Wolverines Award Ceremony

In my previous post, I mentioned that I received quite a bit of email this week. One of the things that arrived in my inbox was a notice about the University of Michigan's baseball award ceremony scheduled for today.

Presented with spending a Saturday afternoon either doing those mundane, but necessary household tasks -- painting, replacing washers in a faucet, yardwork -- or fighting the 100,000 plus Michigan football fans invading Ann Arbor at the same time I needed to be there, I opted for the logistics nightmare that included college baseball over the boring work around the house. Proving, once and for all, that my priorities are completely out of whack.

I know, I know. Stop whining and get to the baseball stuff. Coach Rich Maloney addressed the gathering and spoke about last year's team and about the expectations for the 2008 squad. Not surprisingly, the expectations for the new year are high. Real high. Rosenblatt high.

Coach Maloney also mentioned that the university was going to market the team more this coming season and that a season ticket package is going to be available -- both interesting concepts. We will see if either has an effect on attendance. Of course, winning frequently tends to create interest and Michigan should be in a position to do that in '08.

The schedule was still not available, and no one in an official capacity spoke about it, but it's rumored that the season will begin in Florida, once again. Some of the teams that I heard might comprise the non-conference schedule include Villanova, Coastal Carolina and East Carolina. Yes, the Arizona State field trip is on the docket, too. Oakland University (yes, "my" Golden Grizzlies) will open the Wolverines home slate at renovated Ray Fisher Stadium.

Somewhere between Coach Maloney's opening comments and the post-event chatter was the purpose of the gathering -- to distribute the 2007 awards. Individual awards were presented and each member of last year's team got their Big Ten Championship rings.

I had a very pleasant afternoon and have even have some pictures to share. I'll get to those in a moment. First, I have to thank some people. I'll start with the Michigan baseball community for their kindness. Like so many around the conference and really throughout college baseball, the Wolverine baseball family has been very good to me. I sincerely appreciate their support of this endeavor.

And since I'm talking about support, I have to thank Mrs. BTH. She drove your blogger into Ann Arbor, headed off to meet some friends in a neighboring community, and returned to pick me up. I appreciate that as well.