Recent Comments

...and it won't make one damn bit of difference.  As students during finals week, I would think you all would have much better things to do with your time.

A good stadium seating cause would be to double the width of the aisles and have bench seating.  They certainly can afford it, and it would make the game experience much more comfortable.

Worried about largest attendance?  Add a couple rows to the top.

Football: B1G and national champs

Basketball: B1G champs

Hockey: no conference yet but NCAA champs

Baseball: B1G champs

Check the time-stamp first, please.  Sheesh.

Gary Grant was better.

Two of Hancock's four straight 3-pt. buckets came off offensive rebounds.  

"Blergh."

--Brian Cook

...oh.

Rankings are updated as games are played.  Our fire-bombing of them dropped them from #1 to #2.  All the rankings I listed are current.

...but I'm surprised no one suggested Gary Harris, or the frosh. center from Purdue.

...wins it like this b/c he gets his lead foot (in this case his right) planted in the ground, while Gibbs's lead foot (his left) is in the air at point of contact.  Basically, JR just beat him to the punch really badly.

I like our chances of getting shots, just have to hit them.

Here's some ideas from Izzo:

If you're going to get rid of Coach A, you'd better be 100% sure Coach B is a) better than Coach A and b) promised to take the job.

FAIL

If there's a University AD 101 class out there, I'd be willing to bet UCLA and UNM would be case studies on how not to hire/fire coaches.

...I'd be more embarrassed by my base's reaction to, and obsession with, "scUM" and at all the reprehensible behavior (dirty players, off-field incidents) than at any game results.

Sparties always brag about how their fans are only MSU alums and their families.  Yo, Sparty, there's a reason for that which goes beyond the "bandwagon" excuse you always fall back on.

I've always found most Sparties to be good people--likeable and friendly...until it comes to Michigan, at which point some severe psychological issues rise to the surface.

Fucking.

...with a 6-8 guy in your face helps.

kthxbai

...that's how down on us they were coming into the weekend.

Admit it, the teams we played were a great fit for our style.  They liked to run, and we kill teams in transition.  What gives us trouble?  Slow tempo, inside game, and great rebounding teams.  SDSU and VCU were anything but.  GRIII and McGary went nuts b/c there was no inside presence to turn them away.  GRIII is our 4 and he didn't have to go against a 6-9 B1G bruiser, so he excelled.  McGary got his lunch handed to him by Zeller and Payne/Nix.

Kansas, Florida, etc. will be very tough for us.  I pray that Kansas won't try to slow the game down, and we should pack the paint against them.  If we box out, we in.  If we don't, we lose.

ESPN doing their ESPN brilliance thing again, re-seeding us #2 overall b/c we beat a low-major and a mid-major with no size on either team.

I think we can beat anyone in the country, but I'm not going to be thinking we're the shizzle now just b/c of 2 games in which we beat small teams who tried to run with us.  Our issues have not magically gone away nor have our problems been solved.

With the exception of @MSU, no one has blown us out, and I think the game(s) will be close, but expect some frustrating moments next weekend.

...I were more tech savvy then I could put this video to "Harlem Shake."

Throwin' the request out there.

Wisconsin 51 points in a half.  

17-28 FGs, 6-9 3pt FG, 71% eFG.

13 layup/tip/dunk attempts by Wisconsin in the half.

Also, they could be worse.  And the players chose, so fine.

The problem I have with this is that when uniforms become this big a focus, and the players are caught off guard, and then have to choose, they're thinking about their god damned uniforms instead of what they have to do on the fucking court.  

It's just a distraction we don't need.  I'd rather we think about boxing fucking out.

just scored a total of 2 FTs in the last 6 minutes of the game.  Blech.

My first year as a student at Michigan was 88-89.  We won the Rose Bowl and the National Championship in basketball.  I thought this would be the norm, not realizing at the time how amazing it was.  

I'm optimistic we'll soon see a day when we pull a 06-07 Florida and win both national titles, and hopefully go a step further and get a hockey title the same year.  I don't think a national title in more than two major sports has ever been done.

...you're harshing my humanity mellow.  It's a freakin' message board, man.  You're being a little ignoble here.

Though all it really took was, "Watch THJ, GRIII, Stauskas, and Burke choose not to box out here."

GRIII and McGary seem like good candidates.  Don't think we'll see Stauskas, eh?

Where's Florida? New Mexico? Arizona? Oklahoma State?

Can you do those?  (Thanks for doing this; I know it's a lot.)

...is the dumbest thing I've read on here in a long time, maybe ever.  He can teach all he want, but he can't make a guy do it.

