We all ‘borrow’ photos and images from other websites. I don’t know the etiquette on this stuff is, but if you borrow a doctored photo from someone else, shouldn’t you mention it? I suppose there are exceptions (e.g., if the entire world has already had the pic emailed to them), but one of MVictors’ readers Biggie Munn spotted this pic of Tom Izzo as Bruce Springsteen on 1270 WXYT’s Sports Inferno Website. Here’s the original story from February 2006 featuring Izzo as The Boss, including the doctored pic.

College Football News released in early rankings for 2007 and they slotted Michigan #10 with USC #1. I’d guess is that this is about as low as you will see Michigan rated in the preseason ranking next year as CFN has been on a run of Wolverine bashing, from last week questioning the validity of the 1997 title, to a recent post basically arguing that Michigan hasn’t had a decent “big” non-conference win in over a decade. Here’s what they had to say about the 2007 team: 10. Michigan. The offense should be tremendous with the best trio of skill players in the country in Chad Henne, Mike Hart and Mario Manningham. Jake Long should probably be off to the NFL, but he’ll be back to be a sure-fire All-American at left tackle. The defense is another story losing Alan Branch, LaMarr Woodley, Rondell Biggs, Shawn Crable, David Harris, Prescott Burgess, Leon Hall and Willis Barringer. And here where some of Michigan’s opponents & Big Ten foes landed: 5. Wisconsin 2006 Record: 12-1 2006 Wisconsin was a very good team with a walk-in-the-park schedule. 2007 Wisconsin will be an elite team with a more challenging slate. The safeties need to be replaced, as do LB Mark Zalewski and OT Joe Thomas, but just about everyone else returns. Tyler Donovan and…

Whoop tee doo, English footballer David Beckham is not extending his contract with Real Madrid and will play this season for the LA Galaxy. More proof that a) this is a weird cat, and b) his skills are diminishing c) you can relate anything back to Michigan football. Here’s Beck’s doning a throwback Michigan t-shirt at an airport in Japan:

How bad is it for the Big Ten after the humiliation handed out in the BCS bowls to Ohio State and Michigan (and to some degree, quasi Big Ten Notre Dame)? Fans are questioning the ability of recently annointed geniuses (Tressel, Weis), and resuming the drum beat of too conservative/can’t coach of a 2006 Coach of the Year candidate (Carr). I knew things were bad but it just got worse. Everyone is rethinking all their pre-bowl BCS slotting and all the time spent on those arguments, and rightly many are bringing the whole BCS system into question again. Now College Football News is taking it a step further by questioning titles decided nearly a decade ago. Check out Pete Fiutak’s Cavalcade of Whimsey column posted January 10th: 6. I still want to see the 1997 Michigan national championship team play someone. In this week’s Let It Go file, after watching Michigan get ripped up by USC in the Rose Bowl, and seeing Ohio State’s performance in the title game, I’d like to find a way to go back and see what the 1997 national champion Wolverines would’ve done against 1997 Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Tennessee, LSU, Auburn, or what appeared to be that year’s best team at the end of the year, Nebraska. Even more so than the 2004 USC-Oklahoma-Auburn…

Don’t ever discount the importance of the bowls. Just look at the state of things for the coaches at the biggest programs in the Midwest. Each was basically crushed in their respective bowls and left with a lot of folks asking questions until next season. Here’s a deeper look at each man and their situation.