Unverified Voracity Bought A Suit Comment Count

Brian

1403834865000-nik-stauskas[1]

A veritable flood. Congrats to Nik Stauskas, Mitch McGary, and Glenn Robinson III as they embark on their NBA careers. I'm not even going to linger on the fact that if the Pistons didn't get jumped in the draft order their shooting-desperate butts would have been sitting at #8, where Stauskas went to the Kings. I'm not going to just stand over here banging my head against the wall and moaning "whyyyyy."

I will take off my ratty, old Pistons hat and put my Michigan one on so I can be happy:

Morgan signed a free agent contract with the Timberwolves.

Meanwhile Caris LeVert is projected as a lottery pick next year. #welcometothefactory

It's not impossible. A pretty stunning counterpoint to Michigan's claims that their issues with selling tickets are everyone's issues:

Penn State's fan culture has remained that enthused through all of that. There's something to learn there. Or we could just keep hiring people from the Knicks with no clue about college sports or Michigan.

Keeping the band together. Michigan's three basketball assistants have signed contract extensions. Finally, someone spends money on something that they definitely should.

The other draft. The NHL Draft starts tonight; recruit Dylan Larkin is likely to go off the board in the first round, so there are a number of "here's this guy" articles. USA Today:

Larkin might be the safest pick because he's a gifted skater who could be a team's No. 2 center for 10 years.

"He is probably the most fluid skater in the draft," said Dan Marr, director of NHL Central Scouting. "He has a powerful stride, and he is also an intelligent player."

Red Line Report has him going 16th to… sigh… Columbus.

The Washington Post also had an interesting piece about how college players are underrated relative to their draft positions:

Of the players drafted from 2006 to 2009, 14.7 percent of players from Major Junior have hit that benchmark [of 40 NHL games]; players from collegiate programs, on the other hand, have hit that mark 17.1 percent of the time. And those players from Major Junior are picked close to a round earlier on average than those playing in college (97th pick vs. 121th pick).

This is not a huge surprise. College players play in a tougher environment against older players, in which points translate more readily to higher levels:

image

Despite this, college prospects are actually getting drafted less often even as the percentage of players in the NHL from the NCAA ranks hits all time highs—30 percent as of last year. Meanwhile:

A study of players selected in the NHL draft from 2000 to 2006 shows that an incredible 70 percent of U.S. college players taken in the first round went on to play at least 300 NHL games (100 or more games for goalies drafted in the first round) compared to 57 percent of all other players selected in the first round through the same time period.

There is a Moneyball opportunity here for any GM who isn't a neanderthal.

That's going well, then. Stewart Mandel's final take on the O'Bannon case: there was something there to argue, but instead the NCAA trotted out a bunch of empty overpaid suits. ESPN's Tom Farrey was willing to declare "Game Over" at halftime. Grantland's Charles Pierce titles his story simply "How It Ends."

Etc.: Michigan plans almost $350 million in construction. Here's a charming story about bird shit at Michigan. Why our brains cannot accept randomness.

Comments

Real Tackles Wear 77

June 27th, 2014 at 2:30 PM ^

Re: Penn State, their fans have emphatically not remained enthused through all of that. Their attendance the past few years has been at its lowest in decades. The arrival of Franklin and subsequent positivity, recruiting uptick and a year of further distance from Sandusky has recreated the enthusiasm they had lost. So no, there is nothing to learn there. A big season by Michigan the gridiron and the positivity that engenders will have every negative Nancy begging for tickets again, except for those who hate Dave Brandon more than they love Michigan football.

Space Coyote

June 27th, 2014 at 2:51 PM ^

And on top of that, they don't have two other successful major sports that fans attend: basketball and hockey. 

What's PSU's second most watched sport? Wrestling? Volleyball? Seriously, it's probably wrestling or volleyball. And on top of that, they are in State College, PA; what on earth else are students going to do there? I don't even think most of them can go home, it's like traveling home from Michigan Tech. You house party or bar crawl or you drink and watch some football, that's about it.

pearlw

June 27th, 2014 at 2:56 PM ^

Feldman later corrected his tweet..the tickets for incoming freshman were the tickets that sold out in 6 minutes.

Tickets for excited incoming freshman are always an easier sale than to students in later yrs that have already been to games, realized they would rather watch somewhere else, or have become jaded.

NittanyFan

June 27th, 2014 at 3:34 PM ^

the students have, IMO, done a very good job supporting the team since July 2012.  The Junior section, for instance, sold out within about 60 minutes --- that's the group of students which (if the sanctions continue) will never see a team with a chance to compete for a B1G championship and/or Bowl game.

 

The support in the rest of the stadium hasn't been so hot, though, over the last 2 years.  The 2013 Michigan game was full throughout (as was Ohio State 2012) but that was the exception.  Most of the other games have been running ~8-10K empty seats.  And that's with the fact that Penn State has gotten kind of lucky with the weather the last couple years (it was somehow sunny and 65 for a mid-November noon game against Purdue).

