Quarterback question on everyone’s mind – Ticket application arrives ANN ARBOR, MI Saturday April 13, 2002 Supposed back-up quarterback Spencer Brinton received a big welcome from the 20,000 or so who came to watch the annual Michigan football spring scrimmage. The problem that plagued the Wolverines last year remains: lack of consistent play at quarterback. John Navarre played with what appeared to be the first unit, but Brinton looked a little more sharp. Continuing a tradition from last year, Scotty Mudbowl and I played the M course (across the street from a stadium) that morning. Despite a shaky putter, Geegs pulled teeth. Meanwhile, on Friday I received my annual renewal for my 2 endzone seats. After a steep price increase last year, they raised the price of each ticket in my section by $1, to an even $40. In his annual letter, Michigan Director of Athletics Bill Martin noted that poll data shows that most M fans don’t mind the current ticket prices. He also pointed out that many of Michigan’s “peer schools” have implemented seat donation programs (a required donation in order to buy tickets). FYI, the peer schools are Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, and Notre Dame. The required donation at these schools ranges from $100 – $3000. The Buckeyes charge $3K for seats between the 35 yard…
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Buckeye Fans Out of Control
Buckeye fans out of control COLUMBUS, OHIO NOVEMBER 24, 2002 Surprisingly it appears as though the Ohio State Buckeye fans may have over did it during their celebration after an exciting win against the Michigan Wolverines this Saturday. Above, Ohio State Trooper Buford T. Outlaw literally peppers with tear gas a drunken Buckeye fan as he attempts to climb the goal post. After the student ignored a request to stand down, Buford delivered to him a nice, cool drink of the yellowish toxin. As the student lay motionless on the ground, Trooper Outlaw was overheard telling the student to have “Sweet dreams.” Asked if the spray was necessary, Outlaw responded, “Probably not, but I just can’t stand these Columbus college pukes.” New coach Jim Tressel had no comment. Here’s some video highlights of the behavior of the Buckeye fans, compliments of YouTube:
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Comedy of Errors, Irish Stop Michigan in 2002
Comedy of Errors In South Bend, Michigan’s Sloppy play hands game to Irish SOUTH BEND, IN SEPTEMBER 15, 2002 Traveling down to South Bend is always an epic time. Brian Kunde, Ted McDowell, Kelley Kuehne and Greg Dooley stayed down at the Inn at St. Mary’s on Friday night in order to get an early start on gameday. Notre Dame defeated Michigan today in a very sloppy game. Here are some photos (all pictures by the webmaster) from campus and from the game. Now to the game: In sum, while I’ve seen Michigan play poorly in certain stretches of games, I’ve never seen the volume of big mistakes as seen on Saturday. Except for the last scoring drive, M consistently made major errors throughout the game. Fumbles, dumb penalties, dropped passes, poor passes, defensive breakdowns seemed to be the norm. It got to the point where we were just waiting for the next screw-up. Here is my breakdown: Navarre: It wasn’t his fault. As we limped out of the stadium, some old M man muttered “Navarre sucks”. Sometime he does, but he delivered the ball when he needed to. He missed many receivers and rarely put the ball exactly where he needed, but he was close enough. He stepped up in the pockets and moved the ball around as…
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Calm before the Storm: Michigan/Ohio State 2002
Oh me oh my, it’s a big one in Columbus, Buckeyes an early 4 1/2 point favorite ANN ARBOR, MI NOVEMBER 16, 2002 Ohio State squeaked by Illinois in OT on Saturday setting up another classic with the Michigan Wolverines. The Buckeyes are 12-0 on the year and sit at #1 in the BCS poll. A win will surely put them in the championship game in the Fiesta Bowl. The game is in Columbus at noon on Saturday, ABC will televise. Michigan (9-2) looked a little sloppy in a 21-14 win over Wisconsin on Saturday. But the running game, which is so critical to M’s offense, has really kicked in over the last three games. Left out of the fun are Iowa, who pummeled Michigan a few weeks ago, and who did not play OSU this year. Based on Ohio State’s last 2 games, Iowa looks like the class of the Big Ten. The last time the game was this big was 1997. On eBay, tickets to the game are going for around $250-$300 each. The Buckeyes must be a little nervous for fear that they will choke this one away – again. Lose, and the Buckeyes not only slip out of the BCS championship, but also out of the Rose Bowl, as Iowa will become sole Big Ten champs.…
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Michigan’s Fab Five Tarnished
When former University of Michigan head basketball coach Steve Fisher was fired, many in the Michigan athletic community felt he got a raw deal from the university because that he was on the outside of all of this. That sentiment has gradually changed. Steve Fisher is seen as a villain. While Ed Martin, the man who paid the Michigan players, was the problem, Fisher is the one that associated the problem with the university. He made Martin a part of the basketball program and there are records to prove that. He made dozens of phone calls to Martin, he dropped tickets for him, and he was present during recruiting visits. If it was shown that Martin was truly acting on his own behalf and directly with the players, then maybe the case could be made to go easy on the school. But Fisher’s acceptance of Ed Martin linked him to the school, and now we will pay. Recruiting must be the toughest part of the job. In order to create relationships in the city you probably have to seek the aid of local coaches, leaders, and alumni. But that doesn’t mean you don’t check them out. Fisher blew it by keeping this guy around and even worse – accepting him as part of the process. While Ed Martin, the man…
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Wolverines Shine in Super Bowl 2002
MVP Brady is a cool fella, Law scores then sells it. ANN ARBOR, MI FEBRUARY 4, 2002 Tom Brady, Super Bowl MVP? It is hard to believe, but he did it and he deserved it. Brady made history on Sunday becoming the youngest QB to lead his team to a ring. His last minute drive to set up the winning kick was epic. I am not sure how a kick can kill 7 seconds, but it wouldn’t have mattered (I guess). When Brady started the drive I thought it was going to end in disaster. He was aided by a Patriot defense that made big plays, namely Ty Law’s 47 yard interception return. Not everyone appreciated Law’s touchdown. In the middle of his dash for the endzone, Law raised up one arm in a celebratory fashion, which some might consider taunting. “He better watch it!”, warned one experienced but anonymous fan. Brady and Law, who will head to Hawaii for the All-Pro game next week, played for the Michigan Wolverines in the 90’s. They join several former players who made a big impact this year including All-Pro’s Ian Gold & Charles Woodson, Rookie of the year Anthony Thomas and standout Jon Runyan (robbed). Brady became the second Wolverine to take the Super Bowl MVP honors, following Desmond Howard. Brady never…
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Tennessee Vols Stomp Michigan in 2002 Citrus Bowl
Ouch. The Tennessee Volunteers did what is mostly unheard of, especially over the past several years – they routed a Michigan Wolverine football team in the 2002 Citrus Bowl. It was as ugly as it can get, embarrassing not only Michigan but also the Big Ten conference. So, we’ll have to see how this impacts Michigan’s plans for next year. I read that they were going to insert BYU-transfer QB Spencer Brinton into the game with 2 minutes, but never got the ball back. Where are Drew Henson, Tom Brady, Brian Griese, Todd Collins, Elvis Grbac, Scott Driesbach and Jim Harbaugh when you need them? I am sure that the Wolverines will work this out and find their next QB for 2002. As a follow-up, the impact nationally of the blow-up was lessened significantly by the other major schools that were also crushed (Colorado and Nebraska for instance).
