The Victors
Michigan 35-31 Notre Dame
2-0, Big Ten 0-0

Holy moley! What is there to say, really? If you watched the game, you understand the emotional roller coaster 'twas; if you didn't watch the game, or if you did but don't hold Fielding Yost's "deathless loyalty" to Michigan, no meager words of mine can explain it. The fellow with whom I was watching the game at Where's Teddy?'s house said that Notre Dame's final touchdown took "two years off his life." I thought that curious only because of the specificity of the years forfeited. I admit to a certain despondency during the first quarter, lamenting above all else the lack of progress the valiant Wolverines' defense had made since last season's futile displays. As is my habit, perhaps a bad habit, once that initial wave of anguish had washed over me I regained my composure & adopted a stiff upper lip. I was as equanimous as possible in the later quarters, the words of Rudyard Kipling foremost in my mind: "If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster/And treat those two impostors just the same;" (from "If—"). Of course, I was aided in this equanimity by the knowledge that Where's Teddy? was slumbering blissfully upstairs, thus muting the loud outbursts I surely would have ejaculated had I been in mine own home, watching the game on mine own television.



Of course, my relative calm paled in comparison with that of Coach Brady Hoke in his on-field interview. I get that his joy over the win was tempered by the abysmal manner in which the valiant Wolverines performed for vast swaths of the contest, but even so his self-possession was in the ballpark of being preternatural. Here is a man who genuinely recognizes triumph & disaster for the impostors they are. Is this evidence that I was wrong in my assessment of Hoke's suitability to lead the Leaders & Best back to being Champions of the "West"? Did I underestimate the man to whom has been entrusted the hopes & dreams of so many, myself included? Was I lead to incorrect conclusions by his 47-50 record as a head coach? (Prior to coming to Michigan, that is; Brady Hoke's career head coaching record currently stands at 49-50.) Whatever its bearing or lack of same on Michigan's future prospects, Hoke's composure in the immediate aftermath of the game's thrilling conclusion impressed me mightily.

Less impressive, in fact downright ominous, is the A.P. Top 25 poll. Michigan isn't ranked, thank all that is dark & profane, but accumulated more votes than any other unranked team, making the valiant Wolverines the unofficial № 26 team. Amos Alonzo Stagg, what are the voters (this country's sport reporters) thinking? Did they not see how long it took for the offense to make a first down? Did they not spy all the dropped passes, not catch all the overthrown passes? Did they not spot the titanic holes in the rush defense, not detect the ethereal nature of the pass defense? Did they not understand how accommodating the vile Fighting Irish were in so often turning over the pigskin? I thrilled to the valiant Wolverine's come-from-behind win & applaud still their grit & perseverance, but I also know how precarious a victory 'twas. The latter-day Yostmen walked on the very edge of defeat, & claimed victory only by the thinnest of margins (both figurately & literally, our final touchdown being scored with a scant two second remaining in the sixty-minute contest). № 26? Mayhap, but not based on anything we did on Saturday.

Next up: Eastern Michigan University, the epithetless Eagles (formerly the noble Hurons before misguided "political correctness" ruined that link to E.M.U.'s past). "Emu" has a new assistant coach who might interest the Wolverine faithful, Mike Hart, Michigan's all-time career rushing leader. As we gleefully proclaimed in the halcyon days of wee Hart's tireless runs, "You've got to have Hart!"

Bonus R.B.D.S.O.T.D. for Saturday, 10 September
The University of Michigan Marching Band, "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" from A Saturday Tradition (T.L.A.M.)

Go Blue!

*
An interesting piece on French efforts to preserve the Atlantic Wall, the line of fortifications build by Organisation Todt under Hitler's orders in order to defend his Fortress Europe (Festung Europa) against invasion-cum-liberation by the United Nations (the formal name of "the Allies" during the Second World War): Atlantikwall-link. I of course favor the preservation of as many of the fortifications & works as is practicable,

The Rebel Black Dot Song of New York of the Day
The Pogues, "Fairytale of New York" from The Very Best of The Pogues (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: On the face of it, "Fairytale of New York" would seem to have little to say specifically about Old New Amsterdam, beyond the line in the chorus about "the boys in the N.Y.P.D. Choir were singing 'Glory Be.'" But "Fairytale" tells the immigrant's tale, & while America is throughout a nation of immigrants, New York occupies a unique place in the story of late 19th & early 20th century immigration. The five boroughs continue to attract immigrants from around the globe, & even from other parts of these United States, amongst them my boon companions Mrs. Skeeter, Esq. & The Sardine, &, before his relocation to the den of iniquity that is the City of Broad Shoulders, Ki-El.

*I, too, am shocked that The Secret Base doesn't have an occasional feature dedicated specifically to historical remembrance. Or does it, in the form of "Operation AXIOM"? Since its inception, I've thought of AXIOM as being tasked to recall specific dates & those dates' events, but perhaps its mandate should be expanded. Operation AXIOM, the commemoration of anniversaries or the more general remembrance of all things past? Or, here's an idea, maybe I should just ape the old "Times Past" issues of the incomparable Starman.

Of course, looking back, the above paragraph itself should appear under the "Code Name: CHAOS" title. Eh, I'm the only one who gives a tinker's damn anyway; so, here I shall exercise my freedom to be inconsistent & not give that tinker's damn.