Wallflowers This Year, But The Wolverines Will Be Dancing Again Soon

Today, the music stopped. 

Following an early exit from the B1G Tournament with a 71-60 loss to Wisconsin earlier today, what we've all likely come to accept for weeks is virtually certain. As better teams dance their way into the NCAA tourney next week, the Wolverines will be wallflowers. 

The disappointment stings a little when you think back on their string of tournament invitations since 2011 and the two deep, brilliant runs of the past two years. It'll be odd filling out my bracket and not having to talk myself out of the madness of putting Michigan in the final. I'll just be filling out one this year. I won't be needing the "Go with My Heart" version. The "Use Your Head" will suffice in 2015. 

Now normally, I get all jacked out of shape when the Wolverines have a bad year in any major sport, especially when the sweet taste of success is still so fresh. With football, the relentless long-term disappointment and frustration drove me to such bubbling anger that I started writing this blog. I couldn't hold back my words a moment longer. 

With this year's basketball team, though, I am utterly calm and accepting of their results. Of course I hoped for more than a 50-50ish sort of ending. Some of the games they lost could have fallen on the W side easily with a little more focus and end-of-game drive. The reason I can watch hoops move on without the Wolverines next week is simple. John Beilein's 2014-15 squad experienced some tough loss. Five extremely talented players left for the NBA early in the past two years. Other senior leaders graduated or transferred. Of those left in the locker room after all that attrition, injuries ended Caris LeVert's season in January and took out Derrick Walton, Jr. for some time not long after that. Beilein was left to rely on kids who probably didn't expect to see game action, let alone extended playing time, for a year or more.

And for the most part, those kids stepped up to the challenge. It may be a better example of Beilein's coaching prowess than their trip to the NCAA finals in 2013. It's no surprise when you can help superstars exceed their already high expectations. It takes coaching talent to patch together starters from the ranks of freshmen, sophomores, and the remaining uninjured junior and senior while keeping the wheels on the bus. This season could have been a total disaster, instead it was just a disappointment. A season we can write off as a rebuilding year, filled with many hopeful and exciting moments amidst the occasional forehead-slapping "what in the hell did I just watch" smack down. And not a soul is calling for Beilein's head on a platter. 

I can only explain my calm demeanor for basketball's tough season by contrasting it to my anger with football.

• I see flashes of skill and teamwork that give me hope for the next hoops season. When I saw the same flashes in football, I still had no hope -- mostly because of the next point.
• I believe John Beilein is one of the top basketball minds in the nation and trust that he will do what it takes to adjust and start winning again next year. With football, no one would call Brady Hoke a top mind. Or a developer of talent. With Beilein, you just know you have it good and he's already thinking of how to move forward next season. There's not a single brain cell that's not engaged in re-engineering his team for success. Aware. Fully aware. And that's all I need to say about that. 

Hopefully the team will get some more experience and practice time with an NIT bid. I usually mock the NIT as a way to crown the 69th Best Team in College Basketball. This year, I'd look at it as an opportunity we can exploit to better reach the our goals in the future. 

It's not Dancing with the Stars, but a useful trip to Arthur Murray to brush up on some moves. The Wolverines will be back next year ready to rumble (or perhaps rhumba?) We can only hope!

Going Wordless on the Wolverines

It's been said that the best writers are emotional, often tortured souls. Their words spring forth like the sweat on their brows after an anxiety attack or their panting breath as they compose themselves after experiencing the highest, joyful high. 

I can relate to them. No, not in the Ernest Hemingway or Sylvia Plath kind of way. Not in the stick-my-head-in-an-oven kind of dark madness. But I understand how frustration, anger, shame, and hopelessness can unleash someone's power to link thoughts to words and words to paper (even the electronic kind.)

National Signing Day was when I last wrote a single word about Michigan Athletics. I've had plenty to say on MGoBlog and Twitter because other people have reminded me that I have strong opinions (or clever and smart-assed things to say) about many happenings on campus in Ann Arbor and in the general sporting world. When it's come to sitting down to write something substantive here, though, it hasn't been so easy.

