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The Chicago Tribune had a direct quote from Alex Bars (HERE):

"I thought about it real hard for like the last month," Bars told Irish Illustrated. "Pressure started coming on and spots started filling up. I just realized that was the school for me."

The ESPN blog (HERE) has a little more too. Bars had said that he knew about a week ago, but his parents encouraged him to wait and make sure he was going where he really wanted. 

Best of luck to Alex Bars.

This is pretty good news even if it is ESPN really, and it is interesting that it should come now that I am working on a diary about recruiting rankings. I've been using Rivals data, but the last two classes (2012 and 2013) have the average recruit at 3.5 stars or better, which is far above the conference mean. Right now, the average for 2014 is at 3.44 stars, but that's with only nine commits to date. 

Within the conference, even Ohio State has not strung together three straight years at 3.5 or better in my own research, so it would be great to be the first to do that. It's also a good situation when your seven remaining targets are all in the Top 100 per their list anyway. 

There is this entry from ESPN on ACC bowl tie-ins moving forward (LINK).

Right now, the ACC has eight tie-ins even with the expansion to 14 teams, and due in part to the agreement with Notre Dame, they've apparently been looking to expand the number of tie-ins to as many as ten. Over the past several seasons, they have averaged eight eligible teams and would have hit this number last year if not for the issues at UNC and Miami. 

So, if John Swofford has a say, Notre Dame and the ACC will be accommodated somehow. 

One ofthe linked articles had an interview with Gene Smith (HERE). 

Obviously, this talk about a division with different legislative guidelines is vague at this point, but in the interview, Smith points to his theory that "60-70 schools" (presumably, the most successful half of Division I, by and large) are different in nature. He specifically mentions recruiting, pointing out that it is a very different thing at his school versus, using his example, Middle Tennessee. Of course, the gripe would seem to be that you have the schools from lesser discussed conference voting on any legislation with the same relative power as a Big Ten or SEC school. 

The Big Ten's press release is here, and it contains some information on the formula going forward. It certainly doesn't excuse the 2014 home slate, but it helps to explain it, at least in part. 

(LINK)

It seems like 2014 and 2015 are essentially being considered transitional years between the addition of Maryland and Rutgers and the run-up to the 2016 start of the nine-game conference schedule. The essential formula is that a given team will play the other six teams in their division plus two from the other for 2014 and 2015, and then that will expand to three teams from the opposite division in 2016. I believe that confirms what we suspected anyway. 

Here's where you can find everyone's schedule - (LINK). As for our 2014 home slate, Indiana on the day after Halloween somehow makes me think of Charlie Brown saying, "I got a rock."

I had to chuckle when he opened by saying that he almost didn't call, but he didn't want to "chicken out". I really thought his answers about the ND-Michigan rivalry were great - he seemed quite genuine in his disappointment, and using UTL's atmosphere as example of what it could be worked well to illustrate that. 

It's sad to see these stories of players with quite a bit of promise and NFL potential ending up with either extremely short careers, all the while embroiled in problems. He won a few conference and national honors in his time at Alabama - I think he is only one of two Crimson Tide players to win the Butkus Award actually. 

I wonder if we'll hear about a comeback attempt somewhere down the line (three credited seasons in the NFL Pension Plan, but I believe he wouldn't be able to collect until 55), but even then, it is unfortunate for McClain that any second shot will be substantially more unlikely than the shot he just gave up. 

I didn't see it in the thread, but 247Sports had a little bit about the rationale behind setting the date as he did (HERE). 

According to his coach, he simply doesn't want his choice to be a distraction going into their summer practices and then into his senior year. In all the material that we've posted here, you get the sense that he's a very driven, focused kid, so that makes complete sense really. 

Peppers would be a phenomenal get, of course, and for anyone who hasn't seen his highlight reel (that would be very few here, I am sure), it is highly recommended. 

I haven't seen that the SI story is out yet, but the Times-Tribune (Scranton's paper, I think) provides some information about what might possibly be in there (LINK). There is some discussion apparently of Tim Bream's actions:

"But the allegations against head athletic trainer Tim Bream were perhaps the most damning in the article. Several unnamed sources told SI that Bream administered several drugs to players -- the anti-inflammatory Voltaren -- without physician approval. Bream does not have a medical degree, according to the report. In addition, former walk-on receiver Garrett Lerner told SI that he suffered to burns on his right leg when Bream misused an electrical stimulation machine while treating him."

It also mentions that there have been investigations into the allegations against Bream for some time, but the conclusion of those interviews and inquiries reportedly did not find evidence or reports of overstepping the bounds of care. 

It has an entry on UrbanDictionary.com - (HERE)

According to this, it is a derogatory term for Michigan and and Michigan fans, although I admit that I had honestly never heard it until this thread. If this blog turns out to be largely unfamiliar with it, then it can't really be all that needling as insults go. Well, actually, it is pretty stupid regardless. 

If you use the data in the USA Today database, the jumps in revenue for Alabama's athletic department are rather substantial. Overall, from the final year of Shula and through the first five years of Saban, there was 45.6% increase, with two years of decreases but three years of 20%-plus growth in department revenue. 

Interestingly, scholarship expenses are up 44.16% in that same period, and money spent on coaching staff is up 45.18% too. Profit from rights and licensing is up 53.97% since Saban as well.

Courtesy of MWolverine.com, we also find that Leach, Henson and Henne combine for a 2-2 record against Notre Dame (this is more for historical note, considering the current state of that rivalry) and 8-1 versus Michigan State. Some great names, and per the MLive story, Morris will keep the number when Gardner moves on. 

