Don

January 28th, 2012 at 11:09 AM ^

1. Watch HS junior highlight video—OMG, this kid is awesome, we have to offer him

2. TomVH/Sam Webb/Ace interview shows he likes us—kid's got his head on straight.

3. Hoke makes offer; recruit says we're in top three, wears UM hat at combine—I love this kid.

4. Recruit says academics "very important" and he doesn't expect anything to be given to him—he's a true Michigan Man, Bo would have loved him, I'll name my firstborn after him.

5. Recruit chooses rival school—kid's a goddamn punk, liar, obviously taking money on the side, hope his career sucks and he ends up in prison.

Magnus

January 28th, 2012 at 12:29 PM ^

If that's your only criterion, then virtually every school in the country is our rival on the recruiting trail.

Arizona State just got a kid that we offered, but I wouldn't call them our rival.  Oregon State got Malik Gilmore, Baylor got Javonte Magee, UCLA got Ellis McCarthy, etc.  The Cardinal have pulled in one or two kids we've offered - and that's it - over each of the past few years, so you're using "rival" in very loose terms.

Don

January 28th, 2012 at 3:04 PM ^

Stanford is a more significant rival for us in recruiting than ASU or Baylor or Oregon State because of our respective academic reputations. There are very, very few major programs in the country whose academic credentials equal or exceed ours, and Stanford is one of them. Whenever we're going after the same kid—as in Garnett—the Michigan fan base seems to be extremely conscious of our respective reputations, as do the recruits themselves.

Stanford isn't nearly the recruiting rival for us that OSU or MSU or ND are, but I never said they were in my orig. comment... but I disagree that they're not one of the more meaningful rivals we have from elsewhere in the country, because of who we are as an educational institution.

Magnus

January 28th, 2012 at 3:18 PM ^

Joe Bolden, Kyle Kalis, Erik Magnuson, Mario Ojemudia, Jarrod Wilson, Tom Strobel, Brennen Beyer, Chris Bryant, and Blake Countess are just some of the guys who had Stanford offers and chose Michigan over the Cardinal in the past two recruiting classes.

Stanford got Garnett, Nick Davidson, Remound Wright, and Wayne Lyons.

SysMark

January 28th, 2012 at 11:24 AM ^

Essentially this is an article about recruiting that says there are too many articles about recruiting.  I suppose everyone thinks theirs is the best article.  No harm.  Just toss it on the pile and move on.

ChuckieWoodson

January 28th, 2012 at 12:16 PM ^

with the article - saying that we'll need to get great recruits to "keep up with Ohio" as if to imply they're an obviously superior team.

First of all, we lost to Ohio this last decade when they were cheating.  Before that, we had a leg up in the rivarly until sweatvest and his antics came into Columbus.  On an even playing field, good overcomes evil - I have a feeling the 90's are making a comeback and I'm ready for some Nirvana, Pearl Jam and some Beastie Boys.

BRCE

January 28th, 2012 at 2:34 PM ^

Tell me again what link you draw between the recent cheating and us getting IMMEDIATELY outcoached and outprepared for The Game from the very first year Tressel took over on the job.

Of all the excuses and apologies people have made for Carr (and there have been many), this one makes by far the least sense. And that's saying something.

ChuckieWoodson

January 28th, 2012 at 6:54 PM ^

and it was a joke - no denying that.  They really screwed the pooch in 2001.

But, subsequently after that - Tressel cheated.  I'm sure this has been covered 1000 times on the blog, BUT - here's my quick take without getting too long winded.

OSU can offer things other places can't, cars cheap, selling jerseys, etc.  This is inticing to recruits. To say it didn't help the talent on the field is BS, IMO - as better recruits = better raw talent. Never said Tressel wasn't a good coach, he was and still is a really good coach.  But, to me - the end result was the same.  IMO, if we get Pryor RR is probably still the coach (doubt this would be a good thing, but I bet our streak of bowl games doesn't end in 2008).

Not making excuses for Carr, just saying the playing field was not level during the last 7-8 years.

M-Dog

January 28th, 2012 at 2:28 PM ^

We're delusional if we think this article is about us.  Every fan base acts this way.  We are actually among the most grown up about it.

Sometimes it ain't about you.