I was shoveling this morning and listening to this amazing podcast and I was reminded of a part of my research in South Africa. I spoke to a retired South African diplomat who said that everyone hated the Soviet diplomats not because of Cold War politics but because the Soviets seemed to earnestly believe what they were saying. It seems like a similar phenomenon helps explain why so many rival coaches and so many in the Big Ten hate Harbaugh so much. He doesn't just say he loves football, he actually loves it. And he loves it so thoroughly that it orients almost all of his person. He must be exceptionally annoying to talk to if you KNOW that your job is to say that you love football but you only kind of like it. Or don't want to think about it all the time.
Moore is gonna be an amazing coach, but I'll absolutely miss having a coach who was so committed to football that everything in his life revolves around it. It's also super fitting that this guy left Michigan not because of exhaustion or a lack of fire or old age but, again, because of football.
Couldn't agree more. We all read the columns full of agony and disappointment. That was hard enough. I can't imagine writing those columns. Enjoy this one, Brian. We wouldn't be here if not for you.
Seems like these comments generally say a lot more about how conferences feel about their members than about the teams themselves. Our conference hates us, the SEC sorta sticks together. Isn't that how things have generally looked?
Did not expect to hop onto my favorite blog to read about my favorite team winning basically my favorite game for them to win and then encounter, right off the bat, the mental image of a nude Shrek. Still glad I came, still glad I read! Go blue always and forever!
Oh! To clarify: I didn't mean that Michigan was necessarily antiquated, but rather that it seems in my experience that higher ed in this country doesn't exactly move quickly to adapt its policies to the times. Again, though, that could just be my experience. Sorry about the confusion there.
Hey all! I don't comment much because there are always people on here more knowledgeable than I, but I think I can shed some useful light perhaps on the transfer credit thing. I am a college-level instructor and while revenue and antiquated policies can definitely be part of the issue here, another important aspect (which I don't think I've seen posted) is departmental autonomy. My department has a really similar policy to the one that Brian included and the reason it isn't a big deal where I teach is that my school is not really a place that receives many late-college transfers (I don't believe!) or elite athletes. The reason that policy exists, at least here, is that departments want to have the authority to decide what counts toward their majors. In a case like Stanford, that authority is probably irrelevant--a Stanford class is going to be great. In some other cases, it might make a huge difference. Some of my colleagues would definitely have an issue if someone came to my institution with most of a major completed at a place that had a really messed up curriculum. It is probably also really hard for an institution like Michigan to establish a blanket campus-wide partnership even in the case of a place like Stanford. A lot of faculty would reject that--they want oversight. The result is a really dumb system, as is often the case in academia: Faculty want to, in theory, approve every credit that will subsequently count toward a degree from their department, but they want to do that only in theory. I bet the number of people who actually want to read syllabi and approve courses from transfer students is *tiny*. Especially at a place like Michigan with major research expectations and (I would imagine) a sizable number of transfers. The result is a policy that says everything needs to be approved with not much actually getting approved at all.
Just hopping on to say that the first paragraph feels particularly spot on. Brian's line "It's been a while so I'm not sure if these memories persist, but games against world powers used to be agonizing exercises in just trying to get the ball" really resonated with my experience. I've watched the USMNT with a non-zero level of sophistication since like 1998, and for a long time it seemed like a miracle if the US could even string more than two or three passes together without turning it over. Now? They're playing genuinely breathtaking soccer at times. Not often enough, and I don't think the baseline performance is nearly high enough yet, but there's genius and continuity there and it's awesome to see.
Mr. Rib! No idea if it was actually good, but grew up on their spicy BBQ chicken sandwiches so it shaped my taste for BBQ for the rest of time. Don't live in town now, but my parents do and they're pretty certain it's gone.
I've been reading this site for ages but I hardly ever post. The following sentence compelled me to say something:
"How dare these high school students celebrate the day they officially earn full scholarships to live out their dreams after a years-long process that's breathlessly covered by the very same media that considers Couch a colleague."
This is just a beautiful, poignant, pithy takedown. Keep up the great work.
When the US gets in the attacking third, they look tremendous. It's just in the center of the field and clearing out the back that makes me feel uneasy.
Hey friends - joining the thread via dongle-internet from South Africa at 11:20 PM because 1) I have to watch this and 2) I can't possibly watch alone.
This is great stuff, Ace. By the way, though: that alley oop off the Ridley steal was so sick I almost spat out my coffee. Warn a guy before sneaking that in!
I've been following this blog for going on six years and that second sentence is one of the greatest I've ever read. Also, bad snaps may or may not happen in shotgun? True enough, my friend. True enough.
It seems to me that the rest of the conference can be analogized to a barely-tamed guard dog. Teams like Wisconsin and OSU spent the past two or three months biting us constantly, but now we get to sit back and watch them bite people that actually seem to deserve it. Like Marshall Henderson.
Stellar post about a comfortingly blah win. But why write Boiler Johnsons when you had the rare chance to go with the always delightful "Boilers Johnson"? Disappointing oversight, no?
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My "I'm not a soft cookie" t-shirt has a lot of people asking questions already answered by my shirt.
I was shoveling this morning and listening to this amazing podcast and I was reminded of a part of my research in South Africa. I spoke to a retired South African diplomat who said that everyone hated the Soviet diplomats not because of Cold War politics but because the Soviets seemed to earnestly believe what they were saying. It seems like a similar phenomenon helps explain why so many rival coaches and so many in the Big Ten hate Harbaugh so much. He doesn't just say he loves football, he actually loves it. And he loves it so thoroughly that it orients almost all of his person. He must be exceptionally annoying to talk to if you KNOW that your job is to say that you love football but you only kind of like it. Or don't want to think about it all the time.
