Miscellaneous Minutiae, 7/2/2012

Gettin' there. Via the Michigan football Facebook page:

Caption? How about "WOOOOOOOO" or "WARGGHBLB."

BONUS CAPTION--fan of every other team: "SOMETHING SOMETHING FATTTTTTT LOLOLOL."

Playoff! This is a little late at this point, but I'm going to break the "no playoffs/realignment talk" dictum in order to make the completely official Holdin' the Rope statement on the new playoff format.

It is a playoff. There will be four teams playing in this playoff. There will still be complaining from various places around the country, complaining which will sometimes be valid (but not always). It will be different; change is good, but, more importantly it was in this case needed.

Yes, there are, shall we say, certain undesirable potential outcomes with this format (e.g. 3 SEC teams in a playoff field of 4), but we'll cross that bridge of vehement Internet complaining when we get there. For now, this is a good thing, unless it's not...otherwise, it's just about the same as before only with two additional teams. Progress!

Either way, Michigan will still jump up and touch the banner on Saturdays. Let's not lose sight of what's actually important.

/playoff talk

It's official, y'all. Missouri and Texas A&M have officially become members of the SEC as of midnight this past Saturday. Upon the clock striking midnight, Mizzou and TAMU players and fans all instantly shaved .4 seconds off their 40 times and upped their bourbon tolerance exponentially, in addition to winning the inalienable right to piggyback on the accomplishments of their new conference's members.

I already feel sorry for whatever Big Ten team Texas A&M will end up facing in the 2012 Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas. Fans of whatever B1G team this ends up being: hope y'all are ready to suffer some hilarious "S-E-C" chanting from the conference's newest pledge.

Brandon on scheduling. Dave Brandon said some things about his scheduling philosophy going forward. "Wow factor," huh? Sounds like some fancy shmancy corporate-speak to me, [insert whatever the Michigan version of "PAWWLLLL" is here]. Why can't Brandon opt for the "oh my that is tremendous indeed" factor, a significantly more wholesome and less corporately tinged factor? When will Dave Brandon ever think of the kids?*

Nick Baumgardner writes:

Some Michigan football purists are quick to criticize certain scheduling tweaks Brandon has made in recent years, from the home night game to a neutral-site contest to a Thursday evening affair. Some people would still rather have it the old way.

If there are actually people out there freaking out in any way about the Thursday night game in Utah, well...my completely serious investigative report from last week is doubly relevant and not at all facetious under the circumstances.

On a serious note, I don't really buy the "wow factor" of a game against, say, Colorado, but it's better than another game against a take-your-pick of the Michigan directional teams. Even if Colorado isn't all that good, a BCS name on the schedule is better than nothing. I would say something along the lines of "change is good" here, but this stuff isn't even indicative of some sort of sweeping change...it's just trying something different. Yes, you might have to DVR the Season 843 premiere of The Office that Thursday night instead of watching it live, but that's just your fault for still watching The Office, hypothetical Michigan "purist" who is upset about this and oddly is a fan of The Office in the post-Michael Scott era. 


*By "kids" I mean "football purists."


REAL GOOD TIME. I didn't notice this until now, but Sippin' on Purple provides a link for you to click on that will perhaps help send Pitbull to a Walmart in Kodiak, Alaska. For those of you that believe in nothing in this world, believe in this. The natives of Kodiak deserve this real good time, and no I am not selfishly doing this for the greater good of the contiguous states of America.

So, please go to Facebook and like the page for the Kodiak Walmart. Make a difference in the world today with one swift click. Thank you.

More? Charles Barkley tried to illegally recruit Dirk Nowitzki to Auburn...of course he did. Never change, Chuck. The Lakers re-signed Darius Morris, the Cavs waived Manny Harris (from UMHoops)...things are looking pretty grim for Manny. DMo's situation isn't much brighter, but the Lakers' PG situation is still fairly terrible, even if they end up re-signing Ramon Sessions, who recently became an UFA (although I imagine that they will try to make a move for someone this offseason).

Can you imagine what Notre Dame fans being in places like Stillwater or Lubbock would be like? I'll tell you what it'd be like: HILARIOUS.

Miscellaneous Minutiae, 6/26/2012

Listen up kids. Elvis Grbac has something to tell you (via Wolverine Historian):



Things That That You Already Knew. Sippin' On Purple compiles all the fancy numbers that confirm what we already knew about Northwestern basketball and why it hasn't been able to break through and get that first Big Dance invite:

Northwestern since 2009

Year	Offense	Defense
2009	49	106
2010	33	169
2011	18	121
2012	20	184

Northwestern measures up admirably to the rest of the conference in adjusted offensive efficiency throughout the last four years, coming in 4th (two spots ahead of 6th-ranked Michigan, all Beilein years of course). Defensively, however, is where we find the answers to the many questions Northwestern fans may have about why this thing hasn't found that extra something to propel it to a first ever tourney berth. The Wildcats placed dead last in the conference in adjusted defensive efficiency (Michigan was also middle of the pack here, finishing in 7th).

At this point, Bill Carmody is not exactly an unknown entity: like Beilein, he's an offense-minded coach with a history of deploying the zone on defense, a necessary strategy when your 5 is John Shurna. This likely won't change this upcoming season, which would seem to be a make or break year for Carmody in Evanston.

It will be interesting to track how recent 7'2'' commit Chier Ajou does for NU on the defensive end. Although he is very raw, the best case scenario of his development would provide Northwestern with a viable presence in the paint that has, as far as I know, never been seen in Welsh-Ryan (excepting such players that have worn the other team's colors when playing in that arena). Unfortunately for Carmody, it doesn't seem that Ajou will be a legitimate factor for at least a couple of years, although he will assuredly get playing time by virtue of being really really tall.

 Meanwhile, in West Lafayette. Pre-Snap Read previews Purdue, who falls at the #73 spot in Myerberg's offseason preview series. On the ridiculous QB situation in WL:

All signs point to Purdue again going with a rotation at quarterback. But will it be a two-man rotation or will all three quarterbacks earn snaps in this offense? The Boilermakers would be wise to stick with two – but wiser to go with one full-time starter. One reason why the options should be Marve and TerBush: Henry is the only one of the three who can make an impact in other ways. With not much separating the three, Purdue could shift Henry out to receiver and get him in space, perhaps bringing him into shotgun in certain packages. If fully recovered from last year’s knee injury, the former starter can be a difference-maker if used correctly.

