Diaries

Mates,

Haven't posted in a bit but I did read the Jourdan Lewis stuff and I thought this might be timely.  Its too long for a forum topic but I'll try to be succinct.

1.  Jourdan Lewis Character - Very Good.   First time misdemeanor DV defendants are always offered what is called a 'deferred sentence' pursuant to MCL 769.4a.  Its kind of like a double secret probation where they send the defendant to anger management classes (also known as "Man Hater" classes) for about 6 months and if defendant doesn't test dirty for booze or drugs and doesn't get any more criminal charges the case is eventually dismissed.  Those classes can be helpful though, if for no other reason than they can teach someone to simply walk away from an argument before it gets to the tipping point. 

Not only did Jourdan not take this offer, but also he said 'no' to any type of offer to some less serious, Mickey Mouse type of misdemeanor with a similar treatment.  There are some other pre-trial facts that evidence his high character but with the NFL not having weighed in yet those will be kept private.  Suffice it to say that if you knew those you would almost certainly think he is and always was truly innocent, not just not guilty.

At trial the complaining witness (not going to call a fake witness a 'victim') was not believable, and in particular her recorded statements came off as drama - her 9-1-1 call was like she'd witnessed some horrible crime, not gotten pushed away using pillows.  Same with the body cam recording of her statement on the night in question.  There was evidence that she had slapped JL multiple times.  She also conveniently cried during some parts of direct exam and that came off as manufactured.   

Jourdan was contacted that same night and instantly manned-up and met with the cops.  He took no time to manipulate or plan out his statement, and instead gave a sincere and calm statement.  No need for him to take the stand as the prosecutor was foolish enough to put his statement to the police into evidence.   

2.  Can He Sue Her For Malicious Prosecution/Abuse of Process - Yes, but its way difficult and rarely worth the time, effort and money.  You have to have the right case facts and a complaining witness whose lies are able to be shown to a jury.  I had such a case earlier this year and it worked out well for the client, but that is literally one in a thousand.  I don't know what JL plans, but I'd be shocked if he pursued her for anything.

3.  Domestic Violence for us Regular Folks - No doubt it is a real thing and a serious thing, but like many causes can sometimes be not only overblown, but also used as a weapon to hurt others.  That said, I am willing to bet that the majority of you reading this have been the either the victim or the aggressor in a DV incident.  You're thinking 'no way, Jose'.  But remember that time you threw your keys at your ex, or s/he threw them at you?  How about when you closed the door on his/her foot, while yelling at them?  Or when you grabbed his/her shoulder to get their phone out of their hand?   And a few of you unfortunately more severe than that.

I mention this only because if you are in a relationship that has these elements its probably time to not be in that relationship.  If nothing else, please get some help.  Frequent factors in these cases are substance abuse, fiinancial issues, depression and/or mental health issues but there is help for those things.  If children are involved then you have got to get them clear of the situation as the damage it can do to them could be disastrous - a multi-generational nightmare.  Don't let that happen.

Anyway, hope that was worth reading.

XM

Previously:

June 2007

July 1 - Sunday

Hello John Weinke. So I always thought he was a younger brother of Chris, but I can’t find any evidence of that now.

July 2 - Monday

Hello Darryl Stonum.

Monday Recruitin’ with updates on Michael Shaw, Jonathan Baldwin, and Christian Wilson.

Unverified Voracity Approaches the Matrix. Quotes from a Toney Clemons profile. His mother’s name is Tonie. Also, Sam McGuffie is looking like more of a sure thing.

July 3 - Tuesday

A little more information on  newest commit Darryl Stonum.

July 6 - Friday

Is Les Miles the best candidate to replace Carr? Brian says no way.

July 9 - Monday

Monday Recruitin’ without much news. However, Sam McGuffie is expected to announce his decision next week.

