STW P. Brabbs

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Date	Title	Body
3 weeks 4 days ago	Seriously	That was the one of the more depressing sports-related videos I've ever seen.  It's the least happy I've ever seen Denard.  Seems incredibly disappointed.  Guh.  (Link.)
3 weeks 4 days ago	This	The only possible silver lining for this is that Denard gets to be close to home.  Jacksonville is hardly ever on TV, and they're just an awful franchise.  Not to mention the uniforms - Denard has to make the transition from the best uniform in sports (totally unbiased here, guys) to ... teal.  With lots of flair.  Overall, I'm pretty bummed about this.
4 weeks 1 day ago	Sweet Jesus	You'll still get into the damn game.  As many have pointed out, you might not get into the first 30 rows, but does that really justify this kind of embittered e-martyrdom?   That said, I will wholeheartedly agree that something will need to be done re: the logistics of lining up for football.  It's one thing to let that shit happen for a basketball game, but it seems to me there would be a real public safety danger if they went all laissez-faire for football.   Not sure if it will take gating, or handing out wristbands an hour or so before kickoff, or some combination thereof, but the mad dash to the gates is something that will have to be avoided.  Of course, we don't have any real indication that the AD isn't going to address this (other than the basketball precedent, which hopefully is recognized as so different in scale as to be altogether unlike the football situation.) Note: I'm speaking here as someone who would almost certainly have gotten in a fight with line-cutters as an undergrad.  I fucking hate those self-centered mongoloid fucks who think the rules don't apply to them.   Fucking undermining the fabric of society, they are.   Seriously.  Not being sarcastic.  Fuck you if you cut lines.
4 weeks 1 day ago	Word	Every time this argument comes up, some current student exasperatedly explains that s/he might have work to do before the game, and you probably don't understand, and don't you care about academics? For some reason, the current cohort is the first to have 'course-work' as something that might eat up valuable Saturday pre-gaming time.  I'm just sure glad no one came up with that shit in 2000-04.
4 weeks 1 day ago	'Bama ... making sense?	Someone posted earlier in the thread that Alabama's system give you one point for every time you're not in the stadium by the time of kickoff.  I'm not sure if there's an extra penalty for never showing up or not.  Anyway, once you get to three points you can only buy a partial season ticket package the following year. This sounds eminently reasonble to me, and would allow for a couple of missed games due to travel, illness, whatever.  If you're missing more than two games, you shouldn't have bought season tickets in the first place.   One modification - which would certainly ticklet the cockles of Brandon's MOAR PROFIT heart - would be to impose a monetary penalty for folks that amass three strikes - you can buy full season tickets the following year, but it's going to cost you an extra $100 or something.
4 weeks 1 day ago	Fair or not	As a non-Greek alum, I'm pretty confident in speaking for the group when I say that the distinction between Greek and non-Greek as it might apply to your friend would be totally lost on damn near everyone outside of your frat (or potentially a broader group of frats/sororities ... I'm not sure how that works.)
4 weeks 1 day ago	This is a very fair point.	This is a very fair point.   By my scoring, you still made a dumb assumption based on lack of careful reading above, and then I did the same damn thing.   Even?
4 weeks 2 days ago	The athletic department is already in the black.	The athletic department is already in the black. They have been for years. Why the fuck do we have to keep making more money? Repeat: they were already in the goddamn black.
4 weeks 2 days ago	Losing your grip	I'm a bit of an outside observer about this little back-and-forth, but I'll point this out: you were doing a decent job of establishing the moral high ground and making a case against broad streotypes. Then you fell back upon 'people who criticize sorority girls are probably just uggos who wish we'd have sex with 'em.' So ... I'm thinking you've lost this particular argument, sweetie.
4 weeks 2 days ago	Jesus	You poor, privileged soul. Pretty silly to assume that everyone who went to UM had it paid for by their parents. This dude, in particular talked about working while in school and being low on cash - seriously like three posts above yours - which would seem to indicate that he may not have been quite as lucky as you in the financial birth lottery.
