Hey at least its worth something

Another thing I picked up from EDSBS, some calculation that calculates how much your blog is worth, not sure how.

My blog is worth $1,129.08.
How much is your blog worth?

Good one Florida

The guys from EDSBS have a great picture up, for those of you that don't read it you're missing out, here's the post.

The picture is too good I have to post it here as well:


A lot of great college football on yesterday even though I had to work fortunately I got back in time for most of the 2nd half of Michigan and also saw the unbelievable UCLA comeback, and I thought Michigan was going to give me a heart attack.

Way to go idiot

Well last night I had a couple Scoresby on the rocks and was just chillin and before I went to bed I had this great idea for a post today. I got to work finished most of the stuff I have to do in the morning and here I am, struggling to remember what was such a great idea last night that I completely forgot it. So there's a lot to discuss and it's just going to be all completely random.

Michigan takes on Northwestern this week and I think it shows you the confidence I have in our program when I am definitely afraid of this game. I'm still holding out hope that the ghost of Yost or Crisler can take over Coach Carr and his staff and maybe pull out a W for us tomorrow but I doubt it. This defense is just not good and Northwestern should have their way with us however they want probably through slow death by Tyrell Sutton. Granted Northwestern hasn't shown to have that great of defense this year but I have a better chance of scoring with Beyonce than we have of putting up the 45+ necessary to win in a shootout, although I am always glad to be proved wrong in these instances. This team was supposed to be extremely explosive this year on offense with the Henne and Hart combo returning but have yet to resemble anything close to what was expected. This O was the one that was to lead us back to Pasadena but thanks to LLLoyd ball that didn't work out.

Speaking of which there's been a lot of posts on the other Michigan blogs about how this team has made it so that we're not happy that we've won but that we're just relieved that we haven't lost. There's one here from Ronald Bellamy's Underachieving All-Stars which sort of explains how I feel. Instead of celebrating the win, I just dwell on what we did wrong and how lucky we were to pull out the win, partly because I've become accustomed to losing games we shouldn't and barely winning when we should blow a team out which seems to have become the Michigan way. Last time we had a streak like this was in the mid-90's when people started saying the M in Michigan stood for mediocrity but then the greatest college football player ever came out and lead us to a National Championship but I don't see anyone like that in our near future the way our national reputation keeps taking hits left and right. I'll stop it here before I start getting more depressed and begin to cry uncontrollably at work.

Onto more happier Michigan topics, the hockey team is currently #1 in the country and coming off a tie with Michigan State last Saturday. They have yet to show any games on TV that I can get from my satellite so I can't really comment on it but I'll just say this makes me very happy and hopefully we can bring back another title to Ann Arbor since everyone but our Football team seems to be able to do it.

Basketball is around the corner too, College and Pro which also gets me very excited. The squad this year looks to make a good run, which is what I've been telling people for the past 5 years, which my old roommate James can attest to. Every single year I came into basketball season saying this is the year we turn the corner and make our way back but every year some shit happens and it never does. Please let this be the year, football has been a disappointment and it'd be nice if a team could be a surprise, especially one that I've put as much effort into as our basketball program. It's great to see the Maize Rage continue to get bigger and bigger and if you were around my freshman year you would be amazed at how bad the games used to be. If we can stay healthy for once I expect great things from this team, I believe in Coach Amaker and the players to restore the pride and tradition back to Michigan Basketball.


The NBA starts in less than a week and I am definitely pumped for that as well. I've got some great seats to the Home Opener next Thursday against the Suns and I cannot wait for the season to start. People hate on the Lakers all they want but when Phil and Kobe lead this team to a title in a few years that will definitely be the most satisfying one of all.

Jumaine Jones was traded for a future 2nd rounder the other day and although JJ was a decent player at times last year it's definitely a move that needed to be made. I like it for a few reasons, one we move out another 3 that we didn't need, two it gives us Charlotte's 2nd round pick which should be a pretty high one and third it allows us to keep another one of the younger kids since it opens up a roster spot, as mentioned before I expect Smush to make the team but this now opens up a spot for Devin Green or Tony Bobbitt possibly to make the squad now as well. There is also a rumor that Sasha will be going down to the NBDL which I definitely agree with because I think he sucks and he needs to show that he can actually play, I also think that Von Wafer should be sent down there as well. I think the Lakers will hover around 500 this year and make it in as around a 7 seed and get knocked out in the first round. This team still is not that good but I'd be more than glad to eat crow on this one. I hope Andrew Bynum can develop somewhat quickly and that Kwame Brown proves everyone wrong about his lack of game. This is my favorite time of the year as we get to the heart of college football and add in the NBA and then college basketball as well.

As always, Go Blue!

Celebration gone a little too far?

Picks of the Week

Well my 3 out of 5 streak continued as Northern Illinois and Vanderbilt covered as did the UCLA-Oregon State over. This week's picks are as follows:

Ohio State -4 @ Minnesota

The Gophers are not that good, and although the Buckeyes aren't as great as advertised I expect them to roll easily. The LB corps of the fucknuts will keep Maroney and Russell in check and I wouldn't expect Cupito to beat them through the air. Word is Ted Ginn is getting in some CB work this week.

Texas @ Oklahoma State Over 58

Although Texas has shown to be a dominant team and has covered every game this year, if I remember that right, the spread for this game at 37 is too high for me to want to mess with even though Oklahoma State is awful. I do expect a lot of points though and probably they will cover easily but I hate making picks with spreads that big because some garbage TD at the end of the game could screw you over.

Missouri -5 @ Kansas

Brad Smith is rippin it and showing the skills that made people consider him a Heisman contender a year or two ago. He is very underrated since other mobile QB's Vince Young and Reggie McNeal are also in his conference but I expect him to have another big game and the Tigers to take down the Jayhawks.

Miami (OH) - 22 @ Temple

Temple is awful, Miami of Ohio is pretty decent with Josh Betts and Ryne Robinson I'll make this pick based on that alone, pretty much everyone has covered versus Temple except the two times I bet on them thanks Toledo and Miami, maybe my luck will change with the other Miami playing them.

