Saigon

I would hope that at this point I would've gained a reputation for being at the very least, fair, if not decidedly in the "pro" camp for Rich Rodriguez. All the essay-type posts I've typed up over the last three years, I would've thought some sort of credence would be given. But alas, the moment I started questioning things, the moment I dared to speak out, I had people questioning my fanhood, calling me fake, berating me, etc. I'm not terribly surprised - if there's one thing I've learned in the last three years, it's that the Michigan fanbase is ultimately spineless and afraid.

So, as it stands now, there are two camps: one still throws out offensive ranking statistics and "youth"; they want Rodriguez back. The other throws out defensive ranking statistics; they want Harbaugh.

Before the season, I was "all in"; I have since grown to despise this term, as it is disingenuous and screams of bleating by sheep who cling to whatever they can cling to. It's the same sort of thing the (sorry, about to get political here) Bush administration did when they questioned the patriotism of those who criticized the war and other things. Same sort of nonsense I hear democrats throw out when people criticize President Obama. The "all in" crowd has tried to blur the line. They try to say if you're not "all in" for Rich Rodriguez, then you're not "all in" for Michigan; that somehow you're not a true fan. Well, there's something to be said for loyalty. But there's another thing to be said for blind devotion and thoughtlessly following your leader into the fire.

I dare anyone to question my fanhood. I was at Purdue and stood through the monsoon as we yakety sax'd our way through the game and managed to stumble into a win. I was at Iowa and UMass when the defense couldn't stop a thing. I sat in front of my TV for every play of today's game. My heart hurt as yours hurt when OSU scored, when we fucked up, etc. So no, I will not tolerate anybody saying I'm not a real fan because I refuse to stand in lockstep with the Rodriguez supporters.

There are legitimate reasons for our incompetence on the football field, some that are indeed out of Rodriguez's hands. Once again, Rodriguez did not break Troy Woolfolk's ankle, didn't put JT Floyd in the ankle lock, didn't tell Donovan Warren to leave and go undrafted, didn't turn Boubacar Cissoko into a thug, didn't tell JT Turner to be lazy, etc. But he does employ Tony Gibson, who has shown not one iota of coaching ability. He did force some bastardized, pathetic version of the 3-3-5 on this defense. He has shown, in three full years, zero ability to put together any form of cohesion on defense. There is nothing redeemable there. No coaches, no scheme, no fundamentals. Nothing. After three years. What makes anybody think that's suddenly going to change moving forward?

And despite the screams from certain significant people about the statistical prowess of this offense...well, you saw what happened today. It wasn't some outlier. The offense was similarly squashed when it mattered by Michigan State, Iowa, Penn State, and Wisconsin. Putting up a ton of yards and points isn't really worth a whole lot when you don't do it until you fall behind by three touchdowns. Every single aspect of this team has proven to be tissue paper soft against the real Big 10 competition. So we're able to beat Indiana, Illinois and Purdue now. We look like "Michigan" against MAC teams. Congrats, our coach has built a MAC champion. Against every single Big 10 team with a winning record, the defense has been meek, undersized, and bulldozed into submission. The offense has been tenative, turnover-prone, and they make mistakes like they're still learning how to play football. Penalties, fumbles, dropped passes - against the physical elite in this conference, this offense turns to goo, because they're soft, both mentally and physically. The wide receivers are pretty good at catching the ball...except against legitimate, "old school" Big Ten defenses. Then they get alligator arms and start dropping everything. The running backs are physical...until they face physical defenses, then they go down on first contact and cough the ball up. The quarterbacks are accurate and make plays...until they play good defenses, then they turn the ball over and are wild with many of their throws.

So yeah, I'm off the bandwagon. I'm "all in" for Michigan, and that means I'm ready to abandon this wild experiment, admit it was a sunk cost, and ditch everything associated with it. And the whole "We can't go through another 3-4 years of rebuilding" is a red herring. If that's your best justification for keeping a coach, then that says it all.