5 weeks 3 days ago	Matt Trannon	Despite being a top-25 basketball recruit and a top-50 football recruit*, Trannon was distinctly underwhelming in both sports.  So if anything, he's a cautionary tale as to why one shouldn't play two sports. * I only discovered this via Wikipedia, and was utterly amazed - I remembered him as a pretty terrible football player and a nearly anonymous basketball player.   I also remember that, every year, Sparty was convinced they had an unstoppable matchup problem on their hands. Too bad he had hands of stone.
5 weeks 6 days ago	Hurdlin'	On that last Justice Hayes run (about 5:30 into the Miller interview), Schofield was running about 15-20 yards downfield - ahead of Hayes - and picking up DBs.  And he looked pretty damn smooth doing it.  Taylor might be the best offensive lineman in the country, but I'd say we've got an All-B1G guy at the other end, too.  Hell of an athlete, that guy
6 weeks 1 day ago	Hmmm	Why doesn't this happen with bowl games or hockey? Bowl games: are held at the beginning of January. It's cold, sure. It's also winter break. Hockey: most people just don't care very much. Seriously, if peoplpe rioted after a Frozen Four loss, most bystanders would have to ask why they were rioting. (Note: it probably isn't always possible to get a clear answer from a rioter to the question, 'so, what's this riot about?'
6 weeks 1 day ago	Great piece, Ace.	Echoing other comments, this is excellent. A quibble about the refereeing, though: yeah, that call on the block was atrocious, but there were others in UM's favor. There was also Gorgui's first block early on, which was definitely goaltending. But there's always missing points for both teams, as you say. BUT one call changed the game: that bullshit where Burke flew past Hancock - and didn't even touch him - but because Hancock was playing for the contact all along he threw up an off-balance piece of grabage and the officials just assumed Burke must have hit him. That's two point on thos foul shots; it might be balanced by other calls going the other way. But it was also 14 minutes without Burke, including the last few of the first half when Spike was starting to let the game get away from him. Burke had 24 points 11 shots in 26 minutes. What would have happened in 14 more? Don't know.
6 weeks 2 days ago	Communist?	No one calls someone a communist without irony any more, do they?  If you weren't joking at all, I'd like to subscribe to your newsletter to see what else is going on in that noggin. I don't like Thatcher a bit. I'm also just saying that I also don't agree with the sentiment that everyone who dies is automatically afforded posthumous respect.  It doesn't really do any good to celebrate her death, anyway.  Depending on your point of view, it may have done some good if she'd died in office, but I can't see how it matters much one way or another now.  Also - mods:  I'd suggest that, if you're going to allow threads like this (news re: political figures) to be posted as announcements, you immediately lock the comments.  These are always, always going to become political.
6 weeks 2 days ago	Great post	I was wondering how the hell to summarzie Thatcher in a way that would allow me to leave the house in the next hour.  This pretty much nailed it - and it really doesn't include any editorializing at all.  That quote accurately sums up her philosophy, whether one agrees with it or not.
6 weeks 3 days ago	Won't openly celebrate	But I'm not going to pretend that I'm sorry for her passing. I'm not sure why you're is supposed to be reverent even when someone dies whom you don't respect at all while living.
9 weeks 1 day ago	Dudeness/White Goodman	He's also obessed with fat people, which compounds his Magnus fixation (assuming he's right in claiming that Magnus is fat; I always just picture him as smiling Brandon Graham).
9 weeks 1 day ago	In defense of ... shit, seriously?	So despite all warnings to the contrary (because of them?) I went and watched that ESPN clip. Know what? Bayless actually comes across, in the main, as someone trying to remain professional in the face of personal attacks. Clearly a sign of the End Times. Also clearly a sign that, as smart as Richard Sherman appears to think he is, he damn sure wasn't smart enough to recognize the TV Troll game that Bayless is paid to play.
9 weeks 6 days ago	Walkin'	While no one walks across the stage at the big graduation ceremony in the Big House (except for the PhDs, right?), aren't there smaller ceremonies for each department?  That's how it worked for me - the History Dept. had a thing in Angell where we did indeed come up and walk across the stage.
