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.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Men's gymnastics
So, I got to the Gymnastics meet a little bit late. Overtime on senior night can do that to you. Walking in, I was expecting to have to tell someone the final score, and I was not disappointed.
So, it appears that men have more events than women in gymnastics: vault, rings, high bar, parallel bars, floor exercises, and Pommel horse. I will never think of the Pommel horse the same way after that The Blanks concert, something about a grown man trying to eat a toupee. You had to be there.
Anyway Michigan had two men who were chosen to compete for the national team. It was pretty obvious who they were. Actually, the whole event was pretty well striated. For some reason the teams were Michigan, Ohio State, and SUNY Brockport. Talk about being a third wheel. No really, stop reading this, go and find someone, and discuss being the odd man out in awkward situations. Come back when you are done. OK, welcome back. Anyway, it was easy to tell that the men of Brockport were not going to win any championships. Their routines were pretty rudimentary. That being said, just being able to to that much is more than I would venture. Ohio state woudl follow them and put together a pretty impressive performance. I think the OSU guy was reading my mind on the parallel bars because he did whatever I was thinking. Maybe I was reading his mind, and I just heard what he was planning. That doesn't make sense. It was too calm in my head. It must have been the coach's mind. After OSU was done. The Michigan guys would come and give some performances that were roughly better than the OSU performances, and some that took it to the next level. It was a fun event, but I don't have the greatest desire to watch dudes in spandex swinging around. that being said, they are very good at it.
My next event is tomorrow night. Field Hockey at the Oosterbaan field house at 7. After that there are the CCHA playoff games on Friday and Saturday. These are special because they will be the last CCHA games to be hosted by Michigan. Next year the Big Ten forms its own hockey conference.
So, it appears that men have more events than women in gymnastics: vault, rings, high bar, parallel bars, floor exercises, and Pommel horse. I will never think of the Pommel horse the same way after that The Blanks concert, something about a grown man trying to eat a toupee. You had to be there.
Anyway Michigan had two men who were chosen to compete for the national team. It was pretty obvious who they were. Actually, the whole event was pretty well striated. For some reason the teams were Michigan, Ohio State, and SUNY Brockport. Talk about being a third wheel. No really, stop reading this, go and find someone, and discuss being the odd man out in awkward situations. Come back when you are done. OK, welcome back. Anyway, it was easy to tell that the men of Brockport were not going to win any championships. Their routines were pretty rudimentary. That being said, just being able to to that much is more than I would venture. Ohio state woudl follow them and put together a pretty impressive performance. I think the OSU guy was reading my mind on the parallel bars because he did whatever I was thinking. Maybe I was reading his mind, and I just heard what he was planning. That doesn't make sense. It was too calm in my head. It must have been the coach's mind. After OSU was done. The Michigan guys would come and give some performances that were roughly better than the OSU performances, and some that took it to the next level. It was a fun event, but I don't have the greatest desire to watch dudes in spandex swinging around. that being said, they are very good at it.
My next event is tomorrow night. Field Hockey at the Oosterbaan field house at 7. After that there are the CCHA playoff games on Friday and Saturday. These are special because they will be the last CCHA games to be hosted by Michigan. Next year the Big Ten forms its own hockey conference.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Northern Michigan Hockey Part 2
OK, this is why I should not wait two weeks to do the update. If you want to know what is distracting me, see my other blogger site.
So it was senior night and my entire seating group was absent, seriously, people. Those seats made up a good portion of the empty spots that night. The reason why I am most disappointed is because I could have found takers for those seats. Blargus!
Anyway, the game was far more intense than the last one. Part of it was that Northern was no longer tripping all over themselves. I've come tot he conclusion that their main strategy was to knock the puck around and beat their opponents to it. It's not bad if you can trust yourself to get most errant passes and long rebounds. Of course, we had a simple counter to that. We could skate and move with them. I've also decided that I kind of like Michigan's offensive strategy: turn everything into a breakaway. It give a good scoring opportunity, and if it fails it allows for a line change.
Anyway, we went up before Northern tied it at two. Even though there were six minutes left in the game I was pretty sure that we would not see any overtime because of the intensity both teams with which both teams were playing. I was wrong. It took us 80 seconds of overtime for us to win the game.
Ah, what a glorious end to a glorious season. While we still have a couple of playoff games at Yost. It is over. We only graduated four seniors. When Hunkick came up , the students started chanting, "Hobby Baker." I doubt he will get it. Even though, he has been a rock since that fateful night he stepped in against Notre Dame (I was taking my mom to her first Michigan game that night), and he is an all-time program leader they say the award is given to goal scorers. (Well, there was that kick-in against Miami) It's going to be strange to see someone else in goal next year mainly because we never pulled Hunwick in a game that I watched. He played all three periods of ever game. I really appreciate that. A lot of programs would pull their goalies against us, probably because we embarrassed them. We never pulled ours.
