A few items to check out from around the M nerdosphere and beyond. Check out the great Maize n Brew’s ‘Five Reasons to Love Ann Arbor‘. Ahh, good times. While not quite the same thing, I did pull together an out-of-towner’s bar guide to Ann Arbor which is of the same ilk. Dig it here. Next, don’t miss the passion on TBTYB on Datsyuk’s goal that was waived off in Game 4. Angry. I always love any Autumn Thunder depiction of our AD “Big Billy Dollaz”, especially when he makes it rain like Pac. CFN is out with its “Way Too Early Bowl Projections” and has Michigan landing in the Outback Bowl against the defending national champion for the second straight year (LSU). I’ll take that! Let’s book it. BCS projections come out tomorrow.
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M Nerdiverse done good
Looks like the Michigan bloggers and readers stepped up big in the FanBlogs-sponsored fundraising effort. This all went down whilst I was out so I’ll only feel a little bit good about it. If you’re still in the mood to help a great cause the Swing to Cure Diabetes is on for May 19, 2008 and they’re always interested in your support. I don’t know if they have any golfing slots remaining. Cathy Schembechler is the honorary chair of the event which will go down at the Old Man MacKenzie’s M Course on Monday. I’ve been trying to line up an interview with former Michigan QB and co-chair Rich Hewlett, but he’s pretty tied up. MVictors.com is in with a hole sponsorship. Get some!
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Rodriguez Deposition: Digging into it
Been away for a few days but I see that the drama around Rodriguez hasn’t let up a bit. Some pretty interesting comments from readers on my two posts on the #1 jersey deal, and now I see that Rodriguez’s full deposition is out there. Links:Part I Part II Part III I’m looking through it but the first thing that stuck out, being a novice of depositions (and disguises), I found the glossary and index of every word uttered pretty wild: I spotted “Boubacar” in the transcript and shot over to this section. Curious as the court reporter couldn’t get “Terrelle” or “Pryor” consistently correct but nailed “Boubacar Cissoko”. Anyway, here’s Rich Rod getting grilled on the timing of calling the recruits with his West Virginia phone: I don’t know exactly how this went down in the court, but it seems Rodriguez ignores the frequent objections by his lawyer, the same guy who likened Rodriguez’s situation to slavery not too long ago. Not sure that if in these cases there was an objection, a huddle, then an answer, although there are other instances when it is clear Robon objects then says it is ok to answer. Don’t know, but there are countless occasions where Robon objects but it appears Rodriguez blows him off and answers anyway: [Update: Got an excellent…
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Let Rodriguez Speak
The #1 jersey controversy has definitely struck a nerve with the Maize and Blue community. Judging from the comments and emails to this site alone, this is definitely a hot one. I understand. Most fans were a little surprised when Rich Rod overhauled the entire coaching staff holding onto just one assistant- Fred Jackson. But in the end I think people understood. Certainly fans wish the whole mess with West Virginia wasn’t happening but again, I think they get that any divorce like this is going to be a little ugly. As far as upholding tradition I think he’s done the right things so far. The ‘On the Road‘ tour has been a great success, and he’s taken a few opportunities to meet with former players. Each time he’s been challenged on something (Boren, that whole paper-shredding B.S., the lawsuits, the snake-oil-a-rama), he’s addressed it directly and to me, perfectly. He’s hasn’t bashed anyone, he gave his take on the situation and it’s always left me feeling like good about the way it was handled. In some cases, the stuff turned out to be complete bull. This one cuts right into everyone’s fears. Ignoring the tradition and more recently, the scholarship, tied to the #1 jersey would be a blunder. If Rodriguez did know about it and ignored it, I…
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Rome Rips Rodriguez over #1-gate
Check out some audio from Jim Rome today. He went pretty hard at Rich Rodriguez over the snafu with #1 jersey and the Braylon Edwards comments. Rome’s take on this. “Either you didn’t know or you didn’t care. Both bad.” He went off pretty hard on RR. Here’s specifically what Braylon Edwards said on ESPN, where he alleges that Rodriguez gave the prized number to a DB: “I am already mad that Rich Rod because he gave the No. 1 jersey to someone other than a wide receiver, which is breaking tradition,” Edwards said. “But I think he is a great coach and will lead Michigan to a turnaround.” His comments on Mike Tirico’s ESPN Radio show also Tuesday were a bit more pointed. “I’m glad you gave me a Go Blue question because Rich Rod gave the No. 1 jersey to an incoming freshman DB and the No. 1 jersey has never been worn by anybody outside of a wide receiver,” Edwards said. “It dates back to Anthony Carter, (Greg) McMurtry, Tyrone Butterfield, Derrick Alexander, David Terrell, and yours truly. So I’m going to have a talk with him about that the next time I see him.” My take? Hold up here. Let’s not take one incident, possibly a mistake, and turn Rodriguez into Bill Callahan. Let’s see what…
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Stadium Renovation Schedule at risk?
Two stories related to the Stadium project have made it onto the front page of the Ann Arbor News this week. Today the News reported that some of the concerns over the construction noise were dying down, going as far as to publish a noise readings and on MLive.com, some actual “noise” from the stadium for your iPod: That fine, but I was a bit more concerned in this piece that headlined the Tuesday May 6 Ann Arbor News. The gist is that the University backed off its attempt to close a lane on Main Street to facilitate the renovation project. The thing that caught my eye was a quote midway through the story. The U-M spokeswoman Kelly Cunningham said that the lane closure wouldn’t jeopardize the near-term plan to have the stadium in shape for football this fall, but admitted that the plans to complete the gig by 2010 might be up in the air. Judge for yourself: U-M had planned to have the rest of the work finished in the fall of 2010. Cunningham said U-M is reassessing its construction schedule. “At this point, we’re looking at the construction schedule, exploring options, as to when and how the project can be completed,” she said. University officials had previously characterized the lane closure as crucial to their construction timetable…
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To Hell is Back
One of the things bloggers do when they’ve been away from the keyboard for a little while is check out site statistics. A quick scan of the incoming links revealed that my previous posts referencing my favorite Schembechler phrase are being peppered. It didn’t take long to find out why. As you may know by now you can thank Notre Dame head coach Chuck Weis for that: “I think the first opportunity they’re going to have to really make a statement is that day [Sept. 6 against SDSU], and then we’ll listen to Michigan have all their excuses as they come runnin’ in and sayin’ how they have a new coaching staff and there’s changes. To hell with Michigan.” ** Translated by Brian at mgoblog, who is fluent in Hutt Beautiful! I love this. Rich Rod is getting from all sides this off-season and I say bring it on. Any shot at our new coach just unifies the fickle Michigan fan base and gives a reassuring boost to our rivalries. Now we need Tim Brewster to announce he’s cleared a space in his office to display the Little Brown Jug and we’ll be all set. Referencing a Schembechler line is fine by me although I’m sure many would say that Weis would never dare say such a thing if Bo…
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Brandon Smith Signing Day audio
WTKA is doing a better job of uploading podcasts as of late, and it appears they’ve started to provided from beauties from the archives. I raved about this interview (where Brandon Smith makes several references to beating the Buckeyes) a few months ago but didn’t have the audio. Thanks to WTKA, here’s the audio:
