The Rich Rodriguez Debate

What do you, as a fan, expect from Rich Rodriguez and the Wolverines in the final two weeks of the season? Is playing a close game with Ohio St. enough for you to feel comfortable with missing a Bowl game for the second consecutive year? Does Michigan have to win one of their final two games for you to consider the 2009 year a success? If you've given up on 2009, what are your expectations for 2010 and what do you feel are the proper repercussions for not meeting those expectations?

WCBNers, feel free to edit this post with your own comments below. Fans, feel free to comment with your thoughts.

Jeremy: I expect Michigan to lose their final two games, but showing heart against Ohio St. would be an impressive way to salvage a disappointing season and head into 2010 with some momentum. Do I think Rich Rodriguez should be fired following a 5-7 season? I'm indifferent. I have no doubt that Rich Rodriguez is the best coach for the 2010 team, so a large part of me wants to see what he'll do with the roster that he has crafted and the system that he has put in place. At the same time, I have zero faith that Rich Rodriguez will meet out expectations of building a championship program (needless to say, Michigan MUST compete for a Big Ten title next year and, at the very least, MUST be playing on January 1st, 2011). And why should I? After Michigan beat Florida in the Capital One Bowl with Rich Rodriguez on the sidelines, the 2008 team was supposed to be led by Ryan Mallett, Mario Manningham, Adrian Arrington, Justin Boren, etc. They all left. Rodriguez struck out on Pryor, and was too stubborn to fit the system around his quarterback(s). The team, as it was constituted in week one of 2008, was supposed to be a six-win team (although many at WCBN predicted that the team would win seven or eight games). Michigan lost to Toledo (3-9), Purdue (4-8), and Northwestern (at home) and finished the season 3-9. This year, Michigan was supposed to take a step forward, certainly play in a bowl game, and compete with the middle of the Big Ten. Michigan has one Big Ten win and is in danger of missing a Bowl game for the second consecutive year. Rich Rodriguez has yet to prove to me that he can meet expectations--let alone exceed them. So fire him, keep him, whatever. Just please tell me that this school has a contingency plan when it's time to begin competing for a national championship again.

Goddeeris: First of all, I'm really looking forward to beating Ohio State this year. It's going to happen. I can feel it. It'll be a great way to get bowl eligible and I will proudly hang the picture of Brandon Graham crying tears of joy on my bedroom wall.

This has been argued at WCBN before, but I don't think Rodriguez can be blamed for players like Mallett and Manningham (and certainly not Boren, whose father was upset his younger brother Zach wasn't offered and pulled Justin from Michigan) leaving. Mallett saw an opportunity to play for his dream school, Arkansas, after Mustain transferred. Players leave during coaching changes, that's just how it is. Yes, he's been stubborn with his offense and play calling, but he's building a system and a program from (yes) a bare cupboard (especially on defense) and as painful as these last two seasons have been, I still have faith in Coach Rodriguez to right the ship and take Michigan back to the top.

Rich Rodriguez simply cannot be fired after this season. There is supposedly no greater mind behind the spread offense than Rodriguez, and bringing in a different spread coach makes no sense to me. If Michigan wanted to bring in a coach who ran more of a pro-style offense, I see us running into a problem with our lack of dominant outside WR, tiny O-linemen, and other personnel recruited to play Rodriguez's offense. That said, Rodriguez needs to put together a Big Ten Championship caliber season next year, and be contending for a national championship in year four. My health demands it. Go Blue!

Brian over at MGoBlog joined the debate today, coincidentally. Link lives here: http://mgoblog.com/content/when-can-we-fire-guy

Listen: Michigan Hockey vs. #1 Miami

Tune-in to WCBN Sports tonight as the #4 Michigan Wolverines look for redemption against the top-ranked Miami University RedHawks.

Game: Miami RedHawks at Michigan Wolverines

Time: 7:35 P.M.

Venue: Yost Ice Arena (Ann Arbor, MI)

Broadcast Link: YouCastr

Listen: Michigan Attempts to Secure a Bowl Bid

Tune in to WCBN Sports today as Michigan hopes to return to Bowl eligibility against Purdue at noon from Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.

Game: Purdue Boilermakers at Michigan Wolverines

Time: Noon

Venue: Michigan Stadium

Line: Michigan -6.5

Broadcast Link: YouCastr

Game of the Week Tonight 7-10 PM

Busy awesome night on tap for you tonight on 88.3 WCBN FM if you tune in from 7-10 pm.

Bill Rothwell will be leading the crew in the studio and for the first half hour you can hear as the Michigan Men's Basketball team tips off their 2009-2010 campaign in the exhibition opener vs. DII Wayne State. We will play the first half hour of the basketball game, before sending it to Yost. You can listen to the entire basketball broadcast LIVE through YouCastr.com here.

But Yost is where the most important action will take place tonight as the #4 Wolverines take on the #1 Miami Redhawks. The puck drops at 7:35 PM and we will broadcast the game LIVE over 88.3 WCBN until our show ends at 10 PM. If the game goes longer than our show, you can listen to the conclusion of the game LIVE through YouCastr.com.

Bill will have the intermission reports from the studio along with whoever joins him there.

Action packed night on WCBN.

Enjoy.

Go Blue!

Big Sports Half-Week Ahead

Baseball? Check. Football? Of course. Basketball and Hockey? You know it. The four major sports in America are all on display this weekend, and WCBN will be tracking it all. We'll have the DSR on Thursday to recap Game Six of the World Series, Game of the Week on Friday will feature Michigan basketball's exhibition opener against Wayne State, Michigan hockey's showdown with #1 Miami, and our picks of the week (if you feel really smart, check some sports betting weekly info). On Saturday, Michigan hopes to secure a bowl bid at noon against Purdue before Michigan hockey completes their home series with Miami on Saturday night. All of the broadcast links can be found on the right --->>

Professional Games to Watch

Baseball

World Series Game Six: Andy Pettitte takes the hill for the Yankees against Pedro Martinez at the new Yankees Stadium, as the Bronx Bombers hope to complete their 27th World Series Championship. Joe Girardi is receiving heat from the New York press for his decision to start A.J. Burnett and Andy Pettitte on three-days rest after Burnett got rocked for six runs while recording six outs in Game Five. Chase Utley continued his record-setting World Series with two more home runs last night, giving him five in the World Series to tie Reggie Jackson's World Series record.

...let's be clear - girardi made the right decision by starting burnett and pettitte on three-days rest, regardless of the fact that the yankees held a three-to-one world series advantage. does anyone seriously think that starting chad gaudin on a month's rest would have been a better choice than burnett or pettitte on short rest? you start the pitchers that give you the best chance to win, and taking a world start away from andy pettitte in the bronx would have been insane. pedro was very good in game two, but facing the same team twice in a week does not bode well for the now-soft-tossing pitcher. pedro is resourceful and will figure out ways to get outs, but the phillies will need to score runs to force a game seven...

Hockey Games

Washington @ New Jersey (Wednesday 7 P.M.)

...lets see the caps without alex ovechkin...

San Jose @ Detroit (Thursday 7:30 P.M.)

...i still can't figure out these two teams. the wings obviously are feeling the losses of hossa and franzen, but san jose has been inconsistent. the joe might give the wings the lift they need...

St. Louis @ Philadelphia (Saturday 7:00 P.M.)

...the up-start blues take on an inconsistent philly team in a town either hung over from a world series win or desperate for some good news...

New York Rangers @ Calgary (Saturday 10:00 P.M.)

...the rangers complete a three-game road trip in western canada against a tough flames team, as sean avery shares a sheet of ice with dion phaneuf. this should be a fun one...

NFL Expert Picks and Point Spreads

Baltimore -3 at Cincinnati (1:00 P.M.)