Anyway, what have I learned? I don't think I learned triumph through adversity. That is a lesson the Football team has taught me over the past four years. I learned to harness the past and tradition in a sport as well as looking forward to what we are doing. There is something so classic about a hockey game at Yost that you you are motivated as much my tradition as you are about the current season. Other sports, football included, are a bit more of a live in the moment kind of atmosphere (although no one would argue that Michigan does not have a rich football history) Also, I learned to shrug off losses, because I know there will be another fight. Finally, I learned to understand our weaknesses, and I can see how we have improved them over the year. This is important to me, at least, because in other sports people are telling me what we should and should not be doing. In Hockey, I am starting to understand that for myself. It is a simple game, a simple chaotic, physical game, but you need to play it intelligently. I love it.
So it was senior night and my entire seating group was absent, seriously, people. Those seats made up a good portion of the empty spots that night. The reason why I am most disappointed is because I could have found takers for those seats. Blargus!
Anyway, the game was far more intense than the last one. Part of it was that Northern was no longer tripping all over themselves. I've come tot he conclusion that their main strategy was to knock the puck around and beat their opponents to it. It's not bad if you can trust yourself to get most errant passes and long rebounds. Of course, we had a simple counter to that. We could skate and move with them. I've also decided that I kind of like Michigan's offensive strategy: turn everything into a breakaway. It give a good scoring opportunity, and if it fails it allows for a line change.
Anyway, we went up before Northern tied it at two. Even though there were six minutes left in the game I was pretty sure that we would not see any overtime because of the intensity both teams with which both teams were playing. I was wrong. It took us 80 seconds of overtime for us to win the game.
Ah, what a glorious end to a glorious season. While we still have a couple of playoff games at Yost. It is over. We only graduated four seniors. When Hunkick came up , the students started chanting, "Hobby Baker." I doubt he will get it. Even though, he has been a rock since that fateful night he stepped in against Notre Dame (I was taking my mom to her first Michigan game that night), and he is an all-time program leader they say the award is given to goal scorers. (Well, there was that kick-in against Miami) It's going to be strange to see someone else in goal next year mainly because we never pulled Hunwick in a game that I watched. He played all three periods of ever game. I really appreciate that. A lot of programs would pull their goalies against us, probably because we embarrassed them. We never pulled ours.
Anyway, what have I learned? I don't think I learned triumph through adversity. That is a lesson the Football team has taught me over the past four years. I learned to harness the past and tradition in a sport as well as looking forward to what we are doing. There is something so classic about a hockey game at Yost that you you are motivated as much my tradition as you are about the current season. Other sports, football included, are a bit more of a live in the moment kind of atmosphere (although no one would argue that Michigan does not have a rich football history) Also, I learned to shrug off losses, because I know there will be another fight. Finally, I learned to understand our weaknesses, and I can see how we have improved them over the year. This is important to me, at least, because in other sports people are telling me what we should and should not be doing. In Hockey, I am starting to understand that for myself. It is a simple game, a simple chaotic, physical game, but you need to play it intelligently. I love it.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Men's tennis vs. Notre Dame
I'm starting to learn my lesson about tennis. Don't sit. Seriously, that place fills up fast, and usually with people who are a little less mobile. I usually go there after running so the last thing I want to do is get trapped in a seat holding a position. My legs will cramp
I have to admit that the main reason I went to the tennis meet was for the chance at winning the Ohio State basketball tickets. I didn't win. I did win a prize pack for correctly guessing the number of Big Ten titles the tennis team had, 36. OK, it wasn't that much of a guess since the banners were on the wall. Yeah, now I have another Michigan drawstring bag, another Michigan water bottle, and another Michigan t-shirt. I drank the Michigan Gatorade immediately because I was quite parched. Apparently, prize packs are more desirable than 5 topping large pizzas from Papa John's. The guy who won the large pizza actually traded it for a prize pack. I was half tempted to trade him my pack for a pizza, but I had already drunk the Gatorade. Let's face it. I am reaching a Michigan swag overload.
Once again, I stayed only for the doubles matches. We actually won all three of them with two dominant performances and one comeback win. These matches were a little more controlled than the LSU matches. I think the LSU players had some strong but erratic serve which Michigan tried to copy. Notre Dame was bit more tame, and resulted in tamer machtes.
Anyway, I find it odd to play a singles match after a doubles match. Is it a major psychological boost to know that you are facing a player that you just smoked, or is it a challenge the other way around? I'm guessing so.
