That’s all I’ve got.  I wrote down a bunch of notes during the game but to quote the great Bob Ufer: “Who cares?  Who gives a damn?”

A thoughts on today game before I head out.  P.S. – For those coming back here for another behind-the-scenes recap from Notre Dame, sorry, I’ll be back in the crowd for this one.  I’m sure a lot of enemy fans are getting a good chuckle over the glee of the U-M faithful after the Western Michigan game.  I understand that a little bit, but this team looked different.  The tackling was much better and the difference with having a quarterback that can throw on the run (and just run) was clear.  I left South Bend convinced that Michigan had the better team last year despite the final score (see game recap, Pushing the Rock): History just might be on Notre Dame’s side (not the Las Vegas history), as recall it was 100 years ago this fall when Notre Dame first beat Michigan, in Ann Arbor no less.  Frank ‘Shorty’ Longman and crew came to town and stunned Yost and company 11-3 on November 6, 1909. Prediction: For today, I just can’t help but think that Forcier will struggle a bit and Clausen will have a solid day.  I think the M defense will look good but will give up the occasional bomb.  All told, I see the Irish pulling away 31-20.

One of the stirring images in my head from my behind-the-scenes experience for the Western Michigan game was the post game experience re-entering a quiet Michigan stadium, filled with trash and the occasional seagull.  Recall this photo:   No doubt inspired by my recap (not really), prestigious author, lecturer and raconteur John U. Bacon picked up from there and wrote about what goes on in the stadium when the fans aren’t packed inside.  For starters, Bacs explains how all that junk gets clean up in his piece for Michigan Today: For starters, the day after a game more than 300 people converge on the Big House to transform 450 overstuffed 55-gallon trash-cans and 300 recycling containers filled with plastic bottles—a total of about 15 tons of refuse per game—into 72 cubic feet of compressed trash. This mother lode fills three dump trucks, plus another truck for plastic bottles. Check out the entire piece here.

[Ed. On the anniversary of 9/11, a repost of the January 2009 look at when scheduled game needed to be moved for various reasons, including the 2001 Illinois game]: Played January 11, 2009, scheduled January 9, 2009 Red Berenson and crew continued its roll yesterday afternoon, wrapping up a sweep of Miami, OH with a 4-0 shutout. The rare Sunday tilt was of course due to the postponement of Friday’s scheduled game, due to the structural issues uncovered at Yost Ice Arena. This wasn’t the first time a scheduled game had to be moved, and unfortunately many of the other incidents were brought on by darker circumstances. I thought this would be a nice opportunity to look at some of those instances: 1963 – Kennedy The assassination of President Kennedy on November 22, 1963 moved out the Ohio State game which was scheduled to be played in Ann Arbor the next day. Played November 30, 1963, scheduled November 23, 1963 I was able to connect with Dr. Barry Dehlin, a sophomore on Bump Elliott’s 1963 crew and ask him about his memories of the days surrounding the assassination. Here’s what he wrote: Naturally the assassination was a shock to all of us. I remember being in the dorm getting ready to go to practice when I heard what had happened.…

HT to my Dad for mentioning this piece, but this Wall Street Journal article notes a wild trend: the success for Vegas underdogs in the Notre Dame-Michigan rivalry.  I would have guessed that the team getting points fared pretty well in the series, but this is amazing:

I dialed in for a segment on Ira Weintraub’s WTKA 1050AM Michigan Insider earlier today to talk about my experience this weekend at the Western Michigan game.  Most of that is well documented on these pages, but it was fun to talk about it on the radio.  Here’s the audio of my segment: [display_podcast] For those looking for it, here’s a link (right click and save) to the sweet photo of Denard and Tate that was mentioned and here are the two videos discussed on the call: Brian Cook of mgoblog was also in studio during the call and for the entire hour, which will hopefully become a regular block on Thursday from 9-10.   Cook delivers some of the highlights of his Upon Further Review  (Offense/Defense) analysis of the Western game and looks ahead to Notre Dame: Segment 1 (including my call)  |  Segment 2 |  Segment 3 Here’s all the Western Michigan content: Overzealous Zoltan All in Access: A Diary Behind the Ropes All in Access: Inside the Press Conference All in Access: During/Post Game Photos All in Access: Western Michigan Pre-Game (Photos, Video) The Michigan Difference

Senior associate athletic director Joe Parker joined Jeff DeFran and WTKA’s Big Show yesterday afternoon to discuss the stadium renovation.  He fielded a few good questions from the audience, yielding a few notes: They will start to disassemble the press box the Monday after the Ohio State game and expect it to be gone within 60 days. They will remove the cab out of the elevator and use the shaft to drop the debris, allowing them to effectively dismantle that beauty from the inside out. U-M is going to keep the art deco Michigan Stadium signs, but not sure what to do with them yet. The two structures, stacked upright and on top of each other is the equivalent of a 66-story building. Parker also noted that they did not use the original footings that Fielding Yost put in the structure back in the day as they just didn’t work for the renovation design. A lot of people are asking about the end zones which look a little bit out of place right now, beside the gigantic brick structures.  A caller talked about the importance of keeping the capacity high and Parker dropped some knowledge: “With the project we always left the ability to enclose either endzone or both.  We did the design work so that the floor plates would…

Via mgoblue.com’s ‘In-game’ features: She is the mother of U-M’s active leading tackler, didn’t miss a game all year last year ("the Ohio State trip wasn’t a lot of fun") and has random fans coming up to compliment her son, but all Obi Ezeh’s mother Nkechy wants is to talk to Michigan Stadium’s PA announcer. "Our last name is pronounced ‘Eh-zay’ not ‘Eee-zay’," she says politely. "I’ve tried to get up to the press box three times, but they won’t let me in." Speaking of Ezeh, this photo is making the rounds but saw it first via Michigan Sports Center it is Ezeh leaping a Western Michigan defender and it’s really nice.  Here’s just a slice, click to go to the official site: Speaking of photos, I’ve had some nice feedback on this one which I posted Saturday night.  If you want a full res copy just send me a note [Ed. 9/9/09: umm, got a bit overwhelmed by the requests, just right click here and save.]  Makes a nice wallpaper.