Territorial Bloggings

You can sense it…

You can feel it…

You can almost even taste it…

The rematch is almost here…

Wings – Pens II

-ghp

Once again, it’s that time. Time for the real season to start. The best season there is.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs.

When real men begin their march to greatness.

When the Red Wings begin the defense of that which is rightfully theirs.

First up: the Columbus Blue Jackets

Game 1: Thu 4/16 6 pm (CDT) @DET
Game 2: Sat 4/18 5 pm (CDT) @DET
Game 3: Tue 4/21 7 pm (CDT) @CBJ
Game 4: Thu 4/23 7 pm (CDT) @CBJ
Game 5: Sat 4/25 7 pm (CDT) @DET (if necessary)
Game 6: Mon 4/27 TBD (CDT) @CBJ (if necessary)
Game 7: Wed 4/29 TBD (CDT) @DET (if necessary)

Let’s. Go. Red. Wings.

-ghp

It’s not always easy to be proud of Detroit, or of being from Detroit. But I am. I love the history of Detroit. The realness of it. Of the people. Of the whole Metro Detroit area.

It’s why I like living in/near Chicago, and why I’m not put off by the very similar vibe that Chicagoland puts off (a big difference being that Chicago hasn’t been decaying from the core outward for the past 35 years…). Chicago has history, a spirit, and a sense of self that is almost intoxicating. It makes me wistfully wonder just what Detroit could’ve been like, if only it hadn’t crumbled in the aftermath of the ’67 riots and Coleman Young’s determined efforts alienate everyone north of 8 Mile Road (yes, it meant something before that no-talent hack made the movie…).

Mitch Albom, erstwhile sports columnist (and annoyingly liberal talk radio host, cultural pundit, and purveyor of pop-spirituality-laced novels) has written a very, very good piece over at SI.com, in which he delves into why Detroit, and more importantly Detroiters, still matters, and the role that sports plays in that.

As a proud ex-pat, I concur.

-ghp

Ballgames are a completely different experience as a parent than they were as a kid. I don’t remeber them being this boring 30 years ago — at least it’s a beautiful 70 & sunny as I sit, watch, and write at 7pm on a Wed evening.

It does my prideful heart good to state that my daughter is good — carrying on in the tradition of me & my dad. And those of you who know me, know that I wouldn’t say she was good if she wasn’t (right bigsis?)

I’m just glad it gets easier to watch each year, particularly as the amount of self-esteem-boosting rule-tweaking gives way to actually playing by the rules – like keeping score, succeeding, failing, winning, and losing.

-ghp

Let’s Go Red Wings!

Crosby & Malkin?

Bring ‘em on!

I’ll take the Wings’ top two of Zetterberg & Datsyuk.

Not to mention Holmstrom, Lidstrom, Franzen, Hudler, Kronwall, Rafalski, Samuelsson, Filppula, & Osgood.

I think this has all the earmarks of a great series. That said. The Wings will prevail in 7. Ozzy will be the MVP & Lidstrom will be the first European born Captain to hoist the Cup.

Here’s the full Stanley Cup TV Schedule:
May 24 Game 1: Penguins @ Red Wings – VERSUS
May 26 Game 2: Penguins @ Red Wings – VERSUS
May 28 Game 3: Red Wings @ Penguins – NBC
May 31 Game 4: Red Wings @ Penguins – NBC
June 2 *Game 5: Penguins @ Red Wings – NBC
June 4 *Game 6: Red Wings @ Penguins – NBC
June 7 *Game 7: Penguins @ Red Wings – NBC
* If Necessary

-ghp

It’s the third weekend in November, which means one thing: the renewal of the best rivalry in college football – Michigan vs. Ohio State!

Funny thing is that my blog traffic bears this out, as I’ve seen an uptick in the amount of traffic. Traffic, it seems, that is being driven by search engines spitting out my Michigan-related posts from the past year (prior to last year’s epic game, Bo’s passing, and my nostalgic look back at Bob Ufer & the 1979 Michigan vs. Indiana game…). That’s pretty cool.

This year’s game lost some luster, what with UofM & tOSU both losing last week (the first time both have headed into the game with losses since 1959). The stakes are still the same, in terms of the Big 10 title & a trip to the Rose Bowl, but tOSU’s dropping out of being undefeated & #1 in the nation, and UofM having their 8 game winning streak ended. It’s just that the game now doesn’t have quite the national significance that it otherwise would have.

But it’s still Michigan vs. Ohio State…

For bragging rights & all the Big 10 marbles…

And that means something…

To help get myself in the proper mood for the festivities tomorrow, I’ve been reading The 100-Yard War: Inside The 100-Year-Old Michigan-Ohio State Football Rivalry. If you’re even passingly familiar with and/or interested in this rivalry & what makes it tick, then you’ll enjoy reading this book. It does a great job of weaving together the psychology, sociology, and history of this rivalry. I cut my teeth on the rivalry during the final years of the epic Bo vs. Woody phase, during which the conference wasn’t the Big 10 as much as it was the Big 2 & the Little 8. I attended two of the games in Ann Arbor (1977 & 1979), and I was attending UofM in 1986 (the year that Jim Harbaugh guaranteed a victory in Columbus). It’s a special thing, all the feelings & emotions that comprise this rivalry. The only thing I’ve experienced first hand that even comes close to rivaling it in terms of competitiveness, emotion, mutual hatred, and vitriol is the UNC-Duke basketball rivalry.

For getting a last-minute infusion of humorous partisanship before tomorrow’s kick-off, I would suggest visiting the M Zone blog. Good stuff…

Despite my not being quite the true believer in Michigan football that I once was (after all, I can easily take a perverse pleasure in the suffering of the more, shall we say, arrogant Michigan fans when they lose), and I’m a tiny bit more favorably disposed towards tOSU (thanks to bigsis — a UofM grad — inexplicably allowing of her eldest, and my goddaughter, to attend tOSU), I can’t bring myself to root either against UofM or for tOSU. I. Just. Can’t. Do. It.

