The Story, 2018: Lie Back And Think Of Iowa
Previously: Podcast 10.0A. Podcast 10.0B. Podcast 10.0C. The Story 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008. Preview 2017.
It's not rational to think football would be immune. When the world's decided that shame is for losers and the only rule is get paid, football will follow along too. Unless it's leading the way. And... uh... it's leading the way. The commissioner of this here league spearheaded the addition of two Eastern Seaboard schools with barely enough football tradition to scrape into a thimble because it would personally benefit himself and the class of parasitic grandees currently skimming off the top of college football to the tune of millions of dollars a year.
That decision paid off with a perfect tragedy. Jordan McNair's death was not only the result of deeply immoral approach to football and life but also incompetent. Stupid. Only a fucking idiot could have waited an hour before calling 911 when a very large man was having a seizure, unable to stand, on a blisteringly hot day. Maryland employed that fucking idiot. That's because their athletic department, shielded from the kinds of things that would do material harm to the parasitic grandees within, is by and for fucking idiots. They left the ACC, where they had many and several fun basketball rivalries, because a previous generation of fucking idiots managed to rack up so much debt that their continued existence in their home conference was no longer tenable.
Labor costs for their most valuable employees when they racked up this debt stayed steady. At zero.
[After THE JUMP: more of this, then some sort of corn-eagle-man]
And then there's Rutgers, which just paid disgraced idiot Julie Hermann a cool half-million dollars more than she was owed when the idiots that hired her decided they had to fire her after the football coach idiot she hired decided this was a good idea:
In the original email from Flood to the professor, who was unnamed in the report, Flood wrote: “I am sending it from my personal email to your personal email to ensure there will be no public vetting of the correspondence.” In the telephone conversation with the advisor, Flood was told, “Coach, you can’t have contact with the professor. You certainly can’t have contact with faculty regarding grades or eligibility. This is going to be a big problem.” Flood told the advisor, “This conversation stays between you and me,” to which the advisor responded, “We never had this conversation. … I want no part of this.”
This line is also in the report: “Coach Flood told the professor that he purposely didn’t wear any Rutgers apparel or insignia so he wouldn’t be recognized in public, meeting with the professor.”
It was just a matter of time before one of these institutions killed somebody. Anyway, football!
Actually, not just yet, because Michigan's primary and ancient rival just did the Urban Meyer thing, and its tertiary and old-ish rival continues to employ square-jawed crime-endorser Mark Dantonio, who also recently reinstated the author of this text:
“Honestly don’t know who for sure but probably [TEAMMATE] or another shitty fucking [N-word] with no morals.”
Unlike Maryland and Rutgers, these people win football games, making things even tougher to take. Not only is your favorite thing locked in an organization that has no greater purpose than making money and winning football games, it's not even winning the right football games. Immoral and un-fun. Woo!
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So where do we go from here? I don't think it's any secret that I've had difficulty getting up for this season. While Michigan has a ton of promise the prospect of going 9-3 against a monster schedule, and all the TAEKS that will inspire me to throw all communication devices in the trash and grow a beard I can knit a house out of, rather looms. The prospect of staring down a smug Urban Meyer as he's worshipped by every trash person in Ohio as Michigan loses to Ohio State again doesn't really appeal.
The potential benefits feel pretty remote, as they must inevitably when the only football season since this blog's inception that ended well was Brady Hoke's first horseshoe-up-his-butt year, when Ohio State was running out Luke Fickell after another firing-worthy incident from their head coach and Michigan beat Virginia Tech in a bowl game despite having about six yards of offense thanks in part to a long snapper catching a pass.
[Patrick Barron]
So, Iowa, I guess? Going to Iowa two years ago was a window into another world. As I described it at the time:
Iowa football is great. It is a sneaky tentpole program of college football; it's the main locus of sporting passion in a state that doesn't have any pro teams but can cobble together enough people to make a D-I program work.
