It's the Same Old Song

Once again it's a different year but the same story. Michigan makes it to the Rose Bowl, I get excited since I don't have to travel for the bowl game and then we end up losing, and I've only been through 3 of these I can't imagine what the older fans go through with this. As I rolled into the Rose Bowl parking lot yesterday morning I was pleasantly surprised to see so much Maize and Blue in the crowd. I didn't expect as many Michigan fans but unfortunately for us, the fans were the only ones that showed up because the team was somewhere else maybe left on that field in Columbus on November 18th, or perhaps in Ann Arbor on December 3rd but this was not the Michigan team we had seen all season long.

Credit goes to USC for coming up with a gameplan that worked and made proper adjustments when needed, something our coaching staff did and cannot seem to do very often. One of the first plays for USC when they rolled Booty out, something I had not seen USC do all season long I thought to myself, that's very smart and we could be in for some trouble and unfortunately I was right. USC was never able to run successfully against the run defense, but they were able to pass at will. The great front four was never able to get much pressure on Booty, something I thought would give us the edge. Since Booty got time to throw he was able to pick us apart.

So here we are again, January 2nd, a good season since we made it to the Rose Bowl, but not a great one. Sadly, I am not distraught over this loss as I had been in years past. I see my brother last night take the loss extremely hard while I was pretty calm. All my friends I went with were surprised I took it so well and the reason is I'm getting used to this. It's the reality that continues to set in as I will root for Michigan until the day I die but right now we are a good, maybe sometimes even very good team/program, but we are not a great one. I can only hope that changes soon but with all the tradition that Michigan has and since we continue to win more games than we lose, I don't think it will change at all. It's sad to say but I will probably be able to recycle this post in years future, the team may change and the way the game unfolds may be different but the outcome will be the same. We will have an opportunity to make a change when Coach Carr retires in the next few years, but knowing the Michigan I know we won't.

It's almost here

Just 3 days until next year and the last game of the college football season for Michigan. I can't describe how much this season has meant to me considering all that we went through last season. Sure it hurts to not get a chance to play for a NC because I thought this team was capable of it but get the W against USC on Monday and this season is still very successful. It would also lay the foundation for a run in 07 with all the returners we have.

News from the USC camp is Thomas Williams has been moved back to LB from FB due to the injuries to starters Dallas Sartz and Brian Cushing who have been unable to practice. Both Sartz and Cushing are expected to play but it could have an impact during the game. Also, Steve Smith believes the secondary is vulnerable where Morgan Trent lines up. Yes it is true that the WR on Trent will have more of an advantage than when on Leon Hall but much like the UCLA game I expect Booty to be on the ground more often than not due to the pressure of our front 4.

Can't wait to head out to Pasadena, if any of you are heading out and see a SUV with M BLUE 1 license plate of California, that's me, feel free to stop by.

Let's Go Blue!!!

Battle of the Blogs is up

My response is featured for the Michigan side today in the Rose Bowl Battle of the Blogs. The question today is "Who wins USC O or Michigan D?" You can check it out here. Can't believe the game is creeping up on us so soon, just 4 days to go.

Also, jersey list is updated post Christmas since I was given two more jerseys, now bringing the total to 65. First I got a sweet Mike Hart #20 Rose Bowl Jersey and I was also given an Andrew Bynum Replica jersey.

I thought the team had slimmed down this year

The Michigan total from the Beef Bowl last night was 612 pounds. That's a ridicuulous amount, especially considering its 100+ pounds more than the team ate two years ago and this team had slimmed down this season so I was expecting a lower number than before. The article states that Garrett Rivas had 4 cuts two years ago but only 2 this time. I've had one of those cuts before and it's no joke, I couldn't even imagine taking down 2, much less 4.

I'm heading there tomorrow for my own Beef Bowl with my friends from USC. If you're in town for a Rose Bowl and have a chance you should definitely go check it out. Food is a bit pricey but very good, IMO and there's a display when you walk in with pennants of the previous 3 Rose Bowl participants as well as signed footballs from both teams of the most recent Rose Bowl. I'll post some pictures if I can get them tomorrow.

