#1 M Swimming wraps up perfect regular season by thrashing Sparty + other good news!
Good news!
The defending-NCAA Champions and #1 ranked Men's Swimming & Diving team destroyed Little Brother* on senior night, 172-103.
Not only did the Men beat down state on senior night, but the Women did as well on Friday night.
Next up for the squad is the B1G Championships which is in.......Ann Arbor at Canham!
More good news:
- The defending-NCAA Champions and #2 ranked Men's Gymnastics team beat #11 Nebraska to stay perfect on the season
- Softball rebounds and beats #25 USF on the road, 3-2.
Very shitty day but at least it ends on a positive note!
Here's to a better tomorrow.
* Michigan reserves the right to call them Little Brother in this sport since they are the owners of an 83-5(!) all-time record against them.
February 8th, 2014 at 9:08 PM ^
Best post of the day!
POS-BANG?
February 8th, 2014 at 9:17 PM ^
I'm gonna pos-bang some good news like there's no more pos-banging tomorrow
February 8th, 2014 at 10:06 PM ^
something to talk about. Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy.
Congrats to the swim team. This takes away some of the pain of this Day from Hell!!!
February 8th, 2014 at 9:19 PM ^
Michigan reserves the right to call them little brother in everything. Their fans have a massive inferiority complex and can't handle success or defeat.
February 8th, 2014 at 9:24 PM ^
I meant as a players and programs thing instead of fans.
Winning five meets out of 88 is magically bad.
Even crazier? Michigan is....wait for it....57-0 against Purdue.....there are no words.
February 8th, 2014 at 10:56 PM ^
February 10th, 2014 at 11:07 AM ^
The history of the program and the ability to keep building upon success, especially in swimming where coaching is a lot more stable, and the individual successes are easier predictable. I went to Andover High School in the mid 80s and was on the swim team and even though we only had one state championship during my tenure, we were in the top 3-5 every year. Recruiting at the college level is slightly different.
February 10th, 2014 at 11:44 AM ^
State was second in the Directors' Cup at the end of fall sports (behind only Stanford). Michigan is 13th.
Here's to swimming and everyone else making up that lost ground, and I'm not saying they're not little brother and we're not historically better at life and so on - it'd take more than one down M season (or 12) for them to get over the inferiority complex. But, you know, swimming. If we win the B1G in bball and the rest of the winter sports continue to kick ass, then I will recommence ostentatiously lording my fandom over Sparty. Until then, I will be a little more circumspect.
February 8th, 2014 at 9:20 PM ^
Go Blue - next stop Natioinal Championship!
February 8th, 2014 at 9:33 PM ^
DAMN!!
February 8th, 2014 at 9:34 PM ^
Well the football team has won 68 games to State's 33. Yea, they just won the Rose Bowl, but Alabama was in the same position that we are in 10 years ago. Auburn outplayed them at that period but everyone knew that the Tide was the dominant program in that state. Same thing with UCLA and USC in the 90s. I'd much rather be a sleeping giant and take my lumps knowing that better times are ahead than be in MSU's position and win a few big ten titles and then go back into oblivion.
February 8th, 2014 at 9:39 PM ^
February 8th, 2014 at 9:36 PM ^
Michigan is one hell of a swimming power. It seems that we win the national championship a lot.
February 8th, 2014 at 9:44 PM ^
Swimming? How many people attend a swimg meet, other than parents?
February 8th, 2014 at 10:05 PM ^
Seems like it due to their great success in the conference, but last year was the first since the year I was born (1995).
They've won 5 of the last 6 B1G Championships and have 37 overall.
Michigan also has 19 National Championships. 12 of them being NCAA Championships when Swimming became an NCAA-sanctioned sport in 1936-37.
February 8th, 2014 at 9:46 PM ^
Sparty's swimming program, to put it mildly, has never been very good.
When I was in the MMB, one of the swimmers requested a pep band for their big dual meet against MSU. Men AND women, swimming and diving, IIRC. The whole deal. We were there for like 3 or 4 hours, and both teams pretty much had it sealed up and then some about forty-five minutes in. I felt kinda bad after a while.
February 8th, 2014 at 10:08 PM ^
for a sparty loss? Isnt that a contradiction in terms?
February 9th, 2014 at 2:23 AM ^
Absolutely. How would you feel if you had to sit there for another two hours knowing you're going home with a pretty embarrassing loss in a non-revenue sport?
