Well this makes me feel better

Ready to trade orange and black for Maize and Blue.

After the stunning news of the Jai Eugene decommitment we were still waiting for 4 possible members of this upcoming class to announce on Signing Day. Well one of those has leaked early and since it's out he has come out and let it be known. Adam Patterson is the latest to decide to head north and don the Maize and Blue for Michigan. He's a DE/DT that could move to the inside if he bulks up more which seems likely. Ranked as the #7 DT and #91 player overall by Rivals its another great pickup as he is latest to leave the south and SEC country for the Big 10. I can't ever recall having this much success in the south and I hope it's a trend that continues.

Speaking of the Jai Eugene situation, there is talk that it is not over yet, granted I highly doubt we're going to get him back but as Lloyd Christmas said "So you're telling me there's a chance!" That's all I can ask for right now but I really can't fault him for wanting to stay close to his son. With signing day coming tomorrow I'll be spending the entire time probably following along on all the recruiting sites for the interviews with all the signees, it's a very exciting day. But at the same time it's just the beginning since as soon as Wednesday night/Thursday morning rolls around we will just start clamoring for news on the juniors, yes we are sick people.

In other news the NBA announced their lineup for the slam dunk contest. In addition to last years champion Josh Smith, Andre Iguodala, Hakim Warrick and Nate Robinson are going to participate. LeBron James declined an invitation but will be in the skills challenge instead. Obviously Smith, will be the early favorite but I like Nate Robinson this year. Robinson the tiny PG from the Knicks is known for his leaping ability and can surprise. When he does certain dunks it will look that much more impressive due to his size so I think he's got a very good shot at winning this. Warrick is more of a power dunker, much like Amare Stoudamire who was in the contest a few years ago so I doubt he does much. Iguodala is an athlete and can get up as well so I'd put him as the darkhorse. I think I'm one of the few that still looks forward the NBA All-Star weekend but I love it and can't wait for it.

Just as things are going smoothly...

Just when we thought recruiting was going great as we secured some huge commitments the past few weeks and with signing day coming Wednesday with talks of us finishing large as well, the carpet was pulled right from underneath us with Jai Eugene just decommitted and decided to stay home with LSU. In most instances I would be extremely upset and disappointed, well I'm still disappointed but I really can't be upset with him because the overriding factor in his decision was he couldn't be away from his family as he has a very young son, I believe he's like 2 or 3. It was his birthday over the weekend and he realized he couldn't leave his son like that so unfortunately our loss is LSU's gain. There are some Michigan fans going overboard on this and yes the timing sucks, and yes losing our only CB in this class, especially one as talented as Jai is going to hurt but you can't fault him as he says he needs to be closer to his son. I wish Jai all the best.

Kyle King, a great Georgia blogger, left me a comment trying to help get more Michigan fans to send letters, e-mails, whatever necessary to Bill Martin to try to get a Michigan-Georgia home and home scheduled. He is on it as he just put another post up with the analogy that Michigan:Ohio State : Georgia:Auburn and gives more support for his argument. I agreed with his suggestion when it first came up earlier this month and he'd like help on the Michigan side for more support on this topic. Granted anyone that reads my site for Michigan stuff pretty much reads every other blogger that he contacted so I doubt it'll reach many other Michigan fans but I'm throwing it out there, contact Bill Martin if you want to see this happen.

Guess Who's Back

Another great win for the basketball team as they took care of business on Saturday with a second consecutive victory over a ranked team 85-76 over Wisconsin. This moves the Wolverines into a tie for first place in the Big Ten heading into two important road games, games which we can win and I expect us to win at Penn State and at Iowa.

Horton had an off night shooting 2 of 10 from the field but Dion Harris picked up the slack as well as Courtney Sims as they finished with 23 and 18, respectively. The team as a whole shot pretty well as they shot 55% from the field. The win puts us to 15-3 on the year and 5-2 in conference and also puts us back in the top 25 where we haven't been since 1998. The AP Poll has us in at #21 while the Coaches Poll has us at #20.

This is the team we could have had last year if we weren't derailed by injuries and suspensions and it's great to see it actually happening. After living through the dark years of Michigan basketball I cannot express how happy I am to see the program on its way back. There is a confidence from the team which we haven't seen in a while and the guys know that this is their last go round as Horton, Hunter and Brown are seniors. These guys along with Lester Abram, who gets one more year due to his medical redshirt last season, came in as freshmen and were placed on sanctions and stuck it out as they had a great season, one in which they would have gone dancing had the sanctions not been in place. This is their year and their time to make a mark on Michigan basketball as the guys that turned the program around after the down times.

I'm rooting like crazy for these guys and I know what they're capable of, I said before last season I expected a Sweet 16 berth and people thought I was crazy. With the injuries we can see that didn't happen, I said it again at the end of last year and the beginning of this year. I really hope I'm right this time.

Once a Wolverine, always a Wolverine

The big news of last night was 5 star OL Stephen Schilling from Bellevue, Washington committing to Michigan over Washington and California. This is a huge commitment as Schilling is regarded as the top OL on the West Coast and adds to the OL class that we are bringing in which now consists of Schilling, Justin Boren and Perry Dorrenstein. We are still on the map for Daron Rose but I don't think he leaves the state, although I still have hope that he will join this class. Schilling's school plays with the winged helmet and Cal's jersey's but they are known as the Wolverines. He continues the trend of Michigan players who wear the winged helmet from high school through college such as Mike Hart, Steve Breaston and Ryan Mundy, although none of them had the exact same color combo that Bellevue does.

This is an unbelievable closing to this recruiting class considering where we were earlier in the year and the problems that Michigan has had closing classes in the past. Too many times have we been in the top 2 or top 3 for some big name kids and always end up finishing 2nd for most of them. Considering how bad this year was many expected a down recruiting year but it almost seems like it helped a bit in that kids are now in the mindset that they will come in and turn it around. The surprising thing is where all we are getting the kids from we went to Washington to get Schilling, Louisiana for Jai Eugene, Georgia for Carlos Brown and Florida for Greg Mathews, states which we haven't had much success in lately, save Louisiana. The staff gets deserves mad props for this haul, let's just see an improved product on the field.

Huge Win

Go ahead and celebrate DH, you deserve it.

Great win by the squad last night and I can't say how proud I am of this team right now. Played pretty bad in the first half but going in only down by 7 I thought we were still in it. Another great performance by DH as he dropped 23, I can't say enough about him right now as he's stepping up whenever the team needs it and is getting the job done. Big ups go also go out to Chris Hunter and Ron Coleman who both stepped up big time in the abscence of Lester as well as Courtney Sims who did nothing while he played. He has so much talent yet is just seems afraid out there on the court, he was a really good tennis player maybe he's better suited for that game.