July 10 - Tuesday

More Miles discussion:

LSU seems to be a ramshackle train of enormous talent that implodes on a regular basis because it is lax, undisiciplined, and plain dumb. Take Miles away from the ridiculously fertile recruiting grounds of Louisiana and slap his hand when he tries to import guys who can't spell "cat" in three tries and visions of Michigan State dance in front of my eyes. My personal preference is for either a proven tactical expert like Jeff Tedford or someone who will just recruit his ass off. What, exactly, is Les Miles good at? He must be good at something, but I don't know what it is.

July 11 - Wednesday

Unverified Voracity Bids Nike Adieu. The announcement has been made, Adidas is coming. Also, the McGuffie announcement date is off for now.

Kevin Porter is planning to come back for another year.

Sketchy rumor at this point, but it looks like QB Steven Threet will be transferring to ‘M’. He will be eligible to play in 2008.

July 12 - Thursday

A scouting report on Threet. This will be great for the 2008 season:

He is indeed 6'6" and criticisms leveled at him are usually along the lines of "graceful as a water buffalo"; he offsets said criticisms with a big arm

July 13 - Friday

Unverified Voracity Identifies Crackheads, Owls. Brian goes after an ND preview from Blue Ribbon that struggles with meaningful content.

The idea of moving a player stuck behind an established starter to another, nearly identical, position? While still having him take some reps at his previous, nearly identical, position? I... wow. Let's just say that never would have occurred to anyone else in the history of coaching.

Junior Mike Turkovich (6-6, 299) is the starting left guard, but he is also a candidate to move to tackle if anything happens to either sophomore right tackle Sam Young (6-8, 315) or junior left tackle Paul Duncan (6-7, 292).

Confusing?

Um... no?

Yes.

N... no?

But it's necessary, Weis says.

I wonder if he can explain this mystery to us.

"[Wenger] is not beating out Sullivan at center, so if he's going to get on the field it's going to be at guard," Weis said.

July 14 - Saturday

OH TE Kevin Koger could commit at any time. Right now it looks like it will be OSU, and that would be somewhat of an upset because of how early ‘M’ was in on him.

July 16 - Monday

Monday Recruitin’. MN WR Michael Floyd has a top four of Florida, ND, Michigan, and OSU. It’s strongly expected that he will choose ND.

July 17 - Tuesday

Fall opponent previews start with Minnesota and their new coach Tim Brewster.

Brewster, at the very least, has a wicked talent for hyperbole. He also claimed Minnesota's coming corporately-named stadium "will be the finest on-campus stadium in America today" and that he would take "the Gopher Nation" to the Rose Bowl. If you were to point out the analogue of Gopher Nation on a map, what would it be? Andorra?

The only name of note is Sophomore WR Eric Decker. Brian predicts a 4-7 season. They would finish 1-11.

July 18 - Wednesday

A review of NCAA ‘08. First impressions are positive. There are a number of good changes from the previous year’s edition.  

Hello Kevin Koger.

July 19 - Thursday

Unverified Voracity is All About the Ladies. A Penn St. blog roundtable is asking each other who they would rather be a fan of: OSU, Michigan, or ND. It’s unanimously Michigan with this being the best reason:

Michigan hands down. Buckeyes think winning national championships is their birth right. Notre Dame fans think your respect is their birth right. Michigan fans think not having to talk to stupid people is their birth right.

July 20 - Friday

Penn St. preview. Not many familiar names, except for the LBs of course: Dan Connor, Sean Lee, and Navarro Bowman. Brian predicts 10-2. They would finish the season at 9-4.

July 21 - Saturday

‘M’ vs. ND series is going to take a break. Sounds like it’s ND’s choice. No big name replacements have been announced.

July 23 - Monday

Monday Recruitin’. ‘M’ leads for NJ LB JB Fitzgerald.

July 24 - Tuesday

Unverified Voracity Wonders if the FCC Thinks the BTN is an RSN LOL. No, don’t say this!

Game of the Century of the Year. We had a #1-#2 matchup last year that didn't work out so well. If voters see fit to place Michigan #2 to start the year, we'll have another: Appalachian State is #1 in I-AA. Slightly higher probability we come out on the right end of this one.