...i'm still not sold on cincinnati, but carson palmer is back and the defense is much-improved. i'd err towards baltimore in an afc-north game that may eventually decide an afc wild-card berth with the steelers atop the division in the end...

Arizona at Chicago -3 (1:00 P.M.)

...these two teams are still trying to identify themselves, but i just don't like chicago. jay cutler needs weapons, and matt forte looks nothing like he did last year in his rookie season. the defending nfc-champions have been playing good football recently, and soldier field is not quite cold enough to cool off kurt warner and larry fitzgerald...

Miami at New England -10.5 (1:00 P.M.)

...miami got out-played in every facet of the game with the exception of special teams, and ted ginn's two 100+ yard kick returns for touchdowns resulted in the dolphins' second win this season against the jets. new england has looked like the 2007 patriots of late, but 10.5 points is a lot in a game that will feature a ton of running from ronnie brown and ricky williams...

San Diego at New York (NFC) -5 (4:15 P.M.)

...the giants are reeling after a bad loss in philly before the yankees gave new yorkers some redemption with a sunday night victory. san diego is an explosive offensive team, but they've struggled at times this season. look for this game to go back and forth, and expect the team with the ball last to win a wild one at the meadowlands...

Dallas at Philadelphia -3 (8:20 P.M.)

...i love philly in this game. dallas is overrated after a couple of good wins and philadelphia is hitting their stride with desean jackson and jeremy maclin emerging as two of the best young wide receivers in the nfl. tony romo is mistake-prone, and philadelphia loves to capitalize on that type of quarterback, as they did against eli manning last week...

Pittsburgh -3 at Denver (Monday Night Football)

...denver lost their first game of the season last week as the ravens took it to the broncos in a resounding 30-7 win. meanwhile, pittsburgh appears poised to repeat despite a lackluster start to the season defensively. this should be a close, defensive struggle, but the home dog is a sucker pick on monday night. roll with big ben...

Michigan vs. Illinois Football Live at 3:30 ET

You can check out WCBN's live broadcast from Illinois for today's Michigan Football game here.

John, Tyler, and Roberto have the call.

Go Blue!

GOTW Friday 7-10 PM-LIVE Michigan vs. Wisconsin Volleyball

Be sure to tune in at 7 pm as we will have Live coverage of #10 Michigan Volleyball vs. Wisconsin.

Throughout the show we will preview tomorrow's Football game between the Wolverines and Illinois.

We will also briefly discuss Michigan Basketball, the World Series, the NBA, the NFL, and our weekly college football picks.

Go Blue!

Michigan Basketball- First Open Practice Impressions

Prior to witnessing the Michigan vs. Penn State football debacle, Andrew Goddeeris and I dropped by Crisler Arena on Saturday to check out the first Michigan men's basketball practice open to the public. I can't say that this was the most eventful venture, but I came away with some notable impressions.

Darius Morris, the most highly touted of the Michigan freshmen, looked a little nervous, but none the less solid. Morris showed promise during a Maize vs. Blue scrimmage when he ran several fast breaks and showcased an ability to find open men, most of the time DeShawn Sims, underneath the basket.

Blake McLimans can shoot. Although the 6'10" freshman out of the Worcester Academy in Massachusetts was not a big recruit by any means, McLimans proved to be impressive in drills when he hit, by my count, 9 out of 11 jump shots from just inside the three point line. McLimans, it should be noted, also proved to be a solid rebounder in the scrimmage.

Ben Cronin still cannot run. I know it's disheartening to hear that all of the 7 foot center's mobility issues cannot be pinned on his left hip injury last year, but the fact that Cronin still resembles a tree on the basketball court is the truth. Cronin still runs with a limp/waddle and by my guess will never see significant playing time with this squad. He was last in wind sprints, last to get into team huddles at mid court during practice, and will probably be the last big man to come off the bench come season play.

