This Month in MGoBlog History - August 2007: One Last Month of Blissful Ignorance

Submitted by Maize.Blue Wagner on

Previously:

July 2007

August 1 - Wednesday

With the recent talk of conference expansion (and the inevitability of conference title game), Brian examines the last 13 years in the Big Ten to determine if a title game would be helpful. Ultimately, he advocates for an optional title game when necessary.

Unverified Voracity [Titled]. Lots of Carr presser tidbits. Obi Ezeh is expected to push for the starting MLB. And Marques Slocum?

  • is not quite cleared. He has "one thing left to do with one class"; Carr "expects him to be" cleared for fall camp.

August 2 - Thursday

Unverified Voracity...Lighting Round! Includes a couple of Rivals videos of Chad Henne and Mike Hart (playing defense!) from high school.

Lloyd and Mike Hart both react to Jim Harbaugh’s earlier comments about academic standards at ‘M’. Notably, Mike Hart inadvertently implies that Harbaugh could have come to be the head coach after one year, meaning that Carr only has a year left.

August 3 - Friday

Michigan football will begin the season at #5 in the coaches poll.

Hockey gets a likely commit from Kevin Lynch.

A follow up post to a July mailbag about ESPN Gameplan and how best everyone can see every Michigan game.

August 6 - Monday

Unverified Voracity Solicits a Tight End. Carson Butler is back on the team, and Utah has been added to the 2008 schedule.

Monday Recruitin’. Two instate prospects have committed elsewhere. One (WR Fred Smith to MSU was heavily recruited, the other (RB Jonas Gray to Nebraska) was not.

August 7 - Tuesday

After having a conversation with BTN headhancho Mark Silverman last month, Brian was now contacted by Comcast executive Bill Connors. There is still much uncertainty about how many people will be able to see football games next month. The main sticking point seems to be that BTN wants to be on basic cable. Comcast says it is a regional sports network that does not belong on basic.

August 8 - Wednesday

Give Unverified Voracity Some Sugar, Baby. Brian Kelly and Cincinnati want to schedule home and homes with major opponents, like Michigan. This is not going to happen.

August 9 - Thursday

Opponent previews continue with Illinois. Juice Williams, Rashard Mendenhall, and J Leman headline the team. Brian predicts 6-6. They would finish 9-4, losing to USC in the Rose Bowl.  

Unverified Voracity Never Graduates. Things have been quiet on the basketball front, but Beilein says he is still looking for another ‘08 recruit. If not, he will turn his eyes toward ‘09.

August 10 - Friday

Two legal issues have arisen with the football team members. LeTerryal Savoy has been accused of exposing himself (in Michigan Stadium!), and Obi Ezeh got a DUI.

Unverified Voracity has Shark Week Analogies. BTN and Time Warner might be getting closer to an agreement. OSU’s opener against Youngstown St. will likely be shown free of charge in Ohio.   

August 11 - Saturday

This has been rumored, but DT James McKinney is off the team. He is transferring to Louisville.

August 13 - Monday

Monday Recruitin’. PA RB Michael Shaw has committed to Penn St. The post also includes lots of block quotes from an interview with Mike Cox on the “new media” of Facebook.

Opponent preview: Michigan St. who have had some big changes.

Yeah... about that. Unsurprisingly but much to the chagrin of everyone except Michigan State fans, John L is gone. Into his cowboy boots steps Mark Dantonio, formerly of Cincinnati and Ohio State. He is the antithesis of JLS: a defensive coordinator from a traditional power who is as exciting as toast. JLS spent his offseasons climbing Kilimanjaro or jumping out of planes; Dantonio's summer was highlighted by an appearance in Faith Magazine, which is unfortunately not a Georgie Michael fanzine but rather a bonafide religious magazine my mother gets.

Brian Hoyer and Javon Ringer lead the team that Brian predicts will go 4-8. They finished the year at 7-6.

Unverified Voracity Braces for Accusation. Sam McGuffie hurdling people highlights, and Jimmy Clausen is either hurt or not that good because he might not be the starter for ND.

August 14 - Tuesday

Carlos Brown has broken his hand. No timetable for his return yet.

Blogpoll is coming.

August 15 - Wednesday

Unverified Voracity Casts First Stone. Sometimes Brian writes stuff about the mainstream media and regrets it…

Sometimes even I wince at the nasty things I write even before I publish them. But once the red mist has lifted it's like 1:30 and I've got this screed and my blog has seven mouths and no bottom so up it goes.

But then he goes back and rereads the piece that Stewart Mandel put out and doesn’t feel bad anymore.

