Semi OT: What's going on at Rivals?
It seems that over the past two months, there have been a steady stream of false and potentially damaging rumors coming out of the Michigan rivals site. The latest was that Brandon Peters is homesick and looking to transfer, which Sam Webb completely squashed this morning and got a quote directly from Peters that makes the rumor sound like it never had any basis in fact. Brian has chronicled some other ones on the front page, notably that Michigan was looking to cut Kyle Kalis this offseason.
So what's going on with Balas & Co.? It seems like a lot of these rumors coming out could be potentially damaging to the program if they were to spread to be taken as common knowledge by the general fanbase.
Are they taking the throw a bunch of shit at the wall to try and make a name for themselves approach?
Are Drew Sharp and Michael Rosenberg now writing for Rivals?
I believe that is referred to as the Gregg Henson approach.
April 19th, 2016 at 10:43 AM ^
April 19th, 2016 at 11:50 AM ^
I agree with everything you said. Definitely think Steve and Sam are the best.
On top of that, I don't do social media or phone/ipad games at all so I have free time others my age might not. For roughly $60-$100 per year (depending on the site), I get hours of entertainment while I ride the train, sit on the couch, etc.
There might not be a cheaper dollar per hour entertainment source other than Netflix. It's not like I'm paying a fortune for this stuff.
April 19th, 2016 at 12:18 PM ^
But all that content gets regurgitated on the edge of the internet or here within hours if it's remotely newsworthy.
I'm not surprised that people pay for it - addictions are addictions - but I am surprised that there are enough people to sustain fee-based Michigan recruiting sites at Rivals, Scout, 247, and (at least for awhile) ESPN.
Combine the fees for fans of all the schools with dedicated recruiting pages, plus all the ad revenue generated from the constant refreshing, message boards, etc.
April 19th, 2016 at 12:03 PM ^
who negged Magnus care to be transparent about why? His comment seemed quite factual and benign, and I'm genuinely curious whether the neggers have the gumption to explain.
Serial neggers. I have a few who neg on sight.
I don't care what you think or think you know, but I do my own evaluations and write my own material.
Case in point.
April 20th, 2016 at 12:46 AM ^
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negged for asking a simple, non-inflammatory question. Internet sniper tough guys on the loose
They also get revenue from advertising and, I think, a level of support from their big media parents that independent blogs like this one can't take advantage of.
I guess the Russian mail order bride folks make some serious coin.
April 19th, 2016 at 10:47 AM ^
I hate those ads. I can't wait until they are in the rear view mirror. I was going to look at mgoblog yesterday, butt those ads stopped me. They really hinder me from enjoying the site. I'll take a p ass on the whole mail-order bride thing.
Tuchas.
Rob
that my humor is from the bottom of the barrel, I guess. :) I'll go to the back of the line.
Rob
I suppose for some folks, a 3-hour scoop allows them time to vet rumors and/or write an article. For others, $9/month is a very small expense.
I mean, yeah, how cool is it that I can pay for insiderzz information on Brandon Peters being homesick???
Snd then super cool (tm) Sam Webb debunking rumors and giving more insiderzzz inmformation about another 18 year old kid and the rumor that he stole a Big Wheel!!!!!!
WOO HZOO PAY MOAR MONEY TO BE A COOL INSIDER!!!
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April 19th, 2016 at 10:51 AM ^
Disagree completely.
That's actually the one thing in the past year they did well. Their connections to the program are of the older variety, and that's one time it came in handy. That's not so great for weekly updates on the team (i.e. Brandon Peters nonsense, Kalis, etc) and why them seem so off in a lot of updates recently, but it was perfect for the Harbaugh chase since it was led by a bunch of guys from the 70's/80's I've never heard of.
I had subscriptions to all the sites during the coaching search and Balas and a poster on Rivals were pretty close to spot on the whole time. Not even Sam Webb matched them.
Sorry but I remember Balls over at Rivals being "50-50" the whole time. Sam Webb upgraded his chances of Harbaugh to Michigan % EVERY morning.
April 19th, 2016 at 10:18 AM ^
You are completely wrong about this. The coaching search is the one thing they got correct. Rumors are that their main source for the coaching search was Jack Harbaugh,
April 19th, 2016 at 11:36 AM ^
Not true. Chris "50-50" Balas rode the fence the entire time. John U Bacon was really the one person who knew what was going on from start to finish and put his neck on the line much earlier than Rivals did.
In fact when the position opened up Rivals said Harbaugh was only a 20% likelihood. They slowly rose those odds and capped it when Balas played the "strong" 50-50 card for rest of the search. I must have missed what a strong 50-50 is in statistics.
Their recruiting info since Helmholdt left has been complete dogshit. Sullivan and Brown have no idea how to cultivate sources like Sam and Lorenz do.
April 19th, 2016 at 11:41 AM ^
Strong 50-50 means 50.4% one way, 49.6% the other way.
You're welcome.
April 19th, 2016 at 12:49 PM ^
I could be remembering incorrectly, but they went past 50-50 when everyone was beginning to doubt that it would happen.
Nope.
All the more reason to not follow Rivals, Scout and 24/7, and just watch the game on the field. Nothing else matters.
Yeah what am I even doing here?
April 19th, 2016 at 11:22 AM ^
They have no source within Schem Hall anymore. They are getting info third hand at best and it is basically all rumors. It's really not a good source of info at least for Michigan Football at the moment. They should focus on getting a decent source back rather than writing up complete garbage IMHO.
isn't going to help them get more access. I've heard them complain about losing their access to the program. It seems like they've taken the worst approach to dealing with it.
It is a sinking ship and everyone knows it. And I will not in the least bit be sad when Mike Farrell (Self-Proclaimed Godfather of Recruiting) gets his walking papers.
Their website overhaul has been a dud, too.
I have always been more of a Rivals guy. I would always go to them first to see rankings, but their new site has ruined it for me. It is as bad a "modern upgrade" as I have seen.
Farrell is awful. He's especially bad on Michigan.
or member. I imagine it could be done, but to what purpose? I don't know if everything can be traced to its origin, but based on the incidents you mention, seems more likely the work of someone that has a problem with the program rather than someone that has a problem with rivals. Hell, given all the disagreements the rest of the country has against Harbaugh and vice versa, take your pick.
Also seems, again by the two samples given, they're simply picking up on old rumors. Never heard or read anythng about Peters, hell where is he going to transfer to that's closer? We're a state away. But I did hear something that was dismissed quickly about the coaches maybe telling one of the OLmen it was time to cut ties, but almost sure I read that here and nothing ever came out of it.
You know, whoever it is will have to quit quickly. Don't think it takes long to find these hackers today. So chances are unless they realease a bomb shell, we're not in much danger.
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As I have always been a multiple times daily avid reader of this blog for almost a decade, I never thought I ever had the need to get a subscription to Scout, Rivals etc.....but a few years ago (last coaching search) I was convinced by a friend to share a subscription.
Big waste of money - nothing you can find there IMO that you cannot here. Also feel that quality control is better here too.
April 19th, 2016 at 10:15 AM ^
"Big waste of money - nothing you can find there IMO that you cannot here. Also feel that quality control is better here too."
Couldn't agree more. If you are on Twitter and MGoBlog you know everything you need to know as instantly as you'd ever want to or need to.
Never understood the pay sites for 'insider' info that isn't really that.