Fellow Michigan and more specifically Midnight Maize lovers, I must apologize for my absence, sometimes you take a wrong turn and end up where you least expect it. Anyways I’m back and look forward to continuing to blow your mind with the random nonsense I spew.

So when I last posted something our beloved hoops team was getting ready to beat Minnesota for the first time. Now our beloved hoops team has just SMACKED the crap out of Minnesota again. It was perhaps the most complete game our Wolverines had played all year.

As we all know the NCAA has hit our football team with 5 violations, IMO who really cares, the RichRod haters are going to hate until he does something positive, those of us that can see past the negative bs that has been written or said about him, know that our program is on the right track, no matter what some pencilneck with the NCAA has to say.

Finally before I put my keyboard down I want let all of the haters out there know, that when this ship rights itself, we are COMING FOR YOU!!

Tomorrow our Wolverines travel to Minnesota to take on the Golden Gophers (7 pm. Espn). Minnesota(14-8, 5-5) is probably a team that needs another signature win to have a legitimate shot of making the NCAA Tournament. This is the first meeting for these two teams this season.

Minnesota is coming off a two point win at Penn St. on Saturday. This is a team that has lost 4 of its last 6 but in all fairness two of those losses were against Michigan St. The Gophers are led in scoring by the two guards, Lawrence Westbrook and Blake Hoffarber. Ralph Sampson III clogs up the middle and could potentially provide some matchup problems for Michigan. Minnesota is without guard Al Nolen for the season, suspended due to academic issues, so they will need someone else to step up and score for them.

We all remember what happened the last time Michigan ventured into Minnesota. The Wolverines pulled out a huge road victory to wrap up their first birth in the NCAA tournament in 10 years. Well a year has gone by, and right now it looks like it will be another 10 years before we see the tournament again. The Wolverines offensive game plan will be, let Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims combine to score 40 points and pray to God that you can get 20 points from any combination of the rest of the team. We are a team that has lost 2 in a row and 5 of 6, we need a win to even think about making the NIT.

Last time I wrote a prediction for this blog, we were blown out at home. I stupidly predicted a Michigan win. Well fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. I realize stranger things have happened, but I wouldn’t bet any money on us winning this game.

Prediction: Minnesota 65 Michigan 56

So a thread on The Mothership got me thinking today. Some people believe that Devin Gardner should get some playing time next year. Some other people even believe that Gardner should be the starting QB. I have a question for these people. Did you watch any of 2009 and more specifically the beginning of the season. Tate Forcier was amazing, the two game winning touchdown drives, the way he marched M down the field the very first time he stepped on it. He was an absolute joy to watch. I screamed myself horse watching the Notre Dame game, not from anger but from sheer joy at watching this kid play.

Now as we all know, a lot of Forcier’s problems stemmed from the injury he received in the Indiana game. He played through a large part of the year with a partially torn labrum. Now think about this, even though he is just a little guy, think of how tough you would have to be to play though pain, while getting knocked around because your offensive line can’t protect you. I can’t speak for any other Michigan fans out there, but you would have to be nuts to want to see anybody else taking snaps next year. The zone read was a problem for Forcier, who often would make the wrong reads, but with another year of experience isn’t it reasonable to assume that he will be able to execute the zone read much better. If he improves just a little bit, think of how much better this offense will be. Keep in mind this was by no means a bad offense last year.

So then what happens to Denard? I think at least for next year he continues to play Quarterback. My hope is that Rich Rod will install a WolverineCat package for Denard. If he can learn how to execute the zone read, I think a WolverineCat package could be extremely effective. Denard’s biggest problem last year was that he made poor reads. I think that a year in the film room with the coaches will allow him to make much better reads. I also (along with everyone else) expect the coaches to experiment with Denard at other positions, whether it be slot receiver or running back.

So where does this leave Mr. Gardner? Hopefully on the bench taking notes for the first year. Fwiw I think this kid is going to be amazing, but I hate the idea of starting a freshman three years in a row. I do think that in the event of a Forcier injury Gardner probably burns his redshirt.

Michigan Hoops preview coming tomorrow.

I am proud to announce that Midnight Maize got two LOI to write for us. Both these guys are rated as 4 star writers with a lot of upside. I went out and got some writers to make the blog better. I am a terrible writer and needed some help. The traffic has been good but I know it can get even better with these some help from people who know how to write. I asked that they both write at least once a week. I hope we can build something here. Our Live blogs have been going really well and we will continue to build on those.

So you’re probably wondering what you are doing here? This isn’t a live blog, this isn’t a fantastic piece of MS Paint art. This is just words, They aren’t even good words, just plain old words. And you’re thinking to yourself, who in the heck is Dark Blue, he’s not Shredder, he’s not The Hulk, just who is this guy? Well that question I can answer my friends, I am Dark Blue, not Light Blue, but Dark Blue, like the color of those beautiful home football jerseys worn by Michigan.

So now that we’ve cleared that up, you’re thinking “why should I read this guys crap?” The answer is simple, you shouldn’t. I am not going to do anything to make you a more knowledgeable fan. I am not going to solve all of your dilemmas. My goal in writing for Midnight Maize is to help kill as many of your brain cells as possible. I hate brain cells, complete waste of space, we could be filling our heads with helium and floating all over if we didn’t have brain cells.

What I will do for you is give you a first person perspective on how hard it is to be a Michigan Man, in the midst of two awful football seasons. Not that you guys don’t know because I'm sure you do, I just feel compelled to tell you about the fistfights with OSU fans and being kicked out of a bar after Forcier throws his fifth pick against OSU. In all seriousness Ohio is the worst state ever, never under any circumstances go there, and if you are there right now reading this, run.