Member for

13 years 8 months
Points
472.00

Recent Comments

Date Title Body
As much as things could need…

As much as things could need to change, let's not cheapen the academic rigor that exists at Michigan.   Juwan and every other coach at the university knows that the standard is different.  Call it a handicap,  but if you know it going into the job it is merely a coedition of employment.   Why would you waste time recruiting kids that are questionable on making the cut.  Students coming from different countries are not the same as coming from other schools where academic standards are much less. 

Watching the ESPN College…

Watching the ESPN College Gameday pre-game show last Saturday before the semi-final games was pretty eye opening to how many in the media, former college players and even possibly some coaches feel about the NCAA.   Not one positive thing was said about the NCAA and it was clear that everyone talking on the show feels the NCAA needs to evolve or dissolve.  We know that Harbaugh can be an odd duck and we know that he likes to find loopholes/challenge authority.  Could this possibly be the moment where we see a coach (and maybe a university) challenge the authority of the NCAA?  I personally would love to see them challenged and forced to show exactly why they exist.  They have shown nothing in the last 10+ years that supports them existing for student athletes and their rulings have been arbitrary at best. 

How bad is it when one of…

How bad is it when one of the top things this team gets to look forward to is the fact that Urban Meyer is no longer at Ohio St?  To be the best you gotta beat the best and if they think being able to beat Ohio St with a yet to be determined "lesser" coach will suddenly make this team competitive with Alabama or Clemson need to get their heads checked.  The Big Ten was not good this year and that is clear by the lack of dominance in bowl games. 

Thank you and it looks good!…

Thank you and it looks good!

 

Still out here in the West

Still out here in the West side of the state. Been down since 12:50pm on Wednesday. We have been fortunate that we purchased a generator about 6 years ago during the random summer outages that were lasting too long. Only complaint this time has been the 3 times we have been told our electricity is on when it isn't. That means we get to call and explain (argue) with Consumers Energy about not having power when they tell us we do. The part that isn't cool is they won't reopen the existing ticket for repair so we have to start a new one each time. That means we get bumped to the bottom of the list each time we have to call. Literally they were in our drive last night fixing the broken wire and never bothered to check the circuit on the adjacent pole to see if it was popped. Since we are the last house on the line we are way down the priority level. It has been a long week fetching gasoline and keeping the generator full.

I am not sure why you are

I am not sure why you are posting about a game from a week ago that has been covered already.  The Penn St game isn't going to show you much more than the Illinois game did.  They are hot when the 3 ball falls and they are cold when it doesn't.  Lavert didn't play and Donnal is good at one part of his game and not spectacular at anything. 

I know this isn't a popular item, but when this team runs into another team with a true big guy we are going to struggle.  Donnal is good at running a pick and roll which is easy to defend when you have a true big, but he cannot generate points from the block.  Wagner is the only guy on the team who seems to understand playing from the post and he is 30lbs too light.  A year in the weight room will benefit tremendously. 

Walton had an off game against Penn St and MAAR had a pretty good game.  This team could cause problems when they are on, but when they are off they are going to get beat pretty easy. 

The catch against UNLV was a

The catch against UNLV was a beauty along the sideline and then shed a tackle for the extra yards.  He is definitely a threat to catc h the ball.

Over the years I have also

Over the years I have also begun to realize that as much fun as it is to view live game, there are the comforts of home that can be welcoming too.  It began to rain lightly in the second half against Oregon St, we were way ahead by this time and the students were having a great time doing what students do before/ during/ after a game. 

The TV timeouts make the game drag on and on and on, often slowing the overall game experience.  I do prefer getting up to get another bite to eat or another beverage to just staring at my friends who are sitting next to me.  HDTV has really closed the gap for viewing and the cost has skyrocketed to the point you weight the options. 

I completely agree. It is

I completely agree. It is time to put the best 11 on the field for both sides of the ball. JH knows he has to win and if it takes a 5th year transfer to do that, you bet your butt he will.

GBOD79....please don't think

GBOD79....please don't think that I am attacking you. I do agree that there needs to be some form of opportunity for these students to make some spending money. I agree 100% with TennBlue that unfortunately the autograph sessions would lead to boosters paying for hundreds or thousands of autographs they may or may not ever receive. A more realistic approach is to give these athletes on campus job opportunities where the school can manage their schedules, standardize their pay and keep it as clean as possible. Not every athlete is going to need to work and not every athlete is going to want to work. They can also keep it confined to the offseason so the player won't be "overwhelmed" while in school.