MGoBlue lists Mike Jones as a resdshirt senior, which would mean potentially that he is in a position to graduate this spring and has one year of eligibility left, if he wanted to play (and start grad school) somewhere else. Regardless, hopefully his Michigan degree grabs him some success and best of luck to him in the future. 

As I recall, Marvin Robinson started UTL in 2011 and put together a pretty good performance with seven tackles and five stops. He also had his first fumble recovery against Ohio State last year, so in his limited time on the field, he has come through. We will always have those moments, of course. Best of luck to Marvin Robinson in his future. 

The Yahoo! story (HERE) has a few quotes from his former high school coach who is (quite correctly) worried and said (also correctly) that football was simply out of the question and it has to be about getting his life in order. The sentence that Yahoo! ended their piece with expresses this very well:

"Young needs a lot of help (or some time away from general society), and he needs it very, very soon. Stories like this don't generally get better -- they tend to end in tragedy."

For the moment, I am sort of overseeing the manufacture by the kids of homemade Mother's Day gifts, including the decoration of a card with what appears to be no less than 3,000 Monster High stickers. 

Later on, I'll have to give my own mother a call since the parents are currently at their cabin up near Hillman, MI experience a couple inches of lovely May snow (per my father's e-mail yesterday). 

Despite the chilly weather, there is more wood chip distribution to do - part of my gift is apparently going to be continued relandscaping. Dinner will be grilled tuna and mixed vegetables. Pretty sure that means the kids will opt for mac and cheese, but we'll have a fun-filled Mother's Day all the same. 

To the OP - I will definitely use that photo. 

I found an old NYT article (January 1991) on this very subject....

The reduction was gradual - 95 to 92 in 1992-93, then to 88 in 1993-94, then finally to 85 in 1994-95. Your point stands, however - actually, in 2006, I think we played seven freshman at various points during the season. Even going back to Ricky Powers, who only started one game as a freshman but accumulated 789 rushing yards in 1990, we've relied on freshman in key positions from time to time. 

....by Mad Magazine, but I think we have the innovative spirit at Michigan to make a go of it.

Here is a link to the original explanation of the game (LINK) - anything that starts with someone shouting "Mi Tio es infermo, pero la carretera es verde!" has to be a winner.

Failing that, of those listed, I would say Men's Volleyball - it's an exciting game. 

"Honestly, the Wolverines may not be an underdog all season. They may be vs. Notre Dame on Sept. 7 vs. a Fighting Irish squad that figures to have a strong offense but reworked defense. If the Wolverines beat ND, they may be 7-0 entering their bye week on Oct. 26."

Actually, if you were to use the Sagarin numbers from this past season, Notre Dame would be the only game in which the Wolverines would be a decided underdog, and then only by about 1 TD or so - and that's not accounting for addition and attrition, if you will. There are a few tossups (Penn State, Michigan State, and one or two others as I recall). If we use this as a basis, however,  there wouldn't be any game in which they would we at a huge disadvantage (indeed, in most, we would be at a distinct advantage) by the numbers available anyway. 

I still have a copy of that in my office at home - that would have been the middle of my sophomore year at Michigan. I actually travelled to the game, stayed with family and had to call my parents in Saline to pick up a few copies of the next morning's Free Press regardless of the outcome. It is one of the first things I see when I walk in there. 

As for the interview, that was a pretty good listen - hopefully, Woodson gets an opportunity somewhere this year, but even now, it has been a pretty good career for Charles Woodson. He's already been to 8 Pro Bowls and has been a seven-time All-Pro selection, if I am not mistaken. Further, he's been the AP defensive player of the year twice, and the NFL's interceptions leader twice. 

To the OP - thanks for sharing this interview. 

We have the problem of living near a marsh as well as in an area with poor drainage, so unfortunately, so it makes the situation with mulching and composting interesting. We almost have to do this every year because we have a problem with certain pervasive weeds which creep in from the marsh from time to time, and putting a layer down helps to mitigate them for a while anyway. We also can't put too much down anywhere either because we need water to evaporate fairly quickly (if possible) where we are or else it will start collecting in spots, and this of course brings on the mosquitoes. 

As it is, we turned our outside sump pump line into an irrigation system for the beds nearest the house (which are much drier) because during and after rains, we see so much water. I sometimes feel like leaving notes on do-it-yourself land reclamation for the the next house of my house. 

Florida's would definitely win for the most uneasing - I can only imagine having to play 60 minutes of regulation with the eyes of Will Muschamp fixed on you at all times. For some reason, I saw Oregon's and imagined a game call where they would describe Marcus Mariota, battling typhoid, as fording the line of scrimmage with 1000 pounds of offensive linemen in his wagon. 

Dr. Saturday has a formal rebuttal here (LINK). 

Here's the passage I enjoyed in particular:

"This comes down to a pretty simple math problem. For all SEC games, there has to be a .500 record at the end. If Alabama, Texas A&M, Florida, South Carolina, LSU and Georgia are all among the top 10 or so strongest teams in the nation, as they were last year, and Vanderbilt, Mississippi State and Ole Miss get into bowl games, as they did, some teams are eating a lot of losses. No, coach, the entire conference can't be good at once. It's mathematically impossible."

I was rummaging through the CFB Data Warehouse, and if I am not mistaken, Stoops is 3-3 agains traditional SEC teams like Alabama, Florida and LSU, but 19-4 overall against his former conference compatriots Missouri and Texas A&M. If you're Bob Stoops, apparently the worst teams in other conferences are just materially better than the current cellar dwellers in the SEC. 

