First off, in my post yesterday about the football game, I can't believe I forgot to talk about the student section throwing stuff on the field. Twice. It was the first thing I wanted to mention and it just slipped my mind. It was embarassing to be in that crowd, watching the bottles fly out of the stands. Anyone who threw something should be absolutely ashamed of themselves, and I can't believe the officials didn't say anything more than "Game staff, please clean up the field." Yes we got jobbed with the review on Henne's fumble, since he probably scored on the play before. Yes it sucks that they overturned a fumble (but really....that ball came out so late, I didn't think for a second it was actually a fumble). That's still no excuse to chuck stuff on the field. Who are we, Colorado Avalanche fans? That was just embarassing. And to make things even better, all the debris was raining down on the recruits in that endzone. Good work.
So I predicted a Bryan Herta wreck and a Packers loss because that was the feel of the weekend. I got the Packers loss, and I might as well have been right about Herta. His team got him on a crappy fuel strategy for about the 6th time this season and he ended up 14th out of 23. Close enough.
I can't believe that Packers/Lions game. I've got a lot to say about that one (mainly about the officiating, since I don't think I've seen a more biased crew since the 1995 NFC Championship game) but as was the case yesterday, you only score 3 (or 10) points, you probably don't deserve to win.
I was actually pretty optimistic about the Packers, despite the loss, because the defense played a great game, given my expectations for them.
And then I heard about Javon Walker. Wow. What a great close to this shit weekend.
More tomorrow. I'm tired.
Sunday, September 11, 2005
M-barassing
What an absolute crappy football game. Unlike Brian from mgoblog, I did not walk out of Michigan Stadium in silence, or even without a smile on my face. I found my dad, walked over to him and said, "That game was just so Michigan." And that's really the only way to describe it. We've now lost 3 out of 4 to Notre Dame, 3 out of 4 to Ohio State and 3 out of 4 bowl games. That's completely unacceptable.
As he pointed out, Brian very eerily hit the nail right on the head a couple of days ago, when he wrote:
The exception was obviously the Michigan State game last year, which was still the most unbelievable thing I have ever witnessed in person.
I never thought I would see Michigan's offense blow a game this season. There were 2 silver linings to that abortion of a game though: 1) Our defense actually played pretty darn well. If you would have told me before the game that we'd hold ND to 17 points and under 100 rushing, I would have thought we'd win by 20 points. They put the offense in a position to win the game, and they didn't do it. 2) I only paid $21 for my ticket, instead of the $59 face on non-student tickets.
I swear someone dressed up John Navarre in a #7 jersey. There were batted passes (at least 5, though many of them were because Courtney Morgan was dressed up as our right tackle). There were mis-reads. There was locking onto receivers. There were overthrown balls. There were underthrown balls. There was general suckitude. About the only thing missing from Johnny's repitoire was Chad somehow managing to sack himself and unintentionally spike the ball (both happened at Wisconsin in 2001). That was his worst game by far as a Wolverine.
Ahman Grady fumbled twice more today, though one appeared like it might have been Henne's fault. Lloyd didn't blame him (at least in the media) for putting it on the ground, but that's 3 times in two games. Can't keep doing that if you want to keep getting carries. Though we might not have a choice since Hart went down, and Lloyd said he might be out awhile. Sweet.
I won't watch replays of this game, but I swear to God I don't see how they had conclusive video evidence to overturn Henne's fumble on the 1. How do you see in a pile if a player recovered the ball before the whistle went? And ignoring that, how do you not review the previous play, when The Wolverine ($ link) said he was in by a half-yard. I don't like this replay system, no-sir. And not just because we had a couple calls go against us today. The NFL's system works just fine. Put it in the hands of the coaches. Don't leave it up to some guy in the booth to make a call on it. At the end of the Texas/OSU game, I thought Texas's RB got in the endzone on that option play. It was certainly close enough to warrant a review, but no one bothered to check.
Ryan's punts were not at all good today. He had a couple that ended up being alright thanks to nice rolls (and one that our guy inexplicably let go into the endzone), but he had his share of shanks. If he's been at all good in practice, I think it might be worth burning Zoltan's redshirt and getting him some time.
The play-calling sucked for the most part as well. I just don't get the lack of urgency that this team plays with when they're down big. It was the same thing last year against ND when we needed 2 scores in the last 3 minutes or so and they called a fullback draw. Maybe some of it wasn't the playcalling as much as Henne not being smart with his reads, but I'm going to snap if they don't stop throwing 3 yard passes when they need 10 yards. Or like the last play of the game. You need 15 yards, you can't throw a 5 yard out to the TE. If you want to make that throw, it damn well better be to Breaston, who at least has a shot to slip a couple tackles. And even then it's not a good idea. Our boys need to start finding the sticks.
On the bright-side, Texas won. Hook 'em. They became my 3rd favorite team (It goes Michigan, huuuuuuuge gap, Louisville, medium sized gap, Texas) after the Rose Bowl last year because their fans were such class acts. I hope this is finally their year, now that Michigandoesn't have the team to be in has fallen out of the title hunt. Oklahoma looks awful, so this might be UT's year to finally break though against them. Like every other running QB, Young isn't going to hold up if he keeps running like that. He got dinged several times tonight. Great, clutch throw at the end of the game to win it for them.