My only explanation for my odd wordlessness in this forum is: I am no longer tortured. The nightmare is over. Hoke has ambled on. Brandon has fled. The overthinking and guesswork around the new coaching staff is in the rearview mirror. The unimaginable reality that Jim Harbaugh and his rock star staff have moved to Ann Arbor has finally set in. Schembechler Hall is humming with exciting activity. We have an interim AD who absolutely gets this place. Signing Day? All things considered, decent. Basketball? An unfortunate anomaly that doesn't worry me this year. Hockey? Hanging in there and doing better than I expected. 

I'm kind of at peace with my little Wolverine world right now. And after seven years of "WTH?" and the roller coaster ride of this past coaching search, my brain cells have been screaming for some time to just soak in all this wholesome pinch-me-I'm-dreaming goodness. I knew it was time for a break when I had a long, vivid dream one night in which Harbaugh starred in his self-penned and -titled musical revue called "HARBAUGH!" at the Power Center on campus. I was watching with Jim's brother John. The entire audience was participating with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind. What kind of brain dreams this stuff up? The kind that needs to stop thinking about football for a few weeks!

This period of reflection and calm won't last much longer. In fact, I could write regularly about my fascination with all things Jim Harbaugh. His intelligence, his intensity, and how he is, if not the Most Interesting Man in the World, at least the most interesting one in Michigan or the Big Ten these days. But I'll spare you all that. It would be nothing new. Half the state's in love with the man and the other half is trying to pretend that they're not concerned with him at all. 

As the Spring Game comes up in just a month and the season itself will be here before we know it, I expect plenty of news and controversy to fuel my pen. Somewhere between the coach's ongoing Twitter gems and the noses he tweaks when the new meritocracy depth chart doesn't favor seniority, things are about to get interesting again. 

I'm rested and ready to see what happens next! 

Signing Day, As I Peel Myself Away From Chair and Keyboard

At about 8:00 tonight, I finally reached my limit of all things football for one day. After waking up at 6:45 a.m. like a kid on Christmas, I've spent most of my day in a chair strategically positioned in front of a laptop and a tablet with multiple tabs opened, in view of the TV (CBS Sports Signing Day, muted) and the radio tuned to WTKA 1050 and the Michigan Insider. I broke away for just an hour to go outside and run the snowblower - and a few minutes here and there to feed and water myself. I can honestly say, I gave far more attention for a longer period of time to NSD than I do anything in my real job! Hopefully Sparty boss never figures out who MGoGirl really is.

So, I'm signing off after recording a few thoughts on Jim Harbaugh's first Michigan NSD. I guess if I have to summarize my feelings in a couple words it would be content and hopeful.

I know. That doesn't sound like over-the-moon joy, but I don't want it to sound like I'm upset either. It was harder than I thought to take the advice of my own previous post and feel "serenity now." I'd be lying if I said it didn't cross my mind that Chris Clark and Mike Weber were making big mistakes. I also found myself assuming the defensive Brandonesque posture a couple times today: "I'm glad you found a new team [you ungrateful little punk]. We'll be fine without you [we really didn't want you anyway]. Have a happy life [pulling pine splinters out of your butt riding the bench]." But in the end, I did heed my own advice and I'm rather happy with our little 2015 class. And 2016 should prove even better.

Here are a few of my Signing Day take-aways: 

