Okay, I believe the word is OVERKILL. Everywhere you look it's someone praising or bashing Whitlock's take on Sean Taylor.  So for a little something different:

Shhhhhhhhh.  You have to be able to keep a secret now.  I find myself rooting for the evil ones.  Belicheck and his group of bullies.  Why would I do this?

1. I have Tom Brady on my fantasy football team as well as the Patriots defense and special teams.  Times are good.  VERY GOOD.  I found myself rooting for not just Brady and the D/ST, but for the Patriots team.

2.  I root for all the guys who went to Michigan to have success.  Never in anyone's wildest dreams did they have Tom Brady having this much success in the NFL, but it's fun to watch Brady just prove people wrong time after time.

3. I find myself rooting for success lately.  Don't know what it is, but I'm not rooting against teams I would normally despise.  Maybe it's an appreciation that Tom Brady could throw 50 touchdowns this season.  It's admiring the fact the Patriots could go 19-0.

I was on the "Belicheat" bandwagon like everyone else earlier this year.  Then I asked myslef, " Why are you watching the Patriots play if you're not enjoying the game?"  It is just a game, someone wins, someone loses. It's not the end of the world if the Pats shred the NFL apart, it's actually a little fun knowing they can kick #### and take names. Who wouldn't want their team to be able to do that? It takes a lot of misguided energy to ridicule the success of a football team.  And a lot of jealousy also.

Which brings me to another point- Why can't anyone appreciate greatness?  Why is it we all have to bash the coach, rip on the owner, or wish injuries on players?  What have they ever done to us?  IT'S JUST A GAME!!!!!!!!! 

So if the Pats beat  my boy Peyton and the Colts in the playoffs, there will be no rooting against them.  I want to see history.  I want to see the Pats run the table.  I want to see Brady and Belicheck win their 4th Super Bowl ring, further cementing their legacies.  Sure, there will be numerous posts praising the Patriots, but as they say, "To the victors go the spoils".

What a rollercoaster week it's been for Miyagi's #1 fan. Let's see, Saturday U of M becomes the butt of jokes for eternity.  Rough times.  Monday, I get a speeding ticket.  I guess going 75 in a 60 wasn't my brightest moment.  And then Tuesday I find out one of my coworkers has a rare form of cancer.  Her daughter died 2 years ago from cancer, my week had to turn around quickly.

So yesterday, something good came along.  I was awarded free tickets to a football game along with passes to a pregame food tent.  Free food tent also provides FREE BEER.  I don't think I'll have any trouble downing a few brews, I'm pretty confident.

The game is between the Indiana Hoosiers and the Western Michigan University Broncos.  This will be the first time a Big Ten team comes into Waldo Stadium.  Indiana has a dynamic duo in wide reciever James Hardy and quarterback Kellen Lewis.  Western is no slouch though, they are the favorites to win the MAC West.  The game is on ESPNU at 8:00 p.m. for anyone who wants to catch a glimpse.  Go Broncos, sorry edclinch. 

In more football talk..........how about some Detroit Lions action!  My buddies and I were debating what kind of year they would have.  My one buddy says, " What if McCown hit Williams for the game-winning touchdown?"  You see, on draftday, the Lions traded quarterback Josh McCown and wide reciever Mike Williams to the Raiders.  The Lions visit Oakland Sunday.  Why do I have this feeling?  Somebody tell me this won't happen.  Just when you thought Lions fans had been thru it all.........wow.

Last thing, don't forget to watch the world champion Indianapolis Colts tonight show off the championship banner from Super Bowl XLI.  Go Colts, Lions and Broncos!

• Michigan Stadium, aka THE BIG HOUSE sits 107,501 people, largest seating capacity in college football.
• Best winning percentage in Divsion 1 history.
• Most wins in Division 1 history.
• Most Big Ten titles in league history.
• The rivalry against Ohio State. Having the lead in the series against Ohio State 60-37-6. DESTROYING the Buckeyes national championship hopes countless times. Remember Ohio, Michigan is always looking down on you.
• The winged helmets.
• 32 consecutive bowl appearances, longest active streak going.
• Maize and blue.
• We tried having an actual wolverine on the sidelines back in the day......results were not favorable.
• One of the Most recognizable fight songs anywhere- Hail to the Victors.
• The rivalry against Notre Dame, pretty cool that the two schools with the most wins and best winning percentage EVER will now play annually until 2031.
• The rivalry against Michigan State.  Because everyone needs a little brother to pick on, right Sparty?
• Bo Schembechler
• Tom Brady
• Charles Woodson
• Gerald Ford
• Elvis Grbac
• Tim Biakabatuka
• Braylon Edwards
• A-Train Anthony Thomas
• Anthony Carter
• Desmond Howard
• And for this year, Chad Henne, "Super" Mario Manningham, Mike Hart, Jake Long, Terrance Taylor, Shawn Crable, etc, etc.
• I could continue for literally days, but I think you get the point.

