Izzo's Basement

Pumpkins

To get just a bit of Halloween flavor into the blog today, here's a link to twenty movie villain pumpkin carvings. One of my favorites:


Much more at the link. (Hat tip: Kathryn Jean Lopez at The Corner)

Bad Calls

Earlier in the week I said: "I don't think there's been any intent behind the bad calls, at MSU or elsewhere, just stupidity." Watching the Iowa-Indiana game this afternoon, I might have to rethink that. The officials seem to be doing all they can to make sure the Hoosiers don't pull off the upset.

Tecmo Oddities

10/25/09
1.
Steelers 14
Browns 7

Start of 4th quarter. Browns ball on the Browns 10 yd line. 4th and 20.
Result...THEY WENT FOR IT! What in the world was the computer thinking? You are only down by a TD with a full quarter to go! And it's 4th and 20.

2.
Steelers v Oilers:
Houston attempted a 68 yd FG, hit the upright and ricocheted in. I don't know if I've ever seen a team attempt a FG beyond 55, let alone make one beyond 50.

3.
Later that day...
Steelers v Bengals
Bengals decided AGAINST kicking a 50 yd FG.

4.
Bills finished the regular season 17-3 (they played 5 games in week 1). They only lost to themselves and me. So, after the first week, they were 14-1.

5.
Lions and Washington made the playoffs with 8-7 records (15 games).

6.
Atlanta finished 1-15.

7.
10/28/09
Playoffs - Wildcard
Raiders 77
Oilers 68

Bo Jackson: 23-697 yds, 11 TD's.

8.
Playoffs - Division Championship
Raiders v Bills

Bo Jackson had 3 fumbles while his "Physical Condition" was "Excellent." When his condition is "Excellent," his ball control is "94." How does someone fumble 3 times when their ball control is 94? How does someone fumble when their name is Bo Jackson? He's BO freakin' JACKSON!

9.
Super Bowl
Steelers 35
49ers 20

Gave up a 70 yd INT return for TD to David Waymer. Probably the first ever "Pick-6" I've ever given up, let alone 70 yds.

Redskins Were No Better

Rome Take: 10/27/09

Hard to imagine why the Redskins didn’t hang 50 on Philly with their new ‘bingo-caller’ in the booth. I thought Sherm Lewis ripping the play calling duties from Jim Zorn would turn the ‘Skins into the Saints. I thought dialing up B-9 was a great call in the red-zone. And that G-57 really caught the Eagles off guard on 3rd and long. Just like riding a bike, ehh, Vinny Cerrato. Sure it’s not.

In fact, now would be a pretty good time, Vinny to get on your bike, with Jim Zorn on the handle bars and ride towards I-95 and right out of town. This isn’t on Lewis. This is on the ‘Skins for calling Lewis. What was he supposed to do when they called? Not pick up the phone. Say no when they offered him the job? Like, “Hey, Sherm, what do you say you come up here and call some plays?” “Oh, I don’t know, Vin. I’ve got a couple of huge bingo games to call Tuesday night and a few meals on wheels to get out Wednesday morning. Yes!! When do I start?”

Bad news for Lewis, though because that Chris Cooley ping pong ball isn’t coming out of the hopper now that he has a broken ankle. Quarterback Jason Campbell said, quote: “Losing Chris is big.” No it’s not. I mean, it would be on any other team in the league, but not yours. Because you guys aren’t going anywhere anyway, and you probably won’t even know he’s gone.

Besides, are you even still the starting quarterback, J.C.? The Raiders think you guys are dysfunctional and are laughing at you. I tell you what’s not funny…the cruel and inhumane treatment of Jim Zorn. The only thing more humiliating then ripping his play-calling duties and letting him twist, is trying to break his will to get him to quit so you don’t have to pay him. He’s not going to quit and hand over to you what’s left of his manhood, Dan. So do the right thing, admit the mistake, scratch him a check and start over. Again.

Curious

Is there some contractual thing between ESPN and the NFL and other TV networks? Why is it that espn.com won't show MNF highlights? How come it seems "Sportscenter Highlight of the Night" on espn.com is from non-ESPN games? Another example is from the MLB playoffs. Some games would contain highlights on espn.com, others would just be the story.

Bottle Rocket Propelled Squirrel

I don't spend a lot of time reading fantasy columns, but this quote from Brad Evans on the Chicago offensive line is gold:

Though center Olin Kreutz has played at a respectable level, the right side has been equally deplorable. Based on the lack of chemistry at the bookends, not even a bottle rocket propelled squirrel could burst through the holes generated by the underachieving unit.

The rest of the article is here.

Reasonable Cause

The NCAA told the University of Michigan yesterday that there is "reasonable cause to believe that major violations have occurred" in the football program. This is a long way from determining UM is guilty, but there will be an actual investigation.

?

After seeing some real horsesh*t personal foul calls the last few weeks, here's a question: Is the Big Ten becoming a league for pansies? Jeremy Ware made a hit that made me sit up and say "Nice hit!" No thought for even a second that it might be a penalty. If I'm on the sidelines I'm slapping him on the back telling what a good play it was. Then the refs throw a flag after the guy has been on the ground for a minute. That's garbage. If the conference isn't going to let the players play hard, then maybe it really is as awful as the critics say.

Outrage

You can check out the actual video here, embedding is disabled (which is stupid) on that one. I had to do a double-take during the video because the drummer looks so much like Kid Loe.

Fantasy Tecmo

10/19/09

Raiders 70
Bengals 56

Bo Jackson: 26 attempts - 689 yds, 9 TD's.

If you are wondering where the 10th TD came from, it was the last play of the game, an onside kick after the Bengals scored a TD. The onside was picked up and returned for a TD.

