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I don't care about this…

I don't care about this award - I care about playing for the B1G championship next Saturday. 

Better yet, maybe our coaches have learned from being outcoached by Tucker, and will do better next year (McDonald needs to spend all week and all offseason learning how to handle tempo) while still surviving that blot on an otherwise amazing season, I'll take that over the awards.

 

I wonder how much of the…

I wonder how much of the Blackadder offensive strategy is on Harbaugh as opposed to Gattis.  Only one way to find out (though I suspect its both of them), but the offense has had enough success despite the self imposed limitations that the Gattis/Harbaugh combo because of good players and enough good execution that we will probably never find out.  Gattis and Harbaugh will both be around putting bricks a collective brick on the heads of this talented offense next year and beyond and the great thought experiment of whether a truly good O Coordinator could turbo charge this already good offense (or be castrated by Harbaugh) will remain just that a thought experiment into year 4 of Gattis.  

Just imagine the branding…

Just imagine the branding opportunities if the F**k Lion was still on the team.

Not sure what this means…

Not sure what this means structurally in terms of how the money gets to the student athletes, but I imagine that as this economic system develops there will arise a Players Association and CBA.  Measures will then be negotiated by the "owners" (the universities) to mitigate the "money cannon" and there will inevitably be some form of "salary cap" in place to save these owners from themselves (and from the "big markets") like all of the US pro sports leagues.  But until then, at least Michigan will have the firepower to keep up with the Yankees of college football.

Is expecting Robby Hummel…

Is expecting Robby Hummel super super senior to turn up for Purdue too far fetched? Seemed like he was there forever.  He and Joshua Langford have to be headliners, along with Brad Davidson on the B1G all time-Never ending eligibility Team.

Smith not coming back. …

Smith not coming back.  https://www.instagram.com/p/CNX4tcEA_8f/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

McDonald recently said that…

McDonald recently said that he does not want to have a specific position responsibility (and I think that is very important given he is a first timer DC and needs to focus on that before multitasking).

They will hire someone else.  BJM was a good recruiter seemingly, but should not be difficult to find a good replacement for this position. 

- Amazing that he is a grad…

- Amazing that he is a grad transfer with 3 years of eligibility left.  Will have a PhD by the time he leaves his next school.  Even with McNamara as 1 on depth chart, Milton would have seen the field - hard to keep a QB clean for the entire schedule on any team.  Both McNamara and McCarthy will be playing meaningful minutes next year.

- While his accuracy is a huge issue, that hopefully will improve for him, I am most interested to see how he performs in the QB read game at his next stop giving us answer whether it was a Harbaugh/Gattis issue in playcalling or whether it was a Milton issue with post snap reads in executing ZR (and also RPOs).  Gattis' offense simply does not succeed without a credible QB run game threat.  Makes all the more curious on how McCafferty was apparently beaten out for No. 1 last season. 

So basically Harbaugh's new…

So basically Harbaugh's new coaching staff is the equivilent of a TV sitcom adding a new baby character or adding Ted McGinley to save it.

Its hard to notice refs in a…

Its hard to notice refs in a 17 point blowout, but even without no crowd to egg on the homerism, this was one of the worst one-sided ref display I have ever seen in this conference long-known for the home whistle.  TV Ted eat your heart out.  There are new sherriffs in town.

(No subject)

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If I recall correctly, when…

If I recall correctly, when Harbaugh came to Michigan as coach he tried to sell RBs on showcasing their talents but preventing wear and tear to improve their longevity in the NFL.  I have not heard that approach re-stated in some time, but no reason to believe that has changed.  That said, even if that is the case, that philosophy seems to have been taken to an extreme this year.

This is a good strategy…

This is a good strategy/outcome for AD Warde Manual IF Campbell was not interested (and maybe if Fickell also not interested) - I am sure those calls have been made. Campbell and maybe Fickell are the only obviously above Replacement level options out there.

While this will set the next few years in fire on the field, it gives Warde time find a non-Campbell replacement that was not obvious in this year's crop.  Now much less costly for Warde to pull the trigger at a time of his choosing without the heavy buyout.  

Should Warde have reached this point sooner?   - How would he have done that with Harbaugh obviously not excited about taking a haircut?  It was always going take Bloody Monday to give Warde some leverage. 

If Campbell was interested in the job, the buyout would have been worth the chance in my opinion as not sure who else is going to crop up next year that will be as good.  

And yes, Harbaugh's assistants are irrelevant, sadly. 

You guys. Herbstreit has a…

You guys. Herbstreit has a theory.

