John Navarre: The Wolverines' All-Time Leading Passer

Michigan has rightfully earned the title of Quarterback U and of all the great signal callers that have donned the maize and blue Navarre leads the pack in almost every major passing category.

Navarre (2000-2003) is Michigan's all-time leader in passes attempted, passes completed, passing yardage and passes for touchdowns. He also holds the single-season marks in the first three categories as well. A three-year full-time starter, the team went 28-10 from 2001-2003 with a Big 10 Championship and a trip to the Rose Bowl in 2003. Nevertheless, many die-hard Wolverine fans are reluctant to give much respect to the accomplishments of the 6'6" QB from Cudahy, Wisconsin. Those skeptics bemoan the fact that the team did not achieve more success during the "Navarre years" such as winning another Big 10 title or winning a Rose Bowl game. What these skeptics seem to conveniently forget, however, is that there is only so much that one player can accomplish on his own. Navarre's gaudy statistics demonstrate that he upheld his part of the bargain.

Navarre was thrown into a tough situation in 2001 as a redshirt sophmore when Drew Henson left suddenly and Navarre became the starter a year earlier than expected. Although Navarre had started the first 4 games of the previous season for an injured Henson, it was still a big responsiblity to inherit the job full-time on such short notice as a young quarterback. Navarre responded like a big-time player as he posted very solid numbers: 207 completions(#7 single-season best total in U-M history); 385 attempts (#4 single-season total); 2,435 yards (#10 single-season total); and 19 touchdowns (#8 single-season total). Although the Wolverines only finished 8-4 in 2001, that season gave them a foundation on which to build for the following seasons.

Navarre led Michigan to consecutive 10-3 seasons in 2002 and 2003. In 2002, Navarre's redshirt junior year, he set Michigan single-season passing records for passes attempted (448), passes completed (248) and passing yardage (2,905). In his 5th yr./senior year of 2003, Navarre broke each of those single-season records as he set new standards for passes attempted (456), passes completed (270) and passing yardage (3,331). Navarre is the only QB in Michigan history to pass for more than 3,000 yards in a season. In his career, Navarre amassed 9,254 passing yards while the passer ranked #2 on the all-time yardage list did not even amass 6,500. (As an aside, Chad Henne has passed for 5,269 yards in two seasons and has a good shot of passing Navarre's all-time yardage mark if he stays and stays healthy for the next two seasons).

The often harsh criticism of Navarre is unwarranted. As previously noted, Michigan won a Big 10 Championship and made a trip to the Rose Bowl during his senior year. Furthermore, as borne out by the statistics outlined above, Navarre played at a high level during his three-year plus stint guiding the Wolverines. Navarre should be accorded the proper respect due him after such a stellar career leading the Wolverines. Go Blue!

Star Fizzle

So, a good thing happened today.. Star Jones was 'fired' from the TV show the view.

I can't stand her.

I think i'd probably deck her if I saw her in person. I don't feel a good aura from her at all.

Denying that she had a gastric bypass.. um.. yeah Star.. did you live on oxygen alone? NOT....

What do I want? To hire Janet Jackson's trainer...if she can go from being the fattest slob around to looking like she does now... woah nelly... she's been on a weight roller coaster ride her entire life... rumor has it she's had some ribs removed to look skinnier and to give her a smaller waist..

What people do for looks/beauty.

A great song I heard this morning on VH-1 at 5am while getting ready to leave was a new song by India Arie called, "I am not my hair"... I could totally relate to it... how most people's first impressions of me are by my hair...hence I sat down and watched the entire video..the last time I saw Arie was during the summer of 98 during Lillith Fair..(a most amazing show!) at the Rose Bowl..here are some of the lyrics:

(Chorus) I am not my hair
I am not this skin
I am not your
expectations (no)
I am not my hair
I am not this
skin
I am the soul that lives within

Does the way I wear
my hair make me a better person
Does the way I wear my hair make me a better
friend
Does the way I wear my hair determine my integrity
Expressing my
creativity

Breast cancer and chemotherapy
Took away her crown
and glory
She promised God if she was to survive
She would enjoy
everyday of her life

Mount Hollywood on the 4th of July

I took the Sierra Club hike up to Mount Hollywood to see the fireworks last night. It's a 1600 foot climb and took about an hour and a half. When we got to the top there were already about 30 horses, and of course, the people that rode up on them. The peak is about 500 feet above the Observatory and gives a 360 degree view of Los Angeles. When the fireworks started I didn't know where to look, there were bursts of color and light in every direction. I finally settled on watching a display that was probably in Burbank or Studio City until the elaborate Rose Bowl pyrotechnics started. Then they turned off the lights at Dodger Stadium and those explosions looked pretty good too. Then it was time to hike back down and quickly (what, me move quickly?) because they close the park at 10pm. I didn't make it in time, the north gate was closed, but luckily they left the south gate ajar.

