The staff at Absolute Michigan has done all the work, I just have to link to it!

Absolute Michigan has put together tons of info on the big game including articles, links, photos and videos to help get everyone ready for the battle of #1 versus #2 in Columbus on November 18th (provided both teams can win tomorrow!).

Great stuff on the history of the rivalry, Woody vs. Bo, punt returns, the Dead Schembechlers, and much, much more!

Check it out, you’ll be happy you did.

Read University of Michigan Wolverines vs. Ohio State Buckeyes at Absolute Michigan

Graphic designed by Absolute Michigan

Just got this from Norm the Detroit Insider…

Press conference @1:30 in East Lansing to announce firing of John L. Smith. Just broke on WDFN.

Update at 12:55 pm
It’s not much more, but here’s the ESPN article…

Read Mich. St. news conference to discuss coach situation at ESPN

Update at 1:40 pm
John L. is saying bye, but not until after this season…

Read Michigan State coach Smith resigning after season at ESPN

My View: No surprise here. Everyone saw this coming. John L.’s biggest problem in my opinion was never being able to land the top-flight recruits. I always remember reading that players they were recruiting were always listing schools like Buffalo, Ball State, Idaho, Purdue, etc. instead of recruiting guys who the “big boys” wanted. Although hey do have a bunch of the top 30 prepsters from 2007 coming in (according to Rivals.com), they just didn’t seem to me to be bringing in legitimate Division I/Big Ten caliber players.

Granted, injuries haven’t helped, but stuff the coach can control and teach, like committing stupid penalties, was never really fixed in Smith’s tenure.

I will miss his crazy quotes, but MSU needs to ante up for a big-time coaching prospect, but I have a feeling the next coach might be Mooch.

I can’t imagine a better start to a college sports career than that of former Leland Comet star Alisha Glass. Glass has helped Penn State maintain their #2 ranking, start the Big Ten season 6-0, and remain undefeated for the season at 17-0.

Glass ranks seventh at 12.05 assists per game and eighth with 1.16 blocks per game. She is the only setter to be ranked among the conference leaders in both statistics.

Next up for Glass and the Nittany Lions are home matches versus Michigan on Friday and Michigan State on Saturday.

Read Glass steps up to challenge of leading No. 2 Penn State at ESPN.com

Sorry for the lack of posts, alot of the Detroit Sports Blogs I visit seem to have hit the same wall, namely postseason baseball! The Tigers have taken up lots of my spare time and along with the regular everyday busy life the blog has suffered. Nevertheless, here’s my thoughts on the current state of Detroit Sports!

Detroit Tigers - WOW! and WOW! Everyone in northern Michigan seems to be buzzing with World Series fever as the Tigers get set to face the Cardinals/Mets winner. I am pulling for the Cards because their offense doesn’t seem as scary. I know, I know, what about Pujols? He is scary, but I think top to bottom the Mets lineup is stronger. Plus I would love to see a Leyland vs. LaRussa World Series. I know, they don’t actually play, but seeing them match wits head to head would be alot of fun.

I will be travelling down to the Motor City this weekend, no tickets unfortunately, but will probably try to cruise down and check out the craziness that will be at Comerica Park. I can’t wait to see it!

Check out lots of Detroit Tigers Info at Absolute Michigan

Detroit Lions - Lost in World Series fever is the fact that our beloved Lions won their first game of the season. Coach Rod Marinelli was awarded the game ball and he deserves it. I know it doesn’t show up in the overall record, but I am seeing some good things out of our Detroit Lions. They have been competitive in every game but one, and could easily be .500 with a break here or there. I think Marinelli will get this turned around, despite Millen’s goofs and I expect a playoff team possibly next season, but for sure in Marinelli Season 3.

Detroit Pistons - I have seen lots of positive press about Jason Maxiell and I have to say I am excited about the upcoming Pistons season. They will miss Big Ben, but this team will score more and be much better offensively, which might be necessary as the “D” might be down from what Pistons fans have seen the last few seasons. Either way, the Pistons will contend for the Eastern crown.

Detroit Red Wings - I will admit, haven’t really given much attention to the Wings yet, but once the World Series is over, they will be back on my radar.

Detroit Shock - Their second WNBA Title came without much of a word from me, so for that I must apologize. Congrats! I keep wondering why no NBA team has made Bill Laimbeer an NBA coach!

Michigan Wolverines - #3 in the BCS and could be setting things up for a #1 vs. #2 matchup when they travel to Ohio State. That’s something I have been predicting all along and now it’s beginning to look like I may have finally been right about something.

Michigan State Spartans - After the Illinois loss, I have been down on my Spartans. Now 3-4 and clinging to a possible bowl bid, they are through the worst of the schedule. I don’t know if there’s enough left in the tank, but John L. will give it his best shot.

