What I Did Instead of Watching Michigan v. Ohio St.

I was planning to write a running diary of what I was doing while Michigan/Ohio St was on this weekend because I was done with the Wolverines for this year. It was lame. I watched a couple of episodes of "Scrubs" on Comedy Central and went out to Fuddrucker's for a burger. So, instead, I pulled up an old post about the Wolverines from my blog (callmehoss.blogspot.com if you haven't checked it out and told a friend, please do) where I was lamenting the state of the U of M football program. I've annotated my current thoughts in bold to illustrate how completely naive I was about the state of this program. Enjoy...

Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Going Bowling, Part Deux.

MasterCard Alamo Bowl, Dec. 28- San Antonio, TX
Michigan v. Nebraska
Needless to say, this is not where this season was supposed to end up for the maize and blue. I remember watching the Wolverines on Sept. 10 (when they were still in the top 5) as they tried to come back against Notre Dame and thinking, "Uh-oh. This team isn't as good as everyone thought." (This is exactly what I was thinking about 4 years later watching them lose to Iowa this year.) It also seems that they have a hard time coming back against anyone and always lose that game or two that they probably just shouldn't lose. (Two years later we lost to D-IAA Appalachian St. which people have been happily reminding me about since.) Granted, three out of the four teams they lost to this year (Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Ohio St.) (the crappy team they lost to was the "Fake U of M", Minnesota) were pretty darned good and they did beat the team that finished #3 in the BCS (Penn St.), but these were supposed to be wins when the season began (with the possible exception of OSU.) (Now, we say things like, "Well, we should beat Delaware St and the "Directional Michigan" schools we play this year. And, if they had played Central Michigan this year instead of Delaware St, they would've lost.)

It is hard to use the words "consistently mediocre" (I'd commit a misdemeanor for "mediocre" right about now) about a team that has won a national championship in the last decade (It's now been more than a decade) and a Big Ten title as recently as last year, but at some points that is how I feel about this team. Every year as a Wolverine fan, you just wait for the other shoe to drop (There has been nothing but shoes dropping the last couple of years). If we make it through the Notre Dame game, there is always the Ohio St game, provided we even make it through the Michigan St. game or when we go to Camp Randall to play Bucky. Do you think this is the way USC fans have gone into the last two years? (USC is probably doing this now after the couple of years they've had.) Besides Oklahoma, do you think Texas looks at any game on their schedule and says, "Man, I wish we could just skip them this year!" Miami? (Miami got real bad after this post.) How about Georgia? I want to start looking at the Wolverine's schedule and feel like Ohio St. is the only game we need to worry about, and even then, worry only slightly. (Hahahahahahaha. LMFAO! OMG! LOL! We need to worry about every effin game now. I was so stupid!) That is the feeling an elite college football team should have. (We are no longer an elite program in the Big Ten, let alone nationally!) I just haven't seen that from the Wolverines. I think my buddy Corey, a U of M grad student, put it best by saying, "One of the great subtleties of Michigan athletics seems to be the lack of a killer instinct; that'll keep you going to mediocre bowls for decades at a time but prevent outright dominance." (We haven't been to any bowls for two years now. That's "any" with a "zero".)

In this game, on this day, Michigan wins the Alamo Bowl. Nebraska sucks hard. (BTW- This Nebraska team sucked so hard they beat Michigan 32-28.) Ironically, eight years ago, this should have been the matchup for the National Championship. (Just so you know, in 2009 the Nebraska program is playing for the Big XII championship in 2 weeks while the Wolverines now have some down time.) Today, in 2005 it'll be an entry in the media guide that makes us look back in a few years and think, "What the hell happened that season?" (Yeah, I'm pretty sure the first 2 years of the Dick Rod (Rich Rodriguez) era will be much more embarrassing than the 2005 season. I asked my hetero-lifemate Grant after the Wisconsin game this year, "Will we see Michigan win another national championship in our lifetime?" His response was "Of course. But, no time soon." Well, they went damn near 50 years between the 1948 national championship team and the 1997 national championship team. I don't think this is a slam dunk. Charles Woodson and Brian Griese aren't walking through that door, son. Grant brought up that we were a close win against Indiana from going winless in the Big Ten this year. There seems to be no hope. So, my assessment going forward? The 2010 Wolverines win the Big Ten and play Alabama in the National Championship game. Wolverines win 21-17. HAIL TO THE VICTORS VALIENT!!!!!!!!!!!)

I'm finished,
Nate