A pair of safeties.

They say the definition of a rivalry is that one fears losing more than one desires to win. I couldn't agree more. While the game is a nice capstone to the season, it doesn't really prove all of that much. However, what it avoids is a very stinging shame for yet another year.
As for the game. I was honestly expecting one team to bring it and the other team to, well not. I thought it would be pretty obvious by the end of the first quarter. It wasn't, but we kept ahead. As for the game, if you were a Michigan fan and felt that you you paid too much for your ticket, then you are not actually a Michigan fan.

I showed up an hour early and the stands were full within a half hour. What was strange about it is that we were not just excited about the home team. We were anxious about the visiting team. I have never really experienced that. Part of what makes Ohio State a worthy rival is that they show up as the team to beat. It starts with the fans. They took over a lot of one side and peppered themselves throughout the stadium, and they made themselves known throughout the game. Their band was spot-on despite the difficulty of their arrangements, and their traditions are actually fun to watch (American flags and running on shoulders). They came in with all of the pomp one would expect. They played well, but not as well as us, for once. Braxton Miller will be force next year. However, Denard Robinson had shown himself to be a force right now.

So we won, It was odd, a seven year monkey off our back. We all knew what we were going to do. We needed it to mark the release. The celebration spilled onto the field, but it certainly took its time. We waited for the players to exit before we went on, and even then it was slow. It had something to do with the six foot drop. Still, what does one do when storming the field? Bounce up and down, sing along, take pictures, mill around, I did all of those. I joined in chants of "B-C-S" and "Bra-dy-Hoke." Then we left. Michigan Stadium is not made for rapid field evacuations. Even the teams take a while. We ended up walking up some stands on the side of the field to get back over the wall.
On matters of control, the students were pretty well behaved. Circles of police surrounded the goal posts. I did see one injured girl being carted off the field. My guess is that it had something to do with the drop. I can only hope that it wasn't because someone fell on her. Blarg!

Anyway, what does it mean? It's hard to believe that we are really on top. A ten win season, undefeated at home with a number of wins on which to hang our hats, and lacking the embarrassment of an eight straight loss to OSU, what more could we want? How about the Big Ten and National Championships? Yes, I said it. It's what we want. Still, we have to love this year. We are also confident to take on whomever we get in whatever bowl game we get.
Next year is going to be tougher. We start against Alabama, and a lot of the chaos in the Big Ten will settle out. OSU will be a tough team. Why am I talking about this? Because, I do not look at this season as the end of anything. It is not an accomplishment, per-say. It is only the beginning. I am looking forward to the long and storied era of the Brady Hoke vs Urban Meyer.

On a side note, I attended the NIU-EMU game yesterday. I of course rooted for NIU. There was everything I would want in a game, mainly, my team scored a safety and we won. Huskie stadium is pretty nice with its internal facilities (including a gymnastics gymnasium,) but it does not lend itself to the field storming because of the ten to twelve foot drop. Anyway, I am impressed that NIU kept it together even with Coach Kill leaving. I apologize to all of you who has adopted EMU as their local MAC team, since it is not bowl eligible thanks to NIU. I am hearing good things on the recruiting side of EMU. It would be cool to see them turn around what can best be described as "The Rodney Dangerfield of College Football."

Tomorrow is the Men's Hockey game against Union College.

PS. I am watching the Stanford vs Notre Dame, and their shiny helmets are just mesmerizing me.

Now what?

OK so I officially wrote two articles for the school paper.
http://www.michigandaily.com/sports/wolverines-place-15th-overall-ncaa-championships-terre-haute
http://www.michigandaily.com/sports/michigan-runners-place-20th-ncaa-nationals

I am also getting sick of writing, and I need to prevent burnout.

I attended the basketball game on Monday by sneaking into the student section. While I appreciate that we started the game by being 21-0, I would hardly call it a run. It was more like Towson forgot how to score.
Lets be tough; turning down the lights and blasting music is a little too NBA. We do not want a player lockout. Forming a line of cheerleaders is a little high-school. Still, I would take a little bit of immaturity over unnecessary show. Can't we just run out to the fight song with everyone looking on? Maybe we could be lead out by the mascot? Oh wait, we don't have one, and my idea of making the rocket man out mascot has a few foreseeable obstacles for a basketball arena.