Since you want to go down

Since you want to go down that road, I was an academic scholarship kid who had to maintain a 3.6 GPA. I also walked onto a D1 basketball program my freshman year. After 6 weeks of practice I was encouraged to change my Pre-Med major to a sports science major or a communications major. When I refused I was encouraged to leave the team. I was able to maintain my academics and still do all the necessary work the other guys on the team were doing. The difference was that I was taking a larger class load than they were. Maybe I am the exception, but from my experience there was plenty of time to work a few hours on campus and make a little spending money. Might just mean you not able to party it up every weekend during the off season.

Or...the fact that these

Or...the fact that these students really don't pay a dime to attend these schools as D1 athletes, maybe their families could pony up some of that spending money since they don't have tuition payments.

I grew up dirt poor and my parents couldn't afford to pay for college. I worked my butt off each summer, each christmas break and every spring break. That money earned was used to pay for my "fun" and extra living expenses while I attended school. In the end I came out $140k in debt from school and still managed to have a good time. These kids have ways to make legitimate money and most of them won't. Let's start focusing on what they are allowed to do by fhr NCAA and less on what they want to do to earn money.

So instead of doing the right

So instead of doing the right thing and being more selective with their Heisman pick, they just remove the criteria for which one should be selected to pick the popular guy....lol....this doesn't save them any embarrassment, it just proves what a joke the award has become. If I am a former trophy winner I would be upset at what a joke it has become and now to see them water it down even more. How about they grow some balls and do their due diligence when selecting a candidate. It never was about being just the best athlete.

You are correct that the

You are correct that the Medical Team should get props for checking out the health of Morris.  Getting the diagnosis right it way more important than the image for the University.  As for Brandon, he is am idiot.  He just threw his head coach under the bus to make himself come off as a caring individual.  He let his head coach do multiple interviews and media requests yesterday while answering questions about the incident.  If they were truly doing more testing to diagnose Hoke should have responded that there is further testing being done and we do not have the results yet.  Now he is on record saying he only had an ankle injury and lookng like a fool.  Dave Brandon is trying to save his own neck.

So his health was of their

So his health was of their utmost priority, but they put him back into the game, after being pulled for his health, when Gardner lost his helmet......makes sense to me.  TERRIBLE!!!!

I know that you left Saban

I know that you left Saban off the list, but for a couple of reasons I feel he might be worth taking a second look at.  Let me pose this.

1.  He is familiar with the state of Michigan.

2.  He was treated poorly by MSU and has a severe dislike for Urban Meyer.

3.  His ego is large enough that you could sell him not on just ressurecting Michigan, but the entire Big Ten Conference.  He has ressurected multiple programs and the next logical step for his ego is a conference.

4.  His previous OC is already here and his current OC would jump at the chance to take over Alabama so the system wouldn't be a complete rebuild.

5.  He has built his connections in the south so recruiting would get a lot easier, not to mention all the NC he has won.

6.  $$ should not be an object.  Charlie Strong was given $5 Mil to go to Texas, John Harbaugh is making $7 Mil, Jim Harbaugh is making $5 Mil, and Les Miles is making $4.5 Mil.  Urban Meyer just got $4.8 Mil for OSU.

Play with his ego and pay the man, can't hurt to try.....but you better turn over the AD before this happens.

My son is named Braylon too.

My son is named Braylon too. My wife fell in love with the name while we were dating and I was in the Dental School.

Desmond hit the nail on the

Desmond hit the nail on the head. It all comes down to development. Herbie is usually OK, but his homer minute saying the Big Ten went 0-for during the 2011 January Bowls was down right disgusting. He blatantly called out U of M and completely passed on the fact that OSU won, but vacated the win and hasn't won a bowl game since. The Big Ten is terrible because they haven't adopted the win at all costs mentality that the SEC and Pac-12 have.

I don't get his Lee Corso has any room too talk about how the Big Ten hasn't adapted to today's college football. That man was past his prime 20 years ago and still doesn't know when to quit.

I would suspect this is his ride.....and outfit

http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/shared/npr/201109/140153954.jpg

Nope. Those who had season

Nope. Those who had season tickets got in at 6:30. Everyone else got in at 7:00 regardless if they had a ticket or not. I think the students got in earlier too.

My observations from last

My observations from last night at the sUTL.

1. Attendance was pretty good. You didn't need a ticket to get in, they just opened the gates and let people walk right it. Tickets were just for their estimation of interest.

