Red, white, maize and the blues!

"You guys (fill in expletive here)!"

 • I might be the only one who thinks this, but Michigan losing to Ohio State this past Saturday actually was a good thing for Wolverine fans – at least as far as the rivalry is concerned. When Michigan was beating up on Ohio State during the Buckeye’s John Cooper-era, the vile and hatred spewing from OSU fans was at an all-time high. This may never be the case with Wolverine fans, but I started seeing a little more frustration starting to seep out of the maize and blue faithful on Saturday. When one team dominates for a while, it just makes it that much sweeter when you finally turn the tables back the other way.

 

"I feel the need ... the need for speed!"

• I’ve seen plenty of flyovers in my days as a photographer, but they always amaze me – give me goose pimples even. Saturday’s was no exception. A few weeks ago they had a flyover at cruising speed, but this time they roared over the Big House with the afterburners glowing – awesome! After the flyover, I turned to my brother Duke, a former Army Ranger who was assisting me at the game,  and said, “They sure make you realize how little chance you have (if you’re a soldier) if they decide to call in an airstrike on your position.” “Yeah,” he replied, “it sort of takes the fun out of combat.”

 

Is this Columbus, or Ann Arbor?

• A lot of folks complained about the amount of red in Michigan Stadium on Saturday. Personally, I don’t think there was any more than usual, except maybe in the student section. It wasn’t that long ago when all the visiting fans were clumped together in the south end zone. I vaguely remember Michigan changing that policy because the Buckeyes always brought so many, and they wanted to spread them out so they would be less vocal. The problem is, the color red really stands out, so rather than one big clump of red in the endzone, there are pockets of red all throughout the stadium.

 

 

Can you imagine this lot in 1954?

•  Maybe the Buckeyes caught wind that Michigan was celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Bo Schembechler’s legendary (at least to Wolverine fans) 1969 24-12 upset, of then #1 ranked Ohio State, by honoring members of the that team prior to the game. Whatever the reason, the Buckeyes arrived in Ann Arbor wearing throwback uniforms honoring their 1954 National Championship team (except with facemasks). I liked the uniforms, I only wish Michigan would have worn throwbacks as well … ummm, wait … I guess they were wearing throwbacks since they’ve never changed their look.

 

Reggie McKenzie sheds a tear or two for his beloved Wolverines ... and that was before the game!

• Speaking of the ’69 team, it was cool to see a bunch of former players still getting choked up at memories they had as kids four decades ago. Cooler still was the fact that I remembered a lot of the players myself, even though I was only a 4 year-old in 1969, and I’m from Ohio. Several members of that team went on to NFL careers (including Thom Darden, my all-time favorite Cleveland Brown) and I still have a lot of their football cards.

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me!"

 • It’s rare that an offensive lineman makes headlines, but Ohio State’s Justin Boren did just that by having the audacity to transfer from Michigan to the hated Buckeyes two years ago. Me personally? I could care less. If it’s a better fit for a kid to go somewhere else, so be it. But judging by the amount of insults hurled this kid’s way during warmups, I’m guessing most Wolverine fans don’t feel the same way. I heard words I’m pretty sure aren’t even in the English dictionary!

My press box buddies, Don Lund, left, and Art Holst, telling stories of days before even my parents were born!

• Saturday marked the last game for the old press box at Michigan Stadium. Even though I spend most of my time on the sidelines, I still spend a fair amount of the pregame in the press box. As press boxes go, it wasn’t the best. But I’m a sucker for history and tradition, so I always liked it. I especially enjoyed my time chatting with Don Lund, a Michigan legend, who, at 86, tells great stories that could only be matched by his buddy Art Holst, also 86, a former NFL official who still scouts NCAA officials for the NFL. Between the two, I have a hard time pulling myself away to head down to the field for the opening kickoff.

 

"Now take this ball and head for left tackle!"

• I know this is a great rivalry and all, but when was the last real good game between these two teams? Saturday’s game could have been called the “Boring Bowl” due to the lack of anything remotely resembling a big play. The Buckeye’s vanilla-encrusted head coach Jim Tressel decision to run off tackle 1,347 times didn’t exactly showcase Terrelle Pryor, the highly sought after quarterback that Michigan was hoping to land. I guess the bright spot might be the fact Wolverine fans didn’t feel so bad they didn’t land Pryor after watching him do “pretty-much-nothing” on Saturday.

 

"Dad gummit! I told you not to throw the ball to the guys in red!"

