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So let me get this straight: Wetzel wants Michigan to apologize to Weber for something the NCAA made them do, a situation Ed Martin created, and from which Chris Webber ultimately profited?  

Webber was on the dole four or five years before he came to Ann Arbor.  I find no moral issue with that choice, as a matter of fact, but that is not something for which Michigan should apologize. 

I think it is pretty much fair fucks--nobody should apologize to anyone for anything.  Michigan was punished, Webber was punished, for their respective wrongs, which were not transgressions against one another. 

Whoa that is old news.  I had a bat child poster on my wall in my apartment in Ann Arbor, 1998-1999. 

Edit: girlfriend at the time made me cover it up when she slept over. 

This is very much about Michigan sports.  MSC has had input into every significant coaching hire.  Word is, MSC blackballed Kirk Ferentz, who she had known from her Iowa days. 

I played football for Grady Sr and we loved him. He worked the Hell out of us, and we had a winning team with like every guy playing both ways. He is a tremendous motivator and a good defensive coach.

Yale making the Finals does make the loss to ND more painful, because the field was pretty open (I mean, it's always more open than March Madness, or college football).  ND lit us up pretty good this year. 

No, it's a badass sport. Bad for overall excitement for the sport but good for both programs in getting there. Frozen 4 isn't sweet only if Michigan makes it. It is an awesome event.

It is tough because it took a miracle to get as far as they did. So many thing have to go right to get to the finals. But today I am more in awe of the run they had than disappointed at what could have been. I was too young to appreciate the 89 team and the Fab 5. This was remarkable. They lost a classic game in which they played pretty well. They provided three weeks of memories in the Tournament. They will be remembered for a long time.

Delaney is barely getting by. I mean if they had to pay the talent they would have to shut the whole thing down.

Thanks.  Couldn't find this version on Spotify, so I added one by DJ Rell.

Twerp who wrote these tweets is a double-Florida grad whose "reporting" has been off-base before.  Check it out

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darren_Heitner

Either that or Robinson comes off the bench. He would add depth for sure. With Smotz his issues were mental.

To me the best sports weekend was April 2-4, 1998, when Michigan won the NCAA Hockey tournament, which was the same weekend as Hash Bash.  It was the end of the year, Ann Arbor was jumpin' with block parties & etc., and we were still floating on air from the 1998 Rose Bowl (and, erm, Hash Bash). 

Wolverine Historian makes a great point with the day Woodson won the Heisman, etc., and to me that weekend in April was like the capstone to a truly amazing year, one that without a doubt changed me for life (I went to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl, and there was no going back after that). 

Most Sparties that I know are appalled by these types of things, and think (probably correctly) that it makes Sparty a laughingstock.  But there is a hard-core element at MSU who carry this on.  Not having been anywhere near MSU in a dozen years, I am in no position to judge, but ten years ago the couch burning had a political potency that I actually admired. 

I was in college at Michigan during the first MSU riots, and having been in East Lansing on many occasions for several years leading up to that, I actually found there to be some legitimacy to the actions, which were pre-planned riots rather than the spotaneous 'mob violence' the media made it appear to be.  The East Lansing police were the most aggressive police force I had ever seen, or have seen since, in fifteen or so campuses accross the United States and abroad.  Officers would subject students to random searches on weekends.  This happened to me once.  Two officers tried to search a group of us, and I was like, have constitutional rights been suspended in East Lansing?  I got the 'stop and frisk' for speaking up.  No tickets or citations, this was pure intimidation, but never have I seen police force as confrontational or mean spirited. 

Anecdotally I have heard that the police-student relations actually improved after the riots, so maybe these are exactly the gratuitiously cretinous events that they are portrayed to be.  Or maybe this is a ritual paying homage to the 1999 riots.  In any event, I doubt that its coincidental that when Sparty students get to Spartying, they burn couches.  There is a symbolism to it, and it's not all bad, in my view, at least insofar as the pushing back against an East Lansing Police State is concerned.  (Even though couch-burning predates the 1999 riots, couch-burning was one of the enduring symbols of the 1999 riots.)

