The Wake Up Call

Rude awakening.

I have been putting this off for over a day now.

I first sat down with the intention of writing my postgame thoughts Saturday night after the seven Michigan State fans I spent most of the weekend with left for the bar, leaving me alone with a glass of whiskey and the hum of Florida vs. LSU in the background.  I typed maybe five or six different openings but wasn't happy with what came out, and on top of it I was only half interested in writing anything.  I clicked back and forth between other open tabs on Chrome and felt myself pulled further and further into Les Miles world of madness.  Finally I pushed the computer away.  Sometimes you just need a little time to let things sink in.

Fanaticism and Football

I was bouncing back and forth on mgoblog yesterday for about the thousandth time in the past week when I came across Zone Left's belated response to Brian's conclusion of his 2010 team preview.  The final piece of the preview dealt with an email that had been floating around his inbox for months from a wayward philosophy student at Trinity College who was trying to come to terms with his love of Notre Dame football in relation to "urrybody else."  Both Zone Left and Brian go over the great pains that their fandom has put them through, and ultimately come to admittedly insufficient conclusions about why this team means as much to them as it does.

Probably the first player I ever really remember.

I feel compelled then to take a stab at this question as well, if only to in some way justify to myself the inordinate amount of time I spend thinking or reading about Michigan football to the detriment of almost everything else in my life.  It is either that or I shrug it off, mutter "fuck it", and go back to worrying that Bowling Green's backup quarterback will be an effective replacement on Saturday, Ezeh will play passive at MLB, and Mouton will continue his regression to 2009 levels of linebacker play.  I would like to think asking myself why I would spend all day worrying about this is more productive than simply worrying about it.

--

Preview Central: Remember, Remember the First of September

I remember back to the 2007 season.  I was in my final semester at UM, and was staying in my temporarily vacant apartment on the kindness of my landlord who allowed me to crash on an air mattress until I found somewhere else to live.  I had no access to TV or internet, most of my friends had graduated and moved out in the last month, and the only bright spot I had staring down this final semester was one more round of season tickets.

Being without internet in my empty apartment, I wandered down to the Michigan Union the Saturday of the first game.  I knew of a few iMacs tucked away in an alcove on the 4th floor because I worked in an office around the corner (obligatory SORC shout out).  I went up there mostly to pass time, but also to see what nuggets of information ESPN might have for me.  I read about the team, and about the game, but I wasn't really interested.

The game was largely an afterthought.  "Appalachian who?" I smugly thought.  Teams from Div. I-AA are just warm ups.  I had seem enough early season cupcake games in my last four years of in the student section to feel I knew the script.  UM scores a couple early touchdowns   the old Big House two touchdown advantage coaches used to talk about   and the game is in the bag by halftime.

--

Nobody writes off I-AA teams anymore, at least nobody but Houston Nutt.  Some of these small programs have built themselves into powerhouses of the FCS division on great coaching, schemes, and players who fall through the cracks at the highest levels but can be very productive in the right system.  Then the big dogs from the FBS come calling for an easy win with a big paycheck in hand.  Four I-AA teams beat I-A teams last week.  The week before Jacksonville St. beat Ole Miss with two of the most exciting final plays I have ever seen, a 4th and 15 pass to the back of the end zone for a touchdown, then a miraculous scramble and shovel pass for the go ahead 2-pt conversion in the second overtime.  So much for easy wins.

My Favorite Things: UConn

I am trying to work out a number of regular features during the season, such as Coast to Coast, Midwest Madness, Key Possessions, and this post My Favorite things.  Having ideas of what to write will help me produce content.  If something is working well, or not working at all, please let me know.  With that said, on with the show.






I am a big fan of jazz music, so when it came for inspiration for this next piece of post-game retrospective, I turned to John Coltrane for inspiration.

There are a lot of positives to take away from this game.  Each week I'll try to pick my favorite three things from a win (and maybe my three least favorite things from a loss, that will depend on my mood).  Lets get to the list.