I’m slightly confused by what happened here. Apparently, earlier in August Brian did a piece called Destroy Harbaugh (a very long, pointed attack) in response to a Pat Forde article where Harbaugh reaffirmed his earlier comments. This was republished in March 2008 and that’s where it sits chronologically now.

Now comes a post in response to comments from the Harbaugh post to refute a fictional statistic.

August 16 - Thursday

Unverified Voracity Wishes for No More Lawyers. More legal troubles with Quintin Patilla and Robert Thorbladh accused of beating someone up. Also, Carlos Brown should be back sooner than expected.

Initial blogpoll.

Coaches and players have been hitting the airwaves. Saything things like, “we have implemented the shotgun” and “Avery Horn is impressive” and “Johnny Sears has had a really good fall”.

August 17 - Friday

Unverified Voracity Fears Zoltan’s Terrible Wrath. BTN and Comcast are still struggling, as evidenced by this Jim Delany quote:

"We remain in discussions with five major distributors," Delany said. "Some negotiations are pretty mature. Some are pretty immature, in particular those with Comcast. We're in the fourth quarter for our launch, but we're in the first quarter (in negotiations) with Comcast.

August 20 - Monday

Monday Recruitin’ is devoid of any names that are still noteworthy.

Unverified Voracity Wants Tootsie Pop Rolls.

Gap filling. There is not going to be an appreciable Appalachian State preview in this space, though after last year's Ball State near-debacle I assure you there will be a few brief, respectful paragraphs expressing deep concern at the possibility of humiliating defeat. So I encourage you to visit Varsity Blue or NKOTB Maize and Blog for your Mountaineer knowledge needs. 5'7" starting corner! Must... remain... respectful... Spock.

Hello: Christian Wilson a HB/LB out of North Carolina.

August 21 - Tuesday

Informative Christian Wilson post.

Unverified Voracity is Hard Like Ned. Interesting stuff from an article on former ‘M’ DB turned WVU DB Ryan Mundy.

As far as the strength and conditioning program is concerned, Mundy says West Virginia’s program is much more intense than Michigan’s. Other players that have transferred to West Virginia have said similar things in the past, explaining that at some other places the players coming into the program are physically bigger and more explosive. West Virginia develops it.

Blogpoll ballot.

August 22 - Wednesday

Press conference bits. Stephen Schilling appears to have RT locked down and more praise for Johnny Sears.

Blogpoll is coming.

Preseason Blogpoll #1.

Unverified Voracity Killed the Internet Star. Brian says he will be making weekly appearances on Channel 4’s “Sports Final Edition”. That’s a lot of exposure in this blog’s young life. Also Marques Slocoum posts on Facebook...not that post (but maybe it exposes “that” post?).

Announcement of an upcoming blogpoll roundtable.

August 23 - Thursday

Team preview: Purdue. Interesting names include Curtis Painter, Dustin Keller, and Cliff Avril. Brian predicts 8-4 and the Alamo Bowl. They would finish 8-5, winning the Motor City Bowl.

It is very likely that there will be no deal between BTN and Comcast for the start of the season.

Mailbag post that is mostly about BTN vs. Comcast. Although there is also an interesting discussion of Diallo Johnson’s return ability. Interesting that Charles Woodson’s kick returning was remembered as the most exciting 2 yards in football.

August 24 - Friday

Blogpoll Roundtable looks at the most overrated and underrated teams for the coming season. Mostly interesting, at this point in time is a link to this post about Matthew Stafford.

Brian offers some contingency plans in case there is no agreement with Comcast for the first game, but does it really matter?

it's not like Appalachian State or EMU is really in doubt anyway.

August 25 - Saturday

Short recap from fan day. Most significantly, Jason Gingell will be kicking field goals.

August 27 - Monday

Monday recruitin’ has excerpts from an OLSM vs. Cass Tech recap from Varsity Blue. The game Featured commits Will Campbell and Boubacar Cissoko and ‘09 target Dion Sims.

Unverified Voracity has Three First Names. Basically, lots of poking fun at Appalachian St.

An official depth chart! The first team looks decent, but there is not much beyond that.

Wisconsin preview. They return a lot of starters, but not many names live on aside from P.J. Hill, Deandre Levy, and Travis Beckum. Brian predicts 10-2; they would finish 9-4.

August 28 - Tuesday

Unverified Voracity Hates Tennessee Again. If you live in Cleveland, Milwaukee, or Metro Toledo, you will get BTN! Everyone else, keep waiting…

Preseason Blogpoll Ballot week 2.

More roundtable recap.

Ohio St. preview. Lots of familiar names here, but this team did lose a lot from ‘06. Brian predicts 9-3. They would finish 11-2, losing to LSU in the championship game.