Very few hold up against…

Very few hold up against Garza, and I expect Dickinson will not have his best results defensively against Garza (offensive end a different story).  Teske played some of his worst games results-wise against Garza, who is a NBA level offensive player who also has the refs on his side. That said it is much better year for him to be breaking in with last-year's crop of devastating big men thinned.  Facing Garza and Cockburn in addition to the now departed, Wesson, Oturu, Haarms Happ (or does he still have another 5 years of eligibility?) may have put a lower ceiling on the results a bit more than we should hopefully see. 

Sadly, this subplot is…

Sadly, this subplot is turning into the only interesting thing about this season...and that is saying a lot.  

This season is like a spring…

This season is like a spring game on never-ending loop.

That is as depressing as…

That is as depressing as imagined it would be.  Maybe Patterson's lack of keeps were not a Patterson issue after all. If this is how they came out in game 1, I might understand it a little more, but to regress the past 2 weeks into the muddle is as Brian points out, just plain unexplainable. At least Borges tried some different things, as incoherent as they were in the context of the offense.  Maybe this is just all a ruse to get Ohio State (more) overconfident. 

Milton has the potential to…

Milton has the potential to be able to do things Patterson did not do last year.  Keep the ball and gain yards better than Patterson who refused to do it most of the time. If he can accurately throw the long handoff, slants and RPO's his down field accuracy question marks may be mitigated.  Week 1 opponent is not as strong on defense as it was last year (lost Winfield and Coughlin two of their best defenders).  Ghost of Nick Sheridan running the Rich Rod, spread and shred against Minnesota could be a thing (though that may be when Brewster was their coach).

Things going against him (in addition to his "project status"): Yep, inexperience; Big Ten only schedule means no easy confidence builders - until Rutgers and maybe MSU; Late start means more potential bad weather. Ronnie Bell, catch the damned ball.  Overall, have to think that Milton will have a few clunkers, but overall with this offense, he should not be a complete disaster.  

Someone help me out with the…

Someone help me out with the TL;DR point of the Daily article about Muhammed.  Harbaugh, (also Sharrone Moore and Harden...but for for sure Harbaugh) knew that Muhammed was accused of sexual harassment, knew that he entered the transfer portal while the investigation was ongoing, and knew that after Muhammed entered the transfer portal an OIE investigation cleared him, and therefore Harbaugh Bad? 

Hopefully there is something that I am missing.

Thank you for the link to…

Thank you for the link to the Freekbase deep dive that I never would have otherwise seen.  At first I thought, We Are ND is a tone deaf masterpiece and and endless supply of schadenfreud-tastic comedy for us Michigan fans that really speaks for itself. But I am never disappointed by Athletic articles (in this I am serious - I do love the Altheltic) and reading through this attempt at revisionist history by ND was worth it for this gem alone...IT TOOK A YEAR TO CONVINCE Freekbase to do the project. HAHAHAHAHA!

And I think I speak or the rest of the nation, please god let them next do a deep dive into why the ND business school tailgate video has been removed www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/2006/05/02/your-tailgate-is-teh-sux0rz-notre-dame/.

Maybe the Power 5 go to an…

Maybe the Power 5 go to an CHL like draft system to make it truly a pre-professional minor league like the CHL.   

One of the best of all time…

One of the best of all time.  Will be missed.  Can't imagine a Christoper Guest movie without him.

Partridge was tied to 2 five…

Partridge was tied to 2 five star recruits (Peppers and Gary) and he helped open a great talent pipeline in the state of NJ where the competition on a day to day basis seemed to be only Rutgers and where he did actually recruit to his parochial school, so that is why Partridge was an obviously good idea, whereas this is not obvious.   FWIW - Partridge did also have prior college coaching experience as well, though not P5. 

Harbaugh has brought in Devin Bush the senior as a paid staff member when he was pursuing Devin Bush, Jr. (Metellus and Gil also bonus).

So yes, Harbaugh has been willing to hire for specific recruiting value, which does not seem to be the case here.  Completely fair and accurate to point this out, and certainly not the good news given the other negative stories floating around about other coaches available who did specifically add recruiting value and the negateive stories about the recruiting ops/culture at Michigan.  

Also, FWIW  I think do think that the Nua hiring is getting short shrift as he filled a Polynesian coach role which is valuable for recruiting the Polynesian talent pool.  

Correct.  It was just a copy…

Correct.  It was just a copy and paste from Coach Trenary's update email (I was not at the match).  Sorry if I should have made that clear. There are not quarters in Rugby.  Just 2 halves, but not uncommon to think about haves in terms of the first and second 20 minutes.  I am not sure how to access the 11 sports, but it looks like it may have some app access through smart tvs. Hopefully, I figure it out by Saturday.  

