The "I"s have it, and I have the "I"s

You're probably thinking I'm spending a lot this month; you're definitely correct.  You can attribute that mainly to my tax return, plus a recent windfall thanks to a couple nice sales I made on Blowout, getting rid of stale trade bait for useful Paypal.  Besides the CoMB stuff I've been posting, I've made a few eBay pickups and actually also made a large in-person buy from a fellow Michigan collector looking to cash in while narrowing down his collection--look for posts about that soon.

Meanwhile, eBay was very good to me last week, and here's what I'm excited about today:

This is a pair of "I"s from the Cazzie Russell "MICHIGAN" nameplate I'm working on out of this year's SP Authentic By the Letter set.  I'm now halfway to my goal of all eight cards (here's my "G" and "H") and I'm still 100% on track to spend an average of less than $10 per card, which is great.  Maybe at some point I'll actually finish one of these projects!

This pair also puts me into double digit Michigan Basketball hits, makes Cazzie the lone basketball leader of the PC, and puts me just 12 hits shy of 600 from all four sports--with a TON left to scan!  Stay tuned for posts on those very soon.

Check out my blowout: day 7: The New Guys!

Previously:  day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4, day 5, day 6

Today's post is a particular fun one for me because of all the cards I have left to show off, these five are all new players to my PCs.  You've seen a couple such players already throughout the previous posts, but I decided to make that today's theme since I hadn't done something like that yet.  So here they are:

Mike Matheny 1996 Leaf Signature Bronze auto:

A Michigan Man will lead a St. Louis team this year thanks to the Cards signing Mike on as their new manager.  A Milwaukee draft pick out of Michigan back in '91, Matheny is a guy for whom I made a concerted effort to pick up a hit for my collection.  For something like $1, COMC obliged, which is a good thing since he has only two other hits:  the Silver and Gold versions of this card.  He becomes the 16th player in my Michigan baseball PC.

Elvis Grbac 1997 Pinnacle Inscriptions auto (#1716/1985):

I have no idea how I went this long without picking up something of Grbac, but I definitely started his collection with a bang.  Elvis kept up Michigan's tradition of churning out quality QBs, and he formed a dynamic combo with Desmond Howard in the latter's Heisman Trophy season.  That makes this an especially fun pickup, as if it wasn't cool enough to get another translucent auto, like this Harbaugh and Biakabutuka.

Jeff Backus 2001 SAGE Bronze auto (#164/600):

I knew I'd get a Backus eventually.  One of Michigan's excellent OL (we have a tradition of producing them too!), he's been an Iron Man for the Lions, even if his play has fallen off a good amount the last couple seasons.  That's why I prefer remembering him as a Wolverine, which makes a card of him in his Michigan uni perfect.

Ronald Bellamy 2003 SAGE Red auto (#556/810):

Bellamy never got a ton of playing time in Ann Arbor, but I do love him for being the inspiration for the awesome blog Ronald Bellamy's Underachieving All-Stars.  Nobody outside of Michigan fans would recognize the name, but he's another player I didn't have and he's pictured in his Wolverines uniform, so why wouldn't I pick up something like this?

Ty Law 2004 Topps Chrome Pro Bowl jersey:

Ty is one of Michigan's good number of excellent DBs (brag about ALL THE POSITIONS!), and like Charles Woodson, he also excelled in the pros.  New England shrewdly drafted him late in the first round in '95.  Though he finished his career with a couple other teams, he's best known as a Patriot as a defensive stalwart for the three-time champs.  Also, the 1994 Michael Westbrook Colorado Hail Mary never happened, so don't bother bringing it up here.  Ty becomes unique football player #69, making me wonder how quickly I can get to 100.

Keep your eyes peeled for more baseball and football, plus a couple new basketball cards due to arrive any day via eBay!

Check out my blowout: Day 6: Season's Over

Previously:  day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4, day 5

Well, Michigan Hockey's season came to an abrupt end Friday night thanks to a Cornell OT goal that finished off an undisciplined Wolverine squad.  It was a disappointing finish, especially given last year's unlikely run to the final game, but as is ever true, there's always next year, and Red Berenson's group is the model of consistency--a team with a football-like streak of post-season appearances.