Anyway, I left early so I could go to Hockey senior night which I will be discussing tomorrow. (Two weeks late, ug)
I have to admit that the main reason I went to the tennis meet was for the chance at winning the Ohio State basketball tickets. I didn't win. I did win a prize pack for correctly guessing the number of Big Ten titles the tennis team had, 36. OK, it wasn't that much of a guess since the banners were on the wall. Yeah, now I have another Michigan drawstring bag, another Michigan water bottle, and another Michigan t-shirt. I drank the Michigan Gatorade immediately because I was quite parched. Apparently, prize packs are more desirable than 5 topping large pizzas from Papa John's. The guy who won the large pizza actually traded it for a prize pack. I was half tempted to trade him my pack for a pizza, but I had already drunk the Gatorade. Let's face it. I am reaching a Michigan swag overload.
Once again, I stayed only for the doubles matches. We actually won all three of them with two dominant performances and one comeback win. These matches were a little more controlled than the LSU matches. I think the LSU players had some strong but erratic serve which Michigan tried to copy. Notre Dame was bit more tame, and resulted in tamer machtes.
Anyway, I find it odd to play a singles match after a doubles match. Is it a major psychological boost to know that you are facing a player that you just smoked, or is it a challenge the other way around? I'm guessing so.
Anyway, I left early so I could go to Hockey senior night which I will be discussing tomorrow. (Two weeks late, ug)
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Northern Michigan Hockey Part 1
I began my weekend of insanity with a hockey game against Northern Michigan. The crowd was great. However, my regular seating group was strangely absent, and only two of the four tickets were given away. That kind of miffed me because I could have easily found takers for the free seats. Blarg. Also, the trash-talking euphonium player was wearing last year's uniform. What is up with that? Also, why do they change the uniforms every year? The are very similar but not quite the same. I, personally, like the yellow ones with the word "Michigan" diagonally across the torso.
Anyway, Northern Michigan started off the game by sliding all over themselves on the ice. I was wondering what was up with them. I've never seen a team fall that much before. I suppose that they were trying to beat us with speed, and just kept losing control. Do they just not have good ice in the UP? Yeah, well, you are not going to beat us with speed. We actually managed to capitalize on some power plays. So, I am happy.
In the end we scored three embarrassing goals on them while giving up one.
It was a good one-sided thumping. I was kind of hoping for a little more competitive game, which I will discuss at a later time. My next entry will discuss men's tennis against Notre Dame.
Anyway, Northern Michigan started off the game by sliding all over themselves on the ice. I was wondering what was up with them. I've never seen a team fall that much before. I suppose that they were trying to beat us with speed, and just kept losing control. Do they just not have good ice in the UP? Yeah, well, you are not going to beat us with speed. We actually managed to capitalize on some power plays. So, I am happy.
In the end we scored three embarrassing goals on them while giving up one.
It was a good one-sided thumping. I was kind of hoping for a little more competitive game, which I will discuss at a later time. My next entry will discuss men's tennis against Notre Dame.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Miami Part 2
OK, so what would you do as an official after a rather chippy game where you missed some obvious calls, crack down on the physicality and tow the hard line on penalties? Apparently not. The Saturday nigh game against Miami was something of a spectacle for all of the wrong reasons. Maybe it was the back check from Miami that sent our player to the ground and caused us to get a penalty. Maybe it was the continued failure to call goaltender interference. Maybe it was a series of questionable off-sides calls that really got us not trusting them. Maybe Miami just needed to learn to control their emotions (something I need to do myself on the ice), but it all started going downhill about the time the students began chanting, "The refs have lost control," and refusing to acknowledge them when they returned after the intermission. It ended at the the last minute of play with the third and fourth ejections of the game and enough Miami players in the penalty box to where the band had to start playing to cover up the derogatory chants the student section was creating for the occasion. To be fair, there were two Michigan players in the box at that time as well. Actually, they had to play over quite a few chants this game. It got to the point where they ran out of music.
Other than the excessive penalties and fighting on both sides, I'd say we did a bang-up job. Posting a three nothing shutout was pretty awesome, especially when one of those goals is short-handed. I love few things more than short-handed goals. Hunwick was on fire this weekend.
Altogether, it was a great experience. I do enjoy a ridiculous time out.
This weekend will see me with the last two home hockey games of the year along with a men's gymnastics match.
Other than the excessive penalties and fighting on both sides, I'd say we did a bang-up job. Posting a three nothing shutout was pretty awesome, especially when one of those goals is short-handed. I love few things more than short-handed goals. Hunwick was on fire this weekend.
Altogether, it was a great experience. I do enjoy a ridiculous time out.
This weekend will see me with the last two home hockey games of the year along with a men's gymnastics match.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Men's Tennis
On the 4th, I attended the Men's tennis meet against LSU. I stayed for the doubles before heading off to the Hockey game. The double's had one of those classic situations where two of the matches were quickly finished resulting in one for each school. The last match consisted of a relatively evenly matched with dominant serves. Thankfully, that was the one by which I decided to sit. It went long and intense, but eventually LSU broke Michigan's serve resulting in eventual victory. Honestly though, Michigan came within a point several times of breaking LSUs serve. The style of play differed greatly between the men and women. The Men relied much more on power serves and close slams to score points. Because of that they tended to be much more erratic. The women relied more on keeping it under control and making the opponent chase it.
