Big Ten Conference Divisions

by: philgoblue

Wed Sep 01, 2010 at 20:47:53 PM EDT

Big Ten Announces Football Division Alignments and 2011 and 2012 Conference Schedules

Big Ten division winners to meet in inaugural Big Ten Football Championship Game

Sept. 1, 2010

Park Ridge, Ill. - The Big Ten Conference office announced football division alignments beginning with the 2011 season as recommended by conference directors of athletics and reviewed and supported by the Big Ten Council of Presidents/Chancellors. Nebraska will officially begin conference competition in 2011, giving the Big Ten 12 football programs for the first time in conference history.

The winner of each Big Ten division will meet in the inaugural Big Ten Football Championship Game, to be played December 3, 2011, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The championship game will determine the Big Ten Champion and the conference's participant in the Rose Bowl Game or Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game.

The Big Ten football division alignments will include a division featuring Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue and Wisconsin, and a division featuring Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska and Northwestern. Each school will play the other five schools within its division and will also face three teams from the other division, including one cross-division matchup guaranteed on an annual basis. The guaranteed cross-division matchups are Illinois-Northwestern, Indiana-Michigan State, Ohio State-Michigan, Penn State-Nebraska, Purdue-Iowa and Wisconsin-Minnesota. Names for each Big Ten football division will be announced at a later date.

Football this Saturday. Can't watch -- canvassing -- but will tivo.

Let's Go Blue!

by: philgoblue

Fri Nov 20, 2009 at 22:50:02 PM EST

All In For Michigan

by: philgoblue

Sun Sep 27, 2009 at 12:03:02 PM EDT

Had a great day with my daughter at the game.

4-0! Who woulda thunk it.

It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time!

by: philgoblue

Wed Dec 24, 2008 at 15:39:10 PM EST

No! No! No! to Privatizing the University of Michigan

by: philgoblue

Thu Dec 18, 2008 at 13:04:35 PM EST

The idea of privatizing the University of Michigan is again making the rounds in Lansing, this time prompted by a legislative study group that has suggested several dramatic options for cutting state spending.

The outcome?

Tuition prices for in-state students would likely rise to out-of-state levels, which are nearly three times higher.... Tuition for in-state freshmen in the College of Literature, Science and the Arts is $11,037 this academic year. Tuition for out-of-state students is $33,069.

David Potter, a classics professor who is head of the U-M faculty Senate, said in-state students would lose access to a world-class education because U-M would be able to charge as much in tuition as its private competitors.

And the savings?

$326 million, or about $32 per Michigan citizen.  And our kids, Michigan kids, the kind that might go to one of the best universities in the known universe adn then might actually stay in the state rather than heading back to Chicago and New York, they miss out.  Complete idiocy.

The idiot (and I use that considering the modern and ancient definitions) is Gary Olson, a member of the Legislative Commission on Government Efficiency and on its subcommittee on higher education. Olson is also director of the Michigan Senate Fiscal Agency.  Not suprisingly, the idea was cooked up in 2004 by the libertarian Mackinac Center for Public Policy

The West is the Best

by: philgoblue

Tue Dec 09, 2008 at 15:46:47 PM EST

West Michigan Sweeps High School Football Championships 10 days ago.

Congratulations:

Rockford Rams
Division 1 Champion
Kent County
Rockford 26, Lake Orion 14

Muskegon Big Reds
Division 2 Champion
Muskegon County
Muskegon 34, Warren DeLaSalle 14

East Grand Rapids Pioneers
Division 3 Champion
Kent County
East Grand Rapids 43, Inkster 24
My beloved hometown team!

Holland Christian Maroons
Division 4 Champion
Ottawa County
Holland Christian 35, Detroit Country Day 20

Muskegon Oakridge Eagles
Division 5 Champion
Muskegon County
Muskegon Oakridge 26, Ovid-Elsie 14

Montague Wildcats
Division 6 Champion
Muskegon County
Montague 41, Leslie 20 - Final Summary

Traverse City St. Francis Gladiators
Division 7 Champion
Grand Traverse County
Traverse City St Francis 41, Ubly 13 -

Muskegon Catholic Central Crusaders
Division 8 Champion
Muskegon County
Muskegon Catholic Central 40, Crystal Falls Forest Park 0

It's Great To Be A Michigan Wolverine!

by: philgoblue

Sat Sep 27, 2008 at 22:05:27 PM EDT

Michigan 27
Wisconsin 25

A Signature Victory for the Ages. Go Blue!

Rampant Speculation Obama May be in Ann Arbor Next Saturday

by: philgoblue

Sun Sep 21, 2008 at 10:50:29 AM EDT

The game is at 3:30, so Obama could have some rally on campus around noon or 1:00 pm and attract quite a crowd.

The Leaders and Best

by: philgoblue

Sun Aug 17, 2008 at 11:47:05 AM EDT

Congratulations Michael!

8 Gold Medals in a Single Games!

The Greatest Olympian Ever!

Arete = Kleos

Go Blue!

