This Month in MGoBlog History - February 2007: Signing Day Brings Mallett and ROJO Drama

Submitted by Maize.Blue Wagner on

Previously:

January 2007



 

February 1 - Thursday

The blogger awards continue with the Keith Jackson Award for best prose. The winner is EDSBS.

Ronald Johnson has reportedly dropped Michigan. Internet rumors surround shady things and Johnson’s mom. Also Donovan Warren looks likely to go to USC.

  • Yet later (I said this was approximate): someone starts forwarding a creepy email around purporting to be inside information on the exact circumstances of the drop. It levels Lebron's mom-type accusations at the Official Mom of Rojo and implies that shady doesn't begin to cover said circumstances. None of it will ever be proven true; all of it will filter into Michigan recruiting lore. The ghost stories hardcore recruitniks tell each other when they like to simulate misery now include Ronald Johnson's mom.

Blogger award for best individual CFB post. This one goes to EDSBS too.

Blogger award for best Pac 10 blog. Bruins Nation wins.

Oui Oui, It’s a DT.  Relando Sagesse decommits from Illinois and commits to ‘M’.

Suddenly, Donovan Warren is going to join the class.

A recruiting disaster on par with 2000 is officially averted. Warren will be a Wolverine in the fall and we have our first five-star corner since Marlin Jackson. Of course we had to go the panicky, crazy-ass route to get him, but there you go. Recruiting, ladies and gentlemen... recruiting.

February 2 - Friday

Unverified Voracity is Internet Meme Crazy with links to lots of Warren excitement, and Rob Parker thinks Amaker deserves more time.

Blogger award for best audio thing/podcast. Another win for EDSBS.

New reports are that there might be a chance with ROJO. This appears to be the first use of the recruiting board emoticons (Nefarious Eduardo and others).

February 4 - Sunday

NOJO. He’s going to USC, but I think ‘M’ came out on top of this exchange:

In the end, USC and Michigan ended up with a strange cross-country cornerback exchange program and the end result of this recruiting year is the same: somewhat disappointing but still okay, especially with the so very shirtless recruits at cornerback and quarterback.

February 5 - Monday

Brian’s annual rant against a ranking system in which he complains about Pairwise.

Unverified Voracity and Stuff. The Daily looks at what an Amaker departure would mean for commits Manny Harris and Alex Legion.

February 6 - Tuesday

Unverified Voracity Haet Official Journalist because they don’t like recruiting rankings or bloggers.

February 7 - Wednesday

Early signing day news: Finch is going to Florida, Hello Boubacar Cissoko, and Vance Bedford is returning as DB coach.

2007 Recruiting: Offensive Backfield. Profiling Ryan Mallett, Avery Horn, and Vince Helmuth. Projection on Mallett:

Projection: Carr irritates me by wasting his redshirt year; Mallett starts for three years afterwards.

Carr Signing Day presser. Ryan Mundy, Will Paul, and Marques Walton are all gone. This is likely not true:

Hello. Marques Slocum's epic journey has finally reached a successful conclusion.

But he is qualified now and will be able to practice in the spring.

2007 Recruiting: Wide Receivers. Profiling Toney Clemons, Junior Hemingway, and Zion Babb. Clemons will be remembered for all the wrong reasons, so let’s look at Hemingway’s prediction:

Projection: Does not redshirt but I find this less than annoying because we need to spread out all these receivers over a few classes. Hemingway is the most polished and ready to step in. I doubt he sees much action with Manningham and Arrington in front of him, but candidate 1A to be Michigan's go-to guy in '09.

February 8 - Thursday

Hockey conference CHA is hanging on the edge of existence, so the CCHA should be broken up to create two stable conferences.

2007 Recruiting: Tight End and Offensive Line. Profiling Martell Webb, Steve Watson, Mark Huyge, and David Molk. A two man OL class will not be helpful in the coming years.

General Excitment Level (Molk): Good pickup and a fine member of an OL class that he's the third best player in. Unfortunately, we don't have that OL class.

February 9 - Friday

Unverified Voracity Hockey Hockey Hockey. ‘M’ is tied for first in the nation in shorthanded goals, and Chris Summers and Tim Cook are switching positions.

2007 Recruiting: Defensive Line. Profiling Ryan Van Bergen, Renaldo Sagasse, and Marques Slocum. The latter two were both 20 years old by this point.

February 12 - Monday

Unverified Voracity is on the Ceiling. The Big 10 Network is telling local network stations not to bother bidding on telecast packages. This is a cause for concern that many games will be stuck on cable channels that no one gets.

