Luke Waltons Forehead presented by the Sports Dude.

Well, it was not a good weekend all around for Michigan sport teams, the Wolverines, Spartans (both basketball and football), Pistons, Red Wings and Lions all lost and lost pretty darn well if you ask me. However, we will not reminisce too much on the sad state of affairs here and will instead try and assess the future in a positive way here at the old Monday Morning QB.

First I would like to say that, although it was gut wrenching to see the Wolverines lose that game essentially in the final six minutes, I will say I am still damn proud of that team as a whole. I guess I am not too upset because really if you look at that game it was a perfect microcosm for there entire season – just a little but short. You heard all the players echo the same sentiment that they just never seemed to finish out games and that was the case in every single one of the losses this year. Another thing that happened in that game was the injury bug that seemed to plague them all season came back one last time again this Saturday afternoon, again a perfect parallel to their season. All season long it seemed there was a new offensive line every week and against OSU I think they used every available offensive lineman they had. Hart was out again, the secondary was hit again (Leon Hall broke his leg), it was almost as if all the things, the injuries, the inability to close teams out, caught up to them in a fitting fashion in their last regular season game. Like I said it was a perfect ending to anything but a perfect season, which will end somewhere in a late December bowl most likely. The only positive I will take from this season is that all the injuries allowed the Wolverines to play a lot of underclassman who will now return next year seasoned and not wet behind the ears. Besides that all I can do now is think back on this season as probably one of my favorites of all times and how really masterful of a job Lloyd did as coach to keep this group together. “What the hell are you talking about sports dude, are you smoking something over there?” Let me put it to you this way, at the start of the OSU game that was the first time since the opening game against Northern Illinois that the Wolverines had their projected starters out there, together, as a unit. That was the healthiest the Wolverines had been all season essentially and even though it didn’t last long there never was any consistency anywhere throughout the season. The Wolverines were a dejected bunch at 3-3 a few weeks back with tough games against Penn State, at Iowa, at Northwestern and OSU still looming, how many people then would have been happy with 7-4? I know I was one of them that thought 6-5 at that time looked great! So yes, even though it is tough to swallow another loss to the sweater vest I will stay I still believe Lloyd turned in another masterful job coaching and keeping these kids together and furthermore these kids impressed the hell out of me in never truly giving up.

The Spartans, on the other hand, are just that – a team that looks like it all but gave up on the season not just this last weekend but a few weeks ago. There are a lot of questions that remain to be answered in the future and the one that seems to be burning in most people’s minds is do they fire John L. or not? Now obviously I am not one too put my two cents worth in there too much because I am a Wolverine supporter and do not follow the Spartans as closely as a true fan does, but I would say it is worth giving him another shot. Something tells me that if Smith gets the axe here soon within the next couple weeks Stanton will just say screw it, forgo his senior season and take a shot at the NFL. For me that would be enough of a reason to keep John L. on board for one more year because without Stanton next year guys, unless I am missing something here, there really is not too much to get excited about on that team. He makes everything go in East Lansing and if he goes so does your football team.

Lastly I would just like to thank the Lions because now that the college football season, for me, is over until bowls begin, it also means that football is officially done for me for awhile. Why should I suffer and watch such garbage on Sundays when I have better things to do, like beating my head against a wall! We can now all start our “mock draft” discussions as to which wide receiver the Lions should take next year (hey, 3 for 3 so you may as well go 4 for 4!) and whom the next coach will be as well. I for one am a Millen supporter, believe it or not, but that dude has some serious house cleaning to do this off season and the majority of it is on the offensive side of the ball – that is after shit canning the entire coaching staff! The offensive line needs a center that actually has skill, Backus either needs to show up (I will say this though, at least he plays with pain Roy!) or get the hell out, Charles Rogers needs to get on the Puff The Magic Dragon Train and head out of town, and Joey needs to go somewhere where he can get a chance and a fresh start. Did I miss anything? I mean, I know there is a lot, so please excuse me if I forgot some of the other things that are wrong; I am a little short on time.

Well, that is all I got for now, it is a sad Monday but at least there are still the Pistons to watch. Yeah, I know they got spanked by Dallas, but hey, I will take an 8-1 start to the season anytime! Those Western Swings were never friendly to the Pistons in the past, but they beat some decent teams out west, that says a lot to me. Later – the sports dude.

PS - new link added to the side bar! Yet another sports blogger come out of the wood work and kindly introduces themselves to the old sports dude. Even better than that the cat actually enjoys coming here! That's right folks, the old sports dude has found another supporter here in "SPORTS LITTER" and in a friendly link exchange has done a little of the "you show me your link and I will show you mine!" Welcome to the party pal and thanks for the linkage.