That little upset in Michigan...
... well sure, after I post something sarcastic about the ol' school its football team goes out and does something remarkable. They beat Michigan in the last seconds of the game. The efforts of the kids on the team restores my faith in collegiate sports almost. I'll have to check and see if any of them are in one of my classes.
The best thing about an upset of this magnitude is going back and reading the smug statements made before the game. My favorite so far is this one from King Kaufman on Salon.com in his column: "It's college football beat-down season as powerhouses avoid one another, schedule patsies and wish they could play middle schools." Here's one of his examples of an absolutely hopeless mismatch that is guaranteed to be boring:
It makes this little bit of Wolverine pre-game smugness all the more delicious. After an informative run down on Appstate, including the history of its football helmets, the Michiganzone writer concludes in anticipation:
Ah, fortuna.
... well sure, after I post something sarcastic about the ol' school its football team goes out and does something remarkable. They beat Michigan in the last seconds of the game. The efforts of the kids on the team restores my faith in collegiate sports almost. I'll have to check and see if any of them are in one of my classes.
The best thing about an upset of this magnitude is going back and reading the smug statements made before the game. My favorite so far is this one from King Kaufman on Salon.com in his column: "It's college football beat-down season as powerhouses avoid one another, schedule patsies and wish they could play middle schools." Here's one of his examples of an absolutely hopeless mismatch that is guaranteed to be boring:
More than half of the teams in this year's preseason rankings are perennials. An Oklahoma-Michigan game scheduled in 2001 would have been a safe bet to be a marquee game in '07.It might have turned out to be a dud. But then, what, Michigan vs. Appalachian State -- that's this Saturday at noon EDT -- was a surefire humdinger?
It makes this little bit of Wolverine pre-game smugness all the more delicious. After an informative run down on Appstate, including the history of its football helmets, the Michiganzone writer concludes in anticipation:
The Game – This is a game Michigan can’t win. Oh, sure, they’ll score more points than AppState, but no matter what the final score is, no Wolverine fan is going to feel good. Win by 40 and what’s the big deal, so they beat a I-AA, sorry, Champion Subdivision team. What bullies. Struggle against the best Champion Subdivision team and win by a touchdown and watch the Wolverines fall in the polls. This is not the weakest team Michigan will play this year. This would probably not be the worst team in the Big Ten. But a victory, no matter the margin, won’t look good or even be satisfying. MICHIGAN 42, APPALACHIAN STATE 23.Notice how the question of how good or even satisfying a LOSS would be never crosses his keyboard.
Ah, fortuna.
posted by Clemens | 11:29 AM
2 Comments:
Down boy, down. My Clements, while I knew that “gloat” was in your vocabulary (you do know English, Spanish, French and Latin), I didn’t even consider that it was one of those social skills that was in your repertoire. Guess that I was wrong. Hey once in a while I am. Just ask my wife.
No, not at all. No gloating for me. Certainly not about football. I just like to see the proud humbled, the mighty of the world made meek.
It's almost Biblical.
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