According to the Palm Beach Post, Will Muschamp, himself a Big 12 assistant at one point, rang in on this:

“I’d be saying the same thing if I were in the Big 12,” he joked. “I said it for three years.”

A few people have touched on the circumstances, but here is the related USA Today story which outlines them, in case anyone was interested (LINK).

The story basically reports that Bielema did say that he would consider Mitchell at WR, but it also says that this was news to Brandon Mitchell, hinting that he may not have known offhand that he was out of the running at starting QB. It also mentions that Mitchell had some difficulties in adapting to Jim Chaney's offense. 

Here is what Mitchell said, presumably before the transfer and while still fighting for the starting QB job: 

"With the competition not being over at quarterback, I'm just focused on strictly quarterback," Mitchell said at the time. "I don't even want to consider anything else right now. My mind's on quarterback."

"I have a long-standing opposition to the NCAA rulebook (which isn't the point of this column) but like the rules or not, there is little doubt they were violated here." - Dan Wetzel, in this column

Clearly he does, as there is 10.1(c) under "Unethical Conduct", which applies to current or prospective student-athletes which reads:

"Knowing involvement in offering or providing a prospective or an enrolled student-athlete an improper inducement or extra benefit or improper financial aid;"

There's also Section 16, which explicitly defines the acceptance of extra benefits (outside of certain obscure exceptions, none of which are applicable here) as illicit per the rulebook. For example:

"16.10.2.1 Unitemized Expenses. A student-athlete may not accept money for unspecified or unitemized expenses from any organization or individual."

Does he merely disagree with these sections or is it the existence of rules that bother Wetzel? I sometimes wonder. 

If you live in the Detroit area, the Wings will start on FSD Plus and switch to FSD at the conclusion of the Tiger game per a tweet from Ryan Field. 

The article linked within what the OP posted is here - (LINK). Although this is from 2010, I think we've seen the effects of the phenomenon described in it with our own recruiting, and that is the increasining importance of the unofficial visit.

By NCAA rule, of course, those are visits made on the dime of the recruit. That being said, it seems like schools which are in destinations that are, by virtue of location, less convenient or more expensive to visit if air travel is required (as an example) have seen some shifts in their recruiting patterns. I also wonder if that trend gives schools with  rich recruiting territory within reasonable distance an even greater advantage. 

With regards to Nebraska, it seems to me (and ChicagoB1GRed mentions it) that they've done well enough despite the issue of location. I believe that some of the bigger names and the schools more steeped in tradition will still be able to ultimately attract some of the top talent simply because of who they are and what they offer in the way of football experience. 

Here is what Jerry Hinnen posted last month for purposes of comparison (LINK). Actually, Hinnen posted Phil Steele's prediction, which goes as follows:

Top Five, in order - Alabama, Ohio State, Oregon, Stanford, Texas A&M

Five Big Ten teams - Ohio State (2), Nebraska (17), Michigan (19), Northwestern (20) and Wisconsin (24). 

Six SEC teams - Alabama (1), Texas A&M (5), Georgia (6), Florida (8), South Carolina (9) and LSU (12)

On my way downtown for a meeting last month, they had some of the very banners in the video draped across the caging for the walkways above the Lodge (one was near Warren, another near Selden) and a few up and down I-94. 

That was a great video with some good shots of the city - I really did like the opening pan of the bridge with downtown as the backdrop. 

Thanks for sharing that. 

I believe Card had several suitors for the film rights going back the 1980s even, although I don't know how this would have looked with 1980s effects technology - likely not 1/10th of the trailer that Blazefire posted. It looks awesome - thanks for sharing this. 

I think Card was interviewed a few times in the 90s about making "Ender's Game" into a film, but as I recall, he would discuss where he wanted to take any such attempt, never committing to anything. I remember hearing once that this film was within earshot of being a go in 2003, and that Wolfgang Petersen was supposed to direct it. That fell apart obviously. 

I will echo the recommendation of "Ender's Game" - if you haven't read the book, definitely do so. 

"Wonder why they didnt schedule a meeting for football would have loved to see us go against Rich Rods new team just to see how we match up. What do you guys think?"

I could be wrong here as I am trying to remember disjointed articles, but when Rodriguez was hired by Arizona, I had thought there was some speculation that Arizona had offered to put Michigan on the schedule at some point within the first few years of his tenure there. As I recall, most of our OOC slots for a few years out were already taken, so it wasn't likely to begin with, and I believe that Michigan's response to the idea was cool at best. Again, I could be misremembering something. 

In any case, this will make for two games against the Pac-12 inside a week - I believe that we play Stanford a week later on December 21st at Barclays Center. Between these and the Puerto Rico Tip-Off and the Big Ten-ACC Challenge, I am liking the OOC slate this coming season. 

"“I didn’t talk to anybody, I didn’t call 32 GMs and try to get a seventh if (draft pick) or anything like that,’’ Mayhew said on Feb. 7. “It’s my job to know what his value is and he didn’t have any trade value.’’"

For Young, that's probably the most telling statement - he had destroyed his value as a player through his own actions, and this statement was made back in February. The Lions saw no point in even trying to assemble a trade.

Getting arrested twice in 15 hours doesn't exactly work to recover any of that value either. Actually, that achievement may very well have shut the door on any useful NFL career period, or at least gone quite a ways to doing so. 