 I have a tendency to whittle various teams' prospects down to a question of how their quarterback will do, but I think that this is especially true in Purdue's case. In spite of the Boilers' anemic offense of late, PU does boast some solid options at the skill positions, namely Antavian Edison at receiver, Akeem Shavers at tailback, and WR/special teams speedster Raheem Mostert.

The defense is of course an issue, and I'm not sure how I feel about new defensive coordinator Tim Tibesar, who came to WL from the CFL. With that said, change was needed on the defensive side of the ball, and Tibesar does have a big time player in Kawann Short to work with up front.

In the end, Hope's 2-year extension through 2016 and last year's bowl appearance lead me to believe that simply appearing in another bowl game this season would constitute a big victory for the Purdue football program. None of the options at QB are particularly exciting, but I think that having the ability to pick one and stick with him will go a long way toward locking up a second straight bowl appearance. I think a six or seven win season is in the cards for Purdue this season. Baby steps.

Tommy Rees still around, working out and such. Tommy Rees is still enrolled and going through summer workouts (see: ALL THE STADIUM STEPS), which would lead one to believe that his status as a ND football player won't be in danger come fall, barring any additional legal missteps.

I only mention this to note that, while it is easy and sometimes funny to make fun of Rees's propensity for turning the ball over in an untimely fashion--are turnovers ever timely?--he was the guy who put up the following stat line on Mattison's defense last season: 27/39, 315 yards, 3 TDs (and 2 INTs). Take out the unforced turnovers and Rees had an excellent game against what turned out to be a top notch Michigan defense. Yes, Michael Floyd is gone and Michigan now has an entire year of game experience in Mattison's defensive system, but still. We are not exactly in a position to scoff at the QB of a team that we were very lucky to beat last year.

I think ND is best served with Rees at the helm early on in the season, in spite of what was a strong spring for Everett Golson. Laugh if you must, but if Rees finds himself booted from the team between now and September for whatever reason, that would be a not insignificant loss and certainly one that would up Michigan's chances of winning in South Bend this September.

 New contracts for basketball assistants Alexander, Meyer, Jordan. Michigan re-upped assistant basketball coaches Bacari Alexander, LaVall Jordan, and Jeff Meyer, who are by all accounts excellent basketball coaches when they are not busy #HALOLing and retweeting motivational quotes.

This is a big deal and a great move for the Michigan program going forward. It's often very easy to attribute all of the success or failure of a program to the head coach and the head coach alone, but I would imagine that Beilein himself would tell you that he couldn't have done any of this alone. In any case, this is good for the continuity of the program and represents one step further away from the athletic department's prior M.O. of extreme stinginess with respect to assistant coaches.

Alexander, particularly, seems like an assistant poised to snag some sort of head coaching job at some point (he's only 35), so this was a smart and probably obvious move for the AD. If you need any more convincing, head to your recruiting outlet of choice and check out how Michigan's recruiting efforts are doing...these guys can recruit, obviously, and you never know how a replacement might do in this crucial aspect of the coaching game.

In this case, it's "mo' money, less problems."

More? BREAKING: Jim Harbaugh is a big meanie per CBS NFL writer Mike Freeman. Okay then.  Andrew Gribble of al.com previews Michigan...a note: I haven't read the comments for this article, but it's generally best to avoid the comment sections at al.com. You've been warned.

Grantland on Royce White's draft prospects vis-a-vis his struggles with anxiety disorder...this is tangentially relevant only because Michigan faced off against White's ISU Cyclones this past season. Still interesting, though.

Miscellaneous Minutiae, 6/19/2012

Initiate Week 3 of Operation Don't Talk About Playoffs/Realignment/General College Football Bureaucratic Tomfoolery. Let's see if I can succeed in not passive-agressively hinting that the SEC should secede and leave the rest of us alone falling into the trap that is "thinking that any meaningful discussion about these topics can be had."


This is where we talk about "The Michigan Difference" sans irony. Regardless of how you feel about the recent uptick in "ban college football" sentiment, one thing is obvious: head injuries and head trauma are serious things which demand serious attention. It is of course not entirely clear what the scope of head injuries may be, especially in light of the tragic suicides of football players (such as Dave Duerson, Junior Seau, and UPenn's Owen Thomas)...of course, correlation is not causation. However, I would argue that it is much better to express so called "undue" concern over something such as this as opposed to a paucity of it. Nonchalantly tsk-tsking at those who might want to worry about this sort of thing--even those who perhaps inaccurately want to ascribe a causal relationship between concussions and depression, suicide, etc.--does not make that person more of a man.

Saving you any further pontification, it's important to note that various entities are taking this issue seriously. Of course, Michigan seems to be one such entity that is leading the way in concussion research:

Michigan is the only Big Ten football team with a full-time staffer dedicated to head injuries. Kutcher, who was hired by the university's medical school in 2003 and began working as a part-time volunteer with the athletic department shortly after that, said he isn't aware of another FBS team that employs someone such as himself.

That has helped propel the Wolverines to the frontier of concussion research, protocol and prevention.

"Leaders and best" and whatnot. As gratifying as success on the football field is, it's things like this that make you truly proud of the U. One of the more topical points in the article touches on concussion prevention:

Michigan also is working to prevent concussions from happening in the first place. That starts with outfitting players with proper equipment, such as a well-fit helmet.

Quarterback Denard Robinson switched helmets before last season, for example. After meeting with equipment manager Jon Falk, Robinson, a dual-threat quarterback who has averaged 18.3 carries per game as a starter and is susceptible to withering collisions because of his speed, elected to swap his Riddell for a better-fitting -- and, in his case, safer -- Schutt.

 It is a little bit terrifying that we know so relatively little about concussions (and even the brain itself) in the year 2012, a year which carries vague notions of progress even while we are still in the dark with respect to so many pressing matters. It speaks to the ridiculous complexity of the thing we call a brain, the internal software that drives all of our actions and, throughout the average football game, finds itself rattling against the hard walls of the skull dozens of times. In any case, good on the U for helping to take the lead in this, because this is not an issue that will (or should) go away as long as "student-athletes" are not getting paid.

