I'm still trying to figure out a catchy new tagline for my semi-daily new updates.
Brian's got Unverified Voracity, Kyle's got Dawg Bites, Peter's got Morning Coffee to wake up with. I tried Happy Hour, but Sweaty Men Endeavors has been using it for a while. My little tag line was "Hearsay and Conjecture" as a quiet homage to my legal hero Lionel Hutz, Attorney at Law. But legal terms have little use on a site dedicated to sports and booze unless your Miranda rights are being read to you.
So in an effort to make a little more sense I bring you:
Maize n Brew's What's On Tap
1. Sign up for a Maize n Brew Account - One of the great things about SportsBlogs Nation is the reader interface options that the site provides. The comments, the diaries, the access. However, one thing that's been brough to my attention is some people have had a little trouble signing up/on to the site. I believe we've fixed those problems. If you're still having problems please email me at "maizenbrewdave-at-gmail-dot-com" and I'll get right on it. If you're a member post something to the diaries. It may end up on the front page. If you've got something to say, such as I went too far or didn't go far enough, let me know. I'm looking forward to it.
2. Chris Webber is still a self-centered ass - No love for Webber will be found on Maize n Brew. I resent what he did to the University of Michigan and the utter lack of remorse he has shown for doing it. He cost the University's athletic program more than its fair share of trouble and almost cost the University its basketball program.
The fact that Webber is back in Detroit only serves to dredge up memories that though "officially" purged from the record books are fresh in my mind. The lies. The cover up. The investigations. The penalties. The begging and pleading to prevent the death penalty. The fact that I couldn't watch a basketball game with pride until Daniel Horton's senior year. Webber was supposed to have cost himself so much by his screw ups, but now he's back in the area that made him famous, welcomed as a favored son. Fittingly, he may be a famous "alumni" of Michigan, but the records now show he was never here.
As it should be.
I'm aware it wasn't just Webber. That's also why Rose, Howard, King and Jackson will never be favorites of mine either. But Webber was the focal point of it all. The supremely talented kid from a good family who didn't need the money. The kid who complained about not having enough money to buy a pizza when he was rolling around in $100 bills. The kid who left the school and the people around him out to dry as he lied his way out of a federal investigation and emerged with a slap on the wrist and a multi-million dollar NBA contract.
Webber and Martin left a culture of corruption that was only beginning to fade when Webber orchestrated a cut and sign with the Pistons. Now those wounds and bitterness rise to the surface once more with every remorseless smile and callous grin.
I guess in a way the NCAA did Michigan a favor in wiping Webber from the books. Michigan would have been better off if he never existed. At least now, officially, he didn't.
3. More on Ron Lee's Exit - Brian's got the info. Go. Read.
4. Blogjammin' (shamelessly stolen from HRB) - Hoover Street Rag watched the basketball game last night too, except theylive-blogged it. Excellent work. They too were impressed by Smith's "competent" performance. Well worth the read.
In addition, former Michigan Star Daniel Horton was at last night's game to cheer on his former squad. HT: The Diag
5. More on Maze and Finch Decommits - Varisty Blue takes a brief look at the double-decommit. Moral of the story: meh...
6. Michigan Should Fire Tommy Amaker - Apparently I'm not the only one questioning Amaker. A massive hat tip to The Diag for this little nugget. That bulletpoint is the headline on Fox Sports' college basketball website. Author Yoni Cohen takes aim at Amaker and hits him with both barrels. And he's right. So far his recruits haven't panned out, Michigan has never won or even competed for a Big Ten crown, is horrible on the road, consistently has one of the worst assist to turnover ratios in the Big Ten, and has never made the dance.
What Cohen misses is the three players coming to Michigan next year. Harris, Legion, and Grady are all very, very good players. If Amaker lands either Frease or Roe, the two big fish he's chasing, Amaker is here to stay. However, even with big fish on the line, if Michigan doesn't make the Tourney this year, based on the paper thin schedule they've played, Amaker should be fired.
7. Roll Bama Roll Totally Ready To Kill A Puppy - The intafada has begun anew in SEC country as Blogs from Tennessee and Alabama wage war on one another for the title of Best SEC Blog in the College Football Blogger Awards. RBR has taken the aggression to a new level showing a chained Smokey accompanied with promises of doggieenaisa should they emerge triumphant. In a related story, scuttlebutt around Alabama reveals a Tide factory was recently flooded by unknown assailants in orange. Rocky Top Talk and Corn From a Jar have declined to comment.