PeteM

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Date	Title	Body
2 weeks 2 days ago	In Bacon's Defense	I think Bacon has a point that kids don't grow up caring about Michigan (or college football) the way they once did even if his argument about opponent quality has obvious holes due to the increased competitiveness of the Big Ten. When I was growing up in the 70s and 80s virtually every kid (okay "every kid" meaning  boys who were into sports) had a college sports team that they cared about -- whether it was Michigan, MSU or even Notre Dame.  I feel like now that kids have a lot more multimedia sports entertainment options, and those same kids are more scheduled these days so they may not have as much time on Saturdays to watch or listen to games.  I'm always amazed when I hear a friend say that they missed the MSU or OSU game because their kid had a soccer game that afternoon.  In my day (I know I sound old) a lot of kids' leagues would avoid those sacred hours and/or some parents and their kids would skip to watch the Michigan game -- for better or worse that's no more.
7 weeks 2 days ago	What channel	Does anyone know what channel that is on Ann Arbor Comcast?
8 weeks 4 hours ago	Totally agree about Glen Mason analogy	I remember thinking when Glen Mason got let go that Minnesota had a coach who is consistently in the bowl games and finishes in the upper half of the Big Ten -- why would they let him go?  Do they really think that they'll become Ohio State or Michigan without the history, money or recruiting base? I feel the same way about this decision -- they made the round of 32.  They had an exciting, albeit inconsistent, team.  I realize that Minnesota probably looks east and says -- if Wisconsin can do it in football and basketball we can too.  That's possible, but it's more likely that they become Penn State or Nebraska in basketball.
9 weeks 4 hours ago	Take risks	I'd like to see them take risks on defense.  If that means playing tight man to man on the perimeter and risking having a guy get by or get fouled, occasionally pressing, fronting the big man or whatever I'd rather have them give up a easy basket once in awhile while generally disrupting SDSU's rythym on offense.  I think that this team is at it's worst when it sits back on D, and let's the opposing offenses take the initiative.  I'd also like to see us use of bench stragetically so we can give fouls and stay fresh -- Levert, Horford, Albrecht, Bielfeldt, Vogrich and even McLimans may not be talented enough to see action on this team in the Big Ten but they are talented enough to see 3-5 minutes apiece (more for Levert obviously) against a team from a smaller conference.
9 weeks 1 day ago	Amaker would be crazy to take the job	He seems to have a good thing going at Harvard.  This will be his 2nd straight tournament there, and he seems to be recruiting above the Ivy league average (2 four stars in the last 3 years).  He could be at Harvard for 10-20 years, or if he continues to succeed there he could end up at a better program with more chances for future success.
9 weeks 4 days ago	I'm with you but . . .	Penn State has played us tough for whatever reason twice.  Whether we have weak or strong mental state Newbill and Marshall look like pretty good players against our perimeter defense.  I trust Beilein to make defensive adjustments and have the team focus, and we definitely have the talent, but we need to play well.
9 weeks 6 days ago	If Meyer was dirty	Why did the NCAA believe him and not Sampson or Rob Senderoff?
10 weeks 2 days ago	2010	This is not (repeat not) an attempt to revive the RichRod wars -- that said, I wonder what the 2010 class would be have been like if RichRod had stayed.  As I recall, we lost Dee Hart and Jake Fisher (not sure if we definitely had him) after RichRod was fired, and it seems like there were a couple of others in that.  Wasn't Hart the highest ranked player RichRod recruited?  In any case, I know that there's no way of knowing what would have happened, but that said I think it's a bit unfair to both Hoke and RichRod to include 2010 without an asterix.
10 weeks 4 days ago	Rebounding/Loose balls	I wish they could rebound and pick more loose balls.  I can't tell if it's the players or their style, but we couldn't buy a big rebound tonight and the same was true Sunday.  That said, Purdue just beat Wisconsin convincingly on the road and it's still a great win. Quick question -- I know that we want to assume a win Sunday, but if not what do we want to happen in other big ten games?  Do we want MSU to beat Wisc because of the tiebreaker?
11 weeks 5 days ago	Newbill and Marshall	Despite Borovnjak having a great game, Newbill and Marshall were the ones that scared me in Ann Arbor.  They both seemed better than you'd expect from a team with Penn State's resume though that might have caused in part by Michigan's porous defense that game.  Penn State may not be very good, but they're better than their record (hard to be worse) I do agree that tonight should be easier.  If Morgan plays Michigan's defense is a lot better and I think they were also shaking off the shock of the MSU game.
13 weeks 18 hours ago	Same thought on Minnesota/Amaker's teams	I was going to make the same point.  I liked Tommy Amaker, but his teams seemed to always follow big wins (like Minnesota's against Wisconsin) with deflating losses.
13 weeks 21 hours ago	Defensive lapses vs. Good Game by PSU	I was suprised that Penn State's shooting percentage wasn't higher by the end, but despite that it felt like they made a ton of huge baskets. Some were drives to hoop, open jumpers or put backs that reflected defensive/rebounding lapses, but others were taken with guys in their face.  They were incredibly aggresive under the boards, and a number of deflections/rebounds seemed to end up in their hands. My point is not to deny that we played poorly -- especially inside -- but to remind everyone that even bad teams have some ability and sometimes get hot.  I don't have the basketball knowledge to evaluate which shots were poorly defended vs. just great strokes (outside of the most obvious examples), but would note that there appeared to be a lot of the latter.
13 weeks 4 days ago	Michiganders	It looks like the number of Michigan natives went down every decade until the 2000s.  That's not surprising given the geographic distribution of football talent.  That said, I'm surprised to see the uptick of Michigan kids in the 2000 to present era (recognizing that that reflects more than just 10 years) and wonder if that's correct?  Also, I would have expected more Floridians given RichRod's emphasis on the Sunshine state.
