Requiem for a courageous AP voter

Submitted by llandson on

As many of you know, AP Voter Tom Murphy of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette ranked Michigan ahead of Ohio State after the game on Saturday, explaining “I appointed myself as the replay official and deemed Michigan the winner.”

Murphy apologized shortly thereafter, saying “My error was in not having a greater appreciation for the well-trained game officials who spotted the gain and confirmed the call on the field. For that I apologize and confirm that I respect the decision of those officials and the outcome of the game.” Evidently the NCAA Illuminati paid him a visit in the night and helped him to see more clearly. 

I have taken the liberty of rewriting Tom’s explanation for his very valid vote:

Ohio State defeated Michigan by a narrow margin with the benefit of some questionable calls. One close head-to-head result on Ohio State’s homefield does not necessarily mean that Ohio State is a better team than Michigan. My assessment of both teams’ performances against each other, in conjunction with each team’s full body of work this season, is that Michigan is a better team. That is to say that on a neutral field, I believe Michigan is more likely to defeat Ohio State than the other way around. 

ak47

December 2nd, 2016 at 11:36 AM ^

If who would win on a neutral field and not the results of games was the determining factor of votes USC would be top 4 right now.  But its not, so that would be a bad argument.

ak47

December 2nd, 2016 at 12:27 PM ^

Good thing I didn't say ranked 1st then huh. Holy shit you guys are homers. This argument is essentially that even though Michigan has 1 more loss than osu there is justification to rank them above osu because Michigan should have won and you believe would win on a neutral field. Well USC has 1 more loss than Colorado and won at Colorado so clearly would be expected to win on a neutral field. I also think every single person on this blog believes USC would wipe the floor with psu and they also beat Washington at Washington. So if you are doing your rankings solely based off who would you think would win on a neutral field USC would be ranked ahead of Colorado, Washington, and psu easily. But that's not how voting works and it isn't how the voting should work

MichiganTeacher

December 2nd, 2016 at 1:08 PM ^

The USC-Colorado game was at the Coliseum, not in Colorado.

USC is an interesting case. They've improved a lot more than teams normally do in a year. They haven't lost since September - but they lost 3 games in September. That kind of trajectory is rare, and it's rarer still that it's not all caused by schedule.

USC may just be one of those cases where you say that no system is perfect and USC is just unlucky - because yeah, as you say, I'd expect USC to beat pretty much everyone except us, Bama, and OSU.

 

 

lhglrkwg

December 2nd, 2016 at 12:22 PM ^

No doubt they've been much improved but they're not lighting the world on fire.

Giving up over 20 points to awful Oregon and Notre Dame teams? Plus they only beat Colorado by 4, when I know some other team that beat them by 17. USC is top 10 material, but not a top 4

1VaBlue1

December 2nd, 2016 at 12:32 PM ^

If we don't get into the playoff, I really - REALLY - hope some stars line up and we get USC.  Because I don't think USC would keep up.  And I want the world to know that we should have been in the playoff.

OK and OK St would get lambasted by UM, as well.

30 days to prepare, a healthy QB, and Don Brown.  Bring it on...

SAMgO

December 2nd, 2016 at 11:38 AM ^

The "Requiem for" syntax does not apply in literally every situation, people. This is just an interesting report that the AP voter apologized, we don't need to editorialize every phrase out there beyond meaning.

Tbone67

December 2nd, 2016 at 11:42 AM ^

I was wrong, there are some sensible "non" Michigan fans out there.

Edit! i was refering to his initial statement before he woke up with a horses head next to him.

mGrowOld

December 2nd, 2016 at 11:41 AM ^

I can assure you that OSU would rather play Alabama, in Tuscaloosa,,wearing jerseys that read "Bear Bryant was a gay child molester" than play us again this year on a neutral field with neutral officials.

DavidP814

December 2nd, 2016 at 11:51 AM ^

Not sure I would go QUITE that far, but I could see a rematch playing out similarly to the Bama-LSU 11/12 championship game.  Michigan would still dominate the OSU o-line early, and with a healthy QB Michigan would be able to open up the full offensive playbook and get enough of a lead to force Ohio State to pass.  Once that happens, game over.

ChiCityWolverine

December 2nd, 2016 at 11:57 AM ^

I get that everyone thinks the SEC is a tirefire so maybe Bama's "resume" isn't glistening with quality, but cmong man. If given the option to play any team for the last 6 or 7 years, the answer is almost always not Bama (or damn close). Saban's F/+ rankings since 2009:

2009: #1

2010: #2

2011: #2

2012: #1

2013: #2

2014: #2

2015: #1

2016: #1 (not over, but...)

maizenbluenc

December 2nd, 2016 at 12:27 PM ^

but we're talking hitting multiple thermal exhaust ports in a coordinated sequnce vulnerable.



