GAME WEEK!

Well, it's finally here. I'm excited, nervous, elated and depressed. And that's just with the kids going back to school next week.

Why am I excited? 6th and 4th grade. Nervous? My oldest gets the "sex talk" this year at school. But with the music she listens to, I'm pretty sure she has it all figured out, anyway. Elated? Well, they're finally done with the vacation at Club White Lake where they believe every day of life is a boat ride, swimming, and a fun filled olio of excitement and God forbid they have even one day of rain or a chore to do or the "whole summer vacation is ruined". Depressed? Homework starts up again in the evening. And I hate having to come home from work and dive into homework. I know I'm supposed to enjoy that kind of thing as a good parent, but just between me, you and the internet, I can't stand it....

But, it's also Game Week. Michigan finally gets to unveil a new stadium, a better offense and a "hopefully" serviceable defense. The defense has me even more worried than before as more coaches are talking it up about how much better it's going to be...Talent equals victories and right now, I'm not counting a lot of W's coming from the defensive side of the ball....

Am I going to change my pre-season prediction? Well, that would be kind of unfair, wouldn't it? However, I will state that Woolfolk was starting and Turner was still here when I made the prediction. But I'm sticking with my gut and saying that Michigan will win more games than people are giving them credit for right now. Can they win 10? Not sure....

Check out mgoblog.com for details, but it sounds like there's going to be two flyovers at the stadium on Saturday. It should be a big, glitzy, commercial for the University of Michigan. Get in your seats early and drink that last beer standing in line at the gate.

And, in a line from "The Shawshank Redemption", one of my "guilty pleasure" movies, I hope Rich Rod can either "Get busy winning...Or get busy losing..." to put us all out of our misery.

Big 10 Division Thoughts...

Well, it's been hitting all the blogs hard and I figured it was finally time for me to add my 2 cents to the discussion - even though at the end of the day it won't amount to a hill of beans....

Greg at Mvictors.com has a pretty good analysis along with a great observation by Craig Ross that put the thought that was lurking in the back of my mind into clear words.

Here's what the divisions are probably going to look like:

Look to Mvictors for the details on what trophy games and rivalries are protected....

My biggest issue? The Craig Ross observation. If you are Michigan or Ohio State, you're screwed. You are going to have to play the 5 teams in your division. No exceptions. Then, to get to 9 games, you have to pick 4 teams from the other division. So, Michigan has to play OSU every year. No exceptions. My guess is Nebraska somehow becomes a "regular game" for Michigan as well. So, that leaves Minnesota (The Oldest Trophy in College Football), Illinois and Northwestern on a rotation in and out of Michigan's schedule. I'm sure there will be some odd ball year where we don't play Nebraska, but expect that to be about once every 10 years.

OSU is in the exact same boat. Figure that MSU, Indiana, and Purdue get the rotation nod with Michigan and Wisconsin as the premier protected games. What does this mean?

If either Michigan or OSU end up winning their division, they will have played a much tougher conference schedule - without question based on historical evidence. Which is fine if you win your division. But here's the rub scenario that scares the hell out of me and makes this look and smell and awful lot like the Big 12 fiasco that we had with Texas - Texas Tech - Oklahoma in 2008:

Michigan beats Sparty by 59-0. Michigan barely loses to Ohio State and PSU, one in OT and the other by a last second Figgie.... Sparty beats everyone else on their schedule (but hasn't yet played West Division Champ OSU) and goes 8-1 conference. Michigan is 7-2.

Who's the Champ? Clearly, head to head Michigan DESTROYED SPARTY. Emasculated them. Ripped the old stones off right at the root....And somehow, Sparty manages to squeak out 8 victories and seals the Eastern division championship....

I know - This begs the question of "How often will that REALLY happen??" Well, it happened quite a bit in the former Big 12 where the head to head matchup didn't mean diddly...

Yep...This is the problem I see. I'm sure it will go along fine until we have an issue and there has to be some rule or some provision in there for head to head match-ups vs. a single win or loss separating the top two teams. If you somehow get lucky enough to upset the division champ but lose three other Big 10 contests, go home...You've got no bitch. But, in the case where we're talking about a single game separating the two...Well, no I have a big Problem. And I'm not sure how I make it go away. But head to head has to count for something in the system. One extra point if you're both in the top two? Craig suggested counting division games as two points and cross division as 1 point...No good. It seems like it's too confusing and opens up the possibility of an undefeated division champ with up to 3 losses in cross division (you would be 10-3) and then a 2nd place division team could have the better record with two division losses (7-2) and be 9-4...Or is Craig thinking the points are cummulative and not a "record" per se?

It's going to get confusing folks...Just letting you know...

Yet Another Entry from MT...With Variations by the MMQ

MT has submitted another version of the Tailgate "T" that we won....I like the looks of this one!

