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet (from the band's 1990 album Savvy Showstoppers)

You probably know this track better as the theme to The Kids in the Hall, and the nice duality exists here.  One the one hand, "Having an Average Weekend" is kind of the theme from last season.  Some good, some bad, but mostly average.  On the other hand, I get to make Kids in the Hall references, which include mentioning the Daves I know, I know, Terriers, Business Meeting, Career Ending Moments in Show Business, The Pit of Ultimate Darkness, and Daddy Drank.  Really, I could do this all day.  All you have to be is quiet and willing to do it.*  But we have a mix tape to get back to...

(*--And, I've got quiet shoes...)

6). "Dog Days Are Over" by Florence + the Machine (from the band's 2009 album Lungs)

And now, ladies and gentlemen, we start looking forward.  Perhaps a little too hopeful, but the mood of "the Summer of Hoke" certainly had this vibe:

The dog days are over
The dog days are done
Can you hear the horses?
Because here they come

Run fast for your mother, run fast for your father
Run for your children, for your sisters and brothers
Leave all your loving, your loving behind
You can't carry it with you if you want to survive.

Run fast Denard, run fast.

7). "Superunknown" by Soundgarden (from the band's 1994 album of the same name.)

Let's face it, for all of our hope, for all of our belief, for all of our "The worst is over" moments, the reality is that, well, I'll let Mr. Cornell handle it:

Alive in the superunknown
First it steals your mind
And then it steals your soul

We don't know, and that's why they play the games.

8). "The Fixer" by Pearl Jam (from the band's 2009 album Backspacer.)

In the categories of "Things we remember being pretty awesome in the 1990s", Greg Mattison, this one is for you:

When something's broke I wanna put a bit of fixin on it
When something's bored I wanna put a little excited on it
If something's low I wanna put a little high on it
When something's lost I wanna fight to get it back again
Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah
Fight to get it back again
Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah

Fight to get it back again.

9). "Everlong" by Foo Fighters (from the band's 1997 album The Color and the Shape)

The last three years are like a weird fever dream in some ways.  I don't know if they qualify as a mistake, but they definitely are a learning experience.

And I wonder
When I sing along with you
If everything could ever feel this real forever
If anything could ever be this good again
The only thing I'll ever ask of you
Got to promise not to stop when I say when

Worth noting, it is David Letterman's favorite song.  You know where David Letterman went to college?  Ball State.  You know who else went to Ball State?  Brady Hoke.

10). "Rifles"by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (from the band's 2001 album B.R.M.C.)

There is no really good reason for this to be on here other than I like the sort of chill dark intensity it brings to the table.

11). "I'm Not Over" by Carolina Liar (from the band's 2008 album Coming to Terms)

I'm not saying this is how I feel about November 2010-early January 2011, but...

What a waste of time
The thought crossed my mind
But I never missed a beat
Can't explain the who or what I was
Trying to believe
What would you do
What would you do
Do you know
I once had a grip on everything
It feels better to let go

I'm not over
I'm not over you just yet
Cannot hide it
You're not that easy to forget
I'm not over

12). "Three Strange Days" by School of Fish (from the band's 1991 self-titled album)

Days...years...  And yes, in my world, "Johnny Clueless" is in fact a fantastic nickname for a former defensive coordinator.  The drinking by yourself is personal perference.

"But I've got to make it through, no matter what it takes.  I've got to make it through...three strange days."

13). "Saving Grace" by Buffalo Tom (from the band's 1992 album Let Me Come Over.)

In addition to loving the word of Buffalo Tom, well...

It's been so long since I've been home
Since I've had fun
I'm coming home
I'll be there soon
I'll be there soon

Let's hope it's sooner rather than later.

14). "Back in the High Life Again" by Warren Zevon (a cover from his 2000 album Life'll Kill Ya)

Firstly, Warren Zevon is awesome.  Secondly, come on, it's right here:

I'll be back in the high life again
All the doors I closed one time will open up again
I'll be back in the high life again
All the eyes that watched me once will smile and take me in

Call it an ode to bandwagoning.

15). "Untitled" by Interpol (from the band's 2002 album Turn on the Bright Lights)

There are only five lines in this song, but I think it kind of hits the nail on the head:

Surprise, sometimes, will come around
Surprise, sometimes, will come around
I will surprise you sometime, I'll come around
Oh, I will surprise you sometime, I'll come around
when you're down.