Hail to the Victors 2007. Interestingly, all the non-Brian writing was done by other bloggers. This sounds like a good read:

Christopher P. Anderson on Jim Harbaugh's rapid rise to the Stanford HC position, complete with speculation about whether he'll be the new HC here. Yes, written before his multiple outbursts. Still a great article.

July 25 - Wednesday

Before there was Draftaggeddon, there was McGuffaggeddon.

Brian got a Skype interview with BTN President Mark Silverman. It seemed like satire at first, but apparently it’s real, and it also changes Brian’s opinions of the network somewhat.

July 26 - Thursday

More details on the legal fight over whether or not the BTN is a regional sports network.

Unverified Voracity Vicariously Sexes Duff because Hillary Duff and Mike Comrie are a couple. Also, Hail to the Victors will be sold at Borders and Barnes and Noble.

July 27 - Friday

Pros and cons of Big 10 Expansion. Lots of interesting stuff here, regarding Rutgers...

PROs: Also an academic fit. Better location than Syracuse; has the only program in the universe that could get New York City interested in college football even a little; even if it doesn't still brings in New Jersey. Provides a real rival for Penn State.

As potential world domination plans go, "conquer New York" is third only to capturing Notre Dame or audaciously (and mildly senselessly) picking off Texas from the Big Twelve.

CONs: Has been a total doormat for the enter non-Schiano existence of their program. Last year's Texas Bowl win was great... but as a 40 year high point not so much. Basketball program also bleah.

Verdict: A high stakes gamble, and how. Michigan's in on a ton of New Jersey recruits this year, so I've noticed a new trend: these guys are actually listing and seriously considering Rutgers. Safety Brandon Smith has them slightly trailing us. JB Fitzgerald has them in his top group with UF and us. Witherspoon listed them. They're probably going to get offensive lineman Art Forst. This is a new development, and even if they're striking out on the kinds of guys that get offers from Michigan and UF they're probably going to recruit better than a lot of mid-level Big Ten schools this year. Joining the Big Ten would probably be another boost. So... I don't think this is a flash in the pan. As long as Schiano stays.

That's the bet here: that Schiano can be a program patriarch for the Scarlet Knights. That Rutgers success can be sustained. That when Joe Paterno finally retires, he stays. That the move to the Big Ten provides a further boost. That the program is relevant enough to retain people's interest. Because the downside here is stark: my God, we've admitted Temple.

...and West Virginia...

PROs: Darling of the moment with Rich Rodriguez staying, and if he turns down 'Bama's millions he's probably in for the long haul. Will have a good, if sleazy, basketball team with Huggins around.

CONs: Isn't WVU a really crap school? Huggins should be a net negative. Football program has strong flash-in-the-pan characteristics.

Verdict: Academics are a dealbreaker, I think.

...and Nebraska...

PROs: Rich football tradition. Would be competitive and bring cachet. Nebraska fans travel like mofos and would probably be fun to have around.

CONs: No other sports of note. Geographically distant. Nebraska is not a rich area to pluck recruits from. They would remind us of [BOWL REDACTED] and force us to strangle them and then we would be in jail.

Verdict: Nebraska fans occasionally bring this up as a possible escape hatch from the Big Twelve and their unbalanced TV contracts. An interesting possibility, but the geography is a negative and they don't bring anything except football. Tempting, but no.

Ultimately, here is Brian’s wish list:

1. Texas

2. Notre Dame

3. Louisville

4. Rutgers

5. Boston College

6. Nebraska

7. Missouri

8. Pitt

...the rest I don't care for.

July 29 - Sunday

McGuffaggedon is nigh. It’s down to ‘M’ or Texas A&M. Lots of highlight videos here.

July 30 - Monday

Monday Recruitin’. So McGuffie committed, but no hello post apparently.

Unverified Voracity is Small, Feisty. An interesting note on the troubles that newspapers are having with reporting on an issue like McGuffie where the most interesting item (Youtube videos) aren’t something they know what to do with. They reference the videos but provide no links or embedded videos.

