Sports are Fun... Sometimes...

I suppose I can do a quick re-cap of football for this season...

I was happy... then mad... then frustrated (the long drive didn't help)... then everything got better... then it ended on the highest of highs.  From running out of Michigan Stadium in the rain, to the glorious celebration under the lights, to the irritating drive back from Iowa City, to the joy that was beating Ohio, this was a heck of a roller coaster of a season.  I never would have guessed that Michigan would finish 10-2 let alone 11-2 with a BCS Bowl victory.  I'm proud to say I'm a Wolverine (not that I'm ever not proud) after this season and it was nice to graduate on a high note after four previous seasons of... let us just say disappointment?  The season provided many one-liners, many jokes, and many... well... for lack of a better word... moments. (Brunette Girls... Brunette Girls... Brunette Girls... BOOM)

This was all phenomenal and my number one sports love had a great season and I can't wait for next season.

#BEATBAMA

Then... the Motor City Kitties...

I'm gonna keep this short and sweet.

Dear Detroit Lions Franchise,

Thank you for giving me hope in my NFL team again.  I've watched you since as far back as I can remember.  I remember crying the day Barry Sanders decided he was done.  I remember watching Herman Moore and Johnnie Morton tear up the Silverdome like it was their job, which it was.  I remember draft day after draft day saying, "This is it.  This is the guy we needed." Low and behold six months later I would be cursing his name (I'm talking about you Aaron Gibson).  I'm just glad that I can sit through an entire Lions game now without cursing the football gods.  Thank you for providing us with a heck of a season and I look forward to cheering on the Leos next season.

Stafford!

- Kevin

PLAYOFFS?!

Ok.  It is still a tad bit early to be looking to the NFL Playoffs.  But, Detroit's Comeback Kitties are making it appear that they will be playing football past Week 17 this season.  If the playoffs started today, the Detroit Lions would be playing the New Orleans Saints in a rematch of the Week 13 match-up.  From a fan's perspective, the idea of the Lions in the Playoffs for the first time since 1999 is phenomenal.  From a sports fan's perspective, I think its great to get one of the more classic franchises playing in January.  From a football fan's perspective, I don't see them making it past the first round.  But, we shall see.  Cross your fingers, toes, and any other appendage that you can think of.  Who knows, maybe the Lions will be Indianapolis Bound...

And in honor of the Playoffs, and Indianapolis...

oh lordy...

The title to this post is how I feel like just about every day. I'm sure many of you can appreciate where I'm coming from. If you've graduated, you're searching for a job. If you haven't graduated, you're searching for a job. Some jobs you are under-qualified for. Some jobs you are over-qualified for. Some places interview you even if they aren't hiring. Some places interview you knowing who they will hire already regardless of your interview. Today's job market just seems to be a joke, but, there are so many things that we can do to help ourselves. Now, I'm not about to preach to anyone in specific.  But, I think these few opinions could help you along the way...

1. Don't post pictures of yourself on the internet doing something stupid... you're only hurting yourself...











OH MY GAWD BECKY! IT WOULD BE SO CUTE IF WE ALL SHOWED OUR UNDIES! OH EM GEE I KNOW! THIS SHOULD TOTALLY BE OUR HOUSE'S CHRISTMAS PIC!

- girl in blue thong

While many of these pics are fun to take, they aren't fun to put on the internet. In an age that no longer hides anything, pictures that would horrify your grandmother are appearing all over. If people post stuff of you, either put your account in extra protective mode, or ask them to take it down. If they don't, be preventive altogether and don't take these dumb pictures. Just ask Michael Phelps. I bet he regrets letting someone take a picture of him...

2. Save all of the swearing for the sailors, navymen, and soldiers protecting us... not your Twitter feed complaining about how f-ing bored you are.

I will admit I break this rule occasionally if I get really into a sporting event or get annoyed with someone or something, but it isn't necessary. There is no need for you to swear up a storm online. Where is it going to get you? Somebody now knows you know the f-word. Congrats.

3. "Don't give up. Don't ever give up." -Jimmy V

To quote a truly motivational coach, Jim Valvano provided us with this gem. While it was pertaining to fighting cancer, it can be used for many things. Don't do just one search and presume you are done. There are 100's if not 1000's of jobs out there. And one of them will be yours. Stay motivated. Keep searching. You never know when something will pop up.


Now this was all quite spur of the moment and just a few thoughts, but I thought it would be good for people to hear/read. So, hopefully, it was. I hope everyone's holidays are spent happily with friends and family or however you want it to be spent.  And, just remember, when things seem to be really coming down on you, everything happens for a reason.

Cheers.

-Kevin

Spring...

