The toughest, nastiest, and most confident team wins, 20-16. Amazingly, it's us, and Utah asks for an investigation into who these Michigan players actually were.
Children's Trust Fund of Oregon
I will also match the OP and donate $25 to #eating in the winner's name
and best wishes for good health. Very appreciative of your commentary.
I'll be celebrating my birthday today, as well, out here in Portland, OR.
As an aside, my best friend from college calls me every year and leaves me a vocie mail message, repeating in FDR's slow, stearn voice: "Today...is the day...that will live in infamy." (Pearl Harbor Day). Then he simply says "Happy Birthday" and hangs up.
Everyone should take it easy on this guy. Although it was an insensitive comment at best, you've got to understand the " family" culture at UofM football since Bo's days. Brandon is largely seen by the players as part of that family. I know he's on great terms with some of the players' families, and likely Mealer's. Hence, there's a bond with this guy and the football team and it's understandable Mealer is hurt by the trashing of Brandon. Both sides need perspective here, as the players need to realize it's not all about them, and everyone else needs to understand our football culture. There's arrogance and pettiness on both sides.
And no need to keep kicking a dead Brandon. His arrogance cost him his job and reputation. Hopefully we'll all see some of ourselves in his misguided attitude and mistakes and take heed.
I'll also add that the players' parents love this guy, too. And these parents I've met are salt-of-the earth types who value integrity over everything. Just wish this nice guy could make it work on the football field. The biggest thing standing out to me is the teams' lack of confidence over the past couple of years. And as an athlete and coach myself, this almost always points to the coaching staff. The Cubs' Leo Durocher was right about "nice guys" largely being failures on the field. Bo was a great man, but I never heard anyone refer to him as a "nice guy." Be great by being tough, discliplined, and with utmost integrity.
Whether it's a business culture or that of an athletic team, my personal experience is that you need common values and a common vision to unite. Regarding Michigan's student culture: smarter most all public U's, a little arrogant, nerdy, broad world view - athletes from tougher, impoverished areas can feel like outsiders at UM and that's not a recipe to keep kids on the team. Look at the transfers over the years and I surmise for every Gardner, Robinson, and Gallon who thankfully stayed, RR had a more than 1:1 ratio that didn't.
A police report on the incident, names redacted, was published by Washtenaw Watchdog. Assuming Gibons is the guy in the report, he doesn't come off as a high-integrity Michgan Man by any stretch. In fact, just the opposite. I hope he turns his life around, but he rightly lost his privileges at the U.
Seems as though he's looking at it in simplistic terms and isn't aware of the two standards employed and why they were emplyed at different times. The police case was about rape, and the U's case was about a lesser standard of misconduct. The sexual misconduct was clear: Gibbons, in his own words, took advantage of a girl who was "wasted." UM changed its policy based upon the new Fed directive. Once they changed their policy, they had to abide by it.
Not saying they all failed academically, but they attrited to a degree we've never seen before. UM's student culture is one of serious academic interest. If a sports career is your plan A, B, and C, you're going to have a have hard time feeling comfortable amongst the general student population. Cissoko, C Christian, Tate, and others were more the rule for Rich Rod than Denard, who was one of the exceptions. It's a tough one, because you want to give those guys a decent chance and at the same time have to recognize what the odds are.
Foote came from this envronment (was a marginal qualifer), and appreciated the chance he was given, so I understand where he's coming from. He's not saying we need to compromise on character, however. Look at Denard - like Foote, he's another UM success story, despite also not being a stellar HS student. So there's room to be more inclusive, but you've got to be balanced and vet the kids from tougher backgrouds out extremely well, both from the U's sake and thier own. The RR classes were attrition disasters - many of these kids couldn't assimilate into an academically-oriented campus culture. Hence, I don't see things changing, as Michigan's "brand" is trending more towards Ivy League/Stanford than the RichRod/Foote ideal.
Awesome leadership by Wyatt by demonstrating what truly matters in life. Hoke and crew have brought in many high-character Michigan Men over the past two years, so I'm confident we'll be seeing more of these uplifting stories in the future. This is part of our "brand" in recruiting, and it plays well with the families looking for more than a sports factory for their kids. Look at the kids JB has brought into MBB. For all of our AD's perceived faults, this is something he emphasizes as well. I'm confient the M character difference factored into Nuss's decision, too.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly from The Opening at Nike's Campus, Aug 2012
The Good: Quick release. The ball came out like a rifle shot. Was accurate to his left and center. Of note, he threw a 35 yard bullet, in traffic for a TD to a 6'6" tight end (ALA Commit) that looked like an NFL throw in accuracy and speed. The blog writers around me were literally speechless after that throw. He can also run well - good hips and first step. He was probably the 3rd or 4th best QB that day, but the consensus around me was that he was the most fun to watch because of what he might do on any given trow.