Sparty. B1G all the way.

KU is the epitome of B1G opponent. Like IU with a weaker Olidipo. Tough matchup. We need a healthy Morgan.

UK has 5 McDonalds All Americans. Those frosh could be forced into a choice between late 2nd round or off the bench next year.

Forgot about Campy.  He's top 15.  Man, Johnny Orr is the most underrated coach in M history.  Had he been coaching football, there would be statues of him. 

Had a helluva run throughout the 1970s, then feels unloved, leaves to coach Iowa St. for more $$. 

I think M's platform favors neutral court and close called games. Allows Burke and Hardaway more freedom to move.



MSU can potentially play that game too.

In any event, actions speak louder than words, and regardless of what he said, he signed a letter of intent to play with Michigan... GO BLUE!

The coverage on this Board, in terms of comments and whatnot, has been heavily shaded by maize and blue colored viewpoints, as it should be. I think the objective consensus is that we was duped, but embellished, and is highly gullible. This is how I am leaning, but there remain many inconsistencies and leaps of common sense, so our mgoconspiracytheorists may yet be right.

I think we are relatively sane as a fan base, as demonstrated in several regards. We supported John Bacon and his book, which was harsh medicine, and honest criticism of our program. Nobody was protesting when we removed the Fab Five banners. That was handled sanely. Going all the way back to Moeller, M fired a winning coach for what would just a blip at a school in the SEC.



But there have been a few insane reactions. The anti-Freep backlash being first and foremost. Those guys are journalists, not fans, and there is absolutely no doubt M was guilty of minor violations. We shot the messenger on this one, accusing the Freep of overreaching. I know this is not a popular view, but that is a level 2 at least.

Pretty sure this website sent press releases to all local media with college connections.  Local news then becomes unwitting PR mouthpiece of sketchy website. 

Yes, this reads really bad now, but that's easy to say with hindsight. 

At the time, you'd be tempted to chalk it up to T'eo being emotional, being perhaps reluctant to share private or intimate details about his girlfriend, or his love life. 

My analysis, taking the answers on their face, is that T'eo appears to be fabricating much of his answers, is evasive at points, is vague about things that should be easy to answer, and offers up odd bits of detail unexpectedly.  This does not necessarily preclude him being duped--he could be ad libbing answers because he does not exactly want to tell the SI reporter he had an online girlfriend he never met, whose background he himself does not know very well.  

Just watched this. A few observations.



1. ND certainly had advanced knowledge of the subject matter. Swarbrick was prepared and would not likely have been so specific had this been news to ND.



2. If there really is a conspiracy like the one alleged it will come out. Several participants. Online footprints. I doubt this was fabricated.



3. ND is treating this as a serious crisis. If ND had reason to believe T'eo was in on this I doubt Swarbrick would have been so unequivocal in his wording. The stakes are very high and Swarbrick is too smart to take positions that can easily be refuted.



4. ND would not hesitate to throw T'eo under the bus if it had to. The story had no direct credibility risk to ND. Until they defended T'eo, that is.

With Chip Kelly at the Eagles, is there a chance Denard goes in the second or third round and is used as a QB?  To me, watching Russell Wilson has dampened the notion that he is "too small."  Denard has a ways to go before his throwing is as accurate as RGIII, Kaepernick, Cam Newton, or Wilson, but maybe he has a shot.     

Northwestern was a good win, or a win against a good team.  N'W went 2-0 against the SEC, beating two SEC bowl teams.  Of course, it's too early to say how good Michigan will be next year.  Swinging another recruit or two, especially a tailback, could impact things.

Wings plus mbball should tide me over. Then it's the Tigers. But it's never the same.

I see what you did there...

This is different, however, and to me a bit creepy.  Bo didn't say, 'hey, I am going to coach the basketball team myself.'  This perhaps underscores the reason Bielema wanted to leave: to get out behind Alveraz's shadow.  Alveraz's last recruiting class graduated a few years ago; Bielema has been to three straight Rose Bowls; that fans in Madison are clamoring for Alveraz leads to me believe that Alveraz, and the Madison fan base, is having a hard time letting go. 