Battle of the Blogs is back

This time for the Rose Bowl, I'm handling "Who wins USC O or Michigan D?" It's supposed to run tomorrow so keep an eye out for it.

More updates from USC camp, Troy Van Blarcom their kickoff specialist has been dismissed from the university after failing to make grades. He had problems qualifying out of high school so this has been a problem for him throughout his career. This could be a big break for Michigan as he more often than not kicked the ball into the end zone, Steve Breaston should be able to break a return or two as we remember him doing last time at the Rose Bowl.

Terrell Thomas, the CB who dislocated his shoulder last week is back to practicing. When he was initially injured it was said he would play in the game and I don't doubt that but shoulder separations, once they happen, can come back at any time so this will be something to keep an eye on.

Just 5 days to go, LET'S GO BLUE!!!

USC's top CB injured

The big news out of the USC camp yesterday was the injury to CB Terrell Thomas. He was carted off the practice field and it is being reported he dislocated his shoulder but regardless of the injury he has vowed to play in the Rose Bowl. Just a heads up both links are from the LA Times which requires registration. He is their starting CB and was matched up against DeSean Jackson and Jeff Samardjiza so if he is unable to go he would be a big loss. I was talking with one of my USC friends and he said he expected Thomas to cover Manningham so this is definitely something to stay tuned to. But Kevin Thomas, who Michigan fans may remember as we recruited him out of HS, is back and practicing from his broken foot he suffered earlier this season.

Also as I mentioned before I thought this group of seniors would be extra motivated for this game since they began their careers with a loss to USC in the Rose Bowl and Leon Hall is looking at it the same way:

"I'm definitely planning on winning this game and not looking for the same outcome as my freshman year."

Only 11 days to go. Let's Go Blue!

Less than two weeks to go

Over the weekend the talks really started heating up between myself and my USC friends. I got so fired up I was hoping the game would be played tomorrow. For myself, this game means so much more than what's already on the line a win at the Rose Bowl, a strong finish to the season and a springboard into the 2007 campaign. For me its about respect, or lack thereof any team besides USC gets out here. Granted this doesn't apply to their real fans but real USC fans are few and far between. A better example in describing them to the Michigan fans who don't deal with USC that often it's like the arrogance of Notre Dame fans combined with the obnoxiousness of Ohio State fans (although not quite as much).

I've had conversations with numerous USC fans this year that have no idea what goes on in other parts of the country besides USC. I even had one ask me if Michigan was going to a bowl game. It's so infuriating when I have to deal with these type of people. This is the game I've wanted since the 04 Rose Bowl because I wanted another shot at USC. My dislike for them has dropped somewhat since they lost to Texas and and some of the people jumped off the bandwagon but it's still there. A while back I said I would give my brother a guest blog post and here it is, sort of. This is his writing about why he hates USC, it might have been either right before or after last year's Rose Bowl vs. Texas.

My Top 5 Reasons for Hating USC Fans

5. Bandwagon Fans. This is low on my list, because I know that there will always be bandwagon fans in any sport at many places in America. But for some reason, it just seems that there are a lot more bandwagon fans here in Southern California. The Anaheim Angels, the Anaheim Ducks, and the Los Angeles Lakers. You don't see bandwagon fans for the Boston Red Sox who never won a championship until very recently. They'd still pack the stands. And you don't see many bandwagon fans for Alabama. Even before there good year this year, you'd still see them go to the games. It's just annoying to be into a sport, and all of a sudden some other fan being like, "I've been a fan forever." When they never said anything before.