I can handle surprise.

16). "Three is a Magic Number" by Blind Melon (from the 1996 tribute album Schoolhouse Rock Rocks!)

Yes, this is here for two reasons:
1). I miss the kicking game.  "And it's a magic number!"
2). "Man and a woman had a little baby, there were three in the family...and that's a magic number."  Welcoming my son to his first Michigan football season.

17). "Rise" by Eddie Vedder (from the soundtrack album for the 2007 film Into the Wild.)

Such is the way of the world
You can never know
Just where to put all your faith
And how will it grow

Gonna rise up
Burning back holes in dark memories
Gonna rise up
Turning mistakes into gold

Such is the passage of time
Too fast to fold
And suddenly swallowed by signs
Low and behold

Gonna rise up
Find my direction magnetically
Gonna rise up
Throw down my ace in the hole

Any form of fandom is about faith, about belief in things that cannot be seen.  It's not religious, though it has overtones which give rise to paralells, but it is built on the fact that we are left to believe in something we cannot prove until the game is over.  We're going to find our direction magnetically, and hopefully not have the tragic ending of Into the Wild.

18). "Clubbed to Death" by Rob Dougan (from his 1998 album Furious Angels)

This is here to remind me that Denard may have actually originally come from the Matrix.

19). "The Wanting Comes in Waves" by The Decemberists (from the band's 2009 album Hazards of Love)

It's morning again in Ann Arbor...with a full pirate hat tip to our aspirational peers at The House that Rock Built



The mix then finishes with the Michigan songs run:

20). "M Fanfare" by the Michigan Marching Band (2009 edition)

21). "The Victors" by the Michigan Marching Band (2009 edition)
(the standard full version of the Victors.)

22). "Temptation" by the Michigan Marching Band (2009 edition)
(I still have no idea how a standard, made popular by Perry Como, became one of the most beloved songs in the MMB arsenal, but there it is.  Also, Muppets!)

23). "Hawaiian War Chant" by the Michigan Marching Band (2009 edition)
(because you can't have one without the other.)

24). "The Yellow and Blue" by the Michigan Marching Band (2009 edition)
Closing with the alma mater.  Hoorah for the yellow and blue.  Hail! [small fist raise])

So that's it, that's the list, 79 1/2 minutes of mix.  Still probably a bit too depressed for it's own good, but who knows?  Comments, concerns, questions, you know where to find me.  Go Blue!

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Settling Accounts

A couple of years ago, back when he was still HSR's correspondent in the Pacific Northwest, Dave wrote up an awesome Sporcle quiz:
Can you name the Universities & Colleges Michigan has played in a football game?

Take ten minutes and play it and come back here when you're done.

..........

And you're back, good.  As you may have noted, Dave included the last year played in the quiz, and the record against the opponent.  It's actually kind of neat to realize that Michigan actually has a winning record against most schools they have played.

Which brings us to 2014.  David Brandon announced today that Michigan will be playing Appalachian State once more, six years and 363 days after well, you know.

This is Mike Hart, doing those things that Mike Hart did, like find the hole behind Jake Long.

I don't need to recap the events of that day, the media will do that for you all throughout August 2014, but after I got past my anger about this, and my anger that we have scheduled another FCS team (well, maybe, the Mountaineers could be FBS by that point, but that's a whole other thing.) has subsided.  Because I realized something.

Nah, there weren't really eighty-eight of them. They just called themselves "The Crazy 88."
Dave Brandon took one look at Beatrix Kiddo (and her awesome Maize uniform) and decided to settle some scores.  So, with this in mind, the list of future opponents to bring Michigan back to .500 against every still extant school in Division I.

Arizona State (0-1, 1987 Rose Bowl)
You know, this was the game that convinced Ohio State to hire John Cooper, do we really need to "avenge" this.  OK, fine, fine, put them on the list.

Army (4-5, last played in 1962)
Michigan needs to go to Michie Stadium, since they are 0-2 on the banks of the Hudson*.  Also, all of the losses are between 1945 and 1954, so I blame Eisenhower. (*-Whoops, both of the losses came at Yankee Stadium.)

