Took me 5sec to copy and paste to read the article. Took you at least 6x that long to click reply and type a complaint about his post and seem bitter in a public space. Thanks for the link, OP!
You can't read KenPom like you can Sagarin to get the expected differential. You have to have a subscription which will give you access to that info. He uses a "special" or "secret" formula for the prediction portion.
One quick correction to your post Ace: Ross Douglas' Avon team beat Tiffin Columbian in the playoffs last Friday. They are still alive and face Toledo Central Catholic who has 2014 QB DeShone Kizer and 2013 DB and OSU commit Jayme Thompson.
We expect 90yr old people to die, we don't expect 30yr old people to die. It's that simple. When someone is cut down in their prime, it is much more news worthy. Also agree with Magnus here. When you have to start your post with, "no offense, and this is indeed extremely sad news, but...", you probably should just not post it.
I'm not saying that Goodman is wrong or has misinformed sources but this article screams ignorance to me. There is no way in hell that Eso Akunne is our starting PG next year or even plays significant minutes for that matter. Also, as good as Trey Burke is, he is not good enough to take a team from Final 4 material to "fringe top 25" with his departure as the author suggests. Goodman may be correct and Burke may be leaving but this article shows how little this guy actually know about UM hoops.
I don't understand how not having coached a game in the Big Ten excludes Meyer from being the top coach. I definitely don't know how anyone can rank him 6th, as one assanine list did in this thread. Under this logic, Nick Saban wouldn't be the best coach in the Big East if he chose to bolt Bama for UConn (he would be by a landslide). I hate OSU as much as the next guy but let's not be silly here. The guy has won a ton everywhere he has been and I have no problem with him being ranked #1 at this point, new guy or not.
I expected to see a player run into the stands and punch a band member in the face or something in this video. Could it have been avoided? Definitely, but I'm not seeing an egregiously blatant act of violence on this video. A group of 100 jacked up college players wearing full pads are charging onto the field and getting ready to play football while a bunch of people are standing in the way. It is very possible that he is just running full steam, looking at the ground and jumping around to get pumped up. To me, there is nothing to see in that video other than some kids being in the wrong place at the wrong time. To call this kid a thug and deem this something worthy of clogging up our legal system even further is a joke in my eyes.
It's threads like this that remind me why I never read the MGoBoard very in-depth. Magnus brings something to the table that most of you do not, an actual knowledge of the details and fundamentals of football. How many of you that are criticizing Magnus' evaluation of LTT have any idea what proper technique looks like for an offensive lineman? What their form should look like? How high is too high? What do good hands look like for a lineman? Most of you have no idea. Not only do most of you have no idea, most of you have not even watched LTT's film to see if you can find the things Magnus is talking about. If you had watched the film and do know anything about proper technique for a lineman, you would see that Magnus is correct.
Magnus isn't criticizing LTT at all. He said he has the potential to be a first round NFL draft pick. What more praise do you people want? He gives an analysis of tons of recruits every year and this is the one you guys decide to freak out about just because the kid tweeted something? Magnus gave less than rave reviews about Dawson, where is your freak out there? Gave less than favorable reviews for Khalid Hill BEFORE he committed, no freak out on that one either. Get a grip guys. Magnus watches film from a purely analytical/football knowledge based viewpoint. If most of you had any knowledge of the fundamentals and techniques that go into making the great players you see on Saturdays, you would know exactly what Magnus is talking about.
Other quick notes that some of you can't quite understand:
Denard was voted league MVP and not 1st team QB. That is exactly what Magnus is talking about when he says Denard is not a great QB. He is a phenomenal player and none of us would trade him for any QB in the nation but there are reasons he is going to be an NFL WR. (Don't give me the Tebow comparison here either. Look at the comp % and INT rates between Denard and Tebow. Nowhere close)
JT Floyd remains less than stellar. I have approximately zero faith that he can shut down a top level NCAA receiver and he has never ever done anything to prove otherwise. OSU game and ND game serve as prime examples. Posey and Michael Floyd owned him. Agree with Magnus again here. JT running away from people in the Sugar Bowl is also correct.