I don't take pleasure in any of this, I hope people realize that. There are those who secretly (and perhaps not-so-secretly in some places) took delight in what happened today because it serves as more vindication for their stance. Not me. My heart is broken over all this. I never want to see Michigan swirling the drain like we are now. And I desperately wanted Rodriguez to win because I saw and am aware of how unfairly he was treated when he arrived, how he had essentially zero support on the inside when he took over. But I've reached the point where I no longer trust him to turn the corner. Getting revenge against no-counts like Illinois and Purdue was important, but, for me anyway, we had to show something more than we did against the upper tier of the conference. Watching the games against MSU, Iowa, Penn State (who isn't even upper tier this year), Wisconsin, Ohio State...I saw no difference in these games than what was on the field in 2008 and 2009. In some cases, it was even worse.

So, for those of you who remain loyal to the coach and still believe he is the man for the job and think he deserves more time, I admire your conviction, even if I no longer understand it. And for those who believe the time for change has arrived...I begrudgingly ask for a seat at the table.

At the end of the Vietnam War, there was no war at all, really. The violence had long since ended, the gunfire long silenced, the ambush attacks by the rebels long quieted. Instead there was a steady, solemn withdrawal by US forces as they realized everything they had invested was going to be for naught. And as the Communist forces finally closed in on the city of Saigon, the final helicopter loaded up what it could, trying to get as many people as it could to safety before the city fell. They were allowed to leave, and shortly thereafter, PAVN tanks rolled in, the final candle of democracy in Vietnam was extinguished, and all the blood, sweat and tears poured into the country in the name of freedom were rendered moot.

I'm certainly not comparing something as ultimately trivial as football to something as real and horrifying as war, but as a history major, I can't help but see the parallel. And right about now, Michigan football is reaching the point where the final helicopters are warming up on the roofs of the embassy, with refugees trying to board as enemy tanks and winds of change close in.

I predicted after the end of last season that 2010 would be the end for Rich Rodriguez. A year later, my prediction remains the same. And my heart is heavy.

Disillusionment

Michigan State 34, Michigan 17; 5-1, 1-1

I said yesterday we'd find out a lot about this Michigan team based on the actions and events that took place during this football game.

Well, as it turns out, we did. As it also turns out, a football team takes on the personality of its head coach; and that matters. If you had to treat a football team like some sort of dish with a bunch of ingredients, the personality would be something that has to be thrown into the mix. Other things matter, like how you recruit, how fast your players are, how big and strong they are, etc. It's a very complicated process that is even harder for outsiders like us to decipher.

Today, it was simple: Michigan State takes on the personality of its head coach. Dantonio is a lot of things. He's a hypocrite, a trash talker, and way too dramatic. But he's also tough, hard-nosed, determined, and he has successfully instilled that mindset in his football team.

On the other side, Michigan's defense plays like it's an afterthought - just like their head coach treats them.

I don't pretend to have all the answers, or even any of the answers, really. If you come here looking for seer-like wisdom about what has to happen for things to be fixed, you're probably better off going elsewhere. All I can offer here is my opinion about the state of affairs and why things are the way they are. I don't pretend to have all the facts. I base what I believe off the information that becomes available to me. So if what I have to say here upsets you and you accuse me of being a "fairweather" or "fake" fan, I respectfully tell you to kiss my ass. I've been keeping this inside since the UMass game because I didn't want to be one of "those guys" that feels the need to harp on negativity when the overall outcome is still positive. Well, after today, I no longer have that obstacle, and I'm about to bust out the flamethrower. So here it is.

Rich Rodriguez is an offensive genius. It's not his fault that Denard Robinson missed Stonum in the endzone, and misjudged a pair of crossing patterns that resulted in redzone interceptions. Certain people in certain circles will use this game as more "proof" that the spread doesn't work in the Big 10. I don't buy that even a little bit. Before the game got out of hand, Michigan went up and down the field against MSU, and their sophomore QB in his 6th career game finally cracked under the weight of having the carry an entire program on his shoulders. What Rich and the offensive coaches have done is very, very impressive.

On the other hand: Rich Rodriguez is guilty of borderline criminal negligence in regard to this so-called defense. Did Lloyd Carr leave a stocked cupboard? No. But this is Year 3, and we have no direction, no goal, no ANYTHING on defense. Why? Because our head coach is a glorified offensive coordinator who pays no attention to the other side of the ball. Because Rich Rodriguez hired Scott Shafer in 2008, and then stood by as his buddies cut Shafer's balls off and ousted him as defensive coordinator. Shafer was fired after the season, rendering the entire 2008 season moot. The stench of 3-9 sticks, but any miniscule lessons any of the players learned along the way went swirling the drain when the coordinator and scheme changed.

