Unverified Voracity Answered Botswana Comment Count

Brian

The second-worst game ever. Wolverine Historian has digitized the 1995 Purdue game, which was played in miserable conditions and ended 5-0 to the Wolverines:

so I herd you like mudkips

It's not 2008 Northwestern because the team didn't finish 3-9 and won that game, but it's probably the second-worst game of the last twenty years to attend. I didn't; I was playing Quiz Bowl in high school.

A man after Lloyd's own heart. Don't bother asking incoming freshman OL Jack Miller any uncomfortable questions. His presser-fu is unassailable:

"On the Buckeyes, they're a great program and they will be resilient. But we need to take this opportunity as a team to move forward and keep getting better."

Rich Rodriguez: call this man for pointers.

Heavens to Betsy. Maryland hit with violations essentially identical to those of Michigan:

Maryland self-reported the violations and recommended penalties — which the NCAA has accepted — that will include the loss of 2 ½ hours of the normal 20 hours a week maximum for practices and games. The penalties will be enforced during the 2011 season. Maryland officials confirmed details Friday in response to inquiries. …

"Specifically, 30 minutes of meeting sessions and 30 minutes of practice on Mondays and one hour of weightlifting on Wednesdays were not accurately reported," Maryland said in a May 5 letter to Chris Strobel, NCAA director of enforcement for secondary violations. "During the review it was apparent that the coaches and staff at the time believed those activities were voluntary in nature; however, when reviewed in detail, the institution determined the activities to be mandatory."

Yeah, you read that right: secondary violations. I'm not sure why these are secondary. It seems Michigan got hit with a major violation because its problems were persistent, not isolated, and that that was enough to trigger all the stuff Michigan dealt with the last two offseasons. Here Maryland did almost exactly the same thing and gets almost exactly the same punishment but doesn't get the black mark.

It's mostly important for semantics, but goddamn if the NCAA had hit Michigan with the exact penalties they did but only secondary violations that would have been epic win for the internet in Internet vs. Free Press. Maybe the sensational nature of the original article caused the NCAA investigation and prevented Michigan from self-reporting the results of the audit they'd already done.

Oregon stuff. So… yeah, that thing about the NCAA having to make an inference a fourth-grader could make and this being an important thing for them to do: nevermind all that. Unusually for a dude who received a big check for acting as a "street agent," Lyles has taken the opportunity presented by an NCAA investigation to launch a media blitz.

You know about the Yahoo article. That in and of itself isn't unusual. What's unusual is what happened the next day: instead of recanting after people threatened to burn him at the stake (or offered him dollars) Lyles said more stuff. He called up a local columnist who had called him "scum" and a "slimeball" and offered an extensive interview with quotes like this:

Lyles said he’s willing to fully cooperate with NCAA investigators. Said Lyles: “What did coach Kelly say to the NCAA? What did he say to the administration? That’s going to be a key piece of information for them. I keep things. I don’t throw things away. It bodes well in this circumstance.”

He also did an interview with the Register-Guard and was on The Morning Jones this morning. He is very talkative for a street-agent-type-guy.

His defense isn't totally unbelievable insofar as it doesn't seem like Lyles is a terrible guy. He's inserted himself as a middleman in a market created because of NCAA restrictions and got some football players to go to some colleges, for which he got paid. If not for NCAA regulations he'd just be a guy doing a job.

But those NCAA regulations do exist and Oregon paid 25k to a representative of their athletic interests who got to act outside said regulations, so they've got to suffer. How much will be fascinating. This isn't an extra benefits case so the USC benchmark doesn't apply.

Throwdown. YELLING IS WARRANTED

Tim Hardaway is fifth on the USA U19s in scoring; they're 5-1 in pool play after avenging a blowout loss to these same Lithuanians in a tourney tuneup. They just lost to Croatia today. Two more games until the quarterfinals.

This is what it sounds like when no one has any idea of anything. If this whole hockey superconference-insofar-as-you-can-call-an-eight-team-conference-that thing comes to fruition and some CCHA teams fold and everyone blames the Big Ten that's going to be annoying. Nebraska fans feel me on this after being blamed for the Big 12's dissolution when there was going to be a Pac-16.

But it might happen. North Dakota is the latest school sporting the initials ND to make noises about it:

UND is having formal discussions about pulling out of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and joining several other schools in creating a new power hockey league, multiple sources have told the Herald. … It is believed that eight teams are involved in the talks to some degree.

