That sounds like short to medium optimism with long tern pessimism - especially with those teo specific examples, and the choice of the word "calcifying." So as a mild and hopeful pushback, isnt going all out with NIL a pretty different way than "the right way?" Coupling aggressive NIL with a cultural fit could breed longer term success as well, right?
Like Harbaugh, they were athletic generalists who thrived on competition and produced an effluence of positivity
That kind of thing - save the word "athletic" for most contexts - will take anybody to good things and happiness. Harbaugh may be a weirdo, but that type of personality is one we should all strive for. But maybe with slightly more social skills.
I follow all M sports, and have been relatively die hard for softball, baseball, hockey and wrestling at various points in my life. So it's great to see excellence in lots of other sports.
But I loved football before I knew what grass was, and long before I became a Michigan student snd fan. When football is down, i need the other sports to make me feel better. But when football beats Ohio and wins the Big Ten, everything else is a bonus.
When football wins the natty? My mood won't go down until a rival wins the natty. They tried, but they can't take that away from us. Proud of all our wolverines, but the answer to this post is "won the natty nobody's got it better end of argument i cant hear you 15-0 brrrrr"
I respectfully disagree. Night games are a pain. They should be special because then they feel exciting but also becsuse I'm hungry afterwards and nothing is open and firing up the grill at a tailgate at 11 seems foolish.
Barring a surprising upset by UNoCo over OK St, I'd call it a minor disappointment for this team to not win a game. I think beating OK St - let alone twice - is not unthinkable but would take a fair amount of luck. Beating Kentucky feels challenging but a doable goal.
I think generally tho, im in the "happy to be here" phase. I know in 2021 we wanted to get back to the CWS and I want to get there again, but didnt expect to be Big Ten tourney champs and a half game from Big Ten pennant champs this year. Getting out of the regional seems tough, making tbe regional final would be good but i wont be broken up if we go 0-2
I think that the MLS plan is better in this day and age than relying on RSNs, especially for die hards. But I grew up in a family that didnt pay for cable and when we did we paid for the lowest tier - baseball shifting from broadcast to RSNs meant we watched less baseball, and I think that doesn't change for a lot of casual fans on Apple+. Reaching casual fans and giving them an introduction is how you make die hards. Local games on broadcast is one way.
I hear you that this isnt fair to die hards, and that's true. Reaching fans where they are to grown your fanbase matters, and so does being loyal to your fans to keep them feeling like they area part of this. Personally, NFLN, Peacock and ESPN+ dont do this. Netflix AND Amazon is maybe a bit much, but I think it does recognize the changing way people watch TV.
I think I dont hate the Netflix and Amazon deals as much as the NFLN and Peacock ones. (Im not sure there js any exclusive NFL content on ESPN+?) NFLN and Peacock are ways to squeeze die hard fans - "how do we get people to sign up for peacock? If you want football now pay for higher tier if cable!" ESPN, Netflix and Amazon are ways to reach a national audience of casual fans - the idea being that some casual football fans who wont pay for cable will watch in an existing streaming service.
It's annoying if youre die hard, but if you're casual it may get you to tune into a few out if market games youd normally miss. Obviously its all a money grab, but tbis particular money grab im more sympathetic to.
Honestly i thought we werent going to do it without Blake. I was prepped to say 'great season, great run, get them next year.'
Penn St that year made me realize we were elite. But that game made me realize just how deep and developed this program was. Going into the shoe and winning by 3 TDs? To a team that played the eventual national champ to within a point in their home state? Oh and also - its not allegations, it has been proven and reported that they did, in fact, have (and shared) our signs.
Whatever the NCAA wants to do, OSU lost and then made up a scandal to try to justify it and then still lost again to the best big ten team ever. They're still making excuses. I hope they keep making excuses that we keep batting away. There will be hype for that game. Our program has proven they dont flinch when it gets hot. Ryan Day's program has repeatedly choked in these moments. I cant wait to beat their ass in their house...again.
Don't call them that school down south. That implies they are worthy of being called a school. And don't call them Ohio State either, because Ohio doesn't deserve to be a state. Just call them Ohio. But to be confused with OhioU. Just Ohio.
Unless your metric is "winning the national title," ND is NOT dead - theyve been to 2 playoffs and 1 BCS title in the last dozen years, and were quite close again in 2021. Penn St in 2017 lost 2 games by 4 total points that kept them from Indy where theyd have to face a Wisconsin team who themselves was just a TD away from the playoff. Winning a natty is HARD. These schools all did contend in a very real way - and pre 2021, Wiscy and Penn St were as close to the playoff as Michigan. Notre Dame was much closer.