Pretty much the strategy was let the opponent score ASAP. "Return" the kickoff by running backward to the 1-yd line and going out of bounds. Give the ball to Adrian Peterson...errr...Jackson and score. Then kick an onside kick and hope the opponent recovers, and, if possible, score a TD. If not, let them score ASAP and do the process all over again.

Fantasy Points: 123




10/21/09

Chiefs 63
Seahawks 40

Christian Okoye: 29 carries, 717 yds, 9 TD

Same strategy as before.

Fantasy Points: 126

I'd like to do another game with Jackson excellent. I think I can break 800 yds.

?

So, who's all broken up that the Shock are leaving town?





Yeah, that's what I thought.

For the Birds

Not Cool

I know it's hard to get an NFL coaching job, but why would Jim Zorn put up with the front office bringing Sherm Lewis out of retirement then "strongly suggesting" that he take over the play-calling? That's crap. Just quit, it's not like everyone doesn't already know Snyder's a world-class moron.

Eerie

Want to hear something strange? Well, I sold some tickets on Stubhub last night. That's not strange, but the name on the shipping label made me do a double-take. What was that name? Nathan Fritz. From Michigan, but obviously not CC. Still, made for a weird moment.

While I'm thinking of it, the coolest name I've seen on a shipping label I've printed? Justice Ross, which we should put on Matt's list of names to use for a son (along with Rock).

Tecmo Time!

It's been a long, long time...but I'm back on the habit of a little Tecmo Super Bowl. I'm currently halfway through a season with the Steelers. I thought I'd share a recent game and also how the game has been "holding up."

October (1-10?), 2009:

Pittsburgh v New England

Final Score: 65-7

This was probably one of my biggest days ever, offensively and defensively. Here are the stats:

5 INT
1 Fumble Recovery
1 Safety
1 Defensive TD
7 points allowed
2? sacks (didn't count those)

Three of my 5 INT's were returned inside the 10 yard line, one for a TD! I think in all my years of playing Tecmo, that may have only been my SECOND INT returned for a TD. I was tackled on the 8 and 3 yard line on the other two big INTs.

If we were playing Fantasy Football, Pittsburgh would have had at least 26 points.


Other games:
In the first game of the season, Dwight Stone took his one and only kickoff to the "house." In the next game, first kickoff of the game, Dwight Stone gets tackled at the 50 yard line. Done. Injured. First time he's tackled all year...injured. And, he didn't come back until 2 or 3 games later. Side note: In his absence, the new kick returner also scored a kickoff TD.


The Game Itself:
When I first fired up the game again, it had already been reset and all I had to do was pick my team to get going into week 1. As it was simulating through the games, I noticed one of the scoreboards of the games on the screen said "Buffalo v Buffalo." So, I stopped it from simulating and looked at the week 1 schedule. Sure enough, Buffalo played Buffalo. Not only that, but Buffalo already played earlier in the week against Miami. Then, not only that, but later in the week 1 schedule, Buffalo v Buffalo again! So, after the first week of games, Buffalo's record was 3-2. (Their record is now 13-3 because they lost to me.) So, obviously since Buffalo played so many games in week 1, somebody must have been left out. Yup, Washington v Detroit and Seattle v Rams (or whomever it was).

There are numerous other gliches in the game:
1. Christian Okoye has 512 Punt Return yards on 0 returns.
2. Emmitt Smith has 256 Punt Return yards also on 0 returns.
3. Ottis Anderson has 256 Punt Return yards on 21 returns.
None of these guys are the teams Punt Returner. Literally! If you look at the starting roster, there not listed as the PR.

4. Some teams' QB plays all the positions. For example, Grogan for NE was also one of the RB's and the Kick and Punt returner. Rypien for Washington was the entire WR cast and special teams.

Oh, when Buffalo played Buffalo, Thurman Thomas and Jaime Mueller got injured. But, they were on different Buffalo teams, so when I played Buffalo the next week, Thomas was injured, but Mueller was healthy.

There are a few other stats messed up too. It seems as if when the season was reset, 3 teams fell through the cracks and none of their stats were reset.

I've also noticed that Bo Jackson is currently in "Excellent" condition for his next game. I think I'll become the Raiders for a few games.

Out of the Basement

Actually I'm in the basement, that is where the computer is. However, as Rome likes to call vacation being in the "basement," I've been having some major computer problems (all I had to do was borrow Barrigar's 150 GB external drive so I could restore my computer) for the last month so I haven't held up my end of the contract of posting. If I want to reach any of my contract incentives, I've got to make 27 more posts by the end of the year. And, Caro won't let me create posts on the blog. Buttholes.

How do you like them apples?

Check out this story. The State of Michigan is apparently strrrrruuuugggglllinnngg during these wonderful ecomomic times. They have predicted they will have to cut from many major areas. So, what did the Huron County commissioners do? Basically said, if you don't give us what is supposed to come from the State, then we're not giving you what is supposed to go to the State.

“This Board of Commissioners of Huron County intends to explore every legal means of withholding, dollar for dollar, any payment due to the State of Michigan where the state has withheld payments to the County of Huron that are mandated,” Tuesday’s resolution states.

MAN'S GAME, Jenny!

That's so funny I forgot to laugh

If you haven't heard, or you weren't paying attention during the Super Bowl commercials, Jay Leno is no longer doing "The Tonight Show" and now has his own show called, you guessed it, "The Jay Leno Show" at 10pm, still on NBC.

Early on in September when it debuted (sp?), I tried to catch some of the show. One night during the first or second week, Jay was calling out his first guest. Pee Wee Herman. WHOM?!?! I know what you're thinking: "Haag, you mean Paul Reubens, right?" No, Paul Reubens actually came out in character as Pee Wee Herman. Annoying voice and all.