Brigham Young (0-1, 1984 Holiday Bowl)
Michigan was 6-5, BYU was approaching an undefeated season and a national championship.  Robbie Bosco and all.  But now, you know, BYU is an independent, and they need people to play.  Perhaps Michigan can place a call to Provo?

Cornell (6-12, last played in 1952)
OK, this is going to take some time.  Can we count hockey games against them?  I mean, we stole their hockey chants, that has to count for something, right?


Mississippi State (0-1, 2011 Gator Bowl)
Avenge me!!!  Viva Starkvegas and all.


North Carolina (1-2, last played in 1979 Gator Bowl)
We should try to get the Tar Heels in soon, you know, while they're still reeling from hanging out with Butch Davis.


Oklahoma (0-1, 1976 Orange Bowl)
Actually, it amazes me more that we've only played the Sooners once ever.  Let's wait until Stoops retires.  They'll never see it coming.


Southern California (4-6, last played in 2007 Rose Bowl)
OK, firstly, we need to get them out of their SoCal comfort zone.  Secondly, we need to get them while Lane Kiffin is still at the helm.


Tennessee (0-1, 2002 Citrus Bowl)
You know Mr. Brandon, Neyland Stadium is one of the few facilities outside the B1G that could host Michigan and not cost Michigan money if you scheduled a home and home.  Get them before Derek Dooley figures it out.


Texas (0-1, 2005 Rose Bowl)
It could be a huge selling point for the Longhorn Network!!!


Toledo (0-1, last played in 2008)
Yeah, if this shows up on the 2014 schedule, I know my thesis has validity.


In the end, we cannot fully avenge every losing record since we're 0-1 against Wesleyan, but there is the list.  Let's get to work.

Loose Seal, Loose Seal!

Guest post from HSR Beltway-ish Correspondent David T. (Yes, he moved.)
Take it away Dave:  

Inspired by Gawker's countdown of the 50 worst states in America and the silly Michigan seal news, I think we should have a poll ranking the 12 Big Ten official seals from worst to first. The seals are below in one handy image file.


Rules:
1. Rank the 12 Big Ten seals from #1 to #12. No ties please. Your top choice will receive 15 points, second choice 11, third choice 10, all the way down to your last choice receiving 1 point. Whichever school gets the most points wins!
2. Try not to be a homer for your favorite school, and try not to let differing quality of the images affect your decision.
3. Include any comments you want explaining your choices.
4. Use the Google Form below to cast your vote.

Thanks for helping out!


Signed, Sealed, Delivered

I've had to spend some time in the Angry Dome today.  You see, Michigan's got me a little steamed.  We'll give each issue its own post, because they deserve their own post. Take it away Michigan Marketing and Design blog:
The "M" and the seal. (Original Title: The Seal buys a Barcalounger.) As campus communicators, you may have heard that our beloved beloved Block M is becoming the principal graphic mark of the University of Michigan, and the equally beloved Seal is taking a secondary position. The changeover will be gradual: it began, in fact, several years ago. The Seal is not going away: it will still be used on diplomas, regental documents, and many other official papers. (And students will still be able to buy those wonderful spiral-bound notebooks with the gold-embossed Seal on the cover.) But the Block M will now take its place as the public face of Michigan on items from business cards to building signage.
Now, I freely cop to the fact that I do not possess a degree in marketing, nor do I have any research on this topic, but this feels, as a Michigan alum and someone who does have a solid sense of marketing and design, short sighted. One of the things that I have always loved about Michigan is that there has been an attempt to have some sort of delineation between the academic units of the University and the athletic department.  The academic units have the seal, the athletic department got the M, block, split, or otherwise.  Obviously, there has been crossover, for instance, this is the current wordmark of the University:
Certainly we see a block M that represents the whole campus (and yes, I suspect this is the argument.)  And if we go back, prior to the renovation, this was above the tunnel:
and this was on the scoreboard:
(yes, we'll get to that issue in the next post.)
Oh and look in this Hockey Huddle, what do we see on the shoulders of the Michigan hockey team:
(side note: The hockey team, in the mid-1990s, wore a version of the seal on their jersey which overlaid a Block M, as seen on Brendan Morrison here:
(if I remember correctly, when Nike redesigned the jerseys in the late 1990s, they had to get rid of that version of the logo because it violated the university's logo rules on combining the block M and the seal.  I want to credit John Bacon for mentioning this somewhere sometime.)
and as our friend Armen (who first brought this issue to our attention) pointed out, how many of us had one of these shirts growing up (or something similar.)
I realize that the seal is not being "retired" but rather usurped as the primary academic mark of the University of the Block M.  I know that Mr. Brandon has made a strong push for the Block M to become "the" logo of the Michigan athletic department.  But this feels like a bridge too far.  To lose the seal is to lose part of what makes Michigan Michigan, the strong combination of academics and athletics.  
Perhaps this is just railing against "change" but this doesn't feel right at all and I hope, sincerely, that my fellow Michigan alums will back me in supporting the seal's future as a part of who we are.