Training for the paper?
I don't think I can attend another sorting event not in the press box. Forget the student section. The press box has snacks and lots of pertinent reading material. Still the downside of the  press box is that you have to wear team neutral clothing and cannot celebrate after a big play.
Thus was my training for the paper. The only problem is that I doubt I will ever enter one again. I might have a bit of a personality conflict with the daily staff. I will not discuss that here. I have no real complaints, and would not discourage anyone else for writing for them.
I was glad to see my two favorite big ten teams go at it in a tough volleyball game. If you don't know me, those teams are Northwestern and Michigan.

Road warrior points and a complete freek out;
Let is not be said that I did not support the cross country teams this year. Why did I drive 6 hours and spend the night in Indiana, because I agreed to do so. The national meet was cold and wet (perfect cross country weather), and we didn't make it as top teams. That being said, the interviews were really fun. I found it quite easy to talk to the coaches and runners, which is odd because I hate talking to people. I guess when I am talking about something I like, it isn't that hard. I got some good stuff. It's kind of disappointing that I had to leave a few great parts out of the articles because they didn't really fit the angle of the story. I will hang onto coach Gibby saying, "I don't beleive in moral victories in athletics." I would like to write up more events. We will see how it goes.

Utter disappointment in hockey with some rude Ohio State fans:
 Not much to say about the Hockey game, other than the OSU fans are not as polite to the guy who gives the one minute warning at the game. It is better to be the on the nicer side of a rivalry. We did not paly our best in either game. I blame the home whites. We always play better when we wear the yellow uniforms. I don't know why.

What can I say about the football game? I'm kind of getting tired of standing around in the cold, but this week will see my last outdoor event of the season. It was a packed house to see our best win in the past four years. I have been looking forward to this game all year. I don't know why people thought that Nebraska would just walk over the big ten this year. Just because a team can consistently beat Kansas and Colorado but lose to any given team from Texas or Oklahoma, does not mean it can waltz through the Big Ten. We aren't the Big East. We actually play competitive football here. I like how the video boards shared my sentiment when they displayed, "Welcome to the Big House."
On a side note I think football analysts need to have shorter memories when it comes to assessing the strength of a football team and program, but that is a topic for a different day.

Looking forward. Tomorrow I head back to Illinois, where I will hopefully be able to catch NIU sealing the Mac West Championship for the second year in a row. I may also eat a big turkey dinner with my family.
Then I am back to Ann Arbor for The Game. The Game is an odd thing. It's like all other sports don't matter compared to it. It's like records are gone, and all there is at that time is a field, two teams, and over 100,000 a lot of noisy fans. It's like all of sports begins at kickoff, and then goes back on hold when the final seconds tick off the clock.

A new endevor.

As I said before, I feel very awkward when there are no other spectators. For cross country I ended up standing around the awards ceremony,the teams started filling in around me. I didn't know anyone and I felt like a creep. Why? I know they appreciate the fans, but I don't really feel like a fan. I can't even bring myself to congratulate the teams. I am socially awkward.
OK, are you ready for my means around the awkwardness. I will now be covering sporting events for the Michigan Daily. I have to shadow another reporter at the volleyball match which means I will have to miss the hockey game. However, on Monday, I head off to my first assignment, the cross country nationals in Terre Huate Indiana. W00t! I will be missing class for it. I don't care.

Andrew Crow
Michigan Daily, Corresponding Reporter

Let's hear it for running

I went on location to Toledo on the Ottawa golf course, where my good friend AJC (No relation) ran her city meets in high school. It was an absolutely perfect day for a meet. It was cool enough to make running pleasant, but not so bad as to make it painful to stand still.
For the men, I showed up at the gunshot. The men stayed surprisingly clumped together through the first half. Michigan had a great showing, staying in the top teams throughout the first half half. They passed up Notre Dame (who have some serious fans) to take third. Indiana fought a war of attrition to take second and Wisconsin began in first and ended by their five runners crossing shoulder to shoulder just because they could. Wisconsin is yet to no make it to nationals since the system was put in place. While Michigan does not Automatically qualify, they stand a good chance of getting to nationals on time.
I was considering not staying for the women's race, but I am glad I did. The women tended to break up much more quickly, which is understandable as the race was shorter. Our women pushed it better than I have ever seen.  We dominated. Our top ladies were first, second, fourth and eighth in the overall scoring. They earned a first place finish and a trip to the nationals in Terre Haute Indiana a week from Monday. I am half inclined to skip class and head down there.
A bit of commenting on spectating. First off spectating a Cross Country race involves running. You have to beat the runners to the next viewing location. Thankfully they have a longer trip to go. We'll I wouldn't have a problem, maybe. Anyway the spectators do have one restriction on how they can get to the next location, they cannot interfere with the race. This was not a problem with the men, because the men were so clumped together. The women, had a problem though. People got impatient and started moving between the runners in droves. This was complete disregaurd for the sport. I am disapointed. Boo.

