Short Ends

HSR tipster Dave sends another item our way.

The Smoking Gun has pictures from a Clemson "MLK party." Why is this a HSR tip? Look at the lower left of the picture.

So yeah. A proud moment indeed. At least it wasn't an actual Michigan student.

Hockey:  Took care of business this weekend, rather nicely. Billy Sauer let up on his shockingly good January long enough to let four by on Friday, but only after we were up 7-1. A better Saturday, and he walks away with the 6-2 win and a much-needed sweep. The Blog That Yost Built has a much better, much more complete look at this.

Basketball:  Yeeeeeesh. They have, indeed, no alibi. Ugly. Maize 'n' Brew live-blogged both halves of the Indiana game, while MGoBlog drew Wisconsin.

Building Boom on South Campus

Geoff:  Michigan is poised to embark on the biggest building expansion of the athletic campus since the days of Fielding Yost. The new academic center is done, the baseball stadium is in progress, and $300 million in other construction is on the horizon.

Craig:  And no new parking!

Geoff:  Seriously.

Geoff:  There's no question that a lot of it is overdue (the softball field is not commensurate with the team that plays there), but it's a huge financial undertaking.

Craig:  Yes, and sadly, being Michigan, we seem to be following that old adage about making no small plans

Geoff:  Let's start with the projects that have already been approved/built.

Geoff:  The academic center cost $12M, entirely private money.

Craig:  I always approved of this highly; I think it shows Michigan's commitment to academics with athletics. I remember packs of varsity athletes wandering around the school of ed back in my day looking for their study tables, and it was just confusing, so for them to have one place, right there on the athletic campus, that's a good call

Geoff:  I like seeing that we're paying more than lip service to the idea that the athletes are also students.

Geoff:  My mom always gets mad that regular students don't get any facility like that

Craig:  And I would agree with that, except that regular students do not have to do their mandatory two hours of study table a night at a specific time and place

Craig:  At least, as I understand

Geoff:  Exactly

Geoff:  I wasn't holding down a more-than-fulltime job for the entire year.

Craig:  So yeah, it's nice, and it does fit in nicely right there by Yost, as does the new front of Yost

Geoff:  They did a nice job of blending it in.

Geoff:  So the next project we're getting into is the baseball stadium renovation.

Geoff:  We got the lights put in last year, and now they've moved on to reconstructing the stands.

Geoff:  The price tag, when it's all done, will be a relatively modest $9M

Craig:  Though I love baseball, I had never been to a Michigan baseball game until last year, but I enjoyed it a great deal (especially for just three dollars, but we'll get to that later.)

Craig:  I think a better Fisher Stadium is in order and I hope it will help Michigan, though I suspect that only thing that will truly help Northern baseball teams is global warming

Geoff:  True enough

Craig:  That said, you don't need a killer app for college baseball.

Geoff:  Nine million isn't chicken feed, but if this renovation lasts as long as the last one did, it's money well spent.

Craig:  Agreed

Geoff:  The one I'm more excited about, actually, is the Alumni Field improvements for the softball team.

Geoff:  The spring before last, I went to the Big Ten tournament we were hosting

Geoff:  They had temporary bleachers set up throughout the outfield, and this should cut down on the need for those.

Craig:  Agreed, the softball team has earned it, although I must ask, does Title IX necessitate this for balance to the Fisher improvements?

Craig:  Not that I mind, I am just wondering if it's required in the timing

Geoff:  I don't think so. There's a debate over the exact application of Title IX, but the current thinking is mostly that the number of teams should be equal.

Geoff:  Football blows up any sort of monetary comparison, for one thing.

Craig:  This is true

Craig:  Anyway, the softball team needs a better field and I am happy to see them getting it

Geoff:  Absolutely. I had a lot of fun at that tournament. I sat in with the alumni band, and it was just a great atmosphere all around.

Geoff:  Their run to the NCAA title was great to follow on ESPN.

Craig:  Even last year was great, until Barry Bonds and ESPN conspired to ruin the SuperRegional, the dastards

Craig:  I know we should be over it, but I am still peeved

Geoff:  Oh, I'd almost put that out of my mind.

Craig:  That was the bottom of the seventh after all

Geoff:  But, yeah. Peeved.

Craig:  But we digress

Geoff:  Indeed. But as long as we're in this rhetorical cul-de-sac, I'll point out that Jennie Ritter is an IOE.

Geoff:  OK. On to the behemoth: Michigan Stadium.

Craig:  The Big House

Geoff:  $226M

Craig:  I will admit, I have waffled on this more lately than a Southern quick service breakfast fan

Geoff:  It's an enormous investment. It could cripple the athletic department for years, it'll result in a big markup in ticket prices, and it could look like dogshit.

Craig:  And here's my question...is it really needed?

Geoff:  It depends on if we want to stay in the arms race.

Craig:  I mean, I understand the press box, I have the program cover from 1957 touting Michigan's new football media center, but the rest of it is just arms racing

Geoff:  It's not so much the facilities arms race to keep up with the Buckeyes, it's the revenue stream behind the luxury boxes.

Geoff:  You lock in your corporate crowd and your big donors there.

Craig:  And the saddest part is, honestly, I really love the egalitarian nature of Michigan Stadium

Geoff:  Me too.

Craig:  No ads, and if one person gets soaked, we all do

Craig:  Literally, not figuratively

Geoff:  If you've got the big bucks, you get press box 50. But you get the same 18" everyone else does.

Geoff:  The shelf life on that is limited, though. It's been a matter of "when" for the last 5 years, at least.

Craig:  I know. I think the rumored Kyle Field 115K expansion always made me think that this was on the horizon

Geoff:  Are there even 115K in College Station?

Geoff:  I mean, Ann Arbor isn't a megalopolis unto itself, but at least Detroit's metro area is within shouting distance of 5M.

Craig:  I honestly always felt that smelled of "Screw it, we do everything bigger in Texas." I mean, look at Royal Memorial's new Tyrannovision

Geoff:  Oh, yeah. Another thing I'm glad we haven't entirely caved to.

Craig:  Football stadium size is always argued that it's easy to get massive numbers in for seven Saturdays a year

Craig:  But that always makes me worry as to why we're doing it

Craig:  It's seven Saturdays a year

Geoff:  The thing you get with college football (since we don't have pro football in Detroit) is you go down to the game, you tailgate with the same people for years on end, and you get a sense of a shared endeavor that I've never felt with any other sport.

Craig:  Absolutely. I know that my love of football Saturdays has been greatly enhanced by adding that part of the experience to my quiver in the last couple of years

Geoff:  So. The design itself.

Geoff:  On the whole, I kind of like it.

Craig:  Agreed

Craig:  I like that it feels like Yost

Geoff:  The whole athletic campus is getting the same sort of brick theme with a bit of more modern glass, it seems.

Geoff:  It's the unity of design that Central Campus has never had.

Craig:  Yes, there is a, well, I want to call it 21st Century, but it's really the sleek veneer of the 1950s with the glass, but hey, it's Michigan. In our architectural tastes, that's progress.

Geoff:  I'm not entirely sold on the glassed-in stairwells, but the overall design is better than I'd hoped for. I'm still worried that it'll look like they built a couple of towers outside the stadium, but it shouldn't end up looking like a spaceship landed.

Craig:  It is not Soldier Field, but you're right, it does basically look, on some level, like we threw up a couple of dormers

Geoff:  One thing that we're probably going to lose is that wow effect of going through the tunnels for the first time and realizing just how massive the stadium really is.

Craig:  You're right, but I do think that the majesty will come through as you walk up

Geoff:  The annoying thing to me is that they aren't bothering to add too many rows at the top before planting the towers. If they want extra seating, it's going to have to come in the end zones.

Craig:  Yes, although I will say that the end zone seats provide a tremendous difference in the way you view the game if you're up high enough. But, yeah, your overall point remains

Geoff:  The best thing that should come about from the renovation will be the noise impact.

Craig:  I really hope that the proposed physics on that is correct, that it will make Michigan Stadium loud and raucous, because Michigan fans are passionate about the game and loud at the right times...I apologize Geoff, because I know you know have heard me rant on this, but it always bothers me that Michigan fans are seen as dispassionate because they are not loud, whereas I think it's focused intensity

Geoff:  There's a fair point to be made there. I know, from watching games with my dad, that he could drop dead of an aneurysm he's so intense, but he never makes a sound.

Geoff:  I think that if we reach a critical mass we can turn the Big House into a more exciting place to play.

Craig:  I also think that people have to believe that it will work

Geoff:  Right. When you're in Row 85, it's hard to believe your voice will really be heard.

Craig:  But if you hear a loud crowd, you get into it

Geoff:  I think this will help. Even at the Rose Bowl, with its one big press box to reflect noise, it felt like the Michigan fans that were there were almost as loud as the whole stadium back home.

Craig:  Heck, when we were at Indiana, where there may have only been 30K of us, I thought we were louder than the whole of the Big House

Geoff:  Right. A small, passionate group in a stadium with louder acoustics.

