"We want to stay focused and play every game like it's a national championship game."

Just another reason why Manny Harris is the best thing to happen to Michigan Basketball since Glenn Rice was rainin' three's twenty years ago. Just like Rice, Harris led the way again with 16 points and 15 boards in Michigan's runaway victory over the Norfolk State Spartans Tuesday night.

Despite a cold start, Michigan ran away with Tuesday Night's game halfway through the first half.  When all was said and done, Harris was just one of five Wolverines in double figures and the Wolverines had led by as many as 35 points in the blow out. Anthony Wright, Zack Novak, DeShawn Sims, and Air Canada himself Jevohn Shepherd all pitched in double digits.

Another encouraging sign was the play of the defense. Michigan held the Spartans to 30% shooting from the floor and forced 15 turnovers, including 7 steals. Equally important the Wolverines only turned the ball over twice. I'll repeat that. Equally important the Wolverines only turned the ball over twice. Wow. That mixed with stifling defense = awesome.

via detnews.com

If there are concerns, it's three point shooting. Anthony Wright posted double digit points but went 2-6 from three, and Stu Douglass went 2-5 from beyond the arc. Equally concerning is that Kelvin Grady hasn't seemed to find a shooting rhythm yet, going 1-4 from beyond the arc and only taking two shots inside it. These are, of course, minor nit picks in a blowout win. Wright shot 40% from the floor. Douglass was 3-7 overall. Grady dished a team high 5 assists.

Michigan is firing on all cylinders following its outstanding run in New York. They'll look to keep the momentum going on Saturday, November 29, 2008, when they welcome Savannah State to Crisler Arena for a 2pm tip off.  Get your tickets here.

Momentum is going to be key over the next two weeks. Michigan travels to College Park, Maryland to take on the Terrapins on December 3rd in the ACC/Big Ten challenge. Then on Saturday, December 6th, the host Duke to close out the tournament.

While the UCLA win was a nice start to the season, Maryland will be the true measuring stick of how far this team has come and where it fits in the NCAAs, the NIT, and Big Ten. Maryland draws No. 5 ranked Michigan State in the Old Spice Classic on Thanksgiving Night. The Terps have started relatively strong on the season, going 3-0 and posting a blow-out exhibition win. The only oddity on the score sheet is a 89-74 overtime win over Vermont. It was a game Maryland probably should've lost before the Terp's Greivis Vasquez hit a three pointer at the buzzer to force overtime. The Terps then proceeded to run the holy hell out of the Catamounts, allowing only a single bucket in the extra session.

Maryland is also a lot like Michigan; they are really, really young. There is only one senior on the roster, a grand total of four upperclassmen, and nine underclassmen (6 sophomores and 3 freshmen). Like Michigan they're a bubble type team that will go as far as their best player and their coaches' abilities to get the most out of their young talent. Like Michigan, the Terps lean on a special player, Greivis Vasquez, whose name I challenge you to pronounce correctly on the first try. Vasquez is Maryland's unquestioned leader and most dangerous player. Vasquez is 6-6, shot 43% from the floor and posted 2nd team all ACC honors last year. Another thing to keep in mind, Vasquez is a member of the Venezuelan National Team and led the ACC in assists. If there's a better one-on-one match-up for Manny Harris, I can't find one. This guy will be a true test for Michigan's defense all by himself.

But it's not just one player, the Terps are getting balanced scoring out of their starting five. The Terps have four players averaging 10+ points on the season, and the fifth at 9 a game. Like all Gary Williams teams, this year's Terrapin squad shoots the ball well, with all five starters over 40% from the field. For more Maryland related info, check out SB Nation's outstanding Maryland site The Testudo Times and their Vermont wrap up.

So with that in mind, Savannah State will be a good tune up for the Terps and for a lurking Duke team that looks as good as it's No. 4 ranking. I expect the Terps to give Michigan State a fairly good run on Turkey Day, so watch it and take note of how they play the Spartans. The Maryland/Michigan matchup promises to be a great test for both young teams.

Go Blue!

