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I'd like to see some people…

I'd like to see some people with insight weigh in on just how much of a learning curve there will be to on-boarding a Chip Kelly offense and how ideally suited OSU's current personnel may be. Granted, he's got talented players, and will have to be flexible himself--Day didn't hire him without consideration of those issues. But--pressure to win now being what it is--Kelly has to make it work from jump. (Or do I have it wrong? Maybe they have 3/4 of the season to get it right?) What are the odds, as people see it?

To spend this kind of money, to do this amount of Heimlich maneuvering and fail would be. . . catastrophic.

"it would be nice to be on…

"it would be nice to be on the good side of the power struggle with a. . . governing body for once"

Truth (no, cross that out), justice (no, cross that out), and the American Way of Life (registered trademark), amirite?

Feels gd 2 crush people, and we're going in.

Signed, Gunga Din

While the refs just watch?…

While the refs just watch? And the same white racist fans will tell you how uncivilized the NBA is. 

Thugs.

Once my wife--a literary…

Once my wife--a literary critic with three books and a PhD--explained that the Bond movies were a compensatory ritual for Britain's loss of empire, with a good-looking white fella kicking the behinds of people from pretty much everywhere else in the world, it kinda made sense. But the movies. . . in the end I'm not sure that they're up to much.

P.S. Sean Connery by a landslide.

We sit here and desk-jockey…

We sit here and desk-jockey about these guys as "busts," intoning--in our great wisdom about their failure to do this and that--when most of us cut ourselves plenty of slack if we're just architects building local houses and not skyscrapers; engineers in biotech firms. Etcetera. Sure, it's easy talk; it's chatter. But there's a tortured logic in these conversations. Denard cranked out more yards than any NCAA player before him. He's a coach at the U of M. Denard is a success. And many of the people commenting. . . may not have anything like the good day that Mr. Robinson will have today, drawing huge smiles, getting name-checked on the street.  

Irony is not your strongest…

Irony is not your strongest point, Audi Quattro.

That's reading a LONG way…

That's reading a LONG way into a couple of sentences. Especially for a sensitive multiracial man like yourself? Detroit's had white radio for a long, long, long time, while being a predominantly Black city. Rob Parker's not a wildly talented man, but anyone who gets on their high horse about an attempt to establish a radio station with a predominantly Black perpsective a) probably should have gotten out with their soapbox about 1000 times before now (cuz there's lots of Black radio stations), and b) casts just a little doubt on their--rather suspect--attempts to paint themselves as enlightened about these issues (because, you know, I spend time in the vicinity of brown people!)

At least give them a little time to, you know, mount the effort, show just what the programming might consist of. Folx like you can usually seize on SOMETHING to pee and groan about at that stage.

Or--hey, who's got time for patience now--just join the many less careful concern trollers here, and pee away. It's the same sorry people, time after time. Once you've offered such graceless garbage more than five times, I'd say that your tin "But I am not a racist" badge should probably be suspended, but

And their biracial family.

And their biracial family.

Yes, there will be changes.

Yes, there will be changes.

Unless he quits, he's back.

Unless he quits, he's back.

People with hack names…

People with hack names followed by numbers are always the least interesting posters. It's a rule that holds across media as well as across different kinds of content. Politics, sports, knitting--GoRaiders9012 is always the most low-rent poster. And the most likely to complain about wordz. Those things you use to communicate with on message boards.

I think we're going to learn…

I think we're going to learn that the wrist has been bothering him for a while.

Will Johnson? Yes, he will…

Will Johnson? Yes, he will. Go Blue.

Well, here's the rare poster…

Well, here's the rare poster that knows something about the game chiming in with some worthy observations. One in about fifty here, honestly. I'm with you until the end when you invoke the question of roster management. . . and then. . . between just what players are available and who you can actually shoe-horn in???

And there's lots we don't even know. In a way, these issues mask deeper questions about "roster construction," or Juwan's administration of the program, because who you might want to play for you is so deeply, deeply separate from who the hell you can get, or get in. It's admissions AND money.

