Unverified Voracity is BETRAYED by PITBULL
OH NO COULD THIS WEEK GET ANY WORSE. Folks.
#RickPitino congrats on the new book. Like most great people, society tries to find ways to knock them down but those who stay strong become legends. Rick, you’re a living legend. God bless, keep up the great work, it's just the beginning of a new chapter in life, Dale! pic.twitter.com/Rql4M56cCF
— Pitbull (@pitbull) September 4, 2018
No heroes anymore. Just the black void!
Speaking of black voids. Basketball's gonna play in that weird ballroom again:
Sources: North Carolina, Gonzaga, Michigan, Oregon, Iowa State, Seton Hall, Alabama, and Southern Miss will headline the 2019 Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) August 30, 2018
I dislike playing in that tournament because I have crazy theories about how playing in a hotel room with a ten foot ceiling affects your long-range shooting, but that should be three good games unless things go very pear-shaped and they end up playing Southern Miss.
Speaking of black pits of negative expectation. Poor Damn Mikey Dudek:
BREAKING: #illini Lovie: Mike Dudek suffered season-ending knee injury during Week One.
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) September 3, 2018
That is his third season-ending knee injury, which is brutal for both him and Illinois.
[After THE JUMP: it gets cheery!]
Time lost. The Mathlete quantifies the hurry-up issues at the end of the game:
Timed up the last two M drives: seven plays run against a running game clock, snapped the ball with an average of 16 seconds left, best was 24, worst was 6 seconds left. All of these were Shea.
If snapping with 25 seconds left is best case, on average, that's 63 seconds lost.
It didn't end up mattering because tackles, but that's a significant loss of time because you're not prepared. Michigan was already down to about a minute when the turnover occurred, needing a touchdown, with no timeouts, about 50 yards away from the endzone. That extra minute easily could have been the difference. Except, you know, tackles.
We're all inebriated, sir. Braylon Edwards got suspended from the BTN and called out at the most recent press conference for the tweet that made the game column. He explains:
“Was the original tweet a little excessive?” Edwards told The Detroit News. “I admit I was excessive and emotional and inebriated. Mix those together. But the focus of my tweets remains intact. I stand by that. I was over-excessive Saturday night at 10:29, but I don’t back down on my overall stance as an alum and a fan. I’ve always defended Michigan. Even this year, I was high on Michigan.”
Buddy: we were all inebriated at that point, and practiced at being so during a football game. There's a not-at-all fine line between criticizing someone's play and criticizing their character. Sometimes... you just gotta log off.
Shooting overseas. Basketball lost their last couple exhibitions games on their Spain trip but since one of their opponents was a futuristic battle robot named KK MEGA BEMAX I wouldn't read too much into it. Also they were using international rules. This is possibly alarming...
SHOOTING AND SPACING IS A HUGE CONCERN
Michigan shot 17.5% from 3-point range over three games, but that might not even be the most concerning number. The Wolverines only attempted 20.4% of their field goals from 3-point range. The Wolverines attempted 43.2% of their shots from 3-point range last year and have only attempted less than 40% of their shots from 3-point range in one season under John Beilein.
...but it's such a huge outlier, as noted, that I don't think it'll be at all reflective of what happens when the season rolls around. Beilein's teams usually start off awkwardly before rounding into their final form in January or thereabouts; take the early season Beilein frustrations and then delete two months of practice plus Beilein himself and you get something that's probably not too representative.
Michigan won't be a great shooting team this year because they have a non-shooter at PG and won't get the same production from the center position, but the severity of that deficiency is yet to be established.
FWIW, UMHoops notes that Michigan sought out real professional teams (and futuristic battle robots) insofar as that was possible instead of the tomato cans that they got on their trip to Italy four years ago.
Post-game. From Hoover Street Rag:
I worry genuinely that Michigan will never be Michigan again. That this is the permanent new reality, relegated to being a perpetual also-ran in the Big Ten East while schools that have sold their souls to the machine move ahead with no actual real price paid. That even the best possible coaching candidate for this school could not save us from the long decline. Then I worry that I don't care enough about other people's suffering and that the smallness of this feeling makes me petty and cheap. I know I am not alone in this latter worry, Geoff excellently trod upon this ground last week. But we arrived back where we started without ever knowing the place we left, or at the very least, appreciating it.