4. Media on their Nuts. I give the USC team a lot of respect for the run they've been on. I dont' hate the players too much, because all they do is go out and win ball games. However, it is because the USC team wins that there are so many god awful fans. Therefore, what has happened within the last year is that the American Media has been all over USC's nuts. For instance, the whole "Greatest of all time". You've got to be kidding me. They had this 2005 USC football team (that I don't think is as good as the 2003 and 2004 teams.) completely destroying past national championship teams: 1991 Washington, 1994 Penn State, , 1995 Nebraska, 1999 Florida State, 2001 Miami, 2002 Ohio State, and my beloved 1997 Michigan Wolverines. I'm sure that this USC team may have beaten some of these teams, but come on, "the best ever". The Media needs to get off its knees and clean its shins off after being on the ground that long.

3. Lack of Knowledge. Time and time again, I've tried to talk to USC fans about other teams in college football and other college football players, and they have no idea about anything. All they know is Reggie Bush, Lendale White, and Matt Leinart. Seems like many of em don't even know that Marcus Allen and Keyshawn Johnson went to USC too. And if you're lucky, they might know a little bit about the Pac-10 like Maurice Drew, or if the person is an average fan, someone like Haloti Ngata. They never talk about the SEC, ACC, Big XII, Big Ten, or Big East. It would be quite a day to talk to a USC fan about Greg Jennings from Western Michigan, or someone like Jared Zabransky from Boise St. who are big name players from small conferences. You're not a fan of a sport if you only know your own team or conference, it's about knowing the entire sport as well.

2. Arrogance. This was a hard choice because I was really thinking about putting this first. However, I put arrogance at number 2. You may believe that arrogance and respect are the same, but I find it to be different. I find arrogance to have too much confidence internally on one's team, but in regards to respect, it is disrespect externally towards other teams. For the last few years all you can hear is, "We have Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart, nobody can touch us." It's as if people here believed that the USC team was college football. No player, coach, or team is bigger than college football no matter how good. And it seems that people forget how terrible USC was prior to the 2002-2003 season. They were awful missing out on bowl games and having subpar to terrible records. And yet, all you see now is the present where USC fans only see their own team and nobody else, as if USC's supposed to win. Nobody's supposed to win, you're supposed to earn it.

1. Respect My number one reason for hating USC fans is respect. This is different, because it isn't USC fans having too much respect for their team, it's having no respect for other teams. They disrespect every other team, it just makes me sick. "Texas sucks, they only have Vince Young, they're gonna get their asses whooped." I remember hearing that a number of times. Or "who else do they have than Vince Young, nobody." Or random people talking shit on Michigan football or other teams from other conferences. Michigan had a down year last year, but I do believe Michigan has had a winning record for over 20 years. And still going to bowl games too. Most real college football fans remember USC pre-Pete Carroll. Yes, they were that bad. Damn did it feel good to watch that game, and watch it over and over again on TiVo. It seems that nobody believes that any other team has a chance, as if every other team is mediocre even if they have good records and very good players. As a Michigan fan, but also a college football fan as well, every week I have respect for every team we face. I had respect for Northern Illinois with Garrett Wolfe and Sam Hurd. I had respect for Notre Dame with Brady Quinn and Darius Walker. I have respect for every team that we face because I know that on any given Saturday, an upset occurs, which is what makes college football so great. Respect, I guess it's a word they don't teach to USC fans. All they teach them is not to have any.

Michigan Roundtable from Conquest Chronicles

I've seen this roundtable floating around on various other Michigan blogs and thought I'd reply as well since I believe I'm the only Michigan blogger that's originally from and am now back on the West Coast, so I am force fed a lot of USC coverage out here. So on with the questions from the Conquest Chronicles.

1. Have you recovered from Michigan's exclusion from the National Championship Game? We've heard the "experts" give us their opinion on why Michigan dropped from 2nd to 3rd without snapping the ball. What do you think really happened here?

Yeah, I've definitely recovered from it, I was actually bracing for this possibility as soon as the UCLA-USC game ended. My brother came up with this exact scenario when he came home for Thanksgiving break so the seeds were planted then. Because of this I wasn't really as upset as most Michigan fans when the announcement came down. The night that the Bruins came through with the victory I met up with my friends, some of who are alums, some who are just fans and they did not believe me when I said I was concerned that Florida was going to jump us.