...and Oladipo had seven offensive rebounds.  That has nothing to do with how many bigs are on the floor.  No big would ever be assigned to Oladipo.  If you did so just to keep him from getting offensive rebounds, he'd drive and dunk all game long.

Nobody has mentioned this, and I love the kid, but THJ is just not a good player.  Shoots a low percentage, takes way too many bad shots, gets beat off the dribble like nobody's business, causing a lot of our defensive woes this year, and wouldn't box out if he worked for UPS.  Oladipo was Hardaway's man today.  FAIL.

...Wisconsin just shot to the top of kenpom's "luck" factor ranking.

Yes:

• Arizona State
• Virginia
• LaSalle
• Temple
• Villanova
• California
• St. Mary's (I guess, gun to head)

No:

• Kentucky
• Boise State
• Southern Mississippi
• Mississippi
• Maryland
• Indiana State
• Tennessee
• Iowa State
• Massachusetts
• Alabama
• Baylor

In the Bracket Matrix, about 8 of these teams make the field, and that's with no "spot stealers:" teams that win their conference's autobid who would not have made the field otherwise, and their conference's best team is good enough to get an at-large berth.  So, I'm taking 7 teams, and if it goes down to 6, b-bye St. Mary's.

Just a few posts up, you said we need this win "bad."  Now it's "just a gimmick?" 

Is this the new "No Spin Zone?"

...you title your thread properly so I can better tell whether or not to read it.  Are you getting a percentage of the google adwords revenue on this page?

...and that's how they got all those open looks, how the hell can we stay in front of Appling?

It might make sense to go box-and-1 on Harris and pack it in against Payne/Nix.

The problem I have is we have zero confidence right now, coming off a demoralizing loss, and they've had an entire week to prepare.

Everyone just visualize being extremely happy after the game and pray for the best.

...and I've lol'd at this every single time.  Really needs to be front paged.

You are trying to watch a game when you could be cleaning the bathroom, giving her a foot rub, or generally planning ways to make her happy.  Who the hell cares if you are?

...has a thread been more appropriately titled.

Get a life.

From umhoops.com preview:

The Nittany Lions are shooting 40% on twos, 26% on threes for a 40% effective field goal percentage. All three of those shooting statistics rank last in the Big Ten. Penn State turns the ball over once every five offensive possessions, second worst in the Big Ten, and rebounds less than 30% of its misses in Big Ten play (9th B1G). Just how bad is Penn State’s offense? At .87 points per trip in league play, the Nittany Lions are on pace to be the worst Big Ten offense in the KenPom era (2003+) and the only team to score less than .9 points per trip other than 2004 Penn State.

PSU today: 44% 2pt, 33% 3pt, eFG = 54%, 1.05 PPP

Please go back to bed.

Davers gonna Dave.

How do you reconcile this:

"So the consequences of going to 10, when overlaid with the fact that you have to play seven home games, really puts Gene (Smith, OSU AD) and me in a position where we won’t be traveling to play non-conference away games. I, personally, am concerned about that."

"As the conference expands, it would be unfortunate if a student-athlete came to the University of Michigan, played in the Big Ten Conference for four years and never even got to play or compete against one of the schools in the conference," U-M athletics director David Brandon said in an interview with ESPN.com. "That doesn't make a lot of sense to me."

Excuse me, but I'm going to yell.

If you're concerned about both these things...THEN DON'T EXPAND THE CONFERENCE! If it doesn't make sense...THEN EXPANDING THE CONFERENCE DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!

If you do the money dance, there's going to be fall out. You made the bed, now lie in it.

...is allowing them to take a three.

Fucking foul him, LeVert.

WTF

WTF

...I may burn my house down.  No, the neighborhood.

...guard the 3-pt. line.

...two missed bunnies and a jack-up.

...has hit the freshman wall.

...Tim!

And totally a charge.

...close to being set there.

...and we win going away.  Seven missed layups in the first half.

Recalibrate thy meter of sarcasm.

Moreover, even if I was serious, one doesn't neg someone simply for disagreeing.  I don't know who it was, just sayin.'

Play some god damned defense.

...would look pretty sweet.

Not only is our record at IU horrible, it has almost always been that whatever can go wrong, will do so in Assembly Hall.  I just hope we play well.

I think it would be best if every player who had wins vacated came back.  Yes, the Fab 5 was the overwhelming driver of value, but those important role players who had absolutely nothing to do with the sanctions got screwed, too.  

Why is it automatically a Fab 5 reunion?  What about Rob Pelinka, Eric Riley, James Voskuil, Dugan Fife, and all the other players not in the Fab 5?  Without Riley, the Fab 5 doesn't make the Final Four in 91-92.  Without Voskuil, they don't beat Cincinnati and make the title game that same year.  Etc., etc., etc.