Sunday, August 07, 2011

Decision Making

"While it would be great to have Darryl on the field this season, we feel it is in his best interest and the best interest of our program for him to redshirt, Darryl will continue to be an important part of our team and family. He has done everything we have asked him to do, but our number one priority is to help Darryl grow as a person."
The above quote is from a release today regarding Darryl Stonum's redshirt for the 2011 season. This move has been widely praised by Michigan fans and I think there are several reasons for it.

1). It sets up nicely that it shows that Brady Hoke is not putting winning at any cost as the raison d'être of the Michigan football program. This will please a not insignificant portion of "The Clans" who are big on "doing things the right way."

1a). It sets up nicely to do a little relativistic recruiting. To wit:
  • Brady Hoke redshirts a player for a year after his second DUI offense. 
  • Brian Kelly reinstates a player without missing any game time after his third alcohol related offense.*
  • Mark Dantonio...well, OK, do we need to run the list? 
So you're a parent of a recruit, and Brady Hoke comes in to your home and says he's going to take care of your son, that he's going to make him a better person, not just a better football player.  The decision here speaks volumes to how seriously he takes this role.  Hoke doesn't need to "negative" recruit here, he can simply allow his actions to speak for themselves.  If Coach Kelly or Coach Dantonio don't like the comparison, it comes only from the wake of their decisions.

2). It speaks to the accountability of the players to the team as a whole, which means that the players on this team know that they will be held accountable to the staff and to one another.  It's a bold opening gambit, but one that only means something if it is the consistent line going forward.  Coach Hoke has to know that this sets the tone and in setting the tone, he will be measured against this, but if he believes what he is doing is right, then it should not be a problem.

3). A redshirt senior Darryl Stonum will now, theoretically, line up at wide receiver in 2012, the year of the killer schedule, with a senior Denard Robinson at quarterback.  This is not a bad thing.

4). This is the closest I will come to moralizing on this blog, but here goes: A DUI is nothing to brush off.  Statistics will tell you that alcohol related issues on college campuses around the country are a significant problem, one which should be taken seriously.  It might be easy to say that one DUI is a mistake, an indiscretion, a youthful moment of bad decision making which can and should be learned from.  The fact that this was Darryl Stonum's second DUI offense during his tenure at Michigan means that he did not learn his lesson the first time and tougher measures must be meted out.  If this means that Darryl Stonum learns a lesson from this incident, that's great and that's the best that can be hoped for, but more importantly, if this means that someone else Darryl Stonum's age (or anyone, really) maybe reconsiders driving under the influence because of what happened here, then more's the better.

Honestly, I am a little more upset about the Hagerup suspension for the first four games...not because Hagerup is suspended for a violation of team rules, that's fine, it's that Hagerup was JUST suspended for the Ohio State game last year for a violation of team rules and now he's suspended again for a violation (whether the suspensions are for the same violation remains to be seen, and we likely will never know) means that he did not necessarily learn his lesson.  Now Michigan will be without a punter who averaged 43.6 yards a punt last season for its first four games, which, yes, is the non-conference schedule, but still a critical period.  It is likely that Matt Wile, in addition to being held up as the savior of the kicking game will now also need to take on punting duties.  It's a lot to put on a freshman and I hope he is able to make the transition.  But more importantly, I hope that Will Hagerup gets his head on straight, realize that he's hurting his team, and will come out of this better and stronger.  (By the way, I really hate to say this right now, but this is where I will really miss the sheer crazy of T-Force, I mean, he has perfected the Brian Griese Tribute pooch punt.  Imagine, if you will, Forcier is back there as "the punter" for the first few games, and now, during the Western game, Brady Hoke decides to run a fake punt pass play like he's calling a game on NCAA 12.  Even if it doesn't happen again, you're making the opposing teams think you will do it.  Of course, since Brady is from the Lloyd school of playcalling, all of the good crazy plays will stay in the back of the playbook until the bowl game.)