Craig:  Here's the thing

Craig:  I genuinely hope Bill Martin knows how important this idea is to Michigan fans

Craig:  Because we have Hill Auditorium, which we like to claim is the most acoustically perfect place on earth

Craig:  So if we can get that right, people can study this to figure it out, right?

Craig:  I mean, we can make stealth technology, we can make it go the other way

Craig:  Not on planes, that would be bad

Geoff:  Right. The acoustics aren't that hard to roughly figure, IIRC. You'll know if a place will be loud or dead. Maybe not how loud, but you'll have an idea.

Craig:  All right. I think I'm nervous about the plan, but I am somewhat relieved because this does not FEEL like Halo 2 in terms of the input level alone

Geoff:  It's going to happen in some form. The possible money to be made is just too huge.

Geoff:  OK. So we've burned through a cool $252.5M so far.

Craig:  Call Everett Dirksen

Geoff:  Whoa. An Everett Dirksen joke. You don't see those every day.

Geoff:  That'll get a Wikipedia link.

Craig:  Make sure you get the quote I'm going for here

Geoff:  What is it? "A billion here, a billion there. Pretty soon you're talking about some real money"?

Craig:  Yep

Craig:  That's it

Geoff:  Shot in the dark on that one.

Geoff:  Anyway.

Geoff:  The last stop is the least defined: Crisler.

Craig:  Ahh yes, delicious ambiguity as one of our illustrious alums once said

Geoff:  When it was first announced, there was a $15-$20 million price tag to rip out some seats, put in luxury boxes, and get wrestling and gymnastics their own gym to play in.

Craig:  Ok, so far, so good

Geoff:  Now the Detroit News is saying that the cost could balloon to $75 million.

Geoff:  That's a significant revision there, and you still don't get a new arena.

Craig:  And at that point, why not just start over?

Geoff:  Exactly.

Craig:  I'm sorry, but Crisler is a morgue

Craig:  I've said this for years

Craig:  And if Michigan is serious about being an all-sports power, they need a better arena

Geoff:  The Breslin Center cost $43M in 1986. USC's Galen Center was $143M. A new basketball arena will not come cheap.

Geoff:  The brand-new Galen Center, I should say.

Craig:  I'll throw another one at you

Craig:  $129.8 million for the John Paul Jones Arena at Virginia, and it took three years to build. That's a whole lotta love.

Geoff:  It took some serious privateering for that sort of loot.

Craig:  Comcast at Maryland was $125 million.

Geoff:  Value City was $116M.

Craig:  And that's dual purpose

Craig:  Which raises a specter I don't want to raise

Geoff:  Yeah. The one that's always lurking at the edge of the Crisler discussion.

Geoff:  Yost.

Craig:  I love Yost, mostly because of its flaws

Geoff:  I love the benches, I love the ceiling.

Craig:  THOUGH, if I may make a point, the Athletic Department needs to understand that $25 a seat for a regular season game is way too much

Craig:  I skipped a game this weekend when I was offered tickets because it just seemed wrong for Ferris

Geoff:  That number doesn't go down anytime...ever.

Craig:  Nothing against our Bulldog Friends

Geoff:  Of course.

Craig:  A college hockey game, at best, should top out at $15

Geoff:  Let's see what the Kohl Center is charging...

Craig:  By the way, the Kohl was built in 1998 for 76.4 mil, and it's a dual

Craig:  22 and 18 for this weekend at the Kohl for UAA

Geoff:  Yeah.

Craig:  North Dakota is $25

Geoff:  And noted fan of 1940's Germany [or at least their collectibles] Ralph Engelstad paid for that place.

Craig:  $27 for Minnesota

Craig:  OK, so it's not out of line

Craig:  It's just annoying

Geoff:  Yeah. It's just the way things go when you're a big school hockey team, I think, especially at a shiny new arena.

Geoff:  At Michigan, it's because there isn't a 12000-seat rink.

Craig:  I remember back in 1998, I thought student ticket prices were out of line compared to the rest of the CCHA, and the good people of the athletic department pointed out that they compare to MInnesota, Michigan State, and Wisconsin, not BGSU, Miami, and Northern

Geoff:  Wow. That $27 at Minny is for standing room. If you want a seat, it'll be $30.

Craig:  Wow, and Michigan State is $22

Craig:  OK, so it's not out of line, it’s just – to reiterate – really annoying

Geoff:  Yeah.

Geoff:  To steer this back to Crisler for a second: The basketball team needs better facilities. At the very least, a hardwood floor of their own that they don't have to share with wrestling, men's gymnastics, women's gymnastics, and the women's basketball team.

Craig:  Absolutely

Geoff:  If that costs us $20M, well that's the cost of doing business.

Geoff:  We're already losing recruits because of our inadequate facilities.

Geoff:  At some point, however, it's not worth it to give Crisler a facelift.

Craig:  There's no way to put lipstick on that pig

Craig:  But if you give the pig some lipo...

Geoff:  And I don't think that line is anywhere north of $30M.

Craig:  How much will it cost to light things a little better?

Geoff:  Fair enough question on that one.

Geoff:  I think we need to think of it in terms of the separate costs for each facility built. Wrestling and gymnastics need their own spaces.

Craig:  Though you can give one of the two Cliff Keen

Craig:  And let the other get the new place

Geoff:  Right.

Geoff:  I don't know how much meet space each one needs, though.

Craig:  Wrestling does not need much room, five mats and some locker room. Honestly, a good sized high school gym would do the trick

Geoff:  With that done, a new locker room and weight room would go a long way to upgrading what's already there.

Craig:  Agreed

Geoff:  It's a band-aid [on Crisler], but that $226M for Michigan Stadium is going to be a lot of debt hanging around.

Craig:  Honestly, you could take care of wrestling and volleyball for I think roughly $12.5 mill

Craig:  So I don't know

Geoff:  I think a Crisler replacement is going to happen, but it would be a lot to get it done within the next decade with the financial burden that football will hang on the athletic department.

Craig:  I think that's a major conclusion...with one major possibility: a huge gift

Geoff:  Yeah. Bill Martin is always listening to what a greenback has to say.

Craig:  If you look at a lot of the arenas that have been built lately, they have had seed money, like the JPJ and the Kohl

Geoff:  The Galen Center squeezed $50M+ out of its namesake.

Craig:  And I am wondering if Michigan basketball has an angel out there

Geoff:  Well, they'd better report any contact with him to the compliance officer.

Craig:  Zing

Geoff:  Which hangs a lantern: Part of the issue here is basketball's continuing status as the athletic department's bastard child.

Geoff:  It's an embarrassment that hasn't brought them anything worthwhile in the past decade.

Craig:  Except grief, lots of grief

Geoff:  Oh, we got grief. Plenty of that to go around.

Craig:  And to raise a point inelegantly

Craig:  In reading about Texas A&M's football history this year, I was struck by the quote from the University president whose name escapes me at the moment, around the time when the Aggie football program began in earnest. He wrote to one of his colleagues that he was not sure if they needed to have football, but if we must have football, I'd like to have the kind that wins

Craig:  I think that's how people feel about Michigan basketball

Geoff:  Exactly. We're a football school that likes its hockey and expects its basketball team to be worthy of the name it carries.

Geoff:  We don't understand why they aren't yearly contenders for the Big Ten title, or at least a tournament appearance. And I'm not talking about the NIT.

Craig:  Michigan is not a desert of basketball talent, after all

Craig:  I blame that damn explorer

Geoff:  Which one, exactly?

Craig:  The one that flipped on the way back from Detroit with Matteen Cleaves in it

Geoff:  Oh. That damn Explorer. I thought you meant Cadillac or Father Marquette.

Craig:  No, I should have been clearer

Geoff:  At any rate, basketball isn't about to eat Tommy Amaker's contract any time soon. It'll keep puttering around for a few more years at least. Then Tommy'll either start winning or the number left on his tab won't look so bad.

Craig:  That rolls about right

Geoff:  If they do start winning, I think they get a much better look from the athletic department and some work on the facilities accelerates.

Craig:  So, perhaps it comes down to "earn it?"

Geoff:  I think so.

Craig:  I think the key in all of this is that Michigan needs to listen to the alums (and the fans, which as we know, are not always one and the same)

Geoff:  If a replacement for Crisler comes along, do you think they go dual use, shuttle the hockey team into Crisler, keep them in Yost, or build a new hockey arena too?

Craig:  That's a complicated question. I think that Yost occupies some classic real estate along State Street and does give Michigan a link to the past. They also have spent a LOT in renovations in the past 15 years on Yost, so it's hard to see dumping the barn. The possibility of Michigan hockey playing in a modified Crisler feels weird to me, because it is not a hockey arena (I know it would be, but I just can't see it.) Honestly Geoff, I really can't speculate because I just can't see it

Geoff:  I think they'd build a dual-use arena if they went down that road. The marginal cost doesn't seem like it would be huge and you know that they'd salivate over they extra ticket revenue.

Geoff:  I'd hate, hate, hate to dump Yost. No new arena could possibly have a tenth of the character of that building.