I really had hoped this guy fell off the face of the earth. The world was a better place when he was not in the news. It's been, what, 15 years since anyone's really heard of him? Did anyone care? Not me. The guy looked and sounded exactly the same like he'd been doing the old bit all along. He doesn't even look a day older.

But my biggest problem is with Jay Leno. Jay, you have a brand new show. You are Jay freakin' Leno. Please tell me you have something more to offer than Pee Wee Herman. Your FIRST guest?!?! FIRST? What, was David Spade not available? Was Howie Mandel busy with some game show? Arsenio Hall didn't want any of this action? Please tell me you aren't pinning your hopes in the second week to Pee Wee Herman. You've got to have someone lined up better than him, right?

Weird.

Attention to..."I know you are but what am I," "If you love it why don't you marry it," "That's my name, don't wear it out," "'Can I go to the bathroom?' 'I don't know, can you?,'" "That's so funny I forgot to laugh."

We all missed you guys.

Sincerely,

NOBODY

Obama Address

SNL Skit

MLB needs Instant Replay

Another Rome Take

I know, I know, Major League umpires have one of the toughest gigs in all of sports. They must, because it seems like they butcher a key call every single night in the playoffs! But if you’re looking MLB to expand their use of instant replay, Commissioner Bud Selig says you’re barking up the wrong tree: “I’m quite satisfied the way things are. We need to do a little more work, clean up some things. But do I think we need more replay? No. Baseball is not the kind of that game that can have interminable delays.” Ehhhhhhhhh! Wrong again, Commissioner.

Because if there’s one thing we all know about baseball, it’s how crisp and tight the game is. The next postseason game that you play in under four hours…will probably be the first!

I wouldn’t be too concerned about any interminable delays. Instead, concern yourself with the players deciding postseason games and not the umpires. And there’s nothing more played and more tired than the argument the human element is important. Yeah, right up until the second it costs someone a playoff game or series. The human element is important, but not nearly as important as getting the call right. Having HD, every angle imaginable, and super slo-mo means never having to miss a call. Instant replay has worked flawlessly on home runs, just expand the list of reviewable plays to close calls on the bases, fair and foul balls. And whether a batter is hit by a pitch or not. And leave judgment calls alone!

There’s no clock in baseball. No one cares if the slowest game ever takes another 5 or 7 minutes, but we all care about some ump butchering a call costing someone a game. Join the rest of us in the 21st century…Bud. You have the technology, use it!

Oakland Raiders are like a scrimmage

Recent Rome Take

Don’t be surprised if the New York Giants look especially sharp against New Orleans this weekend. After all, they are benefitting from an extra week of practice. Sure, the schedule says they played the Raiders last Sunday, but Giants’ linebacker Antonio Pierce says it was nothing more than a glorified walk-through: “I don’t like knocking teams, but right now they’re struggling. We’re playing the game the other day and honestly, it felt like a scrimmage, like a practice. It felt like we were going against our offense as far as tempo.” First of all, beginning a statement with, “I don’t like knocking teams, but …” is like starting one with “no disrespect intended, but…” someone is about to be disrespected. And, an NFL team is about to be knocked! And the Raiders just were.

And he’s right! Raider week has become a bye week. That game had all the familiar signs of a practice or a scrimmage. The Giants’ number one’s got their reps in, then beat it out of there and watched from the sideline. They played to a thud instead of live tackling. All that was missing was JaMarcus Russell rocking a red jersey and simulating the Q.B. of the upcoming opponent!

The Raiders front 7 may as well have been holding blocking pads for the Giants O-line. Or better yet this Sunday, raider coach Tom Cable (if he’s free on his recognizance) should just line up a blocking sled on the line of scrimmage and make the Eagle’s O-line drive that off the ball. And then he can put the “Blaster” at the linebacker level! And then some tires to run through back in the secondary.

Trust me, any of those obstacles would have provided more resistance than anyone in the silver and black did against the Giants Sunday.

Look, I really don’t like knocking teams, but if opponents are accusing the Raiders of being nothing more than a scout team in Week 5, imagine how awesome the next three months are going to be!!! It’s going to the point where the Raider game is my most important game every Sunday. I can’t wait for the flex schedule to kick in, so we can watch their scrimmages on Monday night.

Back to the Beginning (Mario Kart Song) (Live)

House of Heroes

Shaken

I think Jay Nordlinger from National Review Online sums up everything I have left to say on Rush and the NFL:

Frankly, I’m so angry about this, I’m not sure I should write about it. I’m even a little shaken, and perhaps you are, too. Let me be blunt: The effort to keep Rush Limbaugh from participating in a bid on a football team was disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. For many years now, we have witnessed an attempt to banish Rush to the margins of American life. To make him a pariah in our society, a non-person. In recent times, this effort has been led by the White House itself. The Left at large is portraying Rush as unfit to be part-owner of a football team, or to do much else in American life. This is why I was pleased when he was named, just the other day, a judge in the Miss America contest: It was evidence that the effort to ostracize Rush was failing. The anathematization of him was not complete. But, after this football thing, as I have said, I find myself a little shaken. Like you, quite possibly, I have read newspapers from front to back for many years. And the news — or at least opinion journalism — is my business. It takes a hell of a lot to shake me. Most things are yawny, even when they’re evil. But this Rush-NFL thing has shaken me, just a bit.

Also, it's a shame Wilbon was one of the people attacking Rush, though at least he did admit when he used a fake quote on PTI. It doesn't surprise me at all the Drew Sharp was.

Umpires? We don't need no stinkin'...

