A few takes across the board from the trip to South Bend. First off, most ND fans are very courteous and to me, it’s just a pleasure to go down there for games in this rivalry. I love the trip and it’s a big reason I’m firmly behind continuing the contract with the Irish. One thing that does suck about the trip is the Turnpike. It’s not so much the concern of paying the tolls—it’s getting through the tollgates. On the return trip the wait to get onto I-69 north was like 20 minutes+ at 10 PM. Going from the press box (with laptop, phone, TV and Fan Vision nearby) to sitting in Notre Dame stadium was quite a shock. My cell phone didn’t get any reception (then died trying) and with a scoreboard that basically shows time and score. I had no idea what happened to Crist and then rumors started to circulate around the crowd that he was poked in the eye. Someone even joked he should wear an eye patch. Above is a shot when the sun came out at the end of the game—I think there were about five minutes left when the clouds broke. I haven’t seen the telecast yet but I hear they got really sappy with their description of the scene. It was…
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Laced
My perspective of the Denard Robinson show yesterday at Notre Dame Stadium. (Yes, Denard wears both a home jersey and a leather helmet in my mind’s eye).
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Who Voted for Michigan – AP poll Sept 7, 2010
A quick rundown of who voted for Michigan in this week’s AP poll which of course doesn’t really count toward anything but people like to talk about it: I don’t know if Michigan is worthy of any of this, but I give these guys credit. They did what most pollsters fail to do—they apparently crumpled up their preseason ballot and voted based on what they’ve watched on the field, how novel. Here’s the guys who jumped Michigan into the top 20: Doug Lesmerises – Cleveland Plain Dealer (Newspaper) <—wow. This OSU/Michigan love lingers in the aftermath of the moving-The-Game near debacle. Jon Sololmon – The Birmingham News (Newspaper) <—In Birmingham they love the Shoelace. Brett McMurphy – AOL FanHouse (On-line) <—Brian Cook’s old haunt. And props to U-M grad Niyo. I owe him an Underground Printing O’Sullivan’s Mug Club shirt next time I see him.
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I Think it was the Fourth of July
What a day at the Big House yesterday but it’d be a much different feeling and memory had the team fell flat. Off the Field: Artwork: I love that they honored the national championship teams with these larger-than-life displays. I didn’t get a chance to get over to the east concourse but plan to before the next game. This from the west concourse, very nicely done: Commemoratives. The renovation pin is a nice item for fans and the game program is off the hook. Some of the history features were very well prepared expect one—the section on the Little Brown Jug. Page 27, bottom right: Dating back to 1909, the battle for the Little Brown Jug is the oldest trophy game in NCAA Division I Football Subdivision. OK. That’s ok to say “1909” if they meant to say when the teams started playing for the trophy. That’s correct of course. But it continued: Heading into that 1909 contest, Michigan was undefeated in 28 straight games as it headed to Minneapolis.. Ugh. They were describing when the jug was bought and left behind in Minnesota and that was 1903 of course, in the midst of Yost’s point-a-minute teams. In 1909 Michigan rolled into Minneapolis on the heels of a furious “one” game winning streak, albeit an all-timer—the great victory over Penn…
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Denard Robinson – Media Day
I spent a little time with Denard Sunday and most the questions and answers were pretty dry. My impression watching him—he feels like he’s the guy and exudes confidence. A few of the solid quotes including my favorite from the day*: How has he gotten better? "I think I’m more calm. I’m getting used to the offense, and that’s really helping me out." On his thoughts last year: "There was just a whole bunch going through my head and everything was coming by so fast. Everything has slowed down." On whether he thinks more than one quarterback will be starting this season. "Oh yeah, oh yeah. Because all of us are playing real good football right now. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Devin on the field and Tate on the field in one of these games. They could start the first game, we really don’t know." On Devin’s progress. "He calmed down. Everything was fast to him at first when he came in. He took it all in and he’s using it now." *On where he was with the read option last season: "Man. <laughs>. Last year I was like, ‘All right, I’m not reading, I’m just running’ – that’s what I was thinking. Now I can read it." Related: The Standard Fare Will Hagerup – Media Day Devin…
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Devin Gardner – Media Day
I spent a few moments with Devin Gardner. From the little I’ve seen, he’s clearly much improved and in the mix the fall and I’m very surprised after seeing Gardner a bit in the fall. A few quotes: Are you still living with Charlie? [for context, click here and scroll down]: Charlie? Oh no, I’m not living with Charlie anymore I’m living with Denard. How’s that going [living with Denard]? "It’s going great. You know, he’s like a garbage disposal, he eats everything, I don’t know why. He’s hungry all the time." He looks like he’s bigger. "Yeah, because he’s eating all that food <laughs>." It looks like you’ve improved [from spring to now], do you think so? "I’ve definitely improved from the spring, but I don’t think I’m where I need to be. I want to be the best at everything I do." What command of the playbook do you have at this point? "Everything they’ve taught us I know it to a ‘T’. I don’t know if they’ve told us everything, but they said it’s a big chunk that we’re going to use against UConn." Related: Will Hagerup – Media Day Tate Forcier – Media Day Media Day (Photo Gallery) Follow MVictors on Twitter