As far as the Cox being the best RB thing, I think Magnus can acknowledge that is not the case. What talent evaluator shoots 100% from the field? None, give the guy a break. He made those comments at a time when we had no true RB and Cox had shown flashes. I bet there are a lot of us that would have liked to see Cox get a chance in at least one game at that point in M football lore. I'm positive that Magnus is not pushing for Cox over Toussaint at this point.
Don't be so sensitive guys. Magnus comes across as a pessimist because he is not a blatant homer like most of you. He has forgotten more football than most of us have ever known and his opinions and evaluations are usually spot on. And for the record, most HS lineman do not have the advanced technique and training that a recruit like Kalis had. Most lineman are very raw and need seasoning in the weight room as well as in the technique area, that is why almost all of them redshirt.
In your pics of the Howard game, you have the quarterbacks name incorrect. His name is Alex Gillett, not Andy Gillett. Had to say something, I coached him in HS. Good looking pictures though, should be a blast on the sidelines of the Big House.
Just because someone does what they say they are going to do does not make it the right thing. Yes decommits happen, but when they happen for a reason that you have total control over, you can prevent them from happening.
The important thing to remember here is not that Dee Hart decommited. It is that now our chances with any recruit out there who is debating between M and another school, has even more reason to choose that other school. Like it or not, a large part of a kid picking a school has to do with the coaches who recruit him. When kids do not know if that coach is going to be there for even their freshman year, it makes it pretty hard to commit to that program. This is about Zettel, Frost, Countess, Walls, Lyons, Hart, every current commit, and every potential 2011 commit. They are all affected in a negative way and there is really no reason for it, whether it was someones word since August or not.
I apologize, but this is going to be long because I couldn't hold it in anymore in regards to everything that has been happening on this board for the last 6 or 7 hours. If you don't want to read a long post, please skip this instead of reading it and then chastising me for it's length after you are finished.
If Jim Harbaugh is giving the University of Michigan a timetable and we are following it, that is truly a shame (not that I believe this to be true). There is no coach anywhere, not Paterno, Bowden, or any coach in history that is bigger than the program he coached/coaches at. The only timetable that should be followed in this decision is that of the University of Michigan. Stanford's bowl game should be irrelevant in this situation and our bowl game should be irrelevant in this situation. The way college football coaching changes work is pretty simple, they happen after the regular season and before bowl games. The decision to fire/retain a coach happens immediately after the regular season and the replacement coach is hired ASAP. The reasons for this are obvious and that is why EVERY school does it this way.
Yes Dave Brandon has said that he will evaluate every program after their season, I understand this. I also understand that no one was freaking out in August when he made that comment. However, did anyone really think that the ENTIRE fan base would be in such a craze right now over the things that are happening? I am all for people sticking to their word but sometimes circumstances dictate otherwise and this is one of those times.
There is absolutely no other evidence to be had in this trial. The judge needs to come to a verdict and let it be known. It does not matter which coach you support at this point, Harbaugh or Rodriguez, because whoever is the coach at our beloved institution is going to suffer for this waiting game when NSD comes around in February. We won't know who are coach is going to be until January and neither will any recruit who is on the fence right now and that puts us in a very bad situation.
Maybe Dee Hart is a future Heisman winner or maybe he is the next big time recruit who doesn't quite pan out. However, the fact remains that he has the POTENTIAL to be a program changing type of player and we will not have him in maize and blue for the next four years because he can't commit to a program that is up in the air. Rich Rodriguez busted his ass for 3 years to sell Michigan to this kid against teams like Alabama, Auburn and Florida that had the ability to sell recent championships, undefeated seasons, proximity to home and just about every asset a big time recruit is looking for, all things that Michigan could not offer this kid. Despite all of that he has wanted to be a Wolverine for 2 years now because of Rich Rodriguez, his staff, and our great institution. Now he doesn't want to be a Wolverine because he can't commit to a place that doesn't know where it's going. I can't blame the kid. Would you commit to Michigan right now if you were an impact recruit? If the guy recruiting you for 3 years is getting shit on by everyone in the entire country other than a few loyal supporters and his own family?