RIP Bob Chappuis. You already know about this by now, but Michigan great Bob Chappuis, of the 1947 "Mad Magicians," passed away last week. Chappuis's career was obviously before my time, but his exploits were truly something at which to marvel.

Odds are, you, like me, are not even close to being old enough to truly understand who Bob Chappuis was; sadly, most of us can only attempt to cobble together some sort of understanding in a second-hand nature, like attempting to explain a sunset to a blind man.

Acquired understanding is awkward and not nearly as satisfying as having been there, but it is something nonetheless. It is primarily for this reason that I think a site like MVictors is an unbelievable treasure as a source of historical recollection, one whose value cannot be understated. MVictors, like any other source of historical scholarship, attempts--and very obviously succeeds--to provide a colorful, well-defined, and edifying lifeline to the past, a past which the average fan may not have the ability with which to connect.

People will often discredit Michigan's accomplishments as a football program because "who cares about anything that happened before this point which I arbitrarily determined is the point at which things starter to matter or count." This people are not only extremely misguided, they are depriving themselves of a vast and tremendous history. Will this era of college football be rendered "meaningless" by the generations of the distant future? Assuming that college football will still be played well into the twilight of this century, I would hope that the answer is no. If that is in fact the case, then there is no reason to discredit or scoff at the college football world before 1950 (or whatever arbitrary date it is that people often to use). 

Bob Chappuis and many other Michigan football players of that era were not only multi-sport stars, they went and fought "over there," only to come back and keep playing football at a very high level. Think about how ridiculous and amazing and compelling that is. Think about how different things once were. The Michigan community has lost a by all accounts great football player and an even better man...RIP. 

Feldman on MSU's OL, Denard. Two points of interest from Feldman's recent mailbag. First, Feldman puts Denard at #5 on his Heisman list for 2012 (tied with Landry Jones), which, okay whatever. It's the Heisman. The more important point comes via his answer to a question regarding the Boise State-MSU game and their respective QB situations: 

The decided advantage goes to Michigan State. The reason: The Spartans return the much better defense. BSU has two starters returning on D. MSU has eight. The Spartans also are set up better to rely on their ground game with Le'Veon Bell and arguably the Big Ten's top O-line.

I mention this if for no other reason than to say man oh man how quickly perception changes sometimes. Remember how after last year's MSU-ND game we are all banking on the fact that the MSU offensive line was not very good? Well, not only did they push Michigan's front 7 around last year (despite the Spartans not really being a great rushing team most of the year), they seemed to get better as the year went on. I got to thinking about Feldman's "best in the Big Ten" assessment and it definitely holds water. 

 Michigan will have a solid if still undersized line; I feel pretty comfortable about the tackles but the guys on the interior present some question marks. Ohio State has to replace Adams, Brewster, and Shugarts, while also attempting to transition to Urban Meyer's power spread offense. Otherwise, Wisconsin seems like the primary competition for best OL in the conference. As always, I'm sure they will continue the tradition of gargantuan offensive linemen, even on the heels of the departures of standouts like Kevin Zeitler, Josh Oglesby, and Peter Konz. 

It's anybody's guess how good the Spartan OL will actually be, but, as a general note, it's pretty crazy how perception has shifted from "that OL is a complete and utter sieve" circa September 2011 to "hey, that OL might be the best in the conference" circa right about now. If anything, this is an example of how continuity and a certain lineup merely accumulating starts as a group can lead to marked improvement...not exactly earth-shattering news, I know. 

In other news: heroball is still stupid. I always feel ridiculously hypocritical when railing against the aesthetics-destroying monstrosity that is heroball, mostly because I grew up watching and celebrating the exploits of one Michael Jeffrey Jordan. Still, it is important to remember that even MJ passed the ball in key moments. It's okay, guys...LBJ passing the ball to an open Udonis Haslem for a 15-footer will not bring on the Apocalypse: 

Eight-year-old me: WOOO MJ YEAH SPACE JAM IS MY FAVORITE MOVIE EVERRRR WHAT NO WHY ARE YOU PASSING WHY WHY WH--AHHH STEVE KERR YOU ARE MY FAVORITE PLAYER OF ALL TIME I'M GOING TO GO PLAY WITH SOME POGS AND WATCH NICKELODEON NOW.

Anyway, the WSJ is the latest to take on the beast that is heroball, in light of the recent uptick in late game heroball situations:

A star who doesn't take charge in the final seconds can come under fire. During the      Eastern Conference finals, as Miami's LeBron James drove toward the basket with time expiring in a knotted Game 4 against Boston, he didn't shoot—passing the ball instead to teammate Udonis Haslem, who missed. After the Heat lost the game in overtime, James drew fire from fans and analysts because he hadn't taken the shot himself. Very few people seemed to care that James had three Boston defenders collapsing on him.

If my memory serves me correctly, you could argue that it was actually four defenders collapsing on LeBron, which makes all the pro-heroball squawking seem even more insane. In any case, as these late game win-it-or-lose-it situations seems to be on the rise, it will be interesting to see how players, coaches, fans, and the media evolve--or devolve--with respect to the viability or heroball. 


The most eye-popping stat in the article is the fact that LeBron has supposedly only taken a mere 18% of Miami's "clutch" shots this season; as a general point, it's amazing how perception and reality can often resemble a train run off its tracks. 


Northwestern basketball lands 2012 7-footer. Northwestern basketball recently acquired the commitment of Sudanese big man Chier Ajou. Lake The Posts writes: 

Ajou is a native of Sudan and is also the cousin of Bulls forward Luol Deng. Northwestern basketball fans have been smarting after a pair of basketball recruiting snags, namely the lack of admission of 2012 recruit and sharpshooter Mislav Brzoja and the parting of ways with 2013 recruit Milos Kostic. Ajou has had quite a tragic backstory according to the Chicago Tribune which reference the fact he lost and two brothers in the war in Sudan and his father past away as well (however those details are less clear) before moving to the US in 2008.

