Game Week

YES! It's here! Game Week!

I speak for the entire Maize & Blue Nation when I say "It's about damn time!". I also say that if we could make it through this past off-season, we can make it through anything. Michigan fans not only had to take ridicule from everyone about Lloyd's record in the last 7 years against tOSU, and how that led to his "retirement". But we also had to deal with Les Miles and Kirk Herbstreit. We had to deal with a covert coaching search. A sudden hiring of a relative mystery to Michigan fans - Rich Rodriguez.

And then all the sudden, we were match up against tOSU again in one of the most heated recruiting battles ever, for Pennsylvania's Terrelle Pryor. And then came all of the allegations of how Rodriguez broke his contract with WVU, and whether or not he would pay up. Death threats on his family. WVU hicks burning Rodriguez pictures on YouTube.

And to pour salt on the wound, our top (at the time) offensive lineman decides to just up and leave for tOSU to play for Sir Teflon...the ultimate in "F*** you" moves.

To say it was an off-season filled with controversy and turmoil would be an understatement.

However, there were bright spots. Let's not forget that Rodriguez is a uber-talented coach with equally talented people around him. His rockstar S&C coach Mike Barwis is the new face of the program. And we also landed up-and-coming defensive coordinator Scott Shafer from Stanford.

The team is leaner, trimmer, and much much faster. What Barwis and Rodriguez have done in a relatively short amount of time is nothing less than stellar. Need convincing, just look at Terrance Taylor. Michigan is a place where change is usually met with an upturned nose. But change is rampant in Ann Arbor, and never was more needed than this year.

But now...gone is all the talk about Rodriguez and WVU. No more contracts, no more hearsay about who and why...just football. And for the next 13 weeks, it's all about football!

Oh sure, there will be some fireworks...I mean he's still Rich Rodriguez. Post game pressers will be interesting, to say the least. But the talk will be all about football, and not about contracts, or administrators, or secret meetings in Toledo. Nope, for the next 3 months, its all about football!

I'm not saying it will be pretty. Probably just the opposite. With Lloyd, we sort of knew what we were going to get...win or lose. Sort of just the same canned responses. But with Rodriguez, the gloves are off. He wears his emotions on his sleeve. And not in a crazy John L. Smith kind of way, but more refined and concentrated than that.

So in the next 5 days, we will do our best to get you ready for the opener. We have a preview of Utah on the way. We are efforting the latest information about depth-charts, injuries, and who will see playing time. This information is coming at record speed this year. Apparently, Rodriguez hold pressers about 5 times a day, so my head is spinning trying to keep up. But we'll do our best.

So hold tight, and check back often.