 

Athletic is a really good…

Athletic is a really good site if you follow a lot of sports/teams/ if you just follow M football, you are ok to just stick with M Go Blog, but I don't think you will feel let down for $5/month either way.  They have the long-form, human interest stuff that is, while certainly not quite the SI weekly stuff in its heyday (I would acutally read about things that happened a week ago), is more timely and still a really good read - I will often read them about teams/sports I do not even follow because the writing is good. Their team-specific coverage guys are excellent for the teams that I follow and it is a great combo of notes, analysis and old fashioned sports journalism. For the teams, that I follow they have a beat writer type, paired with a more in-depth guy (for M it would be Meek and Baumgardner) I also like their fantasy football team as an added bonus.  

As someone who does not…

As someone who does not follow it very closely, this article was a very concise eye-opener on why Burhalter has failed and is DOOMED to fail.  https://ftw.usatoday.com/2019/10/usmnt-canada-gregg-berhalter?csp=trueanthem&utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_content=5da77730594d1700014c7d08&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

It's not lazy or uninspired play, but a system that cannot be implemented and is easy to defend if not executed at a level that is nearly impossible for a national side.   Basically, the "scripted" offense is too complex for a team mustered from across leagues and continents save a few weeks a year. It's apparently even more difficult than asking Shae Patterson to execute Speed in Space.

somehow Harbaugh will be…

somehow Harbaugh will be blamed for this and for his subsequent visit to the transfer portal and for his subsequent waiver denial.

If they're ever healthy…

If they're ever healthy enough to run this stuff against a real team, it might actually work.

 

Shh. They are saving it for Wisconsin

Many matches will be aired…

Many matches will be aired on the NBC network and the NBC cable version, in addition to a package for the entire tournament.  https://www.nbcsports.com/rugby/rugby-world-cup  Set your DVRs for the marquis match of the early rounds, and watch while you have your toast and Marmite.  New Zealand versus South Africa which could be the two best sides in the tournament.  While New Zealand have looked vulnerable during the Rugby Championships (draw with SA and a loss to Australia), they are still the standard by which all others will be measured.  South Africa looks in good form and this match is a possible test of who could ultimately win Webb Ellis Cup.  This match will begin at 530 EST

Late tonight, the Australia-Fiji match should be fun.  Australia are still trying to find consistent form after an up and down Rugby Championship series (they thumped the All Blacks in Perth, but lost the rubber match in Auckland (the battle for the trans-tasman supremacy the Bledsloe Cup is often 2 game series with a split good enough to retain the cup)).  Fiji sits at the top of the second tier of rugby nations, but plays an electric brand of rugby.  Known more for its prowess in the seven a side version, this full side is in top form right now and this is a potential upset.  I still think Australia will prevail, and they tend to rise to the occasion every four years in this tournament, possibly to yet another deep run, but you may see some great open rugby in this one (some of Austrailia's players are of Fijian background). 

USA debuts on 9-26 against England, which looks to avenge an embarrasing showing at the 2015 World Cup on home soil, in which it failed to make it out of group play.  USA have risen to number 13 in the world with historic wins this past year against Scotland and Samoa, and competitive showings against Fiji and Japan.  USA now boasts a domestic professional league that has raised the floor and depth of the side.  Most of the top players continue to play in Europe. In comparison to soccer, the USA side is probably very similar to the 1994 USA World Cup soccer team in that several foreign-born USA eligible players still populate the side, but the domestic players are starting to break through.  That said, its a much better side than the 2015 product.  In a group of death, though USA will only be favored in group play against Tonga. 

While I quibble about the length it takes for kickers to line for kicks at goals and the replay process is just as bad as College Football, and sometimes poor camera work robs the viewer of the necessary perspective, those are quibbles For those who have not watched rugby before, definitely give it a look as I think you will enjoy the pace and the physicality, without all of those tv timeouts. 

This is a really simplistic …

This is a really simplistic "analysis" that is generalizing from results when there are other data points to suggest some other more granular causes other than Jim Harbaugh Hate Offense hot take.  Culprit 1 is Patterson's inability or unwillingness to execute the offense which is a read based offense.  Culprit 2 is play calling that puts doom in motion (and some of this even if not directly on Jim Harbaugh could be inspired by Harbaugh's dictating strategy and Gattis still dictating tactics). 

That said, if Patterson is operating at his Wisconsin level from last year, Spath is busy talking about Harbaugh to the Raiders rather than Harbaugh Hates Winning.  Gattis did not call a good game given Shae's performance, and even cleaning up some of the miscues would have just masked that something is still a little off in the "speed in space" department, but Patterson is the biggest culprit in this narrative, not Harbaugh.  All of that can be true.

