It's august.  The days are getting shorter.  The polls are out, and the
preseason has begun.  Football is coming.  Rejoice.  Discuss.

84 responses total.

'Twill be interesting to see who becomes the Michigan quarterback.  I'm also
hoping to watch them play in Pasadena on New Year's Day.

In college, Florida is the preseason #1 in both polls, edging Miami.  The
state of Florida and the Big 12 monopolize top spots in both, in fact, with
Florida State hitting #5 in the coaches poll and Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas
all placing in varying order.  Michigan is 10th in the coaches poll, 12th in
the AP, and is generally considered to be worse than that.  Michigan State
is unranked and dangerous and could have the second-best offense in the Big
Ten next to favorite Northwestern.  

Those of you less than inspired by football might note that while all the Big
Ten teams are still shooting for the Rose Bowl again this year, the standards
are substantially tighter than normal: the top two teams in the country will
play there for the national title this time around.  A Big Ten (or Pac Ten)
team will have to run the table to have a legitimate shot.

The Lions have a new coach, a new system, and a new attitude for their last
year in the Silverdome, by the way.  The way things have been going in the
NFL, they're a good shot for the Super Bowl.

Joe slipped in.  The Rose Bowl is on Jan 3 this year. :)  Well, next year.
John Navarre looks like the starter, but Spencer Britton and Jermaine Gonzalez
could unseat him by opening day.  I don't think it will happen, though.  

I'd forgotten that.  So we can give Pasadena a pass this year:  College
Football ends on New Year's Day.

Not anymore, unfortunately.  I wish they'd go back to the New Year's day
football feasts... the most channels you need to flip between now is usually
two, only three for a brief period early in the afternoon.  After that, it's
all ABC.  

Actually, as I've stated elsewhere, I would like for a Big Ten Team and a PAC
Ten team to meet this year anyway.  It's conceivable, if a Big Ten team can
somehow go undefeated throught he conference and one of the Oregon teams or
Washington wins out.  Actually, if USC and Michigan somehow teamed up to shock
the world and meet each other, it would be the ultimate appropriate finish.
I wouldn't mind Michigan and Northwestern both going undefeated and meeting
each other, either. :)

The English Premiership kicked off today, with the Charity Shield being played
in CARdiff between Liverpool and Manchester United.  Happily, LIverpool won.

Actually, the Premiership kicks off later.  The Charity Shield can actually
be played by one team that is not in the premiership, unlikely as it is.  Man
U has now lost three charity shields running.  It doesn't seem to affect their
performance later in the season.

The Premiership kicks off next week - my mistake.  The only effect that it
has on Man U is that Beckham came out and said that they wanted to win *every*
game this season, as it's Ferguson's last season.

This item is linked as summer 2001 agora #131 and sports #110.

It'll be interesting to see how Michigan does this year.... after losing 4
offensive line starts to the NFL draft, along with their starting quarterback,
their starting wide receiver, and their starting running back.

There are a LOT of question marks, not just at quarterback.

A ranking of 10th is a testament to people's believe in Michigan's ability
to "reload"... and they were only what.. 9-3 last year?

I think it's a testament to reputation. :)  But then, Michigan has pulled
through in nearly impossible situations for years running now.  Who knows?

The offense was a vastly unknown quantity in 1997, too.   Griese was
experienced, but he was only 5-5 in games he started.  I think there were more
known quantities on the defense, then though.

...and defense wins championships!

What can I say, I'm a traditionalist.  Thus I'm looking forward to Michigan
taking on Stanford in the Rose Bowl, repeating history of 100 years ago,
and clobbering them 49-0!  (:

Two weeks, 1 day, 12 hours and counting....

One week to the kickoff of competitive football in our sphere of knowledge,
by the way.  The high school season starts friday the 24th, and the college
"preseason" starts on Saturday.  The preseason, to me, has always been a dull
way to start things, with few good games and perhaps one or two matchups at
best that mean anything.  I'll be glad to see it go.

I dunno...the UM vs Washington State game (9/8? I think?) is slated to be one
of the best matchups of the season.  <tries not to think about that bastard
deserter QB from last year>
Hmmm, I seem to be particularly profane tonight.  My apologies.

That would be UM vs. Washington (9/8, 3:30, ABC).

(Is that the same SOB who's playing *baseball* down here in 
Columbus. :) <ducks>

Can't blame him.  Anyway, it will be a good game, but a more interesting one
on the national landscape will be Washington's trip to Miami the next week.
At least it's their first game, which gives us some extra time to coordinate
things.

re 14 - by preseason, are you referring to the annual "kickoff classic" and
"pigskin classic" football games?

Boring?

I take it you're forgetting the year Michigan participated by playing Virginia
in a "preseason" game, when Scott Driesbach engineered a 17 point 4th quarter
to give the Wolverines a 17-16 victory..

