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Been around since the…

Been around since the Haloscan days; but I didn't have it in me to live in that sea of chaos other than the occasional "We need to hire Brian Kelly" during the Rich Rod coaching search.

On field: Stuffing Milroe in overtime. I was at the Rose Bowl and it was in the endzone I was sitting in. That'll stick with me.

Anger: Honestly, still too happy to remember the bad at this point.

Surprise: AJ Barner. Exceeded my wildest expectations in replacing All

Feature: 1) UFR. It's the best. 2) Neck Sharpies. Seth is the closing thing I've got to compare to the glory days of the Smart Football blog. 3) FFFF. Alex does great work and is an immense credit to the site. Brian's yearly opening column has meant a ton to me over the years and should be mentioned, but it doesn't seem to fit the prompt very well, so it gets the hat tip.

 

I also prefer divisions. I…

I also prefer divisions. I think we're going to end up in scenarios where we have three 11-1 teams that haven't played each other; similar to the Mountain West this year. Tiebreakers are going to be frustrating.

There are a couple of things that I would consider, if I were in charge:

1) Add more conference games. I'd turn two of the non-con games into conference games, leaving you with one game against a directional Michigan caliber team, and one team to play a non-conference rival. You'd play everyone in your 9 team division and have three crossover games. If you're at the school for four years you'll see every team once, though you won't travel to every stadium. Some teams will lose a bunch of gate receipts due to the loss of a home game.

2) Pure promotion and relegation. Round robin tournament, no championship game is needed. The top half of the league has to be selected for bowl bids first, though the playoff committee is free to take anyone as they see fit. One crossover game that is weighted to play the game that hasn't been played in the longest time. On championship weekend, winner of the bottom is automatically promoted, loser of the top is relegated. 2/3 and 6/7 play promotion and relegation rematches. I think this would be fun, but you'd really need to accept that some games will very rarely be played.

We're a quieter stadium. It…

We're a quieter stadium. It's gotten louder: the boxes added a little bit. But on a game to game basis, it's not overwhelming.

Beaver stadium is much louder. Washington and Oregon are louder still. If anyone makes the trip to Seattle next season, you'll notice the difference in volume immediately.

Was going to stress that you…

Was going to stress that you need to get that OS on an SSD, but I think you have and the link is just broken. 

Regarding the prime time…

Regarding the prime time November thing, isn't the solution just to dump those four weeks on USC and UCLA as soon as they get in the league? That's 5:00pm local in perfectly nice weather. Surely there are enough good teams in the league that you could have one interesting team play a game on the west coast for four weeks.

I'm going to second this, it…

I'm going to second this, it is a really cool mod.

Seth, if your disc is scratched you can try to buff it out. I've had okay success with PlastX, but you do need to be careful. If your polish is too abrasive you might make things worse. 

I get the sense that this…

I get the sense that this might be a "technically correct" situation.  I have no information here so this is just wild speculation, but if we are assume Ross is correct I'd have to bet it's because even with out a TV  broadcast, media time outs still happen: they'd just solely be used by radio.

My hot take is that…

My hot take is that divisions are fine and people like Bill Connelly are worked up about nothing. Think of the divisions as separate leagues. Winners of the leagues play for an auto bid into the national championship tournament. That seems fine to me.

I think this will be even more logical as the Big Ten expands again, especially if they get more Pac12 schools. You'd have two separate groups of schools that largely play their own traditional opponents (plus Nebraska) in some semblance of their traditional geography. It's fine to have loosely affiliated leagues with a scheduling agreement.

Look, I'd like to see the league be able to play a complete round robin and just not need a championship game, but that's never going to happen. So let's put the championship on a home site like the Pac 12 used to do, and not devalue the regular season any more than necessary.

Senior day haikus.

Senior day haikus.

Allow me to echo the…

Allow me to echo the sentiment: unless she's a gamer, you have price concerns, or there is some other circumstance that needs a PC, the Macbook Air is the way to go. Everyone in LS&A is going to use one.

