The Doctor Is Out: As you probably know, Matt Hinton of Dr. Saturday (and formerly Sunday Morning Quarterback) has decided to hang 'em up. While he has indicated that this isn't it for him re: writing about college football, it's still unclear what the next step is. I would have to agree with Spencer Hall's proposition:
I have a hard time imagining him not finding a better opportunity to keep doing what he does at a place with less officious superiors. The blog had gradually been oppressed by a vague sort of TMZification, and it's pretty clear that Hinton was not the source of that.
I'm sure I'm not the only one that, with some definite sadness, deleted Dr. Saturday from my bookmarked sites. After MGoBlog and EDSBS, Dr. Saturday was my next stop along the pothole-laden information superhighway cutting through the land of College Football. It was a place where you could, on a daily basis, just become a better college football fan if you so chose. Despite writing for a big entity like Yahoo, the site was more than just a mere accumulator of links and offensively generic, unmemorable "takes." His work was a reminder that real people play and teach this game, and that it is not the NFL just yet.
As someone who has linked to Dr. Saturday on many an occasion, I'm sad to see Hinton go; thankfully, we can reasonably assume that he will find a new spot to call home. Part of his work at Dr. Saturday was just, well, plain 'ol work (i.e. pumping out 4-6 articles a day during football season) but the pieces that made Hinton unique required true talent and writing ability. These things are not in great supply.
News from the NATIONAL. FOOTBALL. LEAGUE.: So the NFL Combine--arguably the creepiest event in sports outside of college recruiting (which is more of a omnipresent stank than an "event," other than NSD, obviously)--happened and our former warrior philosopher poets, Molk, Martin, and Hemingway, all did vey well. The Combine has always been a silly thing, but it's a hoop that you have to jump through, and it's clear that all three's showings will positively affect their respective draft statuses. Regarding Junior, one scout said:
There aren't more receivers that did more for themselves than that guy. He wasn't even on our radar going into this thing. He is now. It's way too early to say where or if he'll be drafted, I'm not prepared to make that distinction, but he's definitely in the conversation now. And that's more than you could have said about him a week ago.Junior ran a 4.53 40, which, quite frankly is a little shocking. Junior also finished first or tied for first --out of 26 receivers--in the 3-cone and 20-yard shuttle, while also coming in second in the 60-yard shuttle. Protip to my Bears: so, I know David Terrell didn't really work that one time but hear me out. Forget about taking Michael Floyd with the 19th pick and grab Junior late...you can thank me later.
As for Molk and Martin, well, in case you weren't aware, they are both kind of strong. Molk put up a ridiculous 41 rep effort on the bench, which is amazing even if you have little T-rex arms. Martin, on the other hand, put up 36 after declaring that he would beat the bench press record of 49* set by former Oregon State DT (current Chicago Bear) Stephen Paea. This must've been incredibly disappointing after training for this one moment for so long; I've only seen a few quick highlights of the combine so I have no idea if there was anything wrong with him, physically, but I feel like 36 has to have been well below even his prior standards.
You know that you are strong when people are somewhat disappointed when you put up 225 pounds a mere 36 times. Clearly Mike Martin was foolishly leaning on faulty Barwis advice** when he could've gotten some free advice from the student workout warriors filling up the IM Building/CCRB; "if it's not bench you might as well not be doing it" needs to be installed somewhere in those places, kind of like an M Club Supports You banner but for the most insufferable people in Ann Arbor.
*I'm not sure why every article repeats this fact, but the record is actually 51, set by Justin Ernest of EKU in 1999. You are now armed with this utterly useless fact. Maybe, one day, you can use it to condescendingly start a sentence with the following: "Well, aaaactually..."
**For the sarcasm-impaired...that was a joke.
GERG Redux: Relax, it's Not That Gerg. After some previously unofficial chatter, Iowa has decided to plunge headlong into the perilous situation known as "having a coordinator named Greg that is not Greg Mattison." Yes, Iowa has officially announced the hiring of Greg Davis as Kirk Ferentz's new OC. A GIS leads to these pictures popping up near the top:
Also, this:
This could all end up working out just fine, but yeah...the back-to-back hirings of Phil Parker and Greg Davis isn't exactly awe-inspiring. These hirings represent a metaphorical gunning of the car of Time; in a short time, Iowa's 2002-04 Reign of Terror suddenly feels like ancient history. It might have been not that long ago, but in that rear view mirror it's starting to look like more and more like a distant, dust-veiled memory.
With so much coaching turnover to overcome in both Iowa City and Madison, I really have a hard time envisioning either winning more than 8 games in 2012.
Things That Didn't Happen: Wolverine Historian with some basketball highlights, straight out of that fine year 1993, from a game featuring a mask-wearing Webber:
More? Rob Lytle, Jumbo Elliott, and Erick Anderson make the 2012 College Football Hall of Fame ballot. Jack Johnson has received a fate that I would wish upon no one. Crisler construction pictures at UMHoops.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment