Michigan Friday: You Say Good Bye, I Say Helow

A bad sign? When your replacement is hired before you agree to leave your job. 

Hi Honey, who is that dude in the backyard?  He is my new husband.  Damn it! 

Michigan fans were excited that Chris Partridge came back to Ann Arbor, known as a player's coach and a great recruiter, we saw his career blossom in Ann Arbor before he got paid to go to Ole Miss.  Chris's reputation was just the opposite of George Helow's, who reportedly struggled on the recruiting trail and connecting with players.  The problem is, both guys coach linebackers and George was handpicked by Mike Macdonald.  Which now equates to looking for a new coaching gig.  Maybe a return to the Ravens, who knows?

• Kirk Campbell is getting paid $350K this year and $400K next

• ND hires its TE coach as OC to save a few dollars 

• The Michigan - MSU Basketball game is on this weekend 

• Tiger Woods is back and made his first 2023 appearance in chilly LA and shot -2 on Thursday afternoon.

• XFL starts this weekend with these former Wolverines on teams: De'veon Smith = Arlington, Kareem Walker = St. Louis, JBB = St. Louis, Lavert Hill = St. Louis.  Also names from the NFL you may remember include: Josh Gordon, Vic Beasley, and Martavis Bryant. 

Tiger Woods

As you know, I like to take a few golf detours from time to time on this blog.  Michigan Basketball is hot and Michigan Football is resetting, but after the events of yesterday I thought another detour was justified.  

I've always been a fan of Tiger Woods, I'm even old enough to remember him playing at Radrick Farms for a junior tournament back when he was just a cub.  His golf on the course and his life off it has been a bunch of highs and many lows.   Yesterday was another low and he is lucky to be alive.  

If you have watched the documentary on HBO that was recently released, Tiger has lived quite a life with a positive and negative role model in his father.  His father made him into a one of the most famous people in the world but his expectations that he was going to change it off the course was too much pressure for anyone to handle.   So Tiger resorted to off course activities that would make your grandma cringe.   The things he hated about his father, he has only repeated in his own life.   You could make a statement his life is more Rock Star then Golf Star.

Yesterday, reminded us again that life is precious and way too short.   The crunched up SUV brought back images of Kobe and the other passengers on that tragic helicopter flight only a year ago.   It also reminded us Tiger is not here for our Sunday's at the Masters or Father's Day at the US Open.  He is here for his kids and the rest of his family.   When the news of his condition was not available after his crash we all feared the worse.  At the end of the day, leaving that crash with a crushed leg and ankle, one should feel lucky.  

The golf fan in me, started to wonder how long his recovery would take and would he be ready for a run next season?  But that is a selfish take, isn't it?   Would the rods in his leg and ankle hold up with his powerful and dramatic swing that made him so famous? Or is this the end of a career for a man that has seen the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, only to come back to the mountain top.  Would the last competitive round be with his son before Christmas in the Orlando tournament.  

Tiger is a complicated man with a complicated story.   No matter what happen or how it happened yesterday, I'm happy he is still alive.  We all have had enough heart break for long long time.  

• 3 Michigan Basketball Commits earn McDonalds All American team

• MSU beat Illinois last night.  Thank you Sparty! 

• Michigan - Iowa on Thursday at 7:00 

Buick and Tiger Woods End Their Relationship

After 9 years of Buick and General Motors sponsoring Tiger Woods, GM announced today they are ending the contract between the Automotive Giant and the Sports World Giant.

GM said in a statement today that it is looking to reduce costs, and that the star golfer also wants more personal time as he expects his second child. GM’s vice president for North American sales, Mark LaNeve, says the separation is the result of discussions earlier in the year and is not related to the company’s campaign for $25 billion in loans from the federal government.

Two things to consider here:

1) If Tiger Woods cant' help you sell more cars, who can?

2) It's not related to the $25 billion buy out loan? It freaking better be! If you are asking the US government for $25 Billion you better re-think the millions of dollars you are giving golf's superstar to put your logo on his bag.

Tiger had no comment on being relieved not to have to drive a Buick any longer.