Michigan State takes Wolverines in Ann Arbor ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN FEBRUARY 25, 2004 Coach Izzo’s Michigan State Spartans never lost their cool. Despite being on the road and facing a double digit deficit in the second half, MSU methodically worked their offense and put on a lock-down defense to defeat the Blue. They maintained their poise, which cannot be said for Coach Tommy Amaker’s squad. As their lead slipped away, Michigan’s offense could not seem to get off a good shot at the basket. Meanwhile the Spartans, with their sharp passing, seemed to get an open look each time down the floor, including several dunks and lay-ups. From a seat in the Maize Rage, their was no question who was the better team and the better coached team. Amaker’s critics are growing but he still deserves some slack due to the youth of the team. But Michigan will never win a Big Ten championship by simply out finessing teams with individual effort (see Fab Five). It is hoped that Amaker was taking notes.
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Tom Brady Betrays Ann Arbor Liberals?
Nobody Loves Raymond SALINE, MICHIGAN FEBRUARY 3, 2004 Yes, above is another brilliant letter that was recently printed in my hometown fish wrap, the Ann Arbor News. This is what I like to call a “stopper”. A stopper is something that appears in the newspaper that once you read it, you are unable to read or do anything else for several minutes. You kind of just stare off into the distance, trying not to freak out. Here’s another example of a stopper as reported here a few months ago. “What happened to ‘Go Blue’? !! My nerves! I believe big Ray’s last name is pronounced PISS-ant.
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Spartans Outclass Wolverines on Hardwood
Izzone plays the Erkel Card but loses Spelling bee The Michigan State Spartans easily handled Tommy Amaker’s young Wolverines 71-54 this afternoon at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. Each team came out hot, exchanging three point buckets until the Spartans started to pull away at the end of the first half. Michigan hung around a while in the second half but failed to make headway into a double digit deficit. Finally State put the game well out of reach in the last few minutes. Many players contributed for each team but amazingly only one player from each team reached double digits in scoring (Paul Davis for MSU, Daniel Horton for Mich). The keys?– The play of Paul Davis. Michigan had no answer for Davis around the basket. – Michigan’s poor free throw shooting (13-21) including missing a handful of front-ends. – Mich’s 22 turnovers (a season high). – Both teams played solid defense, but State managed to work the ball around for better shots. Michigan is going to have to find a way to get better looks at the hole. – The Breslin Center is a tough place to play, with the Spartan “Izzone” and Super Fans screaming all game. Speaking of the Izzone, Kays and I spotted guy holding a sign that read “Steve and Tommy: Seperated At…
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Open Memo to Michigan Ticket Department
SALINE, MICHIGAN DECEMBER 20, 2003 Kudos to the M ticket department for its decision to allow football season ticket holders the opportunity to buy Rose Bowl tickets. Believe it or not, this has not been the case in the past. In 1997 for instance, only Victors Club members of a certain level were able to purchase tickets. Beyond that, only M Alumni Association members were able to apply for tickets, then a lottery was held after demand easily exceeded supply. Season tickets holders had no priority. This year the ticket department gave season ticket holders the right to apply for tickets. All of those that applied received up to two tickets. This was the right thing to do; season ticket holders should get some added benefit for paying hundreds of dollars for their seats, season after season.
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Michigan to Institute Required Donation
gd.com Exclusive: M to Institute Seat Licenses gd.com has learned that Michigan will institute seat licenses or a required donation as part of season football ticket packages in 2004. Maize (end zone) seats will be excluded from this; but there will be some fee for Victors and perhaps Blue seats. The amount is unknown. We also learned that Mich will institute a program where season tickets holders can transfer their tickets to someone else, which was restricted in the past. This will be announced sometime next Spring.
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Rose Bowl Recap 2004: USC Edges Wolverines
Return trip to Pasadena in ’04 yields no win PASADENA, CALIFORNIA JANUARY 2, 2004 Congratulations to the Trojans for handily defeating Michigan during another incredible trip to the Rose Bowl. USC did what they needed to do – they played sound, aggressive offense and went after Michigan’s defensive backs. The Trojan defense forced John Navarre to move around the pocket on big plays and we all know he just doesn’t move and throw well. Going into the game all I wanted Michigan to do was to not defeat themselves as they did at Oregon and Iowa. In hindsight that wasn’t enough as USC went out and beat Michigan. That doesn’t happen very often to the Blue. Hats off to Southern Cal and I’m glad they are getting their piece of the national championship. I’d typically rather watch a Mad About You marathon than watch M get beat, but somehow I survived this one. Pregame & Tailgate Jeff Arch and I left Venice at around 8:30 and made the trek over to Pasadena. This was my fourth Rose Bowl and second time driving (the first two we took the tour bus). As inevitably happens on the way to the game we ended up monkeying around Pasadena and running up against the Rose parade route. I have to give it to the…
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Michigan Pulls Stunner over MSU 10/30/2004
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN OCTOBER 30, 2004 The shocked masses exiting Michigan Stadium late Saturday evening knew they just witnessed history. The men in Maize & Blue capped off a ridiculous 17 point comeback with a nail-biting triple-overtime win against the underrated Spartans. This group from Michigan suddenly is a team that is characterized by furious comebacks. The stunning comeback over the Spartans is the third this year, with the Wolverines also making fourth-quarter comebacks against Minnesota and Purdue. Forget where this ‘ranks’ in Michigan history. Bottom line – it is one of the greatest ever in the 125 wonderful years of M football. Notes and Takes:– For those concerned about the cold, good news is coming next year. The big game will move back to the early part of the Big Ten schedule, to October 1, 2005. Those who don’t think 3-4 weeks makes a difference must be from out of town. – Hats off to Michigan State. Losing this game must really sting but the Spartans were a couple of bad breaks away from blowing Michigan away. – Many fans left after the Spartans scored in the fourth quarter to go up 17. A few came back into the stadium after Michigan started to mount a comeback. – My brother spotted super-lawyer David Boies walking up the aisle in…
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Michigan Cruises Past Miami, OH 43-10
SALINE, MICHIGAN SEPTEMBER 7, 2004 Michigan took complete control of the game in the 4th quarter with a series of Miami turnovers and ended up putting a big number on the Miami Redhawks. What the 43-10 score did not readily reveal was a few concerns that will need to be addressed as the season progresses. First off, Lloyd Carr starting a true freshman (Chad Henne) blew my mind. The whispers around the program indicated that Henne was tearing it up during camp and pre-season practices. We’re still not exactly sure what happened to Matt Gutierrez, but we’ll have to assume that Henne will be the starter if he keeps getting it done. They say Henne is a very confident guy. He must be: he was one of the top rated passers in high school, yet chose to come to Michigan where there looked to be a pretty stable quarterback situation for at least 2 years out (with Gutierrez and/or Clayton Richard). He looked very poised but we’ll see how that holds up next week at Notre Dame. Richard looked pretty sharp in mop up time. The biggest concern for me is the running game. David Underwood just did not get it done. He averaged just 2.9 yards a carry versus a lesser team. I know Miami was highly ranked at…
