Football Season Wrap Up

Another new year passes, and another football season ends. This is the way of the world. At least, this is the way of my world. You see, college football ends on New Years Day, more or less. And Dallas, well they haven't been relevant in the new year for a long time. Soooo, lets start the wrap with the more depressing of the two.

Dallas Cowboys: Another season has come and gone, and another season has seen the Cowboys fall into mediocrity. A few weeks ago I had plans to write about a Dallas collapse that was imminent. I never got around to actually writing it, and of course now I wish I had, because this is EXACTLY what I have come to expect out of them the last few years. I have a love hate relationship with this team. More so than any other team I think. I root for the Cowboys to do well. I never want to see them fail. I have, however, grown to expect it because of TWO critically important people.

One is the owner. Jerry Jones is a rich kid with a VERY expensive toy. He wants waaay too much control of it, and it has shown in the way he micromanages the team. From the day to day coaching down to the draft selection. He is not the greatest football mind in America, yet he insists that his will be done regardless of whoever else is telling him he is wrong. I have mentioned that great leaders will surround themselves with great people. Well Jerry surrounds himself with people he knows he can manipulate and push around. Not always the best combination. When he hired Bill Parcels I thought, "Finnaly, he has realized his follies and is learning!" That clearly wasn't the case as he quit, and JJ was left with a gap to fill in the Head Coaching spot. Once JJ relinquishes day to day football operations to a knowledgeable football mind, this team will succeed.

The other one, and for those who know my wife you know that I am treading on thin ice here, is Tony Romo. Go ahead, throw statistics at me. Tell me he had the fourth best passer rating this year. Or in 2009 he was in the top ten. I will counter with this though: in the last game of the season, a game that by the team's own admission was a playoff game, he laid an egg. An INT, and a fumble in the game. And he only threw for 289 yds on 37 attempts. He seems to do well at the end of games when the game is on the line, but when it is pressure packed to start with, he just doesn't do well. Take a look at his playoff record, and his record in games at the end of the season that really matter. This quality, unfortunately,  is transferred to the team, which all too many times takes the traits of its star player. JJ is inexplicably devoted to TR, and I guess that is good in the sense we are not always wondering who the QB is going to be. And to be fair, they had a lot of other issues this year as well. A new defense was supposed to start off rocky and then build to elite by the end of the season. That didn't happen. And for some reason the running game is only good against inferior opponents. I actually see that as a trend in most of the professional teams. Most teams run to make the PA seem like it might work, and if the defense doesn't respect the run, then they pound it in there. Most NFL teams are content to throw it a gazillion times a game and hope it all works out. That's another post though. Back to TR. He has had ample time, in my opinion, to rectify his problems. He is still making a lot of the same mistakes that he made in his rookie season. The difference is now there is a scouting report on him and people know how to defend him, and he can not get away with it any more.

Getting back to their season, and more importantly the end of the season, they said that the last 4 games essentially added up to an extension of the playoffs. They wanted to win them all and go into the post season with the momentum that the win streak would provide. At the time they had a TWO game lead on the Giants and instead of coming out that week and beating them to put them away, they lost. Something the team has grown accustomed to doing. That was when I was going to write the blog, because essentially they had already been eliminated in their own little playoff, and that was not going to bring good things. Additionally they went on to lose 3 of their last 4, including the ultra important "Win and your In" game. Their problems run deeper than any one player, and my dislike of Romo aside, they have the talent at all of the positions to get the job done. I am not sure what else they need, except to put it all together. That is what young head coach Jason Garrett needs to do. Start leading the team and getting them to gel. Make them work for each other, instead of the paychecks that JJ signs. There is always next season. I will endure the offseason with thoughts of drafting the one magical player that will fix all problems. Of course that will not happen, but maybe, just maybe, the team will come out better and stronger next year.