14 weeks 4 days ago	Rankings	I assume that if Michigan's happy with him as the only QB in the class they think he's better than a 3 star.  I'd be curious to see where he stands as more rankings come out.
17 weeks 3 days ago	Cities	Of Brian's cities I have been to Prague & Stuff, Tampa, Denver, Detroit, Vancouver, New Orleans, New York, Atlanta, San Francisco and Scottsdale. I don't agree that Tampa belongs in the crappy city category.  The stadium area sucked, but I enjoyed channelside and Ybor distict.  I don't think that Atlanta has anything on Tampa. That said -- a bowl game in Prague, Vancouver or San Francisco would be awesome.
18 weeks 1 day ago	One team doesn't prove a system	I believe that manball or the spread can work with the right personnel.  Paterno seems to be saying that only a run-focused pro style system can will national championships.  As I recall, Urban Meyer won 2 national championships at Florida running a spread.  It seems to me that there's no question that the spread can be successful.  Meyer, Chip Kelly, and Mike Leach have proven that.  A more interesting question is whether offensive style affects recruiting.  In other words, are there elite receivers, running backs etc. who favor pro style over spread in their college choice to maximize their NFL prospects.
18 weeks 2 days ago	Why it would be a mistake	After Notre Dame's 15 or so years in the wilderness before this year, Kelly gets 2-3subpar years before he has to worry.  ND recruits above all but 2 or 3 of its opponents per year.  In the pros there's no guaranty talent superiority and not much job security. I think leaving would be a mistake.
18 weeks 4 days ago	Morris	Too bad about Morris.  Hopefully, he's just in a slump.  I have to assume he's got the talent since he's been near the top of the rankings for a long time.
19 weeks 4 days ago	Next year will tell	By next year Hoke will have more his own players.  We'll also see how much our offense was dependent on Denard.  I expect a 9-10 win seaon, but my real concern is whether he can beat Urban Meyer.
19 weeks 4 days ago	Agreed on everything but Tampa	I agree that the stadium and the area around it sucked, but the channelside area of Tampa is gorgeous.  This was my first time to the area, and St. Pete was a great place to visit.  I would go back if the game was a good matchup.
21 weeks 1 day ago	Saban as a coach	I don't question Saban's coaching ability, but I also don't that he has the creativity to be successful in an environment where talent parity is more the norm than in college.  At MSU, he had 5 or 6 win seasons until 1999.  Arguably, D'Antonio has done more there.  At Alabama he has more talent than anyone in the country and will going forward.  I can't imagne why he would he leave.
25 weeks 1 day ago	In partial defense of Borges	I agree that Al Borges didn't call a great game, but he was running an offense with one QB who had played wide receiver all season, and another whose injury meant he couldn't pass. His only effective running back was out with a broken leg. The offense line isn't talented outside of Lewan. I too wanted to see Devin and Denard on the field at the same time, but Denard isn't a pass blocker and if Devin had gotten injured it would have been the apocalypse. I also don't know what routes Denard was capable of running as a receiver. Again, I wish some different plays had been called, but there were limited options and scoring 21 in the 1st half with the limitations he faced was an accomplishment.
33 weeks 5 days ago	The Gee story is great	The Gee story is great journalism, written by former Michigan Daily reporter Laura Bishoff.
41 weeks 4 days ago	Dinner	The link doesn't work and I can't find anything online.  Please post the date and time of the kickoff dinner.
42 weeks 1 day ago	Agreed	I've been watching since the days of Rob Lytle and Rick Leach -- but he's my favorite as well.
42 weeks 4 days ago	The Case for Optimism	I don't expect great things from Penn State over the next few years, but the argument that they are doomed to the football wilderness for a decade seems overblown.  Here's my response: Yes, the next 2 years will be hard but they have good players, and for the most part their current players are making noise like they don't plan to transfer.  Assuming that they can keep their record in the broad category of respectable (6-6, 5-7 etc.) in 2012-2013, and preserve their fanbase, then beginning in 2 years O'Brien can recruit with the argument that the team is not far from where it was, and that because of the scholarship limits he has lots of playing time to offer.  Obviously if O'Brien bolts, or the current team scatters like the wind ,the situation changes, but I think there's hope.
44 weeks 3 days ago	Reputation	Penn State didn't have to issue a press release in 2001 about Sandusky.  They simply needed to report the allegations to the police, and allow an investigation to take place.  Sandusky's reputation would have been impacted by the course of that investigation, not by the act of reporting.
47 weeks 19 hours ago	Agreed but they have some built-in disadvantages	I haven't been to Bloomington, but have heard great things about the campus.  Here's what I would guess their disadvantages are: 1.  Indiana is not exactly Ohio or Pennsylvania for producing football talent according to this chart (though they produce more recruits than some other B10 states) http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1182411 2. Indiana is and always will be viewed as a basketball first school.  Duke, Kentucky and Kansas aren't football powers either. 3. They have the unique disadvantage of having another B10 school in state plus Notre Dame.  I wonder how many states the size of Indiana have 3 schools competing at that level.  I realize that Notre Dame takes very few kids from Indiana, but I suspect that they are in on any recruits that they are interested in. These aren't necessarily fatal -- Bill Mallory got them to several bowl games in the late 80s early 90s -- but it does mean that they need have a lot of inherent obstacles.
49 weeks 1 day ago	Indiana	Maybe my internal recruiting clock is off in the Hoke era where we have 15 or so guys in the class by April, but what's up with Indiana?  I see from their rivals page that they have a few offers out, but if I were JamieMac or any other Hoosier fan I'd be panicked that, with other schools jumping in early, that they'll be scambling for leftovers.
49 weeks 6 days ago	Kudos	Quite a accomplishment for a young journalist.

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