The two things I think one can honestly assert that fly in the face of the current torch and pitchfork analysis are that a) Juwan has lost pushing ten guys in three years to the NBA or admissions, and b) beyond that luck has been bad--with injuries, heart problems, etc. (Now Olivier.) No one, no one can tell me we're not fielding far better teams with, jeebus, even three or four of those players in the fold.

And right through last year, people who ACTUALLY KNEW were praising Juwan's strategic acumen, OOB plays, lots of stuff. Players saying that they would run through a wall for him.

What troubles me, the reason why I've stopped coming here to get cheesed off, is that there's just zero compassion for what a favorite son of Michigan is up against. Just a bunch of people who couldn't hold the man's jockstrap on their best day spouting complete nonsense. Using the couple of basketball terms they have floating around the old cocoa and strutting off tickled with themselves, twenty more anonymous clowns shouting hurhur.

Juwan is not, sometimes, a strong advocate for himself. He's defensive. He's sometimes maladroit. I agree that the record is so bad that something's got to happen; I've said before that Juwan should quit--I would. One can almost guarantee that there will be a LONG period of trials beyond, because the college bball landscape is in free fall, if you're not prepared to pay lots for players.

I've used the word lynching to describe the hostility, and yes--that's strong, of course. Mgoblog is infamous for the stupid you get here during games, including football. There truly is nothing like a group of American Know Nothings all puffed up around some new reason for heat. We have an entire media machine, both sides, that now vacuums up bazillions feeding on it, and selling the the gap-mouthed citizenry laundry soap with their own bile for lubricating oil. Of clarity. . . nottalotta. And I find Alex's numbing blow by blow recaps of very little use, even if someone is editing him better.

You just can't really come to mgoblog to develop insight about hoop. (Study the comments at umhoops about mgoblog sometime!) But thanks for your nuanced contribution.

I've had mine two days and I…

I've had mine two days and I've already been blinded. . . by useless information reflective of my lack of internet hygiene. . . and a couple of images that should nonetheless keep me busy.

The painful and--in truth-…

The painful and--in truth--curious fact is that Michigan looked so good at the beginning of the season. Were scoring 90-plus points a game. All sorts of things might explain it, including bad coaching and coaching turmoil (and confidence, which is huge in college basketball). But they looked damned good out of the gate.

I think that he's overrated,…

I think that he's overrated, too. A competent organizer/facilitator should be able to oversee Texas football to the tune of at least nine wins a year on the absolute regular.

But beyond that it's fascinating and crazy to note that it's worth it, in terms of profit generation and dependability, to pay someone that much. And what a gamble it is.

And--if, like me, you have a tenured professor of considerable achievement and two published books in the family, a third book on the way--to note that they make less than one percent of that, in an institution nominally devoted to scholarship. . . such numbers beggar belief. And possibly, if we come to our senses, insurrection.

It's also instructive, and not encouraging, that in a period where bloody everyone is recognizing that the athletes need to get paid, how warped it all is, all of the numbers continue to skew for--well, management, and not labor.

In year EIGHT of his tenure,…

In year EIGHT of his tenure, Beilein's D was so awfully bad--as always with his teams--that he was forced to hire a D coach who was, effectively, his analogue. This team is terrible on D, but to say that Beilein's were good just reveals you for a person who makes things up. We used to pray that his teams would become just good enough on D down the stretch to prevent a few opposing team layups! And I say this as someone who loved Beilein. The hagiography here lately for Beilein, as rhetorical whip for Juwan, is hilarious. Please get real.

Thanks. The rare pithy and…

Thanks. The rare pithy and well-constructed Message Board offering. All very welcome.

This is stupid even by…

This is stupid even by stupid standards.

One way to talk about all…

One way to talk about all this that might prevent heartache is to distinguish between spoken commitments and contract signings. If the news-bearer can't tell that the contract HAS been signed, then you know that the deal's not finalized. This is of course obvious, but necessary to remember. At least, assuming that we don't in fact enjoy groaning and complaining, which is forgivable (I guess), too. 

That's--and this may be…

That's--and this may be obvious--what she said. With all due deference to Title IX and women's basketball.

Bacon came out of this…

Bacon came out of this smelling like a guy who needs attention, for my money. I always had a soft spot for him, but. . . kind of a local hero, and straining just a bit in recent times. This kind of spat. . . he might have done better to stay clear of. Especially politically, when it looks like Warde's hand, in the short run, has been strengthened.