Michigan Wolverines: I have not neglected this team like the professional team I root for. A large part of that is actually that over here, it is much easier (and cheaper) to follow college sports than the NFL. I purchased one package through ESPN that lets me follow all college football aired on the ESPN family (which is about 90% of the teams that I follow). I don't have that option with the NFL. But since I have documented quite well my feelings on Team 132, I will not go on and on. I will wrap up this season by simply saying it was a refreshing change of pace to the last three years. I saw a clear outlined picture for goals that was established early in the year, and adhered to as the year went on. At the conclusion of the season, there was not talk about being happy with a 10-2 record, it was a disappointment that there was not a B1G Championship trophy to display. Goals. RR never seemed to value these set in stone goals to shoot for. I don't know if that had any influence on the seasons, but it was refreshing to see them this season.

ETC. All my attempts to load the hype/highlight video of the season that I made have failed. No one wants to hear my awesome selection of music that I put to it. If you want to see it, go to YouTube and check it out on my channel (ChThrillHill). It will be without music though.

Good luck to Alabama and LSU. Can't say that I will be staying up all night to watch that one, but it should prove to be a defensively competitive game. Their combined secondaries are probably better off than 1/2 the NFL secondaries (Dallas' definitely included).

Speaking of NFL, good luck to the remaining teams. I have no dogs in the fight but I guess if I had to pick any team left it would be the Texans. They seem to be playing good team ball right now.

Posts will continue through the off season. As I said in the first blog, I follow a lot of sports, so as the relevent ones come around, I will post on them. Expect a Super Bowl blog, a March Madness Blog, and of course opening day of Baseball is coming up. In the mean time, stay safe, and enjoy the off season (only 237 days left).

Fortitudine Vincimus

Enduring Happiness: An Offseason to Look Forward to, and a Beach Full of Brunettes Never to Forget

Without further ado: Congratulations to the 132nd Michigan Football team. Much has been made of your season in the short time this blog has existed, but you banded together and created a lasting memory. Well done, as a fan I thank you, but your accomplishments mean so much more to you than they can ever mean to a man sitting by his computer tapping away at a keyboard. You endured like no other UM team has ever needed to, and you came out victorious. Those who stay will be champions, and no one understands that better than you. Well done. Enjoy your off seasons, prep for respective classes or camps. Those that are NFL bound, best of luck. Those coming back, follow your senior examples and be LEADERS!

Now, some thoughts on the game. The hype leading up to the bowl was actually its lack of hype on a national scale. It seemed no one thought that either team belonged, and you couldn't read a column, blog, or feature story that didn't start with: "(Pick a team) has taken a lot of criticism for being selected..." The coaches for both sides handled it with grace, proclaiming joy at being selected, and reminding everyone that they had no choice in the selection. I am sure they would have happily played a day earlier in Florida if that was to be their fate. It wasn't though. And both teams set out to prove they belonged. Perhaps along the way UM over-hyped themselves and lost the timing that is crucial to its offense. Maybe they bought into the media that showered praises of their 10 win season, and told them how easy it was going to be to win the 11th. I don't think anyone but the players and coaches will ever know exactly why they came out flat. VT's defense was stout, absolutely no doubt about that one. The secondary disguised coverages and made a play on just about every ball that Denard threw. The zone read never took off, and Fitz had a MSU-esque rushing day. Still, when the game was over, it was UM on top. By a field goal. A BRENDAN GIBBONS field goal no less. Who would've thunk it? Not this guy. Even after a season of making the easy ones, and a hard one or two, I still caught my breath when he lined up to kick. No offense to the guy, he has more than proved himself, but some things are not easily forgotten, and the debacle of last years kicking game is one of them. So how did he do it? How did he put last year behind him and pull through in the clutch every time he was called upon? Brunettes my friend. Brunettes. Personally, I am more of a blonde kind of guy. Ask my wife. But if thinking about brunettes on a beach can somehow calm this guys nerves, well go for it Brendan. Cindy Crawford laying out on the beach is just what the doctor ordered then.