As such, I thought I'd take the opportunity to show off the remaining hockey haul from my COMC package on this last temperate day before we get back to ordinary March weather up here:

Andrew Ebbett 2009-10 Upper Deck Ice Glacial Graphs auto:

This is my second Ebbett auto, and definitely my favorite of the two because of the sweet translucent effect of the design of the card.  It's also my first Blackhawks hit, and I like how he also signed his number on this one, a different jersey/number than appears on the other card I have. 

 Jeff Jillson 2002 In the Game Signature Series auto:

Double J is the first of two new hockey PC members today.  Jillson was an outstanding D-man in college, went #14 to the Sharks in 1999 and bounced around the league for a bit, though he's now playing over in Europe.  This is my first Sharks hit and a great looking autograph of an excellent Michigan defenseman.

Mike Cammalleri 2007-08 Fleer Hot Prospects Hot Materials jersey:

I may have to rename this blog "Too Many Mikes."  Cammy is my fourth different "Mike," hopefully with more to come.  He also represents my first LA Kings hit, though that number may go up if I can nab some of Jack Johnson's earlier cards.  Another new member to the PC, I'm thrilled to have something of one of the league's better snipers. 

Mike Knuble 2006-07 Be a Player Signatures auto:

My third Knuble features Mike (another one!) on his third different team, and since we're talking about hockey today, I'll call that a hit trick:  three hits of a player on three unique teams.  I have a feeling a certain blogger who's come up with his own unique spin on the trifecta will enjoy that!

Those four hits round out my hockey PC at 30 cards, which isn't bad because until recently I had very, very few hockey hits at all.  The overall four-sport PC sits at 581, but I'll easily hit 600, and then some, when these posts are finished!

King of the Hill again, a Long tie coming

Sorry for the excessive punnage in the title--you'll get it in a minute.  In another short intermission during my CoMB posts, I bring you another quick eBay purchase I couldn't keep myself from completing:

Rich Hill 2008 SP Authentic By the Letter letter patch auto (#1/50):

This sweet letter patch auto, of whose existence which I was previously ignorant, is Rich Hill #42 for me, tying him with current football leader Jake Long.  I'm pretty happy with that considering a lot of my resources have gone towards the football PC and I got a much later start on baseball.  Who'll wear the crown when the CoMB posts are done?  You'll have to keep reading to find out.

As I said, I hadn't realized Rich had a card in this set.  According to Beckett, he has two sets of letters that spell "HILL" and "CUBS," so I obviously got one of the latter.  Feel free to make your "OMG EBAY 1/1!!1!" jokes--I can't even feign amusement at that crap anymore.  But seriously, this is a Hill I'm very happy to have since I love well done autographed manupatches, and this one looks great all around.  I do think Hill felt a bit limited in terms of where he could sign on the patch, but, small as it is, I think the autograph turned out pretty nicely.

I should be back with more new stuff this weekend, so please keep reading!

Check out my blowout: Day 5: Just like I Drew it up

Previously:  day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4

Today is a 100% baseball day, and will also be a relatively quick post because it continues to be ridiculously nice outside, with very un-Marchlike temperatures hovering around 80(!), meaning I'm taking advantage of it all I can and getting my pasty white ass outside.

 Drew Henson 2001 Fleer Platinum RC Lumberjacks bat

 Drew Henson 2002 Leaf Certified New Generation Mirror Blue bat RC (#40/75)

Drew Henson 2003 Bowman Futures Game Relics jersey

This trio of Drew Henson relics puts me up to five total cards of the former Wolverines two-sport star who ultimately chose baseball over a bright football future after Darth Steinbrenner from That School Down South lured him away with bags of money.

The Fleer bat relic has an extremely boring design and it's the card I'd run away from, screaming, if it wasn't a PC player.  It's kind of reminiscent of this year's Topps inserts that use the same sort of ugly, fading background photo.  The bat chip is sort of an afterthought and is awkwardly placed randomly in the center of the card, oriented in a diamond shape instead of a square for whatever reason.  It's somewhat understandable--relic cards were still fairly new at that point in that they were about four or five years old.  Still, YEESH, Fleer, maybe this is why you went out of business.