That’s a quick look into the mind, not much going on as you can tell, but I will try to post more frequently and will try to snag some photos from my Detroit trip.

Go Tigers!*

*From what I can tell this is the new way to say Good-bye in northern Michigan!

Just received this from one of my readers…

More Honors for Alisha Glass. She was voted Most Valuable Player at this weekend’s Penn State Classic Tournament. If you, or anyone, wants to read or see more, go to gopsusports.com under Women’s Volleyball —- there’s some good shots of her playing under the website’s Photo Gallery.

The Big Ten opener with Ohio State will be televised on CSTV this Wednesday at 7 p.m.—- thats on Dish or Direct TV. We have Charter Cable, so I go over to my wife’s employer who has Dish TV.

Thanks Bob!

Here’s the Official Penn State Women’s Volleyball site

Opinions on five current Detroit & national sports topics from yours truly…

1. Tigers - Clinging to a one game lead in the Central and alot of Tiger fans are feeling very nervous. Don’t be. The Tigers have the easiest schedule of the three remaining contenders and will start it off with a sweep of the Orioles. How do I know this? Because they are going to score some runs tonight!

The Tigers, though, may have a good opportunity to break out against Baltimore’s Hayden Penn (0-2, 36.82).

The 21-year-old right-hander lasted only three innings and was pounded for seven runs and nine hits, including three homers, in a 9-4 loss to the New York Yankees on Sunday. Penn actually reduced his ERA from 108.00.

2. Lions - I listened to the first game off and on Sunday and came away like everyone else, impressed with the defense, and puzzled by the offense. Of course sure enough on the final game-winning Seahawk drive our “D” goes soft and gives up a couple of big plays in a row to give up the easy field goal. I can’t really blame them though, they single-handedly kept the Lions in the game. I think Kitna is a “huge” improvement over Joey and he will be able to direct the Lions to some wins. Sorry Roy, just not this week.

3. Red Wings - The Wings are in TC, and the town is buzzing with excitement. I was thinking about trying to score some tickets, for the games next week. I did go to training camp a few years ago and really enjoyed it. You get to be real close to the action and interact with the players in a casual atmosphere. If you are a big Wings fan, I would definitely check it out one of these years, there are some tickets still available this year as well!

4. Wolverines Football - The biggest game of the weekend as the Wolverines travel down to Notre Dame. I might have to just breakdown and call up the biggest Wolverine fan I know (the father-in-law) and see if I can come watch the game on his new HD TV. I have this funny feeling Michigan is going to pull off the upset, behind the running of Michael Hart. Before the season started I thought Michigan might be able to contend for the title, and I still see a battle of unbeatens when they meet Ohio State at the end!

5. Spartans Football - Not really sure what to expect out of Sparty. MSU has looked very good one moment and very bad the next. That won’t cut it against a quality opponent. If MSU can pull this one out, then I look for Notre Dame to be 2-2 after next weekend!

If you want to let the me know what you think, you can always send me an email at leelanausportsguy@sportspig.com or post a comment!

Photo from GoPSUsports.com

The awards keep rolling in for freshman setter Alisha Glass. The former Leland Comet star has taken her game to Penn State, but that hasn’t stopped her from winning. The Nittany Lions are ranked #2 in the country and are off to a 8-0 start.

Here’s why she picked up the honors…

Versus the No. 7 Longhorns, Glass had a career-high 63 assists and recorded eight kills and 16 digs. She also tied her career bests for hitting (.438) and blocks (seven).

and

For the weekend, Glass averaged 13.38 assists per game, 2.88 digs per game and 1.50 blocks per game while directing the squad to a team hitting percentage of .327 with an average of 17.38 kills per game against two teams in the Top 15 in the nation. She also picked up her first career All-Tournament Team honor at the Time Warner Classic Texas Invitational.

Next up for Penn State is the Penn State Invitational on Friday and Saturday.

Read Glass Tabbed Sports Imports/AVCA Division I National Player of the Week at GoPSUsports.com
Read Glass is Big Ten player of the week in the Record Eagle

Alisha Glass had a career-high 44 assists to help Penn State to a 30-19, 30-21, 30-21 win over fifteenth-ranked Missouri in the Time Warner Cable Texas Invitational. The freshman setter also had three kills for the No. 2 Nittany Lions.

Penn State continues action against the seventh-ranked Texas Longhorns at 6:30 p.m. CT today.

Read Glass leads No. 2 Penn State in the Record Eagle
Read No. 2 Women’s Volleyball Claws No. 15 Missouri, 3-0 at GoPSUsports.com

I am still working on my Spartan Football Preview and Big 10 conference predictions, I know the season starts tomorrow, but I will get it done! I still have to come up with another bet for The Sports Dude when my Spartans travel to Ann Arbor. It’s a busy time of year!

