Frank the Tank Has B10 on Hold, Lebron to Bulls
Frank has put out some of the best analyses on conference expansion. In today's post, he analyzes the Nebraska decision and concludes the B10 will stop and wait for ND before expanding any further. He also puts in his two cents on B10 divisions and predicts Lebron to the Bulls. Interesting read.
http://frankthetank.wordpress.com/2010/06/27/after-the-conference-reali…
Gotta like that Frank has a pic of Nebraska beating up on ND at the top of the post. It looks like it might be the game where Nebraska turned ND Stadium into a sea of red. I never get sick of seeing those pics.
I still can't believe that happened. ND fans forever lost their street cred (if they had any to begin with) after that shameful mass ticket sell-off.
I was in attendance at the OSU game. It was nowhere near that bad. Buckeye fans were maybe a quarter of the crowd. Husker fans were a clear majority at that ND game. Even more pathetic is that that game occurred in September - ND fans gave up on their team before the season even started!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E5gPKBD_tM&feature=fvsr
Looks and sounds more like half of the crowd
I was in attendance. I'm positive they were no more than a quarter of the crowd (and maybe not that much). Some sections had more than others. Mine had very few.
I would have (did) estimated around 35k, give or take. I think they were at least a quarter of the crowd. Not to mention how many of our "fans" got up and left with five minutes to go, only down one score. Ugh, that game pissed me off on a lot of levels, and yet gave me hope on others...
Easy killer. Unless you heard an official count on the number of Buckeye fans, that video (and many other aerial shots of the stadium that day) seem to prove otherwise.
I was at that game as well, and it was BAD BAD BAD! They were way more than a 4th of our stadium and they were able to get their stupid OHIO cheers louder than ours.
Our Michigan crowd was more pitiful than the team that day
I hate that stupid cheer... I realize that the youtube link is to the O-H-I-O around the stadium, but it's really the "O-H" followed by "I-O" cheer that I hate the most. My personal response is to shout "Can't spell state!" After the "I-O". I personally like the response because: A) it's most likely true of a buckeye and B) if they then try to respond by spelling state, they are just reenforcing that it's plausible that their fellow buckeyes might not know how to spell the word state. This is yet again one of my pleas for my fellow Wolverine's to join in my cheer (or suggest another one to follow it up, I just want something to break up that cheer!).
You're right, it didn't look as bad as the ND footage. But a quarter of the crowd is almost 30,000 fans. And that's probably a bit low, since between the block they get and the tickets they buy up regularly probably makes them at least 20,000 strong.
I mean, it's nice none were sitting anywhere near you. The rest of us were not so lucky.
Double-post.
As I noted above, the proportion of Buckeye fans varied greatly from one section to another. Where I was (Section 42), they were a very small proportion - maybe 10%. In the student section they probably were less than that. Elsewhere they were considerably more. Altogether I'd say they were a quarter. And yes, that was irritating to see. But the ND-Nebraska game was on a different level. By every account, Husker fans were in the majority. And this was an early-season game. I don't agree with sell-offs but I can understand why some might be discouraged at the end of the season. I can't understand it happening in September.
Rather convenient that his "logical" divisional spread just coincidentally manages to help his Illini by having them avoid the big three.
The more I read about the B10's divisional alignment, the more I'm okay with the U-M/OSU/PSU stacked division. Why?
1. If the conference votes to have 9 conference games, we're only missing out on two cyclical opponents as normal. The only big rivalry affected is with Minnesota with the Brown Jug but we've currently had to wait 2 years for them as we speak.
2. The Game is protected and will only be played once, not a possible 2nd time to determine B10 Champion
3. If we have to rely on our divisional opponents to lose, then we're in deep trouble anyways. If we want to be the best, we just have to worry about ourselves and beating who's in our way.
And his "logical" home for LeBron, despite what ESPN says, is the third most likely destination. LeBron has been in NYC for the last few days, though ESPN hasn't mentioned it. It's crappy evidence, but last night at the club he was pointing down to the crowd while "Already Home" was playing. Probably just a coincidence.
Look for the media to start to shift this week towards NY as a more possible destination, and when he goes there, they'll write about the whirlwind mind-changing that went on. In reality, he's been planning this forever.
Edit: and because everyone seems not to have noticed, Chicago still doesn't have enough space for two max players. They'll need to at least trade James Jones and probably make another small ~$1mil move to get there.
I still don't understand why you're concerned about Lebron and Chicago maybe needing about 1 mil for cap space. I mean, if I were Lebron and making more money off endorsements than actually for playing in the NBA, I would take a $1 million pay cut in order to get another young player getting the max and call it good. Winning an NBA title would easily cover the $7 million he might lose and up his endorsement deals even further.
By the same logic, then, why not take $8 million less, come to NY, and bring Rudy Gay? I don't disagree with your thought process, but he's probably not leaving money on the table from what we've heard. It's tough to sell a guy on "This is the best situation for you, and also we are going to offer you less money if that's OK." Do you think he'd be happy making less money than a guy (say Bosh) on his own team? What superstar (top 10 in league, best on team) was ever OK with that situation? And Bosh won't take a penny less than the max, period.