The intriguing thing about this story to me is not the color of the women's hair that he thinks about though. No, to me, this is just another example of how great a leader Brady Hoke is. Gibbons came into the year as the backup place kicker. A walk on usurped his job last season after making only 1 of 5 attempts. He stayed beat out by the guy who only made 3 of his 9 attempts. By all rights, Gibbons should have packed it in and left Ann Arbor. Hoke came in though and gave him a clean slate. And a better way to do things. After what I can only assume was RichRod screaming at him for a year (thats just what RichRod does) a new approach was obviously what he needed. Well done Brady. Some guys just know how to coach, and more importantly connect to their players. The sample size on Hoke is small. One season with a roster full of mostly RichRods recruits. But clearly this guy knows how to motivate and how to get the best out of his players. No one expected much from this team. Brady did. No one expected to contend for a B1G championship this year. Brady did. No one expected a victory in a premier bowl game. Brady did though. And he made the players believe. Couple that with the strong senior leadership already discussed in this blog and the team was bound to exceed all the outside expectations.

So once again, congratulations to team 132. My hope is that team 133 will be as inspiring and as devoted to each other as this team was. Well done, and I look forward to blogging the off season recruiting and draft picks bound to happen. Endure the off season, I will spend it by latching on to other sports all while counting down the days till kickoff (241 by the way).

Fortitudine Vincimus

UM vs MSU: The Controversy

(ed. note: This is a total venting post.)

Holy crap. If I hear one more fan, blogger or random college football guru say one more time "MSU got shafted, and UM is going to a better bowl game even though MSU beat UM in the head to head by two touchdowns" I am going to scream. As anyone who follows football knows (and the people mentioned are presumably this type) the distributive property (DP) NEVER works out in college football, or athletics really in general. Just because team A beats team B, doesn't mean that it will beat team C, whom team B beat. Never works. Just look at this scenario. UM beats Notre Dame, who beat MSU. So that means UM beats MSU, right? Nope. And MSU loses to Nebraska, who then should beat UM right? No again. So why do these self proclaimed pundits keep saying that MSU was such a better team. Lets break it down shall we.

ND beats MSU, well pounded really. MSU was on the road. Against UM, ND lost on the craziest 72 seconds in college football history. They too were on the road at UM. So, how does this even out? Well you could say that UM offense is much more explosive than MSU, which is a true statement, and was therefore able to keep pace with a ND offense that was pretty good, but definitely not great. So we will say for arguments sake that the UM offense was able to feed off the momentum of being at home and keep pace with ND, whereas MSU was flustered and never recovered. Still, you have to give the UM squad the benefit of the doubt here as they showed the rest of the season that the offense is explosive. UM wins this battle.

UM loses to MSU. By two touchdowns. While on the road. Bad Denard showed up in the fourth quarter and threw it to the wrong team, who then ran it in for a TD. Basically, UM was one bad throw from tying the game. That is what good defenses do though, they make the other team make mistakes. So we have to give them credit here. UM lost by two touchdowns, got it. Moving on,

MSU loses to Nebraska (UNL). By three touchdowns. On the road. Bad Sparty showed up and got worked by a UNL team that was hot and cold all season. There was no one play here. It was all bad for Sparty who was never in it. Then UNL goes to the Big House and gets curb stomped to death in a game that also was never really close in the half that mattered. A loss here is a loss though, and since both UM's win and MSU's loss were in convincing fashion the winner has to go to the team that won.

UM loses to Iowa (shudder). Also on the road. By eight points. Also should have had at least a chance to tie it if not for sub-par officiating. Difference here of course is that UNL is ranked while Iowa is just rank. Hmm....  Oh yea, and Sparty played them on the road the following week and manhandled them. So, Iowa is a loss for UM.

Meanwhile, in the win category UM handled the teams it was supposed to handle. Example: Minnesota. Worked them over to the tune of 50 plus points. MSU, barely beat them. Now teams change throughout the course of a season, one of the principal reasons that the DP does not work, so since I am arguing against the DP, I can't use that here. So even though I feel I can argue this for UM, we will call this example a push.

And on and on.

If you are scoring at home, we have a push, and two wins for each team in this simulated Distributive Property Mash Up.  Equaling out in a split decision. These teams are on equal footing by this logic.

