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Date	Title	Body
26 weeks 6 days ago	Oh Snap	Oh snap. Reports are already coming out that this account is false and that Tuberville finished dinner. Said goodnight like a classy guy and departed as usual. Guess this "scandal" is dead in the water. Unless the waiter wants to complain about the tip he left.
26 weeks 6 days ago	Wow	Sorry. Just don't see the comparison. Tuberville has never been accused of or included in any major scandals. Petrino hired his mistress for a position she wasn't qualified for. Lied to the police and the school about her involvement in the motorcyle accident. Major nonsense.
26 weeks 6 days ago	Exactly	Coaching transitions are always awkward. What's he supposed to do? Stay there and pretend like he's going to coach these kids? Tell them the truth so they can put it on Twitter and Facebook and the players currently at Tech find out that way? It's a no win. Jon Bacon spends the better part of his book ripping Lloyd Carr for offering to sign transfer papers for any of his players. I thought it was a classy move by a classy guy. Others painted this as treachery and backstabbing. Perception is all how you spin it and whether or not you like a guy.
27 weeks 5 days ago	Here's My Take	Here's my take on this. Everyone is disgusted by the addition of Maryland and Rutgers because it seems to be a shameless money grab. I tend to disagree, but that's beyond the point. The current consensus would be that $$$ is ruining college football. Coaches salaries are skyrocketing. Everyone thinks that's nuts. Bielema gets a raise of 600K. That's a lot of scratch. Approx 24% more than he makes now. 3 mil more over five years. Now people are criticizing Wisconsin for not just opening the wallet and paying him more*. It's a double standard. Either you think $$$ is ruining college athletics and coaches salaries are nuts and good for Wisconsin for showing some fiscal responsibility. Or you don't care and they should pay whatever to keep him. Can't be both. The problem is that this defection is seen as a Big Ten "loss" and that creates this defensive reflex in the fanbase.  SI.com actually ran a piece with a headline "SEC Beats Big Ten Again!" Ivan Maisel wrote a thing where he claimed the SEC were the Corleones and they were drinking the Big Ten's milkshake. I'm trying to advocate for more reasonable and rationale thinking. Maybe it's not a case of a guy saying "SEC is better." Maybe Bielema was sick of living in Alvarez's shadow. There's a lot more to these things than what's portrayed here.  * Never mind the fact that they never got the chance to negotiate, but that's another thing.
27 weeks 5 days ago	In Summary	Every account I've read (from verified sources and not guys on Twitter) has Bielema blindsiding Alvarez. No discussion. Read this interview with Bielema. Note how short the time frame is and how there's no talk of counter offer. Interviewed in NY. Accepted almost immediately. In Fayatteville the next day.  http://espn.go.com/blog/sec/post/_/id/57422/qa-arkansas-coach-bret-bielema
27 weeks 5 days ago	Clarification	1) Recruiting. Arkansas is close to two major talent hotbeds. Louisiana and Texas. It's much easier to get a Florida kid to come to Arkansas than Wisconsin because a Florida kid has grown up in SEC country. He knows the teams, the rivalries. 2) Sixth best job. These things are not written in stone. Everything is in flux. Before Spurrier Florida was a joke. Tennessee was a power. Now it's a joke. You can count on a couple of things. Vandy will struggle. Kentucky will always be a basketball school. LSU before Saban? Awful. In just a couple of years, Petrino had Arkansas in the top 5. I've read this is the "second tier" SEC job all over the internet. I don't agree. Right coach, right recruiting can turn any of those big SEC West teams into juggernauts. 3) No counter. Coaches and ADs are in NY for award season. Bielema walked up to Alvarez told him he was gone and that was it. No chance to counter. No discussion. Gone in 5 minutes. 4) 600K There is a lot of double talk on this blog. Money drives expansion. Money is evil. But then it's a joke when Wisconsin won't reup Bielema for such a paltry sum. As if he took equivalent money to go to Arkansas. No matter how you slice it, 3mil is 3mil.