Craig:  And those quick-convert Friday night hockey / Saturday afternoon hoops / Saturday night hockey games would be fun, fun, fun.

Geoff:  Yeah. Somehow they manage at the Kohl Center, but the Buckeyes have been known to squat at Nationwide.

Craig:  I honestly think that this is what will keep it from happening at Michigan.

Craig:  They'll look at Yost and say, “It's selling out, it's a draw, it has a good rep, and we're spending so much anyway.”

Geoff:  The other possibility is to keep some of the games at Yost and some at the new joint. Some people wouldn't get full-season [ticket] packages, but it could be done. Anyway, it's a complete pipe dream at this point.

Craig:  You know, that would be interesting, because keeping Yost would also allow Michigan to upgrade to varsity women's hockey

Craig:  And you could have your Ferris' et al at Yost and your Notre Dame, etc at NeoCrostler

Geoff:  (CROAST-ler?)

Geoff:  (Crisler + Yost?)

Craig:  Yes

Geoff:  Ha!

Craig:  And Yeastler sounded wrong

Geoff:  Yeah. Don't go with that one.

Craig:  But Crostler, yes, that's what I am calling faux dual purpose

Geoff:  Well, I think we might've raked this topic over the coals for as long as possible, at least for tonight.

Geoff:  Final thoughts?

Craig:  As long as we can come back to Eight Games a Week at some other point`

Geoff:  Oh, definitely.

Geoff:  We can do the Scheduling Spectacular after 30 Rock [On Thursday at 10:00. If anyone else wants to join in our chat, I’ll set up a room on AIM under “hooverstreet”].

What's the Best Conference in College Football?

I've spent time on and off for about the past month working on this post, and it's finally here. I've done an analysis of all of the BCS conferences to find the best one out there. It's pretty long, and Blogger isn't conducive to letting me mess with the CSS like I want to, so the full text follows after the jump.

1.  Foreword

On Saturday, December 2 of last year, as people debated whether Florida or Michigan should be invited to face Ohio State in the BCS National Championship game, the perceived historical strength of the SEC and weakness of the Big Ten was taken as a given by some commentators and voters.  This was not a new statement, and I'd heard it so many times before that I almost believed it.  But as a lifelong fan of a Big Ten team, it irked me and I wanted to see for myself if it was true, or just another myth.  To answer my own question, I've prepared a comparison of the BCS conferences over the past 15 seasons (and shorter intervals) and here I'll share with you my results.

Continue reading...

Live-Blogging Out of Control: Michigan vs. PSU

First Half

Michigan takes the tip, and half-heartedly passes it around beyond the arc before an equally lame to get it to Courtney Sims down low.

Penn State gets it out of bounds and they waste no time before making an equally unproductive attempt to drive the lane.

Michigan takes it upcourt, where Dion Harris nearly loses it. They pass around, looking for an opening, but get nothing before Ronald Coleman gets a fairly open look from 3-point range as the shot clock threatens to expire. He gets the shot off and drains it.

Penn State's possession mirrors Michigan's, but they can't find their own open look. A shot doesn't hit the rim, though they retain possession until the shot clock expires.

Michigan tries to work the ball down low to Courtney Sims, but he can't get anything. Petway finishes. 5-0.

Penn State gets a long look from 2 and Cornley knocks it down. 5-2.

Dion Harris is jealous that everyone's been shooting but him, so he promptly drains the 3. 8-2.

PSU's Geary Claxton draws a foul off of Ron Coleman near the free-throw line. He drains both, 8-4.

Harris rotates it around, gets it back. He feints down the lane before dishing it back out. Lester Abrams can't hit the open look from the three point line.

PSU quickly comes back the other way, but Claxton can't hit an open three from the wing. They follow it up, control the rebound, and get the easy two. 8-6.

Michigan commits their first turnover of the game, getting caught for 3 seconds awfully soon into their next possession.

The maize and blue press on PSU's possession, but it doesn't do much. Penn State probes the man coverage. They throw up a running 3, and Claxton nabs the long rebound before it can go out on the wing. They get another shot, and it's tipped in on offensive goaltending, maybe? Whatever, it's still 8-6.

Michigan wastes its next possession down low, as the ball goes out.

Claxton is camped out under the basket. Someone hacks him as he goes up. Knocks both down. 8-8.

Penn State defends at halfcourt, forcing some dangerous passing between Reed Baker and Dion Harris. Harris gets the ball back and hits his second three of the night. 11-8.

Nice defense from Michigan yields a pass deflected. Reed Baker passes it up the court and Udoh finishes, even with his shoe untied. 13-8.

Dion Harris gets called for a weak bump; it's his second foul and he has to sit. Michigan immediately yields a dunk on the out of bounds play.

Michigan's attempts at shot creation are worthless. Penn State comes back and quickly drains a 3. Ugggh. 13-12.

We pick up another foul, this time on the offensive side. Claxton can't drive the lane and we get the ball back.

Jerret Smith looks a little more competent today. Lester Abram gets the ball and is fouled as he goes up for a jumper. He hits both his free throw attempts. 15-12.

Scrum under the basket, but Penn State gets the ball out of bounds. PSU kicks it out, then tries to lob it down to the block. Yeah, not a good idea when it's Petway defending that.

Careless play with the ball lets the Nittany Lions strip it, and C. Sims takes a foul trying to get it back. D-U-M.

PSU's 3-pointer rims out and we recover and make the most of the opportunity. 17-12.

They're shooting quicker than they'd like, I think, on PSU. Play's going quickly back and forth with a fair number of misses by both teams. The tempo after a few of these transitions gets to Penn State and lets Michigan get a transition basket. 19-12.

ESPN+ is talking about Daniel Horton. I miss him too.

Claxton is drawing a crowd and not getting open looks.

On the other end, Sims muscles his way up, but can't hit the easy basket.

Petway with a huge block on Claxton gives Abram the same opportunity, but he can't get it done. Sims can't tip it in, but the rebound comes right back to him. He gets hacked on the way up this time and will shoot two after the break.

If Sims can't find his touch, we are screwed. His teammates are getting him some looks, but he can't knock them down. I'll choose to play optimist for now, because there's no way that the universe should allow those kind of shots to go unconverted for too long. Besides, Sims just made his two free throws. 21-12.

Man. That zone experiment did not go well. Claxton dissected it. 21-14.

Claxton picks up his second foul on a bump, but the Nittany Lions steal the inbounds pass. Sims returns Claxton's favor by picking his own foul on the floor when he gets beat defensively.

Ekpe Udoh cannot shoot free throws. Yikes. He makes his first Big Ten free throw (1/5!) to make it 22-14.

Penn State's short white guy finds space out on the wing for three. 22-17. Since he's Morrissey, he'll probably crysturbate over it later tonight.

Damn. Ron Coleman does that whole 3-to-beat-the-shot-clock thing again. Sweetness. 25-17.

OH, COME ON. Morrissey's shooting another three and we foul him. Someone misjudged his approach angle there, but there's no excuse for that. Morrissey is an 81% free throw shooter, but he's so surprised by this development that he misses his first two. He regains his composure to hit the third. 25-18.

Reed Baker, Three Point Maker gets one coming off the screen. 28-18.

4:30 left in the half. PSU picks up a foul. Udoh was held after picking up their turnover, and Hassell (?) now has three personals. Fouls all over the place. Lester Abrams makes a jumper to make it 30-18, then picks up his second. Note to players: Don't breathe on anyone tonight. That's totally a foul.

PSU makes it a 30-20 game, but Coleman comes right back to drain yet another three. He is en fuego. 33-20.

Petway takes a direct charge from Morrissey on the other end, and he's fired up. On the other end, he finds Udoh under the basket to make it a 35-20 ballgame.

Penn State isn't playing as a team right now, and Michigan's making them pay, as they get nothing again. On the other end, Reed Baker walks with the ball.

The Nittany Lions come back the other way and it's like there's a wall in front of them. Petway grabs a rebound and is fouled. It's too bad he's such a terrible free throw shooter. PSU scrambles to get the ball and push it upcourt. Petway and Udoh come flying in to block the first shot from the behind (awesomely, I might add), but Claxton is there to finish. 35-24.

It's just chaos down there now. Michigan lets a possession get away, and Penn State cashes in on their end.

Ron Coleman draws a foul, and he hasn't missed tonight. His first free throw is easily in there. The second one hangs on the rim for an eternity before the ball remembers that he isn't missing tonight and drops. 37-24, 1:05 left in the half.

It's been so wild tonight that someone bounces into Claxton and PSU's in the double bonus. He hasn't missed from the line until now, when he goes 1/2. 37-25.

The shot clock is ten seconds ahead of the game clock. As it winds down, with nothing left, Petway is left alone under the bucket. Jerret Smith finds him and he gets hammered by Cornley. He gets 1/2. 38-25.

Penn State will have last shot if they can find it. Morrissey puts up a dying quail as he's getting smothered beyond the arc, and the half will finish 38-25.

---

I'm pretty sure PSU's advertisement is some leftover song from Vitamin C's last album. It's pretty terrible.

