Here are few 2009 hype videos from around the web – most notably from Brian & crew over at Mgoblog.com. Enjoy.

GO BLUE – SUPPORT RICH RODRIGUEZ – BE LOUD – WEAR MAIZE!

GO BLUE – SUPPORT RICH RODRIGUEZ – BE LOUD – WEAR MAIZE!

GO BLUE – SUPPORT RICH RODRIGUEZ – BE LOUD – WEAR MAIZE!

After the week that Rich Rodriguez has been through – the self-proclaimed worst week of his coaching career – what kind of talk does RR give his team before they run out of that tunnel tomorrow? No one can predict what he’ll say and what his demeanor will be. Check out RR before a West Virginia vs. Louisville game back in 2005. I think he’s got the ability to really put some fire into players through his emotion and passion. I want to be in that locker room before tomorrow’s game….wonder if RR will be anything like this….

In just over 24 hours the Michigan Wolverines run out of that tunnel ready to knock someone else around for the first time in 2009. What will happen? Who will score first? So many questions that we as Michigan fans have will be answered before you know it. Rich Rodriguez announced on Thursday that Tate Forcier will take the first snaps and be his starter. Here are 5 things that I think must happen for Michigan to start the season out in the win column.

1. A consistent running attack.

   Michigan was in way to many 2nd and 3rd and long situations last year that simply crippled an inept offense. For this years team to be be successful and get a W saturday against Western – 1st and 2nd down plays MUST result in mid to short yard 3rd down plays. Michigan has a stable of backs that should enable the man on the field to have fresh legs. Despite Brandon Minor’s apparent nagging ankle injury that may keep him on the sideline – I think Michigan’s offensive line and backfield get the job done on opening day. Carlos Brown will be out on the field with Tate for that first series.

2. Competent QB Play.

   Again, something Michigan didn’t have last season. The 2009 Spring Game and what we’ve seen/heard from practice leads us to believe that Forcier has what it takes to get the job done. I think in just a few plays that Tate made during the Spring Game – it’s obvious that he’s got more talent than a Threet / Sheridan combo.

3. Offensive Playmaking.

   Michigan can take advantage of an inexperienced Western Michigan defense by making some big plays, breaking some tackles, and out-executing Western. No offense is going to consistently score if its playmakers don’t come through and do exactly that – make plays! I’m looking for Kelvin Grady, Martavious Odoms, Vincent Smith, Roy Roundtree, Terrance Robinson, Je’Ron Stokes, Greg Matthews, etc!!! – to step up and break a few big plays on the outside. I can’t remember a year when Michigan had so many options outside on the corners.

4. Minimize Big Plays on Defense.

   For years Michigan defenses have struggled with allowing big plays and poor tackling. I look for Greg Robinson to put an improved defense out there, but nothing that special. The problem is depth – which has been well documented over the past few weeks. The defense is a bit smaller than what Michigan fans are typically used to seeing, but they should be a bit faster. The defensive line will need to apply some pressure on Western Michigan QB Tim Hiller – if they don’t Michigan will have to blitz a bit more than they would like – leaving our DB’s in man coverage.

5. TURNOVERS, TURNOVERS, TURNOVERS

   Turnovers absolutely KILLED Michigan last year – leaving games like the Notre Dame game blowouts when in reality they were much closer than what the scoreboard indicated. Michigan had the worst turnover ratio in the Big 10 at -10. Countless opportunities blown because Michigan would turn the ball over. This is crucial for Michigan’s success this season. Taking care of the skin o’ de pig will work wonders for this inexperienced Wolverines team.

GET EXCITED – BE LOUD – WEAR MAIZE – SUPPORT BIG BLUE AND RICH RODRIGUEZ

Michigan, RR, NCAA rules violations all in one sentence and the world blows up – then MGOBlog has a thread that is quickly approaching 400 comments. Needless to say, this might be the worst and last thing you want to read as you hop online to check the latest. Where to begin? Before I start talking about the content of the report itself – I want to highlight something said by a parent of a player who is still ON THE TEAM. This comes from Michael Schofield’s father from a different message board….