On the flip side, I very much like the Leaf Certified card for obvious reasons:  nice photo, serial numbering and OMG BLUE SHINY GOODNESS.  Leaf's Mirror parallels are famously popular and it's easy to see why.  This is definitely one of my favorite Hensons in either sport.

The Bowman relic is also a very nice looking card.  Bowman put out some solid, if not spectacular, Futures Game-themed relics in the past, and this one looks good to me as much as any of the others I've liked.
I looked into the 2002 All-Star Futures Game, since it's been almost 10 years since it happened; here's a few guys who played in that game:  Brett Myers, Brandon Phillips, Carl Crawford (USA); Francisco Rodriguez, Victor Martinez, Miguel Cabrera, Jose Reyes (World).  Not a bad group of players doing well today.

The baseball PC stands at 88 after these three with more to come, plus a few more hockey and tons more football to post, so stay tuned!

Check out my Blowout: Day 4: a Silk and a Patch

Previously:  day 1, day 2, day 3

Now that Jeff has covered all the stuff I sent him with four great posts (here, here, here and here), I'm back with another of what will be many CoMB features.  I decided to mix things up today and pick two cards from different sports because they're both pretty cool and I thought people might like to see them together for some reason.

Clayton Richard 2009 Topps Silk Collection (#31/50):

This is the first of what will eventually be a Michigan inserts collection.  I really like Topps' Silk inserts and think they're a rare great idea among the mostly idiotic ones they've come up with recently.  There's just a lot to like about getting a spiffy mini silk version of a base card enclosed in a thick, standard-sized card with a window that even includes a hole so you can--GASP--touch the card.  And if you're so inclined, you can even cut that sucker out of there and free it from its cardboard prison.  If not, you can enjoy a nice display piece, complete with serial numbering.
I'm hoping Clayton is the first of a few Silk Michigan alumni I pick up because I'm aware of a few others, including Rich Hill and Jake Fox.  Keep an eye out for those over here sometime, because I might make it a priority to get them before long.

Shawn Crable 2008 SP Rookie Lettermen patch auto (#05/66):

My 7th Crable is easily my favorite.  I'd been after this one for quite a while since I discovered it existed, making my collection of the set of Wolverines temporarily incomplete (other than the myriad variations, of course).  Now I can say I have all five:  Adrian Arrington, Shawn Crable, Mike Hart, Chad Henne and Jake Long.  Also, I can use them to spell "I BEER," which is pretty cool.
The funny story behind this card is that it necessitated a second, much smaller COMC order--in all my other various purchasing, I actually forgot to pick this up, so after my original package came in, I nabbed this, along with the above Richard and a couple other cards you'll see eventually, plus something for a fellow blogger NOT named Jeff, which you'll probably also see fairly soon.

Stay tuned for more COMC goodness, and while you're at it, make sure you're following Jeff over on My Sports Obsession too.

Trade with Dennis, part 3.

previously:  part 1, part 2

I showed in the previous post, all the Michigan Collection autographs that Dennis sent me.  This post I will show the Player Collections as well as announce my new collection at the bottom of this post.

 

 

Mike Hart – 2008 Upper Deck Football Heroes autograph

This is my 5th autograph of Mike Hart.  This one is in his Michigan uniform which makes it better.  Even though his cards are all either Michigan or Colts, which I’m a fan of both.  I’ll always prefer them in Michigan uniforms because I like college football a whole lot more than I do pro.  Great action shot with an on card autograph

 

 

 

 

 

Mike Hart – 2008 Upper Deck SP Premier Prospects Rookie Edition autograph

This is my 6th autograph of Mike Hart.  Even though it’s a sticker auto, I like that they used a clear sticker.  If your going to have to use a sticker, you might as well add to the card, not block some of it out.  Another great action shot.  I really wish he would have worked out better with the Colts.  I was so excited when they drafted him but he never really got much playing time.

 

 

 

 

And for the hugely anticipated announcement.  I know your all excited to hear what my new collection is.  Well, I got the idea when I got this trade from Dennis.  He sent me a couple of cards that don’t really fit into my collection, but he knew I would like.  And he was right, as a matter of fact.  I’m going to start a collection just so they fit into my collection.  It only makes sense.  Here’s the cards.

