Bleacher Report - Articles by Dan Aldrich

Why Michigan Has The Best College Football Program Of All Time

Dan Aldrich — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 18:11:58 -0500

Well, where to start. There are so many reasons to why The Michigan Wolverines are the #1 college football team in the history of NCAA Football.

Of course every Ohio State fan is going to argue this just because of how ignorant most are. Recent history means nothing when measuring all time dominance.

Notre Dame fans will argue this too with all they can throw at our faces. Let me remind you little leprechauns that The University of Michigan(that's right Ohio State I used the word The before the name) literally taught your team how to play football.

Maybe this will let some OSU fans know that Michigan really is #1 of all time. Even some other fans of other teams or prospective fans trying to choose a team.

If you're a Michigan fan and just don't know all the history then here is your chance to learn a few things.

Michigan has 872 wins and a .740 winning percentage. This is good enough for #1 in Div. 1-A football history.

They have compiled 110 winning seasons and 25 undefeated seasons since 1879. More than any other team in history.

Michigan is only one of three teams to have a winning record against independent schools and every Division 1-A football conference. Not bad considering how many conferences are in football.

Michigan's 1901 team was the first team to ever go undefeated, untied and not allow a team to score a point on them and win the Rose Bowl without being scored on. The 1901 team also won the National Championship, the first in Michigan Wolverine Football history.

You have to like the National Championships at 11, tied with Notre Dame. After Rich Rodriguezs' system is in with his players we could see No. 12.

When it comes to Conference Championships, Michigan has 42 compared to Ohio State's 35. Once again this will be fixed with Rich Rod and his system.

The Wolverines have had only 8 losing seasons ever. The last shutout they have suffered was on October 20, 1984 against Iowa. That is a streak of 287 games.

Michigan Stadium also known as "The Big House" is the biggest(or second biggest because I know Penn State fans will call me out on this) and one of the most well known football stadiums in America. It will host over 108,000 fans when renovations are complete in 2010 beating Beaver Stadium(again).

The original capacity of Michigan Stadium started at 72,000 with footers to allow expansion for up to 200,000 fans. It is "The House That Yost Built". Before renovations the capacity was 107,501. Extra seat? That was for coach Fielding Yost.

Okay, now back to comparing and making fun of Ohio State. All Michigan fans like that. Why wouldn't we? They suck.

Michigan's: The Victors is one of the most widely recognized songs in college football today. It was wrote after a last minute comeback over the University of Chicago, that clinched the Western Championship, hence the line "champions of the West".

It also shows we are better than Ohio State. They take a song written by The U of M after an embarrassing loss, when Michigan's song was after a great and prideful defeat.

The song is so great that Gerald Ford had it play at his Presidential Inauguration. Before he died he said he wanted "The Victors" played at his funeral so he could hear just one more time.

For all of you Michigan fans, if their is anything I missed that you would like to add, I want to know.

This should bring great pride and strength to all fans out there and realize that we will be back. Michigan will never go away.

The Wolverines will once again hold that trophy high above their heads. They will once again be No. 1.

GO BLUE!!

Mangini Active Already: Browns Deal Winslow To Bucs

Dan Aldrich — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 13:04:57 -0500

Within the first 13 hours of free agency Eric Mangini has been active. Kellen Winslow was traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Little is known about the trade yet. The only thing known is that the Browns are receiving undisclosed draft picks.

"The Cleveland Browns thank Kellen for his contributions to this organization over the past five years. We appreciate his passion for the game and wish him success in Tampa Bay,"said Browns General Manger George Kokinis.

Winlsow his struggled recently and has become a burden for the team. Many fans do not think Winslow is a team player.

This seems to be a good thing for the Browns at the moment. More draft picks will definitely help them. This will also free up some cap space in which the Browns may be able to pick up a free agent or two to fill some holes.

The Browns really need to address the RB issue, Jamal Lewis' tank is running on E. With a little cap space free now they could try to pick up somebody and Derrick Ward could be a good man for the job.

The Browns do not need a long term fix at the position right now. Picking someone up via free agency could let them address other holes in that horrible defense they have with the draft.

Also the Browns already have Steve Heiden, who has proven to be a big threat at the TE position, and is a much better pass blocker. He is also more of a team oriented player than what Winslow is.

Winlsow's stats in 44 games with the Browns are 219 receptions, with 2,459 yards and 11 touchdowns. He missed his first two seasons.

His first year he was injured the first game in which it ended his season. During the off season the following year he was in a motorcycle accident which would lead to him missing another one.

I don't know how people feel about this but as a Brown fan I'm already liking Mangini. This move comes at a great time and brings us some very crucial draft picks.

Good luck to you Kellen. Have a nice career and enjoy your time with your new team.

