Bumped to the front page for awesomeness - MnB Dave

"True loyalty is that quality of service that grows under adversity and expands in defeat. Any street urchin can shout applause in victory, but it takes character to stand fast in defeat. One is noise --- the other, loyalty." - Fielding H. Yost

2008 is a blemish, but Michigan Football isn't one season. We may have lost some streaks, but you can't take away Bob Ufer, The Big House, the #1 uniform on a the top receiver, the Big Ten Titles, Yost, Shembechler, Moeller and Carr, "The Victors," the Rose Bowl, "Meechigan Football," the M Club banner, Ann Arbor, "The Game," the Winged Helmet and Maize and Blue. Michigan Football transcends what is a program, it's a tradition, a way of life.

Stay strong guys, it WILL get better.

What do you guys really see happening? Sure, I'd love to say "we have all the bugs" worked out of the team now, and '09 is going to be our 120 win season," but that isn't realistic. Unless Dombrowski can address our bullpen issue, we're going to drop another 20+ games because of that group of players just like this year. Zumaya WILL get hurt, Rodney is... Rodney, Farnsworth's gone, Seay has been good and theres guys like Glover and Fossum who could go either way. The offense was inconsistant, and with Inge now an everyday player and giant question mark at the shortstop position, I don't know if that will be a whole lot better either. The only starters set in stone are Verlander, Gallaraga and Bonderman. Verlander has 14 losses (he did get screwed a bunch of times early in the season with run support though), Gallaraga's been great, but you don't know if this is a fluke season and Bondo never has been automatic. Add two more starters to the list, who could be anyone (Miner? Willis? Rogers? Bonine? Garcia? Lambert?), and this all looks like a 85-95 win season again. What's your take?

With Farve now gone would you consider Jon Kitna the best QB in the NFC North? I know I complain about him, but looking at the Lions they should be able to go at least .500 within their division (and I think that's worse case scenario). Let's take a look around the divison...

Kitna - Weak in the pocket but that could be due to a crappy O-line. Strong passer and he is fearless.

Orton / Grossman - The Bears were 3-13 last season, so there really isn't anything positive to look at. Super Bowl 41 should prove that Grossman isn't the real deal and Orton is unproven.

Jackson - He isn't very good, but all he has to do is give the ball to AP!

Rogers - We will have to see....

Perhaps one of the greatest athletes of all time won his tenth and eleventh gold medal last night (setting a wolrd record in every event he participated in and now becomes the winningest athlete in Olympic history) and at what major university is this man enrolled at? The University of Michigan - Ann Arbor! The Baltimore native swimmer has acomplished all this and is not even 24 years old. Speaks volumes, it really does...

Go Blue!

http://www.forbes.com/2008/08/07/baseball-fans-loyal-forbeslife-cx_mw_0807sport3_slide_11.html?thisSpeed=15000

I'm sorry, but what? We have a $100M+ franchise that is under .500, yet there is still 40,000+ at Comerica every game. Every single game. I don't understand the logic here. Not only are we on the least loyal list, but we're number two! This guy is an idiot. And then the Texas Rangers are number one? How does that work?

http://mlbfights.blogspot.com/2007/08/farnsworth-fight-video-kc-royals-vs.html

What an awesome guy. It sucks to see Pudge go, but Farnsy has had a place in my heart since he defended Carlos against KC on that day. This on top of the fact that he's an intimidating reliver with a mid 90s fastball and electric breaking stuff. Let's see if he puts up numbers like during his last stint in Detroit. Go Tigers!

OK, let’s look at this situation: first and second, no outs, Guillen up to bat. Looks like a big inning could be brewing with the heart of the order coming up. Guillen has a 3-1 count and this pitcher can't hit the strike zone. He's throwing wild and his breaking pitch either hangs or misses. So with a 3-1 count, Guillen swings at a ball, and grounds out to the shortstop, opposed to loading the bases with a walk and no outs. Cabrera scores the run with an RBI groundout, Guillen advanced to third on a wild pitch (ironic), and Joyce flies out to end the inning. So with two men on, and no outs, we only score one. With a hitter's count you HAVE TO BE LOOKING TO WALK. Instead, our all-star swings irresponsibly, and may cost us a game. This is why the Tigers are a .500 team. Leyland has no problem having guys swing away on 3-1 counts with two on and no outs, but refuses to ever give the go ahead to one of the most natural base stealers in the game, who happens to be a leadoff hitter? I'm confused. Maybe it isn't a lack of player performance, but mismanagement that's killing this team.