I sort of look at today's announcements as an extension of the family metaphor.  I'm the oldest of three kids in my family, and I screwed up, relatively speaking, my fair share.  I had my fair share of "talking tos" and I spent most of my teenage years having extended discussions and debates with my parents because we did not agree about my decisions.  My siblings, who are 18 and 33 months younger than I am respectively, told me that they learned a ton from me when I got in to it, because they saw that I didn't get anywhere in arguing, other than perhaps extending out the final decision and perhaps making it worse.*  If you're a younger sibling and you're smart, you learn from the eldest kid and gain "wisdom" from their mistakes.  If the Michigan football family learns from the poor decision making of Stonum and Hagerup and T. Robinson, then every member of the Michigan football "family" benefits, and we, as Michigan fans, by extension.)

*-Update: Further research (read MGoBlog) points out that Stonum failed to do his probation work on DUI #1 and went to jail for it, whereas M. Floyd's three alcohol related offenses are two MIPs and a DUI, so it's not apples to apples.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Spirit Animal

"This might sound arrogant, and if it is, it is. We're Michigan. We have a global education. We're the winningest program in the history of college football. We have a tremendous staff of guys. The lifeblood for all of us, no doubt, is the guys you bring in your program. We've really tried to focus on the guys that fit the mold of Michigan with the integrity and character that we want to have. We want guys who will play with a toughness, play with an accountability and on a team for each other.  Those guys [recruiters] out on the road, they work it and they do a tremendous job. But first and foremost, it's Michigan."

 --Brady Hoke, Big Ten Media Days, July 28, 2011


Short and sweet on this.  I don't know if Brady Hoke means this as deeply as it sounds, but I believe he does.  I don't know if this will translate into a single win in the fall, but I suspect it might.  But if you want to talk about the guy who knows how to sell his product, who knows how to play to his base.  Who knows what any of this means, really, it's just an opportunity to fill column inches and blog posts until we actually get some real football to deal with this.  But you got the word "tremendous", the word "arrogant" and "integrity and character" in there.  Strictly from a lyrical construction standpoint, it's like this beautiful hybrid of Bo, Lloyd, and Fielding Yost.  I'm in Coach Hoke.  I'm drinking the Maize and Blue Kool-Aid (which tastes like blueberry lemonade, which is a definite upgrade from sadness and blood.)  Let's get the season started, and let's let our spirit animal guide our way.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Statues, Rings, and Latin

For what it's worth, my take on retired numbers, statues, and the like.  This lacks a coherent narrative because there is no coherent narrative on this in my mind.

With his enshrinement in the College Football Hall of Fame, Desmond Howard has been talking about Michigan football's lack of recent retired numbers.  He's right in this sense, Ron Kramer is the most recent player to be honored, Gerald Ford the most recent honoree.  Consider that for a moment, Ron Kramer played before the near two score decades of Bo-Mo-Lloyd, the "vision" of Michigan football that most hold in their mind's eye.  So there's some validity to this.

However...

Football only has 99 eligible numbers.  Michigan has retired five of them: #11, #47, #48, #87, and #98.  Oddly, these numbers are not honored anywhere in Michigan Stadium, so it takes a discussion of retired numbers to properly honor the men who wore these numbers.  Do we want the same fate to befall #21, or #2, or any other worthy number?  How do we acknowledge the fact that Tim Biakabutuka had one of the all-time great performances in 1995 while wearing #21?  This is a giant game of whack-a-mole; every time we answer one question, two new ones pop up.

My leaning is to go to a Ring of Honor, but Michigan's 130+ year history of playing football makes this a very difficult and complicated selection process.  Would popular players of recent vintage get put up ahead of legendary players of the past?  Would the retired numbers automatically be honored?  There are many questions and very few satisfactory answers.