El Mozote's Top Sports Memories

1 - San Francisco 49ers defeat Dallas Cowboys ' 81 NFC championship
2 - France defeats Brazil World Cup ' 86 quarterfinals
3 - San Francisco 49ers defeat Miami Dolphins ' 85 Super Bowl
4 - Germany defeats Argentina World Cup '90 final
5 - Arsenal goes undefeated during '03/04 season
6 - Republic of Ireland defeats England '88 European Championship first round
7 - Borussia Dortmund defeats Juventus in '97 UEFA Champion's League Final
8 - New York Mets defeat Boston Red Sox Game 6 '86 World Series
9 - Arizona State defeats Michigan '86 Rose Bowl
0 - Calgary Flames defeat Montreal Canadiens to win '89 Stanley Cup

** Poland defeats United States '02 World Cup first round
** France defeats Brazil '98 World Cup Final
** Villanova defeats Georgetown '85 NCAA tournament final

Stupidity Knows No Bounds

To say that I am an unusually well informed patient would be the understatement of the year. Nay, century. Especially when it comes to orthopaedics. As an extremely active person I have had more then my share of injuries. Two knee surgeries in my early twenties educated me in the ways and means of physical therapy.

A devestating wrist injury almost ten years ago educated me to the eccentricies of occupational therapy. To say that I know how all these little therapy centers work is an understatement. They universally operate on the same premise. First come, first served on scheduling therapy appointments.

I had these nuggets of information in mind when I was told to go to therapy by the Ortho doc I saw last Friday.

I have been going to therapy lately for my knee. But had stopped before Christmas due to time constraints. That and year end at my job is brutal and there is no getting out of work at a decent time to make it to therapy. Besides I was waiting to see what the MRI said about my knee.

January 2nd I pulled some type of muscle in my hip. The pain was excruiating by the morning of the 3rd. How I drove to work that morning I will never know. It was lunacy on my part given that I could hardly move my braking leg. I left work before noon to go home to muscle relaxers and pain pills. I hate pain drugs. They tend to make me sicker than just dealing with the pain - but this was a time for be sick chick - but be sick without pain.

My plan was that I had an appointment with the knee doc the next morning to hear about the MRI results. I am thinking that he is a doctor and an ortho one at that, and that he can do something about this pain. HA! We focused only briefly on the knee results. He said a cartiledge tear. But more importantly, he could not help the hip pain. He wanted me to see another doctor in the practice about that pain. And he would see me back in two weeks to further discuss the knee. He did offer pain drugs. I declined. Had plenty at home. I could not get in to see the hip guy till Friday. He was at the Rose Bowl. This is Texas. Why would you expect your doctor that is an alumni of UT to be in the office when he could be at the Rose Bowl?

When I finally saw him Friday he recommended therapy and would decline to inject my hip until I saw him again in 10 days.

So finally to the heart of this diatribe. My mother had to drive me to this appointment as I was still in so much pain. I walked out of the office and we headed to the car and she was asking what did the doctor say? I did not even start with that as I knew I needed to get on the phone to get therapy appts scheduled. I also knew that Friday afternoon would leave me with really rotten choices for the next week. So, on the phone, I told them I had a new problem and they scheduled me for three times. By the time I got off the phone, my mother knew what was wrong as she heard me tell them.

Would you think this would have made a difference? I made it thru the weekend fairly okay. Laying or standing are the two best postitions, so lots of lounging on the sofa worked well. By Monday at work I was in tears because the sitting was so painful. But I knew that calling the doctor would get me no where because the question would be - have you been to therapy. I was not going until 5:30 on Tuesday.

Tuesday arrived. I arrived at therapy. I waited. I waited some more. The girl behind the glass window finally asked if I had a new prescription. I said yes, and gave it to her. I waited some more. Finally, someone comes over and sits down next to me. They can't see me today. They don't have a therapist on duty. They all went home at 5. They don't know why I was given this time when I needed to see a therapist and not an assistant like her. Who made my appointments? Did I tell them this was new? Trust me I went thru the rigamorole. Said we could get my mother on the phone as a witness. Didn't matter they could not help me, nor move someone else.