People left us for dead. Clemson used to be a word for the most heartbreaking choke. Washington was once left for dead, as were ND, Penn St and pre Saban Alabama. Nebraska is a major draw with fans nationwide and sellout crowds despite miserable seasons. If Iowa and Wisconsin can contend for the Big Ten title, Nebraska can too. Theyll be back - maybe not under Rhule, but I think it's more likely than them going the way of Minnesota.
I feel like pronghorn is an underrated animal. Buffalos are great and iconic. Wolverines are hardy lil buggers. Badgers are a bit underrated but at least wisconsin reps them, the state and the school. But nobody loves the western antelope, and ghose bad boys are fast and beautiful. Should be as loved as deer at least.
He was probably the second best QB in the Big Ten last year. He isnt a first round pick, but with a good defense he was better than Cade and played toe-to-toe with the best team in the country, one of the big ten's best teams ever, and one of the best defenses ever. Dont know why he left, but I don't think OSU had a clear upgrade there.
Also, I feel like Cuse can and should be good. Penn St is the NE's Big Ten team and has effectively leveraged that. But Cuse should fill that void in the ACC/B12 space. I guess Pitt has? Cuse should be at least at the Pitt/Rutgers(!) level.
This. Mason Graham was poorly rated. OL/DL are the most important positions on the field and typically the hardest to project. Stars matter and they have limitations. That said - getting the best players wins. And money goes a long way to doing that. The As used to, and now the Rays have, found ways to be contenders with low payrolls. The Yanks and Sawx sometimes miss, but its still easier to win like the Yanks and Sawx and Dodgers than like the Rays.
Im not a soccer fan, but to put it another way, Leicester winning the British premier league was a revelation, but usually its the highest payrolls competing to win. The Champions League winner is rarely, if ever, a low payroll club, right? There's no shame in being a fan of a low payroll team, but there's no extra pride in it either - and there's no reason Michigan should be acting like the Tampa Bay Rays when we have the resources of the Damn Yankees. (As do the As, for that matter).
The last yime they went to Indy, the Big Ten changed the rules to get them in. The last time we went to Indy, the big ten changed the rules to try to keep us out.
We all should dunk on them for "winning the off season" talk, especially when they ran off a decent QB because he wasnt CJ Stroud...but NIL/fundraising does appear to be a bigger part of the game behind the game moving forward. It is a new aspect of recruiting. M's roster maybe surprised Ari Wasserman - but stars do matter.
They still have to win on the field, they dont really scare me like in years past. But if theyve got a solid operation on fundraising and recruiting, they will never be vanquished, and we should keep notes about it.
They could have done other things, but to be offended by how it was done takes effort.
Further, as incredibly important as WW1 was to Americans and Europeans, its impact on Africa and Asia was far less direct, and its effects on Latin America even less so. For a rant about American solipsism to advocate embracing a Eurocentric approach is not a surprise. "World" history is often taught from a European perspective around the world. There are many valid criticisms of American perspectives and closr mindedness, but this particular criticism lacks self awareness.
You've got your history twisted a bit - it was changed in America drom Armistice Day to Veteran's Day after WW2 to be more inclusive, and recognize another conflict that also killed tens of millions and shaped humanity. As there was already a long tradition in America of Memorial Day (treated similar to Dia de los Muertes, and had sometimes been called Decoration Day for decorating the graves of the fallen), and Armistice Day celebrations featured major gatherings of Veterans, it seemed appropriate.
If it's gross to you I acknowledge your feelings, but understand it's really not about you.
Yea like the program coached by the NFL's winningest active HC and had more NFL draft picks than anybody else not including major contributors DE, Rod Moore, Will Johnson, Mason Graham or Kenneth Grant - clearly the only explanation for their success was cheating.
Despite them very clearly unable to for half the season. And the impacts of that cheat being equivalent to what their opponents did. Its the only explanation for 15-0, even if it makes zero sense upon further examination.
This is true but also setting rhe level at Big Ten/SEC is a new and annoying metric. Go to Berkeley on gameday - the campus is still abuzz, and produced the likes if Beast Mode and Aaron Rodgers quite recently. And even if Stanford cares a lot about their other sports and cares less than the Big Ten about football - they still almost certainly care more about football than everything else, because this is America and people care about FB and then basketball and sowmtimes baseball and/or hockey.
Just because Fox/ESPN have turned CFB into a stupid game of risk doesnt mean fans have to blindly obey. Let smaller resourced schools enjoy their nice things, including FB.
