Friday, July 17, 2009

BHB Review of: Hail To The Victors 2009

I'm not a big fan of those college football preview magazines. (Editors note: HTTV 2009 is not one of those magazines!) They give you one page of information on your favorite team in a magazine full of information you don't need or care about. Let me save you a couple of dollars and will highlight for you what they will say about Michigan this year :


Michigan was terrible last year in Rich Rodriguez first year. They didn't have a QB to run his offense and the defense played terrible and under achieved. Michigan is now in it's second year in RR's offense and the defense again has a new defense coordinator with the hiring of Greg Robinson, former Syracuse head man. Michigan will be better on Offense with a year of experience but beware! they again will have a new freshman QB with Tate Forcier under center. Tate was an accurate passer in high school but will that translate to D1 football as true freshman? Either way he will be an upgrade from last year combo of Nick Sheridan and Stephen Threet (transferred to Arizona State) . The defense will be better but not great. Look for Michigan to make a bowl game and finish 7-5.

Mable Street Press: Hail to the Victors 2009 is not one of those magazines. In fact, it's a very well written book on what the 2009 Wolverines will look like. It goes into deep discussion about the depth chart, Greg Robinson's hybrid linebacker position, a review of each opponent on Michigan's schedule, a interview with "savior" Tate Forcier, and some great stories about Michigan teams of the past.

The price is value at 12.99 per copy and the chapter titled The Last Autograph, Perhaps written by Craig Ross is worth the price of admission just for this chapter. If you are a fan of Bo and have a love for the Wolverines, this chapter will move you to laugh and cry all in a few pages.

Brian Cook is the editor and the proprietor of one of the best college football blogs called Mgoblog. Brian has enlisted his friends and colleagues to help him write the 2009 version of HTTV. So it's filled with things that will educate and entertain you. Some of the folks that contributed to this book include: Matt Hinton, from Yahoo's Dr. Saturday, Craig Ross author of Obscene Diaries of a Michigan Fan, Dan Feldman who has covered Michigan football for the Michigan Daily, John Bacon co-author of Bo's Lasting Lessons, and many others.

It's everything you need to know about 2009 Wolverines but were afraid to ask. It's a quick read so pick it before a long plane trip or take it to the beach on vacation. The only negative, I could see is the lack for information on future 2009 star and red shirt freshman Roy Roundtree, the favorite target of Tate Forcier in the Spring Game. Roy spent some time with Tate and his family in California this summer and I expect them to have a special bond as the season starts. Could he have a Mario Manningham like start in the ND game on September 12th? Let's hope so.

This is one of those preview magazines on steroids! (in this case, steroids are a good thing :-)) Go out and buy it.

5 comments:

GregGoBlue said...

Whoa whoa, Roy spent time with Tate's family in Cali? When was this?!

I must admit that I too was encouraged by Roy's coming out party in the spring game. We need as much split end involvement as we can if we will ever be able to run the ball without opposing safeties crowding the line. Having Roundtree keep 'em honest would be a good thing.

Anonymous said...

FYI - if you skim this, first para only, it looks like you are speaking ill of maple street mag. I was reading it and thinking, 'hm, it didn't look that bad', until i got to the latter paragraphs.

someone else might not get that far....?

just a thought

Bob said...

my intent was to show how different it is from those preview mags.

Bob said...

Yes, Tate's mom tweeted about Roy being in California and her picking him up at the Airport a couple of weeks ago.

GregGoBlue said...

You're following Tate's mom on twitter? Let nobody question your fanhood.