I saw this first on the Michigan Zone blog. Sad to hear that USC’s kicker Mario Denalo was found dead at the bottom of some cliff. He had a lot of success at USC but played pretty poorly in the Rose Bowl, incredibly missing two extra points. Here’s more.
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The Wolverine Pack and 1926
Given the mood of most Michigan fans right now, it may be refreshing to take a look back at better days. Check out this graphic taken from the October 23, 1926 issue of the San Diego Sun which several members of the 1926 Wolverines.
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Ford 747 Flyover of Michigan Stadium
Check out this link to the video of the 747 carrying Gerald Ford‘s body as it does fly over Michigan Stadium. Follow this link, then click on the link to the right that says “Video of Ford 747 Ann Arbor flyover”. Pretty cool. It is understood that the pilot requested a flyby from anyone who would listen in the Michigan press box, but was told by Jim Brandstatter “negative Air Force Two, the pattern is full.”. The pilot did it anyway, but rest assured that’ll be the last of these circus stunt flybys over Michigan Stadium. Go Blue!
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Stubborn DeBord Wouldn’t Change a Thing
Oh this is a beauty. You won’t believe these comments from Michigan offensive coordinator Mike DeBord. I was never really sure about this guy. There is a legion of folks in Mount Pleasant that can’t stand the man and what he did for the Chips. But this quote really chapped my ass. Here’s DeBord addressing the press on how he’d attack USC’s defense knowing what he learned during the game: “I’d run the ball again. When you’re getting sacked, tell me how you’re going to keep throwing the ball and you’re going to make improvements. I don’t understand that. So no. I’d run the ball. I wouldn’t do anything different.” WHAT? What don’t you understand? You stubborn man. Carr shouldn’t have DeBord’s head for this. I’d like to chalk this up to DeBord being a smart ass, but it doesn’t sound like he was.
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Media Medicine: Take It
Here’s a set of the harshest quotes from the major local writers that covered the game. Jim Carty, Ann Arbor News “No imagination, no fun meant no chance for victory” “When’s the last time Michigan let it rip?” “[Michigan has] so many players that Carr can play it safe and still end up 11-2.” “..there isn’t an offensive skill [high school] player who’d pick the Wolverines over Southern Cal or Boise State. Not one.” Shawn Windsor, Detroit Free Press
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Rose Bowl Bollocks
Quick thoughts: – Ugly loss, Morgan Trent was worked over all day and night. – Booty looked very good and the receivers for USC were too much. – – You expect to see a couple drops; I don’t think they had any. – In relation to the pressure on Lloyd Carr, Musburger and Herbstreit must have mentioned “the bloggers” 4 or 5 times during the fourth quarter. Musburger (in-)correctly noted that Bill Martin has a great relationship with Lloyd Carr. That said, Coach Carr isn’t under any kind of pressure from the University, I guarantee you that. And no pressure is coming from this blog. – This hurts quite a bit. Looking back to this time last year, Michigan was coming off one of the worst years in recent history and rebounded to be in the conversation for the BCS title game up until today. A win would have been huge but it doesn’t take away what Michigan accomplished the rest of the season.
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Happy New Year – Go Blue!
Ahh, New Year’s Day is here with a full slate of great games headlined by the much-hyped Rose Bowl. Speaking of the hype, wow, the ABC/ESPN machine really went after it in the past couple days, huh? How about that coundown to the Rose Bowl running on ESPN? I told the gang here I wish they’d do that for every Michigan game. As far as the game, I’m thinking Michigan will have a little too much for J.D. Booty and the Trojans and will win a tight one: 26-20. The keys? Getting pressure on Booty and containing Jarrett. It’s been so long since the Ohio State game and I’m looking forward to seeing David Harris fly around the field and see what trouble Woodley and Branch can cause up front. Prescott Burgess is completely healthy and it’ll be interesting to see his impact. Here’s some more New Year’s Day predictions for you, against the spread: Wisconsin +2 over Arkansas Tennessee -4 over Penn State Nebraska +1.5 over Auburn Georgia Tech +9 over West Virginia Oklahoma -8 over Boise State
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Beef Bowl Blunder
MVictors.com continued its battle for accuracy in journalism today, correcting a statement in a Detroit Free Press piece on the 2006 Lawry’s Beef Bowl, the annual meat-a-thon held before several bowl games. In his Thursday piece, Shawn Windsor wrote that Michigan “gorged itself on 612 pounds of meat, roughly 100 pounds more than the team devoured two years ago”. According to our records, Michigan actually consumed 630 pounds of beef in 2004, so they actually ate less this year. We contacted Windsor who cited his source by stating “Lawry’s told me Michigan ate more than two years ago. I guess they don’t know how to count their own beef.”