As for being a spectator, I always feel so weird being there. Cross country spectators are essentially a few parents the other gender's team and the the track and field teams. Since I am not a member of these teams, I feel really out of place. I can talk to a relative or two, but that is about it. There was a woman taking notes, I was not sure if she was working for the paper or the school. I asked her if she was working for the Michigan Daily. It turns out she was working for my second guess and one of my favorite websites, mgoblue.com. She said that the daily would not send anyone to the meet. I feel i must rectify this. I am heading the daily sports meeting tomorrow. I will volunteer to cover any minor sport I can, including the national championship for cross country, and possibly the field hockey championship if we upset UNC tomorrow. What this means is that I will actually have to start writing in an interesting manner.

Weighing in.

It is odd, I don't have any work to do this weekend? Do you think that means I would spend more time with sports. To be honest sports are a distraction. A free weekend means I don't need to get distracted. It also means that I am not tied to A2 this weekend. I might take off for Illinois (That has nothing to do with football), or perhaps some state which I have never visited. New Jersey? Nah, I think I'll head out there for a crew meet. That being said, I will head down to Toledo for the NCAA great lakes cross country regional. It is an excuse to get out of the house. Getting out of the house might actually take precedence over sports. I actually, may not stay for the entire race. I only need to punch my card for a mens event. I have no clue what to do on this beautiful day.
I realize that after my last post, I need to explain why it is so great to be a Michigan Wolverine. I will explain soon.
Finally, I will just say my piece on the scandal. First off, the outrage is what happened to the children. Let us not forget about that. They are the ones for whom we should be concerned. Secondly, the players and students are just caught up in this. Do not blame or punish them. Finally, who do we blame. I will save the discussion of sin and the nature there of at a later time. Everyone has an opinion on who is innocent and guilty, I will not sway that with what I say. I will let the fallout happen. Its all I can do.

Halfway there.

Lets be honest. In the fall, there is no place I would rather be than Ann Arbor Michigan. Last week, I got some lovely pictures of the foliage on campus. This week, we had some beautiful rainstorms. Before you ask why I like the rain, Midwestern storms are awesome. They can come up quickly, and allow for sunshine and blue skies interspersed between downpours. I got in my necessary Guns'n'Roses fix for the month. Finally, last night a little bit of snow stuck to the ground, but then the moon came out, beautiful. Why do I say this? I say all of this because there is no place better to be than Ann Arbor, and there is no better team to root for than the local Michigan Wolverines, even when things do not turn out so well.

I attempted to attend 5 events last weekend. I will explain as follows.
The first event on the roster was the Belleville Classic. I skipped out on work early Friday just to attend. I decided that such classy events as crew races deserve classy gear. I picked up a pennant, hat, and scarf before the race. There is something comforting in wrapping oneself in maize and blue. So the quick trip out to Belleville yeilded two things. First, the crew teams are in an awesome location. Second, it appears that the only competitive event for the fall was the Head of the Charles in which they took 3rd. Way to go ladies. The Belleville Classic is mainly a scrimmage, and it didn't have a set start time. The teams started arriving at 4 and probably wouldn't have raced until 6. I decided to head home and pile all of my Michigan gear on my bed. I love a good lump of school spirit.

I just want to say that some of these minor sports, especially the ones with individual events, need to communicate a little better. Is it competitive or an exhibition? Who is involved? What is the order of the day? Most game based-sport are pretty clear about all of these things.