Well I have failed miserably at keeping this thing even semi-updated regularly. But, as I have some here, I will write a few ideas/thoughts/opinions on Spring and what comes with it...

DETROIT TIGERS BASEBALL

Spring brings baseball to us...my favorite sport. While my Tigers have had a rough start so far going 1-3 in the first four games, there is still 158 games to go on the season. The additions of Victor Martinez as well as Brad Penny and signing Jhonny Peralta to a contract makes the Tigers a definite threat in the AL Central. Until we play the Twins, White Sox, Indians, and Royals a few times, I will not say much. But, I do think we have a definite shot at winning the Central Division. Jim Leyland has got them in the right mindset and they just need to not have a nose-dive month like they tend to and stay in the thick of it until the end of September.

MICHIGAN FOOTBALL: SPRING BALL

Coach Brady Hoke has gotten his first few practices in and the team looks good. Junior QB Denard "Nard-Dog (or Shoelace I guess)" Robinson has been taking snaps under center and is looking pretty good. The team is learning the new schemes and showing that they can transition to a new coaching staff smoothly. Hopefully this is actually the case and they come out in September bigger and better than ever. The "Spring Game" will be held April 16th at The Big House. Hoke has made it clear that it won't be an actual game (not enough bodies) but they will definitely run drills and put on a bit of a show for the fans.

DETROIT RED WINGS: BACK IN THE PLAYOFFS

The Wings are in the NHL playoffs for the 20th consecutive season. They clinched the Central Division the other night with a win over the Minnesota Wild. They will most likely be the 2nd seed in the West behind the Vancouver Canucks, President Trophy winners. The Wings have been in the playoffs for the majority of my life and them not making would be like Michigan running out of the tunnel on a fall Saturday not wearing the Maize and Blue... THROWBACK JERSEYS FOR THE MAIZE AND BLUE Michigan will be wearing throwback unis against Notre Dame at the Big House on Sept. 10 in the first night game in Michigan Stadium history. While no pictures have been released yet, it appears they have been described as having numbers on the side of the helmet and a Block M's on the front of the jerseys. We shall see... Seems pretty cool though. I'm always up for spicing things up a little bit, as long as its a one-time thing. Can't hurt to pay homage to previous teams. Notre Dame will be wearing throwbacks as well. If I were to guess this is definitely a brain-child of Adidas (both ND and UofM are Adidas schools).

Pistons... Meh...retired Dennis Rodman's jersey...I guess that was cool.

NCAA FROZEN FOUR

The Michigan Hockey team has advanced to the Frozen Four after defeating Nebraska-Omaha in OT and Colorado College out in St. Louis two weeks ago. They now face North Dakota in the national semifinals in St. Paul, Minnesota. They play tomorrow (April 7th) night at 8:30pm. The game will be on ESPN2. I think Michigan definitely has a strong enough team to beat North Dakota, but it will be tough. North Dakota is the current No. 1 team in the country and were preseason No. 2 behind Boston College. In the other semi-final, Notre Dame faces off against Minnesota-Duluth. The championship game will be Saturday night. Hopefully I will have a reason to celebrate this weekend. This is certainly a busy time for sports. This was all just a few points and well known stuff already but I thought I would just do some writing. I will probably post a post-Frozen Four post in the next few days. Hopefully it is a celebratory one. If not...well...lets just hope we don't have to deal with that. Until later... Here's Red Berenson in the good ole days... Cheers, Kevin

Its Been a While Vol. 2

Between my brother Ryan pointing out it has been a while and my lack of interest in reading/writing for classes, time for a post...

I will admit that my internet social networking/writing has been more focused on Twitter as of late. But, nonetheless, write I shall.

There is so much to write about, so I will try to spread it out over the next few days. That, and topics that have been beat to death will be barely touched on. So...Topic Number 1...

The Big Chill

Probably the most fun I have had at a sporting event in a long time. "The Big Chill" pitted the University of Michigan Hockey Team against Michigan State in front of 113,411 people at Michigan Stadium. A whole Wikipedia article can be found here...

I just wanted to say how much fun that game was. I unfortunately had to do back-to-back all nighters because of it. But you know what? It was totally worth it. The atmosphere was amazing. The game was awesome (whenever Michigan wins it is awesome). And, to be frank, I don't think there was a moment throughout the game where I wasn't smiling. It was just an absolute blast and I enjoyed hearing Athletic Director Dave Brandon mention the idea of having a game like that every four years or so. Now if only we could get the Wings to come play in the Big House...

GATOR BOWL

Michigan went up against Mississippi State on New Years Day in Jacksonville. Only one team showed up to play. Final Score: Mississippi State - 52 Michigan - 14 Bye Bye Rich Rod.

