Twenty Year Olds In Funny Little Outfits Make Me Sad.

The Walking Wounded Return Defeated.

Who’s depressed right now? The Cowbell Commander sure is. The thing is – I just can’t logically accept why I am. Hear me out.

For the past day, I’ve been trying to find out a good reason why I’m feeling so empty inside. After all, I didn’t have a maize and blue uniform on Saturday afternoon. I didn’t play a single down. For all intents and purposes, the Oregon game will have no impact on my future whatsoever. All I did was watch a bunch of twenty-year-olds run around in funny outfits for three hours, and now I’m sad.

The more I’ve been thinking about it, the more absurd it seems to me. In yesterday’s simplest terms, the guys in the funny outfits I liked didn’t get an oval to their side of a grassy rectangle enough times to make me happy, and now my whole week is ruined. I’ll think about it every hour of every day this week, and obsessively hope that next Saturday, the oval gets moved to the right side of the rectangle enough times to make me feel good again.

I wonder why I care about the men in funny outfits matter to me so much. I can tell you all their names and corresponding numbers, but they don’t know who I am. I can tell you how many touchdowns they scored in the game last week, but they don’t know or care if I score a big deal at work or get a promotion to a better job. The fact that I can be so deeply affected by people I don’t know while they have no idea I exist is kind of strange.

What does that say about me? What does that say about us?

The Pain Hurts More When You Know It's Coming.

I'd like to say I can't believe it, but there have been enough lies this season. Our defense was supposed to be workable. Our offense was supposed to be dynamite. Hart and Henne were supposed to be here all year long. I don't know what to think right now.

The first down marker, Mr. Dixon? Right this way sir.

This is like waiting all spring for your senior prom and being stood up the night of the dance by your steady girlfriend. How could someone you love and trust break your heart like this?

Get your retirement speech ready. It was real, but you ya gotta go.

I'm really bummed and I'm taking the rest of the night off. I'll be back with more tomorrow. I'm going to go pet my puppies and see if it makes me feel any better. They're not kittens, but hopefully they will do the trick.

Buckin' and Buckin' Like We Was Duck Huntin'!

Let's hope he doesn't come back laughing at us with no Duck in his hand!

Tomorrow is a game which is going to mean a lot to the season. Either Michigan wins and starts to pick up steam, or they lose and become one of the biggest laughing stocks of 2007. I'm sure all the boys in blue are jacked for the game. They've been brewing and stewing for over a week now, probably looking forward to taking out their frustrations on some ugly green and yellow jerseys. I kinda feel sorry for the first Duck that gets tackled on Saturday. It will probably be vicious.

Lloyd Carr has a lot to answer for in this game. If he wins, he's the guy who allowed the biggest upset in college football history on his own turf. If he loses, he's an incompetent jackass who should be fired immediately and all mention of his name should be stricken from Michigan history. Talk about pressure. I'm pulling for you, Lloyd.

A man with a mission.

Lloyd Carr is not the only one with something to prove. Chad Henne has to go out there and show the world that he's a badass senior quarterback with a chip on his shoulder - not a bumbling scrambling disaster who's an easy target for aggressive defenses. Heisman hopes, a bowl bid, and a collegiate legacy all weigh heavily on Henne's shoulders on Saturday.

Do I have that "pregame dread" so many of my fellow bloggers are talking about these days? You betcha. But I'll never give up on them.