Next it was the Men's swimming and diving meet against Indiana and Texas. While it was on-time and we knew who was competing, they never gave an order of events on the sheet. So I had to make a judgement call as to how long to stay. Altogether, the Natatorium is an awesome building, and I admire the families that came from Texas to spectate. I sat by myself in the Michigan Section (There were other Michigan fans at a distance), but slowly a high school team started arriving and filling in around me until I was completely surrounded. Altogeteher it looked like Texas was winning because they kept beating us on the turns, boo, and I had to decide weather to stay or hit up the hockey game. I already paid for my hockey tickets so the decision was pretty easy. A few thoughts were raised about cheering for swimming. First, obviously, it is hard for the participants to hear the supporters and then, only intermittently. So, the teams encourage their racers intermittently. Personally, I would like to create some unique intermittent cheers for our team, or we could just get really loud such that one could hear it when plunging ones head in water. That room is great for reflecting sound.
Next up, the Hockey game. I took the long walk across the parking lot to catch my Wolverines taking on the Western Michigan Broncos. I made sure to ware my fedora to the game, because Yost is classy like that. As far as well-played games went. It was awesome. There were few penalties and a lot of well done plays. A kicked-in goal by our own keeper is kind of a disappointing. Western got winning it with less than a minute to go(not the kicked in one.) I could see it coming with the way they were pushing. Personally, I would rather lose in the last minute of regulation than the first minute of overtime. It certainly created an emotional rush.
The next morning was woman's swimming. Let me start off by saying two things. First, swimming is the one sport where the women show significantly less than the men. They are dressed to race. The men are too, but the just ware the bare minimum. Actually, if you are a lady, you might want to consider hitting a men's meet which its muscular men who ware almost nothing. Anyway, I digress. My other comment is that the ladies were kind enough to put the schedule of events on the program. That way I could better know what the heck was going on. Our ladies tried their best, but fell to both Florida and Stanford, both of which were very tough competitors. Everyone put forth great efforts which made it fun to watch. I really don't know what to take away from it all, except that I really like swimming pools. Also, swimming is a weird sport, where the one who looks like they are putting forth the least effort are winning. I guess that means they are being the most efficient. Swimming is a sport of efficiency.
Next up sitting on my couch and watching football. I live doing that, but watching us not punch it in the endzone with four tries, is a little hard on the heart, especially after the previous games I watched.
Given some personally, issues, I decided that I needed some alone time. Where better to be alone than in a crowd of rowdy students? So, I hit up the soccer game. Our men took on Northwestern. If you know my history, you know I support my Wildcats, but not over my wolverines. I would say we were playing quite well. I don't have any major comments except that the student section brings drums, awesome. A game winning goal by Northwestern int eh last few minutes seems like the only natural way for it to end. It was disappointing again.
Needless to say, I was getting kind of tired of this emotional roller coaster that sports were doing to me. However, I am reminded of "Beauty and the Beast:" "Anyone else would like to be you, Gaston, even when taking your lumps." That is right it is better to be a disappointed Michigan fan than any other fan out there. So pick ourselves up and continue cheering for the teams we love with the best fans in college sports.
The second hockey game of the weekend, turned out much better. We ripped it open and played hard. The kid who shot the goal during intermission, did a nice little touchdown dance. That was also nice. When Western Pulled their goalie, we started chanting "Better goalie." Which was the case. Their goalie, allowed four goals, while the open net only allowed one. It was good to have a victory and it took the sting off of the losses but it did not make up for them. Another thing which took the sting away, was that our men's swimming team pulled it out and won the meet on Saturday securing them a number one ranking in the nation awesome!
Next up: The NCAA regional cross country meets in Toledo on Saturday. I may also, snag a ticket for the basketball game tonight.

Part 2, I guess.

I apologize for not updating about last weekend until now. I have four past events and 4 future events to talk about.