Our fan base is divided. Fans on both sides of the fence are clueless as to what is going to happen. We are losing potential impact football players and whoever is the coach come January is going to be up against it on the recruiting trail.
Finally, there is absolutely NOTHING that is going on in our athletic department that is more important than this situation right now. Even if every other active sport was playing in it's respective national title game right now, it is not as important as the situation involving our football coach. I do not mean to disrespect any other sport at Michigan as I love and support all of them but the football program is the most important topic in any given month of the year and it always will be. Let's face it, Dave Brandon could damn near botch the handling of every other sport at the university, but if the football team had won 6 straight national titles, he would get a raise, and deserve it.
I'm not sure what time you are planning on being on the roads near the stadium, but if you are planning on getting down there anytime after 8am on Saturday, the roads are going to be a congested mess and there is no real good way to get around it. Take 23S to 270W to 315S and get off on the Ackerman Rd exit. No matter what time you are getting there, that is the best way to take. Obviously the closer to game time, the more traffic.
OSU fans are horrendous. I have lived in Ohio since I was 4 and have lived in Columbus for the past 6 or 7 years and there is no doubt about it that they are just flat out assholes. They will cuss and scream at Eastern Michigan fans and it's safe to say that they hold nothing back when it comes to The Game. My advice is do not make eye contact when some asshole is berating you and definitely do not try to defend yourself by jawing back unless you are looking for a fight. They are brutal and extremely classless.
Having said that, good luck, I'll be down there too and I expect to take my tongue lashings as well. Good luck and GO BLUE!!!
It is great that stories like this are getting into the media. It is just another step in debunking the myth that RR recruits thugs and punks with a win-at-all-cost attitude. Does RR recruit a different type of athlete? Yeah, probably. Are they sometimes not found in-state, thus requiring him to recruit Florida just as hard as Michigan? Yes. I just wonder how many more Denard Robinsons and Vincents Smiths RR has to recruit before people realize that every kid from Florida with dreadlocks is not a punk who only cares about football and is constantly in trouble with the law before people realize that RR does hold our university in high regard and recruits athletes that deserve to wear the Maize and Blue.
Rob was a member of my home church in Fremont, OH. I have never spoken to him but have seen him at services before. He always sat in the back of the church with his family and if you weren't an avid Michigan fan or sports follower you would have never known there was a former superstar in the sanctuary. He seemed like a very humble man. RIP Rob, definitely too soon for you to go.
I am not trying to take anything away from John Clay as he is obviously a bruising running back, but I do not think that his injury is going to play a very big factor in the game on Saturday. Ball and White are both very good backs and the thing that makes the Wisconsin running game go is their OL, their scheme and great coaching of the big guys up front. Every year Wisconsin has a new 1,000yd rusher who garners some sort of all conference publicity and even a Heisman winner in Ron Dayne. However, every year their tailbacks never go on to have success at the next level and seem to be interchangeable.
The Badgers remind me very much of the Broncos under Shanahan when we would have a different 1,000yd rusher every season and yet those RBs would never have success outside of Denver.
This is not meant to take anything away from Wisconsin's RBs as they have to have talent as well but it is meant to be more of a compliment to the Wisconsin OL year after year for being so consistent.
Does it really matter what his potential is better suited for on Sundays? I'm more worried about what this kid can do for us on Saturdays. I'm not saying I don't want our recruits/players to have success on Sundays but I don't care how tall they are or what their pro potential is better suited for. Our staff is still recruiting DBs hard and are definitely aware of our positions of need on that side of the ball.
I have used Betus.com and Sportsbook.com before. I cashed out a lot of money from Sportsbook and smaller amounts from Betus and both were very prompt. The only problem I had with Sportsbook was that they only let me take out $4,000 per week so I had to wait a few weeks to get all of my money. Other than that I had no problems with either.