The Nascar race was a joke. Gordon once again qualified well, then just dropped back further and further. Every change his team made made the car worse and worse. And then some back-marker drove him into the wall. Harvick had a great car at first and it just went away from him. I officially have no one to root for in The Chase now. I was thinking about rooting for McMurray, but then some backmarker wrecked him even. Kid's a class act though. Wouldn't say anything inflammatory, even though the guy basically ended his season. I'm rooting for anyone that's not Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle or Matt Kenseth (even though he's a Packers fan so he's ok). Unfortunately those are probably the 4 favorites to win it. I guess I'd like to see Mark Martin pull it off. It's still gonna be a crappy last 10 races without any of my guys in the Chase.
I've lost a lot of respect for that series over the way they handle infractions and driving penalties. What I've learned over the past few days is that it's not ok to flip someone off (Martin Truex Jr. is getting a 25 point docking for that) but that it is ok to intentionally cause a wreck and end someone's season (Dale Jarrett wrecking Newman and taking Harvick out of the Chase and getting a 2 lap penalty). Then today, Nascar starts penalizing guys left and right for "rough driving". I believe there were 3 guys tonight that got 5 lap penalties for that. But Jarrett gets essentially nothing (since his day was done anyway after he wrecked Newman. 2 more laps wasn't going to hurt him) for what he did 2 weeks ago. But God-forbid Truex should go flip off a guy for almost flipping his car over (he's the points leader too!). It's just stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
It's just one of those weekends. The kind that happen every so often during the year. The ones where absolutely nothing goes right sports-wise. So far we've got Michigan blowing that game and Gordon & Harvick not making The Chase tonight. My official predictions for tomorrow are that Herta will get taken out by the freakin' Japanese guy that's wrecked him twice this year, and that the Packers will lose. The weekend's just shaping up that way.
But Bill Simmons, Green Bay is not going 4-12 (unless Favre gets hurt) and the Bears are not making the playoffs with Kyle Orton at QB. Oh, and the Lions aren't going 5-11 either. Favre has never had a losing season. He's not going to suddenly go 4-12. And as for that "ridiculous draft"....isn't it a little early to say that? They drafted their QB of the future, who has looked pretty darn good. They got a starting safety. They found a start guard in the 7th round. And only one of their picks didn't make their roster. Some of that is that the defense isn't real good and a lot of those guys might not have made other teams, but even still...finding that many guys in a draft that are good enough to crack a 3 time defending division champions' roster isn't a "ridiculous draft", especially considering they got a guy that was supposed to go #1 overall. Would a defender have looked nice at #24, sure. But for value, there might not have been a better pick in the draft. We'll see in a few years--and granted my track record at projecting QBs hasn't been real good--but I think the 49ers are going to want that one back.
Big Snake had a Gordie Howe Hattrick (a goal, an assist, and a fight) tonight in the Wings' rookies' 7-1 win over Columbus. I'd love to see him make our roster, just so I can get a Big Snake jersey. Howard stopped 20 of 21 shots. Tomorrow's decision day for Pavel Datsyuk. Finally will this saga end?
As he pointed out, Brian very eerily hit the nail right on the head a couple of days ago, when he wrote:
"To a Michigan fan, every Irish loss over the past ten years has been due to an unfortunate, ridiculous confluence of unlikely events: fumbles, ridiculous refereeing, blocked punts, hilarious deflected passes, etc. It does no’t matter if it i’s true or not (though it is): that i’s what it feels like." (ed note: I changed the contracted words because the formatting was screwed up for some reason)I had a similarly prophetic moment yesterday. I was explaining to my girlfriend's new roommate (who went to Texas A&M for undergrad) about Michigan football. I told her, "When we lose games, they'll always be heartbreakers. And when we're getting blown out, we'll score a late touchdown or two to make it close. Then we'll get the ball back with a few minutes remaining and a chance to pull off the comeback. And it won't happen."
The exception was obviously the Michigan State game last year, which was still the most unbelievable thing I have ever witnessed in person.
I never thought I would see Michigan's offense blow a game this season. There were 2 silver linings to that abortion of a game though: 1) Our defense actually played pretty darn well. If you would have told me before the game that we'd hold ND to 17 points and under 100 rushing, I would have thought we'd win by 20 points. They put the offense in a position to win the game, and they didn't do it. 2) I only paid $21 for my ticket, instead of the $59 face on non-student tickets.
I swear someone dressed up John Navarre in a #7 jersey. There were batted passes (at least 5, though many of them were because Courtney Morgan was dressed up as our right tackle). There were mis-reads. There was locking onto receivers. There were overthrown balls. There were underthrown balls. There was general suckitude. About the only thing missing from Johnny's repitoire was Chad somehow managing to sack himself and unintentionally spike the ball (both happened at Wisconsin in 2001). That was his worst game by far as a Wolverine.
Ahman Grady fumbled twice more today, though one appeared like it might have been Henne's fault. Lloyd didn't blame him (at least in the media) for putting it on the ground, but that's 3 times in two games. Can't keep doing that if you want to keep getting carries. Though we might not have a choice since Hart went down, and Lloyd said he might be out awhile. Sweet.
I won't watch replays of this game, but I swear to God I don't see how they had conclusive video evidence to overturn Henne's fumble on the 1. How do you see in a pile if a player recovered the ball before the whistle went? And ignoring that, how do you not review the previous play, when The Wolverine ($ link) said he was in by a half-yard. I don't like this replay system, no-sir. And not just because we had a couple calls go against us today. The NFL's system works just fine. Put it in the hands of the coaches. Don't leave it up to some guy in the booth to make a call on it. At the end of the Texas/OSU game, I thought Texas's RB got in the endzone on that option play. It was certainly close enough to warrant a review, but no one bothered to check.
Ryan's punts were not at all good today. He had a couple that ended up being alright thanks to nice rolls (and one that our guy inexplicably let go into the endzone), but he had his share of shanks. If he's been at all good in practice, I think it might be worth burning Zoltan's redshirt and getting him some time.