27 weeks 5 days ago	Reality Check	A couple things I disagree with here. 1) Arkansas as a dead end job. The 2011 team was 11 - 2 and ranked #5 in the country at the end of the year. Loaded with talent. Sure you have to beat Bama and LSU. But anyone who thinks Wisconsin is a better job must have never seen a map. Arkansas has instate talent. Closer to Texas and Florida. 2) Wisconsin was giving no chance to counter the offer. Bielema told Alvarez he was going. No chance to counter. 3) 600K is nothing to sneeze at. Works out to 3mil more over the life of the contract. 4) Bielema was gone and there was nothing to stop him. He sent Jeff Long a letter expressing interest in the post in September. He has aspirations of national titles that cannot be fulfilled at Wisconsin.
28 weeks 15 hours ago	WTF	What does this have to do with realignment? Guys wants a better job, he's gonna take it. And Arkansas is a better job than Wisconsin.
28 weeks 6 days ago	I'm Not Sure Either	I was wrong. His contract states that if he wins a National Championship he gets pulled to within $1000 of the top coach nationally. I was assuming that he made Nick Saban $$$$ and how they hell would Arkansas justify paying him that.
28 weeks 6 days ago	Hoard and Bunch	Leroy Hoard and Jarrod Bunch. One of my fav Michigan backfields. Those two were MANBALL specimens. Just so ill.
28 weeks 6 days ago	Les's Contract	IIRC Miles contract states he must get $1 than the next guy in the SEC. So he doesn't need to flirt with Arkansas to get a raise.
28 weeks 6 days ago	The Judge and the General	Remember that backcourt? That was something. Loved Gary Grant. So tenacious.
29 weeks 1 day ago	Talent Gap	So the OSU game was never in doubt? Given Michigan's deficit in talent, we should be pleased with the outcome? Happy to keep it close? Sorry. Don't see it that way. I saw a very winnable game. On the road. Against an undefeated opponent. The offensive collapse is in the 2nd half was stunning. And it seems to be a reoccuring thing here.
29 weeks 1 day ago	Then This	Oh. Okay. Then this was a great year because they won 8 games with subpar talent. Yeahh!!!!
29 weeks 1 day ago	Then This	Oh. Okay. Then this was a great year because they won 8 games with subpar talent. Yeahh!!!!
29 weeks 1 day ago	Respectfully Disagree.	Don't care about NFL prospects. That's for Mel Kiper and Todd McShay. I look at the Michigan offense and see lots of talent. Fitz is very good RB. Gallon and Roundtree have been very good the last month. Funchess. Denard. Devin. Lewan. Omameh. All quality players. Even Dileo is a capable possession reciever.  The 11 guys Michigan puts on the field is better than 6 points at ND and 12 versus Sparty.
29 weeks 1 day ago	I Hate To Be This Guy	I hate to be the guy who does this but.... Jeff Teford. Come on down.
29 weeks 1 day ago	Three Big Games	There are three all out go for broke games on Michigan's schedule. ND. Sparty. OSU. With all that talent on offense, they scored 6, 12 and 21. That's just not good enough.
29 weeks 5 days ago	Goats	I've always found "Goats?" to be kinda of sketchy declaration to make. I've always respected the ideal that you don't tear these college kids down. Go after the coaches, the ADs. But these are not pro athletes to rip on. These a 18 - 23 year olds just doing their best. No need to pile on if they had a rough day. In addition, the idea that there were "Goats?" in a game that Michigan thoroughly dominated is ridiculous.
29 weeks 6 days ago	Hate Week	Hate is pretty strong word to use. Especially when you're talking about college kids playing a game. Respect your rivals and they'll bring out the best in you.
30 weeks 1 day ago	Maryland Fans	Maryland fans may not have wanted it, but I'm sure their AD and President did. They recently axed several sports to alleviate their debt. With the Big Ten $$$$ in place, they will be bringing those sports back. I'm sure those athletes affected will be happy with the move. Ask Rutgers fans in a couple of years if they would rather be in whatever the Big East looks like then or the Big Ten.