Dunno.  Maybe....this.

Dunno.  Maybe....this would work.

 

This is yet another great…

This is yet another great benefit of starting the game on VDR 1 hour after it actually starts so you can skip through crap like this on a 10-minute loop each change of possession.  It's hard waiting for the game to start, but well worth it.  That said, I may never have had a cabinet full of Ro-tel had I engaged in this practice sooner.

Will Hudson be moving back…

Will Hudson be moving back to the DL at Cincy?  

Those "padded" helmets you…

Those "padded" helmets you are referring to are useless for the purpose you suggest.  They are rugby scrum caps which provide little to no impact protection.  They can stop some blood incidents that occur during the course of rugby play, but largely have the effect of protecting the ears or replacing the taping of the ears.  

The use of them in 7 v 7 (and rugby) is purely optics.

That said, the tacking in rugby is much safer because of the lack of helmets (assuming proper technique is followed) and because of the nature of the contact.  Rugby tacking happens at much closer quarter and at "safer" angles, rugby law includes the requirement to wrap the ball carrier, making helmet-less play reasonably more safe.  (I have had to stop playing because of concussions - though those concussions occurred in hockey and not rugby (only one concussion from rugby in my 20 years of playing) before the "Messier project" helmets and next generation helmets which have allowed me to continue playing hockey without any concussions since).

That said,there are still, as would be expected, a not insignificant occurrence of concussions but using rugby tackling principals (which require the wrapping of the arms to be a lawful tackle) can make for a safer tacking experience and also for just pure better results that is somewhat transferable to American football.

Would love to see another…

Would love to see another year of Shea.  Shea could be looking at a slight downgrade next year ... but not precipitously so - and "another year in system gains may offset" in my opinion.  Offense loses Bushell-Beatty, Higdon and Wangler.  https://mgoblog.com/content/michigan-depth-chart-class-0 

Higdon biggest loss obviously, but JBB has been excellent in run game and serviceable as a pass protector of late. Runyan will be a 5th year senior but I would expect that he will be back.  Steuber, Mayfield (sad face - not Hudson) in mix to replace JBB - tackle depth still thin and young.   

Evans returns, but I would expect Turner to be first up to "replace" Higdon.  Tru Wilson and Samuels should push for carries too.    

WR and TE targets (including hopefully a healthy Black) should all be back and with another year of experience.  Route concept issues still likely remain, but Patterson hopefully improve on his reads.

I think the key really has…

I think the key really has little do with Sparty and rather it is that Michigan getting back to being Michigan where the cupboard gets restocked so that we have a two deep with some balance in graduation years on the OL and sustaining the success at the skill positions on offense, while reloading at defense.    We cannot reach the regular beatings punctuated by the occasional or 20-25% of the time Sparty underdog/gel year (87, 99 etc) win that many of us are old enough to remember, until we are "reloading" on both sides of the ball.  That may become more difficult/a longer way away in the transfer exodus era as the "lottery ticket" feel becomes more acute as depth poised for starting/contributing in year 3 leaves in year 2 (see James Hudson) and our historical 3-1 win advantage may turn more into 5-2.  Others have hit the nail on the head with the coaching.  So long as Mork is in EL, they will likely win some more of these games than they would "on paper."  It also depends on Harbaugh continuing to innovate and require performance from his assistants, and not turning into Bowden or JoePa.  Yes, keeping Don Brown is crucial and hope that he and Warriner really are in that 5-10 year range.  Pep may not be the answer and JH may feel pressure to bring in a full OC at some point if the offense stagnates for even a year with a talented team.  Not sure what the coaching tree looks like here with life time coordinator/assistants staying, but that is a problem worth having right now.

I DVRd the game and forgot…

I DVRd the game and forgot to add my customary hour of additional taping time.  With 3 hours of taping time I made it to the 14:20 mark (not hockey counting - that's 14:20 left on the clock in Q4).  

Not just talk

Whether the changes coming out of the self-scouting works or not remains to be seen, but it is hard to claim that the changes that have already been made, including getting rid of one his long time friends like Drevno that Harbaugh is just engaging in "coach speak.  He made a serious upgrade in terms of track record at the biggest postiion of need - the OL - and obviously replacing a GA with McElwain (like him or not as a head coach) is a huge upgrade.  The addition of 2 other coaches who have good recruiting reps is also an upgrade.  I think it also shows that Pep may not have been as responsible for the downgrade in the passing game as he is being given "credit" for.  

 

We have a chance to finally balance the scales

for Rice taking Sam McGuffie.