9 weeks 6 days ago	Finley	Yeah, but dude was so busy he didn't even have time to tweeze his eyebrows.
12 weeks 20 hours ago	This did not work for Joey	This did not work for Joey Harrington.
12 weeks 1 day ago	Don't look at me	I've been preaching for a while now that the only thing that makes Denard look like Desmond is the megawatt smile. He does, however, bear a striking resemblence to (hypothetically) skinny Kenan Thompson. Clear as day. Disclaimer: am white.
12 weeks 1 day ago	A good defense	My remaining point of disagreement is that the ability to stay calm and read defenses is, to some degree, innate.  He was so quick to resort to scrambling, and so consistent in the ways in which he did so, that I think it's sort of inappropriate to assume that if he'd worked a bit harder at learning the offense he would've looked something like the prototypical WCQB.  From what I recall, he did the same shit in high school, too.   In other words, Forcier to me is very much more early-vintage, gun-slangin' Brett Favre than Brady or Montana.  He was fairly accurate, but I still don't think he ever showed any evidence that he could be calm and composed when protection broke down.  At least in 2009, I didn't really see any examples of good defenses that he really excelled against, as I remember ND's outfit being pretty mediocre.  What I remember is that his rollout move was quickly accounted for by well-coached defenses like Iowa's and Ohio's, and nigh completely shut down.  I've already spent way too much time looking at old stats to try my hand at 2010, though, so I'll take your word for that.  Finally, since it seems to be the consensus that Rodriguez's offense can make QBs look much more efficient than they would under a WCO system, this might skew results a bit. The final point I'd make is that I don't think you're accounting for height nearly enough.  Having watched Rex Grossman and then Denard over the past several years, I've come to believe that there's a damn good reason NFL GMs treasure QBs 6'4" and taller.  It's much easier to look calm and composed  when you don't have to nimbly duck between Land Yacht linemen or vacate the pocket entirely in order to see downfield.   There are the exceptional cases, of course - see: Brees, Drew.  But Montana was 6'2" in an era when linemen were, as you point out, not as tall as they are today, and Brady is obviously a pretty tall dude.  Forcier's height would be a major mark against prototype status, IME.  I might go with (Sexiest Man Alive) Grbac, of whom I have admittedly fuzzy memories as being accurate, and who had a career completion percentage of 62.5% according to Wikipedia.
12 weeks 1 day ago	Standing by my original arguments	1.  Like I said, Forcier's accuracy may be something one could point to.  But he threw a lot of picks.  Hence the reference to the intended receiver catching the pass. 2.  Forcier was relatively successful with his rollout schtick until he came up against better defenses, who proceeded to shut it down with relative ease.  He absolutely did not have pocket presence - at the hint of  a pass rush, he tended to immediately roll out to the side, rarely making the subtle moves that would allow him to keep his eyes downfield.  Again, his preferred move to avoid the rush was to literally turn his back to the line as he rolled out.  And the loaf of bread thing was not merely a pet peeve - he lost more than a few fumbles that way, IIRC even a couple of times on his own, without a defender having touched the ball. 3. Yeah, I guess nervousness, as an emotional state, is axiomatically subjective.  The Denard comparison, though, is a slam-dunk straw man argument, since there is no suggestion at all that Denard would be Bill Walsh's pick over Tate.  I actually implied this when I said that Seth must have picked Forcier as simply the most Walshian QB since Henne.  Anyway, I still can't believe that someone could interpret Tate's play as exhibiting calmness in the face of duress, but hey, maybe I'm in the minority there.   Here's a sampling of stats against decent defenses in 2009 (note that the inclusion of Notre Dame and Illinois are rather generous.)  To my mind, they don't demonstrate much Walshian mojo at all.  Now you might say that, indeed, Forcier was but a freshman that year.  Great - but that's the only real year we've got.  So maybe the mythical, clear-headed and experienced Senior Forcier looks like Joe Montana - but that is a figment of the imagination and nothing more.  Ohio 0 sacks; 1 fumble 25-42; 226 yards 4 interceptions   Wisconsin 2 sacks; 1 fumble 16-24; 188 yards 1 interception   Illinois 4 sacks; 3 fumbles 13-23;  257 yards   Penn State 5 sacks; 1 fumble 13-30; 140 yards 1 interception   Iowa 1 sack 8-19; 94 yards 1 interception   Notre Dame 2 sacks; 1 fumble 23-33; 240 yards 1 interception   MSU 17-32; 223 yards 1 interception   Overall: 15 turnover-ish events (INTs + fumbles whether recovered or not) or 2.1/game 14 sacks; 2/game 56.6% completion rate 6.74 YPA
12 weeks 1 day ago	Navarre	At least until his senior year, Navarre regularly threw to Tacopants on medium-range passes over the middle of the field.  Gave me heart palpitations every time.  He also had the nearly inexplicable habit of throwing the ball directly into the turf about once a game.  He was quite good as a senior, having minimized the ocurrence of these snafus, but let's not make him into something he's not.