Now the Notre Dame series is back on...for another 25 years. There had been a lot of back and forth with ND fans about who was responsible for not renewing the rivalry, but apparently none of that was true.

July 31 - Tuesday

Mailbag covering what ‘M’ fans should do with ESPN Gameplan package, scheduling  non-conference opponents, how much McGuffie will play in 2008, freshman uniform numbers, and if Carson Butler will be reinstated.

More roster notes. LB/FB Qunitin Patilla, DL James McKinney, and OL Justin Schifano are out of the program.

Hello Mike Cox. The CT RB is a surprise take, especially since (based on other recruiting pieces) in-state RB Jonas Gray is still un-offered.

 

Some of you may remember former MMB Drum Major David Hines Jr, a good friend and former roomate of mine.

 

He's gotten into the indie movie production business and is doing big things with it. After seeing how close he is to reaching his goal, I thought I could post his project up on the mgoboard. 

 

You can help by two ways

1. Subscribing for follow updates (most important)
2. Donating a few bucks

 

The first is totally free and still a very big deal in supporting his project. The goal here is 250 followers. They're more than halfway there. With two clicks, you can help. 

And for those who want to give a little something? Great! Every bit counts.

Instructions

 

1. Go to their Fundraiser Page (Seed & Spark)
2. Click "follow"
3. The Seed & Spark official website will then ask you to create an account (email address and login password) or login through Facebook.

If you try that and for some crazy reason, you still aren't 'following' the film, try this:

• Search for 'Solomon' using the magnifying glass at the top of the page
• Click "Follow"

Thanks!

 

Dan was the only guy I ever met who lit his next joint from the still smoldering embers of the roach from his last number. Chain smokin’ doobies.

He had called me to dump his inventory of Ohio State tickets, as he knew I was interested and would pay a fair price. He told me he had no desire to work hard enough to get top dollar, but he also knew that I would, so, buying his 3 dozen or so for the price he wanted worked for both of us.

I declined the offer of a toke, but accepted the price for the tickets, and left him vegetating in his apartment.

I was waiting for my bar exam results and working full time as a scalper, uh, ticket broker. In 1979, Notre Dame was a money maker, but Ohio State was the game.

The winner still would get the Rose Bowl, even though we had lost at a ranked Purdue team, 24 to 21, the week before, a game which I attended, and the Buckeyes were coming in undefeated in Earl Bruce’s first year as Woody’s successor.

I was living on a house on Hill Street, one of those uneven spots where the front was in the basement, but the door in back opened at ground level. Actually, even when the door was closed, we discovered that the leaves blew under it into the house in the fall. With the addition of Dan’s tickets, I had over 100 left, even though I had been selling them all year.

In those days, the sidewalk on State Street in front of the Michigan Union was a street market for tickets. The university had set up a ticket board inside in the basement, with hooks for small cards listing tickets for sale or wanted for each game. As a service to the students. The scalpers had moved from grabbing the cards, to accosting students inside, to simply catching them on the sidewalk outside on their way in. They had learned to bring their tickets with them.

Not much went on there until afternoons, the closer to game day, the more the action.

I got a call from a guy in Ohio who wanted a bunch of tickets, he would not say exactly how many. I gave him the price range, from high at mid-field to low in the end zone.

Low seats were the worst before they dug down the field. You could not see over players or cheerleaders or anyone else standing on the field.

He said he was interested, was in town, when could he come look at the tickets. He had cash, so I said he could come to the house, enter in back.

It was early. For me anyway, ten in the morning was not yet time to get dressed, but cash is alluring, so I gave him the address and told him come on over. So I threw on a robe over my tighty-whities and waited a few minutes.

Answering the knock on the door, I found a light haired bearded Buckeye looking dude about 5 ten 220 pounds, at least 40 of which served no purpose.

I held my hundred or so tickets in my hand, sorted by section and row, most expensive to least, as I explained on which yard lines, or in which corner, or where in the end zone, each section was located.

He reached over asking to take a look so I handed him the bunched up tickets and he fanned them out in his hand.

I left him momentarily for I forget what reason, and heard him take off running out the door.

