The Victors | Project OSPREY
The excellent chaps at the blog UMHoops.com have, like true Michigan men, taken yesterday's loss in their stride: disappointed by the loss, but proud of the valiant Wolverines for earning their way into the national championship game. Valuable perspective, the concluding paragraph from a frank, no-punches-pulled recap of the highs & lows of the defeat to Louisville (found here):

"Michigan came painfully close to the ultimate goal but the bottom line is that this program is back. A Michigan basketball program that only dreamed of making the NCAA tournament when John Beilein took over in 2007 is now competing for championships. Two years ago that was still rhetoric, now [it's] reality."

There were no consolatory text messages last night to parallel the congratulatory text messages from Saturday night. That is a pity, not because I needed the consolation (I prefer to grieve on my own) but because it casts suspicion on some of Saturday's text messengers. They're willing to share a victory, replete with reflected glory, but not to share a defeat, replete with shame? Fair weather frauds! I am a Michigan Wolverine, possessed of a loyalty that cannot be sundered; I stand with the valiant Wolverines, the athletic representatives of the University of Michigan, through both defeat & victory. I hope the same is true of those who sent text messages on Saturday night but not on Monday night, & that yesterday they were too upset by the Maize & Blue's misadventure to transmit text messages.

Go Blue!

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day: SKApril
The Ninjas, "Thunderstorm" from Platypus (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: The thunderstorm in "Thunderstorm" is metaphorical, standing in for the turbulence in a romantic entanglement. The thunderstorm in the real world was literal. Even during SKApril, the R.B.D.S.O.T.D. still reflects my moods & the happenings in my daily life; that is precisely what makes it the Song of the Day.