And then, as if trying to one-up his own stubbornness, after another catatstrophic meltdown in 2009, Rich Rodriguez "recommends" the 3-3-5 defense to his second year coordinator, Greg Robinson. It's bad enough that in Year 3, we were once again headed down a new path, defensively. It's even worse that we decided to go to a scheme that takes a defensive lineman off the field and puts an extra defensive back on. I don't have an issue with the 3-3-5 in principle. With the proper personnel and proper coaching, just about any scheme can succeed. But we decide to install a scheme (with a coordinator who has never run it before) that marginalizes our defensive line, puts more strain on our worst unit, and calls on our linebackers to react quickly and fill gaps, something they have almost no capability of doing. It's asinine, it defies logic, and it'd be laughable if it wasn't so ridiculous.

So who's to blame? Obi Ezeh was a Lloyd recruit...and in year 3 Rodriguez has failed to find anybody to get Obi off the field. Rodriguez has failed to dedicate himself to a scheme on defense like he did on offense. Rodriguez has failed to hire the proper coaches to coach the defensive side of the ball. There are massive, massive personnel deficiencies in the defensive backfield, I understand. Rodriguez didn't tell Boubacar Cissoko to lose his mind and become a thug. He didn't tell JT Turner to be lazy and not put in any effort. He didn't break Troy Woolfolk's ankle. He didn't tell Donovan Warren to leave early and go undrafted.

But he did take a gamble on Vlad Emilien after an ACL tear; didn't work out. He chose to pursue Demar Dorsey and Adrian Witty instead of trying for other recruits with better academic prospects. He has chosen to leave Tony Gibson in charge back there, when Gibson is universally mocked as nothing more than Rodriguez's drinking buddy. This kind of nepotism had Michigan fans breathing fire at Lloyd Carr for employing Mike Debord as offensive coordinator. Rodriguez isn't exempt.

So what's the solution? I ask, because I don't know. There is not a single redeeming quality about this defense. It does nothing well. I thought they'd be able to hold their own against MSU's running game. That thought was comically extinguished when Edwin Baker was GONE the second he got past the line of scrimmage, because I knew our linebackers had blown it and our DBs weren't going to be able to stop him. In a sense, this game was lost in the first quarter just like last year, because our own ineptitude allowed MSU to dictate control of the game. Last year, it was the defense being unable to get off the field despite three (!!!) MSU personal fouls, giving up a 12-minute drive culminating in MSU's touchdown to make it 7-3. This year, in a situation where we know the defense sucks and we know the offense had to be balls to the wall...we get 3 points in two drives in the redzone. Should've been 14-0 Michigan and an entirely different complexion to the game. Instead, it was only 3-0, and MSU was allowed to get into a rhythm with their offense, and of course, our defense was entirely incapable of doing anything correctly.

This is a radical thought considering what we've seen the last two and a half years, but it really DOESN'T take an act of God to install a sense of toughness and basic fundamentals in a defense. All you need are competent coaches and the proper attention to detail. Michigan has neither. Rodriguez pays no attention to the defense and leaves them to their own devices, running a scheme they (and their coordinator) are new to. The results are predictable. Apocalyptic, but predictable.

And with that, my patience runs thin with this whole experiment. Having a glitzy, rock and roll offense only goes so far. Try to remove the maize and blue glasses and look at today's game from an objective point of view. One team was physical on both sides of the ball, more or less fundamentally sound, tackled well, played solid assignment football and executed their gameplan brilliantly. The other team failed to execute in the redzone and lacked any kind of competence, execution, or toughness on the other side of the ball. Which program looks to be in better shape going forward?

Again, this isn't a blind "Fire RR" post. I'm asking. What's the solution? If you think Greg Robinson is the problem, what coordinator is out there that can stabilize things? Who can step in and install some form of toughness? Look at how the tables have turned. In a matter of what, four years, Michigan and Michigan State have become complete opposites. Michigan has gone from the old-school "boring" offense and more or less smashmouth defense to the explosive spread offense with nothing even close to a mediocre defense, while MSU has gone from the John L spread and no D to the old Michigan look of run, run, playaction, play D. Curious how this reversal of attitudes has accompanied a reversal of game results...