The Wall Street Journal has an article up about baseball and umpires, triggered by the blown call on Joe Mauer's 11th-inning "foul" hit against the Yankees. It poses a question I wondered about myself this week: why isn't technology used more in the MLB? For example, here's an excerpt:

Mike Port, vice president of umpiring for MLB, says that when it comes to calling balls and strikes, the umpires are about 95% accurate. But here's the interesting part: The Pitch-f/x system's ball and strike calls are very near 100% accurate.

Bud Selig says "the human element is vital to baseball." Why? What's so great about 5% error? I'm not saying umpires should be completely replaced with technology, but baseball, unlike, say, football, is made up of many calls that are simply "in" or "out," ones and zeros. A computer can handle that, and do it really well. A foul ball, a strike or ball, these are simple things that don't need to be missed. Leave the judgment calls to the umpires, but let computers handle the digital stuff.

Special

UM punter Zoltan Mesko won Big Ten special teams player of the week for this week. I was disappointed by this, because when I saw the headline I was really hoping he won for best name in college football.

Say Hello To The Bad Guy

Big, bad Rush Limbaugh's declaration that he is part of an ownership group that hopes to buy the Rams has the NFLPA executive director, Al Sharpton, and left wing sportswriters stamping their collective feet at the idea of Rush being a (partial) NFL owner. Here's the reason: Rush is an incredibly popular conservative. That's it. The Left hates Rush, everything else is just window-dressing. Page 2's Jeff MacGregor demonstrates this well as he describes Rush as drawing on "populist anger", "keeping folks preoccupied with their hurts and resentments", and "peddling blame". Which just goes to show that, like most of Rush's critics, he has no clue what he's talking about. Rush is whatever he needs to be so the Left can feel righteous.

Now, the one thing you're going to hear a lot about is the McNabb comment, so here it is to refresh your memory:

Sorry to say this, I don't think he's been that good from the get-go. I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. There is a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he didn't deserve. The defense carried this team.

This is interesting because I just heard a commentator say yesterday how important it was the McNabb had a good game, otherwise the fans might clamor for Kevin Kolb to start. If you remember, there was never any real discussion of the actual point made (I'm open to correction on this point, but I certainly don't remember seeing any). ESPN and sportswriters were offended at the suggestion that they aren't impartial arbiters of sport and didn't want to discuss how they might influence the opinions of fans. Plus he said "black", so that set off all the PC meters. You'll notice we don't talk about McNabb being overrated anymore, because he failed to win the Super Bowl and is down the list of "elite" QBs. So, maybe Rush was right.

Like he usually is.

Highlights

Workflow

This Dilbert strip made me think of work:

Not Funny

I have to say, it's a joke that local NFL game is over, there's no other game on, the Cowboys and Chiefs are in OT, and Fox says contractually they can't switch to that game. Here's a news flash: that doesn't make me more likely to go out and buy DirecTV, it makes me more likely to quit watching the NFL.

Why Wait?

If Obama can win the Nobel Peace Prize for the whole 10 days he was in office before the deadline, then I think we should probably award Michael Crabtree the NFL Rookie of the Year award. After all, experts thought he was the best WR in the draft. Do you really need to know more?

Upset

Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski was "upset" with Miguel Cabrera after his night of binge drinking that left him with a blood alcohol level of .26 and potentially buzzed for a critical game. You think?

Playoff!?!

The Tigers managed to not quite blow it today, so they will play the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday at the Metrodome. There's nothing like October baseball... indoors.

Since I referenced it in the title:

Pink?

Supporting breast cancer awareness is a worthy cause, but does it make much sense for the NFL to be pushing it? The audience must be at least 60% male. The pink gloves, hats, etc look pretty silly too. I'm not sure who they're scoring points with, but it's not their normal viewers.

Also, to further the point about commercials in NFL games, it took 4:25 from when the Lions scored their second TD for the Bears to get their next offensive snap. There was approximately 20 seconds of time in there for the kickoff.

I Love Big Bird

Frustrating

Definitely annoyed that ESPN says they have the Twins-Tigers game on, but instead they're running ESPNews. Good thing I can watch it online.

Lions Win, 19-14

I knew the day had to come eventually, but it's a bit shocking for it to finally be here.

UPDATE: Just for reference, the Lions' last win came on 12/23/2007 against the Chiefs.

UPDATE 2: Here's the what the Detroit News has to say.

Awful

The Lions are featured in the Wall Street Journal today, unfortunately it's for being horrendous at playing defense.

Sleep Apnea

"Those guys drive me crazy."

This Sears commercial restores some of my respect for Brett Favre:

If you were a Star Wars fan...

...you'd think this was hilarious:


You can see the photographer's Flickr stream here.

UPDATE: A little context:

So, anyone want UM-MSU tickets?

Because after the loss to ND, can't imagine that I'm going to go.

Punch Out

The Detroit News picked up on a story from the South Bend Tribune about video of UM's Jonas Mouton punching ND's Eric Olsen. Here's the video:



When Coach Rodriguez was asked about it today he said, "The little bit of the clip I saw, guys got tangled up and Jonas was trying to free himself." Now, I'm a little biased, almost as much as Rodriguez himself, but that looks an awful lot like a cheap shot to the throat to me. Thoughts?

UPDATE: Maybe I am a whiny Spartan fan, but I'm also right. Mouton was suspended for one game today by the Big Ten. This could be a big deal, except that UM is playing EMU.

Wildcat

Speaking of the Journal, there's also an excellent article up about the history of the Wildcat offense. The author seems to think the Wildcat could end up being more than a fad in the NFL. I'm not sure, but I'm for anything that shakes NFL offenses up.