The worst part of this is that he does have a family (his son was born last August, I think) - if nothing else, hopefully he can get some help for their sake, although this might require some sort of galvanic revelation that Young obviously has not yet experienced sadly. 

....and sure enough, I have mine as well - CMU and Ohio. As the extra tickets were supposed to be part of a belated 44th anniversary gift to my parents, I will give them a choice as to which game they would like to attend with my wife and I. 

SI.com has a short synopsis of the contractual side of the arrangement in its article (HERE). 

According to the article, the main driver for the CBS-Turner partnership in the first place is affordability and attempting to maintain some sports properties on the networks, fairly similar to ABC shuffling Monday Night Football to ESPN. Essentially it is a contract option that Turner is exercising - the contract itself between CBS and Turner runs until 2024, if I am not mistaken, so you would see some games on CBS at least until then. 

The article makes an interesting point though - 

"As long as all cable viewers, regardless of interest in sports, continue to subsidize sports watchers, this is how things are going to work. Turner, which already had a very significant stake in this arrangement (explaining the ample use of NBA analysts in studio on their coverage and TruTV being utilized), can now use these additional properties as even more leverage for subscription fee increases."

Nice interview, and thanks for sharing.

It is nice to see the family culture of the program come up consistently in interviews as one of the primary drivers for recruits and signees. This and the tradition, which Hurst also mentions, make us that much more attractive, I would say. Most importantly, Hurst - and others have mentioned it - they trust the staff to put them in positions where they can succeed.

I think this is what must happen when you're in the tier below ABC / ESPN, because compare that list to some of the primetime Big Ten games already on the sechedule for the ESPN family of networks:

September 7th - Michigan vs. Notre Dame - 8 PM

September 28th - Wisconsin vs. Ohio State - 8 PM

October 5th - Ohio State vs. Northwestern - 8 PM

October 12th  - Michigan vs. Penn State - 5 PM

The Purde / Notre Dame game is also a primetime game to be on an as yet to be determined ESPN network, but so far, Purdue, Wisconsin and Penn State are the only Big Ten teams that are not Michigan or Ohio State in the ESPN listings. 

For reference in this discussion, here is an article from NBA.com which contains portions of the Pistons' formal press release on the subject of hiring Phil Jackson as an advisor - LINK

"“Phil’s role is to advise Joe, Tom and the ownership team, not to assume a formal position inside the Pistons organization,” Barnhill said."

That quote would seem to fit with Jackson's plan to re-insert himself into the NBA, at least to date. There's also been some discussion about Jackson at least listening to the Toronto Raptors about their Basketball Operations position here - LINK

"Jackson, 67, is not actively seeking a return to the NBA as a coach, but rather would covet a leading role in shaping a franchise from the coaching staff to personnel decisions. According to the person familiar with Jackson's plans, he is keeping his options open but seems to prefer a role similar to Jerry West's advisory role with the Golden State Warriors over a team presidency in the Pat Riley mold."

Nobody really seems to know. There is some vauge speculation that teams as diverse as Charlotte and Minnesota have at least inquired, or tried to do so. Phil Jackson mentioned in a San Fransisco Chronicle article that he has been approached by a few teams to be their operational head. 

My friend at the liquor store found a case of Cidre Bouche, made by Domaine Dupont in Normandy. French ciders are actually quite good and if you can find them, I do recommend them highly. Well worth the price indeed. That being said, the Dodgers-Giants game is likely not the best way to enjoy this, I am finding. 

...on eBay (HERE) although it seems to be from a collectible site, so who knows if it is related to the Craiglist entry. They want $3,300 for a 2008 Big Ten Championship ring with #99 on it, although I could have sworn Thomas wore #98 on the 2008 Buckeyes (closest number I could think of). Other searches show some Ohio State stuff that has gone up in the past two days from just a few people, so maybe this guy is indeed listing these items there as well. 

As I recall, Posey, Pryor, Thomas, Adams and Herron all have to give back over $1,000 or so of what they received anyway, so they not only sold their memories, they were then asked to repay a substantial portion - if not all of it - per NCAA rules. As to BlockM's post, it might very well be that the best thing to do is return these rings to Mordor.

At least for September 28th, we'll be in Chicago visiting some of my wife's relatives. Supposedly, they have secured tickets for the White Sox-Royals game that Saturday already, and it will be a good opportunity to start the kids on a journey I have worked on myself over the past decade or so - see a game in every MLB park. I've been to only 12 so far myself though, but there's plenty of time yet. 

Unless I missed or forgot something, the Alumni Association Club Of Downriver did not have anything going this weekend. I will definitely bring it up to the President of my chapter. At work, we actually volunteer at Gleaner's in Taylor every quarter and spend an afternoon packaging food boxes, so perhaps it could be something like that as well. Awesome work, Toledo alums. 

If you have a point to make, trublue616, then "dumbass" and "tool" are not really the best way to communicate that point. We're better than gratuitous name calling around here. Points return in a month. 

What makes this even more meaningful, I believe, is that this will be the fulfillment of a promise he made to himself and his family and even in the midst of all the NFL-related activities, it is one that he would always say he fully intended to keep. The education came first through all of that, it seemed. I seem to recall that even during his recruitment, he was very clear about this promise too, and now that day is tomorrow.

 I think that not only future students and student-athletes should take note of this, but also his teammates on the Jaguars - this is one highly motivated, high-character individual who has managed his time and priorities exactly as you would expect a professional in their field to manage them.

It is the effective end of Denard's journey at Michigan, but the beginning of a new chapter and I wish him nothing but success. 