SPECIAL TEAMS CHAMPION – The choice is obvious but Ambry Thomas’s 99-yard kickoff return TD re-energized the maize and blue when they were having a difficult time finding their collective legs in South Bend. This series between UM & ND is chock full of special Special Teams plays & players and it was great to see a #1 take it to the house – kinda like how AC did it back in 1982:
Etc.: Michigan is a 25.5 point favorite over WMU. Niyo on stuff.
September 4th, 2018 at 3:01 PM ^
I miss maize road pants, Keith Jackson, and the grass turf at Notre Dame Stadium—in that order.
September 4th, 2018 at 3:28 PM ^
And the winning. I also miss the winning.
September 4th, 2018 at 3:44 PM ^
We lost plenty in the Bo era. Bo was 5-12 in bowl games, including 2-8 in Rose Bowls, and lost games to ND in especially excruciating ways (e.g. the Rocket Ismail game). Bo never won a national championship. If MGoBlog had existed during Bo's era, there would have been plenty of MGoBoard meltdowns about predictable playcalling, inability to defend mobile QBs, etc etc.
Here was Bo's record in the 1980's: 10-2, 9-3, 8-4, 9-3, 6-6, 10-1-1, 11-2, 8-4, 9-2-1, 10-2.
Here is Harbaugh's record in the 2010's: 10-3, 10-3, 8-5.
Not that different, from my vantage point. Bo's best team of that group, 1985, was not that different from Harbaugh's best team, 2016. And Bo's schedule was generally much easier than Harbaugh's, especially within the Big Ten, where usually only OSU was any good. Penn State joined the conference after Bo retired.
September 4th, 2018 at 4:17 PM ^
Every Michigan fan needs this context. That and "4 loss Lloyd" was on the hot seat in 1997
September 4th, 2018 at 5:13 PM ^
The joke from opposing fanbases was, "You can't spell Lloyd without 2 Ls." I miss being upset about loosing twice in a year.
September 4th, 2018 at 6:10 PM ^
problem is that there were a lot of 4Ls in there.
September 4th, 2018 at 4:33 PM ^
Yes, this is what gets me. Bo never won a title, and I'm OK with that. If Harbaugh never wins one either, it won't bother me. We do need to win some Big 10 titles and beat those jokers in Columbus about 50% of the time, but other than that I'm OK with at least being relevant again.
We lost 1 of the 5 top 15 games we have to play in the regular season this year. In fact, we lost the the game that will hurt us the least. I don't like how they played, but I really believe they will get better by Wisconsin.
September 4th, 2018 at 7:28 PM ^
Why don’t you care about winning titles? I think that was part of the issue with Bos bowl record. It was all about winning the Big 10. Seemed like once the conference title was decided the program thought : mission accomplished now go have fun in California or Florida. I’ve never understood why the national championship (however subjective that was decided) wasn’t the goal. You had to win the conference to win the national title
September 4th, 2018 at 6:33 PM ^
All this is true, but there's one crucial difference: Bo held his own with OSU overall going 10-9-1, and only had 4 losses to MSU in his 21 years at the helm. If Harbaugh had beaten MSU in 2015 and OSU in 2016, the narrative today even after the ND loss is very different.
September 4th, 2018 at 7:11 PM ^
Bo started 2-4-1 though. 1-4-1 after the first one in 69.
September 4th, 2018 at 7:47 PM ^
This is good perspective, EXCEPT, I don't agree with the strength of schedule argument. Would be interesting to see that quantified but the 80s were when we actually played really good, fun, hard non-conference schedules.
Take 1985 for example: Our three non-conference games were against #13 Notre Dame, at #15 South Carolina and #17 Maryland. Imagine any team voluntarily scheduling the non-conference dates like that these days!
