And It Teases You For Weeks In Its Absence

This video should be in as many places as possible. Go to MGoBlog. Go right now.

Gallows humor was the best I could do last year. After the Toledo game, I quipped, "Nothing left to do but burn it down for the insurance money." And it felt like something was missing, like it did after The Horror. We weren't mathematically eliminated from a .500 record, but the team didn't look like it was even close to making that happen. It was only grim determination that kept me in my seat through the whole Northwestern game, that microcosm of a miserable season.

But nobody gave up. Frozen hands gripping the football, a saturation bombing campaign from Juice Williams, and an overmatched team struggling through a more than respectable first half against Ohio State only to give way to the inevitable. They'd play on.

And now we have a chance to begin anew. The moment before kickoff is often the sweetest of the year. The possibilities aren't quite endless, but they might as well be. Anything can happen before that first whistle, but only one thing will. It's the moment I'm most prone to wild, unchecked optimism. The cold, rational part of me was saying "6-6" in the offseason, but it's hard to keep myself restrained now. I can't wait for football to be back.

WTI: The Return

New Year's Resolutions

As the season starts on Saturday, I thought I would take a moment to put down some thoughts on the beginning of the season. Not on the team, because well, I don't do well with player analysis or schematic breakdown, so instead, I am going to put down my thoughts on what I resolve to do this season as a Michigan fan. So with that in mind, here are my new year's resolutions (with occasional tangents!)

I hereby resolve to explain where we were for three months. (Yeah, um, life sort of got in the way. Sorry about that.)

I hereby resolve to remember to charge my cell phone when I get home on Friday night so it's fully ready to go for game day. (Between the Twittering and the efforts to check ESPN's scores from the stands, having a full battery is vitally important and each of the last three seasons, I have had at least one game where I went in with a undercharged battery and cursed myself for the failure.)

I hereby resolve to no longer call Nick Sheridan "Death" or "Sheridon't" or "Sheridammit" (He doesn't deserve it and I made my case as to why at MGoBlog earlier.)

I hereby resolve to do my best to save the Eagle and the art deco letters for the completed renovation. (Yeah, this one may be tougher than I thought.)

I hereby resolve to remember that these guys put in at least six hours (and probably many many more) during the week for every hour we see them on Saturday. (Yeah, I think we covered that yesterday.)

I hereby resolve to remember that one Brandon good, two Brandons better.

I hereby resolve to make at least one good Mystery Science Theater 3000 reference per game. (Try it, it really does make the game go a lot better. A personal long time favorite: "Good morning Doctor Meachem. Hope you slept well....'cause it's time to die!")

I hereby resolve to donate money to Brian Cook at MGoBlog because he not only deserves it, but he earns it. (Besides, that way you can use AdBlock and not feel guilty for taking money out of Brian's pocket. I recommend either $18.17 or $24.12. If you're going to donate, why not have some fun with it.)

I hereby resolve to use MVictors provisioning guide as a good place to start.

I hereby resolve not to even attempt to pick any fights with people in the seats around us and to let things go if they try.

I hereby resolve to remember that 2008 was bad, so that things can look better in 2009, even when they don't.

I hereby resolve to be very happy that Michigan Stadium now has Coke Zero and not give in to the temptation of regular Coke during the game.

I hereby resolve to support M-Den and its awesome Twitter feed.

I hereby resolve to add the Block M twibbon to my Twitter avatar. (OK, I made this, but still an awesome way to support the Maize and Blue I think.)

I hereby resolve to completely rework MGoMix for 2009 so that the demons of 2007 and 2008 can be exorcised in that sense (I will miss you "America, F--- Yeah" but it had to be done.) (Full play list post next week.)

I hereby resolve to use CoverItLive for Whatever This Is, because, well, it's so much easier. (I also promise to not go ape-poopy if the CILs at MGoBlog go poorly.)

I hereby resolve to not obsess about Michigan's recruiting class, especially as it now hits amazingly close to home.

I am sure there will be more things as the season goes on and I am sure I will break about half of these by the time the Eastern game rolls around, but you have to start somewhere, no?

