THE GAME IT WAS
Yesterday I did not see the game I thought I wanted to see. But maybe I did see the game I needed to see.
The rivalry is alive and well - and that's a good thing.
The mere thought of playing OSU took Devin Gardner from "I think I can, I think I can...." to "I know I can, I know I can...."
Even though he couldn't quite.
And that, unless you bet the house on a two TD spread, is the beauty of it.
Brady Hoke didn't want to go to 1-2 against OSU. So he coached, and he coached, and he coached, and he coached and Michigan played their maize and blew asses off. The line was magnificent and the QB was a man reborn.
And when the dust settled there was Brady Hoke - 1-2 against OSU.
The much maligned Gorgeous Borges came up with the game plan of his life. (Or maybe our D came up with a game plan that was a wee bit lacking. Or maybe a combination of the two.)
Everywhere you looked there was a Michigan receiver grabbing a screen pass with 9 blockers in front of him while the entire OSU secondary was checking out the Nacho Bitch.*
603 yards, 31 first downs, 8 third down conversions, 41 points.
And Brady Hoke is 1-2 against OSU.
I had a house full of people. I wanted the blow out. I wanted 51-14 so we could all relax and make up funny names for the Michigan players as they struggled in futility.
What we got to see instead was the football equivalent of the foxy blonde with the perfect body who climbed into Brady Hoke's bed, slipped off her panties and said, "Oh no, I'm not going to have sex with yooooou."
And there stands Brady Hoke with what's left of a fat man's erection, 1-2 against OSU and asking "If we're not going to have sex do you at least have a sammich?"
Well I got your sammich Brady. Because my crowd didn't eat half the food I anticipated. You kept us glued to the TV. You kept that knot in my stomach - a knot that if it ever disappears on the day of The Game will tell me the rivalry is in fact over. You did that Brady. And I congratulate you for getting a level of play out of that team I didn't think was there.
But you are still 1-2 against OSU.
So I saw what I needed to see. This game isn't about blow outs. It is about pain. The pain I felt in 1969. The pain inflicted by Will Allen in 2001, Beanie Wells in 2006 and Tyvis Powell yesterday.
* She was sitting in the second row wearing that sweater I like so well. The one she wore to win the Ugly Sweater contest a few Christmases ago. You know, the one with Rudolph on the front and her left nip sticking through where his nose is supposed to be.
THE FIGHT
My guess is that when Brady was laying awake last night thinking of what could have been the question he kept asking himself was "What would have happened if we hadn't lost Royce Jenkins-Stone?"
Not a fan of fisticuffs on the field, and I still need to watch a slo-mo replay one or two more times, but for gosh sakes what were the refs doing on that play. Half a dozen Michigan player wont let the smallest player on the field get up. When he does get up they proceed to bump him. Then they rip his helmet off and shove him some more before he finally retaliates.
I don't get it. Are we over in Tibet right now looking for monks with speed?
Yes, we stay on the sidelines. Yes, we refrain from throwing punches. And yes, you don't salute the crowd on the way out (although I give kudos to whoever came up with the line "Why did Hall give two fingers to the Michigan crowd? Because he couldn't give them three." - it is not an image that does the program proud.)
But the treatment of Wilson was as egregious as I have seen. And we clearly lost that fight. A starting guard and offensive dimension left the field with the mighty Jenkins-Stone and no quantity of punches landed make up for that.
But that entire incident was on the refs.
CARLOS HYDE
So a football player walks into a bar.......
.... and leaves his Heisman Trophy inside.
THE CASE FOR THE SEC
The argument is pretty straightforward.
Alabama should go to the BCS CG - unless they lose to Auburn.
Then Auburn should go to the BCS CG - unless they lose to Missouri.
Then Missouri should go to the BCS CG - regardless.
In other words, prior to the beginning of the season, one of the two spots in the BCS CG was already reserved for the SEC Champion.
And that makes sense, because the SEC is so much better than weak conferences like the Big 12. So much better in fact, that a Missouri team that averaged 4.25 losses in the Big 12 in the four seasons prior to joining the SEC can achieve their first one loss season since 1962 in only their second year. And a Texas A&M team which averaged 6.25 losses in the four years prior to joining the SEC can go 11-2 in their very fist season. That is how much better the SEC magically makes teams just by becoming conference members.
And so by this same logic an Auburn team whose only loss is to a three loss LSU team is clearly better than a team whose only loss is to, well, nobody. Particularly since that Auburn team had four wins by 5 or fewer points and said undefeated team had only win by less than 7.
It's the SEC damn it - don't you get it? Do you think the loudest voice in college sports would be selling it if it weren't true? It's not like ESPN has any sort of financial ties to the SEC. They are just trying to protect the integrity of the BCS CG.