As Monday came and went a strange calm settled over me. Normally at this point in the season I'm all atwitter with various scenarios for bowl bids, watching the polls fevorishly for highs and lows, and generally over hyping my expectations of Michigan's bowl chances. But on Monday my head was clear of these things. It should've been. After Saturday, for the first time since the '60's, Football season ended in November rather than New Year's day or late December. So it appears I've got some time on my hands.

A complete season wrapup would probably be a good idea, but that's going to take some time. There are lots of other things to do. For instance, the new Bond movie is out and I hear Judi Dench is doing partial nudity. Wait... no. I mean player evaluations. How well the coaches faired. Who's staying. Who's going. Who's replacing whom. Who's walking through that door with the expectation of starting. And what we can expect from a MAC heavy schedule, a Notre Dame club that will be substantially better than its loss to Syracuse indicates, a slate of Big Ten games against steadily improving teams, and of course Ohio State in 2009.

There are also other sports to celebrate. For the first time since the early '90's Michigan basketball is relevant and not just a case study in fan masochism. The Wolverines are 3-1 with a win over No. 4 UCLA to pin on their resume, as well as a runner up trophy in a tournament they were supposed to be fodder for. Manny Harris is absolutely on fire, scoring 96 points in his last four games and was named to the 2K Classic all Tournament Team. DeShawn Sims has given Michigan an inside presence on both ends of the floor, Anthony Wright has been surpriingly effective distributing the ball, and freshman Stu Douglass and senior David Merritt have contributed both defense and much needed scoring. All the details on the season so far can be found here.

This is a fun team to watch. And they're playing tonight as the Wolverines host 1-1 Norfolk State.  The Spartans are led by senior guard Michael Deloach, who is averaging 25.5 points per game. The Spartans are new to DI basketball, existing on the big stage for just eight seasonsas a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). Tip off is scheduled for 8:30 EST and will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network. Enjoy.

Another team worth tipping our cap to is the Women's basketball team who just posted win over No. 13 Vanderbilt, the biggest win of second year Coach Kevin Borseth short tenure at UM. The Lady Wolverines are 2-2 on the season and head into the Southern Mississippi Thanksgiving Tournament starting on November 28, 2008.

For you hockey fans, Michigan's Hockey team continues to pull in the country's top talent, inking three members of the US National Development team to scholarships. New commits Chris Brown (Flower Mound, Texas), Kevin Lynch (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) and A.J. Treais (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) will lace up their skates for the Maize n' Blue come 2009. So the future remains bright. On the ice, Michigan's had some tuff sledding, dropping two games to Miami this past weekend despite strong games from Billy Sauer and Brian Hogan. The team stands at 8-6(5-5) on the season and is preparing to face Minnesota and Wisconsin in the 16th Annual College Hockey Showcase in Minneapolis and Madison. Puck drop 7:05 CST in Minneapolis on November 28, 2008.

So there is plenty to grab our attention as football fades into the baskground until March and spring practice roll around. And we'll get to wrapping up the Football season in due time. But for now, enjoy a little peace and quiet on the gridiron front and let yourself enjoy a pair of resurgent Basketball program often forgotten about until mid February and a preinial power in our Hockey program. They'll help you transition from football to back to normal life.

There are only so many variations of words and phrases that can describe the all 'round butt whuppin' Michigan received this past Saturday in Columbus. To save you the trouble, just use Maize n Brew's trademarked Michigan post-game column Mad Libs:

On ______, 2008, Michigan dropped another (horrid, close) game to ______. The offensive was ineffective in the red zone despite (Minor, Shaw, McGuffie, Brown) running for over 100 yards. (Nick Sheridan, Steven Threet) looked lost running Rodriguez’ spread offense. The majority of (Sheridan’s, Threet’s) passes were under thrown or over thrown, and of the passes that found hands only Greg Mathews seemed capable of holding onto the ball. Drops by (Odoms, Stonum, Clemons) killed several drives. Michigan managed only (one, two) conversions in the Red Zone and looked out of sorts the entire game.