I think what made me the most mad about this game was you could clearly tell Rich Rod just gave up. His facial expressions. His decisions throughout the game. I just really don't feel like ranting forever. So...on another note...

BRADY HOKE!

Brady Hoke was named the successor to Rich Rodriguez about a week after Coach Rodriguez was fired. After previously coaching at San Diego State and Ball State, he returns to Ann Arbor, where he coached under Lloyd Carr and Gary Moeller. While he wasn't my first choice, I think he was the best option. Obviously I would have loved to get Jim Harbaugh, but that was not an option. Coach Hoke is a former coach who knows the Midwest, the Big 10, and Michigan Football. WELCOME COACH HOKE!

Michigan Basketball

I've only been to one game this year, but I have watched most of them on television at the very least. And, I am just going to list off a few thoughts that come to mind with this team.

1. Young
2. Live and Die by the 3
3. Evan Smotrycz needs to go by "Mr. Smots"
4. Black McLimans is McLiman in your window
5. Tim Hardaway Jr. is getting better, still not great
6. Darius Morris is good, but needs to pass the freaking ball
7. If you don't think John Beilein is a good coach, you don't know basketball.
8. They're good, but just can't finish
9. See number 1
10. Thursday is going to be rough...

Until next time...

I am really going to try and write more. It would probably help considering I am an English Major and all. I think with the next post I'll focus on the pros some. And I'm gonna do a music post soon...its been a while. Until then...

Cheers,

Kevin

My Interaction with Sparky

Considering we lost one of the great managers of the game today, I thought I'd share a story of the time I met Sparky...

It was sometime around the age of 9 or 10 that I was really getting into baseball. My parents decided to send me to the UofM Baseball Camp (I think coached by Geoff Zahn at the time) and I was psyched. Sometime around the third day we were all eating our lunches in the bleachers, and all of a sudden everyone rushed to the field. There was a large group around this guy and I had no idea what was going on. I decided to walk over and see what all of the commotion was about. After making my way to centerfield I saw who it was...Sparky Anderson. I knew that this guy had coached the Tigers to the World Series in 1984, but at the time I really knew little else. I did not know about the Big Red Machine. I did not know about Johnny Bench. I knew about Ken Griffey Jr, but not Sr. I knew of Alan Trammel and Kirk Gibson and the rest of the '84 crew, but I don't think I realized the magnitude of who I was seeing. Sparky had us line-up around him so he could talk to us about baseball and life and a few other things. Afterwards he asked if anyone wanted autographs....shoot. It was then that I realized that I had nothing for him to autograph. I was wearing a dark navy blue Michigan shirt and hat. My baseball pants were not an option. My glove certainly was not an 0ption. And, it wasn't like I carried a pad of paper around with me at all times. So, at that very moment, I decided I could at least meet the guy. I stood in line, and when it came my turn, Sparky asked, "Son, what would you like me to sign." I replied, "Mr. Anderson, I don't have anything with me to sign, but I was hoping to just shake your hand." Sparky stopped, looked at me, and smiled. He told me that I was the most polite kid he had ever met and that he couldn't believe that all I wanted was a handshake. He kneeled down, gave me a hug, and told me to never change. As corny as this probably sounds, I took those words to heart. Obviously my family raising me has had an impact on that, but, I do think that story really did affect my life. So, today, I'd like to honor one of the greats. We all know that he hopped over the chalk-line on his way through the pearly gates.

RIP Sparky

Cheers,

Kevin

Well That Sucked

So, Saturday sucked. Nothing like getting absolutely beat down in your own stadium. I haven't felt like that in a while. Even last year...at least with Ohio State I was expecting it. I guess the worst part was probably how MSU took over Ann Arbor for a full 24-hour period. If I hear GO GREEN - GO WHITE one more time...gahhhhhh. OK, vent session over. Now that it is Thursday, I am moving on to Saturday's game. Michigan hosts Iowa this Saturday and celebrates Homecoming. Nothing like watching the alumni twirlers. Iowa was a pre-season favorite to win the Big Ten Title. They are 4-1 on the season, their only loss coming to Arizona on the road. I made the trip out to Iowa last year for the game and am hoping for a little revenge. If Michigan rebounds and wins the game this weekend, they will be bowl-eligible for te first time since 2007. Denard Robinson apparently had a Tebow-esque post-game speech on Saturday. If he really wants to prove himself, and get back in the Heisman Trophy race, he needs to bounce back and show the country who he is.

Prediction: Michigan - 34 Iowa - 27

Hopefull all goes accordingly and next week I can start predicting what bowl we'll be in. GO BLUE!

Cheers,

Kevin