TomVH (and MGoBlog) kind of a big deal
The Detroit news ran a piece in this morning's paper about the effect of the CC on recruiting.
It's mostly the usual stuff, and doesn't contain much new info. However, what was interesting was their choice of learned recruiting analyst:
A lot of in-state kids usually end up committing to Michigan because they're lifelong fans," said Tom VanHaaren, recruiting analyst for MGoBlog.com. "An important in-state recruit in this class, who most likely would have already committed to Michigan had the stability of the program been in order, is Anthony Zettel (West Branch Ogemaw Heights lineman). Anthony has said openly he will wait to see what happens with the coaching situation at Michigan before deciding.
There is quite a bit more from Tom in the piece. So while I'm not sure how willing I am to share our own personal recruiting guru, it's nice to see him getting some MSM love.
December 20th, 2010 at 8:39 AM ^
The cream always rises.
December 20th, 2010 at 8:41 AM ^
Anything that tips the scale in RichRods favor.
December 20th, 2010 at 10:15 AM ^
This thread is about TomVH, not the CC subject. No need to insert that discussion here. Just start a new thread . . .
/s
December 20th, 2010 at 9:21 AM ^
I'm not the only one who finds this comment funny/dirty right? I guess I'll find out later, off to take my last exam.
December 20th, 2010 at 9:43 AM ^
Mac: It's like cream always rises to the top.
Charlie: Dude, and you're like made of cream, dude, and you're cream is all over his face, man, you know what I mean?
Mac: That pisses him off.
Charlie: And he hates that shit, dude. He hates that shit.
Mac: I'm always putting my cream all over his face and it pisses him off.
Charlie: Dude, you're like all up in his face.
December 20th, 2010 at 9:44 AM ^
Nope. You are not the only one. It sounds like a great title for a porno.
December 20th, 2010 at 10:35 AM ^
it is also interesting to note the significance of Angelique Chengelis, the News' beat-writer for Michigan sports, choosing to quote Tom.
I suspect that it will be a cold day in Hell before Detroit's other newspaper seeks quotes from anyone associated with MGoBlog.
December 20th, 2010 at 10:48 AM ^
Never pass on an opportunity to make everything about the Freep...
December 20th, 2010 at 11:40 AM ^
What's your position?
December 20th, 2010 at 11:44 AM ^
You've made your position clear?
I must have missed it. In every thread on the MGoBoard for the past year.
December 20th, 2010 at 1:00 PM ^
Yeah, because you've kept us all in the dark about your ridiculous opinions over the past year.
December 27th, 2010 at 11:46 AM ^
I'm pretty sure you've made your viewpoints abundantly clear over the same span, just a different angle/etc..
December 20th, 2010 at 12:01 PM ^
but B's post have been IOS for me for over a year.
I thought the same thing you did when I read the article.
December 20th, 2010 at 11:26 AM ^
Angelique gets a lot of love around these parts. It doesn't surprise me one bit to see some of it come back - MGoBlog is too big for local (and some national for that matter) sportswriters to be unaware of it.
December 20th, 2010 at 8:56 AM ^
Book it-- one day we'll all be watching mainstream media sports programming and saying 'yeah, I used to blog with that dude.'
Congrats, Tom... just keep doing what you do.
December 20th, 2010 at 9:05 AM ^
December 20th, 2010 at 8:52 AM ^
..I'm going to ask my wife to name it Tom. The best part is, she'll have no idea who I'm talking about and agree, thanks for having a generic name Tom!
December 20th, 2010 at 9:07 AM ^
Why not TomVH? The VH are silent...
December 20th, 2010 at 9:15 AM ^
You could say I have a gut feeling about them.
December 20th, 2010 at 9:25 AM ^
on naming my kid Thor...but this could change things.
December 20th, 2010 at 9:33 AM ^
We all do at some point in our lives. But so very few of us actually pull it off.
That's like 10,000 manpoints if you can actually name your child after a Norse god.
December 20th, 2010 at 11:00 AM ^
A friend of mine had this huge shepherd mix and named him Odin and I know how much it sucks having an uncommon first name*, so I wouldn't use it for a kid. But I could see Thor as a good middle name.
*side note: My mom is no longer allowed to name things. Not because she made my initials spell BEEF on purpose (thanks Mom!), not because she made my little sister's spell AS IF, but because she named the dog Rio. Yes, after the Duran Duran song.
December 20th, 2010 at 11:15 AM ^
December 20th, 2010 at 1:46 PM ^
but my brother has two sons, and he gave one the middle name Maximus and the other the middle name of Braveheart.