Defensively the Wolverines generally stood firm, but their problems with 3^rd and long continued. Michigan gave up (1^st downs, Touchdowns) on 3^rd and (6, 8, 10, 15, 25, 30, 31, 75) on (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) occasions. While the Line was stout, the Wolverines’ pass coverage was victimized again, surrendering (40, 50, 60, 70, 80) yard (touchdown, touchdowns) in obvious passing downs. Making matters worse the Wolverines problems on special teams continued, as (Shaw, Odoms, BooBoo, McGuffie, Minor, Trent) fumbled (a punt, multiple punts, the kickoff, multiple kickoffs) resulting in (3, 7, 10, 13, 14, 17, 20, 21, 24) points for __________. The loss (damages, puts in serious peril, digs a deep hole and buries, continues to make a mockery of the passing of) Michigan’s bowl hopes.

Sure this leaves some things out, but it's pretty accurate.

As much as I'd love to pen some heart felt opus about the trials and trivails of this team, my heart truly isn't in it. Like so many in the Michigan blogosphere, this blog has attempted to explain the problems with the Michigan offense, defense and special teams over the past three to four months. It's attempted to bring some solace to the disenfranchised fan and bring a little sanity to the fan ready to climb the bell tower with a .22. This is, after all, just a game.

The issues that put Michigan in its 3-8 tailspin were evident and well chronicled prior to Saturday's game. Saturday just reinforced what we already knew. This season Michigan possessed a good, not great defense. Michigan had a horrifically bad offense. An offense so bad the Captain of the Exxon Valdez probably could've piloted it with the same level of success. Michigan had a good punter and a gigantic question mark in the return game. A question mark that basically turned into a giant meat cleaver that cut Michigan off at the knees more often than it inflicted any pain on the opponent. 

So on Satruday, another chapter in the Ohio State Michigan rivalry as well as another chapter in the history of Michigan football was concluded. These will not be pleasant chapters to re-read. But they are part of the story, and sadly they are more memorable than any of the mid-tier bowl seasons of the past twenty years.

The next chapter will begin with the fall out from this season. Who left. Who didn't buy in to the system. But it will also begin with optimism. Optimism for the new players on their way to Ann Arbor. The guys that are returning with a chip on their shoulder.

The Game is over. Michigan lost. The season is over. Michigan finished 3-9. You can talk about the historical firsts, all the bad things that happened so you make your deadline, the question marks, the problems that never got fixed. Or you can move on. You don't have to forget the past year, ignore it, or pretend it didn't happen. You shouldn't. There are lessons to be learned. But you don't have to dwell on it.

The most recent chapeter in Michigan's storied history concluded Saturday night. The newest chapter starts today. You can be a part of it.

All you have to do is turn the page.

Game notes:

For Michigan Nick Sheridan starts at QB, Feagin is second string, Threet is out. Brandon Minor, Carlos Brown, McGuffie and Mike Shaw will all play at tailback. Perry Dorrestein will start in place of Steve Schilling who is out with a bum knee.

For Ohio State only DB Jermale Hines is doubtful. Beanie Wells has a tight hamstring but it isn't expected to be an issue.

On to the Game! Go Blue!

Now for a cheer they are here, triumphant!

Here they come with banners flying,

In stalwart step they're nighing,

With shouts of vict'ry crying,

We hurrah, hurrah, we greet you now, Hail!

Far we their praises sing

For the glory and fame they've bro't us

Loud let the bells them ring

For here they come with banners flying

Far we their praises tell

For the glory and fame they've bro't us

Loud let the bells them ring

For here they come with banners flying

Here they come, Hurrah!

Hail! to the victors valiant

Hail! to the conqu'ring heroes

Hail! Hail! to Michigan

The leaders and best!

Hail! to the victors valiant

Hail! to the conqu'ring heroes

Hail! Hail! to Michigan,

The champions of the West!

We cheer them again

We cheer and cheer again

For Michigan, we cheer for Michigan

We cheer with might and main

We cheer, cheer, cheer

With might and main we cheer!

Hail! to the victors valiant

Hail! to the conqu'ring heroes

Hail! Hail! to Michigan

The leaders and best!

