Nerves

The great Don Richards may have said something along these lines, "You must prepare like they are going to crush you, but you need to go in there like nothing can touch you."
I have no clue what the Michigan football team has been going through this week, but let me explain why I have been more nervous about this upcoming game than I have about any other game in my life.
Upon hearing the northwestern score I knew we were not invincible. We've been saying that we were overrated for weeks, now but now that is being put to the test. We know we can't go in there and expect an easy win. Over the weekend I thought about several factors. The first is that Michigan State is a very good team this year. The second is that they have had two weeks to prepare exclusively for us. The third, as we all know is that for the past couple of years, we have been on hot streaks until the State game, and then our seasons went downhill. So by the time I got to a computer on Monday, I was thoroughly nervous and wandering how we were preparing. What I got on Monday was reflection of how we could win against Northwestern. I don't need to hear about Northwestern. On Tuesday and Wednesday, I wanted to hear about how our practices were going, still more reflection. This did not inspire confidence in me. We are going to be facing our toughest challenge to date (only because they have more time to prepare than Notre Dame)  How are we preparing? Thursday, I hear nothing.
Needless to say I am a ball of nerves. I remember going to the office thinking two things, 1) I was not sure if I was going to get any sleep tonight, and 2) I would need a drink before the end of the day, but that is a different story. Anyway, my attitude changed when I read the dueling columns int h Michigan Daily today. Michigan talks about how State is our rival, but no one really cares. State said that Michigan is arrogant and needs to acknowledge them as an equal.
That got me thinking. Do I consider State a rival? Yes. This game carries a lot of bragging rights, but as the second most loud-mouthed person in my department pointed out (I am number one, in case you were wondering) we are more concerned with winning championships than rivalry games (Except for OSU which will get its own post.) We need to win. We don't beg others to tell us we are as good as them. We simply let our actions show that we are the best. Yes we are arrogant, but that arrogance rests on tangible proof. So no, we are not going to be Voldimort to State's Harry Potter. We will not obsess about defeating them after elevating them to our level. We are simply contenders and we need wins. So now I have the attitude that we will get one tomorrow.

A little analysis:
 That being said, they are frightening team this year. I sure hope that we are not preparing for a grind out game. What very well may happen is that State's offense will pull out all of the stops early and they will take a commanding lead (possibly with trick plays). Then they can rely on a trenches game to hold us complacent.
If we are going to win this one, we need to just hammer them with everything we got. If we can turn this into an offensive shootout, I think we can win it, especially, if we can get in there and rattle Curt Cousins a bit.
If we succeed, great, we get some bragging rights and we remain contenders. If we lose, we take the lessons, and push forward. An 11 and 1 season will still get everyone's attention, and put us up front in the championship race next year. Besides, who says we still woudln't win the division?

Also, this weekend, I will be attending the Field Hockey game on Sunday.  We are facing off against number 6 Penn State. more to come.