August 29 - Wednesday

Preseason Blogpoll week 2.

August 30 - Thursday

Michigan preview: Offense. This starts with an interesting telling of Brian’s experience in Columbus the previous November. As far as the offense, there is much hope and confidence in Henne, Hart, Manningham, and Long.

Stupid Predictions

  • Brandon Minor gets 20% of the available carries.

  •  

  • Alex Mitchell manages to fend off challengers for his job.

  •  

  • Henne is invited to New York for the Heisman thingy, but does not win.

  •  

  • Massey spends most of the year in front of Butler on the depth chart but Butler ends up with more catches and is the defacto starter by Wisconsin.

  • Manningham: 1340, 15 TD.

  •  

  • Michigan is 15th in total offense; 12th in scoring.

Unverified Voracity Preps. So it’s been at least ten years since Miss South Carolina eloquently spoke about education in the Iraq. She is going to Appalachian St. This is seen as another reason to poke fun at this week’s opponent.

Hello: J.B. Fitzgerald.

August 31 - Friday

Michigan preview: Defense. There is resignation that there will be a drop off from 2006; the hope is that this won’t be a repeat of 2005.

Stupid Predictions

  • Jamison equals Woodley's sack numbers but is much worse against the run.

  • Aw, hell: Brown has a great debut and gets everyone totally excited about his potential. The safeties are good.

  • Run defense remains resilient, finishing second to Wisconsin in the league

  • Tight ends do very well against us all season.

  •  

  • The 3-3-5 is way more frequent than a conventional nickel.

  •  

  • 23rd in scoring defense.

Michigan preview: Special Teams and Conclusion.

This is the reality of every season. Predicting the top three teams in the Big Ten to go 10-2 every year would probably be more accurate in the long run but it would also be a soulless exercise... and if college football has anything, it's got soul. Official on the record offering: 11-1. You have my permission to round up a posse and hunt me down if the team implodes.

The team would of course finish 9-4.

Aww, what a nice way to finish out the month, lots of neat pictures of Bo. I bet tomorrow will just be all flowers and rainbows...











 

Comments

ST3

August 18th, 2017 at 6:20 PM ^

Interesting passage from the "Destroy Harbaugh..." screed:

There is a certain sort of social aptitude that I lack that, a particular sort of empathy and intelligence far more important in the world than the ability to sort out the Pythagorean theorem in no time flat, but how do you measure that? I'll tell you: find my salary and that of class president Tom O'Neill, a man the entire world liked, in ten years and get back to me. I'll lose.

So, Brian, what's your salary?

In the Harbaugh/Hart kerfuffle, hasn't history shown Harbaugh to be the winner? He eventually ended up back at Michigan while Hart's little brother comment, while correct, motivated the beast to rise up in East Lansing. (And Hart never beat OSU.)

Speaking of Hart, my top three choices for wolverine I'm most ambivalent towards are Hart, Webber, and Lloyd, in no particular order.

Hart - great running back, but "little brother"/0-4 against OSU

Webber - Fab Five, but tarnished the program

Lloyd - National championship, but may have missed a chance at another one by having Brady and Henson split time. And Lloyd chose to wear the fat M hat instead of the Bo-style coaches' hat that Harbaugh wisely brought back.

MMcmillan

August 19th, 2017 at 12:08 AM ^

Carr wore that hat in the mid-90s but later changed with the times. I know a lot of people like the skinny M hat because of Bo, but I honestly prefer the block M. Especially the one Lloyd was wearing in the picture above. I would pay good money for that hat. Had one back in the day and it was top notch. So far none of the new Nike/Jordan hats have impressed me.

stephenrjking

August 21st, 2017 at 4:15 PM ^

This Brady=MSU win scenario assumes that Lloyd Carr would have done something he otherwise never did in his Michigan career until his last game, which would have been to scrap the conservative run-first game plan before Michigan was so far behind that only a desperate passing attack would be capable of bringing Michigan back. 

Brady was the right man to run the comeback that eventually did occur, but that gameplan change only occurred because Michigan could not stop MSU's offense and could not move effectively on its own with either QB under the initial gameplan.

BlueMan80

August 21st, 2017 at 6:00 PM ^

I was all happy I had DIRECTV and a new 40" HDTV. It was going to be a great way to start the season. Maybe it would have been better if I didn't get BTN that day.... or ABC the following Sat.

B-Nut-GoBlue

August 25th, 2017 at 3:26 AM ^

Crazy. Wasn't a reader until 2010, wish i was familiar with all of this early stuff. Who the hell could've seen coming what happened "next"...The Pearl Harbor analogy is quite fitting.