So you go there. The first thing you notice is that Kinnick is gorgeous. It's all brick, even on the interior, and if we're being totally honest it kind of feels like when Bill Martin added the luxury boxes he pointed at Kinnick and said "do that." Upon entering it was nigh-impossible to tell where the student section was because everyone was in black and standing the whole time. This is a very disappointing 5-4 (now 6-4) team that had its bloggers overreacting and predicting Rutgers-esque scores before the game but that stadium was packed to the gills 20 minutes before the kick.
At halftime I ducked back under the concourse because it was about ten degrees warmer underneath and hung out for a while. An Iowa fan engaged me and asked where I was from, how I was doing, that sort of thing; there was no animosity. He was checking on his fellow fans, mostly. I had only good things to report.
Afterwards the logistics of having working media and plain old fans driving in the same car caused us to wait outside one of the main exit points of Kinnick for about 20 minutes; probably half that stadium walked by us. Other than one or two guys who said things too dorky to actually be threatening, everyone was happy and polite. There was one guy out there the whole time just high-fiving everyone.
The existence of Iowa is one of the reasons I like college football so much better than the NFL.
College football gets away with so much because underlying it all are a bunch of college students that occasionally score 55 points on the local death star; it gets away with so much because football teams are the centers of real, living communities that you feel whenever you are at an alumni event. Or are in a stadium.
Iowa doesn't expect too much and is frequently rewarded by seeing their collection of rag-tag two-star recruits hit the bullseye with whatever the Iowa equivalent of photon torpedoes is. Probably corn on a stick. Iowa's vibe is not our sad bastard vibe, nor is it the awful amoral bro culture of the two rivals mentioned above. It's a bunch of people waving at a hospital. And maybe we could work our way back to that, eventually.
Probably not.
Harbaugh asked about allegations against DJ Durkin, Peppers' comments that he bordered on "bully coaching" when he was here. Harbaugh had nothing to say on the matter.
— Nick Baumgardner (@nickbaumgardner) August 27, 2018
But I have been to deepest Iowa, in a geographically literal sense.
The town of Sheldon is about as far west and north as you can go in the state, located in such a manner as to defeat the purpose of air travel. So you drive to it, all those many hours of corn and livestock, livestock and corn, to go to a funeral for a person you never met. Eventually you are stunned by how Iowa City is now a suburb of Chicago. Sheldon has a small church surrounding a small town of literal pig farmers; it's the kind of place where the Subway logo is a huge relief. It's not exactly ugly but there's nothing pretty about it, and that goes for the great flat plains that stretch endlessly in any direction.
Driving home there is a snow storm, somewhere. It could be miles away to the west. Could be anywhere, because the wind blows across the plains and grabs the falling snow and pushes it across the road. Passing trucks impart it with intricate whorls; the only places any of it actually sticks is every mile or two where a copse of trees has been suffered to stand so it can provide a windbreak around a farmhouse.
The experience is ghostly, otherworldly. The kind of thing that burns itself into your brain and will not leave. The snow streaming across asphalt, beauty previously not only unseen but completely unthinkable. Literally unimaginable. The mind could not imagine having the feeling about the place it is currently having until it does. Somewhere out there is a high school quarterback with no chance of ever throwing a pass in college who will stamp his name on a state's heart. And so we carry on, just in case Keith Jackson isn't really dead.
August 27th, 2018 at 2:26 PM ^
I feel the same way as Brian, but I was hoping his piece would at least be well written... this was just a poor effort and missed opportunity. Time to sit back and see if this program, and college football in general, can give us a reason to pay attention again.
August 27th, 2018 at 2:27 PM ^
I'm not even finished reading this thing yet, but can confirm that Sheldon, IA is tiny and awesome and regular. Spoke at a church there one time for work. Ate Godfather's pizza, which I wish was still a thing anywhere near me. I'm kinda nerding out that Brian mentioned a place I've been to that one time randomly in The Story.
Anyway, I read on.
