Maize and Blue- Bits and Pieces: 2/19/08

I don't like to start with bad news, but I do like to finish with good news, so you're going to have to put up with the bad news right up front.

David Merritt is done for the season:

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – University of Michigan men's basketball coach John Beilein announced Tuesday (Feb. 19) that senior guard David Merritt (West Bloomfield, Mich./West Bloomfield HS) will miss the remainder of the season after tearing the medial meniscus in his left knee against Ohio State (Feb. 17).

No, Merritt wasn't our best player. Not by a long shot. His career best game was Sunday, a seven point, four assist outing before leaving with the injury. His performance on the court is not what he's known for on the team, however. Coach Beilein puts it best:

"His overall stats are not even close to what David means to this team. He is just a wonderful leader both on and off the court."

In what will most likely be his last game in a Michigan uniform, Merritt showed as much heart as anyone on the floor, hitting a three pointer and two impressive lay-ups to extinguish an Ohio State run.

Thanks for the effort, David. Your presence will be missed, on and off the court.

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The Detroit Free Press is reporting on a Rivals.com article that quotes Terrelle Pryor on a multitude of things, none of which have anything to do with "The Riot at South Fayette" (let's pretend Fayette rhymes with riot, because makes the nickname exponentially cooler.)

What Pryor's quotes do allude to, however, is that he's not coming to Ann Arbor. "Blasphemy!" you say. "Which quotes could you have possibly misconstrued to prove that?!" you ask.

Pryor admits he was set to sign with Ohio State the day before Feb. 6, but a conversation with his father, Craig, made him think twice.

Ouch. That clearly doesn't sting us as badly as it does Ohio State, because he was minutes from signing with them. Literally. He was going to sign a piece of paper with a big red 'O' on it, until his dad said "Not so fast, my friend!"

And while we're not in any worse of a position as we were 15 minutes before he was going to sign his LOI, we're not exactly in better standing:

"I've seen everything at Michigan, but I didn't get to see everything at Ohio State," he said. "I am still in touch with all the Ohio State commitments I've become friends with, but they're being really cool about it, not pressuring me."

Translation: "Michigan can't really do anything to change my mind, short of paying me. Lots. Ohio State, on the other hand, I'd like to see more of what they have to offer."

And with coaches only able to call recruits once a week, it's tough for RichRod to get in a position to be persuasive more than that. I'll give us a 5% chance at landing him.

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MAIZE AND BLUE SPORTS HAS A NEW WRITER!

Daniel, a Michigan graduate currently living in Columbus (yeah, I know), is going to be helping me out here at M&B Sports. He's a fantastic writer, as you'll see in his first post (likely going up tomorrow morning).

For now, he'll mostly be covering hockey, but he's such a fantastic writer, and good personality for the blog that I wouldn't be surprised if he very quickly turns into a general sports poster.

Everyone welcome Dan to the blog, and leave him a nice welcome message in the comments.

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Others:

• Lloyd Carr will be receiving his 2007 Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year award on March 4, at 7pm. You, yes you, can purchase tickets to the event. Check the link for details.

• Freshman forward Aaron Palushaj was named the CCHA rookie of the week for this past week, which included three assists in a weekend sweep of Lake Superior State.

• Another freshman player out of Ann Arbor won player of the week honors this past week as well, Michigan Guard Manny Harris. In big wins over Iowa and Ohio State, Harris shot 57% from three point range, 94% from the charity stripe, and averaged 21 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. Wow.

• Former Michigan hockey player Kevin Quick has been charged with identity theft.

Leave a message for me in the comments, and Go Blue!

Gaining Momentum

Just a quick post to let you guys know of a few things that are going on here at Maize and Blue Sports.

The main topic I want to address is that this blog is going to be different than many, in that it is going to be run by quite a few different guys, who I will hand pick.

Ideally there will be a writer for all major sports in Ann Arbor (football, basketball, hockey, baseball, more?) and maybe one or two more that just cover everything, but for now we're taking it pretty slow.

I have, however, chosen one writer already. He's really impressed me with his knowledge and writing style, and I know you guys are going to really enjoy reading his stuff. He really is a great writer and a great guy.

I'll be introducing him in a post later this evening, and you can expect to see his first post tomorrow, most likely.

This is just the beginning. Maize and Blue Sports is going to continue to grow quite a bit over the next few weeks, and I hope that you guys will be with us through it all.

Thanks for reading, and Go Blue!

Maize and Blue - Bits and Pieces: 2/18/08

Surprisingly enough, there is quite a bit of noteworthy Michigan sports news for a random Monday in February. Let's take a look.

Of course you've heard that Michigan beat Ohio State for the first time, in any sport, in about thirteen years. The victory came in a thriller yesterday that was back and forth for the whole first half, resulting in a tie at halftime. Michigan played some fantastic basketball in the second half, which enabled them to overtake the Bucks with 16:32 left in the second half, and they would never relinquish the lead, resulting in an 80-70 win.

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If there wasn't enough negativity around #1 QB recruit Terrelle Pryor, we can throw another con to his resume: he can't handle hostile crowds.

That's a pretty interesting piece, although it's continued from C-1, which is clearly nonexistent. Probably worth a read. Here are some of the more interesting excerpts, however.

Given Pryor's stature, he's prone to abuse, particularly in the intimate setting of a basketball court. The Lions' student section certainly came prepared.

One student dressed in a red sweater vest - think Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel. Each time Pryor took his position for free throws, he heard it.

"Hey, Pryor, look, it's Jim Tressel."

"Here's your daddy for the next four years."

That's actually pretty clever. No biggie, really. No hostility, no vulgarity, nothing too bad.

In a tension-packed game befitting a championship stage instead of a quarterfinal match-up, Pryor jawed at the South Fayette students. His actions only incited them further.

Two South Fayette students were ejected from the gymnasium during the fourth quarter. The first left peacefully as the Jeannette fans cheered. The second made a major mistake. He put his hands on a policemen attempting to escort him from the stands.

With everything that's said by fans during basketball games, you've got to wonder what these two did to get ejected and escorted away by police, but the article doesn't elaborate on what they said. It does, however, elaborate on how Pryor reacted.

He continued his dialogue with fans. Then, after post-game handshakes, Pryor immediately went toward the student section.

Following a ridiculous, prolonged exchange, Pryor's teammates intervened.

I'm wondering how long it took for teammates, coaches, or anyone associated with Terrelle for that matter to say "You know what? This might not be the best thing."

Based on the articles wording, it took much too long.

But that's not all, folks.

One officer, however, did not appreciate the direction of the conversation. He was present when Pryor accosted the South Fayette fans.

"You're lucky we didn't take your kid (Pryor) in," the officer said. "He threatened to go into the crowd."

Wow. Are we sure we want this kid? Some hecklers get to him at a basketball game, and not only does he confront them after the post-game handshakes, he threatens to go into the crowd? He could have been taken in by the police?

I wouldn't mind landing this kid by any means, but if he can't handle a high school basketball crowd, imagine what he'll do at the 'Shoe, Happy Valley, or The Big House. Can't wait.

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Others:

• Seven Wolverines will be participating in the NFL Scouting Combine. Best of luck, guys. Make us proud.

• RichRod's halftime speech against the Buckeye's was pretty darn good:

“I’ve been called a lot of things,” he said with the microphone still in hand. “But the best thing somebody called me was a former letterman who said ‘Coach Rod, you are a Michigan man.’”

Go Blue.