Tennis is honestly one of those sports I would want to play, but I feel as though my hand eye-coordination is so bad that the majority of my time would be spent chasing the balls. As much as I love running, I don't think that is what I really need. I gave up the idea of playing tennis a long time ago. Racquetball, however, is different since it involves predicting rebounds and projectile motion. Tennis just involves watching things fly by you.
The crowd was definitely full of tennis enthusiast. I sat next to an older couple who discussed their tennis playing friends, San Lee, and cryptography. Altogether, it was a fun time, and I my return because I was given a little punch card that I can redeem for rewards when I attended meets. I will at least consider going when the weather gets nice and they start doing outdoor matches.
Next up, Miami part II: "The refs have lost control."
Tennis is honestly one of those sports I would want to play, but I feel as though my hand eye-coordination is so bad that the majority of my time would be spent chasing the balls. As much as I love running, I don't think that is what I really need. I gave up the idea of playing tennis a long time ago. Racquetball, however, is different since it involves predicting rebounds and projectile motion. Tennis just involves watching things fly by you.
The crowd was definitely full of tennis enthusiast. I sat next to an older couple who discussed their tennis playing friends, San Lee, and cryptography. Altogether, it was a fun time, and I my return because I was given a little punch card that I can redeem for rewards when I attended meets. I will at least consider going when the weather gets nice and they start doing outdoor matches.
Next up, Miami part II: "The refs have lost control."
Friday, February 10, 2012
Miami part 1
Ont eh 3rd of February, I returned to my true winter sport love, Ice Hockey. Supposedly, Miami (OH) was a good team.A goal in the opening minutes and three in the first period proved otherwise. After that it seemed like we stopped trying to score. The only time we scored for the rest of the game was in response to Miami's only goal of the weekend. (It was an odd shot that bounced off Hunwick's glove.) Actually, I hope we were not trying to run up the score and just practice defense, because we were doing some awesome defense. The game in itself was rather chippy and physical. I like a good physical game, but I don't appreciate it when our goaly gets flattened three times in a game and nothing gets called. Yeah, you can imagine how a team might not forget about that. I will discuss the results of that on Sunday. Other things that will be discussed are netminder's on fire, trash talking, a curious sort of offense, and a total breakdown.
To be continued.
To be continued.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Women's Tennis
On the 28th, I attended the Women's tennis match against Maryland. I think Tennis may be my new secondary sport for the spring.
First off, the facility is very nice, both indoor and outdoor. I could refer to it as the house that football built, but that isn't very specific at this school. It was very well attended for a Saturday morning but mostly by parents.
I'm not sure if I have anything really amusing to say about the match. Only one girl from Maryland grunted when she swung, and when she did she started winning. So, thankfully she grunted infrequently. Also, for some reason, the three doubles matches were worth a combined one meet point, while each of the six single matches were worth a point each? The doubles was best two out of three where three matches are running synonymously. I have an idea though. Why not make it a speed run? Whomever wins first completed match gets the point. It would certainly change the strategy. Those who are loosing woudl try to prolong the home, while those who are winning would try to push it. Of course different players naturally prefer different speeds. It woudl also encourage coaches to setup mismatches. I think I am onto something.
Tennis is a very simple game. However, the terminology is just plain odd. Love, 15, 30, 40, game Why not 0,1,2,3,4? (Yes, I know from where it came.) Additionally, it gets annoying to have to keep track of points, games, sets, and matches within a meet. There are far too many numbers to track and terminology to mess up.
Anyway, when It was getting time for me to go and freeze my butt off in Frankenmuth, the matches were still going. It looked like we had the meet int he bag, but the Maryland players kept dragging it out. I had to leave assuming that we would win but not being certain. We won 5-2.
Next, I shall talk about Ice Hockey.
First off, the facility is very nice, both indoor and outdoor. I could refer to it as the house that football built, but that isn't very specific at this school. It was very well attended for a Saturday morning but mostly by parents.
I'm not sure if I have anything really amusing to say about the match. Only one girl from Maryland grunted when she swung, and when she did she started winning. So, thankfully she grunted infrequently. Also, for some reason, the three doubles matches were worth a combined one meet point, while each of the six single matches were worth a point each? The doubles was best two out of three where three matches are running synonymously. I have an idea though. Why not make it a speed run? Whomever wins first completed match gets the point. It would certainly change the strategy. Those who are loosing woudl try to prolong the home, while those who are winning would try to push it. Of course different players naturally prefer different speeds. It woudl also encourage coaches to setup mismatches. I think I am onto something.
Tennis is a very simple game. However, the terminology is just plain odd. Love, 15, 30, 40, game Why not 0,1,2,3,4? (Yes, I know from where it came.) Additionally, it gets annoying to have to keep track of points, games, sets, and matches within a meet. There are far too many numbers to track and terminology to mess up.
