Mailing It In
Hey guys. I did not do the UFR this week, because I really did not want to do it. So I didn't. This is what I mean by mailing it in. I'm sorry, but not sorry enough to actually go do it. Obviously.
I will try to muster the courage to do so at some point in the future, because it is nice to have completeness. Right now you could hold a gun to my cat's head and threaten me and I would look on blankly until you cracked and started weeping and I told you It's Not Your Fault™. You're not actually going to kill a kitten about this, are you? Okay, okay, it's a cat, not a kitten. Put the gun down! It's Not Your Fault™! Unless you do something you're going to regr—
Hmm. Well, if you had to go at least it was before Saturday. We will put your MGoPoint total on your tombstone.
What's going on. I am going to go home and have a normal Thanksgiving like a normal person like I used to do before they moved the Ohio State game back a week for dubious reasons. I am not going to put up a UFR on the day itself, because I didn't do it. There will be a preview on Friday, though if I had to bet I'm assuming it will be light on useful analysis and heavy on gallows humor shirt-rending about how Ohio State has a good football team and Michigan does not have a good football team.
Then we are going to grit our teeth and get through Saturday, whereupon we will feel much better at the prospect of a weekend with nothing more horrifying in it than the prospect of Michigan State and Ohio State playing for the Big Ten Championship… godddammit. At least you don't have to watch that if you don't want.
You're free! FREEEEEEE. After Saturday. I'll see you Friday.
In conclusion. Butt.
November 27th, 2013 at 8:58 PM ^
Who's bailing on the team or school?
Brian is mailing in the UFR's. That's all it is. He's actually wrote a lot this week already. He's wrote about he'll be at the game.
It looks like you are saying others are mailing it in on more, you got cut off so I'm not sure.
My big view is that people have a right to be upset/disappointed. I'm totally unenthused about this game on Saturday. I am going, though, to support the seniors and support my school that I love so much. That doesn't mean I approve of Dave Brandon and his decision to treat my school's athletic department like a fortune 500 company. It doesn't mean I think we have a very positive outlook on the future with our MAC head coach.
I'm a glass half full guy, but even I feel that there's no fault in looking in the state of our program and not being enthused.
If ND has been returning to glory since whenever and went to a National Championship last year, what have we become?
November 27th, 2013 at 6:50 PM ^
I'm not saying complaining after a loss isn't OK, but that's all there is. Even the site employees have gone all emo on us.
And this is nothing like RR year 1 ineptitude. We got slaughtered in a ton of games that year, and didn't win any by a decent margin. As crazy as it is, only 1 of our losses this year is by more than 4 points. We're close to a 5 win team, but we're also very close to a 10 win team, which we were not in 2008.
November 27th, 2013 at 7:00 PM ^
Fine. But it's still the most informative football blog on the internet. The board is not great right now, but it's not as bad as people are making it out to be.
What do you want out of Brian and Ace, the site's two columnists?
People act as if Brian is manufacturing some malaise that doesn't exist among other fans. He's not. Even without a Brian Cook there'd be plenty of people pissed off at Dave Brandon for a million reasons, one of which was his decision to hire a MAC coach to run the football program at the U of M.
Hoke had an overachieving year but now the trajectory points very much down. Obviously, wait and see in year 4.
But - elephant in the room - does anyone think Urbz will have a similar year 3? Hell to the no. And I'm not comparing them aside from the fact that OSU is the team we compete with. And I don't see any universe in which they aren't kicking our asses for years to come.
We are not elite. Brandon's hire of Hoke, while uniting the fan base with a safe choice, possibly ensured we won't be elite. That's the concern and its pretty worthwile. Now, we gave JB 5 years and he's done it. He's proven he was the excellent coach that never had the power of a top tier program to work his craft. He also had decades of experience under his belt - something Hoke doesn't have. Nobody in the football world gushes praise over Hoke like they do (and did before his UM hire) Beilein.
The complaining is just - people are seeing their worst fears realized: Hoke might not be the guy to get Michigan to a competitive level we expect.
November 28th, 2013 at 8:24 AM ^
November 28th, 2013 at 1:26 PM ^
Borges has given us the excuse that this is really only Year 1 of his offense.
November 27th, 2013 at 6:17 PM ^
I do not expect much Saturday, its hard seeing us score a TD. The 14 Point spread seems too low. if up 21 or 24 or 28 by half or early third quarter would Urban call off the dogs and run out the clock? Here's a question, if Michigan did win Saturday, would it be a bigger upset than 1969? Do you get the feeling that most of America has not realized yet that this is a big a mismatch as we all think?
November 27th, 2013 at 6:20 PM ^
it's your blog after all.
However after watching the Iowa game again (awful experience) on BTN replay after a skinful at a work function (took some of the pain away)...I have to say there were 4 plays that turned the momentum of the game around in 3rd Quarter...none of which were on Al B.
