gymnastics

The last GLI: 2019. [James Coller]

28 HOURS TO GO: If you haven’t gotten in on the Kickstarter for HTTV 2021 do so now! Friday night it ends. One guy said he’s buying it just for my writing (which, there’s a lot of it), so whatever excuse you come up with for why you want to have this, it’s definitely not the worst one.

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I am printing only a limited amount this year and expect to sell out before they get to any shelves. Yes, I’ll have a Kindle version but that won’t be ready until mid-August. I wrote my piece this morning, not counting the Table of Contents and the title page. The covers have already been printed. Buy ‘em up!

RELEASE THE SPREADSHEETS: Texas got sick of carrying the league they thought they would dominate and Oklahoma did until Iowa State upset everybody. The wheels are now set in motion for the Sooners and Longhorns to join the SEC when the Big 12’s TV deal expires in 2025. At that point the Longhorn Network will become part of the Mouse, Texas A&M goes back to being the Michigan State of a larger state, and the SEC will become the super-conference (more of a league) that will finally be as strong as they incessantly tell people they are.

Here is the best take:

The Big Ten is preparing its borders by letting it be known that only refugees with valid AAU membership cards will even be considered.

…unless, of course, you’re rich.

It’s also set the college football anthill into a frenzy. The people who like neat and same-sized columns are busy working on their justifications why jamming regionally and culturally affiliated institutions into their specific 16-team boxes is right and good. The guy who’s got a source willing to admit that Michigan and Ohio State once got asked out by someone who knows Alabama is going to have his day circulated among pretend media until a critical mass of brains have rejected it as goofy.

The Big 12 has more existential concerns, like do they exist? Commissioner Bob Bowlsby sent ESPN a cease and desist letter accusing the network of trying lure 3-5 members to the AAC to get the Big 12 to dissolve. Why?

"It's not so much about the taking of the members, what it does — and what it's intended to do — is destabilize the Big 12 so that it implodes, thus absolving OU and Texas of their grant of rights obligations and their exit fee obligations. If the Big 12 fails to exist as an entity, they can move quicker and they can do so for less money.”

That’s fair, but as Mathlete recently pointed out, the Big 12 has some Monty Python vibes right now.

[After THE JUMP: What do we do?]

[JD Scott]

Watching something you don't understand but are extremely invested in turns out to be stressful!

AND YOU CAN'T HAVE ONE WITHOUT THE OTHER...

Congratulations to Michigan, just the seventh school to win a women's gymnastics national title.

Things discussed:

  • Rhonda Faehn: Probably was not a bad hire, made it impossible to keep her by Warde's first big oops. Was at USAG for 30 days when she got a report, had no idea yet her organization was compromised. Probably did everything she should have, testified to Congress when MSU's president et al. had to be subpoened and took the fifth. Team was behind the hire.
  • That said, if Michigan wanted this they had to make a big deal about their process and get everyone to sign off. Faehn got railroaded.
  • Mid-30s Harbaugh assistants. Gattis was a surprise. Gonna be a good recruiter, is he really getting the keys to the offense? Is Michigan really going to be speed in space?
  • Sam: Pep isn't Drevno—he's looking around but not being pushed out. If Pep doesn't get another job, don't know what to do with McDaniels.
  • Campanelli: BC insiders agree: he's a Dude.
  • Nua: Has a place to stay in Hawaii.
  • Hoops: NW'ern put Pete Nance on X to temp some threes, X took that personally. Teske did too, convincing Dererk Pardon he could hit threes; Pardon cannot hit threes. Sam: "Cassius Winston's gonna bust Simpson's tail in that one…Cassius Winston is gonna go for 30 plus."
  • How to play Happ: Teske's earned his shot to shut him down. Double him maybe when there's a non-shooter, but he's an expert at slugging out doubles.
  • Nate Reuvers is next year's stretch five—awkward at the four but a plus blocker there.

You can catch the entire episode on Michigan Insider's podcast stream on Podbean.

Segment two is here. Segment three is here.

THE USUAL LINKS

I also have a BC insider, as it turns out

The closest Michigan will ever get to the Craig Ross ideal is this team