Unverified Voracity Is Comparatively Huge
YOU ARE ALL TINY, TINY PEOPLE. Emailer sends something titled of "MGoBlog's biggest fan" and I'm like oh boy here we go this will be sort of depressing and then I get this:
This kid is seven months weeks old. You people need to eat. Also: nice hail, kid. You'll do fine at the alma mater.
Send in the clowns. This quote didn't make it into the Free Press's article about how Michigan State certainly doesn't cheat or nothin':
Dantonio told his players Sunday the importance of a game like this and its meaning is why he prefers to recruit Midwestern players. They tend to appreciate a week like this more than others, he said.
"When you work 85, 90 hours a week to prepare for one single moment, you tend to remember those things," Dantonio said. "This will be no different.
"We'll come ready to play, I can assure you that."
You might say "that's because it didn't exist yet, Brian," to which I say "what is wrong with you and why are you smaller than a seven-week-old child? Be silent before I eat you."
Inverted veer option. Coming up later today I'll mention Indiana's adjustment to the thing I'm calling the "counter dive" that gashed Michigan's first three opponents; the opponent's response requires a response, which I'm sure we'll see this weekend. Smart Football has a terrific look at a different spread look that TCU used to good effect against Clemson, the "inverted veer option":
Instead of reading the backside end you read the guy right in front of your face and shoot it upfield when he hops out on the RB. Pretty cool. Further explanation at Smart Football. I wonder if Michigan might pull this, or something like it, out against Michigan State.
Actual video. So MVictors spruced up its "Harmon and the Drunk" video for Harmon's 90th birthday. It remains, as always, hilarious:
Even better, the insanely comprehensive Wolverine Historian has posted video of the actual play:
Nice moves.
Etc.: Shouldn't Tebow sit against LSU and maybe a couple additional games? (Comes with—gasp—link to EDSBS.) Ohio State has a "Woody Hayes Chair in National Security Studies." Former Michigan great Joe O'Donnell has his high school's field named after him.
...except instead of kicking out the playside DE, the run fake to the RB influences the end upfield. Neat concept.
I ran that video several times, even doing a lot of stop/start at the instant of the RB exchange. From the original play camera, I don't see how the QB can know which way the DE is going to commit at that instant. In this case, the DE bit on the fake and the play worked. But, if the DE sees the non-exchange for what it is, the play's only chance for success is if the RB is able to block him, which Chris points out is difficult. Short of that, the play fails at best and at worst, the QB is lunch meat between two pieces of clemson bread.
OK, but then I watched the REPLAY angle several more times and I can now see how devious and deceptive that exchange is. It's like a pitcher hiding his grip until the last possible second so the hitter just can't know. Same goes for the DE -- the RB's got his torso turned away and even though the DE's only a couple steps away, he just can't know. Since he can't risk letting the ball outside, he's gotta take the RB.
After all that, I conclude that the art of the hand-off/pull-out portion of the play is underappreciated, getting very little comment here. We're all reading about READS, but the EXECUTION of the fake is hugely important too.
Is it possible that aspect of the scheme was a really important part of last year's fail and this year's success? Does anyone have an opinion as to QBs that are really good at it, or really bad at it, and how do Tate and Denard compare?
she's 8 months now
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f127/brooktrout08/sept2009022.jpg
That is an awesome pose! He must be the smartest baby ever to be able to hail hail at that age!
Drunk whiffs on the tackle (-1).
I love how he's quoting as saying he's glad he did it, because now no one can say that no one tackled Harmon. Ummmm.......
Burn, burn down old Notre Dame
Per an MVictors reader, Brennan and Harmon became pals after the incident and Brennan sent 98 a card on his birthday each year - great stuff.
-Greg
MVictors.com | HTTV '09 | GoBlueWolverine Mag
I wonder what his fake 40 time was.
There is no way to judge scale in that baby picture. For all we know, the baby is 10 foot tall and IS the biggest fan.
A 10 foot tall baby would, in fact, scare me.
Are you a park ranger at Yellowstone? Say hi to Yogi Bear for me.
Am I the only one who watched that video and was amazed by Tom Harmon's moves for the first 10 yards or so of that run? Seriously. I mean, obviously it's a "yeah, dude, he's only like the greatest player ever," but still. The cut he made in the backfield and the way he got through the second wave of defenders was really something. Anyone know if there's a Tom Harmon Highlight Mixtape on the internet?? That would be awesome for all sorts of reasons, #1 being a guy born in 1919 with a mixtape a la Sam McGuffie. Hopefully the background music would be old time jazz or some other era-specific music.
RE "happy birthday Tom"- Mr. Harmon unfortunately passed away on March 15, 1990.
His slick moves left me in awe. That was legit. And I loved how he toyed with the saftey, spinning him around. Great downfield blocking too.
If that's tackling, then I could very well be the world record holder for tackles!
Also, I maintain that if Harmon were a player today, he'd be almost as successful. (I say almost, because they don't let the good athletes play 9 different positions anymore). Dude was an athletic freak.
Sooner or later, you're going to have to stick your arm up a cow's butt.
So, if I send a picture of my four month old daughter in a Michigan outfit, does she get put up on the front page too?
Freep? Hello? ... hello? ... hello?
Echo ... echo ... echo ...
Hmmm, wonder if the NCAA was paying attention.
Cover coughs and sneezes.
first time i've heard of the Tom Harmon story. That's awesome stuff right there. Happy 90th, Tom!
"Your ship may be coming in, You're weak but not giving in
To the cries and the wails of the valley below/
Your ship may be coming in, You're weak but not giving in.
And you'll fight it, you'll go out fighting all of them..."
That Cali safety looked like Stevie Brown of yesteryear
I have a Fandom Endurance III merit badge
The punchline should have been Ezeh
"A house divided against itself cannot stand"