“As a parent of a Michigan player I will say that the Freep is full of shit. Michael spent more time this summer on class work than any thing eles, he came home to visit, there were no Barwis police chasing him making him pratice, he played basketball, goofed around with other sports athlets at the dorms, like all college kids do. To say that these kids are training or being made to train over the NCAA limits is untrue…what my wife and I like about Michigan Football was there committment to education first. Some thing the Freep dose not belive in.

GO BLUE”

Ok so you’ve digested that, feel better? Now that positive reaction to the report from a current player’s father needs to be channeled to a credible media outlet like the Detroit News.

The report from Michael Rosenturd.
I have several issues with the way this report has been written and released. Timing is one – I am a bit skeptical of something like this being released 1 week before the first game of the season. Right before the players need to be more focused than ever on nothing else but getting prepared for that first game against Western Michigan. That being said, I do understand that I would have griped about timing whether it was during the first week of camp or some games into the season – nevertheless – the timing of this bothers me.

Could Michael Rosenburg be any more vague in his sources? A good piece of journalism would find some balance in what he is reporting. Why didn’t Rosenturd make an effort to bring up whether or not there are players and parents that do not agree with his take and his report? No balance from the turd on this. We all know that there have been players that have left the program that were not happy with the transition from Carr to Rodriguez and RR’s style of coaching. That is fine – it happens with any major coaching change. So because of that reason – the report would be much more credible if the sources were at least distinguished beyond “current and former” players. I’d love to know exactly how Rosenturd positioned his questions to the “former” players that have agreed or not disagreed with the allegations. It’s similar to those freshman that were talking about how tough and intense the workouts were – they had no clue their words were going to be used for an awful piece of journalism and a story that really isn’t even a story.

The Difference Between “Mandatory” and “Voluntary”
I played high school football and basketball and you better believe those “voluntary” workouts were essentially mandatory if you wanted to see any time on the playing field. Much of Rosenturd’s story isn’t even relevant due to the significant gray areas of what a “voluntary” workout means. I can’t imagine how different the voluntary workouts are in college, but these players have most likely received a scholarship to come play for the University of Michigan. In high school, you went to the voluntary workouts because you were committed to the team. You stayed after lifting to work with your position group for some light drills with no pads. No coaches were around but I can tell you that they were aware of the time being put in for the players to get better. Same goes with a MAJOR D1 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PROGRAM, where these players put in the time because they want to perform on Saturdays and do their best to make it to the next level.

There was mention of players falling asleep in class because they were spending so much time on football. So, I wonder what made me fall asleep in class – or all the other kids I knew that would fall asleep in class. Seriously? Did Rosenturd mention the fact that last season Michigan players set a football-team class record GPA? Yet another piece of bad journalism here. Again I’ll talk about my experience in high school, football is a very demanding sport. Preparing yourself for the battle on the field isn’t easy. It’s tiring, it’s taxing on your body, it’s why they call it “paying the price”. So if in fact players were “falling asleep” in class – it’s because they have made a commitment to themselves, their team,the University of Michigan and to the American “gladiator” sport of football.

Rules are Rules
Rules are rules and Michigan and Rich Rodriguez should be punished if they have not been abiding by the rules set forth by the NCAA. Here are some links to NCAA rules – notice the many exceptions that the Free Press fails to mention: here, and here.

LET’S WIN SOME BALL GAMES – GO BLUE – BEAT WESTERN MICHIGAN IN 6 DAYS.

In the midst of a very long month – waiting for college football season to begin – here’s something to think about besides how the next CNNSI reporter blows a Rich Rodriguez comment into something way bigger than it really is on how he’ll play quarterbacks this season. I’ve put together Michigan’s best season from 2000 through 2008 starting with the opening game for the past nine years. So it’s Michigan’s best season by considering each set of Week 1 games, Week 2 games, etc. Don’t forget to comment on how you’d change it up…

Week 1 – Washington at Michigan – VIDEO
Michigan beats the Washington Huskies on opening day at the Big House. I can remember walking back to the car assuming sure defeat – then the horns. People were dancin’ on their horns because Michigan puts an improbable field goal through as time expires for the victory.