• As vanilla-smooth as Jim Tressel is, Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez has let his frustration show more and more as the second half of this 5-7 season turned sour. Saturday he looked more like an active volcano than a head coach at times, but that’s cool, I like passion, it makes for good pictures!

 

"A little louder please, I can still hear out of my left ear."

• After shooting a good portion of this season’s games from the visiting team’s sideline, I’m guessing I should regain some of my hearing sometime in mid-January after being blasted time and time again by the visiting band’s trumpets, trombones, and drums at point-blank range.

 

"So Brandon, how do feel about the colors brown and orange?"

• Finally, after watching Michigan senior defensive end Brandon Graham’s career come to an end Saturday, all I can say is this kid is a hell of a player and a class act and I hope he ends up being a first round pick in the NFL draft. Are you listening Cleveland?

Purdue's and don'ts - beautiful day, horrible game.

At least things started out on a high note.

My latest sideline observations from Michigan’s disastrous 38-36 loss to Purdue, Saturday, November 7th at Michigan Stadium, the Boilermakers first win at UM since 1966.

Cheer up, there's always the Papa Smurf Bowl.

• Sunny skies and warm temperatures greeted the Michigan Stadium crowd as they filed into the Big House the first week of November for their last realistic chance to get that coveted sixth victory of the season and a bowl trip to … Detroit?  C’mon, quit your griping, sure, two years ago the Motor City Bowl was below the Wolverines, but now doesn’t any bowl game seem like an achievement? Of course, the Motor City Bowl is now the Pizza, Pizza Bowl, but the way Michigan’s been playing lately, they’ll be lucky to make the Cheesy Bread Bowl.

Umm, Tate? ... yeah, about that headwear ... you might want to lose that. 

• What’s up with Tate Forcier’s new headwear? He came out for warm ups wearing some strange, blue stocking on his head. Okay, I get it; it was a bit chilly, but by game time the head sock was still in place under his helmet … and it was 60 degrees! Dude, this is Michigan, not San Diego. A 60-degree day in November is what we call a "heat wave" here in the Midwest. Losing games is one thing, but you sure aren’t making yourself look any tougher, or helping your cause with the fans, by wearing that silly head stocking on a warm day. 

Bang the drum slowly, after all, it's been 43-years since you last won here - might as well make it last!

• Purdue University has a lot going for it - nice campus, great engineering school, cool uniforms … and the world’s largest drum! I’m not exactly sure how they know they have the world’s largest drum, but that’s what it says on the drumhead, so I guess we’ll have to take their word for it. At any rate, that drum got a workout following the Boilermakers 38-36 win over Michigan, as several players stood patiently in line, waiting to give the drum a whack with what I assume must be the world’s largest drum stick.

I got out of bed early for this?

• The days of the 110,000 plus crowds at Michigan Stadium seem to be dwindling. I suppose the beautiful weather had something to do with it, but Saturday’s crowd of 108,000 was very late-arriving, especially the student section, who seem to be losing patience with two sub-par seasons quicker than the alumni faithful.

Anyone need a Q-tip?

• I heard from more than one person they thought Purdue’s marching band was every bit as good, if not better than Michigan’s band – especially while doing their halftime Michael Jackson tribute. I don’t know about that, but I did like Michigan’s seldom-used Blues Brothers tribute prior to the game. Also, what the heck are those things on top of the heads of the Boilermaker band members? They look like a pack of human Q-tips.

"Dee-fense ... Dee-fense ... dee-fense? ... c'mon people ... anyone? ... anyone? ... Bueller? ... Bueller?"

• What on earth has happened to the Michigan defense? In the 15-years I’ve been shooting Wolverine football, I’ve never seen the opponent put up so many big plays on Michigan. Usually after one big play, I’ll have plenty of time to get to the other side of the field to continue shooting the action, but Purdue’s opening touchdown drive happened so fast, I was still walking behind their bench when they scored. 

"I don't want it, here you take it!"

• Perhaps the most critical play of the game took place on a fourth and ten play for the Wolverines late in the fourth quarter. Trailing the Boilermakers 38-30 at the time, Rich Rod decided to go for it rather than kick a chip-shot field goal. The result was a goofy play that saw running back Carlos Brown lateral the ball to lineman Mark Huyge as he was being tackled near the sideline. At first the play appeared to be successful, but after an official review it was determined that Brown had lateraled the ball forward to Huyge. That, of course, is a no-no, and the Wolverines turned the ball over on downs. What I don’t understand is why Brown wasn’t ruled out of bounds in the first place, when, as my picture shows, he’s on top of Purdue’s Torri Williams, who is clearly out of bounds while making the tackle.