Past events 1 and 2: Thursday night hockey against Ferris State. OK so Ferris State was supposedly really good. We just dropped one to Northern Michigan. This should have been a tough game. I think what I saw could best be described as handling them. Its something about how int he first half we could just take it away from them between the blue lines consistently, that was pretty awesome. Anyway, I am not going to be a sports reporter here. I just think we played well, and we were not trying to be overly fancy like we were against UOIT. As always, we played better on the PK than on the  powerplay. My theory as to why a lot of teams do this is because on the powerplay a team does not have to be aggressive. Therefore, they are not. On a PK a team must be aggressive. Their aggression more than makes up for the missing man. Also, no icing is a huge advantage when you are trying to score. There were a few weird notes though. First, I was kind of late, and as I ran up to the bleachers the usher actually stopped me and made me wait until the whistle. I have never experienced that at a sporting event before. I think it is kind of classy. That means I will have to where my fedora to the future games. I said there was something about Yost that brought us back into the past. The other thing was that when Ferris State pulled their goalie, we stole the puck before he could get off the ice. He turned back to the goal but it was too late. In desperation, he threw his stick at the puck. It did not work. Even if it did work, it would have resulted in a penalty shot. Still, I woudl take a penalty shot over an open net goal any day. Besides, goalies do not have to serve their own penalties.
The next game was a much tighter, and much better played game on our part. There is not much to say except Farris state had a different man in net that game. Michigan's man in net, Shawn Hunwick, played very well, and posted a shutout. Gotta love a shutout.
Past event 3: Football vs, Purdue.
Yes we shut down Purdue except for the opening and closing drives. Yeah, we got the all important safety, my favourite kind of score. However, much like I am more pleased about the MSU game the more I think about it. The more I think about the Purdue game, the less pleased I am about it. Why did we get a penalty when we had them backed up to the one yard line? Why did we trip over ourselves on the opening drive? Why did Gardner throw it straight to a Purdue player? If we want to win the four remaining games, these things are unacceptable. I guess I cannot complain too much. A solid win is still a solid win. I don't have any good stories for this game. The girls behind us didn't know the rules. That was kind of amusing. Next up  is Iowa who still control their own destiny in the Big Ten. No really, look up their schedule. I would not count out them at home. I may not watch the game.

Finally, there was field hockey. Michigan vs. Stanford, a top twenty five matchup. We outplayed them in the first half, we outplayed them hard. They got a lucky goal,and their goalie was a monster. In the second half, it is less that they outplayed us, and more that we were not the surgeons that we usually were. It was a hard way to end a season especially when the shot ratio so heavily favored us. Next up the Big Ten tournament. We already have the regular season crown. I would hardly call the season a wash.
Field hockey wrapup. I have no clue as to why I watched so many of the games. I still don't quite understand what the rules are. It was probably because our ladies were so good that they made it worth watching. While I don't really know anything about the team, I can at least say that I supported them. Maybe I will follow them a bit closer. Mgoblue has had some profiles and whatnot. Good luck ladies. You are fantastic.
On a side note, a pair of Michigan rowers were in the stands and they brought along with them the cutest little puppy. I was half tempted to go up to them and ask to pet it. Isn't that why people bring dogs to events anyway? Ah, missed opportunities.


This makes a good transition.
Tomorrow at 4 in lake Belleville there is the Belleville Classic. I don't have much to say about rowing except it is one of the classier college sports. I feel as though , I need a scarf and a pennant to properly watch the event.

What: The Belleville Classic
Who: Michigan, and someone else, I suppose. I can't find out much.
When 4PM, Friday November 4th
Where: Belleville Lake (Van Buren Park, I think)

OK, now I have a decision to make about men's swimming. If the rowing even is over by 5:30-6:00
I can catch part of the men's swimming at 6 PM. Otherwise I have to hit it up at noon on Saturday. This would interfere with watching the football game. I do have a question, why does my spellchecker not recognize "Natatorium?" Anyway, I don't know what to say about swimming at the moment. I may be board out of my mind, but I think the building will be cool.

What: Men's swimming and diving
Who: Michigan, vs Indian and Texas
Where:Canham Natatorium
When: 6 PM Friday November 4th or 12 PM Saturday November 5th

Women's swimming
About the same as the men's I guess. The event is at 9 AM on a Saturday. I'm not even out of bed by that time during the week. Ug. It's a labor of love. I am looking forward to another Stanford event. I am partial to Stanford. I may end up working there when I am done with this silly degree. However, I feel a need for some vindication after the field hockey game.

What: Women's swimming diving
Who: Michigan vs Florida and Stanford
Where: Canham Natatorium
When: 9 AM Saturday November 5th

Finally, Ice Hockey. We have  a pair of games against Western Michigan. Let us se how we fair against another top ten team. Will we shut them down like the last team? It is a possibility. We are playing very well right now. The funny thing, is that every time this year I will have seen Michigan play Western Michigan it will be in three period games, unless it goes to OT. That would make up for the football game.

What: Ice Hockey
Who: Michgian vs Western Michigan
Where: Yost Ice Arena (Parking will be a pain on Friday)
When: 7:30 PM Friday November 4th and 7:30 PM Saturday November 5th.