Take The Field

I decided to venture down into the rabbit hole that is "looking at Michigan football videos on Youtube"--a venture which usually starts with Wolverine Historian and somehow ends with me watching highlights from some Clemson game in the 1980s while "Comin' to Your City" blares ironically but depressingly in a second window. Football: please come back.

Anyway, when I was writing that Samuel L joke for yesterday's post, I decided to search for videos in which Carl Grapentine's voice is easy to hear, just because I needed a reminder of what standard issue Grapentine cadence and diction might sound like. I found this one from the UMass game in 2010.

To make a long story short, I went ahead and searched his name and found the above video of him doing a morning radio show in Oak Park, IL (which I had no idea he did). In fact, I realized that I really knew nothing about Carl Grapentine other than the fact that he is the one who dispassionately yet masterfully narrates what takes place in the Big House on fall Saturdays.

I watched and listened; it's truly amazing how starved for college football you can really get. Here I was, watching a video of Carl Grapentine doing a morning show, detailing the day's weather and various developments in the news--Hosni Mubarak, at that point--and I could close my eyes and feel as if I was in the Big House. Mubarak steps down, the Egyptian people on the coverage. It's 3rd down and democracy. 

I swear, I watched the above video and for a second felt like I was in the Big House as Grapentine talked about the weather, African-American composers and performers, and Hosni Mubarak. Whether you like him or not...that's a voice. You and I talk and make noises that are generally consistent in pitch, loudness, and expressiveness, but that doesn't mean that we have a voice. Having a voice is about as inherent as having 4.3 speed, and that's why Grapentine does what he does.


Another point, one that I'm not sure that I like so much: watching this video was my first time seeing Grapentine in the flesh. I sort of enjoyed not knowing what he looked like. To this day, I still have no idea what Howard King looks like. In a way, knowing what he looks like kind of spoils things a bit, deconstructs a bit of the romanticism, I guess, like telling someone how a card trick works. His voice used to be an entity in and of itself, detached from corporeal reality, as if it literally came from up above. I think I'll survive, though.

I know there are some anti-Grapentine folks out there in the fan base. I'm not really sure why that is the case. To be quite honest, Grapentine is about as purely Michigan as a football PA guy could be. I've always thought his understated not-quite-detachment but not-quite-boorish-WHO-WANTS-FREE-PIZZAAAAA to be the perfect blend of dignity, emotion, and narration. Grapentine has a smooth NPR-ish voice, exuding class and maybe even a little pretentiousness (both linchpins of the Michigan Man's persona). It's a voice capable of providing the historical background behind whatever the MMB's halftime show is based on that day, while also saying "Touchdown Michigan" in just about as perfect a manner as possible.

It's no wonder that the NPR descriptor comes to my mind, as apparently others agree that he has a voice for radio. I had no idea...you learn something new every day. In any case, like the "master blues men," I hope that Grapentine will be practicing his craft in the Big House for many years to come. There are few things more rewarding in sports than the Big House crowd going wild after a Denard touchdown, with Grapentine waiting a few seconds to say those glorious words amongst the din: Touchdown Michigan. 

Miscellaneous Minutiae, 7/10/2012

Yes...this was a thing. 

Mediocrity and bygone memories. At this point in time, the Orange Bowl has lost its luster. It's MJ playing with the Wizards, and that is a very unfortunate thing indeed. Scanning the list of Orange Bowl games in recent years is a grotesque exercise. Even the 2006 Penn State-Florida State matchup--one which you'd think would be a firecracker of a game based on name brand cachet alone--featured a 4-loss Seminole team. To be fair, it did go to OT, and was a fairly exciting game. If anything, that game further confirmed that the difference between 1/2 (Texas and USC) and the next team, #3 PSU, was pretty significant. 2005: The Year That The BCS Accidentally Worked.