What really happened? Pretty much the same media that was pushing for a rematch the day after it occurred changed their minds two weeks later after not seeing Michigan. Maybe if there was another game afterwards and we came out and dominated our opposition then the voters would have been reminded of how good this team really is. The voters did not want to see a rematch and voted accordingly, no matter how wrong it was, they did it and we just have to move on. All this complaining means nothing if Michigan goes out and lays an egg at the Rose Bowl.

2. We admire Lloyd Carr for having enough dignity to refrain from campaigning for BCS positioning. Pete Carroll has the same approach. Still, it was nice to hear Carr call out Urban Meyer for his whiny Tuberville impression. What's your take on the "southern inferiority complex?" What do you think about this season's conventional wisdom, which is that the Big 10 is weak...despite having arguably the two best teams in the country?

I have no idea about this "southern inferiority complex" maybe it has something to do with the Civil War and the South versus the North? I love watching SEC Football as there is always a great matchup on any given week. But at the same time there are a lot of bad teams at the bottom, as is the case with every conference, but it is overlooked because it is the SEC.

I've had to answer this question a lot this year, especially out here since people know I'm the Michigan guy and want to hear my defense for why Michigan deserves to be #2. The main problem is people only watch the quick highlights on SportsCenter as opposed to going deeper and studying teams. I point to a 17-10 win at Penn State and people blow it off like that's nothing not realizing that we dominated that game pretty much the whole way through minus the long TD by Tony Hunt. I say look at the win over Wisconsin by 14, a team who's only lost to Michigan, then I hear, well who did they play? In most years the Big Ten is considered a great conference because there are so many good teams that they end up beating up on each other. In those seasons the media points to how the Big Ten is good but not great because there are no unbeaten teams. Then this year when the two best teams in the nation are in the Big Ten the media asks well who else in the Big Ten is good? They fail to realize how many very good teams there are when Michigan and Ohio State end up beating them both because they are head and shoulders above the competition. It's damned if you do, damned if you don't.

3. After losing to Ohio State and now seeing Michigan's remaining hopes dashed while other teams made their case on the field, what is your assessment of the Wolverines' psyche going into preparations for the Rose Bowl? How will Carr get them ready?

There is always a chance that Michigan could come out flat after the diappointment to end the season but I don't believe that will be the case for a number of reasons. First is this team is still hungry from the disappointment from last season and also now the Ohio State loss. Lamarr Woodley and Leon Hall have made statements that demonstrate how this team will react. Next, I believe they know what is on the line still. With a win, they can finish #2 in the country, with even a slight outside shot at #1, albeit highly unlikely in the AP, if Florida somehow pulls off the upset. Finally, this senior class will not allow this team to go into this game unprepared. Remember this group of seniors started their freshman year with a trip to the Rose Bowl and loss to USC. They know that, and will use that as motivation as well to end up on top this time around avenging the loss and going out with a bowl win, something Michigan has not done since the 2003 Outback Bowl.

Lloyd Carr will have this team ready, especially facing a team he lost to the last time around. If you look at last year's season Michigan was able to avenge 4 of their 5 losses and this is the case the majority of the time. If you beat Michigan once, you're usually not going to do it 2-3 times in a row. I'm sure the bowl losing streak weighs on him as well

4. What is the general impression of Tressel abstaining from his poll vote, his vote for UM would have surely put you guys in the title game. Some have commended him for staying neutral others have hammered him for not having the guts to take a stand. How do you feel?

I don't think it was that big of a deal, probably partially because I was already resigned to the fact that we were going to get jumped. His one vote wouldn't have made the difference between the Rose Bowl or the National Championship game. On the other hand as a voter he has a responsibility to vote in the poll. There are only 60 votes, or around there, out there and there are others that probably would like a vote but don't have one so he did not live up to his responsibilities.


I'm already getting trash talk from numerous people out here, I cannot wait for this game to take place. I get so fired up just thinking about it, the game cannot get here soon enough. I am ready for the Maize and Blue to come out on January 1st and send this group of seniors with a victory.