So you see, there is no way to compare teams via the distributive property like that. The way the ranking system works is this: lose, you drop in the polls. Win, you move up ONLY if teams ahead of you stumble, or you win so big against a good team that the pollsters have to move you up. MSU lost early to ND, which didn't allow them to enter the polls till later in the season. UM ripped off 6 straight wins. MSU loses again to UNL, drops back in the polls. After the MSU game, UM won, and then lost to Iowa. Then they didn't lose again until..wait, they haven't lost since. Like it or not, when MSU went to the CCG, they lost. When they lost they were forced down in the polls. Is it unfair? Maybe. But think about this, it happened to ALL the teams that lost. No one singled Sparty out and said they specifically could not go to a bowl game. They just fell victim to the same process that every other team in the country is also a part of. In the final BCS standings, there are only three teams separating them. With 120 teams and 11 conferences in play here, three spots is not that bad. So fergodssake, let it go already!!!

Well I will do what I always do, endure all the nonsense and smile knowingly when karma, or good will, or fortune, or whatever you call it deals the equaling hand.

Fortitudine Vincimus

B1G Title Game, and Why the Sugar Bowl is the Best Place to Go Bowling

The Big Ten Football Championship Trophy

UM's reward for the 2011 campaign 

(ed. note: Sorry this is coming out a few days late. I had to modify the content due to its lateness, so it has less to do with the B1G championship game, as it was intended, and more to do with the Sugar Bowl. Enjoy!)
UM football has the weekend off this week, as it is Championship Week, and well, they did not qualify for the game. An overall good season has one black mark on it. The loss to Iowa. This was about the only game that I watched where I just didn't think they came to play. They were pushed around up front on offense and defense, and just generally failed to compete. I can't sit here and say that they lost because of a blown call on the last play of the game in the end zone. They were down by eight, not six or seven. Completing the two point conversion would not have been easy given how they struggled to move the ball that game. So no, that game was lost well before the final drive. If the team had played like they were capable, they would have won. Simple as that. With the win, they would then be playing for the B1G championship this weekend, but instead they are at home watching.  As it stands, UM is waiting for the bowl selection process to play out and grant them a BCS bowl (more on that in a bit).

Just because UM is not playing doesn't mean they don't care who wins (well I care who wins anyway)


From what I have read, read, and read again, UM is being slotted in the Sugar Bowl. At first, when the projections started flowing in, I had reservations. UM benefited from a generous schedule. 8 Home games. An away game at Northwestern, where the UM fan base out numbers the NW fan base. Missing Penn State, and Wisconsin. Not to say that they have not impressed with their wins. In fact,  I firmly believe that on a neutral field UM defeats either one of those teams. But playing them would wear on the team, and that is no small thing. So while I am super excited to watch the team play, I am not super excited about losing another bowl game. Enter the Sugar Bowl. The projection has UM playing against a ridiculously overrated Houston team. Follow that link and tell me where a team is going to be challenged. And I thought UM's schedule was easy. The only team from a big six major conferance that they played was UCLA. And before you say that they have to be good since they are playing this week for the PAC 12 championship, I must remind you that USC is currently serving their penance for Reggie Bush's sins. Otherwise, USC is in that game and UCLA is playing in the "Yikes, How Bad do we Suck" Bowl in Albuquerque, NM. Ok, so they aren't that bad, but still, Houston squeaked out that win. I think that this game benefits UM in so many different ways. One, they get put back on the national stage. A feat that the fan base of UM has been waiting a long time for. Two, its winnable. Yes, lose and get ridiculed. But win, and UM is back in the conversation for best teams in the B1G. Not to mention they should get a favorable ranking next year, which is ultra important for making a National Championship run.

So that just happened. While UM was always a bit of a shoe-in for this bowl, I think I can safely say the college football world was appalled at the pick of Virginia Tech (yes that VT)  to be their opponent. As I was drafting this post, real world/work/vacation kicked in and I had to delay the posting. I am glad I did. WOW. Ok, so now it is reality. Reality bites. I think all college football fans are disgusted with the way this all plays out. As much as I love UM, there were at least 2-3 other teams more deserving of a spot here. Bowls are about money first, storylines second, and good matchups of the best teams available a DISTANT third. Let's examine the pick here:

 Michigan (BCS #13)averages 34 points per contest and the Hokies  (BCS #11)average 28. Many fans complained/will complain about the LSU-Alabama game because of lack of points. That should not be a problem in this game. Of course both teams sport above average defense, tied for 7th nationally at 17.2 points/game. But no one thinks this will be a defensive struggle. These teams score, and while UM has improved their defense dramatically this year, VT will get theirs one way or another.The fact remains though, that these are two teams who have faced little in the way of real talent this year. UM is 1-1 against teams currently ranked in the top 25. VT is 0-2 with BOTH losses coming against THE SAME TEAM!!

