hipster dantonio

1 hour and 38 minutes

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1. Hoops vs Michigan State

starts at 1:00

Franz Wagner didn't score but his gumby arms were huge—got a good Wagner face from the block that was inexplicably called a foul. Turned on some rebounding potential. Comp? Michigan finally wins from the 3 point line. Nice to have Livers back, not just because Johns is a very good backup 4. Michigan renders Bingham useless—Johns and Davis could body him, and Livers means he can't be on the floor for spacing otherwise. Izzo's whiny bitch fest of a press conference. Why does anyone play for that guy?

2. Hoops vs Ohio State

starts at 25:46

The most insane call we've ever seen—doesn't help the refs that their explanation for the call is patently untrue. Complete officiating debacle—Kaleb Wesson should have fouled out—you literally can't take a charge if the guy is in the air before you get there! Bad both ways yes but asymmetric, and good lord. When's the last time Michigan ever got a gift game, because we have to eat 3 or 4 losses a year. Michigan is 96th %ile in short clock plays. Questionable coaching: drop coverage on Kaleb Wesson. Peak this season is cursed.

3. Hot Takes and Mark Dantonio

starts at 45:32

The XFL: a lot of good ideas for entertaining football. Seems like this league is set up for more success than previous ones. Kickoffs are cool, punting is bad, "Team 9" league-wide practice squad. Michigan's tourney resume vs State's: um, actually it's better.

Dantonio: run by Curtis Blackwell! Was clear if he was going to leave he would have gone to Beekman and gotten his money. Tom Mars is involved now. If Blackwell comes out clean here Michigan should hire him! MSU job: inheriting a rogue program after its best coach with two years of cratered recruiting. Timing is bad because you can't get in on the portal now, terrible fanbase, toughest division. Preemptive no's from Narduzzi, ISU's head coach.

4. Ace's Sconnie Hockey Podcast

starts at 1:18:02

Wisconsin's goaltending is TERRIBLE. Getting production from Granowicz. Potential #1 line with Beecher (muscle)/Hayhurst (creator)? Control their own destiny to win the league (have to win 6 in a row) but still outside looking in on tournament. They've improving: get the puck out of the zone cleaner, playing solid. Wonder what position they'd be in if they didn't take a bad luck goal against PSU and get rogered by the refs vs OSU. Only PSU in this league is a lock for the tournament but all the way down to MSU is bubble.

MUSIC:

• "E=MC²"—J Dilla (feat Common)
• "Rip Off"—T. Rex
• "Jump Around"—House of Pain
• “Across 110th Street”

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Ever had a gnome thrown at you? It's not a pleasant situation

This week in football coaches make obvious statements about how recruiting rankings are not guarantees:

Michigan State's Mark Dantonio wary of star rating systems used to classify recruits

"If you come in as a four‑star recruit, really doesn't serve any purpose," Dantonio said.

Last year in football coach talking about a guy in his recruiting class:

"For the third straight year, Michigan State gets the top player, perceived top player by the media in the state of Michigan."

(This was Aaron Burbridge, who turned out to be MSU's only receiver not toting bricks around for hands. The previous two were Lawrence Thomas, last seen playing FB/TE/DL/horrible mutated fly-man, and the wildly overrated but still long-term starter and NFL draft pick Will Gholston.)

I mean you guys at some point we're going to get all the football coaches in a room and carefully explain to them that we don't think the rankings are iron-clad guarantees, either, and that if they could just take that as a given we could all talk about something else for once. In any case, Dantonio won't have to walk a fine line between being a hipster about rankings and trumpeting his acquisition of the top player in the state this year.

Kozan vision quest. No one really knows, but my "Kozan" twitter search turned this up:

"Empty-handed I entered the world, Barefoot I leave it. My coming, my going -- Two simple happenings, That got entangled." - Kozan Ichikyo

Whoah.

Depending on who you listen to, Iowa is out or Michigan is out or Auburn is out. My favorite is this guy:

He's a a high school sports editor for the Denver Post and a huge fan of David Mayo. He also starts every tweet with "Yo." Serious:

Yo: Still waiting on Alex Kozan, Valor Christian, taking his time and hoping to make the right move. Folks are interested. #copreps

A bit earlier he said this:

Yo: High drama, indeed ...as of now, Valor Christian's Alex Kozan still deciding between Michigan and Iowa, meeting w/prep coach. #copreps.

OTOH, Auburn insider buzz is confident. Nobody knows! We'll just have to see what spirit totem Kozan comes back with. I give Auburn the edge because they've got two potential totems.