The Foul Situation:
2:   Coleman, Harris, Abram, C. Sims (Michigan).

ESPN doesn't even list the PSU players on their site, but they aren't exempt from it either. Both sides are going to need to adjust to tonights refs..

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Second Half

Morrissey gets called for a foul on the floor to start the half. Michigan quickly yields the ball back, though. Petway picks up his first personal foul as he pushes Cornley. The possession still ends in futility.

Ron Coleman misses his first attempt of the night, his first attempt at a two.

Petway quickly picks up his second, as Cornley tries to get around him. Amaker really believes that the bump should've been an offensive foul, and he's not all that wrong. Cornley takes advantage to hit both. 38-27.

Michigan shrugs it off. Coleman intercepts a pass and they bring it up again. The pass down low gets deflected back out to halfcourt and out of bounds. A long three attempt doesn't go down.

Another freaking foul, only 17:13 into the second half. Abram's 3rd. He'll sit. Tough pass goes in to Claxton, past three Wolverines. Claxton converts. 40-29.

Courtney Sims goes right after Brandon Hassell, forcing him into his fourth fouls and out of the game. Sims hits both free throws. 42-29.

Steal by Courtney Sims, way out, but he can't control it. With him out of position, PSU tries to drive the lane. Petway blocks the hell out of it, then steals the pass from Bogatic(?), hits the bucket, and draws the foul. He misses the free throw, but what a play. 44-29.

After PSU converts on their possession, we get lazy on ours. The ball is stolen from Coleman and Jerret Smith gets called for the blocking foul as PSU's Jackson heads in for a layup. He gets one. 44-32.

Penn State gets the ball back, and finally the call for contact goes our way as Udoh draws the charge. Then Sims goes ahead and gets an offensive foul called on him. I don't know if there's going to be anyone left on the floor at the end of this. 15:00 or so left.

Claxton makes the layup. 44-34.

Udoh comes back the other way and sinks a ten-footer. 46-34.

Michigan steals the pass and pushes it up the court. Harris's three is just off, but Udoh skies for the rebound and is fouled. The ESPN+ crew thinks he might've gotten away with going over the back. It's on Claxton, and he has to sit. Dion Harris hits a jumper to push the lead up to 48-34.

They can't do anything on the ensuing possession and the pace is getting quicker and more frenetic, the way Michigan wants it. PSU picks up a foul on the floor, on Bogetic. Harris tries another three that won't go, and Bogetic commits his third foul, a weak push-off. Michigan, now in the bonus for the last 13:00 of the half, converts, making it 50-34.

On the other end, Petway gets called for his 3rd personal, and Bogetic is on the receiving end for a change. He gets 1/2. 50-35.

The teams trade ineffective possessions before Cornley finally breaks it up with a short jumper. 50-37.

Ed DeChellis is gambling. When D. Sims gets called for traveling, he puts 4-foulers Claxton and Hassell back in the game, with a full 11:00+ left on the clock. I guess he figures he's already down 13 with a weak bench that's racking up fouls, so what is there to lose?

PSU trips as the try to drive the lane, giving Michigan the ball back. Harris takes an ill-advised three that won't go. Penn State takes an equally ill-advised shot on the other side. Reed Baker, of all people, tries to go baseline. He draws the foul and goes 2/2 at the line. 52-37.

Claxton gets a wide-open look at the basket and can't hit his three. Lester Abram, on the other hand, drops his. 55-37.

Penn State is crashing the glass tonight. Off their miss, no one can pull it down. It goes off Reed Baker as he gets demolished. PSU's Walker hits a big three-pointer. 55-40.

Reed Baker answers with an authoritative three. 58-40.

Possessions traded, before Hassell drives the lane and draws a foul from Dion Harris. He can't make either, and it remains 58-40.

Baker's wild three -- maybe deflected -- is saved by a flying Deshawn Sims. Dion Harris is so shocked to get it back that he travels at the top of the arc.

When we return, PSU is shooting free throws. They get both. 58-42.

Our shoddy point guard play costs us again, as we turn it right back over. Cornley gets it down low when he gets D. Sims to lose his balance and finishes his layup. In his face, he forces Udoh to waste a timeout on the inbound pass. Michigan needs to get their heads back in this one; there's still about 7:00 left on the clock and we're rattled by PSU's pressure defense. 58-44.

Michigan takes their turn to push the tempo. A streaking Dion Harris takes an easy 2. 60-44.

A PSU player gets breathed on wrong and they're in the bonus. He's an 85%+ free throw shooter, so he makes both. 60-46.

GAAAAAAHHHHHHHH. Another turnover. And they turn it into a three-pointer. We absolutely need to be able to hang onto the ball and pressure Claxton and Hassell into their final fouls. 60-49, 6:40+ left.

A Lester Abram pull-up jumper makes it a 62-49 ballgame. On the other end, he comes up with the loose ball after Petway and Cornley get a little physical. We push the tempo up-court and find an open look at a three. Knocked down. 65-49.

Being in the bonus pays off, as Lester Abram gets right back to the line to hit both and restoring the lead to a full 18 points. 67-49.

Petway picks up his fourth personal foul, and they go to the line with a chance to cut back into it. Cornley gets one and Ron Coleman gets his miss. 67-50.

Abram tries a tough jumper, despite being close, and it won't fall. At least we drained the clock on that possession.

PSU takes a quick shot that won't go. Michigan moves the ball around and around before Jerret Smith decides to get on the stat sheet with a 3. 70-50, and I'm starting to relax with 3:30 left.

The three-point shot has been working insanely well for us tonight. His teammates finally let Dion Harris get the ball back and he buries one. 73-50.

We're in garbage time now. PSU gets two, somehow. Cornley is 5" shorter, but he gets a hand on a Sims shot, then tries his own off-the-mark 3.

Sims draws a foul, and he's been excellent from the line tonight. He just needs to get there more often. He hits his fourth and fifth of the evening. 75-52.

Bogetic can't get the layout to fall and some Finnish dude can't get the rebound. Michigan moves the ball around, and PSU has conceded, as they aren't fouling. Jerret Smith takes this opportunity to drain a jumper. 77-52.

Bogetic answers on the other end. I haven't seen this many threes in a game since Colts/Ravens. 77-55.

"Just like football! Just like football!"

PSU gets a meaningless basket to make it a 77-57 blowout, and everyone just lets the clock run out.

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This is the best game I've seen Michigan play all season. We were helped out by the foul trouble that Penn State's only good players got into, but we found what we needed to step on their throats once they were down. The three-point shooting was just phenomenal, but we shouldn't count on it. What I liked best was at the end of the first half. We pushed the tempo and played emotional basketball, but we didn't play stupid basketball. We just hustled them off the court.

Rose Bowl Wrap-Up

Hey, all. We haven't forgotten about this, we promise. It's just that, well, what are you going to say? Michigan played terrible football. They didn't make any adjustments at halftime, even though it was a minor miracle that they were tied at 3-3. They were demolished on the offensive line all day long. The defensive line was outgamed (the number of times Woodley was just a little too late was depressing), and our secondary wasn't going to be able to stop USC's receivers without help from them.

I would've written it all up anyway, since I at least had some fun pictures to share, but some asshole stole my digital camera out of my luggage. I stupidly left it in my checked suitcase on my flight home and someone in the baggage-handling crew made off with it. Maybe they worked for the TSA, maybe they worked for US Airways/America West. Whoever you it is, screw them.

So you guys get the abbreviated version, wherein I ignore everything but the band-related parts. Enjoy!

Pregame

USC's band was first, and they sounded very average. Their marching was like Wisconsin's, but drained of all the energy, and their sound was just as listless. The coolest part was when the drum major (in Trojan costume) pierced the 50-yard-line with his sword, but in the end it's still just a guy sticking a knife in dirt. What's actually cool is Traveler, the white horse.

Michigan came next and it was night and day. They were focused, they were energetic, and they blew me away. The band was louder than I've heard them in a long time, but they were still top-notch, musically. The marching looked better than I've seen it all year. Even if the audience was 75% USC, you could tell which band meant more to its fans.

The first half occurred. It ended 3-3.

Halftime

The MMB went first at halftime and played their Led Zeppelin show, which rocked even more the second time I heard it. That probably had a lot to do with being on the press box side of the field for once, but they were really cranking it out. USC's band did a lot better with their halftime than their pre-game. Their theme was "Hey, we're close to Hollywood, so when anyone needs a marching band they call us." They did "Pump It" by the Black Eyed Peas, and a couple of other pop songs.

The second half was very, very bad. My brother and I left with 4:00 on the clock, something I've never done at a Michigan football game we were losing.

Motor City Bowl Fever!

Before I left Detroit, I had the opportunity to attend the Motor City Bowl. They seemed to be understaffed at the security gates, so I missed pregame from the Middle Tennessee State Band of Blue, but they sounded pretty good. Their halftime was really a quality performance. The tuba section had some show-band moves going for them and the whole band's musicianship was way higher than you'd expect from Directional State University. The Chippewa Marching band, however, lost serious points with me when their halftime show needed 3 vibraphones, a gong, and a bass drum on the sideline. For one thing, who's going to hear 3 vibraphones over the rest of the band at halftime? And a bass drum? Don't you already have like 6 of those things out on the field? Lame.