Western Michigan -7 vs Kent State

Greg Jennings is a monster, for those of you that don't know on the year he has 69 catches for 897 yards and 11 TD's. Last week they destroyed a Omar Jacob-less Bowling Green team and couple that with the fact that Kent State has one win this year only against SE Missouri St., a I-AA team I believe so the Broncos should take this one easy.

Week 9 Poll

Here we go finally the change up top, as good as USC's offense is their D is just not there, to allow that many points to Washington is just unacceptable. I used to be of the theory that you're #1 until you're beaten but Texas is just destroyin fools.

1. Texas - Vince Young has finally put it all together, this team is just nasty, unless the computers screw them I expect them in Pasadena.

2. USC - Reggie Bush, OMG what a stud. Still think this continually weakening defense will cost them a game somewhere along the line, maybe Cal, can't forget Fresno State lurking, Pat Hill has always wanted a game like this and he's got it.

3. Virginia Tech - Ron New Mexico looked shaky, with their upcoming SOS they could jump up but I don't think they can make it through their gauntlet unscathed.

4. Georgia - Losing DJ Shockley probably means goodbye to National Championship talk but who knows can Joe Tereshinski pull off a shocker?

5. Alabama - this D is ridiculous, and the O just makes enough plays to get by, they've got two functional DNP's upcoming but the ending schedule is just brutal.

6. UCLA - finally they start off decent and blow out a team they should have. The Drew and Drew combo of Olson and Maurice is putting up comparable numbers to the glamour kids of South Central.

7. Miami - everyone forgot about them after they lost to Florida State but they will have a big say down the stretch as they play Virginia Tech and possibly the ACC Championship.

8. LSU - their WR's are just awful dropping all those passes, lucky for them Jon Vaughn is even worse.

9. Notre Dame - the hangover was still evident early on but Brady Quinn is on fire and Maurice Stovall finally shows why I wanted Michigan to get him so bad when he was being recruited.

10. Florida State - it was Duke.

11. Penn St. - holy crap 63 points, in one game??? This isn't the same Penn St we've grown up watching.

12. Ohio St. - Indiana is slightly tougher this year but it's still Indiana.

13. Boston College - finally a Thursday night game that really matters, Sweet!

14. Oregon - still on a roll but losing Clemens for the year will hurt, we'll see how Dixon does as the full time starter.

15. Florida - the cocktail party awaits for Chris Leak's chance at redeeming himself to the Florida fanbase.

16. Northwestern - dismantled Sparty, couldn't they have scored one more TD to cover the over? I am very afraid of this upcoming Saturday night.

Exhausted

Due to the amount of work I've had I can't seem to get over being sick for the past month and its really annoying. Didn't help that I had a full day on Saturday causing me to miss college football. I was planning on ordering Gameplan online to watch Michigan play but to spite me even more our internet connection was busted all day on Saturday so I was forced to call my brother 37 times at 9 am before he woke up and then proceeded to give me play by play on the phone for the 2nd half of the game.

Fortunately we got the W, but this team is going to give me a heart attack soon with all these close games. Jerome Jackson stepped up big time and it's players like him that I love about Michigan. When Hart, Grady and Martin took places on the depth chart ahead of him he didn't complain or even switch positions, he stuck it out at RB and he ended up being one of the heroes of the game. It was also great to see Pierre Woods and John Thompson step up when needed and can't forget about Jake Long coming back a few weeks early from his rehab, glad to have him back for the stretch run.

After working another ridiculous long week including Saturday, came home and watched the end of the LSU-Auburn game along with part of the UCLA-Oregon St. game. Then took a power nap as we waited for people to show up at my house, once Domski and Gladney came over we watched the Michigan game as we had all missed it since ABC west coast decided to show the UNLV-Utah game later in the afternoon instead, who are the idiots that run ABC that decide that people would actually watch that game? After watching the game started drinking and did that the whole night eventually hitting up some karaoke as well. Passed out since I was so exhausted and woke up to finally go eat some Pho. Spent Sunday just resting the whole day napping and watching football and the Lakers preseason game.

The Lakers looked better than we saw last time, Smush Parker had another good game, I expect we will keep him around and I also liked what I saw from Tony Bobbitt as he was hot shooting the ball, but not sure we will have roster space to keep him around. Kwame Brown showed flashes of being great at times and then also we were reminded of his shortcomings, especially when he got bitched by Emeka Okafor. I didn't really watch this game as in depth considering I was so tired and I was also flipping between it and the World Series.

So I sit here at 9pm on Monday night still at work and stuck here for another couple hours, debating on getting a PSP, which I am now leaning towards so I could use it here at work when I have some down time and I need to reward myself somewhat for working like this constantly. However the bad news of my constant sickness/work is my lack of being able to work out. In March I had lost 50 pounds since I started working out the previous June. Once I hit that 50 point which is halfway to my goal I decided to take a break, which I did by going to Vegas and and doing other fun stuff. Problem is I have constantly worked out until I moved to the warehouse a couple months ago and nothing else had changed. Granted it was good since I have been working out with a trainer along with my brother and I did lose 3% body fat but weight wise I am still the same and these are the frustrating times which have always doomed my continued road towards weight loss. I'm trying to gain control of it because I would be extremely pissed at myself if I once again lost a bunch of weight only to gain it back so I am trying to be more careful but being sick doesn't help since I feel like I need to eat to get better. Enough with that rant, hopefully I get out of work soon tonight and for those that haven't been to Jason Mulgrew's site or you can get the non-fancy version here, it is by far the funniest blog I have ever read, there are times I have to restrain myself from laughing outloud in the office. It's a site that I say that Alex King or Dennis Yoon could have had but they got lost along the way as both of them used to have great sites but have given up on posting anymore. Hope I can get better and live through these next two weeks because we have so much work I have no weekend this upcoming weekend so all of you going off to Halloween parties or Chicago for the Michigan-Northwestern game, I hate you all. Just remember if you're having a bad time "Hey, Kenny's actually still at work now, at least I'm not him" and have a laugh at my expense and I hope you feel better, assholes. Until next time Go Blue!