The final count. An update to the Instate Recruiting Battle posts from back in the summer:

	Touted Recruits				Head To Head			Signee Rankings [Rivals]
Year	Mich	MSU	Other		Mich	MSU		Mich	MSU
2010	1	3	3		2	2		2, 11, 12, 22	1, 5, 7, 8, 9, 18, 19, 24, 28
2011	3	1	2		2	2		4, 5, 6, 7, 19, 25	1, 9, 10, 14, 26
2012	5	2	1		6	1?		3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 21	1, 7, 13, 28

(MSU H2H wins: Maybe Aaron Burbridge, though M seem to have passed because of grades. M: Ross, RJS, Braden, Funchess, Godin, Ojemudia. Technically Norfleet is also a dual offeree but that's stretching it.

"Touted" == got four stars on at least two of four sites.)

This goes here.

User "grsbmd" for the win.

AJ Williams interviewed. Nice hat.

I'll play too. Top five IMPACTFUL IMPACTORS have been put out by everyone and their uncle, so here's my list in two groups.

INSTANTLY IMPACTFUL IMPACTORS

1. Ondre Pipkins
2. AJ Williams
3. Amara Darboh
4. Chris Wormley
5. Joe Bolden

EVENTUALLY EWESOME

1. Ondre Pipkins
2. Joe Bolden
3. Kyle Kalis
4. Devin Funchess
5. Jehu Chesson

Sam Webb put out an instantly impactful list with Bolden, Kalis, Pipkins, Williams, and Wormley. I think Kalis will have to wait a year before starting, and Michigan's going to give their WR recruits a shot to impress them. That article has a lot of tantalizing quotes, by the way. BAM:

"I thought [Bolden] was the best linebacker in the state of Ohio for two years now," said Scout.com Ohio analyst Dave Berk. "He has a high football IQ. A lot of times we say that about guys that don't have athletic ability, but Joe has the athletic ability to go with it. He has got great physical size and he can go sideline to sideline. He can be an outside backer or he can be a middle backer. He is a playmaker. … I think Ohio State and Notre Dame whiffed on that one."

Allen Trieu and Tim(!) Sullivan provided lists focused on the best players once the class is done. Both pick Bolden, Kalis, and Pipkins. Trieu then goes with Ben Braden(!) and James Ross; Tim goes with Chesson and Wormley. The Funchess will dominate all. It's the bucket hat.

Speaking of…

Best established meme. Thirty Devins agree:

WE LOVE BUCKET HATS. (L to R: Terry Richardson, Royce Jenkins-Stone, Devin Funchess, James Ross. Via USA Football.)

Kalis location. For now, still tackle:

"Coach Hoke has already let me know, depending on what kind of shape I come into camp in the summer, when I start getting into the groove of things and put the pads on, he's going to let me decide whether I feel more comfortable at the right tackle or right guard spot. It all depends in how I come in and how I feel."

Given Michigan's depth chart at tackle—there is no depth chart at tackle—it may make sense to give Kalis every opportunity to win the right tackle job from Schofield. If he does, Schofield can stay at guard. If he doesn't he's as prepared as possible to sub in in the event one of the starters is sidelined. Even if his long term future is at guard as the most college-ready lineman in the class Michigan has a crying need for him at tackle in 2012, whether it's as a backup or a starter.

Norfleet geared up. Via the social medias:

Happy the guy managed to get an offer he clearly wanted, even if he had to wait for it. I'm betting he'll make that pay off for both himself and M. Hopefully Smith transfers his blitz pickup mojo to him this year.

Dinardo on Kalis. He likes him:

"I don't remember seeing many better high school offensive linemen than Kalis," DiNardo said on the Big Ten Football Report. "Alan Faneca, who played for me at LSU, an All-Pro for a long-time, was a great high school, great college, and great pro player. (Kalis) reminds me of Faneca."

Four years. Excellent PR move by the Big Ten to move en masse to four year scholarships:

Doug Lesmerises of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that Ohio State and several other schools have offered four-year scholarships to prospects in this year's class instead of the one-year, renewable scholarships that had been the norm throughout college sports.

I wonder what enforcement mechanisms exist for that; clearly there have to be some loopholes in case a player does not keep up academically or gets in trouble. Either way, it's more pressure on schools to not cut folks willy-nilly.

I think Purdue may be the lone holdout in the league, but haven't seen confirmation of that.

Etc.: Fairly useless Luginbill quotes. ESPN dudes predict Joe Bolden will see the field fast. Insert complaint about ESPN's focus on the UA game here. Local news article on Ben Braden. The Sporting News wins "most accurate recruiting service" for 2012 for ranking Michigan #2. Mattison on Kalis. Dantonio fuming about the "unethical" poaching of committed recruits. Brian Kelly whiffs down the stretch, too. The class visualized by position and state. Wojo on Signing Day.