If you're using an older version of Internet Explorer, this occurs, at least from what I can recall - the issue came up in a separate thread ages ago. I believe it has to do with how older version of IE dealt with background transparency on PNG, GIF and other files. It doesn't happen in any other browser that I am aware of, and it doesn't happen in IE8, which is what I have to use at work. 

As for Roundtree, it is nice to see him get a shot at an NFL roster - there's always a team that needs depth at WR, so I hope to see Roy out there on Sunday one of these days. Always nice to see our guys at the next level too. 

Here is the NCAA's press release, which has a little more information (HERE). 

One interesting item in here is that the Board of Directors actually declined to change its position on a proposal which would prohibit the live scouting of opponents, even though it also received more than the needed number of override requests. This one will actually go to a full vote.

As for the recruiting legislation, it seems that the direction they want to go with this is to develop a comprehensive model for recruiting practices rather than piecework legislation now, or at least that's the sense I get from the release. 

I'll start with this from the Washington Post, which I thought was interesting - LINK

Essentially, there is a hearing on May 23rd which pertains to the lawsuit over the ACC exit fee, which Maryland does not wish to pay, of course. One of the arguments that may come up actually is the grant of rights as well as the additions of Louisville and Notre Dame (sort of anyway). The idea here, it seems, is that the ACC is not really in a position to claim much financial injury from Maryland's exit, other things considered, or at least that's how the state of Maryland would like to approach it. The grant of rights here, in the case of the ACC, might very well bring down or mitigate other disincentives to exit, if that's what a team really wanted to do. 

It seems like even if a grant of rights were to stick, and the precedent became that conferences could enact them (there is a feeling some of these agreements might get challenged in court), I still think the major conferences are in position to make moves based on perceived future value.

Of course, there may not be a lot of teams that have sufficient future value to the major conferences to get a sniff, if you will, so perhaps it makes realignment a slower, more deliberate process with far more legal potholes potentially (such as negotiating the reacquisition of media rights, which would be pricey, I would imagine), but I don't see it ending necessarily. I have a feeling there might be some moves at least studied to make television contracts more lucrative in the next few years. 

Chad Ford posted something which will run through various lottery scenarios based on the NBA's current formula (HERE). It will show the current chances for each team and the available picks, and if you hit "Play Lottery" it will run a random draft scenario and show the potential order of selection for each pick. I ran it several times and the range in which Burke kept falling was the third to sixth pick based on the algorithm Ford used. It's an interesting exercise all the same. 

Fantastic work, sir.

"It’s not all bad. The NCAA is now kind enough to allow a manufacturer’s logo or trademark to appear on each pylon." - from the Sporting News article

I suppose you can't have everything, but someone will manage to create a situation where we will eventually hear, "The end zone pylons used on the field today are sponsored by Stouffer's.....Stouffer's, where every touchdown should feel this good." 

If you looked at the full presentation on Scribd, linked here, it will have adaptable VIP Suites for a "made-to-order VIP experience". One design also has a full 360-degree board for what it calls the "immersion" experience. The concept design for the monitor placement in one slide sort of reminds me of all those times I would put my face right on the TV when I was little so I could physically see individual pixels on screen. You might be able to do that without trying in some of these designs. 

All in all, these are very interesting though - they actually take natural outdoor ventilation into account for temperature control as well. The "Pantheon" section shows the proposed operation of the "Occulus" roof. 

One of the things that makes the ratings of this class to date relevant to how well recruiting has gone and how we should be able to do in the Big Ten in particular is that the Big Ten only claims 14 of those ESPN 100 players. Those 14 players are split among only 7 of the 12 teams, and the only team in the conference that has more on the list than we do is Indiana. It's just something else that says to me that we firmly intend to be in the conversation, as they say. Like others, I am completely amazed - in a most excellent way - by the talent we're getting and Beilein's ability to develop said talent. 

"I'm serious about schoolwork so when things start affecting that it's time to cut that part of it off. I just want to focus on keeping my grades up and getting my team a national championship."

I really do like his attitude towards this - he seems very focused on "doing", if you will, and the present and wants to do just as well now as he hopes to do in the future, both academically and athletically. It seems like he has found a nice balance for himself now, a grounded approach which will definitely help him in both arenas later. 

Per the site where the voting took place, this was the official description:

"Representing the ascent of teams to the playoffs, two gold brackets surround a 'virtual' football, and allude to the championship trophy."

For some reason, and it might be the nerd in me, I will now always think of NCAA headquarters as Isengard and this is their Eye Of Sauron. Thanks, College Football Playoff. 

Just so the OP is aware, the feeling on paywalled articles is to basically leave the article itself some value and not to copy and paste large portions or the entire thing. That's where the problems arise. 

What you have done here is spot on, I would think, in taking carefully selected portions of the information. 

As for these names, it seems unlikely that we land them all, of course, but even half of them would still contribute in a great way to what is looking like an amazing class so far. 

....albeit with a different title.

Michigan's involvement with Adidas settlement

All the same, it is a fascinating topic, but this thread was a few hours too late sadly. 

...and what a valuable resource we've lost because of that. Terrible news. Hopefully, MGoVideo is able to exist again somewhere. Immediate reaction, of course....

"YOUTUBE!!!"

