Hail to the Victors Valiant . . . .

Alex Hunt Kills It.




Alex Hunt and the Michigan Wolverines Volleyball team kicked the Hoosiers in Bloomington Saturday. Hunt had 16 kills and 4 blocks in a phenomenal effort versus Indiana.

Game Recap here. Michigan stats:

   Michigan               |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1  Rood, Veronica......  3|  5   3  11  .182|  1|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  1  1|  0|   5.5
2  Karpiak, Beth.......  3| 12   3  25  .360|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  4  0|  0|  14.0
6  Bruck, Karlee.......  3|  6   1   9  .556|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  4  0|  0|   8.0
8  Hunt, Alex..........  3| 16   3  32  .406|  0|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  1  0|  0|  16.5
17 Zimmerman, Lexi.....  3|  3   2   8  .125| 51|  0   1|  0|  8| 0  6  0|  1|   6.0
18 Paz, Juliana........  3| 13   5  34  .235|  0|  2   1|  0| 13| 0  2  0|  0|  16.0
3  Donhoff, Sloane.....  3|  0   0   0  .000|  2|  0   2|  2| 11| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
5  Bower, Megan........  3|  5   2  12  .250|  1|  0   0|  1|  7| 0  0  0|  0|   5.0
12 Busch, Maggie.......  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
16 Hance, Kerry........  3|  1   0   3  .333|  1|  1   1|  0|  6| 0  0  0|  0|   2.0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals..............  3| 61  19 134  .313| 56|  3   6|  3| 51| 0 18  1|  1|  73.0

Michigan plays Iowa, at home at Cliff Keen arena Friday at 7pm. Get out and support the Wolverines. Go Blue! I look forward to singing Hail to the Victors in a winning effort (or least a competetive one).


Being John Beilein.

Mark Snyder of the Free Press relates his starring role. An interesting look into the game day prep at Crisler.

Slurs from the Peanut Gallery.

Lou Holtz puts his ass in his mouth in criticsm of Rich Rod, and ineffectively explains his comment.

Note to Rod Smith.

I Am Available Saturday. If Steven Threet can't go on Saturday, I am willing, and I can't do any worse than Nick Sheridan. If I get hurt, the season ticket holder to my left could also fill in at the same level as Nick. Please give me a call, we want to help.

And, as long as I'm on the subject of how to keep Steve Threet a little bit healthier, here's Rod Smith's comment from the Detroit News:

Smith said maybe the coaches consider running Threet less -- he had 14 carries for 50 yards in the game -- but the injury came on a pass play.

"The thing is, Steve didn't get hurt on a run, he got hurt when he was throwing," Smith said. "He got hit on a sack, on a play-action, the kid came from the back side, and that's when he hurt it. He ran the ball well. He likes doing that once in a while."

The drop-off at quarterback is the issue now. Sheridan, who started the season opener, entered with the game tied and took a safety, giving Penn State its first lead. He was 3-of-9 for 5 yards and clearly struggled, as did the entire offense.

"We've got to find some plays somehow once Steve goes out," Smith said. "I thought Steve did some good things. We've got to get someone to step up and get ready to fill his shoes if he's not in there."

R0d, just because I couldn't perform any worse than Nick Sheridan doesn't mean we'd have any better chance to win, so let me help you out.. Could you consider running spread offense with 4 wideouts and quick passes from Threet to the wideouts, or is that just too complicated an adjustment? Maybe mention that to Ricardo, huh. And, in case you haven't scouted your opponent for Saturday yet, their dbs, are shall we say, suspect.

Rod's Riddler

This didn't start with Batman. Or the Riddler. In fact, I started with a listen to Rod's phone conference with the Big 10 today. This not only covers the theme of the day, but also one of my favorite tv shows growing up:



And on to Rod's Riddles we go ---

How Can a Coach Avoid Fumbles?

Rod had a question and answer about the Notre Dame game. The audio link from Mlive is here. Basically, Rod spent a few minutes saying this:

--Brandon Minor's "fumble" was supposed to be a forward pass.
--We have to coach it up on the kick receiving team, although they caught it "pretty well" in practice.
--The unforced turnovers have got to be corrected (no kidding!)
--Brandon Graham has played "pretty well". But he is still learning the new scheme and terminology, which has slowed him down.
--ND executed deep ball well and handled conditions well.
--ND handled the ball better than we did.

I would have added something like this: We will not start a true freshman at kick returner in the first road game of the year. We will not start a true freshman at kick returner in the first road game of the year. We will not start a true freshman at kick returner in the first road game of the year.

