The MMQ : Happy New Year!!!

Wow!

And I do mean “WOW!!!” If you’re not a college football fan (and there’s some in my family who aren’t and I had to fight for a TV yesterday, if you can believe that) you really don’t know what you’re missing. But if you’re reading this, I know you’re a fan and you’re probably as exhausted as I am on this first day back to the real world. New Year’s day (and New Year’s Eve) was simply fantastic for football watching and I really don’t think there was a bad game on anywhere…Even the Gophers tried their best to keep it close….

But, before I get too far ahead of myself, it seems like there’s something that happened in Ann Arbor in the last couple of days that I haven’t had a chance to post about yet. Let’s see, I made a note about it somewhere….Oh yeah…..

MICHIGAN HIRES HARBAUGH!!!!

Let the rejoicing begin! I have to admit that my doubts were extremely deep on this one ever since Michigan didn’t hire him 4 years ago. I completely fell for and was sucked in by all the crap that every NFL talking head seemed to be spewing (Do any of those guys have an original thought or do they all just run around repeating what the other guys are saying? I’m just asking any of the NFL fans out there). However, at the end of the day, Hackett was the man with the swim lane plan that brought Jimmy Harbaugh home to Ann Arbor. And it wasn’t for $8M a year (And you can bet that REALLY bums the NFL guys out) but a bargain number of $5M annually with incentives for winning everything from the B1G to a National Title. So, boo-yah to Mr. Hackett. My only question:

Where have you been for the last 7 years?

As I was watching Sparty and ohio yesterday, I really regret the last 4 years, or more specifically, the hiring of Brady Hoke when I now honestly believe that Harbaugh was never really offered the job in the first place or knew enough about BranDictator that he knew he could never coach under a guy like that. And I think I began to hate BranDictator even more than I already do for running an entire athletic department into the ground – financial “success” not withstanding. Why Michigan EVER LET A CORPORATE CEO WITHOUT ANY athletic director experience come in and F-things up at 1000 SSS, I will never know. But, it’s over and hopefully everyone involved can say they learned something from it.

I digress and I’m not about to let the past get me down when the future is looking so bright. The press conference was a delight (compared to the Brady Hoke bumbling, fumbling routine) and the Half-time speech was inspiring.

In case you missed any of it, here’s You Tube clips of all of it:

The Presser

Harbaugh Halftime Speech

Thanks to Yost over at the M-Zone for Translating!!!!

But to all the “HATERZ” out there (and I get it: Haterz are gonna’ Hate – it’s what I do, also), you really make me laugh. I received a new electronic device for my birthday that allows me to troll the enemy websites and blogs more effectively and they are all incredibly humorous when you look at them objectively. First, NO ONE thought we were going to get JH back (and there were all citing the same NFL boobs that I referenced earlier) and it would take a miracle if it did happen. Everything from not wanting to leave California (BS) and his wife not wanting to leave the Bay Area (DOUBLE BS – Check the Angelique Chengelis interview) were cited as “Facts.”

Now it’s happened. I trolled one particular blog/message board that gives Harbaugh no more than 3 seasons before the siren call of the NFL lures him back after abject and humiliating failure at Michigan because, “No recruit wants to go to Michigan and play for a ‘has-been’ program.” And they are also stating that he “Hasn’t been that successful, really, he’s just been on the right side of the odds equation, being able to land and ride Andrew Luck at Stanford, for example.” Really? Are you really believing that or are you just trying to ignore, in your own little noggin’, how this is not only the biggest hire (short of Saban coming back) in college football, but that good coaching DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE at the collegiate level??

I laugh only because there are lots of fans that are enraged with their current coaching situation (mostly domers) and the Sparty and suckeye fans are simply nervous…like they know they’ve poked the sleeping bear…er, WOLVERINE one too many times.

And the “Wolverine” is waking up PISSED!

Yep, its already beginning with Harbaugh landing heralded assistants DJ Durkin (DC from Florida) and Tim Drevno (OC from the 49er’s). I’ll take both those guys over what we had, even though Mattison was effective. And he’s also staying on board, according to reports from recruits and mgoblog.com. Rumors are flying that Wheatley may be coming back from the Buffalo Bills to coach running backs and Vince Marrow and Tim Morton will be TE and WR coaches, respectively. DB coach is still kind of wide open, but you can bet it will be a guy with some DB experience, and not a guy who had never even played the position.

