For reasons that I can't understand, my nephew's favorite players on this Lions team (even though he is currently injured) is none other than long-snapper Scott Daly. Took him to a game last year wearing his Scott Daly jersey. Got there early to watch warm-ups and Scott Daly came over and talked to my nephew for a long time and signed his jersey. Said it was the first person he's ever seen wear his jersey that wasn't in his family.
I was fine with either Johnson or Mikey, but for some reason I was surprised that it wasn't Mason Graham. He may not have had the stats, but he seemed the most disruptive player on the field from play to play. Before they made the presentation I was thinking it would be a foregone conclusion that he would win defensive player of the game.
Is there any correlation between college stats and professional success? Sure there are examples of college QB's with great stats that end up being successful in the NFL. I'm just wondering if over a larger sample if there is any correlation.
In past years yes, but not this year. I think he even admitted himself that he's struggling a bit with how to handle the transfer data and his model holds onto preseason data longer than most other models. It will be interesting to see how S&P+ performs now that the preseason data is falling off. My guess is it will be back to beating Vegas consistently.
I agree with most except for ULM. S&P+ projections have them covering. I used those projections last year and made money every week except for 2 weeks. He was also heavy on unders this week.
I personally like this format way better than the old format. Previously they continually had to put on the screen where everyone stood for the points race. Someone else referenced the Tiger/Rose year which is a perfect example. It was so silly the announcers had to keep saying where Rose needed to finish to win. Now we know and it's a lot easier for the casual fan to follow. I'm more than a casual fan, but if my wife is watching with me she doesn't have to ask so many questions like "How come if Tiger won, he didn't really win."
Thanks for posting. I grew up there, but haven't been back since my parents moved away 10 years ago.
I can't believe Churchills is still open that's where all my friends and I drank when we were in HS when downtown wasn't so nice in the 90s. Quarter beers on Thursday nights. Good memories.
I loved the Blogpoll. It made so much more sense than the polls that were out at the time. Would there be enough different blogs now though? I think most of them have disappeared.
I would agree with you if scheduling was similar to what it was like 20-30 years ago, but now teams are playing so many cupcakes, how meaningful is every game? If the new format encourages teams to play more difficult non-conference games then I am all for it.
I would agree with you if scheduling was similar to what it was like 20-30 years ago, but now teams are playing so many cupcakes, how meaningful is every game? If the new format encourages teams to play more difficult non-conference games then I am all for it.
Get to 20 teams and then do promotion/relegation. I know it won't happen, but it would be great. Would bring more drama to games at the end of the year that normally wouldn't have very many eyeballs.
I started a "side" job a year and a half ago to fill in the down time while working from home. It's amazing how much time I wasted in the office shooting the shit with co-workers. Anyways, it has pretty become a FT 2nd job. I do work closer to 50 hours a week, but now have 2 full incomes.
It may come crashing down on me at some point, but it's fun while it lasts. Just being able to do this for a year and a half will allow me to retire a few years earlier.
Besides it being the right thing to do, the Athletic department has the money. They are getting more and money every year from TV rights. Where is the money going besides coaches salaries and a bloated administration? It can't go directly to the players and the current facilities are already state of the art. Might as well use the money to provide more opportunities for female athletes.
I think Breaking Bad, The Wire and Better Call Saul are all close for 1st. I loved Sopranos, but there were some really bad episodes whereas the other 3 shows didn't really have any except for maybe the "Fly" episode of BB.
To me, any list of comedies has to include All in the Family. Absolutely brilliant TV that highlighted the bigotry of the time and probably still relevant today. I still have Seinfeld and Curb up there though.
There will be a girl from the state of Michigan U of M's team next year. Emma Kaipainen from Ann Arbor Huron was the state player of the year this year and going to Michigan next year. I think she scored over 130 goals this year. I would imagine it takes someone that good to catch Michigan's eye. It will be interesting to see how she does in college after dominating HS.
Skyline also has an All-state sophomore that I imagine will be on the radar or college coaches if she isn't already. I also know of some other local kids that are doing camps in California this summer to hopefully get noticed by college coaches.
Wouldn't Luke Hughes go to the WJC also? I'm hoping he is still playing for us this year.