Anyway, when It was getting time for me to go and freeze my butt off in Frankenmuth, the matches were still going. It looked like we had the meet int he bag, but the Maryland players kept dragging it out. I had to leave assuming that we would win but not being certain. We won 5-2.
Next, I shall talk about Ice Hockey.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Women's Gymnastics
On the 27 I attended a Women's Gymnastics match against Illinois.
This is one of those odd events where I did not know what to expect. The first thing I noticed was that there were four standard events: vault, beam, uneven bars, and the floor. The next was the crowd. Sadly, there was no student section. Why was that? Additionally, the demographic breakdown was a lot more even for both gender and age than I expected. I've come to expect women's sports to be frequented by little girls. I guess this is where gymnastics enthusiasts get there fix
What I find as odd with women's gymnastics is that it is the one sport I can name where the college people are at or beyond their peak. It seems strange that if they had not made it by the time they enter, then they never will. I did not see an Olympic worthy performance or anyone who is gunning for bigger things, which is something I usually see at all Michigan sports. Still it was very entertaining.
At the match, Michigan took an early lead after the first two events and manager to hang on for the win despite some pretty rough performances on the beam. However, Illinois lost a bit on the beam as well. I appreciated how the team and event was simply "I Beam" on the scoreboard. (I would not want to fall on one of those.) In the end, it wasn't the fact that we didn't mess up as much as Illinois that lead to our victory. We actually messed up more, including a heart breaker during our last routine where the girl suffered a season ending ankle injury and had to be carried off the floor. It was the fact that what we tried was technically harder and we looked a lot more natural in the execution, except when we fell. I tended to appreciate our aggression more than anything. That and our shiny uniforms. I just have two complaints. The first is that black is not a school color. The second is that tight warm-up pants are a bit distracting. OK, I'm not really complaining about that.
Tomorrow, I will discuss Women's tennis against Maryland.
This is one of those odd events where I did not know what to expect. The first thing I noticed was that there were four standard events: vault, beam, uneven bars, and the floor. The next was the crowd. Sadly, there was no student section. Why was that? Additionally, the demographic breakdown was a lot more even for both gender and age than I expected. I've come to expect women's sports to be frequented by little girls. I guess this is where gymnastics enthusiasts get there fix
What I find as odd with women's gymnastics is that it is the one sport I can name where the college people are at or beyond their peak. It seems strange that if they had not made it by the time they enter, then they never will. I did not see an Olympic worthy performance or anyone who is gunning for bigger things, which is something I usually see at all Michigan sports. Still it was very entertaining.
At the match, Michigan took an early lead after the first two events and manager to hang on for the win despite some pretty rough performances on the beam. However, Illinois lost a bit on the beam as well. I appreciated how the team and event was simply "I Beam" on the scoreboard. (I would not want to fall on one of those.) In the end, it wasn't the fact that we didn't mess up as much as Illinois that lead to our victory. We actually messed up more, including a heart breaker during our last routine where the girl suffered a season ending ankle injury and had to be carried off the floor. It was the fact that what we tried was technically harder and we looked a lot more natural in the execution, except when we fell. I tended to appreciate our aggression more than anything. That and our shiny uniforms. I just have two complaints. The first is that black is not a school color. The second is that tight warm-up pants are a bit distracting. OK, I'm not really complaining about that.
Tomorrow, I will discuss Women's tennis against Maryland.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Reminder
I need sleep. I will talk about the following tomorrow. Women's tennis, Men's tennis. Women's gymnastics, The roughest two college games I have seen against Miami Hockey.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Hat Trick Weekend
OK, just to cover some ground:
I attended the ice hockey game against Lake Superior State University with my dear friend, "The Bohemian Skoian." I find it odd that a person can go that long without ever having attended a sporting event. Also, I find it odd for a person not to understand the inherent purpose and draw of a student section. Furthermore, I find it very odd that a person is not automatically compelled to dance along with 6000 other people to the Blue Brothers entrance music. Yes, I find a great many things odd. Some people just have a different world views. As for the game. It was nice to see us clicking and behaving as a team. That is probably why we are winning again. Additionally, it was a very clean game. There were three penalties (and no major ones) in the entire game, and the first one was called with about fifteen minutes left in the second period. I can't wait for the next game.
Allow me to fast forward a bit.
The next pair of events I attended were men's and women's indoor track meets. What better way to spend my birthday? I suppose I could have gone down to Fayetteville for the basketball game, but that is another story for another day when I run out of remotely interesting stories to tell.
It may seem odd, but I have never attended a track event in my life. I was not sure what to expect, but I was hoping it was not a long drawn out process.What I found was that there can be as many as 5 events happening simultaneously.While this may be an ADD person's dream, I am sure it is a reporter's nightmare. At least it is never boring.
