OK, I freely admit, that I will not be as ambitious this year with my sports. I still have season Football and Ice Hockey Tickets, and I will try to hit as much Field Hockey, and Cross country as I can, but my new quest will be to hit up every School Museum this year. We have like 13 of them and I have been to 3, all of which were awesome. No really, they were quite impressive. Anyway, to get back in the swing of things, I checked out www.mgoblue.com .
I found this neat photo-contest.
http://www.mgoblue.com/ot/photo-bracket-2012.html
If you click on the Men's XC on the right side, you will see me. I'm the one in the background with the yellow shirt. I remember that day quite fondly. Let's here it for trips to Toledo!
Anyway, nobody reads this thing. So I should get back to work.
It looks like our first home event of the season is Women's Soccer vs.Cleavland State on August 7th. You know I will be there, provided that work does not intervene, I have a workshop the next day for which I may have to prepare.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Baseball. It's Over!
It's over! It's Over! Strongbad says, "It's over!"
Tonight, I attended the Michigan Baseball game against Nebraska with "the Mad Latvian Slammer."
After the first couple of innings I thought we were doing pretty well. then we gave up successive 4 and 5 run innings. The 9th inning wouldn't end with us giving up 4 runs. I suppose we just are not the best at baseball.
We did notice some interesting trends during the game. The first being that it was a perfect evening. The scoreboard gave both time and temperature during the game and we wanted to track the temperature drop as a function of time. I could include it in my next paper. It would be more relevant than my current dataset. One trend we noticed was that the temperature drop during the Nebraska at-bats was larger than for the Michigan at-bats. This probably has something to do with the fact that they cycled their lineup 3 times in the first 4 innings.
Anyway, the game was still fun. I should have brought sunscreen like I was planning. This was not because I got burnt. They just had a contest to see who could be the first to bring sunscreen up to the announcer. I missed out on a free autographed baseball.
Also, long aluminum benches make the best sound when they are whacked without any damping on them.
So it is over now. No, confetti fell. No random people came up to congratulate me. I did hold my hands up to the perfect sky and spin around. I suppose I did lose gas near the end, especially with the documentation. I think Mark Twain said that if you ever want to make a young person suffer, make them promise to keep a journal for a year. I am not even certain if the air smells any sweeter now. I do know that I can hold something over ever other Michigan fan.
Now on for the statistics.
64 events for 28 sports.
The week high was six events from 30-Oct-2011 to 5-Nov-2011, including Ice Hockey (2), men's Soccer (1), men's swimming (1), women's swimming (1), and field Hockey.
The single day high was 3 multiple times.
Anyway, there were so many great moments from all of the sports, from nail biters to beat-downs to runaway victories. Here are a few awards.
The intense moment goes to Football, with the 4th quarter against Notre Dame. My heart still races when I think about it.
The most boring event goes to Men's Golf. Something about a Monday morning start time, just doesn't make golf that interesting.
The longest trip goes to Men's and Women's cross country. Wooh, nationals!
The hardest to watch also goes to Cross Country (Spectators have to run too.)
The unexpectedly fun team award goes to Field Hockey, Tennis (Men's and women's), Wrestling, and Women's Golf.
The most disappointing fans award goes to women's soccer. (We need to fix this.)
The best fans award goes to Ice Hockey followed by Volleyball and Men's soccer.
The chaos award goes to Men's and Women's indoor track.
The deflation award goes to Men's Basketball and Ice hockey for being upset in the first round.
And finally, the best moment award goes to Football: 4th quarter of The Game, touchdown review, leading by 5, "Don't Stop believing!"
Anyway, I have sealed my Michigan Superfan Status. I can't wait until next year. I already have football and Hockey tickets. Let us see what else we can accommodate.
Now, if we could just get cricket as a varsity sport...
Andrew
Tonight, I attended the Michigan Baseball game against Nebraska with "the Mad Latvian Slammer."
After the first couple of innings I thought we were doing pretty well. then we gave up successive 4 and 5 run innings. The 9th inning wouldn't end with us giving up 4 runs. I suppose we just are not the best at baseball.
We did notice some interesting trends during the game. The first being that it was a perfect evening. The scoreboard gave both time and temperature during the game and we wanted to track the temperature drop as a function of time. I could include it in my next paper. It would be more relevant than my current dataset. One trend we noticed was that the temperature drop during the Nebraska at-bats was larger than for the Michigan at-bats. This probably has something to do with the fact that they cycled their lineup 3 times in the first 4 innings.
