Kenny Demens finally finding consistency as anchor of Michigan's linebacker corp - Kenny Demens comes in for the fluff treatment over at AnnArbor.com. Demens has had consistency issues in the past, and despite being such a breath of fresh air in 2010 when he replaced Obi Ezeh midway through the season, there are a few things Demens has struggled with. You can talk about how important it is because Demens is a senior, but no player in the back seven is going to have to step up more to help with the breaking in of an entirely new interior defensive line than Demens. Mike Martin isn't walking through that door to take on three blocks on every play.
Craig Roh's olive oil milkshakes and peace of mind have him ready for the 2012 Michigan football season - More pre-season fluff, Craig Roh goes on at length about his eating habits, and it isn't for the faint of heart. Unless you like olive oil. I mean, really, really like olive oil.
Michigan's secret to success in 2011 was turnover margin - The Freep on that thing we have all been discussing ad nauseam since the season ended. One of the major factors in how well this team does in the standings will be A) how much the defense regresses from its incredibly high forced turnover rate and B) how much Denard Robinson can cut down his mistakes. But you knew that already.
Football Preseason Q&A: Maize n Brew - Chris Vannini of TOC interviews your's truly on Denard Robinson, the Michigan defense, and special uniforms. I answer because, well, it isn't hard to get me to spew 1000 words on Michigan football.
Video: Expectations for Michigan RBs - This video has two purposes: 1) talk about Michigan's running back situation in light of the Fitz Toussaint suspension and 2) make us all remember how much we don't like Robert Smith
CFT Preseason Top 25: No. 5 Michigan - Michigan looks to be the winner of the Bobby Bowden Memorial "Return to Glory" Preseason Over-hyping in this one. Good luck with that, CFT.
U-M commits rise in first batch of post-summer ranking updates - /whistles the Jefferson's theme song. /grins at everybody that said Beilein couldn't recruit high level talent.
The Journalistic Integrity of CBS Sports Rests On Whether Dennis Dodd Is Not A Meth Dealer - Dennis Dodd gets the Dennis Dodd treatment.
For decades, Dodd has been bald, much like Walter White on Breaking Bad. He's also been ticketed ($429!) in his lifetime for a variety of speeding and parking offenses by police in Kansas, and attended college at University of Missouri, where he may have attended parties that served alcohol. Today, he wrote a column full of innuendo and without evidence besmirching the good character of Montee Ball, one of the B1G's best players and a Heisman finalist, and this column wasn't just applauded by CBS Sports' sycophants. I'm told Jay Mariotti also approved of Dodd writing a column "the old-Jay way -- full of piss, vinegar, and not a single shred of truth."
But did Dodd, simply by living in Kansas, engage in the crystal meth drug trade?
No. 25: Notre Dame - Pre-Snap Read is breaking into the top-25 with a familiar face.
There’s past, there’s present and there’s future, and nowhere else do all three commingle more than at Notre Dame. Such is life in South Bend, where every nook and cranny – from Rockne to Leahy, Ara to Holtz – serves as a reminder, and an often painful one at that, of the program’s newfound place among college football’s perennial underachievers. If it’s not one thing it’s another; if it’s not penalties it’s turnovers, if not the defense it’s the quarterback. It’s getting tiresome, and for no group more so than the current Irish – those players who constitute this year’s team, who have battled against not only U.S.C., Michigan and Michigan State but also the annual perception that when push comes to shove, Notre Dame is not going to live up the hype. Well, you have two options when you get shoved against a wall: you can either run away and hide, with your tail between your legs, or you can push back.
Mizzou shoos exercising coeds away from its practice - I've got this weird urge to go run some stadium steps now.