I agree only with Bunting

Would be surporised if any of the others you listed were not asked to return.  JBB, Furbush and Watson were all major contributors.  Marshall maybe, but he was in rotation (seemed to play a lot in Outback bowl) and will be a major contributor on a DL that uses a lot of rotation.  

Twins fan view of Gardy

As a Twins fan, I have some reflections on some of the above comments.

1) He is, as some have observed "old school" when it comes to management of the team on a day to day basis. While roster contrsctuction is out of his control, and he worked with the least sabermetrically advanced baseball department in the league under Terry Ryan (and Bill Smith), he was certainly a reflection of that ethos.  He is famous among a pretty sabr saavy Twins fanbase for saying "stats dont mean nothing" and does not use any sort of advanced metrics, much less standard metrics in constructing a lineup or managing in-game.  A few examples are that he does not at all give credence to hitters splits versus different handed pitchers and really likes to have "everyday" guys.  Jaque Jones was the most glaring example.  Terrible versus lefties but always in lineup; platoons were exceedingly rare and disliked by Gardenhire; will put "speedy" guys with hustle who "battle their tails off" at lead off instead of higher OBP guys and always seemed to want to middle infielders in the No 2 slot regardless of OB skills; will always save his closer for the "save";  loves veterans and hates young players with few exceptions;  While I put the horrible JJ Hardy trade ultimately on Terry Ryan (booted him after one season where he went on to have some great seasons with the O's), TR was left with little choice the way Gardy went after Hardy in the media for not being fast and SS are supposed to be fast according to Gardy.  Gardy is very much a slave to conventional wisdom from 1972 and aint no one going to talk him out of it. 

2) Contrary to national conventional wisdom, Gardy's teams were not terribly sound fundamentally and his teams did not play "the Twins way" established under Tom Kelly.  My recollection is that the Twins were often in the lower tier in most fielding metrics under Gardy, and certainly in terms of errors were not regularly near the top of the league.

3) Gardy is all about "toughness" which led to a lot of guys hiding injuries to stay out of the dog house, all the time ending up on the DL eventually anyhow while performance suffered.  Gardy would plant in the local media notions that certain players werent playing through injuries and werent tough.  Toughness is laudable until it starts hurting the team having a pitcher with a shoulder injury trying to tough out innings with significant drops in velocity.  There were other examples of Gardy going after players through the media as well.  He had a reputation of having "his guys" and the others were not treated very well.

4) In short, my opinion is that Gardy is not the ideal manager for a rebuilding team.  After a great run with generally veteran Twins teams (winning six division titles) though during times of weak AL central, when it came to the rebuilding project, Gardy was out of his element when having to bring up younger talent.  While much of the "blame" goes to the Terry Ryan front office, Gardy just does not bring out the best in young players.  Makes me wonder why Gardy took this job.

5) All that said, Gardy did have some success.  He is a colorful character and defintely understands the game itself.  With the right roster he can get some wins with his hunches and gut feelings, but overall I do not think it is a good fit for where the Tigers are at now.

For some pretty sound critisim of Gardy as skipper of the Twins I recommend searching archives at aarongleeman.com -  Aaron Gleeman is the editor-in-chief of Baseball Prospectus and a twins fan who's takes are often humorous and almost always spot on.

To avoid confusion. I vote for these nameplates

very few easy baskets in that run

The easiest look was the layup that DJ missed - very few easy looks.  OSU was extending the circle but very few backdoor opportunities and many of the shots were deep.  M did a good job at staying patient and making the extra pass to get a slightly better look on several possessions and never looked dead legged on the long shots.  Irvin made some nice moves to create space for himself.  Wislon hit a 3 on a nice pick and pop with Walton that was relatively uncontested, Robinson's shots were all contested.  All in all it was just one of those lights out shooting performances that are rare and amazing to watch.  This is a great shooting team but this was just an entirely other level, that let's pray does not have to be repeated.

need 360 spinning wright-jones*

*

less famous viking

I think that Judge Culpepper is the son of the less famous Viking Culpepper, Brad Culpepper.

ACE said that he will be rolling the hello posts out over the...

rest of the week.  All will get their posts.

who is Staee plant that asked that last question?

He is just wrong in his premise.  There is more than one kid from the state of Michigan in the class - Onwenu, Hill and Nordin are all from Michigan.

musical appearances

Josh Groban - you lift me up - 

Freekbass - Lou Holtz can sing along 

n serious note they really should replace Todd McShay

with one of the recruiting analysts that actually follow Michigan.  Would have been nice for the kids to actually hear a positive scouting report  from someone familiar with them.  McShay made every kids sound like a seventh rounder on draft day.