Unverified Voracity Requires A German Comment Count

Brian

Save us, Germany. While not getting that third year from Darius Morris (now an official thing with an official press release you can see at right in the diaries) that would allow Michigan to bridge from him to the Brundidge/Burke era confidently sucks out loud, Michigan might have a pretty good backup plan. Remember that German kid whose last name sort of implied he had a bushy mustache and favored soft zones when protecting a narrow lead?

Yeah, Patrick Heckmann. Heckmann is visiting colleges stateside after averaging 12.3 PPG in the third level of German basketball—not bad for a 17-year-old. He's hit San Diego and Boston College and plans one more trip—Michigan has been rumored as one of his top choices for a while. Get him on campus, take him to the Heidelberg, and bam:

Also here are terrifying German mascots!

Also also how can you not want this guy:

Patrick Heckmann was the lone bright spot in the short and grim German campaign to glory. A frightfully athletic wing player with a creative feel to his game emerged as a top-shelf prospect only in Lithuania averaging 12.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists in the tournament, twice the production comparing to the U16 European Championship in Czech Republic two years ago.

The lone bright spot in short and grim campaign to glory: he is German basketball Denard Robinson.

Additional salve: Glen Robinson III's early AAU performances see him move into the Scout top 100 at #90.

Not so fast on your not so fast. Adam Rittenberg follows up on a Journal-Sentinel article that quotes Barry Alvarez saying a nine game schedule is not a priority and can't happen until 2017(!) at the earliest:

after checking with the Big Ten, I've learned the nine-game discussion will continue May 17-18 at the league's spring meetings of coaches and athletic directors in Chicago. Big Ten senior associate commissioner for television administration Mark Rudner, who puts together the league schedules, will talk with the ADs about whether to implement a nine-game schedule or remain at eight.

Rudner told me in an email message that the athletic directors want to see a financial analysis of schedules with nine league games versus eight league games.

The calculus that provides a ninth conference game: extra value of conference game for BTN + extra pricing leverage when you have a better schedule > 1/2 average stadium take – 2 * average guarantee. That seems like a hard thing to figure out.

I'm annoyed that athletic departments have now built in seven home football games as part of their revenue projections because it makes me feel like a cow being milked. Oh, Mr. Trump, be gentle!

Wha? The Pac-10… er, Pac-12's new television contract is very large. It is stupidly large, $2.7 billion over 12 years, or nearly $19 million per school. This crushes the ACC's recent contract, which would be no surprise except the ACC includes a bunch of basketball, and that contract saw "back and forth bidding" drive the ACC's annual cost from $120 million to $155.

One wonders what Big Ten rights would fetch if tossed on an open market in which Comcast is trying to get a slice of the pie for itself. At least the BTN provides steady revenue escalation as it increases its leverage in the footprint and gets more tasty ROTEL ads. The SEC's massive deal now seems eh… not so massive:

Does anyone know if SEC has an out in its current TV deal? Because if not, it's gonna be fun getting paid 2009 prices in 2023 #goodworkSlive

The Big Ten signed a ten-year contract in 2006, so they'll be on the market again in five years.

Brabbs baby is metal. Brabbs baby:

brabbs-baby-metal

At least someone will enjoy it when Special K plays Saliva this fall. Also Brabbs is maintaining good numbers when it comes to his myeloma.

Joe Bolden says things. They are pretty inflammatory things:

"Being told I am too small," Bolden admitted, "when I have never heard that before, it was an eye opener. Notre Dame told me they wanted a 6-foot-4 linebacker and that I am 'not their guy.' I'm not upset if I don't fit your profile, I was just surprised it was about height, because I have always believed that it's not the size of the dog, but it's the dogs bite." …

"It will be good to walk over and shake the Notre Dame coaches' hands and say thank you for giving me the drive to be even better," Bolden said.