For some reason, the men decided to run all of their field events first, and then do their track events. I found myself a spot halfway down the track with a good view of the sprints, high jump and pole-vault, a partially obscured view of the throws, and a practically worthless view of the long jump. I became fixated on the jumps (probably because the failures are funny), and or course I enjoyed the races. I still have no idea how a person can jump over a 6-7 foot bar even with the Fosbury Flop. (OK, now that I do the mental math it all work out.)
The hammer throw men are big dudes. The meet was for Michigan, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, and Detroit Mercy. Central took an early lead by dominating much of the field events, but Michigan started closing in with the track events. Then I decided to take lunch at the Maize and Blue Deli, so I was gone for an hour. It was delicious. I highly recommend it.
Anyway, I returned for the Women's event and was informed by the fellow spectators that Michigan had in fact pulled it out with the track events. Awesome.
The women's even ran the Track and field events simultaneously Additionally, they substituted Bowling Green for Detroit Mercy in the Women's event. Also, for some reason they, allowed some unattached athletes to compete. Former athletes from Michigan and other schools did some awesome stuff. The pole-vault was a neck and neck battle between a Wolverine and an unattached former EMU pole-vaulter. It's pretty cool when a competition sets a facility record and keeps on going. It is even cooler, when your athlete wins the competition and sets a program record in the process. There was also a former Michigan high jumper who was several inches taller than me and whose first miss was at a height several inches above where all other competitors had maxed out. Additionally we had a real treat. We got to see Tiffany Porter do sprints and hurdles. That woman is pure lightning.
The best part of the whole event were the other spectators. They were mostly parents, but they were very friendly and talkative. They also got along very well with parents of other schools. I think the nature of the competition lends itself to a friendly comradely.
A less friendly place is water polo. Most people acknowledge that it is a rough sport, and , quite frankly, I admire that these girls are able to go at it for a game. The length of the games are relatively short, but so are the breaks. Anyway, Michigan faced off against Colorado State today. There were several notable occurrences. The first is that I somehow sat next to some people in training for the Michigan Daily. I refrained from saying anything. The second is that Michigan dealt out a one-sided crushing that amounted to a 10-3 final, mainly on account of Michigan being a much more physical and aggressive team. The final thing I noticed was that I sat in the Colorado State section and they were not happy about Michigan being the more physical team. They stated quite clearly,a nd many times over that the referees were not calling nearly enough fouls on Michigan (even though I am pretty sure more were called on Michigan than Colorado State) The odd thing was that they never complained when Colorado State got away with a foul. Why was that? Anyway. I kind of regret not sitting in what appeared to be the student section because they appeared to be doing a lot of the hockey chants, which I love.
Up next is:
Women's Gymnastics vs Illinois
Friday January 27th, 6:00 PM
Crisler Arena
Followed by:
Women's Tennis vs.Maryland
Saturday January 28th, 10:00 AM
Michigan Tennis Complex
19 down, only 9 to go:
Baseball
Gymnastics (Men)
Gymnastics (Women)
Outdoor Track and Field (Men)
Outdoor Track and Field (Women)
Softball
Rowing
Tennis (Men)
Tennis (Women)
I attended the ice hockey game against Lake Superior State University with my dear friend, "The Bohemian Skoian." I find it odd that a person can go that long without ever having attended a sporting event. Also, I find it odd for a person not to understand the inherent purpose and draw of a student section. Furthermore, I find it very odd that a person is not automatically compelled to dance along with 6000 other people to the Blue Brothers entrance music. Yes, I find a great many things odd. Some people just have a different world views. As for the game. It was nice to see us clicking and behaving as a team. That is probably why we are winning again. Additionally, it was a very clean game. There were three penalties (and no major ones) in the entire game, and the first one was called with about fifteen minutes left in the second period. I can't wait for the next game.
Allow me to fast forward a bit.
The next pair of events I attended were men's and women's indoor track meets. What better way to spend my birthday? I suppose I could have gone down to Fayetteville for the basketball game, but that is another story for another day when I run out of remotely interesting stories to tell.
It may seem odd, but I have never attended a track event in my life. I was not sure what to expect, but I was hoping it was not a long drawn out process.What I found was that there can be as many as 5 events happening simultaneously.While this may be an ADD person's dream, I am sure it is a reporter's nightmare. At least it is never boring.
For some reason, the men decided to run all of their field events first, and then do their track events. I found myself a spot halfway down the track with a good view of the sprints, high jump and pole-vault, a partially obscured view of the throws, and a practically worthless view of the long jump. I became fixated on the jumps (probably because the failures are funny), and or course I enjoyed the races. I still have no idea how a person can jump over a 6-7 foot bar even with the Fosbury Flop. (OK, now that I do the mental math it all work out.)