In the meantime, here are previews of the Michigan Wolverines and Detroit Lions from two of my favorite bloggers!

The Sports Dude’s Michigan Football Preview (always entertaining)
Wolverine Preview - Part One
Wolverine Preview - Part Two

Big Al’s Detroit Lions Preview (he speaks the truth)
TWFE Detroit Lions season preview, part 1: Offense
TWFE Detroit Lions season preview, part 2: Defense

Freshman Alisha Glass recorded 37 assists to help #2 ranked Penn State to a 30-32, 24-30, 30-23, 30-23, 15-6 win over LSU in the final of the LSU Classic. Glass has played in all 11 games and is third on the team in blocks and tied for third in digs.

Read No. 2 Penn State Women’s Volleyball Survives LSU, 3-2 at GoPSUsports.com

An interesting movie title? Nope, just the interesting world of Detroit and Michigan Sports!

Rogers pitches strong in Tigers win

For everyone that said Kenny Rogers was done, and is a bad second half pitcher, he sure is coming on strong.

Rogers (13-6) gave up four hits and walked only one over seven innings, his third straight strong outing.

That sounds like a pitcher I would want to have down the stretch run as my team was battling for a division title. Lucky for us, the Tigers have him.

Marcus Thames led the offense with a homerun and a triple, and Fernando Rodney pitched two scoreless innnings of relief as the Tigers took game 2 of a crucial 4-game series with the White Sox. The division lead is back up to 7 1/2 and the Tigers are looking like their current funk could be finished!

Read Tigers’ Rogers shuts down White Sox at Yahoo! Sports

Lidstrom to follow Yzerman as Wings Captain
It’s going to take a while to get used to seeing someone else with a “C” permanently on their Wings jersey, but it’s a no-brainer that the player should be Niklas Lidstrom.

This pretty much sums up why he’s the right choice…

Lidstrom, 36, joined the team for the 1991-92 season. He is the longest-serving member of the squad and arguably the Wing’s best player. In June he won his fourth straight Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenseman.

Read Just call him Captain Lidstrom in the Freep

The Fall of Smoker
Detroit News writer Lynn Henning has another book coming out called Spartan Seasons II that follows some of the ups and downs of MSU sports. The following article is an excerpt from his book about Jeff Smoker and the 2002 MSU Football team that showed lots of potential, but ultimately fell flat.

Here’s a description of the book…

All the key figures live and breathe, spar and parry in these pages. The great athletes and those who strived greatly. Coaches Nick Saban and George Perles. Bobby Williams and John L. Smith. Jud Heathcote and Tom Izzo. The MSU presidents, athletic directors, and University trustees who influenced the ups and downs of MSU sports. Henning sought them out for their versions of who said what and who took the actions that made for wins or losses on the playing field and put MSU again and again into the headlines.

Read Inside story on turmoil of an MSU star in the Detroit News
Order the Books

I am very excited for college football to start. I am even more excited about senior quarterback Drew Stanton and what he can do in the high-octane Michigan State offense.

Now he’s going to try to not do too much and instead rely on teammates more to make big plays in crucial situations. I sure hope that’s the case and if it is watch out Big Ten!

Read MSU’s Stanton takes a new stance in the Freep

Also coming soon will be my Big Ten Football preview…

It’s too early for my predictions (which are usually wrong anyway), but some of the top preview magazines are out and have their preseason Big Ten and national title picks. Check out the article below for a quick summary from the Detroit News and check back in August for my picks!

According to the experts, Michigan will most likely finish 2nd in the Big Ten (to Ohio State) and Michigan State anywhere from 4th to 8th.

Read Outlook is not rosy for U-M or MSU at the Detroit News

Seriously, that was the first and only word I said when I saw this…

Read Brown staying in draft, leaving Michigan State at Yahoo! Sports

I honestly thought Shannon Brown was coming back.

At least the Spartans have the #18 recruiting class according to Rivals.com and will probably need all three to have an immediate impact after the losses of Brown, Maurice Ager and Paul Davis.

#18 Michigan State Spartans
Raymar Morgan SF 6-7, 210
Tom Herzog C 6-11, 215
Isaiah Dahlman SF 6-6, 175
Think quality and not quantity when it comes to the Spartans’ incoming freshmen. The three-man group is led by Raymar Morgan, the nation’s No. 11-ranked small forward and center Tom Herzog, one of the nation’s top shot blockers. Three-star small forward Isaiah Dahlman is a polished prospect who has the ability to earn minutes right away as well.

You can read the entire article here.

I’m not a Michigan fan, but everyone else in my family is, and so I do on occasion listen to U of M football on the radio. It was a smart move bringing back Frank Beckmann and Jim Brandstatter. They make the game easy to listen to and have lots of fun doing it.

Read U-M radio deal done; announcers will stay in the Detroit News