Jason Whitlock called into Jim Rome’s radio show this afternoon talking about Charles Barkley’s outspokenness on the Auburn coaching hire. One of the points Whitlock stressed is that Barkley should be given some credit for being openly and vocally involved with his college and for genuinely caring about what goes on there. The former Ann Arbor News columnist wrote about it on Fox Sports: I’m glad Barkley has the courage to use his clout and platform to participate in the hiring process at Auburn. He’s engaged, and that’s good. Too many black athletes lose contact with their universities when their playing careers wrap up. They forfeit their opportunity to influence the process. I love Sir Charles, and I’m fine with Whitlock’s take here. It is cool that Barkley cares about Auburn and its direction, whether or not you agree with the Chizik hiring. And I agree that it’s important for pro athletes to support their schools. But as Whitlock was making this argument he offered some examples to make his point and said (paraphrasing), “Where’s Charles Woodson supporting Michigan?”. [Update 12/18: Thanks to Matt, I have the audio. His exact quote is “How involved is Charles Woodson with Michigan?”] That’s a specific blast aimed at a specific guy and by the way, it’s wrong. You read on this site in…
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Last Day, Haiku Contest for free M crocs
Rules: 1. Submit a haiku on this post below in the comments or email me, enter as many times as you like. 2. Make sure you include your email (I won’t use it for anything or give it to anyone other than to contact the winners) 3. Contest ends December 18th. Winner(s) will be notified and will have the crocs sent directly to them by the promoter. They can even specify size. Topics I like: Just some suggestions, anything is fair game and yes, if it’s funny it earns bonus points. – Tying Michigan hoops to Michigan football in some way. – Ripping on Jim Tressel – Exploring the depths of John Beilein’s genius – A poet’s interpretation of radio-show-caller-guy Promo: If you don’t win, you can still get your classic 2008 Michigan Wolverine Crocs here.
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Wrapping Up: The A2 Adopt-A-Family program
I swung by the gift wrapping for the Ann Arbor Adopt-A-Family program tonight at the UM Golf Course and met Debbie Williams-Hoak and a few of the volunteers. This wonderful group collects gifts for needy families in the area. Debbie confirmed they are helping out 68 families this year, a record, and start visiting homes soon. You wouldn’t believe all the gifts and donations they received if you saw it, so…see it: A small portion of the gifts purchased by donors in the area Volunteers wrapping up gifts for families Dawn King of the Ann Arbor Police Dept. (left) with founder Debbie Williams-Hoak Earlier today this site received a very nice note from someone directly helped out by Debbie Williams-Hoak and the folks running the program this season. Thought I’d pass it along: Relief and Hope! This is what I felt when I received a phone call from former pro golfer, Debbie Williams and AAPD Dawn King, informing me that my two children were being adopted for Christmas. Initially I wanted to decline such a gift as there are so many families that probably face an even greater financial burden this season. Dawn quickly reminded me of the gift of acceptance and after talking with her for almost an hour; I humbly accepted the amazing gift of adoption of my…
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“Notre Dame’s my dream job” and other things Urban Meyer can say
When you’re 3-9, you can’t say much. You can’t even tell hate-spreading fans who email players and spout off on individuals on message boards to get a life. But if you’re in the national title game, you can say a lot man. I just caught this on the feeds, Urban Meyer told a radio station he still considers Notre Dame his dream gig.
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Smell it, smell it…Now take it
From reader Jeff, a team of bittermen in West Virginia pooled their creativity, funding and some slick graphics to drop this billboard on a passers by:
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Scuttlebutt no more: Shafer departs
News tonight that Scott Shafer has resigned as defensive coordinator. I’m a little surprised despite the heavy scuttlebutt that was abound in the last few weeks. mgoblog put out a brain dump on potential candidates tonight including Notre Dame’s current defensive coordinator and Michigan man Corwin ‘Cornflakes’ Brown. I just don’t see what Cornflakes has done this season to earn the shot at this gig. My two run-ins with Shafer this season. First, I interviewed him at the Spring Game while covering the event for a local paper. Seemed like a great guy and he was all business. The next was after the Utah game. It wasn’t a run in as much as it was a drive by. I kind of felt bad after posting this as it made some rounds around the blogosphere but oh well. He was hunched over the railing at the bottom of the press box waiting to get down to the field. As I said at the time, it looked like someone shot his dog: That probably wasn’t far off. Check out the quote from Angelique tonight: “Bottom line is, I take full responsibility for the demise of the Michigan program,” Shafer, 41, said by phone Tuesday afternoon. “I accept all the responsibility.” Wow. A little sarcasm on the way out? Not sure but let’s…
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Michigan Baseball team Visits Japan (1932)
A unique, well-traveled piece of Michigan athletics memorabilia showed up on eBay this week. It’s described to be a ticket stub from a game between Michigan baseball and a university team from Tokyo, played in Japan in 1932. At first glance, I laughed thinking there was no way a college team traveled to Japan during the throes of the Great Depression to play baseball. And the auction description didn’t help sell it for me: 1932 Michigan University vs Meiji University tour ticket stub from game 1 played at Jingu Stadium in Tokyo. From an excellent summary published in Michigan Today in 1998, it all started with Japanese teams doing a college tour in the US years earlier, with many of the stops in Ann Arbor from 1911 to 1925. Then in 1929, Michigan coach Ray Fisher got an invite from the Meiji University inviting the maize and blue to visit Japan as “ambassadors of goodwill”. Fielding Yost and the board of athletics approved the trip and so they headed west, then more west, until they reached the Far East in 1929: After playing several games on the West Coast and one in Hawaii, the Wolverines arrived in Japan for a 30-day visit. Lodged at the Imperial Hotel, the 14 team members and Coach Fisher and his family were received lavishly…
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More Cowbell, Coach!
With Coach Beilein out with an inner ear infection, fortunately a few other coaches filled the void at the Eastern Michigan hoops game this afternoon: Wife Laurie trying to help Coach Carr out with the rhythm on the cowbell. Coach Rodriguez takes a break from the recruiting trail BTN in HD was not designed for Coach Keady Related: – Game Recap from UM Hoops
