Unverified Voracity: RIP, Jim Mandich Comment Count

Brian

jim-mandich

RIP Jim Mandich. Jim Mandich passed away last night. As with Vada Murray I don't have any of my own memories about Mandich, so I'll just offer condolences to all who do. MVictors republished a post containing a Sam and Ira interview of Mandich from a couple years ago.

An eagle-eyed poster on the board noted that TE Brandon Moore just tweeted he'll be switching from 88 to 89 this fall. While that's just because he's playing special teams with Roh, if they could get Mike Jones to switch away from 27 they might be able to do something with those jerseys this fall.

The resounding chorus. Everywhere you turn these days there's a guy flogging NBA draft analysis telling Darius Morris to GTFO of the draft. Mike Rothstein flags down anonymous scouts:

“If somebody is in good academic standing and still needs to improve his game, which I think he is in both of those categories, then it only makes sense to come out if you’re going to be in the first round.

“And I don’t think he would be.”

So does Luke Winn:

"I can't see him getting picked in the first round," one scout said. "He has a good feel, especially in transition, but there are still some issues with shooting [25.0 percent on threes] and athleticism that leave a lot to be desired."

And Chad Ford($):

Morris is on the first-round bubble. Most scouts believe he should return to Michigan for at least one more year.

Despite that, the vibe out there is Morris will enter the draft anyway, thus thoroughly depressing everyone. Ford does say he's "very much on the fence," for what it's worth. The deadline to withdraw is May 8th.

o-bay

via MZone

The definition of gamut. Ohio State fans have spent the last few days reacting to the widespread reaction to the NCAA's Notice of Allegations. Responses include:

  • Hey, wait a minute, nothing happened and everyone still talking about how terrible we are. Yes. This is something to get used to. It's going to happen at least twice more before anything is resolved. To be fair to the general alarm sent up earlier this week, the NOA came out at the same time the Dispatch's news side got FOIAs back that revealed a more extensive correspondence about the Cicero emails—we did learn some new stuff, and it was not new stuff helpful to Tressel or OSU.
  • Everyone does it. "In Big-Time College Football Nobody Is Innocent." This may be true. Michigan fans certainly said it during the Jihad, but in that case we had a lot of anonymous and non-anonymous coaches saying the same thing. Here not so much. Certainly there are degrees of innocence and Tressel appears to have lost all of them.
  • NA NA NA NA NA CAN'T HEAR YOU. "Jim Tressel Is Safe and Bruce Feldman Is Wrong" about Jim Tressel not being safe.
  • Heads should roll. "Jim Tressel should resign or be fired." Self explanatory. Author does not get crucified in the comments.

Meanwhile, an Eleven Warriors poll showed OSU fans split right down the middle:

eleven-warriors-poll

One of those ESPN polls that people drag out when Idaho stands alone shows only Ohio believes Tressel should be retained but it's close: 60-40 in favor. This is kind of like when Michigan fans were 33% fire RR, 33% keep RR, 33% don't know. It's not a fun spot. This is fine by me—OSU fans have had vastly more than their fair share of fun since Tressel showed up.

The comfy chair. MVictors has his season ticket renewals in hand and relates you can now rent your seat cushion if you are fed up with the onerous task of carrying it into the stadium:

seatcushion_thumb

Just 32 dollars. Greg frets about what this will do the aesthetics of the empty stadium. I'm not sure it's a big deal but it will be awkward if people in the seats painted yellow hit these up. Maybe they have an inverted version for those?

I won't be partaking because the last three OSU games have featured our section not just standing but standing on the benches for the first quarter or so. That may be comfy but it's probably not great to stand on.

Further adventures in eking out marginal revenue. The Big Ten is considering changing their game times to noon, 3:30, and 7. If those seem like the current game times, they are, but that's like this "central" time zone thing:

If you're one of those Big Ten football fans who despised the frequent 11 a.m. starting times for games, take heart. They might be a thing of the past.

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany reportedly is lobbying hard in negotiations with the television networks to do away with them. If Delany has his way, all Big Ten games next season will start at either noon, 3:30 p.m. or 7 p.m.

Big Ten noon games are now mostly in the hands of the BTN but it's hard to imagine ABC/ESPN moving their traditional 3:30 afternoon game to 4:30 just because some Iowans want to get drunk. Also this only furthers the conspiracy against fans who would like to see something, anything other than their game before the night games start. Also also that makes 4:30/7 games freakin' cold.