As a side note the Maize Rage was great once again and as one of the guys who was there from the beginning it makes me feel that much better considering how far the Rage come. I was listening online as I was still at work here on the West Coast but the announcers made mention of them a couple times. Still need more work with the rest of the crowd though as one time they said the Maize Rage was doing a great job and that's all you see on TV but the other 3/4th's of the crowd was still just sitting there doing nothing, typical Michigan sit on your hands support.

The win was big last night but it does nothing for us if we don't follow it up with another win on Saturday against Wisconsin. A win over them definitely catapults us into the Top 25, probably 20 and a great deal of momentum going into two road games at Penn State and at Iowa followed by a big home game against Ohio State. These games are all winnable and if we get another big W on Saturday I think it could lead to a nice streak we could possibly put together. Keep up the good work squad, all the Michigan faithful need something like this to help us cope with the terrible football season and the subpar hockey season going on right now. Go Blue!

Here we go

We've got a big one tonight down at Crisler as Sparty comes to town for the first of two huge home games this week. For some reason we are only a 2 point dog which doesn't make sense to me, especially considering it's been reported that Lester Abram won't be playing tonight. We haven't beaten State since my senior year when we won 60-58 and rushed the floor on Super Bowl Sunday, the same year my Raiders got killed by the Buccaneers, at least I got one that day. The basketball side of this rivalry has been extremely lopsided and we need to turn the tide on it starting tonight. We're currently 0-3 vs the RPI top 50 but 13-0 versus everyone else, we need to start picking up some good quality wins, at Notre Dame and home versus Miami are not going to cut it in the eyes of the selection committee. We have two great shots here at home these next two games and need to pick up at least one. I believe in this team and I know they can get it done. Go Blue!

Back to your regularly scheduled programming

You could say I've gone a little overboard on the Kobe/Lakers posts but you can't fault me considering we're seeing some amazing stuff night in and night out. So while the Lakers get the rest of the week off until Friday night's home game versus Golden State we'll get back to some more Michigan content. Well not before we discuss the Ron Artest for Peja Stojakovic trade that just went down. For the Queens they get the head case that is Ron Artest and I guess considering how bad they are right now any change would be for the better. In addition, Stojakovic is a FA at the end of this season so it works out for them in that sense. Artest will step right in at the 3 spot that Peja occupied for them and provides more all around game than Peja's catch and shoot. Stojakovic will be happy to know he's headed to a playoff team with a good cast around him. Having Jermaine O'Neal on his team will be better for him than Brad Miller considering O'Neal is more of a post player and will draw more double teams leaving him alone for more open shots. I say this is a good move for both teams.

Update: Minutes after I posted this entry we now learn Artest is more messed up than we thought and says he doesn't want to play in Sacramento so the trade is now off.

Now onto the Michigan front, with two visitors this past weekend Jason Kates and Nick Stephens who we thought both had good visits but one not good enough as Stephens committed to Tennessee yesterday which definitely makes us very thin at QB leaving Henne with Forcier and Cone on the depth chart so 07 we must definitely get a top flight QB, if not two. Kates had a good visit and we are in good shape for his commitment, definitely can't hurt adding more depth at DT.

Onto news spreading from other visits over the weekend from remaining recruits Steve Schilling got down to USC for his visit and I guess he saw what I saw when I went to visit USC and saw what a dump it was because he has eliminated them now and it is a 3 horse race with California, Michigan and Washington. Michigan and Washington are rumored to be the two leaders but we shall see, I feel much better about going head to head with Washington as opposed to USC but we know how difficult it is for kids to turn down their home school as the last time I remember we went heads up with Washington was for Reggie Williams, who ended up staying home.

The other recruit still on the board that took a last minute visit was Jonas Mouton who decided to head to Austin to check out the National Champion Longhorns. I didn't really consider them much of a threat considering they got into the game so late coupled with the fact they already have 25 verbal commitments meaning he would be an oversign, if I remember Texas' class correctly but there are two other factors that come into this as it turns out his mom is a Texas grad along with one of his brothers living very close to Austin. I'd call this a 3 team race now with us taking on SC and Texas which doesn't make me feel very good. Hope he can provide a surprise for us maybe we can hear him say "I went to bed a Trojan/Longhorn, but woke up a Wolverine."

Huge two games for the BBall team as they take on State and Wisconsin the next two games at home, at the very least we must get a split and it will only be tougher since Lester Abram's ankle is still pretty bad and probably will not play tomorrow. As much as I love being back home in the warm weather of Southern California the downside is I have to miss these games and just follow along online which gets extremely frustrating at times. We need to pull one of these two out and would love for it to come tomorrow. Go Blue!

One last time just because:

Just when you thought you'd seen it all

That's right Kobe, you are #1

Today's entry was going to encompass a lot of things, my weekend, the Michigan basketball win over Minnesota and the upcoming big two games against Michigan State and Wisconsin, the emergence and disappearance of the Michigan hockey team over back to back nights but that was all overshadowed by the one man that is taking over our sports lives, Kobe Bryant. The Lakers blew out the Toronto Raptors 122-104 which is not unusual considering how bad Toronto is, you could call the big comeback the bigger story as the Lakers were down 18 at halftime but no, that was all upstaged as Kobe scored 81 points! Let me repeat that again 81 points! 55 in the 2nd half alone!!!

Come on now, Matt Bonner's gonna try to stop me, are you serious?

Fortunately being in the Los Angeles area, I was able to watch the entire game, while the rest of the country was looking for highlights, and could not believe what was happening in front of my eyes. Kobe has been on a tear putting up almost 42 points a game since his suspension at the beginning of the year, coming into last night. But no one could have expected this. He had 26 in the first half and the Lakers were down 18 so I knew something was going to happen in the 2nd half. But these were the same Toronto Raptors that somehow held him to 11 points earlier in the year and this time he just decided to make up for the lack of points in the last meeting.

No one can stop the Kobe scoring machine!

Let's put this in perspective, this is the 2nd most points scored ever in the NBA. No one else except Wilt has hit 80 and part of me agrees with Marc Stein that this was the greatest performance ever. Wilt was able to just run down court, not worry about bringing the ball up and just get the ball on the low block and go to work. On the other hand Kobe brought the ball up a lot of times, had to do it on drives and on jumpers which are much lower percentage shots, but at the same time Kobe did have the 3 point line which was non-existent at the time, not like Wilt would've been taking 3's anyways. I am just continually amazed by what he can do and what he is doing right now. Kobe is just a scoring machine that cannot be stopped by anyone, I can't wait to see the next game on Friday, as he's ridiculously hot on this roll who knows maybe he could get to 90? 100?

