Some of this stuff has been linked by Brian on the frontpage (or in a select few instances, frontpaged in whole), so it may look familiar. If you're interested in being featured in this space, start by coming up with a good idea and writing a diary.

We'll start off on a lighter note, with TATEisGREATyo's image "The Adventures of Denard" (seen at right). I'm not sure what it is about the Michigasn fanbase that makes us so MSPaint-centric.

Resident graphic designer Six Zero shows he's not a one-trick pony, and flexes his interviewing muscles for the MGoProfile feature. First up was TomVH:

What is the one thing you'd like us to know about your work with the recruits?

   I'm not sure if there's anything that is important to know. A lot of people ask me how/why I got into this. This all really started because I took a well paying job out of college that I eventually hated, and realized that money wasn't going to keep me interested, or happy.

   Growing up, I always thought that sports could be a job, and somewhere along the way, got away from that. I took a step back, and put together a plan that could get me towards a specific goal that I wanted. I thought about what niche I would be able to fit in that would play into my strengths, and this seemed to be a good place to start. I'm sure everyone can tell that I'm not as gifted with the pen (or keyboard) as Brian, Tim, and a lot of the MGoCommunity.

Next came resident baseball (and volleyball?) expert formerly anonymous:

You probably post more content second to only Brian himself. How did you get involved with MGoBlog?
...I actually started the blogging thing with Maizenbrew. I covered the Big Ten Tournament two years ago in pretty solid depth, and had a volleyball post or two as well, just nothing consistent. In the spring of last year, I started my previews at Maizenbrew, but was then picked up by Varsity Blue. Paul and I go back a few years, and they thought it would help give them content during the long, dreary off season. That's when my content started gettting a bit more in depth.
     MGoMerger would happen over last summer, and that brought me to MGoBlog as a contributor.

Volume 3 featured Misopogon, scribe of the impeccable "Decimated Defense" opus (about which more later):

How long does it take you to put one of these posts together, especially with all the recent updated graphs and even Photoshop and/or Godfather work?
          It totally depends on the content. With something that takes statisticating, like DDII and DDIII, it usually starts with me goofing around making spreadsheets. There's plenty of spreadsheets I've made while screwing around that never make it to a Diary. Eventually, one hits a critical mass of information usefulness, and I go to Misopogal to hash out a rhetorical theme to attach to it...
        The actual writing of the diary usually comes much later. With this most recent one, the spreadsheet was something I had been playing around with since the week before signing day. The last changes were made over a week ago. Once I get going, it's hard for me to stop...
          The amount of time that goes into making them has been growing because I feel like I've established a ridiculous level of quality with the previous diaries, and want to maintain that level.

Entry #4 feature MSPaint enthusiast Shredder, one of the proprietors of Midnight Maize.

How does a typical Shredder piece evolve from an idea to a front page bump?
     Most of my ideas just come from pop culture. I just try and think how I can blend some sort of pop culture with what’s going on at Michigan. I always just make a quick scribble of it on paper or if I have my laptop I’ll do a quick “sketch” in MS paint... However, there are many things I have MS painted that don’t make it to the board, and they usually just stay on my laptop or get uploaded to Midnight Maize only. I felt the jerseys were a Midnight Maize only post and then I figured what the hell. So you just never know what people will respond to. Some people might love something I find not that great and vice versa.

Previous Featured Diarist The Mathlete came up next:

I’ve always been impressed not only by your talent for gathering and analyzing large amounts of information, but also your ability to present it in a way that the common reader can understand. Is that a challenge? Or, should I say, how much do you hold back to keep it accessible for the masses?
     My goal is to provide something that is as accessible as traditional stats but more valuable. Sometimes it’s difficult to bring it around, but I am still approaching it all
as a football fan first.

The most recent profile featured Gambling Guru, MGoPodcast regular, and proprietor of Just Cover Jamie Mac:

So you admit to being a gambling man... So then, what’s your secret? Any leads you want to share with us going into next season?
    Of course, I'll admit to being a gambling man. I just admitted to running numbers, smoking pot and hanging out with hookers. So, yeah, I am also a gambling man...

Excellent work, and very interesting who are interested in the MGoBlog community, and not just the posts that make it to the front page. For that, Six Zero, you are the diarist of the... month.

Elsewhere in ongoing series, MGoShoe took a few looks at the performances of non-revenue sports, which sometimes don't get enough attention on mgoblog:

Water Polo

The Women’s Water Polo team earned a sixth place finish at the NCAA tournament. The team opened with a 12-8 loss to California, then defeated Pomona-Pitzer 11-3 before falling to UCLA 9-6 in the fifth place game.

Men’s Tennis

The Men’s Tennis team fell to Ohio State 4-1 in the second round of the NCAA Championships.

There's much, much more in those posts, including updates on the finishes of several other spring sports, so be sure to check them out.

Going all meta- in his two-post series, Coach Schiano looks at the sheer volume of content posted over the existence of MGoBlog. Here it is, visualized in articles per week:

In part 2, he looks at which words have been used the most often.

And we conclude with some word counts that we noticed "coincidentally" ended up at the same frequency. Or did they?????

64	lansing
64	oops

123	hopson
123	mistakes

128	harbaugh
128	mom
128	penetration

These results probably mean nothing. But if true about Harbaugh, it may be a more difficult road for him to climb if he wants to coach here someday. Just sayin'.

Excellent work, from a "blog-as-subject-matter" perspective.

If you're looking to dispel the notion that scrambling QBs get injured more often than pocket passers, look no further than MCalibur's diary. The money graph:

For an explanation of it, and the conclusion (cliff notes version: there isn't enough data to support a correlation in any direction), head to the diary.

The Mathlete continues his streak of killin' it in the diaries, including an analysis of whether teams are more efficient passing or running, and the implications it has for their play calling. Quoting a portion wouldn't do it justice, so just go read the whole thing. He also looked at the overall effect of sacks and interceptions on offensive and defensive performance, frontpaged earlier today.

Tom From AA hopped around town with his camera earlier this week, and brings back some pictures of construction around campus, including Michigan Stadium, the Player Development Center for basketball, and even North Quad:

There are a ton of pictures in his post (in easily-consumable lightbox form), so be sure to check it out.

Comparing Michigan 2010 to the rest of the Big Ten, PhillipFulmersPants looks at returning starters for Big Ten squads, and airvipermb does something similar, focusing on defensive experience.

BlazeFire laments the decline of local media coverage (and homerism) as the climate shifts to a more ESPN-centric layout. UMdad encourages positive fandom, because please, think of the children. Kman23 talks about the NFL implications of running a shotgun-based offense. wildbackdunesman says that not only are the stereotypes of the Big Ten being behind the times untrue, but the opposite is the case. wolfman81 talks reasons for optimism next year. Drill says "Hello" to that other Chris Rock. jonny_GoBlue pleads for M fans to not use the term "Big Blue" (a cause I can certainly agree with).

The final couple posts I won't quote because they both made it onto the front page, but Misopogon's Godfather-themed conclusion to the "Decimated Defense" is easily the single-best diary I've seen on MGoBlog (it features a UFR and a THE KNOWLEDGE. reference... at the same time!). Following up with his excellent production, The Mathlete's special teams exploration and look at fourth down also reached page one, along with his post exploring whether we should expect more offensive improvement from the Wolverines in 2010. He doesn't get to win the "Best Diarist" Award, because it would be unfair for him to stockpile all of them.