BTB Roundtable - Week 4

I have requested entry into the Big Ten Bloggers Roundtable, and while I wait for approval, I am going to answer this week's questions, provided by Lake the Posts

1). The national media is using the Big Ten Conference as a punching bag in 2008 ranking us somewhere between the Big East and the MAC. Based on Ohio State's no-show, Purdue's "APPLE!!!" and Michigan's debacle, it is redemption week in Big Ten Country. However, several teams have very respectable, yet no-name teams (ie. Troy, Central Michigan, Ball State). Tell us how the Big Ten will respond this week in the final week before conference play.

My handy helmet schedule matrix tells me that while the aforementioned games give the Big T1e1n a shot at redemption, a photo opportunity, only Michigan State's game against Notre Dame will stand out, and even then, we really don't know if Notre Dame is good or just able to convert on short fields and gift-wrapped fumbles and Michigan ended up a cartoon in a cartoon graveyard. Iowa's game at Pitt probably looked a lot better on paper when the season began and I will be interested to see how the Hawkeyes handle their first trip outside Kinnick. Overall, I think we'll see seven wins, with the loss likely coming in West Lafayette or at Heinz Field.

2) The conference standings look like someone took the 2007 results and flipped it upside down. Which of the undefeated teams are contenders and which are pretenders (another way of saying which teams have put lipstick on a pig)? Recalibrate your preseason rankings and tell us who the conference favorites are now.

I think it has to be Penn State, hurt only by the fact that they have Ohio State in Columbus the week after playing Michigan in Happy Valley, which, while it may not have the allure of previous meetings, does have Michigan's nine game winning streak to deal with psychologically and emotionally. Ohio State is still a leading contender, but I worry about the emotional letdown of a season that is, on some level, lost to all of those guys who came back. That said, pride is a powerful thing, as witnessed by the eight game winning streak rolled off by Michigan last year after The Horror and Fell on Black Days. Michigan State, though not undefeated, has a legitimate chance to go into October 18 with a 6-1 record. The problem for Sparty is that they then run into a four game stretch of home against OSU (who comes off their schedule next year), at Michigan (where they have not won since they invoked the Curse of Eddie Brown in 1990), and then hosting Wisconsin and Purdue. If Sparty can survive that, all of the sudden, their showdown with at Beaver Stadium on the last week of the season takes on a huge set of implications. I don't see it happening though.

3) Javon Ringer has emerged as the early season best-bet Heisman hopeful from the Big Ten. Real deal or non-conference smoke screen? Does anyone from the Big Ten have a prayer for the Heisman, or is it too late?

Ringer is a great runner and one of the few MSU players who legitimately scares me every time he touches the ball. I don't know that he can keep it up, and even if he does, I think the perceptions of the Big Ten's overall weakness this year will demand nearly superhuman numbers on his part to keep himself in the race. I don't know if anyone else can get themselves into the mix, but I also don't see that any player has really distinguished himself as the favorite, unless we count Tebow being the favorite as he is the defending champion?

4) After three weeks it is time to give your team a new slogan. What is it and why is it what it is?

"Disappointed but not discouraged". Coach Rod said this at his press conference after the Notre Dame game and I think it sums it up perfectly. If you've watched Michigan, the whole game, not just the highlights, you have seen things that make you scratch your head and you have likely been disappointed, particularly in the drives that died in the red zone due to slippery fingers. But I'm not discouraged, in part because I have seen growth. There are clearly still things to work on, but, by the same token, they are being worked on. Threet's passing is crisper and more accurate, McGuffie is slipping defenses, and the defense adjusts like no one's business in the second half. The question is whether they can come out with a better plan in the first half to minimize the damage done before the bands take the field.

5) By now, you've likely adopted a favorite non Big Ten team to watch. Flex your football worldliness by convincing your fellow Big Ten Kool-Aid drinkers to watch your "other" team.