I think our defense can hold up for a while, but unless our o-line improves significantly we ultimately loose a field position game in the second half.

OSU - they just loose. Bama will be by that All Big Ten winning center and into Barrett's grille every play.

Maison Bleue

December 2nd, 2016 at 12:21 PM ^

Brian posted this on twitter yesterday:

 

 

In response to this:

Alabama is an unstoppable death machine.

UMAmaizinBlue

December 2nd, 2016 at 11:49 AM ^

That a voting member of the poll cannot openly express a reason for his ballot, when you've got ballots with Michigan below all the teams they beat (Colorado, Wiscy, PSU) after a narrow loss.  Thankfully, the AP poll is about as useful as an OSU degree -  just wipe your ass with it and move on.

1VaBlue1

December 2nd, 2016 at 12:49 PM ^

I doubt anyone cared about the vote itself, but they probably didn't like the phrasing about appointing himself the replay official.  If he would have said something similar to the re-write the OP offered, I bet nobody says a word.  And it would have been taken more seriously, a well...

But as it was, he was probably threatened with admission at Baylor or UTenn for his daughter...  I'd apologize, too.

BradyCarrbaugh

December 2nd, 2016 at 1:02 PM ^

I watched two great football teams play a great football game. I ranked Michigan ahead of Ohio State because I substituted my subjective observation for the subjective observation of an official who is paid to provide it - leading to the conclusion that the loser had in fact won.

With benefit of hindsight, I now see the folly in trying to discern between 2 competing theories about whether a ball was advanced 36" as opposed to 32" using technology that was not positioned to provide me with dispositive evidence.

As such, I have concluded that the call on the field should stand (as it cannot be confirmed nor reversed).

Z_Wolverista

December 2nd, 2016 at 1:24 PM ^

Tom Murphy's heart/mind in the right place, tact a little off. Shouldna "self-appointed" himself anything, nor pinned the outcome of the game on the One Spot. Maaaybe coulda critiqued / mentioned the officiating taken as a whole -- the pattern in its totality.

Given that the CFP will be on a neutral site, and the goal is to identify the "four best teams", the last sentence of your rewrite likely survives critique.

However I think the statement "My assessment of both teams’ performances against each other, in conjunction with each team’s full body of work this season, is that Michigan is a better team" is sufficient.

Not only is nothing more necessary, but this conclusion both reads strong AND would have fallen well within his authority as an AP critic / analyst / voter.

The argument can yet be made.

Nice work.

 

 

Z_Wolverista

December 2nd, 2016 at 1:29 PM ^

from what I read on the "interactions with Buckeyes this week" thread (the first half of the comments thread, at least), is that even some osu fans would agree w/ this assessment, thinking they'd lost the game, & fearing we'd beat them in a CFP showdown (on, yes, a neutral site, w/ Speight presumably healed). 

One can only fantasize!!!

Everyone Murders

December 2nd, 2016 at 2:48 PM ^

I too have taken the liberty of rewriting Tom Murphy's explanation:

What I wrote about appointing myself as an official was hyperbole.  You see, I'm writing about college football here - not a life-or-death matter.  And I was wrong to do so, because the NCAA doesn't really care about life-or-death matters (witness Penn State, Baylor, etc.), but cares greatly about optics and its brand.  They care about their product and ensuring that it generates as much revenue as possible. 

The fact remains that Michigan looked better on the field to me, and the officiating was atrocious, so I'm still inclined to rank Michigan above Ohio State.  One of the refs was patting Mike Weber on the ass, fergodsake.  So rather than spill 1000 words explaining this to the three morons who might choose to misinterpret it (i.e., the folks at the NCAA who contacted my editor), I used a literary device to underscore this point.  I was foolish to think that the NCAA would not focus on such a trivial issue - especially one that added a little levity to reporting on a college football - when there are so many serious issues to focus on.

Perkis-Size Me

December 2nd, 2016 at 4:10 PM ^

Please football gods. Please. If you have any empathy or decency in your heart for Michigan (which I know you don't, since you seem to like dong punching us any chance you can get, but I'm asking anyway), just give us one more shot at OSU. Give us those guys on a neutral field, with an angrier, even more pissed off defense. 

If we win, do what you will after that. A loss to Bama, Clemson, whoever. I don't care. But I KNOW we can beat those guys. And we had them beat. You've always found a way to align the stars for OSU any time they needed it. Let them line up for Michigan once. Just once. 

You like bloodbaths. You like violence. Don Brown will not disappoint you.