To make a long story short, the ACC courting perpetual free agent Notre Dame for an Orange Bowl tie-in, in one enormous melting pot of mediocrity. The ACC/the Orange Bowl game are kind of like the Cheesecake Factory: mindlessly uniform (everybody has 7 wins, everybody has the same mediocre, overstretched menu). Like the city of Charlotte--where the ACC title game has been held the the last two years after an embarrassing 2008 turnout in Tampa--ACC would rather be doing something else (i.e. playing basketball, while Charlotteans watch NASCAR).

On a related note, this isn't exactly a new thought, but: I wonder how long ND can continue to find itself being treated with kid gloves before the college football world just stops caring about them. I get the feeling that that might never happen, because after nearly two decades of mostly awful football, ND is still in discussions such as this one with the ACC. ND's privileged drifter status truly is one of the weirdest arrangements in sports. As Hinton notes, for any of this to even come into play, ND will need to win enough games:

Yes, that assurance could come at the expense of a mid-major outfit that can't promise a sellout or a huge TV rating, but old Notre Dame will never be handed a golden ticket based on echoes alone. Its current arrangement with BCSguarantees the Irish access to one of the big-money bowls if they finish with either a top-ten ranking in the BCS standings or nine wins in the regular season, hurdles they've managed to clear just three times in the Series' 14-year existence. Any deal with the Orange Bowl (or any other major bowl) is likely to come with criteria in the same vein, based on the selection committee poll that will replace the BCS standings.

As we have seen, this has been easier said than done, even with the 9-win clause built in for them. It's kind of irritating, but, when you think about it, the entire playoff process has revealed that it's all about the money. That thing that isn't money that you thought this was about just a little bit? Nope, it's not about that. A ND team that might not be great but provides a better turnout (i.e. a chance for a stadium to look somewhat full) than another team that is probably better but not as cash-flush...seems like a no-brainer for the ACC and the Orange Bowl. It's definitely needed, since I almost have no desire to watch the Orange Bowl these days, and I watched almost every pre-NYD bowl game this past season, so that should tell you something. Utah State-Ohio and San Diego State-Louisiana Lafayette were arguably more entertaining bowl games than every Orange Bowl game within the last five years.

PHIL STEELE IS VERY EXCITED ABOUT MICHIGAN. The Oracle that is Phil Steele has deemed Michigan one of a choice group of potential 2012 national title winners. I'm only mentioning this to highlight this part:

Steele used extensive statistical research from 24 different stat categories for all national title winners and contenders over the past 20 years to come up with his final list of 11.

His research looked at all past championship teams' wins and losses from the previous season, offensive and defensive numbers, turnover margin and schedule strength.

There's no way that Phil Steele is actually a living, breathing human being. Have any of you actually seen Phil Steele, like, walking around and stuff? No? Yup, he's a robot because Occam's Razor. Plus, if the BCS has taught me anything, a robot/computer agenda exists, and it is not to be trusted.

While I find Steele's most deployed construction of "if you'll remember that time I was right about this thing" to be amusing but kind of tiresome after having seen it for so many years, it's July; his analysis, JAM-PACKED WITH FACTS, is at least worth a scan. If anything, you have to respect that hustle.

UM-MSU rivalry fuel. A new book on an interesting part of Big Ten history is out, "Arrogance and Scheming in the Big Ten", by Dr. David J. Young (HT: Big Ten Blog). Man, I can't wait to find out who the arrogant ones in this yarn are! On a serious note, the 374-page tome details Michigan State's tumultuous entry into the conference in 1949 and our own evil, mustache-twirlingly arrogant attempts to keep them out. We're always the villains, it seems. Don't people know that calling us arrogant all the time hurts our feelings? We have them, you know.


In any case, this is a history that I am admittedly not that familiar with, so this seems like something that would definitely be worth a read. With that said, I just wanted to touch on this point:

Among many revelations, “Arrogance and Scheming” smashes the idea that the early 20th century was a time of rah-rah innocence for college football. Indeed, scandals and presumed scandals weaved their way through the Western Conference.