Thoughts after my vacation

by: philgoblue

Mon Jun 16, 2008 at 16:10:46 PM EDT

Well, it wasn't a Lucy-approved staycation and I never really did leave (yes, you can get internet access from the shadow of Half Dome in the Valley), but I am back from California and ready to push WMR through the summer and toward victory in November.

My brief thoughts on politics:

* California is getting heavy into solar power -- there are entire subdivisions where the houses are build with state-of-the-art roof panels.  We also came across a huge wind farm west of Sacramento.  Why is this?  Well, they passed alternative energy portfolio standards some time ago and it looks like California is going to be a home of renewable energy.  Michigan! Get your act together and pass the RPS -- that means you Senate Republicans.
* Even in Yosemite National Park, a beautiful valley called Hetch Hetchy, known as the "Yosemite's little sister" was damned back in the 1920s to provide water to San Francisco.  So, even while John Muir was alive, one of the first National Parks was being exploited by the thirsty people of arid California.  Imagine what they'll do to grab water from far away from a region they don't care about.  We need to protect our water by passing the Great Lakes Water Compact.
* The entire reason we went out was to visit my wife's brother and his family.  Well, they used to live in South Haven and we used to see them about a dozen times a year.  But jobs for PhD chemists dried up in Michigan and they headed out of state.  So, my kids lost a close relationship with their cousins and Michigan lost two highly educated workers (my sister-in-law is a cardiac nurse) because of Engler, Clinton's NAFTA and MFN with China, and Bush's horrible economic policies.  Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, the Pacific, that was all great.  I'd rather have a better family life and boating on Lake Michigan.  The economy is for us ... when will we realize that?

Oh, and yeah, nature is pretty cool, indeed sublime.

PS: California was great, but I'm still a Michigan Man.  A nature that's mostly blue and green, beats one that is mostly yellow almost any month.

So, we'll push on with our Handicapping Series of the State House races and them begin our Candidate Profiles for the State House, then County Commissioners, etc, and we won't forget our three Congressional candidates either.  All while covering our county parties, the news, and the state-wide and national candidates as they come to our neck of the woods.

The Wings Win the Cup, The Wings Win the Cup!!

by: philgoblue

Thu Jun 05, 2008 at 08:36:07 AM EDT

Lord Stanley's Cup Returns to Hockeytown

All of Michigan Celebrates! (maybe even Adam)

The Detroit Red Wings rode two old goalies, a half-dozen Swedish imports, talented youngsters and experienced veterans to a title.

Henrik Zetterberg capped off a Conn Smythe-winning postseason by scoring the game-winner in the third period, as the Wings beat the Pens, 3-2, to clinch the 11th Stanley Cup Championship in franchise history.

The Red Wings' players, coaches and staff will participate in a parade to celebrate the 2008 Stanley Cup championship on Friday, June 6 starting at 11 a.m. EDT.  The parade will end with a celebration rally at Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit.

Having been a Wings fan since I was a kid and having been in Michigan for most of the Stevie Y era, I can still say this was the best of all Red Wings teams in the last 30 years.

Congrats Wings, you made Michigan proud!

Just What This State Needs: More Wolverines!

by: philgoblue

Tue Jun 03, 2008 at 12:43:51 PM EDT

Wagner's The Flying Dutchman and Other Opera Grand Rapids News

by: philgoblue

Mon Apr 28, 2008 at 12:12:48 PM EDT

This coming weekend, Opera Grand Rapids presents Richard Wagner's The Flying Dutchman.

For his past transgressions, a Dutch sea captain is cursed to sail the Seven Seas until Judgment Day, unless he can be redeemed by one woman's true love.   In Wagner's stormy re-telling of the picturesque and macabre legend of The Flying Dutchman, the audience is swept away by atmospheric music and thundering choruses.  
So, if you like your opera with extra helping of gloom and doom, see you there!
Sung in German with projected English titles

Wagner's The Flying Dutchman.

May 2 & 3, 7:30 pm
DeVos Performance Hall
303 Monroe Ave, Grand Rapids
Conducted by: Robert Lyall
Directed by: Robert Lyall
Featuring: The Grand Rapids Symphony

And in other opera news...

Opera Grand Rapids is building a $2 million, two-story, 14,000-square-foot building, which will provide the company with a rehearsal hall, costume shop, property storage and offices.

The new home of Opera GR will open next year on East Fulton Street, west of Carlton Avenue, not far from Aquinas College (a lovely little Catholic liberal arts college, fyi).  It'll be named The Betty Van Andel Opera Center (BVAOC) after the lead donor (the Van Andel Foundation gave $1 million). To complete the BVAOC, Opera Grand Rapids launched a Capital Campaign with a goal of $1,950,000. As of mid-April the Company has raised more than $1,360,000 or roughly 70% of its campaign goal.

Fundraising (pdf pledge form) for the BVAOC will continue throughout the spring and summer. Ground breaking for the project is expected to take place in the summer, with plans for the Company to occupy the facility by 2009.