Moore is gonna be an amazing coach, but I'll absolutely miss having a coach who was so committed to football that everything in his life revolves around it. It's also super fitting that this guy left Michigan not because of exhaustion or a lack of fire or old age but, again, because of football.
Couldn't agree more. We all read the columns full of agony and disappointment. That was hard enough. I can't imagine writing those columns. Enjoy this one, Brian. We wouldn't be here if not for you.
Never thought this would happen. O me of little faith. What a beautiful night.
Seems like these comments generally say a lot more about how conferences feel about their members than about the teams themselves. Our conference hates us, the SEC sorta sticks together. Isn't that how things have generally looked?
Did not expect to hop onto my favorite blog to read about my favorite team winning basically my favorite game for them to win and then encounter, right off the bat, the mental image of a nude Shrek. Still glad I came, still glad I read! Go blue always and forever!
I really hope that your story involves something like a typo in an email address. That would be so great.
I think his name might be Turner Corcoran but Turner, Tyler, Taylor, Timetoforgetyouweareontobiggerandbetterthings
Oh! To clarify: I didn't mean that Michigan was necessarily antiquated, but rather that it seems in my experience that higher ed in this country doesn't exactly move quickly to adapt its policies to the times. Again, though, that could just be my experience. Sorry about the confusion there.
Hey all! I don't comment much because there are always people on here more knowledgeable than I, but I think I can shed some useful light perhaps on the transfer credit thing. I am a college-level instructor and while revenue and antiquated policies can definitely be part of the issue here, another important aspect (which I don't think I've seen posted) is departmental autonomy. My department has a really similar policy to the one that Brian included and the reason it isn't a big deal where I teach is that my school is not really a place that receives many late-college transfers (I don't believe!) or elite athletes. The reason that policy exists, at least here, is that departments want to have the authority to decide what counts toward their majors. In a case like Stanford, that authority is probably irrelevant--a Stanford class is going to be great. In some other cases, it might make a huge difference. Some of my colleagues would definitely have an issue if someone came to my institution with most of a major completed at a place that had a really messed up curriculum. It is probably also really hard for an institution like Michigan to establish a blanket campus-wide partnership even in the case of a place like Stanford. A lot of faculty would reject that--they want oversight. The result is a really dumb system, as is often the case in academia: Faculty want to, in theory, approve every credit that will subsequently count toward a degree from their department, but they want to do that only in theory. I bet the number of people who actually want to read syllabi and approve courses from transfer students is *tiny*. Especially at a place like Michigan with major research expectations and (I would imagine) a sizable number of transfers. The result is a policy that says everything needs to be approved with not much actually getting approved at all.
Just hopping on to say that the first paragraph feels particularly spot on. Brian's line "It's been a while so I'm not sure if these memories persist, but games against world powers used to be agonizing exercises in just trying to get the ball" really resonated with my experience. I've watched the USMNT with a non-zero level of sophistication since like 1998, and for a long time it seemed like a miracle if the US could even string more than two or three passes together without turning it over. Now? They're playing genuinely breathtaking soccer at times. Not often enough, and I don't think the baseline performance is nearly high enough yet, but there's genius and continuity there and it's awesome to see.
Mr. Rib! No idea if it was actually good, but grew up on their spicy BBQ chicken sandwiches so it shaped my taste for BBQ for the rest of time. Don't live in town now, but my parents do and they're pretty certain it's gone.
This is a SAFE SPACE, KAREN
This thread of lurkers coming out into the sun is the best. Just like Mgoblog. This is my third comment ever! (I think?)
I've been reading this site for ages but I hardly ever post. The following sentence compelled me to say something:
"How dare these high school students celebrate the day they officially earn full scholarships to live out their dreams after a years-long process that's breathlessly covered by the very same media that considers Couch a colleague."
This is just a beautiful, poignant, pithy takedown. Keep up the great work.
When the US gets in the attacking third, they look tremendous. It's just in the center of the field and clearing out the back that makes me feel uneasy.
The USA: Undisputed champions in world soccer of challenging passes to the opposition goalkeeper and looking aggrevied when someone flops.
I CAN"T EVEN SHOUT EBCAUSE MY HOSTS ARE ASLEEP FUUUUUUCK YAAAAAA
I'm more of a lurker. Special circumstances call for a more visible presence, I guess.
Hey friends - joining the thread via dongle-internet from South Africa at 11:20 PM because 1) I have to watch this and 2) I can't possibly watch alone.
This is great stuff, Ace. By the way, though: that alley oop off the Ridley steal was so sick I almost spat out my coffee. Warn a guy before sneaking that in!
I've been following this blog for going on six years and that second sentence is one of the greatest I've ever read. Also, bad snaps may or may not happen in shotgun? True enough, my friend. True enough.
It seems to me that the rest of the conference can be analogized to a barely-tamed guard dog. Teams like Wisconsin and OSU spent the past two or three months biting us constantly, but now we get to sit back and watch them bite people that actually seem to deserve it. Like Marshall Henderson.
Aggrieved Bo Ryan foul face, right on cue.
My wife forced me to go on a walk with her in the snow, which ended up more like a 45-minute stomping silent tantrum. I...am a child.
Stellar post about a comfortingly blah win. But why write Boiler Johnsons when you had the rare chance to go with the always delightful "Boilers Johnson"? Disappointing oversight, no?
Lost in the shuffle was David Larson of Faith Baptist, who scored 70 on 34-44 shooting.
Also: first post! YA!