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13 years 7 months
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Date Title Body
If you don't like the prices,

If you don't like the prices, ticket policies, or the experience of going to a game, then don't go.  

If enough people stop buying tickets, the prices will go down.  

 

Not that surprising...

Very few people want to relocate to Detroit (or even Michigan for that matter) from out of state. For the young people from the area that do want to stay in the greater Detroit area, there aren't enough jobs to keep them.  It's a shrinking city.

When I finished graduate school, I looked for jobs in Detroit and Michigan and there weren't any jobs in my specific field of choice.  Years later, I got job offers to come back, with less growth opportunity and at significantly lower pay.  I didn't  seriously consider moving back at all.

The place where I ultimately settled and bought a home (out of state) has extremely good public schools, public transportation, parks, libraries, etc.  Bottom line: you want to have a city that attracts people that are happy to pay high property taxes.  

Who cares?

They'll charge what they charge and you can pay or find a more suitable alternative.  For me, the costs for live attendance are already way above what I am willing to pay.   I have a flat sceen at home, with better seats, food, drink, etc.  And, to be honest, the more I hear about the concussion stuff...makes me want to spend more time on my other hobbies anyway.

McGary

McGary's game reminds me a lot of Vlade Divac.

Red flags

Red flags in general...

1.  Western Union

2.  Any form of wire transfers

3.  Can't accept normal payments/use normal sites (PayPal, StubHub, etc.)

4.  Sends you check for wrong amount and has a plan for you to fix it.  Normal people tear up a first check when they make an error -- not send it on with a set of instructions  

5.  Ask for a refund before their original check clears.  Make sure to check with your bank as it may actually take a long time for a check to clear (way longer than you'd think)

6.  Doing business with people with whom you are unfamiliar, will never see or hear from again, or have no way of reporting to the authorities

It sounds somewhat narrow-minded, but there is something to be said for only dealing with companies you trust and that have excellent customer service.

Life long Jayhawk basketball fan perspective

I've been a Jayhawk basketball fan my whole life, or at least as early as I could dribble a basketball.  I remember watching Danny and the Miracles, all of those underperforming Roy Williams teams, and all of the Bill Self teams.  From my estimation, talent-wise this KU team is somewhere in the top 5 out of all of those teams, but sometimes they don't show up to games (as evidenced by some of their baffling losses this season).  At their best, I think this KU team can beat anybody.  McLemore is the best looking player I've seen at KU since Paul Pierce.  But KU is also very beatable, as they sometimes have turnover meltdowns and go cold on offense.

As a double Michigan grad/alum, I'll be rooting for Michigan this Friday, but I would set the line at favoring Kansas by three.  I think the two best teams in the whole NCAA tournament are Kansas and Indiana, but Michigan can certainly beat either of them.

The NCAA knows that...

OSU caught Tressel before he got the chance to fire Gordon Gee and start running the whole school.   So give credit where credit is due. 

Good luck

Any test that lasts a couple days is no fun, but you'll get through it. 

The important thing to remember is that you have studied for this thing full-time for more than a month and more studying would probably be counter-productive. 

Sad population trend

It's unfortunate that Michigan is losing population, but at least for me it didn't make sense to stay there after graduation.  There were jobs to be had, but nothing in the particular specialty that I was interested. 

Webber

Webber seems like a nice guy.  Nice guys make mistakes too, and he has already been put through the ringer for it. 

As a Michigan alum, I have always tried be a good person and to represent myself in a positive light, but no one has any expectations of me.  Webber had so much talent that everyone had sky-is-the-limit expectations of him.

I'm not sure that he was prepared for all of those expectations, and just being himself at the same time.  Lots of child prodigies burn out under less pressure than Webber had.

I was a little bit disappointed for him (not for me) that his pro career didn't turn out better because he was on some bad teams early in his career and had some bad luck later in his career, but that's life.  Lots of great players get stuck on bad teams or get unfortunate injuries.

I don't get the whole "hating" athletes meme.  This is just their job.  Would you have the same outrage if an engineering student was receiving improper and excessive financial aid?  Being a fan doesn't entitle you to weigh their souls in your hands.  

I get that there was some collateral damage to the Michigan basketball program because of the Ed Martin scandal, but do you really think that's how the athletes planned it?  It's really easy to blame people because the train came off the tracks, and after the fact, it's pretty obvious that a bunch of things never should have happened (and, yes, it really should not have ever happened), but I'm cynical and just assume that this sort of thing happens all of the time in major college sports.  Only when Yahoo! or the FBI gets involved does anyone actually find out about it.  