Serious

You want a sure sign that fantasy football has really arrived? How about an article in the Wall Street Journal? Not an article about fantasy football, but an actual advice column.

?

As I was driving back to Iowa I listened to part of the broadcast of the DET-NO game. I can't remember if it was on the broadcast or actually from the game, but I definitely heard "Rock You Like A Hurricane" playing before kickoff. The game was at the Superdome. In New Orleans. Does that seem right to you?

And since I brought it up:

Under the Bus

I really liked this picture, created by a reader of The Corner to be the International Symbol for being "thrown under the bus."

Stat of the Day

Not actually a record you want.

According to Wikipedia: Damion Easley, former Detroit Tiger, at the end of the 2008 regular season, held the record among active players as the one who had played the most games without reaching the postseason (1,706 games).

But...this isn't so bad:

On August 2, 2007, Easley became the 24th player in Mets' history to hit an inside the park home run (against the Milwaukee Brewers), during a 12-4 victory. (He would have been 37 years old. I hope I can still run 360 feet when I'm 37.)

Not for the Squeamish

Don't know if you heard about this, but I hope you aren't eating anything. I'm kinda sensitive about my own teeth.

Guess you would call him a "breast man."

Draft Prep

Here's a link to the draft sheet in excel format. Here's the source at Foxsports.

Boom!

In the months since January I'd forgotten just how much I love college football.

"Those who stay really, really late will be champions."

I think Bob Wojnowski is on target with this column.

RE: RE: Wolverines Dirty Rotten Cheaters

"Those who stay will be champions."

Who the ________ is P.F.C. Toney Clemons. This kid broke the chain of command and ratted on a former team and it would appear he can't run from here to there without collapsing from heat exhaustion. What is going on in Big Blue country.

So what should Michigan do? I think those who don't like the program can transfer. Wait, let's transfer the entire senior class off the team. Let's--on second thought, Men's Sports. Let's transfer the entire men's sports department. Bill Martin, go on out there and get those boys off the field. They're packing their bags. Judy Van Horn, associate athletic director, get President Mary Sue Coleman on the phone. We're surrendering our season.

Wait a minute Judy, don't get the president just yet. Maybe we should consider this for a minute. Maybe, and I'm just spit-balling here, maybe we have a responsibility as coaches to train these crybabies. Maybe as coaches we have a responsibility to the University of Michigan football to see that scholarship athletes are trained professionals. I'm certain I've read that somewhere once.

And now I'm thinking that your suggestion of transfering these players, while expeditious and certainly painless, might not be, in a manner of speaking, the Michigan way.

The players stay where they are. We're going to train the lads. Rich, you're in charge. If these players don't run 4.4 on their next 40-yard dash, I'm going to blame you. And then I'm going to fire you.

Do off-season training rules get broken at Michigan? On the record I tell you I discourage the use of over-training in accordance with the NCAA's directive. Off the record, I tell you it is an invaluable part of championship training. And if it happens to go on without my knowledge, so be it. I run my unit how I run my unit. You wanna investigate me, roll the dice and take your chances. I eat breakfast 100 miles from Ohio State Buckeyes who are trained to destroy us. So don't think for one second you can come to Ann Arbor, flash an investigation, and make me nervous.


1. I want to hear from the other 85 guys on the team that are either fine with the weekly practice schedule or are too darn afraid of big, bad, Rich and his conditioning coach.

2. I want to hear from former West Virginia players. I want to first give Rodriquez the benefit of the doubt. I want to assume that whatever he is doing with Michigan is the same he was doing with West Virginia. So, former WV players should be relevent testimony.

3. "Go play intramurals brotha'".

4. Do I think this goes on at all the other big programs, yes! Am I condoning it, not at all. I really hope he is respectful and responsible to the players health and well-being. If the allegations are true, I want something done about it.

5. I agree with Big Daddy. Winning cures everything and when you come off a 3-9 season and practicing longer than the NCAA rules allow...allegedly..., then I'd probably be upset too. Maybe this is their way of getting off the team, rather than going down as a quitter.

6. I understand that Coach Rodriquez is still bringing in his brand of players and selling his program. I realize he still has some Lloyd Carr recruits that may be a cause for mutiny. So, I'd like to know how many of these guys are RR guys and how many are Carr guys. Maybe they were a little soft. Give me some reason to explain the 1-6 record versus Jim Tressel.

7. What in the world are Ohio State players and Jim Tressel doing? Why would they defend their arch rival in saying that they also practice longer than what is allowed? The only answer I can think of is this: They don't want to beat their arch rival short handed. They don't want any asterisk or cheap wins. They want their opponent at their best. No excuses. So, if you want to be happy beating a suspended team, so be it. I get that for some teams, a win against Michigan is huge no matter what.

In all seriousness, I've never played a college sport, let alone Division I football for the U of M. You go there with the dreams of making it to the pros. To play for a shot to win a National Championship any given year. So, forgive me if I don't have much pitty on you when you say football is no longer "fun." Cry me a river. Everyone knows there is nothing more INVOLUNTARY than VOLUNTARY workouts.

Jerry freakin' Rice

Now this is what I love to see from Hall of Famers, especially our sports heroes (and Tecmo legends). Jerry just forearm shivered Brandon Marshall, Michael Crabtree, T.O., and Plax. MAN'S GAME!

We need more guys speaking up and speaking out in the NFL and MLB. I want to hear what Nolan Ryan thinks. I want a piece of Ronnie Lott's mind. Give me some Bill Laimbeer (who just landed an NBA Assistant gig with Kurt Lambis...the Scott Hastings of the Lakers). I love when Hank "The Hammer" Aaron tells it like it is. What does Ripken have to say?