I'm out of answers. Disillusionment has set in, and I now look at every game left on the schedule as one we could very well lose. What's different about Iowa that will make it a different result from today? Wisconsin and Ohio State will do the same. Penn State? On the road? At night? Even with their issues, do you expect this defense to shut them down? Illinois and Purdue? Even with their personnel losses, after all the points they've put up on us the last two years, how can they be viewed as slam dunks?

With this defense, nothing is a slam dunk. And against the first truly sturdy, competent defense they've seen, this offense stalled. How many times this scenario repeats itself will determine the future. But even then, if he survives, has Rich Rodriguez done anything to cause any sort of optimism about the defense after this year?

Sure hasn't for me. In fact just the opposite. Frankly, I'll believe a Rodriguez-coached Michigan team will field a competent defense when I see it. And the way I see it, we're light years away.

There Are Things That Drift Away

Sharks 4, Red Wings 3 (OT); Western Semifinals, 0-3

	Iron & Wine - Passing Afternoon
	Found at skreemr.com

It's never easy to say goodbye to someone, or something, that you love. It's even harder when you say goodbye to those that you adore so much, but realize they're not the same as they once were. What once was vibrant is now haggard. What once was fiery is now extinguished. What once shined under the spotlights now sweats.

Maybe it's just me. Maybe in my head, I've elevated the 2007-2008 Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings to a level of reverence that they never truly reached. Maybe the perfection I have envisioned in my mind didn't exist. Either way, it certainly exceeded what's transpired since that warm summer night in Pittsburgh 23 months ago. In my mind's eye, I see the definition of "Red Wings hockey": precision, speed, execution, grace, intelligence. You could throw a dart at every synonym for those words, and you'd hit one that accurately described the Red Wings on their quest to a championship two springs ago.

Now? I'm not sure if any of them apply anymore. What began to crack last spring has broken completely now. Whether it's a result of players getting older, or someone behind the bench being really, really bad at what they do, or some combination of both, it doesn't matter; the Red Wings no longer possess many of the qualities that we as fans have grown accustomed to seeing night in and night out. Losing battles in the corners, losing possession of the puck, passes failing to connect through the neutral zone, defensemen being turnstiled and burned by being out of position. None of these were present two years ago. They began to pop up last season, culminating in one of the most painful nights in the lives of Red Wings fans. Even The Perfect Human, one Nicklas Lidstrom, has become mortal.

This goes beyond officiating. The refs were bad, but they're hardly to blame. Tonight's scapegoats, as if it really matters, could be a few select players, I suppose. Jason Williams, in the lineup for some unknown reason, does what he does and fires a wild shot that, of course, ricochets out the other side and produces the 2-on-1 that ends the game, because, just like last year in Pittsburgh in Game 4, Brian Rafalski is completely and utterly worthless in this situation. He does nothing to stop the pass, and bang, it's game over. And it's game over because of two completely unacceptable goals given up by our rookie goaltender, Jimmy Howard. The first goal was horrible enough as it is, Howard inexplicably lifting his pad off the ice and exposing his five hole when that was the only shot available; but to give it up with 1.8 seconds left in the period and going to intermission up 2-1 instead of 2-0 is garbage. Second goal wasn't his fault, it was on the five players playing in front of him, losing another faceoff battle and doing nothing but watching as Joe Thornton skates around the net and out front with the puck. Hard to blame the goalie when the players in front of them are picking their noses. But the third goal? He deserves to be cussed out for that one. I'm not kidding. Somebody in that locker room, a player, a coach, whoever, should read Howard the riot act for that. The Wings fell asleep after going up 3-1, and predictably paid for it, but Howard woke up them with his two saves on Martin Hanzal in Game 5 in Phoenix. And to give it up on a goal like that, in a one goal game in the third period in a game you have to have, when your team needs a wakeup call - well, how can you defend somebody after that? I understand Chris Osgood is finished as a #1 goaltender, and this was the mindset of the Red Wings headed into the postseason - it's Jimmy's show, sink or swim. Meanwhile, the Red Wings' defense is aging, there are heavyweights in the Western Conference significantly younger than this Detroit team, and sacrificing a postseason for the sake of getting your new goaltender experience, well...it is what it is, I guess.

