The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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FEBRUARY 2012 • Vol. 23, No. 7 ISSN 1048-9940 Editor John Borton Associate Editor Michael Spath The Wolverine.com Editor Chris Balas Football Recruiting Editor Tim Sullivan Staff Writer Andy Reid Managing Editor Chris Riffer Contributing Editor Steve Downey Contributing Writer Ryan Tice Editorial Intern Kevin Minor Layout And Design Cory Lavalette Jeanette Blankenship Contributing Photographers Eric Bronson/BronsonPhoto.com Lon Horwedel Per Kjeldsen Cover Photo Lon Horwedel Publisher Stu Coman Business Manager Linda Autry Circulation Manager Gail Evans Assistant Circulation Manager Jason Jones Marketing/Merchandise Manager Beverly Taylor Director Of Advertising Dave Searcy The Wolverine is published monthly. A one-year (12 issues) subscription is $49.95. The Wolverine is printed at The Papers in Milford, Ind. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Wolverine, P.O. Box 1304, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. Periodical postage paid at Durham, NC 27702 and additional offices. For advertising or subscription information, call 1-800-421-7751 or write The Wolverine, P.O. Box 1304, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. The Wolverine is a publication of Coman Publishing Company, Inc., 324 Blackwell St., Suite 560, Durham, NC 27701. E-Mail Address: thewolverine@comanpub.com Subscription questions: gevans@comanpub.com Web Site: www.thewolverine.com Be Heard! Send your letters to: Wolverine Letters • P.O. Box 1304 • Ann Arbor, MI 48106 Or e-mail: jborton@comcast.net Letters may be edited for clarity or length. FROM OUR READERS A PERFECT ENDING Dear The Wolverine: The 2012 Sugar Bowl game between Michigan and Virginia Tech was a classic. The game started with a bad snap from substitute center Rocko Khoury to Denard Robinson. It ended with a field goal from Brendan Gibbons. Between those two plays there was an amazing game with intense drama that was unbelievable. It set a new standard for me as an ugly win, but I hasten to add that I always take a win, ugly or not. There were so many kooky plays. Michigan forcing a 20-something- yard loss on a running play inside the 5-yard line on Virginia Tech's opening drive; a not-so-kooky Michigan stop of Virginia Tech inside the 5-yard line; the Michigan long snapper catching a deflected broken play; fake field goal pass; an overturned interception; an overturned touchdown in the end zone; a running-into-the-kicker penalty to keep a drive alive; a missed field goal by the fill-in kicker after making four field goals earlier; and two fantastic touchdown catches by Junior Hemingway on two fantastic throws by Denard Robinson. As they say "you cannot make this stuff up." Virginia Tech went for a first down on fourth-and-short inside the 5-yard line instead of a field goal try, went for a block on a punt resulting in a running-into-the-kicker penalty, sustaining a Michigan drive, and had an unsuccessful faked punt that resulted in good field position for Michigan. Those decisions by Frank Beamer certainly helped Michigan overcome the worst offensive statistics of the season. Credit Michigan for taking advantage of those plays. Brady Hoke stated at the beginning of his tutelage of the football program that the goal of the program is to win the Big Ten championship. Win that and everything else feeds off of it. Let me just add one more goal. Win the last game. Win the last game and feel the anticipation of the coming season. It changes the perspective of the coming year. If you are a college football fan, it lessens the doldrums of the winter. It feeds the anticipation of the signing day for recruits in February. It whets the appetite for spring practice. It sells football tickets in the fall. It was a great Michigan football season with an 11-2 record. Whatever the next season brings, I know one of the goals is to win the last game. It is good to seek perfection, but it is sure satisfying to win that last game. Congratulations to team 132 and the coaching staff! J. Richard Jaconette Battle Creek, Mich. It's the warmest winter in Michigan in a long time, Dr. Jaconette. Maybe there's a connection. Winning the Sugar Bowl not only put a great finish on the 2011 campaign, but also served as a wonderful lead-in to the 2012 season. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL THANKFUL FOR PROGRESS Dear The Wolverine: In the past few months I have heard a number of sports analysts discuss the hiring of new college football coaches and speculating whether or not the new coach would be given, "the Rich Rodriguez treatment" (meaning the new coach would be opposed by the old guard and not given a fair shake at succeeding in the new program). This point of view is blatantly unfair to the University of Michigan in general and to the alumni, fans and athletic department specifically. For more than 100 years, our school has welcomed so-called "outsiders" to the football program. Yost, Crisler and Schembechler had no affiliation with the University prior to becoming head coaches and they are venerated to the point that they have buildings named after them. These three coaches accom-