We all have our favorites schools to root for based on various reasons.  There is no other school ANYWHERE I would rather root for.

Now I know there are those of you who will bring up the following.......You will give us a hard time for losing to USC and Ohio State.  ( Because you know losing to the #1 team at the time Ohio State and this year's preseason #1 USC is somehow  "pathetic" as one blogger stated the other day.  ####.) You will call Lloyd Carr overrated for having a 113-36 record in twelve years, while winning or sharing 5 Big ten titles and one national championship.  ( Think the folks in East Lansing would have traded those 12 years for theirs in a heartbeat? )  Say we don't play to our potential.  Say whatever you want.  We can't really hear you as Hail to the Victors is being played as well as GO BLUE is being shouted non-stop.  It's a beautiful thing.

Go Blue!

Having not too much energy, ( I played WAY to much Madden 2008 yesterday) and Marty Walker telling me I need to bust out more posts, I felt a different kind of post was in order today.

So, what we're going to do here is list our favorite bolggers who seem to be M.I.A.  I was away from this site for 2 months, when Steeler made a comment on my last post telling me the boys from Chicago would come get me if I did not return. Having no knowledge of that, somehow I was back less than 1 week later.  Coincidence?  I don't think so.

Some of us go on hiatus, some get too busy, some are just on here for one sport.  As football is right around the corner, I know many old faces will be back around.  This is not to say I don't enjoy newbies, we were all newbies at one time or another.  I just happened to be going thru my favorites list and wondered where some of the old faces went.

This is a list of MY favorite M.I.A. bloggers who I enjoyed reading.  I encourage everyone to take a look thru your favorite blogs list and comment on a M.I.A. blogger who you miss seeing around.  Maybe make a comment on their last post or come up with your own Blogger M.I.A. list.

My list:

Half Baked: The name alone is legendary.  Pats fan who I communicated with often during last season's playoffs.  O Blogger, Where Art Thou?

Papipoul: Designated me as the Colts connoiseur after I predicted a Colts victory over the Chiefs.  Found out his son is a great b-ball player who attends Dematha high school, which has produced many NBA players.  O Blogger, Where Art Thou?

Bengals9:  Three words:  Add a Caption.  Some great pictures he always found and the daily contests became quite competitive.  O Blogger, Where Art Thou?

The Former 88 Fan:  He often would be on this site late at night talking NFL playoffs.  He's also a huge fan of the University of Kentucky.  O Blogger, Where Art Thou?

Verbal Intercourse:  Again, the name alone is legendary.  He was a force in Rev's blogger tournament last March.  I noticed he is in college, maybe he will be back soon.  O Blogger, Where Art Thou?

As with any favorites list, someone always gets left out.  Not my intention, I wanted to keep this short and sweet so everyone could list a blogger that you haven't seen around lately.  As I said earlier, football will probably bring some old faces back as well college classes starting back up.

So just take a look at your favorite lists, or mine, and give a shout out to a M.I.A. blogger.   As Steeler showed, you never know who might come back around.

Don't cheat.  Don't Google it.  I'm expecting very few people to know where Waldo Stadium is located.  Bonus points to all who truly know.

As you know, I am a fan of the University of Michigan.  It dawned on me though that I've never posted on the university that is right down the road, less than 3 minutes away.  Kalamazoo, Michigan is the home of the Western Michigan University Broncos.

As a member of the CCHA in hockey, Western is in the same conference as Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Notre Dame among others.  Still one of the best sporting events I was ever at was when Western hosted Michigan and beat them back when Marty Turco was the Wolverines goalie.  Michigan ended up winning the national title that year.

Football is where Western gets most recognition.  Driving by Waldo Stadium yesterday, I see the first home game is hosting Indiana.  Indiana was improved last year, but the Broncos are picked to win the MAC West this year.  I figure $20 was reasonable for a ticket, I'll go check that game out. 

The season opener for Western is at West Virginia, yikes.  I figure if they stay in the game thru 3 quarters, the Broncos have nothing to be ashamed of.  Other notable games on the Broncos schedule are at Missouri, at Iowa and the biggest game of the year, hosting Central Michigan.  Western-Central has just as much animosity on this side of the state as Michigan-Ohio State has on the other side of the state.  I'm not even kidding.