Do people actually believe that the early days of college football were any different than they are now? If anything, they were probably "worse," just with way less cash money coming out of the whole enterprise. If so, this thinking is obviously naive, perspective-less "the old-days-were-better" talk. That said, if the book is as well-researched and sourced as it sounds like it is--featuring extensive use of Michigan's own Bentley Library--it would appear to be required reading for the college football history buff, B1G fan or not.

Also, I didn't know this, but apparently UofM English professor Ann Curzan was selected as Michigan's faculty rep to the B1G and NCAA in February, which, as Rexrode's article notes, is fairly poetic. Curzan is the granddaughter of former MSU President John Hannah, who sparred with Michigan's own Ralph Aigler--Michigan's faculty rep at that time--throughout MSU's Big Ten admission struggle.

To all of that I say: MICHIGAN ENGLISH DEPARTMENT REPRESENT! WOOOO WE RUN THIS CAMPUS, Y'ALL. Hope you are all ready to see "Special K" ushered out in favor of Samuel L. Jackson-voiced audiobooks of Victorian literature, played line by line at key moments throughout the game.

Carl Grapentine: Maxwell's pass incomplete, intended for Sims, Thomas Gordon covering. It's third and ten. 
English Department-sponsored SLJ reading: IT WAS THE BEST OF TIMES, IT WAS THE WORST OF TIMES, MOTHERF*@#^%!

/Big House golf claps
//jingles keys

This needs to happen. Coincidentally, I'm pretty sure the opening words of A Tale of Two Cities represent the most perfect descriptor of Michigan's 3rd and long defense over the years.

Speaking of Michigan State. Bill C. has a great run-down of MSU's prospects in 2012, and to be quite honest, I have to agree with most of his assessment. Outside of Alabama and LSU, you could easily make an argument for MSU's as the next best defensive team in the country. No, I'm not talking about Michigan (although I suspect that Michigan will be very soon; 2011 was only the beginning of the defensive renaissance) here. I am no Nostradamus, and neither are you. Whether MSU's recent success is sustainable can be debated, but that's only because they've won a lot of games (22 in the last two seasons combined). You could debate the sustainability of that success for almost any program out there, including Michigan's. More importantly, it would seem that Dantonio has upped MSU's baseline significantly. If the Spartans fall off, they're probably looking at 7-9 wins and not the complete and utter collapse of years past.

If you haven't already, it' time to discard the silly "Little Brother" thing, because MSU will be very good again this year. To be honest, I have a gut feeling that Maxwell will be just fine at quarterback. Jerel Worthy is a bigger loss, IMO.

Bednarik Award watch list. This is tangentially connected to the last section, but here's the list of B1G players on the pre-season Bednarik Award watch list (the award given to the top defensive player in college football). Note that there are zero Wolverines on this list. For a program that is a favorite to win the conference and a lock to be pre-season top 10, the lack of "high end" talent sticks out like a fan being loud between the 40s in the Big House.

I can't wait until Michigan has well-coached blue chip talent on the defensive side of the ball again. That will be pretty neat. It seems ridiculous that Kovacs isn't even on this list given that Chris Borland is on it (honestly, I've never been all that impressed with him), but whatever. I'm not sure how much longer Mattison is going to be coaching, but I think it's safe to say that he'll be there long enough to see the 2011 and 2012 classes form the core of the defense.

Now, the tangentially relevant part: the Spartans have four on this list (Gholston, Adams, Allen and Bullough). A serious question: in the history of Bednark watch lists, has this ever happened (i.e. 4 Spartans and 0 Wolverines)? I would venture to guess probably not. In any case, this is one more "MSU is for real, you guys" piece of evidence.

More? UMHoops with a comprehensive look at Beilein's recruiting options for 2013 and beyond...as in, 2015 beyond. Burkhead fluff in SI. Lake The Posts on Drew Crawford and how he will need to take over in the post-Shurna era if the Wildcats are going to have a chance at getting that first tourney berth this season.