UNO, Miami, Notre Dame, and Western Michigan(!) are specifically mentioned in the article. Add UND, CC, DU, and Fortunate Minnesota Team Pretty Much Indistinguishable From The Ones Left Behind and that's an eight-team conference that has a lot of traditional or nouveau powers, no geographical sense at all, no home base, and some chance of keeping pace with the Big Ten.

You've also got flailing WCHA and CCHA remnants trying to figure out how to survive. The WCHA schools might be able to grab Air Force* for an eighth team; the shattered rump of the CCHA would probably grab a handful of Atlantic Hockey schools who want to offer maximum scholarships. The financial viability of the WCHA schools isn't much in question—most have just put a lot of money into infrastructure and hockey is king in Minnesota. The CCHA would be in some trouble, though.

If I was Michigan I'd be rattling my saber at anyone eyeing this new superconference, promising to play any local nonconference games against the teams who don't get raptured up into the Engelstad Conference.

Ugh—I just realized we have two more years of this before the Big Ten even exists.

*["Might" because the conventional wisdom in the hockey community is that priority #1 for AF is being in the same conference as Army and Atlantic Hockey's scholarship restrictions and general lack of behemoths makes them more competitive.]

Barnett shelved. TX TE Chris Barnett was one of Brady Hoke's biggest recruits in the brief window he had to acquire dudes before Signing Day, and he plays a position of desperate need now that Michigan's going all pro-style and stuff. Unfortunately, this does not sound like a guy who is going to be ready to play this fall:

I tore my ACL in early October, and I didn't have surgery for it until December, because like I said, me and my mom, we struggle. We don't have a whole bunch of money. So the injury thing wasn't to the point where I could go get surgery. But I've been working out really hard...I came up on the spring game, and I was 295 [lbs]. Right now, I'm 272. Coach wants me to be 280 -- no [not any] more than 280. But at the same time, I'm getting stronger. I'm crisp [while] running. My knee that I had surgery on still isn't 100%, so I go about 80/85%. But talking to Coach, I still have 2 months [before the season starts] to rehab with them

That sucks in four different ways. Hopefully he makes it back but December surgery plus generally being a freshman seems like a recipe for a redshirt.

Etc.: Bill Connolly reminisces about the 2000 Northwestern game (yes, the 54-51 one). Shorter Andy Staples: watch The Wire, college football coaches. OH DE commit Tom Strobel tells twitter he'll play strongside defensive end and hopes to get up to "at least 270"—if that's by the time he hits campus, whoah. Also, paging Matt Godin to aisle defensive tackle.

This Northwestern-ish blog is updated about every three months but has the most fantastic blog name ever: Bring Your Champions, They're Our Meat. Nik Stauskas is finally loose on the AAU circuit and is impressing with more than his three-ball.

How do you list a home with a waterfall and not include a picture of said waterfall? Boo, Edward Surovell retailers. Boo.

Comments

slaunius

July 6th, 2011 at 11:43 AM ^

The '95 Purdue game is maybe the earliest Michigan game I clearly remember attending (was about 7 at the time). I also attended the 2008 Northwestern game as a student.

The travails of a lifelong Wolverine...

panthera leo fututio

July 6th, 2011 at 12:17 PM ^

The '95 Purdue game was the first college football game I ever went to.  I loved it and, having traveled down from the UP to see it, thought everbody was being a big pussy about the conditions.  I also attended the '08 Northwestern game and would have seriously considered suicide in the 3rd quarter if my hands had been working well enough at the time to inflict any serious self harm.

MMBbones

July 6th, 2011 at 4:46 PM ^

That game convinced me the attendance numbers sometimes get fudged.  There is no way 100k people showed.  It was freezing rain blowing horizontally.  It was painful to leave your face exposed. 

I got my tickets from one of the coaches, who later laughed at me for even attending, let alone staying the whole game.  My stepson spent most of it in the men's room trying to get warm.  It was brutal.  But memorable!

Seth

July 6th, 2011 at 6:02 PM ^

The stadium was full at the start of the game. As of whatever time in the morning we left, the weather wasn't that bad. Foggy-ish and 40s I think. Then again according to my memory every morning that year was foggy until about 11 -- that was probably being 15 and my eyes not being open all the way until 3rd period.

The point is it didn't feel like it was going to be hell out there when I'm guessing most people made the decision to leave for the game. It was after we got to Ann Arbor, and the rain came sideways, and then the temperature scythed down 15 degrees and peoples' balls were plinking onto the field like the recently banned marshmallows and Michigan's offense was the old dude who makes 10 trips to the shitter without so much as a single ploop -- that's when half the stadium gave a collective "F this."