Look, I kind of hate Apple's proprietary tendencies, but I recognize it's a great computer. The M1 was a major leap forward, and though Intel has reclaimed some of the performance crowns it'll be somewhat hard to notice the difference. M2 is excellent, and with its great power efficiency it's going to feel just as snappy with exceptional battery life.

With all do respect to Mr…

With all do respect to Mr. Wangler, nobody complains about paying a first round NFL draft pick a massive sum of money despite the fact that they too "have not played a down at this level". Big time recruits provide value to the program in the same way that big time NFL draft picks do: they bring excitement and optimism to the future of the program. They have value because we spend all year obsessing over the decision that a bunch of teenagers make. 

If I were a recruit and was making what is probably the most important decision of my life up to this point, knowing what kind of compensation I should expect would be a huge factor. Major college football absolutely is a job and Bo Schembechler aside, most people expect to know their salary before starting. 

Glad we got Osgood vs Roy…

Glad we got Osgood vs Roy the year after and I'l always be at least a little sad that Hasek tripped and we were denied a third goalie fight in the rivalry. 

Belfast - It's okay. A… Belfast - It's okay. A reflection of an important time in a director's life that he carefully memorialized. Seems like that's a thing now, ever since Roma. CODA - A nice movie that makes people feel nice. Nothing wrong with it, formulaic but well executed. Don't Look Up - The only best picture nominee that I'm offended was nominated. But ofr the Academy Awards, that's actually better than normal! Drive My Car - My personal favorite of the best picture nominees. It's an excellent study on grief, but it's also a three hour foreign language movie that moves at a languorous pace, so I don't recommend things like it to normies. Dune - Great everything but the story. Really a remarkable achievement, but it feels like incomplete, because, well, the story is drastically incomplete. King Richard - Pretty good biopic. Wasn't wowed by it, but had a decent enough time. Licorice Pizza - Really enjoyed it, but I'm a PTA fan so I'm kind of a biased source. For what it's worth I think it it is mid-tier PTA. Nightmare Alley - Another well constructed and well crafted movie that can be off putting based on style. The Power of the Dog - A good movie, but one that is incredibly slow and is intentionally alienating for the viewer. My personal favorite movie was nominated for best original screenplay, it was The Worst Person in the World. All in all, a better than normal slate of nominations.
The oldest Millennials were…

The oldest Millennials were born in the early 80s. This particular Millennial remembers the team shutting out Ohio State in 93, so it hasn't been all doom and gloom for us. 

I like the "worst rule in…

I like the "worst rule in football". The rulebook is 200+ pages legalistic arcana and contradictions. It seems perfectly in keeping with the spirit of sport to have a specific area of the field that arbitrarily punishes the offense for screwing up. 

At work, I inherited my…

At work, I inherited my phone number from the person who had my job before me. I listed to the voice mail existing message and it didn't mention the name of the person on the mailbox, so I kept it. One day, I met the person who held me job before me, and she wasn't the voice on the mailbox either. Turns out we both had used the same voicemail greeting from the person who originally had the job many years.

This is a long way to say that I really enjoy the fact that you still have Anthony Ciatti reading the Michigan Law Grad ad. 

When it comes to too many…

When it comes to too many commercials, Fox broadcasts are particularly egregious. I haven't actually done the work so take this conclusion with a grain of salt, but to the best of my recollection the Fox noon game is usually the last game  still being played and is the broadcast most likely to run late and into the 3:30 games. 

Looks quite tasty. But I am…

Looks quite tasty. But I am concerned the football gods will screw you on a technicality (this is about the Lions after all), for using Baja Flash which is pineapple/coconut and not Maui Burst, the pure pineapple variant.

This is correct. The Big 12…

This is correct. The Big 12 schools need to be prepared to escape a doomed conference. But from the Big 10's perspective, do they actually add anything? 

The last round of expansion revealed that major basketball programs didn't factor into anyone's decisions; it was all about leveraging football to force conference TV networks onto cable subscribers. I'm not sure how this will be different. Iowa is already in the footprint and is Wichita and KCK enough to matter?