                                                         

Marlin Jackson – 2005 Upper Deck Reflections Signatures autograph & 2005 Playoff Contenders Rookie Ticket autograph

Mike Hart – 2008 Topps Finest rookie autograph

What do these 3 cards have in common and have in common with what I like.  Anybody?

My new collection will be Colts autographs of players who played for Michigan.  Simple enough.  I’ll have to research just how many there are.  But I know these 3 cards fit.

Mike Hart, Marlin Jackson, Terrence Taylor – I found those after a quick google image search.  I’m not even sure how I can research this but I’m sure I can figure it out.  And just so you know, I already have the Mike Hart in my player collection so I can use the dupe for this collection.

Huge thanks to Dennis for all these cards and the ones over at My Sports Obsession.  Awesome cards from and awesome trader.

BE TRUE TO THE MAIZE AND BLUE!!!

A Super St. Pat's blaster

As you know if you read TMG today, I picked up three blasters at Meijer because I had some stuff to return.  Two of them were appropriate for posting over there, but one of them, thanks to what I pulled, ended up over here.  Here's how I did:

2008 Press Pass Legends:  I've acquired a couple hits from this product but hadn't ever been able to find any packs of it until today.  It offered a guaranteed hit among its three packs of four cards for $15.  Since there were only 12 total cards, I thought I'd show off everything:

 All the base:  Aqib Talib, Kevin Smith, Chris Long, Roger Craig, Devin Thomas, Andre Woodson, Brett Favre, Jamaal Charles

 A couple base backs:  a legend (Favre) and a rookie (Smith)

 The inserts:  Jordy Nelson Bronze (#653/999); Andre Caldwell Silver (#349/499); Chris Long All Conference (1:7)

The hit:  Mario Manningham Saturday Signatures Red auto

For only including three packs, that was a fun rip.  The base look great and feature some excellent players, and the inserts are pretty good.  Obviously, though, I was thrilled about pulling the Manningham, the second time I've done so from a box (the other was an '08 Topps auto).  I had to laugh, though, since I picked up this very Mario not that long ago, probably on COMC.  It's even funnier because the Red versions are a bit harder to pull.  I can't complain at all, though--it was a fun pull, and now I have yet another card to flip Jeff's way, since I know he'll happily take it off my hands.  I'd definitely buy one or two more of these if I saw them again, so hopefully I will.  GO BLUE!

Trade with Dennis, part 1.

Every time I trade with Dennis, he goes above and beyond.  I don’t know how each package I get from him ends up being better than the last.  He has high standards for the next trade, I can tell you that much.  Although in order for me to get the right cards to match what he sent me, it may be awhile before he has to come up with anything else.  Maybe he just likes to send me awesome cards because some of them go on his blog.  Who am I to complain though, if you got anything you want me to show here, Dennis, go ahead and send them to me.  You should send me all the cards you have in Michigan uniforms, you know, just so I can show them again on your blog.  Go ahead, you know the address.  Until then, let me show you some of this awesome package I received.

Bernard Robinson – 2004-2005 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects autograph

My collection seriously lacks the other sports other than football.  I do have a few now of basketball.  I want to say this is my 4th basketball auto, and my 2nd of Bernard Robinson, but that’s without looking.  It may be more, it may be less, but that’s what I remember.

I need to work on my basketball autos, I know I want to get Zack Novack’s and Stu Douglass’ as they are the lone senior starters on this years team.  And after that disappointing finish to our basketball program after the exciting year we had, I can at least look forward to those.  I don’t follow basketball cards enough to know when those kinds of sets will get released so I’ll just have to search every so often.  But I definitely appreciate this addition to the basketball auto’s.

 

 

 

 

Leon Hall – 2007 Sage Aspire autograph

Great action shot of the former CB.  Even though I need more basketball autographs, I’m certainly not turning down any football auto’s, especially from players I remember watching.

 

 

 

 

Donovan Warren – 2010 Press Pass Authentics Sideline Signatures autograph

Again, never going to turn down autographs of players I remember watching.  Especially with on card autographs.  I’m a long way from my autograph collection catching up with Dennis’ but I like the way it’s heading.