• Where do I Sign? Several commits signed very quickly this morning and according to Harbaugh, some have adorable childhood Michigan "love" stories. Their urgency to say "yes" reminded me of my own quick turnaround after getting the acceptance letter I'd been watching for in the mail like a L'il Orphan Annie Decoder Ring. For some of these guys, they're living a childhood dream. And that's something everyone should experience.
• Kate Upton's Is Bigger. Many talking heads call the loss of Clark, Weber, and several other "stars" a tragedy for Jim Harbaugh's first class - making it sound like the whole effort was one big bust. I beg to disagree. I think with the talent Hoke already committed and the additions Harbaugh snagged, we'll be fine. If Dantonio can coach up a 3* and win, I'm fairly confident our coach will do even better. 
• Chris Clark - if he wants to play a lot as a TE at UCLA and play 4 years with Mora as HC, he may be deluding himself. I hope Jay Harbaugh's juvenile tweets didn't scare him away from Tight End U. It helps getting Wheatley and something tells me, Ty Jr. won't be slacking. 
• Mike Weber - it was almost sad watching his announcement and he looked tired, confused, and detached. I think he was stressed to the max, getting pulled in two directions by friends, family, and two of the most intense CFB coaches on the planet. It was also a weird setting. On one hand, Iman Marshall has a flashy, professionally produced music video to announce his decision to go to USC. Contrast that to Weber being led by the hand past a wall of white poster boards with pictures of school monograms or mascots pasted on them. Standing in front of the poster signified a selection. It was all strange and completely disappointing. Later he blamed Michigan signing 3* RB Karan Higdon when he though he was the only RB in the class. I doubt that's all of it. It's not like he'll displace Ezekiel Elliot at OSU this year and who knows who his future competition will be. He's banking on becoming an Urban Legend, but he could have disillusionment in his future just like Clark. Or he could win the Heisman and a National Championship. Whatever. Not even looking in the rearview mirror on this guy after today.
• Iman Marshall - any fan who seriously thought he would come to Ann Arbor to play was smoking a pipe dream. This became very evident upon viewing his rap video commitment announcement. The one in which he filmed 6 different endings. Just that bit of self-absorbed hype alone made me glad he stayed on the West Coast. I couldn't help imagining Bo Schembechler's reaction to that dramatic effort. It screams prima donna and means he's better off anywhere but here. 
• I Like My Recruits Lightly Poached - Harbaugh got flips today from Cal, Iowa, and Florida State. Keith Washington, Karan Higdon, and Shelton Johnson committed to Michigan from these schools and considering the short time he had to work with recruits, this is a big deal and adds to his list of flips that started strong with Zach Gentry (ex-Texas) and Reuben Jones (ex-Nebraska.) I like that he doesn't honor any gentlemen's agreement not to poach others' commits. He said today "That's the way the pickle squirts." Okay, then. I'll just leave it at completely nice guys finish last. 
• Michigan University may be back in the mix! With UCLA DC Jeff Ulbrich mulling over a last minute offer to join the Atlanta Falcons, OLB Roquan Smith, may be back in the hunt for a place to land. He never turned in his LOI to firm his commitment to UCLA ... hopefully Harbaugh and Durkin can get him back in play for Michigan University. Yep, that's one of the schools he thought offered him. Go Blue for Michigan U! (If he decides to come, he can call us whatever he likes!)
• Déjà vu all over again. Brady Hoke interviews Jim Harbaugh about Signing Day on CBS in an eerie replay of his own strange interview by Rich Rodriguez just a few years earlier. I didn't find this one awkward at all, though, and I can tell both Brady and Jim respect each other. Hoke took it all in stride and even laughed off earlier rumors that had him taking a DL assistant job at Notre Dame. It was good to see him doing well and he handled the day gracefully. It was also nice to see he didn't want to work for chickens. 

And now I'm off to bed. It's back to work tomorrow and I'm not planning to attack it with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind. 

Sweet Michigan dreams, new Wolverines... and you experienced ones, too. 

Serenity now, Michigan Fans

National Signing Day starts in a few short hours and it'll be the most anticipated event for Michigan football fans since our shiny new coach got settled in and we realized (after much pinching) that it did happen, he really is ours, and nobody has it better than us.

Most of us replaced our worn out F5 keys after the intense, month-long Harbaugh Watch. After a moderately "refreshing" pace watching the coaching staff come together, F5 will face another real workout as we anticipate the results of that new staff's first signing day. And I hope that whatever the outcome, Wolverine fans don't go off the deep end over the final flips or flops of Harbaugh's decidedly short recruiting season.

I think we've already seen the power of his reputation - and that of his staff - in the recent favorable changes of heart that landed us some top players formerly committed elsewhere, including QB Zach Gentry (Texas),  Grant Perry (Northwestern), and Reuben Jones (Nebraska.) We've also seen that the Harbaugh Effect isn't a seductively intoxicating brew to everyone. Some targets have stuck with their original commitments even after positive discussions with the staff and eye-widening visits to our humble little athletic campus and that, you know, world-class university associated to it. Harbaugh's crew didn't have much time to establish the relationships that coaches normally build years before a top recruit approaches NSD. We'll win some and we'll lose some in this strange, transitional recruiting year. It's a normal progression through an abnormal time. Not the end of the world at all.

