More Than

I was going to just add another team preview; but realized that's just not what we're about...I don't care about IU, Purdue, and Wisconsin until they're on the schedule for Saturday...So we'll preview them when we get to them. I was also thinking about the same thing as Coach...then got on the blackberry and found he beat me too it...but the hell with it. Playing on Youtube for Michigan stuff, listening to UFER, and buying my new "All in For Michigan" Shirt has me jacked up. I threw in a lot of links to some of the best Michigan content on the Tube so make sure you get a look to get your fix. If you didn't click the Ufer tag go back and do it...if Dan Patrick ran a "Greatest Homer Call of All-Time" this would've won.

Unlike the Women's NCAA Basketball Tournament, college football is more than just One Shining Moment. It's a long drawn out series of events that will lead us back to the same spot next year, waiting for more. And for 130 years they've been doing it in Ann Arbor. They say Michigan Football is a relic...and it is, it should be sought after by all who love our game. We've been through a shitty nights sleep but a new day is dawning on Michigan Football, changes are all around and the old stadium millions fell in love with is a different girl these days. One thing will never change: A college football saturday at the Big House is unparralleled, I remember my first trip, a homecoming loss to Wisconsin, as a 9 year old and still get the same goosebumps every week.

Until dad finally decides to win the MegaMillions and park at Crisler there's always the first moment you see the scoreboard on the walk up to the game. That moment when you get your first glimpse of the Big House. I can still remember looking for it, "Where the hell is this place?" then I saw the back of the old scoreboards (the first electronic scoreboards in the country). "No Jumbo-tron?" I remember thinking. Just reading "Michigan" on the back let me know it was really happening. And if I could've told myself to cherish that first moment any more I would. Nothing was more simple than that first season I started to recognize what Michigan Football is to me. After the renovation you'll see the stadium from all directions, and that moment of just seeing those big scoreboards will be a distant memory of simpler days.

Walking in you see the expanse that is the 3rd largest city in Michigan on a football Saturday Rudy's Dad said it best "This is the most beautiful site these eyes have ever seen." Then from the Press Box like the voice of God comes "Band take the field!" and out of the Eastern tunnel pours The Real Best Damn Band In The Land. But one moment you can never prepare yourself for comes after the band, and before the game. When you see those helmets moving around by the tunnel. I remember standing on the bleacher asking my Uncle, "Where do they come out?" as they were raising the banner. He pointed, "There." and that was it. As the Wolverines run out and touch the MCLUB banner the rush of emotion is incredible. Tears well up in your eyes and you don't care...its time.

Its time for the moments that matter. The moments 18-23 year old boys will base the rest of their lives on. Deuce is correct. We're jealous. And every moment that that young man is not honored to wear the uniform is a moment wasted. John Navarre nearly did tear the Kardos household down, Andy and I still disagree on the summary of Braylon Edwards career. The Cleveland Brown fans around here are now getting a tast of that mess....But thats what its all about. Its about these young men making the moments that we remember them by. I remember Tyrone Wheatley streaking down the left side of the field for a go ahead score in that first game. He got caught. And Fumbled. And the Badgers Recovered. And we lost. That's it, that's what mattered about that gray BigTen day. I hate those memories and some players are just destined to make them for us. We can only hope that we have more Charles Woodson interceptions and Mario Catches than we have Tyler Ecker not pizzying the bizzy for a skizzy or Stewart to Westbrook.

But all of them are the moments we wait 8 months for. I know I'll barely sleep two nights this year, Sept. 4 and Nov. 20, because i'll lie there thinking about all these moments or on YouTube reliving them. These moments are coming and I can't wait. I'll let it go with this speech. Its always a good arguing point at the Kardos household. But it rings true today and every season after. We root for THE TEAM, THE TEAM, THE TEAM, but its the moments by individuals that will make THE TEAM.