The Bad: Didn't complete a high percentage of throws and relatively large # of intreceptions. Had difficulty with shorter "touch" passes that Joe Montana throw so well. Overthows got picked off in zone coverage.
The ugly: Looked much worse than the other pro-set QB's on progressions.
One of the opposing teams coaches (Neil Lomax) said he had an NFL arm. However, he was erratic and PSU's Hackenberg and the 6'6" Seattle kid going to USC looked miles ahead of him in terms of touch and receiver option progression.
As a side note, Jake Butt and Jordan Lewis looked great that day. Jake's dad come over to talk to me (salt of the earth guy) when he saw my M outfit - asked if I was a former CB. Great talk and story for another time.
Lloyd-ball may have been frustratingly predictable and frequently dull, but Lloyd as a human being was greatly respected by his peers around the country. One of them was Mike Beloitti, whom I chatted with in '06 after a financial execs event in Portland, OR. Belotti was the guest speaker, and when asked who he most admired in the coaching proifession, without a hitch said "Lloyd Carr...because of his class, integrity, credibility, consistency, and the way he cares about his players." When I caught up with Belotti and told him I was raised in AA and had friends who know Lloyd, he opened up even more. He said Lloyd was getting more up tight as the years progressed, and kiddingly asked me to relay back to him that he should "lighten up" and come out to more coaching events (ie, corporate sponsored ones that Lloyd grew to despise...read Nike). He said Lloyd was always grumpy at those gatherings, and was concerned he wasn't having as much fun coaching as he used to. Interestingly, Belotti said Lloyd gained a great reputation with high school coaches, etc. as someone who connected with players beyond the football level and that translated to recruiting success. Belotti said he emulated this later in his career and said it made coaching much more satisfying knowing the difference he could make in kids lives...many of which were a real mess when they got on campus.
Recent Comments
Lancer, As promised, I'm also sending $25.00 in the winner's name (Lancer) to #eating.
Congrats, enjoy your 15 minutes.
Go Blue
20-16
We' play nasty, tough, and confident for the first time since ?, and hold Utah to under 250 total yards.
The toughest, nastiest, and most confident team wins, 20-16. Amazingly, it's us, and Utah asks for an investigation into who these Michigan players actually were.
Children's Trust Fund of Oregon
I will also match the OP and donate $25 to #eating in the winner's name
and best wishes for good health. Very appreciative of your commentary.
I'll be celebrating my birthday today, as well, out here in Portland, OR.
As an aside, my best friend from college calls me every year and leaves me a vocie mail message, repeating in FDR's slow, stearn voice: "Today...is the day...that will live in infamy." (Pearl Harbor Day). Then he simply says "Happy Birthday" and hangs up.
Everyone should take it easy on this guy. Although it was an insensitive comment at best, you've got to understand the " family" culture at UofM football since Bo's days. Brandon is largely seen by the players as part of that family. I know he's on great terms with some of the players' families, and likely Mealer's. Hence, there's a bond with this guy and the football team and it's understandable Mealer is hurt by the trashing of Brandon. Both sides need perspective here, as the players need to realize it's not all about them, and everyone else needs to understand our football culture. There's arrogance and pettiness on both sides.
And no need to keep kicking a dead Brandon. His arrogance cost him his job and reputation. Hopefully we'll all see some of ourselves in his misguided attitude and mistakes and take heed.
Reader 71 , you nailed it.
I'll also add that the players' parents love this guy, too. And these parents I've met are salt-of-the earth types who value integrity over everything. Just wish this nice guy could make it work on the football field. The biggest thing standing out to me is the teams' lack of confidence over the past couple of years. And as an athlete and coach myself, this almost always points to the coaching staff. The Cubs' Leo Durocher was right about "nice guys" largely being failures on the field. Bo was a great man, but I never heard anyone refer to him as a "nice guy." Be great by being tough, discliplined, and with utmost integrity.
Whether it's a business culture or that of an athletic team, my personal experience is that you need common values and a common vision to unite. Regarding Michigan's student culture: smarter most all public U's, a little arrogant, nerdy, broad world view - athletes from tougher, impoverished areas can feel like outsiders at UM and that's not a recipe to keep kids on the team. Look at the transfers over the years and I surmise for every Gardner, Robinson, and Gallon who thankfully stayed, RR had a more than 1:1 ratio that didn't.