The game wasn't a total cakewalk for CMU, but it wasn't really in doubt. Middle Tennessee did their best, and their quarterback was certainly a gamer to come back after Dan Bazuin rung his bell pretty good, but they didn't have the talent. Speaking of Bazuin, he made some serious plays and was a general menace in the backfield. One play in the second half left him nearly motionless on the field for several minutes. He popped up, ran it off, and missed just the one play. Totally deserved his MVP award.

Rose Bowl Preview

The Series

• Record: 4-5-0 (USC leads)
• Since '69: 1-5-0
• First Meeting: 49-0, Michigan, 1/1/1948, Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA
• Last Meeting: 14-28, USC, 1/1/2004, Rose Bowl
• USC
  • Most Points: 14-28, USC, 1/1/2004, Rose Bowl
  • Since '69: Same
  • Biggest Margin of Victory: Same
  • Since '69: Same
  • Biggest Shutout: N/A
  • Since '69: N/A
• Michigan
  • Most Points: 49-0, Michigan, 1/1/1948, Rose Bowl
  • Since '69: 22-14, Michigan, 1/2/1989, Rose Bowl
  • Biggest Margin of Victory: 49-0, Michigan, 1/1/1948, Rose Bowl
  • Since '69: 22-14, Michigan, 1/2/1989, Rose Bowl
  • Biggest Shutout: 49-0, Michigan, 1/1/1948, Rose Bowl
  • Since '69: N/A

I'm sitting in a hotel room in Los Angeles, trying to tease out some semblance of a preview from just looking at the statistics of these two teams, and I don't think there's enough of a difference to make a convincing case.  USC's offense scores 30.3 ppg; ours does 30.2.  Their defense gives up 14.9 ppg; ours yields 14.6.  The numbers on offense and defense are also comparable, and I don't think you can say that this year the Pac-10 was significantly weaker than the Big Ten.  Factor in the non-conference competition they faced, and you can see why a 1-loss USC team seemed to have paved the road to Glendale in Trojans.

Look at the numbers for USC and compare them to Michigan's.  They're shockingly similar in a lot of ways when you look at the per-play numbers.  Our rush defense, like usual, stands out like a beacon, but that's about it.

It looks like this'll be a game that comes down to individual match-ups, preparation, and coaching ("Name three things I suck at previewing...").  

Michigan's rush D is OMG!SHIRTLESS.  It can stand up and be counted on.  OSU hurt it most by taking away support at the second level.  Unless USC comes out 5-wide and starts really punishing the secondary, we should be able to avoid the sort of crippling long runs OSU made against us.  Chauncey Washington looks to be the sort of grinding back that Michigan's been able to contain all year.  CJ Gable and Emmanuel Moody have more speed, but they probably won't be carrying the bulk of the load.

John David Booty doesn't like to get hit.  Also, the sky is blue, Earth orbits the sun, and fire is hot.  There aren't a lot of quarterbacks out there who want to stand in the pocket and get pounded, so they tend to get rattled when pressure gets there consistently.  Unlike Troy Smith, Booty isn't a mobile quarterback.  Among quarterbacks Michigan has seen this year, he's probably most like Brady Quinn, honestly.  The good thing for him is that he has an offensive line.  The bad news is that they haven't seen anything like Michigan's front seven.  Thanks to Brian's remarkable breakdown, you can see that UCLA's speed-rushing around the tackles got them that pressure, at least early in the game.  That sounds like Crable and Woodley to me.

If Booty doesn't get rattled, he can be a terrific quarterback, and he has a deep receiving corps to work with.  None of them are burners like Ted Ginn, Jr., but they're good athletes with size and hands.  Steve Smith leads the team in receptions and yards, and the thinks he'll be able to have a good day against Morgan Trent.  Leon Hall will likely draw Dwayne Jarrett, who bears a resemblance to the towering James Hardy of Indiana.  Jarrett's missed some time due to injury, otherwise he'd likely lead the team.  This is where USC probably has their biggest advantage.  We can help ourselves out here by doing that pass-rush thing.  Willis Barringer and Prescott Burgess are both healthy again, so that should also improve our chances.

On the other end of the ball, Michigan should open up the playbook like they did for Notre Dame and OSU.  None of the run-it-into-the-ground stubbornness from the games against lesser competition.  USC is a solid defensive team in both the run game and the secondary.  Hart should find some room to run, and should find a bit more if Henne can deliver the ball effectively.  USC likes to play a lot of zone, apparently, so there should be some holes in there for Breaston, Arrington, and Ecker.  USC simply doesn't give up long touchdowns through the air, but they haven't seen Manningham (with an extra month and a half to heal that knee, I might add).  

This game could get down to a field-position battle.  Neither team punts or kicks off particularly well.  USC's kicker, Mario Danelo, has been excellent.  He's 13/14 with a long of 44 yards.  Rivas has been solid as well, with a long of 48 yards on 16/19.  Two of his misses are from more than 40 yards out.  Gable's kick returns average a bit longer than Breaston's have been, but Steve has a 64-yard one that CJ can't match.

So, after all that? I have no idea how this one will play out.  It's Michigan in the Rose Bowl against USC, so I'm inherently pessimistic.  But this team has wildly exceeded my expectations all year long, only falling short to the #1 team in the country by three points on the road in the most hostile stadium in America.  24-21, Michigan.

Another Michigan Man passes: Gerald R. Ford -- 1913-2006

We at the Hoover Street Rag would be remiss if we did not mention the passing of Gerald R. Ford, America's 38th President, Michigan Class of 1935, and all-Big Ten center for the Michigan football team in his senior season.
The University's tribute to Ford can be found here...

USC vs. Michigan: Rose Bowl Alumni Showdown

Since GZ has his thing down cold, I need mine, so here it is, the alumni showdown for the Rose Bowl. I had intended to do one to prove to the BCS that Michigan was more worthy than USC to be in the national championship game, but USC sort of took care of that for themselves. Because it's the Granddaddy of them All, we're going to expand our usual effort.

The "rule" is basically that we find some major alumni from the opposition university and try to find a Michigan analog, and then face them off head to head. Some are straight-forward, others require more effort. As this is for entertainment purposes only, please, no wagering.

Just missing the cut for the Trojans:
John Ritter
Conflicted here, because he's a USC alum, but on Eight Simple Rules, he played a rabid Michigan football fan (to the point of referring to the Ohio State game as "football Easter", which I kind of liked.)

Anthony Edwards
Gooooooose! Actually, I learned from an episode of Cheap Seats, hosted by Michigan's own Randy and Jason Sklar, that Edwards left USC during his senior year to film Fast Times at Ridgemont High, so he's not technically an alum.

Frank Gehry
"Hey, Frank Gehry. Design curvilinear forms much?"