You definitely need more than a double team.

The big thing was picking up the W though which was necessary after blowing the lead against Sacramento and then getting housed on Friday by the Suns. A loss to the Raptors would have been devastating, especially with 4 days off now until their next game against Golden State before they embark on a 7 game road trip which includes 3 back to backs, you'd think the league would do something about that. Next Sunday is a trip to Detroit, we'll see how the Pistons will handle the absolutely on fire Kobe Bryant, a win there would be HUGE.

Mo Pete? No chance, just stay down there and conserve your energy.

Are you kidding me?

Haven't put a music post up for a while since there's nothing new that warrants conversation until I was driving home yesterday to hear on the radio that Cam'ron had just put out a diss track on Jay-Z. I was listening to KDAY this afternoon and finally heard this "diss track" and couldn't believe what I was hearing. I don't have a very high opinion of Cam'ron to begin with, I think he is one of the worst rappers out there and this track did nothing but support that notion. I have no idea what he is thinking trying to start shit with Jay-Z. Maybe its just to boost his record sales which probably could use some help since his "skills" aren't getting it done.

Another step in the right direction

As expected, Brandon Minor committed to Michigan today over Tennessee, Miami and Virginia Tech although his final two were Michigan and Tennessee. He is rated as Rivals.com's #1 Fullback but he will come in to play RB. This gives us some more added depth and we'll see how it plays out with Minor and Brown coming in this year to add to Hart, Grady, Jackson and Mister Simpson as well as Alijah Bradley who did get some carries at the end of the year. MGoBlog has some more info on him here.

In other recruiting news Stephen Schilling has set an announcement date of January 27th, next Friday, he is visiting USC this weekend and things as of now are still hopeful for us but after seeing the glitz and glamour of LA along with rolling down the Shaw with Coach Carroll bumpin his hip-hop who knows what will happen. I'm still holding out hope but I don't know how it will go considering USC gets the last visit and he does have some ties to home school Washington. We definitely need to finish off this class with him or Daron Rose because a big time T will be necessary. Hope the two visits will go off well this weekend, we could use more depth at QB and maybe Nick Stephens will change his commitment to us, but we will have to hit the QB's hard in 07.

Big game for the Bball team at Minnesota tomorrow, it's a game they definitely need as it is a very winnable road game and one that we need to continue getting wins so we can finally get back into the tourney. Horton and Abram look like they will be ready to go so we should be ok. We need this game moreso considering our next two games are against State and Wisconsin. I still need to see a clip of the Petway dunk on Northwestern on Wednesday, heard it made #2 on the top ten of Sportscenter that day and was just absolutely sick.

In other college football news, Fred Rouse, the all everything Randy Moss clone has followed Randy Moss' behavior and gotten himself kicked off the team at Florida State. He had many issues during his recruitment and during the season, most notably after Florida State got housed by Florida after the game he went to Coach Meyer and said something along the lines of he should have listened to him and signed with Florida.

Also, onepeat.com has reached their goal and raised the $10,000 necessary to put their billboard up in LA. I can't wait to see it when it actually does go up, I just hope I can get there before the taggers graffiti it all up.

Just Frustrated

The Lakers blew another game they shouldn't have losing 118-109 in OT to the Suckramento Queens. I really don't want to talk about it too much again or I'll start getting just as mad as I was last night at the end of the game. Lakers have a 4 point lead with 32 seconds to play, obvious situation in which to run the clock out and just take as good of a shot as you can after winding it down, at worst you throw up a desperation shot and the Queens will get the ball with 7-8 seconds to play down 4 points right? I guess not if your name is Lamar Odom. Like a fucking idiot who's never played basketball before he startes to drive just as soon as he gets past halfcourt and gets called for an offensive foul with 22 seconds left. I could not believe myself, even when I played NJB in 5th grade I knew to run down the clock, much less the #4 overall pick and someone who gets paid millions of dollars to play the game and practice and study it all day.

The Lakers then give up a 3 to cut it to one, Kobe hits 2 FT's, puts it back up to 3, somehow Brad Miller makes a 3 and we're tied with 4.1 seconds left. We all know who's taking the last shot correct? Wrong again as Lamar "I shoot 30% from behind the arc but will continue to shoot from that distance all the time" Odom, takes a 3 himself without even giving the ball to Kobe and you could see the disgust in Kobe's face as he didn't get the ball. So another wasted effort by Kobe, but in OT I'll pin it on him because he threw up way too many terrible shots that were contested, good job by Francisco Garcia, and just bricked. But the game should not have gotten to that point if Lamar would have remembered some simple fundamental rules.

I've gotten so mad just talking about it again but finally I have something that will bring the smile back to my face. I finally found video from the Bynum-Shaq confrontation.

And down the stretch they come

Football Recruiting is coming down the back stretch and Michigan only has a few scholarships remaining but it looks like it could be some big ones that head up to Ann Arbor. But it looks like one of the big ones will not be Sam Young who will probably end up deciding between USC and Notre Dame, but damn could he have picked someone else other than probably the two schools I can't stand more than any other schools in the country? Good luck to him, I know we will get ours and hopefully they will include Steven Schilling and/or Daron Rose. Definitely want to add another big OL to this class and it would be great to get one, if not both. Schilling was rumored early on to be a lean for Washington but hopefully we can change his mind, his high school already wears the winged helmet so why switch now? Rose I'm not as confident about considering he is from the south and he still has a visit to Florida State and you know how persuasive a visit there can be.

Quintin Woods from Flint Southwestern committed to Michigan over the weekend a 6'6" DE, who was a sleeper that recently emerged this year after not playing football his sophomore and junior seasons. He had a monster senior year which ended up bringing offers from Michigan as well as Iowa, Michigan State and some others. I love this pickup as he's an in-state kid that always grew up wanting to play for Michigan and just as I grew up wanting to go there he is fulfilling his dream. Welcome to the Maize and Blue family Quintin.

There is also good news coming out from Virginia the home of RB Brandon Minor. He has narrowed his two choices down to Michigan and Tennessee and I definitely like our chances as we have been up there the whole time during his recruitment. After we landed Carlos Brown he wasn't fazed at all as he said he would be ready to come in and compete and I love that attitude from him, unlike others that tend to go elsewhere when other big name players at their position commit to a school.

Another big name still left on the board is Jonas Mouton from Venice who is down to Michigan, USC and LSU. Early on it looked like he was leaning towards USC but with the additions of Taylor Mays and Antwine Perez things looked better for Michigan and the news I was hearing supported that but there has been new reports that he might be heading to USC still as he was seen with a lot of the USC commits at the Army All American game and was very close to committing to them at the game. Hope he realizes how much we could use him as we could definitely use another S to add to this class.