Then again, who wouldn't want come out of retirement to coach the Grandaddy?!  I understand where Alveraz is coming from.  Plus it lends a cachet to the game that merely promoting a provisional assistant would not.

If he is a first rounder it would hard to stay, period. Too many risks.

Especially insofar as margin of victory in first round NCAA tournament games is concerned.

His players, but by '03 Urb had moved on to Utah. 

It has to be up there.  Here is another big MAC game, from Wikipedia:

October 24, 2003: The first time GameDay went to a Mid-American Conference venue, Bowling Green State University. Number 23 Bowling Green upset number 12 Northern Illinois in a final of 34-18.

How did I miss this?  State gave the Situation an honorary degree?  I suppose that's about right. 

IU blew out UNC, a pretty good squad by 20+.  They had some close games when Zeller was sick, but won them all.  Duke was fortunate that Ohio shot about 35% for the game, and Croft played his worst game of the year.  I understand the argument that IU has more wins against good teams, but that is an accident of the scheduling, and does anyone who has seen both teams play really think that Duke should be ranked ahead of IU?  I firmly do not. 

Ohio D is nasty. Can't bring myself to root for Duke. At the very sight of Plumlee or Kelly I get pissed.

I suspect delusional Arkansas thinking, or just Internets rumor-mongering, on this one. 

M, 71-58.  Edge to M in the frontcourt, with McGary, Horford, and Morgan. 

He still may be waiting to see how Ohio does in its bowl. Could also depend on how Maurice Clarett and Art Schlichter do at their parole hearings, how the rule against double jeopardy impacts noted Buckeye supporter Casey Anthony, or whether that rumored video of Urban Meyer pleasuring himself while reading his old press clippings ever surfaces.



There is a lot to consider before comitting to a legacy of villainy and infamy. For true.

Chizik won just about every national coaching award there is, from the Broyles to the Bear Bryant award.  Not saying I am surprised, or that, given the high probability that Auburn gets hammered by the NCAA in the near future, it's not warranted, but the guy has had some success. 

Agree re the overall assessment on Borges.  He kind of got the RichRod buzzwhip, in that he did not have the weapons he wanted to run the offense he is most comfortable with, due to the smaller, faster, quicker types RichRod recruited.  The offense probably overachieved most of last year, and perhaps underachieved most of this year.  That may marginally improve with Gardner the presumptive starter, but two things give me pause: Gardner not playing QB after Denard got hurt in the Nebraska game, and the Paleolithic playcalling in the second half of the Ohio game.  In the latter, he turned what could have been historically fun (Gardner and Denard in the same backfield!), into something all too predictable and dull. 

I think Georgia went to the Outback, right?

Watch UCLA and USC. Have a few wistful beers and think back on better times.



Tomorrow morning, gear up for NC State.

Crazy jammed every week. Get there early.

Slow start. Let's go, blue!

Vintage Sparty. Crucial personal foul penalty and they give up a big play on 4th down.



A Sparty win may have sent us to the Rose Bowl but to Hell with them. We are going somewhere warm to play an important game. Sparty is scrapping for the Pizza Bowl.

Roses are blue. Need some help from Iowa and Penn State.

That it was so hopeless is what made it so bad for me.  Reminded me of some of the darkest moments of 2008-10, when Michigan is playing poorly, losing badly, but you know it just can't get any better, with the talent level, coaching, and relative strength of the opponent fixed.  Against good teams, Michigan is one re-aggravated ulnar nerve from being at Sheridan-era-level hopelessness. 

What can you do?  Whinge, loudly, then drink, heavily, then vent on Internet message boards, intemperately.

Yeah, I will always remember that game, not just because I remember every single game unless I am blackout drunk, but because I was in Vancouver, BC, and called every bar in the telephone book until I found one that would put the game on for me.  I had this whole room, with full bar, to myself.  I was expecting a brutal hand-off of the LBJ to those varmits, but the Gophers star receiver was hurt and couldn't play, and Sheridan got REVERSEBODYSNATCHED. 