1) Devin Funchess drops dead on pass
2) Next play...Devin Funchess drops dead on pass leading to 3 and long (if I remember correctly...as I said, I had a skinful)
3) DG turning a 6 yard run into a 4 yard loss leading to 2 & 14 instead of 2 & 6.
4) Defence giving up a long TD run with several missed tackles.
This was the definition of execution. As the season has gone on, our receivers have got worse at helping our QB get early confidence (almost as bad as last year at Nebraska when poor Bellomy had any catchable pass dropped awfully).
Outside of those plays, we did have a couple of bad play calls (reverse after a jet sweep anyone) and our OL can't seem to block the blitz....but I had concluded this game wasn't on Al (and I am a critic)...it WAS on execution.
Was hoping that UFR would validate my drunken observations. But looks like its extended gratification (or not) for me.
Happy thanksgiving folks.
November 27th, 2013 at 6:32 PM ^
Just 4 plays, huh? Only 4 plays doesn't result in 5 three and outs and 6 yards of offense in the second half outside of the final possession. The lengths people will go to to defend Borges amazes me.
November 27th, 2013 at 6:38 PM ^
Apparently, it takes a dropped a ball to kickstart our offense. Unfortunately, the dropped ball kills the drive. It's quite the curious catch 22.
November 27th, 2013 at 7:20 PM ^
If all you can muster is 6 yards over 5 drives in, almost, an entire half of football a few dropped passes is far from the biggest issue with the offense.
November 27th, 2013 at 7:47 PM ^
Exactly. This inane belief that our offense would have started humming along if those balls had been caught is laughable.
November 27th, 2013 at 8:53 PM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 11:52 PM ^
If the difference between Michigan's offense possibly succeeding and completely sucking are 4 dropped balls, then it's not a good offense.
November 27th, 2013 at 6:48 PM ^
Go back and watch last year's Nebraska game -- just about as fun as re-watching this year's Iowa game, I'm sure, so you may want to keep another "skinful" handy. You'll find that you are wrong about Bellomy -- a number of his "catchable passes" were in fact caught, but unfortunately by Nebraska players.
November 27th, 2013 at 7:17 PM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 8:59 PM ^
The ultimate "what if" is what would have happened if one or two of Bellomy's early and catchable throws were caught (I recall there were a maximum of two early drops of catchable throws)...would he have got confidence and would we have maintained Denard's momentum? "What-if" Funchess catches one of those early passes in the 3rd quarter? Do we get on a roll (or find another way to run when there is 8 in the box). That is why the the guys bang on about execution.
That is also why I love the recent diaries that breakdown the "whose at fault" question. My hypothesis is that through 2.5 quarters the "fault" doesn't lie with play-calling.
I have to say I was actually surprised by my conclusions from the replay. Don't get me wrong, I believe this is a flawed team (though I have no doubt the kids are putting out everything they have) and a flawed OC (and one I believe should be replace come this Sunday), however I also believe M was positioned to win in the 3rd qtr, and it wasn't Al who brought the change in momentum on.
I also do believe the current adversity will serve the freshman and Sophomores well in the offseason as they work doubly hard together to get better.
Irrespective of who the OC is (and hopefully not AB), in 2015 our OL will be experienced and an emerging force. But that doesn't help us right now as we wallow in the burned ashes of an awful season.
November 27th, 2013 at 6:58 PM ^
Here is your Opponent Watch for this week:
November 27th, 2013 at 7:10 PM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 9:46 PM ^
Thoughts and prayers with you, Alwaysblue.
November 27th, 2013 at 7:48 PM ^
Some of my formative reading and writing experience (at least in terms of sports) comes from Bill James' Baseball Abstracts, which he stopped writing in 1988. He'd been doing them for a decade or so at that point, and at the end of his very last edition, he wrote a long essay that he called "Breaking the Wand," in which he told some history, explained some of his motives, and explained why he was quitting...to quote a fairly long passage,
My readers were once one of my greatest sources of pleasure; they were so pleased to find me, and I so pleased to find them, that for six or seven years it was a virtual love feast [sic]. I still have many of those readers, and I still get many letters during the course of the year that are a great pleasure to me. But as time goes by, I get more and more letters that irritate the living hell out of me. People have started assuming that I'm a goddamn public utility or something. I get letters from people telling me that I do this well but that I shouldn't do that and I should do more of that and less of this and try some of the other. If they irritate me enough, I write back "Dear Jackass: I am not your employee. It is not my function to write about what you are interested in. I write about what I am interested in. If you want to read it, read it. If you don't, don't. But DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO WRITE ABOUT. While it is not necessarily expressed in a hostile voice, that idea has always been fundamental to my work, a relic of my sixties youth. It also explains how I got into doing this. I wouldn't let editors tell me what i should write about and what I shouldn't. It's my time and talent and my life, and those are my three most precious possessions. Why should I let you tell me what to do with them?