Picks for Week 9

I really need to stick to straight bets as I am now 6-4 since I started making picks two weeks ago. I was right on the Ohio St, Oklahoma and Nebraska while missed covering on LSU and was just straight wrong on Virginia - Florida St. So here's my 5 picks of the week for this week:

Northern Illinois -10 @ Kent State

NIU has two great RB's in Wolfe and Harris and have played a lot of teams very tough this year, including the near upset of Northwestern when Coach Joe Novak decided to go for two at the end of regulation as opposed to playing for OT. Kent State has had problems all year long and I don't see it stopping here, the Huskies in a rout.

Michigan State @ Northwestern - Over 70

Both squads known for their offense and not their defense, neither D can stop the other O so it should be another Northwestern shootout, like the ones they've had all year long.

Oregon State @ UCLA - Over 64.5

It's the Pac 10, UCLA has scored 40 or more 5 of their 6 games and Oregon State has put up 30+ in 5 of their 6, 40+ in 4 of 6 so I expect them both to light up the scoreboard.

Arizona State -9.5 @ Stanford

Stanford is awful, they lost to a I-AA team this season and Arizona State can light up the board at any given moment. I expect Keller to have a big day and the Sun Devils to take this one going away.

Vanderbilt +8 @ South Carolina

Both teams have been struggling but I don't think Vandy is as bad as they've shown the past few weeks. Jay Cutler was named preseason All-SEC QB for a reason and I think he starts living up to that again this week.

Speaking of Being a Hardcore Fan

This guy had a got 30 years in jail and he wouldn't accept that, he wanted 33 years because his favorite player is Larry Bird. Talk about fan loyalty.

Speaking of which there's a quiz up at Warren St. John's page about being a fan, you can take it here. I finished reading his book last week but haven't gotten around to writing about it since end of the month is upon us and I've got a shitload of work to do but it's a book I definitely recommend.

Week 8 Poll

It was a tough decision up top but I still stuck with USC there as much as I hate to do it.

1. USC - lucky cheating bastards, I thought only Notre Dame got away with stuff like that at Notre Dame.

2. Texas - sure the Big XII is down but still impressive.

3. Virginia Tech - DNP

4. Georgia - not that impressive against Vandy but the teams behind them did nothing to make me drop them.

5. Alabama - barely pulled out the win in Oxford, doubt they can keep this up.

6. Miami - might as well have been a bye with Temple but they keep rolling along.

7. UCLA - wanted to bump them up but just could not after they fell behind Washington State by 21.

8. LSU - picked up the W versus Florida and that's all I can say, missed this one completely, not even highlights.

9. Notre Dame - should have won that game and as much as I thought they weren't that good when they beat us, they are, Coach Weis is doing his thing.

10. Florida State - I guess it's the curse of the year ending in 5 in Charlottesville.

11. Texas Tech - this is where the drop off begins, I don't think they're this good but there's no one else I could put here.

12. Penn State - come back to earth after their great start, will probably lose another game or two since Williams is gone for the year and Norwood is hurt as well.

13. Ohio State - if not for the sparties blunder at the end of the first half they probably lose this one, not nearly as impressive as initially thought.

14. Boston College - pulled off the comeback versus Wake Forest, no it wasn't basketball.

15. Oregon - can't find anyone else to put here, they've got their one loss to USC and getting W's, the best team outside of So Cal in the Pac 10.

16. Auburn - have put it back to gether after the season opening loss to Ga Tech.

Big Games to watch this week: Texas-Texas Tech, LSU - Auburn, Alabama - Tennessee

What a weekend

Update's been overdue but I was up north this past weekend followed by a bunch of work to do once I got back to the office so where to begin. Trip up north was good, hit up the bars on Friday night with James, Mike and some of his friends and crashed at James place since we had to stay in the city for Saturday morning and the Michigan game. Got to the game a little late but it didn't matter since for some unknown reason ABC decides to continually be run by a bunch of monkeys who kept showing the Texas Tech game even though they were up 30 or more with a few minutes left.

Like I said I love Michigan and I always will but due to our lack of success this year I decided to switch things up a bit. When I first got to Michigan I was extremely superstitious. This included exactly what I wore when I went to and watched games on TV. This included my Michigan Football shirt I bought when I was a freshman/sophomore in high school. My Jarrett Irons #37 jersey which I got my sophomore year of high school and then I had to wear the exact same shoes every time as well my Allen Iverson "The Question" sneakers. Somehow this evolved into some other things that I would never do such as drink the night before or during the game. Also not eating until after the game was done. Don't ask me how I picked those up I have no idea but it just kept rolling along. It didn't help during my sophomore year when my shoes of choice for the season were the And 1 shoes that had just came out that were laceless. During the summer I wore these without socks so that's how I started that season and it really hurt when at the end of November I was in the Horseshoe with shoes but no socks up in the top corner and freezing my toes off. The no food also hurt during my sophomore year when we played both Illinois and Northwestern in night games meaning I didn't eat until 9 pm or so.

Anyways, the whole point of that was I have a lot of superstitions but this year since nothing seems to work I decided to switch a lot of stuff up on Saturday. First I actually wore a hat and second I changed shirts this week and finally I had enough so I decided to have a beer or three during the game for the first time. At the bar we went to, the Michigan group was in the front corner and the middle had a bunch of Notre Dame fans so it was fun to see as everyone is cheering for their respective games. I stood in the back section so I could have a good view of multiple games.

Luckily we won so I was extremely happy afterwards and my Mario Manningham preseason prediction is making me look like a genius, well in my eyes anyways. It was great to win but there are still problems with this program which must be taken care of. The game should have been finished with the Leon Hall INT but instead of trying to score, for some bright reason Coach Carr decided he needed to make Penn State burn timeouts which doesn't matter as much in college since the clock stops at every first down. By continuing the conservative play calling the game was almost lost once Robinson scored the TD with less than a minute to play.

Mario Manningham burning Justin King was just sweet, for all the recruitniks like me it was even sweeter to see. For those that don't know Justin King was a very highly recruited CB from Pennsylvania. We were looking very good except that Justin's stepfather went to Penn State and in the end that won out. Super Mario deserves to take #1 next year or at least some other number because #86 just doesn't look right. Jamar Hornsby, a very highly regarded WR/S from Florida was in for his official visit and has stated that the coaches told him he could get #1 so if that's the case then who knows but Super Mario definitely has my vote for the jersey next year, NCAA Football 2006 already gave it to him.

