Anybody see the 2009 Michigan high school football "dream team" on the Freep's site today? Notice anybody missing? Maybe a certain college's stud commitments at QB and RB? That's right, Devin Gardner was left off in favor of SH Stevenson's QB and Austin White ended up behind Chelsea RB (and MSU commit) Nick Hill. What does everybody think? Undeserved snubs or the right calls?
the #1 ranked
Dream Team
It's not a true dream team since it was devised by a nightmare of a publication.
I have not read the Freep or looked at their web site since August.
Same here
I have totally ignored the freep ever since august, too. I used to check it once in a while for some news, but this site gives me way more and it's usually less anti-michigan...usually.
I can only continue to reference the fact that I live in an onion factory.
Don't care.
Don't care.
“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” - Benjamin Franklin
Looks like RR is one of the
Looks like RR is one of the speakers for their dinner.
"The Free Press all-state dream team will be honored at a banquet, co-sponsored by the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame, at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 16 at the Dearborn Inn. Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez will be the featured speaker."
That's going to be awkward.
Devin Gardner is the best
Devin Gardner is the best quarterback in the country, according to Rivals, but he's not the best in Michigan. Interesting...
This obsession with the Freep and their
treatment of anything connected to Michigan and even things not connected is getting out of hand.
Yeah, the Freep hates Michigan and loves MSU, so what. The Freep is a shitty publication and unless the gov't bails them out too, they'll be out of business if everyone ignores them like they should.
What the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve and...Those Who Stay WILL Be Champions.
I could not agree more with this sentiment.
But, personally, I think the MSU bias is a Freep plan: shift to advocacy journalism to stay in business.
Taking it one week at a time
Personally I don't see a
Personally I don't see a problem with awarding Jason Fracassa the spot on the dream team as QB. The guy put up monster numbers and set state records for completions in a season and career, most yards in a season and career, and most touchdowns thrown in a season and career.
Just because he doesn't have Gardner's pro/college potential, doesn't mean he shouldn't be recognized for having the most statistically dominant season in Michigan HS Football History.
This comes down to the age-old question. Do you give the award to the person who is regarded as having more talent or the one who puts up the best numbers. Whichever side you stand on this argument, you can't say Jason Fracassa didn't put up the stats to earn the award.
FWIW, according to Rivals Fracassa is being recruited primarily for Baseball.
Agree
The Freep obviously has AIDS, but I would rather see an award like this go to the high school kid who put up huge numbers but probably doesn't have a future in the game than a blue-chip recruit like Gardner. Devin will get plenty of honors in both high school and college.
It is spelled HOKEAMANIA. Our coach is an ass-kicking American citizen, not one of the Beatles, for Christ's sake!
I went
to stevenson, its pretty sweet that a kid who is 5'9 can break every record in the book. Wish they could of took hom states ahh but yet again the catholic school prevails lol.
Yes he is being recruited for baseball he has a coulpe big ten offers wisky purdue Illini
We will have our vengeance- Michigan football 2010
Who is reading that tabloid anyway ... Love affair
with drunks and thugs. Hey, lets go to the Red Cedar and have a brew. I have a couch.
Go Blue !!!
Dave Brandon: Detailed and thorough investigation proves that Freep report was intentionally misleading.
FUCK YO COUCH.
FUCK YO COUCH.
"We've beaten Michigan the last four years. So where's the threat?"
- Mark Dantonio
Blogging the Virginia Cavaliers at http://fromoldvirginia.blogspot.com/<
I've been kicked outta better
I've been kicked outta better homes than this!
Nick Hill is definitely
this free press crap is just
this free press crap is just getting ridiculous now...no miller or jackson either?
I told people to go F*ck themselves, therefore I have been banned
Different metrics
It is called the "The High School Football Dream Team", not "The Potential to be Great College Players Dream Team" or "The Scout/Rivals Dream Team". If the kids who are on the team put up better numbers than those who are likely to be better college players, then they deserve to be there.
Dream teams don't
Dream teams don't count.
All-American selections do.
Let's see how many of those MSU recruits make THAT selection over UofM recruits.
A wise man speaks because he has something to say; a fool because he has to say something. - Plato
Like people have said,
Like people have said, Fracassa broke every major passing record in Michigan high school history. He deserves the accolades. As far as Nick Hill/Austin White, I've heard multiple people on here say that Hill was not very good when they saw him, so there might be more room for discussion there.