So, yeah, the future is looking way brighter in all Michigan fan’s eyes right now. Granted, we’re still all realists and we all know there’s going to be bumps on the way. Getting a functional QB at this point seems to be the biggest challenge and the first step towards getting the offense fixed. I don’t know if there’s anything that Harbaugh can really coach up with what’s left of Morris’ psyche and Speight may still be too young. I’m not even going to mention Bellomy except to say that he’s still on the team for now. I see Jimmy maybe making a transfer grab for someone, but who? Time will tell but I have a feeling that Jimmy doesn’t want to suffer fools too long at the QB position.

There’ll be way more time to talk about this in the future, so how about getting to

The Rest of the Mess – Karma’s A Bitch

I’ve written about Karma before and I honestly believe there’s a force in the universe that eventually lets every dog have its day and lets everyone who’s been wronged a chance to get even. And if you’ve been living on the edge…well, there’s a time when Karma comes back around to bite you in the ass…and there’s nothing you can do about it.

There were some great games on yesterday, and let’s start with Wiscy beating a heavy favorite Auburn team in the Citrus Bowl. I started watching that game in the 2^nd half pretty exclusively because it looked like Baylor was going to be handling Sparty for the rest of the afternoon. So, I watched as Wiscy and the Tigers dueled back and forth in the 4^th quarter and then Wiscy tied the game up with single digit seconds left. When the Badgers could only convert a Figgie in OT, I really thought it was over as Wiscy’s “D” hadn’t stopped the Tigers in the entire 2^nd half. But they rose to the occasion, shut down the Tiger offense and the tying kick was off the upright (Remember last season when Auburn beat Bama on the missed Figgie? – Karma) and Wiscy held on to pull off a stunning SEC West upset and earn a scalp for the B1G.

Then, I flipped Sparty - Baylor back on. I’m guessing most of you did the same and we watched as Cook did something that was so inexplicably dumb that the calls of “SOS” were coming in so fast on my phone that I couldn’t keep up.

But I wasn’t completely ready to count Sparty out yet. This is a team that knows how to come back, especially in Bowl Games. And sure enough, with a Baylor miscue on what had been a long gain deep into the red zone ended up becoming a win for the defense by forcing a field goal try that was blocked. And, if you DIDN’T See this, well, the Baylor kicker tweeted yesterday that he was alive and fine. Just a little woozy….

I swear I could watch that on a continuous loop for an hour. The last little collapse at the end is just classic!!! It was then that I think we all knew that Sparty had a chance….

And Cook delivered! He took the disaster and turned it into a TD! Briles presser was classic and he looked thoroughly pissed. This was not a coach (or a team) that respected Sparty. Nope….In fact, Baylor got it’s “Karma” moment and now knows how TCU felt after they did the same thing to them.

The Grandaddy Of Them All came on and the first half certainly had a feel to it that the Ducks were trying to figure out a way to let the Noles back in the game. Winston’s non-TD on 4^th down was a big deal and it felt like FSU was just waking up and getting ready to come out and do what they usually do to teams in the 2^nd half. But then the Noles got a case of the “dropsies” and, well, the Quack Attack took over. Famous Jameis was a victim of Karma, as there’s really no other way to explain this little fiasco…

Any idiot GM in the NFL that thinks about drafting Winston before Mariota should get canned immediately if not sooner. But believe me, Kiper or someone will say that Winston is the better gamble….go figure.

Then, in the Sugar Bowl, I have to say that Karma ruled the evening again. While ohio looked like they could roll the Tide, Bama was just abusing the suckeyes every miscue and putting points on the board. But as coach Holtz says, the most important times in the game are the 5 minutes before half time and the 5 minutes right after half time. The suckeyes capitalized in both spots scoring a TD on a trick play with a circus catch. Then, they came out and scored again.

Domination – Karma. Yes, Saban may have given Urban Legend heart problems and a reason to retire from Florida, but Saban looked none too happy last night in his presser. And oh how the Bama fans will howl for the next 200 and some odd days until the 2015 season begins.

In fact, the entirety of the SEC (SEC West Bowl Record: 2-5???) should be embarrassed and ashamed! Your best wins are from a former B1G coach (Arkansas) and a Big 12 cast off (Mizzou).