I'm a buffet college football watcher, in that I'll always watch Michigan, then the other Big Ten teams, and then whatever is on. I've always been a faux alumnus of Northwestern, but that doesn't work here, so allow me to make a case for Jim Grobe's Wake Forest Demon Deacons, the Northwestern of the Atlantic Coast. Sure, they play in the ACC, the only other conference taking as big a beating as the Big Ten of late (I don't count the Pac-10, because, say what you will about the other nine, USC covers a lot of sins.) Wake is the third smallest school in Division I-A and has the smallest undergraduate enrollment of any BCS school. They run the spread capably with Riley Skinner at the helm, have a relatively favorable schedule (Clemson, Virginia, and BC all come to Winston-Salem, avoiding GT and VT in the Coastal crossovers) and they have Florida State this week (on ESPN2), a team that hasn't really gelled yet (to wit: Wake has downed two schools from BCS conferences, Florida State has beaten Western Carolina and Chattanooga by a combined score of 115-7, and Wake has won the last two meetings after losing 14 straight to the Seminoles.) The Deacs have had a thrilling non-conference win already by eeking out a victory over the Right Rev. Nutt's Rebels on a last second field goal two weeks ago, and their Atlantic Division showdown against Clemson will be an ESPN Thursday night game. Grobe is also another great story. A West Virginia born coach (like Rich Rod and Fielding Yost), Grobe played both middle guard and linebacker at Virginia, was an assistant coach under Fisher DeBerry at Air Force, has MAC experience with Ohio, and doesn't get recognized in the Winston-Salem Waffle House, even while wearing a Wake Forest football t-shirt. He also was my "the timing's wrong, but he'd be a great fit" choice for Coach Carr's replacement.

Hey, that was fun!

Take a Picture

So, Deadspin points out that Erin Andrews is the new spokesmodel for Replay Photos, wearing a series of interchangeable college t-shirts for whichever school you happen to be looking at.

The Deadspin link pointed to the Oklahoma store, but making a solid guess, I typed in Michigan, and sure enough, we have one. No Erin Andrews, but we have one.

As it is with these things, they cannot remember it for you wholesale. You're paying premium prices here, but two shots that may be of interest to MMB members ¹ would include this one and this one.

There are also some nice shots of the interior of the stadium ², but the general selection is quite limited.³

---

¹--Clearly the photographer(s) made the call that Chad Henne was the most beloved member of the Michigan '07s, so if you heart Hart, you're a little out of luck.

²--Maddeningly, the long aerial photo of Michigan Stadium...HALO!

3--RIP DFW

Book Review: Historic Photos of University of Michigan Football

(review by Craig Barker)

Michelle O'Brien's new book Historic Photos of University of Michigan Football is a thoroughly wonderful look back at the first century of football in Ann Arbor, from the cap clad gentlemen who became the first intercollegiate team formed west of Pennsylvania to Anthony Carter's Homecoming game catch against Indiana in 1979, the photos collect many of the iconic images of the winningest team in the history of Division I football.

Building on Turner Publishing's Historic Photos series, particularly the Historic Photos of the University of Michigan, published last year, Ms. O'Brien makes deft and quality use of the resources of the Bentley Historical Library to show the obvious (the first Rose Bowl team, center Gerald Ford from the 1934 team, the various National Championship teams, Bo, the aforementioned Carter grab), the iconic (including a personal favorite picture of mine, Fielding Yost walking in front of Yost Field House), and the surprisingly deep (Louis Elbel conducting the MMB in the Victors in 1952, 54 years after he write the song or Michigan's "legendary" Block M card section from Ferry Field as featured on the cover).

Enhancing the photos, lovingly rendered on glossy pages in vivid black and white are some wonderful captions which provide context, trivia, and detail. As you progress through the book, you feel the story of Michigan football being told to you, piece by piece. Also enjoyable is the number of photos of the Michigan Marching Band, from its humble origins to "The Chief" William Revelli.

There are a number of small things in the book which caught my attention, like the fact that Michigan's current "Go Blue" banner is much newer than I though, as the 1974 version clearly is in a different font, that in 1965, Michigan's road jersey had a block M on the sleeve, and the strangest one, to me at least, empty end zone seats in the 1950s. As you read through this book again and again, you will notice more and more details, making something great even better.

The only fault I can find with this book is that it stopped in 1979, which, while a logical look at the first century of Michigan football, it would have been nice, in my mind, to go through 1989 and round the Bo era out. Perhaps that can come in a sequel?

All in all a wonderful effort, Ms. O'Brien has done herself and Michigan football's heritage proud.

If you can believe your eyes

As trite as it might be, this past weekend clearly showed me that you cannot always trust what you see, and that belief, built upon seeing, is, on occasion, fatally flawed.

This weekend marked the third annual Hoover Street Rag road trip. It was posited that if we were ever going to "do" Notre Dame, this year might be the year to do it. Of course, this was when Coach Carr was still the head coach, Ryan Mallett was still the once and future Michigan quarterback, and Mario Manningham and Adrian Arrington were still going to be here to catch those artillery shells that Mallett would toss. But, things change, people change, situations change.