One the many things I loved about sports as a kid was literally being outside - in the sun or rain, smelling the grass. And as others note I think this is overstated. But - it's not just about FB and the SB. If youre building a stadium on Chicago's lake shore, its a significant cost. 8 FB games/yr plus a SB can prolly recover it - but you want a profit. So you build a stadium that can also host Beyonce in January, the Final Four, and cirq du soleil on tour. A domed stadium makes a lot of sense
But while it doesnt make sense, shivering for Braylonfest until the crowd suddenly got energy and we all warmed up - or seeing the swirling storm as Michigan FINALLY vanquished Ohio. you cant measure it in dollars or sense. You just gotta FEEL it
I know the answer is economics, butu feel like culturally the G5 are more like FCS than Power 5, except with more TV exposure (hence, MACtion). I think the exceptions are the American and the Mtn West 10 years ago. But the rest splitting off is fine. I'll still watch intermittently
Yea, I think one of the dynamics of signs gate is that OSU was just not used to being #2 in the league, and so was convinced that it had to be nefarious and hired their PI. And because in the early 2010s their main competition were MSU and Wisconsin - schools whose run at the top was relatively recent and then ended by 2020 - and PSU and M had a down period then, rhere was this idea that "OSU is permanent."
Long story short, everyone was willing to carry OSU's water because theyd won the only nattys for the league in the BCS/CFP era. I think M winning the natty - and not just winning it, but legitimately putting together one of the Big Ten's best seasons ever, easily the best of the BCS/CFP era - well it changes that dynamic, but not before a lot of bad blood was spilled.
Ironically M's season probably gave Pettiti the ammo to throw his weight around in setting up the CFP. But his actions, along with Delaney's and Warren's, have made the conference less cohesive, if more profitable and powerful. My hot take is it wont last long into the 2030s, next round of TV deals will see something weird happen
NHL - LA, bruins. (Not LV, they're cool but their unis and name are generic)
Baseball - nobody. We need more colorful uniforms like the 70s, but at least the hats and socks should be colorful. The white sox have worn black for a generation. That nickname is infamous. They could pull off white sox and black pants (but itll prolly be hot). But yea black is mostly lame on rhe diamond.
College - maybe TT, makes me think of crabtree. Colorado and Purdue and Iowa too. Thats about it.
Black in my mind has become like white - for most teams, a generic accent/contrast uniform. Its better than a gray jersey I guess. But I think unless you kinda commit all in to black, like the raiders and steelers and Texas Tech - it feels very generic to wear a black jersey.
Looks great, but dilutes your identity. Same is true of white alternates (Cleveland most notably).
Lions should wear blue. Maybe black against other blue teams, and even then on the road and against light blue teams - so, the chargers. Otherwise it's meh.
If we beat one of Texas, Oregon or Washington (toughest non Ohio road game) and dont drop anything else before the game, I'll feel good. We've too many big question marks nn the passing game, and while the D looks stacked we did have a whilesale staff turnover there. Repeating as national champs feels unbelievable, and repeating as big ten feels like the edge of possibilities. Granted, this program has pushed its ceiling the last 3 years.
Ten wins and beat Ohio is what im hoping for this season. First look on Saturday. Go blue.
This is absolutely excellent. I do think the point about how the NCAA is just a useful shield is accurate. The problem is the people in charge, and they're mostly our ADs.
I also think that fans are impossible to please for athletic administrators in general. Are any of the professional commissioners popular? Who is the last AD Michigan fans liked? Pretty much all of us dont think highly of the last 3 Big Ten commissioners. I mean...they cant ALL be bad, right? Maybe the problem is us?
It's crazy that I dont even out the PSU wins up there but youre right - theyve become underrated in hind sight. The Erick All TD was destined to be the biggest okay of the season until the boys shocked us all and beat Ohio. The '22 PBJ game was hyped, and then we snuffed them out and announced our arrival into the top 5. The '23 game had the signs drama, and ended with Moore declaring his love for his coach and this university.
Before 2021, we were peers with PSU, except theyd managed to get to Indy and win it once. From '21 onwards, they were firmly in 3rd place in the league, and yet that series is an aftethought because we'd soared to heights they cant really remember, and even OSU has only distant memories of now.
The Rose Bowl may actually be the biggest M win of all time.
'21 Game changed the narrative around the program, '22 solidified it, and '23 was probably the biggest version of The Game ever - altho it's hype going in was different than its imoortance jn hindsight, where its importance was elevated by M winning the natty. So '21 and '23 are great candidates
But beating Nick Saban's Alabama in the Rose Bowl, our first out-of-conference top 5 win since 1950, and paving the way for our second ever undisputed natty? Thats it
Long but good. Thinking and googling about it, 240 is the second highly composite number that is divisible by 16, 2^4, so it has an advantage over other highly composite numbers (the first is 48, which is way too small). Id have preferred 144 but 240 is an excellent choice
If we played 17 games to determine the Big Ten champ, then I'd agree with them. And be worried about player safety, but seriously not the way ADs and Conference Commissioners claim to be.