I love the Fab 5, and I was one of those students who filled Crisler to the rafters back then.  But let's have some more respect and recognition for the other guys on those teams who busted their butts for Michigan.

...there was an NFL coach who understood expected values, Belichick punts from the Ravens 35, 34, and 45 (on 4th and 2) in the same game.  Two of the ensuing drives were Baltimore TDs.

...and I count four players who caused me to hold my breath every time they touched the ball:

1. Anthony Carter
2. Desmond Howard
3. Charles Woodson
4. Denard Robinson

And that, in my opinion, should be the modern-era Mt. Rushmore of Michigan Football.

The only teams that made me that confident/excited were the '97 defense and the '00 offense.  (And, honestly, this year's hoop squad and the '97 hockey team.)

...for 'Bama to take ND to the woodshed.  If ND has a scoring drive of more than 4 plays I'll be stunned.  If 'Bama avoids the big play, Irish don't score.  Their O is garbage and Saban's had a month to prepare.

...also thought Mike Cox was a beast.

Sparty On, Brahs.

Move to corner of State and Packard, where the failed Packard Pub was.

Blimpy at that location = gold mine

I'm sure Delany loves seeing all those empty seats.

1. TO margin
2. Total defense
3. Pass efficiency

Pass efficiency is also strongly correlated with rush yards per carry and 3rd down conversions.

Usually, if teams have two of the three and aren't horrendous at the third, they win most of their games.

So, if Gardner is top 10 in pass efficiency, Mattison continues to do his thing with a deeper, more talented roster, and we can get back to the plus side in TO margin, I believe this team is a sleeper for the BCS title game.

The key is going to be the OL being able to generate a good ypc and protect him in the pass game to put Devin in a higher probability of success.

...better summon all the power of Christianity they can muster to pray for Georgia to win the SEC title game.  If ND played 'Bama next week I doubt they'd score, but Saban with a month to prepare for a true freshman QB?

...that Butthurt in South Bend isn't a mod anymore, or you just would've been sent to Bolivia.  You wouldn't have deserved it, but it would've happened nonetheless.

"

• An interior line that isn't good.  I love those guys, but let's face it, they're limited.  I'm sure many of you complained about them in posts.
• Two running backs that have a limited skill set.  Those skills do not include getting 4 yards on first down and threatening a defense to take it farther."

This is why you don't run fucking iso in short yardage--or ever, for that matter--with this team.  Yet there we were, in the biggest game of the year, doing it over and over in the 2nd half.  

The only conclusion I can come to is that Borges is diabetic and he forgot to check his blood sugar.

Greg Fucking Davis.

...ND loses to USC and Ohio beats us, be ready for that always-enjoyable Urban Meyer politicking for the national title.

Frankly, it's a strong argument.  Not bulletproof, but strong.  The only thing holding them back is a signature win due to the weakness of the B1G and their soft non-conference slate.  They've always had at least one strong non-con, and I bet when they scheduled Cal they were a top-10 program, but they can't point to anything other than being undefeated.  However, being the only undefeated team is a strong argument.

...a nickname was born.

...the lame-o wal-marts, profs, and alums leave early.  I don't see much of a difference.

Yeah, the empty seats paint an unflattering picture, but so does an army of middle agers bolting for their cars to beat traffic in the middle of the 3rd Q against Iowa in 2010, a game in which Tate almost lead a miraculous comeback.

FIFO is a good idea, but reducing the size of the stadium that generates the most noise is not.

If we're going to penalize students for arriving late, shouldn't we penalize 40+ year-olds who leave early?

Also, I've been in favor of having pro-style, individual chairs w/cup holders for years now.  It may not make sense in the student section, simply b/c it makes it way more dangerous when trying to rush the field.  And whether there are no seats at all or a collection of barca loungers or a Marine battlefied instructional course, students are going to rush the field after a huge win.

...somewhat nice.  Don't stray too far out of town.  Some good BBQ joints near campus.

...but if Denard is, as Magnus says, "a running back playing QB," and Gardner looked like a better decision maker (plus being 6'4" doesn't hurt) at QB after only one week of practice, and if our RBs aren't doing well....

Imagine the power read (what Brian calls inverted veer) with Devin at Q and Denard at RB influencing the DE.

There's an interesting discussion of this on "The Schembechler Years" video.  (90 minutes, must-own, imo.)

...since Gasser is still eligible at Wisconsin.

...generally, journalists don't know jack shit about football (or any other sport, for that matter).

...miss out on being on good football teams if his new list is any indication. 

