No Mas

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is over. The worst season in recent memory for University of Michigan Athletics is over. After starting off the football season 4-0, the Michigan Wolverines managed to lose 7 of their last 8 games and missed a bowl game for the second season in a row. The basketball team, coming off their first trip to the NCAA tournament under Coach John Beilein and a preseason ranking in the Top 25, failed to make any postseason tournament and finished the season with a game winning three-pointer coming off the fingertips of Ohio State's own Evan Turner. The hockey team had one of the worst regular seasons in Red Berenson's tenure. If it wasn't for an improbably run in the CCHA Playoffs they would have failed to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in over 20 years. Their season ended last night in heartbreaking fashion to Miami of Ohio in two overtimes. Best yet, they scored the winning goal in the first overtime, but unfortunately the worst refs ever blew the whistle early. The icing on the cake that really made me feel better about everything was hearing about junior guard Manny Harris' decision to leave early and declare himself eligible for the NBA Draft this summer. Great...just great.

I guess I wouldn't be sitting here whining and crying about it all if Michigan did not have such a rich history of phenomenal athletics. I remember some of the first years that I really paid attention to sports Michigan won two ice hockey championships, one football national championship, won the Big Ten Basketball Tournament, had a Heisman Trophy Winner and a Hobey Baker Winner all within a span of three academic years. Now that I'm wrapping up my third year here at Michigan, what have I witnessed? I've watched Appalachian State march into the Big House and shock the world. I've seen Dennis Dixon dick all over Michigan in one of the worst losses I've ever witessed in Michigan Stadium. I've seen Ohio State beat us not once, but twice in the Big House. Heck, I've even seen Michigan State beat us in the Big House. Better yet, I've seen the Big House not be the "biggest house." I've seen our basketball team be awful, then good, then awful again. I've seen our hockey team have amazing seasons, then just fail and falter during the playoffs. I will say though, I did have the pleasure in seeing another Hobey Baker Winner here in Ann Arbor.

I guess the combination of me growing up in Ann Arbor along with the perfect timing of my maturation as far as appreciation for sports goes spoiled me. Although this is all true, I'm not asking for national championships left and right. I would just like to see one of my teams do well. Watching Michigan State ease their way into another Final Four only furthers this general disappointment. Between Tom Izzo's stupid smirk he always has, and Terrelle Pryor dominating the Rose Bowl this past January, and all these devastating losses. I really am not sure if I can handle another season like this. I'm what I'd call an extremely loyal fan, but this is ridiculous. People joke about being cursed and all that, but seriously? How many other ways can we lose? We get blown out on the road. We get blown out at home. We have amazing regular seasons, and lose early in the playoffs. We have awful regular seasons and make promising runs, to get our little hearts broken. We get hit with buzzer beaters and last minute drives. We lose on national television, and we lose on regional broadcasts. This is all without even bringing up the embarassment that has been the ongoing investigation on whether or not we practice too much. I'm done. NO MORE.

I'll admit, I don't necessarily have a whole fix-it plan. Heck, I wouldn't know what to do if you put me in charge of one of those teams for one day. I do know this though: this is all completely unacceptable. If they have any sense of the athletic history of UofM (which we all know at least Red does) they will not accept this. They will sit their returning players down this offseason and demand greatness. I'm sick of "waiting for players to develop." I'm waiting for coaches styles to "develop." I'm over it all. We are the University of Michigan. We demand greatness. Time to step up.

Don't Fight the Hype

Because I'm busy this week, even more than usual, and I'm pretty hype for Thursday night, I leave you with these two hype tracks...






Lastly...I leave you with a quote from a t-shirt I saw in New York...

"Kobe is NOT Mike."

-KK

A Weekend of Hockey and Other Shenanigans...'Eh?

So, to sum up my weekend, I will say one word: Canadian. My housemates and I housed somewhere between 12 and 15 Canadians (I never got a final count) and it was, how do I say this...too much? Between our visitors from the north and UofM's Greek Week going on, and just general workload, I'm exhausted, and its only Monday. BUT, I did receive the good news that Mike Posner and B.O.B. will be performing on campus in April, so I'm hype. Anyway...I'll give top 3 highlights of the weekend...