So we headed out to South Bend through a pretty large system of rain. Rain the entire way there. On the Indiana Toll Road, the Escape we were riding in got a toll ticket that told us our toll would be $12 for our trip. That was wrong. We presumed that because of the rain we were driving through, we would be soaking wet by the time we got to the game, and yet, we arrived in South Bend to discover overcast skies, but little rain. We attended the UMAA tailgate, meeting up with Jeremy wholly by accident (but marking the first time where all three of us have been in two meter radius, at least of which we were aware.) We walked down through campus, taking in the sights, particularly the close, campus feel of Notre Dame, nearly being run down by the Irish guard (thankfully they provided a proper verbal warning to us), seeing the Golden Dome and the Grotto and the Hesburgh Library. I think the first thing that struck me was that, for years, I have hated Notre Dame, because Notre Dame ruined my year for many years when I was first truly becoming a Michigan fan. Reggie Ho or Rocket Ismail, or various other shamrock shenanigans, it didn't matter, I hated them. I hated their arrogance, their singular belief that they were God's ordained team, and the fact that they kind of owned Michigan. But, on campus, there was little if any smack talked. Every Notre Dame person in an official capacity welcomed me to Notre Dame, and I genuinely felt like they meant it. How can you hate a place where everyone is being really nice to you. (By the way, just to throw this out, the most smack talked to the group during the day came from...Michigan State fans. Seriously. They took time to lob some lame, out of place verbal smack across a street from their tailgate. It was strange to say the least.)

I walked in to Notre Dame Stadium and the first thing that struck me is that all of the times I had been told about how it was a near replica of Michigan Stadium were true. Wider row areas, not as tall, built up rather than down, but I felt like I was at home, except Michigan was in white and a mural of Christ the Teacher was looming over the North End. (personal note: I have promised not to refer to the mural of Jesus on the Hesburgh Library any longer as "Touchdown Jesus" in the presence of my fiancee. She feels it's a little sacrilegious, and I can do that for her.) The parallel began to develop in my mind.

In the Scrubs episode "My New God", Cheryl Hines plays Paige Cox, Dr. Perry Cox's very pious sister. They're exceptionally similar in personality, world view, and attitude, except Perry is not a fervent believer and Paige is. It's Michigan and Notre Dame. In the football realm, we're like the Cox siblings, not many people may like us, they may find us arrogant, off-putting, obnoxious, and we may drive the other crazy, but that could be, in part, because we're more alike that we want to admit.

Also, I need to express some admiration for the Notre Dame student section. They clearly have their act together. The arm motions and the chanting was quite impressive, particularly from across the stadium. And, as I admitted to Geoff, I now understand why the dark blue student shirt doesn't work. While impressive on one level, it also just doesn't "wow" like the maize does.

I don't want to recount too much of the game itself. I don't do it well, my memory fails me a little too often on sequencing, and there are plenty of other places to get it. But there were some things that stand out, aside from turnovers. The offense looked more than competent, except for the holding on to the ball part. Sam McGuffie seemed like a man bound and determined to live up to his own hype (bouncing off your own player to pinball your way to a touchdown can help that cause.) Steven Threet seemed like someone who found a way to realign the gun sights. But at the end of the day, you must possess the ball, and you must make the most of your opportunities.

It was 28-17 at the half as the MMB took the field to revisit their boy band show, and I had already thrown up the hood on my raincoat and zipped up tight. But I knew Michigan was done. 11 points can be made up, particularly since the defense looked like it was stiffening (and had played better in the second half of each of the previous games), but when you're playing in a deluge, it's going to be difficult to hold on to the ball. And that's what happened. Notre Dame won the game because they made the most of what was given to them. Good teams do that.

So where are we now? Michigan is 1-2 and heading in to the bye week. I know that, like Coach Rod, I am disappointed, but not discouraged. I know that Michigan must be better if it does not want 2008 to become a lost season. I know that Michigan has looked better than it did in the first two games, in both senses of the word. But this is what I am seeing.

And appearances can be deceiving.

WTI: Ineligible Downfield Receiver Jesus

Craig:	Good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to Whatever This Is: I'm Craig, and I'm a Virgo...
Geoff:	And I'm Geoff, a Taurus. I enjoy long walks on the beach and watching Jimmah! Clausen bleed.
Jeremy:	I'm a Gemini with similar interests to Geoff. Especially the last one. But especially the beaches.
Craig:	We will get to the offense and Notre Dame in a few, but first, the band!