That provides the third picking standard. Now, lets examine the first two, and most important, criteria.

Money: UM fans travels well. With alumni scattered around the country (and world for that matter) there has never been a problem getting fans to buy tickets, and by proxy hotel rooms, food, gas and all the other money making endeavors that come with going to a different city to watch a football game. No doubt, UM fans will be spending money over the new years holiday in New Orleans. Considering that the Sugar Bowl forks out $18,000,000 (!) for this game, it is still a business and needs to regain something out of it. (BTW don't ask me how they make this money back. I have no idea. I am sure advertising and TV contracts help, but I just don't understand how they make this money year in and year out) VT, meanwhile, has a history with the SB, and likely will travel well, as they have in the past for this game.

Storylines: I can't speak to the VT angle on this as well as the UM angle, but I will try. VT has only two losses, as mentioned above. Although they were to the same team, they have good balance on offense and defense, plenty of history with the bowl, and like it or not, made it into the ACC championship game (ask MSU how it feels to finish second in the conference and not even get an invite to the BCS). VT fields a "Beamer-like" team, with speed and athleticism at all positions, and a strong defense. Their running back ranks 7th nationally in yards gained, and their special teams are.... ok that is the only un"Beamer-like" thing about this team. They are actually pretty horrible in that area for the first time in forever.

As for UM, well besides the massive defensive turnaround mentioned above (108th in 2010, to 7th in 2011) this is a program steeped in college football lore. In recent seasons, however, it has fallen on some hard times. The RR era was a failure. The fans (not just me, but I am included) are begging to be recognized in the national spotlight again. We have the B1G coach of the year (and maybe nationally) and two of the best coordinators in the game to back him up. We have last season's Big11Ten player of the year in Denard Robinson, and although he threw waaaaay too many interceptions this year to receive any accolades, he remains the most explosive player in all of college football.

So of course I have my own interests at heart here, but UM has played one heck of a season. The team enjoys a great chemistry and WANT to play another game, just to be together. With their softer schedule they could use a win against another high ranked team to validate how well this team really has performed. One of the responsibilities of playing in a high visibility bowl game is to perform  well not just for your school, but for the conference. The B1G has been baaaaad in bowls lately and UM has a chance to change that.  Most of these points would still hold true for any of the other bowl games this year. The reason it isn't any other bowl game, though, is because "This is Michigan fergodssakes!".

Enjoy the bowl games everyone, endure the silly names and the mismatches. Enjoy the holiday season. Best of luck to your team (unless they play UM, or any other B1G team). As always,

Fortitudine Vincimus.

Brady Hoke Named B1G Coach of the Year (and thoughts on UM, leadership and more)

In his first year as head football coach for the University of Michigan, Brady Hoke was named the Big Ten (B1G) coach of the year. Shocked? Well no. But surprised about the year, absolutely. How did he accomplish a 10 win season and a victory over Ohio? He followed two of my biggest leadership principals for one. The first one is that, often times, the best leader is the one who surrounds himself with the best people. Greg Mattison very well might earn assistant coach of the year honors for what he has done with UM's defense this year. He is a defensive genius. Offensively Al Borges adapted to his talent and got the most out of them that he could. Secondly he empowered his seniors to do what they needed to do to motivate the younger players. Enable them be the "deck plate" leaders.