For those of you who are losing your minds and cursing the coaches over this possibility, just relax. You make the point that we have more depth at OL and our DL needs bodies as many of the guys in the rotation are seniors. Do you honestly believe that the head coach is not aware of this? If it were as cut and dry as a numbers game then Big Will would probably be cemented at NT. Maybe Talbott/Ash are proving to be monsters, maybe it is a motivational tactic, maybe Big Will just cannot hack it at NT. Whatever the reason for the possible position switch for Campbell is, I would have to believe that the coaches are privy to much more information than us and there is probably something going on that we cannot see. I'm sure it is not a case of Big Will throwing our players around like tackling dummies in practice and the coaches deciding they didn't want to play a future star.
Some people need to calm down. RR said it was possible, not definite. I'm not willing to write off any player's career halfway through their true sophomore year, but what if Big Will is a bust. He wouldn't be the first 5* bust and he sure won't be the last. Too many people jump to conclusions and panic as soon as they hear the wind blow.
VT was supposed to be better than us and James Madison wasn't ranked in the preseason FCS poll. How does any of that apply to the University of Michigan not taking care of a cupcake?
Although I understand what you are saying, I have to respectfully disagree with your stance on this game. Anytime an FCS team does as it pleases against your defense and puts up 37 points, it is not a good thing. Our defense could not stop an FCS ground attack, applied very little pressure on the opposing QB and failed miserably to play assignment football for 4 straight quarters.
This game should have served as an easy win, a rest for our starters, and a chance to get our young and unproven players a chance to get valuable game experience that would prove crucial when we have injuries throughout Big 10 play. I could not help but think, "this is 2009 all over again" as I watched this game. Our defense has more serious concerns than we saw in weeks 1 and 2 and needs to find a way to be a bend but don't break type of team. We gave up big plays last week but this week we allowed an FCS team to smash their way down the field on us the entire game.
I do not think that this was a good thing in any way shape or form for our program.
If this is a 1 week deal and our defense can come out in the coming weeks and improve upon their performances from weeks 1 and 2 then I will gladly retract this post. I do not want to be negative as I do not actually believe this is 2009 all over again but our defense needs to get better every single week in order to be where we need them to be to have a chance against Iowa, Wisconsin, Penn State or Ohio State and they failed to get better this week.
would not want Turner back. What kind of a message does it send when someone quits the team and then returns a week later after a teammate that is higher on the depth chart than him gets injured and he is let back on the team? Not to mention, what would it say about Turner as a competitor? I think it paints a pretty bad picture if this hypotehtical scenario were to play out.
Thanks for the link. His top end speed didn't seem to be elite, very fast but catchable, but his acceleration definitely is. Shows some pretty good hands out of the backfield along with great cutback ability as well. That is the first video I have taken the time to watch of Drake. Looks like a pretty good football player. RR knows what he likes.
that everyone would quit telling the Big 10 that they need to get faster at every position in order to catch up with college football in today's game. The longer the rest of them are in the dark, the longer M has to be ahead of the curve, thus giving them a distinct advantage in today's college football world! Here's to hoping that Tressel never figures it out and keeps Pryor looking like he has the mobility of Peyton Manning. Cheers to RR and our AD for hiring him!
It is absolutely amazing to me that a coach in his 5th year at a school that has the ability to recruit nationally and attract elite talent from literally all ends of the country (i.e. Theo Riddick in NJ and Teo from Hawaii) and everywhere in between has so many excuses as to why he has had a lack of success when he has had ample time to resurrect a traditional power. I can handle Urban Meyer being cocky, arrogant, or whatever you choose to call him because he backs it up with SEC titles and NC's. I absolutely CANNOT handle someone like Charlie Weis's smugness and arrogance. He believes that he is the smartest football mind in the world and yet, in his 5th year at ND, with all of the high profile recruits and top recruiting classes (respectively #8, #8, #2, #21 according to rivals since 2006) he has yet to produce a season to truly be proud of. You would think that after 4 years of top recruits and 4 years of disappointing seasons that a sensible person might start to rationalize that maybe it is not the refs, players, foul play by opponents, or any of his other 10,000 excuses that are costing him football games. He has the talent in place and he has been there long enough now to start producing and yet he has not delivered and it is still somehow the fault of everyone except him. Not once did he give Michigan credit for the way they played, instead he spent his entire press conference prefacing long drawn out criticism of the officiating by saying "Now, I'm not gonna criticize the officials but...". The man is simply an arrogant and smug whale that needs a serious check of his ego and his dietary intake. If I never see another one of his quotes again my quality of life would increase.