The best the girl behind the glass window can do is 2:30 tomorrow. 2:30 tomorrow I am at work in downtown. This is the severe 'burbs. I decline. From there the options narrow down to Friday at 8am. Which leaves me in pain for yet another week. I have moved my entire weeks schedule to make these stupid therapy appointments and now they want me to move it all yet again to accommodate their snafu. I said, I moved my IV Iron appointment from this afternoon so I could come here today. I thought I was coming again tomorrow in the evening so I traded shifts for Friday night. So no, I now cannot come at 8am tomorrow morning - I have to open the office. No, I can't come on Thursday, I have to get the IV Iron - which I would have gotten today if I had not changed apppointments. I mean it goes on and on - I move heaven and earth and they want me to move it again. These people are morons and suck. As I said, Stupidity Knows No Bounds.

In the end they called me at work on Wednesday and worked me in at 4pm. It was better than 2:30 and the therapy really helped the pain. It did not fix it, but it helped.

Reggie Bush makes first trip to Houston

Associated Press
TSN.ca

HOUSTON (AP) - Reggie Bush hasn't asked the Houston Texans whether they will use the No. 1 overall pick in the draft to choose him, but he's 99.9 per cent certain they will.

The Heisman Trophy-winning running back said the double talk was dizzying during his first visit to Houston on Thursday to meet with coaches and players.

''I haven't directly asked them that question,'' Bush said. ''They haven't really told me anything directly other than the fact that they're excited for this upcoming draft and that they're excited for me to be a Texan.''

The mixed signals came even before Bush arrived at a news conference that concluded his visit here. Team officials hesitated before letting him stand in front of the backdrop covered in team logos for the event.

Bush, who Texans officials saw work out Sunday at Southern California's pro day, said Thursday's discussions were productive and included what his role would be.

''Similar to the way I was used at Southern Cal,'' he said. ''Being established as a running back first and then splitting out wide playing a little receiver and returning punts and kicks.

''So pretty much the same.''

At Sunday's workout, Bush ran the 40-yard dash in 4.33 seconds and had a 40.5-inch vertical jump and 24 repetitions bench-pressing 225 pounds.

The Texans are keeping quiet about the top draft pick. Coach Gary Kubiak didn't answer questions about Bush during a separate news conference earlier on the 2006 schedule.

Bush, who ran for 1,685 yards and 15 touchdowns last season, said he would like to end up in Houston.

''There's the challenge of bringing a championship to Houston,'' he said. ''Playing for coach Kubiak and the new coaching staff.

''It seems like they have nothing but high expectations for this season and the upcoming seasons.''

Bush said wherever he goes, he hopes to get contract negotiations handled quickly so he doesn't miss any time in camp.

''I would hope I could start as soon as possible,'' he said. ''Something I'm looking forward to is being in camp on time.

''I think that would be a huge factor in me getting in early.''

Agent Joel Segal said he hasn't had any contract conversations with the Texans but also wants to get a deal done early.

''It would be great to have a contract done before the draft,'' he said. ''That's the ultimate.''

In 2002, the Texans announced they would make quarterback David Carr the No. 1 pick two weeks before the draft and finished negotiations before draft day.

No one is expecting that this year, and the Texans haven't ruled out the possibility of trading the top pick.

Bush said he isn't concerned about backlash from Texans fans who want the team to draft former Texas quarterback Vince Young. Young, scheduled to work out for the Texans on Friday, grew up in Houston and led the Longhorns to a 41-38 victory and an NCAA championship over Bush and the Trojans in the Rose Bowl.

''I would hope it wouldn't turn out that way,'' Bush said. ''I would hope that the city would welcome me with open arms.

''I know the fans want him to come here. But it's not the fans' choice. It's the choice of the program and the coaches.''

Bush met briefly with Carr on Thursday and said he likes the moves Houston has made since Kubiak was hired to replace fired Dom Capers in January.

''They made some great additions to their offence this year with (receiver) Eric Moulds and a few linemen,'' he said. ''And it just seems like just adding those final few pieces of the puzzle - hopefully me and a few other guys - to get this program up and running and hopefully competing for a championship in the next couple of years.''

THE RAP SHEET

THE RAP SHEET
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The week in eligibility-crippling issues - legal, academic, institutional and otherwise...

We begin with the week's highest profile bust: Bell County Sheriff's Department deputies found five pounds of cheeba on budding Texas star (heh heh, get it - buding?) Ramonce Taylor, victim of the tried-and-true "pecan farm riot" trap:

According to the sheriff, deputies received a report at 1:34 a.m. about a large fight at a pecan farm in Little River, a community about 40 miles north of Austin.

Deputies also received a call from someone who said they had been at the fight and complained a window on his vehicle had been broken. That caller turned out to be Taylor.

While interviewing Taylor at a convenience store, deputies were told by other officers at the fight scene that Taylor had been involved and had threatened to return with a gun. Taylor was placed in handcuffs.

