Unverified Voracity Files Mouse Tort Comment Count

Brian

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Well, of course. Mr. Harbaugh goes to Washington.

A software engineer named Nick Harris was visiting Washington, D.C. one morning in April when a stranger outside the Supreme Court asked him for directions to the White House. It was only a brief interaction, and yet Harris remembers it well.

“It was very odd,” he said. “Like, why am I running into Jim Harbaugh at the Supreme Court?”

Harbaugh met with five justices, coaching them on the finer points of fair use law.

Also of course. Mr. Harbaugh finds a friend.

That mouse is now the Seahawks' starting tight end.

The worst possible take. This guy covers Rutgers for a living so he knows real when he sees it. I mean, I guess?

It was a good show. But let's be clear: It was every bit a show. Harbaugh turned on the happy personality for the cameras, and he was so effective that it almost made you forget about the other Harbaugh. The one that Colin Cowherd had to hang up on during a radio interview. The one whose personality contributed to an implosion with the San Francisco 49ers.

The one a former player said might be "clinically insane."

That Harbaugh. Which Harbaugh is the real Harbaugh? I have no idea. I only know the guy, much like Flood, from what I've seen from afar.

But I do know this: The Kyle Flood who was talking with the Big Ten Network cameras rolling on Friday? He is the same Kyle Flood was was standing in the hallway a few minutes talking to me, and will be the same Kyle Flood if you run into him this weekend around Piscataway.

This, you should know, is by design. … putting on a show when the cameras are rolling? That's not Flood. He'll let the shiny new guy have the spotlight. 

Observing Jim Harbaugh for a period longer than 20 seconds and coming away with the conclusion that any part of his personality is under control is… well, it's an opinion. It's an opinion like Kyle Flood's home state recruiting…

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Rutgers is involved with just one of the uncommitted players

…but is definitely a thing someone thinks.

Dubstep ahoy. We have discussed it. We are still not sure if this is a joke.

We're leaning yes. But this is the place that hired Beck Man, so we can't be sure.

Not bad dot gif. Here is a small chart about dollars.

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Louisville has really done a job making themselves a thing, I tell ya.

Note that USC and OSU aren't on these lists because they have differently styled deals in which they're given a floor and then get a royalty rate above that. OSU's 2012 deal is for a minimum of 9.7 million a year.

Nice guys. Man, there were a lot of quotes from Big Ten Media Days that set your teeth on edge about the state of the program under the previous administration. You don't want to read too much into them because every transition comes with talk about how now it's serious. But the results on the field are looking for an explanation, and some of it is in here:

"The practices in the spring were four hours," Ross said. "I remember a time where if practice ran a little longer than expected that we'd start sulking and complaining. Now, it's four hours and we're accustomed to it. We can work hard for as however long as needed, not "try to get it over" work. The seniors got everyone on path. In order to be successful we have to change what we've done in the past."

Previously, Michigan split their practice time between the field and film work and the like. Since stretchgate we're all experts on what a countable hour is, and a lot of that film stuff can be moved to non-countable if it's not with a coach. It's likely that Michigan was wasting countable hours under Hoke. That is not likely to be the case under Harbaugh.

In fact, he's encouraged everyone on the team to get jobs. Chesson:

"In my perspective and how I was raised, you have a certain responsibility to yourself to commit and to be a positive role model. What better way than to get a job and see how it feels to practice, go to school and then go cut fields and cut grass, come back and sleep and do it all the next day?" …

"I don't know a guy who doesn't have a job. When you're working, you're earning a wage. So many people in society don't have that opportunity. For us to do that is awesome."

People often compare college footballing to a full-time job that you have to go to college on top of; Harbaugh's like "and also you should have a part-time job."

