DaytonDailyNews.com

You want blather, you go to Columbus, or any other place where the politically correct football police hold more power than your wife with a dish towel.

You want to know what a football player is really thinking, you go to Ann Arbor.

That's the way it should be.

Nobody likes to hear, "We hope to play our best game next week."

We need more Mike Harts saying, "I guarantee we win next week."

Oh, over Notre Dame. What's the over/under for that one? Six?

This shout-out is nothing new for a Michigan player.

Jim Harbaugh guaranteed a victory over Ohio State in 1986 and beat the Buckeyes 26-24. Walter Smith said he "wanted to get (OSU coach John) Cooper fired" in 1998. Cooper stayed on, thanks in part to a 31-16 victory.

That makes Wolverines players at least 1-1 in trash-talk games.

Rather than go ballistic, as Bo Schembechler did when Harbaugh made his guarantee, current UM coach Lloyd Carr — everyone's favorite — said, "We have to back (Hart) up now. It doesn't matter what's said before the game. It's really about what happens when the ball is teed up."

Said Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis, "If I watched the (Notre Dame) games the last two weeks, I might have made that guarantee myself."

That's the spirit. Tell the truth and play. That's most refreshing. Guaranteed.

Contact this reporter at 225-2157 or mkatz@DaytonDailyNews.com.