As expressed in the comments, there seems to be some concern as to whether or not Ajou will even qualify academically. In light of Northwestern's denial of Croatian guard Mislav Brzoja on academic grounds, this seems a bit odd (especially for a school like Northwestern). Brzoja supposedly had a 4.0 at Trader's Point Christian Academy in Indiana, but his cumulative GPA was already essentially torpedoed by less than stellar academic performance in his native Croatia. I don't much care for speculation regarding the grades of football or basketball recruits, particularly since so much misinformation often exists when it comes to this sort of thing. 


At the same time, Ajou's journey will be one to follow as an example of how a school that generally places academics above athletics goes about handling academically borderline prospects. As a general aside, I've noticed many Wildcat fans expressing the sentiment of late--on 

Northwestern blogs, message boards, etc.--that typically goes something along the lines of "see, even we sometimes admit borderline cases in spite of what our reputation would otherwise indicate." 

Schools like Northwestern are still a cut above almost everyone in the FBS when it comes to academic standards in athletics,* but it's interesting to see that this sort of thing even happens at NU. As someone who will be attending grad school at Northwestern this fall, it will be interesting to monitor the differences between Michigan and Northwestern when it comes to perception vs. reality vis-a-vis the stringency of academic standards in athletics.

*Yes, Michigan fans...I hate to break it to you, but we are not in Northwestern's league in this respect.

More? It's OSU week over at Maize n Brew. More good stuff about Mark Donnal on the heels of his performance at the NBPA camp (via UMHoops)...for some reason, I have a feeling that he's going to eventually replace JMo as the non-star Wolverine who I somewhat irrationally enjoy watching play the game. 

Miscellaneous Minutiae, 6/14/2012

I know that it's the middle of June, but I've decided to continue my newly minted policy of not discussing realignment, playoff scenarios, etc. It's for the best. As long as you understand that it all boils down to each entity looking out solely for its own interests, it all becomes transparently not worth expressing much righteous indignation over. The fact is, we are destined to have some sort of playoff...and it will probably be a stupid one. So it goes. 
---

Michigan fans take to the streets to express their displeasure over the coaching staff's extension of a scholarship offer to a long snapper...definitely not soccer hooligans in Poland.

On the importance of long snappers. Now, I don't mean to set the precedent that because Nick Saban is doing something, that something is inherently good or valid, but...regarding the mini-uproar over Hoke's scholarship offer to long snapper Scott Syniewski, here's this on Saban's recruitment of long snapper Cole Mazza:

According to BamaOnline, Saban did something at last week's special teams camp in Tuscaloosa that he's never done in his 17-year career -- offered a scholarship to a long snapper.

But but oversigning! Okay yes, whatever, guy. Still, I'm going to go ahead and say that the staff knows more about what Michigan needs than various recruiting obsessees on the Internet. Classes are not only a collection of players that provide certain talents and skill sets, they fill specific needs, ranging from "need a big wide receiver" to something as hyper-specialized as "need guy to snap the ball really far every once in a while." In the end, nobody will remember whether or not this class was #1 or #5 or #842 in four years, just as long as the guy brought in to snap can snap, the receivers catch, the linemen block, the linebackers tackle, the quarterbacks complete passes, and so on and so forth.

In short: trust the coaches, over-anxious star-gazer.

Big Ten wide receiving talent...not so great. In spite of the popular notion that the Big Ten is some slow, plodding conference that still gets a print newspaper delivered every week and receives its milk via milk man, the conference has put out its fair share of wide receiving talent over the years. However, this does not appear to be one of those years, as the position group across the entire league seems to be a glaring weakness.

ESPN's Big Ten blog asks who the best B1G's receiver is, with the options being: Keenan Davis, Jared Abbrederis, Roy Roundtree and Justin Brown. No offense to any of those guys, but that is a pretty uninspiring list. I'm not that old, but I can't remember the last time the talent on the perimeter was this weak in the conference.

With AJ Jenkins, Junior Hemingway (and Stonum, I guess), DeVier Posey, Derek Moye, Marvin McNutt, Jeremy Ebert, Nick Toon, and Damarlo Belcher all having moved on for one reason or another, the conference will be sorely lacking in proven talent at WR. I would imagine that this will translate to less big plays in 2012 than there were in 2011.

Michigan will need Roy Roundtree to return to form and at least one of Jerald Robinson, Darboh, and Chesson to step up. Ohio State needs guys like Evan Spencer, Devin Smith, and Verlon Reed to step up, and early enrollee Michael Thomas is also probably in the mix there as well. Northwestern is hoping to get USC transfer Kyle Prater eligible to play this season. Keenan Davis and Justin Brown look to take over for McNutt and Moye as the #1 receiving options at Iowa and PSU, respectively.

It's going to be an interesting year on offense, and by "interesting" I mean "probably conforming to the aforementioned B1G stereotypes." Let's hope the newspaper doesn't land right on that puddle over there.

Think about the kids, fergodsakes. Okay, so I'm sort of breaking the "no playoff talk" rule here, but I just wanted to note this in order to add...

"Whatever happens, here’s the only thing I hope: I hope they think about the kids, and the families of those kids who are out there on the field, because how many games do we want to play?" Hoke said this week during a meeting with the Michigan Associated Press Sports Editors at Weber’s Inn in Ann Arbor.

"These are not professional athletes. They are student-athletes. They have classes."

...that Hoke is one of a tiny clique of folks in college football that can invoke "the kids" without me completely rolling my eyes. That is all.

Nebraska fans at Ryan Field. Northwestern blog Lake the Posts discusses Nebraska's upcoming visit to Ryan Field this season and what can be done to limit their numbers. If for nothing else, it's worth clicking through to watch video of the famous 2000 Nebraska-Notre Dame game in which Husker fans made Notre Dame Stadium look like this:

Of course, as we all know, the problem of fans selling their tickets to opposing fans is not one that is limited to Northwestern. Yes, I'm referring to Michigan and Michigan fans. The amount of green at the 2008 Michigan State game and the amount of scarlet at the 2009 Ohio State game were, to be quite honest, fairly embarrassing. I will never understand how people can willingly give their tickets away to a fan of a rival team like that. I get that times are tough and all, but come on.