TrppWlbrnID

July 6th, 2011 at 11:44 AM ^

if a player gets hurt antonio bass style, i assume the university pays for the costs of repairing the injury. it would be nice if the university were allowed to pick up injury costs for players who have signed LOIs and were injured in training or prep to attend. i am sure this is not allowed, but there are surely no good things about letting an injury linger, getting to school and the mess of this injury being a pre-existing condition.

also - face paint for the under 19 world championships?

JeepinBen

July 6th, 2011 at 11:47 AM ^

They get the same stuff as students- UHS and all that. I'm not sure what additional medical treatment is available if they need surgery and what not, but students do have access to free university medical care. I got quite a few free (tuition included?) X-rays of my hand/thumb and ligament problems to make sure it wasnt a chip fracture

goblueva

July 6th, 2011 at 8:55 PM ^

I used to work as an athletic trainer for a D-I football program. Current athletes are protected by a university insurance policy for injuries that occur while doing something related to their sport. The university will pay for the diagnostic tests, surgery whether it is on or off campus. The rehab is usually taken care of by the trainers at the school. If the injury happens prior to enrollment or non-sport related (ie drunk and stupid) then the athlete is responsible for the cost of everything. Rehab can be done once the athlete is enrolled. 

Eye of the Tiger

July 6th, 2011 at 11:58 AM ^

Conditions were nasty.  We wore garbage bags over our clothes to stay dry.  The stadium was more than half empty.  We sat/stood by some Purdue alums and started jawing back and forth.  Someone passing a flask around.  We ended up having a good time with them. We won, 19th century style.  

What's not to like?

MGoShoe

July 6th, 2011 at 12:07 PM ^

...had seen this Fulmer Cupdate, I'm sure it would have been included in the Etc. section:

Incoming Illinois freshman DT Chris Jones was arrested over the weekend on charges of aggravated assault against two homosexual men who just happened to get in the way of Jones' fists because, you know, they're that f-word. It turns out that in addition to liking to beat up guys less than half his size that are minding their own beeswax, Jones also likes himself some nose candy. He had a conviction last summer for cocaine possession that he conveniently forgot to tell the Illinois coaches about. Due diligence, caveat emptor and all that.

Six Zero

July 6th, 2011 at 12:21 PM ^

The reason they get hit with secondary infractions and we get the Salem Witch Trial all boils down to one thing:

In the greater Washington DC area, the media has this small thing to worry about called the federal government.  That and an extremely tolerant fan base of its major sports franchises.

The reason the Terps will get off easy is because no one in the DC media cares about Maryland Football, let alone wants to destroy it.

jmblue

July 6th, 2011 at 3:20 PM ^

We need to stop playing the martyr card about our Practicegate punishment.  To hear people whine about it, you'd think we'd lost 10 scholarships, instead of some practice hours (which are already behind us).  The program has nearly completed its punishment and is ready to move forward.  I suggest fans do likewise.

Section 1

July 6th, 2011 at 12:22 PM ^

It's mostly important for semantics, but goddamn if the NCAA had hit Michigan with the exact penalties they did but only secondary violations that would have been epic win for the internet in Internet vs. Free Press. Maybe the sensational nature of the original article caused the NCAA investigation and prevented Michigan from self-reporting the results of the audit they'd already done.

I think that david from wyoming, Callahan, Tacopants, BlueDragon and JimBobTressel all want to know why you don't just go start your own blog, if all want to do is rail at the Free Press.

http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/ot-familiar-story-maryland

Wait, I know the answer to this one.

Blue in Yarmouth

July 6th, 2011 at 12:45 PM ^

I would like David from Wyoming to go start his own blog where no one would ever talk about sports and would just sling insults at each other. They guy never offers anything of substance when he posts, ever. I haven't seen him take part in a meaningful discussion in all my years here.

Blue in Yarmouth

July 6th, 2011 at 1:53 PM ^

first, I have never had an argument with you on this board but could be considered a moran by some I am sure (everyone has different preferences). My issue is mainly that you never engage in meaningful dialogue, it is always condescending remarks aimed soley at belittling other people on this site. That is what I find objectionable.

Section 1

July 6th, 2011 at 3:16 PM ^

Right.  Section 1 has never, not even occasionally, posted about anything else.  Uh, that is, except when I have posted pretty extensively about other things:

http://mgoblog.com/diaries/interview-lion-kim-mgoblog-exclusive

http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/story-liar-liar-billboards

http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/stadium-seat-cushion-promotion-2011-colors

http://mgoblog.com/diaries/regarding-numbers-osu-fans-michigan-stadium

Oh, and there have been those times when I have posted about the press, too.  To MGoAcclaim, naturally (read the comments):

http://mgoblog.com/diaries/david-brandon-and-press

So yeah, Chunkums, your statement about me is categorically incorrect.