The Matchups

Neil Armstrong	vs.	The Crew of Apollo 15
Neil Armstrong, first man on the moon. Or as Jim Lovell says in Apollo 13:"Christopher Columbus, Charles Lindbergh, and Neil Armstrong. Ha, ha, ha. Neil Armstrong!" Meanwhile, most of you know quite well of my abiding affection for the crew of Apollo 15. Advantage: Push. When you think about it, it's goofy, but the lunar rover is pretty cool. Plus, there were three of them to Neil's one.
Andrew Viterbi	vs.	Claude Shannon
For our matchup on information theorists, we turn to HSR correspondent Dave... Claude Shannon: Invented information theory in seminal papers such as "The Mathematical Theory of Communication" (1948).  Defined fundamental concepts like entropy, the information capacity of a channel, and the sampling theorem.  Honored with a statue outside the EECS building at Michigan. Andrew Viterbi:Made information theory profitable.  His namesake algorithm is an error-correction scheme for noisy communication channels that's the basis for much of modern wireless communication.  He founded Qualcomm and has an estimated worth of $640 million.  Honored by USC who named their engineering school for him. Advantage: USC.  Shannon's contributions were more intellectually fundamental, but Viterbi's made more money.  What do you think the BCS would consider more important?
George Lucas	vs.	Lawrence Kasdan
It's simple. If we were to use the BCS theorem, Lucas would win in a walk. In addition to being the Tournament of Roses Grand Marshall this year, he's directed five major films (Episodes I-IV and American Graffiti) and THX 1138, basically created ILM and the THX sound system, and has basically been responsible for one of the most significant cultural phenomena of the latter half of the 20th Century. Kasdan is responsible for writing one best picture nominee (The Accidental Tourist), one boomer classic (The Big Chill), and the overlong version of the Wyatt Earp story (Wyatt Earp)...but... Advantage: Michigan. Lucas' writing killed the prequels. If this were 1998, Lucas would win in a walk, but it's clear that the only well-written episode of the six Star Wars films is Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, written by...Lawrence Kasdan.
Will Ferrell	vs.	Gilda Radner
Will Ferrell, for many years in the late 1990s, was one of the few, if only reasons, to watch Saturday Night Live. His President Bush impression gave us "strategery", his Harry Caray impression asked if the moon was made of ribs, would you eat it?, his Janet Reno hosted many a memorable dance party, and his Alex Trebek, well, the day was Connery's. Film roles have included Mustafa in Austin Powers (I know it's minor, but it cracks me up every time I see it.), Frank the Tank in Old School, Buddy the Elf in Elf, and Ron Burgundy in Anchorman. Gilda Radner was one of the original Not Ready for Prime Time Players on SNL. She created, among other characters Roseanne Roseannadanna and Emily Litella, and parodied Barbara Walters in a way that is still used to poke fun today. Tragically, her career was cut short by ovarian cancer, but her fight did significantly raise awareness about the disease and fund raising to fight it. Advantage: USC. I think this one is both gender biased as generational. But It's close, really close. (That said, I found this quote while looking for any advantage to give to Ms. Radner, and I kind of liked it, because I think it works on any number of levels: "Some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity.")
Andrés Cantor	vs.	Bert Randolph Sugar
Each has a trademark. For Mr. Cantor, it's simply ¡GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLL!" while for Mr. Sugar, it's the cigar and fedora. Now, I learned neat things about both while looking them up. With Cantor, it's that he has a signature line for halftime" El árbitro dice que no hay tiempo para mas" while for Sugar, it's that Red Auerbach was his great uncle. Advantage: Michigan. This one is all about my own biases. I love soccer, so Cantor is just an additional bonus, even if I don't speak Spanish. I don't like boxing, but I will listen to Bert Sugar talk about the history of boxing because he's such a good storyteller. Plus, he earned a JD and an MBA at the same time from Michigan, which he claims nearly killed him.
John Wayne	vs.	James Earl Jones
Two of the most iconic actors in American pop culture history. On the one hand, you have "The Duke", a former USC running back who pretty much tamed the American West and won World War II single-handedly. On the other hand, you have one of the great voices of American cinema, Darth Vader, Mufasa, CNN, Verizon, Bleeding Gums Murphy...Plus, he's Admiral Greer, which is pretty cool as well. Advantage: USC. I'm going to give this one to the guy who has the airport named after him. Though if they want to rename the airport in Ann Arbor after James Earl Jones, I'd be totally be cool with that.
Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf	vs.	Gen. Benjamin D. Pritchard
Stormin' Norman: The leader of Coalition Forces during Operation: Desert Storm. Benjamin D. Pritchard, the leader of the cavalry regiment which captured Confederate President Jefferson Davis in the days after the close of the Civil War. Yep, finding the former CSA President in drag...100 hour ground war vs. capturing the second most hated man in America, circa April 1865. Pritchard does get extra points for founding America's first savings bank. Advantage: Push. On the one hand, 100 hour ground war. On the other hand, capturing Jefferson Davis. They're both winners in my book.
Judge Joseph Wapner	vs.	Justice Frank Murphy
Sadly, Judge Wapner may be America's most famous jurist, but he was never on the Supreme Court, he never served as Mayor of Detroit, he never served as Governor of Michigan, he never served as Governor General of the Philippines, he never served as Attorney General of the United States, never penned a famous dissent, such as Murphy's in the case of Korematsu v. United States.  Then again, Justice Murphy never worked with Rusty the Bailiff . Advantage: Michigan. If Justice Murphy had Doug Llewelyn doing press for him, we'd be more likely to remember him today.

So there you have it, when it's all said and done, it's Michigan 3, USC 3, Push 2. The game is a pick 'em, so why shouldn't the alumni matchup be as well?

That's all I have for today. Once more, GZ should be around with a real preview, you know, actual football content, sometime soon.
I'll be monitoring the situation from the basement while GZ will be handling things from the Arroyo Seco. (As always, a thanks to Wikipedia for making this a very fast effort, if not always wholly accurate.)

Alumni Free Association

Two Michigan football alums have been in the news this past week for non-Michigan football endeavors. Since it's a slow week, I thought I would examine both of them (with a major tip of the hat to Deadspin for being all over both of them.)

To be fair, I think it would be a more interesting game...

So, over the last couple of days, Deadspin has been all over Desmond Howard's analytical faux pas...(initial story here, follow up here.)

Here's the thing, normally this kind of thing would have my dander up, because, I mean, if I start breaking down Michigan State vs. Cincinnati in the International Bowl, you'd just look at me in a very confused manner. And really, who would blame you? But I have a hard time getting upset about it, in part because I am willing to forgive Desmond Howard a lot of things because he's probably my favorite Michigan player of all-time. Plus, he's one of the few Lions to be elected to the Pro Bowl in the last 15 years.

But back to the story at hand. Really, at this point, as friend of HSR Greg once posited, all Desmond Howard did was create fan fiction. It's just that he got his significantly more attention by stating during a national television broadcast. That said, it's still not the most egregious fake thing that ESPN did all year. (That would be the fake hot stove press conferences with Steve Phillips as the "GM" of five different MLB teams. That was horrifying.) And he apologized for it...

But here's what confuses me, in my mind, the apology is a little over the top for what happened. I applaud that he's manning up and saying "my bad", even if it was not just his fault. But, the apology is also off. As was pointed out by one of the Deadspin commenters, this wasn't, as Desmond says, a verbal slip of the tongue. If he had just said Texas but talked about Steven McGee, that would be a verbal slip and no one would be wiser, or even thrown. Even the graphics disagree with him, and yet, no one stops him. No one says "Des, you mean A&M, right? The Aggies?" Desmond could have laughed it off, but now this is a continuing story. It's a mistake, it's a goof, but it's not a verbal slip of the tongue. I'm just saying. By the way, I still love that Desmond's Heisman Trophy portrait will always feature him with "the fade".

On the plus side, Teddy Roosevelt would be proud

Jim Harbaugh has parlayed his back to back 11-1 seasons at San Diego, (which is this school, not this school (coached by Chuck Long) or this school,) into the head coaching gig up at the Farm. Now, Palo Alto is an upgrade, it's a BCS conference program, and honestly, could he be any worse than Walt Harris was the last couple of years?

Some quick background: Wearing #4, Harbaugh was 21-3-1 during his last two years as starting quarterback at Michigan and lead the Maize and Blue to a #2 ranking in 1985 when they won the Fiesta Bowl and to a Rose Bowl berth in his senior year (in which he finished third in Heisman voting, but behind a guy from Temple!). That 1986 Rose Bowl loss holds special meaning to many Wolverine fans, as it was a classic case of losing the battle but winning the war (short version: the story goes that Ohio State saw John Cooper's victory over Michigan in Pasadena as a "sign" and made him head coach of the Scarlet and Grey. And well, we all know what happened next.) Harbaugh was "Captain Comeback" with the Colts, and as someone noted, tongue in cheek, he's still the best Bears quarterback since the end of WWII, and now he's the coach of the Cardinal.

I have two minor quibbles with Harbaugh's press conference:

"I dedicate my life's work to building the foundation here at Stanford, the foundation that will lead to great success, continue the tradition and restore the legacy that Stanford has in college football. I vow that I will attack this endeavor with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind."

1). Stanford's football heritage does have some high points: back-to-back Rose Bowl wins in the early 1970s, the legend of Ernie Nevers, Jim Plunkett, and John Elway. But when I think of Stanford football, the following things pop into my head: "The Band is Out on the Field!", John Elway losing that game, a heritage of coaches which includes Bill Walsh, Jack Elway, Dennis Green, Bill Walsh again, and Ty Willingham, but not a lot of legendary players. So if Harbaugh is set on "restoring the legacy", isn't he setting the bar a little low?

2). "I vow that I will attack this endeavor with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind." As much as I love college football, this would be a quote I'd rather see from a doctor researching a cure for cancer or Alzheimer's, or the head of NASA, or well, most other things. But, you know what, if that's how Jim Harbaugh feels, more power to him. If he wants to stay at Stanford for the "10, 15, 20 years" it takes to build the Cardinal into a legendary program, more power to him. But sadly, because Stanford is a private institution, we can't FOIA his contract to know whether he has a Michigan out clause, like Les Miles does at LSU. Only time will tell. Godspeed Jim Harbaugh!

Live-Blog: Basketball vs. NIU

NIU has lost to such luminaries as Georgia Southern and Troy. They should be another MACrifice (TM Joe), but who knows with such an untested team we're fielding. Here we go...

Shockingly, NIU almost makes the first turnover of the game, but save it.

A Michigan miss on the other end gives the Huskies an easy, easy 2-on-1 to make it 0-4

Sims misses the dunk, NIU can't convert their second break. Michigan puts themselves on the board quickly, making it 2-4, feeding Sims again for a jump-hook two.

Eesh. Sims seems to have a finger problem. This could be bad. Despite NIU picking up two fouls, M comes away with no points. Amaker yanks all the starters.

Reed Baker's on the floor, and the ESPN+ crew like his pressure defense, which yields a turnover. 4-4.

Another block from Udoh, who eventually gets it back to make it 6-4, Michigan.

NIU has three fouls within the first five minutes.