There have been changes in physique on some players on the Wolverines. Andrew and I both agreed that Laval Lucas-Perry looked like he had cut a little bit of his baby fat off from last year and seemed toned, and, in my opinion, ready for a big year with Michigan. I also believe that Zack Novak has put on a little bit of muscle, but, since I know he does a lot of work in the paint, maybe that's just wishful thinking.

Manny Harris is in a league of his his own- literally. Very rarely did Andrew and I see Michigan's most valuable piece even run drills with the team, as most of the time, Manny was working on his jumpshot by "stopping and popping" over on the side hoops of Chrisler arena. Harris did not participate in the Maize vs. Blue scrimmage and seemed relatively uninvolved in any activities that the rest of the team was doing. I guess that's just Manny being Manny.

My last impression, and I'll admit that this one did not fully come together until about 7:00pm Saturday, is that John Beilein is, without a doubt, the best athletics coach that the University of Michigan has in any sport. Beilein's practice was directed, controlled, and efficient, and I have no doubt that Michigan, under the lead of Beilein, will once again be a tournament team.

Listen: Penn St. at Michigan (3:30 PM)

Tune in to WCBN Sports today as Michigan seeks their second win over a ranked opponent this season and their first Big Ten victory since Indiana in Week Four.

Opponent: Penn State Nittany Lions

Time: 3:30 P.M.

Venue: Michigan Stadium

Line: Penn State - 4.5

Broadcast Link: YouCastr

College Picks

Updated picks are posted to the right sidebar. Feel free to comment to this post and add your own picks for the week!

P.S. Lee Corso disagrees with the entire WCBN crew - he took Michigan St. over Iowa, while Kirk Herbstreit picked Brandon Minor and MICHIGAN to beat Penn St.

Listen: Game of the Week TONIGHT!

Tune in for Game of the Week tonight (7-10 P.M.) on 88.3 WCBN-FM Ann Arbor.

ALSO, be sure to call in to the show to comment on Michigan sports or compete in our Family Feud Trivia (8 P.M.): 734-763-3500

Highlights: Michigan Hockey Home Opener

Check out highlights of WCBN's call of Michigan Hockey's home opening victory over the Niagara Purple Eagles.

Final Score: Michigan 3 - Niagara 2

Next Home Game: Nov 6 vs. #1 Miami

Highlights Link: YouCastr

Big Weekend on WCBN

Tune in for a big weekend of Michigan sports on WCBN this weekend...

TONIGHT: Michigan Hockey's home opener against the Niagara Purple Eagles (7:35 P.M.) on YouCastr.com

TOMORROW: Game of the Week (7-10 PM) on 88.3 WCBN-FM Ann Arbor -- Call in to the show at 734-763-3500 to talk Michigan sports or answer Family Feud trivia questions in the 8 o' clock hour

SATURDAY: Michigan Football takes on #13 Penn St. (3:30) LIVE from the Big House on YouCastr.com

Michigan vs. Delaware State LIVE Noon ET on WCBN through YouCastr

We are here LIVE from Michigan Stadium for today's football game against the mighty Delaware State Hornets.

Michigan is favored by 37 points today.

Rushi Vyas, Steve Pietrus, Roberto Jimenez, and Michael Feinberg will have the call.

You can listen to the broadcast here through YouCastr.com.

Go Blue!

Game of the Week - #11 Volleyball vs. #1 Penn State

Join Andrew 'The Seidman', Rushi, Jillian, and Chris live from Cliff Keen Arena as the #11 Michigan Women's Volleyball team takes on undefeated #1 Penn State at 7 PM.

Cliff Keen is sold out and ESPN2 is in the building as Michigan tries to do what no team has done in over two years - take down the mighty Nittany Lions.

LISTEN LIVE or 88.3 WCBN FM Ann Arbor.

Listen: Highlights of Michigan - Iowa Heartbreaker

Click HERE for WCBN's highlights of Michigan's tough loss at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa. Highlights include...

