Rawls if he can hang onto it, I'd guesss
treetown
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| Date | Title | Body |
|---|---|---|
| 16 hours 33 min ago | great post |
Please keep up this series. We now take it for granted the 100,000+ attendance and being part of the 'largest crowd to watch a college football game in the USA." But here was a team that beat OSU and finished the regular season as 11-0 and could NOT sell out every home game.
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| 7 weeks 1 day ago | Rewatching the game - it is amazing |
Despite being at that game after watching the first half, it was an amazing effort from the Wolverines to keep it only at 17-7. |
| 17 weeks 3 days ago | The Marble Man syndrome |
The writer was trying to point out something that historians have long recognized. When someone is lionized and has statues erected in their honor when they are still living their image risks taking on a life of its own. Thomas Connelly in book "The Marble Man: Robert E. Lee and His Image in American Society", looked at the aura which surrounded Robert E. Lee after the Civil War. The Southern Lost Cause movement and their mythos about Lee left a dead statue and the real person, flaws and idiosyncrasies became lost in the footnotes. Joe Paterno became a marble man - he was suppose to be flawless, perfect and a paragon. It suited many people to have this happen. The administration benefited from having a national spokesman who helped to raise millions of dollars and attract thousands of students. The athletic department liked his appeal to some long lost era of amateur sports. For a democracy and republic, we've strangely always had an attraction for someone who could be a benevolent ruler - a philosopher king - all knowing, all wise, fair and just. Today, that person must also be telegenic and witty. It may not have been something he wanted in the beginning but as time went on, being told that one is wonderful and wise is quite seductive - so much so that it is easy to start believing it yourself. When coupled with a fear of what would occur once he stopped coaching it is understandable how easy it is to begin acting as if all of the hype and myth were real. The Sandusky scandal actually revealed two tragedies. First and foremost is that despite the homespun bucolic rustic setting of Happy Valley, there can be horrible evil. The second is that no person should become a marble man, no matter how good the original intention. As a UM fan we have a little of that here with Bo, but luckily he had the good sense to retire when his powers were waning, being frank about his own shortcomings, and showing a sense of humility. He never thought the football coach was more important than the school president. There are a few who are fortunate enough to achieve lasting greatness in some aspect of their life - winning a major championship, discovering something or inventing something which alters how all people live or creating something of great beauty which moves people across generations. Even then, it was just one part, one aspect, and shouldn't be mistaken for the whole person - who may have many prickly flaws and shortcomings. |
| 18 weeks 13 hours ago | The whole draftnik and signing obsession is due for a check |
Has anyone actually ever doubled checked all of these so-called draft niks and signing board experts? I suspect they'll turn out pretty much like the so-called football gambling experts who offer their "lock of the century this week" and end up fifty/fifty about their predictions. Just look at the rosters of the NFL teams which played last week: Tim Tebow was a hugely rated and recruited high school football player and he fulfilled that promise in college and made it to start as a pro - a statistically improbable event for most high school players, even all stars. Tom Brady was almost a transfer. Joe Placco ended up at Delaware and not one of the other bigger name places which he had an interest in. Alex Smith for all of his hype coming out of college was a regular on the biggest NFL busts until he finally met a coaching staff which could work with what he had. I hope all of the UM players who want a pro career find a place and do well - whether as a superstar QB or as special teams regular. For those whose pro dreams don't work out, I hope that their UM days and degree will help them become productive members of society. |
| 19 weeks 1 day ago | Workable simple system versus complex vested interests |
The issue of having a real national football div. 1 championship isn't that hard - the lower divisions do it easily without hardly a peep of complaint. So the mechanistic issues really are all about the entrenched vested monied interests. Since this is the "hot stove" season for college FB, and we're dreaming, here are some random thoughts on the notion... 1. If you want to have a system that allows for losses early and still have a shot to "play" one's way back use the system called the "Swiss System" - it is the system used to pair teams and players for one on one play when there are lots of players and only a limited number of rounds when a round robin isn't possible. It begins by seeding all of the teams to create the initial draw - so Number 1 plays Number 120, 2 vs 119 and so. In the subsequent rounds similar scores play each other. By round 8, there would be only 1 unbeaten team (after round 1, half the teams are unbeaten, after round 2, only at most 1/4, after round 3 at most 1/8...so after round 7 we've eliminated 128 teams from the unbeaten ranks). That leaves two weeks for the top remaining teams - the unbeaten and a few 1 and 2 loss teams. Pluses: Every week there would be unbeaten teams playing each other until the end. At the end only the very best will be left by record. An early loss isn't critical and allows a team to play one's way back up. And the lower rank teams will have incentive to play because they will be matched up against comparable opposition and playing for seeding next year. Also admittedly it would be a betting bonanza - pairing teams with similar records should help split the betting or make the betting provocative. Negatives: how to divy up the home games fairly and how to manage it with travel would be night mare. But it shows that actually it is possible in theory to play and get a legitimate champion without necessarily playing more games. 