 

Anyway, PSU does have a different dynamic vs. other schools.  Students are energized: from my experience virtually none of them care about the Paterno issue (by this fall, ~75% of undergrads wouldn't have even been on-campus in November 2011).  But there is a significant portion of pissed-off alums re: Paterno.  So I'm not sure a comparison to Michigan (or any other school) is really that valid.

samdrussBLUE

June 27th, 2014 at 2:31 PM ^

1) Trunk Club probably gave Nik that suit.

2) The PSU Student Ticket thing is so damn angering.

Wolv1984

June 27th, 2014 at 2:44 PM ^

If we ever have the culture of Penn State, where we remain enthused, blindly devoted to individuals who didn't followup on reports of child rape, form human walls to protect the removal of statutes of said person, and convinced this is all some illumanti style plot to ruin us, I'll mail the ashes of my degree back to the school and start telling people I spent 18 to 22 in the Marines because the judge told me it was the military or jail.  

UMgradMSUdad

June 28th, 2014 at 10:48 AM ^

I've not seen fans defending Sandusky.  As a matter of fact, I've seen just the opposite.  They want to pretend especially Joe Pa, but also the president and AD at the time played no role at all in allowing Sandusky to continue his behavior.  While it's true they reserve most of their scorn for the BoT, Freeh, and the NCAA, I can't recall anyone defending Sandusky except early on before most people knew the details of what he was up to.

cutter

June 27th, 2014 at 2:45 PM ^

Penn State student tickets cost $218 for seven games.  This is the third highest price behind Michigan and Ohio State.  In addition, PSU students can purchase the official 2014 Penn State White Out T-shirt or join the Student Nittany Lion Club (NLC) and begin earning NLC points during the June 23 to 26 sale.   The t-shirt costs $20 and the NLC membership is $25.  The NLC is an athletics booster club with 23,000 members.

Penn State's seven home games are Ohio State, Michigan State, Northwestern, Maryland, Temple, Akron, and Massachusetts.  

The NLC priority points system is set up much like other colleges--the more you contribute, the more points you get, the higher priority you are for football tickets, parking, etc.   Apparently you have to be a NLC member to buy football tickets.

See http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/c-lionclub/spec-rel/faq.html for more information on the NLC.

One other thing to keep in mind here that is excerpted from the following article dated 13 June 2014 at http://www.statecollege.com/news/local-news/penn-state-football-michiga…

At Penn State, the cost of tickets is the third highest in the conference at $218 behind Ohio State and Michigan. Even so, students are still forking over the money to watch a team that couldn't win a conference title even if it went undefeated.

You might say that means Penn State doesn't have issues to address, but consider the following:

Heading into Penn State's homecoming showdown with Michigan, Penn State athletics announced that the student section had been oversold for that game. As a result, students were given a handful of options that included a ticket to the game not in the student section, a THON donation, or tickets for next season. A fair compromise for what was presented as a mistake.

What Penn State never mentioned though was that student tickets are sold as a season package. Students don't get to pick and choose which games they want to see. So if the Michigan game was oversold, it's quite possible that the rest of the games were oversold as well. The only difference between Michigan and the rest of the year? Students were guaranteed to show up, and they did.

And that's where the potential problem lies. The student section has rarely been packed on a weekly basis over the past few years even though ticket packages might still be selling out. If a good number of students aren't going to the games it would seem it's only a matter of time before they stop buying the tickets in the first place.

 

dcmaizeandblue

June 27th, 2014 at 3:00 PM ^

The experience they put on in that stadium is terrible, and I've been to Purdue. So the only takeaway from that for me is to confirm that there's nothing for 300 miles around State College.

oriental andrew

June 27th, 2014 at 3:50 PM ^

that mike matheny story was great. didn't realize he was a c'bus native who was ignored by osu and ended up at Michigan, going on to become a star player and major leaguer.  

maineandblue

June 27th, 2014 at 4:23 PM ^

I toatally understand that our brains our wired to see patterns in random events, but I still don't fully discount the hot hand theory. My understanding is the study that "disproved" the hot hand in '85 looked at shots following one make (and found the percentage of hitting the next shot is not any different than baseline), but what about after a player hits 4 or 5 or 6 or whatever in a row? Has anyone done a study on this? 

I do believe that in games of skill (as opposed to roulette or the lottery or something) there can be such a thing as "being in the zone" that actually does increase your chances of hitting the next shot compared to baseline because your mechanics are spot on and confidence and concentration are higher than average. 

jdon

June 27th, 2014 at 5:58 PM ^

in a game of skill we will occasionally find ourselves 'locked in'  and we perform better.... also, never underestimate the fact that in sports you can prep for an opponent and shot better simply because you understand their defense better (whether conscious or not)

jdon

 

maineandblue

June 27th, 2014 at 8:18 PM ^

Right, that makes perfect sense to me. But don't some stats-minded folks (and I certainly consider myself one) disagree with the concept of being "locked in" (i.e., after hitting a few shots in a row your chances of hitting the next one are greater than your baseline)? 

MichiganTeacher

June 27th, 2014 at 10:06 PM ^

Yep, some stats-minded folks do disagree with the concept of people playing better on certain nights and, therefore, in basketball for example, having a greater chance of scoring on any given shot compared to their baseline performance.