The play-calling sucked for the most part as well. I just don't get the lack of urgency that this team plays with when they're down big. It was the same thing last year against ND when we needed 2 scores in the last 3 minutes or so and they called a fullback draw. Maybe some of it wasn't the playcalling as much as Henne not being smart with his reads, but I'm going to snap if they don't stop throwing 3 yard passes when they need 10 yards. Or like the last play of the game. You need 15 yards, you can't throw a 5 yard out to the TE. If you want to make that throw, it damn well better be to Breaston, who at least has a shot to slip a couple tackles. And even then it's not a good idea. Our boys need to start finding the sticks.
On the bright-side, Texas won. Hook 'em. They became my 3rd favorite team (It goes Michigan, huuuuuuuge gap, Louisville, medium sized gap, Texas) after the Rose Bowl last year because their fans were such class acts. I hope this is finally their year, now that Michigan
The Nascar race was a joke. Gordon once again qualified well, then just dropped back further and further. Every change his team made made the car worse and worse. And then some back-marker drove him into the wall. Harvick had a great car at first and it just went away from him. I officially have no one to root for in The Chase now. I was thinking about rooting for McMurray, but then some backmarker wrecked him even. Kid's a class act though. Wouldn't say anything inflammatory, even though the guy basically ended his season. I'm rooting for anyone that's not Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle or Matt Kenseth (even though he's a Packers fan so he's ok). Unfortunately those are probably the 4 favorites to win it. I guess I'd like to see Mark Martin pull it off. It's still gonna be a crappy last 10 races without any of my guys in the Chase.
I've lost a lot of respect for that series over the way they handle infractions and driving penalties. What I've learned over the past few days is that it's not ok to flip someone off (Martin Truex Jr. is getting a 25 point docking for that) but that it is ok to intentionally cause a wreck and end someone's season (Dale Jarrett wrecking Newman and taking Harvick out of the Chase and getting a 2 lap penalty). Then today, Nascar starts penalizing guys left and right for "rough driving". I believe there were 3 guys tonight that got 5 lap penalties for that. But Jarrett gets essentially nothing (since his day was done anyway after he wrecked Newman. 2 more laps wasn't going to hurt him) for what he did 2 weeks ago. But God-forbid Truex should go flip off a guy for almost flipping his car over (he's the points leader too!). It's just stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
It's just one of those weekends. The kind that happen every so often during the year. The ones where absolutely nothing goes right sports-wise. So far we've got Michigan blowing that game and Gordon & Harvick not making The Chase tonight. My official predictions for tomorrow are that Herta will get taken out by the freakin' Japanese guy that's wrecked him twice this year, and that the Packers will lose. The weekend's just shaping up that way.
But Bill Simmons, Green Bay is not going 4-12 (unless Favre gets hurt) and the Bears are not making the playoffs with Kyle Orton at QB. Oh, and the Lions aren't going 5-11 either. Favre has never had a losing season. He's not going to suddenly go 4-12. And as for that "ridiculous draft"....isn't it a little early to say that? They drafted their QB of the future, who has looked pretty darn good. They got a starting safety. They found a start guard in the 7th round. And only one of their picks didn't make their roster. Some of that is that the defense isn't real good and a lot of those guys might not have made other teams, but even still...finding that many guys in a draft that are good enough to crack a 3 time defending division champions' roster isn't a "ridiculous draft", especially considering they got a guy that was supposed to go #1 overall. Would a defender have looked nice at #24, sure. But for value, there might not have been a better pick in the draft. We'll see in a few years--and granted my track record at projecting QBs hasn't been real good--but I think the 49ers are going to want that one back.
Big Snake had a Gordie Howe Hattrick (a goal, an assist, and a fight) tonight in the Wings' rookies' 7-1 win over Columbus. I'd love to see him make our roster, just so I can get a Big Snake jersey. Howard stopped 20 of 21 shots. Tomorrow's decision day for Pavel Datsyuk. Finally will this saga end?
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
OK I'm Really Sick of This
After all those reports that Datsyuk was signed in Russia, not so fast my friend! WTF! I thought I was obeying my rule that I wouldn't post anything about him til it was official.
From Letsgowings.com
Whatever.
From Letsgowings.com
The terms of Pavel Datsyuk's "contract" that was agreed to on Monday with the Superleague's Avangard Omsk (and matched on Wednesday by Moscow Dynamo) has been shrouded in in secrecy -- or uncertainty, depending on how you look at it -- and for good reason: SS reports that the contract was never officially filed with the PHL, Russia's professional hockey governing body. That would also partly explain why Datsyuk has not dressed yet for Avangard or Dynamo, despite the RSL regular season kicking off on Monday, and would leave him free to sign with the Red WingsThe article, citing an article in Thursday's Soviet Sport goes on to state that Ken Holland has agreed to offer Datsyuk a 2 year deal. He had previously only offered him 1, 3, and 4 year deals (Datsyuk becomes a UFA after 2)...Wow Kenny, way to realize that 2 years with Datsyuk (and a chance to prepare for him being a free agent and making alternate plans should he leave) is better than him bailing and leaving you with no other options. It also says that the deal he signed-but-hasn't-quite-signed-yet in Russia is worth about $3.5 million US tax free. He's going to have a meeting with the Wings and both Russian clubs on Sunday to decide where he's going to play.
Whatever.