If the BTN wants to show games in the central time zone at 1 the only thing stopping them is their contract with ESPN, so fine. These days the average number of CST Big Ten 11 AM starts that show up anywhere else seems very small. I'm not sure why they have to mess with everyone else's start times to do that.

Etc.: Herbstreit bombs OSU. Spielman is less mean but clearly thinks this is srs. Herbstreit has been excommunicated. DocSat assesses the potential damage. PSU fans wonder how OSU evaded a "lack of institutional control" charge when one of the examples is "The institution fails to make clear that any individual involved in its intercollegiate athletics program has a duty to report any perceived violations of NCAA rules and can do so without fear of reprisals of any kind." Sports By Brooks rounds up additional funny stuff.

Comments

MGoShoe

April 27th, 2011 at 12:48 PM ^

...to Jim Mandich is posted at MGoBlue.com.

There isn't one word you can use to describe Jim. He was hard-nosed, tough, loving, contentious, funny, enjoyable, charismatic, giving -- just a super guy who played on an undefeated NFL team and won Super Bowls in the pros. In Ann Arbor, he was one of the all-time great Wolverine players, gaining All-America, Michigan Hall of Honor and College Football Hall of Fame honors. And, more importantly, he was elected captain by his teammates. There is no greater honor for a Michigan Football player.

The whole piece is definitely worth a read.

There's a wonderful video image of Mandich being carried off the field by his team mates and into the tunnel after the historic 1969 win vs. OSU. Check out Wolverine Historian's YouTube channel.

Marc 71

April 27th, 2011 at 2:18 PM ^

I sat behind Mandich in Spanish class either my freshman or sophomore year in Ann Arbor.  Just a regular guy, no attitude.  That picture of the '69 game gave me chills.  If it was in The Big House, I was there.  If in Columbus, I saw it on TV.  Either way (loss of memory cells) I did see it and it was fucking huge...and Mandich was really something.  I now live in South Florida and they think the world of him down here.

BlueinLansing

April 27th, 2011 at 12:54 PM ^

lets not forget we have one more CST team in the conference now.  

I always forget how the whole Indiana time change works but for half the season the Big Ten will have 8 teams in the CST, and half the season split between EST and CST.

zlionsfan

April 27th, 2011 at 7:12 PM ^

considering that the second-largest county (Lake) and third-largest city (Evansville) are both on Central time. 12 counties are on Central: a few in the northwest corner and roughly half of the counties on the Ohio River.

To be fair, six others switched back to Eastern from Central time, so the proportion of the state on Central time has dropped a bit.

Bryan

April 27th, 2011 at 12:54 PM ^

I hate the look of them in empty stadiums. Is it really worth the extra $30-50k a year? I doubt it would even be that much. 

I know the idea is to create as many revenue streams as possible, but I just don't like this one. Then again, I prefer to stand during football games. 

Wave83

April 29th, 2011 at 11:48 AM ^

Won't these things get wet and moldy sitting at the stadium?  What about the problem of the crowded seats where everyone has to squeeze in?  Won't the people sitting next to these things get pinched up against these?

Not only do these not make sense, they shouldn't even allow people to bring cusions in.  There is no room in the stadium anymore for things like this.

I think this is just nuts.  I hope people don't buy them, and that they get criticized by their Stadium neighbors if they do.

MGoShoe

April 27th, 2011 at 12:59 PM ^

...The Lantern has an op-ed piece that is highly complimentary of Brady Hoke and projects that his hire will have positive implications for The Game. It also contains this:

The immediate impact of Tressel's transgressions will likely include his seventh consecutive win against Michigan being vacated. The long-term result, however, will be the elimination of the Buckeyes' dominance against the Wolverines. And that's something that might take a breath of fresh air in Columbus to restore.

Essentially it's a mild call for Tressel's firing.

bluebyyou

April 27th, 2011 at 12:57 PM ^

As far as the OSU poll for Tressel to stay/leave goes, I suspect if you poll OSU alums, the numbers would lean much more heavily toward firing him.  I spend a lot of time in Ohio and know a good number of OSU alums.  I have yet to hear one of them not disgusted with him and the program.

As for the townies, that is another matter all together.

JudgementDay

April 27th, 2011 at 12:58 PM ^

I hope Morris satys at Michigan for one more year.  Not only will it help him refine his game but also allow Michigan to threaten for a Big Ten title and possibly a long run in the NCAA tourny. 