Geoff:	I think we started off with a couple of strong shows, even if one of those was a surprise.
Craig:	I had the interesting thing where I sat diametrically opposite to my previous seats, so I have been Northwest and Southeast corners during the last two weeks
Craig:	The first show was the Who, one I was pre-disposed to enjoy
Jeremy:	The Who show had identifiable sets, like a pinball path for a large silver ball to travel through and empty out of at the end of the song
Geoff:	Yeah. I enjoyed the GO BLUE set it ended with.
Craig:	I thought the set was solid...But I always think I am more critical of the band when the team is losing at half-time...
Geoff:	The crowd is more receptive when the team is winning, and that can affect perception.
Craig:	I also felt that it, ironically, lacked a little bit of volume (considering the band being covered), but I chalked that up to seat position
Geoff:	I thought the Who show was very good in practice, but a bit more subdued at halftime. I'd say it was decent volume, but by no means overpowering
Jeremy:	I think they've increased the volume from last year, but not quite to the point where it needs to be. (That point is peeling the faces off Row 90 during M Fanfare.)
Craig:	But I did think the arrangements were exceptionally sound and crisp. It did not sound like someone's artistic interpretation of the works of Pete Townshend, but rather a faithful rendition, lovingly performed, with appropriate flourishes along the way
Geoff:	Pregame volume seemed good, but tones and colors seemed to still prevail in halftime.
Geoff:	You can count on Boerma for good arrangements. I always trust that the music side of things will be taken care of.
Jeremy:	Yep, Boerma's made a career out of great arrangements.
Craig:	This week's show I thought proved to me an interesting notion...Stripped of their lyrics, boy band songs are exceptional pop music pieces. And I thought that a not insignificant portion of the student section was clearly in to it.
Jeremy:	I had seats in the student section. The vast majority of the girls LOVED it. The guys grumbled at first -- probably just as they did on family car trips when their sisters made them listen to these same songs -- but eventually embraced it.
Geoff:	Boy band songs are written by professionals who know how to structure a song and build it out of the right chords.
Craig:	Trained professionals Geoff?
Geoff:	A crack technical staff.
Craig:	As opposed to a technical staff on crack...zing!
Craig:	I will be interested to see how the show plays at Notre Dame Stadium
Geoff:	I think the show worked so well because of the commitment of the band, the quality of the arrangements, and the tongue-in-cheek acknowledgements of how cheesy the songs are.
Jeremy:	I think once people realize this is an over-the-top homage and not a sincere, heartfelt performance, they warm up to it.
Geoff:	See, that's always the question I've had since we saw the lineup. It sounds like a good one to do at home, because you can rely on the friendly audience and your target demographic in the student section to see it through. Obviously, this wouldn't play at all at Spartan Stadium or the 'Shoe, but I don't know what to expect from Notre Dame.
Craig:	I'm suspecting polite indifference.
Jeremy:	and ND fans are nothing if not polite.
Craig:	Then again, I will also be interested to see how the offense plays this weekend at Notre Dame Stadium...
Geoff:	We have an offense?
Craig:	Rumors on the internets say...yes!
Jeremy:	The forecast calls for a 90% chance of rain, which might help us, since it's not like we'd complete a forward pass anyway.
Geoff:	An important point. Tacopants had EPIC stats last Saturday.
Craig:	It's just sad that Tacopants is ineligible for the Heisman.
Geoff:	The rain might require something of a running game from us, and I'm not entirely comfortable with that either.
Craig:	You need Hosses on the offensive line, to quote Keith Jackson, and we have Little Joes.
Craig:	But the maddening thing was, the first series, the offense looked like an unstoppable juggernaut
Craig:	Starting with a 50 yard play by Odoms
Geoff:	If the line can even be passable, we have enough guys that someone will come through, I have to believe. And if Threet decides to keep his passes low enough that air traffic control doesn't get involved, I think he could be a Division I (FBS) quarterback.
Craig:	He needs less tangy zip is what you're saying.
Jeremy:	I wasn't terrified of the UFRs. Rodriguez is making good calls, we just have to MAKE PLAYS.
Jeremy:	And not ask Steven Threet to run the option in Hurricane Katrina.
Jeremy:	mgoblog probably made that joke already though.
Geoff:	It's one worth repeating
Geoff:	/choking sounds
Craig:	Maybe this is where we need a Grady?
Geoff:	This is where you'd expect him to be more effective, but I'm worried that he hasn't shown the vision you need with a suspect line.
Craig:	Yes, find the hole, hit the hole.