I immediately gave chase, feeling like an idiot for screaming “Help! Police! Help! Police!” as loudly as I could. But I could not think of anything else to say.

I kept him in sight as I chased through several back yards away from State street, maintaining my yells, across the street, turning through some front yards back toward State, gradually gaining ground. Suddenly he stopped, and I extended my hand, saying “Give me the tickets!”

He started telling me how he was an undercover Ohio State policeman investigating scalping.

Right.

After my third demand for the tickets, he handed them to me, and I returned home, not bothering to follow him further to identify his vehicle or otherwise prolong the situation.

Then I heard the sirens.

I met the police in front of my house, and told them my story. I was not exactly comfortable. When they asked the value, I wondered whether they meant face value, or actual worth? There were two, who looked at each other, turned back to me and the one taking notes said ”Face value.”

Which was still over $1,000. One of them radioed some information back at the patrol car, and shortly thereafter said they had picked up a suspect.

I was astounded, until I saw him.

Another car rolled up, and a plain clothes guy not matching much of my description was led out of the back seat, looking guilty.

I said no, that ain’t him. I think they were testing me.

They left.

I went back inside.

“Uh, Tom?” I was looking for my roommate, as I heard noises from his end of the place.

He came out. “Yeah?”

“Uh, didn’t you hear anything? Like, me, screaming for the police?”

“Oh, yeah, sure did, you bet.” He replied.

“So, uh, I could have used a little help?”

“Well” said Tom “First rule when cops are involved: HTD.”

“HTD?” the meaning of the acronym eluded me, and my confused countenance gave me away.

“Hide The Dope.” Tom explained.

Hard to argue that my self interest trumped his, so, that was that.

Later that day in front of the Union, I apprised my fellow scalpers of the incident, needlessly adding that they should be leery of any calls from Buckeyes looking for large numbers of tickets who wanted to meet them.

Mike figured he had been called by the same guy, just before he had called me. Being more suspicious than I, Mike had turned him down, and was now very glad that he had escaped my fate.

I found that I had over $1,000 of cash, it is, after all, a cash business, in addition to the Ohio tickets.

Mike told me he had secured a safety deposit box early in the season to hold most of his inventory and some of his cash.

I decided it was a little late in the game for me to go that route. But I had a 12 gauge single shot shotgun, which I loaded and kept next to my bed every night until the game was over. After all, he knew where I lived.

There was no burglar alarm, and the door was not exactly secured.

Even though I am the son of a stockbroker, I did not understand what selling short was until Mike explained how he was selling tickets in Columbus.

He had ads in various Ohio newspapers, with different names, so that he knew where the call came from by the name of the person the caller was seeking. He was selling tickets he did not yet own to Buckeyes, then buying for a lower price in Michigan.

And periodically flying to Ohio to deliver tickets and collect cash.

He had decided he could make more money spending the day before the game in Columbus. But he wanted to be able to make last minute sales to Buckeyes who were stillcalling him.

So, being there were no cell phones, he asked me if he could forward his phone to mine, so that he could call me throughout the day, to get the contact info on the new Buckeye buyers. He was taking all his inventory with him.

In return, I could field all the Michigan area calls, and make whatever sales I wanted. Another win-win idea.

So that Friday I worked all day, taking and returning calls, mine and Mike's, meeting people to buy or sell tickets, giving Mike the updates.

By midnight I was plus over $1,000 for the day, and had some left to sell on game day.

I wondered how long it would be before I made that much money in one day again.

My parents had season tickets, and were going to take me out for dinner after the game. Which we lost. Bo tried to pull a rabbit out of his hat by starting Rich Hewlett at QB for the first time. Mike Jolly blocked a punt for a TD, but we still lost 18 to 15.

I collapsed on my bed in exhaustion after the game for a nap. Apparently, my sister was unable to rouse me for dinner, and I slept through the night on into the next morning.

I went to the Gator Bowl, where double digit underdog North Carolina broke Wangler’s leg and beat us 17 to 15.

We opened 1980 hosting Northwestern, which narrow victory I missed to attend a wedding.

