The Mixer: Late Edition

With school coming to a close, I've been backed up on school work and the holiday weekend set me back. I was going to do a Mixer with a Masters theme last week. But seeing as we pimped out our web page to look like a Masters' jacket and beat you senseless with non-stop golf all week, I thought I'd just stick to what everyone is used to seeing.

...Speaking of what you are used to seeing, this web page seems to be having an identity crisis with its look. I think we've had 5 different web layouts in two days with three different color schemes. I don't call the shots on this blog, I just write for it. However, based on the color scheme, it looks like we've decided to start covering Syracuse athletics. Awesome. Go Orange.

Anyways, here is the Mixer...better late than never.

Baseball woes: Michigan Baseball dropped 3 out of four games last week, the first coming against MAC opponent CMU. I figured we were in trouble because this was a mid-week MAC game, but things went from bad to worse when I saw CMU was pitching their freshman phenom (drafted by the Royals in the 30th Round last year) and Michigan had put "Staff Day" where you would usually see the starter's name. Can you say "White Flag?"

As if this wasn't bad enough, Michigan decided to start freshman Kevin Vangheluwe. Hearing this, I thought "That name sounds familiar... where do I know this kid from?" Then I remembered....



Our boy is the one on his backside in the back row. He is also the one messing around with the chair. The video ends before Vangheluwe would eventually take off his shirt in strip-tease fashion. Thank me later for not including this.

RIP "The Bird": Today was bittersweet for me with the passing of Mark "The Bird" Fidrych. I grew up listening to stories about that magical 1976 season when The Bird won Rookie of the Year and started the '76 All-Star game. The Tigers weren't great back then, but The Bird gave people something to look forward to during a time when the city needed something to root for. It wasn't exactly like the '68 Tigers, when a championship was a calming influence to a city ripe with racial conflict. But Fidrych united people similar to the way that championship did. People loved the lanky 21 year old with shaggy hair and quirky antics, and the question "Hey, when's The Bird pitching this week?" was heard throughout auto plants all over Detroit. He'll never be in the HOF, but he will always be in the hearts and memories of Tiger's fans. God bless you, Bird. We'll miss you.



E:60 is Back!: Probably my favorite show on television, E:60, is back with a new season tonight. I'm not a big fan of Jeremy Schaap, but I really enjoy the kind of reporting they do: the longer, feature stories that give deep insight into topics that are interesting, but I might not have otherwise thought about. Being someone who does sports reporting, feature stories of this length and size are incredibly difficult. I have a huge amount of admiration for what they accomplish with the video they get and the people they interview. I highly recommend tuning in this season. Here are two of my favorite stories they've done so far. First, they profiled Kelly Pavlik and his hometown...



My family is originally from Youngstown and Warren (Ohio), so this story hit home. But beside that, Pavlik's attachment to his hometown is fascinating (as is the city itself).

...And, to end things on a lighter note, here is one of the features Bill Simmons did for the show on Prop Betting. Love him on the podcasts and articles, but I really like him doing these features, too. I just hope they don't over-expose him like they do Stephen A. Smith.



That's all I got. Baseball this week... also, look for a story I got coming up on MGoBlue about the "Captain's Corner" blog that has gained some recent popularity.

Until then...