Craig:	I think, end of the day, I don't think any of us truly realized how spoiled we were in the Henne/Hart/Long era
Jeremy:	were we as spoiled in year 1 as we were in year 4 though?
Craig:	Year 1 had Braylon...
Geoff:	Not as spoiled. But we still made a Rose Bowl.
Jeremy:	right, thanks to Iowa.
Geoff:	Right now we're crashing back to the early Navarre Era
Craig:	As much as I was maddened by the inability to complete a ten yard pass, it really isn't fair to Threetidan that Mathews was out and Hemingway's appearances were as brief as his namesake's sentences. Period.
Geoff:	Losing your (arguably) top two receivers will punish any offense, let alone one as green as this one.
Jeremy:	And then your left tackle goes out with an elbow injury.
Geoff:	At this point, I'm hoping that the offense does enough not to beat itself and that the defense has a good day.
Craig:	I have read repeatedly that Michigan's defensive line will be the best unit on the field, and that will be enough to carry the day I agree on the former, and hope the latter is correct. As an aside, I was finding myself maddened by the defense until I stepped back and said "Wait, they've allowed two field goals. That's pretty darn good." Sometimes you just need to take a breath
Jeremy:	the rain in the forecast could make mean Yackety Sax gets looped three or four times in this year's version.
Geoff:	Brian's made some good points about our defense: The line has been dominating, even if it hasn't been obvious at the time. Linebacker play has been spotty, corners have been good, and safety has been an adventure.
Craig:	That's very true.
Craig:	By the way, can either of you give me a worry/no worry on Lopata after last Saturday
Jeremy:	I feel like his UFRs assign points based on his seething rage at the time. Since we won, we saw -1s for Stevie Brown where we'd otherwise see -3s. What I'm saying is, he was worse than he looked on paper.
Geoff:	If the rain comes on, that could limit the vertical passing game from ND, which was a significant threat versus SDSU, receivers would have a tougher time making the cuts to get away from out defenders, and we should (SHOULD) have an easier job at containing.
Geoff:	I don't know what to make of Notre Dame's running game, since they didn't try to do anything with it.
Craig:	Notre Dame, confusing, or very confusing?
Geoff:	But Armando Allen got his bell rung pretty good on one carry, so you'd expect him to be slightly limited.
Craig:	I mean, it's already the weekend that the statue of Dr. Lou is being unveiled in South Bend...
Jeremy:	Forgot to bring this up during the band discussion period, but what of the "don't fear the reaper" interlude?
Geoff:	I miss "Respect" on the one hand, but it wasn't exactly a well-known tradition.
Craig:	I've already said my piece. Teach the band "Across 110th Street" and have that back the highlights between the third and fourth quarter
Jeremy:	That's... that's just beautiful. I would cry.
Geoff:	This is a fantastic idea. We can't do the organ part perfectly, but it would be magnificent.
Craig:	It's the essence of the thing.
Craig:	I know it seems like a ridiculous notion of a "Michigan Tradition", but when my phone rings with that song, people look at me and say "Michigan Replay?!?" and then say it's awesome.
Craig:	So I mean, I have to go with that. Plus, you cannot benefit from random appearances by Presidential Candidate Yaphet Kotto.
Jeremy:	it would certainly be better than pumping in the rawk music.
Geoff:	Broseph, ya gotta have the rawk!
Craig:	No, really, you don't.
Craig:	Actually, I think this week showed me the difficulty in putting Michigan traditions down on paper
Craig:	We want to help, and we like to think we are, but there's not always the consensus that we believe there to be.
Geoff:	I would just like to avoid jumping off the bridge that assumes we won't get a ten-point lead for the rest of the year.
Jeremy:	I can't complain about enthusiasm in the face of miserable circumstances, but let's not sell ourselves short either.
Craig:	It's still a lot of football left, things will get figured out.
Geoff:	Do we have any expectations for what we'll be seeing out of the Irish this weekend?
Craig:	You mean besides Clipping Jesus?
Geoff:	Illegal Participation Jesus
Craig:	Personal Foul: Leverage Jesus
Jeremy:	Holding Jesus
Craig:	Beyond that, I have no idea. It'll be wet. I know that much.
Geoff:	I figure we'll see a lot of blitzing, which could work in our favor if we manage not to soil ourselves.
Geoff:	On the other side of the ball, Clausen will air it out if we give him time. But with our line, we've got a shot.
Craig:	He can throw that fade, as you have mentioned
Jeremy:	SDSU's corners weren't exactly making plays either.
Craig:	MAKE PLAYS!
Geoff:	I guess we'll see on Saturday.
Craig:	On the third annual HSR Road Trip!
Geoff:	Go blue
Jeremy:	Go Blue!
Craig:	Go Blue!
Craig:	So with that, we bid you all good night!