In Cowherd's defense he was hard on Michigan for the past few years for the same reasons he is currently hard on Ohio State, Penn State and the other "top tier" Big 10 programs. He feels, as many people do, that the entire conference is falling behind the curve. He is now praising Michigan because they hired an innovative coach with some style and some spunk to inject the conference with a little bit of life. I listen to The Herd pretty frequently and I have never really known him to be a hypocrite and he will admit when he is proven wrong. He crucifies the entire conference because it is lagging behind the curve of college football, and to be honest, I think it's hard to disagree with that statement when you look at style of play and the conference's results against other quality opponents.
There is very little doubt that ND has phenomenal athletes on the offensive side of the ball. Their WR's might be the best duo in the country, Allen is an absolute stud at TB, Rudolph is one of the best TE prospects in the nation, Clausen looks much more seasoned and poised, and their OL is chalk full of top tier recruits with tons of experience who just might finally live up to the hype this season. Their offensive statistics will be great this year because they will continually throw the ball deep on their inferior opponents, which their schedule has plenty of. I just feel that their passing game is unimaginative. Weis continuously runs Floyd and Tate on go routes and has Clausen lob the ball in the air to them in jump ball situations, which Michigan got burned on a number of. Against very poor secondaries ND's WR's are behind everyone and they go for long TD's (see Floyd's numbers vs. Nevada) and against Michigan they are jump balls that Floyd wrestles away from Cissoko. However, against a good secondary like USC I see these plays getting shut down. I don't see them having near the success rate with these plays when Taylor Mays is ball hawking deep. Barkley is a freshman and he has not impressed me that much as basically nothing challenging was asked of him against OSU, including the last drive when he threw screens, swing passes, and handed the ball off. That being said, he will have 3 Pac 10 games under his belt by the time they play ND, including a road game against Cal. I think that SC's line and skill players, coupled with their stout defense give them a distinct advantage against ND and their unimaginative passing game. If Weis would mix up their routes and passing play calling their offense could be truly great, however, I cannot see him doing that.
to contain ourselves after such a promising start to a season that many of us were skeptical about heading in. Even the most optimistic Wolverine fan would only go out on the limb of 7-5 or 8-4 at the very high end. After their performances and the emergence of Forcier it is very difficult to quell expectations much higher than 7-5. However, Wendy's post brings up a great point that we do not know anything about this young team outside of the Big House. Would we have beaten Notre Dame in South Bend? Would Forcier have kept his cool as much on the road? Those are questions that are left to be answered, some of them will be on October 3rd when we face a presumably hostile crowd in East Lansing. It is great to see people with respectable opinions like McShay ranking us as high as #12 in his power ranking but I have always tried to take the same approach as the football team which would be to enjoy the victory for 24 hours and then get focused back on our opponent for the coming week. A major letdown and total debacle against EMU would send us fans right back into depression mode.
It's great to see a player like Minor be able to contribute in a big way (ND game) as well as play for a team that appears to be pretty good so far. He was one of the most outspoken players that bought into the "All in for Michigan" slogan a year before it became the team's motto and for his patience, perseverance and dedication to begin paying off right out of the gate rather than a year or two after he is gone is truly special to see. As long as he can stay healthy (just knocked on the wooden table I'm sitting at) for the rest of this season it could be a great senior year for him both individually and as a team.
P.S. I'm a long time reader and first time member of mgoblog who resides in Columbus so it is finally great to have a place to go to talk to people about something other than Ohio State football.
Recent Comments
Took me 5sec to copy and paste to read the article. Took you at least 6x that long to click reply and type a complaint about his post and seem bitter in a public space. Thanks for the link, OP!
One quick correction to your post Ace: Ross Douglas' Avon team beat Tiffin Columbian in the playoffs last Friday. They are still alive and face Toledo Central Catholic who has 2014 QB DeShone Kizer and 2013 DB and OSU commit Jayme Thompson.