I could be wrong, but I think we were near this same spot in the rankings which appeared about this time last year, so it is nice to see that they seem to believe that we are holding steady, if nothing else. Even with the loss of Burke and Hardaway, the retained and incoming talent should definitely aid in making this upcoming season another nice one, from the looks of it. One thing of note is that in McGary and Robinson, we are returning almost 40% of team rebounds from this past season and about 25% of the scoring between them, with Stauskas providing another 15% or so percent of that - improvement on these already significant contributions sounds pretty good to me. 

Here's Juwann Bushell-Beatty's Hudl.com page - (HERE)

That site lists him at 6'6" and 315 lbs., so we're not just grading roads - these are freeways we intend to build through defensive lines in the future. I like that approach.

Welcome to Michigan!

Five strikeouts for the Braves this evening, bringing their total for this series to 32 K's. All weekend, we have had some pretty solid pitching against the team with the best record in the NL to date. Then again, the Braves lead the NL in strikeouts too. It's like a whole team of Dave Kingmans and Reggie Jacksons from that standpoint. 

If someone really wantedto do a service while trying to alter anything, they should have at least given the public a fifth option to lessen the chances of one of the other four designs winning this contest, or even a "none of the above" option. If you're going to tinker with this particular contest, at least do it sensibly. 

Even my son, who is rather easy-going, took one look at the page and said simply, "No."

I was going back through the hockey databases after the game was over - it really is a wonderful run. The last time the Red Wings failed to make the playoffs, I was in 7th grade, and in my entire life to date, they've only missed the playoffs seven times (only twice since I was 5 years old). I don't know how many teams could claim that overall level of performance for that long, even with the relatively varied level of success in the playoffs. Truly an incredible run for the Red Wings. 

Will's renaissance and willingness to not only work hard (to the point where Hoke wanted him to put weight back) but take on a leadership role by sort of taking charge of the defensive line by helping to conduct film sessions and so forth will be part of his Michigan legacy. 

Good luck to Big Will Campbell! I wish him the best at the next level. 

Mississippi State's letter to Ferns is a classic because it is simple and to the point, of course, and I agree that we should probably make a Photoshopped Mississippi State offer part of the "Hello" post. For contrast, North Carolina State, not to be outdone by the likes of the SEC....

I think that "The Journey" is one of the better offerings among the regular shows on BTN, but I had not seen this one before and it was awesome to rekindle the memories of being there to see it in person. 

 I saw the replay on BTN the next day - I think their call of game-winning FG basically captured what was going through a lot of minds in the stadium: "Gibbons.......GIBBONS.....IT'S GOOD"

Only two Braves managed to evade putting up a "K", and they were both in-game substitutions - Tyler Pastornicky and Jordan Schafer. Dan Uggla, Freddie Freeman and Juan Fransisco accounted for 11 of the 18 strikeouts by Tigers pitching. 

My work group had the suite tonight too, and I couldn't go last night, but this was just as fun to watch on television. 

My hope was that the Lions, at least in the beginning, would go with straight needs-based picks and do so in a logical order. It seems that they have done just that, and that at least is nice to see as a Lions fan, I think.

Overall, I think the upside for Ansah is potentially huge - they'll have to really work with him if they want him to be an immediate impact player, I believe, because of the experience deficit. Still, for a team that needed an effective pass rush, someone of Ansah's stature and athleticism at DE is an upgrade. I liked the Darius Slay pick - a good, fast and physical CB is something that Detroit needs desperately. Larry Warford looks like someone who will fit well in the OL here in Detroit. 

Brent Yarina posted the breakdown of the Big Ten in last year's draft (HERE) at its conclusion. The link also contains a breakdown by school and position, but round-by-round, it was:

1st round - 4

2nd round - 7

3rd round - 3

4th round - 5

5th round - 6

6th round - 7

7th round - 9

That makes for a total of 41 players from the Big Ten last year, with 73% of them being drafted in the 4th round or later. In 2011, only 29 players from the Big Ten were drafted, and if anyone can find the distribution, please post it so there is more data (many of the links I found seem to be dead) It will be interesting to see what the dirstribution is this year regardless of the number. 

First and foremost, happy birthday!

I actually took my team bowling this week for a nice pizza lunch / decompress the other day. As expected, I am the worst bowler in the group, so my grandfather's skill did indeed skip a generation. That being said, it may very well have been the first time I broke 100 in two straight games. I did, however, kick butt at Pac-Man in the arcade on the way out. I set a terrible example for my team admittedly. 

On Saturday, the kids have a party - their own, this time. We're hosting a small gathering for their school friends at Pump It Up in Taylor. After that, we're taking them to Build-A-Bear at Twelve Oaks for a toy of their choosing. After we get home, I plan to burn my MasterCard.

On Sunday, it's yard work and beer mainly. Because I live near woods and therefore leaves - dead  or alive - fall throughout the year, I have to rake out several flower beds. I do plan to start with mainly yardwork and make the gradual shift to beer as the afternoon wears on. 

This is actually a really great idea with a world of possibilities. There are probably enough players for each letter that you could even have a couple examples for each, as some of my own children's pictures books had (sadly, they were not Michigan-themed picture books). 

For example:

"W", you might think

Is an uspide down "M"

But tell that to the Wisterts

Or Wheatly or Woodson

Or any of these men. 

Another example:

"H", rife with talent, almost too much

From Hammerstein to Hayes

And from Harbaugh to Hutch

I thought it was Mark Dantonio just a few days ago that said, regarding other teams in the division / conference, that it was their problem and they would have to deal with it. He seemed all too eager to take on all comers. I don't know if you can have it both ways, if indeed Michigan State is the school that is unsatisfied. 