Anyway, the game was still fun. I should have brought sunscreen like I was planning. This was not because I got burnt. They just had a contest to see who could be the first to bring sunscreen up to the announcer. I missed out on a free autographed baseball.
Also, long aluminum benches make the best sound when they are whacked without any damping on them.
So it is over now. No, confetti fell. No random people came up to congratulate me. I did hold my hands up to the perfect sky and spin around. I suppose I did lose gas near the end, especially with the documentation. I think Mark Twain said that if you ever want to make a young person suffer, make them promise to keep a journal for a year. I am not even certain if the air smells any sweeter now. I do know that I can hold something over ever other Michigan fan.
Now on for the statistics.
64 events for 28 sports.
| Men | Women | ||
| Baseball | 1 | Basketball | 1 |
| Basketball | 1 | Cross Country | 4 |
| Cross Country | 3 | Field Hockey | 4 |
| Football | 8 | Golf | 1 |
| Golf | 1 | Gymnastics | 1 |
| Gymnastics | 1 | Rowing | 1 |
| Ice Hockey | 17 | Soccer | 2 |
| Lacrosse | 2 | Softball | 1 |
| Soccer | 2 | Swimming | 1 |
| Swimming | 1 | Tennis | 1 |
| Tennis | 2 | Indoor Track | 1 |
| Indoor Track | 1 | Outdoor Track | 1 |
| Outdoor Track | 1 | Volleyball | 2 |
| Wrestling | 1 | Water Polo | 1 |
The week high was six events from 30-Oct-2011 to 5-Nov-2011, including Ice Hockey (2), men's Soccer (1), men's swimming (1), women's swimming (1), and field Hockey.
The single day high was 3 multiple times.
Anyway, there were so many great moments from all of the sports, from nail biters to beat-downs to runaway victories. Here are a few awards.
The intense moment goes to Football, with the 4th quarter against Notre Dame. My heart still races when I think about it.
The most boring event goes to Men's Golf. Something about a Monday morning start time, just doesn't make golf that interesting.
The longest trip goes to Men's and Women's cross country. Wooh, nationals!
The hardest to watch also goes to Cross Country (Spectators have to run too.)
The unexpectedly fun team award goes to Field Hockey, Tennis (Men's and women's), Wrestling, and Women's Golf.
The most disappointing fans award goes to women's soccer. (We need to fix this.)
The best fans award goes to Ice Hockey followed by Volleyball and Men's soccer.
The chaos award goes to Men's and Women's indoor track.
The deflation award goes to Men's Basketball and Ice hockey for being upset in the first round.
And finally, the best moment award goes to Football: 4th quarter of The Game, touchdown review, leading by 5, "Don't Stop believing!"
Anyway, I have sealed my Michigan Superfan Status. I can't wait until next year. I already have football and Hockey tickets. Let us see what else we can accommodate.
Now, if we could just get cricket as a varsity sport...
Andrew
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
One more to go
This is it.
Last week I rounded out all but baseball.
Let us start with last Sunday, April 29th. It was one just one of those days where it is impossible to just sit and draw. As far as watching people hit balls with bats, this was the day. Both softball and baseball had double headers, given my choice. I saw our Wolverines face off against the Fighting Illini of Illinois in the fine game of softball. Maybe it was the day, or maybe it was the fact that we were tied for the lead of the Big Ten, but the place was packed and the crowd was great. Runs were only scored in the 4th by us (a 2-run homer) and in the 7th by Illinois, (a solo home run.) That meant our closer had a lot on her. There is something to be said about a stadium stomping out "Lets Go Blue," on aluminum bleachers. Speaking of stadiums, we have a nice one, a seriously nice one. Then again, all of our facilities are great. You see, unlike some big football schools, we actually spread the money around, and take care of all of our sports. (To be fair basketball and Hockey also bring in quite a bit of money as well.) Anyway, the game kept tension until the end, and the players had a lot of spirit. My personal favorite parts were the fact that three camera operators had to dodge foul balls, and the fact that the Illinois coach did not like it when her players were tagged out and made it very clear. To be honest, I couldn't tell. I will just trust that the umpires had a better view than me.