Look, I know Michigan is loaded with talent. Rich Rodriguez (RR) had a ton of flaws. Recruiting was not one of them. Facing a roster of talented athletes who have seen the worst that college athletics can be, and motivating them to win 10 games for him, all while changing offensive and defensive schemes, that is amazing. This team, though, has one of the strongest group of seniors that I have seen (keeping in mind that by "seen" i mean, from a far. Like Hubble Telescope far). They impressed me with their interviews, with their on the field composure, and their love for the TEAM. I do not know them first hand. I did not see in person what happened for the last three years.  I do know a thing or two about leadership though, and the results speak for themselves in this case. Over the last three years, after a devastating coup the team lacked leadership. Blame it on Bo's passing if you want, but the fact remained that the team had no real leadership. I mentioned RR's flaws, well effective leadership seemed to be one of them. Screaming at kids and telling them they are wrong doesn't teach them to be right. They need a strong  and stable force to follow, and that is what this team had. I have a genuine fear that this team is the best that UM has had in a really long time, and they were forced to waste because of yet another coaching transition. A transition that was necessitated by a lack of leadership. Time will tell whether the younger players step up and lead, but this group of seniors had a vendetta, and the leadership skills necessary to accomplish what they wanted. If the current group learned what not to do over the last three years, lets hope that the next group takes the road map that this years seniors' have made and use it for the future.

Every team will be different, but this team is by far my favorite. They truly ENDURED. Their success culminated today in this award. Well done to the coach and the players, who I think earned it for him. 

Fortitudine Vincimus

Opening Remarks

First I have to give props where props are due. My wife, Mindy, has started a couple of blogs and that, combined with my love of sports and their respective blogging has inspired me to start my own. This will be a sports themed blog with life lessons and stories along the way as they fit in. I follow all sports to some degree, but my biggest interests lay rooting for the Michigan Wolverines football team, the Dallas Cowboys, the New York Yankees, and just about any respectable Mixed Martial Artist (definitely more to follow on that as the UFC has been a passion of mine since i saw my first UFC fight 6 years ago).

You may have noticed that there is no theme for my rooting interests, so I will take a moment and outline why I root for the teams that I do. Starting with the NY Yankees. The best explanation, and it is similar for most of my rooting interests, is that i grew up on them. When I was a young child we lived in New Jersey, and my parents picked up on them while they were there. I grew up watching Yankee baseball, and have continued to follow them now as an adult. Second, UM football. Well, we moved to Michigan in my younger years, and that is where I spent most of my rememberable youth. As such, in Michigan you were a MSU fan or a UM fan, and you had to choose sides. I remember one particular teacher of mine who was a diehard MSU fan. I hated her. So I suppose I picked UM partially to rub it in her face every time UM won. I also enjoyed the culture of UM fans. A bit arrogant, a bit witty, and always able to back up claims of superiority with stats (btw, a stat that will almost certainly remain in UM's favor is the most wins in college football, and the best winning percentage ). So there's that. Anyways, moving on I root for Dallas out of a lack of Michigan professional football teams. My mother is from Texas, and her family are all huge Cowboy fans, so I was more or less forced into this as well. I am not complaining, I enjoyed watching them, especially as they won.

Herein lies the tie in with the title of the blog. Yes my rooting interests are all over the place. Yes some will say I only rooted for teams that won. The point though is that they haven't been winning lately. I endured through all the bad seasons, perhaps reliving their glory days a bit too much at times, but always I was their true and loyal fan. "There is always next year" came out of my mouth more times than I care to recall, but I endured, and still endure in many cases. Seven years of futility against UM's biggest rival. My wife had never seen a UM/OSU game with me in which UM won. Dallas abysmal season last year.  The Yankees heartbreaking loss in 2004 to the Red Sox. A lot can be determined about a person by who they root for year in and year out. The fair weather fans and bandwagoneers are flaky and superficial. The diehard fans are the ones that I want to surround myself with. Tough hard nosed individuals who will stand by their team no matter what, because that's what loyalty in fandom is sometimes, endurance.

I doubt there will be any Pulitzer Prize winning prose on this blog. I just hope to express my opinions and feelings and maybe relate to one or two people out there. Expect a post a week for starters. I will update when news worthy things happen. If it is twice a day, or once a month, so be it. Seasons are seasons and of course more will be posted now about the Wolverines since they are active and very much a part of the national football landscape. Also, Dallas is making a playoff push which will be mentioned again. The Ultimate Fighter season finale is Saturday. Always stoked to root against Michael Bisping.

Fortitudine Vincimus