Does mgoblog provide CLE credit?

Too bad.

education needs more funding

Education needs more funding -- not less.  

UM will be fine either way, but I would be surprised if UM went private.

It is truly sad that the cost of an undergraduate education continues to skyrocket (not unique to UM).

knocking out the private loans is key

The way Sopwith describes paring down the loans is the way to do it.  Knocking out the higher interest private loans is the key.

but to be fair...

Even with patent prep. & pros., there is still the difficulty of having the right technical/scientific background.  Many lawyers do not have the necessary technical/scientific background to sit for the patent bar.  There is also a strong preference in patent for candidates with additional degrees (Ph.D. or M.S.). 

Re: law school

No matter what kind of school you attend, you do need to have a realistic plan for what you are going to do afterwards and how you are going to meet your financial obligations, whatever they may be.  Even then, having a few back-up plans is smart.  A lot of people don't realize that legal jobs are scarce and that "having a law degree" by itself doesn't make you a marketable commodity. 

I was on a plane a couple months ago talking to someone that works for a state bar association (in a Big Ten state) and they told me that only about 40% of their law graduates have legally related jobs six months after graduation.  That's a sobering statistic.

I need to grow a beard

I need to grow a beard and wander the streets of San Diego drinking milk from the carton.

My guess was bacon

Every loss is better with some bacon.

Pryor Sadtire

Now on sale at...

He did have a sweet haircut

And "GERG" was fun to say.  So there's that.

Pryor satire always makes me laugh

Win, lose, or draw, I always find Pryor satire amusing. 

If Dee prefers Alabama...

I wish the guy luck.  I have never been tempted to spend several years in Alabama.  It's his choice.

I would be surprised if DB to has the whims of any high school prospect/commit as included in his priorities.

Oops -- not Dave Brandon

I wrote the above before I read Brian's post about how he isn't interested in opinion/speculation on the subject, unless I am actually Dave Brandon (which I am not).  Sorry.

I would keep RR

I would keep RR for at least another year, and I have five reasons:

1.  I'm still not sure if RR can succeed at Michigan -- when I'm not sure about something, I don't make changes.   There is still a good chance he can succeed at Michigan.  Yes, I just said that and didn't combust in flames.

2.  If Michigan is JH's dream job, it will still be his dream job in another year or two.  If it's not his dream job, then Michigan is just another stepping stone to the NFL and it doesn't matter. 

3.  College football games, week to week, are decided by a lot of random occurences (fluke plays, injuries, etc.).  I still believe that Alabama and Boise St. are two of the best teams in college football, even though neither will be in BCS bowl games.  Michigan is better than 7-5, in my opinion.  The Big 10 was stacked this year. 

4.  Being a die-hard Michigan fan means enduring bad years too.  If a bad year is 7-5, I can take it. 

5.  Giving a guy four years as head coach is a fair shake.  I'd rather set precedent in giving a head football coach at least 4 years before canning him.  If JH ends up being the next coach, I'd want to give him at least 4 years too.

603

603 (605 if 603 is taken)

I blame RR

I blame RR a little bit for not fusing adamantium to the skeletons of our players, especially those in the defensive secondary.

I blame RR for not dressing up Troy Palamalu and Ed Reed in Michigan jerseys, and making them play defense for us under a false identity.

I blame RR for not growing a handlebar mustache and learning to speak in a British or Australian accent.

I blame RR for cold weather.

Whenever I think Penn State

I think of Mario Manningham in the endzone with time expiring.

Also...McGloin may be a Wrangler jeans-wearing gunslinger, but the PSU O-Line is not good.  Very few QBs have the ability to be good and remain healthy with a bad O-Line.

I predict Denard gets 200+ (10+ yards/carry) on the ground and 200+ in the air.  The only thing that prevents this is if Michigan intentionally limits his carries (in which I predict 100+ yards running and 270+ in the air for Denard).

Finally, in a reverse jinx, I predict that Sparty wins at Iowa by a final score of 7-0 on a  trick play called, "Jail break!"  Too soon?

Hmmm...

Do I think the ND head coach and AD should be fired for poor decision-making that may or may not have contributed to a student's death?  Hmmm...

It's remarkably stupid that someone didn't think that maybe 50+ mph winds are terrible conditions to video something way up in the air.  That's more than a minor brain fart.

It's remarkably stupid that ND didn't appear to have a better policy and training regarding scissor lifts.  What other machines are they using without proper safety training?  Further, what if there had been additional bystanders in the way.  If the scissor lift had landed on 12 people and killed 7, what then?