Dat$yuk Gone, Zetterberg Official
I didn't want to say anything until it was official, for fear of jinxing it like I did before, but Zetterberg is signed, sealed and delivered back to the D. He's getting 10.6 over 4, which isn't at all unreasonable, especially considering that locks him up long-term (and past when he could become a UFA normally). That's going to look like a great signing in a couple years.
At the other end of the spectrum, Pavel Datsyuk, who signed a deal with a Russian team for a rumored $6 million. It's unclear whether or not his contract has an out-clause. Yesterday Holland thought it did, today he says it doesn't and that the Wings will proceed as if he's not going to be there. Too bad they couldn't get him signed, but the Wings will survive. Datsyuk is replaceable (though he would've been more replaceable if Holland wouldn't have dilly-dallied for so long). In the meantime, enjoy Siberia, Pavel.
Holland butchered this one. I know I applauded him before for not overpaying Datsyuk (and it appears that he did not in fact offer $5 million per season to him), but at the same time he knew they were very far apart, he knew Datsyuk had lucrative offers to stay in Russia, and he didn't leave himself any option for a plan B. He now says that the Wings aren't going to be able to get a top 6 forward and will instead use Datsyuk's money to bolster the 3rd and 4th lines. There's no excuse to say all along that you won't let a player and his agent push you around, and then let them back you into a corner where you don't have a viable alternative. I'd be on the phone with New Jersey, looking to steal one of their forwards in the firesale that has to happen at some point since they're over the cap. Friesen maybe? Sparty Rem Murray, who was invited to camp, is not the answer. Neither is Dan LaCouture. On the plus side, at least they're bringing in a couple guys who played college hockey. Hell Kenny, call up Boston and see what they want for Andy Hilbert, who wants out of Beantown. He's not going to light the world on fire, but he had a great year in the AHL last year (37-42--79 in 79 games, plus 7-14--21 in 17 playoff games). Maybe he's ready to make The Leap.
The New York Rangers signed Jed Ortmeyer to a new deal today. Good for him. I know the Wings offered him a contract originally, but he saw a chance to play sooner with the Rags. It's so nice to see him succeeding. He's still my favorite Wolverine.
MHNet on The Wolverine pointed out that AJ Jenks, one of the mini-mites committed to start playing for U of M in 2008, is rated the #1 player for the upcoming OHL draft by hockeyscouting.ca
Florida State and Miami played to one of the ugliest offensive displays in recent memory on Monday night. FSU won 10-7, with no points being scored in the season half. I can't decide which was the stat that best represents how bad this game was:
1) FSU's QB was 7 of 24 for 67 yards, 0 TDs and a pick (a sparkling 22.2 rating) and they won.
2) Both teams had first and goal at the opponent's 2 yard line and came away with 0 points.
3) Spanning 2 drives, Kyle Wright was sacked on 4 straight plays
4) At the 13:31 mark of the 4th quarter, both teams were out of timeouts.
What'dya think? They're all pretty impressive.
Those bastards at 2ksports didn't get NHL 2k6 out on time. It was supposed to come out yesterday, now they say it won't be in til tomorrow. I'm not happy....in the mood to nerd it up and make my college teams.
At the other end of the spectrum, Pavel Datsyuk, who signed a deal with a Russian team for a rumored $6 million. It's unclear whether or not his contract has an out-clause. Yesterday Holland thought it did, today he says it doesn't and that the Wings will proceed as if he's not going to be there. Too bad they couldn't get him signed, but the Wings will survive. Datsyuk is replaceable (though he would've been more replaceable if Holland wouldn't have dilly-dallied for so long). In the meantime, enjoy Siberia, Pavel.
Holland butchered this one. I know I applauded him before for not overpaying Datsyuk (and it appears that he did not in fact offer $5 million per season to him), but at the same time he knew they were very far apart, he knew Datsyuk had lucrative offers to stay in Russia, and he didn't leave himself any option for a plan B. He now says that the Wings aren't going to be able to get a top 6 forward and will instead use Datsyuk's money to bolster the 3rd and 4th lines. There's no excuse to say all along that you won't let a player and his agent push you around, and then let them back you into a corner where you don't have a viable alternative. I'd be on the phone with New Jersey, looking to steal one of their forwards in the firesale that has to happen at some point since they're over the cap. Friesen maybe? Sparty Rem Murray, who was invited to camp, is not the answer. Neither is Dan LaCouture. On the plus side, at least they're bringing in a couple guys who played college hockey. Hell Kenny, call up Boston and see what they want for Andy Hilbert, who wants out of Beantown. He's not going to light the world on fire, but he had a great year in the AHL last year (37-42--79 in 79 games, plus 7-14--21 in 17 playoff games). Maybe he's ready to make The Leap.
The New York Rangers signed Jed Ortmeyer to a new deal today. Good for him. I know the Wings offered him a contract originally, but he saw a chance to play sooner with the Rags. It's so nice to see him succeeding. He's still my favorite Wolverine.
MHNet on The Wolverine pointed out that AJ Jenks, one of the mini-mites committed to start playing for U of M in 2008, is rated the #1 player for the upcoming OHL draft by hockeyscouting.ca
Jenks follows in some big footstepsAwww yeah!
Peter Mueller, Colton Gillies, Gilbert Brule, Adam Cogliano and Matt Corrente were all number one rated prospects for the OHL and WHL Bantam Draft's by Hockey Scouting in the past four years. You can now add AJ Jenks to that list of players. Jenks will be the number one ranked player for this years OHL Draft by hockeyscouting.ca later this week when our pre OHL Draft rankings are officially released. Jenks was thrilled when he was informed he was ranked so highly
Florida State and Miami played to one of the ugliest offensive displays in recent memory on Monday night. FSU won 10-7, with no points being scored in the season half. I can't decide which was the stat that best represents how bad this game was:
1) FSU's QB was 7 of 24 for 67 yards, 0 TDs and a pick (a sparkling 22.2 rating) and they won.
