Unoriginal Content

Eleven hour work days are not conducive to blogging. Therefore, I'm posting an investigative series from The Seattle Times that makes me happy that Michigan football has a history of coaches that preach character. That series highlights the downside of big time college sports, and could happen anywhere today.

Work probably won't let up anytime soon. If I continue to get home after 7PM every night, the posts will continue to be few and far between.

Don't Look Now!!!

Something is rotten in the state of Div 1 college hockey, but in a very good way. Michigan's hockey team is 22-2. 22-2! Best start to a season in team history. Within those 2 wins and 2 losses is a 4-0 record against the RPI top 15 (the top 25% of college hockey). Although RoopDogg would look at that record and yell "Play Somebody" with just cause, Michigan plays 6 more games against top teams over the next 5 weeks.

This Michigan team regularly starts 10 freshmen, which represents 1/2 their lineup. Their goalie is the ever-reliable Billy Sauer, who somehow has racked up a 93.5% save percentage after two seasons under the 90% 'Mendoza' line.

This hot start is a far cry from what I predicted after last season's NCAA meltdown and loss of several star players to the NHL. Who would have thought that losing so many talented players would be addition by subtraction. Now, Michigan plays as a team with a lot of hustle and strong defense instead of as a bunch of individuals trying to showcase their own talents. However, after reading my post from last March, I am reminded that I still don't trust Billy Sauer, despite his stellar play so far this year.

When Michigan had a long list of future NHLers including Brendan Morrison, John Madden, and Marty Turco in 1996-97, they didn't start the season 22-2, though they did finish 35-4-4 and without an NCAA title. It's sad that this team is considered far better and remembered as fondly as the 1995-96 and 1997-98 teams that won NCAA titles.

I still can't fathom how Michigan is dominating the college hockey landscape. Maybe they are just a reflection of their weak schedule, but "they are what their record says they are". It kind of reminds me of that one season in the TV show Coach where Hayden and Luther cannot figure out how their team with so many perceived holes is blowing everyone out until they eventually
win the national championship.

The sad thing is that for selfish reasons, I kind of want them to lose a few games and fall below Miami in the rankings that set the NCAA field. If they lose a few games down the stretch, they'll probably be a low #1 or high #2 seed in the NCAA tournament. Given the other teams at the top of the polls, Michigan would likely be sent to Albany or Worcester for the NCAA Regionals, which would mean I could see them play in person! According to USCHO's Bracketology (yes, there really is a bracketology article for the NCAA hockey tournament), Michigan would be sent to Madison, WI if the NCAA tournament began today.

Don't worry though, I won't start hoping for a few Michigan losses until after the series against defending NCAA champ Michigan State this weekend. Go Blue!

Elementary School Politics?

Remember that campaign for student council president back in fifth grade? A handful of your peers would give a speech in front of the entire school about what they can do to make your school experience better if you vote for them? I specifically remember the promises of our student council president in fifth grade. You know why? He promised us a pool. A SWIMMING POOL! How can you not vote for the kid that is going to pull the strings necessary so that we can all go swimming at recess. Needless to say, there was no pool.

The reason for that reference is because there always has to be one person in a presidential race that has to be 'that guy'. Who is it this year? None other than former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. While John McCain was acknowledging that the Michigan economy is in bad shape and needs to evolve and find new ways to survive given the current state of the auto industry, Mitt Romney promises that he will revive the auto industry and bring back the glory days. The suckers in Michigan apparently ate it all up. Romney won the primary. Never mind that he was once a vocal proponent of aggressive fuel efficiency standards, which is against the interest of the auto industry. Given how often Romney changes his mind, who knows what he really thinks.

Of course, Romney is now in South Carolina promising to enact policies to revive their struggling textile industry. Here we go again.

I am disappointed that the citizens in the great state of Michigan fell for Romney's bullshit. He may be the son of a former Michigan governor, but he cannot be trusted to act in the best interest of Michiganders or Americans. I know that I usually don't vote Republican, but I really hope that the Republican nominee is at least someone I can respect, even if I don't agree with their presidential platform.

Back from the Dead

Ok. Not really, but you get the point. It's not that I have been too busy to put up a post for the past week. I just haven't felt like posting when I've had a few free moments at home lately.
Not like it hasn't happened before.

I have a few stories I could post about some books I've read recently, but I'll keep it light tonight.

I was hoping to leave work shortly after 5 today and get to the gym at a reasonable hour after work tonight, especially since I was not able to get to the gym the last couple nights. Unfortunately, my initially slow day picked up and finished at a frantic pace starting around 3. The pace did not end until shortly after 6 when I was finally ready to go home. On the bright side, I left my laptop at work and decided not to bring home any work tonight. Woo hoo!

The good news about leaving at 6 is that traffic is starting to die down. Rush hour has gotten a lot worse since we sold one of the two buildings on our campus to another company, which has added about 5-10 minutes to my 15 mile commute home from work.

After getting stuck at work later than expected, I was sad to turn onto the I-291 on-ramp and immediately have to put my car into park. From that point, it took me 45 minutes to move one-half mile. That's not a typo.

I decided to use this time to multi-task. I owed CableGirl a phone call. At one point during the conversation, I started celebrating because I could see ambulance lights off in the distance, which meant that I'd probably be moving again in 15-20 minutes. CableGirl immediately informed me that I was a horrible and sadistic person! The sad thing is, if you were in my situation, I'm sure you would celebrate when you finally saw the end in sight at the end of a horrible traffic jam after a long day of work!

By the time I made it to the site of the accident, the ambulance had left the scene and the cars involved had been towed away. I never saw the actual wreckage. However, given the backup, it was probably horrible. Hopefully no one was badly hurt.

That Felt Good

Michigan won a bowl game!?!? I can't believe it was five years ago today when Michigan last won a bowl game (coincidentally, against Florida).

Today's game was so crazy. Michigan blew so many scoring chances with inexplicable turnovers. Mike Hart lost two fumbles. TWO!?! Both inside the one yard line!!!! Michigan blows the lead, only to take it back about a minute later. Then, with a chance to seal the game, Michigan finally gets super conservative, stalls, and gives Florida one last chance to win. However, Florida's vaunted mobile QB and spread offense can't do anything down the stretch against the Michigan defense. Seriously, I thought Michigan's current approach to the game of football was going to change forever on January 2nd, not January 1st. It's was an uncharacteristic finish for a great coach, and a pleasure to see the players carry Coach Carr off the field afterwards.

To Coach Carr:
- Thank you for 13 great years of football.
- Thank you for never having a losing season.
- Thank you for four Rose Bowls, even though you couldn't get to one while I was in the band.
- Thank you for the 1997 national championship.
- Thank you for owning Penn State and the SEC.
- Thank you for your integrity in a game whose leaders often lack ethics.

Have a wonderful retirement!