Unverified Voracity Has One For The Other Index Finger Comment Count

Brian

It's happening. Hail To The Victors is fully funded with two weeks left to go. I credit Harbaugh more than anything else. Thanks all the same; we will still be taking pre-orders through Kickstarter through the 18th.

Hail to the king. Oh nothing just Harbaugh hanging out with the first lady and Ciara.

Soon he will start appearing in historically significant photos and no one will remember that he was not, in fact, present.

Also sick beatz yo

#Harbaugh4SpecialK

Seriously. I want to know what a Jim Harbaugh stadium playlist sounds like. Other than silence and the sound of manliness.

16370773904_4f5ef28959_z

Hutch points with the best of 'em [Paul Sherman]

Hail to the queens. Softball locks down its eighth-straight Big Ten title:

On Sunday, No. 3 Michigan softball won the conference's top spot outright, beating Penn State 9-2 to improve to 48-6. It was the program's eighth-straight championship and 19th all-time.

Christner hit a walk-off, RBI single in the bottom of the fifth inning to score Sierra Romero from second and end the game via the run-rule. Christner finished the day 2-for-2 with three RBI, and 8-for-9 in the series.

They will host the Big Ten championship and should get a home regional.

It could be happening? Michigan rattles its defection sabers in an interesting direction:

Michigan's process of figuring out whether or not it'll stick with Adidas or sign with a new apparel provider is ongoing. And this week, Michigan athletic department officials saw a pitch from Under Armour at its headquarters in Baltimore, a university spokesman confirmed.

A meeting is just a meeting and could be held for reasons other than "we are seriously considering Under Armour." I wouldn't read anything in particular into that. It is a move that implies Michigan is seriously considering a change despite having a contract that gives them Most Favored Nation status.

As for UA's pull, they just signed Wisconsin and their Notre Dame contract is rumored to be very big:

Under Armour has proven it can pay big money, too, though, as the supplier reportedly signed Notre Dame to a 10-year, $90 million contract in 2014. Though Notre Dame has never publicly confirmed those figures.

If money is the only factor it won't be Nike, which tops out at about half that. And if we're talking about Adidas versus UA my preference is for the latter.

Congrats draftees. Devin Funchess and Frank Clark went in the second round; Jake Ryan went in the fourth. Seems about right for Funchess and Ryan. Clark's spot is interesting for multiple reasons.

He got booted for a domestic violence charge, then failed to follow the contrition playbook in the aftermath. If you thought this might make the NFL wary you may have also had hopes the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight was going to be interesting. Nope.

The other interesting bit: that Clark got drafted in the second round, period. He was always a pretty good player who flashed high-level talent; he was not the kind of consistent threat I'd think is mandatory for anyone to be drafted as a DE in the first two rounds. I mean, Alan Branch went in the second round. I didn't think Clark was anywhere near his level in college. The Seahawks evidently did.

It sounds like they did do their homework. Nick Baumgardner has an extensive article on Clark's draft spot:

He said Michigan's staff and personnel were "shocked" by the arrest, and maintained that the team got enough information from U-M's staff to allow the team to feel confident in taking a chance on Clark in the second round. He also explained how there were a number of teams who were prepared to take Clark on Friday night, possibly early in the third round.

"It was a process," he said. "I was there two days after it happened. Our area (scout) went through there twice. Our regional scout went through there twice. We spent several days there. The easy thing to do was to dismiss this. But, over time and I don't want to get into specifics of it, things became clearer and clearer in the evaluation process.

"We brought him out here, he met with our sports psychologist. But to be there at the time, to see the secretary's reaction ... it was, like 'wow.' ... You get a really, really good feel for the individual (in doing that)."

As I said before, Clark's got an opportunity for a second chance that not a lot of people get. I hope he makes the most of it.

Etc.: MLive has video from a recent AAU tournament featuring commit Austin Davis and target Brian Bowen. Gardner pre-draft interview. He landed with Tom Brady, which is not a bad place to land. The NCAA's mission is disavowed by the NCAA.