Mel is my neighbor and I can report that I saw him outside playing with his grandkids the other day. Thought to myself that is a good sign that he still lives here. I should have asked him what's going on. He's been very forthcoming in the past.
I thought the loophole is that he isn't actually doing any work for the money. They are just using his likeness. Like a company can use his picture to promote a product, but he can't actually film a commercial for someone or do a signing or anything like that.
I know everyone loves the first two days of the NCAA tournament, but today and tomorrow are two of my favorite college basketball viewing days of the year. And we've already had a couple buzzer beaters and a few OT games the last few days. Hopefully it continues.
How about get rid of divisions and play 8 pre-scheduled conference games. At that point, have 1 play 4 and 2 play 3 the last week of the regular season and then the two winners play in the conference title game.
Sure, you will have strength of schedule issues with some of the teams that make it into the final 4, but at that point they would have to beat someone decent to get to the conference title game.
There would be whining about home games, blah, blah, blah, but that could all get worked out especially with big ratings from final 4 matchups. The entire pie would increase.
It's not perfect, but nothing will be with 14 teams.
Has this changed in the last 25 years? When I was looking to transfer to UM after 2 years at CMU in 1997 less than half of my credits would transfer. I was accepted by admissions, but it would have added another 1.5 years for me to graduate so I decided not to transfer.
The dumbest part about all of it is UM wouldn't even take my French credits which I was borderline fluent in at the time.
To me it all seemed like a money grab.
Edit: Sorry, this was in response to the person that said it was easier transferring credits from schools in Michigan. Apparently my CMU education didn't help me in replying properly.
That OSU defense was elite. Michigan's defense is good, but certainly not elite. McNamara is most likely a better passer than Krenzel, but Krenzel got so many key 1st downs with his legs, something McNamara is incapable of doing.
Man I love your recaps and previews, but I have to disagree on one thing. The CBS pregame and halftime shows are gold. Clint Dempsey should have his own show. I never knew he had that much personality until he landed on the CBSSN. I think you need to give it another shot.
I would agree, but we aren't trying to qualify in UEFA. We are trying to qualify in CONCACAF. We should be deep enough even with a couple players out to qualify easily. With that being said, I was counting on 5 pts from the first 3 matches and that can still happen although it will be difficult now.
I agree that he should get credit for his short term signings, but his trades have been beyond awful and I don't think that anyone can argue that fact.
Normally I would agree with you, but they aren't going to get much for any of these guys and Avila's trading record has been terrible. I say just roll with these guys because chance of bringing in anyone worth a damn is probably slim to none.
Thanks for writing this. One of the best things I've read in a while. Many of these issues have nuance and aren't black and white. It has become very difficult to have nuanced conversations in such a polarized society. I think you've done that here.
The interesting thing is the American women have a bunch of younger women up and coming. How do the women have such a good pipeline, but the men have nothing?
By my count, Gonzaga was 10-1 against the Kenpom top 27 (which is all that was listed here), with only two of those wins by less than double digits. Was their conference schedule garbage? Sure, but they handily beat a lot of really good teams. Even though Gonzaga didn't play like it last night, those were the two best teams in college basketball this year.
Last night was definitely not a night to bitch about the refs. We definitely got more of the calls last night. My only complaint would be they called absolutely nothing in the 1st half and then started calling crap away from the basket in the 2nd half that they could have easily let go. But even then more of the calls went against UCLA overall.
I have heard from more than one person that Raftery is a great guy to have a beer with. For some reason, that is why I've always like him as an announcer.
Recent Comments
For reasons that I can't understand, my nephew's favorite players on this Lions team (even though he is currently injured) is none other than long-snapper Scott Daly. Took him to a game last year wearing his Scott Daly jersey. Got there early to watch warm-ups and Scott Daly came over and talked to my nephew for a long time and signed his jersey. Said it was the first person he's ever seen wear his jersey that wasn't in his family.
I'm not sure you can get more obscure than that.
I was fine with either Johnson or Mikey, but for some reason I was surprised that it wasn't Mason Graham. He may not have had the stats, but he seemed the most disruptive player on the field from play to play. Before they made the presentation I was thinking it would be a foregone conclusion that he would win defensive player of the game.