2) Both teams had first and goal at the opponent's 2 yard line and came away with 0 points.
3) Spanning 2 drives, Kyle Wright was sacked on 4 straight plays
4) At the 13:31 mark of the 4th quarter, both teams were out of timeouts.
What'dya think? They're all pretty impressive.
Those bastards at 2ksports didn't get NHL 2k6 out on time. It was supposed to come out yesterday, now they say it won't be in til tomorrow. I'm not happy....in the mood to nerd it up and make my college teams.
Sunday, September 04, 2005
Ahhh Football's Back!
Before I get into my impressions of the Wolverines performance against NIU, I have to tell a story from before the game:
We were in Crisler, watching the Michigan basketball open-gym (by the way, DeShawn Sims is gross...99% sure that was him. He was wearing a Romulus basketball shirt, but there's no way it was Coleman or Smith), and Tommy Amaker was wandering around. He saw a kid who was probably 10-12 years old and went over to introduce himself to the little guy. He talked to the kid for a couple minutes and then asked him "Have you met any of the guys yet?" to which the kid replied that he hadn't. Tommy then called out to Brent Petway, got him to come over, and told Petway to go introduce the kid to some of the players. Petway took him over to the bench where several of the guys were watching the scrimmage, and they all introduced themselves. They let the kid stay with them for at least 15 minutes, and they chatted with him for a lot of the time--it wasn't like he was just standing off to the side with them. Nice gesture, and I'm sure Michigan basketball ended up with a huge fan out of it (if he wasn't already).
To football!
Overall a pretty decent performance out of the vanilla-flavored Wolverines this weekend. They played a capable team and the game wasn't in doubt in the 4th quarter, so that immediately puts it above the Utah and SDSU games of the last couple of years. mgoblog has already done a recap of the game that pretty much echoes my thoughts, but I'll comment on a few things:
--Henne played well for a first game. He was off by a step on the deep balls, but that's timing and he sure didn't miss by much. He threw behind guys a few times, particularly Avant, but again, that's timing.
--Hart is goooood. I still can't believe how much power that kid runs with for his size. He bowled that one guy over on the screen pass who was like 6'3" 255 or so. I felt like Grady had a little bit more of a burst than Hart, but Hart does such an unbelievable job of getting through the hole. I was a bit surprised that Grady saw the field after his fumble, but apparently he's been good in practice about not fumbling. Still, if he wants to see a lot of carries throughout the year, he'd best take after 2004 Mike Hart.
--It took falling during his route to have Avant drop a pass. That kid's hands are just incredible. That one catch that he made when Henne threw way behind him was almost as good as that catch that The Soldier made against West Virginia (though obviously not in as big of a situation).
--As for the defense. 17 points allowed is fine, especially when 1 was the traditionally late TD to make the score closer than it was. 5 takeaways is great, since I was told they reported on TV that NIU only lost 1 fumble all year last year. But the mistakes they were making were so similar to last year it was scary. A better team will make us pay. If NIU doesn't fumble deep in Michigan territory and then give the Wolverines excellent field position after the fumbled punt, the game could have been a scare like Utah was.
-Kudos to Ross Ryan. First for beating out Zoltan Mesko. Second for his outstanding kickoffs. And thirdly for hustling and recovering that fumble. How often do you see a punter recover a fumble on a punt that was only returned 1 yard?
A few other things from the weekend. I didn't get to watch too much of the other games, but I was shocked Boise didn't put up more of a fight against Georgia. Louisville almost sent me into a seizure when they blew that huge lead against Kentucky (but what a play by Brandon Johnson to strip the ball and recover it deep in Louisville territory!). And Elvis Dumervil had six sacks today. Someone block him, yo. Louisville isn't going to be held to 3 points in a half many more times this season. And really...what the hell were those Wisconsin helmets? Just hideous.
Cutdown day in the NFL was this weekend, and the Packers had 2 shockers, letting Cheech Hunt and Raynoch Thompson go. I didn't see too much of their preseason games, but I guess Thompson just isn't the same player after his injuries. Cheech needed to be out of there, and I'm happy that Ted Thompson had the balls to pull the trigger on him. Where does Hunt go from here? Coach5 from the Times4 Packer board offered a suggestion.
Ouch.
Thompson's release also means that Roy Manning has made the Packers roster. And it wouldn't be the biggest shocker in the world if he ends up starting. The Grown-Ass Man, Dawg has really impressed people.
The final nail was driven into Dale Jr's coffin tonight when his engine let go. Harvick would need a Moses-parting-the-Red-Sea-sized miracle to get in. Gordon should have had a top 5 finish tonight after battling an absolute crap car all night, but a bad call by Robbie Loomis put him 29th in the field, before a couple wrecks allowed him to climb back to 21st. He enters Richmond only 30 points out of The Chase, and Richmond is traditionally a great track for him. I'm still confident. The Yost Built chica disowned Jeff Gordon as her driver for roughly the 17th time tonight.
In unbelievable fashion--over the weekend, I was actually entertained by back-to-back women's soccer games. They pulled off a 3-2 win over Texas, which makes up for the Rose Bowl. Ok not really. Then today, they played to a thrilling 1-1 tie with Texas A&M. Both teams had multiple chances to win the game, but defensive saves kept the Wolverines alive. A&M has a very physical (read: Dirty) team, and they employed an absolutely asinine strategy of delaying the game whenever possible, despite having the speed and stamina advantage over Michigan. They delayed the game to the tune of getting 7 or 8 cards, most of them for the stall tactics, including drawing a red card late in the first overtime. A&M's coaches were not happy. You couldn't pay me enough money to be a referee.