I love Jim, but he was. . . high maintenance. People can be forgiven for thinking that we navigated some pretty perilous waters there, and--like it or not--Warde's going to get some credit.

Stapleton, meanwhile, protesteth overmuch, which is sometimes a tell. He's a fairly smooth character, and may not be going anywhere. We dodged a bullet with Ron English, but wanting him for coach wasn't really a crime.

Got my wife some Grenadine…

Got my wife some Grenadine to make mocktails tonight, and got both the wife and daughter new food thermoses with fold-out spoons. We're going abroad for a month, and I figure these will pay for themselves if we take one night's dinner with us for lunch on some of the next days.

For dinner, super easy but fun (what I'm always looking for so not to freak out cooking): chicken thighs in a vegetable jam with rice and asparagus salad, strawberries with chocolate syrup for dessert.

Hope everyone has a pleasant evening! Love to all.

This is disgusting. We need…

This is disgusting. We need to keep reminding ourselves that this is disgusting. Just so we don't get so used to it that we start to take it for granted/normalize it. Salary cap, something. . . c'mon.

Dude, either you're a child…

Dude, either you're a child or you picked the wrong damned board to be talking up Peyton Manning on. I'm half-inclined to think you wandered over from Rocky Top Talk and invented that screen name. :)

Well said, and played. And I…

Well said, and played. And I guess I mostly accept that? I don't think he should be pilloried. But screaming at an old man on national TV. . . in the end still uncool, at least to me. The internet goes will overboard in condemning these things sometimes, but it would have been neat to see Kelce apologize, hug the guy.

So--wait--it's somehow more…

So--wait--it's somehow more okay because Reid was off balance? I don't see the logic here. My default is set on: Screaming at and pushing an elderly man is really not okay. And I don't say that as someone with an agenda against Kelce; I've kind of enjoyed how uncomfortable he and his girlfriend make people.

Tony Romo was running on…

Tony Romo was running on fumes last night.

Whiny and cheesed off sounds…

Whiny and cheesed off sounds like a lot of people around here, like all of internet America. 

Not sure you're getting this…

Not sure you're getting this right. Seems to be very popular, pretty successful to date. A five-year contract suggests he may have been the heir apparent:

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/ucla-hires-deshaun-foster-longtime-bruins-assistant-program-hall-of-famer-replaces-chip-kelly/

 

 

I was surprised that there…

I was surprised that there wasn't a bigger uproar about his behavior. Maybe he finally did something that the Foxsnooze crowd could get behind?

And then, of course, I was worried about Taylor, my spirit animal--has she got herself mixed up with an abuser? We need her around at least until the election. :)

I am sick to death of Warde,…

I am sick to death of Warde, that's all that I can say.

This is really the only…

This is really the only correct response--gallant, good-natured, and generous. And if I may also add: He can get f'd, eat poop, and expire.

With KC's FG kicker doing 70…

With KC's FG kicker doing 70-yarders in warm-ups, I think SF should have gone for it on fourth down in OT. Was rooting for KC, but for Moody, too, so it kinda worked out. But knowing they were going on fourth helped KC several times in that final drive. And the game-winning TD was anticlimactic.

Especially given the…

Especially given the halftime score.

Taylor Swift is having an…

Taylor Swift is having an unprecedented run.

Not this year. Taylor is my…

Not this year. Taylor is my spirit animal.

Blitzier. Fun. Maybe. Will…

Blitzier. Fun. Maybe. Will we have the personnel? Everyone's been knotting up their knickers about the coaches, but we've lost some players. Given that recruiting is about momentum, my questions point in two directions:

1) How many games will Sherrone need to win/will be under the circumstances?

2) What do we really need to make happen with NIL over the next year so as not to lost more ground?

I called Santa's office and offered my opinion about Warde: Maybe it's time for the gold watch and next man up. I had a strong feeling that the person on the other end agreed.

What Clark does in not…

What Clark does is not simple; she's a high-level player, strong in multiple facets.