Edit: Oh, ok it was pretty much done after the Sheldon bit. That was short in comparison to that time we heard about how Brian lost his virginity... Also somehow more depressing. I'm pretty much with Brian though. The B1G East imploding during fall camp has really dampened my spirits.
August 27th, 2018 at 2:30 PM ^
This is a dark entry in the pantheon of annual season previews, and somewhat concerning to me because it might presage a different type of season coverage that the Mgoblog faithful (me anyway) have frenzied over in the days of yore. If Brian's 'opening kickoff' is this bleak, will there be the usual effort put into weekly analysis, UFRs, technical film breakdowns, and the like? One hopes, but the reality for anyone is that it is insanely difficult to fully invest in a task that one does not deeply enjoy.
Ultimately, it is Brian's blog to do with it what he will. And we all read it for free (hello, though, Beveled Guilt) and aren't really in a position to complaint about content one way or the other. But this place sure feels different, not just because of the new website, and this piece seems to confirm it.
August 27th, 2018 at 2:34 PM ^
I've lived in Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, New Jersey, and DC (work takes me to a lot of different places). Living in Wisconsin and Iowa I couldn't help but root for the Badgers and Hawkeyes, because the programs are clean and the fans are good-hearted and passionate. In NJ and DC I never heard about Maryland or Rutgers and never once felt the desire to see their football teams play, let alone win. The gap between the clean and storied programs with the new-blood bottom feeders could not be more stark.
August 27th, 2018 at 2:39 PM ^
Went to the RR night game in Iowa City. One of my fav Gameday experiences. Buddy and I left KC early in the morning and arrived around noon. Ate and drank all day and walked up the hill with everyone else for the game. A nice fellow sold us each a $1 bud light from a case he was carrying. It was a great day.
Good article Brian, hopefully Michigan wins a lot and also rescues a bunch of puppies or something during the year to chear you up.
August 27th, 2018 at 2:40 PM ^
I guess the question is: 'how SHOULD you feel about the upcoming season?'
It's not for Brian, me or anyone else to tell you that. Sure, the winged helmet still has some shine (matte finish notwithstanding), so we'll win more games than we lose. I'll still watch games and enjoy wins in the moment.
I think we as an institution are mostly above the curve when it comes to trying to play by the rules. We try to have our cake, by being a program that's usually In The Conversation, and eat it too, by not shamelessly debasing ourselves to win at all costs. We've had mixed results on both counts but we've acted more often than not when necessarily to correct the course, as opposed to completely surrendering any pretense of conscience like most of the rest of the B1G East.
Should this track record elicit strident cheers or a qualified "yeah, but..."? I don't know.
August 27th, 2018 at 2:42 PM ^
The interesting thing about Iowa is that they always had unbelievable levels of fans support and loyalty, even well before Hayden Fry showed up in 1979 with emblematic Pittsburgh Steeler-like uniforms, "tiger hawk" helmet logos and standing tight ends at the line of scrimmage.
When Fry showed up, he watched game films of the Michigan State-Iowa game of the prior year. Iowa got blasted off the field 7-42 by the Spartans. But to the final seconds Kinnick Stadium was still jammed packed with hollering fans, supporting the team.
And this was for a 2-8 Iowa football team that was going to definitely fire its head football coach, Bobby Commings.
"There is just tremendous fan support here!" was one of Fry's first press conference remarks.
When Rick Leach-led Michigan blanked Iowa 34-0 in Kinnick earlier in 1978, Bo Schembechler stated post-game "The Iowa defense is actually very good. Their main problem is that their offense doesn't move the ball."
The other interesting thing is Iowa and Michigan's tangled history with ADs and coaches - like Forest Evashevski, who played with Tom Harmon at Michigan and of course Bump Elliott who left Michigan HC position in 1968 to become the Iowa athletic director.
When my family moved from Michigan to Iowa in 1979, one of the first things I noticed was how Iowans in the country will wave to you as they drive past you on the road or at intersections, even if they don't know who the hell you really are. Nice people with manners.