I hope you don't mind me responding to your responses, but I think all 3 of these are worth talking about
1) The death of the Big East was a big deal and thought of as such at the time. The little brothers of the conference were left in a limbo for 10 years until the final denouement. It ended up that all the schools from the '90s found P5 landing spots, except for Temple who'd been kicked out. The '00s Big East added 4 schools, with L'Ville ending up in the ACC and the other 3 left outside the power structure for FB for the next 10 years. It ended up mostly ok for everyone from the '90s, except that nascent rivalries were shoved aside or ignored (most notably the Backyard Brawl). It's hard to say how much NE CFB is ignored because the Big East is gone and it's schools scattered to other regional conferences and how much it's ignored because they've all been poor on the field. But I don't want to underrate this.
But the Pac12 was a bigger deal. True, Miami leaving the Big East was as big a deal as USC leaving the Pac12. But the remaining schools - ASU, CU, UW, and even Stanford and Cal all had proud football histories. UW and CU had won national titles in the early '90s, ASU came minutes away from doing it in 1996, Stanford had recently been a regular feature in the top 5. And Oregon is a touchstone of the sport, one of the most consistent top10 programs over the last 20 years. The Big East basically formed in 1990 from a bunch of independents wanting to make a TV deal together. The Pac12 had its roots with the 6 northwestern schools forming a league before the end of WW!, and the SoCal schools banding with them before the Great Depression. You are right to feel this one was different
2) For me, personally, the Big Ten conference died in 2014. The B1G era saw the East and West as nearly different leagues with different identities and prestige. At first I was sad that we weren't in regular competition with the western schools. Then I got used to it. Then the conference raided the Pac12 and shortly after tried to sabotage our season, so i really stopped caring for and rooting for the conference as a whole. The Big Ten is behind the trends I find most distasteful in college sports, so I bear it some ill will. It's identity is no longer Midwestern colleges that banded together for culture and geography. It's Tony Pettiti.
Maybe that will change, time heals wounds, the institutions do have a lot of commonalities despite geographic distances - but 1/3 of the conference is now definitively not Midwestern . Our standings will involved teams we haven't played and have few common opponents with. And I still bear some enmity for the way the league handled sign-stealing. But in my mind we didn't just kill the Pac12, the Big Ten also has lost its way.
3) it does suck, a lot. Not just for them, but for all of us that love this sport. I don't mind the big guys getting more money for bringing more eyeballs. But college sports without the smaller cinderella programs is less fun. Small college towns in out of the way places make this game more fun.
This was a great post of the feelings swirling around this. A couple thoughts
1) the pac12's demise hits different than the big east, because the big east was an amalgamation from the start, held together by Miami. Also, weirdly, most of the big east ended up in the ACC. Poor damn WVU. Lucky damn Rutgers. Temple had already been kicked out.
2a) Also, the Pac12's end is the end of regionalism in CFB, as you mention
2b) but it's also the end of the big ten as a Midwestern league. Maybe that already happened with Rutgers and Maryland. But it is complete now
3) I hate the super 2 era, I hate the idea of college sports being NFL lite. But nationalized conferences for a nationalized game doesn't have to be bad. As you touch on, the special thing about college basketball and football is that there are true Cinderellas who shock us. The nationalized conferences are scary and different, but the true killer here is shutting out the Wazzus and continuing to shut out Boise State and trying to prevent the next Miami or even Gonzaga on the CBB side. The problem isn't national conferences, it's the SEC and Big Ten closing the door to everyone else.
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Got to know these things when youre king (of the Big Ten. And the nation. And the Britons).
Go Blue! Heckuva job by the softballers. Baseball's only path to the NCAAs is to win the BTT, right?
Can we get a non revenue roundup as in years past?
Will MGo cover Michigan at tbe Olympics?
That sounds like short to medium optimism with long tern pessimism - especially with those teo specific examples, and the choice of the word "calcifying." So as a mild and hopeful pushback, isnt going all out with NIL a pretty different way than "the right way?" Coupling aggressive NIL with a cultural fit could breed longer term success as well, right?
Great read
That kind of thing - save the word "athletic" for most contexts - will take anybody to good things and happiness. Harbaugh may be a weirdo, but that type of personality is one we should all strive for. But maybe with slightly more social skills.