2. Student turnout didn't seem all that high even though they aren't back to school yet. The opportunity to get on the field didn't pull many in.

3. There was a guy who proposed to his wife on the field. She said yes I would assume as they walked off together. Unless she is into odd situations because he drove her there.

4. Shane M. and Devin G. both look good. While warming up Shane seemed to take things very serious and he seems to want to start. Devin was a little more relaxed and playful. Shane throws a heck of a spiral.

5. Your initial starting line was Cole, Magnuson, Miller, Glasgow, Braden. Dawson did make an appearance for Glasgow after some reps.

6. Your line for Morris was LTT, Burzynski, Kugler, Bosch, Dawson.

7. I expect your kick/ punt returners to be Norfleet and Peppers. Douglas took some snaps as well, but there is too much potential with the other two.

8. Mo Ways, Bo Fever and DeMario Jones all had some nice catches. Canteen had a great sprint and catch down the sideline. Our receiving corp is deep and good. Mo Ways had a heck of a block on one of the passes that went for some yards.

9. Our RB's all looked like we left off close to last year. No large gaping holes to run through, but they seem to know where they were supposed to be running through. Green, Smith and Johnson could all potentially start. Hayes looks good hitting the edge and his hands look good. Shallman is a stud. He is just hard to stay with, always finds a way to make a play and is just hard to bring down. He could be a ton of offense if nothing else seems to work.

10. Devin still has a tendency to not stand in the pocket and try too much. He did throw a couple into the stands to save the sack, but he also let one fly before that just over a defenders head that should have went into the stands...and Nuss gave him a talking to about it. I hate to say it, but he hit his ceiling last year. His decision making skills will make or break our close games and I am not sure he has matured in that area from last year.

11. Shane has crisp passes, more so than Devin. Shane reminded me a lot of watching AJ Mccarron run that offense the first year. He was mechanically sound, doesn't quite have the full grasp of checking at the line and stuff, but could run this offense because Nuss will get him through it. Shane has potential to be really good without being the athlete that Gardner is. Shane does have a tendency to stare down receivers on almost every pass, this could be an issue.

12. Our defense is tough. They are not the laid back bend don't break defense of last year. They are swarming to the ball...everyone. Our DEs are extremely quick. Clark and Charlton both were able to blow by guys and get into the backfield. They weren't afraid to send DBs either. This defense could keep us in games and definitely played more aggressive.

13. Our O-line... I sat in front of them as they waed up and did the drills at the behinning of practice. I think the problem here is that they are still young and learning. Good news is, I am not sure Glasgow is our best lineman anymore because the others have begun to catch up. Cole wasn't terrible, but he is a little undersized for the position. He has a bright future ahead of him. Braden and Magnuson looked the most polished of the bunch and they still were being coached a good deal. For the most part, they seemed to give Devin enough time to throw, but not much push to let the RBs through. I don't remember seeing Kalis at all last night, could be I just missed him. It was at times hard to tell if the D-line was just that good that they overshadowed the O-line or is the O-line still just that bad.

13. I was looking at the schedule and 9-3 looks achievable outside of ND, MSU, Penn St and OSU. We can win one of those. Everything else looks pretty weak. If the line starts to get push 10-2 or higher could be possible. The O-line is gonna be the key.

He probably is pissy that he

He probably is pissy that he was expected to go deep into the later innings tonight with little to no help from the bullpen.  He wasn't exactly chipper last night watching everyone on the team throw for 19 innings and leaving nobody for tonight.  The manager better put him in check quickly or else this could spread fast.

 

I know the OLine doesn't, but

I know the OLine doesn't, but the team in general has been given the warning.  Hoke was smart in getting his seniors to buy into his system the first year and maybe the second.  By his third the mood had changed and I firmly believe the players assumed that no matter how hard they worked the seniors would be given playing time over everyone else.  Hoke is smart to evolve that mentality and maybe should have started last year.  No one player should ever be more important than the team.

Completely agree with what

Completely agree with what you said.  The one thing I am most excited about is that Hoke has finally admitted a little bit that he is done giving seniors the "job" just because they are seniors.  I like the idea of playing with the line a bit to see how it mashes out.  I don't know why eveyone is freaking out about starting a freshman on the line, this wouldn't be the first time Nuss has used one and done just fine.  Maybe he really is that good of a player or maybe he hasn't bought into the whole "I will get to start cause I am a stud recruit" and is out there busting his butt.  Either way, I want the best 5 on the field....and by best five I mean mentally and physically the best five.