August 27th, 2018 at 2:46 PM ^
Just one time I’d like someone who is in charge of things to do the right thing, speak the truth and take a stand. Delaney, Hollis, Dantonio, Engler, Simon, Smith (G&Z), Drake, Meyer, JoePa, Durkin, etc. The List could go on and on and on. Money and Power continue to corrupt our sport. So I get Brian’s take.
However, I watched these kids travel to Europe like a family, bust ass for their coach and teammates, and prepare for a season that they can’t wait to play. I’m 100% in for them, and for the good that’s left in the sport!
Go Blue. To Hell with Notre Dame.
August 27th, 2018 at 2:55 PM ^
And of course, Michigan doesn't even play Iowa this year.
Fuck you very much, Jim Delaney.
August 27th, 2018 at 2:56 PM ^
Thank you. Very nice "Ode to Kinnick". It is a very nice building, for the reasons you named. It is not as great as some other stadiums in our conference, but we describe stadiums differently than office buildings. In other words, stadiums are more PLACES than they are buildings, and the people and context that a stadium contains and is contained in are as relevant as the bricks and mortar.
Kinnick is a very nice building, but it is a truly great place, because the surrounding location is in perfect harmony with the feeling inside, and because the fans are really outstanding - knowledgeable, prideful, and passionate without being idiotic douchebags like the ones in Columbus and East Lansing.
A stadium is truly the sum of much more than it's physical parts - and Kinnick is one of the best.
August 27th, 2018 at 3:00 PM ^
Thank you, Brian. Among the many pleasures of MGoBlog is that it does more than reports on rosters and odds, and it's much more important than WOO! BEAT THEM ASSHOLES!
You dig deep, and you write well.
While this piece is unsettling, it captures the bone-deep satisfaction of rooting for Michigan AND awareness of hot spots of concern all around us. It's like fighting forest fires. That's what I did to put myself through Michigan, and it too combined palpable satisfaction and a wary eye out for the dangers all around.
I do trust the people in charge are in charge not just because they're in charge, but because they're savvy and capable, starting with President Schlissel and AD Manuel.
So fingers crossed, and Go Blue!
August 27th, 2018 at 3:01 PM ^
Yes Brian, the offseasons has been pretty bleak, but hope springs eternal.
Have an adult beverage, take a deep breath. Everything will be ok.
Regarding Iowa fans...2nd best fans in the Big...right behind (most of) ours.
August 27th, 2018 at 3:03 PM ^
Regarding U of Michigan college football, the last sportsball thing I devote any time to, this season may be my last. The reasons are those items discussed in this piece plus the whole concussion risk thing. Phewww, at least I can just walk away and carve out another 12 or so half Saturdays a year. If I had a family supporting blog devoted to Michigan college football, I would be more upset about that option.
The writing about the beautiful snow reminded me very much of a moment I experienced on top of Madera Peak in southern Yosemite NP. I was alone and enjoyed watching a star filled night change to dawn and then to morning. It was amazingly beautiful. I thought how nice this was compared to all this negative work stress I was dealing with at that time. I realized that this takes place up there every morning whether or not I’m there. I try to remember that beautiful sunrise happened up there this morning and will be happening tomorrow morning too. The stresses and evils of this world can’t change that.
August 27th, 2018 at 3:12 PM ^
It's been 20 years since the publication of Elwood Reid's "If I Don't Six."
On page 19, our hero describes being recruited by Boston College, and not believing the hype: "I start to wonder how come they manage to lose a handful of games every year to shitbird teams like Rutgers and Maryland."
August 27th, 2018 at 3:22 PM ^
Looking at that photo of McNair's parents break my heart. Probably one of the proudest moments of their lives and that happens. Absolutely heart breaking.
August 27th, 2018 at 3:26 PM ^
Brian,
Make sure you take care of yourself this season. You sound a little depressed. Don’t let that get out of control.
