MGoBlog Call for Papers

I would like to read a detailed post-game description of the game versus Western Michigan.  You could give it a catchy name like......oh, I don't know......"Upon Further Review" or something along those lines.

 

I have thought about doing this myself, but I don't have much time and if someone else wants to do it that would be great. When Hoke was hired, Brandon alluded to some research that he had done on correlation between the background of a new head coach and his winning percentage. He basically said that coaches who had previously coached in the conference, played, or recruited in the catchment area of a B10 school was much more likely to be successful than a complete outsider, and this was one of the reasons that made Hoke a more compelling candidate. For instance, for the purposes of the study, Bo would be thought of as having a prior "connection" to Michigan because he was from the area and had coached at Ohio State, had played Michigan in games and recruited the area. But RR would be thought of as an outsider since he did not play for, or against, B10 schools that often, and did not recruit a whole lot in our backyard. So - 1) New coaching hires in the B10 in the last 15-20 years. 2) What percentage of them had prior connection to the school or the area, and what percentage were rank outsiders. 3) Is Dave Brandon on to something, or was he selling the new hire? Is having a prior connection to the school/area/conference a greater predictor of success than simply a coach's prior track record? Anyway, I think this would be a cool exercise.

I have been jonesing for this GIF for a while, but don't have the required point total to start a new thread, and haven't seen a thread that I can post this in. Basically, i'd love a .GIF of Terrelle Pryor's head on Private Pile's body from Full Metal Jacket. The scene I have in mind is where Pile is standing looking at the camera while the rest of his group/platoon/whatever is lined up to either side of him doing pushups. I think having shoulder pads and cleats at his feet would be apt, and Jim Tressel needs to make an appearance. Luke Fickell, and other nameable players' heads should be pastedonto the guys doing pushups. For Tressel's cameo, I'm thinking his head on Tom Cruise's body from Vanilla Sky where he's talking to Cameron Diaz and she tells him not to say "I'll call you," and he does that little leg maneuver and dips out of the room. If Tressel just flew across the screen, did that for a split second, and flew back off, I'd be pretty damn happy. I know its not a paper, but someone needs to make this happen.

I would be very interested in a breakdown of what SDSU (and to a much lesser degree BSU and Auburn) did on offense the under Hoke/Borges. For example, how often they were in which formations, how frequently they shifted, what their personnel looked like, what their blocking schemes were, what routes their receivers ran, etc.

And ultimately, how that compares to what we want, think, and/or expect from the offense this fall and beyond.

I strongly suggest that all new diaries be written in Penthouse Forum format.   Let's make this entertaining whilst Brian is off cavorting in exotic locales while we struggle with the daily grind of deciphering what M-related news to fret about.

I'll begin:

"It was a sultry late summer evening. I was slumped lazily on my front stoop with a six-pack of lukewarm suds and the sounds of barely audible rawk music drifting from a battered radio.   It had been a tough week on the road trying to convince high-end football prospects to ply their trade in Ann Arbor for the next four years of their lives, and the thought of slowly nursing a beer while my eyes grew progressively heavier seemed very appealing.   But not as appealing as a smile-inducing memory of a recent recruiting trip to Kettering, OH.   I was in heavy pursuit of a touted 5-star linebacker....a touted linebacker with a (INSERT FAVORITE DREAM FANTASY HERE...hot older sister with a 5-star body?  Buxom step-mom wearing a maize and blue sweater vest?)   

a "Where Are They Now" feature. Personally I'd like to see 1975-1990 (my sweet spot) but any era will do. Stefan Humphries anyone? (Rehab doc in Spokane).

Go figure.
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<br>How about using those press credentials to some good use? Maybe some coverage of the new staff that not mainstream media is going to do, and the only people that will are pay sites. I mean, all off-season we should have been getting SDS analysis rather than Rich's offense analysis, or looks back at Michigan/ND/Florida's defense, as has been mentioned. But what you could be doing is asking for interview permission. No, Tim shouldn't go fighting over Hoke, or Mattison, or Borges. But what about all the other assistants we know so little about? They're training, experiences, how they're liking it at Michigan... They should be happy to get some attention and probably willing to speak in the slowest month. It gives us an idea what they actually do, and frankly, puts a more human face on people with families who put in hours upon hours for Michigan without getting tons of money, and zero guarantees. Might make someone think twice before screaming to fire someone. And at least gives a human view and makes the program easier to root for.
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<br>I's do it myself, but not sure I could weed through the redtape in 2 weeks. Media Relations contacts, the Blog could.