What I hate to see as I spend time F5ing my way through a variety of Michigan blogs and Twitter feeds is the number of hair-trigger fans already freaking out and getting down on Harbaugh because a few recruits have said "no thanks" for 2015. I read a comment made by some armchair expert after Chris Williamson chose the Florida Gators. This guy was mad because "we were told Harbaugh could recruit." One month on the job and the man's skills are being questioned by people whose last social media rant was probably posting hateful performance reviews directly to Devin Gardner's Twitter or questioning John Beilein's coaching genius as his young team struggles to find it's way after 2014's early departures and a slew of injuries.

Michigan fans, and I use that term with some doubt, you need to relax now. 

Harbaugh's 2015 class already has some very good commits and Jimmy will know what to do with both them and the stable of talent Hoke left behind. In my way of thinking, if a kid doesn't want to be here, I don't want him here. Seriously, do you want someone who: 

• Can't look past the recent state of Michigan football to see the opportunity in front of him to work with the cream of CFB and NFL coaching talent in a legendary program? (No vision)
• Is mad because Brady Hoke got fired and isn't blown away by getting Jim Harbaugh and his rock star staff instead? (No sense)
• Believes and tells the world on TV that Greg Mattison, an ace recruiter, says he's essentially too stupid and poor to get into Michigan without football? Knowing the NCAA forbids the school to counter. (No scruples)
• Sincerely has a passion for playing somewhere else, respectfully declining the Wolverines? (No calling)
• Has gone through life being called Messiah? (Cosmically big shoes to fill!)

When the dust settles after Signing Day, Michigan will be fine. Whether we win the battle for the likes of Mike Weber and Chris Clark, or we miss out, Harbaugh will make the most of every weapon he gets or inherits. Just having him here is the home run recruitment of the year. If it was a class of one and that one was Harbaugh, we're already winning.

So as you pretend to work all day, peeking at NSD feeds and alternating between ESC and F5 (depending on the location of your boss,) relax and take it all in. Be thankful for the commitments. Be understanding of the misses. Just don't doubt Jim Harbaugh. 

Serenity now. Insanity later. (The celebration kind. The glorious victory kind.) 

Go Blue!

Losing Max Scherzer Doesn't Make My Brown Eye Blue

I'm not sure anyone is surprised to learn that Max Scherzer is getting the heck out of Dodge (or the city that produced Dodge, anyway.) He's joining former Tiger Doug Fister in the starting rotation of the Washington Nationals this spring. And you want the truth? I'm not devastated that he's leaving. I'm still fuming that they dealt Fister for a bag of peanuts. 

Holding the line on his earlier offer to Max was absolutely the correct stance for Dave Dombrowski to take. The Nationals are spending a boatload to get him and if reports are even remotely in the ballpark, they may still be paying Scherzer years after he retires. I've read it's a seven year deal somewhere between $180M and $210M with the possibility that some income will be deferred for seven more years.

If that's true, Max will be on the Nationals' gravy train until nearly 2028. When he's 44. That's a huge financial risk for a team to take on a pitcher who rarely makes it past the 6th or 7th inning even when he's pitching a gem and whose best years may soon be behind him. That contract makes him pretty untradeable, too, so they better like what they get. Max has been great and I'm thankful for the seasons we've called him a Tiger. I also don't begrudge him this chance at all. Kudos to Max, right? Practically speaking, though, the Tigers just don't need another bloated salary extended into years in which a pitcher's contribution can reasonably be expected to decline. Rapidly. They're already locked into Justin Verlander for what will be the remainder of his productive years (and then some.) With a lot of other cash tied up in the big bats, like Miggy and VMart, and a few key position players, there isn't much salary room for Dombrowski to work with while remaining under the luxury tax threshold. 

