Black Hand Productions

On Saturday I drove to Ann Arbor to meet up with Luke and catch the Michigan – Penn State game. The morning got off to a great start when I woke at 5:40 am head to the shower and head out only to find there was no hot water. Perfect. Luke and I met up with his friend from college Danielle and her boyfriend Tobias.. We grabbed a couple beers and then began our march to the Stadium. As you can see by the pictures below it was interesting to say the least.

Of course Michigan won the game. I’ve been to probably 7 Michigan games with the hope they would lose and I think it’s only happened twice. Considering their 0-2 record when I bought the tickets this game was a sure thing. Or so I believed. Michigan was able to run between the 20′s pretty effectively but the difference in the game was an early fumble by Penn State quarterback Anthony Morelli in the first quarter which lead to a touchdown. There were several shady calls (Instant Replay and Pass Interference) which only confirms my belief that playing at Michigan is nearly a certain defeat if it’s a close game.

Other than that it was a good time. Our seats were great, the weather was perfect and the assholes who sat behind us left at Halftime. After the game we headed out with Luke’s friends for a couple drinks where we had Strongbow on draft. With those drinks and the two pints of Magic Hat #9 I had during dinner made it a successful trip.

Thanks to Tobias for driving me taking me to two different liquor stores in search of a case of Magic Hat. The search was unsuccessful but at least an attempt was made.

Google Maps: Big Ten Stadiums:

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Since moving to Chicago my goal has been to see all of the Big Ten Stadiums. I’m nearly halfway.

Appalachian State’s upset of Michigan is The Game of the Century. By far there hasn’t been a bigger upset in the last 7 years (hence the Century term). Put strictly in historical terms:

Appalachian State has a winning record against the University of Michigan.

This is just another reason why College Football is the greatest sport ever. Meanwhile, ESPN is attempting to break into my football watching for the second consecutive night to show me a potential no hitter. Who cares. Wins & Loses. That’s all that matters. Ask formerly #5 Michigan.

Michigan Head Coach Lloyd Carr after the game:

“I’ve never been part of a loss that wasn’t miserable, and I don’t think I ever will be.”

You’ve also never beaten Appalachian State.

This past Saturday I went to Columbus for the Ohio State – Michigan game. After waiting in the ‘Cab Line’ (I didn’t know there was such a thing) I managed to share a ride with a USC grad and a couple from Chicago. The couple decided to fight the whole way to campus and really tried to talk the cab driver into stopping to drop off their luggage before taking them to their destination. I took the chance when we stopped for the luggage drop to get out of the car and proceed on foot. The USC girl followed as we walked about 2 miles to Lane Avenue.

The tailgate situation wasn’t bad but it was much colder than I had anticipated. I ended up watching the majority of the game at the Varsity Club where I ran in to Keith (see photo below) and hung out with Andy for a quarter or two.

On Sunday I caught the Steelers – Browns game at King Avenue Five with the usual suspects. As you can tell Nick Barbone was in no shape to see his Browns loose once again to the Steelers. At one point Nick clearly resembled a Hobo when he was ordering a water at the bar dressed in a borrowed coat.

Yesterday we went to Happy Valley to watch No. 4 Michigan take on Penn State in a night game.  Michigan shut down Penn State’s offense for the majority of the game holding then to minus 14 yards rushing.  Michigan managed to knock Penn State’s starting and backup quarterback out of the game.  At one point there was talk of drawing random seat numbers from the stadium with the winner playing quarterback for the lions for the remainder of the game.  The game had the second largest crowd in Beaver Stadium history with 110,007 in attendance.

Michigan ended up shutting down Penn State’s late drive lead by their 3rd string quarterback.  Michigan won 17-10 and is on a collison coarse with No. 1 Ohio State on November 18th in what I will call the ‘Game of the Century‘.

This past weekend I headed out to Notre Dame to hang out with a couple friends Friday night and then traveled north on Saturday to catch ESPN’s College Game Day at East Lansing, Michigan. Michigan State was attempting to stop Penn State from their first Big Ten Championship since 1994. We managed to hang around East Lansing to watch the Ohio State – Michigan game which was taking place about 2 hours away in Ann Arbor. OSU managed a fourth quarter comeback to give Jim Tressel a 4-1 lead in the series. One of the more amusing moments during the trip (besides the girl who decided to vomit in the middle of the Spartan Stadium concourse) was when the OSU – Michigan score was showed on the big screen (third row, fourth picture), nearly the entire crowded cheered, fans from both schools. Just a note of how hated Michigan actually is…

The MSU – PSU game was a really good game that was in doubt until the end of the fourth quarter. The game started off with several red zone attempts by Michigan State only to be snuffed out by turnovers. The Lion’s offense pretty much sputtered all game until late in the fourth. The first half of the game was mostly a battle of field position and the kicking game, including a blocked punt by both teams.

Thanks to Dominic & Kelly for letting us crash at their place in South Bend.
Also thanks again to Julie for the tickets to what turned out to be a great game.

Next up: Possibly Army – Navy Game?

*Note: Click on the images below to view larger images.

The Game will continue to be The Game, after an outcry from supporters at both universities the Administrations decided to ax the deal.

“As we attempted to move forward, it became apparent that this agreement could detract from the great tradition of the game itself,” Ohio State Athletic Directory Andy Geiger said. “Given that possibility, and the fast-approaching date of this year’s game, the two universities agreed it was in their best interest not to pursue the arrangement at this time.”

As usual, OSU Coach Jim Tressel managed to say absolutely nothing about the subject:

“There’s a lot of different ways you can look at any of the things we do, evolving from just going out in the yard and playing a pickup game to where we are today. I’m sure there’s a lot of things you could discuss as to ‘Is that the right direction?”

Today The Game has sold out. The Game will be no longer known as The Game, but instead it will be referred to as the SBC Michigan-Ohio State Classic. I thought the whole point of calling the annual year-end match up between state rivals The Game was because there was no other game to distinguish it from. We had no need to call it anything other than The Game. The Game speaks for itself… no more.