With little known at this time I will update as soon as I know more details.

Cardinals Or Steelers?

Dan Aldrich — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 22:44:40 -0500

I myself really believe that the Steelers defense is the biggest reason you win games most of the time. I think Ben is a little overrated, yes his numbers are good. If you watch most of his passes are short little dump passes and his WR's and TE's are good enough to run it around.

Not to mention they have Willie Parker. Either way it goes it's not going to be a blowout. It's going to be a hard fought game no matter what.

Woodley will be the biggest impact on defense getting around that line. Polamalu will end up looking like a human in this game.

The Cardinals will need to be creative because James is going nowhere, I'll give him 10 carries for about 32 yards if that. Don't be surprised to see a trick play in there somewhere to Fitzgerald. You know they have a little something for a rainy day.

The Steelers are going come out blitzing hardcore in that first drive or so and that could decide the outcome. If the line can hold it off then they will score some points for sure. Warner has proved that if there is a receiver open he will find them. He has a potential of a great game if that line holds up.

As for the Steelers offense, Ward is going to be used as a distraction most of the time, because they will be double covering him, and that will give Holmes and Washington a chance to get open. Let's hope Ward is running his routes well or they won't need the double coverage on him.

I look for a decent amount of points in this game, with Arizona being able to hold off the blitz for the majority of the game, especially because I don't see them rushing Polamolu too often, he'll be in coverage all night.

Final score: Cardinals-31 Steelers-27

Can Eric Mangini Give the Cleveland Browns the Discipline They Lack?

Dan Aldrich — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 16:36:44 -0500

There's no doubt about it. The Cleveland Browns once again needed a new coach. The only question is did they do it right this time? Only time will tell, but Browns fans do not want to wait another three years to see if it works out this time.

A decade of football and the Browns have yet to win a single playoff game. Yes they did make the playoffs once. What happened after that? They completely lost it the next year. It was the same case last year to this year. Once again Browns fans had something to be excited about and it all came tumbling down.

The main thing the Browns need is not talent, there is no lack of talent on this team. Only a lack of good coaching and most of all Discipline. The Browns did not play as a team in 2008, you just had a bunch of guys running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Yet we still saw the same dysfunctional "family" take the field week in and week out. They beat the Giants and thought they were all back to the way things were before and so did Romeo.

The problem is Romeo you have to keep pushing your players to do that, I mean that was laying the smack down on the Super Bowl Champs. You thought everything would be fine and didn't keep getting your guys ready like you did that night.

Every time something went bad Romeo would go curl up in the corner and cry like a little girl. Nice way to teach your players to be pansies which is what they looked like all season. Phil Savage didn't help matters with his teenage behavior.

Come on Romeo, get mad, get mean, get in your players faces every once in a while. Throw your headset and playbook on the ground, show the players who's in charge. Scream your head off and if they mouth back, well then say "Who's Your Daddy." You don't have to always do this, but get your message across and unite you team, make them realize it takes more than a superstar to win an NFL game.

Your job was not to be their friend, it was to coach them and make them a football team, not some joke on the football field. Now I realize not all this was Romeo's fault but the lack of discipline and just terrible clock management was the majority of the problems the Browns had. There were guys going around and running their mouths like they were invincible, trash talking should be saved for after the game. Yet nothing was ever done about it.

Now we talk about Mangini and his abilities to bring our team back to the glory days.Not all players enjoyed playing under Mangini which isn't necessarily a good thing. It does show that he can bring discipline to a team, but can he tone it down enough now to not tear another team apart? I myself don't like the hiring, the Browns did not look hard enough or long enough in their search.

Mangini brings all new coaches to the franchise. Almost all of which he has worked with before which means these guys have chemistry obviously. That should be to the Browns benefit and maybe get these guys in line. I wish Mangini luck and I will stand behind him either way. You don't have a big time frame to work with.

If you can't do it I don't see the Cleveland Browns existence around much longer. Good luck and I hope you do it right. This may be the last shot for Cleveland.

Henrik Zetterberg: The Next Steve Yzerman?

Dan Aldrich — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 20:45:42 -0500

Zetterberg is a great thing for the Red Wings. We may have another Steve Yzerman on our hands.

Now, I'm not comparing him to Stevie Y, because he was a lifelong Red Wing that was arguably the best Red Wing ever. I think Zetterberg has the potential to be a staple in the franchise, though, similar to Yzerman. He is a great leader, and will continue to lead the Red Wings.

The team knows when they have a special player, and they keep them as long as possible. What player would say no to them? You have a franchise like the Red Wings, and know you have a chance of winning the Stanley Cup every year you play.

Good job Detroit. If they keep making moves like this, they will continue winning the Cup. They will be a contender every year.