Wonder what the response

Wonder what the response would be from the same group of kids when asked if they would rather just skip the NCAA and head right into the NFL?

If you want to try some great

If you want to try some great beers from the local Michigan breweries, check out Bonteboktoberfest at Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek. They open the zoo for an evening and many of the breweries come to serve their beers. You buy a ticket and you get to sample 10-12 glasses of beer (4-6 oz each) and you get to keep your glass. Not gonna get you wasted, but a great place to sample some of our local stock. They also have live music as well. Just an FYI.

I would have to agree here

I would have to agree here with Seth. I expect a different kind of standard and Lewan would have taken it for the better of the team. I was disappointed that Hoke was so quick to make the "no suspension" statement at the presser. He should have at least elaborated that it was being handled internally and that there would be discipline of some sort. I felt as though he just brushed it off.

One could assume that since

One could assume that since they did the Manning passing camp together that they could be acquaintences or even friends.  So I don't find this to be patronizing at all or out of the realm of just being a friend.  While I am not a fan of Manziel's media hype, he does seem to find a way to win.  Gotta give the kid credit.

Winning cures all.  All it

Winning cures all.  All it takes is another conference to win a couple and the SEC is best will even itself out.  My complaint isn't that they win,  but that the preseason rankings give the SEC an unfair advantage to hold onto top spots without always earning them.  Rankings shouldn't start until week 4 or 5 so we can fairly assess teams baeed on performance and not where they finished last year or how they look on paper.  Giving any team an unfair ranking only helps them to stay at the top after beating up on cupcakes.

M-41
CMU-7

M-41

CMU-7

Only bothers me when they try

Only bothers me when they try to lessen my degree of fandom while they can't name more than 4 players on the current team, don't know who we play next week and can't name on recruit we have committed. You don't get to tell me I am less of fan when you can't do those things. If you aren't doing that then you are fine.

Bluiett Highlights

Watched the Bluiett highlights and I am not terribly impressed.  He looks like an average shooter who takes a large amount of shots and has little if any idea on how to follow up a missed shot.  He has an awkward release and looks like he has a be clearly set before he can shoot.  He does like to pull the trigger though.  For 6'6"  I would like to see more inside work and rebounding. 

We had quite a few undrafted

We had quite a few undrafted free agents signed. Is this a normal number for a Div 1 school or is this year an anomaly?

Not sure who is was, but

Not sure who is was, but there were 3-4 men and a group of young boys. The boys ran all over the place up and down the bleachers in front of people. The men hooped and hollared all while cussing and being very loud. As an adult, I could tolerate it....but not with my kids and wife. I was pretty shocked with the rather Family environment that we seen around us. No big deal, we just moved.

Can't just appreciate the

Can't just appreciate the genuine Thank You that people are giving. I have a last name that is never pronounced correctly and I never see the problem when I am being praised or thanked for doing good. You complainers must all work for Dick Sporting Goods.

Took the wife and kids to the

Took the wife and kids to the spring game for the first time. Kind of expensive to get all 6 of us at a real game and wanted them to see the Big House. They absolutely loved it. Motts was great, the volunteers and staff were great. Only downside we had were a group of guys who insisted on cussing every other word while watching. We moved after a bit and the kids didn't even care. Overall a nice experience. Wish they would at least simulate a game in full, even if it was only for a half. We will definitely go again.

I find it terrible that ESPN

I find it terrible that ESPN interviewed and put Jalen through the ringer all week about the Fab Five, only to make sure he couldn't be at the game. I know he gets paid to work for them, but this is a rare occurrence and to "use" him for their ratings all week is terrible. At least give the man a chance to see his school play.

Looks like he was with the

Looks like he was with the 2nd group. 

Looks like the first and

Looks like the first and second OL that we can see in that video is around 301+ average in weight.  Let's hope there is some strenght to go with all that beef.  We need bigger holes.

He looks pretty developed for

He looks pretty developed for a post player in high school.  Maybe a last minute growth spirt to put him a shade taller and he will be able to bang down low with best of them.  At 6'9" he better play physical, the Big Ten has not been kind to guys that size this year unless they are physical.  Seems like a solid pickup who can get some minutes to start and work his way into a big post player.

There were some glaringly

There were some glaringly obvous things yesterday from that loss. 

1.  Our ability to shoot the 3 ball could be our achilles heel all season.  When you are on you will blow teams out, but when you are off you need to find other ways to create. 

2.  The number of freshman who play on our team is obvious.  The experience factor played a big part in yesterdays loss.  At times our guys seemed intimidated to take the ball to the basket, all of them. 