It is concerning to me that the best starting lineup in baseball has been tinkered with and sold away without getting much in return. We missed Fister last year. We might miss Porcello this year. Worst of all, I still have zero faith in the ability of the bullpen to save games when the starters stumble or the bats go cold. Maybe it's not time to worry, yet. Verlander did pick it up a bit and David Price, last year's trade prize, should be great again. If Anibal Sanchez stays healthy, that gives us three starters any team would envy. And two that I couldn't name right now for the life of me. With the addition of Cespedes' bat to the line-up and the re-signing of J.D. Martinez, maybe there will be a better cushion of runs to eliminate the bullpen from mattering. It's a wish more than a belief at this point.

I so want to trust Dave Dombrowski. I want to believe he'll surprise us with another great starter or a serious closer when we least expect it. I promised myself after he unloaded Prince Fielder, the world's biggest albatross, that I would never pass judgment on his mad genius again. It's been hard to keep my word, though. When I think of this team, I feel like they're the Yankees of the Great Lakes. Big names. Huge payroll. Long term commitments. And what I expect will happen soon -- performance that won't be worth the expenditure. In trying so hard to win that World Series for Mr. Ilitch, they've become bloated, old, and have left their farm system in a state of drought. 

Time will tell how it goes this year. There's not much the Tigers can do this summer to bring me down, anyway. Baseball is just an enjoyable time filler until...

Harbaugh. September. Right?

Déjà-vu and '69: Does a Buckeye Win Mean It's Happening?

The National Championship Game tonight looks a lot different than I expected it would a couple months ago when the world was wondering how the NCAA was going to pit two SEC West teams together without angering the rest of the country. Like most non-SEC fans who are sick to death of hearing about SEC greatness, tonight's match-up between Oregon and Ohio State pleases me. At least on the surface. 

I like the new format because the playoffs to get to tonight's game did a decent job of getting two very deserving teams together. In retrospect, TCU may rightly argue that it deserved a playoff berth over FSU based on both teams' bowl performances. These kinds of judgments will always leave someone upset. If they went to an eight team format, Team #9 would feel the same way. For a first time run through the process, I think it's proven itself superior to the old BCS format already. With no changes, we'd likely be watching an Alabama/Florida State or Alabama/Oregon game tonight. 

The moral quandary I feel about this game lies in who to support. I have no affinity for the Oregon Ducks. They can be fun to watch and I like their uniform combos. Forgive me, this is the "girl" in MGoGirl! I also have plenty of unadulterated hate for OSU and it would take a whole separate post to document its history. In the end, I think I can justify nearly any outcome tonight in a way that makes me feel good - or at least feel hope.

If the Ducks Fly High

This is the easiest and happiest outcome to swallow. It doesn't compromise any deep-seated values and beliefs. If the Ducks win, I don't have to live in a world where Buckeye trolls can taunt us with "THE Ohio State University Buckeyes - 2015 National Champions" for the rest of the year and God knows how long after that. The jealous Wolverine in me would take immense pleasure in seeing OSU lose ... and the bigger the better. If the Bucks have to choke down the bitter pill of loss and humility, I can support that with enthusiasm. The Buckeyes always get nice things. Some deserved - I can't deny that they have one dee-luxe incredible coach. Some not deserved - again, that's a whole other post. Tonight, I'm okay to let Urban Meyer eat cold, sad post-game consolation pizza. Again.

If the Buckeyes Rise

This is where I'm supposed to insert the usual platitudes about the B1G not having a great reputation and how an OSU national championship would raise the conference into a semblance of respect again. And, yes, I do believe that it would help the B1G a little bit. 

Most of all though, it would just suck. Helping the B1G isn't a big enough feel-good point to justify puffing up the most irritating fans in college football with the eternal glory of their victory. There would be no end to it for years to come. 

So just how do I justify acceptance of a Buckeye championship? 

It comes down to my feeling that something is happening beyond our control. A little déjà-vu, if you will. A little karmic justice. And all we, as Michigan fans, need to do is be patient and put up with the trolls for a few months.

All the Pieces are Falling Into Place

This is what I feel in my bones. And you may think I'm nuts and that's okay. But IF Ohio State wins tonight, it's happening. 1969 redux. The parallels are there. 