I don't know if you've ever been to a swim meet, but at the end, they did these coordinated cheers wishing the other team luck. The whole thing was pretty much top class. Not everything is a football rivalry.
February 8th, 2014 at 11:45 PM ^
February 8th, 2014 at 10:08 PM ^
Are you going to be this dedicated next year when the Bowling Green Falcons are fighting against the Mighty Chippewa for MAC Championships?
February 8th, 2014 at 10:46 PM ^
Yes, I'm upgrading to from MGoBlueTV to the BTN package so I can get everything in case my dorm doesn't have BTN.
February 8th, 2014 at 10:37 PM ^
they're the defending national champs, they returned most of their team, including their greatest athlete the school has ever had, and yet they are #2. How is that possible?
February 8th, 2014 at 10:44 PM ^
The rankings are done by average score.
February 8th, 2014 at 11:24 PM ^
F* the rankings!!!!
Am I right?
February 8th, 2014 at 11:37 PM ^
The average point scores determine their national standing rather than their won-loss record, but they're planning ahead. Michigan has not used their top people in every event, still managing to stay undefeated. They beat Nebraska tonight by a huge margin (443.650-416.050) without Olympian Sam Mikulak (the second meet he's missed) and without anyone competing in the all-around, giving opportunities for more of the team to compete in individual events.
It makes sense to sacrifice some fictional placement to work for future depth and test the team for consistency, and by not overworking everybody there's a better chance of keeping them healthy for the end-of-season championships, when the scoring is far less forgiving. Co-captain Syque Caesar explains it:
The NCAA has made things a lot more interesting recently with the implementation of a new team format last season. The old format had six guys compete on each apparatus, and the top four scores counted towards the team score; so two competitors in a lineup were able to miss their routines without catastrophically hurting the team score too significantly. Now, however, six guys will compete on an event, and the top five scores will have to count, leaving teams with less room for mistakes. On top of that, after about halfway through the regular season, the format will change to five up, five count -- meaning all five scores on the event have to count towards the team score regardless of mistakes or falls. This makes competition much more intense and strategic for the teams as well as allowing spectators to understand that a fall or an error on an event can be the difference between winning a championship and not even making the podium.
February 8th, 2014 at 11:51 PM ^
But in men's gymnastics there actually is a coaches poll, and from Michigan's news releases (such as this one), that appears to be where they're pulling the rankings they cite—rather than the rankings by average score.
I'm not disputing your overall points—just thought people should know that there is an actual poll. Michigan was in fact voted #1 unanimously in the preseason poll.
February 9th, 2014 at 9:15 AM ^
Sorry. I was being a bit sardonic, as in response to what may have been a sardonic "OMG, they're only #2!?!" But that tone probaby wouldn't read in the context of the rest of my post.
There is a poll, and the unanimous preseason #1 ranking was determined by coaches who have and will compete against them. It's based on the potential of the team as a whole (NCAA champions with most of their highest score returning). And when the team doesn't compete with its full roster, it's not meaningless to base current rankings on what is put into play, any more than it is when star football players become injured.
In fact, the use of score averages in gymnastics as a basis for current standings is less based on opinion than football and basketball polls. No this defense vs. that offense variables. Each team is really competing against itself, and its own nerves (perhaps accentuated when you're competing against a top team). You can still measure yourself against different teams in actual competition, because then you will both be performing against the same judges.
The reality of having national team members on your roster means they'll have other obligations (Mikulak missing two meets and Ervin missing one). Even when they compete, their scores aren't guaranteed. The higher risk in their routines means greater chance of injury, so sometimes they'll work on the risk level in practice and save it for when it's really needed. And Coach Golder's approach of shuffling the roster is aimed for the success of the season as a whole. So far so good.
February 9th, 2014 at 11:20 AM ^
February 9th, 2014 at 4:28 PM ^
And since you're clearly informed... I'm not familiar with this use of "overworked." Do you mean they compete more at home and have that advantage, or that they're "overworked" by the judges (which could mean either they're harder on them or the reverse)?
February 9th, 2014 at 6:41 PM ^
I meant to say "overscored," must have spelled it wrong.
February 10th, 2014 at 9:47 AM ^
Thanks. I can stop obsessing now.
February 8th, 2014 at 11:18 PM ^
Thank You!!!
February 8th, 2014 at 11:58 PM ^
February 9th, 2014 at 1:46 AM ^
At least there's some good news.
February 10th, 2014 at 6:20 AM ^
I want to read more.. Go Blue!!!