What's On Tap Tuesday

1. Orange Hulk SMASH
   
2. More on the Crisler "renovations"
   
3. King Udoh and his journey to Michigan
   
4. What's a Badger?

Hulk SMASH - Joel at Rocky Top Talk noticed this a while ago, and like everyone else I chuckled a little thinking it was clever without paying it much mind. Tennessee Men's Basketball Coach Bruce Pearl looks like a flabby version of The Hulk when he gets excited. Not knowing much about Bruce Pearl I wrote it off as funny and moved on.

Then I made the mistake of turning on SportsCenter last night. Good God Man. Stop. Stop Right Now. Oh God! My Retinas!

It is scary. Behold below my side by side comparison. Dr. Banner! NOOOOOOOO!

Make your own judgments.

Nothing Happening at Crisler Besides Talk - As SME looked into and the Detroit News is reporting the renovation estimates for Crisler continue to skyrocket. The most recent dollar figure is at $75 Million.

At this point I'm ready to say screw the Crisler renovations. The building is structurally sound. Even though it could use some more lighting, it's an okay place to go. My biggest concern is the fact that Michigan has NO PRACTICE FACILITIES for its basketball teams. As the Detroit News reports, if the team wants to get in some extra unscheduled practice they have to go to the IM building just to shoot some hoops. For a program with the profile of University of Michigan to have such second-to-third rate facilities for their athletes is embarrassing.  

Bill Martin has talked a lot about fixing Crisler over the last year and about a grand plan for the whole shebang. What he needs to do is focus on the little things first. I fully support the idea of designing an implementing a plan for the area surrounding the Big House and Crisler and developing an athletic campus. However, get the plan done and start building a practice facility as soon as possible. Michigan's basketball recruiting over the past year has shown that practice facilities are a CRUCIAL part of convincing young men and women to come to Michigan and compete athletically. Michigan's lack of such facilities is hurting them not only on the court down the line. It's going to get harder and harder to recruit when an interested HS Senior looks at schools like Nova or Arkansas and sees brand new facilities and none at Michigan.

Oh wait. That happened last year.

King Udoh Chooses to Grace Michigan With His Presence After Lengthy Contemplation - The Ann Arbor News has a very interesting article on the recruitment of Epke Udoh. Most people in the recruiting circles had Epke going to prep school and landing with a high major not named Michigan. Instead, the King relied on the friendships he developed with Michigan's coaching staff and chose Michigan over the prospect of larger, more established programs. We thank the King for humoring us.

What's a badger? - It's like a Wolverine, except smaller, fatter and with a drinking problem. (Heyo! Zing! Treeeeated! Snap!) Of course the retort is: "It's the animal that doesn't go into hibernation during the basketball season, bitch."

Wednesday is a big game and Nathan Fenno's already reminding us not to discount just how good Alando Tucker is.

Not Lando. Alando!