David Pollack/Jesse Palmer predict .500 for UM, then prove they're idiots...
They say UM has a tough schedule and the usual talk about transition on offense and defense. Then Pollack says this....
"Denard Robinson isn't going to lose his ability to be explosive and they're going to score points, but how quickly can Greg Robinson (turn around the defense)?"
REALLY?! smh
August 18th, 2011 at 9:01 PM ^
Even worse they say "Michigan can win 6 games"...like if they reach their full potential they will only win 6
August 18th, 2011 at 9:01 PM ^
FACE PALM
August 18th, 2011 at 9:05 PM ^
There are 2 things wrong with what they said:
1. Greg Robinson is gone.
2. Everyone the entire offseason has said we have a favorable/easy schedule.
But when you have 132 college football analysts some (most) of them are bound to suck.
August 18th, 2011 at 11:20 PM ^
I'm not sure its as favorable as everyone says it is. We still do draw away games at Michigan St and Iowa, with Minnesota and Purdue at home. Illinois on the road is no gift, either. We do still play Nebraska and Ohio at home.
It could be worse though, it could be Nebraska's schedule.
August 19th, 2011 at 6:26 AM ^
It's about as easy as our schedule can get in the new Big 10, apart from maybe swapping Indiana for Illinois.
August 19th, 2011 at 9:34 AM ^
They play Bama in the non-conference, then their final three losses, sorry, games to close out the season are Nebraska, @OSU, @Wisconsin.
August 18th, 2011 at 9:05 PM ^
Great news! I always thought that Greg Robinson deserved a second chance.
Time to break out the stuffed animals again.
August 18th, 2011 at 9:38 PM ^
...the beaver gets us a solid 9 wins. Easy.
August 18th, 2011 at 9:10 PM ^
David Pollack obviously needs a Snickers or a clue, either one, possibly both.
August 18th, 2011 at 9:13 PM ^
1. They're football analysts
2. They're ESPN football analysts
3. They can't count.
August 18th, 2011 at 9:15 PM ^
please point out the six teams we will lose to. i think we beat Ohio this year btw look up how recent teams do after they lose their coach unexpectedly and we beat notre dame because i dont know where they get their hype from we beat them last year and they lost to tulsa.
August 18th, 2011 at 9:25 PM ^
Now you're living in a bubble if you think we'll beat ND just b/c we beat them last year. You do remember that game, don't you? We won by 4 points and ND had the ball on our 27. We easily could have lost that game.
August 18th, 2011 at 11:08 PM ^
Yeah but they had the home field and playing the first night game in front of 110000 rabid fans is reason enough to believe we'll beat ND.
August 18th, 2011 at 11:34 PM ^
They also played half of last year's game with a walk-on (Nate Montana) at QB. We probably won't catch that kind of a break again.
August 18th, 2011 at 9:32 PM ^
What goRob said and dear God, please locate the period and shift keys.
August 18th, 2011 at 10:17 PM ^
I don't see what the problem with not using punctuation or not writing run-on sentences is because its really fun to read and also entertaining to think about people trying to read this and understand what I'm saying since the sentence just runs on and on and on without any break such that the brain stops understanding what is being written after a point and the words run together and it becomes so ridiculous after a while that even the writer gets bored and annoyed with him/herself.
August 18th, 2011 at 10:45 PM ^
was a tremendous sentence.
August 19th, 2011 at 12:11 AM ^
You're making my avatar (which I had first) look bad with comments like that.
August 18th, 2011 at 9:20 PM ^
David Pollack? Jesse Palmer? Man ESPN really sucks.
August 18th, 2011 at 9:21 PM ^
August 18th, 2011 at 9:21 PM ^
this guy?
We know he has experience with knowing who clinches the Rose bid
August 18th, 2011 at 10:49 PM ^
His words say no no.
But his eyes say yes yes.
August 19th, 2011 at 1:44 AM ^
August 18th, 2011 at 9:31 PM ^
These monkeys, I mean jounalists, are on the WWL. Everyone knows that the WWL only puts out material of the highest quality from the best and most thoughtful minds. You should be well aware that all of their analysts are completely neutral and unbiased while being incredibly knowledgable.
It's not like the WWL would ever employ a complete loser who should be scrubbed from all their programming if not the face of the earth (Craig James) or people who obviously have no idea what's going on anymore (Lou Holth)
August 18th, 2011 at 10:05 PM ^
The funny part is them not knowing GERG was gone.
August 18th, 2011 at 10:12 PM ^
Mattison several times. Not that I think Pollack is anything more than a jock masquerading as a "journalist" but I'm going to give him a pass here; I would bet he knows that it's Mattison, not Robinson, and just misspoke.
Six wins might be a pessimistic view on the season, but I think it's silly to claim the schedule is easy, especially for a team going through a transition.
August 18th, 2011 at 10:24 PM ^
Didn't read so I'll concur with your explanation.