I read an article today from earlier in the week in the Wall Street Journal. The new Arizona Cardinals' stadium will not only have a retractable roof, but a retractable field as well. The idea is that they can roll the field out of the arena to have concerts and whatnot in the stadium, without wrecking the natural grass surface. I think that's just hella-cool. Maybe unnecessary, but very cool nontheless.
We were in Crisler, watching the Michigan basketball open-gym (by the way, DeShawn Sims is gross...99% sure that was him. He was wearing a Romulus basketball shirt, but there's no way it was Coleman or Smith), and Tommy Amaker was wandering around. He saw a kid who was probably 10-12 years old and went over to introduce himself to the little guy. He talked to the kid for a couple minutes and then asked him "Have you met any of the guys yet?" to which the kid replied that he hadn't. Tommy then called out to Brent Petway, got him to come over, and told Petway to go introduce the kid to some of the players. Petway took him over to the bench where several of the guys were watching the scrimmage, and they all introduced themselves. They let the kid stay with them for at least 15 minutes, and they chatted with him for a lot of the time--it wasn't like he was just standing off to the side with them. Nice gesture, and I'm sure Michigan basketball ended up with a huge fan out of it (if he wasn't already).
To football!
Overall a pretty decent performance out of the vanilla-flavored Wolverines this weekend. They played a capable team and the game wasn't in doubt in the 4th quarter, so that immediately puts it above the Utah and SDSU games of the last couple of years. mgoblog has already done a recap of the game that pretty much echoes my thoughts, but I'll comment on a few things:
--Henne played well for a first game. He was off by a step on the deep balls, but that's timing and he sure didn't miss by much. He threw behind guys a few times, particularly Avant, but again, that's timing.
--Hart is goooood. I still can't believe how much power that kid runs with for his size. He bowled that one guy over on the screen pass who was like 6'3" 255 or so. I felt like Grady had a little bit more of a burst than Hart, but Hart does such an unbelievable job of getting through the hole. I was a bit surprised that Grady saw the field after his fumble, but apparently he's been good in practice about not fumbling. Still, if he wants to see a lot of carries throughout the year, he'd best take after 2004 Mike Hart.
--It took falling during his route to have Avant drop a pass. That kid's hands are just incredible. That one catch that he made when Henne threw way behind him was almost as good as that catch that The Soldier made against West Virginia (though obviously not in as big of a situation).
--As for the defense. 17 points allowed is fine, especially when 1 was the traditionally late TD to make the score closer than it was. 5 takeaways is great, since I was told they reported on TV that NIU only lost 1 fumble all year last year. But the mistakes they were making were so similar to last year it was scary. A better team will make us pay. If NIU doesn't fumble deep in Michigan territory and then give the Wolverines excellent field position after the fumbled punt, the game could have been a scare like Utah was.
-Kudos to Ross Ryan. First for beating out Zoltan Mesko. Second for his outstanding kickoffs. And thirdly for hustling and recovering that fumble. How often do you see a punter recover a fumble on a punt that was only returned 1 yard?
A few other things from the weekend. I didn't get to watch too much of the other games, but I was shocked Boise didn't put up more of a fight against Georgia. Louisville almost sent me into a seizure when they blew that huge lead against Kentucky (but what a play by Brandon Johnson to strip the ball and recover it deep in Louisville territory!). And Elvis Dumervil had six sacks today. Someone block him, yo. Louisville isn't going to be held to 3 points in a half many more times this season. And really...what the hell were those Wisconsin helmets? Just hideous.
Cutdown day in the NFL was this weekend, and the Packers had 2 shockers, letting Cheech Hunt and Raynoch Thompson go. I didn't see too much of their preseason games, but I guess Thompson just isn't the same player after his injuries. Cheech needed to be out of there, and I'm happy that Ted Thompson had the balls to pull the trigger on him. Where does Hunt go from here? Coach5 from the Times4 Packer board offered a suggestion.
quote:
Originally posted by macdaddy:
Lets see, where would a good place be for Hunt? Cleveland? Calgary? Phoenix?
New Orleans.
Ouch.
Thompson's release also means that Roy Manning has made the Packers roster. And it wouldn't be the biggest shocker in the world if he ends up starting. The Grown-Ass Man, Dawg has really impressed people.
The final nail was driven into Dale Jr's coffin tonight when his engine let go. Harvick would need a Moses-parting-the-Red-Sea-sized miracle to get in. Gordon should have had a top 5 finish tonight after battling an absolute crap car all night, but a bad call by Robbie Loomis put him 29th in the field, before a couple wrecks allowed him to climb back to 21st. He enters Richmond only 30 points out of The Chase, and Richmond is traditionally a great track for him. I'm still confident. The Yost Built chica disowned Jeff Gordon as her driver for roughly the 17th time tonight.
In unbelievable fashion--over the weekend, I was actually entertained by back-to-back women's soccer games. They pulled off a 3-2 win over Texas, which makes up for the Rose Bowl. Ok not really. Then today, they played to a thrilling 1-1 tie with Texas A&M. Both teams had multiple chances to win the game, but defensive saves kept the Wolverines alive. A&M has a very physical (read: Dirty) team, and they employed an absolutely asinine strategy of delaying the game whenever possible, despite having the speed and stamina advantage over Michigan. They delayed the game to the tune of getting 7 or 8 cards, most of them for the stall tactics, including drawing a red card late in the first overtime. A&M's coaches were not happy. You couldn't pay me enough money to be a referee.