Speaking of the Bednarik watch list, Alabama has four defenders make the list: Nico Johnson, CJ Mosley, Jesse Williams, and Robert Lester. To reiterate the "MSU is for real" thing...MSU, LSU, and Alabama are the only teams with four defenders on the list.

RIP

HT: Mike DeSimone

Charles Drake, former Michigan safety, passed away this past Friday. He was 30 years old.

I was only in middle school when Drake wore the winged helmet for Michigan, so for me to attempt to say anything about his play on the field would seem foolish, not to mention incredibly unimportant. When I read the news, my heart sank.

Charles Drake: a name from the past, a ghost patrolling and striking your consciousness like a zone blitz, when you least expect it. His play on the field isn't important right now. What is important is that I--and hundreds of thousands of other Michigan fans--remembered seeing his name on the back of that Michigan jersey. He was a Wolverine. He was a part of my childhood as a young Michigan fan, just as every other Wolverine of that era was. So, when I read that he had passed, I was very sad, even while remembering very little about Charles Drake the hard-hitting safety and Charles Drake, the person.

I remember watching the NFL draft in 2003, during which Drake had been #1 on Mel Kiper's "Best Available" list for some time, with the draft was nearing its end. I kept wondering, worrying, whether or not he was going to get picked. He was picked, eventually, in the 7th round, and I remember feeling very good about that.

Without knowing the cause, it's nothing short of terrifying to hear that a player you watched as a kid has passed. Charles Drake was only seven years older than me. I don't need to tell you that this is all ephemeral, that the heroes of your childhood will go, no matter how entrenched they are in your mind as ideas impervious to the laws of biology. Rob Lytle, Vada Murray, Bob Chappuis, and now Charles Drake, have all passed on in the last couple of years. Each had a unique and rich history, each Michigan Men to the very end. Each brought something that was distinctly their own, and each took that something with them. I've mentioned this so many times, but if growing up has informed my sports fandom in any way, it's this: appreciate the players themselves, whether in victory or defeat. Not the results of their exploits, but how they go about things. Do they do their jobs with quiet aplomb or a cantankerous grimace? These make for better, more durable memories.

It is an inevitability, death, yet, in spite of this inevitability it seems to always be the last thing we find ourselves coming to terms with. I'm not sure that I will ever in my cease to be surprised or shocked to hear that a former player has passed on. Of course, to pass away at 30 is another thing entirely.

It is strange to feel as if you've lost a friend--family, even--upon hearing of the passing of someone you never knew. No matter how much we may or may not remember of a player's career, there is a shared Michigan experience that transcends petty boundaries, like the Big House brick wall dividing players and fans. That, I believe, is Michigan's essence, no matter how easy it may be to allow cynicism and irony to creep through at times. Michigan, as a concept, is more than wins, titles, enormous crowds, and even its indomitable traditions. It's about a grand, interconnected shared history, and in this way it is a bit of a double-edged sword.

When a Wolverine somewhere succeeds, whether on the gridiron or elsewhere, we feel proud, rejoicing as if the accomplishment was our own. We feel proud of the Wolverine in question, and we feel proud of Michigan, generally, the notion and the entity itself.

On the other hand, when a Wolverine passes on, it's as if a part of us has gone on too. I don't feel that it is too trite to note here that this is exactly the underpinning of the family, which, I strongly believe, is what Michigan is.

Memories can be summoned, but once the players, the people behind them are gone...they're gone. Forever, an eternity. RIP.

Shameless Self-Promotion Time

This week in self-promotion:

• I did a player preview type thing on Jack Miller, also known as "the redshirt freshman center who is dangerously close to the top of the depth chart." I'm a big Miller fan, but him playing a lot this year is probably not in anyone's best interest. 
• I wrote a few words about Penn State football going forward, mentioning the names "Jerry Sandusky" or "Joe Paterno" a combined total of 0.0 times. This 2012 season at PSU is going to be one of the strangest in the history of college football. It will be awkward and tumultuous for so many reasons having nothing to do with football. 

