While I Was Out

So, I promised that content may be sparse, but wouldn't be non-existent (double negative what?). I lied. I also forgot the power-cord to my laptop, rendering it a paperweight that had to be removed from its bag at airport security. I grumbled. A lot.

And so, the great content outage of 2008 has come to a conclusion [ed: there will be plenty more where that came from...], and I think we've all learned something. Something vague. Something that would be found in an episode of "Scrubs" while a semi-obscure Indie Rock song played. We've learned that even Dr. Cox can find his tender, humanitarian side, by simply observing the hope and faith that surrounds him every day, instead of the death and despair.

Sorry about that - I watched 3 episodes of Scrubs yesterday on a JetBlue flight from Vegas.

Anyways, the world continued while I was away, and here's what happened:

Urban Meyer was a mess after losing to Michigan in the Capital One bowl. His wife would walk in on Urban in the bathroom with mascara streaking his defined cheekbones just trying to keep it all together, man. Often times, he would wake up and stare at the ceiling listlessly while murmuring "Big Ten Speed." He would then laugh maniacally.

In all seriousness, it was apparently a quote from the venerable Fielding Yost that got him through the loss, to which we say "Bully!"

Speaking of Michigan there has been wild speculation as to the new uniforms, and what - if anything - Adidas is going to change. Mgoblog posted this


and this


as possible new uniforms, but Phil from UMgoblue.com says otherwise:

"I have just seen the official Adidas images of the authentic home & away jerseys.

As much as I begged I couldn't get the images (they're under embargo) but they are *not* what is shown in this thread or at the Women's football academy.

I'll describe them as much as best I can.

The home jerseys have a maize block "M" on the shoulder, the number is a little thicker and seems to be placed a little higher than on past jerseys. There's also a small (1/4 inch wide by 1-2 inch) vertical maize strip running down from the collar that has Michigan in blue.

The away jerseys have a thin maize piping straight across the chest. There also have a small maize strip on the back of the collar that says Michigan in blue.

Both have a small Adidas logo on the front.

The images I saw were front and back shots."

and this

"No joke. The images I saw were described to me as game authentic jerseys for publication in a catalog of *official* merchandise. They didn't know the official release date but speculated mid-July.

My gut impression was that I liked the away jerseys- I've always had no problem with them tweaking it a little bit every year.

My first thought after seeing the home jersey was, "And people freaked out when they saw the (fake) away jerseys."

Let me point out that probably 10-12 years ago Nike did an embossed "M" on both shoulders. You could only see it if you saw a jersey up close in person.

I don't know what to think about the home jersey yet. I'm trying to get my hands on a real one before I decide.

I've looked all over the web and haven't seen anything like I saw. "

and this

"Got another look today. There is a *chance* the official images may be available online mid-July. Published images will be available in late July - early August time frame.


Correction: The small stripe running down from the back of each collar has a Block "M" on it rather than saying Michigan. The Adidas logo is above the number."

This has lead to speculation on what they'll look like, and some enterprising photoshoppers have taken their best crack:

According to Phil, the second attempt is much closer. Take a look at the entire thread here. There is a little more info to be culled for those inclined.

Vegas odds are...odd but also pretty close to what we all assume the top 25 will look like when it is released. As I said, I was in Las Vegas these past few days, and stumbled up to the Mirage sports book, where a man was kind enough to print off early odds for the BCS Championship Game. They are as follows:

USC 2/1
Ohio State 4/1
Florida 5/1
Georgia 5/1
Oklahoma 6/1
Missouri 12/1
Texas 15/1
LSU 20/1
West Virginia 20/1
Clemson 25/1
VA Tech 30/1
Auburn 30/1
Kansas 40/1
Tennessee 40/1
Wisconsin 40/1
Arizona State 40/1
Illinois 40/1
Michigan 40/1
Notre Dame 40/1
Penn State 40/1
California 50/1
Texas Tech 50/1
Florida State 70/1

And so on. This, of course, tells us jack about the upcoming season, but for those people scrambling to get on Michigan's bandwagon (no really, they were hear a minute ago. Guys? Guys?) because of that article that came out saying only 9 teams had better odds? Um...better recount that. I see 12 teams with better odds, and a whole slew of teams right at 40/1 which tells me that Vegas doesn't know where the hell to put Michigan, so they're not taking a bath if UM turns out to be really good. I was going to bold out the weird picks, but then I remembered it's Vegas, and they've got a reason for everything. FWIW, I put $20 on Georgia at 5/1.

We've always been friendly with BHGP. We even use them as a witness (not like in court, but like "can I get a witnessss? can I get a witnessssss?) on the sidebar. But this time, they've gone too far, and will pay. I've got to go clean my verbal scattergun, but when I get back, there will be blood.

OPS: This is my serious face.