We've got two official visitors this weekend in DT Jason Kates from Pennsylvania and QB Nick Stephens from Texas. We haven't heard much about Kates lately but maybe because he's a backup plan in case Marques Slocum doesn't qualify? I really hope Slocum will qualify soon so he can be a part of this squad, his determination has to be commended as he probably could have gone to many other schools that would have taken him as a partial qualifier but he knew he wanted to go to Michigan and has battled through it at prep school. Stephens was an Ole Miss commitment until they fired their offensive coordinator. He's still listed as a soft verbal and recently made a visit to Tennessee. It looks like we have a good shot since he is coming into Ann Arbor for a visit and we need some depth at QB since right now all we have is Henne, Forcier and Cone.

Considering how this season turned out and how recruiting was going in the middle of the year if we can close with one of the OL, Minor and Mouton that would cap a very good class. We had our down year this year and I know the guys are ready to take the field to prove that last year was a fluke and not representative of Michigan football. Here's to finishing with a great class and giving us good momentum coming into next season. Go Blue!

Welcome Back Ronny

After undergoing heart surgery a few months ago Ronny Turiaf has once again signed with the Lakers. This is a move I am definitely glad to see as we could use the added frontcourt depth that we are definitely lacking at this point with only Mihm, Brown and Bynum as the only guys we can play up front. Well, Lamar can play in emergencies but it's definitely not something I like to see. It will take him some time but he could give a good 10-15 minutes off the bench this year which would be extremely helpful to the squad. For rehab, he played in the CBA for the Yakima Sun Kings and averaged 13 points and 6 boards in 9 games.

I loved watching Turiaf play at Gonzaga and was ecstatic to find him slide to us in the 2nd round. He is exactly the type of player that we need, someone who will bang on the inside, and get those tip in buckets and offensive rebounds as well as some help on the defensive end as well. To make room the Lakers waived Laron Profit who actually contributed to the team before tearing his achilles. I completely forgot about him when mentioning the potential cut earlier since he was on the inactive list. Once Ronny gets back into playing shape I expect the Lakers to move Devin Green to make room for Turiaf on the active roster.

Doesn't look like there will be any trade activity for the Lakers at this point unless someone puts on a sale for a big name at the trading deadline at which point the 2007 plan could be scrapped but until then it looks like we're going to have to wait until that offseason before any other major changes are made to the team. The Lakers travel to Sacramento and then Phoenix tomorrow and Friday for a road back to back, we should take care of the Queens but I'll wait to see on Phoenix, we never do well on the 2nd night of back to backs, especially on the road but it would be a big win to pick up against the current division leader.

A glimpse into the future

Andrew Bynum, you are the man.
The Lakers finally picked up that elusive win over Miami which they have not been able to do since Shaq was traded as they won 100-92. It was a good game by the Lakers throughout who led by 15 at half and as much as 19 in the 3rd quarter. There was also the handshake and embrace between Kobe and Shaq which was definitely a topic of conversation as well. But the talk of the town afterwards was Andrew Bynum. Bynum only played 4 minutes but those 4 minutes left a huge impression on all of us.

For those that didn't see it, Jason Williams missed a shot and Shaq went up for the rebound and tip slammed it home but in the process doing it over Bynum and knocking him to the floor. A lot of people, myself included, worried what type of effect it would have on the 18 year old. Most veterans in the league are afraid to do anything so they take it and move on. But not Bynum, on the ensuing possession he went down and got position down in the post and demanded the ball. His teammates obliged and passed it to him where he was stationed on the left block. As he was posted against Shaq he faked right back towards the center of the paint and then took it left with a drop step and just jammed it home which is what you see above. Shaq just looking up as Bynum burned him with a great post move.

At the time Bynum was drafted many people, myself included, were somewhat skeptical of the decision. Considering Kobe is now 27 and heading into the prime of his career and signing Phil Jackson to only coach for 3 seasons many wondered what the hell the Lakers were doing drafting a 17 year old project that would take years to pan out. But after watching some of his clips and seeing him in action I knew it was the right pick because big men are very difficult to find and we may have gotten ourselves another late lottery steal. I am even more confident in the decision after last night. Bynum was not afraid to go back after Shaq when most players would have done nothing. He demanded the ball and decided to take it to Shaq and was not going to fail. Does that sound familiar like someone else on this Laker roster? Remember when Kobe was airballing 3's against Utah and the whole world was against him? I remember because I was one of the few that was defending him at the time. I knew it took guts to demand the ball like that at that point and I knew we were witnessing the birth of something special. Now Kobe is one of the most feared players in the clutch because he is always willing to take the shot and is not afraid. We all know Kobe has a ton of heart, he is always laying it on the line and we saw that last night with Bynum as well. I can't wait for Bynum to develop in the coming years and am definitely confident that this new Bryant-Bynum connection will be bringing the championship back to where it belongs, in Los Angeles.

Glove my ass, you can't stop me either.
Kobe was Kobe once again scoring 37 points, including 12 in the 4th quarter. It's just an amazing tear he's been on as any mid range jumper seems to go in always, and not just in but nothing but net. The shot late in the 4th over GP was the only one I recall in the past couple weeks that hit any rim. I just think its insane that we're now to the point that when asked how did Kobe do last night we respond with "ehhh, he only had 27" or "yeah he had 37 but..." I don't think people realize the type of greatness we are witnessing at this point, I am just sitting back and enjoying it while rooting on my team. If the team keeps progressing like this I might be more confident that we can win a series in the playoffs, maybe with the right draw maybe even two.

You just wait Dwyane, Shaq will soon start complaining about you too, ask Penny.

Dwyane Wade had a big game going for 34 and 7 dimes trying to match what Kobe did on the offensive end. He is extremely quick on his spins and drives that "Flash" seems like the proper nickname for him. I love watching D Wade, and he's a real nice guy too as I met him before the draft in New York, but with Shaq on his team I just cannot root for Miami now. I hope he continues his great play but Miami cannot win a championship before Shaq has to retire and the way the Pistons are playing it looks like they probably won't either.

A couple of recent Michigan grads are now the World Champions of Beer Pong.

Finally, I had to post this from the guys at EDSBS as they discuss "Off Season Timekillers" for stuff to do while we have to wait for college football again. My favorite being the "HBC Challenge" discussed here:

Most of you, if you were like us prior to us discovering the HBC challenge,
stuck to a relatively shallow pool of teams to play with in NCAA 2005. Diversify
yourself and start your own round-robin HBC (historically black college)
tournament. Not only will the D- grade teams and frequent fumbles keep even the
most apparently lopsided game close, you’ll enjoy gazing at the eye-searing unis
and finding out ways to work your sole “impact player” into the offense…even if
he happens to be the safety or the kicker.

