The Blockhams in "TWITTER STALKER"

By Six Zero — January 31st, 2012 at 8:19 AM — 22 comments
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TWITTER STALKER

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As if I have to tell anyone, Aquaman and company have created a great series of interviews over at the Tremendous blog.  Check 'em out, if you haven't already.

THE BLOCKHAMS™ runs every Tuesday here at MGoBlog, and at least every
Thursday on its official home page.  Also, don't forget to check out our newest feature,
Friday Roughs, a spontaneous low-end comic based on current Michigan events, available on Twitter and Facebook every Friday.

Follow THE BLOCKHAMS™ on Twitter at @theblockhams and
on facebook at www.facebook.com/theblockhams.

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January 31st, 2012 at 9:01 AM | Love this series. Great work. (Score:1)
aiglick
Joined: 11/27/2010
MGoPoints: 1442

Love this series. Great work.

Here's hoping for a bright future. This team does try hard and I will continue to support them.

January 31st, 2012 at 9:30 AM | I think Pam's mood has (Score:5 Normal)
Maize.Blue Wagner
Maize.Blue Wagner's picture
Joined: 10/23/2009
MGoPoints: 719

I think Pam's mood has something to do with the color of her shirt...

January 31st, 2012 at 9:35 AM | Dude, she's a married woman (Score:5 Normal)
Six Zero
Six Zero's picture
Joined: 09/05/2008
MGoPoints: 10153

Stop staring at her shirt.

January 31st, 2012 at 5:46 PM | Cougar Alert (Score:2)
redwhiteandMGOBLUE
redwhiteandMGOBLUE's picture
Joined: 07/08/2008
MGoPoints: 1277

Pam's kinda hot when's she's angry...

New Oldsmobiles are in early this year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIdGxR-aU6o

February 1st, 2012 at 4:35 PM | (Score:2 Insightful)
joeyb
joeyb's picture
Joined: 10/12/2008
MGoPoints: 11303

Yea except her left boob shrinks when she's mad. #cantunseethat

January 31st, 2012 at 9:34 AM | Tremendous work Six Zero. I (Score:1)
HttV Wolverine
HttV Wolverine's picture
Joined: 08/02/2010
MGoPoints: 7363

Tremendous work Six Zero. I love The Blockhams and refresh the site every day hoping that you decided to add a new strip even if it is not Tuesday, Thursday or Friday.

“What the mind can conceive, the mind can achieve and those who stay will be champions.” - Bo 

][V][

January 31st, 2012 at 9:36 AM | Thanks man (Score:4 Normal)
Six Zero
Six Zero's picture
Joined: 09/05/2008
MGoPoints: 10153

If I could make a living off this I'd knock one out every day of the week.

February 2nd, 2012 at 9:40 AM | Great piece (Score:0)
January 31st, 2012 at 9:45 AM | Pam's face... (Score:1)
Yo_Blue
Yo_Blue's picture
Joined: 08/24/2010
MGoPoints: 804

Pam's face is very Kelly-like in the third and fourth frames.  Just needs a bit more purple!

Nicely done!  Now, back to following recruiting!

Should we point instead of fist pump during the Victors?

January 31st, 2012 at 9:58 AM | I'm mentally replacing the (Score:3 Normal)
Seth
Seth's picture
Joined: 10/14/2008
MGoPoints: 48336

I'm mentally replacing the last panel with Pam, fresh from reaming her husband for creepily following 18-year-olds on the internet, going to Perezhilton and being like "ooh, someone videoed Justin Bieber going to the bathroom!"

(Blogger alias: "Misopogon") This team is under construction. We thank you for your patience.

January 31st, 2012 at 10:48 AM | Following recruits on Twitter... (Score:5 Normal)
MGoShoe
MGoShoe's picture
Joined: 04/23/2009
MGoPoints: 19239

...is creepy but calculating their BMI is what now?

LSA '89 - MBB Natl Champions, Big 10/Rose Bowl Champions | @MGoShoe

January 31st, 2012 at 12:06 PM | doesn't seem particularly creepy to me... (Score:0 Trolling)
January 31st, 2012 at 12:20 PM | What I'm saying is that... (Score:5 Normal)
MGoShoe
MGoShoe's picture
Joined: 04/23/2009
MGoPoints: 19239

...it's all equally creepy. Slicing and dicing these kids in various ways in countless posts across multiple websites, following their utterances on Twitter, etc. It's all of a piece.

LSA '89 - MBB Natl Champions, Big 10/Rose Bowl Champions | @MGoShoe

January 31st, 2012 at 1:25 PM | The way I see it, my (Score:3 Normal)
Seth
Seth's picture
Joined: 10/14/2008
MGoPoints: 48336

[UPDATE: EDITED THIS DOWN]

The way I see it, my interaction with Michigan players and future Michigan players is that they play football for the team I am profoundly invested in, and which I cover professionally.

I don't follow recruits on Twitter or Facebook because high schoolers are notoriously bad at using social media without exposing their personal lives and because of that I stay away entirely. The few M guys I follow are guys like Koger or Woolfolk or Woodley who have remained very cognizant of the public nature of their posts and use these platforms to reach the public without being filtered by the media.

As for height and weight, that's very public information that is provided by the player and his coaches to many public sites, from the high school program guys to the recruiting sites. All the "Big Boned" articles sought to do was put those sizes in context of the position(s) these recruits might play. I stated explicitly that the BMI ratings were not to be taken in any other context, and why that is, and in case you didn't believe me I had a health professional confirm for readers that the BMI ratings say zilch about the players' respective health.

