Michigan - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Well, I figured it's time for a "year in review" post focused on the state of Michigan. Needless to say, it has not been a great year for the state (full disclosure: I used to live in Michigan, but now live in Texas). Let's have a look a the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The Good

College Football
The Wolverines obviously didn't have a good year, but three teams from the state got bowl invitations this year. WMU and CMU have already lost their bowl games, and MSU plays tomorrow. CMU, behind Rich Rodriguez protege Butch Jones, continues to have success in the MAC with Dan Lefevour at QB. In Kalamazoo, WMU coach Bill Cubit just signed a new 5-year extension after taking the Broncos to their second bowl game in four years. The Spartans continue their resurgence behind former Buckeye assistant Mark Dantonio, and will try to knock off the preseason number 1 team in the country, Georgia.

Medical Marijuana
In November, voters in Michigan approved a medical marijuana ballot measure. This is wonderful progress against the stigma of using whatever means necessary to help people with chronic illness and chronic pain deal with their maladies. It has proven medical value to relieve pain, nausea, and other symptoms caused by cancer, MS, AIDS and other diseases (or the drugs used to treat those diseases). If morphine and codeine, essentially medicinal forms of heroin, can be used to help alleviate pain and suffering, why not cannabis as well? As Peter Tosh says, "Legalize it, don't criticize it."

Calvin Johnson
Lions wide receiver Johnson was the only good thing in an otherwise dismal season. If he were playing on a team that had any semblance of an offense, he would have had well over 100 catches.

Red Wings
Oh yeah, the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup.

The Bad

Kwame Kilpatrick
The Mayor of Detroit finally bowed to pressure and resigned from office in September after years of scandal in his administration. Just look at that wikipedia page. There are eleven items under "controversies" and the majority of the article is related to them. I guess Kwame could fall under "good" since he's no longer the mayor, but his whole administration was in constant turmoil, so I'm filing it under "bad."

Michigan Football
After going to a bowl game for 33 consecutive years, Michigan slumped to a 3-9 record this year despite hiring a new coaching staff headed by Rich Rodriguez. The team was plagued by many problems, including the adjustment to the aforementioned new coaching staff, the installation of new offensive and defensive systems, the loss of ten of eleven starters on offense (including the top pick in the NFL draft and two other four year starters), way too many turnovers, and incompetent play at several positions - QB, Safety, Linebacker, O-Line. At this point, Michigan fans are divided in their feelings about the new administration. I am optimistic about the future of the program, as Coach Rodriguez has continued to recruit very good talent, and he is a proven winner in a BCS conference. But make no mistake about it - this was a very bad season. But at least the hoops team is ranked now.

The Ugly

The Detroit Lions
The Lions became the first team in NFL history to lose 16 games in a season. They were monumentally bad. They lost by an average score of 32-17. They lost only three of their games by less than a touchdown. Five different QBs took snaps during the season (Drew Henson had the distinction of being sacked more often than he threw a pass - three sacks, two pass attempts). They finished 30th in offense, and 32nd in defense. The defense intercepted four passes for the entire season. I could go on (and on and on...), but I think I'll just take a knee and head to the locker room. NOTE: The Lions were 4-0 in the preseason though.

The Detroit Tigers
Despite spending lavishly in the offseason, acquiring Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis, the Tigers sunk to last place in the AL Central - behind even the lowly Royals. They traded Pudge Rodriguez to the Yankees. Joel Zumaya got hurt again. Curtis Granderson was out for the first couple weeks of the year. They started 0-7 and never recovered.

The Economy
The unemployment rate in the state of Michigan in November was 9.6% - which is a 0.3% increase over the previous month, and a 2.2% increase over the previous year. The auto industry is begging Washington for a bailout. The big three are cutting production across the board. Chrysler is shutting down production at all of its North American plants for an entire month. The slowdown has affected all tiers of the supply chain as well. And that trickles down to all the people who provide goods and services to those people. Also, due to the mortgage crisis, Michigan is near the top in foreclosure rates. Like the section above about the Lions, I could probably go on, but I'll just take a knee again.

Keep your chin up, Michigan - 2009 has to be better, right?

The Day The Grey Lot Died

A long, long time ago...