We expect 90yr old people to die, we don't expect 30yr old people to die. It's that simple. When someone is cut down in their prime, it is much more news worthy. Also agree with Magnus here. When you have to start your post with, "no offense, and this is indeed extremely sad news, but...", you probably should just not post it.
I expected to see a player run into the stands and punch a band member in the face or something in this video. Could it have been avoided? Definitely, but I'm not seeing an egregiously blatant act of violence on this video. A group of 100 jacked up college players wearing full pads are charging onto the field and getting ready to play football while a bunch of people are standing in the way. It is very possible that he is just running full steam, looking at the ground and jumping around to get pumped up. To me, there is nothing to see in that video other than some kids being in the wrong place at the wrong time. To call this kid a thug and deem this something worthy of clogging up our legal system even further is a joke in my eyes.
It's threads like this that remind me why I never read the MGoBoard very in-depth. Magnus brings something to the table that most of you do not, an actual knowledge of the details and fundamentals of football. How many of you that are criticizing Magnus' evaluation of LTT have any idea what proper technique looks like for an offensive lineman? What their form should look like? How high is too high? What do good hands look like for a lineman? Most of you have no idea. Not only do most of you have no idea, most of you have not even watched LTT's film to see if you can find the things Magnus is talking about. If you had watched the film and do know anything about proper technique for a lineman, you would see that Magnus is correct.
Magnus isn't criticizing LTT at all. He said he has the potential to be a first round NFL draft pick. What more praise do you people want? He gives an analysis of tons of recruits every year and this is the one you guys decide to freak out about just because the kid tweeted something? Magnus gave less than rave reviews about Dawson, where is your freak out there? Gave less than favorable reviews for Khalid Hill BEFORE he committed, no freak out on that one either. Get a grip guys. Magnus watches film from a purely analytical/football knowledge based viewpoint. If most of you had any knowledge of the fundamentals and techniques that go into making the great players you see on Saturdays, you would know exactly what Magnus is talking about.
Other quick notes that some of you can't quite understand:
Don't be so sensitive guys. Magnus comes across as a pessimist because he is not a blatant homer like most of you. He has forgotten more football than most of us have ever known and his opinions and evaluations are usually spot on. And for the record, most HS lineman do not have the advanced technique and training that a recruit like Kalis had. Most lineman are very raw and need seasoning in the weight room as well as in the technique area, that is why almost all of them redshirt.
In your pics of the Howard game, you have the quarterbacks name incorrect. His name is Alex Gillett, not Andy Gillett. Had to say something, I coached him in HS. Good looking pictures though, should be a blast on the sidelines of the Big House.
Just because someone does what they say they are going to do does not make it the right thing. Yes decommits happen, but when they happen for a reason that you have total control over, you can prevent them from happening.
The important thing to remember here is not that Dee Hart decommited. It is that now our chances with any recruit out there who is debating between M and another school, has even more reason to choose that other school. Like it or not, a large part of a kid picking a school has to do with the coaches who recruit him. When kids do not know if that coach is going to be there for even their freshman year, it makes it pretty hard to commit to that program. This is about Zettel, Frost, Countess, Walls, Lyons, Hart, every current commit, and every potential 2011 commit. They are all affected in a negative way and there is really no reason for it, whether it was someones word since August or not.
I apologize, but this is going to be long because I couldn't hold it in anymore in regards to everything that has been happening on this board for the last 6 or 7 hours. If you don't want to read a long post, please skip this instead of reading it and then chastising me for it's length after you are finished.
If Jim Harbaugh is giving the University of Michigan a timetable and we are following it, that is truly a shame (not that I believe this to be true). There is no coach anywhere, not Paterno, Bowden, or any coach in history that is bigger than the program he coached/coaches at. The only timetable that should be followed in this decision is that of the University of Michigan. Stanford's bowl game should be irrelevant in this situation and our bowl game should be irrelevant in this situation. The way college football coaching changes work is pretty simple, they happen after the regular season and before bowl games. The decision to fire/retain a coach happens immediately after the regular season and the replacement coach is hired ASAP. The reasons for this are obvious and that is why EVERY school does it this way.