Week 2 – Houston at Michigan – INFO
This wasn’t exactly a great game – although now I’m sure every Michigan fan would take ANY blowout. But if you look at Week 2 games – there are lots of losses and ugly wins sprinkled in throughout – two to ND, two to Pac 10 teams, bad wins against MAC teams, etc.

Week 3 – Michigan at Notre Dame – VIDEO
This was a game where just about everything went right for Michigan and it was a great day all around. Henne to Manningham three times in the first half alone. Brady Quinn couldn’t keep his face mask clear of grass. This gave that 2006 team so much confidence and some swagger.

Week 4 – Wisconsin at Michigan – HD VIDEO
The lone bright spot of the Rich Rod’s first season at Michigan. The greatest comeback in the history of Michigan Stadium. The first half was just a waste of everyone’s time – the offense blew, and I mean real bad. But things got going late in the third quarter with some help from Wisconsin and before you knew – Michigan is winning 27-19 and pulls out the W 27-25.

See below the tables for the rest of the game descriptions…

	Week 1	2	3	4	5	6	7
2000	Bowling Green 42-7	Rice 28-7	UCLA 20-23	Illinois 35-31	Wisconsin 13-10	Purdue 31-32	Indiana 50-0
2001	Miami(oh) 31-13	Washington 18-23	bye	Western Michigan 38-21	Illinois 45-20	Penn State 20-0	Purdue 24-10
2002	Washington 31-29	Western Michigan 35-12	Notre Dame 23-25	Utah 10-7	Illinois 45-28	Penn State 27-24	Purdue 23-21
2003	Central Michigan 45-7	Houston 50-3	Notre Dame 38-0	Oregon 27-31	Indiana 31-17	Iowa 27-30	Minnesota 38-35
2004	Miami(oh) 43-10	Notre Dame 20-28	San Diego St. 24-21	Iowa 30-17	Indiana 35-14	Minnesota 27-24	Illinois 30-19
2005	Northern Illinois 33-17	Notre Dame 10-17	Eastern Michigan 55-0	Wisconsin 20-23	Michigan State 34-31	Minnesota 20-23	Penn State 27-25
2006	Vanderbilt 27-7	Central Michigan 41-17	Notre Dame 47-21	Wisconsin 20-23	Minnesota 20-23	Michigan State 31-13	Penn State 17-10
2007	App St 32-34	Oregon 7-39	Notre Dame 38-0	Penn State 14-9	Northwestern 28-16	Eastern Michigan 33-22	Purdue 48-21
2008	Utah 23-25	Miami(oh) 16-6	Notre Dame 17-35	Wisconsin 27-25	Illinois 20-45	Toledo 10-13	Penn State 17-46

	8	9	10	11	12	B
2000	Michigan State 14-0	bye	Northwestern 51-54	Penn State 33-11	Ohio State 38-26	Auburn 31-28
2001	Iowa 32-26	Michigan State 24-26	Minnesota 31-10	Wisconsin 20-17	Ohio State 20-26	Tennessee 17-45
2002	Iowa 24-26	Michigan State 31-10	Minnesota 20-17	Wisconsin 20-26	Ohio State 17-45	Florida 38-30
2003	Illinois 56-14	Purdue 31-3	Michigan State 27-20	Northwestern 41-10	Ohio State 35-21	USC 14-28
2004	Purdue 16-14	Michigan State 45-37	bye	Northwestern 27-20	Ohio State 21-37	Texas 37-38
2005	Iowa 23-20	Northwestern 33-17	bye	Indiana 41-14	Ohio State 21-25	Nebraska 28-32
2006	Iowa 20-6	Northwestern 17-3	Ball State 34-26	Indiana 34-3	Ohio State 39-42	USC 28-32
2007	Illinois 21-17	Minnesota 34-10	Michigan State 28-24	Wisconsin 21-37	Ohio State 3-14	Florida 41-35
2008	Michigan State 21-35	Purdue 42-48	Minnesota 29-6	Northwestern 14-21	Ohio State 7-42

Week 5 – Michigan at Michigan State – VIDEO
MSU came into the game 4-0 and favored in the game for the first time since 1968. Michigan winds up getting a 21-7 lead before MSU came back to tie the game. Michigan then gets up 31-24 and midway through the 4th quarter a Henne fumble gets picked up and taken to the house. Rivas ends up hitting a field goal in OT to win the game.