I can still remember

How that Grey Lot used to make me smile

For the past 26 straight years, I have been a proud Michigan Football season ticket holder. The first four years I was an undergrad and was allowed a single student section ticket. Every "Football Saturday" in Ann Arbor was a chance to be part of the wonderful tradition that for me included a chance to bring a few of my new found college friends down to the "Grey Lot" and tailgate with my parents (both alums of UofM) and a group of my parent's friends from college who still gathered religiously to support the Maize & Blue. As an undergrad the tailgate spread of nearly unlimited food, beer, and bloody mary's all proudly laid out for us to share was a dream come true on those sleepy, slightly hung over Saturdays in the fall. I marveled at the fact that my parents and their friends from college had stayed so close for all these years. The consistency and dependability of their tailgate party was comforting and everyone looked forward to seeing each other at the next game. The "Grey Lot" was their pre-determined meeting point every football Saturday and it was an ingrained part of their Michigan Football tradition and experience.

And I knew if I had the chance

That I would see those people dance

And, maybe, they'd be happy for a while

When I graduated I applied for and happily received (2) season tickets in the end zone and (1) Grey Lot parking pass. Two other fraternity brothers of mine who graduated with me and had tailgated with my Mom & Dad also were granted Grey Lot passes for the 1986 season and the tradition was officially passed on. The Grey Lot became the designated tailgate spot where Delt alumni and current undergrad brothers would gather. Soon our group had grown to include more graduated fraternity brothers, ten Grey Lot parking passes, and the official Delt Party Hut to mark the spot where we would raise the flag every football Saturday for the past two decades. Delt brothers coming in for a game at The Big House knew the Grey Lot would be the place to go to find everyone before or after the game. It has been common to see 30 to 50 people turn up for our Grey Lot tailgates, all connected through Delta Tau Delta Fraternaty, the Grey Lot, and the University of Michigan.

But December made me shiver

With the news U of M would deliver

Bad news on the doorstep

I couldn't take one more step

My "Preferred Seating Location" invoice came in the mail yesterday along with my Victors Club packet, all glossy and glowing with details of the "Michigan Stadium Expansion Project", the "Preferred Seating Donation Program", and the dreaded "Priority Point Rankings." Bill Martin, the Director of Athletics at U of M, penned some wonderfully sugar coated phases meant to make me feel warm and fuzzy about everything that was about to be explained in this packet. Here are some of my favorites:

• "Because of donors, alumni, and fans like you, our self-supporting department has the resources to field 25 varsity sport teams with more than 750 student-athelites."


• "Your contributions help secure this Michigan tradition.."


• "The Priority Point Program is a comprehensive measure of your support & association with the University Athletic Department. Further, (oh no, here it comes) it is a means of allocating (that's never a good word) tickets, parking, and other benefits in an equitable way. (No! No! Noooooooooooooooooo!)


• "To qualify to purchase a football season parking pass, a Victors Club member must hold football season tickets (check) and have contributed an annual gift of at least $1,500." (check)


• "Beginning with the 2008 season, parking permits will be assigned based upon the priority point program and populated in descending order starting with Blue, Green, Grey, Purple, Red and Brown." (Huh? This doesn't sound good)


• "We regret to inform you that your priority points no longer qualify you for a Grey Lot pass. " Thanks for playing. See Marty Bodnar on your way out for some nice parting gifts. Enjoy the Brown lot. Have a nice life.

I can't remember if I cried

When I read about my wounded pride

But something touched me deep inside

The day the Grey Lot died

So just like that after 26 years of building a tradition around Michigan football Saturdays my friends and I have been "prioritized" out of the Grey Lot. Our gathering spot that we have paid for every year for the past 22 years has been taken away because we no longer "qualify" based on our financial contribution ranking. I hope Bill Martin and company find this post and take a look at the photo of one of our recent "Bring your kids" games. Every one of those kids are potential UofM students who have been raised on fond memories of going to the games with their parents and meeting up with their tailgating friends in the Grey Lot. Just as my parents had passed that tradition on to me, I had hoped to pass it on to my children but instead I have been "measured, allocated, and prioritized." So sorry, no soup for you. Next!

So bye-bye miss american pie

Drove my chevy to the Grey Lot

But the Grey Lot was dry

And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye

Singin' "This'll be the day that I die."

"This'll be the day that I die."