 

 

 

 

 

Steve Breaston – 2007 Topps Draft Picks & Prospects autograph

I loved Steve Breaston when he played with us.  He was a great receiver but he was more valuable to us as a return man.  He was exciting to watch when the ball was kicked to him.

And he had an awesome Rose Bowl game in 2005 where he had 315 all-purpose yards.  Which was the last time we’ve seen the Wolverines in the Rose Bowl game.  We lost that one by 1 point to the Texas Longhorns.  But not because of Breaston, he had a career game.

 

 

 

Anthony Carter – 2008 Press Pass Authentics Top 25 autograph #’d 112/155

I was drooling over the Anthony Carter cards when Dennis showed them a few days ago.  I even remember being jealous.  There was a Wolverine autograph that I had to have.  One of the all-time greats to wear #1. Then I get this.  An on card autograph and he signed his number underneath.  Are you freaking kidding me, this card is in my collection now?  I can’t thank Dennis enough for this card.  I don’t really know what to say.  Like I said at the top of the post, he’s going to have a hard time topping this trade.  I’m going to have a hard time return the gratitude.

 

 

 

I’ll be back in a day or 2 to finish off the Michigan portion of the trade from Dennis.  With a couple of the cards he sent me, I will be starting a new collection as well.  So stick around for that announcement as well as the more great stuff Dennis has coming.  He also sent me a huge stack of great stuff for my other collections but you’ll have to see those over at My Sports Obsession over the next few weeks..

STAY TRUE TO THE MAIZE AND BLUE!!!

Check out my Blowout: Day 3: Can’t spell “Putnam” without this “P”

Previously:  day 1, day 2
Now that I’ve done a basketball and hockey post, why not get with the times and move on to baseball?
This is definitely one of my favorite pickups of the whole package, and it was a pleasant surprise for me that I was able to pick it up at all since I’m having a harder time finding these:

Zach Putnam 2008 Razor Letterman Dual-Color P patch auto (#11/20) 

I’d definitely like to get a name plate of Putnam’s put together at some point, and I now have three each of the base and /20 versions, plus a single 1/1.  I’m getting to the point where I’ll probably put these up on my Player Collections/Rainbows page soon, and I’d definitely appreciate any help anyone can offer me in terms of finding the rest.  For now, here’s a look at the seven I DO have.

This 85th Michigan baseball PC hit brings my Putnam total up to 15, and he’s the only non-Rich Hill member to hit double digits so far.  That might change soon, but for now, they’re clearly the top dogs.

I’m not exactly sure what I’ll be posting next from the package, but I still have some baseball and hockey left, plus a huge stack of football.  I’m happy to choose what’s next, but if anybody has a request, please shoot me a comment and I’ll be happy to oblige!

Check out my blowout: day 2: Be a Player, not a hater

Previously:  day 1

I'm back today with more from my huge COMC purchase.  Back on Monday I showed off the three basketball hits I picked up for myself.  Today, in honor of the highest remaining seed left in the CCHA tournament (and a team that'll hopefully win Friday and Saturday night), we're moving on to a few Michigan hockey pickups from that package.  Notice I said "a few"--I have more for a later date.

It just so happens that all three of today's cards hail from the same set, which made them a perfect choice for one post:

Brendan Morrison 2005-06 Be a Player Signatures auto:

I've made multiple promises to myself to get more stuff of the former Hobey Baker winner, and I finally made some more progress on that front.  I now have two relics and two autos of Morrison, putting him one card behind current hockey leader Marty Turco, so that's progress in and of itself.
This is a pretty cool card for a sticker auto, although it's unfortunate that the autograph area consumes almost half the card.  The rest of the layout and photograph are very sharp, though, and I do like the autograph.  Plus, of course, I really like the way the card goes with the other two you'll see below. 

Mike Comrie 2005-06 Be a Player Signatures auto:

This is my third Comrie (all autographed), which is a nice start to a PC of a player who just retired last month after a solid, if brief, NHL career.  I'm sorry to see him hang 'em up so soon since he was such a force in his short time with Michigan, but I suppose there's worse things than being a young, wealthy retiree married to Hillary Duff, right?