The hammer throw men are big dudes. The meet was for Michigan, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, and Detroit Mercy. Central took an early lead by dominating much of the field events, but Michigan started closing in with the track events. Then I decided to take lunch at the Maize and Blue Deli, so I was gone for an hour. It was delicious. I highly recommend it.
Anyway, I returned for the Women's event and was informed by the fellow spectators that Michigan had in fact pulled it out with the track events. Awesome.
The women's even ran the Track and field events simultaneously Additionally, they substituted Bowling Green for Detroit Mercy in the Women's event. Also, for some reason they, allowed some unattached athletes to compete. Former athletes from Michigan and other schools did some awesome stuff. The pole-vault was a neck and neck battle between a Wolverine and an unattached former EMU pole-vaulter. It's pretty cool when a competition sets a facility record and keeps on going. It is even cooler, when your athlete wins the competition and sets a program record in the process. There was also a former Michigan high jumper who was several inches taller than me and whose first miss was at a height several inches above where all other competitors had maxed out. Additionally we had a real treat. We got to see Tiffany Porter do sprints and hurdles. That woman is pure lightning.
The best part of the whole event were the other spectators. They were mostly parents, but they were very friendly and talkative. They also got along very well with parents of other schools. I think the nature of the competition lends itself to a friendly comradely.
A less friendly place is water polo. Most people acknowledge that it is a rough sport, and , quite frankly, I admire that these girls are able to go at it for a game. The length of the games are relatively short, but so are the breaks. Anyway, Michigan faced off against Colorado State today. There were several notable occurrences. The first is that I somehow sat next to some people in training for the Michigan Daily. I refrained from saying anything. The second is that Michigan dealt out a one-sided crushing that amounted to a 10-3 final, mainly on account of Michigan being a much more physical and aggressive team. The final thing I noticed was that I sat in the Colorado State section and they were not happy about Michigan being the more physical team. They stated quite clearly,a nd many times over that the referees were not calling nearly enough fouls on Michigan (even though I am pretty sure more were called on Michigan than Colorado State) The odd thing was that they never complained when Colorado State got away with a foul. Why was that? Anyway. I kind of regret not sitting in what appeared to be the student section because they appeared to be doing a lot of the hockey chants, which I love.
Up next is:
Women's Gymnastics vs Illinois
Friday January 27th, 6:00 PM
Crisler Arena
Followed by:
Women's Tennis vs.Maryland
Saturday January 28th, 10:00 AM
Michigan Tennis Complex
19 down, only 9 to go:
Baseball
Gymnastics (Men)
Gymnastics (Women)
Outdoor Track and Field (Men)
Outdoor Track and Field (Women)
Softball
Rowing
Tennis (Men)
Tennis (Women)
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Another set of song titles
With the ending of a magical football season I will describe each game with a song. (I am sorry if some of these are overused.)
Western Michigan: For a lightning shortened game that started the comeback seasons we have "Lightning Crashes" by Pearl Jam,
"Oh I feel it coming back again
like a rolling thunder chasing the wind
forces pulling from the center of the Earth again
I can feel it."
Notre Dame: For our only home night game ever, and an instant cardiac classic we have "Oh What a Night" by The Four Seasons.
"Why'd it take so long to see the light?
Seemed so wrong, but now it seems so right.
What a lady, What a night."
Eastern Michigan: for handing a quality Eastern Michigan team (weird to say it) yet another loss we have "It's all Been Done" by the Barnaked Ladies.
"Woo hoo hoo, It's all been done before."
San Diego State: for knocking down a team after taking their coach but having no hard feelings we have "Don't Look Back in Anger" by Oasis
"So Sally can wait, she knows it's too late and we're walking on by
Her soul slides away, but don't look back in anger, don't look back in anger
I heard you say"
Minnesota: for the most on-sided victory I have ever seen in a football game (58-0) we have "Don't stop Me Now" by Queen.
"I'm a shooting star leaping through the skies
Like a tiger defying the laws of gravity
I'm a racing car passing by like Lady Godiva
I'm gonna go go go
There's no stopping me"
Northwestern: for forcing us to come from behind and never look back we have "I Won't Back Down," by Tom Petty.
"hey, baby, there ain't no easy way out.
Hey, I will stand my ground, and I won't back down."
Michigan State: for ending the high and bringing us down to reality we have "Hammer to Fall" by Queen.
"Oh every night, and every day
A little piece of you is falling away
But lift your face, the western way, baby
Build your muscles as your body decays
Yeah, toe your line and play their game
Yeah, let the anesthetic cover it all
Till one day they call your name
You know it's time for the hammer to fall"
Purdue: for playing though the ran and showing all of us that our shoes squeak when we slide them on wet aluminum we have "Twist and Shout" by Phil Medley and Bert Russell
"Well, shake it up, baby, now,
Twist and shout.
Cmon cmon, cmon, cmon, baby, now,
Come on and work it on out"
Iowa: for humanizing us on the road and knocking us out of conference title contention (ironically, giving us an easier shot at the BCS) we have "Get What You need," by the Rolling Stones.
