StephenRKass

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Date Title Body
16 hours 30 min ago I'm ambivalent

I'm glad Hoke is our coach. I don't really want to rehash RR ad nausem.

At the same time, I found it interesting that 11W put up the article. And I have also been curious about what those who played under RR really thought.

So, on the one hand, I don't care to foster analysis about RR. On the other, I'd be interested in hearing more about what the actual players under him and Hoke thought in comparing the two.

How's that for waffling?
21 hours 45 min ago Great Insight

Great Insight. Duh, of course. As Ohio considers and ponders what Meyer will bring, this is the great unknown for them: Will Meyer be like Rodriguez? For all their braggadocia, some Ohio fans are scared. Of course, Meyer has already achieved more than RR ever did. And Meyer recruited better than RR ever did, both last year and already in the current recruiting cycle.

But yes, I think you are on the right track. Meyer hasn't played a single game yet, and Ohio fans are a bit afraid about what this year will bring. I have two different thoughts on that.

  • First, I suspect Ohio will do better than Michigan did under RR in the first year (think:  Sheridan - Threet disaster, vs. Braxton Miller.)
  • Second, I also think the transition from Tressel ball to Meyer is going to be more difficult than Ohio anticipates. They're in for some rough sledding, especially against Michigan State, Michigan, and the other big boys.
1 day 4 hours ago Thanks

You are confirming what I suspected.

I heard from the father of a potential recruit who was at a practice with RR that the yelling and screaming was not fun. I've been around enough football coaches because of my son playing on the DL. (albeit at a much lower level.) Nonetheless, it isn't a whole lot of fun when someone is yelling and screaming and in your face all the time. Mind you, I think that Mattison and Borges and Hoke are also very intense, but they are directed, and not yelling all the time, from what little I've heard.
1 day 4 hours ago Of course you're right

And now I can't edit & fix it. C'est la Vie.
1 day 5 hours ago Shudder "Let the negbangs begin."

Let the negbangs begin. Whatever, can't say I'm surprised. Still, as I said above, I'm kind of nonplussed that they would use so much of their column space at an Ohio site with an article about Michigan. And while I knew that there were several Michigan players who didn't like Hoke, this suggests that was the feeling of most of the team. That is news to me.
3 days 6 hours ago No record on posts

But it may be a record for inane posts or repeated posts or trivial posts. I think Brian tracks this kind of stuff. The record has to have been set on a football game day. I think there were a ton when Bo died too.
1 week 9 hours ago Here's an example

Here's an example of a uniform within my time as a student:

It looks ok, but personally, I like the current uniform more. And I like the loss of the Wolverine stickers on the helmet too. Now, to tell you the honest truth, both this one and the current one would be ok. This isn't a hill I'm gonna die on. But somehow, the photo above is a slightly dated design to me. The bumblebee I don't like, and the ram's horn I don't care for. But I'm fine with the piping, and the color change, and a few other changes.
1 week 17 hours ago Wacky: bad. Change: Not nec. bad.

(Edit:  was in response to profitgoblue. Failed to place properly.)

So, something in your post reminded me of a problem with the opposition to change. And that problem is the setting up of straw men.

  1. Change that is wacky:  clearly bad.
  2. Change ONLY for the sake of change:  usually bad.
  3. Change that is extreme:  usually bad.
  4. Change that is a gimmick:  usually bad.

The problem is that not all change falls into the above four categories. While the "Procombat" mockups over at BHGP are hilarious, and the bumblebee MSU design was a travesty, all change need not be so ridiculous. I don't want to see Michigan so thoroughly opposed to change that we become closed to ANY change.

The change to Michigan stadium really is analogous. There were some quarters out there who bitterly opposed the luxury boxes, and the fact that the seating bowl would never be egalitarian, with wealthy corporations and alum no longer mixing with the hoi polloi. Let's get real. The wealthy had seats on the 50 yard line, and Joe Blow didn't really "mix" with the upper crust all that much with the previous stadium seating. I think there is a large consensus that while something was lost, the overall gain with the change in adding luxury boxes was a good thing. They are tasteful and classic in design, bring in income to help keep the team and the entire athletic program afloat, and keep costs for the rest of us from skyrocketing.

Well, I think there can also be reasonable change to uniforms that doesn't have to be wacky. And you know what? I would rather be open to change that fails (exhibit A:  halo. exhibit B:  bumblebee) than to never even try something new and different.

 
1 week 18 hours ago I don't care that much

I didn't like the MSU bumblebee uniform. The rest, well, it didn't matter that much either way.

Regarding numbers on helmets, I kind of like them, but like the blue facemask better than the gray. However, I don't want to go back to helmet stickers, which were around when I was a student.

The trick is to have a classic, timeless look, without being trapped in the past. Times change, and so does the look of everything. Just to mention five other obvious changes:

  1. The color of maize used in uniforms, etc.
  2. The font and shape of "Michigan" painted in the endzone.
  3. Changing not only the size but also the design of the scoreboard.
  4. Eliminating the "Michigan" text that was superimposed over the Block M.
  5. Moving from the 60ish pressbox and art deco "Michigan Stadium" letters to our current sleek luxury boxes. (Yes, I know the art deco letters are hidden somewhere in the concourse, but they are about as visible as the basketball championship banners now stored at Bentley.)

While I loved the art deco letters, I think every other change above has worked. Which is my way of saying that uniform change is ok with me. The key for me is to be classic or clean in line and look. The bumblebee, and many Nike Pro-Combat jerseys, are ludicrous and an embarassment.

The reality is that there have been several uniform changes over the years. Perhaps because we are now in the Internet Era, such changes are scrutinzed and critiqued much more than ever before. Twenty and Thirty years ago, the first anyone would see or hear of a uniform change would be at the opening game in the Fall.
1 week 1 day ago Really galls me to see Hankins

Really galls me to see Hankins at Ohio. Starting, and doing great things. He should have been at Michigan. Can't cry over spilt milk, nor mope around about what could have been. However, I am REALLY glad that Hoke, Mattison, Borges, and the rest of the staff are doing a great job recruiting.
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