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Date Title Body
I thought Fickell seemed like a poor game manager

But then I remembered just jow bad Zooker is.

He truly is terrible.

Yes, you are 100 percent right.

You learn a lot about someone when things don't go well, and it is gratifying to see what a class act Hoke is.

MSU was penalized for their personal fouls and they could have cost them the game. I like how Hoke worries about Michigan, period, and doesn't whine.

I'm sick of fans who always whine after every loss, football, basketball and hockey, moaning about bad ref calls and dirty opponent players and plays.

Michigan needs to suck it up, get back to winning and hope Michigan State loses two conference games.

 

Math

Brian, you noted that 7 out of 9 plays were well defensed, but then wrote that was an 88 percent success rate.

Seven out of nine is 77.7 percent, and 88.8 percent is eight out of nine. I'm not so sure that 77.7 percent is all that great.

Second, maybe the one PI call was bogus, but were any of the non-PI incompletions possible PI calls? If you're going to throw out the bad call that was called against the DBs maybe you should evaluate whether there was illegal contact on the incompletions and throw those plays away too (if there was illegal contact).

Would be really sweet

It would be excellent to start the Irish off 0-2. Like seeing Kelly stressing out.

Angry man.

Evenhanded and fun to watch

Some people would find bias in a blind nun's coin flip.

8-4

8-4 plus bowl loss in Gator against Georgia.

What has happened to Michigan fans?

Back in Bo's day Michigan may have hated OSU but Bo and fans respected Woody after he was fired. I've seen the videos of Bo and Woody and -- once their competition was over after Woody was fired -- they resumed their friendship. Bo acknowledged Woody's greatness (and winning record against UM) and Woody acknowledged Bo's winning record against OSU and against Woody himself.

Tressel's gone, he was 8-1 (or 9-1) against Michigan and he deserves respect.

I'm not sure why folks are behaving so bitterly. It's on Michigan to beat OSU and Yressel shouldn't be blamed for his incredible success. I respect him. It is good for Michigan that he's gone.

I'm sick of all the negativity. Why can't people focus on football -- Michigan football -- and not be so caught up in sour grapes?

Minnesota should be 95 percent

Until Michigan has proven it is back, there are no sure things in the Big Ten. Both teams have new coaches.

And NW is at least even money, right now.

Where's the evidence they did this?

Yes, Tressel broke the rules and so did some of their players. The players violated the rules but didn't gain some edge that helped them on the field. They made mistakes and Tressel made a huge mistake. But if Tressel had done what he should have done and reported the lawyer's email to compliance, they still would have beaten Michigan for the seventh year in a row and nine out of 10.

But there is no evidence they used the tattoo parlor as a recruiting advantage. Have any OSU recruits who signed at Michigan or elsewhere said that OSU tried to sell them on tattoos or anything else?

I haven't heard a single OSU player or non-OSU player who was recruited by the Buckeyes say that.

Claiming they did without any evidence is ridiculous.

The scandal is...

That Michigan let them all have winning records against the Wolverines.

I wish people would just let it go. The season is here, let's do our talking on the field.

And now...

"I guess cheaters win, some of the time."

The Buckeyes certainly won against Michigan, seven in a row so far. (One will be wiped out.)

Now Michigan needs to end the streak ON THE FIELD and quit worrying about OSU's free tattoos, which had nothing to do with the streak.

But not nearly as old as

Greg Oden

Even if Bauserman starts

(which he probably will) Miller will get more than a quarter of playing time, I'd bet. If he does very well he might get even more the next week vs. a much better team, Toledo.

The big difference

is that Miller appears to be more injury prone.

As we know all too well there is a risk sending QBs a lot smaller than Pryor running through Big Ten defenses. Miller is thought to be a better pure passer than Pryor and a more elusive runner, but Pryor knew the OSU offense better and hit gliding speed quickly.

If Miller can stay healthy he'll eventually (when he learns the offense and calms down) be quite a weapon.

They're friends

Why wouldn't he support Tressel?

That quoted coach is a pussy

And so is the writer. Couldn't he find at least ONE coach to say that and give his name?

The coach didn't need to be anonymous. Have some balls. Tressel's no longer a coach; what's he going to do? If there really is a coach who said that he should have the courage of his convictions.

Anonymous sources are sometimes necessary to break news but this is the kind of story where the reporter is either too lazy to find someone who'd go on the record or NO ONE would go on the record, and that says something.

I didn't respect the use of anonymous sources in the Freep's story on Michigan and don't respect the use of them in ESPN's Tressel story.

What about Miami's opener...

against Maryland?

The OSU games against non-conference powers

The OSU games against non-conference powers like USC, Texas and Miami are win-win for Michigan fans.

Either:

1. OSU loses and its fans are unhappy, pleasing Michigan fans. Or...

2. OSU wins and that helps the Big Ten's national perception and sets up Michigan to get more credit for defeating a higher-ranked team.

The glass is half-full.