And what it is is over. This isn't like 2007 when the Red Wings' #2 and #3 defensemen didn't play a second of the West Finals against Anaheim. This isn't like last year where the Wings were a walking MASH unit by the time That Fateful Night in June rolled around. No, this is the case of a championship window as we know it getting closed down just a bit further, close to completely shut. Lidstrom will be around for maybe one more year. After that, then what? You don't just plug in the gap left by one of the greatest players of all time. Rafalski has a couple years left, but he's old too and showed his defensive limitation once again tonight. Kronwall and Stuart are top four defensemen, but not top two. They aren't the type you send over the boards everytime the opposition's top line takes the ice. You don't tell them to quarterback your power play and penalty kill. So where does that leave us? Hoping that the light goes on for Jonathan Ericsson, who was terrible this year? Hoping that Jakub Kindl pans out like the first round pick he was? Hoping that Brendan Smith develops quickly and is a star? That's entirely too much hope in a conference where Kane, Toews, Sharp, Bolland, Versteeg and Byfuglien are all under 28 in Chicago. Where Los Angeles appears to be rising to prominence with Kopitar (21), Stoll (27), Brown (24), Frolov (27), Simmonds (20), Doughty (19!), Johnson (22) and a star goaltender in the minors (Bernier, 20). Where Heatley, Thornton, Marleau, Clowe, Pavelski, and Setoguchi are all under 30 for the Sharks. Where nine of Vancouver's top 11 scorers this year are under 30, and their goalie, one of the best in the world, just turned 31 and is in his prime.

It's a frightening prospect, as all these teams in the West have young stars up and coming, and the Red Wings have an aging defense and a goaltender who has struggled in his first postseason. It's frightening when the team renowned for its ability to put the skate to the throat of its opponent blows a 3-1 lead in the third period and loses in overtime at home in a game they had to win to save their season. It's frightening that they are propelling the "playoff chokers" into the Western Finals.

I believe (and yes, I'm a homer) that the Red Wings were the best team in 2007, and would've beaten the Ducks (and then Ottawa) if Schneider and Kronwall had been healthy. I believe if they had possessed anything resembling health last year, if Datsyuk, Hossa, Zetterberg, Cleary and Lidstrom weren't nursing injuries that should've had them on the sidelines, they would've beaten Pittsburgh. I believe this team deserved better than the one championship they got.

But that's life. It's about disappointment, and how you deal with it. It's about setbacks, and how you cope with them.

It's about saying farewell too soon to those you love with all your heart.

In memorium: Detroit Pistons.

Nope, no fancy picture this time. Just solemn realization and resignation.

This is how the Detroit Pistons will be remembered. Not necessarily by actual Pistons fans, but by the majority of people that watch basketball. People aren't going to remember the ultimate "team" beating the Lakers in 2004, or pushing the team of the decade to the 4th quarter of Game 7 in 2005.

What people will remember is a team that started 37-5 flaming out spectacularly in the conference finals in 2006.

What people will remember is LeBron James making this team look like a bunch of slow, old fools in Game 5 in 2007.

What people will remember is the most inconsistent, schitzophrenic team in recent sports history falling behind by 17 in the second half of Game 5 in Boston only to rally within one before losing by four and then staking a ten point lead at home in the fourth quarter of an elimination game before having the chair pulled out from under them and losing.

Face it, folks. This is as far as this Pistons team can go. Flip Saunders should and hopefully will be unemployed shortly. He will be the scapegoat. Make no mistake, he shoulders a gargantuan part of the blame for these past three years. He ran the starters into the ground and as a result they tuned him out in 06. He didn't double team LeBron because he was scared the WalMart employees and used car salesmen posing as LeBron's teammates would beat them, so they left Tayshaun Prince and Jason Maxiell on islands, with predictably disastrous results. This time around he's not the main culprit, but look at the Game 6 box score. Antonio McDyess, 2-3. Three shots? Really? That's what this offensive genius can draw up? Three shots for Dyess? 10 minutes for Theo Ratliff is about five too many.