And we're back

After spending the weekend down in Mexico today's work day has just stunk, especially considering it is MLK Day and a lot of people don't have to work today as well. The trip went pretty good, the place we stayed at was dope as hell you look out the living room and the beach was right there. Harry made such good food though and so often that I couldn't drink as much as I had planned but we still went through quite a bit of alcohol. It sucked that we couldn't get there earlier on Friday since I had to work a while later than originally planned but it was a real nice drive going along the beach once we got into Mexico. The trip was definitely made complete after waiting to get through the border James got a Grim Reaper statue for $17 and we saw some guy that was cracked out, or definitely on something selling chiclets. Just headed straight home afterwards instead of hanging out in San Diego so we could catch the end of the Panthers and the Bears, good game and I'm definitely pulling for the Panthers to play the Steelers in the Super Bowl.

T. Kyle King wrote a post about how he wants to see a Michigan-Georgia home and home series started. That would be dope and I know I would make every effort possible to get to that game in Athens if it were to ever take place but unfortunately I don't see it ever happening. As long as we are tied to Notre Dame as our "marquee non-conference game" then it just won't happen. Maybe once the contract is up in 2011 or whenever it is we can revisit this but until then I won't hold my breath. Although I would like to see the traditional Michigan-Notre Dame game continued I don't want it at the expense of other big time out of conference games. Ideally you would have one big out of conference game and if you look at how Ohio State has done it that is the type of scheduling I'd like to see to bring new opponents to the table. After this home and home is finished with Texas, Ohio State will then take on USC the next two years and then after that will take on Miami. If you look at our old records you can see we used to schedule Miami and Florida State which I would love to start seeing again. We play ourselves out of the national championship race every September why not do it against other big name programs.

Michigan basketball has supposedly picked up a commitment from Anthony Wright, an undersized PF who plays at Oak Hill Academy. Haven't really heard much about him before this past week or two and I'm just going to trust the coaches on this one and hope it works out. The Bball team played another tough game at Illinois on Saturday, for some reason no matter how good they're supposed to be we always give the Illini a tough game and hopefully we can finally win one later in the year when they come to Crisler. So now back to under 500 in conference play but we should get back to 500 with the matchup against Northwestern at home on Wednesday.

Ned Colletti continues his wheeling and dealing as he picked up Danys Baez and Lance Carter from Tampa Bay for Edwin Jackson and another minor leaguer. I don't think this is a bad trade considering Jackson hasn't developed much the past couple years and his numbers just look awful from the minors. Baez brings in another setup/closer in case Gagne isn't ready to go at the beginning of the season and he could also help Gagne out when he pitches too much on consecutive days.

Sorry Bron, you just ain't there yet

Sorry LeBron, you can't stop him either
Damn, what a game that was last night at Staples Center with the Lakers getting the 99-98 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. It was a close game throughout as neither team was able to build up a big lead. There were highlights on both ends with LeBron getting two monster jams, including one right before the end of the half and Kobe with his driving layup as well as the last two jumpers which ended up winning the game. The atmosphere definitely did not feel like just another regular season game, there was a buzz that hasn't been there even for opening night when I was there.

The win brings me back to 2-2 this season although it did look in doubt when Kobe did not play a large part of the 2nd half due to his sprained wrist. You could tell as soon as he got hit on the screen that it was bothering him as he was holding it every chance he could get. Thankfully the team held tough while Kobe was out and kept it close so Kobe could take it at the end in crunch time. The last two jumpers he hit were just so clutch, the last one was just ridiculous too as he was being double teamed when he shot.

LB: Yo, check out that girl in the 3rd row. KB: You know I don't mess with them white girls anymore.

Other random thing that happened at the game was as I was comin back from the bathroom to my seat, I saw Freddy Adu, well I was sort of drunk but I'm 90% sure it was Freddy Adu and he was hollerin at this young looking white girl so it probably was him. It was a pretty funny looking sight as he was talkin to this girl and he's got two taller guys who like like they're his boys just standing there while he's spittin his game.

Well the time is finally here the trip to Mexico me and my friends have all been waiting for. I don't know if I'll make it back in one piece, or even if I'll make it back. Hope I can have some funny shit to tell when I get back, or maybe I'll probably be recovering from such a drunken haze that I won't remember a thing that happened, after hearing stories of previous Mexico trips I'm laying 2-1 it's the latter. Hope everyone has a good weekend, I know I will.

What the hell?

After being excited most of yesterday as rumblings became louder and louder regarding Jim Herrmann's departure of course something had to bring me back down. The downer being the pathetic Lakers performance in a 113-103 loss to Portland last night. Kobe who has been on a tear fell in love with the 3 ball again last night except he was off, way off to the tune of 3 out of 13 from behind the arc. He settled for 3's too many times and has been getting away with it because he's been on fire but he has to realize when he's got off nights from three and drive or take it to his mid-range game.

But the worst part of it was the lack of defense from the Lakers. Portland had yet to score 100 points at home so far this year until last night when the Lakers allowed them 113. Juan Dixon went for 27 and Steve Blake for 19, this was not an ACC game for Maryland over Clemson this is the NBA, I cannot remember the last time either of those players did that it was ridiculous. Also getting 21 from the Nanny Stopper, Ruben Patterson didn't hurt either. There was some good news on the Laker front though, Ronny Turiaf was at the game after Mitch Kupchak went up to Yakima, Washington to see him play for his CBA team. He has progressed very well and it looks like there is a very good chance that he will be signed and ready to play for the Lakers this season. Great news for Ronny as he is progressing nicely and just as good news for the team who could use a down low banger who will do the dirty work as Turiaf does. Where would the roster spot come from though? I'd probably have to say it would be Devin Green, who I was glad he made the team but someone's gotta go and he's definitely contributing the least to the team at the moment. Adding Turiaf would give us more depth up front along with Mihm and Brown and Bynum so it would definitely be a welcome addition. I hope this deal gets done soon and we can see Ronny in the Forum Blue and Gold. Also going again tonight to Staples to catch the Lakers take on LeBron and the Cavs, hope we can see another great Kobe performance and get him back to 45+ and start a new streak.

Damn they teach them well at the University of Second Choice

I know I said I'd stop bashing on USC but this one is too good to pass it, got it from the Wizard of Odds. I mean it's one thing to mess up on offense/defense cheers, we've all heard them when we were in high school when cheerleaders messed them up but this one takes the cake. You see your team playing defense directly in front of you but you still somehow manage to mess it up. Of course when you go to the University of Second Choice because you couldn't get into a better school or the University of Spoiled Children as daddy paid your way in, then you realize it makes some sense as to the stupidity.