Oh Thursday, May 3rd, I decided to take a break from the office, and hit up the Len Paddock Invitational for both men's and women's track and field. I was going to skip out on Friday afternoon, but someone said there might be rain that day (there wasn't,) and it was just too nice to sit around in an office pretending to work. (I was waiting on data from collaborators.) On biking down there, I discovered that I made two mistakes. The first was that I didn't bring any sunscreen. That night I discovered that the left half of my face was kind of pink due to my facing north in the afternoon. I shielded my arms with my body. The second mistake was assuming that the format would be similar to outdoor track. I figured that the men or women would be doing a bunch of stuff all at once, and then the other gender would have it's turn. In stark contrast to the information overload of five simultaneous events of indoor track. Outdoor track meets go one event at a time. No wonder they take two days as opposed to half an afternoon. So, I got to watch the hammer throw, just the hammer throw. No, I have nothing against the hammer throw. In fact, I think all events are cool. It's just that I was expecting more. Still, our men threw and they threw well. There was a man from central that also threw really well. I think someone made a "Thor" joke. I'm guessing that is mandatory at every track meet. There were three things that stood out to me. The first was that there were not many spectators, which one would expect on a Thursday afternoon after the end of the school year. The second was that these dudes looked like they threw hammers. The throwing muscles were big, and the others not so much. Thirdly, you could always tell a bad throw by a cry of dismay. Also, I enjoyed it when a throw went wide and hit the safety fence. It gave a very satisfying clank.
After the men finished, it was the lady had a turn. I have to admit, that I left after one round, something about sunburn and more attempts at productivity at work. Anyway, the odd thing about the women, is I would not peg them as throwers like the men. I guess it is just because men can develop their muscles to much more than women. The women, just looked strong and athletic, but not sport specific. Anyway, our ladies outnumbered the competition, and they did a pretty good job out trowing them as well.
I really did enjoy the hammers flying through the air and taking out divots in the ground.
All that is left is baseball next week. I will probably shoot for the Thursday game against Nebraska. If I can't make it to any of the three games, then it is down to Columbus for the Big Ten Championship.
Bare with me, I am almost done. I admit that I have really slipped off as far as both attending and writing about sports, but we are almost done here people.
27 sports in a year will soon be 28!
Last week I rounded out all but baseball.
Let us start with last Sunday, April 29th. It was one just one of those days where it is impossible to just sit and draw. As far as watching people hit balls with bats, this was the day. Both softball and baseball had double headers, given my choice. I saw our Wolverines face off against the Fighting Illini of Illinois in the fine game of softball. Maybe it was the day, or maybe it was the fact that we were tied for the lead of the Big Ten, but the place was packed and the crowd was great. Runs were only scored in the 4th by us (a 2-run homer) and in the 7th by Illinois, (a solo home run.) That meant our closer had a lot on her. There is something to be said about a stadium stomping out "Lets Go Blue," on aluminum bleachers. Speaking of stadiums, we have a nice one, a seriously nice one. Then again, all of our facilities are great. You see, unlike some big football schools, we actually spread the money around, and take care of all of our sports. (To be fair basketball and Hockey also bring in quite a bit of money as well.) Anyway, the game kept tension until the end, and the players had a lot of spirit. My personal favorite parts were the fact that three camera operators had to dodge foul balls, and the fact that the Illinois coach did not like it when her players were tagged out and made it very clear. To be honest, I couldn't tell. I will just trust that the umpires had a better view than me.
Oh Thursday, May 3rd, I decided to take a break from the office, and hit up the Len Paddock Invitational for both men's and women's track and field. I was going to skip out on Friday afternoon, but someone said there might be rain that day (there wasn't,) and it was just too nice to sit around in an office pretending to work. (I was waiting on data from collaborators.) On biking down there, I discovered that I made two mistakes. The first was that I didn't bring any sunscreen. That night I discovered that the left half of my face was kind of pink due to my facing north in the afternoon. I shielded my arms with my body. The second mistake was assuming that the format would be similar to outdoor track. I figured that the men or women would be doing a bunch of stuff all at once, and then the other gender would have it's turn. In stark contrast to the information overload of five simultaneous events of indoor track. Outdoor track meets go one event at a time. No wonder they take two days as opposed to half an afternoon. So, I got to watch the hammer throw, just the hammer throw. No, I have nothing against the hammer throw. In fact, I think all events are cool. It's just that I was expecting more. Still, our men threw and they threw well. There was a man from central that also threw really well. I think someone made a "Thor" joke. I'm guessing that is mandatory at every track meet. There were three things that stood out to me. The first was that there were not many spectators, which one would expect on a Thursday afternoon after the end of the school year. The second was that these dudes looked like they threw hammers. The throwing muscles were big, and the others not so much. Thirdly, you could always tell a bad throw by a cry of dismay. Also, I enjoyed it when a throw went wide and hit the safety fence. It gave a very satisfying clank.
