Michigan Football Opener vs Minnesota

     The Little Brown Jug is the oldest rivalry game trophy in College Football.  It dates back to 1905 when Michigan coach Fielding Yost brought his own water jug to Minnesota.  Michigan left the jug in Minnesota.  They wrote and asked that it be shipped back and Minnesota respond:  Come back and win it.  Michigan has won the trophy 71 times, Minnesota 23, and they tied 3 times. 

After the kick-off, it is an inauspicious beginning to the delayed start of the 2020 Michigan Football schedule.  There has been a total of six plays from scrimmage and Michigan is down 7 – 0… and Michigan had the opening kick-off.

Michigan’s first play was a first down.  They suffered a penalty and went three and out.  Minnesota blocked the punt.  They took over on the Michigan 17.  Their first play was a run that stopped for a short gain.  On their second play, they threw for an easy touchdown.

They then kicked off to Michigan.  On their first play, Zach Charbonnet ran a huge hole and scampered 70 yards untouched for a touchdown.  Wow.  What first looked like a start to a long season, now looks like it might be more electric. 

One can’t judge on a mere 3 minutes into game one.

The Big 10 started their season yesterday, Friday October 23.  It was the day the most Covid-19 cases diagnosed ever during this pandemic.   The first decision by the Big 10 was not to play football at all this year.  I wrote about it back in August:  No Michigan Football.

Pressure mounted on the league to reconsider especially when the SEC, ACC, and Big 12 started their seasons successfully, showing it can be done.  The pressure came from the players, coaches, and even President Trump.  By the time the Big 10 made a decision to have a shortened season, they agreed to a nine game league only schedule with a start date of this, October 24^th, weekend. 

While writing all this, Michigan and Minnesota have each scored twice.  Michigan leads 21 – 17.  One of the Michigan touchdowns was a hit on the Minnesota quarterback who coughed up the football right into a Michigan lineman’s arms who easily ran fifteen yards for a TD. 

I watched a few of the games today including last night’s opener of Wisconsin vs Illinois, Ohio State’s thrashing of Nebraska, and Michigan State’s loss to Rutgers due to too many turnovers.  In contrast to the surprising number of fans at some of the SEC and Big 12 games, the Big 10 stadiums are empty.  They are pumping in fan noise, I am assuming, to give the players and television audiences a more traditional feel to the games.  Most schools are also putting cardboard cutouts of fans of fans in the stadium.  These cardboard cutouts are, in fact, a revenue generator.  For $70, you can upload a photo and the university will print a cardboard cutout and place it in the stands.  I thought about doing it for about a millisecond and decided it was a waste of money.

By half-time, Michigan had a 35-17 lead.  Minnesota will get the ball to open the 3^rd Quarter.

I am watching the game.  I am interested and, of course, rooting for my team.  But, it feels different in this crazy year.  The pandemic certainly puts a damper on my mood.  I watched no baseball, basketball, or hockey In their pandemic rescheduled seasons.  I had no interest.  I have watched some NFL and college football but as Michigan was not playing, I have watched much less than in other years. 

This month, the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan/Turkey has made sports and, for that matter, all television less relevant. 

Minnesota did take the 2^nd half kick-off and engineered an impressive 70-yard drive to make the score 35 – 24.  Michigan responded with an equally impressive 70-yard drive of their own to make it 42-24. 

Earlier in the week, I read an article in The Detroit Free Press about Michigan Football.  In the article they predicted the Michigan game by game results for the season.  They had Michigan losing to Minnesota, Wisconsin, Penn State, and Ohio State for a 4 – 4 record.  We do have a tough schedule and that was a bit of a depressing article to read.  Like most fans, I like to be optimistic at the beginning of the season. 4 – 4?!?  The article pointed out that Michigan had lost twelve starters.  I guess they had a point plus we were starting an untested quarterback in the promising Joe Milton.  So, is it a rebuilding year?  Heck, we have been rebuilding since Harbaugh took the head coaching job.  The difference between the good teams and elite teams is that the elite teams don’t ever rebuild:  they reload.  This is what Alabama, Clemson, and Ohio State do.  Under Harbaugh, Michigan has been a good team.  It is a relief to have 9 and 10 game winning seasons consistently.  It is an improvement over the dismal Rich Rod and slightly less dismal Brady Hoke years. (But, dang, we have to beat Ohio State.)