But no. If you want to point fingers, lets start pointing fingers at the players that put on those jerseys and play the game. Lets point fingers at Chauncey Billups, who was a ghost in the conference finals until the final two games, and even then, despite a cushy 29-6-6 line, missed open shots in the fourth quarter tonight. Lets point fingers at Tayshaun Prince. Yeah, it was painfully obvious that he had nothing left by about Game 4. That'll happen when you're called on to guard the other team's best player while not having a true backup. But it got to the point where he was essentially Ben Wallace out there, a complete black hole on the offensive end of the court.

But finally, lets point a lot of fingers at Rasheed freaking Wallace.

Game A: 4-12, 2-5, 10 points.
Game B: 5-14, 0-2, 11 points, ejection.
Game C: 2-12, 0-6, 4 points, 5 fouls.

Game A is Game 6 in Miami two years ago. Game B is Game 6 in Cleveland last year, and Game C is Game 6 tonight. The last three times these Pistons have faced elimination, Rasheed Wallace, the one who likes to talk the most about this team never being scared and loving pressure situations, has been a complete ghost. For all his talk, all his arrogance, he has vanished when the chips are down for three years in a row.

This is the end of an era. If Joe D has a brain (and he does), Saunders is a lock for the unemployment line, but will that be enough? Is there a coach out there that can unite this same bunch of players? Michael Curry is an interesting candidate, but is he ready? Avery Johnson's out there, but he clashed with his players in Dallas. Could he work?

I don't have the answers for that, but what I do believe is that a simple coaching change won't get this done. I have individual issues with Rip and Chauncey as well (especially "Mr. Big Shot", which is a frivolous nickname by the way), but I truly think it doesn't matter what coach is brought in - this team will never win another title with Rasheed Wallace as the starting forward. They have ALWAYS gone as he goes, and he is the most inconsistent player in the NBA. I have all these grandiose scenarios in my head that involve Rasheed being traded and Elton Brand being brought in, but I don't think any of them are realistic.

Dumars has some brutal decisions to make, but he has to make them. In my opinion he hasn't taken nearly enough flack for the Darko fiasco, which has set this franchise back years. There are all kinds of hypotheticals about what this team would've been like with Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh, but they're all senseless and impossible to analyze. But there isn't any doubt we'd be in better shape with one of them than with what we got with Darko, which was a whole pile of nothing.

This is probably the most important offseason of Dumars' tenure. Rip and Tayshaun are locks to return. Chauncey signed that deal after last season, and is probably untradeable. McDyess will be back if he wants to be. Lindsey Hunter will probably retire, and hopefully they'll slap a suit on him and put him on the bench as an assistant coach. Maxiell and Stuckey are locks to return as well. That leaves guys like Rasheed, Jarvis Hayes, Juan Dixon, Amir Johnson, Theo Ratliff. Ratliff might retire, Hayes is a lock to be let go, Johnson will be back, and Dixon could go either way. And then there's Rasheed. He's entering the final year of his deal, is there any team out there willing to trade for someone like Rasheed simply to get money off the books?

On April 20th, I wrote this post, declaring the Pistons to be gutless. They tried proving me wrong with their rally in Philadelphia, winning in Orlando without Chauncey and stealing Game 2 in Boston.

Well, after tonight, let no one ever question their hearts again. With a 10 point lead in the 4th quarter of an elimination game, the Pistons proved to everyone just how much heart they have.

None.

The gods are against us

Per the policy of silence at Schembechler Hall, we won't know until about 8:00 tomorrow night, but all the rumor-mongers and "insiders" on the various websites and message boards are pointing toward Mike Hart being unable to go vs. Illinois.

We seriously cannot catch a break. Not only does this make the Illinois game infinitely more difficult, but in addition, breaking away from the "The Team, The Team, The Team" motto, this severely hampers Mike's Heisman chances. Considering the fiasco that was the beginning of the season, along with the fact that Michigan is basically not on TV for the nation to see, Mike really can't afford to miss any action. Le sigh.

Somewhere, there's some football gods that really dislike Michigan for some reason.