December 20th, 2010 at 8:55 AM ^
...what more could a kid want than the tradition, helmets and education? I mean, c'mon!
December 20th, 2010 at 9:20 AM ^
Palm trees and oodles of smoking hot girls?
December 20th, 2010 at 9:35 AM ^
There's plenty of time for that after you graduate. (Says to self with high degree of wishful thinking...)
December 20th, 2010 at 11:37 AM ^
You'd think that, but you'd be wrong. I had way more free time in school than I do now, which seems ass-backwards but it is what it is.
December 20th, 2010 at 1:59 PM ^
so you clearly weren't an engineering major then
December 20th, 2010 at 9:02 AM ^
Maybe Tom wouldn't mind sharing his experience doing this interview with us. How did the DetNews contact him? Is Angelique a big fan of the blog? Does she visit the site for breaking news/fan reactions? Will the DetNews continue to source mgoblog for news stories? (What took them so long?)
December 20th, 2010 at 9:07 AM ^
Chengelis and Tom tweet (?) at each other all the time
December 20th, 2010 at 1:03 PM ^
is she a member of the site?
December 20th, 2010 at 1:27 PM ^
If Tom is going to be out and about chatting with the press, maybe we should ask him to sign a limited confidentiality agreement or some sort of agency agreement that requires him to break all important news about Michigan on MGoBlog first. I'll draft something for your review this week . . .
December 20th, 2010 at 9:18 AM ^
...Tom for the interview and mention and to Brian for the wisdom of establishing the association between Tom and mgoblog.
December 20th, 2010 at 9:30 AM ^
We all need to make some donations this holiday season to keep MGoBlog prominent and pay our respect to TomVH and the others that provide us with the most current Michigan sports information and related entertainment.
December 20th, 2010 at 9:45 AM ^
I am in complete agreement. That said, I fully expect ChitownWolverine82 to jump down your throat. If he does not, then I am going to change my signature line . . .
P.S. Congrats to your son!
December 20th, 2010 at 11:04 AM ^
profitgoblue already laid that guilt trip on all of us...
/kidding /but not really
But I agree... and congrats to your son. What tremendous accomplishment!
PS... I hear that the Industrial and Operations Engineering dept. is the finest in the country /hint hint
December 20th, 2010 at 1:45 PM ^
But Georgia Tech has only been ranked #1 in Ind. Eng. for 15 years running. Just sayin'..
December 20th, 2010 at 1:56 PM ^
But who wants to go to Georgia Tech?
December 21st, 2010 at 3:24 PM ^
70% dudes.... lol
December 20th, 2010 at 9:32 AM ^
Analyst? I thought Tom was a reporter. There is a difference.
December 20th, 2010 at 9:45 AM ^
TomVH, trusted source for Michigan recruiting...
GO BLUE!
December 20th, 2010 at 10:10 AM ^
I feel as if I owe TOMVH a Christmas present or something for all the work and insight he gives me. At least a Meijer gift card.
December 20th, 2010 at 11:02 AM ^
Does he have many leather-bound books? Does his house smell of rich mahogany?
December 20th, 2010 at 10:17 AM ^
FWIW, I think Brandon's decision to defer his decision on Rodriguez hasn't had the impact that I thought it would have on recruiting. There were a couple of commitments this month; virtually none of the possibles have gone elsewhere; and for the rest of the period through the bowl games, contact isn't permitted so there won't be any major changes -- if Rodriguez is retained. If he's not, all bets are off.
BTW, separate topic: remember all the angst there's been about de-commits. I noticed in Tim's B10+ recruiting roundup that there were six decommitments around the Conference just last week. This should serve as a reminder that we're not the only school that loses multiple commitments every year.
December 20th, 2010 at 10:45 AM ^
was using the word commit to describe this process. If it had been termed the "another somewhat gifted and talented 17 year olds early take on here is what I am thinking for this 5 minutes, I'll make up my mind later and sign that paper thing, and oh by the way,can I take another trip somewhere" it would be a lot harder to quote. I long ago stopped thinking of these as commits. I have found balance.
I'm not picking on the players. If I had the opportunity, everyone would hate me by the time I signed. This is the fault of the media and the fan base. We take 'em to the circus, and then twirl when they get excited by it.
TomVH - I never get excited until TomVH tells me it is safe to get excited. Good work, Tom.
December 20th, 2010 at 12:27 PM ^
Did you also notice that three of the decommitments were from Minnesota and Indiana - teams that had a coaching change? (A fourth was from a kid who decommited from NE 2 days after he committed.)