Changes coming soon?

More details are slowly coming out of the Fort and it is definitely good news for Michigan fans. Jim Herrmann is expected to be leaving for an assistant coaching job in the NFL. Along with this move the rumblings are that DB Coach Ron English will be getting the promotion to become the Defensive Coordinator. It has been said that he prefers a more aggressive defense as opposed to the weak soft zone that has become common for Michigan the past few years, which is all I can ask for. Big plays will happen but the pressure will constantly be on the offense as opposed to allowing the QB to sit back forever and pick apart the secondary. I am definitely looking forward to these new schemes next year and am hopeful that we can bring back the defense to where it used to be.

Not only there but there is talk on the offensive end that Coach Malone will be demoted and the new Offensive Coordinator job will be split between Loeffler and DeBord. Not sure exactly how true this is because all the talk has been about the defensive end but we will have to wait and see. All the talk of spreading the ball out to our playmakers never happened this year and it was disappointing. Part of it had to do with Hart not being in so the opposing defenses didn't have to stack the box to stop him but at the same time we just didn't get the ball on slants and over the middle to our stud WR's. With a healthy Hart, an improved Grady and a new speed back in Carlos Brown we should be able to run the ball effectively to open our passing game which will hopefully include getting the ball to our guys in open space which we have not been able to do for a while. We will also need one of the other big WR's whether it is Savoy or Mathews to be able to get some jump balls as well. This team has the talent to do some things which is what makes it more frustrating when we have such a bad year, hopefully these rumored coaching changes will kick start us back onto the right path.

As if I didn't need anymore fuel for the fire...

Picked this one up from Bruins Nation which links to the site that made it onepeat.com. Not sure if it's a LSU fan, a Texas fan, maybe UCLA or just another person that really hates USC like I do, it's pretty funny I thought, definitely not going to happen though. Whoever is running that site is trying to get $10,000 so he can put that billboard up on a freeway out here. I would love to see the reactions if that thing went up but I know it can't be taken that seriously. As much as I hate U$C I do have to admit their run these past 4 seasons has been incredible, I'm not taking anything away from them I just hate their bandwagon fans and that encompasses the majority of their fan base, which includes students who said nothing about USC football 5-6 years ago only now to run their mouths, so that's why I am that happy that Texas won. Now onto the real reason for this post is to discuss the behavior of these USC "fans" post-Rose Bowl.

Before the game pretty much everyone and their mother, brother, sister, cousin, uncle was out sporting USC gear, definitely expected since 99% of these people just jumped on the bandwagon within the past year or two. After the game I can barely see anything, people who at the gym all wore USC gear, gone, people in the malls all gone, my brother who went to the mall the day after the game saw 1 person with a hat for 2 hours there, when in the same amount of time the day before it would've been 200 minimum. Now I know people aren't going to be glad when they lose but still support your damn team, if it really is your team. I was devastated after we lost to Ohio State this past season but that doesn't stop me from representing with my gear and my car. I saw a passenger on my flight back from Los Angeles not only still wearing all his gear, he was also singing the Victors right into the ear of a Buckeye.

Speaking of cars, I heard that USC "fans" were spotted taking off their license plate holders after the game. I mean I understand you lost but come on, to take off your license plate frame? Also today comes this great one from one of my friends on IM:

BruiNegro: dude, i saw this guy in a big red truck with usc plates
BruiNegro: MOTHERFUCKER WAS WEARING A TEXAS HAT

Now that's just too much, but it's true a small portion of what we've had to endure in Southern California as college football fans living in a bandwagon town. But I know it's not going to end soon because as long as Coach Carroll is around that team will still be pretty good, I can only hope the NFL team in LA comes sooner rather than later.

Update: Found another one like it.

The Dores are coming

Michigan now has our 12th opponent for the year and they are not from the MAC, they're actually a team from a real conference, the SEC! Did the home and home that Auburn supposedly offered us go through? Nope, it's the Vanderbilt Commodores! It's not as bad as it sounds though because the hot rumor was that it was going to be Maine, a great opponent for Coach Berenson and the hockey team but would have been absurd for the football team to play them. One of my good friend Jeff or Tennessee Jeff as we refer to him now that he's moved out to the Cali, is a Vanderbilt grad and because of that Vanderbilt has always been a team I rooted for because how can you not, they are like the lovable loser, play in the SEC, have no athletic department and are trying to stay competitive without one. As Sexy Results posted a few weeks back "Your school allegiance aside, when was the last time you didn't root for Vandy when they were on TV?" In addition to that they just have some funny chants I mean it's awesome to just chant "Vandy, Vandy, Oh Hell Yeah!"

Thank goodness that now projected first round pick Jay Cutler is going to be off to the NFL but they do return 13 starters, according to the depth chart I got from the Vanderbilt Rivals site and they are going to probably start Chris Nickson at QB, who was Jay Cutler's backup and will be a RS Sophomore next season. Where's the problem in that you ask? Nickson in his senior year was Mr. Football in the state of Alabama and passed for 2,942 yards and 42 TD's while rushing for 1,526 yards and 22 TD's so he is mobile and you know our problems with mobile QB's the past few years.

They also return Rivals 2nd team Freshman All-American Earl Bennett, a true freshman this season who put up 79 receptions for 876 yards and 9 TD's, including 5 TD's against Kentucky and the GW TD against Tennessee. He had 53 receptions in the last five games as well so he will be one to keep an eye on. In addition they have another freshman in Cassen Jackson-Garrison who averaged 5.6 yards a carry and had 8 TD's last year so they will have some players that can move the ball. We shall see what changes are in store for our team on the offense and defense and since it is not a complete cupcake we will have to show something.

Now that the schedule is all done now we turn our attention to the team where we have lost two players to transfers, Max Martin is heading back home to play for Alabama, while Matt Gutierrez will be transferring to I-AA Idaho State to play but will still be able to get his degree from Michigan. I expected Martin to transfer after all his problems of being in the dog house but I definitely did not expect this from Gutierrez. I remember we needed a QB in his class and while others were hot for James Banks, thank goodness that one didn't happen, I wanted to get Gutierrez, the De La Salle QB who never lost a game. It sucks how injury cost him his job but he handled everything so well and with such class I wish him nothing but the best. I have heard rumors of another player to be transferring as well, an offensive player, but there has been no mention of it so far so perhaps it was just a bad rumor, hopefully that is the case.

