big10freek

Ernie Harwell

He's being eulogized left and right but I wanted to throw in mine.

I'm from SE Michigan, not from Detroit. I don't say I'm from Detroit unless I'm abroad. I've never even been to Greektown. Detached, I feel only curiosity and pity, not sadness, toward its crumbling and decay.

There are a few exceptions to this and Ernie Harwell and Tiger Stadium both fall in the realm of being MINE. Part of me, unlike the other sports teams, buildings, etc.



Harwell is wallpaper at a house from your childhood. Always there and incapable of aging. Harwell is not human. Does he eat cereal? I can't imagine it in my head. There is only talking. When he exits a non-existent stadium at Michigan and Trumbull each day (all year) he goes to a diner that hasn't been updated ever and sips something and continues to calmly chat with whoever happens to be sitting across from him. Maybe one by one he charms a building crowd before exiting into the night.

The southern gentleman became as Detroit as anyone or anything. Unassailable, exception-less class. A treasure that, as jeremy discussed, voices for millions so much more than a ball game. Somehow there is art in that.

CFB: Bullets

I better get in some of my thoughts on last week before the next week of CFB starts.

• Boubacar Cissoko had a hard time defending Michael Floyd last week. This was clear. But considering the performance of his backup in the last game and the fact that Michigan had a walk-on that is the closest thing to Rudy-incarnate at Safety next to him, I think Michigan averted damage as much as they possibly could. I would hope the fan reaction in the further is not one of "He sucks. Get him out of there" which I heard quite a few times and instead the fans get behind the only viable guy at the 2nd corner position. Putting the 5'8" sophomore out on an island against an NFL-caliber receiver is going to lead to some bad things but it's a matter of pick your poison. I would hope that Cissoko gets support from the fans instead of internet bashing as the season goes on. Thank your lucky stars that he chose Michigan, because if he didn't, where would they be?
• It's hard to tell how good Notre Dame is, but I think that their offense is very good. Their line is great and their receivers may be the best in the nation. Their QB is the experienced type of guy that lets Weis do the only thing he's good at. I think they win 10 games this year with a schedule that's not as easy as everyone makes it out to be.
• On the other hand, while they have the talent to win that many games, Weis could screw it all up. Weis is one of the worst coaches in the NCAA and far and away my least favorite. I am convinced that contrary to what many have suggested he actually called the bomb on 2nd down at the end of the game last game. His ego was thinking "Everyone thinks I am going to run it here, but Michigan is stacked against the run. They'll never see this bomb coming. Everyone will hail me for my genius when it works." In other words, he had the glory that would be bestowed upon him instead of the best interest of his football team when doing it. A lot of assuming on my part? Yes, but I really believe that's what's going on in his head. But, theories aside, it was quite a whiny press conference full of excuses from the guy that wrote the "No Excuses" book. The worst are the complaints about the officiating. Nobody seems to point out that Notre Dame clearly held on every single play for their first two possessions before they were ever called for a hold. It was a shame they didn't get called for more.
• Anyone that saw Central Michigan's onside kick against Michigan State might conclude that God hates the Spartans. It was the most ridiculous bounce I've ever seen. But, anyone that saw the ensuing plays has to include the Colin Neely, their defensive end, hates the Spartans even more. Dantonio teaches discipline? HAHAAHA. My favorite quote of the week: "something something pride something fall."
• One comment on the third rival: Justin Boren is overrated. I admit that I don't usually focus on Guard play in a game, but his pouty ass never moved a guy once. He just served to clog up the line by running his chubby ass into a DT and stop dead in his tracks on every single running play. This is Ohio State's second best offensive player? I like that Ohio State has never had an elite offense under Tressel. It seems to be his biggest weakness. It doesn't look like it's going to be any different this year.
• Why does everyone keep talking about how good the Miami-FSU game was in week 1? Yeah, it was close all game long, but it was full of sloppiness, mistakes, and overall terrible defense. FSU showed their true colors by almost losing to Jacksonville State, who was without forgotten star Ryan Perriloux. I'm predicting that Miami shows theirs by losing big to Georgia Tech, although you can never tell when GTech will bring their A game.
• I just have these quotes from a conversation between Lank, jeremy, and me so it's preserved for the future:

(Two weeks before the season)

JGW: In the case that Tate Forcier DOESN’T get knocked out for the season happens (20% chance), we’re going 9-3. If Tate does get concussed several times, we’re going 4-8 with Sheridan. How’s that for negativity? C’mon Heisman Tate! Avoid those hits!