"You can't always get what you want,
but if you try sometimes, you just might find,
you get what you need."
Illinois: for grinding it out and preventing a season ending skid (while contributing to Illinois's skid) we have "tubthumping" by Chumbawamba
"I get knocked down, but I get up again.
You ain't never gonna keep me down.
I get knocked down, but I get up again.
You ain't never gonna keep me down."
Nebraska: For allowing our biggest win in five years by smoking the team that everyon thought ws going to blow through the conference I give you "Rocketman" by Elton John.
"And I think its going to be a long, long time.
The touchdown brings me round again to find.
I'm not the man you think I am at all.
No no no no, I'm the rocketman..."
Ohio State: For following though on what we have been hoping for (but dared not discuss) since everything changed in the beginning of the year that resulted in a BCS birth and a field storming we have "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond
"Where it began, I can't begin to know when
But then I know it's growing strong
Oh, wasn't the spring, whooo
And spring became the summer
Who'd believe you'd come along...
Good times never seemed so good
I'm inclined, to believe they never would..."
Virginia Tech: for giving us our first Sugar Bowl win ever and allowing us to simply enjoy the moment we have "Sugar Sugar" by the Archies
"Sugar, ah honey honey
You are my candy girl
And you've got me wanting you."
Western Michigan: For a lightning shortened game that started the comeback seasons we have "Lightning Crashes" by Pearl Jam,
"Oh I feel it coming back again
like a rolling thunder chasing the wind
forces pulling from the center of the Earth again
I can feel it."
Notre Dame: For our only home night game ever, and an instant cardiac classic we have "Oh What a Night" by The Four Seasons.
"Why'd it take so long to see the light?
Seemed so wrong, but now it seems so right.
What a lady, What a night."
Eastern Michigan: for handing a quality Eastern Michigan team (weird to say it) yet another loss we have "It's all Been Done" by the Barnaked Ladies.
"Woo hoo hoo, It's all been done before."
San Diego State: for knocking down a team after taking their coach but having no hard feelings we have "Don't Look Back in Anger" by Oasis
"So Sally can wait, she knows it's too late and we're walking on by
Her soul slides away, but don't look back in anger, don't look back in anger
I heard you say"
Minnesota: for the most on-sided victory I have ever seen in a football game (58-0) we have "Don't stop Me Now" by Queen.
"I'm a shooting star leaping through the skies
Like a tiger defying the laws of gravity
I'm a racing car passing by like Lady Godiva
I'm gonna go go go
There's no stopping me"
Northwestern: for forcing us to come from behind and never look back we have "I Won't Back Down," by Tom Petty.
"hey, baby, there ain't no easy way out.
Hey, I will stand my ground, and I won't back down."
Michigan State: for ending the high and bringing us down to reality we have "Hammer to Fall" by Queen.
"Oh every night, and every day
A little piece of you is falling away
But lift your face, the western way, baby
Build your muscles as your body decays
Yeah, toe your line and play their game
Yeah, let the anesthetic cover it all
Till one day they call your name
You know it's time for the hammer to fall"
Purdue: for playing though the ran and showing all of us that our shoes squeak when we slide them on wet aluminum we have "Twist and Shout" by Phil Medley and Bert Russell
"Well, shake it up, baby, now,
Twist and shout.
Cmon cmon, cmon, cmon, baby, now,
Come on and work it on out"
Iowa: for humanizing us on the road and knocking us out of conference title contention (ironically, giving us an easier shot at the BCS) we have "Get What You need," by the Rolling Stones.
"You can't always get what you want,
but if you try sometimes, you just might find,
you get what you need."
Illinois: for grinding it out and preventing a season ending skid (while contributing to Illinois's skid) we have "tubthumping" by Chumbawamba
"I get knocked down, but I get up again.
You ain't never gonna keep me down.
I get knocked down, but I get up again.
You ain't never gonna keep me down."
Nebraska: For allowing our biggest win in five years by smoking the team that everyon thought ws going to blow through the conference I give you "Rocketman" by Elton John.
"And I think its going to be a long, long time.
The touchdown brings me round again to find.
I'm not the man you think I am at all.
No no no no, I'm the rocketman..."
Ohio State: For following though on what we have been hoping for (but dared not discuss) since everything changed in the beginning of the year that resulted in a BCS birth and a field storming we have "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond
"Where it began, I can't begin to know when
But then I know it's growing strong
Oh, wasn't the spring, whooo
And spring became the summer
Who'd believe you'd come along...
Good times never seemed so good
I'm inclined, to believe they never would..."
Virginia Tech: for giving us our first Sugar Bowl win ever and allowing us to simply enjoy the moment we have "Sugar Sugar" by the Archies
"Sugar, ah honey honey
You are my candy girl
And you've got me wanting you."
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