I typically am not a big fan of trading draft picks, but the Corey Williams trade I really like, and addressing another huge need for a corner who is proven seems smart.
There was talks earlier today about a CB from STL, I think Jonathan Wade visiting also.
Overall a 5th round pick for a potential starter is great value. I am not used to this thinking in Detroit.
While I don't understand the Tig's offseason moves, bringing Damon in and playing him in LF would be a defensive upgrade over Guillen. I am not sold on giving him a 2 year deal, but whatever. While his power numbers will go down as a Tiger, he does hit really well there.
He would be the stop gap at lead off until Jackson can develop or we discover another option. FTR, I actually like Raburn leading off last year as opposed to Grandy.
If I may make one suggestion, make sure the carpeting is blue. My basement is the Michigan man cave with 1800 sq. feet and we had a light brown when we moved in, then changed it to navy blue and it looks a lot better. We have a blue ping pong table, blue pool table, blue card table (flips over to be a regular dining table).
Overall, just take a day and go shopping in A2, find things that are custom/original and things that you like. You are the one spending the time and money in there, so find a theme and roll with it.
Some ideas are:
Heisman wall or award winners wall or coaches wall
Helmets, footballs, banners
Have fun with it, it is a blast to add to it and enjoy it!
The one part that is incorrect is the BCS money. They now can only accept what any other team can take. In the grand scheme they technically *could* make more since they would not split it within a conference, but on the other hand, the revenue sharing should be more, especially if two Big 10 teams go to a BCS bowl, which happens somewhat frequently.
Yeah, I guess your right. Boxing would be the biggest loser, but like aamichigan said at the bottom of this thread, this could be just hype for the fight (and I hope that is the case).
Let me rephrase my response: Manny won't submit to "any test" within 30 days of the fight. I do understand that he would take one at the press conference, 30 days prior to, and immediately after the fight, with as many urinalysis as wanted.
No argument from me about Floyd Sr. and ignorance in the same sentence. My point being is that Floyd's camp has made a claim, and they want assurance, through olympic style testing, that Manny is 100% clean when they fight. Manny's camp is vehemently protesting the gold standard in testing because mainly it is random and he doesn't like needles/blood drawn (which how can he be superstitious when he is tatted up?).
So now the onus of proof is on Manny to prove Floyd Sr's allegations are bogus (and they very well may be). Perception is reality, especially on the stage these two perform on, and the perception that, at least for me, is radiating is that Manny will not agree to these tests and may be hiding something (Note: not accusing him of PED's, but the suspicion grows).
If you were fighting the biggest fight of your life, and you suspected your opponent of possibly using something illegal to give him an upper hand, would you want to use an independent firm to do testing where your opponent essentially dictates which dates he will be tested? Or, would you want to use the best of the best systems, where both you and your opponent could be tested randomly, and you had full confidence that your opponent could not cheat the system in any way shape or form? I'd take option B.
In regards to the weight class jump comment, both fighters started fighting in the mid 90's (Manny - 95, Floyd - 97), with PacMan starting at about 107 lbs and Floyd about 130 lbs. PacMan fought his last 3 fights at 145, 140 & 145, that is a lot more of a weight differential than what Floyd has done over his career.
One of the agreements in the articles mentioned that if Floyd weighs in 1 lb over the limit, it is a $10 million dollar fine, which is a heckuva concession to make for negotiating a contract, and very well was made in order to make their testing demand.
Both sides are playing hardball, but this fight will happen, too much money is at hand for promoters, fighters and their camps for this not to happen.
Personally I wouldn't want to give blood IF it was 24 hours before the fight, but the amount that is withdrawn is so minute and the body would replenish that amount very quickly, that it would have zero impact physically on Manny. Mentally, well maybe a different story, but I thoroughly doubt that something of this nature would derail him, and if it does, then I question his mental fortitude.
Manny, it sounds like, wants to be tested but underneath the guidelines his camp sets out, which voids out "random testing", and I have to question what there is to hide because this superstition BS is just that.
Obviously you are a PacMan fan, so I can understand where you are coming from on this, but the ball is in Manny's court and he has more to lose from not fighting than Floyd does.
Also, boxing needs this fight moreso than anything else because they have fallen a distant 2nd to MMA, and there is very little big name attractions for them to rely on like this fight has the chance to.
That is the problem, Manny won't submit to "any test" before the fight. How in the hell does Floyd look bad when he isn't the one refusing to be tested.
There is way too much push back out of PacMan's camp on this one. I'm not saying he is juicing, but the onus of proof is now on Manny to conform to these tests in order to clear his name. In the court of public opinion, you are guilty until proven innocent.