I have started, begrudgingly, to see parallels between ND 2012 and Michigan 1997/Ohio State 2002.  I am not a fan of ND, but I am a fan of that style of play. 

That is three more than they should have got. 

1986: we're rated #2, they beat us in the Big House when they are 5-4, with a home loss to Pacific.

1977: we're rated #1, we go up there and lose 16-0.  I am less than a year old at the time, and my dad said that this one was not televised, so I have no earthly idea how that happened. 

2005: they break one up the sidelines when they are trying to run out the clock and play for overtime, right after we call a timeout to try to get the ball back in time to attempt a field goal. 

As tempting as it is to agree with the sentiments expressed here, not just in the wake of the Nebraska loss, but also given that we haven't scored a touchdown in three weeks, it's way too early to be serious about this 'hot seat' talk, but maybe not too early to open a dialouge about it.

Michigan has not been impressive this year, or (with a couple exceptions) last year, against good defenses.  Offensive game plans against Bama and ND were questionable (but against Bama, nobody has looked good the last two years).  And Bellomy looked like a deer in the headlights--when losing Denard to injury has been a consistent risk the last three years.  Most daminginly: an offense led by Denard Robinson has looked boring and predictable this year. 

But  firing the offensive coordinator is not where Michigan wants to go as a program in the foreseeable future.  This conclusion assumes we'll win a couple more, at least, this year, but it's the wrong message to send when the team has been winning.  Apart from the agony of watching TD-free football, 5-3 is about where the schedule suggested we may be at this point in the year.  And if Denard is healthy, we probably beat Nebraska like 18-17, on FGs, or something. 

Now PLEASE be true.

But next year, whoever is at QB, won't be as hapless as the offense this year was in the second half without Denard.



Anyone hear word on his status?

Molly's on the Market is a Michigan bar. Visited during Sugar Bowl.

Pitched poorly in Game 4 and may not start given Zito pitched a gem in game 5. (Bamgartner has fallen off a cliff so it's not clear he will start another game this year.)

Blaming the media is to football what blaming short sellers is to finance: a desperate attempt to steer the dialogue away from one's own performance.

De Los gigantes. For me Detroit SF series would be What you call a perfectly hedged position.

I think the idea is that fans are typically more raucous (read: drunk) and that amplifies the usual home field advantage.

I think you could make the case Dantonio is a consistent winner.  He's 48-26 at MSU (including 28-16 in the conference), and has taken them to a bowl game each year.  

Guinness during the game. Drakes 1500 after.



This one feels pretty good. But we need another one next week to make the Rose Bowl.

Brandon Knight may develop, but my view is that the Pistions look more like a lottery team than a playoff team at this point. 

I watched Maggette a lot when he was a Clipper and I lived in LA; he is not a guy that will fit a 'defense first' team mentality, and he is prone to taking bad shots.  Other than him, and perhaps Monroe, I don't see that Detroit has a consistent scoring threat.  Detroit's recent draft picks would have been great if the team had a core of All-Stars to build around (which at one point, not too long ago, it did); with the possible exception of Knight, which is stretch given the wealth of talent at his position, I do not see any recent picks developing into stars in the NBA.

That said, I hope I am wrong.  What I perhaps miss most about the middle years of the last decade was watching the Pistons play team ball deep into the playoffs. 

Yeah, I give a fuck what the A's do after they win.  To hell with the As, and the bail jumpers who follow them. 

Go Tigers.  Go Giants. 

Fucking

Posey

Tigers had Greenberg, and six of eight position players hit better than .300 in 1934. (The other two hit better than .280.)



So that is a historical outlier. And the last two years are in a sense the closest the Tigers have been to dynasty since.

Here's my take: I don't blame anyone. Michigan needed to establish the throw early to win. Needed to create some room to run. ND put pressure on Denard, who did not have his best game throwing the ball. Credit ND defenders rather than blame our guys. And look on the bright side: our defense got better. We need to stop the run to win the Big Ten. We did that last night.

