The Victors: Project OSPREY
Saturday, 1 December 2012
(№ 3) Michigan 74-66 Bradley
7-0, Big Ten 0-0

I did not see the Bradley game, but I have read that in the closing stages, as their epithetless squad went down to defeat, the Bradley students began to chant "Overrated!," as if the valiant Wolverines had somehow embarrassed themselves in the victory. It takes fortitude not to be a sore loser; judge not too harshly the students of Bradley, for they are young. The many defeats they will endure in the long lives ahead of them will offer ample opportunities for them to learn sportsmanship & to cultivate fortitude.

Tuesday, 4 December 2012
(№ 3) Michigan 73-41 Western Michigan
8-0, Big Ten 0-0

Saturday, 8 December 2012
(№ 3) Michigan 80-67 Arkansas
9-0, Big Ten 0-0

The valiant Wolverines made things a wee bit more exciting than they needed to be, at one point in the second half allowing the epithetless Razorbacks to draw within a single point, but thereafter reasserted themselves & made their free throws down the stretch to win by double digits. My attention was not riveted to the second-half rally because I was engaged in conversation with my father, who has an irrational disdain for Michigan's head coach, John Beilein. I explained patiently that this year's valiant Wolverines are a more balanced squad than those of seasons past, with more of an inside game & less dependence on three-point shooting. The valiant Wolverines' victory has the one hundredth of Coach Beilein's tenure in Ann Arbor, & the 9-0 start is Michigan's first since 1988-89, a season that saw the valiant Wolverines win their last national championship. (I'm not getting ahead of myself, I'm not predicting similar success for this year's squad, but it occurred to me that not to mention the national championship would be to cower before superstition, a baseless desire not to "jinx" the '12-'13 valiant Wolverines. I adore sport, but I have no time for sport's superstitions.)

Next: The valiant Wolverines return to action tonight, against Binghamton (S.U.N.Y. Binghamton? I'm not sure.), the third of three consecutive home games.

Go Blue!

The Rebel Black Dot Christmas Song of the Day
Dean Martin, "White Christmas" from Christmas with Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, & Dean Martin (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary:

"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write…"