I then went to South Bend for the miracle wind stoppage and last second game winning Olver field goal.

Then home to face Heisman winner George Rogers of South Carolina. Bo went for it on 4th and one from our own 29, failed, and the Gamecocks capitalized for the winning TD in a 17 to 14 Wolverine loss.

We thought we were in a new era, the era of losing.

It is always darkest before the dawn.

Previously:

 

May 2007

 

 

June 1 - Friday

 

The Pistons lost to the Cavs to go down 3-2 in the Eastern Conference Finals. Brian is not happy with Flip Saunders.

 

I mean... what can you say? I decided to repress the sputtering rage by sleeping on it and then writing about the game, but here it is. Sputtering Rage says "hi, honey, I'm home," takes off its hat, talks about what a hard day he had -- lot of work in Detroit today, lot of work -- and settles in for a nice long rest that is 75-80% likely to start in the next few days and last for the summer. It's back, and I can only delete so many sentences that contain elaborate punishments for Saunders and his Charlie Weis-like ability to get far too clever for his own good. A sampler:

 

• Forced to eat own organs.

• Locked into party chit-chat with tools who came up with Heineken ad campaign that runs incessantly all hours of the night and day on TNT.

• Elaborate scenario staged wherein he is drugged, and carefully made up to look and sound like Bill Walton -- sort of "The Hot Chick" except "The Worst Person On The Planet" -- until on the verge of self-immolation, say, 10-15 minutes

• Forced to watch his favorite basketball team coached by Flip Saunders.

 

Baseball recap of win over Memphis. Looks like Zach Putnam pitched a complete game.

 

June 2 - Saturday

 

Hello NJ LB Marcus Witherspoon.

 

June 4 - Monday

 

Recruiting Board Update with a lot of names that aren’t too familiar any more. One item of note is a scholarship offer to OH RB Michael Shaw.

 

Unverified Voracity Swings and Misses; Tries Again. The baseball team beat Memphis and Vanderbilt, but then lost to Vanderbilt, so they play one more time. David Price looms again though.

 

June 5 - Tuesday

 

Michigan beat Vandy. They’re going to the super-regional for the first time since 1989.

 

Hello Mike Martin.

 

June 6 - Wednesday

 

Voracity like post with lots of baseball news. Also, Brian is part of the hot bloggers bracket. No indication about who won.

 

June 7 - Thursday

 

A post to let everyone know that Brian had nothing to post about. The one comment says that he should just post Sam McGuffie highlights again. That was life 10 years ago.

 

Next season’s hockey schedule is out.

 

June 8 - Friday

 

An interview with an Oregon State blog about the upcoming baseball game.

 

June 11 - Monday

 

Michigan loses game one to Oregon State.

 

If you were searching for the exact opposite of a Kirk Gibson moment off the #1 pick in the MLB draft delivered by a pinch hitter with a .188 average, you could hardly do better (worse?) than watching Michigan's star pitcher lose his no hitter with two outs in the ninth. One single, one run, and... that sucked big time.

 

Yikes…

 

Recruiting Board Update. Terrelle Pryor won’t be coming to Michigan, but...he might visit. Other schools in play are OSU, PSU, and Georgia Tech (imagine that). Also, the one comment on this post is: “uh, Mike Glennon?”

 

Brian lives blogs the next baseball game until it’s 7-0 Beavers in the bottom of the 5th.

 

June 12 - Tuesday

 

Unverified Voracity Says Goodbye Omaha. Pictures of the annual Carr car wash for charity and post-mortem on the baseball team that isn’t losing much and should be favored in the Big 10 next season.

 

June 13 - Wednesday

 

More speculation and concern on Big Ten Network.

 

June 14 - Thursday

 

Unverified Voracity has Dubious Youtube. There is one slot still open in the football schedule. Apparently, Bill Martin would prefer Rutgers, but the encouraging news is that it sounds like it will be a major conference opponent.