Rabbit21

April 27th, 2011 at 1:41 PM ^

Between borderline 1st round status and the fact that there won't be an NBA season next year, I just can't process the wisdom of declaring. Especially when overwhelming feedback says stay in school. Males me wonder what advice he's getting from people close to him and whether they're really looking out for him or just trying to speed up their own paydays.

bryemye

April 27th, 2011 at 1:25 PM ^

Get out of the draft kid. Your  nba career is over in 3 years if you leave now. If you say you might be able to actually have a real career.

BraveWolverine730

April 27th, 2011 at 2:12 PM ^

^^^This times 1000. Of course I want Morris  to stay because I think it's what's best for him and for Michigan. However, if he decides he's ready and leaves, I'll wish him luck and much success on whatever team drafts him and get ready for the Burke era at UM to begin. 

2plankr

April 27th, 2011 at 2:09 PM ^

Some real interesting stuff in that SbB article.  I wonder if there's any chance they tack on "failure to promote/monitor" later? 

One thing's for sure, if there's a way to screw up the process; gee, smith and tressel will find it.  I think its great that they are clinging on to his job for dear life, because in the end i dont think they can save him, and in the meantime, the longer that kids can think/be told that the coach's job is in doubt, the better.

if they had come out at the original press conference and fired him, as well as vacating the season, i think this would be 95% over and they would have saved themselves a lot of trouble

BRCE

April 27th, 2011 at 2:29 PM ^

I can't believe more is not being made out of Morris possibly leaving. This is a HUGE deal and would screw the program at a horrible time since it is finally seizing real momentum.

I am simply stunned at how many other things Michigan fans give more attention to at this time.

BraveWolverine730

April 27th, 2011 at 2:38 PM ^

I think there are a lot of people who honestly don't understand how good Morris was this year. There is also a great deal of excitement about Burke(justifiably so) and for some reason people, they just assume that if Morris goes pro, everything will hum along like it would have regardless. 

BRCE

April 27th, 2011 at 2:57 PM ^

We knew that Rodriguez's employment hung in the balance and there'd be no news for 5-6 weeks late last year. Didn't stop people from talking about it obsessively every day in between.

Yes, that was a bigger issue. But this is, until May 8, the biggest story in Michigan sports. Bar none. That it isn't bigger makes UM fans look like flakes when it comes to basketball, which is nothing new.

Anyone who thinks that Burke can replace Morris next year because they think his workout videos are cool is a class A idiot.

chitownblue2

April 27th, 2011 at 4:00 PM ^

Between carefully examining Obama's birth certificate under blacklight (I know, no politics) and consuming every bit of media related to the Royal Wedding, how can you possibly expect me to devote time to this.

jmblue

April 27th, 2011 at 3:24 PM ^

BRCE, it seems like you get massively stressed over every possible basketball hurdle - whether or not we'd win the rematch against State, whether or not we'd make the tournament, whether or not we'd beat Tennessee, whether or not Morris will stay, etc.  I agree 100 percent that Morris would be a very difficult player to replace.  But there's nothing we can do.  It's his decision.  If he leaves, it sucks for us but life goes on.  Last year it looked bleak when Manny left, too.  At least now the program's foundations seem a lot firmer.

Six Zero

April 27th, 2011 at 2:49 PM ^

Maybe you can track down some of those Angry Michigan-___________ Hating Gods and resolve some of the imbalance up there.

God Bless and GO BLUE

bigmc6000

April 27th, 2011 at 3:43 PM ^

Who the heck did they poll to find people upset about 11AM start times???  I LOVE 11AM start times!  That means by  the time I actually get around to being awake, eaten breakfast and ready for the college football day it's actually on and I don't have to watch an hour of GameDay just to burn the time.  In fact, I wish I lived on the west coast so I could have football with my breakfast - that'd be great!

markusr2007

April 27th, 2011 at 4:30 PM ^

I just realized Mandich played with Bob Griese on the perfect 1972 Miami Dolphins squad, plus 3 super bowl rings (VII, VIII and XIII)  and the 1969 Big Ten championship ring.  That's freaking ridiculous.

 

 

 

Michigania

April 28th, 2011 at 12:29 AM ^

Captain Jim Mandich has passed and all here was a single paragraph about it. He is as big as it gets when it comes to Michigan football.  A tribute writeup would have been much more appropriate.

matty blue

April 28th, 2011 at 10:38 AM ^

to see us do something on the uniforms this fall...a 27/88 sticker on the helmet, a black stripe, something.  they were both important figures in the history of the program.

on the other hand, did we do something for bo on the uni?  forgive me if we didn't, i'm totally blanking.