--

Elsewhere: 

• Putting Steve Nash on the same team as Kobe Bryant is kind of like putting Denard Robinson under center all the time. 
• File this in the already bursting "reasons why paying more than a moderate amount of attention to recruiting is an utter waste of time" manila folder. It's like Nkemdiche is negotiating the terms of his contract scholarship, kind of like an NFL player...but that would mean that the NCAA's student-athlete model is an illusion! Surely this can't be true! Collegiate amateurism, where art thou?!
• Read this or don't, but that's some top notch trolling in the title there, especially after Alabama just turned down the Badgers' home-and-home proposition. 
• Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician on the new Orange Bowl deal with the ACC. 
• Michigan Hockey Net compiles the depressing list of players that committed to Red's program only to opt out for the confusing, labyrinthine world of junior hockey. 

Miscellaneous Minutiae, 7/4/2012

A shortened post on this 4th of July. Happy Birthday, America. 

via MVictors

Trouba status. In light of Connor Carrick's decision to jump to the Plymouth Whalers of the OHL, thereby foregoing a longstanding commitment to Michigan, it would be understandable for the cynics among us to start doing the Letterman collar tug thing once various rumors started to pop up indicating that Trouba was next in line to be plucked up. Fortunately, Trouba reaffirmed his commitment to Michigan yesterday. You may downgrade your panic level from "Kel going 'aw here it goes'" to "faint but mostly unjustified concern because you are an Eeyorish Michigan fan and concern is your default state of being."

The Trouba family released the following statement via the the official Michigan hockey twitter
account :

"There is absolutely no truth or merit to the recent media reports that the Kitchener Rangers have offered Jacob any remuneration," the program wrote on behalf of the Trouba family. "We have the utmost respect for the Kitchener Rangers and those that choose the (Canadian Hockey League) as an option.

"But Jacob will be attending the University of Michigan next fall as a student athlete."

 So, there you go. This is the second time that Trouba has reaffirmed his commitment, the last time coming, IIRC, the day before the draft. Yes, Michigan has been burned many times before with these in these situations, but at this point it seems like we Trouba should end up manning the blue line in Ann Arbor this fall. I don't need to tell you that losing a top 10 draft pick would've been fairly devastating, not to mention the fact that Michigan will of course be breaking in a new goalie (always a precarious situation). If these rumors had proven to have some substance, it would've been time to bust out some punny yet saddening George Strait.

Northwestern basketball...recruiting? Yeah, it's early July. Bill Carmody landed 4-star (!) PG Jaren Sina on Monday, making this the second intriguing commitment to the NU basketball program in recent weeks (the first being the commitment of 7'2'' Chier Ajou a couple weeks ago).

Sina is a 2013 guy, so 2012-13 will still be the Sobocop show at the point. However, if Carmody can somehow survive this season, Northwestern could have something going. The bad news for Carmody is that SG Drew Crawford is a senior, and thus won't be around when Sina gets to Evanston.

In any case, this seems like a pretty big coup for a program like Northwestern's. Via Sippin' on Purple, Sina is a top 100 guy and is *probably* the first 4-star of the Carmody era...Carmody has been in Evanston since 2000. Sippin' on Purple:

Woo! And Rivals has his handle listed as being "outstanding". This is quite a get. Fred Hill was the lead recruiter, flexing his New Jersey muscles, and getting Sina to pick NU over Villanova, Rutgers, Stanford, and Pittsburgh. He had earlier committed to Alabama, but reconsidered and now will be coming to NU.

That is a very nice lookin' offer list, and from the sound of it Northwestern has quite a player on their hands.  If Michigan didn't have Trey Burke, I might be feeling a little bit jealous right now. It's always good to see the lesser recruiting brands in the conference reel in good prospects; hopefully this nets the Wildcats their first tourney bid at some point in Sina's career.