That’s now a 5-4 B1G record with many prognosticators (and I will admit, I was not optimistic) that the B1G would have a hard time not going 0-10 in the bowls. Iowa could make it a 6-4 record over Tennessee today, so here’s hoping!

Why do I care about the B1G? I don’t, really. In fact, I will admit here and now that I kind of have a hard time watching Sparty and the suckeyes win. But, at the same time, I’m sick and tired of the B1G not getting any national respect and the SEC can go to hell….so, yeah, I guess I do care but I want the new Michigan Era to begin so the Wolverines can be in there on New Year’s Day doing some ass-kicking of their own! Yep – I think all this SEC crap can be laid to rest…the sooner the better. Of course, you have ESPN doing this right now:

Here’s another thought to consider: If nothing changed, we would have had (probably) Bama and FSU in the National Title Game (BCS Rules) and – WAIT FOR IT….A traditional Rose Bowl Match-Up of Ohio State and Oregon….

So, yes, I hope now that EVERYONE CAN SEE that a Play-off is needed, but it kind of sucks for the Rose not to have what it would have had anyway….In a weird Karma-esque way….

Other games of note:

Domers defeat LSU: unbelievably…Even the domer faithful had written this one off before it was played…

The State of Mississippi: Was destroyed on New Year’s Eve. TCU and Gerogia Tech had a field day with these two. Freeze and Mullen are no longer “Hot Names” in the coaching world….

Florida: Doesn’t have one happy fan base anywhere. Florida teams 0-3 in the bowls…ditto Mississippi….and Alabama (0-2)!!!!

The Hot Seat

So many coaching changes…So few predicted by the MMQ!!! But then again, if you were predicting any of this you talk to the spirits of your ancestors at night in your dreams or something….

Who’s where (I swear I had to look a couple of these up!):

Harbaugh – Michigan: Without question, a Grand Slam hire. Let’s hope this works out!

Reilly – Nebraska (You will NEVER BE ABLE TO EXPLAIN THIS TO ME AND HAVE IT MAKE SENSE!!! Bo Pelini won 9 games a year…so he was an ass….)

Chryst – Wisconsin: Who else was Barry going to get? He needs someone he can boss around. Hey, I have an idea: What about Barry Alvarez as Head Coach?

Narduzzi – Pitt: Good move for Narduzzi as he will only be there for a couple of seasons as that seems to be the pre-requisite now at Pitt. You can only stay two seasons or they fire you after two.

Herman – Houston: This one is a little baffling. I figured Herman was more of an up and comer and would have held out for a slightly better head coaching gig than the hot mess that is Houston. But what do I know?

Chizik – DC UNC: Why is he leaving his radio gig and off and on TV gig at ESPN to be a DC???

Muschamp – DC Auburn: This was quick…figured Will would try that ESPN thing for a awhile before doing a coordinator gig.

Andersen – Oregon State: I kind of get this…He’s a devout Mormon and apparently the liberal leaning Madison was a difficult environment for his family….But still, leaving Wiscy to go to the tree loving upper northwest city of Corvalis? Okay…have fun.

Should we do a Pre-Season 2015 Hot Seat Mascot List? Why not!!!!

1. Nick Saban – Yep, you lose to ohio and a 3^rd string QB, there’s going to be some hell to pay in what is going to become a very, very, VERY long off-season for Saban and company.

2. Les Miles – Ditto. The domers were a dumpster fire on defense in their last 5 games and LSU should have hung at least 50 on them. Instead, the Hatter didn’t capitalize when he should have and now has his fan base really pissed off.

3. Hugh Freeze – Ole Miss literally got their butts handed to them by TCU. It was an ugly game start to finish. He might be feeling some pressure in the off season…

4. Brian Kelly – Yeah, he won the bowl game, but the domer faithful still can’t stand the guy. If Kelly interviews for an NFL gig, he better hope he gets an offer. Otherwise, they might can him.

5. Dana Holgersen – WVU hasn’t done much since he’s been there. That was a team that was battling for National Titles under Rich Rod. Losing the bowl can’t help his situation.

6. Al Golden – Miami faithful are tired of Al. But I think he’s had the toughest job in all of college football. I hope it doesn’t happen, but Golden getting the ax after a dismal 2015 would surprise me.

And I have update the Mascot Voting on the side Bar!!! We have a Final 4 of:

Southwest: Samantha Hoopes