Someone throws up a prayer from three, NIU comes back the other way.

NIU's getting nothing inside. Another strip ends with bodies everywhere. Possession arrow favors NIU. It does them no good, as they pick up an offensive foul.

DeShawn Sims has acres to himself and knocks down a long two. 8-4.

NIU gets two down on the block. 8-6. Michigan three, 11-6.

Udoh SMASH. Nice shot block, but it comes back to NIU. Michigan comes back to put a pair up. 13-8. They really want to push the tempo. NIU's getting back, but a little work with the half-court offense keeps finding an open man.

Starters come back in, yet somehow look way too spread out. 24 can't get low, and a bounce pass goes right by him to hit an open forward, yielding an automatic foul. 15-11.

Abram turnaround. 15-11.

NIU guard does that stupid illegal turn-your-hand-over dribble and gets called for it. TV time-out.

Abram seems to have done a little to recover his touch. 17-11.

Husky airball. Dion Harris has yet to take a shot until now, but a dying shot clock makes him loft a three off the front of the iron.

Fourth shot block, then fifth by Michigan. Wild three on the other end. NIU recovers, pushes the ball up, gets one near the edge of the free-throw line. Courtney Sims comes back the other way and airballs a wide-open three from the top of the arc. Confusingly, it's Petway who sits down on the substitution.

NIU does nothing, ball goes out on the rebound. Michigan comes back. Turnover, as a guard jumps the route. NIU obliges by turning it right back over out of bounds. Again, ball goes out of bounds, but M keeps it. Still 17-13.

Do you think there are cameramen out there who make their entire living by collecting stock footage of fat people walking around? It looks like there's a market for that stuff. News programs, commercials... Tons of fat people video.

Two stupid passes lead to one stupid turnover, but again NIU can't actually corral it. M still can't score, as Reed Baker's three isn't close.

Another steal. Here we go... The crew points out that we're 1/13 on our last 14 shots from the floor, as we miss another. NIU isn't exactly playing clean ball themselves, as they travel under the rim.

Man. Baker gets completely blocked and falls over as he goes up close to the rim. Ball's loose, and Smith finally sinks one. NIU goes right back down the court and sinks a jumper to make it 19-15. It's a battle of who wants it less so far, with 5:00 to go in the first half.

Good thing Petway can jump, as a shot goes straight up off the iron. Air Georgia skies like crazy, catches the rebound, jumps right back up and makes the short shot. 21-15.

ANOTHER block, but we can't get the rebound. 21-17.

Yikes. Baker should've been whistled for a walk, as he hopped with the ball stopped, but he gets away with it and gets it low. I think it's Courtney Sims who gets the bucket. He'll shoot the foul shot when we're done talking about enchiphobia. My enchiphobia has more to do with E. Coli than runny sauce.

We hit the +1. 24-17.

Short NIU possession. On the other end, Petway picks up the foul. This should be interesting. A little loud on the first one, as it rattles out with AUTHORITA. He hits the second. 25-17.

Turnover-fest '06 continues on both ends. Dion Harris rifles one out of bounds as C. Sims looks confused. NIU makes the most of it, hitting a three. M goes right back down and Sims throws it down to make it 27-20.

Turnover by NIU after a foul on the floor. Harris throws the alley-oop, basically, and Air Georgia does what he do. Awesome. 29-20.

Block! by C. Sims, goes back to NIU. Abram picks up another foul on the floor. 7 blocks by M, 4 by NIU. Shot won't go. Harris pushes it down the floor and draws the foul. Hits the two freebies for his first points of the night. 31-20.

Long three for NIU. Defense looked decent, but sometimes those just go down. 31-23.

On the other end, Sims scores to make it a 33-23 lead again. NIU misses, giving Michigan just enough time to try a reasonable three by Reed Baker, who misses. Halftime: 33-23.

---

Samantha Findlay just told her Big Ten story, about hitting that 10th-inning home run to win the Women's College World Series last year. Other than maybe this year's BEAT DOWN, that's got to be the best Michigan sports moment in some years. I don't care how you feel about softball, that was frickin' awesome.

We're hammering them on the boards. NIU is -12 in rebounds in the first half alone.

NIU brings it up the floor. We're tight on defense, getting good pressure on the ball. C. Sims gets called for a push. NIU is hemmed in down low and walks with it on the block.

Harris makes a nice pass to Petway, who just misses what should've been an easier bucket. Sims takes the rebound and some terrible force keeps it from falling. NIU finally gets the rebound and, as they start to go upcourt, Sims takes an unnecessary foul and sits down on the bench. Further up the floor, NIU draws a shooting foul. 33-25.

Open three doesn't go down. Coleman (I think) gets a late break on the rebound, saves it to NIU. Dion Harris, foul on the floor on he other end. No one can pull in a rebound. Harris takes another foul, again on the floor, his third. NIU's Hughes makes it 33-27.

Abram makes a cut, puts it down for a 35-27 lead. NIU miss. Nice feed from Harris to a loping Abram. Back to a ten-point lead.

NIU does nothing. Petway gets it low, but too low and too far from the basket. The ball comes back past the top of the arc. Petway follows it to commit the offensive foul with a bad screen.

Udoh creates the turnover, but Abram's sorta toughish layup (yeah) doesn't go down. Somehow he saves it and draws a foul. TV timeout.

Abram hits both. 39-27. They who in the what? Why did we foul on that three attempt? Oh, elsewhere on the floor. NIU's guard McKinney misses the front half of the one-and-one.

Sims draws a foul on the other end and hits both. 41-27. He almost has a double-double, but it's been kind of an ugly one. 15:19 remaining, as NIU gives it away again with a walk under the hoop. Michigan keeps feeding Sims, and he keeps drawing fouls. Misses both, ugly-like.

Defense a little slack inside, and McKinney makes us pay when he finishes. 41-29.

NIU keeps trying to get the ball inside, but Sims is holding up and forcing walks. Amaker wants a time-out when we come back down the court.

Quick basket by Dion Harris after the break, so I guess the timeout was worth it.

Scramble at the other end, Michigan yoinks the rebound. They feed Sims to make it 45-29. He's starting to go to town, just maybe. The crew wants to see Greg Oden vs. Courtney Sims. I do not.

You know NIU gets the ball sometimes watching this game, but it's just a prelude to Sims getting the ball back with a short shot to make. 47-29.

Variation: Harris pulls down the rebound, comes back the other way. A three does not go down. They exchange possessions again, another M shot won't go; Petway can't control a rebound. NIU comes up the court and Jerret Smith goes diving over a table after it gets poked away. TV time-out.

NIU white guy runs around and makes it 47-31. We don't do anything with the ball on the other end, but NIU commits their 17th turnover. Harris comes up-court, bounces it off an NIU leg. Rand hits a jumper, 47-33. Udoh gets it low, draws the foul and gets the bucket. 49-33, after the +1 misses.

THe defense is a little looser and they make it 49-35. Udoh demolishes his man on the block, backing him down with a WHOMP. We get the finish; 51-35.

Foul on the shot, they hit both. On the other end, Sims jam, 53-37.

They try a Rip Hamilton Special from the foul line, but it's an airball. A quick shot on the other half misses for the maize and blue. They draw the foul on an arcing jumper they make. 53-40.

We're playing like this game is over, but it's only a 13-point lead. We turn the ball over, looking lackadaisical, but NIU carries the ball AGAIN. TV time-out.

NIU's starting point guard has missed four games with an unknown/undisclosed illness. "Almost mono-like symptoms". Best of wishes to Ryan Paradise on his recovery.

After a pair of offensive rebounds, C. Sims just knocks over his man to give himself the open shot, but he's called for the offensive foul. A Michigan steal lets D. Sims give Jevohn Shepherd a pretty-looking alley-oop that he converts, Petway-style. Nice. 55-40.

D. Sims is getting involved down low on the defense, swiping a pass out of bounds. Baseline, Petway is late shifting over and can't get a hand on the shot. 55-42. Exchange of steals. NIU throws it down the court, but they miss the layup. Back down the court under the basket to D. Sims, who finds Abram coming in for a lay-up. He misses the first attempt, but collects his own miss. 57-42.

Foul on the other end, they hit 1/2. Baker and Coleman are back in. Kicked ball by Pancratz. Baker doesn't get the benefit of the doubt when he goes up through traffic and misses. McKinney on the other end gets blanketed under the basket and is called for three seconds. Sims skies and makes it look easy. 59-43.

McKinney can't get it to go, and Michigan sets up the half-court. Petway is on the block, hits the shot, and draws the foul.

Air Georgia hits, making it 62-43. NIU misses the shot and goes out of bounds trying to collect the rebound. Our three-point shooting has been unfailingly ugly, and the Huskies turn it into a quick two with a runner off the glass on the other end.

Why we're not trying to bleed clock is beyond me, but a quick shot turns into a quick two and it's 62-47 with 1:54 left. NOW we slow it up, letting the shot clock tick down to nothing, even though we come away with nothing. The rebound comes back long, so the Huskies push it up and knock down a nice three. 62-50.