Week 6 – Michigan at Penn State – VIDEO
The first overtime game ever at Michigan Stadium. If you watch the video, you’ll see that there are a number of plays where the refs miss some calls that did not help Michigan in any way. Michigan winds up down 13-7 at the end of the third quarter. Michigan then gets jobbed out of what was clearly a pass interference on Braylon Edwards. Nevertheless, Navarre ends up hitting Edwards on a fade pattern in the left side of the end zone. PSU gets up again 21-14 and Michigan ties and and gets the W in OT.

Week 7 – Penn State at Michigan – VIDEO
One second. Need I say more? In a season where Michigan had injuries and losses. They spoil Penn State’s season by beating them on the last play with only one second remaining on the clock. What a sweet moment it was.

Week 8 – Michigan at Iowa – VIDEO
A gutsy comeback in Kinnick Stadium against the Hawkeyes of Iowa. The boys in blue were down 13 in the second half and things were looking rather ugly. The offense couldn’t get anything going all day until late in the 2nd half. Marquise Walker makes one of the most spectacular catches I’ve ever witnessed. Great win on the road.

Week 9 – Michigan State at Michigan – VIDEO
Halloween weekend + MSU up by 17 with 7 minutes to go in the forth quarter = hammered me. Who knew Braylon would have the greatest game of his college and professional career that afternoon. A late game in OT make for an epic scene with darkness setting in on Michigan Stadium. Michigan had problems stopping MSU all day, but in the end Henne threw up enough flyballs to Edwards to get a classic overtime victory.

Week 10 – Michigan at Michigan State – VIDEO
Michigan comes out of the gates playing well, but eventually finds themselves down 24-14 midway through the forth quarter. Henne throws one of the best passes of his career to Greg Matthews in the corner of the end zone to put the Wolverines down 3. A quick stop from Michigan’s defense and Henne takes the boys back down field for an eventual beauty to Mario Manningham for the win.

Week 11 – Penn State at Michigan – VIDEO
Not a whole lot to choose from when considering Week 11 games. This was a solid victory led by Drew Henson, Anthony Thomas and BJ Askew. The 4th straight win in a row over Penn State – who would have thought that streak was going to last all the way up to 2008.

Week 12 – Michigan at Ohio State – VIDEO
Let’s see. One opponent fills Week 12. The win in 2003 was great at home. Gotta go with Michigan’s last road win in Columbus. Enough said.

Bowl Game – Michigan vs. Florida – HD VIDEO
A great way to send off Lloyd Carr in his final game on the sidelines. A back and forth game that saw Mike Hart fumble twice, Chad Henne make some unbelievable throws, Adrian Arrington make some sick catches, Mario Manningham come up big, and Jamar Adams LIGHT up Tim Tebow a couple times. Michigan has owned the SEC in recent years, unlike ugly down in Ohio.

Additional news and notes that came out of yesterday’s Michigan Media & Fan day…

• From AnnArbor.com – a nice little video sample of sights and sounds from Media Day.

• AnnArbor.com’s Pete Bigelow compiled their coverage here.

Continue reading "Media Day Aftermath"→

I’m a collector of anything Michigan. For example, I have every Michigan article that came out of the Detroit Free Press during Michigan’s ’97 national championship run. So when I run across something I really like – I feel like I shall share. The University of Michigan Football Vaultis essentially a “scrapbook” of pics, art, memorabilia all from Michigan’s campus archives, papers, etc. The coolest part for me was seeing the reproductions of old game programs, historic tickets, even the building permit for Michigan Stadium! Very cool stuff. It’s in a slipcase and it’s a hard cover. Glad I added it to my collection.

University of Michigan Football Vault

Here are some videos that give a pretty good sense of what type of quarterback Devin Gardner is – he’s a big guy that is extremely talented…..Enjoy…