I follow all M sports, and have been relatively die hard for softball, baseball, hockey and wrestling at various points in my life. So it's great to see excellence in lots of other sports.
But I loved football before I knew what grass was, and long before I became a Michigan student snd fan. When football is down, i need the other sports to make me feel better. But when football beats Ohio and wins the Big Ten, everything else is a bonus.
When football wins the natty? My mood won't go down until a rival wins the natty. They tried, but they can't take that away from us. Proud of all our wolverines, but the answer to this post is "won the natty nobody's got it better end of argument i cant hear you 15-0 brrrrr"
I'll put fresno closer to purdue than MTSU/BGSU but yea night games aren't the event they used to be
I respectfully disagree. Night games are a pain. They should be special because then they feel exciting but also becsuse I'm hungry afterwards and nothing is open and firing up the grill at a tailgate at 11 seems foolish.
Barring a surprising upset by UNoCo over OK St, I'd call it a minor disappointment for this team to not win a game. I think beating OK St - let alone twice - is not unthinkable but would take a fair amount of luck. Beating Kentucky feels challenging but a doable goal.
I think generally tho, im in the "happy to be here" phase. I know in 2021 we wanted to get back to the CWS and I want to get there again, but didnt expect to be Big Ten tourney champs and a half game from Big Ten pennant champs this year. Getting out of the regional seems tough, making tbe regional final would be good but i wont be broken up if we go 0-2
She was waiting for that pitch and just had her timing perfect. That was such a beautiful at bat
I think that the MLS plan is better in this day and age than relying on RSNs, especially for die hards. But I grew up in a family that didnt pay for cable and when we did we paid for the lowest tier - baseball shifting from broadcast to RSNs meant we watched less baseball, and I think that doesn't change for a lot of casual fans on Apple+. Reaching casual fans and giving them an introduction is how you make die hards. Local games on broadcast is one way.
I hear you that this isnt fair to die hards, and that's true. Reaching fans where they are to grown your fanbase matters, and so does being loyal to your fans to keep them feeling like they area part of this. Personally, NFLN, Peacock and ESPN+ dont do this. Netflix AND Amazon is maybe a bit much, but I think it does recognize the changing way people watch TV.
I think I dont hate the Netflix and Amazon deals as much as the NFLN and Peacock ones. (Im not sure there js any exclusive NFL content on ESPN+?) NFLN and Peacock are ways to squeeze die hard fans - "how do we get people to sign up for peacock? If you want football now pay for higher tier if cable!" ESPN, Netflix and Amazon are ways to reach a national audience of casual fans - the idea being that some casual football fans who wont pay for cable will watch in an existing streaming service.
It's annoying if youre die hard, but if you're casual it may get you to tune into a few out if market games youd normally miss. Obviously its all a money grab, but tbis particular money grab im more sympathetic to.
The saving grace is you get all of you local team's games on broadcast
Honestly i thought we werent going to do it without Blake. I was prepped to say 'great season, great run, get them next year.'
Penn St that year made me realize we were elite. But that game made me realize just how deep and developed this program was. Going into the shoe and winning by 3 TDs? To a team that played the eventual national champ to within a point in their home state? Oh and also - its not allegations, it has been proven and reported that they did, in fact, have (and shared) our signs.
Whatever the NCAA wants to do, OSU lost and then made up a scandal to try to justify it and then still lost again to the best big ten team ever. They're still making excuses. I hope they keep making excuses that we keep batting away. There will be hype for that game. Our program has proven they dont flinch when it gets hot. Ryan Day's program has repeatedly choked in these moments. I cant wait to beat their ass in their house...again.
Don't call them that school down south. That implies they are worthy of being called a school. And don't call them Ohio State either, because Ohio doesn't deserve to be a state. Just call them Ohio. But to be confused with OhioU. Just Ohio.
Unless your metric is "winning the national title," ND is NOT dead - theyve been to 2 playoffs and 1 BCS title in the last dozen years, and were quite close again in 2021. Penn St in 2017 lost 2 games by 4 total points that kept them from Indy where theyd have to face a Wisconsin team who themselves was just a TD away from the playoff. Winning a natty is HARD. These schools all did contend in a very real way - and pre 2021, Wiscy and Penn St were as close to the playoff as Michigan. Notre Dame was much closer.
I was typing while feeding a 2 week old, but i edited for clarity
People left us for dead. Clemson used to be a word for the most heartbreaking choke. Washington was once left for dead, as were ND, Penn St and pre Saban Alabama. Nebraska is a major draw with fans nationwide and sellout crowds despite miserable seasons. If Iowa and Wisconsin can contend for the Big Ten title, Nebraska can too. Theyll be back - maybe not under Rhule, but I think it's more likely than them going the way of Minnesota.
