Shakeup on the premium sites
As of midnight, The Wolverine is no longer a part of the Rivals network and is now part of On3. Reading the tea leaves, we knew a lot of this was going to happen.
On3 took all the writers/features from Rivals, so they now have E.J. Holland, Chris Balas, Clayton Sayfie, etc. and "The Fort" remains their message board.
Meanwhile, Rivals had to hire an all-new crew and change their forum name (Banner Banter?!?!). The writers include Josh Henschke, Adam Schnepp, Brandon Justice, Daniel Dash, Anthony Broome, Dennis Fithian, and Stephen Osentoski.
It will be interesting to see the future of Rivals now that On3 has joined the party. Rivals seems to have been reactive rather than proactive, resting on their laurels rather than trying to upgrade their brand. I'm wondering if they might go the way of Scout.com before too long.
November 1st, 2021 at 6:39 AM ^
Fithian? The one who posts troll type comments on the Mgoboard? Might be a sign that Rivals is going heavy on click-bait.
November 1st, 2021 at 6:50 AM ^
If it's the same guy that's fucked
He's a douchebag
November 1st, 2021 at 7:40 AM ^
Thanks for the support
November 1st, 2021 at 7:49 AM ^
So is there a different guy with a similar name to yours?
I'm looking through your post history and you've said nothing inflammatory that I can see.
But I swear I've seen you be a turd recently.
Sorry I don't mean to rude. I'm trying to figure out if I owe you an apology.
November 1st, 2021 at 9:52 AM ^
Dude has 20 posts for all of 2021 and none of them seem to be over 50 characters.
What's the rub?
November 1st, 2021 at 2:16 PM ^
The "rub" is that MGoUser 'Dennis Fithian" has also posted several trollish-to-very trollish OPs on the board over the last couple years (or more), some of which have been deleted by me and some by other mods. Most, as I recall, have been post-game on Saturdays. And very few have been thread-worthy or in some cases, even worth posting in the post-game snowflake threads.
OPs, including ones not deleted, don't show up on the posting history you can see.
I have little-to-no problem with someone who on occasion trolls the board if that same MGoUser actually makes positive contributions to the board on a semi-regular basis. We have multitudes of folks who fit that profile to a T; Fithian hasn't shown much or any of that.
November 1st, 2021 at 11:59 AM ^
Good afternoon!
November 1st, 2021 at 1:54 PM ^
"Fat Rack". I always enjoyed him on the radio.
November 1st, 2021 at 7:07 AM ^
The real question is whether to pronounce it "one" or "on three"
November 1st, 2021 at 12:58 PM ^
The Oneders like this.
November 1st, 2021 at 1:19 PM ^
O'Needers?
November 1st, 2021 at 7:18 AM ^
So Rivals hired most of the maizenbrew writers?
November 1st, 2021 at 7:38 AM ^
So 247 is still the only "premium" site worth glancing at occasionally?
November 1st, 2021 at 7:53 AM ^
Ha, I don’t remember Dennis Fithian as a troll from here. I remember him on 97.1. He’s quality.
November 1st, 2021 at 9:14 AM ^
using 97.1 and quality in the same post?
bold strategy
November 1st, 2021 at 9:23 AM ^
Ha. I mean, he wasn't a Mike Valenti suck up. He did his job in the evenings with Pat Caputo. I appreciated him. 97.1 in general is good. Morning show with Stoney and Jansen is solid, afternoons are ehhh, Valenti sucks. Wojo is Wojo, and the newer guys are decent. As I'm typing this, maybe 97.1 isn't that great.
November 1st, 2021 at 9:47 AM ^
Stoney is not good. He needs a good partner. Wojo. Jamie. Jansen.
November 1st, 2021 at 7:56 AM ^
Shannon Terry appears to have the "start business, sell business, wait for non-compete to expire, start the exact same business again" thing down. This has to be his third time doing this. Not sure why anyone would buy anything from him at this point.
November 1st, 2021 at 8:12 AM ^
Does anyone know what the new staffs their past positions were?
