DonAZ

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Date	Title	Body
19 hours 8 min ago	(No subject)
1 day 11 hours ago	In sales training we're	In sales training we're taught never ask a question that can be answered with a "yes" or "no" answer.  Always ask "open ended" questions to allow the customer to express themselves. I wonder if the media has something similar ... ask these "talk about" or "how do you feel" questions in the hope that Harbaugh expands on something and they have a nice set of quotes?
1 day 11 hours ago	Brown	Yet his defense will be better than his offense. This paradox has not been explained. The moustache. :-) Seriously ... he gets good people to manage the defensive side of the ball, and he lets them do their job.
3 days 23 hours ago	Perhaps just certain drives of classic games?	The work to UFR a full game is daunting. Perhaps just UFR key drives of a game?  Ones that are representative of the Michigan team of that year?
4 days 15 hours ago	NFL Redzone	I find watching NFL games difficult, but I like the Redzone thing because it cuts out all the down time and just lets me bounce around.  I find it rather addicting, actually.
4 days 15 hours ago	Mid-Tier Programs	Schools like IU, Vanderbilt, Oregon State, Iowa State, etc. are probably never going to have that opportunity. Totally agree ... unless said programs cheat aggressively and successfully.  But that's a short-term strategy. The college playoff will -- in my opinion -- only make this worse.  The arms race is on to be in the "top 10" conversation so they can have a hope to be in the "top 4" decision.  In the Big 10 it's Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, and maybe Wisconsin.  The other programs won't be able to keep up. How that'll manifest is the open question.  Do those programs just accept their fate, play their schedule, go to some lesser bowl, count their money, and hope a profit is at the other side?  In most cases, probably. But I can see some programs seriously talking about dropping football. We'll see how things unfold over, say, the next 10 years. But for now I'm fairly certain the rich will get much richer, and the poor will do their best to survive.
4 days 15 hours ago	I hate you. :-)	I hate you. :-)
4 days 16 hours ago	Date a Figure Skater?	Only in my dreams ... :-)
4 days 17 hours ago	Figure Skating	I have a certain ... fondness ... for women's figure skating.  But it has less to do with the sport than, well, other elements of the activity.  ;-)
4 days 17 hours ago	College Football	College basketball vs. the NBA is similar: the college game is less technically proficient, but in its rough edges the excitement and drama is generated.   Or music ... a band can be masters of technique, and the music can be flawlessly executed, but it's not the same thing as a band with a rougher edge banging out the chords with energy and enthusiasm. That's why I love college football ... it has an imperfect element to it.  Every play has the potential for high drama, depending on a lot of things.  Add to that all the history, tradition, and pageantry and the college game can't be beat.  Paint all that Maize and Blue and ... well, then it's simply the best ever.
4 days 17 hours ago	WV boondocks	Well, my mule has come up lame and I can't get out of the holler.  I done heard about them stores with the telly-vision in the window, but I ain't been up to big city in a while. :-)
4 days 18 hours ago	75 Degrees and Sunny?	This is heresy!  It ain't football unless it's cold, windy, maybe some rain/sleet. In Tucson, AZ this time of year it's around 100 degrees in the daytime.  They play football in the evenings, and it's usually around 90-something when they do.  90 and no sun is actually quiet pleasant in the desert southwest. But it ain't football weather, damn it!   I'd love to be in the stadium on Saturday, but alas I'm down in West Virginia.  (I'm going to the Braxton County high school game tonight.)  I'll be listening to the game on Saturday!
5 days 16 hours ago	Very Nicely Done	I'm no X's and O's type of guy, but this kind of thing really helps me understand the game better.  You do a really nice job, Seth ... I really enjoy your write-ups. I'm curious ... what's your background in knowing X's and O's?  Just accumulated knowledge over time?  Or do you have some playing or coaching experience under your belt as well?
5 days 18 hours ago	Downside?	What's the downside of the 3-3-5?  I mean, properly implemented.  Not GERG implemented. I can imagine an old school ton-of-mankind on the OL with a 3-yards-and-a-cloud philosophy may move the sticks on a 3-3-5.
5 days 20 hours ago	What Counts	Interesting PDF ... thanks for the link! I see under "What doesn't count" -- "Meetings with a coach initiated by the student-athlete (as long as no countable activities occur)." I read through the list of things that do count, and the only one that seems like it might apply to some of the stuff Newsome is doing is: "Setting up offensive and defensive alignment."  But I'll confess I don't really know what they mean by that. It's clear I'm not destined for a career as a NCAA compliance officer. ;-)
5 days 20 hours ago	Is that true for all players?	Is that true for all players?  Or is Newsome categorized differently? I'm curious about this because I can see how this could be exploited by some programs that want to do more "coaching" ... they could suggest that "volunteering" is really required. Watching tape by themselves is one thing ... but spending additional time with the coaches themselves?
5 days 21 hours ago	Grant Newsome	Yeah, you know, he’s up in my office all the time and the O-line room Is Newsome classified in some way where that time is not under whatever NCAA restrictions may be in place?  I am not suggesting there's any rules-violations going on ... I trust the staff knows the rules and abides by them.  I'm just curious whether there is a separate classification for long-term rehabilitation cases such as Newsome, and if that frees them up from time restrictions that may be in place for the active players.  Anyone know?