Mike Knuble 2005-06 Be a Player Signatures auto:

Today's other Mike is former Red Wing (among other teams) Knuble.  A prolific four-year scorer at Michigan, he played for Detroit his first two pro seasons and joined them in winning the '97-'98 cup before moving on to the Rangers, then Bruins (as pictured here), Flyers, and finally Capitals.  Up until this season, he'd scored 20+ goals every year since '02-'03, but this year has been quite a downer as his stats are pretty terrible across the board.  Maybe he can find his way back to a team that knows how to use wily veterans as effectively as anyone--say, somewhere close to his old stomping grounds?  Just a thought....

Tune in again soon for more from this ginormous package as I have some hockey left, a good amount of baseball, and tons of football to show off.  This could take a while!

Cheap Ebay Pick-ups, U of M Style

Hello all, Jeff here with a couple more Ebay Pick-ups.  If your following my other blog (My Sports Obsession) then you’ll be getting to see a bunch of these.  But because EVERYBODY loves Michigan, they are a lot harder to come by cheap.  But I did get a few.  We’ll start off with a Fab Five member just because Michigan won the Big Ten Conference this year.  And our celebration for making the NCAA tourney as well.

• Jalen Rose - 1995 Ted Williams What’s Up rookie ($.54)

This isn’t a bad scan, that’s really what the card looks like it.  It has a really funky texture to it.  I’m not sure how to describe it.  But it’s of Jalen Rose.  The Fab Five were one of the reasons I came to love Michigan.

• Greg Mathews – 2010 Sage HIT Autograph ($2.50/shipped)

I do pay up to $3 for autos of players I remember watching so I went ahead and paid $2.50 for this card.  Greg Mathews, Michigan uniform, autographed, and my lucky #13, really, how could I go wrong?

But the main reason for this post is to show off my son’s pinewood derby car.  He went over to grandpa’s house to make this because I don’t know Jack about tools so I had nothing with the design.  My mother suggested the hood but everything else was all him.  What do you think it is?  Batman!  Spiderman!  Legos!  Nope, this is what he came up with.

Not sure why the left picture turned all blue, but the right picture shows its colors.  He races on Saturday so I’ll let you all know how he does.

To go along with all the great pick-ups that Dennis is posting, I’ll have some that he sent me, I have to scan them so it may not happen till this weekend.  Plus I’ll be watching Michigan playing in the tourney Friday night so I’ll get to it when I can but they are some awesome cards that make my collection all the more cooler.  The wait will definitely be worth it, you’ll see.

BE TRUE TO THE MAIZE AND BLUE!!!

Check out my blowout: day 1: basketball

It's time for another marathon of posts thanks to my second big COMC purchase of the year.  A good chunk of the cards went to Jeff, and I know he'll be dying to show off the Michigan stuff here before long, but I'm kicking things off today with basketball in honor of Michigan's shared Big Ten title and excellent overall season.

Bernard Robinson 2004-05 Upper Deck Black Diamond GemoGRAPHy auto:

Thanks to Jeff, this is my second Robinson auto.  I managed to pick up one for him with Bernard in a Michigan uni, but I decided to keep this one for myself so I had a couple of the guy.  He's now tied with two other players for the lead in my basketball PC. AT TWO. 

Juwan Howard 2007-08 Upper Deck Game Jersey jersey:

Here's one of today's two new PC members, and he happens to be one of the Fab Five.  Remembering that team now that it's March Madness time is sort of bittersweet for those of us who are Michigan fans, but there's no denying this group was insanely talented and fun to watch.

Robert Traylor 2005-06 Upper Deck Hardcourt Signatures auto:

Traylor tragically passed away of a heart attack last May.  I guess as big a dude as he was (he wasn't nicknamed "Tractor" for nothin'), it wasn't a huge surprise, but that didn't make it any less devastating for Michigan fans.
This is a fairly nice card despite its simplicity and sticker auto, and I like that Traylor is sort of wearing some Wolverines-like maize, even if he's playing for an Ohio team.