2. We'll just have to give it a bit more time - political meddling and money will ultimately sway things. The bowl organizers are clearly motivated by money. There are a lot of politicians who prefer to spend time fiddling around with college football rather than the not so much fun work of running the country (see the various US Senators drawn into the Big 12 - Big East whose in what conference). It won't happen next year but it will happen. Remember when the Fiesta Bowl first started? Then the first BCS? That all took time but it happened so, when the dollars start heading into the 8 and 9 figure range for the total package, we'll see a real playoff. |
| 19 weeks 3 days ago | A couple of observations |
Despite the author ... 1. It shows how well-intentioned parents can really have severe unintended consequences. Henson's dad is portrayed as looking out for Drew and trying to promote his career - in hindsight he probably sheltered him too much from the reality of competition at the next level. In contrast Brady's dad who is an actual coach took a very hands off approach, even though it sounds like he really wanted to guide Tom in a particular direction. Of course hind-sight is always perfect. There are probably a lot of other kids who bemoan a misguided career because "no one looked out for me." 2. The two sound like they are still cordial - but not close buddy buddy - sort of like how I read Peyton Manning actually keeps up with Ryan Leaf. I suppose only going through what they did they share a unique bond. 3. In the article, Tom Brady isn't directly quoted. He declined through the Patriots front office to participate in the piece. Don't know if this is related to the author or he was too busy "being Tom Brady" to worry about talking about "how Tom Brady became Tom Brady." Either way, just adds to the legend of "Tom Brady." 4. The "Ten Year War" is actually a pretty good book. That ten year period will be hard to match for the struggles on the field and the turmoil on and off campus. |
| 19 weeks 4 days ago | Actually Tebow is just one of the two big NFL stories |
Tebow is in the news a lot but actually he is only one of two big QB stories this year. I don't mean Cam Newton - who lived up to his hype. He really can play and his ability to run and run with devestating effect should make the Carolina Panthers a team to watch next year. The other story is Alex Smith at San Francisco. Until Jim Harbaugh showed up, he was a regular top ten member of the Biggest NFL Busts lists. And now the 49ers are in the playoffs. QBs are very important in the NFL but it is still a team game. There is still defense, special teams, and the running game. Maybe the take home lesson from this season is that a team can be pretty good in one aspect (e.g. QB) but that won't win a championship. Likewise a team could be weak in one aspect (like the QB) but if it can work around that (play great D, solid special teams, run the ball) - a team can still be a winner. Looking back, we've actually seen this receipe before here at the U. We've had teams which didn't have a great QB but had a great defense, good running game and solid special teams; these have won the B10. |
| 19 weeks 6 days ago | Did you get to see the giant statue of Ghengis Khan |
I recall somewhere that there is a huge statue (5-10 stories tall) of Ghengis Khan and it sits in the middle of a flat open plain - designed to be a tourist attraction. ? Did you get a chance to see it or hear about it? Cute remark about Ohio. |
| 20 weeks 10 hours ago | Great clip |
Chris Tucker is at his most mouthy version short of his so bad its good turn on the "Fifth Element". Zhang Ziyi looking extra tough - not enough of her in the film and too bad she's chosen to concentrate on more serious drama, because she could actually do all of that martial arts stuff. |
| 20 weeks 10 hours ago | Voice of reason |
Great measured response. The school is terrific. Team strength comes and goes. It is easy to forget that after Tom Harmon there was a long down period - with a lot of 50% teams. The Fifties saw the rise of OSU and MSU and that pattern remained largely that way until Bo came in. So there was a about a 20 year period where Michigan wasn't that good a football team. But that was the time of incredible developments and expansion on campus from Harlan Hatcher to Harold Shapiro. The school became really a great national school and the notion that it was a "public ivy" and on par of any of the great national schools became not just a self-congratulatory piece of propaganda but reality. That is really what a lot of the fans and alumni of the other Big Ten schools didn't always appreciate. Yes, football and big money sports were never the same after Bo and Don Canham but the school as a whole became bigger and better. Some of the confusing misguided and mis-aimed emotion after the PSU scandal broke relates to this point. PSU's football rise occurred with a rise in the quality of PSU as a school in general and the whole local community there felt a tangible link. IF UM football went back down or see sawed up and down, sure people would be disappointed and mad, but as a school, it has long moved on to a point that it doesn't need to have a good team to have know what Michigan means or is about. IF the only way someone can have an interest in a school is if it is a regular contender for the MNC, then they just didn't get much out of the classroom time.
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