On the flip side, I don't expect administrators and coaches to be able to do everything at once and know the OSHA operating standards for every apparatus on the field or in the gym.   

In the final analysis, I guess it depends how tolerant you are of stupidity and if you think that you could accurately identify the candidate(s) that would have averted the tragedy before it happened.   Yeah, I'd rather have Jim Tressel than Brian Kelly as a head coach, but so would everybody else. 

I'll add one to "Worry if..."

"Worry if she sends you a text that says, 'I just spent a lot of money - hehe.'"

I am more curious

I am more curious about what he THOUGHT he was disagreeing with.  You know, what case decided 10-15 years ago that he disliked.

So Much Information

I realize that historical court cases are "fair questions" for a debate, and not to make excuses for Runyan . . . but there's a ton of information that people just forget or can't  remember when put on the spot.  I wish more people would just say, "I can't recall that case right now." or "I would have to brush up on my history before I answer that question."

Office Space

Great Office Space reference.

Paranoid

I think it's OK to be paranoid sometimes. 

Over the last five years, we have been Appalachian State-ed, nearly Les-Miled, Mallett-ed alligator armed Boren "family valued," Free Press-ed, Stretching/Practice-Gated, Feagin-ed, Cissoko-ed, Demar Dorsey-ed, "But he's not a Michigan Man"-ed, Angry Michigan Hating Safety God-ed, and had two of the worst football seasons in the last 30 years.  And that doesn't even discuss a virulent Sparty outbreak, which has been otherwise dormant since the 1960's and that always klassy team in the worst state ever (Badger-ed!).  

We all watch the games and we realize that the D and special teams need a little work.  But when you say "I think the ___ sucks," it's probably not a groundbreaking observation and does not provide any solutions.  There is a distinct difference between "I think we should run more midline because X, Y, and Z" and "Blar Blar Angry I Win at Everything This Losing Thing is BS."  

Also, if the worst thing that happens to you by voicing your criticism is losing imaginery website points, you are OK.  It's not like Brian is keeping a special bad person list of individuals to be sent to the gulags (at least not yet, right?).

The sweatervest

The sweatervest does not look happy.  Frowny face time (for them).

For a team

For a team with a lot of sophomores and freshmen at key positions, our team is really going to be good in a year or two.  We are just a few plays a game away from being a legit top 10 team (force turnovers, commit fewer mistakes, etc.).

Ah human interaction

No wonder I like to wear headphones.

490

Or anywhere in the 490-495 range if I accidentally duplicated.

My favorite part

My favorite part is the presence of  floating heads in the stands.  Second favorite -- orange pants guy on the left.  Reminds me that I need to go orange pants shopping.  All in all though, pretty sweet illustration -- made me smile.

Epic Battle

It will be an epic battle between Iowa Running Back Hating God and Michigan Safety Hating God. 

Maybe

Maybe if more people were standing, Denard wouldn't have thrown those interceptions. 

I kid.  Sorry.

Worth considering

It should be noted that for some people it is painful to stand for long periods of time.  Some people have bad knees, bad backs, bad feet, or chronic arthritis.  Not everyone who appears able-bodied is comfortable standing for several hours in an afternoon.   This can be true for people of all ages -- not just the elderly.  It's definitely worth considering.

I'd also like to point out...

A lot of academic "rankings" don't really mean anything other than general groupings (top tier, second tier, etc.).  Any school within the same 10 or 15 schools in the rankings is about the same or at least comparable.  For the people that went to Michigan, a lot of the criteria that are viewed as negatives in these rankings aren't really negatives at all (e.g., total size of undergraduate class).  After I graduated from Michigan, I realized what a massive and amazing alumni network we have.  That alumni network would be smaller if Michigan's class size were smaller and selectivity were higher.   People from extremely selective small schools generally do not get the benefit of a large alumni network.   So school rankings are inherently flawed in my view.

Also. the major reason I went to Michigan instead of Northwestern (the two schools I was deciding between) was that Michigan was more affordable when I got my projected financial aid packages from both schools.  If Northwestern had been cheaper, I probably would have gone there (blasphemy!).   If I had not been accepted at either Michigan or Northwestern, then I probably would have gone to MSU by default.  Is MSU bad?  Not at all.  I'm sure I would have liked it just fine, but it certainly was not my top choice or even in my top tier of schools.  To its credit, however, it was more affordable than both Michigan and Northwestern, and I do know countless people that loved their time there.