War more legends of the game putting the primadonnas in their place.

RE: Wolverines Dirty Rotten Cheaters

Have to admit I'm enjoying reading UM fan comments (like the ones here) about how everybody cheats, or the writer hates UM, or it's a conspiracy, or the players are wimps, etc. For a Wolverine fan, it's never the Wolverine's fault, there's always an excuse.

One (serious) question: How often does an allegation like this get proven false? I can't think of any time off the top of my head where an investigation turned up nothing.

Disney buys Marvel

Not sure I'm too excited about this news.

One Week

It's one week until the fantasy draft. We still have a few people that need to sign-up (Schott, Rusty, Joe, Ross, and Fritz); it would be nice to have that done before we started drafting. We do need an even number to start the season.

Also, typing that title made me think of the song, so:

Wolverines Dirty Rotten Cheaters

The front page story in the Free Press today (we get it for the coupons) details players accusations of persistent violations of NCAA rules regarding practice time during both the season and off-season.

Rich Rodriguez says "We follow the rules".

For example, players say the were working out from noon till 10 pm on Sundays during the season, in dramatic excess of the 4 hrs per day allowed.

The pressure on the head coach, especially after a bad season, is obviously tremendous, and I am certain many schools have minor violations from time to time, but to have the violations be so great and so consistent that multiple players would take it to the news, risking NCAA penalties has to say something.

Hope the maize and blue didn't want all those scholarships.

On a side note, former Spartans stated that they followed all the rules.

Coverage of Evolution in State Standards Better, Says NCSE

Evolution is receiving better coverage in state science standards compared to 10 years ago according to a review of all 50 state science standards and the District of Columbia by the National Center of Science Education (NCSE). Louise S. Mead and Anton Mates of NCSE conclude that "[t]he treatment of biological evolution in state science standards has improved dramatically over the last ten years." Nine states and the District of Columbia received an A for their treatment of evolution, However the study authors point out that five states--Alabama, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, and West Virginia-- received a grade of ‘F’ for their treatment of evolution and there are others that didn’t include key concepts such as the Big Bang Theory. “It’s almost surprising to us that we are having this discussion about inclusion of evolution,” given that the theory is well-accepted by scientists,“ said NSTA Executive Director Francis Eberle to Education Week reporter Mary Ann Zehr in her August 12 article.

An "F"? Ouch. Giving them a "D-" wouldn't be enough? Those five states probably should have been given the "A's" and everyone else "F's."

Chuck freakin' Norris

When Chuck Norris was a baby, he didn't suck his mother's breast. His mother served him whiskey, straight out of the bottle.

See more Chuck Norris stuff here.

Chuck Norris can slam a revolving door.
Chuck Norris can kill two stones with one bird.
Chuck Norris counted to infinity - twice.
It takes Chuck Norris 20 minutes to watch 60 Minutes.
Chuck Norris can set ants on fire with a magnifying glass. At night.

Arkham Asylum Launch Trailer

I don't know how to score that.

There was an unassisted triple play by Phillies second baseman Eric Bruntlett in the Phillies-Mets game today, only the fifteenth in MLB history. Read more about the game at ESPN or The Corner.

Pretty Good.

Marty Mornhinweg says Michael Vick looks "pretty good" in practice. Might as well slot him into the Pro Bowl right now.

"It won't work."

We can, however, be certain of some facts about the health care reform plan. It won't work. No government proposal more complicated than "This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private" ever works. And that doesn't work.

-P.J. O'Rourke, on the Clinton health care reform plan, Wall Street Journal

Limited

I just read this article from the Washington Post that argues the government does not have the authority to require every American to buy health insurance based on the powers enumerated in the Constitution. The specifics are interesting, but I thought the conclusion was the most important part. We've gotten so used to the idea of government power that it sounds strange to say the government doesn't have the authority to do something. But that was the idea the founding fathers had; they wanted the government to be weak so that it didn't turn into a tyranny. They'd had enough of that from the king of England. It's a good thing to keep in mind.

The Black Brigade

Is this a photo shoot or a porno?

If you haven't heard about Tim Tebow's GQ pictures, here is the authors comments:

Tebow is six feet three and 245 pounds, all thick polygons and smooth flat planes and inescapable corn-fed handsomeness. He's wearing a billowy white shirt and loose-fitting jeans that somehow only underscore the solidity of his bulk, like a tarpaulin draped over a concrete pylon. You can see why coaches have always wanted to deploy his body as a battering ram. ...

He looks smaller in person than on TV or on a stage. Something to do with the geometry of his body, the relentless blockiness; distance turns Tebow into a cartoon. Close-up he's rounder, reassuringly 3-D, wearing a sea blue T-shirt and long ivory shorts. He grabs a hard-boiled egg from a bowl at the dining commons. With exquisite casualness, he tosses it back and forth from hand to hand without cracking the shell. ...

Tim Tebow moves; glides? drifts?-back to his seat, his plate heaped with three sausage patties, a syrup-drenched waffle, and five hard-boiled eggs. "Can I get you anything to drink?" he asks, and pours me a glass of orange juice. ...

His chin is stubbly. He smells strongly of deodorant, and his thick-lashed eyes are impressively serene, considering that a mere forty-five minutes ago, back in the Florida weight room, Tebow was grunting next to a painted slogan that read PAIN IS WEAKNESS LEAVING THE BODY, doing calf raises with a 300-pound offensive lineman sitting on his shoulders. (In the weight room, Tebow wore a blue spandex shirt with an orange flame crawling up the sleeve; everyone else was in gray.)

To Sand We Return

Top 15

IMDb has posted its "The Top Rated Films of the New Millennium", the best rated films since 2000 based on the IMDb user ratings. The top three are The Dark Knight, LOTR: The Return of the King, and City of God.