The Brady Inexperience Lie

There seems to be a running recurrent in the post-Brady injury apocalypse to call Tom Brady "inexperienced" when he came in to the NFL, which was why he was taken in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft.

While I would normally chalk this up to the MSM developing and holding to a story line, this one drives me mad, because I watched two seasons of Tom Brady as Michigan's starting quarterback. I have fond memories of Tom's years at Michigan and I need to define "inexperience", because the statistics back up the facts, which should hopefully put this argument to bed.

Tom Brady came to Michigan in 1995 and redshirted that season, allegedly landing at seventh on the depth chart at quarterback.

During the 1996 season, Lloyd Carr's second as Michigan's head coach, Tom Brady saw action two games, UCLA and at Minnesota where he attempted a grand total of five passes in mop up duty during a pair of blowout victories.

During the 1997 season (sighs longingly for a better time), Tom Brady was Brian Griese's backup. Brady saw action in four more blowouts and attempted 15 passes in three games (Brady's appearance in the Penn State game consisted of negative yardage runs, which would lead me to think victory formation kneel downs. I do not have the time to download the torrent to be sure.)

During the 1998 season, Brady, now a redshirt junior, was named the starting quarterback, but that was not without controversy, as wunderfrosh Drew Henson was also turning heads and leading many fans and in the media to see him quickly supplanting Brady in the starters role. Brady, however, started every game for Michigan in 1998. The only game in which Brady did not see a majority of the time was the Syracuse debacle (or the Donovan McNabb DAMN! show, however you want to look at it.) and Henson was largely ineffective as a passer (though with Anthony Thomas, you really don't need an exceptionally effective quarterback). Henson was 19 for 45 for the entire season in limited time.

This brings us to the 1999 season. Brady is a senior, and Henson is pushing him, leading to a platoon between the two. The stats (http://tinyurl.com/6atpcf) bear us out here. Brady started every game. The reason people tend to remember Henson as the "starter" is that Brady was concussed during the Syracuse game at the Carrier Dome, which had him knocked out after attempting just ten passes, and the Michigan State debacle, where Henson was leaned on for far too long in the game when he was ineffective and Brady rallied the team to a near miraculous comeback, but fell short. That game, as it sticks in the craw of many Michigan fans, leads to false memories. Henson was not the starter and did not start a game for Michigan until the 2000 season. Save the Northwestern blowout and one pass in the Orange Bowl, Henson did not see the field again during Brady's tenure at Michigan.

All in all, Tom Brady started for two full seasons at Michigan, a total of 25 games. He threw for over 5,000 yards in his career (then a Michigan record, believe it or not), and completed roughly five out of every eight of his pass attempts and threw a touchdown pass one in every 20 passes. All this for a team that had Anthony Thomas, who ran for 2,000 plus yards and 32 touchdowns during Brady's junior and senior years. I don't know what people want out of Brady in his college experience. He, admittedly, finished behind Joe Germaine and Drew Brees for all-Big Ten quarterback honors in 1998, and was all-Big Ten second team in 1999 (again behind Brees.) But Tom Brady was not an unknown when he was drafted with the #199 pick in the 2000 draft. He was experienced.

Michigan vs. Miami (NTM): Photos and Video

For those of you who couldn't attend the game last Saturday, here's a clip I took at practice on Saturday morning of the MMB performing "Backstreet's Back" and "I Want It That Way" and some of the better photos Craig and I took the rest of the day.

Photo Set

Step off of reserves

We now pause in our photostream for absolutely no reason

How To Do the Wave at Michigan Stadium

I used to have a personal blog which occasionally served as a dumping ground for my Michigan sports thoughts. Shortly before I started HSR, I posted this. It seems we may need a reminder.

So you've come to Michigan Stadium to watch a game and you want to do The Wave, do you? You've seen this craze hit other sporting venues and you want to be a part of it? Well, this guide will prepare you for how The Wave is performed by the largest crowd watching a football game anywhere in America.

Required Conditions
The Wave may only be initiated by licensed professionals from the student section using the following criteria:

1. The game must be well into the third quarter.
2. Michigan must have a two-score lead.
3. Michigan should be on defense, although this might not be strictly adhered to in a blowout.