The schedule isn't easy, but of the teams in the B1G Michigan definitely has one of the easier schedules, taking into account home and road games. When the toughest road game is MSU that's not too tough. I do expect the team to do better than 6-6 but sadly it's in the ballpark.
August 19th, 2011 at 6:32 AM ^
Palmer's been a nice surprise on ESPN, actually. He brings some good insight and is willing to be somewhat critical of coaches, unlike others at ESPN.
As for the prediction, it's just one under the vegas over/under number, so it's not even that pessimistic. We only have five sure wins by my count (WMU, EMU, Minn, Pur, SDSt), and rivals ranked SDSt only one slot behind us, so if you're really pessimistic, you can get down to 4-8.
August 19th, 2011 at 7:22 AM ^
I can tolerate Palmer until he starts talking about Florida.
August 18th, 2011 at 10:21 PM ^
At least they didn't point out bad pad level.
August 18th, 2011 at 10:28 PM ^
This is why these dumb asses have a show on ESPNU. Who actually watches ESPNU? At least the mothership can put their weak analysts on a channel that doesn't get very good ratings so that no one will see how shitty they are. Plus, "Palmer & Pollack" just sounds stupid.
August 18th, 2011 at 10:33 PM ^
What does that makes next year's schedule?
... Open up with Alabama (in Texas) and have ND, Neb, and OSU all on the road.
August 18th, 2011 at 10:34 PM ^
Pollack is wrong.
- Chet
August 18th, 2011 at 10:58 PM ^
"That guy" has returned to MGoBoard.
August 18th, 2011 at 10:57 PM ^
We will know within three weeks. There will be a 1000 analysts spouting over the next several weeks. The ND game will dictate our season. A win at night on Game Day with a good defensive effort will set us up for a promising season.
August 19th, 2011 at 12:11 AM ^
I think SDSU will. ND will be based on emotions. sdsu still has a great passing attack and will show how good our secondary is.
August 19th, 2011 at 9:18 AM ^
Their returning receivers have combined for six receptions in their collective college career. They lost two in the NFL and the next two to injury, so I highly doubt SDSU does much of anything through the air.
August 18th, 2011 at 11:01 PM ^
...but I think we are more likely to go 6-6 than we are to go 8-4. <hides from flying fruit>
August 18th, 2011 at 11:07 PM ^
I disagree, I am not that pessimistic toward the season, however I do think that 8-4 is on the upper end of games we'll win, and all the talk about "every game is winnable" is just that. We have no idea if the defense can respond to Mattison and Hoke's changes well, or if the offense can be as effective as last years.
But I am predicting 8-4 anyways.
August 18th, 2011 at 11:07 PM ^
Pollack is a hack. The radio show he co-hosts in Atlanta is only entertaining because the other guy, Mike Bell, is both hilarious and informed, and he carries the show.
August 19th, 2011 at 6:34 AM ^
a bit harsh. He misspoke in live conference call, saying GERG rather than Mattison. He's not Mike Bell, true, but nor should he be. Other than Ryan Stewart, I don't know of another guy on Atlanta radio who played big time college and NFL football. He's kind of boring, but he knows football.
August 18th, 2011 at 11:12 PM ^
It's also possible that Pollack misspoke.
I'm just sayin'.
He wouldn't be the first person to mix up people's names when he does indeed have the facts straight.
August 19th, 2011 at 12:11 AM ^
Just easier than next year's schedule.
August 19th, 2011 at 12:17 AM ^
use of the word "then".
August 19th, 2011 at 1:43 AM ^
ever listen to jessie palmer. I hate that guy, with passion. I don't know why, maybe cause he was on the bachelor. I don't understand why he thinks he knows about college football. He came to my bar one time about a year ago and went home with a chick whose 21st birthday it was. I already disliked him before that.
August 19th, 2011 at 7:40 AM ^
Well, he did play for one of the better programs in college football in the 1990s and threw for almost 4,000 yards in the SEC. He also played a little bit in the NFL. I agree he's not the best commentator and he wasn't a great college or NFL player, but he knows more about college football than you, me, or pretty much anyone on this site.
August 19th, 2011 at 10:08 AM ^
Does he know more? Just cause he played? Thats a foolish statement. I played football from 1st grade all the way through high school and have studied college and pro football my whole life. He doesn't know more than me just because he played in college and the league. I played college basketball and I don't know more than people just because of that.
August 19th, 2011 at 10:22 AM ^
You're right. You were a high school athlete and now you're a football fan. You certainly have just as intimate of knowledge with football as a guy who played with elite athletes and coaches, played well enough to be a 4th round pick, spent 3 years in the NFL, and whose day job it is to learn about and comment on college football.
I apologize for underestimating you.
August 20th, 2011 at 10:29 AM ^
Out of hate, I typed
I don't know why he thinks he knows about college football
But in reality, what I meant to say is...I hate it when this guy talks. He is so damn arrogant. If I could punch him in the dick, I would.
August 20th, 2011 at 11:53 AM ^
by that rational then i know just about more than any talking head about college basketball since i won a national title and was the mvp of the national tournament and was a 3 time all-american??