I read an article today from earlier in the week in the Wall Street Journal. The new Arizona Cardinals' stadium will not only have a retractable roof, but a retractable field as well. The idea is that they can roll the field out of the arena to have concerts and whatnot in the stadium, without wrecking the natural grass surface. I think that's just hella-cool. Maybe unnecessary, but very cool nontheless.
Friday, September 02, 2005
Datsyuk Not Signed, Johnson is Staying
After this post, I will be adding the Pavel Datsyuk/Henrik Zetterberg situation to the list of things I will not talk about again until something actually happens. It will join "Jack Johnson: Will he come to Michigan or go pro" on that list.
According to an AP article today, the Wings are no closer to signing either of their high-profile RFAs. In an interview with Russianprospects.com, Datsyuk's agent talks about the different lengths of contract that Detroit has proposed. It looks like they may have agreed on the term, just not the finances.
As far as I'm concerned, they can let Datsyuk play in Russia for the year, use the extra money to go sign Bondra to a one-year deal (I think he's still out there) and get Zetterberg in the fold since he seems a little bit more reasonable. It's absurd that he thinks he deserves "Joe Thornton money". Score a goal in the playoffs first.
So that's the end of the Datsyuk/Zetterberg talk, until either the season starts or they get signed.
Myron Rolle passed on coming to U of M, to pretty much no one's surprise. What was surprising though, was that he picked Florida State, citing their academic prowess. Yeah. Good call there. Hi, I'm a 4.0 student, I was to double major in stuff that The Blog That Yost Built can't pronounce, then go to med school. Florida State here I come. At least he didn't try to pass off tOSU as a real school.
Speaking of Ohio...."Weeeee don't give a damn for using contraception, using contraception, using contraception, we don't give a damn for using contraception, weeeee're from Oh-Hi-O". Strong work.
The Packers won a game that doesn't count last night, despite apparently looking awful in the process. If they don't come out of their first two games (at Detroit, Cleveland at home) at least 1-1 it's going to be a long season. On the plus side, the heir apparent looked great last night from what I've read, and Tennessee muffed 3 punts. Yay for left-footed punters!! It's sad that Green Bay's punter is the bright spot of the preseason. Grady Jackson and Cheech Hunt put down the munchies to actually play. That's cool.
Soccer isn't going to get much coverage in this blog, as I really don't like the sport...but as the official timer for U of M men's and women's soccer, and field hockey, I'll be at most of the home games. Last night, Trai Blanks played the best game I have ever seen out of him. He had a goal, should've had 2 more, made a gorgeous cross that would've been an assist but the shot hit the post, and in general was all over the field. It appears to me from watching the exhibition game and the opener last night that Steve Burns is doing something very smart: He's got two guys in Blanks and Tolo Olowolafe who depend heavily on their speed. So, instead of starting Blanks and playing him 60-70 minutes a game like last year, he's bringing them off the bench late in the first half. The two (but especially Blanks) comes in and attacks the defense when they're tired, and so instead of playing 60-70 blah minutes, he can play 30-40 where he's using his speed and attacking. It definitely worked last night as Blanks was the best player on the field. We'll see if that strategy continues. UM won 2-0 but it could've easily been 7 or 8 to zip. UDM didn't register a single shot on goal.
Great news from ESPN: As pointed out by Blue Lite on TheWolverine, ESPN has announced they are trying to get back to old-school Sportscenter, when they'd deliver the highlights and not try to be MTV. Great, great news there as I rarely watched the show anymore because, quite frankly, it annoyed me.
Gajic and Werner have signed with AHL teams. I now pass along the catch-phrase "Dammit Gajic" to the fine people of Providence, and "Werner to Faulk" (In Pat Summerall voice, imitating the way he said Kurt Warner's name) to the people of Manchester.
Bob Miller from The Wolverine posted his impressions of the freshmen from a very loose practice (basically a pickup game). What was exciting to me was his later post where he mentioned that it looks like Zach MacVoy has really improved his skating. That is the reason I believe he wasn't drafted, and I've said before that if he could overcome his skating issues he could be a very nice player for us. Nice to hear he's been working on it. And no report about the freshmen would be complete without a mention of The Sickness:
NHL 2k6 comes out on Tuesday. Can't wait!
According to an AP article today, the Wings are no closer to signing either of their high-profile RFAs. In an interview with Russianprospects.com, Datsyuk's agent talks about the different lengths of contract that Detroit has proposed. It looks like they may have agreed on the term, just not the finances.
As far as I'm concerned, they can let Datsyuk play in Russia for the year, use the extra money to go sign Bondra to a one-year deal (I think he's still out there) and get Zetterberg in the fold since he seems a little bit more reasonable. It's absurd that he thinks he deserves "Joe Thornton money". Score a goal in the playoffs first.
So that's the end of the Datsyuk/Zetterberg talk, until either the season starts or they get signed.
Myron Rolle passed on coming to U of M, to pretty much no one's surprise. What was surprising though, was that he picked Florida State, citing their academic prowess. Yeah. Good call there. Hi, I'm a 4.0 student, I was to double major in stuff that The Blog That Yost Built can't pronounce, then go to med school. Florida State here I come. At least he didn't try to pass off tOSU as a real school.
Speaking of Ohio...."Weeeee don't give a damn for using contraception, using contraception, using contraception, we don't give a damn for using contraception, weeeee're from Oh-Hi-O". Strong work.
