Unverified Voracity Ditches Divisions
Doing a thing tomorrow. I'm speaking at the UM Club of Livingston County's scholarship fundraiser. Thing is in Brighton, costs 25 bucks if you're not a member and 20 if you are. They promise me a projector with which to dazzle* and amaze** with. It's for a good cause, come on out.
*[you keep saying that word]
**[you also keep saying that word]
[Eric Upchurch]
More satellite stuff. As the camp season moves along and more and more people see Harbaugh in action the tone of media coverage seems to have shifted. Harbaugh shows up, has an enthusiasm unknown to mankind, works his ass off in drills, and people in attendance go "huh." Marc Tracy has a NYT article that goes over the Rutgers camp experience in some detail, and Harbaugh impressed some people in Houston.
Observations: Harbaugh is more active/hands-on at these camps than any head coach I’ve seen. Also, several unique drills/competitions.
— Sam Khan Jr. (@skhanjr) June 14, 2016
Also Ohio. The Vindicator:
His speech was part instructional of what was about to happen on the practice field and part old-fashioned church revival, with football being the religion this day for young men that came as far away as Canada.
Harbaugh then spent the next three hours working a style that displays a boyish love of his job. The drills he led were mainly a mix of running tests in which he crowned a champion at the end of each, loudly announcing the young man’s name into a microphone that fit his hand like a glove.
The more people who go to these things, the more of them find out that Harbaugh seems to mean what he says when he talks about spreading football. That's not to say there isn't another motive, but Harbaugh isn't teaching a bunch of middle-schoolers because he thinks there will be recruiting payoffs.
Harbaugh: 'It's not about recruiting. If it really helped recruiting that much, ppl would've been doing it forever.'
— Nick Baumgardner (@nickbaumgardner) June 9, 2016
Marshall moves. Lawrence Marshall was at SMSB, observing events. Sam Webb flagged him down for an interview and got some actual news: Marshall is 270 and no longer on the weakside.
"I play in the six-technique, so I play in front of the tight end more,” he said. “I love that. I feel like a tight end can't block me. If the tight end is blocking me I'm doing something wrong. That's all I've got to say about that."
Terminology changes over and over again and regimes move in and out; around here that means he's moved from WDE to SDE. That leaves just Chase Winovich and Reuben Jones amongst veteran options at WDE and thus implies that Taco Charlton is going to move back to the weakside and start. (He played SDE in the Ford Field practice and the spring game.) That'll probably mean Chris Wormley, an unparalleled tight end obliterator, will go back to SDE. Your other option there is Rashan Gary. So… Marshall probably has another year to prep before serious playing time as an upperclassman. An approximate three deep on the line:
SDE | NT | 3T | WDE |
---|---|---|---|
Chris Wormley | Ryan Glasgow | Maurice Hurst | Taco Charlton |
Rashan Gary | Bryan Mone | Matt Godin | Chase Winovich |
Lawrence Marshall | Hurst | Wormley/Gary | Reuben Jones |
That could work out okay.
Marshall also discussed some of the reasons it seems like he's been in the doghouse since his arrival, claiming that his work ethic "has tremendously improved from my freshman and sophomore years." Hitting 270 is solid evidence of that.
Hudson deployment. From Penn Live:
"I think as soon as I get there, I'm going to have an impact on the team," Hudson said. "I'll be at strong safety my first year, and then my second year, they're going to be putting me on offense and giving me some plays and stuff.
When Hudson committed I'd assumed he was ticketed for the nickel spot Peppers was at last year; his "LB" spot this year is probably going to look pretty similar except with more QB decapitation. Now, it seems like there are several options there in 2017 and beyond, and few at safety. Hudson will probably be a true safety for most of his career.
A SEC schedule solution that's pretty great. Jason Kirk and Bill Connelly propose a shift away from divisions in the SEC, which the Big 12 has enabled by agitating for a championship game despite having only ten teams. The upshot is that everyone gets three permanent rivals and then plays the rest of the league every other year. They've tweaked it so the schedules are balanced for the current state of college football, and while there will be some drift things tend to remain the way they are.
A Big Ten version is possible, but the proposal above is aimed at an eight-game conference schedule; the Big Ten has gone to nine. An attempt at three permanent rivals all the same has some goofy matchups:
non-negotiable in italics
Team | Permanent opponents | ||
---|---|---|---|
Indiana | Purdue | Illinois | NW |
Illinois | Northwestern | IU | Nebraska |
Iowa | Minnesota | Wisconsin | Nebraska |
Maryland | Rutgers | PSU | MSU |
Minnesota | Iowa | Wisconsin | Michigan |
Michigan | MSU | OSU | Minnesota |
MSU | Michigan | Maryland | Purdue |
Nebraska | Iowa | Wisconsin | Illinois |
Northwestern | Illinois | IU | PU |
OSU | PSU | Michigan | Rutgers |
PSU | OSU | Rutgers | MD |
Rutgers | Maryland | PSU | OSU |
Purdue | Indiana | Northwestern | MSU |
Wisconsin | Iowa | Minnesota | Nebraska |
Unlike the SEC it's very hard to create these matchups with any semblance of even-ness. Purdue, Illinois, Indiana, and Northwestern are all but impossible to split up, and consistently bad. Minnesota gets it in the eye. Rutgers too.