Forgot. That's why I'ma wrestling fan and youre a wrestling coach
Austin Gomez qualified wrestling for Mexico, Myles Amine for wrestling for San Marino
Conference tourney is double elimination?
Shadeur claims they're mid
I feel like pronghorn is an underrated animal. Buffalos are great and iconic. Wolverines are hardy lil buggers. Badgers are a bit underrated but at least wisconsin reps them, the state and the school. But nobody loves the western antelope, and ghose bad boys are fast and beautiful. Should be as loved as deer at least.
He was probably the second best QB in the Big Ten last year. He isnt a first round pick, but with a good defense he was better than Cade and played toe-to-toe with the best team in the country, one of the big ten's best teams ever, and one of the best defenses ever. Dont know why he left, but I don't think OSU had a clear upgrade there.
Also, I feel like Cuse can and should be good. Penn St is the NE's Big Ten team and has effectively leveraged that. But Cuse should fill that void in the ACC/B12 space. I guess Pitt has? Cuse should be at least at the Pitt/Rutgers(!) level.
This. Mason Graham was poorly rated. OL/DL are the most important positions on the field and typically the hardest to project. Stars matter and they have limitations. That said - getting the best players wins. And money goes a long way to doing that. The As used to, and now the Rays have, found ways to be contenders with low payrolls. The Yanks and Sawx sometimes miss, but its still easier to win like the Yanks and Sawx and Dodgers than like the Rays.
Im not a soccer fan, but to put it another way, Leicester winning the British premier league was a revelation, but usually its the highest payrolls competing to win. The Champions League winner is rarely, if ever, a low payroll club, right? There's no shame in being a fan of a low payroll team, but there's no extra pride in it either - and there's no reason Michigan should be acting like the Tampa Bay Rays when we have the resources of the Damn Yankees. (As do the As, for that matter).
The last yime they went to Indy, the Big Ten changed the rules to get them in. The last time we went to Indy, the big ten changed the rules to try to keep us out.
We all should dunk on them for "winning the off season" talk, especially when they ran off a decent QB because he wasnt CJ Stroud...but NIL/fundraising does appear to be a bigger part of the game behind the game moving forward. It is a new aspect of recruiting. M's roster maybe surprised Ari Wasserman - but stars do matter.
They still have to win on the field, they dont really scare me like in years past. But if theyve got a solid operation on fundraising and recruiting, they will never be vanquished, and we should keep notes about it.
They could have done other things, but to be offended by how it was done takes effort.
Further, as incredibly important as WW1 was to Americans and Europeans, its impact on Africa and Asia was far less direct, and its effects on Latin America even less so. For a rant about American solipsism to advocate embracing a Eurocentric approach is not a surprise. "World" history is often taught from a European perspective around the world. There are many valid criticisms of American perspectives and closr mindedness, but this particular criticism lacks self awareness.
He starts to the left but then twirls artfully to the right. There is grace in his movements, as they unite left and right, unti clockwise snd countrr
You've got your history twisted a bit - it was changed in America drom Armistice Day to Veteran's Day after WW2 to be more inclusive, and recognize another conflict that also killed tens of millions and shaped humanity. As there was already a long tradition in America of Memorial Day (treated similar to Dia de los Muertes, and had sometimes been called Decoration Day for decorating the graves of the fallen), and Armistice Day celebrations featured major gatherings of Veterans, it seemed appropriate.
If it's gross to you I acknowledge your feelings, but understand it's really not about you.
My bosses typically give me veterans day off...after I show uo to work...if theu remember it's Veteran's Day
Yea like the program coached by the NFL's winningest active HC and had more NFL draft picks than anybody else not including major contributors DE, Rod Moore, Will Johnson, Mason Graham or Kenneth Grant - clearly the only explanation for their success was cheating.
Despite them very clearly unable to for half the season. And the impacts of that cheat being equivalent to what their opponents did. Its the only explanation for 15-0, even if it makes zero sense upon further examination.
Feel likethe american 7s teams have been pretty all right the last decade tho
This is true but also setting rhe level at Big Ten/SEC is a new and annoying metric. Go to Berkeley on gameday - the campus is still abuzz, and produced the likes if Beast Mode and Aaron Rodgers quite recently. And even if Stanford cares a lot about their other sports and cares less than the Big Ten about football - they still almost certainly care more about football than everything else, because this is America and people care about FB and then basketball and sowmtimes baseball and/or hockey.