Hail! to the victors valiant

Hail! to the conqu'ring heroes

Hail! Hail! to Michigan,

The champions of the West!

via Washingtonpost.com

If you replace the number seven with an eight, then exchange the word "basketball" with "football" there would be little difference in the commentary between Michigan's 2007 basketball season and its 2008 football season. Lots of young faces. No true leaders. Seniors from a bygone administration doing what they can in a system they were not designed for. Transfer rumors. Attrition. A new coach from West Virginia trying to revive a moribund program with more happy memories than recent success.

While the season finale has yet to be written for the 2008 football team, the basketball team's 2007 season mercifully closed on a 10-22 note back in February. A season of turnovers, mistakes, embarrassing losses, frustration, and a coach clearly not comprehending the mess he'd gotten himself into.

As the 2008 Michigan Football season draws to a close a lot of things are very different from what we have known in the past. Michigan is not ranked. Michigan is below .500. Michigan will not go to a bowl game. Michigan will enter the off season with even more uncertainty this season than last, albeit for very different reasons.

But then again, some things are very familiar. On Saturday Michigan will face Ohio State to conclude both team's regular seasons. Michigan is banged up. Smarting from losses it can't explain. Facing a highly ranked, rested and ready Buckeye team in Columbus. And looking across the field at a coach who has lost to them just once in seven years.

On paper, this game won't be, shouldn't be, remotely close. The Buckeyes sport one of the conference's, if not the country's, best defensive units. They also possess a legitimate All-Pro calibre running back in Beanie Well, a first round tackle in Alex Boone, and young quarterback name Terrell Pryor who has the potential to make Vince Young look like Elvis Grbac when all is said and done.

Michigan will play a banged up offensive line; battered running backs; young, hurt, and mistake prone receivers; and a quarterback who frankly should not be playing divison one football. Defensively, Michigan has proven all year it can't defend the pass, is suspect against the run, and basically inept on special teams. It is 2-5 in conference, 1-3 in nonconference, and running on fumes.

So, on paper, it shouldn't be close. As Tim from Varsity Blue said in his preview of Saturday's game ...

God, this is going to hurt...

He's right. It will. I would love to look into my crystal ball magic eight ball pants the future and tell you Michigan will win this game. I can't. I simply don't know the answer. If you put a gun to my head I'd tell you OSU will win in a rout.

But pride is a powerful motivator. it allows you to do things you normally wouldn't. Gives you strength you didn't have before, no matter how fleeting it is. And if there's anything the past few years of Michigan football has taught us, anything can happen. A year ago a mediocre Michigan team dismantled the reigning National Champions in the Citrus Bowl. It's not like any of us saw that coming. But that is college football.

This year alone Oregon State was spanked by PSU but got up off the tarp to punch USC and its national championship dreams in the mouth. Iowa booted Penn State's National Championship aspirations on a last second field goal.

Strange things happen when you are motivated.

And regardless of the outcome the future of Michigan Football is bright. Look no further than the raised fists of John Beilein as time expired last night. A year prior Michigan was a mistake prone turnover machine that set new standards in bad jumpshooting and poor decision making. This year, after a year of work, a full off season to prepare, and the opportunity to recruit players to fit his own version of the "spread offense," Michigan is an entirely different team with largely the same players. they play with chemsitry, instinct, and forethought. They play like a Michigan team.

Objectively we should've known last night's win over UCLA was coming. Beilein has been a tremendous success everywhere he has hung his whistle. Look at his records. Look at his character. Look at him as a coach and as a man. He pleaded for patience, and we begrudgingly gave it to him. We were promised he was a great coach and we didn't see great coaching. We saw a mess. But against UCLA, and in every game this season, we saw a disciplined well executed team. We saw what we were promised.

Now our eyes turn to Columbus, where we will likely see a mess. A turnover factory. A lot of small mistakes or a few major ones that will cost Michigan a football game. But things can change over a season and over the course of two years. We have seen positive changes in the Michigan offense as the yards per carry are up, even though the line and quarterback are inexperienced and frankly not that good. Little things belie improvement and promise.