If the Big Ten were serious about expansion they should absolutely listen to these pitches. Then they would go out and try and poach Georgia Tech and UNC.

I'm with you on that. I… I'm with you on that. I adored watching Federer play; his game was so graceful. But when it's all said and done, I think Djokovic is going to have so many more majors than the others it'll be hard to argue otherwise.
I'm sorry, but some of us…

I'm sorry, but some of us are chili snoots. 

Brandy - Hennessey. I'm not…

Brandy - Hennessey. I'm not big into brandies or cognacs, but sometimes you need a sidecar or a B&B.

Gin - Batch 206 counter gin, Batch 206 old tom gin, Plymouth sloe gin

Rum - Appleton white rum, Bacardi Anejo, Gosling's black seal, Pampero anniversario

Tequila - Milagro silver

Whiskies - Crown Royal, Four Roses single barrel, Laphroig 10 year, Whistlepig 12 year old world rye, Woodinville straight rye whiskey

Vodka - Batch 206 vodka. It's not great but I'm not a vodka guy. 

Miscellaneous - Amaro Nonino, Benedictine, Bol's creme de cacao, Bol's orange curacao, Campari, Chartreuse, Cherry Heering, Cointreau, Drambuie, Lucid absinthe, Luxardo maraschino, Pim's #1, Pirassununga 51 cachaca, Rothman and Winter creme de violette, St. Germain, Unicum, 

Raj, this reads like a…

Raj, this reads like a personal attack. The Palm Pre looked really promising, I still use my Zune (and the music store was DRM free, a big deal at the time), and the Dreamcast was a great console that was ahead of it's time. It had internet connectivity!

Orbitz always seemed weird though.

I've been on PS Vue since…

I've been on PS Vue since the football season last year and I would recommend it.

None of these services have a real DVR.They're all caches that limit the amount of time you can keep a recorded program and some might force you to watch an on demand program if that exists. It's a bummer.

If possible, run cables. The performance will be more reliable.

Keep an eye out for an actual good deal on cable. I'm paying about $50 less than I used to and that's nice. But, prices keep increasing. I'm not sure where the point is, but I'd be willing to pay a little more for an actual DVR.

Interestingly enough, Kenji…

Interestingly enough, Kenji Lopez-Alt ran a quick test on that very subject a few years back.

https://www.seriouseats.com/2010/08/what-are-the-best-eggs-cage-free-organic-omega-3s-grocery-store-brand-the-food-lab.html

The takeaway is that, desired some eggs having a nicer color, there is is no real difference in taste between eggs.

Let's just do away with this…

Let's just do away with this whole overtime thing and bring back ties. Playoff games can play a 5th quarter if necessary. Otherwise, this sport thrives in ambiguity and lack of resolution; let's have more. 

This was a great post and I…

This was a great post and I'm sad it didn't get as much love as it deserved. 

Every time Brian writes LFG,…

Every time Brian writes LFG, especially considering his Tropico experience, I assume he's trying to run Molten Core. 

I'm out of Big Ten country…

I'm out of Big Ten country so I dropped TV when they dropped BTN from the premium sports package I was paying for. I switched to PS Vue (which has raised its rates on me a little bit) and am about $75 cheaper per month.

Vue generally works well, but the performance isn't as good as cable. The DVR, while better than YouTube's, isn't as good. I also miss the Pac12 Network and CBC. I also don't get all of my local channels because PS Vue doesn't carry live locals owned by Sinclair though the antenna I had easily fixes that. Any streaming service is going to have to have some performance trade off, but overall the price + BTN has made me a happy customer so far.

I enjoyed reading everyone's…

I enjoyed reading everyone's stories.

I was in the middle of one of our two-a-days for football practice. Our coach called everyone over and said that the entire region had lost power and no one knew why. He cancelled the rest of practice and sent everyone home. The thing that stands out to me was how many more stars there were at night.