1. Michigan Wins the CCHA Championship and Mason Cup, Clinching a Spot in the NCAA Tourney: I watched both the semifinal and championship Friday. Michigan beat Miami of Ohio, number one team in the country, relatively easily Friday night, and went on to knock off higher seeded Northern Michigan Saturday night to clinch a spot in the NCAA Tourney. Michigan will be playing Bemidji State Saturday night in Ft. Wayne, IN in the first round.

2. Rock Chalk Jay...f**k: After seeking refuge from our Canadian Bretheren, a few friends and I decided to go watch the NCAA Tourney at Damon's Bar & Grille. Little did I know I'd get to watch one of the most entertaining and biggest upsets I've seen in a long time. University of Northern Iowa defeated Kansas in entertaining fashion. This season's tourament has already been quite entertaining and hopefully it will continue to be just as nail-biting as the first two rounds.

3. Watching Hockey Night in Canada With Canadians: I have to say, watching not only Hockey Night in Canada, but Montreal vs Toronto was hilarious. There was a ton of money on the table, they were all hammerred, and I just watched it all unfold. I try not to talk about too many shenanigans, but it was just awesome watching this all unfold. To top it all off, the game went to a shootout. I decided to cheer for Montreal because, well...I don't know. But, Toronto won. Anyway, game was hilarious and the fans watching it were even more funny.

Anyway, it is Monday, which means Music Monday (even though I more or less only post on Mondays now). First off, I'll start with a song I really enjoyed last summer, but have been listening to it a lot lately...


Jermaine Coleman, better known by his stage name "Maino", is a rap artist who first started getting big in 2007 after ditching his deal with Universal Records and signing with himself and his Hustle Hard imprint to Atlantic Records. "All the Above" is the second single off of his first album If Tomorrow Never Comes and he will have his second album, The Day After Tomorrow be released sometime this year.



Next, a little country (yes...me, listening to country, although it probably isn't the country you listen to). The Mavericks were a alternative-country band founded in Miami, FL in 1989. Country artist Raul Malo was the lead vocalist and has gone on to have a relatively promising solo career. From 1991 until 2003 they released six studio albums and charted 14 singles on Billboard's Top Country Chart. Their highest ranking single was this little number...




And lastly, this one is just a cool mash-up. It has been out there for a while, but I came across it the other day for the first time in a while and I thought I'd share.



I hope everyone is enjoying the Madness that is March and I don't know about you, but I'm counting down the not only the days, but the hours and minutes until the Tigers take the field..13 days 22 hours 19 minutes

-KK

Chad Henne is a Wise Man

Chad Henne apparently agrees with me...whether or not you chose to, I don't care. But, Henne believe Tim Tebow is NOT an NFL QB.

St. Patty's Day...Musically

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all my Irish bretheren, and to those who just want to celebrate. I really don't have too much to say other than that I think professors who schedule exams not only on St. Patrick's Day, but one of the warmest St. Patrick's Days in a long time, really need to just go away. All jokes...but because I didn't do Music Monday, I leave you with these to Irish-related tracks...





I hope everyone has a Happy and Safe St. Patrick's Day...

Music Monday and Other Glorious Spring Break Happenings

Well, as promised, I will now share the story that is Spring Break along with some musical highlights...

Day 1, Friday Feb 26th: As I got out of class, I started getting calls and texts from my parents. They really didn't think driving out into the eye of the supposed "snowicane" that was going on out east was a good idea. I agreed. After great deliberation, we decided that Florida was our next best trip, and the drive was not much worse than New York. After deciding on Lakeland for Tigers Spring Training, I took a look at the bank account. There was no way Florida was going to work. So, I settled for nothing. Ended up going home to see the fam and see what my realistc options for Spring Break were. AKA: LAMECAKE

Day 2, Saturday Feb 27th: The Brain Trust meets at Cottage Inn to discuss options. The train comes up...doable. Little bit of a long ride, but doable nonetheless. After smashing on a sub and watching Michigan lose to Ohio State in basketball, we decide...train it is. Everybody start packing...we're going to New York...