Last night our patience with the basketball team was rewarded with a signature win we haven't seen in over a decade. Maybe, just maybe, if we remain patient with Rodriguez and the Football Team we will be rewarded again.Maybe it will be Saturday. Maybe it won't happen until next year.

But what we saw against Minnesota on the gridiron or UCLA on the hardwood wasn't an aberation or a mirage. It was a picture of things to come. Things that will appear at the unlikeliest moments if we are willing to wait for them. If we are willing to be patient.

Man. This team can't rebound, but they're a lot of fun to watch!

Go Blue!

Tonight at 9 Eastern Time Michigan tips off against the No. 4 ranked UCLA Bruins in the semifinals of the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer at Madison Square Garden. Wooooooooooooo! Get Excited!

Woo!

Ahem....

Michigan has started the season strong, posted a pair of 20+ point wins over a pair of cupcakes in the regionals of the 2K "classic." While usually it's hard to get too excited about wins over a D-II school and Northeastern (who is much better at hockey than basektball), last season Michigan was choking on these cupcakes rather than swallowing them whole. Baby steps, right?

Actually the season truly has started off well. Budding Big Ten superstan Manny Harris has led the way with a 28 point/game average while DeShawn Sims has made life miserable in the paint for the Wolverines' opponents, posting 14.5 points and almost 10 boards a game. And this is coming off the bench.

Michigan's biggest weakness so far this season is its dependence on Harris and Sims to carry the load. Only Gibson's managed to hit double digits this season besides those two. I know its just two games in, but you'd like to have at least one more person capable of filling the cylinder. Still, this team is averaging 76 a game, and everyone is putting in a bucket or two and contributing time on the floor. As long as everyone's working hard and putting in the time, man, I'll take that over last year. the team truly seems to have settled into Beilein's 1-3-1, and is playing more naturally, not fighting or thinking every move on the court. There's a more natural flow, whether it's in practice or in a game, and it's truly noticeable.

A sign that things are turning around in Ann Arbor is the deference the guys at Bruins Nation are paying Beilein, and the Wolverines' effort last season. Hell, there's even a giant post on Harris and Sims! This morning they're a little worried becuase of the Wolverines' spread offense. No. Not that one. This one:

JS need to watch out because the Wolverines run a spread offense, which gave the Bruins a lot of trouble when they took on Beilien’s well drilled West Virginia teams from few years ago (remember we lost both of our matchups against them in Westwood and then in Morgantown). Bruin Basketball Report gives us a glimpse on how Beilein runs his offense:

On offense, Beilein’s teams like to spread the court and utilize a combination of crisp backdoor cuts and kick-out precision three-point shooting, a combination that usually gives Howland’s help-defense type teams problems.

Last year the Wolverines struggled to learn the offense, and its too early to tell whether they have the right talent to make this offensive system effective in Michigan this season.

In the first two games, Michigan has attempted 38 three-point shots per contest making them at a 34.2% clip, however, if you remove Harris’s shooting then the rest of the team has shot just a mere 29% from beyond the arc.

Nonetheless, the Michigan starting line-up is littered with players who can and will make the three-point shot a weapon.

As for defense, BBR has more on their vaunted 1-3-1 zone:

Beilein has installed the same 1-3-1 zone defense at Michigan that he used at West Virginia. Its a zone that has been problematic for Howland to solve. Its not the type of defense that a UCLA team sees often and the lack of experience against it has shown up with usually Bruin players either getting trapped on the sidelines or attempting long soft lobs over the zone that allows the defense to easily recover and defend.

At times Howland has tried stationing a guard at the high-post to attack the 1-3-1 but it hasn’t been very fruitful. The most effective Bruin offense against this zone has been by attacking the zone at the seams by dribble penetration, exactly what Darren Collison did successfully last season against Michigan. The Wolverines didn’t have the quickness in the backcourt to stop Collison. But this year may be different as the Wolverines have added quality and speed to its line-up as well as the return of its two best players from last season.