John Nolte at Big Hollywood has also posted his top 15 in response. His top three are: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The Passion of the Christ, and The Dark Knight.

I've seen most of the films on both lists and I'd say they're both pretty solid selections. Except for Napoleon Dynamite, I hate that movie, even though it has a llama.

Punch Line

I think Wojo pretty well sums up my feelings on this Favre joining the Vikings.

Breaking News

Brett Favre is really awful at making up his mind.

I'll Huff, and I'll Puff...

The Tigers aquired Aubrey Huff from the B-more Orioles yesterday. If I'm correct, when we went to Cleveland for one of our Baseball Stadium Tours, they were playing the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (not just the Rays, the Devil Rays). We were all standing on the porch in left field...about 25 yards from a delicious lemonade stand...watching the TB batting practice. All of a sudden, a homerun ball came flying right at us. The ball hit my hand (ouch) and bunced around us. I eventually got the ball. But, if memory serves me correct, I wanted to know who hit the ball, and all I could see was "Huff" and #44.


UPDATE BEFORE POSTING: Apparently memory only served a little bit correct. I remember the batter hitting from the right side of homeplate. I just realized Aubrey Huff's profile lists him as batting lefty, hence the major reason the Tigers traded for him.

My bad. Well, it was a great story. At least I plugged the lemonade stand back into our memory banks.

Heck. Why not make a reference to the annoying guy dressed up as an indian banging the drum 9 innings straight in the top row of the left-center seats.

Rock Star

I was reading the paper as I was getting my oil changed this morning and there was an article about how popular Jay Cutler is with Bears fans. It included a chart comparing Cutler to... the Beatles. Really. Apparently fans knocked down a fence at training camp so they could get closer to him.

I'm sure they have realistic expectations for the season though.

Imagine That

Michael Vick, on returning to the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles:

"I think everybody deserves a second chance, I think as long as you are willing to come back and do it the right way and do the right things and that you’re committed, then I think you deserve it. But you only get one shot at a second chance, and I am conscious of that."

Shocking that the guy who desperately needs a second chance after taking a wrecking ball to his life believes in second chances. So did Vick actually change, or just learn that he's not untouchable? Tony Dungy seems to think he's changed. Does anyone else?

MSU vs. Notre Dame

I need to start getting ready for the season.

Fantasy Draft

Is anyone ready to make plans for the 2009 Fantasy Draft? The season starts 9/10. Labor Day is 9/7. I will be in town from 9/5 to 9/12. Thoughts?

By the way, you do have to sign up to be able to play.

The Butcher

Top Gear tests communist cars, part 2.

Top Gear tests communist cars, part 1.

Top Gear reviews the Ford Fiesta

Unwinding from the long drive on Saturday I sat down on the couch, started flipping through channels, and came across Top Gear on BBC America. What I've seen before was pretty entertaining, so I stopped surfing and started watching. They featured this segment, which may be the best car review ever:

Global Warming

Quote of the Night

After starting the game throwing in the low 90s, Verlander ramped up it up near 100 mph in the later innings.

That's what he does," Rangers center fielder Marlon Byrd said. "There's a reason he's leading the world in strikeouts.

Leading the WORLD! Awesome.

Game Notes: Granderson led off the game by sending the third pitch into the bleachers. (He also did it on Monday.) He added another HR later in the game, his fourth career two-homer game. It was the 20th time he's led off the game with an HR (I realize "homerun" does not start with a vowel, so that should be the word "a" instead of "an" before "HR." However, on the baseball team, we call them "H-R's". Then again, the letter H, last time I checked isn't a vowel either, but I believe if you spell H, it is spelled a-i-t-c-h. Sorry...that was one of the words on the spelling bee contest on ESPN. Revoke my Man Card). Not too shabby your lead-off hitter is 9th in homeruns in the AL.

Bumper Music, Vol. 3

The Black Keys - "Strange Times"

Airplane Movies

Our flight back from Hawaii took us straight to Minneapolis. That was a nice 7 hour flight. But, each seat had it's own 6" monitor and could pick from about a dozen or so movies. Not many really peaked my interest, but I haven't seen "Watchmen" and that was one of the choices and I wouldn't mind seeing it. I've got nothing better to do, what is 2.5 hours going to hurt?

I really know nothing about the comic book, but this was definately long, weird, and dark. It was also difficult to hear well on the plane, so some parts were a little confusing. It appeared the comic book was really hard to bring to life on the big screen, but did a pretty good job. Seemed like there was a bunch of story they wanted to fit into 2.5 hours. And, I would agree with Adam, "Rorschach" was my favorite character.

Speaking of "Rorschach," I am addicted to the IMDB, so I did a search. "Rorschach" was played by Jackie Earle Haley, who, come to find out, will be playing the character of "Freddy Krueger" in the remake of "A Nightmare on Elm Street."

Also according to the IMDB, Jackie Earle Haley had a role in an episode of "MacGyver" from season one, which I own and just watched not too long ago. What a small world.

College Fantasy Football

CBS Sports is offering college fantasy football this year, and unlike previous years, you get to draft individual players instead of team positions. Anyone interested? Apparently you can't change the settings after you sign up, so everyone who wants to play will need to be committed before I can create a league.

Vacation

I'm going to be in CC approximately August 1st through the 8th for some R&R. I know we talked about going to see the Tigers in September, but would anyone be interested in trying it that week instead? I've got a wedding to go to on the 8th (maybe Matt does too?), but the rest of that week is wide open.