Over the years, Western football has produced Jason Babin of the Texans, Tony Scheffler of the Broncos and Greg Jennings of the Packers.  ( Pick Jennings in fantasy football, he's worth it ).  Western also saw the likes of Tim #### ( or Tim Allen as you may know him by), Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski and many more prominent people.  While not attending Western, Lions running back T.J. Duckett was a FORCE in high school running the option every play for Kalamazoo's Loy Norrix high school.  Kalamazoo is probably best known as the city where Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter grew up, playing his baseball at Kalamazoo Central.  Things turned out pretty nicely for him.

Alright, just a little history on the Broncos and the Kalamazoo area.  Let me know if you've ever been in the 'zoo or if you're coming on thru.  Go  Broncos!

So I heard the other day that Lions quarterback Jon Kitna stated he believed the Lions would win 10 PLUS games this year.  He did not specify, but rumors are he was talking about the DETROIT LIONS.  Very sad.  The same Lions team that won 3 games last year.  The same Lions team that, quite frankly- ARE THE DETROIT LIONS!

Kitna is not the only member of the Lions to make such bold, if not head-scratching statements.  Wide reciever Roy Williams proclaimed last year during the season the Lions would average 40 points a game.  He was wrong, almost to a hysterical point.

Now neither Kitna or Williams are scrubs.  Kitna threw for over 4,000 yards last year and Williams is quickly becoming a big-time #1  reciever.   Both guys have skills, but why do you say such things when you went 3-13 last year?  The Lions will have to have everything go right to win ten games.   And Kitna thinks they will win 10 PLUS! 

It's nice to see both guys are confident in their team.   Maybe the Lions will be a repeat of the Rams under a Mike Martz offense.  Maybe they will come out of nowhere and shock the world. 

Being a Lions fan, I'll consider an 8-8 record outstanding for these guys.  THERE IS NO WAY THEY WIN 10 PLUS GAMES.  Sorry, not going to happen.  Have you not seen the defense?  Yikes.  They lost Dre Bly and the remaining defense leaves a lot to be desired.

I'm always optimistic when it comes to the Lions, but when guys like Kitna and Williams just spew stuff from their mouth like this, it makes us an even bigger joke.  One that isn't funny and is getting real old.  You would think these guys are sick of being the butt of jokes, but then they make it so easy when they say stuff like this.

P.S.  Anyone else catch the "Fire Millen" sign at a Colorado Rockies game the other day?  You know it's bad when fans 2,000 miles and watching a different sport  feel bad for your team. 

Hopefully you already realized this, but it's never too late to appreciate greatness.

I could be getting a little ahead of myself, but the Detroit Tigers are good.  No, I mean real good.  Even better than last year.  Some buddies and I are taking the 3 hour trip east on I-94  this weekend to catch a couple games.  Hopefully we don't bring the Tigers bad luck.

The Tigers just finished an 8-1 "road"  trip.  ( I put road in quotation marks because you could see, and definitely hear a huge amount of Tigers fans in the cities of Philadelphia, Washington and Atlanta. Not exactly in our neck of the woods either. ) Our starting  rotation is just plain nasty.  You've got the young studs Verlander and Bonderman.  And phenom Andrew Miller is fitting in quite nicely.  Rounding out the rotation are Kenny Rogers and when he gets back from the DL, Nate Robertson.  The starting pitching is so deep the Tigers traded lefty Mike Maroth to St.  Louis because they had too many starters.  Nice problem to have, huh?

The area of concern is the bullpen right now.  As much as everyone loves to rip Todd Jones, he still gets the job done the majority of the time.  Joel Zumaya is probably out for the year, but if he comes back for the stretch run, the Tigers would be set up quite nicely.  Chad Durbin can fill in for injured starters or give you quality innings from the bullpen.  Jason Grilli, Bobby Seay, Fernando "I really need to start putting my hat on straight" Rodney, are some of the key set-up men to get to Jones.  The bullpen has been weaker then last year, but last year they remained quite healthy.  Maybe all the injuries will payoff when the Tigers can know any of those pitchers can take the mound knowing they now have the experience and confidence to come in to the game and shut down the opposition.  Even if they give up a lead, guess who is there to back them up........

The offense.  Magglio Ordonez is batting .381 with 68 rbi's.  Curtis Granderson has MUCH better patience at the plate and has 13 triples already.  Placido Polanco will bunt or get a key base hit.  Brandon Inge broke his toe and is now playing BETTER.  Gary Sheffield is still, well, Gary Sheffield.   And then to fill out the lineup, you have Carlos Guillen, Ivan Rodriguez, Craig Monroe and Sean Casey.  Two words:  Run support.