12 weeks 1 day ago	Not trying to add a log to the fire	The rest was indeed very good.  Also, I realize now that the little burst of pissiness by those who carefully measure the amount of humor deployed on their favorite sports blog seems to have pervaded the comments to some degree.  I don't care about that, I think the overall style of the blog is great, and this is just as well-written and informative as most of the things Seth writes.  (I'm kind of with people in terms of ignoring 'Dear Diary,' but that's because of it's inherent nature as 'second-tier of the blog digest', which may be something of a flawed concept.)
12 weeks 1 day ago	I'mma let you finish ...	Well, I'mma let me finish, but I just couldn't do it until I gave written expression to the wave of incredulity that washed over me when I read this:   "Walsh's Favorite Wolverine: Tom Brady, obviously. Tate Forcier."   This is not me being a smartass: I'm honestly not sure if you're being funny here.  You might be able to argue with a straight face that Forcier was accurate, though Walsh's emphasis on "passes being caught ... by your intended receiver" would seem to put the lie to that.  But something ol' Tater resolutely did not possess was the ability to "handle progressions and broken plays with grace as opposed to a sense of urgency", still less to escape from pressure in a manner that "seems calm, not rushed."  Unless you think turning your back to the play and wheeling around 20 yards behind the line of scrimmage with the ball hanging out to the side like the proverbial loaf of bread was just a particularly idiosyncratic way to display calmness.  Again, maybe you were trying to be funny.  Regardless, I'm confident that the rest of the piece is quite good.  But unless you're saying that Forcier was the best West Coast prototype, like, since Chad Henne, I think you've been watching way, way too much of the spring practice 2009 "Weapon of Choice" hype video lately.  EDIT:  Just returned to reading and saw this one: "Doesn't make you nervous."  I'm now about 70% certain I just missed the joke.
12 weeks 2 days ago	Nice work, one quibble	Overall, this is a very interesting comparison.  I do think you probably err on the side of optimism with regard to the future prospects of Michigan's recruits, but I suppose that's understandable.   One thing that really jumped out, though, was this on Poggi: "Worst case scenario ... Poggi is Ryan Van Bergen."  I dig the enthusiasm, but saying that the floor for a high school kid iwho hasn't proven anything s honorable mention All-B1G and a team leader ... seems a bit breathlessly excited.   Pause, think of illustrious names such as - I don't know, Gabe Watson? - and realize that both the floor and the ceiling are subjects of complete conjecture at this point for all 18 year old kids.  Also, show RVB some respect for a very good Michigan career.
13 weeks 5 days ago	That's fine - I'm not saying	That's fine - I'm not saying that Ojemudia has all-conference written all over him for next year or anything like that. I just think it's silly to pull 'Ojemudia is at least 1.5 years from contributing' out of one's ass as though it's some kind of expert prognostication. I would  still say that, on balance, the production he had as a freshman outweighs his inability to push his way into the starting lineup in terms of factors predicting future success.  One would expect a freshman playing an entirely new position might have some trouble with consistency and knowing the defense, and hopefully that will be corrected.  On the other hand, having the innate athleticism to make those plays is something that can't be taught.  Still, like you say, time will tell.

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