2007 Recruiting: Linebacker. Profiling Austin Panter, Marell Evans, and Brandon Herron. Panter was the JUCO defensive player of the year, but that doesn’t mean much.

Unfortunately, JUCO D Heisman has been about as good an indicator of future success as Actual Stupid Heisman:

  • Johnathan Batson played in two games for Texas A&M. (He has a year of eligibility left.)

  • Mickey Pimental was a useful starter at linebacker for Cal.

  • Larry Kendrick was a little-used RB/WR for Ole Miss and now rocks the Arena League.

  • Jamaal Jackson evidently did little at Texas Tech.

  • Randy Jackson was a bit player at South Carolina.

  • Dustin Looman ended up at D-II Winona State.

  •  

Proceed with caution.

2007 Recruiting: Defensive Backs. Profiling Donovan Warren, Michael Williams, Troy Woolfolk, Artis Chambers, and James Rogers.

Rogers was expected to switch positions when he came in... except he was supposed to switch to wide receiver.

Poor guy, this started right away and his position confusion would last his entire career.

February 14 - Wednesday

‘M’ basketball lost badly to MSU last night. During the broadcast Steve Lavin compared Tommy Amaker’s coaching style to Dean Smith. Here are the ways they are similar:

  • The operation of clean programs that graduate their players

  • Notoriety in the ACC

  • A fondness for apples

  • Lack of participation in the War of 1812

  • Limbs

  • A powerful desire to sock Dick Vitale but good

  • A coaching career dedicated to humiliating Duke

  • A cutting-edge 1910 fashion sense

  • Neither improve Michigan players

  • Aaaand the same number of NCAA tournament bids over the last six years.

Unverified Voracity Scores a Point Per Minute. Rumors persist that Amaker will be back. This is in part to give him a chance with his incoming recruits (Manny Harris and Alex Legion), but mainly because Mary Sue Coleman likes him.

February 15 - Thursday

An FAQ about MGoBlog. Lots of interesting details here, particularly on the origins of Unverified Voracity, OMG Shirtless, and other terms.

The SEC has a reputation of signing impressive recruiting classes, but the truth is they are signing larger classes than the Big 10. Jim Delany recently spoke out about this, and this post looks at some of the reasons why.

Brian is going to Lake State to ski and watch a hockey so he won’t be posting the following day. He gives a transcript of a Seinfeld scene.

February 19 - Monday

Michigan finally has an opponent for the football opener, and yes...they are HOT HOT HOT. Most of the  the post is spent talking about the inevitability of playing I-AA opponents in the current NCAA climate.

The newspaper industry is fighting illiteracy with a campaign by “legendary film and television star, Optimus Prime”. My five year old wishes this wasn’t ten years ago.

Brian recaps his trip to the Soo. It’s a humorous read.

As we made our way through the surprisingly crowded concourse after the game, a door opened up and the Lakers, shorn of skates but still in full equipment and smelling like it, emerged from a pair of double doors in front of us. I was brought up short by the convoy and made a WTF shrugging gesture to my travelling companions, at which point one of the Lakers slapped me five. Then they were gone, evidently to ring the victory bell outside. When they returned, I kept my hands in my pockets.

Lester Abram has been arrested. He had some small traffic issues, which Brian has also had, so he doesn’t expect much to come of it.

February 20 - Tuesday

2008 Recruiting Board with all the updates that were made throughout the coming year.

Unverified Voracity is Precious. Ryan Mallett won’t be redshirting, and there is a movement to hire Rudy Tomjanovich.

February 21 - Wednesday

A close look at the coming weekend’s hockey games and how they affected Michigan’s tournament chances.

Even more detail on pairwise.

Unverified Voracity Snaps Back. ‘M’ is in on 8 of the top 10 football recruits in PA. However, Terrelle Pryor is a longshot.

February 22 - Thursday

2007 recruiting grades, a recap of instate recruiting, and a look ahead at 2008 needs.

  • CA RB Darrell Scott. Early favorite for this year's #1 back, he's transferring to freshman-to-be Michael Williams' school. With USC having locked up last year's #1 and #2 RBs, plus four others in the past couple years, he's more liabile to escape Trojan clutches than most California recruits. Ron English and an attractive depth chart -- the only significant competion appears to be Brandon Minor -- should have us in the running.