...I think the parallels to the MGoBoard in general, and this thread in particular, are pretty obvious. There's little doubt in my mind that the Baseball Abstracts never would exist today, not because Bill James wouldn't be writing, but because...well, obviously. Message boards.
My point in posting this is not to warn anyone that "omigod, don't be mean to Brian, he might quit this blog." More to say that some of you might do well to remember that this isn't "some goddamn public utility or something." If you don't like what he writes, don't read it. If he's not writing what you want, go to one of them many (many, many) other Michigan blogs out there. If nobody's writing what you want, then by all means pick up a shovel and start digging.
November 27th, 2013 at 8:27 PM ^
That is remarkably on point
November 27th, 2013 at 8:46 PM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 9:33 PM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 10:03 PM ^
Wow, thanks for posting that. I'm sure I read that back when it came out, but I did not recall that he gave a reason for discontinuing the Abstracts. When it comes to reading other people's research and opinions about sports, Bill James and this blog are probably my two of my three favorite things ever.
November 28th, 2013 at 6:27 AM ^
I don't post very often but in reading the comments over the past few weeks that accompany essentially every article, it's somewhat akin to watching a train wreck; and this train wreck is unbelievably, inexplicably worse than the season has been on the field, and that's saying a lot, (and I think most would agree on that point at least on the offensive side).
This season has been depressing to watch, that's a fact. I usually talk to my Dad for at least a quarter each game as he's in NM and I'm in NoVA and he doesn't get BTN. I give him my own version of play-by-play, (even though he's got Sirius), and at the same time catch-up and shoot the shit. Those calls have been noticeably shorter this season because we've both been in a funk. I get where Brian is at and I feel that all we can do is hope for the best against OSU and our bowl game, with the expectation that while we lose Lewan for next year, the trial by fire that the true and redshirt freshman on the O-line have endured this season will bear fruit through Spring camp and into Summer/Fall.
While depressing, this is Michigan football! The negativity I've seen on this site is ridunkulous, I think we all know Borges's play-calling is horrendous, that's what we have Brian for! This site provides a fantastic service and whiners should be banished to a thread that's permanently archived in a virtual dustbin.
The excerpt you posted is succint and spot-on, (so instead of typing this whole thing I could have said "Good article" but that's not my style), and I applaud you for posting it.
Beat OSU!!! (said while crossing all applicable appendages).
November 28th, 2013 at 11:21 AM ^
Are you suggesting that commenters and diary writers need to agree with Brian all the time? I hope not because the great thing about blogs in general, and this blog in particular, is the discussion and original content provided by the users. An "old time" sports publication made its money off of the sports writer, period. In a blog, there is a lot of value added by us commentators and diary writers. I mean, good Lord, think about the time and effort that go into most of diaries with research, and charts, and stats, and etc. There are also lawyers, doctors, marking and PR folks, etc who add their expertise on a regualr basis without any compensation at all, other than being part of this community.
The down-side of getting all of this added value is that a blogger can't always control what folks say. Sometimes, they disagree with the blog. As long as they live with certain rules (no politics, no religion, no extreme jackassery) their views are fair game. This blog is, in my opinion, at its best when people are having actual conversaitons about things. When views are offered, disagreements explored and common groun found or not.
So, if you are saying that people can't post things that diagree with Brian, I have to disagree with you.
If you are just saying that its Brian's decision to do a UFR or not, then I 100% agree. We all need mental vacations from work. I got zero problem if Brian takes one here. In fact, I do even see that as an issue. Maybe that's why I might be overreading your post.
November 29th, 2013 at 9:01 AM ^
not suggesting that we all have to agree with everything brian writes...i was mostly responding to the "well, if you're not going to write this then i might have to find another blog, and boy has this place gone downhill anyway, sniff sniff" vibe of a few of the posts.
November 29th, 2013 at 9:10 AM ^
double post. apologies
November 28th, 2013 at 11:35 AM ^
This is great.
Yeah, people that try to demand Brian show up and punch a time card, produce content and deliver on time, every time..I see where they're coming from, but you can't apply office standards to a freakin blog.
None of you people have ever driven to your workplace at 11:45 at night to stop idiots from arguing in a game thread.