Also with continued bizarre anti-mayonnaise stance. Andy Staples has a column on cord-cutting and the Big Ten's upcoming rights negotiations. He's referencing Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scot's contention that the Big Ten might get the short end now that ESPN is tightening its belt:

Scott is correct that rights fees won’t go up forever, but the Big Ten deal could be the last hurrah before networks get more cost-conscious because of cord-cutters. The Big Ten is going to get a massive deal because ESPN and Big Ten Network partner FOX need those rights to compete in the new marketplace. With deals for all of the other Power Five leagues, the NFL, NBA and MLB all locked down until at least 2020, the Big Ten’s deal next year is the biggest thing left. It might be the last one of these deals signed for a primarily bundled marketplace.

Which is all well and good for Jim Delany, who will flit off into retirement before that contract comes close to ending. Those of us still around in an unbundled world are going to be looking at a ridiculous 14-team conference that was foisted upon us in the pursuit of short term dollars.

Also, Staples continues slamming mayonnaise even in the context of a BLT. Apparently he hates tomatoes, too. Poor bastard.

This again. Michigan's basketball nonconference schedule:

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That is Xavier and garbage at home. All six non-Xavier D-I opponents were 200+ in Kenpom last year. Football has seemed to figure out that giving people reasonable opponents is something that helps preserve the covenant between fans and the program. Hockey (which announced a schedule like this one minus Xavier) and basketball have not figured this out.

These are slightly different problems. Hockey needs any legitimate opponents to spark interest and help their strength of schedule in the dire Big Ten. Basketball has a respectable schedule, but they fill out the holes with the absolute dregs of D-I. This is bad for both fans and the team. The NCAA uses nonconference schedule strength as a metric, and they calculate it crappily, so taking on the truly awful teams hurts you disproportionately.

There are going to be a couple of duds every year—that game just before Christmas is always going to be against a team starting a 6'2" center—but upgrading some of those opponents from the Delaware State level to the Bradley level is preferable to the current situation.

This year is Breaston year. Next year is Denard year. Part of the NCAA's increasingly desperate attempt to keep the status quo:

The Nebraska athletic department is joining lots of other schools in limiting the numbers on the jerseys fans can buy. For this year, only No. 1 and No. 15 — as in 2015 — will be sold at the Huskers Authentic team store. Next year, it’ll be 1 and 16.

Licensees selling jerseys are limited to the same numbers, and nobody gets a grandfather clause.

And the change isn’t just for football, but for all sports that have jersey replicas for sale.

Michigan has not announced a similar restriction but they're probably thinking about it. So instead of fans buying the things they want and the players getting a portion of that, nothing for anyone.

Take it from Tyrone. PSA, 1993.

Via Dr. Sap.

Etc.: This week in Steve Patterson: ShaggyBevo has to change its name due to legal sabre-rattling. In lieu of actually writing a Gold Cup react I'll just endorse this one. The Broken Bits Of Chair trophy lives. Media day interview from the official site. The turkey is a prisoner. For now. Brady and his phone. ESPN asked Ian Darke to call college football. He said no because he knows his limitations, but I kind of want to see what that's like.

Mike Riley and Jim Harbaugh go back.

Comments

schreibee

August 4th, 2015 at 2:43 PM ^

OK, as previously stated, I like mayo - on turkey sandwiches, in tuna salad, and yes, on Burgers. We will have to agree to disagree on the topic of mayo...

What I do not care for are gratuitous Hitler references/comparisons... not unless you personally sucked Adolf off AND swallowed, in which case you'd have a valid frame of reference. And be pretty F*n old too!

Crisler 71

August 4th, 2015 at 1:49 PM ^

If Michigan wants to sell unused jersey numbers in the M Den to avoid legal ramifications they have five handy.  11, 47, 48, 87 and 98.  And, they could put a hangtag on each with a short biography of the player(s) that wore them.  Plus, market them as "Legends Jerseys".

mGrowOld

August 4th, 2015 at 12:54 PM ^

I am definitely hoping that John U's new book sheds some additional light on the Hoke regime and why it failed so badly.  We've gotten a pretty good look at why RR failed here but other than the occasional comment like the one Brian referenced, little has been said so far on what the hell went so wrong, so fast.