This is such utter crap I can't believe anyone takes it seriously. Look at the inverse case. Suppose someone finds out his wife has cancer ten minutes before the game. He plays poorly that night. Are the stats people saying that in the 4th quarter, game on the line, we should still give this devastated guy the ball because his poor game so far is just an aberration and he has the same chance to hit the game-winning shot tonight as he does any other night?

Of course not. That's absurd. Imagine if his hand was cut off. Should we still pass him the ball for the game-winning shot? No? But statistics! The point is, things like cut-off hands can change statistics. Inform them, really. And a mental state can inform statistics just as much as a physical one.

The same thing happens on the other end of the spectrum. Do you think it was just random chance that Landon Donovan scored two goals and had an assist in his first game back after being cut from the World Cup squad? That if you passed to Landon that game, you had just as much chance as any other game of getting a goal or an assist out of him?

If you think that, then let Tommy come back to your seat and hit you over the head with a balpeen hammer because you are a moron. Let me repeat. Total. Stinking. Crap. That whole no-hot-hand theory is just people trying to be cooler than other people and saying they know something you don't know, like people who enjoy dropping $400 on a bottle of wine they can't appreciate except insofar as it makes them feel superior to others.

/rant

/fornow

mgoO

June 27th, 2014 at 6:08 PM ^

Pistons would have picked 9th...unless you think we traded with the Kings.



So we wouldn't have gotten Nik even without the Gordon trade

TheBlueAbides

June 27th, 2014 at 9:32 PM ^

Michigan is a fantastic university, one that I did not attend myself, but just out of curiosity to those who do/did attend UofM... Do you think some lack of student ticket sales is because of the liberal nature of students where it is cool to not like sports, or that a lot of the student body is just too busy? Of all of the people I was friends with who went to school there, a very small number cared enough about football or sports to get season tickets.

Wendyk5

June 28th, 2014 at 9:18 AM ^

Agree with the Penn State sentiment, but when I was in school (Bo Schembechler/Jim Harbaugh days), everyone was into football. Prior to coming to Michigan from another state, I couldn't have been less interested in football. But the football vibe on campus every weekend was electric and you couldn't help but get drawn in. Sure, there were people who would never be interested, but the difference between then and now is great. It's part ticket price and part what's going on on the field. 

DrewGOBLUE

June 28th, 2014 at 7:16 AM ^

I doubt something like that would be much of a factor in declining sales. The abrupt $100 increase in price I'm sure had an impact. If, however, the student body as a whole really is becoming significantly less interested in Michigan football (I graduated a few years ago so I'm not sure how things are trending), I believe there would be two main reasons for that.

The first has to do with the fact that the team has been quite mediocre the past six years with the exception of the 2011 season. Additionally, a large portion of the home games have been against fairly unheralded programs that just don't generate much anticipation and excitement amongst students.



Another thing to consider is that over 40% of the students at Michigan are from other states or countries. It's safe to assume most of them probably weren't Michigan football fans growing up. So if the overall sentiment of students is legitimately becoming apathetic, I can't imagine many out of state people becoming interested in the first place.

vablue

June 28th, 2014 at 8:13 AM ^

The comments on PSU seem to be a bit of cherry picking to back a point you have been trying to argue against the AD, despite the fact you know the argument that declines are happening everywhere is valid. In fact you wrote a post that included all the stats proving this point in the last year. Your post showed that befor this year declines in student ticket sales declined dramatically more at other schools and it is possible that what we see happening at Michigan this year may again be less than at other schools. Your previous piece showed data indicating even Alabama had a bigger decline than Michigan for 2013.

And as was already stated, PSU was NOT supportive through all of that. And they have some fairly obvious reasons to be excited right now, including the biggest coaching hire in college football this season and some great recruiting wins. This is not much different than the 2012 Michigan season when Michigan sold more student season tickets than they had ever previously done. So talk to us again about PSU in 3 years.

You have the best sports blog I have seen, but recently your hate for DB has led to some less than spectacular writing, which is unfortunate because it used to be the best there was on college football. Hopefully honest critiques don't get sent to Bolivia.

Seth

June 28th, 2014 at 9:05 AM ^

Ken Holland is way ahead of you on that moneyball tactic. The Red Wings shifted to college players (mostly) in their drafts after Bettman passed the "Red Wing Rules" they were using to develop players overseas.

The Red Wings try to maximize how long they can hold onto an asset.

Mr. Yost

June 29th, 2014 at 10:13 PM ^

It's very likely that no one will ever read my comment.

But that picture of Beilein still moves me. That is the type of love and support all players should have from their coach.

If Beilein keeps this up, there is no question that his name should be hanging in the rafters at the Crisler Center. It's the house that HE built (Cazzie, built the arena). 

This kind of gesture speaks volumes, it's not craving attention, there is no agenda, it's just something a father would do for his son. Beilein over EVERYBODY.

Win or lose, there isn't one coach I'd rather have, not Izzo or Coach K, not Phil Jackson or Calipari. For Michigan - Beilein is perfect.