Taylor told deputies he didn't have a gun and gave them permission to search his vehicle. Deputies reported finding the bullet and the backpack with the marijuana. Deputies said the backpack belonged to Taylor.

Taylor was arrested and his vehicle impounded. Two other individuals with him, who were not named in the report, were released at the scene. (Emphasis SMQ's)

Dude, dude, you know the bag's there. If it's yours, you know it's bustin' at the seams with weed. If it's one of your buds, you know your buds, and you know which one's got the bag bustin' at the seams with weed. You pulled a gun and drove back to the farm riot and waved it around some, so that bullet's no surprise, either. But nobody got hurt, or really hurt. You were only part of an epic brawl, you can deal with that. But you can't deal with a category two felony and up to two years in jail at 20 years old. The point is this: flash that Rose Bowl ring a little and don't let 'em search your car with shit in it, dude!

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His future in Austin uncertain, Ramonce Taylor is considering a career in Canada


IMPRISONED, potential starting Michigan State cornerback Cole Corey, for his participation in a "sex-and-alcohol party" thrown by his high school track coach back in 2002 (unrelated, we are assured, to the parties the coach would put on the following summer). Corey and a teammate are accused of taking Ecstasy, giving tequila and half an Ecstasy tablet to a 17-year-old girl and having sex with her essentially incapacitated body. If sex is as much about self-esteem and "thrill of the hunt" as it is phyiscal gratification, how low would you have to be that rape, effectively, picks you up?

CHARGED, with assault, three former high-profile UCLA players - draft picks Ricky Manning Jr. and Maurice Drew and one-time leading rusher Tyler Ebell, also late of UTEP - accused of beating a man at an L.A. Denny's in April. What barbarian breed of brutal backwoods badass could sufficiently threaten three finely-tuned, big-time athletes?:

According to reports, the three allegedly were among a group that harassed a man working on a laptop computer at the restaurant.

"The group began by making comments that the victim looked like a geek or a nerd," Lewis told reporters days after the attack.

The victim asked the group to stop and then complained to a Denny's manager before someone in the group punched him in the face. He then was punched and kicked by multiple attackers until losing consciousness..

Remind SMQ to stay out of Westwood! Not that he's much a Denny's fan to begin with.

The story reveals also the intense academic dedication of Maurice Drew:

Drew, the second-round pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars on April 29, has not taken classes at UCLA since a victory over Northwestern in the Sun Bowl.
(HT: Wizard of Odds)

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"Screw classes, man, I'm going to the pros! Well, first to jail, but...then to the pros!


REVOKED, the scholarship offer to Cornell Burbage II, who was set to attend New Mexico State next January before being charged Tuesday with second-degree rape and two overly-specific counts of sodomy...of a 13-year-old girl. Even Hal Mumme's hapless Aggies, not surprisingly, aren't desperate enough to maintain ties with this kid.

BOOTED, safety Bo Smith, from Mumme's old school in Burbage's home state. Smith, the team's best defensive player last year, was hit with the proverbial "violation of team rules" by Rich Brooks, which could conceivably include, among other things, serious efforts to win. Oh, har har, SMQ, but not fair: he's probably a sodomite.

Also dismissed Monday was on-again, off-again ex-basketballer Ravi Moss, who quit in the Spring, then decided to come back, was suspended for six games by the NCAA for receiving money for an autograph session with the basketball team after he first left the team in early April.
(HT: Wizard of Odds, again)

PLED, not guilty, former Arkansas receiver Dedrick Poole, accused of punching a doorman at a bar in February. He'll go to trial June 25. This is the incident, you may recall, that also involved ex-Razorback and current Packer Ahmad Carroll as well.

CLEARED, after a six-week investigation, four Iowa players accused of providing tickets to a local store owner in exchange for goods. Four Hawkeyes, then-seniors Jovon Johnson, Antwan Allen and Marques Simmons, as well current player Marcus Paschal, placed Sprint owner Jeremy Reed on pass lists for the Outback Bowl, as well as regular-season home games against Minnesota and Michigan, but

The report prepared by the university's general counsel's office concluded that while Reed received passes, "the investigation revealed no substantiation that any of these student-athletes received cellular telephone equipment or accessories in exchange for the complimentary admissions to the games."

So there you go.

ENTERED, a guilty plea, by Marshall running back Ahmaad Bradshaw, who was caught on tape sneaking into another dorm room and stealing a PlayStation 2. A PlayStation 2 was recently stolen from SMQ's house - really - and he's looking Ahmaad's way. In the meantime, Bradshaw's got two years probation and likely remains the Herd's best offensive weapon come fall.
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