When Brian writes on incredibly depressing subject matter, he often references and/or uses the music of one Steven Patrick Morrissey. Considering how incredibly awful August was (and it's the offseason!), I feel that it too deserves a song. And as this month has been so very soul crushing, I feel that it deserves an especially depressing song. I mean after all, it really really sucked. Here's a quick recap:

Detroit Tigers

The Tigers didn't have a terrible month on paper. They recovered slightly from a terrible start to the second half and finished the month at 13-16. However, there are several things that happened to make it seem a lot worse. First of all, we went to extra innings three times and lost all of them. Secondly, Edwin Jackson, who we traded to Arizona during the offseason and was picked up by the White Sox in a deadline deal, pitched against us twice, giving up only two runs in 14 innings. Thirdly, we went 8-16 against teams that aren't having atrocious seasons like Cleveland and Kansas City are. Fourthly, we went 3-6 against the White Sox and Twins. And finally, we started and ended the month with a loss, the latter featuring the generally consistent Phil Coke blowing a 7th inning lead against the aforementioned Twins to cost us the game.

In comparison to what follows, the Tigers had a very tame month.

United States Men's National Soccer Team

Bob Bradley got a four year extension. As in, the guy who had Adam Findley start every game in the World Cup that he was eligible for despite Findley being clearly over-matched every game got a four year extension. Bradley is known for his masterful second-half adjustments, but that is due in a large part to his inability to use common sense in making a starting lineup in the first place. SCS recently released a post on how dumb this move was (especially when considering our other options) and it really doesn't need to be hashed over in full again for the sake of the sanity of everyone who cares about the USMNT.

Our Secondary

Troy Woolfolk is out for the season. May our hopes for a semi-decent secondary this year rest in peace.

The Game

Michigan and Ohio State are in separate divisions. The Game is still going to be played at the end of the season, but the stakes are will almost certainly be less than they would be if Michigan and Ohio State were in the same division. And the worst part is that Michigan, Ohio State, and the Big Ten did this for a chance at increased profit without listening to the wishes of the fans.

Troy Woolfolk's injury alone is worthy of a depressing song. With all the other crap that's happened this month, it deserves this:

CBOX

...is no longer with us.


Yes, I know this is going overboard. I just wanted an excuse to use this.

Today we learned that perhaps our most important defender, one Troy “TWolf” Woolfolk, was injured in practice and could possibly be out for the season. The general reaction on the MgoMessageBoard was OMG DOOM. While I completely agree that this is a terrible injury, and people have every right to be upset, I don’t think its the end of the world. Here’s why:

First JT Floyd and Cullen Christian (who I assume will be the other starter) have not had significant playing time. Floyd played a little bit last year, and did not perform very well. Christian is a true freshman. Why should I be encouraged by this? We have no idea if these kids are the real deal or busts. They may very well be busts, but they could be Leon Hall and Charles Woodson V2.0. We don’t know and because we don’t know there is no reason to jump off of the cliff.

Second one guy does not make a defense. I don’t give a flying fuck how important you thought Woolfolk was to this Defense, there is ten other guys playing out there with him. I know nothing about last years defense gives people optimism for this year, but think of it this way. We return 8 starters, well 7 if you don’t count Woolfolk, these guys have all had a year to get more comfortable with this defense. Why can’t they be better, even with true freshman starting in the secondary?

Thirdly drink the fucking kool-aid, be optimistic. This is what the preseason is for. Talk shit to all of your friends who are fans of rival schools, let them know MICH is coming for them. Maybe we go 6-6 this year, but think about how good this team will be next year, with actual depth in the secondary. Everything happens for a reason, and maybe these kids grow into something special.

When Senior Troy Woolfolk arrived on Campus a few years ago, he was known as famous U of M running back Butch Woolfolks son. Butch who was a major contributor in Bo’s first Rose Bowl win, admittedly steered his son towards U of M. Hoping to become another one of the famous father son combinations at Michigan, Troy always felt he was his fathers son, not his own man.

Well not anymore. Troy is set to lead a revamped secondary into the 2010 season, people now know him as Troy, not Butch’s son. I think that young Mr. Woolfolk can be one of the best corners in the Big Ten. He realizes he is the leader of the secondary. This is a unit that was burned repeatedly last year, for big plays. Troy knows its time to leave him mark on the great U of M tradition.

The secondary loses top cover corner Donnavan Warren, who left early for the NFL. Woolfolk and JT Floyd figure to be the starting corners. Floyd, who a lot of people with the time, thought was the most improved performer in the spring. I really have a lot of  confidence that this duo can be very good. Floyd is a strong physical kid who I feel is going to develop into a shutdown corner.

The Wolverine 2010 football preview issue, has Cam Gordon listed as the projected starting FS. Cam is a redshirt freshman with tons of athletic ability. No experience to speak of but I think Cam bodes well as the last line of defense for the Wolverines. Jordan Kovacs is projected to be the starter at the Bandit position while Thomas Gordon is the projected starter at the Spur position. I’m not much of an x’s and o’s guy but I believe that both of these positions are expected to not only help contain the run, but also be able to help out in pass coverage. We all know what Kovacs can do. The former walk on has been the target of a lot of hate from the MICHiverse. However this was a guy who was an All Freshman Big Ten performer and a Freshman All American, this dude is going to be a beast, as long as he doesn’t have to be relied on for deep coverage.

The secondary is a little bit thin, with a whole lot of youth coming in. I would expect true freshman Cullen Christian to be a contributor this year. This is a 4 star recruit who has all of the tools to be a shut-down corner. Tony Gibson still has Justin Turner listed at corner, for all the talk of moving Turner to saftey, this is what Gibson says:

With Justin, the bad rap he gets is he's too big and he can't move as well, but I think that's completely false. Gibson said, I think the biggest thing with him is he doesn't have to strain to cover ground because he's so smooth. He's a 6-2 kid that can run, and it doesn't look like he's full speed all the time, but if you watch the ground he covers he is. I get on him in film, but then you watch him and everywhere he goes he's closing on people. I have no second thoughts about him being a corner. He can be a corner, and a good one.

Hmmmm sounds like Turner may have a future at the cornerback position. Vlad Emilien is listed as the top reserve free safety, hopefully he can climb back from all of those knee injuries and become a factor in the 2010 secondary.

I think this unit is poised to be much improved this year. There is more depth, Jordan Kovacs won’t be wandering around at the deep safety position, things are looking up. I think if this unit is even a little bit competent this is a team that could win 8-9 games.

A side note in programming. Recently there has been some Ad Hominem attacks against certain contributors to the liveblogs.  This is completely unnecessary. MM is supposed to be the spot that any Michigan fan can come to and not be harassed.  It’s fine to joke around, we all do a lot of that but making fun of a posters family or ideals is not going to be tolerated. I will raise the MM banhammer. If you don’t like something someone says on a LB, either ignore it or respond, but do so in an intelligent manner. Don’t act like you’re 5.

Also for your enjoyment, more music I’m hoping will contribute to the 2010 Wolverines success.