More than a Minor disappointment.

• Of all the players on Michigan's team I've come to know over the past few years, I feel worse for Brandon Minor than any other player. His bum ankle has kept him from having the kind of senior season I'm sure he envisioned. I can sense his frustration every time I see him coming off the field. Nothing against these smaller, quicker running backs that Rich Rod likes to recruit, but I like Minor's powerful running style. When he's healthy, in my opinion, he's one of the best backs in the Big Ten. Here's hoping some NFL scouts feel the same and give Minor his due come next April in the draft (are you listening Cleveland Browns?).

That’s it for this week. I’ll be staying home for the Wolverines trip to Madison this Saturday, but I’ll be back in action when they take on Ohio State for their last game of the season. Hopefully for you Go Blue faithful, the Wolverines won't be in a position where they'll have to beat the Buckeyes to go "bowling."

Bad weather, bad loss - Bad omen?

Here are my sideline observations from Penn State's 35-10 pasting of Michigan, Saturday, October 24th at the Big House.

"Where are we?"

• Of all the iconic college football coaches in the country, my favorite has to be Joe Paterno. The guy just cracks me up. From his oversized eyeglasses to his athletic shoes and rolled-up pants, he hasn’t changed all that much over the years. He took over as head coach of the Nittany Lions in 1965 - the same year I was born, now 82, JoePa is still going strong – doesn’t even have that much gray hair, but at his age maybe it’s time to change his nickname from JoePa to GrandPa.

 

Here comes Generic U.

A little color is always nice.

• Penn State is a great football program filled with a lot of pride and tradition, but what’s up with the fancy uniforms? I mean, can’t they tone it down a little? All joking aside, I actually like the generic quality to Penn State’s duds - especially the all-white road uniforms. They’re kind of like what you’d start with before adding things like logos … or colors ... or names. Luckily, the Nittany Lion players more than make up for the lack of snazzy uniforms by being the most tattooed football team I’ve ever seen.

Fall color in Michigan?

• Ahh, cold rain ... how I love thee. Seriously, does anything beat four hours in the cold, windy rain with numb fingers and a throat that feels like you swallowed a cheese grater? The only problem (other than zero dexterity and a possible case of pneumonia) was the fact I had to find someplace dry to work on my photographs at halftime. Unfortunately, the Big House’s only realistic “dry” option is in the tunnel - and the only place in the tunnel where there’s a spot to put my laptop happens to be next to the four port-o-potty’s for the marching band and game officials (although I have to admit, nothing speeds up your workflow faster than the aroma of four port-o-potty’s an arm’s length away). Actually, I was okay with it, but poor ESPN reporter Holly Rowe looked like she was going to pass out when a particularly strong wave of “port-o-stench” wafted past us. 

 

Where did I put those earplugs?

• One of the biggest differences between a college football sideline and an NFL sideline is the amount of workable space. Aside from the fact that most college teams dress roughly 238 players (thereby eating up most of the sideline) they also toss in 80 cheerleaders, 64 dance team members and about 1.5 million marching band members, joyfully blasting their school fight song into your ears at point blank range (not that I don’t enjoy going deaf or getting smacked in the back of the head with a trombone slide). Mix in the mobile, sideline television cameramen with their assistants whipping camera cables into your shins every 15-20 seconds, as well as Michigan event staff members barking at you nonstop to “stay behind the white line” and it makes for one challenging afternoon.

 

Another pick for Denard ... let's see, that makes 5 interceptions in his last 20 pass attempts - ouch!

• I said it before and I’ll say it again, Tate Forcier may be the better quarterback, but my eyes light up every time Denard Robinson enters the game because I know something exciting is going to happen – good or bad. Lately there’s been a lot more bad than good, but to a photographer it’s all the same - turnovers are just as exciting as touchdowns.

Trick or Treat?

 • Maybe it has something to do with the aforementioned “boring” uniforms, but those four guys who dress up in those Halloween-like costumes of JoePa and a trio of Nittany Lion players absolutely crack me up – and they can dance too!

Safety dance!

• I've seen plenty of instances where crowd noise wreaks havoc on a quarterback's ability to be heard by his offense thereby causing a false start or a bad snap, but I've never seen the opposing crowd make enough noise to screw up the home team's quarterback! That is until Saturday when the Penn State faithful were loud enough to cause a botched snap between Michigan's center and Tate Forcier. The result of the bad snap, which sailed out of the back of the endzone, was a safety for the Nittany Lions.