WTI: A New Era Dawns

Craig:	Good evening folks and welcome back to WTI for the 2008 football season. A new era is upon Michigan football and that is just one of the many topics we'll be broaching during this wide ranging coversation
Geoff:	A wide-open era stands before us
Craig:	New horizons and finding open space
Jeremy:	And the impressively oversized stadium renovation, with its sky-high unfinished scaffolding dragging us slowly into modern times, is the world's largest metaphor. At least since the Titanic... though that didn't turn out so well.
Geoff:	But the music was excellent.
Jeremy:	Is that a segue?

Geoff:	It's as good as we can get.
Craig:	I think a lot of our readers are curious to know what we know about the "Victors Walk", which has been previewed during the last few days.
Geoff:	The video posted on MGoBlue.com just raised further questions.
Jeremy:	To bring people up to speed, according to Doug Karsch, apparently the team's trip into the tunnel is going to be met by the Michigan Marching Band.
Geoff:	And this is supposed to happen two hours before game time. The Victors Walk seems to pose a number of practical obstacles for the MMB.
Jeremy:	As loyal reader Aram pointed out, in order for the MMB to be there for this, they'd have to leave the morning rehearsal early and have approximately zero time to eat or change into uniform.
Geoff:	Things get easier with a late game, but still, what are you going to do for those noon kickoffs? Are you going to start practice at 7:00 AM? If you start later, will it just be a full-uniform practice? Are you going to march back to Revelli after the Victors Walk is over or stay in the stadium for an extra hour? Is it even going to be the full block, or just Fanfare Band? In the Karsch clip, I count about 40 band members in the stands, but that might not mean anything when it comes to the actual game day. If it's just Fanfare Band, you still have to get those members off of Elbel, into uniform, and down to wherever they want them on the Walk.
Jeremy:	But even that is cruel and unusual treatment for Fanfare Band; even getting pampered with a catered lunch doesn't really make up for that precious down time in the morning before game time.
Geoff:	No, it does not.
Craig:	[nods in agreement from only what he has been told]
Geoff:	If it's Fanfare Band, I'm sure that they're walking back to Revelli Hall after playing. Otherwise you have a whole different set of difficulties with the usual parade and loading the tunnel.
Jeremy:	so they have to walk to and from the stadium in full uniform twice?
Geoff:	It's the easiest solution I can think of. Other than pulling reserves to fill in the gaps in the ranks and then switching them out inside the tunnel after having Fanfare Band wait in there for an extra hour/hour and a half.
Jeremy:	We will find out in a few short days. And if anyone reading this knows, please fill us in.
Geoff:	Our first show of the year sounds like it'll be a strong one. We'll be saluting The Who.
Craig:	Which has me very excited.
Geoff:	"Pinball Wizard" is an MMB classic from the days of "A Saturday Tradition"
Craig:	That's a lot of songs people will know/like and seems like it should be well received by student and alum alike.
Jeremy:	I believe Pinball Wizard is a new Boerma arrangement.
Geoff:	Oh yeah? That'll be interesting to compare.
Jeremy:	Also, Baba O'Riley is a notable omission.
Craig:	Well, it doesn't help that most people don't know the song's actual name. They'll just complain that "Teenage Wasteland" is missing.
Geoff:	"I Can See For Miles" would've worked better if Les hadn't stayed down at LSU.
Craig:	Is it our way of sending Les some love as the Bayou Bengals open with they from Boone?
Geoff:	Actually, if they follow it up with "Won't Get Fooled Again", maybe they're sending a different message.
Craig:	"Meet the new boss....same as the old boss.."
Craig:	"I tip my hat to the new constitution, take a bow to the new revolution, smile and grin at the change all around me..."
Jeremy:	I'm torn who to cheer for in that game. Les Miles to rain hellfire on someone we couldn't beat like he did with OSU? ASU so that our loss is no longer the biggest upset of all time in the eyes of the media (even though Stanford beating USC last year is the true champion)? A meteor? If it were 2007, I'd probably just throw up at the athletic prowess on display.