These 2 tidbits I caught watching ESPN's coverage of the Tigers and Braves last night. Washington Nationals 3B Ryan Zimmerman was asked the other day if the Tigers were the best team the Nationals have played this year.  Zimmerman's response was "  It's not even close."  Atlanta GM John Schuerholz was asked the same question and said he agreed with Zimmerman.

Granted, it's late June.  The Indians and Tigers are going to battle for the divsion title all the way until the regular season ends.  The loser probably still gets in via the wild-card. Injuries are always a possiblity.  The Tigers are not going to stay this hot.

But come playoff time, if you had to choose, it has to be the Tigers!

Are you 100% confident in an NL team?  Will the Indians finally live up to their potential?  Will the Angels/Red Sox/Yankees pitching and offense match up with the Tigers in the postseason? 

I believe come October, the Tigers will prove they have some unfinished business to attend to. 

The roar has been restored and it's getting louder.  And the scary thing for other teams?  It's getting better.

Most of the time, I find June to be really boring in the world of sports.  For some reason it feels like there is a lot going on right now. Maybe it's because my teams and players are in the news at the moment.

First, my favorite NASCAR driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has made the move to Hendrick Motorsports.  I have mixed feelings about this move.  Junior definitely could not have picked a stronger team to race for.  Hendrick is dominating NASCAR at the moment.  I do question 2 things though.  Will Junior lose some fans now that he is a teammate of Jeff Gordon?  The old school Dale Earnhardt fans can't stand pretty boy Jeffy and I'm intrigued if some fans will end their Earnhardt allegiance due to their own ignorance.  The other question I have is this.  Wasn't part of the reason Junior didn't want to go back to Richard Childress racing was because he didn't want to be compared even more to his dad?  Well now, Junior will be measured against his 2 teammates, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon.  Sorry to say Junior fans, he isn't in their league.  Maybe over time he will measure up, but right now, he has a long way to go to be compared at all to those drivers.

Next we have the no-hitter thrown by Tigers stud Justin Verlander.  At first, I was flipping channels, but by the sixth inning, you had the feeling Verlander had the stuff to actually do this!  His pitches were just plain nasty, and he made the Brewers look ridiculous on some of their swings.  And how about the double-play turned in the eigth inning by Neifi Perez?  That was just incredible.  The announced attendance was over 33,000 plus, but you know everyone will say they were at that game.  Those who actually were in attendance got a glimpse at how special Verlander could be in the future.

Continuing the baseball theme, Barry Bonds!  Now I am in the minority here when I say I root for Barry Bonds.  I am someone who recognizes that hitting a baseball over the fence that many times takes talent, hand-eye coordination, patience and other things Barry's critics can't even admit Barry possesses.  I understand the frustration at Barry being a jerk and his alleged steroid use.  But please people, quit ####ing!  For just one second, admit the guy has an incredible amount of talent.  If you can do that, people might listen to your complaints with more open ears.  ( Or, are you as stubborn as Barry and can't even admit Barry is an incredible talent?  Looks like you're just as stubborn as Barry is, nicely done!)

I have stopped myself about ten times from buying any pre-season college football or NFL magazines.  If I look at schedules, predictions and "professional insight" before August, I'll need to watch a game within days.  I can't read any predictions now and still have over 2 months until an actual game is played.  Patience is a vitrue I am told.

Oh yeah, who are the reigning Super Bowl champs again?  Just refreshing your memory. GO COLTS!!! ( cough.....and lions)

In Pistons news,  Rasheed and Chauncey are supposed to remain in the Pistons plans for next year.  I'm not so sure I believe that Sheed won't get traded or Chauncey won't bolt ( ala Big Ben).  And what about the crazy rumor that if Flip Saunders fails to lead the Pistons deep ( NBA Finals) in the playoffs next year he might get canned and his replacement would be..............wait for it.............this is pretty entertaining.............Isiah  Thomas!  Could Zeke really work for Joe Dumars?  Why not hire Laimbeer?  He's won multiple titles as a coach.    That rumor mill keeps things interesting for sure.

One more thing, are you watching the NBA Finals?  I believe anyone that has the courage to watch the Spurs vs. Cavs should be nominated for sainthood.  It's really that bad.  Also David Stern should give you at least 4 free tickets to any future NBA game of your choice.  He owes you for this!  You are a true NBA fan if you are watching the Spurs versus Cavs.  Kind of reminds me of Spurs versus Nets in 2003.  Congrats Spurs, your dynasty is one win from being official.