The Snowflake Thread: Coaching
October 19th, 2013 at 7:17 PM ^
Did that last week and PSU immediately scored to take it to OT.
The whole "first" blog thought process is old.
October 19th, 2013 at 7:24 PM ^
Getting the threads up before there are five or ten that pop up means less mod work and less redundant/unpublished posting. Think they should be up when they are or not, but this isn't like writing FIRST in the comments section on a front page post.
October 19th, 2013 at 7:25 PM ^
Can't you just have them ready and hit submit when the game actually ends?
October 19th, 2013 at 7:28 PM ^
We can find a way to make it closer. He's at the game and I didn't even think about it early enough to mention that I'll handle it.
Things can always improve, but LSA isn't sitting around saying, "I'll be so cool if I get these posts up before everyone else can".
October 19th, 2013 at 7:31 PM ^
I know that LSA has been around long enough not to care about being first or cool.
October 19th, 2013 at 7:36 PM ^
Just posted that as a reply to part of the first reply. Besides, if he really wanted to be cool he'd just give a bunch of other people pony avatars or give himself a lot of points or something.
October 19th, 2013 at 8:27 PM ^
These generic snowflake threads sure have taken away much of the Mgoblog post game joy. No creativity at all.
October 20th, 2013 at 8:08 AM ^
Way better than a million posts from everyone who thinks their opinion needs to be heard by everyone on the board.
October 19th, 2013 at 8:44 PM ^
This is not something which is approached with the idea of being first, but more because this is a point in the blog's weekly routine which is typically better if it is managed somehow. The Snowflake Rule is meant to be a convienience to both users and the mods. As another user mentioned, we could create them closer to the end, but when exactly to do this is a probabilistic judgment which obviously didn't work out for the PSU game but worked fine for today's game.
October 19th, 2013 at 10:46 PM ^
Your snowflake is special. Just not special enough for its own thread.
October 19th, 2013 at 7:18 PM ^
Offensively this game was great for Michigan, even though IU's defense is a complete joke. Hopefully Borges realizes that Gardner is our most importnat offensive weapon, and that shotgun pass plays will open up the run game.
October 19th, 2013 at 10:16 PM ^
possibly make a generically insipid remark about shotgun passes opening up the run game and expect that a guy who has coached at half a dozen schools and makes huge bucks, who can sit there and talk the fine points of dozens of offensive approaches and plays, hasn't reflected on the nuances of such an idea over and over again during his long career?
And yet we have seen thousands of such mindless remarks here over the past week. There's an extraordinary hubris in this, of a Jacksonian Know-Nothing stripe. . . How do so many nimbuses become self-appointed Guardians of the Higher Truth that Eludes Borges? Now he pitches a near-perfect game after some bad playcalls last week and instead of begging the gods not to crush them for their stoopit, all the savants have still more wisdom for him!
October 19th, 2013 at 10:41 PM ^
someone with your Philosophy Thesaurus doesn't help either. Have you considered why a coach with so much experience would run a play that has gained nothing over and over again? How about OSU last year giving the game ball to Borges for his pathetic game plan? Maybe our coaching staff, like you, needs to go back to basic thinking instead of trying to impress us all with their bloated intelligence.
October 20th, 2013 at 8:35 AM ^
Borges is capable when he doesn't get in his own way. Let's not forget how Alabama defeated him before the game was even played. He 'knew' certain plays wouldn't work against Alabama, so he never ran them to test them.
October 19th, 2013 at 10:48 PM ^
Slow-clap +1
October 20th, 2013 at 8:15 AM ^
I don't know how anyone can complain about Borges this week, so you're right to rip into the guy you replied to, but it's ridiculous to say we have no grounds for criticizing Borges because he has so much more experience with football than the rest of us. That's just appeal to authority, not an actual argument. Obviously there's a wide range of opinions on football strategy. The huddle is a great example of something it seems any reasonable person can agree is outdated. For all the defense of Borges there was last week, I don't think anyone gave an argument for why we should be huddling and getting to the line with only a few seconds on the clock.
October 19th, 2013 at 7:21 PM ^
I like the personnel decisions. I think that the best players should definitely play. Borges coached a pretty good game from what I saw. Mattison obviously has some work to do on the defense, but I think if we can manage to have both sides of the ball operating at their full potential, we have a pretty good team.
October 19th, 2013 at 7:22 PM ^
October 19th, 2013 at 7:22 PM ^
I'm not trying to exaggerate, but in a lot of ways this feels like Rich Rod. This team is really far away from competing on a national stage.
October 19th, 2013 at 8:03 PM ^
I disagree. Why do you say they're really far away? There not there this year, but for the millionth time: they're young. We have Stribling and Lewis as true freshmen doing a great job sticking with receivers but are just getting turned around at the last instant or are not strong enough to fight for the ball. We've got Kyle Bosch as our best option at guard apparently as another true freshman and a lot of other great ones in the wings. True Freshman TE playing awesome for a true freshman and a sophomore pass catching freak playing awesome. Green is a true freshman showing signs of why he was recruited so highly when he gets the ball. I don't know what leads you to think we're so far away.
October 19th, 2013 at 8:45 PM ^
October 20th, 2013 at 1:35 AM ^
October 19th, 2013 at 8:45 PM ^
I agree with you, but realize that if true freshman are our best players we are still a long way off. Granted, the players are either already on the team now or are already committed in future classes. But, we won't be there this year or next. They will still be true sophomores next year and still be young. Then, guys like Peppers wll be replacing guys like Lewis and we'll be playing freshman again. So, in my view we the earliest is 2015 particularly until the '13 class of o-lineman are in year 3. That still seems like a long way away to me when you're waiting for your freshman to be juniors.