Craig:	Jeremy, I have struggled with the same question and I have realized that there is no correct answer, just get back from the Michigan game as quickly you can to a television with ESPN and settle in. And failing that, Ron Franklin is calling MSU/Cal.
Geoff:	Does anyone really know what to expect for Game 1 of the Rodriguez Era? I mean, last time we had no idea who would be the starting quarterback, we at least *thought* we knew.
Jeremy:	No! And that's the beauty of it!
Craig:	No. Not even Coach Rod, I would suspect. There are not only too many variables, but there are too many variables within the variables.
Craig:	It's a cypher, wrapped in an enigma...
Geoff:	...smothered in secret sauce
Jeremy:	for once, I have -no clue- what the opening drive will look like.
Geoff:	I know! I checked on UFR. The last three years, it was a Hart rush. The last two, a run to the left. And 2005 wasn't charted for where he ran.
Craig:	He might punt on first down. It's what our last coach from West Virginia LOVED to do. It's like Crazy Ivans....TO THE STARBOARD!
Craig:	By the way, "Won't Get Fooled Again", lyrically, is scaring me as to how apt the metaphor might truly be...."The change it had to come, we knew it all along, we were liberated from the bull, that's all. And the world looks just the same, and history ain't changed, because they banners they all flown in the last war..." Anyway, I don't think we can know, but I am going to place my faith in conditioning
Geoff:	Apollo XIII is on AMC right now, and they're right at the single greatest engineering scene ever depicted on film, and you hope that Rich Rod's coaching staff took that same look at the available parts he has from which to create a whirling death ninja offense.
Craig:	As a teacher, it's also the greatest moment of demonstrating real world critical thinking skills you can depict in a movie...
Jeremy:	So will RichRod as Gene Kranz turn to his engineers (offensive coordinators) who say their ship (team) wasn't designed to do that (run this play), and then damn well do it anyway?
Craig:	Rich Rod doesn't care what it was designed to do, he only cares what it CAN do. We've never lost a bowl bid in space and we're sure as hell not going to lose one on his watch
Jeremy:	I hope the team doesn't find itself in a similar potentially-the-biggest-disaster-in-program-history situation as the Apollo 13 crew did, though.
Geoff:	7-5 looks pretty good from here
Craig:	Agreed. I hear 8 wins from pundits and think "Wow, that's bold!"
Geoff:	Wisconsin, Penn State, and OSU will be tough, tough wins. Illinois, MSU, and Utah could take 2 out of 3 and I wouldn't be surprised.
Jeremy:	Even guessing at records (7-5 is fine with me), there's no way to predict which five we'd lose to or seven we'd beat.
Geoff:	That's the truth.
Craig:	Indeed. I would love to think it's Penn State, because I have the shirt ready to go...which likely means it will fail miserably.
Jeremy:	The shirt?
Craig:	Yes. I have an idea for a shirt should Michigan extend the streak.
Craig:	You know, back to the unpredictability, I go back to something a famous, if fictional, Michigan alum once said: "Just because you don't know what the right answer is - maybe there's even no way you could know what the right answer is - doesn't make your answer right or even okay. It's much simpler than that. It's just plain wrong." Predicting what this season is going to look like is a fool's errand because we simply lack the data. But it will not stop us from trying, because for lo these last eight months, we have lacked actual football and actual data from which to work
Geoff:	Yeah. Only a few days left, but we still have to wait.
Jeremy:	Baseless conjecture is fun but we've been doing that for almost a year.
Craig:	Indeed...Also, a request to our readers: You guys and gals are awesome. You have given us great tips in the past, and great ideas. We're always willing to listen. Share, participate, give us what you have. We appreciate it and will continue to do so.
Geoff:	Thanks to everyone for sticking with us through the summer downturn
Craig:	Until next week, Go Blue, Get There Early, and let a new day dawn.
Geoff:	Go Blue
Jeremy:	And to end with another Apollo 13 quote... we'll catch you on the flipside.
Jeremy:	"We just put Sir Isaac Newton in the driver's seat" is hopefully appropriate as well.
Jeremy:	Go Blue.

Wordle

Wordle, in its own words, "is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text." Naturally, I fed The Victors into it.