Canadian Heritage Minutes are bullshit

In 1946, Jackie Robinson joined the AAA Montreal Royals, becoming the first African American to play in the minor leagues and beginning his journey to infamy with the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Royals were managed by a Mississippian named Clay Hopper. As one might imagine, he was not very happy with the situation and made it known to Jackie. His teammates were not much more supportive. According to the CBC at the time, Robinson and other members of the Royals organization received death threats and he was often jeered by fans. Indeed, the city was segregated at the time in spite of being considered one of the most cosmopolitan in North America.

I bring all this up because I recently saw one of CBC's "Heritage minutes" -- commercial length shorts which show important moments in Canadian history -- featuring Robinson and his debut with the Royals. The thing was so far from the truth it caused me to write a fucking post about it at 5 am on my Michigan football blog. It shows Jackie's first game against New Jersey (actually a road game) with fans and teammates cheering him on as the evil American's intentionally hit him, etc.

Anyway, when the fuck does football start? Argh.

After the Goldrush

So... the spring game has come and gone. We're in the throes of recruiting, but to be honest I don't really care about that shit until the class starts to take a bit more shape. So where does that leave us? Well, here. We're 55 days from the start of the season with nothing but summer practice to look forward to in the Michigan football world.

This is, of course, good. There is no period quite this long in between major events in college football and downtime is necessary in every fan/team relationship to keep it from getting too stale. But it's also extremely boring. Aside from baseball, which I must admit I'm not the biggest fan of, sports is kind of dead from the middle of June until Labor Day.

So... the point is, enjoy the summer while it lasts. If you're a Michigan fan, odds are you live somewhere in the shit-hole they call the Upper Midwest. They are three months out of the year where you get to go outside and enjoy yourself. Do it. Especially if the alternative is posting about "ZOMG TATE = BCS" on the internet.

So Serious

Smile Like You Mean It

So... the Threet transfer. I know I'm really late on this, but whatevs. It's all good. Blah, blah, blah it's not good. Freshmen blah blah blah. I don't really care about all that shit. Yes, this is bad for Michigan going forward. But, in the end, whatever happens is going to happen.

This post is a salute to Steven Threet. A hometown kid, lifelong fan, Academic All-American and someone who lived out everyone's childhood dream. He did the absolute best anyone could have done with what he had to work with. He left it all on the field for 8 games as a starter for a coach who probably didn't want him (and who he probably didn't want) in a system he was amazingly ill equipped for.

People throw this "Michigan Man" thing around a lot and people (myself included) wince. But it's not a complete myth. Steven Threet is a Michigan Man. He sacrificed for this team and this school. In my mind he earned his place in the pantheon of Michigan football, and he doesn't need a million touchdown passes or a win over Ohio State to prove it. He has the scars, the bruises, the permanent pain to prove how much he cared. And for that, I'll be forever thankfull.

Train In Vain

There's an over-saturation of Michigan sports blogs. If you want technical analysis there's Thee and Out. If you want funny there's the WLA. If you want news and information there's Varsity Blue. There are insanely good resources for basketball, hockey, photoshops, and coachBT. On top of all that there's MGoBlog... which, like, good luck sharing that market. Add to that about 20 other blogs and you get the picture. There is absolutely no good reason for anyone to start a Michigan focused blog. Period.

That said, welcome to my e-blog! I have no inside information, no technical knowledge of anything, really, and nothing to offer besides my thoughts and opinions. Why am I doing this? Because I like to write, I like Michigan football... and there's really no other good reason. If you dig it, awesome. If you don't, that's cool too. We're all just along for the ride.