So, reading the linked LTP's impassioned plea for NU fans to get out to Ryan Field, I started to wonder whether or not this sort of thing would stop happening in Ann Arbor. It happens far less often and on a far lesser scale, proportionally, than it does in Evanston. However, there is no excuse for the number of Spartan and Buckeye fans that have invaded the Big House in recent years.

We won't truly find out until 2013's home slate, but this year's Michigan State game will prove to be a solid litmus test in this regard, especially if Michigan happens to roll into this game with 2 losses (Alabama and ND). We all know that Spartan fans will be dying to show up to the Big House en masse this year given that MSU has the chance to win its 5th in a row, and a 2-loss Michigan team will definitely test the resolve of lesser Michigan fans (unfortunately, there are more of this type of fan than you'd think). You'd think that the success of an 11-win season would be enough to keep even the bandwagoniest fans from selling their tickets to someone wearing green, but you never know. I guess we'll find out on October 20th.


MnB's Zach Travis interviews BHGP's Patrick Vint. An all-around excellent interview at Maize n Brew, one that gives a pretty excellent picture of where Iowa football is at right now. The apex was of course the 2002-2004 run of top 10 finishes, but since then Iowa has been fairly up and down, showing brief flashes of that old brilliance (2009). Vint on the Tao of Ferentz, which sounds a lot like Lloydball except instead of slowly bleeding away a somewhat comfortable lead all the way to an excruciating loss, Kirk seems to do pretty well:

The other thing to remember is that the 2008 and 2009 teams really didn't play that many close games. What those teams played, for the most part, were two-possession games where the opponent got a late score to make it close. Iowa is deadly in those situations; Ferentz has only lost two games in thirteen years where he had a two-possession lead with 8:00 to play. Give Iowa a chance to make you drive the field, milk some clock between the tackles, and then make you drive the field again, and Ferentz will beat you. But put him in a situation where he has to tactically beat you for 8:00 and Iowa loses nearly 2 of 3 (since 2005).

Well, that sounds familiar (i.e. this past year's game at Kinnick). Note to self (Cc: Brady Hoke): don't let Kirk Ferentz be up by two scores with around 8 or so minutes left in the game.

More? MAH GAWD THAT'S URBAN MEYER'S MUSIC PLAYING AT THE SOUND MIND SOUND BODY ACADEMY IN SOUTHFIELD, MI. I admittedly don't follow basketball recruiting as much as I do football recruiting, but Vitto Brown (via UMHoops) sounds like an interesting prospect, even if he doesn't end up getting offered. An athletic 6'8'' guy playing the 3/4 with shot-blocking ability? He definitely sounds like a departure from the Beilein big guy prototype, but it's been five years and a Michigan version of Pittsnogle (or even a poor man's iteration) has yet to materialize. Maybe it's time to give up the ghost and just recruit more conventional Big Ten bigs?

I was out of town so I didn't have a chance to do a Shameless Self-Promotion post, but anyway: I wrote a thing about Purdue football and another thing about Brandon Hawthorne and Antonio Poole over at Maize n Brew last week. There, now you're caught up.

Miscellaneous Minutiae, 1/23/2012

If the focus on basketball of late in this here space hasn't given you enough of a hint, it is now in fact the horrible, empty thing known as "the offseason." As such, I will try to have one newsy/links-saturated post a week. Most of the topics will be Michigan-centric, but I do plan on taking about general college football a decent bit as well. Until I think of something less lame, these types of posts will go by the above title, lifted straight from the last section of my football posts. 


Recruiting. National Signing Day approaches, a time of both excruciating pain and inexplicable glory for unathletic middle aged men across this great land. First, a preface: it is this blog's policy to talk about recruiting as little as possible. Having recently turned an age that would make me a year older than almost all college football athletes--minus the Weeden and Bauserman types--it hit me that the whole business is incredibly strange and definitely somewhat creepy. As far as I'm concerned, the halcyon days of my youth were the best times of my Michigan fandom; I never knew who the players were before they came in, I never knew what accolades or star-rankings they came in with, whether they were good fits for the system, had character/grade issues, and whether or not they think that NIKE Pro Combat jerseys are "sick." RoJo, the Terrelle Pryor sweepstakes, the great safety strikeout of 2010 (Knight, Parker, Dorsey), Bri'onte Dunn, and a plethora of other highly-charged stress-inducing recruiting inflection points have slowly soured me on the whole thing.

However, in this age of hyper-informed fans, it's impossible to completely ignore recruiting lest you have your fandom questioned by other Michigan Men (particularly on the cusp of NSD). My general philosophy is "trust the coaches and whatever happens, happens." It was that way when RR was still around ( and Lloyd too). I have no problem talking about where committed or officially signed/early enrolled players fit into the scheme of the next season and beyond. Even if it's impossible to tell how a player will turn out--particularly in light of the fact they will grow appreciably, mentally and physically--at least this type of talk is limited to the field. All of the aforementioned can henceforth be considered the OFFICIAL POSITION on recruiting.

With that said, the recent decommitment of long-time commit Caleb Stacey leaves a hole in Michigan's class that must be filled by another OL. As a general note, I wish him well (as all Michigan fans should), and any and all other rhetoric (e.g. "he wasn't that good anyway", "he opens up a spot for a more highly-touted recruit", "he wasn't sure if he could get playing time", etc.) is simply wrong. As one of the earliest commitments of the Brady Hoke era, it's obvious that the coaches liked him, and that's good enough for me.

However, Michigan seems to be in the discussion for a number of quality offensive lineman. Josh Garnett is one such option, and he is announcing this Thursday ($), deciding between Michigan and Stanford. This would give us a 5th OL, a position of desperate need, and one in which we can probably take one more if Garnett picks Michigan.

Mo' Money Mo' Coordinators. In Clemson's continuing effort to rain cash on coordinators, the Tigers hired Oklahoma DC Brent Venables after Bob Stoops brought brother Mike in to co-DC with Brent. This is an excellent hire for the Tigers, who now have two well-respected and well-paid coordinators in Venables and OC Chad Morris. OU did have some trouble on defense this year, particularly through the air, but a heavy slice of that blame probably goes to DB coach (and former UGA DC) Willie Martinez.