For some reason, I thought of Ted L. Nancy's (well, really a guy named Barry Marder)  "Letters From A Nut" series the whole time I was reading this e-mail. It's a little less subtle than the letters in those books, but it is basically as funny...actually, a bit moreso in some ways. 

Also, in skimming through responses to the e-mail, it appears Alison Haislip (of "Attack Of The Show!" and "The Voice") did her own version, and it was fairly close to how I imagined this being read by the author (of course, link only as NSFW).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQB812PtvgE

The QB draw would have been good there, yes. I would think that if Renner really wanted be a sport about it, however, he should have just taken a knee for what would have been a loss of 3 or 4 yards on the play and brought back briefly the Bunting-Davis era of football at North Carolina. He also could have arranged for someone to come off the sideline with an open umbrella to flush him out of the pocket, or what remained of it. 

The News-Herald article to which the CBS article links is short but does contain a few interesting tidbits.. As I am not terribly familiar with Lee Barfknecht's background, I am not sure how well-connected he is, but here is what he said in regards to expansion talk not being completely dead:

"These people — from conference offices and major-college athletic departments — all agreed that any number of lawyers would be delighted to challenge those deals in court."

He said in reference to some people to whom he spoke regarding the "Grant Of Rights" issue. As you will recall, the ACC's specific deal was outlined in a thread a few days ago. He broaches the possibility of conferences expanding based on future value even if claims on media rights were upheld, which is interesting to consider.  

From the tone of articles on the subject, both Leyland and Dombrowski are taking a "one game at a time" approach, which is completely fair and how the "Valverde Experiment", if you will, should be approached right now. As other have touched on, it is early in the season, and the simplest solution to plugging holes in the roster is to find the plug within the organization - in the case of the Tigers, you have a closer who is third among active closers for career saves and one who has converted 93% of his save attempts over the last three years. I would think that the overall resume makes this a worthwhile experiment before you start foraging for prospects in the system that might tempt a team into giving you someone else who can fill the closer role. 

It was nice to see him back last night, and back to form - Gordon, Escobar and Butler accounted for half the Royals' hits and 3 of their 5 runs and Valverde got them out in order. Not a bad way to begin a return at all. 

Per the original ruling last summer regarding the waiver of transfer rules in this case (HERE), as long as it is done before 2013 preseason practice, any player is immediately eligible even if they are prospective (they could be released from their LOI, if I read this correctly). Current players who enroll at another school before the fall term of 2013 would be immediately eligible if they are practicing with the new team before then and are academically eligible. 

....at MGoUser request due to trouble with the original link. 

(HERE) - this was the link. The workaround in Chrome (which only worked for me sporadically over several trials) is to "X" out of the digital subscriber sign in then arrow back to the original link. If anyone can repost this with the same or similar link, feel free to do so. 

The garden in Miami which they highlighted (I think they filmed portions of it in the other video on the Hope For Pahokee site too) looks awesome, if that's the base inspiration for the layout. I thought that having a section for each housing project in Pahokee was a very cool idea too. 

I believe they also applied for a grant from the Florida Department Of Agriculture late last year, but I don't know if there have been any updates on the status of the application. 

It is great to see two people who gave so much to Michigan take that same energy and dedication and use it in their community. 

If I am not mistaken, $10 of every bottle sold goes to C.S. Mott Children's Hospital as well as Von Voightlander Women's Hospital, so not only is Woodson an oenophile of sorts, he uses his love of wine as a vehicle for giving back to his alma mater as well. 

Major kudos to Cameron Lyle for this. Hopefully his donation will buy this person more than a few years too. It would be even better if this meant someone had the opportunity to lead a full life, especially when those chances apparently seemed rather remote in the beginning.

One of the very intriguing things about how this class is shaping up thus far is that, among the six recruits for 2014 to date, our largest competitors in terms of schools also offering these players are Alabama, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Wisconsin. Things bode well, and a 6'6" TE is not a bad thing to have. Welcome to Michigan, Ian Bunting!

Not only is the cover rather good, but the game is due on store shelves on my birthday too. I will have to let my wife know that I will forego the normal practical birthday gifts and opt for this.

I was curious about that too, but according to his MGoBlue profile, he did not play in any games in the 2009-10 season, so Blake must have redshirted during his freshman year. 

Nonetheless, he was an important part of the senior leadership which got this team to the championship game and that will not be forgotten. Good luck, Blake!

This is a comparatively anicent Internet submission (2002, from the looks of it, but the rules around this haven't changed to my knowledge), but it explains in an entertaining way the 23 way that you can legally get to first base along with some of the background on "stealing first" and why it is no longer permitted. 

(HERE)

It's an old ESPN Magazine link, but the question was answered by baseball historian Eric Enders. 

The conference-specific links list Brady Hoke as the fourth best in the Big Ten Conference. The author's specific statement / criticism is as follows:

"Hard to argue with 19 wins in two seasons, but Hoke’s managing of the quarterback spot last season was bizarre at best. From not letting Denard Robinson run vs. Alabama in the season opener, to not replacing him soon enough with Devin Gardner when it became obvious Michigan needed to throw the ball to win big games."

So, essentially, forget that we put up a better offensive performance than several of Alabama's opponents, or little details like that - we are getting dinged largely on their disagreement with our QB management apparently. This is a list which certainly doesn't look at records three-dimensionally, if you will. 

Fitzgerald and O'Brien would rank as second and third in his conference-specific lists, both because of what would essentially be offshoots the broader "doing more with less" argument, albeit for vastly different reasons at each school. 