By setting up testing 30 days before the fight, in which both fighters would partake in, how is that Mayweather pulling a Spinks?
It screams to me that Manny is scared of getting caught with a banned substance in his system.
The clock doesn't start ticking until you essentially start your classes. Think of the mormon missions that are taken (our own Tyler Ecker did this) and when they come back to play they are seniors as 24 year olds... The QB at BC (Shinskie I think) played minor league baseball, got cut and now is something like 25.
to get their hand dirty with SC. I mean they have to spend all this time interviewing Dez Bryant and suspend him for telling a lie. The NCAA has bigger fish to fry than USC!
Playing on New Year's was something to be proud of showing you had a good season and made it to a worthy bowl. Now it is diluted, and heck Michigan State could play regularly on New Year's.
I do enjoy having multiple games, but I would like to see all Big 10 bowl games, and this makes that impossible.
Like you said, they are stockpiling 5 star recruits, but only so many get to see the field. As a star, you don't get to shine unless you are making plays on the field. Either Carroll's selling strategy is convincing or...
Russell last year, TP the year before, and in 2007 you had Tyrod Taylor and Cameron Newton. 2006 was just Tebow.
Overall, they are very tough on placing dual threats as 5 stars.
If you look at the class of 2006, Rivals did a darn good job of nailing their 5 star players.
EDIT: I included the 06 Rivals ranking, but their link doesn't work, so I had to remove it.
I thought about making a sarcastic remark about walk-ons, but I don't think the sarcasm technician has fixed all the detectors yet, so I'll refrain.
We could really use a Luc in our lineup.
or lack of it I should say. From what they had to say, which wasn't a whole lot, they made him sound like a 3 star prospect with 5 star potential/ability, so they moved him to a 4 star.
I initially didn't like the call, but agreed with it afterwards. If you kick off to Iowa, lets say they get the ball around the 20, run their 3 plays and advance it to the 28 and punt. Odds are we will get the ball back at around the 30 yard line (making it a 42 yard punt). As it turned out, when we got the ball back, we started at the 19 (I believe), so a difference of 11 yards. I'll take the chance on the onsides kick to get the ball back for Denard with more time.
I think most of us realized that Tate is not invincible, and that he MAY get dinged up/injured where we would need Denard to actually carry us at some point. Now our last 3 games have not been ideal to get DR some work, but the last throw I think he was determined to pass it because Rich Rod was emphasizing to hurry things up (I am not criticizing that action, we had to hurry up, but DR may have read that as throw the ball don't run). As a result, I wonder if it took DR out of "his game" and running it on 2nd a 2. Get to the sidelines, stop the clock and settle things down.
Realistically they only had to get to around the 30 yard line to give Olesnavage an opportunity to hit a 47 yard FG, which would be 29 total yards from the 2nd a 2 placement (UM 41 yard line).
That answered my question(s). The only player he is recruiting that is not committed that looks like we are in real good shape with is Grimes.
Does anyone find it unusual that Hopson is our LB coach (I know he coaches the inside), while only serving as a secondary coach (for position) and a few years a D-Coordinator.
While I see what you are saying, the need to make that tackle and force MSU to make the FG (on a wet surface mind you) should have been the play. Swenson is a real good kicker, and probably makes it, but we would have forced them to MAKE PLAYS.
Wayne Larimie is a former ESPN announcer who bounced over to the Big 10 (He used to call many Big 10 games).
The worst parts for me, some which were already mentioned, were that the HD signal would freeze up every 30 seconds (I missed the 1st INT and had to catch the replay to see what happened), and missing plays because they do not understand how to time their commercials to gameplay.
I missed an entire MSU possession when they had it in our red zone. Next thing I know they come back from a T.O. and MSU failed to convert 3rd down and sent out the FG unit.
I never want to see a Michigan game on that network again.
I am unsure of the details, and maybe someone with some knowledge can enlighten us all, but there was a reason Kelly was never considered for the Michigan job, and it wasn't due to his ability to win.
Possibly that is what may scare (I hope) ND off as well. They ride their high horse better than any other school. Also, yes they deserve to have Weis and the remainder of his contract!
Although Henson probably leads us to greener pastures than what Navarre did, and would maybe be looking at a 1st round pick, some have even claimed #1 overall. I don't know, because well it never happened.
As it turned out, Drew flopped in the Majors, and then gave it a shot at the NFL.
Needless to say, I am bitter towards the Yanks.
Remember that Steinbrenner Sr. has screwed Michigan at least twice, and he served as a grad assistant under Woody Hayes, as well as graduating with his Masters from OSU. He snagged Derek Jeter away from us, as well as Drew Henson (and forever screwed up Drew's career).
