tomvh
Special Guests: Tom VanHaaren, promoting his book The Road to Ann Arbor
Here’s a link to all the information for the book signing I’ll be at tonight at 7pm at @LiteratiBkstore. I’ll also be joining @mgoblog on MGoRadio at 5:30pm. Make sure to come down, I’ll be hanging out and talking about the bookhttps://t.co/DIOse086zn
— Tom VanHaaren (@TomVH) November 2, 2018
The Sponsors
We can do this because people support us. You should support them! The show is presented by UGP & The Bo Store, and if it wasn’t for Rishi and Ryan we’d be all be very sad ex-SBNation employees with “real” jobs.
Our other sponsors are also key to all of this: HomeSure Lending, Peak Wealth Management, Ann Arbor Elder Law, the Residence Inn Ann Arbor Downtown, the University of Michigan Alumni Association, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, and Lantana Hummus
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1. TomVH and “The Road to Ann Arbor”
starts at 1:00
Tom VH comes on the podcast to chat about his past with MGoBlog and his new book, The Road to Ann Arbor, which retells some of the great stories of Michigan football recruiting in the last 50 years.
2. Hoops Talk wsg Craig Ross
starts at 27:27
Craig was disappointed that he didn’t get to share his basketball takes on the WTKA Roundtable so he shares them with us. Craig defends Ted Valentine through referee magazine. Brazdeikis can play the 2-3-4 and ambidextrous, Michigan has three tremendous defensive players: Simpson, Teske, and Matthews. Only real question defensively is at shooting guard. Eli Brooks looked good in practices. Teske and Simpson could be a very good pick-and-roll tandem. Craig is hopeful in Simpson’s free throws. Could Brandon Johns play the 5? Michigan is extremely deep. Brian and Craig agree that Michigan is a better team than MSU.
3. Segment 3: MSU Recap and PSU Offense
starts at 52:40
Lewerke was hurt but MSU might have been fortunate for that or else he would have thrown 3 picks. 5 DT’s played about the same number of snaps. Massive RPS blowout on the offense. Shea made some bad reads and we should see some improvement. Still accurate however and his legs are devastating. Are the tackles now good? PSU will be the final exam. If Jon Runyan survives Penn St, he is legit good. Michigan solved the double A gap blitz with satisfaction for the most part.
Penn State lost a lot of their dangerous and large sized pass catchers. Gesicki, Godwin, Allen Robinson are all gone. McSorely’s lost about 1.5 YPA this season. It’s not the same offense as last year. Miles Sanders is not Saquon Barkley and the rushing attack has fallen off this year. The loss of Joe Moorhead is big.
4. Segment 4: PSU Defense Preview
starts at 1:08:03
Penn St has a lot of very good pass rushers and could make Michigan’s life very hard if the Wolverines are trapped in 3rd & longs. Michigan is not a good 3rd and long offense. Yardage on 3rd downs will be important. PSU’s starting defensive tackles are basically just both Mike Dwumfour. Not a lot of run stoppers on the defensive front despite the great pass rushers. This is the type of defense that Michigan has eviscerated in the past. PSU has a very good CB. KJ Hamler is a dangerous kick returner.
MUSIC:
Featured tonight: Bear vs. Shark
- "I F---ed Your Dad” from "Terrorhawk
- "We Were Sad But Now We’re Rebuilding" off Right Now, You're in the Best of Hands. And If Something Isn't Quite Right, Your Doctor Will Know in a Hurry
- "MPS" off off Right Now, You're in the Best of Hands. And If Something Isn't Quite Right, Your Doctor Will Know in a Hurry
- “Across 110th Street”
If you or a friend made some good tunes and don't have a label out scrubbing for them we'd be happy to feature you.
THE USUAL LINKS:
- Helpful iTunes subscribe link
- General podcast feed link
- Direct download link
- What's with the theme music?
It’s hard to play basketball about a guy with two hands
An Excerpt from The Road to Ann Arbor, by Tom VanHaaren
Many years ago, when MGoBlog was just starting to be more than a small community of nerdy Michigan fans , this guy Tom from the message board was so friendly that the recruits and coaches and family just gave him honest answers to earnest questions.
When I came on in 2009 as a part-time copyeditor, Tom was already officially on staff. When a five-star defensive tackle began to waver in his commitment, readers would put up TomVH bat signals, and ask Tom to hold them. Soon, ESPN came calling, and Tom left for the big time.
But you can always come home, and today for the first time since pre-Ace, I'm proud to have the opportunity to print a TomVH article on this site, because he's written a book. Specifically THIS book:
It's about—what else—great Michigan recruiting stories over the years. It covers the crazy recruitments of Michigan greats like Reggie McKenzie, Jim Harbaugh, Jamie Morris, Mark Messner, Tripp Welborne, Desmond Howard (and his tagalong Elvis Grbac), Jarrett Irons, Brian Griese, Tshimanga Biakabutuka, Tom Brady, Braylon Edwards, Chad Henne, Rashan Gary, and Aubrey Solomon. And that has led Tom back to where it started. He can't hold you anymore, but you can buy this book, and feel held once more.
In fact, having read half of it I highly recommend that you do. No, not later. Do it now. Did you buy it?
Okay, well, since it's yours now, here's an excerpt from The Road to Ann Arbor: Incredible Twists and Improbable Turns Along the Michigan Recruiting Trail, by Tom VanHaaren, presented with permission from Triumph Books. It covers the split between five-star Georgia prospect Aubrey Solomon and Michigan after his commitment, and their subsequent reconciliation over a moral lesson that frankly we could use some more of in this conference these days.
For more information and to order a copy visit www.triumphbooks.com/roadtoannarbor, but of course you've done that already.
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