Hail to the Victors 2016: The Book

This is the cover of a 128-page book:

…THAT YOU CAN BUY RIGHT NOW

It is now in stock in the MGoStore for $15. You can also get it as a PDF download for $5. Or you can get the slightly different (fewer pictures, a bit more words) version on Kindle here for $9, or from iBooks soon. Or you can walk into any Underground Printing store, or Moe's, or Literati (so far) in Ann Arbor and buy a copy off the shelf.

OR YOU COULD BEG MATT FOR ONE

HTTV 2016 is sponsored by my friend Matt Demorest of Homesure Lending, who upgraded everybody who did the Kickstarter to first-class shipping.

Thanks to Brexit, rates hit what will probably be an ALL-TIME low today. Even if you refinanced or bought a home recently you might want to check with him to see if it's worth it to try again. He'll let you know.

Matt also asked for a box of books with his sponsorship, so if you fill out a loan application I bet you could get him to cough up a copy. Follow the link or call him: 734-531-9950.

OR YOU COULD SIT BY THE MAILBOX

If you are a backer and you got your address to us on time, your unsigned books ought to be on their way as of tonight. If you're unsure if you got your address to me, go to the last update I posted on Kickstarter for the backers and see if your name is on the list. (You'll have to be logged in and a Kickstarter backer to see it.) Or check your spam folder for a pile of emails.

I'm taking care of the Kickstarter orders before anything else, but please wait a few weeks before asking where your copy is, since sometimes they don't come as fast for some reason. The very first would have arrived like today or tomorrow.

If you pre-ordered the book, those will be mailing out this week and next. T-shirts and signed books will come later.

OR YOU COULD COME GET ONE FROM BRIAN

Literati is going to throw us a launch party at The Circus Bar on Friday, August 5, at 7pm. We'll have the bar reserved for us before it opens for the regular Friday night traffic. Brian will be giving a presentation to tamp down your expectations for this season, or something.

I have to miss it for a family thing which may or may not mean they don't trust me to talk about this year's team without falling to the floor and giggling.

[What's inside, after THE JUMP]

WHAT IS IN IT?

Features this year in order:

Brian previewed every position (Tight Ends earned their own section), plus unit overviews and recruits. Peppers is on a lot of depth charts.

Every 2016 opponent previewed by Ace Anbender, except Ross Fulton tackled the Buckeyes. We also brought back the old crootin board faces to provide some quick unit projections for the foes:

I am not kidding when I say this is probably the best Michigan State pre-season preview you will read this year.

If you turn the page from the section lead you can see Jake catch it. You can also read Jake's interview with MGoBlog's own Adam Schnepp. Then Braves & Birds, IE Michael Elkon will look at Michigan-Ohio State rivalry and what it will take after 2016 for Harbaugh's program to catch up to the beastie in Columbus, if it ever really can.

You mean what's in this section OTHER than an intense analysis of Don Brown's mustache? Alright, Ian Boyd scouted John O'Korn through his high school and Houston days and plotted out which plays he tends to succeed in. And Steve Sharik dove into the Boston College archives to get a feel for Don Brown's defense, with particular attention paid to what he'll do with Peppers and how he can defend Ohio State's bread and butter.

How good were McCartney's Monsters? Dr. Sap not only spoke to the great Bo assistant who later took Colorado to a national championship; Sap also created a super-accurate version of Cannavino and Co. in NCAA 2014, then beat Bo's best with them.

But most of the article is about inventing the Dime defense and what that did to Purdue's Heisman candidate QB.

The man who was holding the controller for the '85s in the above video, John Kryk, took the next team for his article, which starts with Harbaugh's guarantee and ends only after a lot more guys ran their mouths.

I'm in this section too; I co-wrote a sweeping story with former DetNews editor Mel Newman about the time Texas A&M tried to buy our Bo. The key interview is a doozy: front office legend Gil Brandt, who was a close friend of Bo and the man mostly responsible for engineering that whole thing from the Texas side.

And of course we have Craig Ross, who makes a quite compelling argument that Rutgers and Princeton are claiming an honor that really belongs to Racine College and the University of Michigan.

Plus the annual editors' roundtable, with record predictions, breakout players, and at one point Jim Harbaugh raises an army of ice zombies and tweets things.

AND WE HAIL THE SPONSORS

And that. Matt we mentioned but a major reason we can keep doing this every year is the support we get on the Kickstarter from people who just want to see it happen. We thank them in the book with a sentence or a name and that should go here too. It's best if you sing them:

Alex Waterhouse
Andrew A. Cascini
Andrew Kim
Andrew Sensoli
Andrew Silverman
Bo Snyder
Brandon Armstrong
Brian Todd
Brooks
Bryan Fuller
Captain Cory Kastl, and 1Lt Garrett Kastl
Chad Johnston
Chris McKern
Christie Brown & Ben Davis
Crew Gary
Crossfit Athletic Group
Cyrus Wellman
Daniel Moore
DanValerius
Darren Gilbert
Dave Kim
David Glasser
David Merchant
Don McLachlan
Don Slominski
Dr. Anthony Burgess
Dr. Garbs
Eric Biesbrock
Evan Scalzo
Evan, Oliver and Elliot Makela
Gabriel & Lucy, UofM classes of 2025 and ‘31
Glenn and Sue Schafer
Gwhizz
Jacob Vandebrake
JB
Jeff Fishman
Jeffrey Lamb
Jerald M. Wigdortz
John M. Nannes
John Reebel
John Todd
Jon Muenz
Kramerica Industries
Lorne E. Cook III
Matt Mitchell
Max
Michael Cromwell
Michael McCullough
Mike Griffin
Mitchell Tvorik
Mohan Gounder
Paul Danao
Pete
Pete, Lauren, Ben, and Caroline
Richard & Jennifer Kim
Richard K Kim
Rob, Jeff, and Bill Weiner
Ross Johnson
Ryan & Katie McClarren
Ryan Moore
Ryan Owen
Scott Childers
Sean Little
Stephen, Gretchen, Owen and Desmond Harrington
Takao Yamada
The Houtman Family
Toni Newell
VinegarStrokes
William B. Johnson