After the men finished, it was the lady had a turn. I have to admit, that I left after one round, something about sunburn and more attempts at productivity at work. Anyway, the odd thing about the women, is I would not peg them as throwers like the men. I guess it is just because men can develop their muscles to much more than women. The women, just looked strong and athletic, but not sport specific. Anyway, our ladies outnumbered the competition, and they did a pretty good job out trowing them as well.
I really did enjoy the hammers flying through the air and taking out divots in the ground.
All that is left is baseball next week. I will probably shoot for the Thursday game against Nebraska. If I can't make it to any of the three games, then it is down to Columbus for the Big Ten Championship.
Bare with me, I am almost done. I admit that I have really slipped off as far as both attending and writing about sports, but we are almost done here people.
27 sports in a year will soon be 28!
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Rowing vs Yale, MSU, and OSU
On Saturday, March 31st I had the great idea of getting up at 5AM to drive down to Columbus. I had four main goals that towards which I had been looking for a very long time. Those goals were to, attend a Michigan Rowing Regatta, find an Ohio State Hockey Puck, attend a wedding where the lovely AJC becomes AJJ and catch the garter at said wedding. I accomplished two and a half of those goals. I had a couple of side goals as well.
Anyway, I always feel that Ohio is always in the way of whe9rever I am going. Even when I am going to a place in Ohio, Ohio is in the way. The same is with Indiana. (Go figure since I live in Michigan) Coincidentally, Bowling Green always appears to be on the way of where ever I am going in Ohio. I enjoy a good morning drive, even when I am running on about three hours of sleep and I could feel my brain shutting down before I got to the freeway. Thank God for coffee and doughnuts. I wonder if I am the first person to ever have that thought.
Well, I got to the park, and I was a bit late. I thought it was supposed to start at 9AM, but looking on the schedule the night before revealed a 7:30 start time. I was fine with showing up a little before 9 and just catching the second half. The problem with a 2000 meter straight race is that there is really nothing to do except listen to the announcement until the final stretch, and by then the race has pretty much been decided. Ug. Well we did quite well. I think we won all but one of our varsity races. Score! I am proud of the parents that showed up and stayed there for the event. Ohio State may have had a larger following, but we had a more consistent following. Just for the record, the schools were OSU, MSU, Mighican, and Yale. I give props for the Yale supporters. Of course, I started talking to the Michigan parents during the break. They were surprised that I had no connection with Michigan rowing yet I was there. They were also impressed at my reason for coming out. The whole every-sport-goal usually is not as impressive as you would think. I learned early that people want you to be interested in their sport, not just view them as another notch on your belt. Anyway, the parents (who thought I was still in high school until I started talking about my dissertation) were impressed enough with my goal to tell me to stick around afterwards and meet the girls. Yeah, I enjoy talking to the teams, but it looked like they were scattering, and I just didn't want to be creepy. So, now what? I had fun and there wasn't as much waiting as I thought there would be, but there was still quite a bit. I would certainly attend more events if we bothered hosting them. Our only home event this year is a weekend I have a wedding to attend in Maryland. What is it with rowing and weddings? I Guess there will be one the day of my wedding. (I am not even seeing anyone at the moment. so this all hypothetical)
Anyway, my first auxiliary goal was to sneak into Ohio Stadium. No dice. Actually, it is a rather nice structure, and the fact that it is mostly above ground does make it imposing. It is worthy of a rival.