This isn't to suggest that the Bruins shouldn't be heavily favored. They should. The talent differential is that vast. However, there are chinks in the armor. UCLA is Top and bottom heavy. The Bruins have a load of outstanding, but very green freshmen on their roster who are seeing significant minutes. At the top, they've got four seniors who went to the final four last year. But there ain't a lot in between. 

The early season results have shown UCLA can be a tad inconsistent. Led by their seniors Darren Collison and Josh Shipp, the Bruins dispatched Prarie View A&M easily, blowing them out by more than 20 points. But the Bruins struggled to put away a scrappy Redhawks team, eeking out a 64-59 win over Miami (OH). The Redhawks did what Michigan have to do to keep this game close, hit a high percentage of threes. Miami went 7-15 from three, and you can expect that Michigan will double those attempts. What's lost in the boxscore is that Miami is a verteran team, and that experience and age gave them a little boost over the inexperienced uber-freshmen allowing the 'Hawks to actually take a one point lead with less than a minute to go. But that's when the seniors took over and willed UCLA to the win.

Other than Shipp, and obviously Collison, keep your eyes on veterans Alfred Aboya and Michael Roll. The freshmen to watch are Malcolm Lee and Jrue Holiday.

The Wolverines will like start with Manny Harris and David Merrit at the guards, Anthony Wright and Stu Douglass at Forward, and big man Zach Gibson down low. FYI, I've heard good things about Gibson effort this season and he could turn into a pleasant surprise. Off the bench expect to see A LOT of Sims, and plenty of sniper Zack Novak and Kelvin Grady (who I really, really hope takes a big step this year).

Win or lose it's good to see that everyone seems to think Michigan's back on the right path. I certainly do. I had the great pleasure of meeting Beilein in person last winter. He's as good a man as you could hope to meet, and the kind of guy you hope coaches your kids. In a lot of ways he reminds me of Lloyd Carr, and I mean that as the highest possible compliment. Michigan basketball's coming back baby.

Oh yeah, the best thing is we get a double dose of hoops before kickoff on Saturday. Win or lose, the Wolverines will either face No. 10 Duke or Southern Illinois on Friday night. Not a bad start to the season if you ask me.

Respect and honor. Since the dawn of civilization these two things have caused normally sensible human beings to try to kill one another. Respect grants persons leverage to do certain things, or a certain amount of deference from others when they do the things they do. Honor represents forthrightness, conscientiousness, truthfulness and that a person indeed does what they say they will. This truly is the foundation of any society, civil or otherwise. Unless persons earn respect through honorable conduct, no one can be trusted and nothing can get done.

As a result, for centuries outrightly questioning someone's honor or disrespecting them before others meant a fight. And not just a back-alley, bare knuckle square off. Rocks. Swords. Pistols. It meant someone was going to die. It wasn't truly until the 1900's that the practice of the duel was erased from polite society. the funniest thing about duels was that the "wronged" party would as often as not lose the duel. Instead of protecting his honor, he'd end up in a wood box without honor, without diginity, and without the opportunity to prove anyone wrong.

The loss of the duel has become a net positive for society. Its demise has meant that the slightest insult no longer results in a pile of bodies and that people can disagree with one another without society calling for actual blood.

Without the threat of death looming over someone wishing to voice a contrary opininon, the world has become open marketplace of ideas. Just about any opinion, from the ridiculous to the sublime, can be heard anywhere a person opens their mouth, puts pen to paper or types upon his keyboard. For every point, a counterpoint. For contention, a rebuttal. This forces us to think, to adapt, to hone our argument to be as persuasive as possible. It's a good thing.

Unfortunately the side affect of the open marketplace is sometimes we are exposed to ideas and positions we find offensive, slanderous, and sometimes outright wrong. These opinions to not mesh with our world view, or in the case of Michigan Football, how we see things.

The last year has been as difficult as any living Wolverine fan has ever experienced. For young and old alike, this season is new ground. When you lose your eighth game in a season for the first time in 129 years of football, it's fair to say that everyone's starting from scratch. Even so, the resilience of Michigan fans, their strength and sense of humor have shone through the darkness that a 3-8 season brings.