A police report on the incident, names redacted, was published by Washtenaw Watchdog. Assuming Gibons is the guy in the report, he doesn't come off as a high-integrity Michgan Man by any stretch. In fact, just the opposite. I hope he turns his life around, but he rightly lost his privileges at the U.
Seems as though he's looking at it in simplistic terms and isn't aware of the two standards employed and why they were emplyed at different times. The police case was about rape, and the U's case was about a lesser standard of misconduct. The sexual misconduct was clear: Gibbons, in his own words, took advantage of a girl who was "wasted." UM changed its policy based upon the new Fed directive. Once they changed their policy, they had to abide by it.
Not saying they all failed academically, but they attrited to a degree we've never seen before. UM's student culture is one of serious academic interest. If a sports career is your plan A, B, and C, you're going to have a have hard time feeling comfortable amongst the general student population. Cissoko, C Christian, Tate, and others were more the rule for Rich Rod than Denard, who was one of the exceptions. It's a tough one, because you want to give those guys a decent chance and at the same time have to recognize what the odds are.
Foote came from this envronment (was a marginal qualifer), and appreciated the chance he was given, so I understand where he's coming from. He's not saying we need to compromise on character, however. Look at Denard - like Foote, he's another UM success story, despite also not being a stellar HS student. So there's room to be more inclusive, but you've got to be balanced and vet the kids from tougher backgrouds out extremely well, both from the U's sake and thier own. The RR classes were attrition disasters - many of these kids couldn't assimilate into an academically-oriented campus culture. Hence, I don't see things changing, as Michigan's "brand" is trending more towards Ivy League/Stanford than the RichRod/Foote ideal.
Awesome leadership by Wyatt by demonstrating what truly matters in life. Hoke and crew have brought in many high-character Michigan Men over the past two years, so I'm confident we'll be seeing more of these uplifting stories in the future. This is part of our "brand" in recruiting, and it plays well with the families looking for more than a sports factory for their kids. Look at the kids JB has brought into MBB. For all of our AD's perceived faults, this is something he emphasizes as well. I'm confient the M character difference factored into Nuss's decision, too.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly from The Opening at Nike's Campus, Aug 2012
The Good: Quick release. The ball came out like a rifle shot. Was accurate to his left and center. Of note, he threw a 35 yard bullet, in traffic for a TD to a 6'6" tight end (ALA Commit) that looked like an NFL throw in accuracy and speed. The blog writers around me were literally speechless after that throw. He can also run well - good hips and first step. He was probably the 3rd or 4th best QB that day, but the consensus around me was that he was the most fun to watch because of what he might do on any given trow.
The Bad: Didn't complete a high percentage of throws and relatively large # of intreceptions. Had difficulty with shorter "touch" passes that Joe Montana throw so well. Overthows got picked off in zone coverage.
The ugly: Looked much worse than the other pro-set QB's on progressions.
One of the opposing teams coaches (Neil Lomax) said he had an NFL arm. However, he was erratic and PSU's Hackenberg and the 6'6" Seattle kid going to USC looked miles ahead of him in terms of touch and receiver option progression.
As a side note, Jake Butt and Jordan Lewis looked great that day. Jake's dad come over to talk to me (salt of the earth guy) when he saw my M outfit - asked if I was a former CB. Great talk and story for another time.
Lloyd-ball may have been frustratingly predictable and frequently dull, but Lloyd as a human being was greatly respected by his peers around the country. One of them was Mike Beloitti, whom I chatted with in '06 after a financial execs event in Portland, OR. Belotti was the guest speaker, and when asked who he most admired in the coaching proifession, without a hitch said "Lloyd Carr...because of his class, integrity, credibility, consistency, and the way he cares about his players." When I caught up with Belotti and told him I was raised in AA and had friends who know Lloyd, he opened up even more. He said Lloyd was getting more up tight as the years progressed, and kiddingly asked me to relay back to him that he should "lighten up" and come out to more coaching events (ie, corporate sponsored ones that Lloyd grew to despise...read Nike). He said Lloyd was always grumpy at those gatherings, and was concerned he wasn't having as much fun coaching as he used to. Interestingly, Belotti said Lloyd gained a great reputation with high school coaches, etc. as someone who connected with players beyond the football level and that translated to recruiting success. Belotti said he emulated this later in his career and said it made coaching much more satisfying knowing the difference he could make in kids lives...many of which were a real mess when they got on campus.