You may be thinking of Bayside, which was just down the street from the (Go) Blue Light.  It closed a couple years ago I think. 

I caught several games at Kezar Pub over the years.  I don't remember Sparties, but I haven't seen a game there since the 2009 season.  Like most other bars, it has like 3-4 games going at once, with like fans of 9-12 different fan bases watching their team, waiting for their game, or post-gaming.  Kind of like the United Nations of SF sports bars.  Better as a hockey bar.

Ok now 21st Amendment IPA. A step down.

The last two plays from the ND game should be in there.

a sly Titus Andronicus reference?  If so, AWESOME

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08fqHr_KGPY

The temptation to nit-pick a few of these has become too great...

Ghostface, even in power ballad mode, is too catchy to make this list.  Godspeed you!, Black Emperor "Dead Flag Blues"?  Man, that would have been appropriate at various points in the 2008-2010 time period.

Bought several bottles of the first vintage when they released.  Outrageously expensive, but pretty good juice (plush, polished, evidently oaked, with deep black fruits and severe tannins). 

There is one sure-fire way to determine whether these guys really posed a threat, or whether this may be FBI bootstrapping: the Buckstashe test.

From what I have been able to determine from preliminary googling, at least one of the accused sports, or at one time did sport, some form of Buckstashe. 

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/05/01/5-arrested-for-allegedly-trying-to-...

I think it is too early to jump to any conclusions, but before the facial hair tendencies of each of these individuals has been thoroughly scrutinized--and conclusively documented--I am willing to entertain the notion that The Ohio Five could indeed be very dangerous. 

EDIT: HOLY BUCKSTASHE, BATMAN.  From the video on this link, I would put the preliminary Buckstashe count at 2.5. 

Yeah, depending on where in Noe you live, J is an option, but it can be many blocks away.  I suppose the buses too, but I think it requires multiple transfers, which, eff that. 

It's funny how, wherever I live, I too come to loathe the morning commute, whether it's stop and go on the U.S. 10 for forty minutes, or something as simple as walking a half block, grabbing coffee, and then riding a train for fifteen minutes. 

grew up in Ann Arbor.  Wallace was one Hell of an ambassador for our school, and his legacy will be felt for as long as there is independent journalism: http://www.mjfellows.org/fellows/

Boarding on STL.  PP with 13 minutes left in the Third.  Not clear whether it's a major--it looked like it to me.  C'mon Wings, now's the time. 

Edit: five minute major.

firstrowsports.eu

Peaking at the right time == March 2013, March 2014, et al.

firstrowsports.eu is my usual source, but it's not linked yet.  Nor does it appear to be scheduled on ESPN3.  WTF?

The first 38-0 game was my favorite, in 2003.  Of course, the next weekend in Oregon was one of the most painful games I've ever seen in person, so the good vibrations were short lived.

The second 38-0 came against ND's worst team in the modern era.  Still, it solidified ND's place as the "University of 38 to Nothing," which is what I call ND alums/fans I come accross here in the bay area. 

Founders All Day IPA.  Pregaming for the Ohio basketball game, then heading to the Carolina Brewery to drink Flagship IPA and watch the game.  GO BLUE! 

Wyclef was in the house my senior year, in the spring.  But my favorite Rick's moment was when we ordered fifty Yagerbombs ca. 2003. 

I'll be going to the SF-NY game, not really rooting for either team.  I am still not fully behind Harbaugh, even though I live here.  It's been fun to see a local team make a run, but Harbaugh's trash talking Michigan when he was at Stanford, and his choice to not return to his alma mater tell me that he is no Michigan man. 

I predict: Giants by a touchdown, and Patriots by ten. 

Man, you know they use the nastiest warmed-over sake for that, right?  Might I interest you, instead, in some Irish Car Bombs at Conner's instead?

Having said that, I second the Champion House nomination.  FWIW, they were tolerant of that behavior, which looking back is pretty obnoxious, ten years back, when I used to go there.