But when things go this bad, it gets to even the best of us. And when it does, we all find different ways of venting that frustration. None of these methods are right, and none of them are wrong. They are what they are. The sounds of a tired and frustrated fan base searching to make sense of something they can't.

When there is sufficient hurt, anger, frustration, and desperation to go around people can turn on one another. Over the last few months there's been a near civil war on the message boards over Rodriguez' tenure, the play of the team, individual players, and the opinions expressed on the "major" Michigan sites. I once felt Michigan fans were above these sorts of things.

One of the great things about college football is the endless debate it creates among its followers. Almost like a religion, it inspires so many different beliefs even among its core followers. There are 119 different beliefs in the greatness of college football at the Division 1 level alone. What's even more amazing is there are even more different view points among those different "belief" sets. No group professes their faith in their team the same way and no supporter believes in their team in the same manner that another fan does.

A perfect example of this is diversity of view points in the Michigan blogosphere. MGoBlog, The MZone, Me, Joey, Johnny, Michigan Against The World, and all the rest all have very different takes on our team and how to react to what they do. We all react in different ways to the actions of our team and the way our team is perceived by the outside world. However, we all react similarly when asked why we support Michigan. The answer is simple. It's because Michigan is the best!

I have disagreed in print and in person with just about every proprietor of a Michigan site on the interwebs. MGoBlog and I had a running fisk duel over the hiring of Coach Beilein. However, the tenor of the conversation never rose above the facts of the matter and never resorted to name calling or questioning each other's "fan-ness." How could we? We consume our free time watching, reading and writing about Michigan, so to say one or the other isn't a fan because we disagree would have sounded hollow. Worse, it would've sounded stupid.

What troubles me are the visceral and mean spirited reactions of people toward different expressions of emotion during this season. Somehow it is okay to be angry, but not okay to long for happier times. Johnny's recent post, After the Gold Rush, spawned reactions from supposed Wolverine faithful that I was appalled to read. Johnny's writing has always been my gold standard. Many pieces I have written on this site and on my previous home on Blogger were inspired in some way by his gift for linking letters and words into abject prose. This is not to suggest that I have always agreed with him, or his sentiments, but I have always respected him and considered him an honorable young man.

If you are looking for a reason Rich Rodriguez said the following, it is what was contained in the comments section of Johnny's piece.

This is a public position. It's not like a politician, I'm not running for office. I mean, God bless them. They choose to have that public scrutiny. As coaches, we know it's part of the job, but we don't choose to have it. Most of us would rather not.

But the biggest thing that is disappointing is when somebody, not necessarily the media, but when a fan or somebody would make it personal to your coach or to your players. Especially to the players, because those guys are amateurs. When they would make a personal comment or say something that's not related to coaching or not related to playing.

I don't get on message boards. I don't think anybody, any of our players or family should. But it's amazing some of the things that people would say or amazing things people will yell at you of a personal nature. You almost want to tell them get a life. I mean, there's a whole lot bigger problems. You lose a ballgame, and then you look at the economy or after every game I usually get to meet one of our veterans or somebody. You know, to take it personal on a coach or player to me, I don't think it's ever right.

But I'm glad fans have passion, but it's still kind of I guess a lot more bolder. You all would know. It's a lot more bolder what people would say and write. Not you all, but bloggers or whatever, than it used to be. We've seen it coming for a few years.

Further, it's bad enough for MGoBlog to comment on it as well,

The saddest thing about the internet is this sort of anonymous hatred. I love the internet. It gave me a writing outlet and a job and online scrabble. But, man, trawling through message boards after a loss in search of some scrap of useful news and/or analysis is depressing. It kills my productivity. It makes me want to do something else. And it's because of these little hate factories that just lose their head and spew.

I've always maintained that civility among fanbases is something that is critical to our enjoyment of sport. It's absence creates a hostile environment for everyone, friend and foe alike. Further, it diminishes the ability for those two groups to speak to one another a civilized human beings. Without civility we are forced to yell and scream at one another in an effort to communicate even the most basic things. There is no respect. No honor. No discourse.