November 29th, 2013 at 4:09 PM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 8:09 PM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 9:13 PM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 8:22 PM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 8:23 PM ^
...one thing that I'm just exhausted by is the "youth" bit. The offense just isn't that young. Your quarterback was heavily recruited and is in his 4th year in the program. You have two NFL linemen. You have Jimmy Graham Lite at tight end. And you have an undersized but wildly productive receiver in Gallon. Although Toussaint has clearly not been the same since his gruesome injury, he's still a senior who has plenty of experience and past success. Oh and then you have a 5-star running back in Derrick Green. There is more than enough talent and experience to field a competitive unit. I'm still behind Hoke because nothing is worse than getting in that cycle of firing a coach every 3-4 years, but god almighty damn stop it with the youth horseshit. There are countless programs throughout the nation who do more with far less than Michigan is doing offensively right now. So if you still support Hoke and want to stay the course, hey, I'm all for it. But godammit stop with the youth crap.
November 27th, 2013 at 8:39 PM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 8:46 PM ^
November 27th, 2013 at 9:08 PM ^
November 28th, 2013 at 11:31 AM ^
And if the planets don't
OSU 52 - Michigan 14
But I'm hoping you have to mail TXmaizeNblue the shirt......
November 27th, 2013 at 9:20 PM ^
Stating the obvious, but out of some sick sense of interest in the macabre, I clicked the 'henri' tag.
I implore any of you thinking about doing this, DON'T.
'Course, I have to work all week so perhaps I want to wallow in our collective misery.
Happy Thanksgiving, all.
November 27th, 2013 at 9:57 PM ^
Please stop fighting each other, guys. For those of you who are off Thanksgiving, enjoy the time with your families. This year for the first time, with a new job I have joined your ranks, for the previous 17 I had forgotten what holidays were. For those of you who work this week, and nights, and weekends, I HEART you bigtime and know your pain and sacrifice firsthand.
Let Brian be and give him a day off to regroup and do whatever. Listened to him on WTKA this morning and enjoyed Michigan Insider as always.
I'm going to get even more sickening and start giving thanks, for having so much to be thankful for, starting with my family and having a roof over our heads on a cold night.
Love to hear what everyone here is thankful for!
November 27th, 2013 at 10:11 PM ^
Have a great meal and a good time with family! You alway do great work, and perhaps it is best to defer the Iowa UFR until after the OSU game. Then compare the results for both squads for any progress. Take Care!
November 27th, 2013 at 11:08 PM ^
I agree with "mailing it in" if Michigan loses. I don't think a UFR is really necessary for a painful loss. Considering that this season is beginning to look a lot like Sparty under JLS or Bobby Williams, I can't imagine many people wanting to pick over this season's corpse.
I am hoping for a bowl game against a shitty opponent to make it easier to be optimistic about next year.
November 27th, 2013 at 11:45 PM ^
UFRs were one of the big things that appealed to me when I started visiting here back in 2007 or so. Brian, do what you want with your blog - one of the best things on the internet for me - but damn, I miss the UFRs when they're not done.
Thanks for doing what you do, man...
November 28th, 2013 at 1:51 AM ^
agreed.
and as addicted as we all are to this site, we will stick around, and we'll also all accept the emotions involved with writing this site (and the certain weekly articles that come with it), but....i dunno. as a businessman, i hope brian understands certain "fickle-fan" typa shit and this site never loses it's edge to those of us that look to it for "insider type" information....not info that (doesn't) come(s) from post-game interviews, but that which comes from a writer who can break down complicated things down so that the masses (us) can understand..
Brian,
do what you want, man. skip an under further review. on both sides of the ball. shit, take a day or two...you've earned it. go bowling.
but just don't let this blog, which is very clearly one of the best in college football (if not THE best in terms of content) die a slow death.
thanks
November 28th, 2013 at 12:29 AM ^
at a "normal" job, certain deadlines are expected to be met.
when you build the best (not really sure how we quantify that) CFB blog, i suppose you can give in to the same emotions that your readers do once or twice.
especially when you've pushed us towards being disassociated from being excited for basically a month.
i don't know what i would do without MGB, but sometimes i think MGB forgets that the way MGB has become a site that can pay a "real salary" to multiple employees is because its readers are addicted to its content. but when content (and thus readership clicks) goes down, so will the site.
but again, WTF WOULD I DO WITHOUT THIS SITE?
brian, ace, et al, do whatever. because as michigan fans, that's the way WE feel too.
fuck us all. ugh
November 28th, 2013 at 12:59 AM ^
I can tell you what the UFR would be like:
PAIN
November 28th, 2013 at 1:04 AM ^
I've got an idea:
Let's all just enjoy sports.
Like football.
It's fun to watch football.
If it's not fun and you're still watching it, or covering it, or eating it, or breathing it, or crying it...
...then you're wasting your time.
Let's all get a grip.
I'll see y'all at the NC game in 2016.
November 28th, 2013 at 10:59 AM ^
November 28th, 2013 at 1:31 AM ^
After the last 4 weeks, since the Indiana game...ANYONE who wants to evaluate our sucky offense is welcome.
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