Even so I like the idea of having relatively balanced schedules for everyone, playing everyone at least every other year, and picking the top two teams with conference record of opponents the tiebreaker. Also, blowing up the schedule again would allow Michigan to undo the most lasting damage of the Dave Brandon era: the MSU/OSU home/road fiasco.
Sign her up. This woman has a legit shot at our linebacker two-deep.
We'll have to deprogram her first obviously.
The sixth year odyssey continues. MSU already failed to get Damon Knox the sixth year they promised was coming, and now it comes out that Ed Davis won't even get a degree until August(!?), despite the fact that he's already been on campus for five years. MSU can't apply for a sixth year until that degree is completed, two weeks before MSU's season opener. As we've mentioned before, Davis's case is hamstrung by the fact that MSU's own website notes he was scout team player of the week twice when he was redshirting and MSU's confidence about all three of these guys appeared to be very much unwarranted.
FWIW, the third dude, OL Brandon Clemons, has in fact sent the paperwork in already.
Okay, Drew. You know what's awesome? I haven't thought about Drew Sharp for more than a glancing second in years. But Detroit's miserable hatemonger gets on the radar today for the most hypocritical thing I've ever seen:
You win today. Now return to sleeping at press conferences.
Etc.: NFL.com names Jabrill Peppers the most versatile player in the country, which yeah. Someone complained about no Bedyoa mention in the Copa post. I have an article for you, sir. LSU bans opposing bands from playing at halftime. Rumors that Baylor is trying to bring Briles back appear to be mostly unfounded. Hockey rules committee proposes adopting 4-on-4 OT. No word on the guy who can't wear skates whose goals count double yet. Harbaugh is an extrovert.
Yeah it seems downright reckless of Dantonio/MSU compliance. Not calling them out, because there's surely more to it than we know (which could be better or worse). But it's weird, and their optimism was weird to begin with.
Our permanent opponents would be MSU, OSU, and MINNESOTA?????
MINNESOTA?? who do you think they are, Illinois???
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
I just wanted to come and say clearly it's OSU/MSU and Rutgers, duh!
Maryland having rivalries with Maryland (?) and Purdue (??) are hilarious. It's like "Welp, we need to give them someone, I guess."
OSU or Wisconsin should be a rival over Maryland or Purdue. Either that or we create an ugly trophy to play Rutgers and Purdue for every year so they can't be removed from our schedule.
I would be 100% OK with never playing Rutgers ever again, whether they're 12-0 or 0-12.
Two of MSU's permanent opponents would be Maryland and Purdue. He he he.
But why not Penn State and MSU? I know it's contrived, but they have a stupid trophy and everything.
This concludes the amount of time I care to spend on this hypothetical.
Rutgers and Illinois object to each of them lacking their main rival, Michigan, as a permanent opponent.
An early entry for understatement of the year.
That's ... counterintuitive, given that they are firm allies and all.
Illinois-OSU and IU-MSU would likely have to be included as protected rivals. Also why not just make Minnesota/Iowa/Wisc/Nebraska all permanant rivals? If we rotate all the other teams every two years, it wouldn't hurt not playing for the jug every year.
Yes. OSU should have Illinois over Rutgers
I guess that makes it okay in his book.
I told him I sincerly disliked him before I shot him.
In regards to Harbaugh's work ethic at the camps, a random Ole Miss fan said his friend's little brother was at the MS camp and Harbaugh just stood around. So who am I to believe, the countless people that say he works his ass off each camp or the random Ole Miss guy? I think we all know the answer.
The pairing of Big Ten teams might just be the first intelligent thing said on this blog :)
Roommate Switch! https://theroommateswitch.wordpress.com/
This is my favorite proposal. The "pods" work out so well for the B1G too.
Mich-OSU-MSU
PSU-MD-Rutgers
NW-Illinois-Purdue-Indiana
Nebraska-Iowa-Wisconsin-Minnesota
Pretty much.
I made an excel spreadsheet too, and I came up with the same four pragmatic groupings, and really only split hairs when it came to finding a third team for Michigan and Michigan State (Rutgers vs Maryland). The roommate switch would make that decision moot.