After the celebration headed out to Kenny's place for our fantasy basketball draft as well as more drinking since it was Kenny's Birthday. While getting to Kenny's place I had my basketball folder out making picks with Mike as he was on the phone and I still had all my bags with me as well it was probably weird for people to see me walking down the street with two bags, holding a folder writing and checking off names while I'm yelling at Mike who to draft. Once at Kenny's place the draft was almost halfway done so we decided to cut it off for then to start drinking and also watch the end of the UCLA-Washington State game, the Bruins pulled off another late comeback win and kept their undefeated season alive. After that we played some poker and then went back to Mike's house to watch Sportscenter a few times for the highlights and then crashed to get ready for the Raiders on Sunday.

Got to Oakland to watch the Raiders take on the Chargers and we came up with some dope ass seats thanks to Craigs list, right on the 40 yard line. Although the Raiders got beat, again, it was fun going to the game and always great watching the Raiderettes. Afterwards hit up Everett & Jones, home of the best BBQ I have ever had, if you're up north you need to go get it, by far one of the best meals I have ever had. Came home on Sunday night to watch the last few minutes of the game again and just crashed. It's getting to end of the month so I don't have as much time to update as I would like to. Looks like we're open on Saturday too so there goes the morning games at least, gotta figure out someway to watch the game, maybe order the Gameplan online or something.

The Other side of Recruiting

As many people who know me, or others that love college football, Recruiting has become a year round event that we follow. It's a constant cycle as there is summer recruiting and camps during the off season to help us keep busy when there is no football there is the season where recruits come in for official visits up until signing day in February when letters of intent are signed, after wards the cycle continues again because as soon as signing day ends the focus then turns to the juniors who become seniors of the summer and so on and so on. I started following recruiting closely once I was admitted to the University of Michigan in early 1999. Somehow I stumbled upon The Wolverine, which is slightly different than the current site but that's a whole different story. Anyways after I found this site I was hooked. Being the sports junkie that I am it was a never ending cycle and I loved it, as there's the anticipation of finding out if we made a player's top 5, if we eventually land a commitment, it's like another sport as you win when you get commitments but lose when they commit to other schools. But it's not all fun and games as I have learned throughout following this. There are real kids lives at stake and there are many stories out there about scholarship offers not being honored, being pulled at the last minute before signing day and a lot of these stories are not known to the general public. The reason I'm talking about this today is because I found a story on Justin Forsett, the current backup California Golden Bear running back who is 9th in the nation in Yards Per Game and 3rd in the nation in Yards Per Carry. He was actually initially slated to go to Notre Dame, but he was a backup plan just strung along until ND picked up commitments from Darius Walker and Justin Hoskins so he was without a school since it was so late in the process and not many schools had spots left for him. Luckily there was one at Cal and he got his chance.

Then there is USC, everyone who knows me knows I do not like them one bit and because they are the current back to 1/2 back National Champions they have more leeway than other schools regarding this. USC has done this on more than one occation with Michael Bumpus a WR who ended up at Washington State and Sekeli Faaeteete who signed with California. Both had offers which they accepted and verbally committed to USC, only to have these offers pulled at the last minute. There is also current Michigan Wolverine Eugene Germany who had a similar situation with the USC coaching staff. He initially committed and signed with USC over Michigan only to have the USC coaches continually make excuses about not getting him eligible. First he had problems with his grades so they asked him to take a greyshirt and go to junior college to make up some grades which he did. For those that don't know a greyshirt is when a player commits one year in advance and comes to school the next semester. So in this example Germany was a 2004 signee and was supposed to enroll in Fall 2004 and become a part of USC's class that year, however because he was greyshirting he would now enter into January 2005 and become a part of USC's class in 2005. He agreed to do this and when it came for 2005 so he could be eligible and participate in Spring Practice to get ready for the 2005 season he was told again to go back to junior college for some other classes at which point he had enough and ended up coming to Michigan as a part of their 2005 class. These kind of shady dealings that the Trojans have cannot last as sooner or later, hopefully sooner, this type of behavior will come back and bite them in the ass as it should. It is completely wrong how they have handled these situations and just adds to the reason I can't stand those dirty condoms and their fake ass "fans."

Picks of the week

Well after starting off my picks with a above 500 record lets see if I can keep it up so here are the games of note this week.

Ohio State (-6.5) vs. Michigan State

I was never sold on the Sparties and I expected Ohio State to be better and I expect they will this week since Stanton & co. come down to the Horseshoe. Michigan State hasn't faced a D like OSU and I think the Bucknuts will not allow Stanton to run wild. I expect the poisionous nuts to take the game with a defensive TD.

Oklahoma (-6) vs. Kansas

Granted Oklahoma stinks this year but Kansas? It's less than a TD against the Jayhawks which I expect the Sooners to easily handle. After getting run out of Dallas by the Longhorns I think the Sooners come back fired up and blow out the Jayhawks and make all their fans wish that basketball season could get here sooner.

Nebraska (-2) vs. Baylor

In another one of the what is wrong with the line picks, which makes me wonder what the hell does Vegas know that I don't, Nebraska is a 2 point favorite versus Baylor. Now I think Nebraska is not nearly as good as people are making them out to be but come on this is Baylor. Huskers roll easy.

Florida State (-7) vs. Virginia

Normally this is the point of the year where Virginia brings in an inflated undefeated record into the Florida State game and get trounced. Except for the fact this year they don't even have that cupcake 5-0 record to fall back on. Florida State looks extremely good up to this point of the year, I thought the win over Miami was just a fluke but they look like they are for real. Expect the Seminoles big over the Cavaliers.

LSU (-6) vs. Florida

Les Miles gets a chance to redeem himself after the Llloyd job he pulled a couple weeks ago versus Tennessee. I don't have anything to say except I just have this feeling that LSU will win. We'll see if I'm right.