In the Valley of the Dying Sun

Idiots

While I haven't supported the government's actions in dealing with the automakers, the members of Congress that are grilling the auto task force are idiots. Or maybe marginally intelligent people hoping to score a few points with voters. They claim to know better than GM or Chrysler about how many dealerships they need, but most of them have never run a business, or even done real work, in their lives. And looking at the way the government runs, I don't think there's any doubts about the quality of their collective business sense, and drunken sailors have more spending restraint. But back to the point at hand, let's look at an example. How many GM and Chrysler dealers are there within a thirty minute drive of Cass City? And how many people live in the Thumb? Does that seem right to you?

That's a Wrap

In case you're interested, Iron Man 2 finished shooting principal photography over the weekend, which was right on schedule. The sequel has a release date of May 7, 2010. Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow return and new cast members Don Cheadle, Mickey Rourke, Sam Rockwell and Scarlett Johansson. Samuel L. Jackson is also expected to make an appearance.

"Can we get another angle?"

Check out Pujols's feet. On top of homeplate and he had to practically lunge forward to get it and scoop it off the ground.

"Never tell me the odds."

The Detroit News has a story on the odds of various teams winning the national championship, per Las Vegas Sports Consultants. Florida is the overall favorite at 2-1. Ohio State has the best odds from the Big Ten at 12-1. MSU has 75-1 odds; Michigan checks in at 150-1. Notre Dame is predicted to have 30-1 odds, which just seems silly to me. Eastern Michigan has 3,720-1 odds.*

*I made that up. That number and the title are both references to a particular movie; coolness points to whoever posts the source.

"...want to loosen up my arm a little bit."

President Obama is planning on warming up before throwing out the first pitch at the All-Star Game tonight. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think ceremonial pitchers usually warm up. But I'm sure a guy who thinks as highly of himself as our president wouldn't want to one-hop a pitch into home plate, especially since George W. Bush was known to throw some pretty good strikes for a guy wearing a bullet-proof vest. If he does short it, I'm curious to see the media reaction, because you know throwing a strike will lead to days of reflection on how "cool" and "studly" our president is.

UPDATE: I'd make some comments about the actual pitch, but since Fox didn't even bother showing home plate it's kind of tough. Also, is there a game tonight? I was hoping to see at least one inning before I had to turn in, but at the rate they're going I'll be able to catch the third when I'm eating breakfast tomorrow morning.

UPDATE 2: Apparently the pitch made it to the plate, but it was short. In the game itself, Curtis Granderson hit a triple in the eighth that led to the AL winning the game 4-3.

UPDATE 3: Andy McCarthy has more at The Corner.

UPDATE 4: After watching the MLB in McCarthy's link, that pitch definitely wasn't going to make it past home plate. It would have been in the dirt if Pujols didn't lean forward and grab it.

Big Ten Predictions

The Detroit News has a good roundup of preseason Big Ten football predictions. The general consensus: #1 Ohio State, #2 Penn State, #3 Michigan State, #6 Michigan.

Grownups

I have to admit, I find this idea kind of compelling. If we're determined to let people act like children, giving them a chance to without ruining it for the rest of us just might work.

Bumper Music, Vol. 2

Even More Stupidity

I hate it when Congress gets involved in sports, which I've mentioned before. They've got more important things to do, like try and spend more money than we've spent in the entire history of the United States. But that's neither here or there. The real problem is that representatives like Orrin Hatch and Joe Barton are abusing their power to try and score some points with their constituents. Now, I could go on and on about how any replacement for the BCS will be vulnerable to the same issues at a different level, but I'll just skip to the most interesting quote from the article:

The point is that rankings were never about fairness or producing a clear-cut winner. They were about creating what fans need most: something to argue about. Before he died, the AP sports editor who created its famous poll, Alan Gould, explained it this way: "It was a case of thinking up ideas to develop interest and controversy between football Saturdays. . . . That's all I had in mind, something to keep the pot boiling. Sports then was living off controversy, opinion, whatever. This was just another exercise in hoopla."

So the whole thing is flawed right from the get-go. But it sure does produce controversy.

"The Saga of the Catalytic Converter" or "Detroit Sucks"

I've been meaning to post this story for a few days but haven't had the time. On July 3rd, I went with my dad, brother, and brother-in-law to see Star Trek: The Exhibit, a display of various Trek props and costumes, at the Detroit Science Center. We got there 10:30am and parked down the block next to the African-American History Museum, just off a main street near an apartment building. There were lots of other vehicles on the street. We were driving the Grand Am. To my knowledge, this is a pretty decent part of Detroit.

A little over an hour later, we had finished with the exhibit and returned to the car. We got in, and my brother turned the key. The engine rumbled to life with a throaty roar, which was unusual for a 3.4L V6. "It didn't sound like that when we parked, did it?" As we pulled away from the curb the noise mounted to unbearable levels. Something was obviously wrong, so we pulled back to the curb, shut the car off, and made an inspection. The muffler was fine, but between the muffler and engine was a bright metal cut. Someone had stolen the catalytic converter. Keep in mind, the car sits a whopping 4" off the ground. We discussed what to do for a while, finally coming the conclusion that calling the Detroit Police was a waste of time. We headed down the one way street so we could head back toward the freeway and my brother's house. We drove around a park and came to a four-way stop when a car shot through the intersection, bumping up over the curv and through the park:


It nearly ran into a fountain, then kept on driving through the park. I think I spoke for us all when I said, "Let's get out of here."

After an extremely loud ride back to my brother's place my Dad was able to track down the local Midas online and schedule an appointment so we could get the car repaired that afternoon. I was able to make it to the reunion.

As for Detroit? I say we burn the place down.

Gordon and Villanueva

I don't follow the NBA that closely, but this seems like a pretty big deal for the Pistons.