Also, yes, Penn State is now in the conference but so is Rutgers. Our conference schedules are not that much more difficult such that they outweigh the difference in non-conference difficulty. We simply did not schedule tomato can gimme games. Woof, I just looked at 1984 and we played #1 Miami (!!!) and #16 Washington as the only two non-conference games with a nine game conference schedule. Brutal.
September 4th, 2018 at 9:25 PM ^
It's really important to remember that tough non-conference schedules came with routine losses to those teams -- a quick check shows there were, I think, three seasons from 1980-1992 that we got through September without a loss.
September 4th, 2018 at 9:18 PM ^
Note too that Bo's last three seasons (8-4 / 9-2-1 / 10-2) opened with losses to Notre Dame. The first of those (1987) was not a good year, but the other two we were undefeated in our conference games and won the Big Ten.
September 5th, 2018 at 8:47 AM ^
Worst 18 game stretch 10-8, only a bit better than Harbaugh's current 9-9. Of course that also included a 24-21 victory over OSU in 83. (Just outside of that worse 18 game stretch was the 42-0 beat down of MSU earlier in 83). Similar to Harbaugh getting MSU just outside of his current 18 game stretch.
So yeah if the current crop had actually beat a rival in that 18 game stretch, it would be more comparable. Of course that is the very worst section of Bo's career. In his 16th season. Not his 4th.
September 4th, 2018 at 3:03 PM ^
Let's have a real good time....
September 4th, 2018 at 3:07 PM ^
Well if it aint mr. "we're gonna drag our nuts and taint all over them domerz lolz"
September 4th, 2018 at 3:09 PM ^
I think if that game is at Michigan Stadium, it's a 21+ point victory.
September 4th, 2018 at 3:25 PM ^
So you didnt notice the game was being played on the road when you predicted we'd win 45-3 and created a thread proclaiming we'd win by two, three touchdowns easy?
Well that explains things.
September 4th, 2018 at 3:55 PM ^
I think the old betting adage is that home field advantage is usually worth about 4 touchdowns, so I agree.
September 4th, 2018 at 3:03 PM ^
"I worry genuinely that Michigan will never be Michigan again."
Jesus that hurts. And touches on how I feel exactly. This is precisely why the current state of things hurts so bad.
September 4th, 2018 at 3:09 PM ^
Exactly. If Jim Harbaugh can't turn Michigan into a national title contender... who can? And if there is someone that can, why would that person come to Michigan?
September 4th, 2018 at 3:21 PM ^
Michigan will continue to do things the right way and suffer the consequences which is incredibly sad.
The consequences being losing games to programs who dont mind having rapists and racists on their team (glares towards East Lasing) or not attracting top notch coaches because some of the top recruits can't cut it academically.
September 5th, 2018 at 12:47 PM ^
I’ve seen this “doing things the right way” argument a lot lately, just curious if people actually believe this is a reason we aren’t winning big games? I look at our roster and I’d take them over just about any other roster in the big ten based on raw talent and ability. So I’m just curious how MSUs poor recruiting track record lack of coaching discipline is somehow putting them at an advantage over us?
September 4th, 2018 at 3:30 PM ^
The Jim Harbaugh that was at Stanford or San Fran could have. Sadly, we do not have that Jim Harbaugh on our sideline. We have some sort of neutered/coke zero/edited for television version of that guy, and that's the big elephant in the room that needs to be addressed immediately!
September 4th, 2018 at 3:35 PM ^
I'd settle for a coca cola retail actvation at this point if it gets us wins.
September 4th, 2018 at 3:37 PM ^
No it really doesn't.
September 4th, 2018 at 4:00 PM ^
I think he’s on some kind of sedative. Just seems so lethargic compared to his past self.
September 4th, 2018 at 5:10 PM ^
This dumb narrative can’t die soon enough.
September 4th, 2018 at 5:11 PM ^
It would require Michigan to go deep down the bagman, cover up, etc. route. It hurts that I'm not sure when/if we'll win another national title, but I'm not sure I'd trade who we are to get wade in the muck with so many other schools
September 4th, 2018 at 5:30 PM ^
We've recruited better than anyone in the conference except OSU. We don't need bagmen, we need proper OL development and for Harbaugh to stop calling the plays on offense.