The Bulls are the better basketball situation, but NY is honestly not much worse (and will have a ton of flexibility again next year when Curry comes off the books). Bulls fans don't want to hear it after their "amazing" draft day trade in which they gave up a decent player for nothing, and I think they have a good shot at getting LeBron, but Frank calls it 60-40 Bulls over the Cavs - I'd suggest he open his eyes a little more.
You need to come to a live blog Cwood so we can hash this out....
Oh, this is the latest: http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nba/news/story?id=5333896
Knicks starting on a plan B
http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nba/news/story?id=5334060
I'm not saying it's a done deal but Chi is right there. I always thought it was Chi/NY or he stays home but the Cavs have gotten zero press in this thing. Even if we don't end up with Lebron we still will get someone. We are too attractive not to.
Stupid job makes it near impossible to stay up past 12:15 and have any kind of day. I never realized what normal people when through.
I don't trust nameless NBA execs at all, and I barely trust the reports from "sources close to James." His mom wants NY, his posse want Cleveland/Chi, and he's going to do what's best for him. Great article today in the daily dime that reflects this:
http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/page/dime-freeagency-100626/free-age…
The Knicks are visiting JJ and Amare first because the Nets (not the Bulls) are meeting with LeBron in the morning - Donnie and Mike meet with him in the afternoon. It's a plan B, but it's not being done because we don't think we can get LeBron. I'm pretty convinced it's Cleveland or NY, even though they've become afterthoughts in the ridiculous media coverage. But then, ESPN has had Amare getting traded the last two years, so they probably know better.
Again, you guys are a great destination, and you'll likely end up with a JJ-Amare-ish catch, which makes you guys immediate contenders. But you're still FOUR million (@LarryCoon) away from offering two max guys, and a James Johnson trade isn't enough to get there. LeBron and Bosh won't take less money, so to the NY haters negging rational argument they disagree with (not you obviously Shred), what am I missing?
so to the NY haters negging rational argument they disagree with
It's crappy evidence, but last night at the club he was pointing down to the crowd while "Already Home" was playing. Probably just a coincidence.
Uhh...
What does "it's crappy evidence" mean to you? While that did happen last night, it was a joke - certainly as predictive evidence goes.
The fact that he's been here for days is less likely to be a coincidence.
But by all means, ignore every other argument, you win the internet.
You have a lot of anger issues.
Haha I'm just the world's last Knicks fan, no anger at all man, keep the day job. I'm fine with ESPN and the rest ignoring our chances for LeBron. But instead of "Well the Bulls have a great chance because ____ and the media is dead on," it's negs and your uniquely hilarious comments. I just don't understand it, maybe it's just the nature of nobody (including me) having any real information about where anyone is going.
I gotta give it to you CWoodson. This wouldn't be a Michigan board without some brash arrogant New York behavior. Really brings me back to my days in Ann Arbor.
is their owner. I just don't see anyone with other options for big money going to work for a proven loser like Dolan.
And the fact the MSG facelift that Dolan is trying to sell LeBron on is a temporary fix while everyone waits for the big Moynihan Station project to happen.
Totally agree, Dolan is among the worst owners in sports. I like that he'll happily pay the luxury tax and that he's friends with Cuban. I hate everything else he is and does. But the Walsh move felt like a signal that he'll be less involved.
Stephen A. is all about LeBron and Bosh going to Miami with Wade this morning; that will murder interest in the NBA, so I'd MUCH rather they go to Chicago and some vague sense of balance remains in this league.
If you're going to say that's evidence, then it's no better than LeBron's gushing praise of the city of Chicago back in May.
In pro sports money (or rings) = respect. Lebron's not going to accommodate anybody when it comes to the cash, especially since the only guy more famous for not having a ring at this point is George Clooney.
Frank stop trying to get hits on your website.
Hmmm....The OP joined Mgoblog two days ago, earned enough points to start a thread just about the same day an article concerning Michigan and the B10 is posted on the site he links to....The "logical" implication is that yes, the OP is Frank.
We should give Frank a few hits, he did work hard around here to get them.
... FTT was getting 300+ comments on his posts during the college football conference imbroglio. He doesn't need to linkbait--and he doesn't run ads!
Plus, he can actually think and write. Rare skills, those.
The internets is a serious business. You must have a real name like Dreisbach Turner Overdrive in order for people to take you seriously.
Trey Depriest to OSU. He's not going to U of M but I think most of us already knew that.
Not sure divisions are needed. Just have conference 1 and 2 play for championship. So M-OSU play two weeks in a row? Make the head to head winner of 1-2 match-up get homefield advantage for championship game. Maintains emphasis on regular season and ensures a sell out for championship game. Can't argue that an artificially created homefield advantage is formed. Lets say Indiana were to finish 2nd somehow and then play in Indy despite having lost to M in regular season. Divisions won't be even and will likely produce a 1 v. 3/4/5 matchup in BigTen Championship game.
Next, he'll predict LeBron goes to New York (Knicks and Nets), LA, Cleveland, Detroit, and Europe.
I felt his meme was to predict every somewhat plausible scenario to ensure he was correct. Being prolific is different than being prescient.
committed to Michigan