My next actual goal was to find an OSU hockey puck. I searched for a bookstores and even employed the services of the Mad Latvian Slammer to do an electronic search. Needless to say, the first shop I found was not open. The next three I found did not have any hockey pucks and not because they were sold out. What is with this? Hockey is such an expensive yet niche sport that any school that has a team has to embrace the team even if they are not that good. By the way, OSU is usually pretty good. Even Bowling Green, with their atrocious record, has hockey pucks in their bookstore, except when people buy all of them. OSU didn't even try. That is why I can honestly hate OSU, because they don't have the sense to know how awesome college hockey is. So, I realized that I had lost track of time looking for the darn printed piece of black rubber, and I had to book it back to Toledo.
I had no time to stop by the Neil Armstrong Museum. I barely made the wedding. I had to change into a suit in the church bathroom from my Michigan gear in which I was wearing when I was literally running around Columbus looking for that darn puck. This comes naturally, having biked to an office job a couple of years before coming back to school. Anyway, my final goal, which was kind of sports related, was the garter catch, which let us be honest, is a really weird tradition that will not be at my wedding. Of course, I caught it. That makes six total. Because I caught it, I had to dance with the young lady who caught the bouquet, who was very nice to me despite me stepping on her toe. I should find out if I can dance with her again, but that is for a different blog.
Getting home, I was surprisingly tired after having driven only 424 miles on less than three hour of sleep.
So now I am up to 60 events.
Next up is men's and women's outdoor track and field in a couple of weeks. Then we will end it all with Baseball and Softball. Nothing says "summer" like a baseball game.
Looking forward to next year, I have already purchased hockey and football tickets. I just can't commit to all of the basketball games. Heck, I only went to one this year.
Anyway, I always feel that Ohio is always in the way of whe9rever I am going. Even when I am going to a place in Ohio, Ohio is in the way. The same is with Indiana. (Go figure since I live in Michigan) Coincidentally, Bowling Green always appears to be on the way of where ever I am going in Ohio. I enjoy a good morning drive, even when I am running on about three hours of sleep and I could feel my brain shutting down before I got to the freeway. Thank God for coffee and doughnuts. I wonder if I am the first person to ever have that thought.
Well, I got to the park, and I was a bit late. I thought it was supposed to start at 9AM, but looking on the schedule the night before revealed a 7:30 start time. I was fine with showing up a little before 9 and just catching the second half. The problem with a 2000 meter straight race is that there is really nothing to do except listen to the announcement until the final stretch, and by then the race has pretty much been decided. Ug. Well we did quite well. I think we won all but one of our varsity races. Score! I am proud of the parents that showed up and stayed there for the event. Ohio State may have had a larger following, but we had a more consistent following. Just for the record, the schools were OSU, MSU, Mighican, and Yale. I give props for the Yale supporters. Of course, I started talking to the Michigan parents during the break. They were surprised that I had no connection with Michigan rowing yet I was there. They were also impressed at my reason for coming out. The whole every-sport-goal usually is not as impressive as you would think. I learned early that people want you to be interested in their sport, not just view them as another notch on your belt. Anyway, the parents (who thought I was still in high school until I started talking about my dissertation) were impressed enough with my goal to tell me to stick around afterwards and meet the girls. Yeah, I enjoy talking to the teams, but it looked like they were scattering, and I just didn't want to be creepy. So, now what? I had fun and there wasn't as much waiting as I thought there would be, but there was still quite a bit. I would certainly attend more events if we bothered hosting them. Our only home event this year is a weekend I have a wedding to attend in Maryland. What is it with rowing and weddings? I Guess there will be one the day of my wedding. (I am not even seeing anyone at the moment. so this all hypothetical)
Anyway, my first auxiliary goal was to sneak into Ohio Stadium. No dice. Actually, it is a rather nice structure, and the fact that it is mostly above ground does make it imposing. It is worthy of a rival.
My next actual goal was to find an OSU hockey puck. I searched for a bookstores and even employed the services of the Mad Latvian Slammer to do an electronic search. Needless to say, the first shop I found was not open. The next three I found did not have any hockey pucks and not because they were sold out. What is with this? Hockey is such an expensive yet niche sport that any school that has a team has to embrace the team even if they are not that good. By the way, OSU is usually pretty good. Even Bowling Green, with their atrocious record, has hockey pucks in their bookstore, except when people buy all of them. OSU didn't even try. That is why I can honestly hate OSU, because they don't have the sense to know how awesome college hockey is. So, I realized that I had lost track of time looking for the darn printed piece of black rubber, and I had to book it back to Toledo.
