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.