Are we going dancing?

Michigan's basketball team is about as bubble-licious as they get right now. They have wins over three currently ranked teams in Illinois, Duke and UCLA. They are not ranked and sit at a 16-10 overall record with a 6-7 mark in the Big Ten. Something that could help the Wolverines make their first tournament appearance in over a decade is the fact that this year, the Big Ten is absolutely crazy as far as who's beating who. For example, today Penn State beat Illinois and Northwestern beat Ohio State. Michigan split with both Illinois and Penn State winning both games at Crisler and losing both road games, they swept Northwestern and got swept by the Buckeyes.

They face a test to their hopes at Crisler Arena tomorrow in the Minnesota (mini-pop) Golden Gophers coached by the legendary Tubby Smith, a man who i initially wanted to take the job at Michigan when it became open. The Gophers, like a healthy chunk of the conference has been in and out of the rankings for much of the year. They had their greatest start in school history in the non-conference schedule, going 12-0. Since then they have won 7 of their past 13 games and look like if they maintain their pace they're going to make it into the NCAA tournament. But like Michigan they have been streaky, they have lost three out of their last four games.

The Wolverines have split their last four games, but the two wins came against traditionally lowly opponents in Northwestern and Penn State. The Gophers only win came against Indiana, the traditional power in the Big Ten who's going through the same thing Michigan's football team went through this past season, more on that later.

Neither team can afford to lose this game and stand a chance at staying in the good graces of the tournament selection committee. They're both on thin ice and if they slip up on the hard wood they could fall through the cracks. Michigan has to be hungrier in order to win this game, they don't just have to play bigger than the guys they have. They have to be bigger then the guys they have. They have to play like their scared to lose. A former Green Bay Packer under Vince Lombardi once said it best,

whenever we played a great team like the Cleavland Browns with Jim Brown we played out of fear that we had to stop him because his performance would determine the outcome of the game, and he played his last game against us in the championship and lost, so that means he didn't have a good day.

The Packers weren't always as big as Jim Brown but they played bigger than him and they felt that they were bigger than him. To bring this football analogy to the point, Michigan has been getting outsized in big ten games so far this year, and when they've beaten teams it's because they didn't try to be bigger than their opponents, it's because they felt bigger than their opponents. It's because Zack Novack felt that he could stretch his 6'5" frame out just enough to get that rebound against Illinois, it's because 5'10" David Merritt made the extra effort to knock a ball away from an opponent against Duke. That's what it takes to win games, that's what it takes to make it to the big dance, hopefully that's what Michigan will do tomorrow night.

(preview of hockey series vs. OSU tomorrow)

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

c-ya

Hockey update

Note: i couldn't think of anything better for a title for this one.

With the exception of the Saturday game against Western, the winged helmets on ice have been having a huge problem. They can't score goals. They've scored two goals combined in three of the last four games against Western Michigan and Miami. This is not only unacceptable it's a travesty for any Michigan hockey team, who pride themselves for their ability to put the puck in the net, maybe there is a lack of senior leadership out there, maybe they are missing Chad Kolarick and Kevin Porter, but they still have great potential goal scoring threats on this team and they're not doing what they're supposed to.

Michigan is taking on Minnesota and Wisconsin this weekend and if they want to beat them they better hope that turkey they had was packed with some kind of scoring magic because boy do they need it now.

ahhhhhhhhh

c-ya

Michigan metaphorical rivalry essays Part 1: Minnesota

Minnesota in football is like that guy you know in your neighborhood who was in a rock band in the seventies and had some success did a couple of tours with some good bands, but afterwards really burned out, and never seemed to adjust to the new climate in the eighties.

You know a few things about him but in reality, these things just add to the mystery of the man.

He apparently has a home but you don't know where. You see his son playing hockey, but you don't know how much he's associated with old dad. He seems to like the cold but he prefers to stay indoors for a lot of events. And the thing that boggles you the most is that he keeps asking you for "Jugs".

You're not entirely sure whether he has a speech impediment or whether he's just messing with you, either way, you try to avoid him as much as possible. Although generally docile he has taken stuff from you in the past, most notably in 2005. His son is also a hell of basketball player and if he's winning, he'll pour it on you in hockey.

wow that was shorter than i thought.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

c-ya