Odd Years
Michigan..............Penn State
Michigan State....Maryland
Ohio State............Rutgers
Wisconsin............Illinois
Nebraska.............Northwestern
Iowa......................Indiana
Minnesota............Purdue
Even years
Michigan..............Penn State
Michigan State....Maryland
Ohio State............Rutgers
Illinois..................Wisconsin
Northwstern........Nebraska
Indiana................Iowa
Purdue................Minnesota
I thought about normalizing the three remaining conference games (like, on odd years we'd play two of Penn State/Maryland/Rutgers and one of Illinois/Northwestern/Indiana/Purdue, and even years we'd play two of Penn State/Maryland/Rutgers and one of Wisconsin/Nebraska/Iowa/Minnesota) but I figured to leave it open for some scheduling freedom.
It'd work.
If we expanded to 16 we'd just have to add one team to our Mich/MSU/OSU pod and one to PSU/Maryland/Rutgers'...or kick PSU over to the Mich/MSU/OSU group and throw two onto Maryland and Rutgers.
There has to be a way to make Nebraska and Minnesota permanent rivals. The Five-Dollar-Bits-of-Broken-Chair Trophy is too young to die!
and I think MSU and PSU should be permanent rivals and forced to play for the Land Grant Trophy every year. Plus, we need to keep hope alive that a meteor will one day wipe out both teams and obnoxious fanbases.
Given that my mom still lives in East Lansing, I'm going to have to agree with you there.
I think penn state should have baylor as a permanent rival! Delany, please ship them off to the (not so) big 12.
BTW, FUCK penn state and all their delusional joepa loving fans!!!
You can talk about Penn State without including "BTW, FUCK penn state and all their delusional joepa loving fans!!!" in every single post you make
Look! There's a rule, a tradition which says...
I have to kiss this girl. She's just upholding the law. It's a federal law, actually.
I understand your thought, but NO I cannot. This has been discussed many times, but the disgusting level of depravity, abuse and sickness that was allowed to happen and was swept under the rug by the "revered" joepa goes WAY beyond bagmen, academic fraud, or tattos that we mock other schools for.
And the equally vile part is that his "fans" can not rationally put 2+2 together and figure it out, as they want to still idolize and blindly proclaim the innocense of a man who brought them wins, but they cannot impartially see the travesty he watched over, allowed and abetted to happen for his selfish needs. So without further adieu....
BTW, FUCK penn state and all their delusional joepa loving fans!!!
No. You have a shtick. You think it'll get you upvotes, and it has, and it's very disappointing. You can't NOT include a cliche, even if it's not relevant. Baylor had nothing to do with the topic at hand, but you think that throwing them under the bus will get you points.
You redirect to either a) pander and bring up Harbaugh to elevate Michigan/mention MSU or OSU to denigrate our rivals, or b) pile on by mentioning Dave Brandon or Hoke/bring up whatever SEC or B12 scandal is currently ongoing.
It's almost always tangential, but you get some love for it, because YES! Go Blue, Harbaugh rules, Dave Brandon is a douche, Hoke failed, MSU and OSU are mouthbreathers, and two power five conferences tend to break the rules in the most hypocritical of fashions!
I've said it before, but your posts are fluff. You lob softballs. You pick low-hanging fruit. You very rarely say anything insightful, informative, provocative. You post a lot of things without actually ever discussing anything valid. You're 11th in MGoPoints on this blog but there are a hundred posters that actually contribute content that moves and improves discussion. You could choose to push the needle, but instead you opt to appeal to the lowest common denominator, and when that fails, you post a fucking picture.
But yeah, fuck Penn State and their delusional Joe Pa loving fans.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
You are soooo right, as you always bring your "A" game just like someone else we know....
and bullshit that accompanied the drama leading to our coach's arrival a year ago, scribes of the lesser and first order are suddenly realizing along with the coach's peer group that this man loves the game so intently he's willing to teach it year round but especially when kids are available and he can participate in instructing them at places closer to them than his home.
Gee, this guy loves his job and what he does, and his energy level and interest is totally genuine, again a revelation to the world at large, principally those found below the Mason-Dixon line.
Yet, the man has done this since before he left the game as a player. And whether his efforts are viewed by whatever prism the observer who vews from afar wishes to filter that lens, the point is Harbaugh is his own man and is honest about his intentions and activity. He just likes football more than the average coach.
was so dumb. I'm sure money plays a role with his decisions, but studying under Bo, I really don't think it plays nearly as much a role as people outside would like to think. Yes recruiting matters, but also spreading the goodness that is football and Michigan football especially is important to this man.
The problem is people continue to base what they think he's going to do based on what they would do. The problem is, he doesn't think like a normal person thinks. He's just wired differently and in turn, views the world differently. I t's always amazing to see writers say oh he's going to do this, or never do this, and then eventually come to the realization that this guy is just different. In a good way too.
It looked like that chance was going to be foreclosed and he was hurt and probably a little bitter about that for a period of time. When he realized that he could fulfill that dream, there was never any doubt that he would embrace it and love it to the nth degree.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
the entire (camp) tour has yet to hit its halfway point.
Woah.
Those positions have different skillsets though. Can they really shift over and play 3T better than Hurst? You're a coach (right? IIRC) so you'd know better than I do.
Comments