Just another day, another 45 points

Kobe Bryant continued on his tear going for 45 points again last night in a win over the Indiana Pacers. He should have had more but he missed a lot of Free Throws which normally doesn't happen. It was a pretty tight game throughout as Indiana jumped out to an early lead but it was just back and forth throughout. We thought the Lakers had wrapped it up with a 7 point lead with a few minutes to play only to allow Indiana a 7-0 run to tie the game back up. But luckily in the end the Lakers pulled it out with the clutch 3 by Lamar Odom and also the circus hanging in the lane And 1 that Kobe pulled off as well. The Lakers have no won 3 in a row since Kobe has come back after losing 5 straight before then. They get today off before heading to Portland on Wednesday followed by the home game against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. I wonder how long he'll be able to keep this pace up because at some point he is going to be exhausted considering he is carrying the entire team on his back.

Can you believe they tried to get Fred Jones to guard me?

The other good things about the game included Kobe's sick move which broke Fred Jones ankles and also Andrew Bynum playing and matching his career high of 6 points. When he was drafted he took a shot at Shaq saying that at least he could make his free throws but he's only made 5 of 15 on the year, very Shaq-like numbers at the line. He has looked decent in his limited playing time but it will still be another couple years before we can see if the gamble that Mitch Kupchak made was the right one.

Just Ridiculous

Sorry Shaun, you just can't stop him.

Much like I predicted here on Friday, Kobe had a ridiculous night on Friday night going for 48 points including 7 of 7 from behind the arc. Then he topped that by dropping 50 on Saturday, in a much closer game which also included the game winning, nasty looking, running bank, but I'll take it. Friday was a blowout, which I didn't expect considering how bad the team looked but I mean when you've got Kobe hitting everything in sight and Smush Parking chipping in with a career high 24 points on 9 of 10 from the field and 5 of 5 from behind the arc, it should be a blowout. I had some pretty sweet seats in PR 11, although the glass pane they had to I guess protect you from falling over the edge was somewhat annoying as it was directly in my line of sight when they were on the other side of the court. I'll have those same seats on Thursday to go see LeBron James as well.

Neither can you Kyle.

So over the course of two games on consecutive nights, Kobe went for 98 points, 18 rebounds and 10 assists. He shot over 50% from the field including a ridiculous 63% from behind the arc. The performance on Saturday was more impressive considering the Lakers started the game hot with a 12 point lead, then went to halftime with a 5 point deficit and then Kobe proceeded at one point to score 14 consecutive points for the Lakers. No matter what they did he kept hitting shots, I've never seen the switch defender on screens follow a player so far deep because even if he was 30 feet from the rim if you gave him any opening Kobe was going to hit it. Great weekend for the Lakers as not only did Kobe rip it up individually the team won both games and so the ending result is this celebration with Kobe and Smush:

Why isn't the rest of the team celebrating?

On the other end of the ridiculous spectrum is Marcus Vick, to think we already called him a moron for doing such stupid things to get kicked off the team at Virginia Tech we now learn that he got in trouble again over the weekend. Vick turned himself into police today after charges that he was brandishing a firearm. Sure he's got the Vick name but after this latest incident is anyone in the NFL going to give him a shot? He is just constantly getting in trouble and what's to think it's going to get better? Although as the betting man I am, I bet that Al Davis and my Raiders will give him a shot, I expected it with Clarett last year but we got Lamont Jordan, with Collins playing like crap and none of the backups showing anything I wouldn't be surprised.

Keep Em Coming

Welcome to Michigan, Jai Eugene, in a somewhat unexpected decision he has decided to become a Michigan Wolverine. This is our second upset win in a recruiting battle for a player from the south which is very unexpected for a team coming off a 7-5 season, especially at a position in need. It's funny how we won back to back Big Ten titles and CB was a definite position of need and we struck out on Justin King, Darrin Walls and Victor Harris and now we finally pick up a big time corner with a bad season. Eugene will bring his much needed skills to play immediately in Ann Arbor as Grant Mason is graduating at one corner spot and Leon Hall is a senior this upcoming season. I expect Eugene to get some playing time in and can't wait to see him in action along with the two Cali sleepers we picked up Johnny Sears and Chris Richards.

For the past few years we've pretty much picked up the kids that we were supposed to and missed on the ones we expected to miss, there haven't been that many surprises and if so they weren't of the A. big time recruit, and especially not B. from a region in the country where its very difficult to pull players from. So this recruiting year has actually got me much more excited about recruiting than the past few years have. It's brought back that feeling when I initially got hooked to recruiting as we had to battle hard to get Lamarr Woodley and survive the scare that Ohio State put in us for Marlin Jackson. Eugene makes it the 4th player from the south we're getting, 3rd that is in the top 100 which is just crazy, well Eugene is the #12 CB according to Rivals and in the top 250 while he is the #1 CB according to Scout. Carlos Brown is enrolled as well so hopefully we can close with Mouton and Young and then anything else would be gravy.

Fired? Demoted? Promoted? Resigning?

Tons of rumors floating around regarding coaching changes for this upcoming season, M Go Blog has their recap here. I've heard Coach Carr is retiring or being fired, Coach Hermann is being demoted or resigning, Coach Loeffler is being promoted as is Coach English, there are so many things out there I don't know what to believe. All I know is hopefully it's change that is coming that will help our program. We'll see how it all goes down within the next month or two. Also great news on the Carlos Brown front, some were worried that Georgia would get him by signing day but, he's already enrolled at Michigan. Not as good for Marques Slocum who was supposed to be enrolled this term after going to prep school, he hasn't received his test scores back yet so we do not know what will happen with him, hopefully he makes it, we could definitely use him.

Basketball team had a tough loss to Indiana the other day, they played sloppy as usual, I got to watch it thanks to ESPN's free Full Court preview online. Too many turnovers, too many forced/bad shots and not getting to the line enough, all part of the equation for a loss. I didn't expect to win in Bloomington. Lester is hurt again day to day with a toe but hope he can get healthy soon if we give him some rest. Brent Petway is back as well, need to give him a game or two to get back into it, glad to have him back.

Heading to the Lakers game tonight against Philly, excited to see Kobe versus AI. Kobe should be real fired up coming back from his suspension I expect a big game out of him tonight. The Lakers are not playing very well right now and Kobe's return should help them snap out of it. Nothing else really planned for the weekend, just gettin ready for Mexico next week, that's gonna be a wild trip.

Post Bowl Poll

Here we go the final poll I'll put out until sometime in August, it was a very good bowl season, minus the Alamo and I'm definitely sad to see college football gone but it will be ok, it'll be back before we know it.

1. Texas - got the job done when they needed to, Vince Young you are my hero, congratulations.

2. USC - a great run they've had and probably will not be falling far next season, unfortunately.

3. Ohio State - Yes some will say Penn State beat them straight up but right now if they played I have no doubt that Ohio State would win, I just don't see Penn State being that great.