Body size and shape obviously can have an effect on more than football prowess. Of course people are judged by whether they're overweight, too short or too tall, etc. And I do see discussion of physical attributes step over this line with recruiting--the OMG Shirtless meme on this site mocks those who step over that line. But there is quite obviously nothing about attractiveness in saying Ondre Pipkins is sized like Gabe Watson and Mario Ojemudia is kind of similar to Pierre Woods. The comparisons speak only to how these players might perform in Mattison's defensive system, and provide a better context on Signing Day for evaluating the biggest defensive line class Michigan has brought in since I can remember.

(Blogger alias: "Misopogon") This team is under construction. We thank you for your patience.

January 31st, 2012 at 2:36 PM | You don't understand... (Score:3 Normal)
MGoShoe
MGoShoe's picture
Joined: 04/23/2009
MGoPoints: 19239

...Seth/Miso. I don't think there's anything necessarily wrong with you doing your ht/wt analysis. My criticism is aimed well above this specific piece. You and I both know that there are numerous instances of analysis/speculation on a recruit's character and academic prowess that accompany discussion of athletic prowess. I'm not saying you have or haven't personally done this or even that there's much of it on this site, but what I am saying is that the whole business of analyzing recruits in this day and age of information availability is inherently invasive.

I find the constant refrain that following recruits on Twitter is stalkerish to be silly. They choose to make their accounts public (or if they're private, approve a follow request). They choose to write what they write. Followers choose whether or not to interact with them and they choose whether or not to interact back. There's lots of freedom of choice going on there (and it's all "very public information that is provided by the player").

Comparisons to Facebook are interesting, but those interactions are between "Friends" vice "Followers" - although we both know that for many FB users, the definition of "Friends" is not:

Friend, noun

  1. a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard.
  2. a person who gives assistance; patron; supporter: friends of the Boston Symphony.
  3. a person who is on good terms with another; a person who is not hostile: Who goes there? Friend or foe?
  4. a member of the same nation, party, etc.
  5. (initial capital letter ) a member of the Religious Society of Friends; a Quaker.

...there does seem to be an important distinction to be made about the two sites and the expectations of the persons who interact via them based on the characterization of their role (friend vs. follower).

I respect the line that you've set for yourself, but to extend your personal line to others seems a bit moralistic.

I'm sure that as you've taken your principled stance against following recruits, you've seen tweets by one of the "few more interesting current/former Wolverines who provide some insight into the team and real personalities" or journalists that you follow that was a RT of a recruit's tweet. I assume that you've never clicked through to see the original tweet and its context, because if you did, you're doing exactly what you decry. If you haven't, bravo for your consistency.

 

LSA '89 - MBB Natl Champions, Big 10/Rose Bowl Champions | @MGoShoe

February 2nd, 2012 at 8:15 PM | It's not a "principled" (Score:2)
Seth
Seth's picture
Joined: 10/14/2008
MGoPoints: 48336

It's not a "principled" stance. I just felt creepy is all. My feelings are not the standard for anyone else --- they're my own weird ass feelings, and only apply to me.

However I do think it comes to play when we're talking specifically about an article I wrote about recruits, because if I was twitter-following all of these guys AND writing about their weights it might suggest what you suggested about over-analyzing strangers.

That was the only context I meant.

(Blogger alias: "Misopogon") This team is under construction. We thank you for your patience.

February 3rd, 2012 at 11:42 AM | That's... (Score:3 Normal)
MGoShoe
MGoShoe's picture
Joined: 04/23/2009
MGoPoints: 19239

...fair enough.

LSA '89 - MBB Natl Champions, Big 10/Rose Bowl Champions | @MGoShoe

January 31st, 2012 at 12:49 PM | Tremendous (Score:2 Insightful)
hathachips
hathachips's picture
Joined: 12/13/2008
MGoPoints: 122

I didn't know people still use the twitter machine on their computah devices. But here again, the Blockhams are an odd bunch.

No question, Jim.

-CHIPS

January 31st, 2012 at 4:00 PM | You know I was just talking (Score:1)
thisisme08
thisisme08's picture
Joined: 12/02/2008
MGoPoints: 1464

You know I was just talking about that with my wife as thats about that only way I can follow Twitter as it normally dissolves into a retweet fest where all you see is @XXX@XXX@c
XX reply topic: As--end of 140 characters.

Steve Breston sent out like 55 tweets Sunday all pretty close together and its just like seriously? Were you really on your phone for 4 hours just sitting there w/ twitter open? I mean damn even w/ a 4.5 inch screen that would get annoying. 

Blue is Faster

January 31st, 2012 at 7:31 PM | I blame TomVH for my twitter (Score:1)
antidaily
antidaily's picture
Joined: 05/21/2009
MGoPoints: 1337

I blame TomVH for my twitter following habits. He regularly points out when a commit is on twitter.

---

“ The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” — Alan Kay

February 1st, 2012 at 12:19 PM | For those keeping score (Score:3 Normal)
Six Zero
Six Zero's picture
Joined: 09/05/2008
MGoPoints: 10153

A new special edition Blockhams strip was posted in honor of National Signing Day!

Visit here to check it out

February 2nd, 2012 at 6:55 PM | excellent work once again. (Score:2)
Old Country Blue
Joined: 11/29/2011
MGoPoints: 87

Couldn't have asked for more in the offseason. With your comics and all the great recruiting info being passed around this will be a short and sweet offseason.

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