August 27th, 2018 at 3:44 PM ^
I liked this better than Kylie to Korn. Good stuff. Cheer up, Brian. The prospering of evil men is nothing new. Things are gradually getting better in just about all fields of human endeavor, and I'm sure sports will keep slowly improving too.
August 27th, 2018 at 5:44 PM ^
What evidence do you have that "things are getting better in just about all fields of human endeavor?"
August 27th, 2018 at 5:57 PM ^
There is a good deal of evidence around this. Here are some places to start.
https://ourworldindata.org/a-history-of-global-living-conditions-in-5-charts
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/02/four-charts-that-bill-gates-loves
August 27th, 2018 at 4:16 PM ^
My read:
Brian is about to turn 40, feels (professionally) unfulfilled and currently doesn't like his job as much as he used to. ;) Most of us go through this phase. It will pass if you let it.
I like Iowa fans as well. For a few years I went without cable/satellite and watched all of Michigan's games at a sports bar. It happened to be an official Iowa alumni watching bar. The Iowa fans were enthusiastic, polite and informed. They were some of the most sober fans I have ever met. By that I don't mean they didn't drink but rather their assessment of their own team was remarkably reasoned and well measured. There was very little homerism or fatalism. They would give you an honest and accurate appraisal of their team.
August 27th, 2018 at 5:08 PM ^
And new to BHGP, staff writer/editor Brian Cook!
August 27th, 2018 at 5:28 PM ^
From the ridiculous to the sublime. College football is hanging by a thread, but it's a mighty fine, maize-colored thread. I just need one miracle season to hang on to, for when all the rest of the manure inevitably hits the fan.
August 27th, 2018 at 5:41 PM ^
beautifully written.
not to blow smoke, but david foster wallace would tip his hat.
August 27th, 2018 at 5:46 PM ^
I feel pretty much like Brian does if you were to add in an impossibly illogical burning desire to fix college football by destroying our enemies cleanly and without corruption, rape, molestation, domestic violence, lying, coverups, lawyers, trustees and corrupt complicit conference officials because for some really naive reason I think it would help.
August 27th, 2018 at 5:47 PM ^
Good read. Man. Do I miss College Football. Can’t stomach the MLB because it’s atrocious, and can only watch the Michigan game each week. Where have you gone Keith Jackson?
August 27th, 2018 at 6:08 PM ^
The Brands Bros. are from Sheldon.
In regard to the OP, Iowa is sitting four starters Saturday. Three for getting loaded downtown on a summer night (one jumped in a cop car, said Home James, because he thought it was his Uber), one we don't know why (probably missing class).
Anyway, Brian Ferentz said, "This is entirely of our own making. You don't get out of jail on Thursday and play on Saturday, and play football in Iowa City." The nifty thing about that was it simultaneously pointed at Iowa State and MSU (Rucker, a few years ago), where they really were in jail on Thursday and played on Saturday.
I took a client to a Buckeye home game and we were in the expensive, 45 yard-line area. Only time I was ever threatened physically at a college football game (Iowa almost won). Won't go back. Wasn't threatened at State College, had the sensation I was in a stadium filled with 110,000 cultists. Won't go back.
Minnesota is a great road trip and a great stadium. Incredibly comfortable and pleasant. They chant "We hate Iowa" but they don't really mean it; after all, the opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference.
August 27th, 2018 at 6:09 PM ^
Brian is getting older, snarkier, and ornier every day. It's quite evident on the podcasts where all he says are sarcastic comments about how awful something is and terrible jokes. He's turning into an old man yelling at clouds.
August 27th, 2018 at 7:38 PM ^
Go watch D III football. Paying players is not the answer.
August 27th, 2018 at 8:10 PM ^
Can’t blame Brian for his view of the program. Feels like this season is the last gasp of Michigan football. The only thing Michigan is really good at is finding a way to underachieve. Beat OSU this season and the program will have new life and a bright future. Lose to OSU as usual and it feels like the final nail in the coffin.