• I think it's the reason we've spent years wallowing in mediocrity. Like the 1960s under Bump Elliott, whose tenure had some rough years and perennial problems beating OSU and MSU. 
• I think it's the reason that Jim Harbaugh came to us this at exactly this time, in a moment of great need and desperation for the program. He was schooled by Schembechler, the man who took over a struggling Michigan team from Elliott in 1969. A team for which few people had great expectations going into the season. 
• I think it's the reason that Ohio State might win the National Championship this year and carry itself with the arrogance of invincibility into next fall. The same way they carried themselves into Ann Arbor that fatefulday in 1969. Defending champs expecting to let the blood of a few Wolverines. And the rest became history.

If OSU wins tonight, it's all happening so that on November 28, 2015 in front of what could be a record crowd at the Big House, Jim Harbaugh will lead a recharged and resurgent Michigan team to an unexpected victory over the Buckeyes - defending National Champions - just like his mentor Bo did 46 years earlier. 

We all know history is bound to repeat itself. In a few hours we'll know just how closely it might come to pass. 

The Painful Labor and Rebirth of Hope for Michigan Football

I've never had children, but I know plenty of women who have. Some of my friends have described the birth process as the worst pain you can ever imagine. In one apt description, they say it's like drawing a basketball through a garden hose, which makes me rather happy to be a very involved aunt. Over the years I've had to ask, "Why on earth would you ever be open to having another after all THAT?" The answer was always the same. "Because when you look into that baby's eyes and hold him, you don't care about the pain you went through to get him." The memory of the pain is lessened because the happiness overwhelms it.

That's a great comparison to how I view 2014, particularly when I look back at the year in Michigan Football. It was one stumble after another for the Wolverines, Brady Hoke, and most of all, for Athletic Director Dave Brandon. There was shock and grief over the losses, the scandals, the embarrassing marketing stunts, and the growing rift between those running the Athletic Department and the Wolverine-loving fans who help fund it. I know at one point last fall, I felt the situation was utterly hopeless. I could see no light in the tunnel, just more tracks leading nowhere. We had a crazy AD, a new athletically-untested president, and a likable but hapless coach. There was an angry revolution brewing among students, alumni, and season ticket-holders. The diagnosis was, to extend my metaphor, Clear Blue Easy. Michigan Football and its fans have been suffering (at least) 7 years of uncomfortable gestation. We had it all. Nausea. Aches and pains. Tender emotions. And those Braxton Miller contractions were no picnic, either. There were a few good times: the 11-2 season, the Under the Lights series, Dave Brandon getting handed two boxes. For the most part, however, there was no rosy, happy glow on this aging mother of a program. 

Then in December, the proverbial water broke and Brady Hoke was relieved of his duties. The rebirth process of Michigan Football began in earnest. It was a month of laborious waiting as interim AD Jim Hackett conducted his search for the new coach. Hours of breathless panting and frazzled nerves over media hearsay and rampant rumors. Who would it be? Will he look like us? Will he grow to be successful? And ironically, instead of "Will we be able to afford his college?" it was "Would our college be able to afford him?" Like those on the verge of new parenthood, those last couple of weeks were filled with great hope, anticipation, and no small amount of fear.

On December 30, Jim Hackett announced the arrival of James Joseph Harbaugh as our new head coach. Yes, it's a boy! Actually a man and a damn good one at that. I'm sure more than one cigar or drink was sacrificed in his honor. It was a long time in coming, this hopeful rebirth of the Michigan program and already we're proud of our new arrival. Like any new kid at a family gathering, he will be the center of attention and much adoration. Our Jim spoke well and from the heart that first day, sharing feel-good stories of old and happier days and he called this place his dream. His home. And if all goes well, his permanent one. It wasn't even New Year's Eve yet and I was utterly intoxicated.

I guess all those moms were right. You can go through a lot of pain and suffering if the eyes you're looking into when it's all over are ones you dreamed about seeing as you waited all that time for him to come. Jim Harbaugh was born with an M chromosome and raised to be exactly where he is today, doing what he's doing. It feels like he's all ours now, but I think it's possible he has been from the beginning when he was just a boy joking around with Bo Schembechler and hanging around his dad, Jack, on the practice field. 

The rebirth has been long and difficult for all of us. But I can truly say, after seeing our man again after all these years, I no longer have strong memories of the pain we've endured to get him.

My happiness overwhelms it.