Is there any correlation between college stats and professional success? Sure there are examples of college QB's with great stats that end up being successful in the NFL. I'm just wondering if over a larger sample if there is any correlation.
In past years yes, but not this year. I think he even admitted himself that he's struggling a bit with how to handle the transfer data and his model holds onto preseason data longer than most other models. It will be interesting to see how S&P+ performs now that the preseason data is falling off. My guess is it will be back to beating Vegas consistently.
Solid 2 minute drill? That was one of my few complaints. Let 30 seconds run off the clock early in the drive and took a TO into half.
I agree with most except for ULM. S&P+ projections have them covering. I used those projections last year and made money every week except for 2 weeks. He was also heavy on unders this week.
Surest way to file for bankruptcy is to bet Iowa overs. Also, never bet with your heart which is what the first 2 bets are.
I personally like this format way better than the old format. Previously they continually had to put on the screen where everyone stood for the points race. Someone else referenced the Tiger/Rose year which is a perfect example. It was so silly the announcers had to keep saying where Rose needed to finish to win. Now we know and it's a lot easier for the casual fan to follow. I'm more than a casual fan, but if my wife is watching with me she doesn't have to ask so many questions like "How come if Tiger won, he didn't really win."
Probably one of my favorite professional athlete stories ever
She's a great coach. Extremely intimidating. It's incredible how many high school kids she gets to buy into her training methods.
Snowfall also recently ended. Another outstanding show. Not a best off all time, but definitely worth watching.
Hurt by Johnny Cash. The original is great and he somehow made it better. Even Trent Reznor agreed.
Thanks for posting. I grew up there, but haven't been back since my parents moved away 10 years ago.
I can't believe Churchills is still open that's where all my friends and I drank when we were in HS when downtown wasn't so nice in the 90s. Quarter beers on Thursday nights. Good memories.
Man I miss these write-ups. The QF's was 2002 though.
You left out the part where he didn't seem committed to campus sites for the expanded playoff. That was the scariest part to me.
Tim Ream is playing the best soccer of his career in the best league in the world. He needs to be on this team.
I will be pleasantly surprised if Pefok makes the team. The one in form goal scorer in our player pool and he can't get a sniff.
I loved the Blogpoll. It made so much more sense than the polls that were out at the time. Would there be enough different blogs now though? I think most of them have disappeared.
I would agree with you if scheduling was similar to what it was like 20-30 years ago, but now teams are playing so many cupcakes, how meaningful is every game? If the new format encourages teams to play more difficult non-conference games then I am all for it.
I would agree with you if scheduling was similar to what it was like 20-30 years ago, but now teams are playing so many cupcakes, how meaningful is every game? If the new format encourages teams to play more difficult non-conference games then I am all for it.
Get to 20 teams and then do promotion/relegation. I know it won't happen, but it would be great. Would bring more drama to games at the end of the year that normally wouldn't have very many eyeballs.
Then you should have included Gretzky
Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Serena Williams
I started a "side" job a year and a half ago to fill in the down time while working from home. It's amazing how much time I wasted in the office shooting the shit with co-workers. Anyways, it has pretty become a FT 2nd job. I do work closer to 50 hours a week, but now have 2 full incomes.
It may come crashing down on me at some point, but it's fun while it lasts. Just being able to do this for a year and a half will allow me to retire a few years earlier.
Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. The match vs. The Macho Man in Wrestlemania 3 is still considered one of the greatest matches ever.
Besides it being the right thing to do, the Athletic department has the money. They are getting more and money every year from TV rights. Where is the money going besides coaches salaries and a bloated administration? It can't go directly to the players and the current facilities are already state of the art. Might as well use the money to provide more opportunities for female athletes.
B
I think Breaking Bad, The Wire and Better Call Saul are all close for 1st. I loved Sopranos, but there were some really bad episodes whereas the other 3 shows didn't really have any except for maybe the "Fly" episode of BB.
To me, any list of comedies has to include All in the Family. Absolutely brilliant TV that highlighted the bigotry of the time and probably still relevant today. I still have Seinfeld and Curb up there though.
There will be a girl from the state of Michigan U of M's team next year. Emma Kaipainen from Ann Arbor Huron was the state player of the year this year and going to Michigan next year. I think she scored over 130 goals this year. I would imagine it takes someone that good to catch Michigan's eye. It will be interesting to see how she does in college after dominating HS.