Minnesota took the ball on like the 18 after the Michigan kick-off and had another impressive drive to first and goal at like the 7-yard line.  The Michigan defense dug in and held them stopping the run and pressuring the quarterback on passing plays.  On fourth and goal, Minnesota went for it and the quarterback on the run fired it over the head of an open receiver.  Michigan took over on downs.  On their first play, Chris Evans ripped off a 60-yard run.   Michigan went on to score making it 49-24… and Michigan missed two field goals they should have made. 

Both offenses look good.  Michigan’s look better.  Both defenses are so-so, but Michigan’s is better.  I am impressed with my team so far. 

Minnesota had another drive going and were in Michigan territory but a Michigan blitz and sack by Kwitty Paye not once but twice had them at 3^rd and 28.  Then… Paye got a third sack in a row.  Michigan got the ball back and is driving with less than five minutes in the game.   The announcers just gave the Michigan offensive line kudos for keeping Minnesota’s defensive line on their heels. 

Michigan just missed a third field goal.  Minnesota took over on downs and at the 3 minute mark threw an interception.  Michigan’s ball on the Minnesota 30.  With the back-up quarterback in the game, Michigan got a first down and then turned it over on downs with 1:45 left in the game. 

The final and most satisfying score:  Michigan 49 – Minnesota 24.

The Little Brown Jug stays in Ann Arbor for another year.

Chidem Inch: Oh, It’s About Occupied Lands…

An open letter to Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey.

 

Dear President Erdogan:

 

Can I call you Recep?  Actually, I am not sure why, but I prefer Reg or Reggie.

I do understand ego and your wanting usurp that Ataturk fellow in the minds and hearts of “your” people.  I understand the use of Islam to control your people.  It helps cover up your corruption and it gets them behind your thinly veiled ambition to be the second coming of an Ottoman Sultan and to establish a new Caliphate.  That is quite ambitious Reg.  I get it, you are megalomaniac.

You were masterful in ridding the military of all those secular, republican, generals.  That fake coup you staged in July 2016 was brilliant.  You basically established your lifelong rule in Turkey with that one act.  You purged the government and universities of Never-Erdoganers.  You even fooled the Western Press into believing it was a real coup. I mean, Reggie, what a gift you have.

I was curious, Reg, did you dream this shit up while sitting on the gold throne you built for yourself in your new palace? 

Lately, you’re taking a new tack.  Frankly, Reggie, I am none too pleased about it.  Perhaps is it the next phase of a master plan you have had all along.  You are actually trying to expand Turkey’s influence in the region by your incursions into Northern Syria.  It was in the news that you even drew up plans to invade and conquer Greece and Armenia.  It truly is an Ottoman obsession.

Now, you are backing your wayward cousins in Azerbaijan into an attempt to conquer those upstart Armenians in Kharabagh.  You even went so far as to say, “finish the work our grandfather’s started.”  I imagine if no other countries seriously complained and offered military assistance to Armenia, you would do just that as a first step to… what end?  A Pan-Turanic empire?

This week you had a meeting with your buddy Putin about this war with the Armenians.  You told him, and I paraphrase, that the Armenians must leave the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

Occupied territories?  Really?  You brought up the idea of occupied territories.  Reggie, Reggie, Reggie.  Sure, absolutely, let’s talk about occupied territories.  You can start by vacating all territories and properties inside your own borders that belong to the Armenians, Greeks, and Assyrians.  Give us the churches, homes, businesses, and schools the grandfather’s you invoked took from my grandfathers.  Really Reg… you brought up occupied territories?!?