Yes Dave Brandon has said that he will evaluate every program after their season, I understand this. I also understand that no one was freaking out in August when he made that comment. However, did anyone really think that the ENTIRE fan base would be in such a craze right now over the things that are happening? I am all for people sticking to their word but sometimes circumstances dictate otherwise and this is one of those times.
There is absolutely no other evidence to be had in this trial. The judge needs to come to a verdict and let it be known. It does not matter which coach you support at this point, Harbaugh or Rodriguez, because whoever is the coach at our beloved institution is going to suffer for this waiting game when NSD comes around in February. We won't know who are coach is going to be until January and neither will any recruit who is on the fence right now and that puts us in a very bad situation.
Maybe Dee Hart is a future Heisman winner or maybe he is the next big time recruit who doesn't quite pan out. However, the fact remains that he has the POTENTIAL to be a program changing type of player and we will not have him in maize and blue for the next four years because he can't commit to a program that is up in the air. Rich Rodriguez busted his ass for 3 years to sell Michigan to this kid against teams like Alabama, Auburn and Florida that had the ability to sell recent championships, undefeated seasons, proximity to home and just about every asset a big time recruit is looking for, all things that Michigan could not offer this kid. Despite all of that he has wanted to be a Wolverine for 2 years now because of Rich Rodriguez, his staff, and our great institution. Now he doesn't want to be a Wolverine because he can't commit to a place that doesn't know where it's going. I can't blame the kid. Would you commit to Michigan right now if you were an impact recruit? If the guy recruiting you for 3 years is getting shit on by everyone in the entire country other than a few loyal supporters and his own family?
Our fan base is divided. Fans on both sides of the fence are clueless as to what is going to happen. We are losing potential impact football players and whoever is the coach come January is going to be up against it on the recruiting trail.
Finally, there is absolutely NOTHING that is going on in our athletic department that is more important than this situation right now. Even if every other active sport was playing in it's respective national title game right now, it is not as important as the situation involving our football coach. I do not mean to disrespect any other sport at Michigan as I love and support all of them but the football program is the most important topic in any given month of the year and it always will be. Let's face it, Dave Brandon could damn near botch the handling of every other sport at the university, but if the football team had won 6 straight national titles, he would get a raise, and deserve it.
Thanks for reading.
I'm not sure what time you are planning on being on the roads near the stadium, but if you are planning on getting down there anytime after 8am on Saturday, the roads are going to be a congested mess and there is no real good way to get around it. Take 23S to 270W to 315S and get off on the Ackerman Rd exit. No matter what time you are getting there, that is the best way to take. Obviously the closer to game time, the more traffic.
OSU fans are horrendous. I have lived in Ohio since I was 4 and have lived in Columbus for the past 6 or 7 years and there is no doubt about it that they are just flat out assholes. They will cuss and scream at Eastern Michigan fans and it's safe to say that they hold nothing back when it comes to The Game. My advice is do not make eye contact when some asshole is berating you and definitely do not try to defend yourself by jawing back unless you are looking for a fight. They are brutal and extremely classless.
Having said that, good luck, I'll be down there too and I expect to take my tongue lashings as well. Good luck and GO BLUE!!!
It is great that stories like this are getting into the media. It is just another step in debunking the myth that RR recruits thugs and punks with a win-at-all-cost attitude. Does RR recruit a different type of athlete? Yeah, probably. Are they sometimes not found in-state, thus requiring him to recruit Florida just as hard as Michigan? Yes. I just wonder how many more Denard Robinsons and Vincents Smiths RR has to recruit before people realize that every kid from Florida with dreadlocks is not a punk who only cares about football and is constantly in trouble with the law before people realize that RR does hold our university in high regard and recruits athletes that deserve to wear the Maize and Blue.
Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Rob was a member of my home church in Fremont, OH. I have never spoken to him but have seen him at services before. He always sat in the back of the church with his family and if you weren't an avid Michigan fan or sports follower you would have never known there was a former superstar in the sanctuary. He seemed like a very humble man. RIP Rob, definitely too soon for you to go.