September 4th, 2018 at 7:54 PM ^
Agree. And to your point about OL development, we need MORE of them to ensure that five develop into good players.
We need to give fewer scholarships to low impact positions like TE and FB and give more to offensive linemen. No excuse for only taking 3 out of 29 in 2016 and only 2 out of 20 in 2018.
Nearly impossible to ask for development to be good enough to make those numbers work. You'd need an impossibly high hit rate.
September 4th, 2018 at 6:20 PM ^
We thought the same about basketball and look what Beilein did.
September 4th, 2018 at 3:09 PM ^
For several years now I've had a feeling that a window of opportunity was closing -- on Michigan from the Rodriguez/Hoke years, as well as other less-than-elite schools. My thinking was there's an all-out arms race for top talent, and we were witnessing a coalescing of talent/success around a relatively small handful of schools. The 4-team playoff structure makes things more urgent, as "success" is increasingly seen as the four teams that make the playoffs.
I don't think the window is fully closed, but I do believe it's more closed now than it was in 2015.
I suspect Hoover Street Rag's sentiment and my view expressed here are related.
I'm certainly hoping not. It's my hope Michigan bitch-stomps MSU, slaps PSU into submission, and beats OSU down in Columbus to cap off a stellar year.
September 4th, 2018 at 3:22 PM ^
Honestly, I don't see why the season can't end like that. Save for the tackles - the OT position worries me. But if that gets up to a bare minimum grade of 'serviceable', there is nothing that can stop them from winning those games. And I'm betting that it improves to serviceable later in the season.
I am not predicting those wins, but I am saying the opportunity is real to win all three.
September 4th, 2018 at 4:27 PM ^
Same, this game happened in week 1. Plenty of time to grow.
September 4th, 2018 at 4:08 PM ^
I've been thinking the same for years now. I have no data – just wild-ass speculation. But it does seem to me that back in the days before conference consolidation and the BCS bowl system, there was room for more elite teams and plenty of room to debate who was among those elite. Perhaps there were more choices (or fewer “obvious” choices) for recruits and the talent was spread accordingly? Now, with just 4 in the playoff and those 4 often the same, elite kids know where they have to go if they want to be in the playoffs. If you were a 5* athlete and wanted to win a national championship, your options with any degree of certainty are pretty limited – and don’t include M.
September 4th, 2018 at 5:31 PM ^
"Now, with just 4 in the playoff and those 4 often the same, elite kids know where they have to go if they want to be in the playoffs."
And those four are, in order: Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State ... the fourth is a bit tougher to pick, but if last season is clue, then Georgia. A case can be made for a few other teams ... but only a few.
I would love to see 20 or so teams have a realistic shot at the playoffs any given year, but that's just not the way it seems to be shaping up.
If those four teams cement further their role as the "likely playoff teams" each year, then top recruits will naturally gravitate there. Sure, good players will go to other teams, but championship-caliber teams are based on talent and depth. A few elite players make a team very good, they don't make the team great.
September 5th, 2018 at 10:22 AM ^
Good point. This, plus the fact our two biggest rivals have decided nothing else matters besides winning, will make it tough. But Wisconsin is a good example of a program that succeeds in a rough environment, though it does have the benefit of playing in the BT West. Badgers' have built their whole program around the OL and every year having fourth- and fifth-year guys who are ready to play.
September 4th, 2018 at 4:12 PM ^
I think this sentiment is representative of the sensationalization of everything in our culture lately. To keep things interesting, seemingly everything has to be the last-chance-ever or the most-critical-game-ever or the most-important-election-ever. The reality is much more boring. This is one game. It does not define Michigan's reality. Michigan will continue to be a power program so long as people keep being interested in it and it has access to a giant bucket of money.
People also constantly seem to forget that football seasons are often defined by a few moments in a few big games. We have not come through in those few moments over the past 10-15 years. That combined with some bad coaching hires is what gives us our record. No curse, and nothing that keeps us from being at the level of other power programs.
