August 1 – The Ashes!

slips and a gully
mid on, mid off, driven left
and there is no run

Imagine if every two years, Michigan and Ohio State told that sporting world that they were taking time for a private contest.

Then for five weeks, they played a match that was the best of five games.

The games wouldn’t be sanctioned by the Big 10 or the NCAA.

This was a just between them and they were going to play.

That is the Ashes.

A private sporting contest between England and Australia every two years, alternating between countries.

And its test match cricket.

Five days are reserved for play.

Two sides of 10 batters and all 10 batters bat until they are out for one inning and there two innings.

Breaks for lunch, tea and drinks.

And don’t tell me that cricket doesn’t keep up with the times.

This year, for the 1st time ever, players have names and numbers on their … jumpers.

July 11, 2019 – won’t read about it

won’t read about it
a team that farted way through –
comes back, now to Lord’s

Sports writing at its finest!

I have to admit I have never seen sports writing quite like this before though I have seen teams, that for the life of me, can only be described as performing in the same way.

MS Dhoni is run out by Martin Guptill during New Zealand’s Cricket World Cup semi-final win over India. Photograph: Nathan Stirk/Getty Images

From the Guardian in ‘Incredible comeback’: Cricket World Cup victory prompts outpouring of joy in New Zealand

In the early hours of Thursday morning, New Zealanders collectively rubbed their tired eyes. On the other side of the world, something miraculous was happening. They could scarcely believe what they were seeing.

Indian fans despaired. Pakistani fans laughed. New Zealand fans simply revelled.

“You wouldn’t read about it,” said Mike Lane of Alternative Cricket Commentary. “What an incredible comeback from a team that farted their way through … now they are going to the home of cricket, Lords.”

June 20 – something magical

something magical
no adjective to describe
still, better than that

From the post game comments by Michigan Baseball Coach, Erik Bakich, on the pitching performance of Tommy Henry in a College World Series game against Florida State on June 17, 2019.

“In the biggest game in Michigan baseball history in a long, long time, we got the best pitching performance in Tommy Henry’s career,” Michigan coach Erik Bakich said. “He was the entire story line tonight. He gave us something magical. I don’t know if there is an adjective to describe how good Tommy was, but he was better than that.”

From Michigan rides Henry’s 3-hitter to 2-0 win over FSU at CWS by Eric Olson.

1st One Thousand Wins

1st one thousand wins!
Hail to the Victors Valiant!
Those who stay, Champions!

At this time, Michigan has 953 ALL TIME NCAA College Football Wins

With 47 more wins, barring any sports tragedies (as opposed to those real life tragedies), Michigan will be the first team to record 1,000 college football Wins.

When will this game happen and who will it be against?

If Michigan went the next 47-0, they would win 3 Big Ten Titles, 6 College Playoff Games and 3 National Championships and on Sept 3, 2022, a victory over UCLA would be win 1,000.

We know that won’t happen.

A possible 47-9 over the next 56 games put Michigan in position to win their 1,000th game on Sept 30, 2023 at home against MSU.

Not only a Michigan Great but our neighbor for years in
Grand Rapids

I went through a 47-9 record and picked the games but its pure speculation.

In compiling this record, over 4 years, I have Michigan going 2-1 in the Big Ten Title Game but 0-2 in the College Playoffs.

All speculation but I predict the 1,000th win will come in the 2023 season.

Should be a big party but planning on this will be like planning on winning the Stanley Cup at home in Game 6 … how do you plan for a win?

I also attached the above info a spread sheet so you can make you own predictions …

michigan-1 Download

April 18 – To love, be loved,

To love, be loved,
strive, be better tomorrow,
than we are today.

Intellectuals don’t help their cause when they are dismissive of pop culture and sports, by demeaning their great achievements. Neither high culture nor pop culture are a measure of intelligence, just of past exposure. Any attempt to use either as a means to imply superiority demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of what art strives to do: bring us closer together by showing that we are all equal in our needs to love, be loved, and strive to be better tomorrow than we are today. We accomplish this by understanding that the elegant idea is as uplifting as the slam dunk. And that a triple play is as graceful as a balletic arabesque. To disparage either the athlete or the intellect indicates someone not worthy of either.

The way Americans regard sports heroes versus intellectuals speaks volumes
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar The Guardian, 15 Apr 2019