I won’t be crushed if Michigan loses, particularly if Ohio State can sneak back into the BCS title game picture (unlikely as it is, but still possible in light of Oregon’s falling prey to the “2007 Curse of the 2nd-Ranked Team” phenomenon…), but neither can I root for anything other than a Michigan victory.

I just hope for a good, close, entertaining game of college football to show up on my TV tomorrow afternoon. If I get that, then I’ll be happy.

-ghp

Bibles Banned at 2008 Beijing Olympics

Irony: The games that were founded, with strong mythological/religious ties, by the ancient Greeks are now looking to squelch any/all religious expression.

While Chinese organizers “promise that religious services we offer will not be lower than the level of any previous Games,” they also have ruled that Bibles are on the list of things that are prohibited (for “security” reasons) from being brought into the Olympic Village.

No word yet as to whether or not the Koran is also on the list…

-ghp

I think that I’ve mentioned before that I’m a Michigan football fan. I came of age during the Bo Schembechler years, and became the type of true-believer that only a pre-teenaged boy can be. I lived & died with what Bo’s boys did on the gridiron, rooting for them with a white-hot passion. (That my ardor for all things maize & blue cooled considerably just a decade later is a story for another day…)

Even better, because that’s when bigsis was attending UofM, I got to attend most every home game during the late 1970s. Football Saturdays in Ann Arbor were magical & larger than life. Even bigsis’s dorm room in South Quad was awe inspiring to me. I really do think that it was during those visits that I got bit by the higher-ed bug that has kept me working in the college environment to this day.

Generally speaking, being a Michigan fan back then (in the days of the “Big Two & the Little Eight”) was pretty darned fun for 363 or 364 days of the year. The only exceptions were, once in a while, the Ohio State game and New Year’s Day (or whenever UofM played in a lesser, “fleabag” bowl game). Even then, the legendary Bob Ufer (see here & here) made being a “Meeechigan” fan entertaining, turning even the sorrowful moments sweet.

The first clip in the video embedded at the start of this post is, quite honestly, the most exciting sporting moment of which I have ever been a part. I was in the crowd at that game — UofM’s homecoming game against Indiana on 10/27/79. This was a bit of a down season for Bo, but things were starting to look up. Anthony Carter was a freshman, John Wangler was QB, and Bo was starting to appreciate the forward pass — Carter was that good.

By the end of the game, however, the faithful at Michigan Stadium were in a stunned silence. It looked like Lee Corso’s band of Hoosiers would escape with a 21-21 tie. Which, for Michigan fans, was just as bad as a loss. Just before the fateful play shown in the clip, there was a play where UofM running back Lawrence Reid “fumbled” the ball out of bounds to stop the clock, lateraling it right into Corso’s hands. Corso comically held it for half a beat & then dropped it like a hot potato & proceeded to throw a fit. That incident, the ending of the game, & Corso’s whining about it are why I still cannot take Corso seriously to this very day.

That final play — the 45 yd Wangler to Carter touchdown with no time on the clock — caused the volume in Michigan Stadium to jump as if the volume knob had been twisted from 0 to 11 in an instant. I’ve never heard a change in sound like that, before or since. Then, to hear Ufer’s call of the play & eventually to have that call combined with the video, well, that just added to the specialness of the moment in my mind’s eye.

I may not always like individual Michigan folks (players, coaches, students, alums, etc.), and the town & university can be rather pretentious & full of themselves, but the mythology of Michigan football will always be able to awaken the 10 year-old true believer in me.

-ghp

The NFL regular season starts tonight.

Yay!

I’ve always been a pro football fan (it’s a shame that Detroit doesn’t have a pro team, y’know?), but it’s only been in the past 10-15 years that the NFL has become my favorite league, and pro football my favorite sports season. Basketball (pro or college) is nowhere near the force it was for me growing up. Baseball is still important to me, but more on a personal & nostalgic level. Hockey comes close, and the Red Wings will always be my #1 team. College football is ok, but oddly enough I haven’t cared about it quite as much ever since I actually went to college. Attending Ann Arbor for a semester cured me of living & dying by what the Wolverines did on the field (thus, the App State travesty wasn’t all that traumatic for me…).

The NFL just strikes me as the best run league out there. Labor peace. Optimal season length. Smart salary cap. Non-guaranteed contracts. Fan friendly. Fun like fantasy football (although I don’t play) & pick’em contests like those at ESPN & Yahoo. Granted, it all gets a little too over the top by Super Bowl week, but it’s an amazingly enjoyable ride to get up to that point.

In response to Hank Jr.’s question, yes, I’m ready for some football!

-ghp

The Bears need a quarterback. I don’t think that Rex/Wrecks Grossman is the guy to get them through to a Super Bowl title. When they need to be carried by the QB, or even just need the QB to put them over the hump, rather than having the defense & special teams carry the load, Grossman just can’t be counted on to get the job done. Is he the only reason they lost? No. Is the main reason? I think so. Hopefully Lovie Smith & Jerry Angelo will realize this sooner rather than later…

The NFL season is now over. That makes me sad. While I have a more visceral connection to, and fondness for, NHL hockey, Pro Football is my favorite season. There’s something special about its pacing – the ebb & flow that occurs over the 17 week regular season + 3 weeks of playoffs that is just more appealing than the Bataan march-like regular seasons of the NHL, NBA, & MLB (not to mention the bloated playoff structures of the NHL & NBA!).

Only 22 weeks until training camp opens!

-ghp