  •  

  • MI RB Jonas Gray. From Detroit Country Day and has publicly stated he was big into Notre Dame, but may be backing off that for similar depth chart reasons: ND picked up Robert Hughes and Armando Allen in the last class.

  •  

  • TX RB Sam McGuffie. McGuffie's the hurdling whiteboy as seen on Deadspin and every social video site you care to name. His father's from Michigan and there is thorough mutual interest between the two sides.

  •  

  • PA WR Jonathan Baldwin. Ty Law's cousin, the 6'6" Baldwin is one of the top five prospects in a good class of Pennsylvania prospects. Michigan has an early lead but it's tentative.

  •  

  • TX WR Daryl Stonum. A former teammate of Troy Woolfolk and Brandon Herron, he's been very vocal about Michigan's lead for his services. Ranked around #11 in Texas, Stonum will probably be at the tail end of top 100 lists or just off them.

  •  

  • MI OT Dan O'Neill. A solid-four star type, O'Neill is expected to commit sooner or later.

  •  

  • TX OT JB Shugarts. He's leaving the state, is friends with McGuffie, and has been up to Michigan. Will have to fight off OSU, UF, LSU, etc, but a decent shot.

  •  

  • PA LBs Christian Wilson, Shayne Hale, and Andrew Sweat all have Michigan in the top group of teams they're listing. OSU will be a competitor for all three.

  •  

  • CA DBs Robert Golden and Brandon Leslie. From Fresno Edison, the former home of Johnny Sears. Michigan's recruiting both. Golden has repeatedly said that Arizona(!?) leads for his services

Video of a Penn St. fan watching the 2005 game, but the video doesn’t work anymore.

Unverified Voracity Doesn’t Know, but there is a rumor that several players are in some minor drug related trouble, but no names at this point.

February 23 - Friday

With EDSBS, another look at class sizes and statistics on which BCS teams have had the largest and smallest average classes over the last six seasons. ‘M’ averaged 20.3 over that time period.

New shirts! Sadly the images are broken, but I think they are all still here.

NCAA hockey and the CHL battle for prospects as the NCAA considers allowing players to be contacted at a younger age.

February 25 - Sunday

Recruiting Board Update with lots of names added. Of interest ten years later: NJ S Brandon Smith and MN WR Michael Floyd.

February 27 - Tuesday

Unverified Voracity Zoom. The basketball team still has a chance to play themselves into the tournament. They just have to a beat MSU and a 14-1 OSU team.

February 28 - Wednesday

Roast Beast! ‘M’ does beat MSU 67-56.

I will admit that this basketball grinch's heart grew three sizes when Brent Petway threw down a half-court alley-oop from Jerrett Smith midway through the second half yesterday. Even my ambivalence about the possibility of another NCAA near-miss leading to an extension of the Amaker era eroded with every shot of a white-clad slackjaw cheering for Michigan State and every non-turnover possession. It's no fun thinking big picture in the throes of actual sporting competition, and I hereby suspend any and all conflicted musings until the season ends.

  • The second half pick-and-roll perfectly executed by Jerrett Smith, Brent Petway, and Courtney Sims: most shocking basket of the Amaker era?

  • The disappearance of Lester Abram is on a par with Amelia Earhart.

The site was attacked by spammers, so Brian puts up a Sam McGuffie highlight film as an apology.





 

 

 

Comments

stephenrjking

February 19th, 2017 at 12:05 AM ^

Given what a dark era that was for Michigan football, I'm not sure how much it mattered. Johnson probably would have been a productive receiver, and perhaps he doesn't leave early the way Warren does. Warren was kind of our only hope back there for a while, but then Michigan's defense was a black hole anyway back then. 

Man, that's depressing to think about. At least Junior Hemingway turned out to be a key player and an important contributor on a BCS bowl champion.

Peter Parker

February 21st, 2017 at 10:08 AM ^

My team played against Ryan Van Bergen on homecoming for our conference championship, so I naturally had to take a look at what mgoblog said about him during recruitment.

"Unfortunately, Van Bergen's senior year stats are a bit disappointing: 33 tackles and 11 for loss. . ."

His low number of tackles senior year was because teams like us would call a play and it's mirrored play in the huddle, line up, see where Van Bergen was, and then check to the play to the opposite side. Pretty simple explanation for his lack of tackles, really.

M-Dog

February 24th, 2017 at 1:45 AM ^

"the embarrassment of playing them (App State) should be roughly equivalent to that of playing Eastern while wearing nothing but dunce hats"

Fixed it.