Here's the real sticking point: #1.  By any right, #1 should be retired (three time , but well, it isn't and it won't be.  It should be retired for AC, but Derrick Alexander and David Terrell and Braylon Edwards had pretty good games in the #1 jersey (and now Braylon controls a great deal of the influence over who wears #1 with his endowed scholarship, making this even trickier.)

My sense is this: "Retire" #21 and #2* to complete the Heisman Trilogy, however, allow Desmond and Charles to authorize players to wear it if they a). play the same position, and b). have earned it. Of course, I say this like it's "easy" but it's not. 

*--For what it's worth, I have not seen anything from Mr. Woodson regarding the retirement of his number.  Of course, he's still in the NFL and rehabbing an injury, so it may not be a big deal to him right now.


By the way, the other issue with a Ring of Honor is that you would need to honor almost every Michigan head coach ever: Yost*, Crisler, Oosterbaan, Schembechler**, and Carr***.  With the exception of Coach Carr****, every one of those men has a building on the athletic campus named for them, which leads me to be reminded of Christopher Wren's epitaph: "Lector, si monumentum requiris circumspice." or "Reader, if you seek his monument, look around."

*-You cannot make a statue of Fielding Yost because you cannot capture the old man's smirk in any three dimensional medium.
**--Bo's statue would need to look like Joe Paterno's statue at Penn State and you would need to make a metal version of the banner.  Wait a second, does this not sound like a fantastic idea for a "photo op" at the Big House?  The Bo statue would need to look like this, block M hat, sunglasses, headset and the base would need to have "The Team, The Team, The Team" on one side and "Those who stay will be champions." on the other side.
***--The Coach Carr statue would just be this picture (yes, I know, all of you want the Capital One Bowl ride off in to the sunset, but this photo is so much more Coach Carr.)  It would also have a dictionary in its base where people could look up words and learn something, and the base would simply say "Tremendous."
****--I thought for sure that the Glick Building was going to be named for Coach Carr, which would have been awesome because then we could have called it the Carr-port.

I do think that the Ring of Honor is coming, especially if Mr. Brandon's vision of the breezeway connecting the east and west concourses with a south concourse comes to fruition, as , especially if it were brick arch, would be the perfect spot for the names.

In the end, this is going to be something that continues until an announcement from the Athletic Department is made, and I suspect that announcement has been delayed as Mr. Brandon struggles with many of the same issues we has as fans.

Friday, July 08, 2011

Hockey Jerseys 2011-12

Let me just say that I am, officially, a card carrying member of Uni Watch. (So is Geoff, as a gift from me, he got the MMB uniform.) So it's no surprise that I am tracking Michigan uniform changes, because, well, it's what we do.
So, M-Den put up the new hockey jerseys for 2011-12 tonight and reaction in the Michigan Twitterverse was swift. So let's take this step by step.  (As a reminder, here's what we said in 2008.)

The Home Whites

It's a variation on the much beloved home whites from the last two seasons, swapping in a maize outlined Block M for the M.  I presume that there will be sleeve numbers and number on the chest as well, like the old ones.  I see the faint echo of the 1989 men's basketball jersey in this.  I don't hate it, but there was no need to change last year's look.  That was a classic for the ages.  Also note that Reebok is now the maker of the hockey jerseys, instead of Reebok's parent company adidas.  The logo also moves from the left shoulder to the center.  It's not terrible, it's just unnecessary.

Road Blues
The road blues are largely unchanged from last year, save the slight alterations to the sleeve striping (which I don't get), the shoulder patches now being straight block Ms instead of the Hockey Sticks M, and the Block M now has chain stitching on it.  There will be "OUTRAGE" at this similar to what happened with the Under the Lights jersey, but there is late 20th century/early 21st century Nike precedent for this.  Also, I am pretty sure that the stitching will be the same color, meaning that it will not show up as readily as it does in this image.  I'm wondering if this signals the end of the Hockey Sticks M, but for now, no harm, no foul.

Alternate Maize Thirds

Ditching the Rangers angle lettering to go with consistent Block M branding, this makes the Maize third just a maize version of the road jersey.  It's a little disappointing, because I liked that Michigan had three distinct looks for its three jerseys, but this isn't bad.  I am hopeful that the chain stitching is non contrast, but this isn't a bad look.