This year I think OSU will beat Miami, with or without Miami's suspended players.

 

Why should we be worried?

Let the NCAA do its job.

Michigan should do its job and prepare to beat ND, MSU and OSU (and everyone else on the schedule).

Too many people too hung up on the OSU investigation. Let it go, and start concentrating on Michigan football. That's what really matters.

Carr was sincere

He does feel bad for Tressel.

Unlike many folks on this board most people who know and/or have worked with or competed against Tressel admire him and feel bad that he made an admittedly major mistake.

He was an exceptionally successful coach -- as we know all too well -- a brilliant strategist and master motivator. It says something when Carr and Hoke both say Tressel is a good man. The guy screwed up and paid a terrible price: The loss of the job he loved. That fact is good for Michigan football and the fan base should be satisfied with that fact instead of trying to rationalize how he somehow cheated Michigan into a 1-9 record against him.

Sarniak

He was considered by Pryor -- and maybe by OSU and the NCAA -- to be a longtime benefactor of Pryor's, almost a parental figure. Or a generous "uncle." If he's not an OSU booster and is considered a family friend then he is allowed to give Pryor gifts.

The NCAA knew about the gifts and, to allay any concerns, OSU apparently asked Sarniak not to continue giving Pryor money.

This seems like a non-issue to me. The signature-selling, if it took place -- was way more serious.

next there will be

maize, blue and white tiger stripes

Come on.

"I feel like Michigan fans could never get to the point of OSU fans.  We have too many deep thinkers among our fan base."

Seriously?

Deep thinkers?

There's a lot of wishful thinking going on around here

If Fickell wins the Big Ten or has an 11-win season he's keeping the job at OSU. Otherwise, if Meyer wants the OSU job, it's his. He's an Ohio native and I think he'd take it.

Then folks around here should get ready to hear even more of the "he plays criminals" stuff already widely used against Dantonio.

Because if we lose the opponents are evil and we are victims. It's never bad coaching and bad players on our part.

Whatever. Too many question marks for certainty.

I am not very confident that MSU is overrated and will have a disappointing year.

I also don't know why Rivals wouldn't respect Dantonio and his staff, considering their record of  year-to-year improvement.

Maybe Hoke and his coordinators will coach our team to an overachieving season and maybe they will be a good staff, but they certainly haven't proven it yet. I'll wait and see.

Not surprising

Most Ohio State fans and probably almost all of their players and recruits loved Tressel and many of those folks still do.

It isn't surprising that people are willing to forgive their coach who went 5-2 in BCS games, won a national championship, seven Big Ten titles or co-titles and beat their rival nine out of 10 times. High school coaches loved Tressel, his competitors mostly liked him -- heck, even Brady Hoke says he likes and respects Tressel.

So why does everyone act surprised that Buckeye fans and players still like him. He screwed up. He paid for it with the job he loved.

You'd think that would be enough for Michigan fans. I don't care if Buckeyes still admire Tressel. I know that I always felt he was a better coach than Michigan's coach was, that he knew how to run a game plan and handle game strategy better than Carr and Rodriguez, and that he was a better recruiter than the M coaches too.

He's gone, and that's good for Michigan. He owned Michigan, but now he can't beat us anymore. Forget him and worry about whether we can beat Fickell.

it's accurate

it WAS all or nothing.

They're thin at WR

Especially until Game 6 when Posey comes back from suspension.

If true (and doesn't look like it's a done deal) this is a positive, although it may make them more attractive to WR recruits.

Ding ding ding

This is the ONLY correct answer.

The Michigan fan base needs to adjust to the divisional format.

M fans should be rooting for all of the Legends teams to lose when they play OSU and the other Leaders teams. Maybe toward the end of the season when some Legends team is hopelessly behind Michigan would it make sense to root for them to beat OSU. As long as Legends team have a chance to tie or top Michigan in the division standings it is in Michigan's interest for OSU to beat our divisional rivals. Period.

Lame

Probably was meant as a joke, but lame if serious.

None of the young men on every team deserve injury and I always hate to see someone hurt, even star players on teams playing our team.

Beilein still needs the players to overperform

Beilein still needs the players to overperform their recruiting slots. He's getting better and better players but -- if Michgan wants to win the Big Ten and make deep tournament runs -- the conference's top competitors get even more highly ranked players.

Ohio State, MSU & Indiana are all recruiting beasts, and Wisconsin, Illinois and Purdue get players capable of competing as well.

Expecting to win the Big Ten with the level of recruits Beilein is getting still counts on a significant amount of coach-inspired overperformance. It is a very tough league and Michigan still isn't getting the Top 30-type guys who continue to sign with the Spartans and Buckeyes.

Maui games are great

Home nonconference schedule may be worst I've ever seen.

I would wait if you want to bet on Michigan

The line'll get better for Michigan bettors.

One of the worst ever

Hopelessly outmatched and -- yes -- outcoached.