The Packers won a game that doesn't count last night, despite apparently looking awful in the process. If they don't come out of their first two games (at Detroit, Cleveland at home) at least 1-1 it's going to be a long season. On the plus side, the heir apparent looked great last night from what I've read, and Tennessee muffed 3 punts. Yay for left-footed punters!! It's sad that Green Bay's punter is the bright spot of the preseason. Grady Jackson and Cheech Hunt put down the munchies to actually play. That's cool.
Soccer isn't going to get much coverage in this blog, as I really don't like the sport...but as the official timer for U of M men's and women's soccer, and field hockey, I'll be at most of the home games. Last night, Trai Blanks played the best game I have ever seen out of him. He had a goal, should've had 2 more, made a gorgeous cross that would've been an assist but the shot hit the post, and in general was all over the field. It appears to me from watching the exhibition game and the opener last night that Steve Burns is doing something very smart: He's got two guys in Blanks and Tolo Olowolafe who depend heavily on their speed. So, instead of starting Blanks and playing him 60-70 minutes a game like last year, he's bringing them off the bench late in the first half. The two (but especially Blanks) comes in and attacks the defense when they're tired, and so instead of playing 60-70 blah minutes, he can play 30-40 where he's using his speed and attacking. It definitely worked last night as Blanks was the best player on the field. We'll see if that strategy continues. UM won 2-0 but it could've easily been 7 or 8 to zip. UDM didn't register a single shot on goal.
Great news from ESPN: As pointed out by Blue Lite on TheWolverine, ESPN has announced they are trying to get back to old-school Sportscenter, when they'd deliver the highlights and not try to be MTV. Great, great news there as I rarely watched the show anymore because, quite frankly, it annoyed me.
Gajic and Werner have signed with AHL teams. I now pass along the catch-phrase "Dammit Gajic" to the fine people of Providence, and "Werner to Faulk" (In Pat Summerall voice, imitating the way he said Kurt Warner's name) to the people of Manchester.
Bob Miller from The Wolverine posted his impressions of the freshmen from a very loose practice (basically a pickup game). What was exciting to me was his later post where he mentioned that it looks like Zach MacVoy has really improved his skating. That is the reason I believe he wasn't drafted, and I've said before that if he could overcome his skating issues he could be a very nice player for us. Nice to hear he's been working on it. And no report about the freshmen would be complete without a mention of The Sickness:
Jack Johnson controls the puck whenever and wherever he wants.And anyone who saw the move he put on Nick Lidstrom in the USA vs. NHL All-Stars game won't doubt that for a second. 1 more month.
NHL 2k6 comes out on Tuesday. Can't wait!
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Datsyuk Close to Signing?
Reports abound this morning that Pavel Datsyuk may be close to signing a deal with the Red Wings. Citing SovietSport newspaper in Russia, the Detroit News reported that Datsyuk was a no-show as the Russian National Team left today for EuroTour--a tournament in Europe that Datsyuk was to play in if he wasn't signing with the Wings.
Apparently 1270 and 1130 am in Detroit have also reported that he's close to a deal. Good to hear, hopefully Holland isn't stupid about how much money he's paying him. If it's more than $3.5 mill a year or so, my enthusiasm of him signing will be greatly diminished.
The Fourth Period (credibility question mark alert!!) article about Datsyuk rejecting the Wings contract offers from a couple days ago also mentions that they are close to signing Zetterberg. Haven't heard that anywhere else, but it's a good sign. Hopefully they can get both players under contract before I snap.
Also from The Fourth Period--but with a General Manager quote and citing the Boston Globe so you can probably believe this one--apparently Andy Hilbert wants out of Boston. This article was from while I was on vacation so I missed it. GM Mike O'Connell said "He's asked to be moved and I've told him we'll do our best to accomodate him." I don't suppose it's too much to ask Kenny....The Wings could use one more scorer and Hilbert would be cheap. He's coming off a great year in the AHL and might be ready to make "The Leap". No clue what Boston's asking price for him would be, but I think it'd be worth a call. But he played for Michigan so the Wings will naturally have no interest.
One last thing today...Mike Rosenberg has a wonderful article about why Michigan fans should appreciate Lloyd Carr while he's here and not complain so much since we've got the 3rd best record in the country over the last 8 years, only behind Florida State and Miami (and just a half game behind Miami for second).
Apparently 1270 and 1130 am in Detroit have also reported that he's close to a deal. Good to hear, hopefully Holland isn't stupid about how much money he's paying him. If it's more than $3.5 mill a year or so, my enthusiasm of him signing will be greatly diminished.
The Fourth Period (credibility question mark alert!!) article about Datsyuk rejecting the Wings contract offers from a couple days ago also mentions that they are close to signing Zetterberg. Haven't heard that anywhere else, but it's a good sign. Hopefully they can get both players under contract before I snap.
Also from The Fourth Period--but with a General Manager quote and citing the Boston Globe so you can probably believe this one--apparently Andy Hilbert wants out of Boston. This article was from while I was on vacation so I missed it. GM Mike O'Connell said "He's asked to be moved and I've told him we'll do our best to accomodate him." I don't suppose it's too much to ask Kenny....The Wings could use one more scorer and Hilbert would be cheap. He's coming off a great year in the AHL and might be ready to make "The Leap". No clue what Boston's asking price for him would be, but I think it'd be worth a call. But he played for Michigan so the Wings will naturally have no interest.
One last thing today...Mike Rosenberg has a wonderful article about why Michigan fans should appreciate Lloyd Carr while he's here and not complain so much since we've got the 3rd best record in the country over the last 8 years, only behind Florida State and Miami (and just a half game behind Miami for second).
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