4. Penn State - barely won the battle of the shitty kickers, losing Robinson, Zemaitis and possibly Posluzny will hurt bad.

5. West Virginia - no one thought it could be done but the freshmen backfield of Slaton and White did it, major props to Coach Rodriguez for going for the fake punt.

6. LSU - absolutely crushed Miami when I thought playing Flynn would hurt them, don't you think Ryan Perriloux is regretting his decision a little bit now?

7. Virginia Tech - Ron New Mexico is a punk and is getting into even more trouble.

8. Alabama - great way to end the season, with the duck.

9. Georgia - almost made the big comeback, shitty way to end a career for DJ Shockley.

10. TCU - Horned Frogs are kicking themselves, SMU??

11. Notre Dame - still don't think they were that great, more of a media creation just like "OMG, USC is the greatest team ever!"

12. Florida- on the fortunate end of a bad call, Meyer is reloading with a ridiculous recruiting class.

13. Auburn - last thing I expected was for them to get owned like that.

14. UCLA - 10 wins but 2 losses by a combined 85 points and the D won't get any better after losing Havner and London and the O can't get much better losing Olson and Drew.

15. Wisconsin - impressive win to send Coach Alvarez out with a W.

16. Oregon - wasn't sold on them before the Holiday Bowl and definitely not afterwards, continued the curse of the flat team that got left out by the BCS.

Update: Ron New Mexico aka Mini-Vick aka Marcus Vick is done, what a moron.

You just can't stop him

That game last night was so ridiculous I still can't believe it. Considering how much the media hyped this game up it lived up to it and more. Hats off to Vince Young and the rest of the Texas Longhorns as they played an unbelievable game to win the National Championship. Thank you for shutting these "fans" of USC up and leaving them nothing to say or do but to hop off the bandwagon and go back to wherever they came from, probably just waiting for the next bandwagon to hop on. I love this picture of the team celebrating after the game because that's what it was like at my house when that clock ran out.

Well enough about that and to the game itself. Vince Young is unbelievable and that about sums it up, I couldn't think of enough things to say about him. He singlehandedly won this game for Texas. His accuracy passing along with his running just makes him a matchup problem for anyone that faces him. Yes the delivery may be a bit akward but it gets the job done. As much it was reported he was leaning towards staying I think this game just definitely catapulted him into the top 10 of the draft and he will be leaving. I bet Ryan Perriloux wishes he stuck with his commitment to Texas now since he could have been next in line there, I guess Jevan Snead will get a shot when he comes in next year. The D played ok, they slowed down USC when they had to on that last drive which I didn't think they would be able to do considering the success of SC to just pound the ball with Lendale White in the second half. The other thing with this game was it finally gave me some closure on the 2005 Rose Bowl because Vince Young is just ridiculous, I couldn't appreciate it at the time last year because I was so mad at our defense being ripped to shreds but no one could stop him and that makes me feel a little better, hey we only gave up 192 yards to him rushing unlike the 200 SC did.

Man those SC guys dish out some mean stiff arms, time and time again whether it was White or Jarrett or anyone on that team seemed to use the stiff arm effectively. SC could have ended that game with the potential INT that the DB did not even try to attempt to pick off on that last drive and none of the other excuses would have mattered. Yes Vince's knee was down but you know what use a timeout to get them to look at it Coach Carr had to do it twice in the Alamo Bowl so you'll get no sympathy from me regarding that. The other thing is the 4th and 2 run was the right call. It would have essentially ended the game and Coach Carroll did the right thing there. You do not want to willingly give that ball back to Vince Young with all that time on the clock and timeouts as well. The play probably would have worked if not for Michael Huff not following the play and calling his own audible, just a great stand by the Texas D.

Also, I love what Carroll did on that last drive staying aggressive on D instead of dropping back into a passive zone like Michigan would have in the same situation. They brought pressure from the corners which worked for a few plays since they hadn't done it much of the game. The problem was after the first time, the CB showed the blitz too early so the RB was easily able to pick it up.

It was an unbelievable game to watch, especially since we finally fixed our HD system and I can't say enough about Vince Young. The guy is just amazing. I wonder how his release will translate to the next level but I'm in the camp that he's further along than Michael Vick so he could be ready to contribute in the L sooner than he did. Young's passing accuracy is much better than Vick, although we will have to see if he can run free as he did in college. Once again congratulations Texas on a great game and a great season. It's sad to see the football season end but the next one will be right around the corner, just hopefully with a better showing by Michigan. I'll have my final poll up tomorrow along with some other stuff.

Get your party on Vince, you deserve it.

Rose Bowl Time

I wanted to post this picture of my brother and Earl, figured the time was right now and I think it's pretty funny, you should be able to tell which one my brother is.

After all the preseason talk starting in August and all the games through this fall we've come to this, the last game of the college football season for 2005. I really don't have much to add to all that's been said about this game, it's the one that most thought would happen with USC and Texas being ranked preseason #1 and 2 respectively. I had my dreams that Michigan could somehow get their way in but of course not our coaching won't allow us to do that. At first I really thought Texas would beat USC but that was my heart talking and not my head. I really don't know what will happen as most of us don't either. I know Texas has a much better shot that most in the media are giving them and if I really had to bet I would take the 7 or 8 points that the books are offering. Those who read this site semi-frequently or know me personally know that I hate USC and fake ass "fans" and all that so I won't get into it again, all I'd like to see is a good game, unlike last year's Orange Bowl and preferably with a Texas win. I would love to come home from work and actually have the game to mean something as opposed to last season when USC was already killing Oklahoma. So here's to a good game and hopefully a Texas victory.

The New Year is Here

This new year's felt really weird not having an overflow of my friends from Michigan at my house getting ready for a Rose Bowl which really sucked. The past two years, even though we lost, I spent the day at the Rose Bowl which were by far my two best new years ever, the day we finally win one it will be my best. Didn't really do much, went to Tennessee Jeff's apartment and hung out and drank but not that much because of all the family stuff we had to do on New Years Day.

Didn't watch much of any games since I was out and then at night went over to Mike's place for his family and friends get together where my brother and I took the poker table over and we're probably not invited for their poker game anymore. Yesterday woke up late and watched the 2nd halves of the Gator and Citrus (Capital One) Bowl. That pick six that the LB for Virginia Tech was pretty sick and I couldn't believe Auburn got handled like that by Wisconsin, I thought the 10,11 points was too high of a spread but I didn't expect them to win. Gotta cut this post short because the Michigan-Indiana basketball game is online for free thanks to the espn full court preview week. Hopefully we can pick up our first win in Bloomington since the end of the Fab Five era. Go Blue!