- Warren's 40-yard interception return for a TD

- Tony Moeacki's 2 TD Receptions

- Brandon Minor's 2 TD Runs

- All 3 Daniel Murray FGs

- 4 of Michigan's 5 Turnovers

- Denard Robinson's TD Run

- Andrew Goddeeris' thoughts on leaving Forcier on the bench

- The end of the game

Listen: Michigan at Iowa (8:12 EST)

Listen to WCBN Sports when Michigan looks for their first road victory of the season, as the Wolverines take on the Iowa Hawkeyes.

...after a seven-hour ride through the middle of nowhere, we are in iowa city, and it's not much different. scroll down and look to the right to check out our tweets from th

e day, which features the news that students at iowa throw rocks and boomerangs. seriously. also, there's a lot of corn here...

Game: Michigan @ #12 Iowa

Time: 8:12 P.M. EST (7:12 CST)

Venue: Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, IA

Weather: Cold

Apparel: MAIZE pants (not white)

Line: Iowa -8.0

Broadcast Link: YouCastr Sports

...unfortunately, we are not in the press box. instead, we are in a hut (literally) next to the student section. if you are looking for the best view of the end zone with "hawkeyes" written, then we're your guys. otherwise, you may have to bear with us. our view is below, and yes, those are the speakers you see at movie theater concession stands...

Game of the Week Tonight 7-10 PM

Be sure to tune into 88.3 FM WCBN Ann Arbor or online tonight for Game of the Week where we will have three hours of sports talk.

Tune in to hear me:
Debunk the myth that Iowa's win over Penn State was all that impressive.
Argue that Iowa's defense is very solid, but not the impenetrable force of nature that everyone is making them out to be.
And completely debunk Jeremy's assertion that Ricky Stanzi is a good, reliable QB (Kirk Cousins is much better).

Brian Cook from MGoBlog may be joining us in the first hour via telephone.

We will preview tomorrow's showdown with Iowa, talk College Football, MLB, NFL, Hockey, and maybe some NBA.

We also might have trivia/"He said what?" in the eight o'clock hour.

If you would like to call in and join us on the air during the show the number is 734-763-3500.

Go Blue!

Follow WCBN on Twitter

Follow WCBN Sports on Twitter by clicking HERE.

LDS PREDICTIONS

Chip Caray is the best, plain and simple! Only Chip could screw up the potential game winning call not once, but twice in extra innings (10th and 12th). I think Chip used the word 'fisted' 78 times. Who knew that a ground ball, line drive and fly ball hit to the infield and outfield all could be 'fisted'. Thesaurus, Chip? TBS- To make things even better, please bring back Tony Gwynn: the Caray/Gwynn combination was one for the record books in 2007 (The NY Times Explains Why). Hilarious!

On to quick LDS predictions:

Yankees-Twins: YANKEES IN 4  It would not shock me if the Twins came in and stole Game One. The Twins are coming off a high and Sabathia has been a horrible postseason pitcher. I'm rooting for multiple extra inning games with Chip on the call. Overall, though, the Yanks are too strong and should advance with ease.

Red Sox-Angels: ANGELS IN 5  Can the Angels finally beat the Red Sox? I think so. Lackey is pitching for a contract, Weaver has been consistent and Kazmir has been great in his last 6 starts with LA. I'll take LA's deep starting pitching to finally put them over the top in a grueling series.

Cardinals-Dodgers: CARDINALS IN 4  Carpenter and Wainwright are scary at the top of the rotation. Randy Wolf is not. St. Louis rolls to the NLCS.

Phillies-Rockies: PHILLIES IN 5  Tough series to call. The Phillies have the better offense and starting pitching. The Rockies have a more reliable bullpen (anyone would compared to the Phillies) and better bench. I'll say the series goes the distance with Victorino providing the series-winning hit. By the way, Game 3 weather forecast in Denver: 31 degrees and SNOW!