A glance at the internet suggests that she came up short of the record today; does that mean she'll cinch it against Michigan? Surely not what KBA would have sought for her squad. . . but should mean the media shows up, huge game atmosphere.

This isn't remotely true. He…

This isn't remotely true. He expressed a lot of remorse about leaving Juwan and made cutting remarks about the state of Michigan's NIL. The kids to a person, from what I have seen, revere Juwan. Part of the issue here is that Juwan has been too nice to scream bloody murder about NIL and admissions. He DID make some remarks last year, but who wants to be called a sore loser, or be accused of coming up with excuses? If I'm him I get so far away from here at the end of this season. . . and--at least if Warde stays--watch the program flail for years to come. He's gonna have some stories to tell, though, and some of them will not be pretty.

That would be interesting!…

That would be interesting! Was reading some game theory once, an article by a friend. He said that the thing about games is that they are arbitrary. You mess around doing this general thing--say, running up and down with an oblate sphere--and then there are all these roadblocks, these rules. That's what makes it fun and maddening. You place your hand against your forehead and cry, "Oi!"

So just trying to smooth out a game doesn't interest me much (although stopping so many interruptions does); I don't think you usually succeed. You'd have a LOT more ties if you eliminated field goals. But you CAN make things that have become too easy harder.

And experiments, OTOH, are fun, too. Give just one point for field goals inside the 40, for example. Four for field goals over 60. Let your hair down.

EDIT: In re: fumbling out of bounds. . . I've always wondered why smart guys don't just fumble the ball forward five or six yards up the field and out when they're being tackled?

Eyeballs check out.

Eyeballs check out.

Great couple of…

Great couple of contributions, starting with the OP--thank you. People need to read and absorb this. What you sidestep, on purpose probably, is NIL. How might these candidates artfully, successfully, approach it? Because there are, to my mind, too many contradictions to successfully navigate.

Take Juwan. I've defended him, but he can't defend himself, not adequately. Which by itself may mean he needs to go. He can't rebuild in a year, whether Warde retains him or not. But he's lost nine-ten players to the NBA, admissions, and NIL, some that we'll never hear about. Put those players back on the floor, even in clumps of two or three, and we're grumbling but not braying for Juwan's head. (A grievous state of affairs for a Michigan elder statesman.) Really, really good odds that Juwan leaves in disgrace, with terrible bad blood, and the next coach flounders, too. For a long time.

I don't think that there are solutions. I hate the NFL for a dozen reasons, but it's a better game to watch. College hoops, floor and talent and organization-level, is garbage, eight out of ten games. A new AD has to quietly abide some cheating, beat up on people for money, draw coaches public and private--licit and illicit--guidelines in a shifting landscape. . . smile as he or she and the emerging conferences cut the throats, and lifelines, of a host of institutions as the new college football landscape emerges.

It's ugly, and not getting prettier. And we may well have a long period of groping in the darkness ahead of us.

What about NIL?

Benny Friedman

Tom Harmon

Benny Friedman

Tom Harmon

Vincent Smith

Jeremy Gallon

Denard

Isolate those comments,…

Isolate those comments, build some lynch mob language around them, and. . . summon a lynch mob! But they really don't seem so incendiary in context, as found here in Andrew Kahn's summary of the postgame presser: 

https://www.mlive.com/wolverines/2024/02/this-bleep-works-juwan-howard-frustrated-as-losses-pile-for-michigan.html

When the team loses it's really not an outrage, or an insult to your ego--invested in that block M, though it may be. It's a bad team. Reserve your phony outrage for a crumbling planet. Or even better, do something about it. It's fun to pull down the high and mighty, but when all is said and done, Juwan will still have large money, have accomplished more with his years than. . . let's throw out a number. . . 95 percent of the noodles here?

 

People with numbers for…

People with numbers for screen names tend to fill out the bottom run of the internet batting order where piercing insight is concerned, but if you were a real Michigan fan there's no way you would wish that upon the school.

They are never ever getting…

They are never ever getting back together.

The Chargers tab Warde as…

The Chargers tab Warde as the team's new GM.

The degree of neurotic…

The degree of neurotic entitlement here is. . . impressive. Sherrone was hired six days ago. Hell knows, he might even want to think about it. Spend careful time working these things out.