When a school like Clemson is capable and willing to pay for coordinators like they have, it makes me increasingly happy that Michigan has joined the rest of the college football landscape in this respect. No longer is Michigan paying their coordinators in Big Ten Burrito gift certificates*.

About Last Night. So, I went to bed thinking about a NATIONAL. FOOTBALL. LEAGUE. featuring one Chip Kelly and all of the hilarity that that would entail. As I watched the Giants and 49ers duke it out in a classic gritfest of offensive ineptitude, the concept of Chip Kelly in the NFL was absurd and outright hilarious, albeit incredibly interesting. And, yet, it seemed that it had all been confirmed.

Wisely, Chip checked out of that play overnight, electing to remain in Eugene and continue to operate that Death Star of an offense despite rumors of supposed NCAA violations being the incentive to get out of Dodge (and a canceled Sacramento recruiting trip looking like evidence that his departure was imminent).

As interesting as an NFL game coached by Chip Kelly might have been, we all know how that would have ended. The NFL is not a place for systems, no matter how brilliant. As such, Kelly staying is a win for college football. While I still have my doubts about Oregon actually winning a national championship (I think an Auburn team with a fairly mediocre defense might have been their best chance), at least he will continue to give us exciting football instead of having to watch him fight the derp-laden stodgy reactionism of the NFL for 2 years.

Wolverine Historian. WH with the 1998 Big Ten Tournament championship game...vacated but not forgotten.

On The Road Again. Speaking of basketball, Michigan heads to West Lafayette tomorrow night in what might be the most winnable game of this upcoming 5-game stretch. Read that sentence again. The next two weeks might not be very fun.

On the bright side, the Boilermakers did just get handled by the Spartans this past weekend, and they have looked like a shell of their former selves throughout this entire season. At this point,  I have very little faith in Michigan's ability to have success on the road, but we'll see (I think I'll have a preview at some point tomorrow). Maybe this is the game that THJ finally breaks out for good. FWIW, here's Hammer & Rails with a brief rundown of the performance in East Lansing.

Mentioning East Lansing=another excuse to post this

*Which, if they exist, would be the worst gift/form of payment ever...PANCHERO'S UBER ALLES. 

More? Lefty to Auburn...an interesting hire, not exactly ideal that he's attempting to replace Gus Malzahn. Virginia basketball drops one at home to Virginia Tech; that's 2 losses out of their last 3 for UVA. UMHoops with efficiency margins and a roundup of the last week in the conference. INFINITE RON SWANSON. I'll take "Headlines Connected To College Football That I Thought I'd Never See" for 1,000, Alex. 

There's Injured and There's Hurt, 12/9/2011

(HT: Mike DeSimone)

Things That Have Been Called Boo-Boos That Aren't: Denard's inability to not throw like he's Taylor Martinez early on in the season can in part be explained by the fact that his boo-boo was actually a staph infection. In addition, the "myriad injuries" part confirms that the few times where I blasphemously thought that maybe Denard had lost a step were not necessarily unfounded concerns because, you know, he was hurt.

I'm no doctor, but staph infections conjure up vague notions of unpleasantness, and it's not hard to imagine it affecting his play. As if you needed an more reasons to love Denard, he is a TOUGH football player with lots of TOUGHNESS and GRIT. THIS GUY'S ARM WAS FALLING OFF BUT HE JUST KEPT PUSHIN', THE WANT TO IN THIS GUY IS JUST UNBELIEVABLE. I'LL TELL YOU WHAT, I'D LOVE TO HAVE 22 DENARD ROBINSONS ON MY FOOTBALL TEAM. Jon Gruden hasn't said this yet but can you imagine him saying it? I sure can. And people say Denard's NFL prospects as a QB are bleak.

But seriously, after last season a lot of people were left wondering whether or not Denard could survive another season. He can partly thank Fitz for his durability this season, but Denard is simply a pound-for-pound TOUGH human being a la Vincent Smith.

Stand(ifer) Down*: Michigan loses its commitment from Anthony Standifer, as tweeted by Allen Trieu yesterday. Grades seem to be the reason per the Internets, which is a shame if true. It's always tough losing a commitment, particularly one that goes to the same school as 2013 target Laquon Treadwell. His offer list isn't outrageously great (basically us, ND, Iowa, and assorted mediocrity plus Boise State) but at the same time, Michigan is one of them and trust the coaches &c. Come on down Armani Reeves and Yuri Wright.

*I'll show myself the door.

Rich "Uncle Rico" Rodriguez: When Coach Rod said that he would've gone 10-2 this year if he was still around, my first thoughts were: 1) Would GERG still be around in this hypothetical scenario? 2) I could see 10-2 as a best-case but 9-3 or even 8-4 are probably more likely if we're conjecturing baselessly here (and we are) 3) Coach, why would you ever agree to do The Huge Show/answer a question like that with anything other than mind-numbing coachspeak? and 4) I give you the below*.

Coach woulda put me in fourth quarter, we would been state champions. No doubt. No doubt in my mind. 


*Just FWIW; that is a joke. There were very few people as pro-RR as I, and what RR said wasn't really that bad either in or out of context.


Oakland (Not That Oakland): Michigan takes on the Oakland Golden Grizzlies (our most hated rival!) at the Palace of Auburn Hills tomorrow (4 ET). UMHoops has the usual preview and other assorted reading material. Oakland's three losses are to Alabama and Arkansas on the road and Ohio (not that Ohio...Ohio Ohio). Playing this sort of team is the kind of RPI-booster that teams want; high enough to be respectable as a tomato can but not enough to worry about defeat. The game recap should come up Sunday afternoon as I prepare to watch my Bears get Tebow'd. /cries

Heisman Stuff THIS IS SO IMPORTANT not really: Doctor Saturday on RGIII winning the Heisman. Okay, yes the Heisman is an inherently stupid award reflective of the BCS and its big name favoritism...but I can't help but be OUTRAGED if RGIII (2011 RGIII, aka 2012 Denard PLEASE) doesn't win it. How is this even a debate? Mel Kiper showed up on ESPN earlier expressing a preference for Trent Richardson, which, come on. Anybody picking Richardson for anything (including the Doak) is having one single un-ending thought process being coded out in their brain: SEC SEC SEC SEC SEC SEC SEC, and so on into oblivion. He hasn't even had the best season for a tailback, let alone overall. I know that he benches so much that the Bama S&C staff won't let him up his max because it would supposedly destroy the universe like he's dividing by zero, but come on guys. COME ON.