Overall, none of these are "bad" as much as the changes feel "unnecessary" and there's kind of disheartening.  It's nothing new.  Go back and look at Michigan hockey's jersey history and you'll see more changes than an EPL team, but I'm mostly disappointed because my hope was for a reverse of the homes where the Block M would be the home whites (with a Maize M outlined in blue) and the road blues would have been the arched Michigan.  I also kind of wish Wolverbear were the shoulder patch.  That would be insanely awesome, if off message.

Have at them below.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Lacking a Coherent Narrative

I want to have an actual, fully formed opinion on the "Under the Lights" "Legacy" jersey. But it's just not happening. Moreover, I think I am upsetting people in that I am wavering so much on it. So I am basically going to lay out pros and cons here and see if anything comes of it.

Pro: It could be worse.

Con: It is wholly unnecessary.

Pro: It is a likely significant revenue stream for the Michigan athletic department. You can't keep counting on people to keep buying different numbers of the same classic Michigan jersey.

Con: It's whoring out Michigan "tradition" for the sake of the adidas marketing machine.

Pro: The throwback helmets are a nice touch.

Con: You could have done the throwback helmets without the jersey, which would have been more true to the era anyway.

Pro: It's just one game.

Con: Unless the jerseys sell like crazy, in which case it becomes another jersey next year, and so on and so forth. I wonder if in 2012, it will be a retro Schembechler era white jersey for the game at Notre Dame or the game against Alabama.

Pro: Wait, that would be cool.

Con: Yeah, that's the problem. You let your guard down on one thing, and the next thing you know, maize jerseys.

Pro: They're auctioning off the jerseys after the game.

Con: Which is a nice way to keep the pressure off from the 'these jerseys suck' crowd.

Pro: Looked good on Denard.

Con: Anything looks good on Denard.

So yes, I'm sorry, I have no real sense of how I feel about this. I don't hate them, but I don't like what they represent, but more importantly, I don't like what they can represent in a forward looking narrative. So for now, I'll continue to be confused as we wait for September.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

The Hardest Part

I'll make this quick. The hardest part about the National Championship game last night was that there's no new lesson to glean from it. When you take penalties, you're going to have a hard time winning. When you can't get the puck into the opponent's zone, you're going to have a hard time winning. When you can't get a change in overtime, it's going to be almost impossible to win.

In the long run, maybe it's a lesson about rising expectations. When Michigan won the West Regional, I did not see how, realistically, Michigan could beat North Dakota. I hoped they would, I put together scenarios on how they could, but I just could not see it. But, after 60 minutes of panic and fear, Michigan was one game away from being national champions. I saw all of the old ghosts, the shutout in the national semi-final, wearing the maize jerseys, all of those things, and presumed that fate was going to intervene, especially when it was 2-2 going to overtime. But, alas, it was not to be.

So let's sum up in the best way we can. Hats off to Minnesota-Duluth, a worthy champion. Hats off to Red, for being Red, my favorite coach ever. Hats off to this senior class, because you were probably the most fun group of seniors since the 1997 senior class. Hats off the the Children of Yost, for being the best student section in any sport anywhere in America. Hats off to the Michigan Hockey blogger community, for being passionate, articulate, and an awesome read throughout the season. Hats off to the Michigan Daily's hockey coverage, one of the absolute best groups of writers I have ever read. Hats off to Geoff for driving us to cover Hockey Christmas once more in the way we knew we could. Hats off to all of you for being a part of Hockey Christmas.

Last and certainly not least, Next Year in Tampa Bay.

Saturday, April 09, 2011

Let's Go

It's only a few hours before the puck drops on Michigan's first appearance in the national championship game since 1998, and I find myself totally incapable of coming up with anything that's worth reading. If you want a preview, go over to Yost Built, MichiganHockey.net, mgoblog, or a few other places. Even the preview I wrote in 45 minutes three weeks ago might be worth it.

I saw my first Michigan hockey game in 1993. I was 12, and my family went to see the very first College Hockey Showcase at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Almost by mistake I stumbled on the '96 and '98 national title games in overtime, and in between I went to Day 1 of the '97 GLI. But I can pinpoint the moment that everything changed for me: January 29, 2000.

My friend Sara was a huge Mike Comrie fan, and for her birthday party we all went down and got standing room tickets at Yost. We climbed up and up into the rafters in the north end zone. The game was against Ohio State, and there was a t-shirt giveaway. I wore it for the UNO game just a couple weeks ago. The game was one of those classic ones where the better team takes a ton of shots, but can't get many quality chances. Michigan's Sean Peach scored early, but OSU got one back in the 3rd, and that's how it ended. But not for me.

I think that's how it starts for a lot of Michigan hockey obsessives – You see a game at Yost, and you want more of that. By next season, I was traveling to the CCHA Super Six, and skipping out of a UAC meeting early to watch Michigan die like Vikings against Minnesota in the Frozen Four.

I've never witnessed this moment for Michigan hockey. I've watched three championships in person – '05, '08, and '10 – and none of them featured Michigan.

It's been 13 years since Michigan last made it to this point. I remember the exit in '01 to BC and Brian Gionta (the OG of magic midgets), the furious comeback against Minnesota in '02 that wasn't enough, that horrible thing in '03 to Minnesota where you thought they might just might do the thing but Thomas Vanek is soul-killingly good at hockey. In '04 it was BC again, when scoring chances just seemed to melt away and whistles ceased to exist for vast stretches of the game until it was Ben Eaves connecting on a mid-air rebound and it was over, then in '05 Al Montoya and the rest of the team imploded and let a 3-goal lead to CC evaporate. '06 was a NoDak bludgeoning; '07 was a NoDak bludgeoning where a frustrated TJ Hensick said the magic words and somehow Eric Ehn is walking out of there with his Hobey Baker. I was there in '08 sitting right in front of Brian when Billy Sauer let in a couple soft goals, and one of my favorite Michigan teams ever just ran out of gas in an overtime loss. '09 was Volkening stealing one for Air Force. '10 was Waterloo, Indiana. And even this year: What are the chances we win that game against UNO if the review goes the other way?

My point is this: The best team doesn't always make it this far, the best team doesn't always win, but Michigan has made it this far and they have that chance. And it's almost hard to believe that it exists. I hope they take it.

Thursday, April 07, 2011

Michigan 2, North Dakota 0

Sometimes that happens. It's a product of the tournament, it's a product of the sport, it's a product of the fact that you are capable of spectacular things every once in a while. Shawn Hunwick flat out robbed North Dakota on any number of high quality chances, and even giving up 40 shots the defense didn't hang him out to dry. Ben Winnett had 3 goals coming, 4 coming out, and that was all that was necessary tonight. Michigan held a team that was averaging 5.88 goals per game in the last month to ZERO goals in this game, including something like five power play opportunities. It was by far their best performance of the year on the biggest stage against the baddest opponent. We hope they kept something in the tank for Saturday against Duluth, but tonight we can revel in our victory over a despised foe. As Craig said on Twitter, "My Michigan brethren, I want to hug all of you." Go Blue.

Frozen Four: Michigan vs. North Dakota

If you've looked around here recently, or anywhere related to college hockey, you know the basics: North Dakota is dominating, balanced, Goliath. They're near the top of every statistical category and don't have any glaring weaknesses. What Michigan has going for it: It's one-and-done hockey, and you never know when someone's going to have an off night. (Hello there, BC!)

I don't have any idea what's going to happen. Michigan's not a favorite, obviously, but not a prohibitive underdog. They don't have the same glaring weaknesses as the last couple of times they've faced NoDak, but they aren't really better than them at anything.

If the game goes like it should on paper, North Dakota wins 5-3 with an ENG. But a 3-2 Michigan win isn't an insane prediction either.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Can't Hardly Wait!

Michigan looked exceptional in every phase of the game, shutting down CC's lava-hot power play unit, getting to loose pucks, winning battles in the corners, and ringing shots off the post like it was their job. A late CC scramble goal made it a high anxiety finish, but in the end, Michigan has punched its ticket to its 24th Frozen Four. In honor of the next two weeks of anticipation and the greatest Minnesota band of all time...

Friday, March 25, 2011

Hail Yes!

Ten heart rending minutes of review leads to a great geometric conclusion, if the puck goes fore, you must call it a score. On to the Regional Final. Great game UNO! Celebratory Homestar Runner!