I had no time to stop by the Neil Armstrong Museum. I barely made the wedding. I had to change into a suit in the church bathroom from my Michigan gear in which I was wearing when I was literally running around Columbus looking for that darn puck. This comes naturally, having biked to an office job a couple of years before coming back to school. Anyway, my final goal, which was kind of sports related, was the garter catch, which let us be honest, is a really weird tradition that will not be at my wedding. Of course, I caught it. That makes six total. Because I caught it, I had to dance with the young lady who caught the bouquet, who was very nice to me despite me stepping on her toe. I should find out if I can dance with her again, but that is for a different blog.
Getting home, I was surprisingly tired after having driven only 424 miles on less than three hour of sleep.
So now I am up to 60 events.
Next up is men's and women's outdoor track and field in a couple of weeks. Then we will end it all with Baseball and Softball. Nothing says "summer" like a baseball game.
Looking forward to next year, I have already purchased hockey and football tickets. I just can't commit to all of the basketball games. Heck, I only went to one this year.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
CCHA final game.
OK, its time for me to discuss our final CCHA game ever, fitting that it was the CCHA final.
Few things will draw me into a major city on St. Patrick's Day. Michigan Hockey is one of them. No one wanted to come with me so I purchased my seat the day of and drove to my favorite free parking spot in Detroit. (I am obsessed with free parking. Oddly it is also one of the safest places in the city to leave a car.)
Anyway, I head into the Joe Louis arena and take my second row seat. You know you have a good seat when the players obstruct your view. The atmosphere was odd because I honestly beleive there were more Western Michigan Fans than Michigan fans there, and they got loud. Our students still came out in what the media refereed to as "The lunatic section." Honestly, I liked the atmosphere and it was wonderful to get the Blues Brothers Intro going just one more time.
That being said, some times I just can't stand our team. We were so on-point during the first ten minutes. Then we just messed up once and lost our touch. We couldn't connect, and we couldn't disrupt. We didn't get it back until we were down two men and three goals with about ten minutes to go. Then, we lit a fire under our butts and pulled out a short-handed goal followed by a power play-goal on a major penalty. Then we threatened to score until the end of the game. We still lost, but I was hoping that the fire was reignited for the NCAA tournament. It was not.
I just don't know about this team. I honestly beleive that the players rely a little too much on their talent and don't actually start playing as a team until they are backed against the wall. I am kind of sick of it. I suppose I could rant quite a bit about this but a lot of people have.
What I will say is that I will be back next year. There is nothing like Michigan Hockey at Yost. I love that classic feeling of the old hockey barn. I love the band and the mandatory dancing. I love that win or lose we back our team. I love that we still create taunts on the fly. I love that there are people passionate about a sport that is not football. Honestly, there were few things better than leaving work on a Friday night and biking across town to catch a hockey game to start the weekend. An I love that I can skate on that ice every week. Hockey has been a wild ride with our crazy wins, losses and climbing back. I'm not sure if I can handle another year of heart wrenching disappointment. However, I know that we are already a contender for next year. I think it would be slightly easier if we weren't expected to go deep every year, but that is the price that we pay.
This weekend I will be heading down to Columbus early Saturday morning to cheer on our women's rowing team. I'd invite you to come with me, but I will be probably heading to a wedding on the way back.
Few things will draw me into a major city on St. Patrick's Day. Michigan Hockey is one of them. No one wanted to come with me so I purchased my seat the day of and drove to my favorite free parking spot in Detroit. (I am obsessed with free parking. Oddly it is also one of the safest places in the city to leave a car.)
Anyway, I head into the Joe Louis arena and take my second row seat. You know you have a good seat when the players obstruct your view. The atmosphere was odd because I honestly beleive there were more Western Michigan Fans than Michigan fans there, and they got loud. Our students still came out in what the media refereed to as "The lunatic section." Honestly, I liked the atmosphere and it was wonderful to get the Blues Brothers Intro going just one more time.
That being said, some times I just can't stand our team. We were so on-point during the first ten minutes. Then we just messed up once and lost our touch. We couldn't connect, and we couldn't disrupt. We didn't get it back until we were down two men and three goals with about ten minutes to go. Then, we lit a fire under our butts and pulled out a short-handed goal followed by a power play-goal on a major penalty. Then we threatened to score until the end of the game. We still lost, but I was hoping that the fire was reignited for the NCAA tournament. It was not.