September 4th, 2018 at 8:08 PM ^
You seem to suggest that "success inequality" for lack of a better term is what's causing our struggles, but that couldn't be further from the truth.
Look at MSU and Wisconsin - two programs that have never been more successful than they have been in the last ten years despite not getting nearly the level of talent your supposed "small handful of schools" are getting.
Even Clemson climbed to the top getting good but not elite talent from top to bottom and Oklahoma has been a regular playoff participant recruiting worse than M has.
This is a very simple coaching issue. Every program in America (except, #%@&ing OSU) has experienced a major down period when they didn't have great coaching. That's the reason parity is stronger than ever in college football. You're only as good as your coach. There aren't programs that can ride their reputation and exposure like they could pre-BCS era.
There are few remaining "institutional" advantages any program has other than an ability to pay and hire a good coach. So if you make mistakes with coaching hires like Michigan has, Alabama has, USC has, Miami has, Florida has, Texas has, you're going to be bad.
That's not to Harbaugh was a bad hire, that was a great hire, he just hasn't been able to make good coaching hires on the offensive side of the ball and/or hasn't given up enough control to a better coach (same mistake RichRod made on defense). I hope he figures it out.
September 5th, 2018 at 1:04 PM ^
This is where I’m at. You said this more eloquently than I could.
September 4th, 2018 at 3:30 PM ^
Even worse is that saying so pretty much anywhere but here gets you buried. It comes off as sour grapes saying everyone is cheating but you, but.....maybe it’s true? Not likely....see Wisconsin.
September 5th, 2018 at 11:25 AM ^
Every football coach I ever played for or been around always said, "If you're not cheating, you're not trying". Football is a game where you take any advantage you can get. As Herm Edwards once said, YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME!!!
There are plenty of ways to get an edge without selling your soul. Michigan is still stuck in the past though.
September 4th, 2018 at 3:34 PM ^
I can understand feeling like that (and deep down I worry about that too), but it seems irrational. Programs with no history of sustained success in modern history come into the limelight all the time and remain there - Stanford is a prime example. There's no reason a program with a history of sustained success and has since lost it can return to being "good." He'll, Michigan did just that when Bo was hired.
And I'm not convinced that Michigan is not on the path of returning to playing good football - we've just shot ourselves in the foot a few times along the way. The team is objectively better in many ways than it was at any point from 2008-2014.
It's worth noting that our main rivals are both having all-time high levels of success. The league is as tough now as it ever has been. Michigan is clawing its way back up - it's just taking longer than any of us would have hoped.
September 4th, 2018 at 4:43 PM ^
This is a key, under-appreciated point: the level of competition Michigan faces every year is far higher than it has ever been. OSU and MSU are playing at historically high levels, and PSU is a top-15 team most years. Add in Wisconsin, a tough non-conference game, and a bowl game, and that's 6 guaranteed tough matchups every year.
September 4th, 2018 at 6:26 PM ^
I like your optimism by in large but I’m concerned that coming up short in those key moments has become more of a pattern than a rare, random occurance. There was a time, about 40yrs worth, when when more often than not Michigan came through in those critical moments. But lately that seems much more the exception than the rule, I just can’t put my finger on what has changed. I mean, if you continuously shoot yourself in the foot, at some point, it’s probably prudent to start to consider why your aim is so far off.
September 4th, 2018 at 3:06 PM ^
Had a buddy text me telling me to turn on 97.1 because Stan Edwards had called in and was going off on Jamie Samuelson for insinuating that Berkeley may had been telling Braylon bad things about the team (with no evidence at all). I caught the end of the expletive filled tirade. I don't blame Stan for getting upset. Was a shitty move by Samuelson.
September 4th, 2018 at 3:21 PM ^
Podcast link to the call from Stanley Edwards:
https://www.radio.com/media/audio-channel/stanley-edwards-calls-jamie-stoney
September 4th, 2018 at 3:11 PM ^
The Bahamas should really consider amending their zoning laws to increase the maximum height on hospitality related buildings that host basketball tournaments.
September 4th, 2018 at 10:25 PM ^
or just require teams to field teams with players under 5' tall
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