30 weeks 1 day ago	Glass Half Full	If you're of the belief that 16 team conferences are coming, and I am, then this move was inevitable. Conference realignment is like playing musical chairs. You don't want to be left standing at the end. Look at the Big East right now.  "The Big Ten already outpaces other conferences." But that's not a given for the future. They won't outpace the SEC when it gets itself a network. The Pac-12 is drawing major $$$$ for their content. In order to stay competitive, the Big Ten need to add to it's membership. This will drive network revenues up and increase the value of their rights packages when they're available.  The Big Ten is not Kayne West making it rain. It was not easy for NW to dump $250 million into their facilities. They scraped and battled to get that cash. And they did so to keep pace with everyone else.
30 weeks 1 day ago	Cable Survives	House of cards? Nothing is more lucrative in TV right now that live sports. Despite living in an era of so many media options on cable and online, college football is experiencing it's greatest popularity. TV contracts have never been worth more. 1) The effect of online hasn't dimished TV's reach, it's enhanced it. Instead of the good old days where the family gathered around one TV set, we now have an era where everyone has a screen they can consume content on. And more than ever, that content is TV. TV viewing is actually up in recent years. People are watching more TV than ever before. Just on different screens. 2) True cord-cutters represent a very tiny % of viewers. And it's largely compensated for by the population growth we're expecting to see. 3) This notion that we'll all watch Apple TV or Hulu is not a short term prospect worth considering. Cable TV still holds way too much potential, especially with live events. Live sports, news and event television aren't going anywhere. I can't imagine a single sports fan I know who could live without cable. Just isn't going to happen.
30 weeks 1 day ago	Bring It On	Last time Michigan played a Heisman winner* in a bowl it worked out great.  * I assuming Johnny Football wins it this year. Hard to find a better candidate.
30 weeks 1 day ago	Don't See It That Way	This analogy doesn't work for me. The Big Ten isn't paying to ship the food. They're selling it. Someone else is letting it rot in the warehouse. If they are able to fully leverage these new TV markets it's going to add $200 million in subscriber fees a year. That's a lot of cheddar. If eyeballs in these markets end up watching (it's possible) they will also up their ad revenues.
30 weeks 1 day ago	Clinging To The Past	It's interesting that people sort of cling to the past in these situations, instead of looking forward. I keep thinking back to 2006 and watching the SEC championship game and thinking that the Big Ten was so behind the times. And that Michigan was always going to be crippled by that. These moves may hurt in the short term and look bad on paper, but they are necessary to keep pace. Sucks to lose the Penn State game, but I will gladly take meeting them in the championship game instead.
30 weeks 1 day ago	Actually	It is money before everything else. Look at the Cal example they used. There's a school with limited football success that dumped $300 million into their stadium. Why? Because it wasn't up to par with the rest of the Pac-12 schools.  Football success = higher profile = donors giving big bucks and increased enrolment. But football success costs $$$$$$. You cannot compete for the top players if your facilities suck. So you get lots of schools spending big bucks hoping to stay relevant.
30 weeks 1 day ago	Tend To Agree	Yes. I tend to agree with this. There's always resistance to change. It's natural. But in the big picture, what is a Michigan fan actually losing here? A couple games against middle of the road Big Ten teams. This was a preemptive move. There's little doubt that the SEC and Pac-12 are looking to expand. I would expect the Big Ten to hit 16 in another couple of years. When that all shakes out, then people can decide if this was a good move or not.
30 weeks 1 day ago	Totally Agree	I totally agree. But unfortunately most things are about money. And college football crossed that Rubicon decades ago. There is no denying the fact that colleges are locked in an arms race. Coaches salaries are nuts. Facility expansion is crazy. As a Michigan fan, I am thankful for Jim Delaney's ruthlessness and vision. The guys big bets have paid off extremely well for the conference and will allow Michigan to enjoy relevance for decades to come.
30 weeks 1 day ago	Outstanding	This is an outstanding suggestion. Best thing to come out of this realignment so far.

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