I am not trying to take anything away from John Clay as he is obviously a bruising running back, but I do not think that his injury is going to play a very big factor in the game on Saturday. Ball and White are both very good backs and the thing that makes the Wisconsin running game go is their OL, their scheme and great coaching of the big guys up front. Every year Wisconsin has a new 1,000yd rusher who garners some sort of all conference publicity and even a Heisman winner in Ron Dayne. However, every year their tailbacks never go on to have success at the next level and seem to be interchangeable.
The Badgers remind me very much of the Broncos under Shanahan when we would have a different 1,000yd rusher every season and yet those RBs would never have success outside of Denver.
This is not meant to take anything away from Wisconsin's RBs as they have to have talent as well but it is meant to be more of a compliment to the Wisconsin OL year after year for being so consistent.
Does it really matter what his potential is better suited for on Sundays? I'm more worried about what this kid can do for us on Saturdays. I'm not saying I don't want our recruits/players to have success on Sundays but I don't care how tall they are or what their pro potential is better suited for. Our staff is still recruiting DBs hard and are definitely aware of our positions of need on that side of the ball.
I have used Betus.com and Sportsbook.com before. I cashed out a lot of money from Sportsbook and smaller amounts from Betus and both were very prompt. The only problem I had with Sportsbook was that they only let me take out $4,000 per week so I had to wait a few weeks to get all of my money. Other than that I had no problems with either.
For those of you who are losing your minds and cursing the coaches over this possibility, just relax. You make the point that we have more depth at OL and our DL needs bodies as many of the guys in the rotation are seniors. Do you honestly believe that the head coach is not aware of this? If it were as cut and dry as a numbers game then Big Will would probably be cemented at NT. Maybe Talbott/Ash are proving to be monsters, maybe it is a motivational tactic, maybe Big Will just cannot hack it at NT. Whatever the reason for the possible position switch for Campbell is, I would have to believe that the coaches are privy to much more information than us and there is probably something going on that we cannot see. I'm sure it is not a case of Big Will throwing our players around like tackling dummies in practice and the coaches deciding they didn't want to play a future star.
Some people need to calm down. RR said it was possible, not definite. I'm not willing to write off any player's career halfway through their true sophomore year, but what if Big Will is a bust. He wouldn't be the first 5* bust and he sure won't be the last. Too many people jump to conclusions and panic as soon as they hear the wind blow.
VT was supposed to be better than us and James Madison wasn't ranked in the preseason FCS poll. How does any of that apply to the University of Michigan not taking care of a cupcake?
Although I understand what you are saying, I have to respectfully disagree with your stance on this game. Anytime an FCS team does as it pleases against your defense and puts up 37 points, it is not a good thing. Our defense could not stop an FCS ground attack, applied very little pressure on the opposing QB and failed miserably to play assignment football for 4 straight quarters.
This game should have served as an easy win, a rest for our starters, and a chance to get our young and unproven players a chance to get valuable game experience that would prove crucial when we have injuries throughout Big 10 play. I could not help but think, "this is 2009 all over again" as I watched this game. Our defense has more serious concerns than we saw in weeks 1 and 2 and needs to find a way to be a bend but don't break type of team. We gave up big plays last week but this week we allowed an FCS team to smash their way down the field on us the entire game.
I do not think that this was a good thing in any way shape or form for our program.
If this is a 1 week deal and our defense can come out in the coming weeks and improve upon their performances from weeks 1 and 2 then I will gladly retract this post. I do not want to be negative as I do not actually believe this is 2009 all over again but our defense needs to get better every single week in order to be where we need them to be to have a chance against Iowa, Wisconsin, Penn State or Ohio State and they failed to get better this week.
I had to push my jaw back up with my hand after watching this.
would not want Turner back. What kind of a message does it send when someone quits the team and then returns a week later after a teammate that is higher on the depth chart than him gets injured and he is let back on the team? Not to mention, what would it say about Turner as a competitor? I think it paints a pretty bad picture if this hypotehtical scenario were to play out.