3.  Our lack of developing a low post game will cost us this year.  I cannot understand why GR3 played so much outside on the wing while Stauskus seemed to end up down on the post. 

4.  Our ability to play zone or man coverage will end up being a good thing.  It can change the pace of a game and create offense from the turnovers and rebounds.

5.  Drive, Drive, Drive........this cannot be said enough after yesterday.  Sure you are gonna take some hits, but let's get teams in foul trouble and create opportunities from the line.  We left way too many points on the floor by chucking 3 pointers when we were not hitting or didn't have players in position for rebounds.

6.  McGary needs to see more minutes against bigger teams.  This kid hustles, blocks shots, can body up to a big man and play defense.  The other guys are good, but he has the ability to be special when he gets back to 100%.  We have the height, now we need to use a big man rotation to change up the pace when we are shooting poorly from behind the arc.

 

Just my 2 cents.

My kids loved it when they

My kids loved it when they were cheering BEAT OHIO at the end of the game last night.  The whole arena was going nuts.  Let's hope they shoot better than they did last night.

King was actually in the

King was actually in the crowd last night.  Thy brought him up on the jumbotron.

This is completely about the

This is completely about the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$.  Notre Dame feels that they can be the big fish in the little pond called the ACC and that they can now call the shots with a Texas style TV deal.  What they fail to realize is that the ACC is no way as good when it comes to competition and viewing audience.  This could backfire on Notre Dame in a huge way if NBC realizes that the viewers are not going to be there.  Turning down a game like U of M is not good business when it comes to marketing.

I am completely against

I am completely against paying any form of College Athlete.  I do agree with your assessment here though.  The NCAA wants to be the governing body and be able to make money at the same time.  It creates an environment where the athletes are bound by an agreement to a univeristy and the NCAA basically is stepping in and saying that since they are the governing body of all sports associated at the university level that they too are allowed to use the athletes as they see fit.  This is a completely bogus idea.  You either are the governing body or you are a money making marketing machine.  Those two things should not coexist as they have been allowed.  This is why the NCAA is in such a mess right now when it comes to punishment and investigation into fraud or any other type of scandal.  They know they are ultimately taking money away from themselves if they punish successful athletic programs.  There needs to be a governing body and then a marketing body set up seperately by the universities that would be universal. 

Back home where he will

Back home where he will always be a star. He has just about run out of opportunities.

What an inspiration for

What an inspiration for everyone. Glad to see he has come so far. 1% can be 100% when you set your mind to it. God is good!

If this is a serious picture

If this is a serious picture of his dorm room and he is packing it in early to head to the NBA it might be best.  An education at just about any school is not cheap, but if he feels he played for U of M for free then he is a long way from being the mature young man who can handle the pressure of an adult world.  There is most likely less than a month left to finish out the semester and get some education under his belt.  To pack all his stuff up and head out without finishing the semester says a lot about his maturity and the way his parents raised him.  It also says a lot about the way many high school kids feel about college and pro sports.   Maybe they should take a long hard look at what the average length of a Pro Sports career is and what they plant to do afterward with a high school education. 

*** I hope none of this is really him, but it is easy to see how kids gets taken advantage of when they have a talent that can mae money.  Before you go off and tell me I don't know what I am talking about, I was a fortunate one who played for a Div. 1 Basketball team and made a choice to focus on my education because I knew that Pro Sports were a short lived thng and my chances were slim. ***

Good luck young man, you are going to need it and thanks for the fun year watching you grow.

This kid is a mess

This kid was high on the radar early in the summer before he played his senior year.  I have seen this kid play and would rather we bank the scholarship.  Over the summer he showed up to camps expecting to just be great without putting in the time or effort.  Decided to take plays off and never actually reached his potential. 

 

Off the field he is a mess too.  Should have been suspended during the season for off the field issues and has even more baggage that I am not going to get into.  I am not even sure that MSU would jump at him with what he brings to the table.  Kind of a wasted talent.

The problem is that simple. 

The problem is that simple.  I am a product of it.  I had a choice to either be just like people who raised me or the family in which I was born or I could use the given opportunity that I was dealt and make something of myself.   I am not saying that it doesn't help to have a support system, but he can break the trend that it appears he was headed for when he was younger.  He now has had an opportunity and  I am going to assume a support system from GRCC.  I was able to succeed with very little support system and I was a sure fire bet to end up in trouble.  Hence, I made a choice to become the person I am today and not go back to what was expected of myself.