"Nice chatting with you son, now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and kick your team's @$$!"

• It was easy to see the amount of respect Rich Rodriguez has for Joe Paterno. The two chatted for several minutes before the game, and longer than most after. They even made eye contact and laughed from time to time! Quite unusual, given the norm so far this season.

Well, that’s it for me until the Purdue game. My cohort, Melanie Maxwell, will be making the long drive to Champaign/Urbana for the lllinois game this Saturday while I go trick-or-treating with my kids. Here’s hoping Halloween isn’t too scary for Michigan – after all, Illinois does wear orange.

Road Warrior

After narrowly defeating Indiana, in a game I didn’t shoot, Michigan was off to its first road game of the season at Michigan State, followed by another road game in Iowa, then back home for Delaware State. Here are my sidleline observations from that trio of games:

Party for Sparty, 10-3-09

 • Maybe it’s just me, but there is definitely more of a vibe at other Big 10 stadiums than Michigan Stadium. Spartan Stadium certainly qualifies as a place with a “vibe.” Of course a lot of that has to do with their hatred of Michigan. Regardless, it’s hard to describe the sense of excitement the players must feel when they’re playing in one of these rivalry games. I know I feel it, and I’m just down there taking pictures.

 

Another lovely fall day in Michigan.

• Shooting games in iffy weather is just part of the job  - and the weather in East Lansing was iffy! Rain, sun, clouds, wind … rain, sun, clouds, wind … wash, rinse, repeat. Keeping expensive camera gear dry can be a challenge, especially if it’s raining and windy – which it was during the last 4 minutes of the game when Michigan was driving for the game-tying score. Want to know what makes bad weather even worse? Field turf. Sounds crazy, but if I’m shooting in rain, I’d like my photos to reflect that. Field turf eliminates any chance of getting a photo of a mud-covered player … which I like – seems more like real football.

 

• Watching Michigan State nearly blow a two-touchdown lead in the waning moments of a game they dominated was extremely interesting at field level. You could see it in the player’s faces – on both teams – as the momentum did a complete 180. If the Spartans had lost, I fear they would have been done for the season. But they didn’t and now they seem to be on a roll.

 

• I was front and center Michigan’s game-tying drive. The game should have ended on a Forcier interception the pass before he hit Roy Roundtree in the back of the endzone. The ball was deflected up in the air and seemed to hit three or four players before falling incomplete on the turf. Ironically, Forcier would be picked off in overtime on nearly the exact same play.

Tackle? ... anyone? ... anyone?

 

• How did the Wolverine defense not tackle Larry Caper on his game-winning touchdown run? Caper ran right at me on the play, I took several photos of him as he appeared to be stopped by Troy Woolfolk, the next thing I know he’s running past me into the endzone – game over!

 

Whoa ... Lookout! ... Paul Bunyan almost hits the turf - or worse, me!

• What’s up with the Paul Bunyan trophy? The Spartans treated that thing as if it were the Holy Grail. At least until one of the Spartan players nearly clocked me with old Paul as it slipped from the player’s one-handed grip while parading it around the field. I wonder if it would have busted into pieces had he bounced it off the turf?

 

"Tate, this is your father ... give in to the dark side Tate."

• NCAA football games are starting to look more and more like Star Wars conventions. Everywhere I look I see Storm Troopers and Darth Vaders invading stadium student sections, not to mention all the marching bands seem to play Vader’s theme song on every third down play.

 

IOWA – Field of Nightmares, 10-10-09

• Iowa City is a lot like Ann Arbor. But then so is West Lafayette, Bloomington, Madison, etc, etc. - still, it was my first trip to Kinnick Stadium and Michigan’s first night game of the year. I always enjoy shooting night games, but this one was more challenging than most for a couple of reasons.

1)   They didn’t bring in enough lights.

2)   Iowa ordered a “Black Out” for the game, meaning all the fans dressed in black. Not exactly the most reflective color.

 

Back in Black!

• What’s up with mid-October road games? For the third time in four years I’ve gone to road games in the middle of October that featured record-setting low temperatures, Penn State in ’06 and ’08 - and now Iowa this year. It snowed the morning of the game, and it didn’t get much better the rest of the day! With temps in the low 30’s at kickoff and in the mid-20’s by the end of the game, it was the second straight week where weather made it difficult to get good shots. Rain wasn’t the problem, numb fingers were. It’s hard to take pictures when the dexterity is gone from your fingers.