I'll leave the Sugar off my list, even though it is a clear-cut number one for me (a Michigan match-up against a MAC school is a much bigger deal for me than any bowl game, so I can't objectively evaluate). 

1. Rose (this was a shootenanny, and would've been closer but for costly Wisky fumble)

2.  Fiesta (these two teams should have been in a playoff with LSU-Bama)

3.  R+L Carriers (terrific last minute, good way to ring in bowl season)

4.  Military (AF goes for two and loses to Toledo... a well-played game, and the MAC was good this year)

5.  Alamo (overrated, as Washington never really got back into it late, but delivered a season's worth of big plays)

Sweetgrass, American Pale Ale.  Trying to download second season of Treme to relive New Orleans moments.

From the UM website:

TYPEFACES:

The typeface used in the U-M wordmark is “Book Antiqua.”

http://www.logos.umich.edu/standards.html

So where did this "fergodsakes" meme come from?  Memes move pretty fast around here, I can't keep up. 

Yes, but we also get some small breaks, like playing Minne (home), Wisky (home) and Purdue once. 

Right, it's the "in terrorem" impact that would be most helpful: make the bowls think the schools would be willing to jettison the bowls, and do their own playoff.  The schools then could negotiate more favorable terms (like splitting the losses on unsold tickets, fewer mandatory hotel tie-ins, other modest changes).  I'd rather travel to Pasadena, Tempe, New Orleans, or Miami, than to Stillwater, Baton Rouge, or even Ann Arbor, for that matter, to see Michigan in the post-season.  

A play-off system in the context of bowls makes the most sense from a fan's perspective, but the way things are structured, schools lose out on millions in opportunity costs, even if they are technically in the black after BCS money from the conferences is factored in. 

So far, booked at Emeril's and Restaurant August.  From what I hear, the former is classic creole, and the latter is classic french. 

Of all the things to make fun of Sparty about, this is not even in the top twenty-five.  Talk about a wasted opportunity.

Michigan the first school to have two Rimington winners. 

I tried to edit, but the whole thing has been deleted.

Jan. 2 bowl games on Bourbon Street will be fun, too.  Especially watching the Outback/Citrus/Rose in SEC territory, with all the other Michigan fans in town as well.   

Yeah, during much of the Cotton Bowl's heyday the Big Ten only sent one team to a bowl, and only to the Rose Bowl.  There was maybe one year (1975) when Michigan could have played in it, but Michigan got picked for the Orange Bowl, and then Michigan went to three straight Rose Bowls after that.  Seems like the Cotton Bowl pretty much had a three-team rotation or so  (Penn State, Notre Dame, Nebraska) it picked to play the Southwest Conference champion.  It would be interesting to find out how the big bowls selected back then, before there was a system for selection (I am pretty sure it was a free-for-all, and some teams, like ND and Penn St., got multiple bids).   

No, but if I were a Sparty maybe I would see it differently.  Sucks for them that the Big Ten changed its methodology the one year they had a better record than any other team in the conference, and even beat the next-best-team.  This coming off a year that they went 11-1 and got passed over for not only the Rose Bowl, which went to a team they'd beaten, but also the Sugar Bowl, which chose a team who lost to Wisconsin, whom Sparty had beaten.

I think this is KARMA punishing them for having their athletic director vote for Ohio State to go to the 1974 Rose Bowl over Michigan. 

Right, wasn't this actually in their movie?

http://kubiyat.blogspot.com/2007/03/this-is-sparta.html

TCU needs to be No. 12 or better in the final BCS standings to get an auto-bid.  That's not a given. 

We could very well play Kansas State, or even Okie State, depending on how today's games go. 

That line will move to 7 or 8, I think.  It should make excellent bulletin-board material for Dantonio. 

I am in favor for whatever helps Michigan the most, which is probably (in this order): (1) Sparty win, which helps our strength of schedule; (2) blow-out Wisky win, which likely sinks MSU below us in the polls.