It’s changeover time in the closet — shorts to the bottom, long-sleeve shirts within easy reach and those fleece-lined Carhartt pants nearby for when the thermometer really starts to dip.
A few T-shirts have secure spots year-round. They’re comfortable, proven and in some cases almost as old as our daughters. A few holes and stains? No problem. They fit, and that’s what matters.
Plus, nobody likes change. Well, at least not me.
Stretch your two arms out in front of you with your palms facing each other. Start with the palms just a couple inches apart, and then start moving your arms apart slowly. As the distance gets wider and wider, that reflects my preferred relationship with change. Keep it away. Far away.
This season, though, I’ve been embracing change and trying on some optimism. It’s still not as comfy as those shirts, but it’s not awful.
That’s what got me here.
After predicting an 11-1 regular season finish for Penn State, and after an upbeat, if-not-now-then-when approach before Ohio State, the Nittany Lions need a W to remain on track for my 11-1. (As if it’s all about me.) That earlier confidence included a predicted Penn State victory against the Wolverines, too.
So, it’s all-in on the optimism — with a previous Penn State-Michigan game as additional context.
My first trip to Ann Arbor for a football game came in 2009 and was preceded by abundant hype for the atmosphere, and especially for “beer jarts.” With no more than the game’s name, my imagination embraced the possibilities of alcohol mixed with the yard game that enjoyed its heyday in the Evel Knievel 1970s before inaccuracy and accidents led to its demise.
A day-before-the-game visit to a nearby pub where we met former Miami quarterback Geno Torretta, who won the 1992 Heisman Trophy, helped amp up the anticipation. Torretta offered a critique of Penn State defensive backfields that, he said, traditionally included one slow and undersized safety for QBs like him to target during games.
Still, the golf course tailgate location and beer jarts were ahead.
We found our tailgating spot within easy walking distance of Michigan Stadium — just across East Stadium Boulevard. With the golf course transformed into a parking lot on gamedays, our spot was on the seventh hole, and we enjoyed the hospitality of several UofM alumni and friends.
At the time, Michigan Stadium allowed fans to enter with one unopened bottle of water. It sounds fan friendly, and probably serves that purpose for many people. Others, though, like the folks we tailgated with, used the pregame hours for the meticulous procedure of using a small ice pick to remove the bottle cap cleanly and then empty out the contents of the water bottle.
They then replaced the water with vodka and put the cap back on the bottle. It looked unopened, and in at least one case passed a hands-on inspection from Michigan State Police trooper as fans entered the game.
The beer jarts play began long before people entered the stadium, though, and the excitement was short lived. The setup was three 12-ounce beer bottles set up in a triangle at one end of the playing field. Twenty-five feet away were three more bottles in a similar triangle, offering two ends of play.
Unfortunately, what was thrown was not a jart at all. It was a football. So, beer? Yes. Jarts? No. It was a slight disappointment.
And, for Confident Steve that hype-before-disappointment feeling seems similar leading into this Saturday. There’s been so much hype around Michigan, but who have the Wolverines played that matters? What have they proven to this point?
Adversity? Sure, they started the season without their coach on the sidelines, but they’ve not really been challenged.
Of course, a Michigan optimist would counter that the team has been challenged but has dominated, and that they’ve been consistently impressive. We’ll see. Maybe Michigan’s march toward The Game with Ohio State will continue.
Confident Steve, though, will pull on a comfy T-shirt, several layers on top of that and an orange florescent knit hat (another column for another day) and anticipate a W.
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