Skyline also has an All-state sophomore that I imagine will be on the radar or college coaches if she isn't already. I also know of some other local kids that are doing camps in California this summer to hopefully get noticed by college coaches.
Wouldn't Luke Hughes go to the WJC also? I'm hoping he is still playing for us this year.
Mel is my neighbor and I can report that I saw him outside playing with his grandkids the other day. Thought to myself that is a good sign that he still lives here. I should have asked him what's going on. He's been very forthcoming in the past.
What he said
I thought the loophole is that he isn't actually doing any work for the money. They are just using his likeness. Like a company can use his picture to promote a product, but he can't actually film a commercial for someone or do a signing or anything like that.
I know everyone loves the first two days of the NCAA tournament, but today and tomorrow are two of my favorite college basketball viewing days of the year. And we've already had a couple buzzer beaters and a few OT games the last few days. Hopefully it continues.
How about get rid of divisions and play 8 pre-scheduled conference games. At that point, have 1 play 4 and 2 play 3 the last week of the regular season and then the two winners play in the conference title game.
Sure, you will have strength of schedule issues with some of the teams that make it into the final 4, but at that point they would have to beat someone decent to get to the conference title game.
There would be whining about home games, blah, blah, blah, but that could all get worked out especially with big ratings from final 4 matchups. The entire pie would increase.
It's not perfect, but nothing will be with 14 teams.
Has this changed in the last 25 years? When I was looking to transfer to UM after 2 years at CMU in 1997 less than half of my credits would transfer. I was accepted by admissions, but it would have added another 1.5 years for me to graduate so I decided not to transfer.
The dumbest part about all of it is UM wouldn't even take my French credits which I was borderline fluent in at the time.
To me it all seemed like a money grab.
Edit: Sorry, this was in response to the person that said it was easier transferring credits from schools in Michigan. Apparently my CMU education didn't help me in replying properly.
I'm drinking anything I can find because I don't want to go to bed.
That OSU defense was elite. Michigan's defense is good, but certainly not elite. McNamara is most likely a better passer than Krenzel, but Krenzel got so many key 1st downs with his legs, something McNamara is incapable of doing.
John Strong calls the games on Fox and he is outstanding.
Man I love your recaps and previews, but I have to disagree on one thing. The CBS pregame and halftime shows are gold. Clint Dempsey should have his own show. I never knew he had that much personality until he landed on the CBSSN. I think you need to give it another shot.
I would agree, but we aren't trying to qualify in UEFA. We are trying to qualify in CONCACAF. We should be deep enough even with a couple players out to qualify easily. With that being said, I was counting on 5 pts from the first 3 matches and that can still happen although it will be difficult now.
I agree that he should get credit for his short term signings, but his trades have been beyond awful and I don't think that anyone can argue that fact.
Normally I would agree with you, but they aren't going to get much for any of these guys and Avila's trading record has been terrible. I say just roll with these guys because chance of bringing in anyone worth a damn is probably slim to none.
Thanks for writing this. One of the best things I've read in a while. Many of these issues have nuance and aren't black and white. It has become very difficult to have nuanced conversations in such a polarized society. I think you've done that here.
The interesting thing is the American women have a bunch of younger women up and coming. How do the women have such a good pipeline, but the men have nothing?
Sewell or trade down. You don't build your team around WR in the NFL.
Not sure you are giving Illinois enough credit and to have them behind NW at this point is laughable.
Tom Morello
By my count, Gonzaga was 10-1 against the Kenpom top 27 (which is all that was listed here), with only two of those wins by less than double digits. Was their conference schedule garbage? Sure, but they handily beat a lot of really good teams. Even though Gonzaga didn't play like it last night, those were the two best teams in college basketball this year.
His formula also has nothing to do with wins and losses
Last night was definitely not a night to bitch about the refs. We definitely got more of the calls last night. My only complaint would be they called absolutely nothing in the 1st half and then started calling crap away from the basket in the 2nd half that they could have easily let go. But even then more of the calls went against UCLA overall.
I have heard from more than one person that Raftery is a great guy to have a beer with. For some reason, that is why I've always like him as an announcer.