Capital Outcome
The Maize and Blue played a great game in yesterday's "Capital One" Bowl defeating Florida 41 to 35. It was nice to see Lloyd Carr retire on a win. That my alma mater beat a team from Florida - a state I've never been able to take seriously - made the victory all that much sweeter.
I'm going to forgo objectivity here. There will be no sportsmanlike tributes to the vanquished, no game-well-played paean. Florida is the reigning national champion, has as quarterback the current Heisman Trophy winner, and got to play the game in their own backyard, the stadium packed with their fans. They still lost. Michigan whipped them. Henne had more than twice as many yards passing as did Tebow. I'm going to gloat for the next 365 days.
Michigan and its fans had to endure all sorts of crap after we lost to Appalachian State. Now it's our turn to revel in an upset victory. So my advice for any Florida fan?
Go sit down, loser.
K-
I'm happy for Carr and the Maize and Blue faithful. They've endured a disappointing, for them, season. I think they're going to miss Carr in the coming years, though. He is a class act. The guy coming in now ... isn't.
I've always liked Carr. He did a lot for the university beyond coaching football and was tireless generating good will in the Ann Arbor community. Lou Holtz gave him a really nice tribute commentary on TV after the game last night.
Michigan has traditionally grown its football coaches from within. I was surprised AD Martin seemed determined to get someone from outside. It will be interesting to see how quickly Rodriguez becomes a Michigan man. I don't know much about him but your comment, Rob, concerns me. I'd really hate to see Michigan's football program have the same problems its basketball program has had.
K-
Rodriguez was on Tommy Bowden's staff here at Tulane. Bowden is now at Clemson. They're both opportunists in the Mack Brown (Who also coached at Tulane but is now at Texas via North Carolina) and Bobby Petrino mold. Maybe they'll settle down now that they're at top programs but I think it's in their DNA.
I watched that game. Glad your team won.
Cas
Since we unplugged the TV, I haven't seen a single game (listened to a few, though). Thus I missed the crucial Cal-Air Force tilt a week ago Sunday. And also the Florida-Michigan contest, which sounds like a humdinger, to use a Keith Jackson-ism. I've always liked Michigan; I think it's because they were the Big Ten's only reliable bulwark against the force of Ultimate Darkness -- Ohio State.