More? TACO TACO TACO TACO TACO. PAWWWLLLLLL I DON'T TRUST URBAN MEYER UP THERE WITH THAT SHADOW RECRUITING STAFF IT'S UH CONSPIRACEEEE PAWLLLLLL I'll hang up and lissen. I kind of want the NCAA to pull a David Stern and be like "No" to whatever school Dayne Crist decides to go to. As someone who lived in Alabama during the glorious reign of Mike Shula, all I have to say to this is LOL WHY? Um, insert How About No.jpg. Tim Beckman to Illinois; not sure how I feel about this yet. A really awesome AMA featuring Spencer Hall and LSUFreek...these things are always cool and especially so if you enjoy EDSBS and LSUFreek's brilliance, which you should as a college football watcher. Spencer professes a deep respect for MGoBlog more than once, which is pretty cool.

This Is A Tribute, 11/16/11

Hoke Exhorts You To Do Something: In addition to the card stunt that is going down this Saturday, Coach Hoke wants YOU to get to your seat fifteen minutes early for a tribute to Lloyd Carr.

So that's happening and it won't be slightly awkward for everyone that has read Three and Out. Nope, not at all.

War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Regression is Progression: In actual football-related news, Hoke gives Denard the ol' vote of confidence:

"I think he’s gotten better every week, within the offense," Hoke said Tuesday during his weekly conference call with reporters. "I think the way he goes out every day, and his work ethic every day, his leadership and his real attention to detail, whether it be in the pro-game or carrying it, (helps him adjust)."

Wait, he's getting better? If following Michigan football the past several years has taught me anything, it's that every individual mistake or bad game is reason to sound the OMG REGRESSION alarms.  Coach Hoke, are you saying that there are certain things we can't necessarily see, and that the world isn't a black and white caricature of regression and progression? My God, this changes everything. I guess we can all breathe easy and stop presaging the fall of empires every time Denard throws an incomplete pass.

Opponents, They Watchin' Us: The straightforwardly named Corn Nation takes a look at the Wolverines. Most of it actually seems to be a pre-season preview, but I only mention it to include this part:

Throughout Rich Rodriguez's three year run at Michigan, we've repeatedly noted the similarities between Rodriguez and Bill Callahan's career at Nebraska. Granted, they were mirror images, taking teams in opposite directions philosophically, but the result was the same: square peg, round hole.

/weeps

Job Huntin': Rich Rodriguez talks to Tim Brando about his job prospects. The only noteworthy parts--other than RR's declaration of still having the "hunger to coach"--are: a) Houston Nutt said something sort of intelligent and b) RR's legal issues with both WVU and Michigan are over and should not present a problem for future employers (per RR, at least).

To the first point, Nutt, the SEC's Zook, explained who I thought would be a good fit at a place like Ole Miss, mentioning Mike Leach in the process. Basically, Ole Miss needs somebody with a "different" (see: "spread") approach in order to mitigate the talent, facilities, and tradition gaps. Despite recruiting enough people per class to fill CHEM 1800, things haven't worked out for Coach Nutt, but that doesn't mean that nobody can do it. Nutt is just a bad coach; RR is not. However, as long as Miles and Saban are chilling in the SEC West (and even Petrino, I guess), it'll be hard for anybody to really be successful*.

He says we'll see what happens in the next three or four weeks, so whether or not that is an actual timetable...you've got to think that things should start to move in the near future once certain guys get fired and ADs fire up the university jets.

*Dan Mullen says "Hey, remember me!"

Early Season Hoops: Michigan defeated Towson on Monday, 64-47 (UMHoops, as always, has it covered with a phenomenal recap). This means very little in the grand scheme of things. The fact that Michigan got outscored after a 21-0 run to start the game? Not really too worrisome given the protean nature of the lineups at this point, not to mention the fact that the team is still fairly young.

The only thing that really matter is that Michigan got the win, which teams like UCLA and Vandy can't say. I'm pretty sure nobody is going to remember Duke's one point win against Belmont come tourney time. That said, winning each and every one of these games is critical because you don't want to see a cupcake under the 'Bad Losses' line of the ESPN bubble team graphic. In any case, a few meaningless observations:

• Horford looks pretty solid so far. The added weight is definitely a plus...where as he was sort of useless on the offensive end and was just sort of a tall noodly guy on the defensive end last year, he could be a contributor this year, especially if Morgan continues to suffer from the departure of his benefactor Darius Morris. 
• Smotrycz also looks like a guy who will see the added weight pay off once the conference schedule begins. He caught a lot of flak from some people last year but I'm pretty excited to see him develop. 
• Burke will be a good one. It's refreshing to see the outside shooting coming from that spot on the floor (one of Morris's few flaws as a player), but it's hard to gather much else given the limited serious pressure he got in this game against a severely overmatched opponent. Let's see how he does against an athletic Memphis team, Duke/Tennessee, and even UVA on the road in Charlottesville. 
• 3-point shooting was pretty terrible, which should generally be pretty scary but especially for a Beilein-coached team. But, like I said, it's early in the season and everything will come in time. These games are basically practice, man. 

Michigan looks to go 3-0 on Thursday against Western Illinois (8:30 ET, ESPN3). I won't be coming in for the Nebraska game until the following morning so I won't be able to make it but, Ann Arborites: can we sort of try to fill up Crisler this year? This team is exciting and for the first time in a while we have a guy that can evaluate talent and get his players to confidently execute a system. I know these early season games aren't the most exciting but it's pretty sad to see Crisler look so empty outside of the Maize Rage. 

More? As much as I made fun of Zook...reporters, they are annoying. Lot's of guys that run the ball well in the Big House this Saturday...that's BIG TEN FOOTBAW right there. Butch Davis is like "hey guys that wasn't my fault." Urban Meyer's response to Arizona's job offer: HALOL. 