How can we truly enjoy something if we are so mad, so angry, so seething with rage at an opponent or their fanbase that we forget that this is just a game? We lose a piece of humanity when rage and anger are our subsuming emotions. It is even worse when that rage is directed inward at people who actually share our love of our team, but chose to express it in a different manner. We cease to offer support to the ailing in favor of proving how tough we are, calling them weak, less of a fan for not toughing it out or being "more supportive." Our ability to feel joy is diminished when vengeance or self-righteousness becomes our primary objective.

Every team has its supporters that will go over the edge and say things that bring the whole group down with them. Intolerance is not confined to organized religion. It can rear its head in all manner of unsuspected ways and one of them is supporting a football team. If someone doesn't like my team then they must be blind, deaf, dumb or all three. And inbred. Yeah. Inbred bastards.

The ability to agree to disagree some how got lost in the morass. This is where college football and religion collide. We cannot accept that there is another path to the Valhalla we all believe in (BCS Baby!). Because our core belief that our team is the best is deemed insulted we must respond in kind. We must tear down the infidel. Yell at the blasphemer. Degrade ourselves to prove our team/belief is better.

Perhaps it is time to rethink our responses a tad. Remember that this is a pastime rather than a matter of life and death. Remember that the people we accuse of being mindless idiots are thinking the same thing about us. Remember the best way to convince someone you're not all bad, is by pointing to the positive rather than peeing on them when they disagree. Perhaps it's time to raise the level of discourse above our guttural instincts.

I think as human beings who are members of a civil society we must act better, treat fellow fans among us with more respect, and require those around us to do the same. If you take this as preaching, fine. It is. I will lob rocks from my glass house with impunity in the name of better discourse. I am not perfect. I have said things in print and out loud that I regret. I will be the first to admit that I am largely full of crap. But that will not stop me from at least attempting to state a critical point.

Telling someone to F themselves because they feel differently than you do demeans us all and makes you look like an intolerant jackass.

Respect is a word tossed around lightly in today's society. To some extent "honor" has a bit of a hollow ring to it as well. But it does not mean that the true meaning of these words should be lost on us. We should respect one another's view points, no matter how different they may be. And we should honor the school and team we root for by not sinking to the lowest common denominator in our discourse.

Leaders and the Best means, to me, that even in times of trouble Michigan fans and graduates are at their best. Finding solutions to the problems that beset us and leading the way toward those solutions.We must rise to that occasion rather than sink into the muddy waters of what basically amount to anonymous internet duels.

We must learn to tolerate differing view points. Without that there is no respect, no honor, and we might as well go back to pistols at dawn.

Ed Note - If you knew what this was just by reading the title, you're just as big a dork as I am.

Laurinaitis: Come out Wolverine, we all must die someday.

Sheridan: Not today Laurinitis. *smacks Laurinaitis in the face*

Sheridan scrambles right for no reason. Laurinaitis chases after him, with Sheridan extending a right stiff arm. Laurinits catches Sheridan, and beings to choke the life out of him.

Laurinaitis: I will crush you with my bare hands! Die Wolverine!

Laurinaitis: First Hart, then Henne, now you, it's a pity you Wolverines die so easily, else I might have a sense of satisfaction now.

Sheridan grasps the locket with Bo's picture in it around his neck and Laurinaitis is flung off as a stunning transformation occurs to Sheridan, becoming Tom Brady.

Bo's Voice: Arise, Bradimus Prime.

Bradimus: Bo....

Laurinaitis: No!  *Shoots the locket out of Bradimus' hands.*

Bradimus: That's right motherfucker, this is the end of the road.

Bradimus picks up Laurinaitis and simply throws him out of the Horseshoe.

Bradimus: *Opening the locket* Now light our darkest hour.

Light from the locket expands to fill the stadium, the cockroaches fans flee, Greg Mathews breaks free and Bradimus finds him in the endzone for the game winning touch down.

Tressel: Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!  *Explodes*

If only.....

Yes. It's just as creepy as you remember...