Just because Fox/ESPN have turned CFB into a stupid game of risk doesnt mean fans have to blindly obey. Let smaller resourced schools enjoy their nice things, including FB.
One the many things I loved about sports as a kid was literally being outside - in the sun or rain, smelling the grass. And as others note I think this is overstated. But - it's not just about FB and the SB. If youre building a stadium on Chicago's lake shore, its a significant cost. 8 FB games/yr plus a SB can prolly recover it - but you want a profit. So you build a stadium that can also host Beyonce in January, the Final Four, and cirq du soleil on tour. A domed stadium makes a lot of sense
But while it doesnt make sense, shivering for Braylonfest until the crowd suddenly got energy and we all warmed up - or seeing the swirling storm as Michigan FINALLY vanquished Ohio. you cant measure it in dollars or sense. You just gotta FEEL it
I know the answer is economics, butu feel like culturally the G5 are more like FCS than Power 5, except with more TV exposure (hence, MACtion). I think the exceptions are the American and the Mtn West 10 years ago. But the rest splitting off is fine. I'll still watch intermittently
It's definitely a biggie :) or a "conference 'ship" for the non obsessed
4 other freestyle wrestlers from M made it
https://twitter.com/allbluedotfans/status/1781827870223933769?t=z2D9y1pRThsqAg9PZFz6iw&s=19
Yea, I think one of the dynamics of signs gate is that OSU was just not used to being #2 in the league, and so was convinced that it had to be nefarious and hired their PI. And because in the early 2010s their main competition were MSU and Wisconsin - schools whose run at the top was relatively recent and then ended by 2020 - and PSU and M had a down period then, rhere was this idea that "OSU is permanent."
Long story short, everyone was willing to carry OSU's water because theyd won the only nattys for the league in the BCS/CFP era. I think M winning the natty - and not just winning it, but legitimately putting together one of the Big Ten's best seasons ever, easily the best of the BCS/CFP era - well it changes that dynamic, but not before a lot of bad blood was spilled.
Ironically M's season probably gave Pettiti the ammo to throw his weight around in setting up the CFP. But his actions, along with Delaney's and Warren's, have made the conference less cohesive, if more profitable and powerful. My hot take is it wont last long into the 2030s, next round of TV deals will see something weird happen
Teams that do black well
NFL - raiders, steelers...ravens? Bengals
NBA - heat. Magic? AI era sixers
NHL - LA, bruins. (Not LV, they're cool but their unis and name are generic)
Baseball - nobody. We need more colorful uniforms like the 70s, but at least the hats and socks should be colorful. The white sox have worn black for a generation. That nickname is infamous. They could pull off white sox and black pants (but itll prolly be hot). But yea black is mostly lame on rhe diamond.
College - maybe TT, makes me think of crabtree. Colorado and Purdue and Iowa too. Thats about it.
Black in my mind has become like white - for most teams, a generic accent/contrast uniform. Its better than a gray jersey I guess. But I think unless you kinda commit all in to black, like the raiders and steelers and Texas Tech - it feels very generic to wear a black jersey.
Looks great, but dilutes your identity. Same is true of white alternates (Cleveland most notably).
Lions should wear blue. Maybe black against other blue teams, and even then on the road and against light blue teams - so, the chargers. Otherwise it's meh.
If we beat one of Texas, Oregon or Washington (toughest non Ohio road game) and dont drop anything else before the game, I'll feel good. We've too many big question marks nn the passing game, and while the D looks stacked we did have a whilesale staff turnover there. Repeating as national champs feels unbelievable, and repeating as big ten feels like the edge of possibilities. Granted, this program has pushed its ceiling the last 3 years.
Ten wins and beat Ohio is what im hoping for this season. First look on Saturday. Go blue.
This is absolutely excellent. I do think the point about how the NCAA is just a useful shield is accurate. The problem is the people in charge, and they're mostly our ADs.
I also think that fans are impossible to please for athletic administrators in general. Are any of the professional commissioners popular? Who is the last AD Michigan fans liked? Pretty much all of us dont think highly of the last 3 Big Ten commissioners. I mean...they cant ALL be bad, right? Maybe the problem is us?
It's crazy that I dont even out the PSU wins up there but youre right - theyve become underrated in hind sight. The Erick All TD was destined to be the biggest okay of the season until the boys shocked us all and beat Ohio. The '22 PBJ game was hyped, and then we snuffed them out and announced our arrival into the top 5. The '23 game had the signs drama, and ended with Moore declaring his love for his coach and this university.
