ANN ARBOR,MI–  226 million dollars later and all the hard work and its finally finished, some have called it “The new Big House.”  They have yet to sell out yet the suites yet, they have a couple more months to do that before opening game against the Uconn Huskies.  61 of 81 of the suites are sold, so if you are wanting a suite get it now they will go fast! The indoor outdoor club seats have sold about 75% of them an those will go quick to.

After 2 losing seasons the Wolverines look to bounce back to how they usually play. With the new renovations that took place, that should bring in even more fans to the already Big House.  Also should keep the sound in the stadium to keep it loud for the away teams. All in all the new looking stadium looks great! The fans will love it and we hope for good things for Michigan in this 2010 season.

For pictures of the new renovated stadium go here:

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=C4&Dato=20100703&Kategori=SPORTS06&Lopenr=7030804&Ref=PH

GO BLUE!

With rivalries in the Big Ten, like the Ohio St/Michigan, Michigan St/Michigan will they break the rivalries up? The Michigan/Ohio St game is better then Christmas for fans of both.  Michigan and Ohio St might be left in the same division so they can play each other every year in November like they always have.

Michigan has to big rivalries, one against Michigan St and Ohio St. Penn St has become more of a rivalry.  ”There’s a lot to think about geographically; there’s a lot to think about competitively; they’ll tell us what it is and we’ll go from there,” U-M football coach Rich Rodriguez said. “Either way it works, we’re going to play (Ohio State) every year, we’re going to play Michigan State every year. I’m sure every school will have maybe two rivalries, no matter how it works out. We have our two there.”

How would you split the teams up? would you keep those rivalry teams together?

GO BLUE!

The pregame tours were an interesting look into a usually unseen side of the football experience, and the alumni flag football game was entertaining, especially watching the ‘coaches’ get into it with the referees, Bo-style.

As for the actual game itself, it was encouraging to see how much the defense looks improved. They were making significant strides to stop the run, and Will Campbell clogged the middle well. He looks like he’ll have a good year in the trenches. The secondary was still prone to some bad coverage. They gave up a 97-yard pass between Denard Robinson and Roy Roundtree. To be fair, the pass was perfectly placed (and I mean perfect), but Roundtree shouldn’t have been behind everyone to begin with.

Speaking of Robinson, he looked exponentially better. His throwing was crisp, he still had his explosive running and his decisions were quick and accurate. Since they did not allow hitting the quarterbacks (Tate Forcier was the only one to actually touch the turf with his body on a scramble-run), it was hard to judge Robinson’s running, because there were times I think he would have made the tackler miss, and others that I think he might have been sacked, but he still had his amazing speed and he still moved well with the ball.

Unfortunately, the other two quarterbacks of note were not as impressive. Devon Gardner showed why I believe he needs a year as a redshirt. His arm strength was impressive, but it lacked consistent accuracy. He moved around well in the pocket and up-field, but he wasn’t as elusive as one might have hoped. Forcier, on the other hand, looked slow and rusty. Some of that might be because of his ankle problems, but most of it just looked sloppy. Towards the end, he did start showing signs of his amazing ability to stay in the pocket and make throws downfield, so hopefully the rust shakes off. For now, however, Robinson looks like the leading candidate for the starting job.

There was one more unpleasantness. Zoltan Mesko will be missed. Watching the kickers proved that. The field goal attempts were actually rather good, with some of the kickers hitting 40+ yard attempts in a swirling wind. The punters, however, were rather pathetic. In all seriousness, the best punt o f the day came from Forcier on one of his rugby-style kicks on a fourth down. I think one of the two punters did not connect on a punt for over 20 yards; one of them didn’t make five. So let’s pray that the punters spend some time in the off-season practicing, or you might see Tate out there for fourth downs too.

The locker room was a great interpretation of the tradition that is Michigan football. There was a wall-sized mural of former wolverine Jake Long pancaking some poor schmuck; a hallway roped off that contained a dozen or better pictures of great Michigan moments. I got to see and touch things like the Go Blue Go Hold the Rope sign that sits above the locker room exit. I was “this close” to hopping the waist high blockade and running out the tunnel. Wisely I decided against that.

As for the spring game itself, I saw what looked to me like a more polished version of Denard Robinson. He was more accurate throwing the football. I also saw a version of Tate Forcier that appeared to be forcing things and making bad reads. Then the freshman phenom who despite his strong performance in spring practice, played nervous and uncertain at times. Welcomed to the field by the wolverine fans with loud cheers, Gardner fumbled his first possession and later threw an interception. He did have a nice throw to Martavious Odoms which was dropped. Had it been caught it would’ve been a touchdown. The defense played well getting good pressure on the qb’s and containing the run game for the better part of the day. The most encouraging part of the day was obviously Denard’s play at qb. If he can manage to maintain this level and be a threat through the air, opposing defenses will cringe at the thought of preparing for a skill set like that. Hopefully the defense can step up and the offense can gain some consistency. If that’s the case it should be a pretty good year in Ann Arbor.

