Quick weekend thoughts...

I think the Marlboro Man has finally seen the error of his ways. We haven't seen the black hole of suck that is Neifi Perez in the starting lineup for a few games now. I know that the Cigarette Smoking Man is telling the media that the evil curse that is Neifi has a bad wrist. I think he's just being polite, so to speak... Omar Infante has done more than enough with the bat to insure he's staying in the lineup till Placido Polanco and/or Carlos Guillen come back. Hell, I'd rather see Kevin "I look like I should be playing whiffle ball in my backyard" Hooper in the lineup. Anyone but the awful awful awful Neifi. Did I say he was awful? Good.

I'm still not all that nervous about the Tigers. I admit that I was as close to hitting the panic button as you could get, without actually doing so, last week. Thank you again, Craig Monroe, for bringing me to my senses. One thing has become obvious to the local and national MSM, the fans, and baseball at large. The Tiger pitching staff is just too good for the wheels to completely come off the track and derail their playoff chances.

Say it plays out as we think it will, and the Tigers do get to the playoffs. What then? Well, that's another thing altogether. As good as their pitching has been, you do have to score runs more than just occasionally. I'm withholding judgement on their playoff chances till we see how the remaining games play out offensively. There are many questions in regard to the Tiger offense that need answering in the next 3-4 weeks. Will Ordonez ever regain his power stroke? How healthy are Guillen and Polonco? Will Neifi Perez be allowed near the bat rack? Will we ever again see the timely Tiger hitting of April thru July, or continue with the impatient hacking we saw all of August? We'll find out soon enough...

On Saturday, the Wolverine defense we've been dying to see finally appeared. "Aggressive" was the first word that came to mind. "Thank Bo God Jim Herrmann is finally gone!" were the next 7.

As for the Michigan offense, I really liked the run blocking and Mike Hart. What about the passing game, you ask? I really liked the run blocking and Mike Hart... I can only hope that Lloyd and Mike DeBord are keeping the wraps on the offense till the Notre Dame game. If not, Michigan fans better hope that Mike Hart doesn't get hurt.

I could say more about the Vanderbilt game, but what's the point? First off, Vandy football is to the SEC as Indiana football is to the Big 10. A joke. Second, I just wanted to see a Michigan vicory, a fairly easily one. Mission accomplished. Plus, no one was hurt, which is paramount. That's all I wanted out of the home opener. I expect the same against EMU. The season won't truly start till the first road game, against the team and fanbase I most despise (This side of tOSU, anyway), Notre Dame. Considering Lloyd's track record in road game openers, I'm far from confident, no matter how good the Wolverines end up looking against Vandy and EMU. I need to see the "New and improved" Michigan offense and defense play as advertised against quality opponents. Only then we can get down to brass tacks and make some valid observations about the Michigan Woverines. Till then, it's just exhibiton season.

What about MSU? I didn't see much, but what I did was not all that impressive. If you are going to struggle that much against Idaho, can you really expect a 7 or 8 win season?

SI's Peter King has gone officially loco. He picks the Lions, of all teams, to go 10-6, and win the NFC North. Was he watching the same games we fans watched? Is this the early onset of Ahlzheimers? A joke? Insanity? Your guess is as good as mine... I honestly think the MSM is putting way too much faith in the trioka of Marinelli, Martz, and Henderson. I still see a team that has a severe lack of talent, and that's a problem coaching can't fix. That's a front office fix, and...Well, do we even need to discuss the Lions front office? Didn't think so...