While his sons may run the team, in no way would I reward them either. I think playing against UConn is cool for all the Michigan faithful out east, but I believe another alternative would have to come about for another appearance to the east besides Yankee Stadium.
is how far we tend to play off the WR when it is a short yardage situation.
I love when we get aggressive, play press coverage at the line and get after the QB. Obviously we cannot do this every snap, but I would like to see the aggressive style creep into the gameplan a little more consistently.
Pam Ward is terrible. My wife even said women should not be sports announcers.
Well without going too much into it since I have negative points, is where does the line get drawn? I like Mouton, but he stepped over the line. Is 3 games a bit much? Probably, but I believe in setting a precedent and making an example out of the first player who does something boneheaded. He will probably be suspended for at most 1 game, and if so, fine, I won't lose any sleep over it.
I did. Here is what I see:
Mouton on the ground getting up before the ND player which fell on him. While in the process, Mouton places his left hand on the ND players right shoulder pads and braces him, then connects with a punch, which wasn't overly powerful, but enough for the linemans head to bounce back.
You have no idea whether or not his fist is partially open or closed, but I can assume that it is closed based on the fact that when delivering a punch, you NEVER use a partially opened fist, good way to damage your hand/wrist.
At the end of the day, you think it is OK to jack another player, I don't.
Unless you are referring to someone else (the cascade gets confusing, so if it is someone else, then I apologize), I am no Domer. It is obvious that objective Michigan fans are not welcomed to voice their opinion.
I am amazed at how many actually condone punching a player. Notice how I don't call you, or anyone else an idiot for holding that stance... it is your opinion, and while I disagree with it, you are entitled to it, same goes for me.
And that was my point in the previous thread. Those players abused their opponents within the context of the game, without using a closed fist to deliver a punch.
I am all for the style that Long and Woodley played. They were tough players who played through the whistle, money players.
I am very glad the ref missed it. I thought he could've thrown one on Cissoko, but he let it go... cool.
My point is a closed fist punch has no place on the football field... driving your opponent through the ground while finishing a block is within the context of the game and should be applauded.
the context of the game. Long punished opponents by physically manhandling them, same with Woodley. Granted the Woodson/Boston incident involved punches. Show me where any of those guys used a closed hand uppercut/punch to a guys face.
15 yard penalties, game ejections nowadays is how that stuff is handled. What good does that do in the game?
If someone pisses you off during the game, do you take a cheap shot at him after the play? or do you blow him up within the context of the game, i.e. tackle, run through a block, etc.
From your post, you are saying that it is perfectly fine for a player to jack another player, after all they are running at full speed into each other and hate each other and therefore it is a part of the game? My answer to that is heck no. That is not football, that is bush league. Play the game, and if the guy pisses you off, make damn sure your team gets the victory and the last laugh.
I could care less what you think of my credibility. Woodson and Boston was 12 years ago, I am talking about now, not then.
So you condone players punching opponents?
I actually would suspend him for 3 games, EMU, IND and MSU. We are not Miami (FLA), Thug U, or whatever. I send a clear message that I don't put up with that crap. Maybe Rodriguez will whoop him hard in practice and have Barwis make him cry, I don't know.
Yeah, I get it that petty stuff happens at the bottom of piles, but Mouton should be suspended for a couple of things: 1. using a closed fist and uppercutting the ND player under the face mask 2. Doing it in clear daylight. We are very lucky we payed the refs so they wouldn't call that, but if we failed to get them their money, then he would have been flagged 15 yards and ejected... we are not MSU, so why bother acting like them or the Hurricanes?
A Cover 0 indicates there is no safety covering deep, man coverage, and therefore the Dis bunched at the line of scrimmage. Therefore every player on the field essentially has one man to beat, QB included. Tate just had to beat 1 player, and he knew he was gone.
My main concern is a Michigan victory weekly, and while I think we have a long ways to go, in a year or two we will need that national respect like the SEC or Big 12 consistently get.
I think I have to pull for OSU (not that it will change the outcome), as it would launch some credibility to the conference. After our bowls year after year lately, we are in the bottom half of the major BCS conference schools, which could hurt us if we come out on fire next year.
So does it benefit Michigan more to have OSU win or lose? I feel a win does a lot more good for us than a loss would. Now I hope OSU loses all their conference games and we smack them square in the face, but national respect is much needed for the Big 10.
Facts: 2 planes hit the WTC towers, We lost thousands of Americans, we had some heroic efforts from emergency response personnel.
If you have ever researched the bizarre results and cover-ups, you would realize that controversy should be attached to that day.
God Bless all the families that were effected that day.
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