(Click on the Image for a larger view)

But I can never just leave well enough alone...And I know Mike was trying to win points with Moe's...But I just didn't think they were that big a part of the tradition...Even though the Original Superfan and Bud worked together on the Bullwinkle Bumperstickers...

So, here's what I changed...A little bit...


(Click on the Image for a larger view)

Any other ideas???

Because right now, I know which one's my favorite...But I need to hear from you if you have any other wishes or anything we might have missed...

It's MSU for Moe's....Plus, A Look at Some Designs

So, through an e-mail voting poll where I asked the Crew to send me their preference for Iowa or MSU, in what can only be called a unanimous decision (it was about 21-2), SPARTY is this year's "Big Game!" winner and hopefully our Moe's Tailgate Event!

Some design ideas have trickled in and MT submitted a version of this design that the MMQ has taken and modified slightly. If there are more ideas out there, get them in and we can have a vote. However, I must admit, I feel a certain connection to this one....

Don't know why....Just seems like it fits....

But let's see some other ideas!

Moe's Sports Shop Pick's "The Tailgate" as a Finalist!

In case you haven't heard:

Moe's Sport Shop selected The Tailgate as a finalist in the Tailgate Competition! We will get to pick a game for our tailgate, get free T-Shirts for the Tail gate, and hang a Moe's Banner at our spot!

Here's the note from Dusting DeSnyder at Moes:

Just wanted to let you know that I loved your website and tailgate stories! I have chosen your tailgate for one of our tailgates of the week however I wanted to give you a bigger game than the UMASS or BG game so you can either choose between MSU or Iowa (homecoming) games.

In addition to the shirts we are offering discounts to use at Moe's. The number of discounts you receive and the percentage off of these discounts will depend on how many of your tailgate members, friends, and family members "LIKE" us on our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/MoeSportShop.

So spread the word and recommend our page to those people!Congrats!
Dustin DeSnyder Moe Sport Shops

Get on Facebook and hit "Like" when you visit Moe's.....

So, instead of reporting other news...Our tailgate is the news!

The Season's Over....The Season Anew...

Okay.

After having puked up breakfast, lunch and dinner yesterday I have finally gotten past what can only be still lingering in the mind of Troy Woolfolk. "Why did this happen?" Why a freak accident in his senior season that looked to be extremely promising has taken him out? Who knows....

Which got me to thinking about what I would do if I were the head coach in that locker room. Everyone knows you're going to be bad in the secondary. Now they know that not only are you going to be bad, but you don't even have decent personnel to be bad with. And I started thinking some more.

Is this a great motivation tool or what?

Whenever you are faced with insurmountable odds or the biggest pile of stink that you've ever encountered and "EVERYONE IS EXPECTING YOU OR THE SITUATION TO RESULT IN UTTER FAILURE!", any success that you manage to pull out of it is going to be looked at as, "Impossible! He (or they) defied all the odds and succeeded!"

That's kind of my credo in the working world. Find a big problem that's destined for failure and get associated with it. Throw in your best knowledge and effort. You might be surprised that big problems really aren't that big at all and if you address them as a series of little problems, maybe, just maybe, you'll experience a little success. Than a little more. And before you know it, the big "Oh Shit!" has turned into a working solution and people are looking around wondering who was on the team that made that work. Granted, the secondary is a monumental problem, but Maize and Brew addresses the issue and offers hope. So, forget the message boards, the offers of hemlock and cyanide tablets and look at the positive. We still have to play the games, folks and its better to be optimistic than otherwise. Besides, it's too damn early to start feeling lousy....

On to other news: I don't know whether to add this here or not, but mgoblog.com has posted a twitter from sideline hottie and Penns State Communication Grad Melanie Collins on the Big 10 network that claims Tate Forcier has requested a transfer.

Strangely, my golf partner and I discusses this a mere three weeks ago and he suggested that Tate would follow in the footsteps of his brother Jason and bolt out of Ann Arbor faster than shit through a goose if he started to get the sense that he wasn't going to be the starter. It would seem that the likelihood of this is at least somewhat real. Tate and I'm sure Tate's father who, if you don't know this, is somewhat involved in his kids careers probably is telling Tate to make the decision and move on if he believes he's not going to start. I don't know what the rules of eligibility are, but there's probably timing involved.

So much for a quiet pre-season..... By the way, if you're on the ledge, welcome to the club. I haven't jumped yet and my pre-season prediction remains....But I really, desperately want to change it. I'm just still extremely hopeful that all isn't lost. And that the Rod is a good coach and can manage this....

Season Over???? - Woolfolk's Is......

If you haven't heard, and this was my heart crashing when I learned the news, Troy Woolfolk's season is most likely over:

Troy Woolfolk breaks leg in practice.

I'm literally sick to my stomach right now. I know that he's not the entire team, but he was going to be a major part of the defense. A blow like this could either devestate the entire season or create something to rally around.

I guess we'll see what kind of Coach the Rod is now....Can he keep them together?

Turner would certainly be nice to have around right about now....