Stalin gave the majority Armenian Kharabagh to a newly formed country Azerbaijan in 1921.  He did it to spite the Armenians.  The newly founded thing called Azerbaijan occupied Armenian lands then.  Six short years earlier, well, Reggie, you and the rest of the world know what happened.  Your grandfathers committed Genocide and occupied everything we had.

Occupied territories?!?  Give them back.  While you’re at it pay your tab.  Eleven years ago, in his book Children of Armenia, Michael Bobelian estimated you owed us $44 Billion in confiscated lands, buildings, and businesses.  That figure is probably $50 Billion now.  Your gold throne can be the down payment.  Occupied territories indeed.

I know Reggie.  Might makes right.  Your grandfathers evoked that in 1915 and you are trying to do the same right now. 

Occupied territories?!?  Ağrı Dağı bizimdir.  

 

P.S.  My friend Steve wants you to watch this video.  But, let's be honest here Reg... you already know these facts. 

Chidem Inch: Really? Israel?

Azerbaijani Armed Forces have used the latest kamikaze drone
«Harop», production of Israel Aerospace Industries Israel Corporation
in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

     Our small nation, back against the wall, is facing an alliance of Azerbaijan and Turkey.  The numbers in terms of military spending and number of troops is lopsided not in Armenia’s favor.  Yet, as the Armenians are fighting for survival and using their forces as effectively as possible.

In the past two days, the Azeris have take to attacking the capital of Artsakh, Stepanakert, using drones.  The drones are made in Israel.

In an article in The Jerusalem Post, October 3, 2020, Azerbaijan uses Israeli LORA missile in conflict with Armenia, states the following:

Azerbaijan is a known ally of Israel, supplying The Jewish state with about 40% of its oil needs. The country is a longtime customer of an assortment of Israeli defense companies, buying drones, missiles and other advanced weapon systems.

 

In 2016, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev revealed that his country signed $5 billion worth of long-term contracts over the years to buy weapons and security equipment from Israel.

Trade between countries and economic agreements between countries is a fact of life.  When large numbers, like 40% of one country’s oil consumption and $5 billion of armaments headed the other way, there can be some very strange bedfellows.  The flow of large amounts of money dampens differences that usually cause enmity, such as one country being Moslem, the other Jewish, and both countries being in the Middle East.

The most bothersome part of Israel supplying drones, LORA missiles, and other arms to Azerbaijan is that they know Azerbaijan will most likely use them against Armenia.  There is one thing that Armenia and Israel have in common.  It is a pretty big thing.  Both peoples were subject to large scale slaughters of their populations.  For the Armenians, it was the 1915 Genocide by the Turks and for the Jews it was the Holocaust in Germany.  When peoples go through such horrors and national traumas of that magnitude, one would think they would be a bit sympathetic to each other, have good relations, and maybe even be allies.

But no.  Israel is hostile to Armenians in Israel, nothing like they are to Arab (mostly Moslem) populations, but hostile none the less.  The covet the Armenian Quarter in Jerusalem and simply make it harder and harder for Armenians to live and prosper there.

Here is a country where many of their neighbors do not have good relations with.  They are in a sea of Islam most of which would love to see Israel wiped out and the lands to revert to Arab rule.  Armenia is in nearly the same situation.  Our two Turkic Islamic neighbors want to complete the job Talaat, Enver, and Djemal started in 1915.  And Israel is helping them by selling them munitions. 

In another article of The Jerusalem Post today, Erdogan, ‘Jerusalem is our city, city from us.’

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan opened the Turkish parliament's legislative session on Thursday with a long speech that addressed the city of Jerusalem and the Palestinian people, in which he stated: "Jerusalem is our city."

Erdoğan referred to the Ottoman Empire's rule over Jerusalem, which lasted four centuries (1517-1917), to justify his claim.

Money and trade trumps these issues.  It is not a surprise really, but it is very disappointing.   And… Armenia withdrew their ambassador to Israel for this very reason.

Shame on you Israel for aiding countries with Genocidal aims.