 

Go Blue Eyes

August 4th, 2015 at 12:56 PM ^

"It's likely that Michigan was wasting countable hours under Hoke." Hoke was underutilizing practice hours, the talent he recruited and on the field (I.e. Special teams with only 10 players).

MLaw06

August 4th, 2015 at 1:00 PM ^

I'm so tired of those Rutgers fans.  I live in NJ and they are a small (very small) but vocal (annoying vocal) minority.  They clog up the sports pages of the local paper by whining about how Rutgers does not get the press that they deserve (or don't deserve). 

They constantly refer to Michigan as "Appalachia" and "Rust Belt" and have obviously never been west of Philly.  They are a combination of angry, uninformed and whiny. 

They live and die by a few mantras:

1. PSU is our rival even though they really arent'.

2. Top NJ talent should play at Rutgers or else you are a traitor.  But we want top out-of-state talent because we are open-minded and do not want to limit ourselves to NJ.

3. We are undefeated against Michigan; therefore, we will beat them every year. 

4. Once the B1G money comes in, we will be able to afford all the shiny things - $$$ coaches, facilities, etc.

5. Coach Flood can't recruit, but he is the best player development coach in the world, because the few 4-star recruits that he has are performing like 4-star recruits...

MLaw06

August 4th, 2015 at 1:51 PM ^

One thing to be a homer; another thing to constantly replay gifs of Michigan's blocked field goals and calling it a bigger upset than Appalachian State, etc. 

One thing to be a homer; another thing to talk about "continued dominance over Michigan."

I can go on and on, but I'll spare you.  You can ignore it cuz you don't live there...., but man, I can't wait til we run ten touchdowns on them. 

Nitro

August 4th, 2015 at 1:12 PM ^

The MBB non-conference home slate isn't good, but overall it's a tough non-conference schedule that will prepare them well for the Big Ten season.  SMU and (probably) NC State will both be ranked when we play them on the road, and we'll play at least one ranked team in the Bahamas.  So with Xavier, we're probably looking at 4-5 games against ranked teams before the conference season starts, with only one of those at Crisler.  Hopefully we won't screw-up in the non-conference schedule like we did the past two seasons.

matty blue

August 4th, 2015 at 2:11 PM ^

...but now i'm all bummed.  why, oh why, didn't we get someone or something named "kyle flood" to replace brady hoke?  sounds like a real straight shooter.

echoWhiskey

August 4th, 2015 at 2:51 PM ^

Anyone else find that photoshopped image in the WSJ article odd? I mean, I know it's a human interest story and WSJ is trying to be "hip" but that's more Deadspin-level shit.

MMBbones

August 4th, 2015 at 3:17 PM ^

"Harbaugh's like, 'And also you should have a part-time job.'"

I owned a tree-farm back in the 90s, and one of my customers hired several football players during the off-season every year for his landscape business.  It was interesting to see the work ethic of these guys.  Most were hard workers, some not so much. 

One positive example was on a cold, drizzly day in early spring.  He pulled into the nursery to pick up an order I had dug for him, and after backing up to the right spot, he and Anthony Thomas jump out of the truck.  Anthony had no problem sloshing through the mud and loading a truckload of wet, sloppy, heavy shrubs onto a truck and trailer.  And he was more than happy to visit for a bit, coated in muck from the chest down, after everything was loaded and tarped.  All for maybe $10 an hour when he knew he'd be making millions in a couple years.  The guy was a worker.

Cool story, bro?

Blue_sophie

August 4th, 2015 at 3:23 PM ^

Harbaugh on Clarence Thomas:

“I’ve been around some enthusiastic people,” Harbaugh said of Thomas. “He’s one of the most enthusiastic people I’ve ever met. It was a great thrill.”

snowcrash

August 4th, 2015 at 4:06 PM ^

The other 7 teams in the Battle 4 Atlantis are Syracuse, UConn, Gonzaga, Texas, Washington, aTm, and Charlotte. We should get 2-3 good games out of that. The home schedule is dreadful, though.

vecoyud

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