All Glory Is Fleeting, 11/9/11

The End: There's really no need to produce an elaborate rundown of the PSU scandal here, as others have already done so more comprehensively than I could have. With that said, I have to say that I don't feel "sorry" for Paterno (especially in light of his apparent refusal to resign/decision to retire after the season ends), as I don't think anybody other than the victims themselves and their families deserve any sort of sympathy. This cannot be stated enough times or with enough vehemence.

As far as Joe's legacy goes (which is so far down the list of things to fret over as to be essentially meaningless), an EDSBS commenter recalled the final lines of Patton (side bar, but if you ever want to make yourself more intellectually well-rounded--and funnier--EDSBS comment sections are as good a place to start as any):

For over a thousand years, Roman conquerors returning from the wars enjoyed the honor of a triumph - a tumultuous parade. In the procession came trumpeters and musicians and strange animals from the conquered territories, together with carts laden with treasure and captured armaments. The conqueror rode in a triumphal chariot, the dazed prisoners walking in chains before him. Sometimes his children, robed in white, stood with him in the chariot, or rode the trace horses. A slave stood behind the conqueror, holding a golden crown, and whispering in his ear a warning: that all glory is fleeting. 

It is both amazing and saddening that one of the few seemingly irrevocably solid entities--underscored further by an increasingly sordid college football landscape--left in college football has revealed himself to be no different than the rest in the span of a few days. But, let's be honest, these events had been incubating for years, ever since the day that McQueary and Paterno saw and heard something so horrible and yet decided to look in every other direction other than that of moral compulsion. I don't understand how Joe Pa can be so devoid of shame as to coach another game, but it appears that he just might unless the lower end of the NYT's report comes to fruition. If Joe Pa coaches this Saturday, it will surely set the backdrop for one of the most bizarre, emotionally conflicted college football atmosphere of all time.

Even if PSU does the right thing regarding all those who are culpable*, given the nature of the crimes...nothing can ever truly be enough.

*Which, it goes without saying, should entail immediate dismissal of Paterno, McQueary, Spanier, and any other administrative types who heard about these things and did nothing.

Let's Have A Commitment Time: Michigan acquired commit #24 on Tuesday, in the form of Pioneer tailback Drake Johnson. This is an interesting commitment given the complete absence of recruiting hype or meaningful offers, but a closer look reveals a player that offers some ability; namely, speed. I admittedly haven't heard much about him until now, but Ace's Hello post seems to denote a very Mike Shaw-esque skill set. A guy with speed in spades who tends to bounce things with regularity while lacking the moves that separate a high school athlete from an FBS-level tailback. Trust the coaches and all, but I'm not sure how much of an impact he'll have at the college level, but we'll see...Mike Hart etc. etc.

Almost as relevant as the commitment in and of itself is how this affects Michigan's courtship of Buckeye commit Bri'onte Dunn. On the surface it would seem that Michigan has essentially thrown in the towel re: prying Dunn away from the Buckeyes, but Kyle Meinke says not so fast. Another potential implication is that, in light of open spots becoming increasingly scarce, Michigan may be operating under the notion that AJ Williams will in fact be a lineman at the college level, which is not exactly a stretch given that he is already pretty huge and has been playing at the tackle position this season anyway*. I wouldn't mind this at all given the lack of depth on the line, but Michigan will still need to land at last one more OL, in addition to two receivers (Darboh, please don't go to Iowa and become the next inexplicably good Iowa receiver).

*Apparently he's a whopping 290 pounds already, of which some is probably bad weight but will inevitably become good weight once he starts a college S&C program.

On The Disappearance of Thomas Gordon: After everybody spent the rest of the weekend wondering why Gordon had been unseated in favor of Woolfolk, Brady Hoke explained:

It's simple: Fifth-year senior Troy Woolfolk, who moved to safety two weeks ago so freshman standout Blake Countess can start at cornerback, had a better week of practice. For Hoke, that was enough to keep Gordon on the bench.

Okay, I guess. That answer is a little bit unsatisfying but you can't really argue with it as a fan. Still, I don't see how one week of practice can cancel out two thirds of a season's worth of competent play in favor of a guy who probably isn't even 100% and got beat out at corner by a freshman. I don't know...establishing an environment of competition and accountability on a week-to-week basis from the beginning of Hoke's tenure is obviously vital. Either way, even if Gordon doesn't start this week, there's no question he should see the field in some capacity, whether at safety or the nickel. On the bright side, our next three opponents aren't exactly Oklahoma State when it comes to passing the ball, so our safeties shouldn't be tested deep with any great capability by Scheelhaase, Martinez, and Miller. At the same time, all three can and will run the ball, and I just think Gordon brings a level of physicality that Woolfolk simply does not, let alone a banged up Woolfolk.

The Mediocre Bowl (also see: "every Big Ten game in 2011"): Illinois blog "Hail to the Orange" talks about the importance of the upcoming titanic matchup:

Illinois who lost to Purdue, who earlier this year lost to Rice. Michigan who lost to Iowa, who just the week before lost to basement dwellers Minnesota. The same Illinois team that earlier this year defeated Arizona State, and the same Michigan who beat Notre Dame. This could be a valuable lesson that the there is no transitive property in football, but it is also further proof that here in the Big Ten, we are sorely lacking in elite teams that can run away with the league.

Pretty much. The Big Ten=ACC, and that is ironclad.

This Week In Schadenfreude: Unfortunately, Michigan is featured prominently. "AAAARGHBBLGGOG" is pretty much the only justifiable response to any of that. I'd be careful of awarding Alabama anything though, even if it is the "Tears of Unfathomable Sadness" or the "Scott Tenorman of the Week." Alabama fans everywhere are now trying to cobble together these two designations into a justification for claiming their 37478th national championship. WOOOOO SCHADENFREUDE NATIONAL CHAMPS ROLL TAHD ROLL!

More? Leach swingin' that sword in the general direction of Oxford, MS...please let this happen/get him back in college football somewhere. 11W on the evil that is ESPN vis-a-vis realignment. Arkansas State is #1...in attendance-related incentives. RR back to the Bayou? I'd like to think he can snag a better job than that but who knows how bullish the college football market is on him right now. Grantland piece on the PSU scandal and the disillusionment of the fan.