Did you hear Bob Page this morning on WTKA? No, you didn’t, because Page calls in during the 9-10am slot when nobody listens. He was in rare form this morning, taking a few brutal shots at Michigan and Michigan State on the eve eve of the game. Here’s the full audio: [display_podcast] Here’s a little more on Page from the site ‘Out of Bounds‘: But Page, who most notably worked at channel 7 in the 70’s and 80’s before switching to cable, left Detroit for New York and actually made it — big time. I always thought it was delicious that rabblerouser Page should make it in New York while the straight-laced guys went kapoot. Page became a big shot at MSG Network, usually handling Rangers and Knicks intermissions, along with some reporting and studio work during sportscasts. In Detroit, he angered channel 7 enough to get himself fired, and he was no favorite among Lions officials for his remarks about the team and even the play-by-play offered to the media (not to be confused with radio for the fans) in the press box. Page felt it was too slanted toward the home team; not objective, the way press box play-by-play should be. He was also kicked out of Billy Martin’s office once.

The impressive win over the Spartans allowed the Buckeyes to take over the top spot, and Minnesota resumed its climb up the rankings offsetting Wisconsin’s plummet. Here’s the full index: Gilliam the Badger is fed up, thus: “The Badgers opened the 2008-09 season with Midnight Madness on Friday at the Kohl Center. Returing from the team that won 31 games and the Big Ten title, are Joe Krabbenhoft, Trevon Hughes, Macus Landry, and Jason Bohannon. The Badger women’s hockey team beat Bemidji State 9-0 on Saturday in Eveleth, MN in the inaugural Women’s Hockey Hall of Fame game. The men’s football team apparently had a bye week against Iowa.” Lew: “Ohio State finally seems to have shed the USC demons and decided winning the Big Ten is a worthwhile goal – should be a great one against Penn State Saturday night. Will Michigan be able to put together two solid halves of football this season? If they don’t do so against Sparty, maybe those rumors of Coach Rodriguez losing control of the team will prove true. Speaking of losing control of his team, what the heck is going on with Wisconsin? Michigan’s fall can be traced to the coaching change – but who do the Badgers blame? Their band?” Biggie the Spartan summed up the week: “Double turds.” Schlimmy, the…

Here’s ESPN GameDay host and former Indiana coach Lee Corso on WDFN today, along with the Angel of the Big House, the Detroit News’ Angelique Chengelis: [display_podcast] Notes: * First Corso, has nice things to say about Rodriguez and that “he’ll turn things around.” He urges Michigan fans to understand that things won’t be the same Big 2 like it was when Bo and Woody roamed the sidelines (and Corso was getting smoked at Indiana). He added, “It’s going to be very good in two years.” * As for Angelique, it starts off a little slow but picks up from there. She talked about the trip to Happy Valley, and the obvious (“they haven’t been able to put together a full game”). She talks about Threet’s injury and his status, and she talks about the switch to Minor from McGuffie (“they finally realized he’s the kind of back you can ride…”). She also gets into Lou Holtz’s Hitler comment and whether he should talk to Rodriguez about it, and explores the mindset of the players right now.

Photo Credit: Wolverine Barista Some of you out-of-town fans may not know that former All-American lineman and color man for Michigan radio Jim Brandstatter not only covers the Wolverines, on Sundays he does the same for the Detroit Lions. In all seriousness, this is of course is a dream job for many of us who follow sports and Brandstatter does a great job, but consider the seasons he’s presiding over right now. Through Sunday, consider first the Wolverines. You’re reading this blog so you know the story, 2-5 including an embarrassing loss to Toledo, and blow-out defeats to Illinois and Penn State. The laughingstock Lions are worse, dropping to 0-6 Sunday. That makes the teams 2-11 through 13, having been outscored 382-227. Brandstatter’s covered every minute of every game, having not the burden of the play-by-play (it is what it is), no. He’s had to do the analysis and commentary on the play, on the coaching on the situation, and ultimately, on the mess that’s unfolding before him. Hopefully, things will turn this week for at least Brandy’s Saturday team with the Spartans heading into town this weekend. And the annual MSU/Michigan game no doubt has great significance for Brandstatter, as his father and brother both played for the Spartans, from the Free Press: His father, Art, played at Michigan…

So Michigan’s rolling in the first half, and everything’s clicking. We’re even recovering our inevitable fumbles. I’m sitting there and ESPN flashes the Big Ten standings. For about five seconds I caught myself looking up at the teams ahead of us, most of whom we still have to play, thinking, ‘this could happen, man!‘. Then I smacked myself with that leather glove I now keep handy and gradually of course reality gently crashed down, sometime around the time Nick Sheridan* was swallowed up in the Michigan end zone. That game was torture. Most of you want so badly for these guys to put it together for a game and feel that excitement experienced after that Wisconsin game and it really looked like it just might for a while. Against Illinois you watched two quick scores followed by disaster, this time after Penn State threw a punch Michigan countered, scoring on an incredible drive to go up 17-7. It was about then that ESPN flashed those Big Ten standings and you started mulling over bowl possibilities. No chance, Lance. I heard Brandstatter sum up Michigan’s season by saying something like, ‘Michigan’s found its enemy, and it is thyself.’ I think that’s both the good and the bad news. The good? When the unit clicks it seems like they are capable of…

Someone please. I didn’t hear it, but I found a bunch of folks searching and finding this site for “Lou Holtz Michigan comment” and investigated. As posted on Deadspin, apparently Lou Holtz linked the Rodriguez regime to….Hilter: The context of the conversation was about Rich Rodriguez’s not-so-great start as the University of Michigan’s head coach and Holtz chose this phrase as part of his analysis.: “Ya know, Hitler was a great leader too.” Sweet. The most disturbing thing here is the stupidity and ignorance of Holtz. If Holtz wanted to make a point that you need more than leadership to succeed, certainly he could have found a better parallel in the experience of another coach (perhaps one of the thousands that have been fired and then found success elsewhere). Second, how out of touch do you have to be to think that you can draw references to Hitler on ESPN and that’s somehow ok? Meanwhile, I’ve noticed that several Texas sites are on the Holtz warpath, as traffic from sites that bleed burnt orange have been peppering my audio of Jason Peter’s interview on Jim Rome, where Peter explained an alleged situation that pretty much makes Holtz a complete putz.

A blessing from WolverineHistorian, dig it: Tip: Click twice and go directly to YouTube, click ‘watch in high quality‘ to the lower right of the video box.