 

Sidenote: It's somewhat surreal that Rutgers is suddenly being bandied about as a potential schedule upgrade after years and years of being one of those teams you pick in Dynasty mode when you want to spend a few years toiling before your eight national championship run. When Michigan State managed to coug it against Rutgers a few years ago, everyone laughed at the Spartans for falling to lowly Rutgers. Now the shoe would be on the other hypothetical foot.

 

June 15 - Friday

 

Brian opines on why offsides rule in hockey should be ended.

 

A picture of Ryan Mallett from the car wash is photoshopped into a picture from Top Gun.

 

June 18 - Monday

 

Unverified Voracity Introduces Head to Wall. MGoVideo debuts. Also, Delaney says he’s not confident about anything in regards to the upcoming Big Ten Network.

 

June 19 - Tuesday

 

Recruiting Board Update. Michael Shaw comments on his visit and says it was great, especially since there are no pro teams in the area.

 

Someone just got liowned.

 

June 20 - Wednesday

Unverified Voracity Wishes Ill on Orange. After a successful season, baseball coach Rich Maloney is being courted by Tennessee for their manager opening. Also, Max Pacioretty, a freshman in the coming season, is ranked 16 for the upcoming NHL draft.

 

June 21 - Thursday

 

Maloney is staying.

 

Unverified Voracity Says Go Play in Traffic. This serves as the Hello post for William Campbell, yes Cass Tech sophomore William Campbell.

 

Campbell is 6'5", 298, and (kind of obviously) a DT. He's Michigan's earliest public commitment ever and should be one of the headliners of what looks like a strong 2009 Michigan crop headlined by Battle Creek running back Larry Capers, who is -- wait for it -- grrrrrreat. Since Campbell is a junior defensive tackle at a PSL school this the sum total knowledge about him to date:

• He committed to Michigan.

There won't be a googlestalk here; there's nothing to stalk yet.

 

Meanwhile, Varsity Blue takes a look at the very early returns for that '09 class.

 

June 22 - Friday

 

Jim Delaney says Comcast needs to apologize to the Big 10 schools for calling their sporting events 2nd and 3rd tier. Unfortunately, there’s still no guarantee that many people will be able to see the new network.

 

June 23 - Saturday

 

Cobrani Mixon is leaving the football program. Probably the most interesting thing about this post is a view of what Facebook looked like in 2007.

 

June 25 - Monday

 

Recruiting Board Update.

 

Nasty rumors: The recruiting year we were (are?) experiencing seemed to good to be true given the widely assumed post-season Carr retirement, but there are now internet rumblings that, um, are bad. Jim Stefani:

I’ve heard from three separate sources that Michigan has fallen behind Notre Dame in the Jonathan Baldwin sweepstakes. This is the first bit of REAL bad news in the recruiting front this year. The other prospects Notre Dame has beaten U-M out for this year are all solid kids, but none are the difference-maker type of prospects that Baldwin is. Wolverine fans won’t be able to spin this one away should Baldwin go Irish.

Also:

The feeling that Michigan State could really make a big push when it comes to in-state recruiting. Michigan may have waited too long to offer Jones Gray, and with teammate Kenny Demens not yet sporting a Wolverine offer, I would not be surprised to see both verbal to the Spartans sooner rather than later. The longer this thing plays out the better for Michigan. I also think Michigan has a battle on their hands with Michigan State for both Fred Smith and Nick Perry.

Yikes. Michigan State can promise both -- hell, they can promise virtually anyone -- immediate playing time and an opportunity to meet a new head coach your senior year. And they've totally got a clock that counts down to the Michigan game. We'll see how these things pan out, but losing Perry and Smith would revive all those "can't recruit instate" stories from a year ago.

 

Hello Rocko Khoury.

 

June 26 - Tuesday

 

Brian lists the top 7 players for upcoming opponents that he would draft for ‘M’. Number one is Justin King.

 

June 27 - Wednesday

 

Brian is behind.