Comments

ijohnb

May 4th, 2015 at 1:55 PM ^

for next year, currently, Walton, Irvin, Levert, Dawkins, Doyle.  That is just not really all that inticing for a likely one and done.  There are two guys already in that lineup that are going to be all BIG, and one what is likely to be an all american.  Brown wants exposure, he wants shots, he wants to be THE guy at his position.  We already kind of have two THE guys and they both play his position.  It just really wasn't a fit for him I don't think.  I don't think it speaks ill of our program, quite the opposite actually.  Bad timing, kind of.

mGrowOld

May 4th, 2015 at 12:36 PM ^

"Seriously. I want to know what a Jim Harbaugh stadium playlist sounds like. Other than silence and the sound of manliness."

I'll bet it sounds EXACTLY like the Michigan Marching Band, live.  As a matter of fact if you close your eyes you might even think they were playing right there in front of you.

Don

May 4th, 2015 at 2:38 PM ^

Segar & Springstein is a law firm in the Detroit area specializing in slip and fall, worker's comp asbestos, etc.

carlos spicywiener

May 4th, 2015 at 12:49 PM ^

Carroll knows his defensive talent. He looked at Clark and saw Bruce Irvin's successor.

I'm guessing Clark's the kind of player that will end up stunning us with how successful he is in the league.

Lanknows

May 4th, 2015 at 3:29 PM ^

http://3sigmaathlete.com/rankings/edge/

Clark has a rep of being an athletic 'freak' and that reflects in the measureables, as he ranks as the #5 EDGE athlete in the whole draft. This is ahead of more productive college 'names' like Randy Gregory, Mario Edwards, Nate Orchard, and Shane Ray.

His profile seemingly fits well with what Seattle is trying to do (i.e., draft athletes who fit the physical prototype).

http://www.fieldgulls.com/2015/4/24/8486735/nfl-draft-2015-the-philadel…

The sooner we stop being focused on college production (e.g., Branch vs. Clark) the better.  It's one factor in playor evaluations, but not a big one (especially in the NBA).  Obviously it's not JUST about a 40 time or number of bench presses or arm length, but athleticism and size are more important than being an all-conference player to the NFL. The reasons to not fixate on production should be obvious by now, and the examples of college stars not producing in the NFL and NFL stars not producing in college seems to happen nearly as often as players producing in both.

The pro-leagues are heartless, but they also know they have to develop players for their systems.

evenyoubrutus

May 4th, 2015 at 12:55 PM ^

Can someone explain how those apparel contracts work? Does the company actually give straight up cash to the University AND provide their team apparel, while collecting sales revenue from the official gear sales?

Michigan4Life

May 4th, 2015 at 6:44 PM ^

and provide team apparel.  Team gets an X amount of budget for buying equipment stuff.  This is pretty common for the athletic department.  Sometimes school get more cash than their equipment budget like Michigan for example. However, it's common that the apparel will give them money but the budget for equipment is larger than the money they get from a contract.

OccaM

May 4th, 2015 at 1:07 PM ^

Ciara is fucking hot. I remember her crazy dancing skills and music from middle school. Russell Wilson is a lucky guy. 

RobSk

May 4th, 2015 at 3:43 PM ^

say anything, but I will take a shot at it.

So, I agree with your conclusion, that the above comment about Coach Hutchinson was one that shouldn't have been made. To me though, it's not a question of sexism, it's a question of basic courtesy and reasonable interaction with and about other people.. "Sexism" presumes that a person is treating the other badly because of their sex, while in my experience, people that treat others badly tend to be equal opportunity, they just use different mechanisms with different people.  Shorter expression of same: Jerks are jerks.

     Rob

trueblueintexas

May 4th, 2015 at 1:35 PM ^

Even if a joke, it seems like pretty poor form to make a comment like that about one of the best coaches at Michigan in any sport. She has had a run of dominance in her sport that Bo and others only dreamed of. 8 straight B1G titles (19 in 31 years), multiple World Series appearances, and a national championship (the first ever east of the Mississippi river). 

