Luke Waltons Forehead presented by the Sports Dude.

Well, I guess I will start out with the sad, sorry event I witnessed at the Big House this past Saturday. If there is any positive that I can take from that embarrassing showing that the Wolverines displayed on Saturday afternoon is that it appears, at least for the moment, the defense finally remembered how to play defense again. Take away the first drive of the game, where Notre Dame virtually marched down the field untouched, and the U of M defense finally looked like a U of M defense. Beyond that, there really is nothing positive I can take from that horrible game I witnessed on Saturday. Henne looked more like it was his second game and not his fourteenth. Hart was truly missed; even though it appears Grady will be okay once he gets rid of his freshman butter fingers. The offensive line is a patch work posse at best, and that may end up being a huge factor for the remainder of the season. With Massaquoi out for an extended period, offensive lineman going down quicker than flies and an apparent “day to day” tag being thrown on Hart, there appears to be some fear in Ann Arbor these days and I for one am at least glad that we have our first “powder puff” game this week against EMU. We need it, we need to just find a rhythm and, most importantly, rest some regulars and come out healthy. Oh, and one last thing, for all you Notre Dame “slappies” out there who think Weis is the second coming of Touchdown Jesus, I just want to remind you of one simple truth if you please. I remember three years ago a certain new coach in South Bend by the name of Tyrone Willingham, are you familiar with his work? His first year on the job he beat U of M, went 10-3 and was also seen as the second coming, as the savior. Well, he followed up that campaign with what, a 5-7 and, better yet, didn’t even survive last year’s 6-7 debacle. So before you all get excited and think that Notre Dame Football is relevant again, come back down to earth and show me some consistency, then maybe I will give you the credit you deserve. U of M beat themselves with sloppy play and poor offensive decisions; it was more what they didn’t do then what you did, so get off your high horse and come back to earth.

Next, we will talk briefly on the Lions and their season opening victory over the Packers. I know what you are all expecting, but I am not going to rip on Joey Harrington, believe it or not. Look, I only saw the second half and what I saw was actually pretty okay, and that is all we need him to be. I will say this, however, if that damn offensive line doesn’t start blocking people soon, we may see Dan Orlovsky sooner than you think, and it won’t be because Mooch pulled Joey! That offensive line did about as piss poor a job protecting Joey as I would have, and I am about a buck sixty five wet! Seriously, what the hell was that crap guys! Everyone is pissing and moaning because he was going to Marcus Pollard short and in the flat all afternoon and not going down field, but damn, what do you expect? If I had a 275 pound defensive lineman barreling in on me, you better damn well believe I would just throw to the first dude I saw as well. I was impressed with Joey, I was pleased with Kevin Jones, I was happy Charles Rogers kept all his bones in one piece and it was funny as hell to see Mike Williams catch a TD and not know what to do with the ball in celebration. The defense seemed to be solid enough, even though Green Bay did stall a lot due to penalties, but even that and the Grandpa Favre factor really doesn’t matter to me, three points is still three points. Seriously, in years past the Lions would have lost that game, it was the M.O., to lose a game that the other team was all but giving to them. Furthermore, they did it against Brett Favre, who even though he is as gray as my grandpa, he still is Brett Favre! Look, there is a lot to still improve upon, both defensively and offensively, but a win is still a win and I will take eight or nine more of those ugly ones if it means some damn playoff football in the “D”, wouldn’t you?

Well, not to make excuses, but I will try and keep this site up as much as possible. The Sports Dude actually found a college that will let bums like me attend their fine institute, so I am going back to school this semester for the first time in five years. With a wife, kids, a full time job, plus college and homework now, there may not be as much time to blog as I wish. I will at least try and keep up the Monday Morning QB feature, as well as the Weekend Warrior feature, but that may be all I can do for awhile. Anyway, that is all I got, take care, Godspeed and I will talk to you all soon.

Later – the sports dude.