Lank: I think thats overestimating the swing between the two personally. Tate has to be one of the most overrated/hyped incoming freshman ever. Yeah, the spring game and early enrollment and QB High and all that... He's still just a little punk kid.

JGW: When I watched Forcier’s video I thought this is the best possible incoming freshman we could have right now when it comes to someone we need to plug in immediately. We shall see. In any case, I don’t think I’m overestimating the swing because I watched Sheridan play and he can’t throw 10 yards downfield. The disparity is HUGE. Not because Tate is Tate, but because Nick is the accountant. We’d be better off running the single wing with direct snaps to the Grady brothers.

Yeah, I'm ignoring the rest of the context and omitting all of Lank's other reasonable thoughts on the matter, but I can take that liberty, because JGW loves to gloat when he's right! And I'm sure Lank is so happy he'll let it slide. Yeah, Tate!

Would a punk kid do this?

• For a look at the closest thing to what a fully developed Tate will play like, watch Colt McCoy also known as Tartan Hollowpointer, Bear Canebreak, Bell Windraper or a host of other alternate names: http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/2009/06/09/29-alternate-names-for-colt-mccoy/

Matt of the Week.

Hey y'all, it's football season! Let Matthew bless your hands so you won't have a case of the dropsies.

Still Awesome

just in case you forgot.



Its been a while. Whats Matt up to?

Revenge - Serve It Cold

College Football Thoughts

After last night's games, a few random thoughts:

• After seeing LaGarrett Blount throw punches last night and get restrained from going into the crowd, I couldn't help but think "Figures. He's a juco." I may have a prejudice against junior college transfers. In fact, when I hear that a team has picked up a junior college transfer, it is similar in my mind to the team getting a kid directly from the local correctional facility. Any why shouldn't I make that association? Time and time again juco transfers end up under heat, most often for academic issues, but also quite often for ncaa violations or trouble with the law. These are guys that couldn't qualify academically in the first place, something that is extremely easy to do. If you have a 2.4 GPA and score a 860 on your SAT, you qualify. But, it's even easier than that as it's a sliding scale. If you have a 3.0 GPA, you can qualify with a 620 SAT. If you only had a 2.0 GPA in school, no worries. You can still qualify with a 1010. Bottom line is it's really easy. But these jucos couldn't qualify in the first place, went to an extremely easy CC for two years to "establish an academic record" and then joined a team they would have never qualified for in the first place. I'm not saying these guys should be outlawed by the NCAA, but if I were running a program I would be very wary about the jucos I was trying to recruit. If Michigan accepts a juco they better have a really damn good excuse for why they are a juco, like having to quit HS to get a second job to take care of their disabled mother or something. Yes, I realize this makes me sound like a huge fuddy duddy.
• Speaking of the incident last night, I always wondered what happened to Scott Frost, Nebraska's hero QB in 98, the year they split the NC with Michigan. He's now a Duck WR coach and he's still a hero, at least to Boise State fans as he saved all their lives by preventing Blount from going into the stands.
• After his inevitable suspension, the Ducks are going to suffer from not having Blount on the field, as nobody else will be able to do stuff like this. That said, notice how good the blocking was on that play. The completely new offensive line was the biggest reason why Blount couldn't do anything like this against Boise State last night. The Ducks are going to struggle until the OL can get it together.
• Boise State sophomore QB Kellen Moore is all he's hyped up to be delivering perfect throws all night. He wasn't tested much as Oregon was playing a soft zone and the DL wasn't getting any pressure so he could make his 10 yard throws all game, but it's obvious he knows what he's doing and is extremely accurate (hence the 70% completion percentage last year). BSU will probably go undefeated if he remains healthy.
• The new NCAA song on ESPN is performed by Kenny Chesney. We get to listen to this nice man all year. I fear that I will soon be yearning for the days of Big and Rich.
• As is always the case in the first week of college football, it was extremely sloppy in both games I watched. NC State and South Carolina was very, very bad football.

Curt Schilling (R-MA) vs. Oil Can Boyd (D-MA)

To be the next Senator of the Commonwealth?