I just don't know about this team. I honestly beleive that the players rely a little too much on their talent and don't actually start playing as a team until they are backed against the wall. I am kind of sick of it. I suppose I could rant quite a bit about this but a lot of people have.
What I will say is that I will be back next year. There is nothing like Michigan Hockey at Yost. I love that classic feeling of the old hockey barn. I love the band and the mandatory dancing. I love that win or lose we back our team. I love that we still create taunts on the fly. I love that there are people passionate about a sport that is not football. Honestly, there were few things better than leaving work on a Friday night and biking across town to catch a hockey game to start the weekend. An I love that I can skate on that ice every week. Hockey has been a wild ride with our crazy wins, losses and climbing back. I'm not sure if I can handle another year of heart wrenching disappointment. However, I know that we are already a contender for next year. I think it would be slightly easier if we weren't expected to go deep every year, but that is the price that we pay.
This weekend I will be heading down to Columbus early Saturday morning to cheer on our women's rowing team. I'd invite you to come with me, but I will be probably heading to a wedding on the way back.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Michigan Hockey CCHA playoffs
I was a bit late for Friday's game against Notre Dame. I missed our first goal. I had to wait 72 minutes of game-time to see another goal sored by us. That's right, we went into double overtime. I can honestly say this was the best hockey game played by Michigan in i have ever seen. Both teams were amazing on the breakaway, and given the incredible shots that were taken its hard to believe that the score was only 2-1 after over 83 minutes of play. Both goalies were on fire.
To add incredibility they announced the overtime basketball score during the game. Needless to say, (but I will say it anyway) the crowd went nuts. Double overtime was intense, but the most amazing thing happened. No, I do not mean that the band ran out of music to play, although they did. Michigan started playing offense. We actually had organized plays and ran the cycle. It was crazy. We stepped it up and we won.
What I was worried about was that the next day we would revert back to our old ways. Boy was I relieved.We played as a team all 60 minutes. That's right, we were able to win this one in regulation. We set up the cycle, passed very well, and owned the neutral zone using team tactics. Part of this I think was that the double overtime along with coming off a tough series against Ohio State just took to much out of Notre Dame. They just didn't have the fire or the speed. I am pretty sure that the linesman who kept getting in the way was their best defender To be fair we were a bit sluggish too, and there were several times when the puck just kind of bounced around and everyone watched it. Both teams fell over themselves too. I joked that we needed to keep two sets of stats for players. Icetime and time on the ice. Anyway, we were tired but we kept on the attack, and were rewarded with a 3-1 victory. The one goal is were Notre Dame caught us asleep (or just a bit too cocky) after our third goal. The game ended with us killing a penalty with a 6-4 disadvantage. We killed it beautifully.
As for the atmosphere, what could you want for our last CCHA home game? How about some shoe throwing? Well the kids riding the Zamboni machines wouldn't throw their shoes, but both drivers did. The Blues Brother's into lasted just a little longer and tasted just a little sweeter for the last game. Seriously, if you have not been to Yost for the second intermission, you are missing out. Also the student section went nuts when they realized Brady "The Incredible" Hoke and Al "Gorgeous" Borges were there. I think we were all astounded to see Brady Hoke wearing sleeves. Also, he hardly sat the entire game. Al Borges left a little before the end of the game to the chant of "Gorgeous Borges."
As fore defeating Notre Dame, we felt kind of bad taunting them all game, and then eliminating them, even though we didn't need the victory to get to the tournament. Some of the band taunts were pretty long. They took it pretty hard, but we had a streak to maintain. 23 straight appearances in the CCHA final rounds is something to write home about. Well that is about it. Lets see if we can't squeeze one more conference championship out of the CCHA before we extend our record setting streak for tournament appearances to 22.
To add incredibility they announced the overtime basketball score during the game. Needless to say, (but I will say it anyway) the crowd went nuts. Double overtime was intense, but the most amazing thing happened. No, I do not mean that the band ran out of music to play, although they did. Michigan started playing offense. We actually had organized plays and ran the cycle. It was crazy. We stepped it up and we won.