Hammer and Rails previews Michigan. TMill over at Hammer and Rails offers his thoughts on Michigan football after Year 1 of the Hokemania Experience. While I wouldn't exactly agree that last year's game was decided on "a couple of plays," Michigan will certainly need to put in a similar performance if this year's game in Ross-Ade is going to not come down tot he fourth quarter. TMill sheds some light on the defensive side of the ball for the Boilers, particularly in light of Michigan's prolific output in the ground game last year in the Big House:

Fortunately, I like our defense going into the year. The front four has the potential to be stout and both Will Lucas and Dwayne Beckford started really coming on late. This could be a game where the new 3-4 elements can make a difference. Robinson is the most elusive quarterback we will see all season. To have even a chance at a victory we must contain him.

 Like all road games, this will be a tricky one for Michigan, as this game is the Big Ten opener, right off  the heels of a prettyyyy prettyyyyy prettyyyy tough non-conference slate. In years past, this very well could have represented Michigan's "one inexplicable Big Ten loss of the year."

While I put the odds of this happening somewhere between "not gonna happen" and "so you're saying there's a chance?", a slip up here and Michigan could find itself with a 2-3 record to start the season. I'm going to go ahead and stop this section here and head to www.youtube.com to reassure myself that 2011 happened and that This Is Michigan.

More? Saban apparently turned down a home-and-home with the Badgers...oh well. Would've been pretty cool. Wisconsin and Alabama will go ahead and schedule North Dakota and Georgia State now, thank you very much.

This whole "star players playing for their rivals" thing that NCAA 2013 is promoting is starting to scare me. I'm sure the dialogue in that comment section is reasoned and enlightening. UMHoops has some Zak Irvin highlights for you. He can shoot the three and the mid-range shot well, he can slash...and he can dunk! In all seriousness, he looks like a big time talent at the 3. Given GRIII's versatility, it will be interesting to see how much run Irvin gets at the 3--which GRIII also plays--during his freshman season. I can't imagine that Beilein will struggle to find Irvin minute from the get go.

PITBULL WATCH

PITBULL WATCH, DAY 2

This has very little to do with football, but constitutes an important cause worthy of your time nonetheless. As I mentioned yesterday, a Sippin' on Purple post alerted me to a contest which would see to it that Pitbull would be sent to whichever local Walmart location received the most likes on its respective Facebook page. Yes, I know...contain your excitement for one moment. 

As of right now, the Walmart in Kodiak, AK has a whopping 47, 901 likes, and based on anecdotal evidence, seems to be firmly entrenched in first place. With that said, we all know that in these sorts of Internet contests, nefarious influences will always seek to rig the results for a cheap thrill. We cannot allow the people of Kodiak, AK to be robbed by such shadowy commanders of Internet bots and computer programming sorcery. 

If you haven't already, go like the Kodiak Walmart's Facebook page and like it. It takes but a second, but in doing so you will potentially be giving the proud natives of Kodiak with a memory that will last for a lifetime. 

I don't need to tell you what this means for you, the college football fan (but I'll tell you anyway). Once you get to Alaska, you're probably not leaving unless you play hockey or happen to be Carlos Boozer or Trajan Langdon. As far as I know, Pitbull is none of these things. As such, this would present a victory for the college football world. After doing some amateur research, my findings confirmed that 1 day in Alaska is equivalent to approximately one college football season. Even if Pitbull was able to un-exile himself from the wilds of Alaska, he'd return to the mainland as the season was over or nearly over. 

This, of course, means that Pitbull would be unable to pollute the college football airwaves with the real good time for which we never requested in the first place. Noon starts, fullback dives, and a real good sanctimonious rant are the only "real good time" we require, sir. By the time Pitbull's "Alaska day" expires, college football fans will already be arguing about whether or not Alabama should be allowed to play the Tennessee Volunteers for a third time in this season's national championship game.* 

You want a Pitbull-free college football season, don't you? Of course you do. Let's get this done, you guys. 

*LOL. 

Miscellaneous Minutiae, 7/2/2012

Gettin' there. Via the Michigan football Facebook page:

Caption? How about "WOOOOOOOO" or "WARGGHBLB."