The Freep did this last year
The Freep did this last year too, with Edwin Baker. (Didn't make all state, Mick McCabe wrote a column slamming the Army All-American game for selecting Baker when he wasn't even all-state!)
FWIW, Jason Fracassa's
FWIW, Jason Fracassa's Grandpa is Al Fracassa - probably the most legendary high school coach in the state of Michigan. I'm not sure if this actually has anything to do with it, but the kid also did put up very impressive numbers.
"You gotta get it up, or you're not gonna score." - Mickey Redmond
none at all....
there is a reason why jason doesn't go to brother rice... and thats because there is a rift between jasons dad and al. my dads best friend does work for the brother rice football team and is very close to al fracassa. i asked him why the grandson isn't playing there and he told me that there is a family rift.
Who cares. In a hopeless
Who cares. In a hopeless attempt to fight the tide of extiction raplidly pulling it into the abyss the FREEP has become sensational tabloid rag. Like the balance of the regional newspaper industry it is desperatly searching for a way to reinvent itself and it has chosen to cover inflammatory and sensational topics to keep readers coming back. If readers have issues with the FREEP the best thing you can do is stop aknowledging its existance, the rest will take care of itself.
aside from qbs
i guess i'm a little surprised chris robinson from ovid-elsie didn't make the list. he's leading the mr. football voting by a ton and by all accounts is pretty incredible. if anyone is getting bypassed by guys because of their future college potential i'd say say mr. robinson has the most room to complain
Agreed.
Hard to argue against this guy's high school numbers. If high school performance rather than future potential is the criterion, Robinson should be on there.
Umm, I'm pretty sure in the
Umm, I'm pretty sure in the hard copy of the sunday Freep, Devin Gardner was listed as the QB on the Division 2 dream team....
Not so fast my friend!
...Ok, so maybe that fast.
Yup, its right there online
Yup, its right there online also (I dont dare link). Wasnt this a big waste of ire.
I didn't read too closely,
I didn't read too closely, but I guess if the "Dream Team" is supposed to be players picked from any division, then I can understand some of the commotion. If it's D-1 only though, then yeah.
Not so fast my friend!
...Ok, so maybe that fast.
You are correct. They picked
You are correct. They picked an All-Star team for each division individually and then selected a state-wide "Dream Team" from all of the divisions. Gardner made it for D-2, but didn't get the nod for the "Dream Team."
Ok, I see. Brain no work.
Ok, I see. Brain no work. Must. Get. Coffee.
who cares...
who the free press has on their dream team. odds are they went by overall numbers than actual talent level. which is the case most of the time with teams like this. the same thing kind of happened in hensons SR. year when the high school all american team came out. drew henson was not the QB on that team, ronald curry was.... so the people who put the team together put henson at punter so he would be on the team.
if the free press wants to do a circle jerk with MSU, let them. its obvious they are more concerned with selling papers and getting web site hit then report the news.
That is BS!
Do you think
That is BS!
Do you think Freep writers have a hatred toward UM prior to joining the paper or is it something that they learn while employed there? I'm leaning toward the latter.
Class of '02 and still "All In".
This team seems to be based
This team seems to be based almost exclusively on raw numbers and state records. I really could care less, but it kind of shows why some sports - swimming, track, cross country, etc. work well as numbers-based sports, while most team sports need to be regarded beyond mere wins, losses, and yardage.
Although I tend to agree with
Although I tend to agree with you, sportswriters live on facts. There is no way the FREEP staff or the other coaches were able to see one if any of the individual games by the players. The only game the majority saw with these kids was the championship games, which Gardner played poorly in. As a result, they turned to stats.
I agree with you that it isn't the best metric, but stats sometimes play the biggest role in giving out the awards even in the pros. While it may not be the best way to dole out awards, it is almost impossible for sportswriters to see all of the games in a season, so stats is the way to go.
freep is a rag with obvious
freep is a rag with obvious special interests...do what i did and quit reading that garbage...
whoever stole my "CAPS" button, give it back NOW...and i also want a piece of the person who made my period button stick three times every time i end one of my horribly composed posts...
qb in the nation, apparently, is not even the #1 ranked qb in his own state.
go figure.