Basketball is Back

To help keep my mind off the pain that has becoming watching/thinking about Michigan football all day every day luckily the NBA is back and I got to watch the Lakers take on the Warriors late last night. Since the game was in Hawaii it was a 10 pm start here on the west coast and although I was planning to go to sleep at halftime I just couldn't do it with it being such a close 1 point game at halftime. In the end the Lakers pulled out the victory 101-93 over the Golden State Warriors. Since it was the first preseason game I can't be too harsh on them but there were a lot of things that I saw that I did like.

Of course the Lakers begin with Kobe Bryant who looked very good last night. He had 28 on the night, 20 by halftime, and I really liked how they used him on the wing more and he did not have to dominate the ball to get his. William "Smush" Parker, a player who I really wanted the Lakers to get out of college, got the starting nod at PG and played pretty good and I think he will make the team, granted not the best time to make a prediction after only one preseason game but I'll go out on a limb. He had some moments on defense where he looked good and others where he tried to force it and got numerous fouls called on him since he is a young 'un and he will not get the benefit of the doubt compared to the veterans. Smush also had a decent day on the offensive end going 4-6 from the field with 1-3 from behind the arc.

Lamar Odom had a pretty good night as well as he took over the game at the end to lead the Laker charge as they pulled away. He ended up with 16 points and played a lot more on the perimeter. Lamar also played more of the "point-forward" role that had been talked about during the off season as he was the primary ball handler up the floor on multiple occasions and I definitely liked seeing that. Devean George was solid off the bench and I think as long as he is not used as a starter he can be a valuable contributor to this team. Aaron McKie got some run and was decent, glad to have some veteran presence on the team.

Then there's Kwame Brown, the major acquisition of the Lakers this off season and he'll get an incomplete from me for this game since it was cut short as he got cut under the eye and had to receive 7 stitches. He showed some flashes but nothing much to get excited about yet as I want to see some more action from him before I say anything. Jumaine Jones had a bad game and as always Medvedenko and Vujacic looked awful while Brian Cook had a decent game with 10 points but it's still really early so we shall wait and see. It was great to see the Purple and Gold back on the court and it's going to be an exciting year, I think we do make the playoffs this year but don't do much, either get knocked out in the first or if we're lucky 2nd round but I don't expect more than that.

Speaking of other basketball stuff, Scoop Jackson wrote a great piece on the Fab Five on espn.com that you should read. Especially for Michigan fans, it brings me back to the time, although I was extremely young as I remember watching the Fab Five and the beginning of my catching the Michigan bug as the Fab Five and Desmond Howard were some of the earliest sports memories I have and is always my answer when people ask me "Why did you come to Michigan all the way from California?" I always loved Michigan back then and it made my college decision that much easier. Although Brent Petway aka Air Georgia is academically ineligible for the first semester, I still expect big things from Coach Amaker and co this year as all the pieces are in place to make a run. I am definitely excited to see the new freshmen this year as they will be needed as well.

One of the greatest Punt Returns Ever

Devin Hester is back here is his punt return versus Duke this past week. This shit is so crazy I can't even do it justice by explaining it. Too bad it got called back for a penalty either way just sit back and enjoy.

Week 7 Poll

Here we go:

1. USC - once again slept through the first half but still managed to win easily, wait they didn't cover though! Big test on Saturday having to head to South Bend.

2. Texas - Mack Brown finally beats Bob Stoops when it counts, with A&M looking like garbage their road to finish unbeaten looks even easier

3. Virginia Tech - allowed Marshall to hang around but still took care of business in the end.

4. Georgia - looking better and better and making me look at least halfway intelligent by keeping them this high when others dropped them for subpar performances after the Boise shellacking.

5. Alabama - DNP

6. Florida St. - with that D and Weatherford as a functional QB could be a collision course with Va Tech on Dec. 3rd

7. Miami - might as well have not played it was Duke.

8. Penn State - made me look like an idiot calling last week an easy Ohio St win, I still don't think they are all that great and although we look like garbage wouldn't surprise me if we pulled it out at the Big House.

9. Notre Dame - Touchdown Charlie gets his week off to prepare for USC, will see how for real they are on Saturday.

10. UCLA - huge win over Cal, 2nd week in a row Olson has led them on a late game winning drive, Maurice Jones-Drew movin up the charts for Heisman consideration, most underrated player in the country IMO.

11. LSU - had a tough time with Vandy early on before realizing this was still the same Vanderbilt team that has lost to MTSU 4 years in a row.

12. Ohio St. - not as good as advertised, maybe Ted Ginn isn't getting the same car trade in plan that Clarett was getting.

13. Florida - rebounded to take care of Mississippi State easy but Chris Leak still isn't showing much, maybe those writers knew something we didn't when they made Jay Cutler preseason All-SEC.

14. California - lost a close one they should have taken care of but special teams allowing Jones-Drew to run amok lost it for them. Also, Ayoob not quite yet ready to lead the team from behind.

15. Boston College- took care of UVA and luckily Kiwi is ok after that blatant cheap shot on him, Butler should be suspended for the rest of the season.

16. Texas Tech - beat an overrated Nebraska team on the road, although I think they might be as well they are still unbeaten and are ready to head to Austin in two weeks.

Dropped out: Tennessee (only team in the country that was more overrated than Michigan heading into this season) and Wisconsin (not very good either).

On the watch list: Louisville, Colorado, Auburn, Oregon.

Hell Yeah It's Finally Here!!!

For those that don't know the greatness of Portillos it is finally arrived in Southern California and in Buena Park real close to home to make it even better. Portillos is chain from Chicago and has some of the best food on earth. Cannot beat the Italian Beef with Hot Peppers along with their Hot Dogs and if you're really feeling great you can top it off with the best tasting Chocolate Cake Ever! It opens tomorrow and I'm definitely there.

When will this nightmare end?