 

Dazed and confused.

• I was surprised to hear all the controversy over pulling Tate Forcier late in the game. I knew he had a concussion on his last play from scrimmage when he got absolutely tattooed by a pair of Iowa lineman. When he got up, he was staggering like a prizefighter that just pulled himself off the canvas. I remember turning to the photographer next to me and saying, “he’s done.” Then I went to the Michigan bench to see if I could get some shots of Forcier receiving medical attention. He was there, all right; parka on, eyes dazed – looked a lot like Sam McGuffie from last year’s team. To hear that Rich Rod had no idea that his starting quarterback was hurt was kind of startling.

 

• It was nice to shoot a game where no goofy trophies were at stake. No Brown Jugs, no Paul Bunyans, just a win or a loss.

• Vader and the Storm Troopers made their way to Iowa, this time with the flying wing on their respective battle helmets.

May the Forcier not be with you?

• One thing no one other than a photographer ever sees - the bowels of a Big 10 stadium. A lot of stadiums let the photographers use the press box as their working space once the game is over – not so with Kinnick Stadium (and a few others). I like the stadium, but the photographers are penned into a pair of internal storage rooms under the concourse for their workstations. No windows, no bathrooms - no time to get gas from the lousy food you ate on the way to the game! At any rate, if you weren’t friendly with your fellow shooters before the game, you will be before you leave.

 

• I’ve shot a lot of Michigan wins over the years, and, to be honest, a fair amount of losses. Michigan looks like every other team when they win - they do what you’d expect … almost a canned emotion. But when they lose they are the most boring team in the world to photograph. No emotion – I mean none! It’s okay to look depressed when you lose a close game. You fought hard, you came up short, go ahead and wear your emotions on your sleeve. It will make you feel better, or at the very least, it will make for better pictures!

 

Delaware State of disbelief! 10-17-09

A storm of controversy?

• What can you say about this non-game? Both teams should be ashamed of themselves - Michigan for scheduling such a tomato can, and Delaware State for accepting the $550K for playing in the game, thereby forfeiting one of their own conference games in the process. 

This game should be nothing but a blur!

 

• Oddly enough, before any ball was snapped, kicked, handed off , or thrown, both teams looked the same. There were guys in pads wearing red and white who were just as big and looked just as fast as the guys in pads wearing maize and blue. They looked like athletes, they dressed like athletes – how could they be so bad? And they were bad. In my 15-years of walking the sidelines with a camera at Michigan Stadium, I’ve never seen a worse game.

Where is everybody?

 • Where were the students? Apparently the game was so bad, a third of the students decided to stay home and sleep off their hangovers rather than show up at the Big House. I felt sorry for any fan who paid good money to come and see this game.

 

• I will give kudos to the students who did attend the game. As they always do, they take even the must mundane of contests and turn it into something halfway interesting with “the wave.” Other Big 10 venues may have more of a vibe than the Big House, but nobody, and I mean nobody, does the wave better than Michigan Stadium.  The place was practically invented for such a feat. Seeing it done to perfection from the field - in the round - is a thing of beauty. I especially enjoy the slow-motion version. I was behind the Delaware State bench when the wave started and even their players stopped watching the game and started watching the crowd.

At least their band was good.

That’s it for this batch of games. Michigan now stands at 5-2, about what I expected at the beginning of the season. Now, of course, they run into some actual competition with Penn State, Wisconsin and Ohio State remaining on their schedule. I guess we’ll see how far they’ve come from last year in the next few weeks.

Observations from the field: Michigan football up close

People often say I’m lucky because for the past 15 years I’ve been on the sidelines at Michigan Stadium photographing Wolverine football games.

It’s true, I am lucky, but don’t think for a moment it’s all glamour and fun. Humping camera gear up and down the sidelines while fighting for field position with other photographers, both television and still, can be frustrating to say the least.

Still, the vision from field level is a unique experience. One shared by coaches and players, officials and media members (and at the University of Michigan, just about anyone with a connection) but no one else.

So to give you an idea of what it’s like to be on the sidelines during football Saturday’s, I’d like to share some of my unique sideline perspective from the first three games.

Western Michigan, September 5th

• Ah man, I hate these early season games when it’s sunny and warm. Even though it’s only in the 70’s, the artificial turf makes it feel much warmer on the field. In fact, days like this make it impossible to shoot downfield very far because of the heat waves coming off the turf. Anything past 25-yards and it looks more like a Salvador Dali painting than a picture of Darryl Stonum making a diving catch.