Execution
The total Wave sequence lasts six circuits around the Big House, as follows:

1. The Original Wave (2 circuits)
2. The Fast Wave (1 circuit)
3. The Slow Wave (1 circuit)
4. The Reflected Wave (1 circuit)
5. The Split Wave (1 circuit)

• The Original Wave is performed at a moderate pace and travels counter-clockwise around the stadium twice.
• After this is completed, the student section forces the wave through at a much faster pace. The alumni in the adjoining seats usually slow the pace a bit, but it still moves at a faster clip around the stadium.
• When it reaches the student section again, it immediately slows to maybe a third of its original pace and stays that way for another lap.
• After reaching the student section again, it stops and is reflected back in a clockwise direction at the original pace.
• When the clockwise wave returns to student section, they maintain it while simultaneously starting another wave in the counter-clockwise direction. When done correctly, the two waves meet and pass through each other in the opposite corner of the stadium.

Make It Work

One of the strangest things to me about having a fiancee are the things you learn you kind of like, not just tolerate, that you never would have considered doing before you were a part of a couple. In the time I have been with Jennifer, she has introduced me to a show on Bravo called Project Runway. I never imagined that I would like

a). a reality show
b). a show about fashion
c). something on Bravo

And yet, here I am. I like the show. I can't consider it a favorite, but I like the show, and I think I figured out why, and that reason relates to this season of Michigan football.

The premise is simple: bring in a group of talented and eager people in to a situation where they will get to show off their talent and their vision, even when faced with bizarre or wacky circumstances. They make the decisions, they do the work, and in the middle of it, a mentor comes in, talks them through the incomplete project, encourages them to "Make It Work" and leaves the end result to be judged by a group of experts, trying to survive every week in the hopes of being in the top three so they can showcase their work at the biggest event of the season. There's drama, backbiting, heroes and villains, questions as to a person's thought process, questions of judgment and taste, and frustrating results when you develop a rooting interesting.

Michigan's mantra this season should be Tim Gunn's "Make It Work" Tim isn't going to come in and tell you how to fix the problems with your vision, but he's going to ask you questions about your process and try to see it your way. He might ask you questions which force you to defend your vision, but it's not because he's assigning a value judgment to what he sees, he simply knows what it takes to succeed and wants you to find that in yourself to make this piece the best one possible for you to hopefully remain on the show.

I feel like Coach Rod, right now, is stuck in a strange challenge, where his preferred design aesthetic has no possible way of being showcased because we're using things bought at a grocery store, or recycled car parts of some such. So, instead of going on the confessional camera and complaining about how this isn't fair and how he's not getting a chance to showcase his impeccable taste, he's simply going out there and doing what he can.

The problem, right now, is that what Michigan is sending down the runway looks unfinished, just begging for a Michael Kors smackdown, but one that is truly deserved. We're not finishing our hems, our stitching looks sloppy, and no one would ever want to wear shoulders like that. Last week, we ended up in the Bottom Three, and we received a stern talking to from the judges, but only because they care about our work.

This week was better. The challenge was a little easier, we took the advice we got last week to heart, we saw progress and we were safe. This was not a win, we do not have immunity for next week, we simply were not bad enough to lose, but we didn't deserve to win.

So next week will be another challenge, a different set of circumstances, but as always, Tim's going to tell us to "Make It Work." The question is whether we can.

Know Your Honorary Captains: Miami (OH), 2008-09-06

Far be it for me to duplicate the dedicated efforts of our SIDs, so here's a link to this week's release on the honorary captains (PDF).  In short:

• Pete Elliott, 1945-48 Bump Elliott's brother, a QB. Later head coach at Nebraska, Cal, and Illinois and a College Football Hall of Fame inductee in 1994.
• Ron Simpkins, 1976-79 A 1979 consensus All-American linebacker, Simpkins posted 150+ tackles in three consecutive seasons, including a mind-boggling 174 in '78 and another 168 the year after.
• Dick Caldarazzo, 1968-69 Caldarazzo only lettered two years, but he blocked for Ron Johnson (Original Recipe) as he broke most of Michigan's rushing records and helped Michigan to its first Big Ten title in five years.