6 days 12 hours ago	Yes: Nothing! :-)	I have some really, really fond memories of games in Michigan Stadium. I vividly recall the first time I entered the stadium back in 1975. I was overwhelmed by the size, and every part of that game -- pre-game warmups, the marching band, the run out under the banner, the action -- all glorious. I will never forget it. To me it's the finest sports venue in the world. I have read about other places: Camp Randall, Ohio State, white out games at Penn State, LSU at night, the Gamecocks at South Carolina. I'm sure they're very good in their own ways. To their fans I am happy they have their memories and joys. College football is the best. But the 15 year old in me remembers that game in September 1975, and nothing will ever eclipse that. Meeeeeeeeeeechigan!
6 days 14 hours ago	laundry-dropping wiggle	possesses laundry-dropping wiggle What a terrific phrase!  Well done!
6 days 14 hours ago	Space Coyote	I don't want to Space Coyote poor Drew Hallett here... He's become a verb!  :-)
6 days 17 hours ago	Michigan Football	Holy crap, that's great. It's been 20 years since I've been to a Michigan football game in person. There is nothing like the experience.  Nothing.  The best sports venue in the world.  Period.
1 week 19 hours ago	Salad Dressing*	* Reference to Wishbone salad dressing :-) Another interesting angle on this is why the Wishbone faded away.  I recall it was a horrible come-from-behind offense.  So teams dared not fall behind early or watch out. I recall also that eventually defenses started to figure things out.  That may have been with the advent of greater and greater athleticism and speed in the LB corp.  "Y'all have fast running backs going laterally?  Hell, we have fast LBs that can run with y'all."  My memory recalls the Wishbone dying out just about the time the Florida teams burst on the scene with all their speed in both rushing and receiving.  It's somewhat ironic that Rodriguez's read-option spread was, in some ways, borrowing from the earlier pitch-option offenses.
1 week 20 hours ago	Wishbone	One of my disappointments in Nebraska entering the B1G was the suspension of the Nebraska-Oklahoma game every year.  That was second only to Michigan-Ohio State in terms of being the pinnacle of college football for the teenage me back in the 70's. Watching the Oklahoma wishbone was quite something -- the QB would be under center, and there'd be three backs behind: one in a FB-like spot, and two TBs in a line behind him.  One wide receiver, one TE, and four guys in the backfield.  At the snap it seemed like the whole offense went (typically) right, and the QB would carry until the very last second and then either take off upfield or pitch to someone.  Back then the shoulder pads were enormous, the jerseys cut off showing midriff, and the whole damn thing was just glorious college football. As my memory serves, Michigan usually ran a FB and TB rather than two TB, and there'd be two TEs.  I can still hear Bob Ufer call the set: "Two tight ends and a balanced line.  Huckleby deep and Davis close. Rickeeeey Leach under center."  At the snap it was like Oklahoma and the wishbone ... and Leach would either pitch to the TB (with FB blocking) or pull it back and run with it himself. One wide-out in those days ... Jim Smith.  Great receiver.  Went to Pittsburgh and did well, though he was in the shadow of Lynn Swann for a bit.  I've often wondered what it was like to be the lone receiver in a run-oriented offense ... where most plays aren't coming to you but you have to run your tail off as if it was. I love college football.  Many great memories from those days.
1 week 23 hours ago	D-Line	The biggest factor is going to be the defensive line containing the dives. Is there anything a good D-Line can't do? Seriously ... it seems that a good defensive line is really the heart and soul of a good defense. I will never forget Auburn's throttling of Oregon in the BCS championship in January 2011. Everyone expected Oregon to put up a ton on Auburn, but Nick Fairley and that defensive line had other plans.   The best offense becomes a shambles when there a 300 pound defensive lineman (or two) gumming up the works in the backfield.
1 week 23 hours ago	Time Machine	How much is this Air Force offense like the Michigan "option" that Ricky Leach spearheaded back in the 1970s? I can remember a lot of plays where Leach would take the snap and roll left or right, and then either pitch or keep based on what the defense presented. That was back in the days of the Oklahoma wishbone, and I recall some sports articles -- Joe Falls of the Detroit News wrote one -- questioning whether the wishbone ws "unstoppable."
1 week 1 day ago	Amok Time	That's one of my favorites as well.  Top three, easily.
1 week 1 day ago	"Perfect QB"	That's a bit of a harsh take.   I think Harbaugh is more demanding than most, but I don't get the sense he views all other QBs as lesser versions of some perfect ideal that was himself. As I sit here and type this, I do wonder -- can elite athletes make good coaches?  I'm trying to think of an example.  In the world of basketball the really good coaches -- Wooden, Knight, Krzyzewski -- were players, but never elite.  I wonder if the best coaches come from players who were good, but remember what it's like to have to work to learn things, as opposed to things coming so naturally? Harbaugh was a good QB at Michigan and the NFL, but I don't think he or others would include him in a short list of the "greats."  Maybe that's one of the reasons he's a very good coach.
1 week 1 day ago	Logic	As Spock said in the episode Amok Time -- "Logical.  Flawlessly logical." :-)
1 week 1 day ago	Air Force	So I was thinking, "Didn't we play Air Force recently?"  And in looking back in the records, it's now been 5 years since then.  We beat them 31-25. Five years.  Poof.  Time flies.
1 week 1 day ago	Offensive Line	As the saying goes, "It all starts down in the trenches."  Michigan's offensive line is not horrible, but it's not dominant.  If it was dominant, we'd have a different cast on things. Still ... over at Maize n Brew they did an analysis of each throw by Speight in the Cincinnati game.  Some of his misses were with a clean pocket.  Bad footwork or whatever, in those cases the spotlight is not on the OL. Isaac's running is what has me intrigued.  What changed?  He was off-the-radar for the last two years.  Then this year he's running like a demon on fire.  Did he have a "this is my last season so make it count" epiphany? Or did the change from Wheatley to Harbaugh as RB coach make a difference?

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