What I was worried about was that the next day we would revert back to our old ways. Boy was I relieved.We played as a team all 60 minutes. That's right, we were able to win this one in regulation. We set up the cycle, passed very well, and owned the neutral zone using team tactics. Part of this I think was that the double overtime along with coming off a tough series against Ohio State just took to much out of Notre Dame. They just didn't have the fire or the speed. I am pretty sure that the linesman who kept getting in the way was their best defender To be fair we were a bit sluggish too, and there were several times when the puck just kind of bounced around and everyone watched it. Both teams fell over themselves too. I joked that we needed to keep two sets of stats for players. Icetime and time on the ice. Anyway, we were tired but we kept on the attack, and were rewarded with a 3-1 victory. The one goal is were Notre Dame caught us asleep (or just a bit too cocky) after our third goal. The game ended with us killing a penalty with a 6-4 disadvantage. We killed it beautifully.
As for the atmosphere, what could you want for our last CCHA home game? How about some shoe throwing? Well the kids riding the Zamboni machines wouldn't throw their shoes, but both drivers did. The Blues Brother's into lasted just a little longer and tasted just a little sweeter for the last game. Seriously, if you have not been to Yost for the second intermission, you are missing out. Also the student section went nuts when they realized Brady "The Incredible" Hoke and Al "Gorgeous" Borges were there. I think we were all astounded to see Brady Hoke wearing sleeves. Also, he hardly sat the entire game. Al Borges left a little before the end of the game to the chant of "Gorgeous Borges."
As fore defeating Notre Dame, we felt kind of bad taunting them all game, and then eliminating them, even though we didn't need the victory to get to the tournament. Some of the band taunts were pretty long. They took it pretty hard, but we had a streak to maintain. 23 straight appearances in the CCHA final rounds is something to write home about. Well that is about it. Lets see if we can't squeeze one more conference championship out of the CCHA before we extend our record setting streak for tournament appearances to 22.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Men's Lacrosse
On Wednesday, I took a break from my other project to catch the second half of the Lacrosse game against Loyola Maryland. I came in the second half and we were trailing 3-9. When the game ended we trailed 8-15. What do you expect from what is essentially a glorified club team? I expect a core following and flashes of brilliance. In stead, I got awkward execution but dedicated Lacrosse and Michigan fans. It just wasn't the thumping of Concordia Wisconsin from last fall.
As for the attendance, the game was held at Oosterbaan field house, and it was pretty much packed, which is a testament for Michigan fans but also a testament to th size of the place. I was half expecting someone to get beaned with a stray pass since everyone was within 6 feet of the sideline. No one did, thankfully. The Loyola parents were a bit on the vicious side but not bad. Our parents were just happy to be there. Wait until actually start playing in the big house. I don't think we will start packing it, but it will start to feel like home.
On the plus side, it was the first sporting event this year to which I got to bike. It was glorious.
OK, now I will jump ahead to Selection Sunday! Do I think Michigan got a fair shake in seeding? Yes. How will we do? I haven't a clue. We are small, but tough. If we get how we can knock off any team in the bracket. If we aren't, then it is going to be a short run. We are less of an all or nothing team than we were last year, but we still have a bit of that when we play tougher opponents. I'm just glad the team is back to prominence. I think we could win it all next year.
I probably won't talk much about Basketball for the rest of the year. I will ramble about Hockey in my next post.
As for the attendance, the game was held at Oosterbaan field house, and it was pretty much packed, which is a testament for Michigan fans but also a testament to th size of the place. I was half expecting someone to get beaned with a stray pass since everyone was within 6 feet of the sideline. No one did, thankfully. The Loyola parents were a bit on the vicious side but not bad. Our parents were just happy to be there. Wait until actually start playing in the big house. I don't think we will start packing it, but it will start to feel like home.
On the plus side, it was the first sporting event this year to which I got to bike. It was glorious.
OK, now I will jump ahead to Selection Sunday! Do I think Michigan got a fair shake in seeding? Yes. How will we do? I haven't a clue. We are small, but tough. If we get how we can knock off any team in the bracket. If we aren't, then it is going to be a short run. We are less of an all or nothing team than we were last year, but we still have a bit of that when we play tougher opponents. I'm just glad the team is back to prominence. I think we could win it all next year.
I probably won't talk much about Basketball for the rest of the year. I will ramble about Hockey in my next post.
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