According to the police dept there was also another problem that a light fixture was broke from a person hanging items on a scavenger hunt. Estimated cost was around $1,000.

The Stadium renovations that was around $226 million should be done sometime in June.

6-5, 220 pound Quarterback Cardale Jones has some interest in Michigan after he visited last week and attended some of the team practices. Jones says “It raised my interest level in them and I can see myself there,” Jones said after the the visit. “It really was a good vibe, especially with their quarterback situation right now. I watched film and watched their whole practice, and they run the same offense we run here at Glenville, so it would be an easy transition.” He has received offers from Cincinnati, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan St, and West Virginia.

The Wolverines are also taking a look at Linebacker Andre Sturdivant, Dana Day, Nick Davis, Shane Wynn from Glenville.

Jarrell a 5-9 197 pound had rushed for over 1,049 yards and 12 touchdowns for his team on 151 carries as a junior. Besides the wolverines, Texas Tech, Oregon State, Texas A&M, Tulsa, Utah, are all interested in him and have been recruiting him real hard.

Oliver if recruited will return to play with a couple of his old teammates from high school. Herron and Woolfolk he had both played with, and Darryl Stonum just down the road from there.  Jarrell wont make his decision till the summer or even fall time but his visit to Michigan makes his choice pretty strong.

He now is a defendant in a nearly $1-million breach-of-contract lawsuit stemming from his involvement in a condominium complex in Tuscaloosa, Ala., according to the Tuscaloosa news  and the Associated Press. The suit follows one filed last summer involving a condominium complex that never materialized in Blacksburg, Va.

Last August, a Birmingham, Ala., bank sued Rodriguez and his partners for $3.9 million, charging they defaulted on a loan for the Legends of Blacksburg, a condo complex near Virginia Tech’s football stadium. The suit was filed in South Carolina because of a Spartanburg bank’s involvement in an initial $26-million loan.

What else can go wrong for coach Rodriquez?

Some have said that Tate should be the starter and have Denard (shoelace) be the backup QB, also putting him in a different position as coach Rod has said.  With a guy that can run that fast, and so athletic, that boy has to be on the field somewhere.

Incoming Devin Gardner,  some people saying he will red shirt his first season at Michigan. My thoughts are that he just may be the back up QB for Forcier this year and have Denard Play another position.  All three guys are damn good QB’s, but one of them will be the starter for the 2010 season. Who will you choose? Let us no what you think on the QB spot.

Reminder the 2010 Spring will be Saturday, April 17th, at Michigan Stadium! BE THERE!!

Brandon’s latest announcement for the University of Michigan’s football program is one that is long in coming. In 2011, the Michigan Wolverines will play the Notre Dame Fighting Irish under the lights in a primetime Saturday night game. The lights are not a fixture on the stadium, which would be nice, but the portable lights will be more than enough to allow the players and fans to enjoy the robust atmosphere at Michigan Stadium. The Big House is a raucous affair in big games; adding the fact that games might be at night will definitely be advantageous to the Wolverines.

One change I’d like to see for the night games is changing the ‘Maize-Outs’ that most Notre Dame and other big games are. The deeper shade of blue that the Wolverines use would make a dark stadium seem eerily empty while still being amazingly loud during Michigan’s brisk fall nights. ‘Maize-Outs’ are a good idea, but they don’t go off as well as other programs’ attempts at uniformity in the crowd. I believe this is mainly for two reasons. One, yellow by any name is not one that most people have in their wardrobe, nor one they want to add to wear once or twice a year. Two, when the weather gets colder, maize is not a highly available choice in long sleeves, be it sweatshirts, hoodies or the long-sleeved T-shirts. Navy blue, on the other hand, is quite popular (and more the standard for University of Michigan fans.) I believe that changing the ‘Maize-Outs’ to ‘Navy Waves’ (or whatever they want to call it) would field a much better showing in the stadium.

Michigan fans should be excited for this change in the Michigan football program. Realistically though, some games probably will not get the opportunity for the nightcap of a Saturday of football. Playing the Ohio State Buckeyes at 8 o’clock sounds like an amazing idea that would heighten one of, if not the, biggest rivalry in sports. Unfortunately, it might be a bit chilly in late November for some people to give it adequate consideration. I know the students would be their usually boisterous selves, but some of the more reserved donors to the school might be a bit unhappy with sitting through that late of a game in those conditions. I hope I’m wrong. I’d love to see Ohio State surrounded by the deep blue sea of Maize and Blue faithful in prime time. Actually, with how well he’s started, I bet David Brandon’s already working on it.