A fantastic win for Michigan soccer in the second round of the NCAA tournament, taking down University of Central Florida this afternoon 2-1 in overtime. Despite dominating the pace of play, Steve Burns’ crew were down 1-0 early. Early through the second half Justin Meram tied it up and the Wolverines finished it off in overtime. Notes: The place was absolutely packed – standing room only. Dave Brandon attended. I love it – among the prohibited items: vuvuzelas. I watched the game with a former M soccer team captain. He pointed out right away that just about everyone on the UCF team was wearing gloves to keep them snuggly warm. It wasn’t really that cold out. Advantage: mighty Blue. The student section was outstanding, chanting and singing throughout the game and giving Justin Meram a ride after the game winner (above). I’m not sure who got credited with the golden goal. Up next is South Carolina in the Sweet 16. Congrats to Burns and the boys! A couple other shots for you: Update: For all the folks begging for Meram to kick for Rich Rod, jeezz (HT: Matt for sending this over):
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Rob Lytle, 56, Passes Away
Very sad to hear that Michigan legend Rob Lytle died Saturday. He was 56. Coincidentally on my ‘This Week..’ segment yesterday for the WKTA 1050AM pregame show we featured the 1976 Ohio State game in which Lytle ran absolutely wild. Here’s that segment and here are WolverineHistorian’s clips from the game. It’s amazing to watch him tear out of the backfield and through the line:
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Interview: Men’s Soccer Coach Steve Burns
I caught up with Michigan head Soccer coach Steve Burns on the field prior to the Wisconsin game in anticipation of the huge NCAA battle against Central Florida on Sunday. Dig it: MVictors: You’ve got Central Florida tomorrow and you went down and scouted them this week. What opportunities do you see and what worries you? Burns: They are a talented team. It was good to see them because they are a lot better than I thought they were going to be. Their strength is in their midfield–they run a 4-5-1. I think the biggest thing is that they’re a team that’s not going to beat themselves, meaning they’ve got discipline and they play within themselves. We’ve got to go out and beat them. It’s going to be a good game. MVictors: I understand that tickets are scarce (for Sunday). What kind of crowd do you expect tomorrow? Burns: It could be upwards of 4,000. The chairback seats sold out in about two hours and I’ve had a lot of requests for tickets. I went out and bought 50 tickets and..I’m out, I’m out! [laughs]. MVictors: What’s going to happen tomorrow? Burns: Well I’m hoping that it’s not like this [gesturing to the sunny sky]. I’m hoping that it’s gray, rainy and bitter. I don’t think it’s going to be…
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Not Fun
Wisconsin 48, Michigan 28. That’s former Michigan center Stevie Everitt on the sideline near the end of the game—not pleased, not really looking too patient either. That’s me too.
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Wisconsin (Pregame Photos)
A few from pregame down on the field. The crew from Slippery Rock – they got a huge welcome from the crowd: I don’t have any audio but trust me, it sounded like exactly like this: “Wooooooooooo!” Ladies Field Hockey champions, the “Woo” girls The other champs—here’s Men’s soccer team captain Alex Wood with their new hardware: Troy Woolfolk looking well; walking around Ball! Ball! Ball! This is your AD Dave Brandon, chatting with a few students about the new lights and the test he did this week. Always a great performance by the drum major – here with the leap.
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Senior Day Photos
A few from Senior Day before the game. Obi: Moundros looked like he teared up a bit: James Rogers: Webb:
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This Week in Michigan Football History: The Student becomes The Master (1976 Ohio State)
Here’s the next entry in ‘This Week in Michigan Football History’ to be played Saturday on WTKA 1050AM’s Key Bank Countdown to Kick-off pregame show before tomorrow’s battle against the Badgers. This time we look back to 1976, as Bo was set to face off with Woody Hayes in the 8th battle of their 10 Year War. Here’s the audio and it’s deeply laced with the voice of the great Bob Ufer and I love it: [display_podcast] A hat tip to the great WolverineHistorian who compiled this collection of clips with Bob Ufer calls overlaid. Watching Rob Lytle fly out of the backfield and break off those big chunks of years is a quite a spectacle: The sponsor of This Week…is Wolverine Beer so here’s where you can find it. You can hear all of the This Week… clips here.
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Light ‘em Up
I got an email this morning from reader David D. who tipped me that it appeared as though the permanent lights were going up already. Brandon indicated earlier that the project would start after the Wisconsin game to have them ready for The Big Chill. Per Dave Ablauf of U-M Media relations, they have indeed started the project and don’t blink, they’ll be in and done by Saturday: “The permanent lights are in the process of being installed and will be in prior to this weekend’s game with Wisconsin.” That’s fast! I think most fans are ok with the concept of permanent lights but I’m sure there’ll be some reaction on the aesthetics once they are in place.