There's One In Every Group.

At the end of the session, Jeff Rabjohns, an Indianapolis Star reporter, asked whether there are more missed field goals in college are a result of the wider hashmarks in college as compared to the pro game, and whether college should adopt the pro hashes.

Uhh. Let me think about that. . . .

Not The World's Hardest Riddle, but . . .

The answer to Rabjohn's Riddle is actually a little closer than you might think. Here's the World's Hardest Riddle:

I turn polar bears white
and I will make you cry.
I make guys have to pee
and girls comb their hair.
I make celebrities look stupid
and normal people look like celebrities.
I turn pancakes brown
and make your champane bubble.
If you squeeze me, I'll pop.
If you look at me, you'll pop.
Can you guess the riddle?

Think about this one. It might take a couple minutes.

Rabjohns' Riddle.

Rod actually nailed the answer and the reason to Rabjohns' question. The reason: No dumbass, there are more made field goals in the pros than college becauase they are pros. Incidentally, Jeff, there are also more field goals in college than high school despite wider goal posts and the use of tees. Huh, go figure.

You know I really wanted to make fun of Rabjohns. Rip him up a little. Not like Drew Sharp or Terry Foster ripping, that wouldn't be warranted. Maybe something more like this:





But, I actually took some time to read some of his articles. Here's an example of a good one, which is yet another riddle: How young is too young? I don't know if Jeff would like Detroit or not, but we can certainly make room for you, Jeff. If you like Ann Arbor, Jim Carty needs to get out of town. Or, if you'd like the big city paper you could replace Rob Parker, Drew Sharp, and Terry Foster together, and save the papers some payroll expense.

And the answer to the World's Hardest Riddle Is . . .





No.

Responsibility Noted

Now Get It Fixed.

Before you go all random stats, bad luck, and the obvious effect of the state's poor economy on Michigan's turnover margin Saturday, please take a minute to realize that a significant portion of these turnovers came in the first half, without weather -- or at least not weather of the Hurricane Ike variety. And, that rule numero uno for any kick return team is to catch the ball, first.

I've also had a chance to step back, breathe deeply, and let the effects of a few adult beverages wear off. The result: I apologize to Rod and the remainder of the staff for accusing them of being 75% responsible for the kickoff fumbles which put Michigan in such a hole. They were only 50% at fault.

Rod did accept responsibility for his share of the miscues Saturday, and vowed to work on the kick returners ability to catch the ball:

Video: 'The sky is not falling,' says Rich Rodriguez

I Can See Russia From My House!

No this doesn't really relate to Michigan football, exept that Michael Phelps was on. But, I've got a soft spot for Tina Fey, and if you haven't see this yet, it's pretty funny, regardless of whether you support a milf or a boner shrinker:

Mmmmm Chickens

In time for the big race in Pennsylvania tomorrow is this classic youtubes:



This is one of those youtubes that just can't be beat. After watching this youtube, you may feel like Barack Obama is being unfairly picked on, unfairly portrayed, and generally taken advantage of. I have a solution for Mr. Obama:

Just Because Recruiting Is Creepy . . . Sort of Like Clowns

My wife's favorite superbowl commercial. Creepy.



Seemed appropriate given tomorrow's signing day. Oh, and according to those in the know, at 12:05 tomorrow, Terrelle Pryor is a Wolverine. Link courtesy of Brian at Mgoblog.

Nepotist Knight

Coach Robert Montgomery Knight retired mid-season today. He has had enough. He says he is tired. He also says that he wanted to preserve a good transition for his son Pat Knight to take over the Red Raiders. In depth story from Indianapolis paper here.

I don't know whether Pat Knight had a contract, I suspect not, to succeed Bobby. No better way to assure a season Pat Knight reasonable finish, recruits by Pat Knight, and a reasonable chance to retain the job with a team which will have significant experience next year. I guess he's earned that right. But if the same happened here (which would be like Lloyd Carr retiring midseason this year to let DeBord take over) I'd be livid.

Bobby Knight highlights:

You will not put ME in this *&%$'in position:



Readily Identifiable Flying Objects:



And, the future is becoming clear:



I will miss Bobby in March.

Hantachova vs Sharapova

Barring a great comeback, Daniela Hantuchova will play Maria Sharapova in the 2008 Australian Open finals at Rod Laver Arena. A matchup repeat of the 2006 finals in Melbourne. A preview of what you'll see:

Daniela Hantuchova:




And, Maria Sharapova:



And, in the case of an epic comeback, it's possible that we'd see Ana Ivanovic:



Yeah.