It should be mentioned here that two of the first six honorary captains were members of the '48 national championship team and two (plus Dierdorf) were on the '69 team.  And all three of those are named by Rodriguez in a Detroit News article about learning from the 1969 players that Brian excerpts.  Dierdorf and Caldarazzo are also mentioned in this Antoine Pitts article citing their disappointment over the Les Miles fiasco.  As for the other two, Ron Simpkins was one of the prime movers behind the former players' rally to support Lloyd Carr at the tunnel prior to last year's Notre Dame game, and Ron Kramer has been deeply involved with the team for years.  I like this from Rodriguez, and his first sets of honorary captains have been very well-chosen from both historical and political perspectives.

The Vault: 1976 Orange Bowl

MVictors, in defiance of this week's Boy Bands show, has found a YouTube video of the 1976 MMB playing a Hollywood tribute show that includes a man being eaten by a shark.

This drill is incredible. Excellent form on the elementary backstroke as well (I assume it's backstroke because otherwise he'd see the shark five times his size swimming up to him).

(H/T: MVictors)

WTI: Make Sure You're Connected...

For those of you looking for this week's WTI, we've been thwarted by the treacherous internet connection of Geoff. We'll be back next week, we hope, with a full review of the goings on and doings that have been transpiring. In the meantime, if you have not checked it out, the Michigan Football Vault is a lot of fun for a coffee table book and would make a really nice holiday gift for the Michigan fan in your life, particularly if they are enamored of the history of the program. Also, if you have a Costco membership, as I do, the price is exceptionally reasonable relative to list price. Anyway, we'll hope to see you next week for WTI and please stay tuned for further updates as we head in to the weekend.

Boy Band Show Songlist

• New Kids on the Block - You Got It (The Right Stuff)
• New Kids on the Block - Hangin' Tough
• New Edition - Cool It Now
• Backstreet Boys - Backstreet's Back
• Backstreet Boys - I Want It That way
• 98 Degrees - Give Me Just One Night (Una Noche)
• N Sync - Bye Bye Bye
• N Sync - Tearin' Up My Heart
• N Sync - It's Gonna Be Me

MMB on youtube

Thanks to the magic of the intertubes, portions of the MMB's Saturday offerings are now online. Pregame: Note: The band began taking the field before Carl told them to. No big deal, but an odd occurrence nonetheless; this is usually timed perfectly. Halftime: Additional thoughts undoubtedly in WTI form later this week. (Anyone know how to embed the higher quality version of these videos?)

Bookends

This past Sunday, I turned 30. My first Michigan football game of my twenties was a loss to Notre Dame at the start of the 1998 season. My first football game of my last year of my twenties was a loss of which I shall not speak. My point is, I am used to the idea that things bookend in a way that might not be what you script out, so Utah was not exactly the earth-shattering kaboom to me that it seems to be to some others.

Each of the two aforementioned losses taught me something about being a Michigan football fan. The latter was that anything can happen at any time. The former taught me that once a year is over, it's a part of history and has no immediate bearing on what is happening now. It doesn't mean I enjoyed the fact that Michigan lost yesterday, merely that instead of being angry about it well into the new week, I instead chose to look at the game in a more academic mean. Maybe I'm just getting older and the losses hurt a little less because you can see some of them coming.

So here we are. We know some things, but mostly, as last week, we know very little. We know that the offense needs some work, but it could get there. We learned that RichRod REALLY needs a quarterback to run his system at the highest level. We learned that somewhere, Mike Hart is probably thinking his Michigan career rushing record is safe for a while. We learned that Nick Sheridan made some poor decisions and Stephen Threet put a little too much mustard on the ball near the end of the game. We learned that the offensive line is still a work in progress, but they certainly possess discipline, as seen on the encroachment freezes.

We learned some things about the defense. We learned that they needed to come out more aggressively in the first half. We learned they need to contain the passing game better, especially against the spread. We learned that they will be the strength of this team for the foreseeable future. We learned that someone did not explain the new play clock to Zoltan. We learned that we have not just a competent kicker, but one whom can likely be relied on when it matters. We learned that we cannot rely on our opponent to take 15 penalties for 137 yards every week. We learned that we're severely lacking depth. We learned we're really going to need to hold on to the ball for more than 24 minutes if the game if we want the defense to have a chance to breathe. We learned that we need to covert on more than three of 14 third down opportunities.

But mostly what we learned is that this is not going to be as smooth a transition as we had perhaps dreamed or hoped. There are going to be some bumps, some bruises, and some major frustrations, but we will learn some things. But mostly I learned that some things never change, that those most likely to be calling for Coach Carr's resignation last season were the one's yelling down to him to put on the headset yesterday. Perhaps it was something else I learned, that you really don't appreciate something good until it is gone.