A quick interview with former Michigan badass LaMarr Woodley on contributor Lew’s favorite show, ESPN Radio’s Tirico and Van Pelt. As expected Tirico dropped a few Michigan references in there. A few things they covered: * On the upcoming battle with the Ravens, and what he’s expecting to see out there. * On Joe Flacco’s progress. (He’s getting better, he’s making big time plays). * On the legacy of the Pittsburgh defense and how the veteran players continue the tradition. * Van Pelt asked him if he felt a link and responsibility to the former Steeler teams. Woodley says yes, you represent the guys that used to be because he’s thinks the Steelers lose, the former players feel they lost too. Woodley illustrates this by saying, “We acted that way when Michigan was playing this year. They go out there and lose a game I felt like I lost, because you were a part of that.” * Then he almost gets killed by another car or something, and they end the interview. Seriously. [display_podcast] . .
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Dierdorf dons Michigan ring on CBS?
If you caught the pregame for the New England vs. Buffalo game on CBS today you may have noticed a shiny blue ring on color man Dan Dierdorf’s finger. Here it is: My first thought wondered if this was a 1969 Michigan Big Ten championship ring for the former All-American offensive tackle. After a few Google searches I couldn’t find an example of a ’69 ring. Certainly if the ring had a stone it’d be blue, but that doesn’t exactly narrow it down. The other obvious choice would be a Pro Football Hall of Fame ring which very possible, here are a couple examples: I’m guessing it is either his HOF ring as a player as the 2008 recipient of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award. And no, I really don’t care that much what a dude is wearing on his finger but give me a break man, the Lions are about to go 0-16 and there isn’t a lot of M pre-bowl hype to discuss.
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Braylon’s Bad Bet
Recall that earlier this year former Michigan WR Braylon Edwards made a friendly wager with his workout pal Michael Phelps: JUNE 26 – ANN ARBOR, MICH. …Edwards was sure this was taking his fitness to another level. So he and Phelps made a friendly wager. “For every gold you win in Beijing,” Edwards told the Olympian, “I’ve got to score two touchdowns this year.” ——— AUGUST 16 – BEREA …Phelps called Edwards from Beijing soon after he won his final gold medal and reminded him of their bet. “I got eight,” Phelps said, “so that means you’ve got to get 16 touchdowns this year.” “News flash,” Edwards said. “I did that last year. I’ll give you 17.” News flash, it’s not looking so good for Bray. His mere three touchdown catches this season with seven games remaining mean Edwards better put up a truly Phelpsian performance and haul in a couple per game from new quarterback Brady Quinn. If last night was any indication, it’s not looking to good. Quinn and Edwards hooked up just once for fifteen yards.
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Rx for Pre-game: Larry Foote on WDFN (audio)
First off, here’s Larry Foote on WDFN back in July with his special message for Michigan State: “Go Blue and Michigan State, y’all always gonna suck.” Here’s the unabashed Rich Rodriguez backer and current Steeler on the radio today with Stoney and Wojo: Foote admits he like Tom Izzo and notes that they have some fine women up there in East Lansing. Hilarious moment, listen to him at the end of the interview sing the company line for the NFL.
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Never bet with a double jointed fish
You may have caught this during halftime of the Notre Dame vs. San Diego State game. Apparantly Braylon Edwards ran into Michael Phelps this summer as they were working out in Ann Arbor. Phelps was working out at Canham; Braylon with Barwis Here’s Braylon on WDFN (bottom of post) talking about working out with Barwis; he didn’t mention Phelps. Here’s the specifics from Peter King’s piece in Sports Illustrated: MARCH 17 ANN ARBOR, MICH. OVER A St. Patrick’s Day lunch at the Brown Jug, a University of Michigan campus hangout, Braylon Edwards, the former Wolverine, picked the brain of one of his off-season workout buddies: current Wolverine Michael Phelps. Swimming, Phelps told him, is the ultimate cardio workout. A light went on over Edwards’s head: You can’t sprain an ankle in the pool. You can’t wear down your joints. Edwards quizzed Phelps on setting up a workout. “This is what I’ll do to stay in shape between minicamp in June and training camp in July,” Edwards said. — —————– JUNE 26 ANN ARBOR, MICH. THANK YOU, Michael Phelps. In the second week of his pool workouts at Michigan, Edwards alternated track drills in the water—high-knee, hurdler motion mostly—with swimming laps. One day track, the next day freestyle; one day track, the next day breaststroke; one day track, the next day…
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Rittenberg on today’s practice
Excellent observations from today’s practice from ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg [who’s got a bit of Jared from Subway in his blood] on his blog post here. He notes that Kevin Grady practiced with the team and here are a few more highlights: * Feagin’s speed is immediately noticeable, and he looked comfortable running some of the basic option pitches and throws in the spread offense. My guess is he’ll be used to run some option this fall. * Freshman Michael Shaw seemed to be getting a lot of work at wide receiver. It’s a little weird to see No. 20 in maize and blue who isn’t Mike Hart. * Walking through Michigan’s weight room on the way out, I stopped to check out the team-high totals for several categories. Johnson tops the bench-press chart at 500 pounds, Taylor squatted a team-best 625 pounds and cornerback Morgan Trent ran a 4.13 in the 40-yard dash. There was also a Barwis mention of course. Look dudes, I realize that all the attention is great for the program and recruiting and all, and it’s cool to have this guy here. And I’m as guilty as anyone for deifying Barwis, I even followed him around at the spring game in Saline (it was awesome). I’m glad to see I’m not the only one getting a…
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Mike Hart Highlights from last night
Impressive. Some clips from last night’s Redskins v. Colts preseason game. Hey, all those guys on defense are fighting for a job, too. For excellent quality and audio, click here [Thanks, BenAA] otherwise here’s the YouTube:
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Foote to MSU: “y’all always gonna suck” (audio)
Continuing the roll of Michigan athletes, coaches and beat writers on the WDFN 1130AM Stoney and Wojo radiothon is former Wolverine Larry Foote. As usual, Foote came hard and came raw. He hit on a variety of topics including what it’s like working out with Mike Barwis, his Steelers, and like Jalen Rose yesterday, took time to blast MSU. Notes:– Thinks this team will “shock a lot of people” based on the conditioning they are going through.– He confirmed Barwis is “a psycho”, “a freak”, is “nutso”, and has “some screws missing.”– Said Tyrone Wheatley’s been working out just “testing it out.”– Said he “had a dream” about the Detroit Lions’ season. “9-7 and they make the playoffs.”– When asked the obligatory Brett Favre question: “he’s definitely being selfish.” For your ringtones and tailgate mixtapes, here’s just Foote’s message to the Spartans as he signed off, “Go Blue and Michigan State, y’all always gonna suck.”