I'm not.  Name three games with similar drama that have taken place since
then. :)

Two weeks!  Two weeks till they start showing watchable sports again! <does
a happy dance and moons the entire !*#&(! baseball community>

re 20 - understood.  It's generally because no big team wants to play if they
have to play someone good.  Michigan has refused opportunities to play in
excellent games since, because the level of competition was "too high".

It's a shame, really.. understandable, but a shame nonetheless.

Well, big teams play occasionally, but the games are rarely watchable (USC
Penn State, anyone?)  Season opening games often look rather... ugly.  From
the odd assortments of pre-school year fans in the stands, to the play, to
the heat, it's not good football.  It's a whole heck of a lot better than no
football, though.

This weekend pitts powerhouse TCU against Nebraska, and Syracuse against
Georgia Tech.  Neither of which are particularly interesting games, both
featuring a ranked team versus an unranked team.

This weekend.  Football games.  Holy hell.

TCU Nebraska would have been a great matchup... last season.  

Wisconsin is also playing...Virginia?  Dunno if Virginia is ranked...or if 
Wisconsin is either, for that matter.  Still, at least it's a Big Ten game.

Virginia is not ranked.  Wisconsin is ranked 22nd or 23rd.

GaTech should probably be able to beat 'Cuse pretty easily.  Syracuse 
does not have a really dominant quarterback.

Yes.  Tonight.  As we speak.  College football.  Tomorrow, high school
football.  Saturday, the world!

Indeed. Saturday is the holy day of obligation -- 111,000 people can't
be wrong.... (:

I'm watching Oklahoma beat up on North Carolina.  I came in "late" (13:52 left
in the first quarter), so I missed the first score: a field goal.  Then came
three or four touchdowns, mostly on turnovers.  I decided I really couldn't
wait to see the Sooners take on the Cornhuskers.  Then they started rolling
scores from other games; looked like Nebraska was playing basketball: 70
points.  TCU got half that.  Probably not much fun to watch.

You saw the wrong score.  Nebraska beat TCU 21-7 and didn't look all that
impressive.  The basketball score you saw was BYU vs. Tulane, which BYU won
70-35.  Oklahoma had 41 points by early in the second, but they didn't score
again.  UNC crept to within 41-27, but they couldn't finish a comeback.

It's a full football week.  For those with a passing interest or less in
football, the relevant facts for this weekend are the game's start time (UM
vs. Miami Ohio kicks off at 3:30) and the importance of the game (not very,
Michigan is expected to win easily).  For the less fortunate who are
hopelessly enslaved until the beginning of february, it should be noted that
the MAC (to which Miami belongs, as does local whipping boys EMU) always pulls
a couple of upsets a year.  Toledo beat Penn State last year, for instance.

Anyway:  It's going to be a fun week.  There are three good games to watch
at 8:00pm.  I'm looking forward to a nice couch campout after the game.

Heh.  Looking forward to driving home from Cape Cod like a bat outta hell
next Saturday--just to catch the UM-M(OH) game. Oddly, it's on a pay-per-view
channel out here--annoying ot have to pay, but beats the hell out of "sorry,
you're outside our "regional coverage" area and therefore screwed..."

Re: #19 - UM beat VA 18-17 on the last play of the game that year.

Satellite television is a wonderful thing.

A reasonable slate of games this Thursday, including 8 MAC teams in action.
Toledo demolished Minnesota, a game shocking in its one-sidedness.  I expect
that kind of game when Florida plays South-Central Nowhere State, not when
the MAC plays the Big Ten.  On television was Arkansas and UNLV--any other
week of the season, I'd probably barely be able to watch such an ugly game,
but I'm hungry for football.  There it was.  Arkansas actually won, despite
barely gaining 100 yards in offense all day. 

So it's time to get ready for the full Saturday.  Warning to "normals" who
want to drive somewhere on Saturday: Construction is quickly being finished
off, but all the crisp newly painted streets will be carrying football traffic
for two games.  EMU plays at home at 6pm.  I would endorse that as a cheap
ticket for some nice entertainment, but I'd be surprised if second-hand
tickets for the UM-Miami game sell for more than $15 or $20 outside of
Michigan Stadium.  I'll endorse that instead. :)

[Re the "other" football in America]

Would someone tell me a) what conference Heidelberg College [in Tiffin,
OH] is in, and b) what other colleges are in that conference?

I see that Western Michigan pounded Illinois State (or some other state U of
IL).  So the WMU-UM game might not be such a slaughter...

On the Brandy & Bo show on WJR this week Bo was bemoaning the schedule this
year:  1st game before Labor Day and students return; *2* open weeks; OSU game
*after* Thanksgiving.

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