• Settling Up

    July 9, 2008 /

    So Bill Martin and Rodriguez got together and ponied up the $4 million. Reaction was mixed on the radio this today, ranging from a few holier-than-thou callers on WTKA 1050AM asking the proverbial “how do you explain this to your son?” rabble, and to Stoney and Wojo, who touched on the settlement but rolled that into a discussion on Michigan relative to Michigan State football. For Rodriguez, I never had any issue with him challenging the $4M. It was a contract. Written by lawyers from both sides with terms to be upheld by both sides. It’s natural that there would be some attempt to settle it. And it’s not the money; it’s the amount. After hearing some of the statements from his lawyer- – I half-jokingly offered that Rodriguez should just pony up. Remember this?: “It’s like back before the Civil War when slaves had the right to buy their freedom,” said Marv Robon, one of Rodriguez’s lawyers. ” A penalty of $4 million is almost like a slave from Africa trying to buy his freedom in America.” When you subject yourself to this scrutiny bad stuff can happen, especially when you have a legal team that makes statements like the above. With word that Martin and president Coleman would possibly be deposed I wonder if they were afraid of…

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  • Bloggers Done Good (Again)

    July 8, 2008 /

    Go now – get your copy of Brian Cook’s Hail to the Victors 2008 – An Annual Guide to Michigan Wolverines Football. And not just because there’s an article by yours truly in there. I finished it up this weekend. Last year was the inaugural issue for the guide and it was very well done [MVictors review] and a fine read – this year’s edition is outstanding. The analysis of each unit is sharp, detailed and offers another feature you won’t get in the typical preseason guides- some solid laughs. (Cook prescribes a having a glove handy if you are watching the Sam McGuffie mixtape for the first time “so you can be slapped out of your hysteria”.) A sampling: – “[TE Carson] Butler is one of those guys who creates a mismatch as soon as he walks on the field, but that mismatch is only in favor of Michigan if he goes out in a pass pattern.” – “Junior LaTerryal Savoy’s sell-by- date has expired.” – HTTV ’07 dropped this on Morgan Trent: “In two years of playing time he’s yet to make a great break on the ball to disrupt a pass.” Cook summarizes Trent’s improvement in this year’s guide, “Teams actually avoided him [last season].” – On Donovan Warren: “He’s a split second here and there from…

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  • Woody Hayes’s message to you Poindexters

    July 4, 2008 /

    I’m mostly interested in Michigan-related memorabilia but of late there have been a few Buckeye beauties.   Check this out. Up for bid on eBay is a collection of old letters from the great Woody Hayes.  Here’s my favorite:   It’s a missive crafted by Dr. Strangehayes himself with a recipe for success in this tough world: I LOVE THIS! With all respect for the late Buckeye legend and Bo’s mentor, old Woody was a true beauty. For students at Ohio State Woody’s advice might be spot on: don’t rest on the laurels of a degree from Columbus. If you love this as much as I do, here’s a pdf copy that’ll print nicely.

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  • JDRF Detroit Golf Outing a Huge Success

    July 3, 2008 /

    MVictors once again was a distinguished beverage sponsor at this year’s Golf Classic benefiting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). The event, held at the incredible Franklin Hills Country Club, raised a bunch of money that will be used to cure this disease. Channel 7’s sports director Don Shane was the celebrity chair, here he is with JDRF Detroit president Ron Dooley about to kick-off the event: Quick take on Shane: outstanding guy and he did a great job as MC before and after the event. You can learn more about JDRF and Type 1 diabetes here. Thanks for all the readers who support this site and its sponsors.

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  • Their Long Journey to the Middle

    July 2, 2008 /

    The Quad Blog over at the New York Times is running through its preseason college football capsules in what it calls The Quad Countdown. It’s worth checking out. Monday #60 Northwestern was featured with a few interesting factoids that I’ll pass along – enjoy these as you watch the clock crawl toward Thursday: Tidbit: Northwestern and Penn State have the same Big Ten record over the last five years (19-21). This is the sixth-best mark in conference play since 2003, ahead of Minnesota and Michigan State (15-25), Indiana (9-31) and Illinois (8-32). Tidbit (who knew edition): Only four Big Ten programs have had winning records against Northwestern since 1995: Ohio State (1-8), Michigan (3-8), Penn State (3-7) and Purdue (4-8). The Wildcats are at or above .500 against the rest of the conference: Indiana (7-2), Illinois (8-5), Iowa (6-5), Michigan State and Minnesota (5-4) and Wisconsin (5-5) Tidbit (overtime edition): Northwestern is one of the best in the nation in overtime, tying Missouri for the most O.T. wins (8) in the F.B.S. since the division began playing the extra-session in 1996. The Wildcats are 7-0 at home and 4-0 in conference play when playing in overtime. Michigan is also undefeated in overtime games since they added the rule, I actually witnessed the first four in person: 1. Alabama in the…

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