Happy Birthday!
Best wishes for the happiest of birthdays to The Ace (formerly code named "The Professor")! The Ace is bar-none the smartest person I know, & that's saying quite a bit considering I know such massive brainiacs as The L.A.W.; Mrs. Skeeter, Esq.; Brother-in-L.A.W.; Comrade Coquettish; & Doctor Hee-Haw. (No offense is intended to anyone on the list, nor to anyone left off; I'm attempting a dispassionate estimation of raw mental prowess & consider, even with my bloated ego, myself outpaced by each of the above.) The Ace remains in many ways a mystery, but I also know him to be one of my best & truest chums; he is not just my friend, he isa fellow Blue Tree Whacker. Even now, as a triumvir of Project TROIKA alongside K. Steeze & yours truly, The Ace is hard at work on Tier 3 of that amazing endeavour, the second draft of the TROIKA novel, the title of which remains a B.T.W. secret. The Ace is my collaborator, my erstwhile bandmate in Murky Transport Disaster, & most dearly, my friend. Happy birthday, Jonathan!

There isn't really an extant category for this kind of hyperlink; so, I'll just say: Yikes! Late 19th & early 20th century anarchists played a vital, if underplayed in the conventional wisdom, rôle in fomenting the Great War. We would do well to fear, & thus act to prevent, what horrors 21st century anarchists might visit upon us in pursuit of their twisted, immoral philosophy. (Mayhap I should have categorized this under our occasional feature "The War for Civilization.")

The Victors: Project OSPREY
Sunday, 6 February
Michigan 65-62 Penn State
14-10, Big Ten 4-7

Yes, the ferocious Nittany Lions were the valiant Wolverines' last victory (76-69 on Sunday, 2 January) before the painful six-game losing streak, but that was in the friendly confines of Ann Arbor's Crisler Arena. In their own Bryce Jordan Center, Penn State had been giant-killers, posting four consecutive victories, including over ranked opponents Illinois (then-№ 16, 57-55) & Wisconsin (then-№ 15, 56-52). The valiant Wolverines displayed a lot of grit & maturity against Penn State, coming back from double-digit deficits in both halves when it would have been all-too-easy for such a young squad to panic, leading assuredly to ignominious defeat.

Next up is a two-game homestand against the plucky Wildcats & the wily Hoosiers, a pair of arguably lesser opponents to whom the valiant Wolverines lost on the road during the six-game winless nightmare, by far the two most gruesome & embarrassing losses of that baleful streak. Michigan doesn't have much to play for at this point other than pride & next year; in that light, the next two games are must-win.

Thursday, 3 February
(№ 1) Ohio State 62-53 Michigan
13-10, Big Ten 3-7

The valiant Wolverines had to face two opponents last Thursday night in the Value City Arena: the hated Buckeyes & the lousy Zebras. The lousy Zebras are a special team, the only team that gets to play in every single game, but do not mistake that broad perspective for impartiality; the lousy Zebras have an agenda, & when they put their minds to it they are almost impossible to beat. Michigan took a three-point lead into halftime against the № 1 team in country. On the road. The valiant Wolverines were going toe-to-toe with the hated Buckeyes. But Ohio State's coach had a very visible discussion with the lousy Zebras, a discussion upon which the E.S.P.N. commentators remarked, & after that everything changed. Prior to this game, I'd believed the hype about the hated Buckeye's freshman sensation, Jared Sullinger, but now I know that he's a very talented young man who wouldn't impress anybody if opposing players were allowed to guard him. Whenever a valiant Wolverine would step near Sullinger, the lousy Zebras would blow a whistle; Michigan's fouls were adding up more quickly than could be counted, & soon the hated Buckeyes were shooting free throws in the bonus & then in the double-bonus. At one point, Michigan's Darius Morris was thrown to the court, physically thrown to the ground by a trio of Ohio State players; no whistle was blown, no foul was assigned. Seconds later, a Michigan defender (Smotrycz, I think, but I'm not sure) approached Sullinger; before the hated Buckeye even made a move toward the basket, a foul was called on the valiant Wolverine. The hated Buckeyes are a good team: nine times out of ten, they'd beat the valiant Wolverines. But this was possibly that tenth game, possibly one Michigan could have stolen, until the lousy Zebras took their orders from Thad Matta & threw the game to the Scarlet & Gray. I can stand losing to superior opposition, but I cannot countenance losing to the verdammt referees.

Go Blue!

Project OSPREY
This upcoming weekend, I must make a effort to watch some non-Big Ten games in preparation for the looming N.C.A.A. Tournament.

Sunday, 6 February
(№ 18) Wisconsin 82-56 Michigan State

On the previous meeting between the dastardly Spartans & the pesky Badgers, in Michigan State's Breslin Center, Wisconsin dominated the game for thirty-nine minutes, only to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in a monumental - & literally last-minute - meltdown. But the pesky Badgers minded their P's & Q's & took care of business on Sunday in their own Kohl Center, where they enjoy perhaps the most ridiculous home-court advantage in all of college basketball. I wish I'd watched this more recent shellacking, but there were carpets to be hoovered & water closets to be scrubbed. Beyond the never-dulling joy of seeing Michigan State lose, a bonus of this latest loss is that the dastardly Spartans now have a record barely better than the valiant Wolverines': 13-10, Big Ten 5-6. Welcome to the neighborhood, you jerks.

Wednesdayday, 2 February
Iowa 72-52 Michigan State

Bwa ha ha ha! Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Bwa ha ha ha! Man alive, that was almost as much fun as Michigan's 87-73 win over Iowa on 30 January. I could scarcely believe the score when I tuned into the game at the beginning of the second half, & for the next twenty minutes of game time the fun just did not stop. Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha! My thanks to the tenacious Hawkeyes for a gay old time.

Tuesday, 1 February
(№ 18) Wisconsin 66-59 Purdue (№ 10)

I tried to console my father (Purdue '72) with an explanation of the pesky Badgers' advantageously lop-sided home record, but he's hear none of it. In his mind, the ill-starred Boilermakers have a natural & inherent right to win every game they play, & failure to do so is due solely to some foul up on their part.

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
The Dandy Warhols, "We Used to Be Friends" via iTunes (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: I know not wherefore, but this morning I thought about the exquisite television series Veronica Mars for the first time in too long. The R.B.D.S.O.T.D. is thus "We Used to Be Friends," used for all three seasons as the Veronica Mars theme song. Kristen Bell's performance in the titular rôle was a revelation, & she herself remains a vision.