I don't even know where to begin with what transpired over the weekend. Once again we kept a team around that shouldn't have been and it came to bite us in the ass. We score a TD at the end of the first half only to allow Minnesota to drive down THROWING the ball and score one right before the end of the half to cut the lead to 3. The inability of our D to stop the run and most importantly constantly having to kick FG's instead of scoring TD's in the red zone. I have never been so frustrated watching Michigan football and the sad thing is I don't see it ending anytime soon. Our program is in the dark ages as no one will make adjustments and we definitely do not use our talent to its fullest. Until changes are made up top this will not change. Even if we do not make a bowl game, a possibility that becomes more and more likely by the day nothing will happen, maybe an assistant coach or two will be let go but nothing else will take place of substance that will change our program for the better. I feel like I'm in some Twilight zone parallel universe where everything is the same except college football is just not going the way it should for me. Bring back every traditional power but throw Michigan in the shitter.

After the game I went to my room and just sat there while my friends were all waiting for me to come back out so we could head off to the Rose Bowl for the UCLA - California game. For some reason and I'm not afraid to admit it, I just lost it again and started crying. To some people it's just a game and they don't understand it. Some people jump on and off the bandwagon as they please and don't really care when they lose I on the otherhand fall into that category of people on this planet that have their life revolve around their football team. It used to be Michigan and the Raiders but once I got to college it just transferred over to Michigan and that's it, I still watch the Raiders and am happy to see them do good and get upset when they lose but when Michigan loses, which is far too often for a program of our stature and talent I just lose it. I eventually composed myself and headed out to the Rose Bowl to which I was treated to an amazing game but it still did nothing for me. The rest of the night, which was supposed to be a great time as it was a mini-reunion with my friends from high school just turned into me at a bar in a seat drinking and thinking to myself what has gone wrong with this team and this program? On top of that everyone I talk to knows since I am the resident Michigan fan, what's happened and I have to try to give them a decent response without going off into a tirade. This season is lost and no one else can deny that. This team has 3 losses, two in conference play and honestly wouldn't surprise me if we only won the Indiana game the rest of the year to finish 4-7. But one thing will stay true this weekend. I will be up in the Bay Area this weekend but I will be watching the Michigan - Penn State game cheering my ass off for this team because that's what I do and will always do until the day that I die cause I am a Wolverine for Life and no one will ever take that away from me.

Wow over 500 for once

Well what do you know the first weekend I don't bet on college football and I post picks I'm actually more right than wrong. I hit on Texas, UCLA and Georgia, while Texas Tech didn't cover and I was way off on Penn State but nobody's perfect.

After I watched in horror the end of the Michigan game headed up to the Rose Bowl with the group of people I got my mini plan for UCLA with but since we had Mike and Richie come along we had my brother and his friends drive separately so we could hang out with Brad in Pasadena afterwards, turned out to be not that great of an idea since some stupid bitch rear ended Steven and they barely made it to the game on time. Since I was so distraught with the Michigan game as soon as I parked at the Golf Course I immediately started downing the beers, and got pretty drunk pretty quick since it was about 8 I downed within an hour and a half span and headed into the Rose Bowl.

It's still pitiful to see that they cannot sell out the Rose Bowl for a matchup between two unbeatens in the top 20 but that's how LA is a bandwagon town and at least it was respectable as 84,000+ showed up, unlike that Oklahoma game earlier in the year. Although he hasn't done as much running the ball this year, a troubling development, it was still the Maurice Jones-Drew show. 299 yards all purpose with 5 TD's is just ridiculous, think of those fantasy numbers! I still stand by my statement that he is the most underrated player in the country. He may be small and he may not be the fastest but he makes plays. I'll take him on my team any day, he knows what it takes to win (the streak at De La Salle), and is just flat out a football player.

Coming into the game I thought that it would come down to Ayoob having to make plays since I didn't expect Lynch/Forsett to run at will against the LA defense, turns out the running part was wrong. But when it came down to it Ayoob made a terrible decision, as I expected him to some point in the game, and it sealed the deal for UCLA. It was a big win for LA but still there are many questions that must be answered before they meet up with USC late in the year. If Forsett/Lynch can run for 300+ on them what will the Bush/White combo do? What is wrong with the running game as Jones-Drew has now only rushed for 99 yards in the past two games? Hopefully those will be answered in time for the showdown at the Coliseum.

UCLA has had starts like this in the past and collapsed down the stretch but I don't think it happens this year. Dorrell has a great OC in Tom Cable that is doing a hell of a job and these Bruins know that they can compete with anyone, they took USC down to the wire last year and the kids believe they can do it. Drew Olson is an experienced QB that has now made 2 come from behind wins on the last drive in consecutive weeks and this is a confident team right now. That Arizona State game looked like a tough test but doesn't look as tough of a game as it did two weeks ago.

After the game went out to Pasadena with all the guys and had a couple drinks while I was still sulking in the wake of the Michigan loss, after we got home there was a debate over why I was a neutral fan during the game while my brother decided to become a full fledged Golden Bear. I was neutral because I like both teams and programs and definitely like certain players on each side (DeSean Jackson and Marshawn Lynch on Cal, Marcedes Lewis and Maurice Jones-Drew on UCLA). My brother rooted straight out for Cal because he says he feels they have a better chance of beating USC, with which I also agree with. That prompted my boy Mike, Cal Grad, to say then that I should have been rooting for Cal with him and my brother. But that made no sense to me because this game and the Cal-USC game are two independent things. Mike thought that since I thought that Cal had a better shot to beat USC then I should root for them so they can play in the National Championship which is where it took another turn as I said I could care less if they play in the national championship. All I care about is those damn University of Spoiled Children Dirty Condoms losing a game or two, not because I don't like the team, Reggie Bush is one of my favorite players to watch and I love the WR's in Smith and Jarrett but if you know me there's one thing I can't stand and that's bandwagon fans which Los Angeles and namely USC now has a lot of. These people who don't know a damn thing about college football try to talk shit to me and it just pisses me off. Therefore I would root against almost anyone against USC just so these idiots who claim they have always been University of Second Choice fans since a long time ago can go climb back into the gutter they came from. Therefore even though it pains me to do so I am rooting for Touchdown Charlie and the Fighting Irish to beat USC this weekend, although I am rethinking that position currently considering the fact that ND is now becoming a recruiting machine with Charlie Weis and can only get better if they would beat the juggernaut that is the University of South Central. Michigan is having a tough time as it is with Lllloyd Carr at the helm as we continue to miss out on DB's (except Steve Brown) when we have plenty of playing time for any top flight DB to step in and play.