Actually… so… not that Notre Dame is anything other than a wretched hive of scum and villany, but they do run a 3-4, and in a 3-4 the OLBs are ideally even bigger than the fairly big Bolden because they're quasi-DEs. It's not you, it's them.

/ducks Bolden thunder-fist of words

Etc.: 1990 Iowa at Michigan on the intertubes. Since that was a heartbreaking one-point loss this may be of more interest to Iowa fans. Fascinating Slate article on a company that breaks down meaningless press conference jibber-jabber in an attempt to project players for the NFL draft. Michigan's last three-and-out coach.

Comments

oakapple

May 4th, 2011 at 1:23 PM ^

Reduced bowl revenue needs to be part of the equation, since every year there are Big Ten teams that just barely get to 6 wins by scheduling weak non-conference opponents. With nine conference games, I suspect the Big Ten would qualify for, on average, one to two fewer bowls per year.

Of course, weak non-conference schedules are a matter of choice. No one put a gun to Minnesota’s head, and forced them to schedule North Dakota State.

I am surprised that any of the conference’s power teams would want a ninth conference game, as it means they can never again have eight home games in a season (as Michigan has this year, and had two years ago). Selfishly, you want to be able to have eight home games when you can.

cutter

May 4th, 2011 at 2:42 PM ^

The lower two bowls that the Big Ten has tie-ins with are the Ticket City Bowl and the Little Caesars Bowl.  Last year's Little Caesars Bowl didn't have a Big Ten participant last year and pays $750,000 per participant--this is probabably a barely breakeven proposition.  The Ticket City Bowl in Dallas (last year between Northwestern and Texas Tech) pays out $1.2M per team.  The reduced bowl revenue caused by participating in one less bowl game by the Big Ten is probably going to be offset by the savings on the expenses surrounding the game itself.

The financial calculations that go into the nine game schedule have to take into account the savings for not playing a non-conference opponent.  Michigan will be paying San Diego State $1.0M this season and Air Force $1.1M next season.  Couple that with a better overall inventory of football games means there is a better selection for ABC/ESPN and the Big Ten Network--that should help the overall revenue picture and would likely offset having one less game every two years (since Michigan has been alternating between seven and eight home games per year).

We'll see what the Big Ten decides to do in due course, but you can imagine the conference will want to be well-positioned when 2015 comes since the current contract with ABC/ESPN will be ending that year.  If the B1G thinks it's a move that will generate substatial revenue increases, they'll happily do it.  By 2015, the B1G might be able to sign a contract which pays $300M or more--divide that by twelve teams and the non-Big Ten Network football contracts would be coming out to $25M per team (or $33.3M if that contract went up to $400M per year).

 

TimG

May 4th, 2011 at 2:13 PM ^

Good read, and you've gotta love that old time reporting:

"According to the official announcement, Tad Wieman will succeed to Yost’s mantle as head football coach, aided by a strong staff of assistants. But it is safe to say that this year or any other year, so long as he remains his faculties, Fielding Yost will follow the fortunes of Wolverine elevens with an eagle eye and that he will always be available for counsel. One may be permitted to assume that that counsel will be called upon every day and at every step in the development of this year’s eleven — but others will do the field coaching. Football is meat and drink to Yost and you could no more divorce him from the game than you could separate him from his natural reflexes — or his shadow."

 

Sorry, I don't know how to put things in blocks yet.

TrppWlbrnID

May 4th, 2011 at 4:01 PM ^

2) i think heckman already plays for michigan. white dude with floppy brown hair - we has them.

3) i am all in for a 9th conference game as long as michigan gets a shitty to mediocre second crossover and michigan state gets are tough one.  i can imagine the scenario where michigan gets to play penn state as a cross over, msu gets purdue and we have to hear all year about better conference records. (if they go to two crossovers, which i hope they don't)

Cheri

May 4th, 2011 at 5:00 PM ^

Just want to point out that the "Brabbs baby" is actually his nephew. The newphew does have the middle name of Phillip, though.