The honorary alumni captains for today’s 3:30 game against Western Michigan.  Announced last night: OL Joe O’Donnell (’61-3) LB Erick Anderson (’88-’91) WR Mercury Hayes (’92-’95) I’m fully credentialed for the game so I’ll be watching from the press box.  I’m going to try to get a few words with each of these guys before the game. Go Blue!  (Michigan wins a tight one, 31-27).

Mayes after ‘97 Ohio State game – Photo: Michigan Daily Former walk-on who became team captain of the 1997 National Champions Eric Mayes joined WTKA yesterday, worth a listen: [display_podcast] He talked about his first experience hitting the field, and his first time coming out of the tunnel (“There’s nothing like coming out of there.”) Ben Holden asked about his concerns for the defense, he said “chemistry”.  “Having fun, believing in the assignments they are given” along with having faith in the guys on either side of them. “You don’t have to have the best players to win championship; you have to have the best team.” On Brandon Graham: “There’s a special title at Michigan and it’s called ‘senior.’” He talked about staying in touch with teammates especially the 1997 team and the importance of that team’s role and how he looks forward to meeting future national championship teams.

[Editor’s note: Prior to the epic 2008 Wisconsin football game, frequent contributor ‘Lew’ served up his mouth-watering ‘Victors’ ribs during the pre-game tailgate festivities. They were incredible and probably had something to do with the finest win in RR’s tenure.  A re-post for karma:] Meat: I prefer baby backs (and that’s what this recipe assumes). I understand spare ribs are a bit easier to cook, but they have a bit too much fat and gristle for my liking. Rub: 4 tablespoons sweet paprika 2 tablespoons brown sugar (ok to be generous) 1 tablespoon granulated sugar 1 tablespoon New Mexico chili powder 1 tablespoon oregano 1 tablespoon Kosher salt 2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper 2 teaspoons mustard seed 1 teaspoon celery seed 1 teaspoon garlic powder I used this quantity for 4 slabs, which was stretching it a tad. Next time, I might go a bit lighter on the paprika and I’m up in the air about the chili powder – it adds a nice bit of earthy flavor, but I might go for more heat (cumin and/or cayenne) or more sweet (brown sugar). It’s all personal taste, of course. The key is to get the rub on the ribs at least an hour before you’re ready to put them on the grill – the more time the rub has…

Via Dave Birkett of AnnArbor.com, quoting Rodriguez from his radio show this evening, who first said, “It was so close”, but: "I met with them after practice today … and said, ‘I’ve never been in this situation before, but I feel fortunate and all three of you have done various things to earn the right to go out there first, so I don’t want you to think you’re not a starting quarterback,’" Rodriguez said. "But somebody has to take the first play and so I told them that Tate will take the first play, but the second play may be Denard or Nick or whoever. Those guys are so competitive, but they’re such team guys I feel very, very good about it." or whoever?  He’s got a name, it’s DC, Coner, or Mr. Dave.  More interesting than RR’s reveal on the quarterback is my finding an entire album that quarterback David Cone and Barwis-basher Toney Clemons put together, here’s the playlist). More shocking than my discovery is that it’s pretty good.

Coach Rodriguez joined WDFN 1130AM host and Michigan hoops radio voice Matt Shepherd on his ‘Shep, Shave and Shower’ show this morning to chat.   Shep started out by describing Rodriguez’s life as “pure hell” the past 72 hours. “A whole bunch of the players and the player’s parents call..” “It completely blindsided me. “ “Until you get to know [players], you’ve got to motivate them all the same way.” “For the majority [of players], the vast majority, I think it’s worked very, very well.” “Last year I think we had 120 guys on the team, there are a handful that maybe didn’t take it as well or whatever, that may have been the case.  But to imply there was anything against the rules that was done; we’ve never done that and never will.” “Several [coaches] in the Big Ten have called.” Audio: [display_podcast] Elsewhere: Today before practice, Rodriguez shared the story about the day former Michigan assistant Don Nehlen told him he would receive a scholarship.  The Mountaineers were preparing for a game against Oklahoma (1982?) when Nehlen approached Rodriguez, who was struggling financially at the time.   “He walked right up when we were stretching,” Rodriguez recalled.  “He said, ‘Why don’t you talk to me after practice, we’re going to give you a scholarship.”  Just to ensure the young Rodriguez…

A common theme in the national media response to the Free Press report is that the biggest concern for Rodriguez is not the potential NCAA violations (consensus seems to be they will be minor if anything), but the exposure of a rift in the team. The argument goes that if Michigan gets off to a tough start Rodriguez could lose more guys, perhaps led by the group that is unhappy about the off-season workouts. There’s still some confusion as to whether there are guys on the current team (the one that is practicing today) that stuffed the complaint box.  Someone who only identifies himself as “Brian” at site called mgoblog discussed this week: Ten "former or current players," of whom five or six are responsible for the quotes in the story and the description of the Rodriguez program. One of them is Toney Clemons. The other four or five… well, I’m sure anyone who’s followed Michigan football over the last year and a half can mentally insert candidates for the other spots. Why not tell us that the core of the story included current players, and how many? It’s not like asserting any specific number of current players is going to endanger the anonymous whistle-blowers. The Free Press chose not to provide this information, instead choosing to leave this vague,…

Former M quarterback Rick Leach weighing in and I love it, joining Sam Webb and Ira Weintraub this morning on WTKA 1050AM’s Michigan Insider: [display_podcast] Notes: “I need to defend the honor” of Rodriguez, Barwis, the players, etc. On the press conference: “This has hurt me so deeply, I took time off to drive to Ann Arbor so I could stand in the back of Rich Rodriguez’s press conference.  So I could listen and see the press, and the people that showed up and what they wanted to say.. I wanted to see it with my own two eyes.” [Leach then talks about his relationship with Rodriguez and seems to get choked up.] “I’m deeply disappointed about how this come out and when it came out.” “We will not let anything deter us from what we’re going to do.  I can promise you that.”