Sunday was typical Sunday as I watched some NFL but also on Friday two books I ordered on Amazon showed up one being The Professor, the Banker and the Suicide King which is about the largest poker game ever played with Texas billionaire Andy Beal taking on the biggest poker players in the world including Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan among others, which I hope to start this weekend after I finish the first book I started which is Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer by Warren St. John. It chronicles St. John as he follows the Alabama football team one year and all the fans that follow along with them. I'm about halfway through it and I love it already as these people epitomize what I love about college football, the passion they have for the game and their team which is second to none. I mean I thought I was crazy but there's a story about a couple who missed their daughters wedding because it coincided with the Alabama-Tennessee game. I would never do that but that is because if I have a daughter she will not never to put a wedding on game day, which seems to make sense to me, if your parents are that big of fans don't do it on game day. There are probably people who think I'm crazy for that train of thought but that's how I am as well. I can't wait til I'm able to do that and follow around my team everywhere they go, although by the time I can hopefully we'll have a coaching staff that can actually produce with the talent they have.

Post of the Day

For those that have stumbled upon my site through the college football blogging community, mainly Mgoblog, you'll probably have already seen this post but for those who haven't I had to link it. From one of the best out there EDSBS which stands for Everyday Should Be Saturday comes a story that all sports bettors and fans can relate too. I thought I had my rough days in sports but I'd have to say this one definitely takes the cake.

It'd be funny if I had something close to that but the only stories with me would involve the ones which Michigan has a decent lead, blows it at the end and I end up going home crying like a baby in the fetal position only to hit the bottle that night and cry some more before I pass out. With that said Minnesota is coming to town this weekend and for once they did not have to wait until Michigan week to ruin their undefeated season and talk of "this is the year we take back the jug and win the Big Ten and head to the Rose Bowl" while hoping that Maroney and Barber would Biakabatize which they almost did twice. I'm not too worried about this game as many are and being the fan and not the player am more looking forward to the matchup with Penn St next week. Our D is stepping up better than I expected, although it still has a lot of work to be done, I don't expect Maroney to shred us for a 200+ game which he would need for Minnesota to compete. If we can somewhat contain Maroney we should be fine since Cupito doesn't scare me and I think we can put enough points up on the board since Mike Hart is back. Harts return coupled with the weakness of the Minnesota secondary as the loss of Brandon "I am Michael Robinson's Bitch" Owens doesn't help, will allow us to hit our WR's downfield most notably Super Mario Manningham who has now emerged as our deep threat that we have been missing this year.

As always there are great games on Saturday that I cannot wait to see and since I've lost all my money in my Sportsbook account betting football not even halfway through the season I'll post some picks for the big games and my advice is to bet against me considering I am one of the worst sports gamblers out there.

Texas (-14) vs. Oklahoma

Yes Bob Stoops owns Mack Brown and yes Oklahoma has won the past 5 but this is the year Mack gets it done again. Texas is too good to lose this game against Oklahoma and I fully expect them to win big. Oklahoma is in a load of trouble as their O Line is non-existent, Adrian Peterson is running on one leg and Rhett Bomar although progressing is still nowhere near the QB he needs to be to beat Texas. Vince Young refuses to let this Texas team lose and he becoming even more scary as Happy Gilmore would say "Uh-oh, Vince learned how to pass."

Georgia (+3) at Tennessee

Rick Clausen is in a boot, I have believed all along that Tennessee was extremely overrated which I was ready to claim in my ballot a week back until Les Miles pulled his best Lloyd Carr impression. I believe D.J. Shockley is ready to play the game of his career as he has been waiting for this opportunity while sitting behind David Greene. The Dawgs haven't looked great the past few weeks but they should be ready for this game and I expect them to win a close one.

UCLA (NL) vs. California

This is a game I will be attending this weekend and it will be a great one as two of the remaining twelve unbeaten teams in the country matchup at the Rose Bowl. This is a game I've been debating through the week as at first I thought Cal would roll considering UCLA's atrocious performance versus Washington last week but the more I looked at it I think it's going to come down to the ability of Joseph "the White Michael Vick" Ayoob to pass the ball downfield. Cal has not had to pass that much due to the dominance of Marshawn Lynch and Justin Forsett but they haven't played a D like UCLA's. Granted Adrian Peterson was somewhat banged up but they still did a great job against him a few weeks ago and like most teams playing a really bad team they were looking ahead to the matchup with Cal. I think it will be close as the UCLA D will stop Cal when they need a game tying drive late in the game.

Ohio State (-3) at Penn State

Penn State has enjoyed a resurgence this year as they've re-entered the top 25 for the first time in quite a long time. They shut down Laurence Maroney's Heisman campaign last week and Michael Robinson found himself a new bitch in Brandon Owens while Derrick Williams ran wild on reverses as he ranfor two TD's. This newfound offense will have their toughest test to date against the stout Ohio State D. Michael Robinson must do his best Vince Young impression except Robinson is nowhere close to where Young is at now. I expect Ohio State to easily win this game as I don't believe Penn State is that good yet. They are on their way back but a year or two away from competing with the top of the Big Ten again.

Texas Tech (-4.5) at Nebraska

Both teams have yet to play real competition and I don't think Nebraska is back yet as well. Everybody wants to know if either of these teams are for real but I don't think this matchup will show anything since I believe both teams are overrated. Nebraska's "big" win was against a very suspect Iowa State team and I believe Texas Tech will put up a lot of points again, not quite the 70 they put up last year but I think they will win comfortably.

So there you have it, like I stated earlier and most of my friends know, take the opposite of what I pick but as you know even a blind squirrel finds a nut from time to time.

Week 6 Poll

1. USC - still unbeaten but there are chinks in the armor, like Rocky's trainer said against Drago "See he's not a machine!"

2. Texas - can't decide whether they will keep this spot over Virginia Tech but Vince Young was a machine against Missouri, let's see if they can finally beat Oklahoma for once.

3. Virginia Tech - won easily at West Virginia, not the easiest thing to do but Marcus Vick looking better and better.

4. Georgia - I like them but not sold on them as much but we will see this week as they travel to Knoxville.

5. Alabama - the high riser of the week, impressive win over Florida, figured they had a shot but not quite like that.

6. Ohio St. - DNP, get the resurgent Nittany Lions this week on the road, let's see how they handle a game away from the Horseshoe.