As far as comparing the two, it's tough.  Michigan is definitely more selective and more respected on a national level.  Michigan State is more affordable, or at least it was when I was in high school.  They both have large class sizes.  They have a different feel to them culturally and on campus.  The books you use in class are probably the same, or essentially the same, at both schools and probably throughout the U.S.   The curricula at the undergrad level is probably more similar than different.  If you know you are going to medical or law school afterwards, where you go to undergrad and what you major in is probably not as important as people make it out to be, provided you get good grades and test scores. 

I think what is often lost in the shuffle with all these rankings is how much the school will expand your horizons and challenge you to be a better person.  I think Michigan pushed me harder and made me a better person than MSU would have, but I cannot say for sure because I didn't attend MSU.   I do have two friends that got into both schools and chose MSU (in both cases because they wanted to do education), but everybody has to do what's right for them.  I don't hold it against anyone because they went to MSU any more than I would hope people would hold it against me if I went to Northwestern instead of Michigan.  The reason people pick one school over another might be due to cost, or a specific major, or even proximity to family, all of which seem valid to me. 

Logistically

I think the only way that it would work would be if it were a private entity as part of a private amateur league -- e.g., can you imagine an amateur league matchup between the The Columbus Rubes and The East Lansing Absconders?

The elephant in the room

Well done NCAA.  Maybe you should spend more time investigating players being paid -- less time investigating stretching and voluntary practices.

Maybe you should write a letter

Maybe you should write the U.S. Supreme Court a letter.

I agree

I agree -- those are all good points.  Also, constitutional law is one area that has the capacity to change rapidly and is not as firmly bound to precedent as other areas of the law. 

As a technical matter, however, it bothers me when, instead of arguing for a "change in the law," someone like remdog argues that existing constitutional law is per se unconstitutional.  Call it a pet peeve.

Big picture

Your attack on the UM Law School admissions process seems to have shifted into an attack on some of the Supreme Court Justices (a different argument entirely).  If you want to hate on specific Justices of the Supreme Court -- that is fine -- but that's probably for a different blog.

Regarding the bigger picture, if you want to start your own law school that narrowly defines "merit" as GPA only (or something else easily measured), nobody is stopping you.  Go for it.  And if your school does a better job of identying and developing "merit," then you should have no problem competing with Michigan Law or other top law schools.

Just don't be surprised when you start your own law school and discover that your rubric for "merit" is not as foolproof as you imagined.  Some people with stellar numbers may be terrible law school students and attorneys.  Similarly, some people with great but not quite stellar numbers may turn out to be excellent law school students and attorneys.  That's really the crux of the issue -- identifying the best candidates overall (some of which might not be captured by a numbers-only approach).  

Please give me a history lesson

I would love to hear about all of the cases you have read and how you understand the Constitution best of all.  Seriously, I want to learn.

Yeah

Your starting point is that the U.S. Supreme Court does not know how to interpret the Constitution.  Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.  Good luck with that fortress of logic.

I look forward to seeing the "Remdog" confirmation proceedings sometime in the next decade or so.  Clearly, you are ahead of your time.

As for matters being "over my head," I was accurately noting that the law school won its admissions case.  Relatedly, you may be interested to learn that Germany lost WWII and that the South lost the Civil War.  Those topics may also be "over my head," but are similarly established on the record.

When I was curious about the law school's admission criteria, I scheduled a time to talk to them about it.  It proved to be very helpful.  Communication can be helpful sometimes, if you are actually looking for answers.

Hey, there's this thing called the U.S. Supreme Court

In case you missed it, the U.S. Supreme Court UPHELD the law school's admission policy (i.e., the law school won that case).  But maybe you think having a U.S. Supreme Court or a Constitution is also a waste of taxpayer money. 

Maybe you have a better way of running a democracy...but it doesn't matter because, unlike the U.S. Supreme Court, your individual opinions do not have the force of law.

As a general matter, it is apparent that you are talking about a process that you don't understand, an admissions department that you have never met, and a legal decision that you have never read.  You might not be a sheep, but that does not mean you know what you are talking about. 

One other thing

Most graduates of the very top law schools (Michigan included) land on their feet and are glad they got their degrees. 

There are still many attorneys, however, that  wish they had never gone to law school and view it as a poor investment.  I would consider this dichotomy before deciding on any law school and particularly before assuming any legal education debt.

Before you send in your deposit, talk to some attorneys that are out there practicing at different experience levels (2nd years, 5th years, 10th years, etc.).  Also talk to some poeple that have legal degrees, but are not currently practicing law for whatever reason.  In addition, ask them how much it cost them to get their degree and how long it took them to pay for it.