Musings among mayhem.

powered by ODEO
The All American Rejects - It Ends Tonight

There used to be a time when a Michigan loss tore me up. It was so shocking and unacceptable that I would cry, or scream and yell obscenities. I'd throw random things in a fit of rage, and I'd be intolerable to be around - just general misery and anger.

Those days are now gone. After watching Michigan get their throats slashed by Appalachian State last week, I was in a haze, sort of detached from everything during the week leading up to the Oregon game. I read newspaper articles, I read stories online, I read quotes from players and coaches alike, all pointing toward being focused and prepared, and ready to answer the bell after a week of having the country laugh in their faces.

Instead, the same thing happened, only this time Michigan was playing an actual Division I-A opponent, and the result: Beatdown. Ass kicking. Humiliation. Oregon's spread offense - led by mobile QB (and Heisman candidate?) Dennis Dixon - put 624 yards on the board, and only 39 points because their coach felt sorry for Michigan, I guess.

There was open revolt by the fans, too. For the first time in my memory, Michigan's football team was loudly booed by the crowd at the Big House - which is quickly becoming the most overrated venue in sports.

"Your subtleties...
They strangle me...
I can't explain myself at all...
And all that wants...
And all that needs...
All I don't want to need at all..."The rebellion began sometime in the first half, with chants of "We want Mallett", which were foolish. The playcalling was conservative and predictable with a four-year starting senior at quarterback; did the fans expect different if a true freshman was thrown in with no experience at all?

In the end, the fans got their wish, but before that happened, the bloodletting commenced, as the Ducks' offense made a mockery of Michigan's alleged defense. Dixon never felt pressured, he could sit back on his heels all day and have ample time to carve up Michigan's high school secondary. And carve it up he did, hitting for touchdowns of 85, 46 and 61 yards. Oh, but the rushing game...I wonder if the players Michigan puts out there on defense spent a lot of time at arcades in the offseason playing pinball, because they bounced off Oregon's ballcarriers all day. UO coach Mike Belotti said it didn't take him very long at all to see that Michigan's defense was essentially a bunch of traffic cones out there; so he opened up the playbook for a little razzle dazzle. A statue of liberty play netted 14 yards. My guess is Belotti saw how Michigan's defense was so confused by it, he decided to call it again, with an added wrinkle. So, on Oregon's next drive, Dixon executed the play again - fake a pass and hold the football behind your back for the running back to take - only this time the running back didn't take it. But Michigan's defense sure did, and Dixon could've moonwalked into the endzone. 25-7 Oregon.

"The walls start breathing...
My mind's unweaving...
Maybe it's best you leave me alone...
A weight is lifted,
On this evening,
I give the final blow..."
The ugliness reached an all-time high shortly after that, as Chad Henne was injured late in the second quarter as Michigan tried to respond. The crowd roared their loudest cheers of the day, and I cannot tell what they were cheering for. I don't want to believe they were cheering Henne's injury. I think it was just a combination of it looking like Henne - who isn't really good anymore for some reason - was coming out, and Ryan Mallett - freshman quarterback with all sorts of fluff - appearing to come in. Henne stayed in though, and the possession ended with a stupid pass that was incomplete. The half ended, and the booing reached a crescendo. 32-7 Oregon.

Any hope of a miraculous comeback was extinguished before the second half even began. Henne was done; he didn't even come out of the lockerroom. With an inexperienced Mallett at QB, all that could be hoped for was to save face. And then things somehow got worse. When it seemed like things would at their lowest point, Mike Hart grabbed his leg in pain after a play and came off the field, spiking his helmet onto the turf in frustration.

And after that...Michigan gave up. After all the carnage that had taken place on the field, and the rebellion in the stands, the ugliest part of Saturday was Michigan surrendering, taking it as Oregon housed them on their own field. I can only say this so many times: Mike Hart deserves better than this. He came back for his final year expecting great things, and what has he gotten? Significant time on the sidelines, either because of injury or because the coaches conceded defeat. I can't imagine a worse feeling than that: Being forced to watch your teammates mail it in, watching your defense do absolutely nothing right. Being forced to sit there because those who lead have already deemed this a lost battle. Looking up at the scoreboard, and for the fourth straight time, seeing your team with less points.