This is a game that worries me

Reminds me a bit of the Utah game in Rich Rodriguez' first season: A MWC team with a good returning QB coming to Ann Arbor to face a first-year coach.

On the other hand the Michigan offense will hopefully be much, much better, and Coach Hoke and his staff should be able to game-plan for the Aztecs pretty well.

In their favor the Aztecs should have superior motivation, wanting to show their former coach he should have stayed.

We're almost ready to start the season

I'll be glad when everyone's focus can turn from NCAA enforcement to college football games and Michigan fans can focus on beating Notre Dame, Michigan State and Ohio State -- and everyone else.

Good for the Hoosiers

Don't like 'em in hoops but don't really care about Indiana in football, at least not yet. They gave Michigan very tough games the past two years and if their new coach from OU can keep recruiting maybe he can fill in some good players around Gunner.

It's good for the Big Ten to have no guaranteed patsies, just like Kentucky's improvement was good for the SEC.

Has Dunn decommitted from OSU?

He's listed as uncommitted.

ND is going to be very good this year

I'm thinking they beat USC and will have a tough game at Stanford.

Michigan and Michigan State will be tough but the irish will be favored in both games.

A Michigan win will be huge and may mean contending for a conference championship.

A close loss may mean a few more tough losses but a winning season.

A blowout loss: Thank God the rest of the nonconference schedule is relatively easy.

What, are we a bunch of lemmings?

Bo didn't call Ohio State "Ohio."

Gary Moeller and Lloyd Carr didn't call them "Ohio."

Neither did Rich Rodriguez.

So along comes Brady Hoke and, because he decides he's not going to call them Ohio State the fan base that has been calling our rivals Ohio State for years is now going to drop the "State" and just call them "Ohio"?

The crazy thing is that Ohio State fans don't care. They call the school "Ohio" in their fight song.

I don't care if Hoke wants to do it. Fine, if it works for him. But why people are such lemmings that they immediately imitate a coach with a 0-0 record and abandon their life-long habits, I don't know.

As far as I'm concerned they're OSU or Ohio State. Beating them on the field will do just fine; messing with their name just seems juvenile. I wouldn't mind it if Hoke and our fans didn't say the name (like the Mississippi State coach who won't say Mississippi or Woody Hayes, who called Michigan "The School Up North") but there is an Ohio, the Bobcats, in the MAC.

I support the team and the coach, but that doesn't mean I'm going to imitate his weird habit.

That's what it really is all about

OSU screwed up and they'll pay for it, but I'm not with the majority here rootinjg for some kind of global thermonuclear punishment. It's not like they bought recruits. The coach lied to protect his players and lost his job. The players sold stuff and got suspended. The team got probation, lost a 12-1 season, a co-Big Ten title, a Sugar Bowl win. They may still get a one- or two-year bowl/conf. title ban and may get scholarship reductions. Losing Tressel was an enormous hit.

But I don't get the rabid hunger for tougher punishment. Michigan should be at the very least competitive with Ohio State on the field and doesn't need to rely on NCAA sanctions to get there. Good recruiting, coaching and playing will get Michigan back on top.

Michigan doesn't need OSU to fall -- Michigan just needs to rise to its familiar place.

 

not so fast

Just like the last two years?

Urban and Spielman should be great

And why wouldn't anyone love Brent's "You are looking live..." opening. Sure, maybe he takes a sip and makes a little wager every now and again, but he's classic.

This one's not going to be close

If it is, uh oh.

We need to set the tone on D as well as O and ST.

34-3

Only some of the animus

The same as all Ohio State players. His brother's shouldn't apply to Zach.

If things end with this order intact

It still is only one recruiting season. That's all you can get at one time, but folks shouldn't overestimate the impact of one recruiting season.

The cumulative four classes that are still at the schools in fall '12 almost certainly will still have OSU, ND and Nebraska ahead of Michigan.

Michigan needs to win this year, close out this recruiting year and win and recruit well next year to leapfrog the current big dogs.

Game followed on BTN by '79 game

Earle Bruce's first Michigan game. The Gambler (Art Schlichter) played a big role. Bo gets off on the wrong foot vs. Earle.

If no additional charges added

There's going to be an explosion of anger around here. For some reason people seem to be taking these admitted and alleged violations personally.

Totally disagree about timing

Don't like it at any time (Michigan shouldn't be doing anything so classless) but if the coach were determined to do it, it's better at the start after the first UM TD. Waiting for a big lead may be better in terms of not costing a game but it is even more classless to do it with an insurmountable lead. So, don't do it, but, if you must, do it early.

 

The recruiting season is one thing

and obviously it is connected to how successful future football seasons will be.

But I'm disturbed at how quickly so many Michigan fans are adopting an arrogant attitude, almost like we're in the middle of a winning streak, when all we're having is offseason recruiting success for one partial recruiting season.

Let's hold off on the cockiness until we see if Michigan can actually win at home vs. Ohio State for the first time since 2003.