Moe

May 4th, 2015 at 1:46 PM ^

"Vonn obviously cares about fame and money, evidenced by the fact that she decided to date Tiger. Two years from now, nobody is going to know who Vonn is. She is worth a couple million dollars, which is a tiny amount for a person to sustain for 50 years on. Her looks are on the decline, and she knows it's time to capitalize on her fleeting fame and find a guy who has some real money to support her. "

 

That sound callous to you?  Come on dude.

OccaM

May 4th, 2015 at 1:57 PM ^

Didn't see that one lol. Thought you were referring to the little spat he got into with UMChick77 in which he was just saying what society knows, but generally doesn't admit. 

That paragraph could just be summed up by saying, "Tiger Woods is more famous bigger loss to Lindsay Vonn."

But hey internet. 

Froop

May 4th, 2015 at 1:59 PM ^

It's obviously a bit "callous" and maybe a bit too realistic for the tastes of a more delicate person, but is there anything wrong there? I can't imagine a lot of disagreement with the sentiment.

falco_alba15

May 4th, 2015 at 2:01 PM ^

Oh sure, mock one of the very best softball coaches in America, if not the world, because she's a middle-aged woman. Never mind the fact that she resurrected and has presided over one of the winningest programs at Michigan, and has never had a losing season as a head coach. I'm sure your credentials are just as stellar.




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Reader71

May 4th, 2015 at 2:12 PM ^

"He was always a pretty good player who flashed high-level talent; he was not the kind of consistent threat I'd think is mandatory for anyone to be drafted ... in the first two rounds."

So, Clark is basically Funchess.

Frankly, I think Clark was the better college player, if only by a nose. Not surprised he was drafted that high. He was the last available potential pass rush specialist. That's something teams are always going to value.

Lanknows

May 4th, 2015 at 3:37 PM ^

We can debate who was the better college player, but Funchess only ranked 30th among WR for athleticism, while Clark ranked 5th among EDGE players.

http://3sigmaathlete.com/rankings/wr/

Both disappointed in many ways in college, but Clark got bigger over time and ended up being a pretty consistent contributor.  Funchess was such a train-wreck as a TE that he had to move positions when the charade was up.  'Intangibles' means a lot of different things, but it seems like Clark was more willing to work to improve to me.

Also, I have a lot more respect for Seattle than Carolina in terms of identifing talent.

My money on NFL success would go to Clark over Funchess.

mopug

May 4th, 2015 at 2:25 PM ^

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1329 S. University

May 4th, 2015 at 11:55 PM ^

Under Armor clothing. Don't really own much Nike or Adidas either, but I have read that the kids in middle school now are all way more into UA than Nike or Adidas. If that trend continues and blossoms in High Schools then I have to think UA is the way to go. They are clearly pumping money into their brand and want to overtake Nike so the current generation won't be an anomaly. I'm guessing we make the change to UA sponsorship. No reason to stick with Adidas other than money and I think Hackett sees further than that and a UA offer would be competitive. Us older crowd (shoot, I'm in my 30s) may not think much of UA but the kids now who will someday wear the M jersey do, and UofM wearing them actually may sway a few this way. Adidas is growing stale, make the move.

I don't really care as long as they kid the damn Maize and Blue colors correct.

justingoblue

May 5th, 2015 at 12:03 AM ^

It was that way when I was in high school a decade ago, at least for HeatGear/ColdGear. I don't know if they made shoes back then, but if they did nobody wore them.

I haven't bought a tee shirt from any of the three in a long time, but I'd guess fan gear will be higher quality with UA than with Nike or Adidas.

KeiraGellatly01

May 5th, 2015 at 11:43 AM ^

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scottiek65

May 5th, 2015 at 6:16 PM ^

Re: the softball team's B1G Championship, according to Mgoblue.com and the teams schedule the B1G Tournament this weekend will be held in Columbus OH, as it has been scheduled to all year. Michigan does not host the tournament, as the #3 team in the polls, they have basically been ranked number 4 or 3 for 3 months now, they will be highly seeded, will host a NCAA regional and if they win that, then host a Super Regional.  i like how hard their schedule was this year compared to the past 2 or 3 years.