Mgoblog is a nerdy enough

Mgoblog is a nerdy enough place where a link to a Star Wars column and having the advertiser talk about it in the podcast seems entirely appropriate.

It's more that I believe Richard and I saw two very different movies.

Hoeg is Really Wrong

I read the linked article and Richard Hoeg's take is really bad. I don't really think mgoblog is the place to get involved in a spoiler-filled debate on The Last Jedi (though if you want to get into some Babalyon 5 arguments the statute of limitations has passed and I'm your guy), but this take is really wrong:

"Crafting a compelling narrative comes with certain rules (of the game), not out of some centuries old adherence to an ancient text, but because the arcs of characterization, growth, and plot matter to whether an audience can engage with the story that is being told.  In Last Jedi it seems clear that Rian Johnson prioritized shock above all else, whether or not it made the story more compelling, better, or even coherent.  One event simply happens after the next, and the characters react"

I'm not sure what movie he was watching but TLJ is nothing but setup and payoff. Characterization, growth, and plot are developed, grow organically, and resolve logically. It's narrative elements are all very clear and intentional.

Purdue Kittens

Perhaps it's because Purdue had the first computer science department in the country?

I might worry tha a Filiagia,

I might worry that a Filiagia, Ruiz, Onwenu interior could be too massive to observe from a distance. You get that kind of power together and they're liable warp light around them.

Code Red is my go to but

Code Red is my go to but White Out isn't to far behind. I also liked the original Pitch Black. I can take or leave the rest. 

Goths

Currently listening to Goths. It's great.

Hot Takes

1) Pancheros is hands down the best burrito spot in Ann Arbor and BTB is wildly overrated.

2) Kang's is the only Korean spot worth stopping at. 

3) NYPD has always been mediocre.

I'm not terribly upset but,

I'm not terribly upset but, like Matt Hinton, I'm generally opposed to anything that treats college football like the an NFL minor league.

Anybody remember when ESPN

Anybody remember when ESPN would air Magic: the Gathering?

Their programming decisions don't really bother me. I'd rather watch someone playing Counter Strike, poker, Magic, or pro beach hockey than listen to Mike and Mike any day of the week.

Yeah, that's one thing that

Yeah, that's one thing that kind of bugs me about Deschutes; if the beer really is that much better after the best after date why not cellar it themselves? At the price paid for the limited release stuff I don't really feel like they're passing on the savings.

So, the cognac is good. The barrel adds a great complexity and the aroma is spectacular. With a year or two on it might really become something special.

That said, the rye version is excellent right now. The spiciness is great and I'm always pleased to see a whiseky barrel that isn't bourbon. 

Abyss Congac Barrel Edition

My local bottleshop randomly got a late delivery of The Abyss aged in cognac barrels, so I bought a couple and can't wait to open one of them up. 

EDSBS

Brian means Spencer Hall.

The Dissident

Pulling a Deschutes The Dissident 2008 from the cellar.

30-9

30-9, Michigan

Dark Star

Fremont Brewing's barrel aged Dark Star.

Deschutes

Deschutes does some really good limited batch stuff. I'm always chasing down their Abyss (a wonderful Imperial Stout that ages nicely) during the few weeks its on the market.

To the question at hand, I'm in Washington state and we've got a ton of craft brewers. This time of year I'm a sucker for a pumpkin beer and Elysian's The Great Pumpkin is always a good choice.

38-11 Michigan

38-11 Michigan

I did the same thing.

I had the rest of the trip booked and I didn't really feel comfortable going to a tiny stadium without tickets. 

If I remember correctly he

If I remember correctly he actually was a previous guest a long time ago. Back when Tim was around, Brian and Tim would try and get rotating bloggers from oppoisition schools to guest in the preview segments; I believe Matt Hinton filled in admirably for a mid-major without bloggers.

Non-HBO Options

Everybody is familiar with the HBO options these days, so let me suggest The Knick or, if you're in the mood for something more full of pulp, Banshee.