This exists, and I'm not nearly as cynical about it as I thought I would be. Either I am growing soft in my old age, or the calming glow of football on the horizon has melted my icy heart with a cool island song. No, I mean freeze my hot heart with a cool island song. Or is it--
/cuts off this South Park reference before I wear out my welcome
Michigan may play Fitzgerald Toussaint vs. Alabama, after all (or maybe not) - Matt Hinton on everybody's favorite question during game week (eeeeeeeee, football!).
With Touissant in the lineup, Michigan returns more than 80 percent of its total offense from 2011 and is the only team in the nation preparing for 2012 with not one, but two 1,000-yard rushersen tow. Without Toussaint, Michigan still has Denard Robinson, the more electrifying half of its millennial tandem, but no one else who has done anything to keep opposing defenses from keying on the quarterback.
Speaking of Hinton, he is back at the mothership. Not that mother ship. Sunday Morning Quarterback, part of SB Nation. To think that I write for the same outlet as both Spencer Hall and Matt Hinton is astounding (not to mention all the other great writers around here) is incredible. Check out Mid Major Monday over at SMQ.
Maize-N-Brew: Crimson Tide's experienced OL will challenge Michigan's 'D' - My latest column over at the Free Press touches on the defensive line and the importance of the young, inexperienced unit in Saturday's matchup.
Opponent Breakdown - Alabama Offense Part 2 - Tremendous comes back with part two of its look at the Crimson Tide offense going into Saturday's game.
College Football Top 25: Michigan Wolverines, No. 9 - Michigan checks in as a top-ten team over at The Big Lead:
What’s New: Normalcy. Michigan is coming off a successful, 11-win season under “Michigan Man” Brady Hoke. The losing streak against “Ohio” has ended. Their Top 10 recruiting class is loaded with defensive talent. The coaching staff will remain intact. The system is stable. Michigan is Michigan.
Burgeoning Wolverine Star: What to expect: Defensive Line 2012 - Chris at BWS looks at the defensive line.
What this team needs from Campbell is an every-down nose tackle/3-tech DT that can hold up against the run and generate nominal pressure against the pass. Having a penetrating DT the likes of Martin is a luxury, not a necessity for great defenses. The pass rush from the defensive line should be generated primarily by the defensive ends (about which more later), not the inside. If Campbell can stay gap sound and hold his ground against double teams on the run, Michigan's experienced linebackers should be able to make the proper reads and tackle.
This unit needs to find itself quickly or Michigan is going to struggle, but you knew that already, didn't you.
2012 Season Countdown: #3 Taylor Lewan - Magnus on Taylor Lewan, and his ballooning draft hype.
I try to remain objective when it comes to Michigan players, but he looks like a future first round draft pick and a potential franchise left tackle. I can't picture NFL teams passing up on a guy like him; or perhaps I should say, you don't see guys like this get drafted in the second or third round.
COUNTDOWN: 3 - EDSBS says that if you were to pick a team to root for based on one play, you could do a lot worse than picking Cal because of The Play.
We have had moments of insanely rewarding spite that redeemed whole desultory years of merely decent or mediocre football. None compare to Cal/Stanford '82. There are tricks, and then there are brilliant cruelties combining all the necessary elements in their maximums: improbability, reliance on blind, dumb, frantic luck, the imposition of negligent officiating, the undoing of an entire season's worth of effort with the stupid spin of one ballsy, desperate roulette turn played out on your home turf.