Yesterday I did not see the game I thought I wanted to see. But maybe I did see the game I needed to see.
The rivalry is alive and well - and that's a good thing.
The mere thought of playing OSU took Devin Gardner from "I think I can, I think I can...." to "I know I can, I know I can...."
Even though he couldn't quite.
And that, unless you bet the house on a two TD spread, is the beauty of it.
Brady Hoke didn't want to go to 1-2 against OSU. So he coached, and he coached, and he coached, and he coached and Michigan played their maize and blew asses off. The line was magnificent and the QB was a man reborn.
And when the dust settled there was Brady Hoke - 1-2 against OSU.
The much maligned Gorgeous Borges came up with the game plan of his life. (Or maybe our D came up with a game plan that was a wee bit lacking. Or maybe a combination of the two.)
Everywhere you looked there was a Michigan receiver grabbing a screen pass with 9 blockers in front of him while the entire OSU secondary was checking out the Nacho Bitch.*
603 yards, 31 first downs, 8 third down conversions, 41 points.
And Brady Hoke is 1-2 against OSU.
I had a house full of people. I wanted the blow out. I wanted 51-14 so we could all relax and make up funny names for the Michigan players as they struggled in futility.
What we got to see instead was the football equivalent of the foxy blonde with the perfect body who climbed into Brady Hoke's bed, slipped off her panties and said, "Oh no, I'm not going to have sex with yooooou."
And there stands Brady Hoke with what's left of a fat man's erection, 1-2 against OSU and asking "If we're not going to have sex do you at least have a sammich?"
Well I got your sammich Brady. Because my crowd didn't eat half the food I anticipated. You kept us glued to the TV. You kept that knot in my stomach - a knot that if it ever disappears on the day of The Game will tell me the rivalry is in fact over. You did that Brady. And I congratulate you for getting a level of play out of that team I didn't think was there.
But you are still 1-2 against OSU.
So I saw what I needed to see. This game isn't about blow outs. It is about pain. The pain I felt in 1969. The pain inflicted by Will Allen in 2001, Beanie Wells in 2006 and Tyvis Powell yesterday.
* She was sitting in the second row wearing that sweater I like so well. The one she wore to win the Ugly Sweater contest a few Christmases ago. You know, the one with Rudolph on the front and her left nip sticking through where his nose is supposed to be.
THE FIGHT
My guess is that when Brady was laying awake last night thinking of what could have been the question he kept asking himself was "What would have happened if we hadn't lost Royce Jenkins-Stone?"
Not a fan of fisticuffs on the field, and I still need to watch a slo-mo replay one or two more times, but for gosh sakes what were the refs doing on that play. Half a dozen Michigan player wont let the smallest player on the field get up. When he does get up they proceed to bump him. Then they rip his helmet off and shove him some more before he finally retaliates.
I don't get it. Are we over in Tibet right now looking for monks with speed?
Yes, we stay on the sidelines. Yes, we refrain from throwing punches. And yes, you don't salute the crowd on the way out (although I give kudos to whoever came up with the line "Why did Hall give two fingers to the Michigan crowd? Because he couldn't give them three." - it is not an image that does the program proud.)
But the treatment of Wilson was as egregious as I have seen. And we clearly lost that fight. A starting guard and offensive dimension left the field with the mighty Jenkins-Stone and no quantity of punches landed make up for that.
But that entire incident was on the refs.
CARLOS HYDE
So a football player walks into a bar.......
.... and leaves his Heisman Trophy inside.
THE CASE FOR THE SEC
The argument is pretty straightforward.
Alabama should go to the BCS CG - unless they lose to Auburn.
Then Auburn should go to the BCS CG - unless they lose to Missouri.
Then Missouri should go to the BCS CG - regardless.
In other words, prior to the beginning of the season, one of the two spots in the BCS CG was already reserved for the SEC Champion.
And that makes sense, because the SEC is so much better than weak conferences like the Big 12. So much better in fact, that a Missouri team that averaged 4.25 losses in the Big 12 in the four seasons prior to joining the SEC can achieve their first one loss season since 1962 in only their second year. And a Texas A&M team which averaged 6.25 losses in the four years prior to joining the SEC can go 11-2 in their very fist season. That is how much better the SEC magically makes teams just by becoming conference members.
And so by this same logic an Auburn team whose only loss is to a three loss LSU team is clearly better than a team whose only loss is to, well, nobody. Particularly since that Auburn team had four wins by 5 or fewer points and said undefeated team had only win by less than 7.
It's the SEC damn it - don't you get it? Do you think the loudest voice in college sports would be selling it if it weren't true? It's not like ESPN has any sort of financial ties to the SEC. They are just trying to protect the integrity of the BCS CG.
Gorgeous Borges
