BLUE
...the joy and despair of being a Wolverines fan.
November 4, 2007
CURIOUS LLOYD FEEDS A SPARTAN
I never liked Curious George. That made me a nasty little kid, I guess, but I never understood why he always got a free pass for cleaning up his own messes. Seemed to me like he needed a good, hard backhand from the Man in the Yellow Hat.
What is the predictable story of Curious Lloyd...uh, George? He creates a problem and then overcomes that problem. He turns the candy-making machine up to fast and then catches all the candies to save the day. He scatters all the students’ artwork but then finds the sad little girl's painting (which he had lost). He wastes gallons of ice cream at the new ice cream store, but then saves the day by bringing in customers with his antics.
He makes problems and then solves them.
Just as there are people that love Curious George, there are Michigan fans that don’t seem to mind when Lloyd Carr’s success comes from cleaning up his own mess, which is most of the time. The game against Michigan State, now an instant classic known as Curious Lloyd Feeds a Spartan, is a perfect example of that ever-cute and playful Coach Carr cleaning up his own mess and saving the day! Yet, to many Wolverine fans, the Curious Lloyd stories are no longer entertaining, but extended dental pain.
Here is the play selection on first down throughout the game:
First Quarter
1-10-MI29 (11:14) Mike Hart rushed for 8 yards.
1-10-MIST38 (9:00) Brandon Minor lost 4 yards.
1-10-MI28 (5:45) Chad Henne passed to Carson Butler for 20 yards.
1-10-MI48 (5:27) Mike Hart rushed for 3 yards.
1-10-MIST11 (4:35) Mike Hart rushed for no gain.
1-10-MI44 (1:31) Mike Hart lost 1 yard.
Second Quarter
1-10-MIST42 (14:40) Mike Hart rushed for 32 yards.
1-10-MIST10 (14:04) Mike Hart rushed for 5 yards.
1-10-MI6 (11:15) Mike Hart rushed for 2 yards.
1-10-MI8 (6:50) Mike Hart rushed for 1 yard.
1-10-MI20 (4:17) Mike Hart rushed for no gain.
1-10-MIST41 (1:57) Mike Hart rushed for 6 yards.
1-10-MI18 (0:16) Chad Henne lost 1 yard.
Third Quarter
1-10-MI31 (14:42) Brandon Minor rushed for no gain.
MICHIGAN STATE CLOSES TO 14-10
1-10-MI35 (6:17) Chad Henne passed incomplete to Mario Manningham.
1-10-MI1 (2:43) Mike Hart rushed for 1 yard.
1-10-MI49 (1:50) Chad Henne passed incomplete to Mario Manningham.
MICHIGAN STATE TAKES LEAD 17-14
Fourth Quater
1-10-MI27 (14:25) Carlos Brown lost 1 yard.
MICHIGAN STATE EXTENDS LEAD 24-14
1-10-MI21 (7:28) Chad Henne passed to Adrian Arrington for 12 yards.
1-10-MI33 (7:20) Kendell Davis-Clark sacked Ryan Mallett for a loss of 8 yards.
1-10-MIST43 (7:04) Chad Henne passed to Greg Mathews for 3 yards.
1-10-MIST25 (6:59) Chad Henne passed to Adrian Arrington for 11 yards.
1-10-MIST14 (6:53) Chad Henne passed incomplete to Adrian Arrington.
1-10-MI35 (4:16) Chad Henne passed to Adrian Arrington for 9 yards.
1-10-MI45 (3:45) Chad Henne passed incomplete to Mario Manningham.
1-10-MIST44 (3:09) Chad Henne passed to Mario Manningham for 15 yards.
1-10-MIST29 (2:55) Brandon Minor lost 2 yards.
Now, I concede that the first quarter plus produced two touchdowns, so perhaps Curious Lloyd was enamoured by the idea that this might continue to work. But Mike Hart was growing gimpier by the moment, State was growing more aggressive on first down, and the momentum was all on Michigan’s side. And then these two key possessions:
Second Quarter
Michigan Wolverines at 11:24
1-10-MI6 (11:15) Mike Hart rushed for 2 yards.
2-8-MI8 (10:37) Mike Hart rushed for 5 yards.
3-3-MI13 (9:52) Chad Henne rushed for 2 yards.
4-1-MI15 (9:10) Zoltan Mesko punted for 36 yards.
Michigan Wolverines at 7:01
1-10-MI8 (6:50) Mike Hart rushed for 1 yard.
2-9-MI8 (6:17) Mike Hart rushed for 6 yards.
3-3-MI14 (5:36) Chad Henne passed incomplete to Brandon Minor.
4-3-MI14 (5:28) Zoltan Mesko punted for 35 yards.
The term carpe diem is not often used in the world of Curious Lloyd, and it was nowhere to be found here. A few minutes earlier, I had looked at my 10 year old, Jack, took out a $5 bill and said, “I will give this $5 to you if they run play action on first down.” For five straight series. Jack stared at the $5 in despair. “Daaaaaaad. They always run it,” he said over and over.
There are many Michigan faithful who are perfectly content when Curious Lloyd makes a mess and then cleans it up. I am happy the mess got cleaned up, but dammit the world should admit that the mess wasn’t necessary in the first place.
Lloyd Carr is a Michigan icon. He has won a National Championship. He has run a solid program. He recruits well and with class. He has salvaged a year few of us thought was salvageable. He deserves an emotional farewell. But he is agonizingly painful to watch on game day, and both Jack and I are ready for a change, and that includes every one of his coaches.
Posted by Meeechigan Dan | Permalink | |