Colt McCoy

I've never been much of a fan of Texas and as a result I haven't paid any attention to Colt McCoy during is rather successful college career. However, I caught this interview of him after the National Championship game where his team lost and he was knocked out of the game in the first quarter. There are three things that impress me (1) he clearly cares that he didn't get to play but kept himself under control, (2) he's a Christian and apparently a mature one that understands that he is part of a bigger plan, and (3) he showed great respect for the champions (Alabama) never taking anything away from their victory because of his injury. Colt, you were a great example here...well done.

Family Visit/Michigan Football

This past weekend my sister Rey and brother-in-law Tom visited. They got to be our first overnight guests and were able to go and see the Michigan football game. It was very nice to have them visit and the dogs gave even a little more excitement to the visit. Rey already posted the only picture of the four of use at the game…see it here. So I’ll just post a few more pictures from the weekend.

Rey, Dem, and Tom before the game.

Proof that I was with them at the game.

The weather was beautiful (not a cloud in the sky) and the new luxury boxes I think are going to look really cool…as evidenced from this picture.

Hail to the Victors!

Michigan still has some improving to do, but its so great to see them actually looking like a football team once again. Go Blue!!!

For Sherry: Good luck Nadal tomorrow.

Tate Forcier scoring one of his three touchdowns.

(AP Photo/Bill Fundaro)

Dem and My First Football Game

Surprisingly until this past Saturday Dem and I have never gone to a football game together. Last year we went to the same Michigan game, but we didn't have tickets next to each other. Fortunately for us this was a rather historic game. It was the 500th game at the Big House and Micheal Phelps and all the Olympic athletes from Michigan were there. I took some video of the band before the game, Phelps being announced, and the team after the game, but I'll just include on the blog Michigan coming out of the tunnel.

Here are a few pictures recapping the game. Even though I've gone to the majority of Michigan games over the past 4 years, this definitely had a different feel with the new luxury suites and the first time I wasn't sitting in the students section (so nice to sit down for the majority of the game).

Outside of the Big House with the new luxury suites being built.

Dem and I got there pretty early and got to see the student sections make out the block "M" in the student section (see picture below). Sadly once the game started the excitement instantly went away. Rather than recapping what happened in the first half I'll just say that at halftime Michigan had 5 turnovers (could have easily been more), 21 total yards (rushing + passing), 1 first down, and rarely made Wisconsin start beyond the 50-yard line.

The stadium before the game got started.

However, the second half was a totally different story. Thankfully the defense played good in the first half and only gave up 19 points (this is amazing considering Wisconsin almost always started in field goal range). After Michigan got their first touchdown they really got going. The second touchdown came with a ~30 yard run from Minor, which was followed with Wisconsin's next offensive play by Michigan intercepting their pass and running it back for a touchdown...in minutes it went from Michigan being down 19-0 to Michigan ahead 20-19.

Linebacker John Thompson returning his interception for the touchdown to give Michigan the lead.

Michigan then continued to play well with stopping Wisconsin, getting the ball back, and scoring again. That scoring drive was highlighted by Threet's 48 yard run. Wisconsin then got the ball, drove the field, and was about to score when Michigan sacked the quarterback resulting in him fumbling and Michigan recovered. Wisconsin then got a second chance and succeeded in driving down and getting a touchdown (FYI - it was an amazing touchdown catch). Then Wisconsin needed a two-point conversion for the tie. They successfully got it, but thanks to the loud crowd Wisconsin wide receivers screwed up their formation resulting in an illegal formation penalty. When they retried the conversion they failed and with only 13 seconds all that was left was to recover the onside kick, which they failed to kick 10 yards...thus Michigan WINS. This completely the largest comeback in the Big House.

Scoreboard with the sad Badger fans below it.

Immediately after the game the team ran over to the student section to celebrate with them and a few rows behind us the chant of "It's great - to be - a Michigan Wolverine! It's great - to be - a Michigan Wolverine!" That was a chant that I didn't expect to hear Saturday...I actually specifically thought that at half time. What a great game.

Dem and I happy about our Michigan team after our first football game.

Barry Sanders

So the Lions season isn't off to that great of a start...well that might be making it sound too good. However, I'm not going to be one of the fans that immediately throws away the season because we lost the first two games...remember everyone thought the Tigers were in trouble this year just because they lost their first 10 games...oh wait, yeah they never recovered from that. Anyway, I'm not giving up on the Lions yet, but I needed some thing encouraging since my football teams (Michigan & Lions) aren't looking that good. So I turned to the one man that is considered the only reason my generation loves the Lions...Barry Sanders. Its a shame YouTube didn't exist when he was running because there would be so many better highlights of him, but I was able to find at least a couple good highlights...though anyone that watched him every week knows that this is merely a small sampling of what this man could do. I feel fortunate to not only been a football fan when he was playing, but that my dad took me to a few of the games where he played (even sat next to his wife one game).

For better quality check out some these clips (clip 1, clip 2, and clip 3).