7. Florida St. - still winning and Weatherford is starting to make people believe.

8. Tennessee - impressive comeback win against LSU, now they get Georgia at home but how will Clausen fare now with his injury?

9. Miami - somewhat sloppy performance versus USF but a solid win nonetheless.

10. California - Golden Bears shutout the Wildcats, Marshawn Lynch comes back with a solid performance, now their first test of the year in Pasadena.

11. Notre Dame - did not expect them to handle Purdue so easily, looking very good and turning me into a believe, get the week off before they welcome USC and Charlie's chance to really become God in South Bend.

12. Penn State - another high riser, unbelievable job by the D to hold Maroney to only 48 yards on 16 carries, get the true test of the season upcoming as they welcome Ohio State followed by a trip to the Big House.

13. LSU - dominated the first half vs Tennessee then decided to stop playing, Les Miles is trying to do his best Lloyd Carr imitation, he needs to stop.

14. UCLA - ugly, ugly win over Washington but at least it was a win, caught looking ahead to the matchup with Cal this week.

15. Florida - just manhandled by Alabama, maybe ND fans are happy that Urban Meyer turned them down.

16. Wisconsin - it was only Indiana but they're still unbeaten and going strong, they do not play Ohio St this year so they have that going for them.

Dropped out Arizona St (good effort but just blew it), Michigan State (cannot lose a game like that and say they're ready for the big time) and Minnesota (bye bye Laurence Maroney for Heisman). On the watch list are Texas Tech and Boston College.

The Weekend in Football

Well I was wrong, way wrong, not about the game as much as I was down about our chances in East Lansing that was more frustration talking. What I was wrong about is the difference that Mike Hart makes for this team. Coming into the season I knew Mike Hart was going to get his but I expected Max Martin and Kevin Grady to help him out and our rushing attack would be a three headed monster. However after watching this team with and without Hart in action I can definitely say he is the MVP of our team by a wide margin. With the threat of him back there Henne can be more effective and like I read somewhere today it's like Henne getting his safety blanket back. This team is so much better with Mike Hart it's not even funny and I was an idiot for thinking otherwise. It's been mentioned before but last week Hart was in uniform but not playing, they showed him on the sidelines trying to get the guys fired up after the Martin fumble and once Wisconsin took the lead for the first time and that's the kind of thing that makes him so special. Also trying to take down the DT on the return for the TD he was all the way down at the other end of the field not giving up and that is the type of player I am extremely proud to have represent our University.

I was bracing myself for the worst because I didn't think we could get it done in EL this year but Hart came up huge and Henne actually started looking like Henne and we got the job done and I can't emphasize how proud I am of this team for doing so. This is a turning point in this season and I think we have a good shot to win most of our remaining games and keep the New Years Day Bowl streak alive. Don't get me wrong our program still has problems and they need to be addressed but with Mike Hart in the lineup we are definitely not as bad as I thought we could be. Steve Breaston didn't play but Super Mario Manningham did and I can proudly say I called that one. He has emerged as a part of our offense and I'm glad to see him getting the ball more and more, just one thing let's get him that #1 jersey because #86 just doesn't look quite right on him. Just as I thought after the game on Saturday we're back in the top 25 at #21, hopefully with Mike back we can get rolling again as we have home games the next two weeks before we head out to Kinnick.

Due to my company's golf tournament on Saturday I didn't get to watch as much football as I would've liked but from what I did see, USC is not the super juggernaut that everyone made them out to be, they still have some tough tests most notably against a Notre Dame team that is looking better and better every week. If there is one team that has more luck than the Trojans its Notre Dame in South Bend, it will be a very interesting game in two weeks. Alabama looks very impressive after their shellacking of Florida. The shocker to me was the score of the Penn State - Minnesota game and the PSU defense holding Laurence Maroney to only 48 yards. This weekend I will not be able to watch every game I hope to since I have tickets to the big game on the west coast this Saturday as the undefeated #10 California Golden Bears head to the Rose Bowl to take on the also barely undefeated #20 UCLA Bruins. This should be a great game to watch and it will be a good time as I will be heading there immediately following the battle for the Little Brown Jug. It's another great weekend of football upcoming along with the Brown Jug, there's the Red River Shootout which Texas should easily win and Georgia - Tennessee, man I love the SEC, and the game of the week in the Big Ten as the Buckeyes finally leave the Horseshoe and head to Happy Valley to take on the resurgent Nittany Lions of Penn State. It's going to be on ESPNHD so I'm excited to be able to watch that in HD once I get home on Saturday night. I've converted a lot of my friends in recent years to College Football and it's easy to see why, every week there are games like the ones I just mentioned and the excitement and atmosphere of college football cannot be duplicated in any other sport which makes it my favorite by far.

What a Weekend

After working so much this past week I was definitely looking forward to this weekend. There was the negative that my company golf tournament was somewhat overlapping with the Michigan-Michigan State game but I can't use the I've got a football game to watch excuse anymore so thankfully I have a DVR. I had to leave after the end of the 3rd quarter to head out to Riverside for golf but I got the updates as I was driving there. Golf was good, considering I hadn't played in months and my drives were decent, but my iron play was just atrocious. Still shot a 88 but nothing to be proud of. Afterwards it was on, we went to Sagan on Beach Blvd where we usually go for our company outings and just ate and drank a ton, while going back and forth from our table to the front of the restaurant where they were showing the highlights from the days action. Everyone else at the place probably thought me and my brother were insane for yelling and celebrating at all the highlights but I didn't care. After plenty of eating and drinking came home and drank some more while watching the end of the 4th quarter and OT, I'll have my full game thoughts up later. I woke up the next morning with a terrible headache but didn't matter as I did nothing yesterday except watch NFL and just be a vegetable on the couch which I definitely needed after the past week. So I'll have two decent weeks until month end again which will start picking up as its peak season now. It's getting to the best time of year for me, NBA starts along with College Football and pretty soon College Hoops so it's all good.