November 1st, 2021 at 8:24 AM ^
Josh Henschke: Basketball guy at 247
Adam Schnepp: Press conference guy here at MGoBlog
Brandon Justice: Recruiting guy at Rivals/Land of 10 and baseball coach
Daniel Dash: ??? (not sure, may have been at Maize 'n' Brew?)
Anthony Broome: Maize 'n' Brew editor
Dennis Fithian: ??? (commenter here, but otherwise I don't know)
Stephen Osentoski: Runs YouTube channel, and I think was connected with Maize 'n' Brew
November 1st, 2021 at 8:36 AM ^
Not a big fact check but... Broome actually joined the Rivals crew (The Wolverine) a few weeks back, and then made the transition over to On3.
Oh and Fithian was a radio guy from back in the day, I don't live in market so I'm not sure if that's no longer a thing. And Dash wrote for the Daily before SB Nation.
I feel like a bounty of useless information.
November 1st, 2021 at 8:18 AM ^
i need some laurels to rest on, i'm exhausted.
November 1st, 2021 at 8:28 AM ^
Not sure they had many laurels to rest on as it was
November 1st, 2021 at 8:59 AM ^
I unsubscribed from The Wolverine a few years ago. I felt their writers were just tools for the party line coming out of Schembechler Hall. Every once in a while, they'd utter an original thought. Most of the time, they just parroted whatever propaganda their unnamed sources were willing to feed them.
Part of the problem, is that unless they provide a steady drip drip of "insider information," they have no reason to exist. To get that information, they can't say things that would make Schembechler Hall unhappy. So this leads inexorably to posts on the brilliance of Brady Hoke that no otherwise sane person would write.
At one time, they had a feature of every game recap that included letter grades in various categories, including "Coaching". The letter grades for "Coaching" were dropped, and you can guess why.
Of course, they have plenty of "Go Blue, Go Michigan" content, but I can get that anywhere for free.
November 1st, 2021 at 9:28 AM ^
247 and TTB are the only sites worth frequenting. The others are blah. Just my $.02
November 1st, 2021 at 9:30 AM ^
Currently $1 for a year at On3. Worth it, in my opinion. Full price is $99/year, which is not worth it for me.
November 1st, 2021 at 10:10 AM ^
$1 for 4 months...
November 1st, 2021 at 12:20 PM ^
Now i'm not John Dealsman, but I feel like one of these options is a considerably better value than the other.
But yes, there is a 4 month option. Good catch.
November 1st, 2021 at 10:14 AM ^
Can't wait to write them a check. Looking forward to reading about Harbaugh's inside plan to beat our rivals next year.
November 1st, 2021 at 11:00 AM ^
Sounds like another website I won’t go to.
November 1st, 2021 at 11:17 AM ^
So what happened to John Borten? He's still with Rivals or went over to On3? Sounds like On3 became The Wolverine, and Rivals became Maize n Brew.
November 1st, 2021 at 11:19 AM ^
John Borton is still/now at The Wolverine (On3).
November 1st, 2021 at 11:20 AM ^
I liked Balas and Doug Skene previewing and recapping games, and Borten and Ryan VanBergen doing the same. The last few days Borten has been absent and Anthony Broome has been doing the podcast with VanBergen. So I'm guessing VanBergen is sticking with Rivals to do his pre and post game analysis there. Skene, though, is probably going with Balas to On3. Guess we'll see.
Meahwhile, Maize n Brew is bleeding out it would seem.
November 1st, 2021 at 12:35 PM ^
Just my opinion, but I didn't know DF had any writing skills. From seeing his posts on the board, that is a skill he sorely lacks.
And I say this even though I've heard him on the radio numerous times and he does just fine over the airwaves.
November 1st, 2021 at 4:39 PM ^
Everyone's lives get a +1 when Rob F comes for the bodies.
November 1st, 2021 at 1:00 PM ^
Broome and Osentoski are two of my absolute favorites, by the way.
Stephen O's football and basketball breakdown videos are outstanding.