October 19th, 2013 at 8:05 PM ^
This is a second tier team. They will win their games against clearly inferior opponents but cannot hold their own against first tier teams. My concern is this is their last win in the regular season. It seems very unlikely they will be playing on New Year day.
October 19th, 2013 at 8:48 PM ^
NW is getting killed by injuries, and based on what I just saw Indiana is better offensively. MSU will be a close game, but it could go either way. They certainly won't score a ton of points. There's no reason to think we can't be Nebraska at home or Iowa on the road. OSU at this time is clearly better than us, but the rest of games are toss ups. I could see us winning 3 more games. I could also see us losing 4. But, I don't think it's unlikely to play on New Year's Day. We really only have to win 3/5 games to do that.
October 19th, 2013 at 10:20 PM ^
What makes you think MSU, NW, Nebraska, Iowa are "first tier teams"? Because today NW lost to Minnesota, and is now 0-3 in the Big ten. MSU lost to ND earlier this year, and oh beat lowly Purdue by the grand score of 14-0 (only 7...SEVEN(!) of those points were from the offense). Nebraska's defense is suspect at best, and Martinez being hampered with injury gives them plenty of question marks on offense. And Iowa is Iowa...potentially solid, particularly defensively, but still not much better than average.
The only team that really concerns me is OSU. And even then...OSU has a very beatable defense. And that's a home game. Michigan won't be favored, but it's a rivalry game that I know Hoke will be prepared for.
In other words, I think it's beyond ridiculous to think that today was their last win of the season.
October 19th, 2013 at 7:25 PM ^
He called a fantastic game from start to finish. Gotta give credit where credit is due.
October 19th, 2013 at 7:36 PM ^
October 19th, 2013 at 7:48 PM ^
Thanks Moleskyn. At 54 maturity is something I have an abundance of. Brains and and insight I seem to still need more of.......
October 20th, 2013 at 12:06 AM ^
I gotta give you props as well. We had a bit of a tiff earlier, but you've proven that we can all learn as we get older. At 62 I still get stubborn.
October 20th, 2013 at 1:40 AM ^
October 19th, 2013 at 8:03 PM ^
I knew I liked you.
October 19th, 2013 at 7:56 PM ^
FIRE THIS MAN ASAP
I don't like it when Michigan breaks records in a single game.
/s
October 19th, 2013 at 7:24 PM ^
"Evaluate the coaching" Like 98% of the people who read this and post have any clue at all about coaching.
October 19th, 2013 at 7:27 PM ^
Why do people just assume that people here know nothing about football? This is a very intelligent fanbase that includes a lot of coaches and former/current players. This fan base is probably more capable of evaluating coaching than any other in the country.
October 19th, 2013 at 7:32 PM ^
Have you read this blog the last 5 weeks? The same people who praised Borges as a genius after ND ripped him after PSU (even though we scored 40 points) based on a few plays from the game.
Typical arrogance of people who have never coached a down in their lives. Do you REALLY think there are more coaches that read this blog than ANY OTHER in the country? Hell, the guys running the blog aren't even players or coaches.
October 19th, 2013 at 7:37 PM ^
Borges was deservedly ripped after PSU. Numerous posts with detailed analysis have made that very clear. Do you disagree with them? If so, please explain why. And yes, I really do think that. I personally know at least 10 coaches who are members on this blog, as well as many former players. You act like D1 coaches are the only ones who know anything about football.
October 19th, 2013 at 11:01 PM ^
GhostofMrCarson? You really need to change up your writing style buddy. Argumentative hyperbole is easily identified, and it seems you're not clever enough to change that, even though you were clever enough to lose the Ghostof-
October 20th, 2013 at 1:42 AM ^
October 19th, 2013 at 7:40 PM ^
Relax, buddy. It's a college football blog on the internet. Nobody is claiming to be a coaching expert. People just want to discuss what they thought about the coaching decisions.
October 19th, 2013 at 7:53 PM ^
Fire cc2010!
October 19th, 2013 at 9:04 PM ^
Relax, buddy. It's a college football blog on the internet. Nobody is claiming to be a coaching expert.
But when you have people here calling for coaches to be fired, aren't they essentially claiming that? I mean, how else could they know that the coach needs to be fired?
That's what bugs me. We don't know what goes on behind the scenes and all the issues that might be facing the team. A guy might not feature in the gameplan one week because he might be battling an injury, for instance. But fans don't know any of that and will just assume the coach is being an idiot for not using the player more.
I have no problem with criticizing coaches, but I draw the line at calling for guys to be fired. All the hatred directed at Borges this past week was embarrassing.
October 20th, 2013 at 10:06 AM ^
"But when you have people here calling for coaches to be fired, aren't they essentially claiming that? "
No.
Sometimes a performance can be so bad that even a laymen can determine it deserves firing.
In the end - it's performance that matters, regardless of the justifications for failing to perform.
October 19th, 2013 at 7:37 PM ^
October 19th, 2013 at 7:49 PM ^
Where GSimms at?
October 19th, 2013 at 8:28 PM ^
Hey now, I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night
October 19th, 2013 at 7:35 PM ^