That's all the basketball I picked up, but don't worry--there's PLENTY more from the other three major sports, especially football, of course.  I'm going to go a different route and actually spread these out a bit so my posts don't get too long and unreadable (plus labor-intensive for me) and so I have more to continue posting on in the next couple weeks.  Stay tuned for those posts, and definitely for Jeff's pickups as well, plus more thoughts on Michigan's hockey and basketball playoff runs.  LET'S GO BLUE!

Jesus saves, Michigan scores!

So here's what I did with MY weekend:

College hockey is a passion of mine here in Ann Arbor because, like football, Michigan has what's historically the best program in the history of the sport.  It's also the case that attending hockey games in person at Yost Arena is WAY more fun than Wolverine football games because our hockey fans are just better at being louder and into the game.  It doesn't hurt that our student section, pep band and gameday traditions are unparalleled.

The old barn:  Yost lit up after Saturday night's game

All that said, this weekend was about the second round of the soon-to-be-defunct Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) conference playoffs.  Michigan finished second in the conference this year and drew a first-round bye, then played Notre Dame this weekend in the usual best-of-three series.

Game 1 on Friday night looked like it would be a laugher when Michigan scored just over a minute in.  It actually proved to be a nail-biter thanks to both goalies standing on their heads, especially Michigan's former walk-on, inspiring mighty-mite, Shawn Hunwick.

Michigan dominated much of the action, though the Irish had their own good chances, but the score refused to change.  Meanwhile, most of the arena's occupants were glued to their phones following the Wolverines' progress in the Big Ten basketball tournament and their nail-biter of a matchup against Minnesota.  A miraculous comeback led to overtime, during which Michigan finally pulled away and earned an exciting win.  When the score was posted on Yost's brand new scoreboard, the whole arena lost it.

Although Michigan had plenty of golden opportunities, the lead remained 1-0 going into the third.  Hunwick made some ridiculous saves, but Notre Dame finally capitalized around halfway through the period, bringing on overtime...and ANOTHER overtime when an extra 20 minutes just wasn't enough to settle things.  Fortunately, just three minutes into the second extra period,

Flower Mound, Texas' Chris Brown found the upper right corner of the Irish net, the roof of the building blew off and everyone FINALLY got to go home, but not until the student section proudly raised the Texas flag (told you our fans are the best!), something they're known for, such as celebrating fan favorite Carl "Bork" Hagelin with the flag of his motherland, Sweeden.  All in all it was an exciting, tiring night of heart-attack hockey (and basketball), and everyone went home dreaming of sweeping away leprechauns with brooms.  I got a little ahead of myself, though, since I was sitting over by the banner, and decided to get a better shot of all of our hockey titles:

Saturday night's game two was a little bit different (fortunately).  Michigan fans had bittersweet hopes that it would be the final game for seniors Luke Glendenning, Greg Pateryn, David Wohlberg and most of all, hockey Jesus Shawn Hunwick.

This time it took until one minute was LEFT in the period for the Maize and Blue to open up the scoring, but that's exactly what senior David Wohlberg did, sending Michigan into the locker room with tons of momentum.  The second period featured two more Michigan tallies, including a second from Wohlberg, before the Irish finally responded with a goal of their own.  Then it was time to

daaaaaaaaaaaaance!  It's still the best student tradition in college hockey, and it's only gotten better since, once the band plays the final verse, the students kick off one final encore a capella.  The whole building gets into it and it really gets you ready for the final period, which actually ended up being a bit more exciting than I thought it would.  Down 3-1 late, Notre Dame opted to pull their goalie, then Michigan was randomly penalized with under two to go, meaning it faced a 6-on-4 essentially the rest of the game.  The Wolverines were up to the task, though and never did allow a special teams goal this weekend.  So it was time to celebrate!

 First with each other, then,

saluting the crowd before making plans for Joe Louis Arena and the semi-finals next Friday.

I've been going to the Yost-hosted rounds of the CCHA tourney for years and I've only seen Michigan go to a third game once; no surprise there since Michigan has now made 24 straight trips to the Joe, another one of our hockey team's incredible streaks.  After the bitter disappointment of last year's NCAA finals loss, there's hope for yet another title run, and hopefully one of the most deserving players ever, Shawn Hunwick, gets to go out a winner.  GO BLUE!