Chidem Inch: War in Artsakh

 

We awoke on the morning of September 27 to learn of fighting all along the border of Azerbaijan and Artsakh, the Armenian Republic that ceded from Azerbaijan in the 1990s.  The Armenian news and social media buzz were all about the attack by the Azeris using tanks, helicopters, and drones.  We also learned   that Turkey was involved in providing armaments and mercenaries to assist the Azeris. 

The hearts of Armenians around the world collectively sunk.  We all felt helpless and wondering why the Turks and Azeris cannot leave our people in peace.  We know that Armenia and Artsakh have less population and less money for weaponry that Azerbaijan.  The imbalance is exaggerated even more when Turkey is included. 

Here are some statistics gleaned from the internet.

 

 Various Sources

     I was surprised the military forces were approximately the same size, of course not including Turkey.  Military spending by Azerbaijan is much higher than the Armenian side due, no doubt, to the oil revenue in Azerbaijan. 

Erdogan has taken to call Armenia the greatest security threat in the region.  Really?  It is clearly not but when does truth have anything to maintaining power for that tyrant.  A much better case could be made for Turkey having that dishonor.  I fear that if the international community does not protest and put some military muscle behind it, Erdogan may take action against Armenia itself.  Who would stop him?  The US is quiet on the subject as is Russia as far as I can tell.  Of course, who knows what is happening behind the scenes.

Artsakh or Kharabagh has been a long time Armenian homeland.  During the Soviet times Kharabagh along with Armenian Nakhichevan became part of Azerbaijan which became a country in 1918.  Stalin, to punish Armenians for revolting in 1921 and to appease the Turks, gave both Karabagh and Nakhichevan to Azerbaijan.  All the recent aggression over Kharabagh has been initiated by Azerbaijan.   The Armenians there reacted to Azeri pogroms and the expulsion of Armenians from Baku in the early 1990s.  They defended themselves and declared independence.  They did not join with Armenia, I can only guess, in order of maintaining or not losing international support.

Thus far in this latest incursion, the Armenian defense forces have fared well thus far demonstrating superior resolve, tactics, and execution.  The people of Kharabagh have been known to be fierce mountain fighters.  It seems that Armenians have staved off the attacks suffering much less casualties and equipment losses then they inflicted upon the Azeris.  But, as we are so few, we suffer for each and every casualty.  

 Both countries have declared martial law and it is unclear what the next few days and weeks will hold.  Here in the US, the media reporting is minimal at best and putting the blame equally on both sides.  Of course, we Armenians do not see it that way.

One thing that is clear to me, in that part of the world, are the words of Khrimian Hayrig and Yeghishe Chartenz.   Khirimian Hayrig was Catholicos of the Armenian Church from 1893 until his passing in 1907.  He was not only the spiritual leader but also an inspirational national leader.

It was upon returning from the Congress of Berlin, where he was sent by the Armenian delegation to negotiate on its behalf, that he delivered his most famous speech, that of the “iron ladle.” He argued that Armenians had placed their hopes for salvation in others, rather than themselves. Hayrig used the allegory of a pot of harissa, a traditional Armenian dish, from which other countries were extracting what they wanted with iron ladles while he had been sent to secure concessions for the Armenians with nothing but a paper ladle. He thus implored Armenians to shed their timidity and become masters of their own fate. 

~ auroraprize.com

 Yehishe Charentz, the famous poet born in Kars, who was first a Bolshevik who became disillusioned as the revolution turned into Stalin’s dictatorship.  Charentz was killed in prison during the purges of the 1930s.  In a poem, Badkam, he sent a message to the Armenian people in an acrostic.  The secret message was very similar to that of Khirimian Hayrig:  “Armenian people, your only salvation lies in your united strength.”  Indeed.

This week has united all Armenian.  It has shown us the iron ladle of resolve displayed by the leadership and soldiers in Karabagh.  

When given the chance, self-rule, and freedom, we do thrive.  That is what we hope and pray for:  to be left alone, to rule ourselves, and to work hard to improve our country.  I am not sure why successive Turkish Governments have an obsessive hatred for Armenians.  Leave us what lands we have left and let us live.  God preserve our troops and people.