BONUS CAPTION--fan of every other team: "SOMETHING SOMETHING FATTTTTTT LOLOLOL."

Playoff! This is a little late at this point, but I'm going to break the "no playoffs/realignment talk" dictum in order to make the completely official Holdin' the Rope statement on the new playoff format.

It is a playoff. There will be four teams playing in this playoff. There will still be complaining from various places around the country, complaining which will sometimes be valid (but not always). It will be different; change is good, but, more importantly it was in this case needed.

Yes, there are, shall we say, certain undesirable potential outcomes with this format (e.g. 3 SEC teams in a playoff field of 4), but we'll cross that bridge of vehement Internet complaining when we get there. For now, this is a good thing, unless it's not...otherwise, it's just about the same as before only with two additional teams. Progress!

Either way, Michigan will still jump up and touch the banner on Saturdays. Let's not lose sight of what's actually important.

/playoff talk

It's official, y'all. Missouri and Texas A&M have officially become members of the SEC as of midnight this past Saturday. Upon the clock striking midnight, Mizzou and TAMU players and fans all instantly shaved .4 seconds off their 40 times and upped their bourbon tolerance exponentially, in addition to winning the inalienable right to piggyback on the accomplishments of their new conference's members.

I already feel sorry for whatever Big Ten team Texas A&M will end up facing in the 2012 Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas. Fans of whatever B1G team this ends up being: hope y'all are ready to suffer some hilarious "S-E-C" chanting from the conference's newest pledge.

Brandon on scheduling. Dave Brandon said some things about his scheduling philosophy going forward. "Wow factor," huh? Sounds like some fancy shmancy corporate-speak to me, [insert whatever the Michigan version of "PAWWLLLL" is here]. Why can't Brandon opt for the "oh my that is tremendous indeed" factor, a significantly more wholesome and less corporately tinged factor? When will Dave Brandon ever think of the kids?*

Nick Baumgardner writes:

Some Michigan football purists are quick to criticize certain scheduling tweaks Brandon has made in recent years, from the home night game to a neutral-site contest to a Thursday evening affair. Some people would still rather have it the old way.

If there are actually people out there freaking out in any way about the Thursday night game in Utah, well...my completely serious investigative report from last week is doubly relevant and not at all facetious under the circumstances.

On a serious note, I don't really buy the "wow factor" of a game against, say, Colorado, but it's better than another game against a take-your-pick of the Michigan directional teams. Even if Colorado isn't all that good, a BCS name on the schedule is better than nothing. I would say something along the lines of "change is good" here, but this stuff isn't even indicative of some sort of sweeping change...it's just trying something different. Yes, you might have to DVR the Season 843 premiere of The Office that Thursday night instead of watching it live, but that's just your fault for still watching The Office, hypothetical Michigan "purist" who is upset about this and oddly is a fan of The Office in the post-Michael Scott era. 


*By "kids" I mean "football purists."


REAL GOOD TIME. I didn't notice this until now, but Sippin' on Purple provides a link for you to click on that will perhaps help send Pitbull to a Walmart in Kodiak, Alaska. For those of you that believe in nothing in this world, believe in this. The natives of Kodiak deserve this real good time, and no I am not selfishly doing this for the greater good of the contiguous states of America.

So, please go to Facebook and like the page for the Kodiak Walmart. Make a difference in the world today with one swift click. Thank you.

More? Charles Barkley tried to illegally recruit Dirk Nowitzki to Auburn...of course he did. Never change, Chuck. The Lakers re-signed Darius Morris, the Cavs waived Manny Harris (from UMHoops)...things are looking pretty grim for Manny. DMo's situation isn't much brighter, but the Lakers' PG situation is still fairly terrible, even if they end up re-signing Ramon Sessions, who recently became an UFA (although I imagine that they will try to make a move for someone this offseason).

Can you imagine what Notre Dame fans being in places like Stillwater or Lubbock would be like? I'll tell you what it'd be like: HILARIOUS.