 

Unverified Voracity Blogs Blogs Blogs. An ND alum and Minnesota fan says that he spoke to new Gopher coach Tim Brewster and joked about ND recruiting in Minnesota (namely, Michael Floyd). Allegedly, Brewster went off on him and said things about how Charlie Weis was a slob, bad for the school, etc. No one is sure if this happened, but it doesn’t seem surprising ten years later.

 

June 28 - Thursday

 

Unverified Voracity Has a Headache. Mixon is gone to Kent State for sure. Also, a Biakabutuka highlight video.

 

Draymond Green has committed to MSU.

 

June 29 - Friday

 

Offseason blog roundtable. Brian wants Joe Stalin to be in charge of the NCAA.

 

 

Three years later, I have a follow-up to Brian's post The Way Forward (http://mgoblog.com/content/way-forward) written in response to remarks from President Mark Schlissel after his inauguration.

 

I thought about the possibility of using the music major model to create a football (-basketball, -softball, etc.) specific undergrad degree program for Michigan student athletes. While the recordings and portfolio are important, and the pre-screening recordings and/or audition are extremely important for admission, music majors get to be music majors because the academic fields that have grown up around the practice rooms are considered serious academic fields, with peer-reviewed papers, grants, and so forth. The trick to create a similar model is to figure out the academic fields that have grown up around college athletics, and make a degree program that fits them.

 

I have a somewhat unique perspective here, as a Michigan music major (performance, class of 2010) who retrained in pre-med, and am currently in medical school. I understand the talent-intensive and the academic-intensive sides of the coin. That being said, this diary is not a blueprint for action, it is a starting template for discussion.

 

Some ideas and their present-day equivalents:

 

Stadium/Team management (Pre-Business)

Manufacturing the protective gear (Pre-Med, Industrial Engineering, Pre-Business)

C-Suite Executive Stuff (Pre-Business)

**Becoming a high school football coach (Education, Pre-Business)

Becoming a trainer/doctor/other health care professional (Various Pre-med/Nursing/Physical Therapy core classes)

 

**asterisks because I think education is extremely valuable and we all do teaching in our lifelong journeys. Many skill sets can be honed through education and a multitude of classes tie into it.

 

Then we could look at the course by course requirements and tailor a degree concentration with the lion's share of the courses geared towards getting people thinking about the Gesamtkuntswerk of athletics, and how do we learn the skill sets to be successful in these areas.

 

With that in mind, let us expand our imaginations and try to think of academic requirements directly tying into athletics which are analogues of core requirements for Michigan music majors:

 

Academic Requirements for music majors (2006-2007)

 

Music Theory - 12 credit hours, over four semesters (Written and Aural Theory), plus a 3-credit 400-level Aural Theory.

    Coaching classes? Lots of shadowing in the community (but this could conflict with team time)?  **Psychology?  Business Management?

 

Musicology (History/Anthropology of Music)-  8 hours over 4 semesters (Intro, Post WWI, Middle Ages - Baroque, Preclassic Era - WWI)

    Relatively straightforward. History of sports, pro leagues, how the rules of your sport evolved, etc.

 

Large Ensemble (Symphony Band, University Symphony Orchestra) - every semester

    Being in good standing with the team in question? Business management type things?

 

Small Ensemble (General Chamber Music, Contemporary Directions Ensemble, Orchestral Repertoire) (2-3 semesters)

    Maybe here we could plug in working with the trainers, learning how to manage a stadium or a pro team. I'm thinking that we might have to combine large and small ensemble here in some way.

 

Performance - on your main instrument, weekly lessons plus weekly studio class 

    The Division I sport in question. The butt-busting college athletes do is self-evident

 

 

Non Music Requirements

 

English 124/125, 3 credits

 

Argumentative Writing, 3 credits

 

*15 credits of electives (AP/IB counts towards this)

    *We could add in more pre-business or pre-med courses to shore up the academic rigor, and reduce the electives allotment. Have em take Anatomy and learn how the body works!

 

 

Please, if you have ideas, criticisms, speak up and let us put our minds together and come up with a better idea than what I cooked up here. I may publish details of other music degree programs that I think could align well with athletics-specific requirements.

 

Thanks for your time.