Espn Martin slams defense
Just out of curiosity how is stating that we need significant improvement defensively slamming the defense? It's in the headlines.
http://sports-ak.espn.go.com/ncf/index
November 11th, 2009 at 5:37 PM ^
ESPN at its finest.
November 11th, 2009 at 5:40 PM ^
Because the headline "AD agrees with coaching staff, players and entire fan base" was too big for the top of the fold.
November 11th, 2009 at 5:44 PM ^
what part of our program DOESN'T ESPN slam?
November 11th, 2009 at 6:47 PM ^
espn was LOVING michigan after the 4-0 start. after the notre dame game, forcier was the toast of the ESPN college football universe, even above barkley. cowherd was predicting a MNC within 5 years. i agree that ESPN is extra harsh on U of M at times, but the wolverines winning makes great press too.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:44 PM ^
..it sounds like you are saying that ESPN are a bunch of fucking lemmings. The Worldwide Lemmings: has a nice ring to it.
November 12th, 2009 at 1:48 AM ^
forcier above barkley... "his" tOSU game winning drive was wayyy overhyped... it should be the Mcknight drive he did just about everything.... and if u put forcier on usc there undefeated and hes in the heisman talk.... put barkley on michigan and were 4-6...
i hate barkley because i live in southern california.... call me biased but its probably true....
November 12th, 2009 at 2:33 AM ^
Barkley and Forcier have had roughly the same number of passing attempts this year (right around 220). Both have mid-fifties completion percentages and both have thrown ten TD's. Barkley has thrown 7 picks and Forcier has thrown 5. Forcier also has a big edge in rushing with roughtly 250 yards and 3 TD's while Barkley has a negative rushing number.
Combine this with the fact that Barkley is working with experienced, blue-chip receivers like Williams and RoJo while operating behind an o-line that is two (if not three) deep full of 4+ star recruits (a group that many people called the best in the country coming into the season) and I think Forcier wins the comparison. The fact that Barkley's coaches, whose last four QB's have been drafted (3 in the first round), two of whom have won the Heisman Trophy, keep drooling over the kid like he is the second coming should tell us something about the guy we have and the ability of our coaching staff to develop quarterbacks.
And just to prove I am way less biased than you, I went to law school at USC after graduating from UM and I'm a big Trojan fan (though they are far and away my second favorite team behind the Blue).
November 11th, 2009 at 5:49 PM ^
The editors for the Freep and ESPN must've graduated from the same journalism program at Macomb Community College....
November 11th, 2009 at 6:10 PM ^
Martin called out Michigan's defensive performance. "Our offense is putting points on the board," he said. "There is no question also that we really need to see some significant improvement on the defensive side."No really, fuck you ESPN. I actually like Rittenberg and think he does a pretty good job, but that's just ridiculous. That's slamming? If Martin said, "The defensive play has been pathetic. This is a motherfucking outrage!" then that would be slamming the defense. It's like how when RR mentioned Hope's actions after the Purdoody (hey, it's not like scUM is much better!) game, ESPN's headline was something like, "Hope mad at Rodriguez." Idiots.
November 11th, 2009 at 9:56 PM ^
I talk to Rittenberg often, and the things he says off the record are actually pretty positive towards Michigan. He's usually pretty level headed.
The person I hate is Joe Schad. He's an idiot, doesn't do any research, typical piggy back-call it my own story ESPN guy, and clearly hates Michigan. If you look at his twitter feed, about 40% of it is about Michigan, and usually negative. The things he says are totally off base, it's not even funny. I literally hate him.
November 11th, 2009 at 10:13 PM ^
That was the first thing I looked at when I followed the link. Reading a Schad article (any of them as far as I'm concerned) is like reading a Melrose story about the Wings. You just know it's going to be full of nonsense and hate.
November 11th, 2009 at 9:58 PM ^
If it makes you feel any better, Joe Schad wrote that. Continue liking Rittenberg.
November 11th, 2009 at 6:15 PM ^
that the E in ESPN stands for entertainment. They have established that comes before sports. This is just another example.
November 11th, 2009 at 6:21 PM ^
it originally just stood for Eastern
November 11th, 2009 at 10:24 PM ^
Some people may not know that the "E" has always stood for "Entertainment" since the network's inception in 1979.
I remember those days as a 9 year old being excited that a) we were one of the few families that had cable and b) there was an all-sports network. Of course, they didn't have a lot of (read: any) big-time contracts back then, so b/w Sports Centers there was a lot of Australian Rules Football, drag racing, and even antique car shows. What I loved most was that they rebroadcast college football games on Sundays, so I got to see some Michigan games that weren't vs. Ohio State. Living in Virginia during Bo's heyday wasn't the greatest.
November 12th, 2009 at 1:34 PM ^
We must be the same age because I remember watching hours of Australian Rules Football with my non-cable buddies.
November 11th, 2009 at 6:27 PM ^
Is good for scores and highlights and that's it. Recently they can't even do that because they talk about the same broke-ass stories over and over again. I do like the sunday nfl countdown show but really though ESPN kinda blows...
November 11th, 2009 at 10:41 PM ^
...he slammed the defense? What kind of freaking idiots are writing these headlines in what closet? It isn't the stupid that bothers me, it's the lazy.