"When darkness turns to light,
It ends tonight,
It ends tonight..."
I was unfair when I said that Mike Hart is the only one who cares on this football team. I have found another who cares just as much as he does: Jake Long. Long passed up MILLIONS of dollars to come back to Michigan. And unlike Hart, he had to stay in there as the slaughter took place. Even he was beaten up at the end, pain - both physical and mental - etched on his face. In the fourth quarter he even had to play the role of a high school principal. Greg Mathews decided to take a shot at an Oregon player's groin, and a small skirmish took place. Mathews - 6'3, 231 pounds - was busy talking trash (while trailing by 32 points) when Long - 6'7, 315 pounds - essentially grabbed him by the collar and pulled him away. He then got in his face and presumably told him something to the effect of, "Are you fucking retarded? We don't do that kind of dumb shit here you idiot." Is THAT what Long came back for, to lecture to underclassmen about how to behave when you're getting your asses whipped on national TV?

While we're on the topic of dumbass wide receivers...nobody quit more than Mario Manningham did on Saturday. I don't know if Mario's been hitting the bong with Adrian Arrington or if he's already worrying about his NFL draft status, but his performance in the second half was despicable. "The New Math", he is not. He will never wear the #1 jersey now.

And then...the coaches. It was almost comical to watch Lloyd Carr stand at the podium after the game and defend himself, claiming he's not afraid to lose his job. Of course you aren't, Lloyd - you know you're a made man here. Even with Bo gone, you know being his right-hand man that you are safe. And I'm fine with that, I guess. This aborted fetus of a season is essentially done now anyway, so there's no point in firing you and your band of mental midgets. Ron English and his stupid decision making, along with Mike DeBord and his predictable playcalling are safe too, because neither of them are competent enough to take over the reigns in midseason.

"A falling star...
Least I fall alone...
I can't explain what I can't explain...
You're finding things...that you didn't know...
I look at you with such disdain..."
Like I said, I expected something like this to happen. I knew that no matter how angry, focused and prepared Michigan was, in the end they were facing the spread offense led by a mobile quarterback. What I DIDN'T expect was for UM to sit there and take it; to roll over and die when everyone expected them to unleash hell. And that leads me to think: Has Lloyd Carr actually lost this team? The seniors like Long and Hart and Adam Kraus tow the line, maintaining that they love their coach. But when underclassmen like Mathews and Manningham are acting like douchebags, and the defense is looking entirely disinterested, is there any unity with this team? Is there any pride? I guess we'll see in the coming weeks, starting with Ryan Mallett's first career start against Notre Dame.

I wonder at some point...did Dennis Dixon laugh? As he beat UM to the corners, as he flicked his wrist and lobbed the ball past Michigan's beaten secondary, as he made fools of them and jogged into the endzone on the fake, did he reach a point where he realized how easy it really was, and laugh? As the yards racked up...and the points piled on, and it became clearer and clearer that the day would end with the Ducks jumping around on Michigan's field celebrating with their legion in the stands...did Dixon have time to cackle? Vince Young never laughed, he was too cool. Troy Smith never laughed, he was too much of a gamer. But as the massacre became more and more laughable, and as I became more detached and numb, did Dixon, the leader of this funloving band of kids from the west coast, crack a smile and look at his coach and say, "It's all tooooooo easy"?

I'm a historian by hobby, and over the past couple days I've thought about General Douglas MacArthur. MacArthur was best known for his island hopping in the Pacific Theater of World War II as the U.S. slowly beat the Japanese back. After that though, when the Korean War broke out, MacArthur fell from grace. While his superiors wanted a cease fire, he wanted all-out war. In the end, he was relieved of his command, and after 11 years overseas, returned to America in shame. In his final address to Congress, he said the following:

"Old soldiers never die; they just fade away. And like the old soldier of that ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away - an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty. Goodbye."

Wolverine: It's what's for dinner.

Dead tired, so only one thing to say right now before some more tomorrow (later today):

I'm not really surprised at all. I knew what was coming. I didn't expect it to be SO brutal and so final, but I knew what was coming, and when it was over, I wasn't mad. I wasn't trembling with rage. I wasn't swearing and punching things.

I was sad.

Sad that the Michigan I've grown up with is no more.