Michigan sports: one era ends and another begins

I've been a bit busy the last few days playing musical furniture with the parents, plus I received my newest toy, a 2013 Gibson Les Paul Studio, which I've been enjoying very much!  However, I didn't want to neglect posting, so here's a few updates on my collecting and Michigan sports:

Incoming!:

As many of you are aware, the COMC Spring Cleaning event is going on now, and in addition to sellers having some incentives to slash prices, there's multiple levels of free shipping based on the number of cards you order.  I've once again picked up a fun mix of high- and low-end stuff, mostly for the PCs you see here. I also nabbed a number of cards for trades since that worked out so well last time.  As I'll be getting these reasonably soon, I think I'll just wait to get them and combine them with those I purchased earlier this year and show them off all at once.

I've also got three fantastic eBay auctions arriving at some point this week, and you may even see one or more of them tomorrow.  I'm excited about all three, but especially one in particular as it's been a thorn in my side for a while now and will finish up a major project.  Keep an eye out for those soon!

Tournament time:

Michigan Hockey had an uncharacteristically poor season this year, finishing towards the bottom of the conference standings.  As they did a couple years ago, they faced the prospect of the end of their tournament appearance streak, which this year stood at 22 straight.  All of a sudden, the Wolverines became an inspired team at the right time:  the conference tournament, the winner of which would receive a tournament auto-bid.  The Maize and Blue swept Western Michigan in the first round, then beat top-ranked Miami (OH) in the single-elimination second round.  All that stood before a 23rd straight playoff appearance was rival Notre Dame.

Unfortunately, the Irish beat Michigan for the fifth, and most important, time this season, and for the first time since I was seven, the Wolverines won't be playing for the NCAA Hockey title.  It's kind of a sad way to close out a disappointing season, not to mention end the existence of the CCHA conference (next year will feature the inception of the Big Ten Hockey Conference), but I'm proud of the way the team caught fire when it mattered most and almost made an improbable run to the playoffs, as they did in 2010.  I'm not sure what's in store for next year's squad, but things do look much brighter than they did just a couple months ago.

As the hockey team closes that chapter of their history, the basketball team has begun rewriting their own.  Statement wins over South Dakota State and Virginia Commonwealth put the Wolverines into the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1994.  Outsiders may not quite be able to grasp the significance of this, but considering all the adversity, poor decisions, bad luck, and drama since the days of the Fab Five, Michigan fans have been starving for this amount of progress and success.  Coach John Beilein has parlayed good fundamentals, attitude, hard work, and excellent recruiting and coaching into a team that has shown improvement each year, especially this season.

Michigan will get its biggest test of the tournament against powerhouse #1 seed Kansas later this week, and it's hard to say whether or not the team will be able to overcome tough odds.  Still, there's no reason to think Beilein's squad won't make it a game when taking into account the considerable talent Michigan offers.  Will the Maize and Blue take the country by storm and finish what others couldn't?  The next couple weeks will tell, and they're sure to be exciting.  LET'S GO BLUE!

So stay tuned for some eBay pickups and whatever else I can muster this weekend, then get ready for some big time COMCing not long after!