VAGenius

July 6th, 2011 at 12:24 PM ^

At least we WON the game in 1995. The 1996 game was also played in bad conditions, and we lost the game when we tried to hand off the ball to William Carr (Defensive Tackle) on the goal line (trying a "Refrigerator Perry" type move) and he fumbled it.

BRCE

July 6th, 2011 at 12:36 PM ^

One of two coaching decisions that season which remain astoundingly bad in memory. Seriously, Chris Howard couldn't have punched that in?

The other didn't cost us, but it was taking a knee on fourth down against Colorado to curiously give them the ball back on our 35, setting up another hail mary attempt in Boulder. Had the internet been bigger in '96, the Michigan blogosphere would have EXPLODED over that sequence.

Blue in Yarmouth

July 6th, 2011 at 12:47 PM ^

with OSU you have a coach that knew about violations and covered it up by lying to everyone he spoke to. At USC it was a booster giving one or two guys and their families some money.

In this case it is the coach actually paying a guy to steer people to his school. That is some interesting stuff and I can't wait to see how the NCAA will handle this.

Raoul

July 6th, 2011 at 6:30 PM ^

Tim Hardaway is fifth on the USA U19s in scoring; they're 5-1 in pool play after avenging a blowout loss to these same Lithuanians in a tourney tuneup. They just lost to Croatia today. Two more games until the quarterfinals.

Actually, Team USA has now advanced to the quarterfinals. They'll next play on Friday versus the fourth-place team from Group E, which could be Brazil, Argentina, Russia, or Latvia. at 9:45 am.

 

Everyone Murders

July 6th, 2011 at 1:21 PM ^

I've done some research, and it appears that the lack of a waterfall photo in the realtor's listing is due to an honest mistake.  It seems the "Never Forget" wolverine from Rich Rod's tenure lived near the pool, and its constant stream of tears gave the appearance of a waterfall when viewed from a distance. 

Those tears ceased in mid-January.  May the waterfall never return.

 

Seth

July 6th, 2011 at 1:41 PM ^

I remember that damn game. We were in Ann Arbor the day before too for a MIPA (Michigan Interscholastic Press Association) trip, and I got to drive because I had just gotten my learner's permit. My dad didn't let me drive on Game Day 'cause of the weather.

What the video doesn't show is that it was raining and ridiculously windy for the entire morning, so during the walk from your car to your stadium no matter what you brought the sideways rain managed to make you soaked. Then the temperature dropped right after kickoff and the snow came and the water inside your jacket turned into ice.

There was only one way to keep any semblance of warmth during that miserable 1st half: cheer your ass off.

We ended up leaving at half-time -- and no, I didn't get to drive home either -- but I got to sit in front to "learn the route" so from Main Street to M-14 I was goofing with the radio, finally finding the game right before Woodson made his interception.

The whole ride home M kept getting to the Purdue red zone and turning it over one way or another (way more than the 2010 offense ever did).

imafreak1

July 6th, 2011 at 2:10 PM ^

I stayed warm by drinking (and cheering, of course) which may not have been an option for you. Since this was prior to 9/11 and the ensuing security freak out, sneaking in a bottle of liquor remained an option for me. Not marshmallows though. They were very serious by this time about cracking down on marshmallows.

But, I was also only wearing a hoodie* because it had been 'so warm' that morning.

Possibly, emulating my actions is not a good idea.

*and pants, of course, I mean I wasn't naked wearing a hoodie.

ESNY

July 6th, 2011 at 1:46 PM ^

Ah, Purdue 1995... Freshman year, parent's weekend game, so parents were in town for their first Michigan game.   I was hungover to shit and dragged out of the dorms at 8am to go to the pep rally.  Managed to make it through the pep rally and the game without throwing up... quite a feat. 

Michigan Arrogance

July 6th, 2011 at 1:56 PM ^

If I was Michigan I'd be rattling my saber at anyone eyeing this new superconference, promising to play any local nonconference games against the teams who don't get raptured up into the Engelstad Conference.

 

Why? what does M stand to lose if another conference forms? All I see it doing is pushing the small time CCHA and WCHA further into irrelevance, along with most of the ECAC.

GCS

July 6th, 2011 at 2:09 PM ^

The problem is that further irrelevance (and the resulting financial hit) will force most of them to give up and fold their hockey programs. Hockey already has an exceedingly small number of programs to begin with, and this would also have implications for the size of the NCAA tournament.