In the Kansas Liveblog, joeyb wagered 10,000 points on Michigan winning, hence his current total. In going back through the liveblog, as I didn't want to be wrong, I just noted Brown Bear wagered all of his points. I suppose I could fix that. 

They actually did suspend this guy (HERE).

The very cool thing about the comments from locals, however, is that they are generally supportive and would like the station to give Mr. Clemente a shot at redemption. 

Still, Deadspin posted his postmortem of the performance from Clemente's own Twitter (now disabled, it seems). He said, "It couldn't have gone any worse."

Here's what the last five games before today have looked like offensively:

That's good for a .208 batting average, a .280 slugging percentage and a .270 OBP, if I calculated these correctly. Now would be a good time to turn it around, although leaving six on base already is a little unsettling. 

In the early rounds, I would prefer that the first three picks be - positionwise - OL, DE and CB in no particular order necessarily (although addressing the O-line and and end positions would be nice to get out of the way). I would think Eric Fisher, if available, would be a nice choice for the Lions if we go with OL help early. The safe pick - if available - for DE is probably Bjoern Werner, although Damontre Moore might not be a bad get here either. DeMarcus Milliner - if available - would be a great get too, but I wouldn't complain about Desmond Trufant at CB either. 

I wil lsay that Kill has done quite a bit to make the Minnesota program accessible to its fans, from what I hear. I believe that all spring practices have been open to the public for his tenure to date, which I am sure they enjoy. It's another way of creating a family atmosphere around a program really. 

That, and having 200-300 people staring down the FG unit is definitely one way to practice working under pressure, I would think. 

....and so everyone can get an idea of the full outfit, here is a released photo of the uniform that goes with the helmet:

The poll over at UConn's blog is about a 70/30 split favoring the idea that the helmet is the most embarrassing thing created by human hands, but some seem to like the uniforms. 

About this time last month, someone decorated the statue in Valparaiso gear in the run-up to the Spartans' game against them in the NCAA Tournament as well - (LINK)

"Jourdan Rasmussen, a 23-year-old student at the MSU College of Law, said after restoring the Spartan statue he's "never been prouder to be a Spartan."

Imagine that your proudest moment in your college career is removing the gear of Valparaiso University from your beloved statue.  

As for this incident, I think Nick Baumgardner has a good perspective on things:

That Spartan statue sure washes up well ... was vandalized for the 4,746,363rd time (approximately) this AM bit.ly/Z9ohW8

— Nick Baumgardner (@nickbaumgardner) April 20, 2013

Not the most scientific way to do this, but I took a slightly different path - I took the overall records since 2000 and calculated the "average record" and put those into the proposed divisions to get some vague (key word) sense of competitive partiy for these. It turns out that, in this scenario, the East would have a 0.588 winning percentage and the West would have a 0.576 winning percentage in that snapshot. Each division would then have only one team whose average performance was sub-.400 since 2000, which seems fair on the surface. 

If they had done the other thing that was considered as well and put Purdue in the East and Indiana in the West, then the divisions, using the same method, are skewed by a good 8% when it comes to winning percentage and the West would have the two worst performing Big Ten teams since 2000. For parity on a broad level, I think these divisions that will be voted on by the presidents and chancellors might be about as fair as it gets from a team performance standpoint if geography is the driver.

The reaction of Ted Kremer, the batboy, was great to watch - and there is a very heartwarming story behind how he got to be the batboy initially last year. Ted's story is in the Cincinnati Enquirer here - it's from last September, but I remember this when I saw the thread. It's a great read and talks about how the Reds have been the better for the experience.

Interestingly, Todd Frazier was the same person who hit one of the more bizarre home runs in the majors last year - doing so without apparently having the bat physically in hand. This year, he's hit one of the more meaningful ones. 

Thanks for sharing this story. 

Mike O'Hara's column has some other Mayhew quotes on the subject, if anyone is interested - (HERE).

“He’s the type of player you have to have a plan for,” Mayhew said. “If you take him, you have to know what you’re going to do with him because he can do a lot of different things, but you’ve got to really specify what his role’s going to be on your football team.”

This was, of course, the introduction to the term "Swiss Army type of player" for Mayhew. I personally believe that the Lions have more immediate concerns, such as the offensive line and perhaps a defensive end for starts, but I would tend to think that most any NFL team could benefit greatly in potentially several aspects of their game from drafting Denard Robinson. If that team ends up being the Lions, I certainly wouldn't complain - looking at needs, they definitely could carve out a role for him. 

ESPN 150 is released

If not for a rush of threads yesterday evening, yesterday's thread on this very subject would likely still be at the bottom of the first page. 

Nick Baumgardner wrote an interesting piece which contains a cool prologue to today's presser that might be cool to share here. 

(HERE) - full article

Late on Wednesday, Glenn Robinson III and Mitch McGary talked over their decision during a one-on-one at the gym, even though Mitch says he was clear on what he wanted to do as early as Tuesday. I thought that was actually a pretty cool image. 

McGary on Robinson: "We're like brothers," McGary said. "Coach says we're joined at the hip, I don't think it's that serious. But (part of my decision relied on) what he was doing."

With regards to the site's soon-to-be former occupant, there was an AnnArbor.com article (HERE) a few weeks ago which indicates that they are quite hopeful about finding a new location before the lease expires in August. 

"Asked if Blimpy Burger could close permanently, Magner said that’s not an option."

That being said, thank you, Mr. Munger. The proposed structure really does sound awesome.