Can you feel the heat waves?

• Tate Forcier may be Michigan’s main man at quarterback, but ask any photographer on the field and they’ll take Denard Robinson any day – at least from a photographic standpoint. He’s way more animated, always seems to get into open space, has his braids flying out of his helmet, and has an uncanny knack for making big plays when the light is in his face.

Off to the races!

• I don’t know why everyone was whining about this new addition to the Big House (by the way, where I come from the Big House means prison - the slammer - the joint; certainly not a venue to play football) I can’t say for sure if it makes the place any louder, but it sure does make it look a heck-of-a lot more like a stadium -especially from the field. Nothing against tradition, but come on people, the place looked like a big can of tuna before the addition.

Notre Dame, September 12th

• Another warm day with heat waves coming off the field - not that Notre Dame’s honor guard guys mind. For the record, at field level they don’t leave much to the imagination when they spin around in formation, kilts-a-flying, butt cheeks-a-showing!

• Up close, Jimmy Clauson and Charlie Weiss both look like they’re about 12 - kind of like River Phoenix and the chubby kid from Stand By Me, all grown up.

Blueberry pie anyone?

• Late-afternoon starts mean plenty of drunks in the stands … and on the field. One  drunk, in particular, decided to dance around on the field after Greg Matthews scored the game-winning touchdown, thereby blocking my view of most of the play. No big deal really, unless you’re a photographer getting paid to document the game!

Portrait of a drunk (or at least his elbow).

• Am I the only one who wondered what the heck they were going to do if Michigan had kicked a field goal instead of scoring the game-winning touchdown? I mean it was getting dark on that field. Realistically, they had maybe 15 more minutes of daylight left and UM, or TV, or whoever, decided not to bring in lights for the game. So what would have happened if the game had gone into overtime?

"Shhh, don't tell anyone we don't have lights!"

(One possible solution, they could have announced over the PA “The first 4,000 fans to get to Pioneer High School’s football field can watch the end of the game.” Or better yet, they could just bring lights to 3:30 games).

• I don’t dislike Notre Dame as much as most of you, but if you need another reason to hate the Irish, let me offer up the student Leprechaun dude who prances up and down the sidelines. Looking as if he’s just been peeled off a box of Lucky Charms, he reminds me of yippy, little dog – you know, one of those annoying ankle biters that’s always under your feet and never shuts up.

Stay away Lucky!

Eastern Michigan, September 19th

• It’s always a weird site to see more Eastern fans attend a game at UM than at their own stadium. My guess is they probably come to UM games rather than their own on most Saturday’s anyhow. It just so happens their team was playing at UM that particular day.

• I knew Andy Schmitt was done for the season (and so did he) long before they ever put him in an MRI tube. To see him go down untouched, dropping the ball and grabbing his knee, was not a good omen for Schmitt. To see him on the bench being consoled by the trainer was even worse.

Tough luck for Andy.

• Trust me when I say, while screaming at his players, EMU head coach Ron English uses words you’ll never find in an English dictionary.

• It was another warm day, but it got plenty cold when English and Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez “kind of” shook hands at midfield following the game – Brrrrr!!!

Rich Rodriguez and Ron English exchange pleasantries (sort of).

• Speaking of Rodriguez, I like the guy, he’s very media friendly (at least to this point) but Rich, can’t you wear a different colored wristband? That bright red one you wear just doesn’t jive too well among all the maize and blue. I know you use it for signaling from the sidelines, but couldn’t you take it off once the game ends? Every time I take a picture of you singing “Hail to the Victors” in front of the student section, it looks as if a Buckeye fan somehow snuck into the frame and thrust his fist in the air.

Change the wristband, please!

• One last thing, why do the fans who line the tunnel beg for players gloves, wristbands, bandages, etc., when they're walking through the tunnel back to the locker room. People, this is extremely gross. Think about the amount of body fluids (perspiration and otherwise) that have been absorbed by the garb you're begging to have tossed your way.

That’s it for the first three games. I won’t be on the sidelines for this Saturday’s Homecoming game against Indiana (which may be a good thing since it’s supposed to rain - nothing worse than a field full of rain-soaked cheerleaders who've been roaming the sidelines at every Homecoming since 1922). But I’ll be back in action for the first two road games of the season, MSU and Iowa, to happily give you my perspective from the road where the Wolverines are far from loved.