Day 2-3 Saturday and Sunday Feb 27th-Feb 28th: Bus from Ann Arbor to Toledo leaves at 8:50pm. Train from Toledo to New York leave at 2:50am...we have a little too much time to kill. I watch Miss March...awful movie. Really not entertaining. Just one big Playboy joke...not funny. I'm not even going to waste my time showing you a trailer. After getting on the train though, we travel through the morning and into the day...through Cleveland, OH, Erie, PA, Syracuse, NY, Utica, NY...eventually we start getting close to NYC.

Day 3 Sunday Feb 28th: As we're getting closer to NYC, I realize that the Olympic Gold Medal Game, USA vs Canada is almost over. I called my dad and he was able to put the phone close enough to the tv that I could listen to overtime. Unfortunately...this happened. Anyway, ten minutes later I was in Penn Station and checkin out Madison Square Garden, so whatever. We made our way to Long Island and relaxed the rest of the evening.

Day 4 Monday, March 1st: My friends and I decided it was time to check out the city. We took the train in, which is freaking expensive, and went to a bunch of different places. We ALMOST got standby tickets for Letterman, but no-go. We did get to see Bill Murray though, so that was cool. If we had seen the taping, we would've seen this little number perform...



This quickly became a song for the week...along with a certain Katie's rendition suggesting the lyrics were "I dont think you know..." hahaha. Regardless, it was a great day. We ended up going to the Hard Rock Cafe in Time Square for dinner and ran into a friend in Time Square, go figure. We also checked out a comedy show that evening. Pretty...interesting? Sidenote: don't ever bother going to the m&m store...waste of time.

Day 5 Tuesday, March 2: Its my half-birthday! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! But we really didn't do much during the day. We went to Long Beach and horsed around. In the evening though...we took Long Island by storm. First, we watched the New York Islanders play the Chicago Blackhawks. Blake Comeau had a hat trick for the Islanders, who won 5-2. We had a blast. We came back with this fine goal anthem...



After the game we met up with a friend and went bowling. I wasn't TOO bad.

Day 5, Wednesday, March 3rd: Decided to hit up the city again. We went to Rockafeller Plaza, St. Patrick's Cathedral, the NBA Store, the Museum of Modern Art, the ESPN Zone for dinner, and then "The Most Famous Arena on Earth", Madison Square Garden to watch my Pistons get smoked by the Knicks. It was just an epic day and I was exhausted by the end.

Day 6-7, Thursday and Friday, March 4th and 5th: Time to go home. We took the train back out of Penn Station around 3:45. The ride back was much easier than the way there in my opinion. Probably cuz the majority of the trip was at night and I could sleep. We pulled into Ann Arbor around 8:45 am and went on to sleep the majority of the day.

Overall, the trip was amazing. Time Square was beautiful and I enjoyed ever second of it. It was a little expensive, but what the heck...live a little. Lots of inside jokes and moments I'll never forget happened, and I'm glad I decided to go. The one question I have coming out of the trip is this...Is it bad that I enjoyed an Islanders game more than a Knicks vs Pistons game at MSG? Whatever...hope everyone had a great break and I'll be posting on the Tigers within the next day or two.

-KK

Lame-Cake Day

On my last "fun" day of Spring Break, here I am doing work at the library...Whatever. Thought I'd share a little music because I'm bored and have been jammin to tunes I haven't listend to in a while.

First...



Secondly...

Happy Birthday to Shaquille O'Neal (38) and Marcus Thames (33).

Thirdly...

Watched Disney's Up the other day...just thought I'd share my favorite part...



Last, but not least...a little inside joke from the NYC Trip...



I'll have some New York stories soon...just too busy to give them the attention and proper writing that they deserve currently.

-KK

PS: GO LIONS!

Back in the Deuce

Well, we made it back. Although I've been back since about 8:45am today, it has still been a long day of catching up on sleep and pretending that I don't have a million things to do. But, I do want to say...New York was amazing. Heck, I went to an Islanders game and had a good time (I will talk of that in a later post). I do just want to say that Time Square is everything is it cracked up to be. I saw that place and my jaw dropped. I was also approached by people asking if I had or wanted pot/crack/something special, but thats beside the point. I hope everyone has had a great week and I will post a recap of our trip within the next day or two. My thoughts go out to Rodney Stuckey and his family. Hopefully he is not nearly as sick or hurt as it seemed during the game.

-KK