DOOM

Posted under Misc.

…or lack thereof. So far, the only things we know are that the EMU game will be moved into the Oct. 6 spot, leaving the bye week on the first week of the season. Who is going to fill in that spot? Not Vanderbilt. Thus far, nothing official has been stated since the Vanderbilt attempt was apparently quashed, though the rumor is Stanford might fit that spot (keep in mind Jim Harbaugh is their new HC).

Who would I like to see fill that spot? So glad you asked. Since Bill Martin has deluded himself into thinking that Michigan needs eight home games to not go bankrupt (we just barely survived this year, of course), it will have to be someone who won’t require a straight up home-and-home. Let’s ignore the fact that a big-time opponent would deserve a night game in AA (another thing Martin refuses to do, though we won’t get into that), and bring in more money than your standard MAC-level opponent, on top of getting more exposure (national TV, etc.), to follow the framework that Mr. Martin has so graciously provided us. He probably wouldn’t go for a 2-for-1 setup either, but for the purpose of argument, I’ll allow it.

Among teams that wouldn’t require a straight-up home & home are mid-to-lower-level BCS conference teams (not as far as rank in their conference, but overall “prestige” to cop a term from EA Sports), or non-BCS opponents. I’d prefer the best choices among this pool.

Wishlist:
1) Rutgers – Team on the rise, probable 2-for-1.
2) South Carolina – SEC team, beatable but decent, 2-for-1.
3) Boise State – They’ll be good again, 2-for-1.
4) Clemson – Good for most of last year, likely 2-for-1.
5) Cincinnati – Could be much better with Kelly, we could beat him twice in a row. Money transaction.
6) Stanford – Harbaugh, etc. Probably money transaction only.
7) TCU – decent team, bowl winners in ’06, money transaction.
8) San Jose State – Good team, up-and-coming, money transaction.

Allow me to cry while I realize that we will probably play a MAC team, and probably not even a good one.

Posted under Misc.

…someone far creepier than I has confirmed that the Mesko #1 picture is indeed a photoshop. My tears of joy will have to wait another day.

Posted under Misc.

Not a surprise being ranked behind a few other 2-loss teams, given the comparative way we ended the season.

However, I’m not sure if USC should jump as much as they did given they lost their second-to-last game, and won their last one over a team that only finished 8th.

Either way, preseason top-whatever polls are pretty much all we have to look forward to for a little while.

Posted under Misc.

Shawn Crable is coming back next year.

Keep it secret.

Posted under Misc.

The conventional wisdom is that Florida jumped Michigan in the human aspect of the BCS because voters didn’t want to see a rematch. This makes sense.

However, if that’s the case, then why did voters in the AP poll also move Florida ahead of Michigan, with the knowledge that what they did would have no effect on who would play in the national championship game?

Either Florida was legitimately impressive enough in the two weeks that they played and Michigan didn’t, or the lobbying by Urban Meyer, Gary Danielson, et al was enough to convince voters that maybe Florida was in fact the #2 team in the country, rather than Michigan.

Some of the explanations that voters in the Harris poll gave for their votes (lol h8 rematch lol) would seem to nullify this argument, but again, AP voters vote with knowledge that they have no effects on the BCS.

For a more accurate picture of WHY and HOW the tides turned in favor of Florida, it would be so much better to have the second-to-last week votes, rather than just the final week, for both Harris and Coaches Poll voters. Obviously enough people had Michigan ahead in the second to last week, but switched for the final poll only. Knowing which voters switched would be much more enlightening as to the motivations.

A case in point would be someone like Ron Zook. Did he have Florida ahead of Michigan in the penultimate coaches poll, and switch his vote to avoid a rematch (which would be retarded because it costs the conference, and therefore his school, money, but judging by his in-game coaching over the years, I wouldn’t be surprised if he actually was mentally handicapped), or did he have Florida ahead both weeks because of his allegiance to his ex-players.

Just throwing some thoughts out there. Of course, the AP vote was much closer than either the Hrris or Coaches Polls the last two weeks (3 points as opposed to 38 and 26 points, respectively), but there still must be some sort of explanation.

Posted under Misc.

http://umich.edu/stadium/project-description/inside.html

Posted under Misc.

Rutgers is the new USC.

Posted under Misc.

I’m pretty much a terrible blogger and haven’t posted in forever.

I am not as disappointed with the BSU game as a lot of people were. I think it serves as a pretty good wake up call for the team. Coming up next is Indiana, who will be more difficult than many anticipate, as they will be fighting for a bowl.

Posted under Misc.

Wow. The plans for the stadium renovations look ridicu-good per the artist’s renderings that can be found here.

As though I didn’t approve before, I’m even stronger in favor of these changes than I was in the past.

Bill Martin will be giving public presentations on the renovations at 7 PM that following dates and locations.

10-26 UM-AA Junge Family Champions Center
10-30 UM-Flint Ontarion Room
11-1 UM-Dearborn Kochoff Hall, Section A

Posted under Misc.