Before 2021, we were peers with PSU, except theyd managed to get to Indy and win it once. From '21 onwards, they were firmly in 3rd place in the league, and yet that series is an aftethought because we'd soared to heights they cant really remember, and even OSU has only distant memories of now.
The Rose Bowl may actually be the biggest M win of all time.
'21 Game changed the narrative around the program, '22 solidified it, and '23 was probably the biggest version of The Game ever - altho it's hype going in was different than its imoortance jn hindsight, where its importance was elevated by M winning the natty. So '21 and '23 are great candidates
But beating Nick Saban's Alabama in the Rose Bowl, our first out-of-conference top 5 win since 1950, and paving the way for our second ever undisputed natty? Thats it
Long but good. Thinking and googling about it, 240 is the second highly composite number that is divisible by 16, 2^4, so it has an advantage over other highly composite numbers (the first is 48, which is way too small). Id have preferred 144 but 240 is an excellent choice
a dozen pence to a shilling was a great system. combining that with 20 shillings to a pound is where the nonsense was
If we played 17 games to determine the Big Ten champ, then I'd agree with them. And be worried about player safety, but seriously not the way ADs and Conference Commissioners claim to be.
I hope you don't mind me responding to your responses, but I think all 3 of these are worth talking about
1) The death of the Big East was a big deal and thought of as such at the time. The little brothers of the conference were left in a limbo for 10 years until the final denouement. It ended up that all the schools from the '90s found P5 landing spots, except for Temple who'd been kicked out. The '00s Big East added 4 schools, with L'Ville ending up in the ACC and the other 3 left outside the power structure for FB for the next 10 years. It ended up mostly ok for everyone from the '90s, except that nascent rivalries were shoved aside or ignored (most notably the Backyard Brawl). It's hard to say how much NE CFB is ignored because the Big East is gone and it's schools scattered to other regional conferences and how much it's ignored because they've all been poor on the field. But I don't want to underrate this.
But the Pac12 was a bigger deal. True, Miami leaving the Big East was as big a deal as USC leaving the Pac12. But the remaining schools - ASU, CU, UW, and even Stanford and Cal all had proud football histories. UW and CU had won national titles in the early '90s, ASU came minutes away from doing it in 1996, Stanford had recently been a regular feature in the top 5. And Oregon is a touchstone of the sport, one of the most consistent top10 programs over the last 20 years. The Big East basically formed in 1990 from a bunch of independents wanting to make a TV deal together. The Pac12 had its roots with the 6 northwestern schools forming a league before the end of WW!, and the SoCal schools banding with them before the Great Depression. You are right to feel this one was different
2) For me, personally, the Big Ten conference died in 2014. The B1G era saw the East and West as nearly different leagues with different identities and prestige. At first I was sad that we weren't in regular competition with the western schools. Then I got used to it. Then the conference raided the Pac12 and shortly after tried to sabotage our season, so i really stopped caring for and rooting for the conference as a whole. The Big Ten is behind the trends I find most distasteful in college sports, so I bear it some ill will. It's identity is no longer Midwestern colleges that banded together for culture and geography. It's Tony Pettiti.
Maybe that will change, time heals wounds, the institutions do have a lot of commonalities despite geographic distances - but 1/3 of the conference is now definitively not Midwestern . Our standings will involved teams we haven't played and have few common opponents with. And I still bear some enmity for the way the league handled sign-stealing. But in my mind we didn't just kill the Pac12, the Big Ten also has lost its way.
3) it does suck, a lot. Not just for them, but for all of us that love this sport. I don't mind the big guys getting more money for bringing more eyeballs. But college sports without the smaller cinderella programs is less fun. Small college towns in out of the way places make this game more fun.
This was a great post of the feelings swirling around this. A couple thoughts
1) the pac12's demise hits different than the big east, because the big east was an amalgamation from the start, held together by Miami. Also, weirdly, most of the big east ended up in the ACC. Poor damn WVU. Lucky damn Rutgers. Temple had already been kicked out.
2a) Also, the Pac12's end is the end of regionalism in CFB, as you mention
2b) but it's also the end of the big ten as a Midwestern league. Maybe that already happened with Rutgers and Maryland. But it is complete now
3) I hate the super 2 era, I hate the idea of college sports being NFL lite. But nationalized conferences for a nationalized game doesn't have to be bad. As you touch on, the special thing about college basketball and football is that there are true Cinderellas who shock us. The nationalized conferences are scary and different, but the true killer here is shutting out the Wazzus and continuing to shut out Boise State and trying to prevent the next Miami or even Gonzaga on the CBB side. The problem isn't national conferences, it's the SEC and Big Ten closing the door to everyone else.