A team defending the pro-style running attack only has to defend one threat, not two.  Furthermore, spread-option makes you defend multiple runners on each play.  Sure, pro-style has play-action and such, but so does spread option, giving you everything the pro-style does.  And I don't buy that spread option teams aren't good passing schemes.  I think it's largely b/c it's extremely rare that a dual threat QB is a good passer.  When it happens, you get RGIII.  When it doesn't, you get Denard and Braxton Miller.

By the way, go check the NCAA rushing statistics and tell me what schemes are the best running the football.

1. Army (triple option)
2. Air Force (triple option)
3. Ga. Tech (triple option)
4. Oregon (spread option)
5. Okla. St. (spread)
6. Nebraska (spread option)
7. Nevada (pistol)
8. New Mex. (triple option)
9. K-state (spread option)
10. Ohio St. (spread option)

Hmm, notice a trend there?  Gee, where's the pro-style?

In fact, find me a pro-style offense in the top 25 in total offense.

The only reason spread option isn't in the NFL is they:

• don't have the QBs who can run and throw
• don't want their QBs injured

But it's slowly starting to make it's way to the league (RGIII, Colin Kaepernick).

...he was there for only 6 months.

...'cause kids don't go to FUMA for football at all.

1. How many years have you been playing fantasy college football?
2. Does college football fantasy success = good NFL player?

...at the Minnesota-Iowa game are on the field and sidelines.

WVU defense = optional

Richrod called.  He wants his defense back.

Tough crowd.

It was a joke. Relax, folks. Take a deep breath before you neg every non-positive comment.

...it's ND who's the fortunate team here tonight.  Duh.

It's too bad Denard is having a crapfest so far.  We should be killing these guys.

Hit "reset," own the 4th and this is a W.

The above can be defended by scrape exchange:

• Backside DE squeezes, forcing QB to pull (keep)
• Mike LB scrapes outside to play QB
• Nickel is free to play the screen

OTOH, a good offensive adjustment would be to have the OT base block the DE and have the QB key the Mike LB.  Run the screen action to keep the nickel out of the play.

When Coach Rod ran this triple here, he used a bubble screen.  MSU didn't run scrape exchange, but they defended the bubble with the deep safety, who came screaming downhill if the slot bubbled.  The offensive adjustment to base the DE and key the Mike would be at least equally as effective.

Michigan is in man-free with 3 WR and a safety deep.  This makes it 8-on-7 in the box for the UMass run game.

Bolden is responsible for B gap in front of him and he has an open window with a QB/RB mesh.  He should know that either the QB or RB will run to this hole.  Window open = hit it now (James Ross gangham style).

Furthermore, he spills the tackle instead of squeezing it.  Michigan is in man-free, not zone.  If M were in zone, the nickel (Avery) would apex the EMLOS and #3 a little more, and Bolden would spill the tackle to send the ball outside to the free hitter (Avery).  Since M is in man-free, primary force is Ryan (you can tell by his wide alignment), and since Avery is man on #3, Bolden must squeeze the tackle and send the ball back to the pursuit.  Ross isn't free b/c he has the center cutting him off right now.  If the 1-tech was shading the center, the guard would be cutting him off.  Kovacs is really the free hitter, but he's so far behind the play and in the traffic, he has little chance.  

The best chance we have to stop this play is if Bolden sees it and attacks it so quickly that he squeezes the pulling tackle behind the LOS and clogs up running lanes, causing Cox to cut sharply in the backfield and giving the rest of the interior defense time to get off blocks and get to the ball.

Bottom line, it's 8-on-7.  RPS -1.  Tip your cap, the other guys get paid, too.

...needs to go see Moneyball.

Arizona put up 689 yards and gained 43 first downs on 102 offensive plays.

I know it's only S. Carolina St., but those are some ridiculous numbers.

Good job, Jeff.

Bucks in trouble.

Now watch Braxton juke the entire Cal D for about 80 yards.

...by OSU DB Bryant.

...you'd get gashed doing this:

"You slant the DTs and DEs outside and crash the A gap with a middle linebackers."

...against inside veer.

The playside OG and C are responsible for playside A gap, so your blitzer won't get home: either he blitzes from depth and never makes it or he comes up to the LOS, which now makes him legal to be cut.  Backside OG has backside A.  Playside OT has playside B gap, taking your stunting DT easily.  QB reads the DE, who steps outside.  QB gives to the FB, who is being tackled by the FS if he doesn't get blocked by the slot, who now has no ILB to seal and thus goes straight to the FS.

And if the WRs block/occupy the corners, the FB just ran untouched and hits his head on the goal post.  Strike up the band.

It's been five years and you still think you "lost" it?