The crew mentions how our FG % defense is magnificent, but it takes a while to get to the TERRIBLE COMPETITION we've played. The students are singing "The Victors". Reed Baker hits a nice, wide-open three as the shot clock draws to nothing. 65-50.

Michigan gets the ball back quickly. With 18.7 seconds left, the Huskies foul Lester Abram, who hits both from the charity stripe. NIU hits a long, meaningless two to make the final 67-52.

---

The ESPN crew is painting a rosy picture for Michigan this season, but I'm not as convinced just yet. The start of the game was ugly, ugly, ugly until the subs came in. That might be a result of the level of competition we were playing, but we didn't blow them off the court. NIU isn't tournament-level competition, and they were able to hang around for a long time. Without the absolute gifts we received in the turnover column, it could've been bad. On the plus side, Abram seemed to have a better touch with the ball, and Courtney Sims got going pretty well in the second half. DeShawn Sims and Ekpe Udoh both looked like they'll be real building blocks for the future and they can give us quality minutes today. We'll know what kind of a team we really have when they go to UCLA next weekend.

UPDATE:   Holy bejeebus. OSU is just absolutely taking Cincy behind the woodshed. 42-14 at the half? Remember when the Bearcats were contenders for the NCAA title and the Buckeyes just kind of sucked? Yeah. Good times.

Hockey vs. Notre Dame

Well... That happened.

Michigan was buried 7-3 on Friday night by Notre Dame. Billy Sauer couldn't stop anything, Steve Jakiel didn't look much better, and the offense was off just enough to never make a game of it.

Yikes. There's not much to say about Sauer's performance. The first goal was an Osgood Special – the Irish cycled the puck back to the blue line, there was a shooting lane, and Sauer just whiffed. Terrible goal. Rebounds plagued him all night and were the proximal cause of two Notre Dame goals. The Irish got another off of a deflection and one off of a blocked shot that came back to a Notre Dame player.

After Sauer was lifted at the start of the third, Steve Jakiel came in and let a pair of goals go by, and they weren't particularly good ones. One was a deflection that beat him five-hole, and another was a backhand that went over his shoulder.

For the Irish, David Brown wasn't having a shut-down evening, but he was playing well. He stopped several quality chances for Michigan in the first period and was bailed out just as frequently by our own players missing opportunities or being just out of position to capitalize on mistakes. And any time we managed to get a goal, we gave it right back on the other side of the ice.

You can't blame the defense too much when the goalie gives up 5 on only 16 shots, but I wasn't impressed. Notre Dame is a much larger team than we are, and they were working our guys down low just about every time I cared to look. With Johnson out of the lineup (and Dest, even), we didn't have the size to match up with the Irish effectively. We made some nice hits, but those don't directly translate into physical play.

On Sunday, we went over to South Bend and turned in a better performance, but let a 3-2 lead slip away with two goals in the third. Now the team has three weeks to think about this sweep before the GLI.

The Michigan Difference...It's all about space

As a historian, I like anniversaries, and I want to celebrate a small but significant one in Michigan football blogdom...one of the greatest moments ever...I present to you

"Space, bitches. Space."

I loved this ad before. It was different from most university PSAs that run during college football games and I loved the use of the fight song. Then HSR correspondent Dave pointed us to this link, and well, it made it all the better. It also lead us to the glory that is Every Day Should Be Saturday, one of the single best college football blogs out there and living proof that we do not hate Florida fans!

Orson, Stranko, we thank you for giving our cadre of Michigan fans a catchphrase to know, use, and love, and for providing us with an exceptional read from an outsider.

Just one question: Can you make it into a shirt? And if not you guys, can we do it?

(P.S.: In looking back, learning that the command module is orbiting the earth the wrong way is a bit of a downer.)

Three small things

1). We'd like to thank Brian to linking to us. Praise from Caesar, as it were. (Seriously, we're really hyped about this. Oh and Brian, we're former MAC to your E3W, so we shared the same parent org back in the day.)

We'd also like to congratulate MGoBlog on the article mention on Deadspin. Even if not casting us as Michigan fans in the most positive light, I do think some of Brian's funniest writing of the year was highlighted and led to the creation of the "knifey" tag.

2). One of two mailbag items from the comments, since they were posed as questions-ish:

Jeff M. said...

I think if the Big Ten would man up and have a conference championship, we would not be having any of these discussions. The simple fact that UF played one more additional opponent who happened to be in the top 10 added to the allure.

OK, I have two problems with this statement:
a). "Man up?" Really? I've always thought of the conference championship games as money grabs by the conferences and networks. I'm sure that alluring showdown in the ACC Title Game was a great showcase for the ACC. It was even noted friend of HSR Joe as we were talking this weekend, ABC wasn't even telling you the teams and being more than a bit threatening to you if you asked.

ABC: "Live from Alltell Stadium, it's the ACC Title Game"

Us: "Who's playing?"

ABC: "It's not important!"

Us: "No, really, I don't even know, who's playing?"

ABC: "Never you mind, just watch!"

I'd also point out that while this year worked out very well for Florida, it could have just as easily sunk their season. Yes, they beat Arkansas, but if the Razorbacks and their 18 quarterbacks win that game, Florida's out and well...

b). Maybe I am alone in this, but I have done the math from every angle, so I'll throw it out to the masses.

The only way that the Big Ten could have a title game (which, I presume would be rotated among Lucas Oil Stadium, Paul Brown Stadium, Ford Field, Heinz Field, and Soldier Field, and maybe Lambeau.) is that it needs 12 teams. Now, we all know that the dream of Notre Dame is very very very very unlikely to come true, leaving very few viable and appropriate candidates, as far as I can tell, including, but not limited to Pittsburgh, Syracuse, and my favored idea, Miami University.

Come up with a logical and workable divisional setup for the Big Ten that preserves as many traditional rivalries as possible, minimizes travel for non-revenue sports, and does not overload one division.

On the plus side, almost any setup I can see involves Ohio State having to play Wisconsin this season, which would have been interesting.

3). Brad said...

I don't remember any Manning campaigning for Nebraska in Jan 1998.... are you sure you aren't thinking of Scott Frost and his "who would you rather play?" nonsense?

No, I do remember the Scott Frost thing, but I swear that Manning, in his post-game press conference started out with something along the lines of "If that isn't the best team in the country, I don't know what is..." and continued just the praise of the Huskers for a while after that. I double checked the emails I have from 1998 about this and it does seem like it was the case. I have been wrong before though, so...If anyone can point me one way or another on this one, I'd appreciate it.

Michigan: Still #1 Among States That Shouldn't Be Expelled From The

A Special Report from our Pacific Northwest Correspondent.

Michigan: Still #1 Among States That Shouldn't Be Expelled From The Union For Gross Electoral Incompetence

Watching USC-UCLA and Florida-Arkansas last Saturday led me to understand a little better the range of emotions that a Plano East fan must have gone through in the epic 1994 game against John Tyler. It's not quite the same - I didn't done wet my britches - but it makes for a startlingly close comparison.

Start of the day, Michigan is way behind. UCLA takes a 7-0 lead, Plano East scores a TD. Dang gum it! UCLA kicks a field goal, goes up 10-9, Plano East recovers an onside kick. Eric McNeal makes that brilliant pick of John David Booty, Plano scores again. Aaron Perez delivers the clutchest punt eva, oh my God we've recovered another onside kick. Yee haw! USC goes down, we're back in this thing.

Switch over to Florida-Arkansas. Chris Leak throws an interception, another touchdown for Plano East. Arkansas scores, making it 17-14, Plano recovers yet another onside kick. Holy f--k yes, a shovel pass picked off and returned for a m-----f--kin' touchdown? Holy c--p, Plano East's done it! They've come from behind. Break out those celebratory Oreos, somehow we pulled this one out.

And then...

No, no, NO, NO, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Reggie Fish, no! I can't believe this, I cannot believe this! No no no no no....

Then the Plano East-John Tyler game ends, and somewhere an announcer says "We now return to our regularly scheduled programming, currently in progress." Following the football, it's the Rush Limbaugh Show. Oh c--p! Where's the remote? I CAN'T FIND IT! So for a hour we're stuck with inane, unsupported, ramblings passing for analysis.

Everything's going great in Iraq! The SEC is the best conference in America! Democrats don't represent real Americans! "Michigan is a second place team." Nobody wants to see a rematch! Nobody could have imagined the Shi'ites and Sunnis would start fighting each other!

And on and on like that Rush would go for hours, just like Gary Danielson did.

If only we'd had video of Gary Danielson mocking Parkinson's patients or clips of Lee Corso calling someone "m-c-c-," maybe we could have politicked things in our favor. (To be honest, I'm surprised Lee Corso's never accidentally said m-c-c- when trying to say Michigan.)

Right now, it looks like the Gators are headed for the same fate as Rush Limbaugh and the GOP in the midterm elections. If the analogy holds, they'll be saying that even though they were utterly destroyed, they only lost because Ohio State was playing SEC-style football. And next fall it'll be more of the same, both in football and politics - important questions being decided not based on what's best, but on who can yell the loudest.