August 27th, 2018 at 9:33 PM ^
Well written, but I still hate Iowa.
August 27th, 2018 at 10:03 PM ^
Brian - The Story was one of the increasingly sparse pieces I had always looked forward to reading annually. You lost me on this one. When Michigan fans at work or old college buddies reconnect this week to talk about football they certainly won't have any wind from this piece in their Maize n Blue sails. You write about Iowa as if you'd be happier there or as if their fans are happier than ours. "Maybe we could get back to that"?? As if Michigan doesn't have it's own only-in-college traditions! Come on! If you are that upset about the state of things just do something else that makes you happy, man. Life is too short. Alternate column themes could have been Michigan as the lone bright spot in a conference full of immorals. Something to be proud of, to claim allegiance to. You could have talked about all the players and coaches we got to know through the Amazon series. Tim Drevno leaving. Shea Patterson coming. Grant Newsome. Anything. If college football should be about more than just winning and money, then talk about those other things! Instead of hypocritically lamenting your team isn't winning enough. Even wins from 2011 you find a way to complain about. Sorry you're having such a tough time.
August 28th, 2018 at 7:34 AM ^
This was beautiful. Onions being cut everywhere around me...
August 28th, 2018 at 9:56 AM ^
100% with Brian on this.....well, maybe not so much the Iowa part.
But Michigan keeps chronically underachieving, chronically losing to our rivals, chronically falling on our face in bowls. Meanwhile the conference itself festers with evil, our loathsome rivals literally shove aside morality while succeeding on the field at everything, and now there are kids dying because other teams are trying to match what our rivals do.
It's soul-crushing. The display by Michigan on the field last year combined with the off-the-field immorality play during the offseason by everyone this year has completely ended what I used to feel for the maize and blue. What's the point when it's going to end exactly like it has every other year except for Hoke's Horseshoe - Sparties and Buckeyes celebrating over the bodies of abused women, Alabama hoisting a trophy, and Michigan embarrassed again.
August 28th, 2018 at 10:51 AM ^
Respectfully Brian, you need to get into some serious meditation or something. It's just football. I know it was an important part of your life and that you write about it, but that's all it is. Football.
If you really want to, you can go all zen about everything, but you don't have to. Just go zen (or whatever) about football. Once you realize that this too shall pass, then everything becomes clearer.
Michigan football isn't perfect, but it can be a lot of fun. Iowa's fabulous. You can seek to change the corruption that plagues college football without bitterness and weather Urban Meyer and Joe Paterno, etc. with aplomb. You can write about the joy of football again. My two cents fwiw. Don't worry, nobody listens to me , not even my dog. ;-)
August 28th, 2018 at 1:10 PM ^
Thanks for this, Brian. I'm not going to be surprised if this is the season that breaks me. I'm not excited. I'm not proud. I'm not comfortable. I don't like this that much anymore, and I'm a person who was born and raised in Michigan Stadium. The question "which games are you going to this year?" elicited a halfhearted shrug.
And when Harbaugh punted on the Durkin question, all I could think was "well, if Leaders and Best apparently doesn't mean that much to anyone anymore, why do we do this?"
For me, "The Story" seems mostly written. And it's sad.
September 1st, 2018 at 8:01 PM ^
Bye, Felicia
August 28th, 2018 at 4:08 PM ^
Good post. Just now getting around to reading it. Much malaise toward football these days. The NFL sucks and I only half watch it because the stupid concept of fantasy football...which is lame but I hope to win money.
I'll be in the mountains of Colorado for the opening weekend and in years past this would disappoint me but even though I'm going to try and get to see some of the game I'm really excited to be away from normal society and be out West hopefully having a good time. I care but don't care near as much as years past what the outcome ends up being Saturday evening.
August 28th, 2018 at 10:18 PM ^
Jesus Brian your attitude fucking sucks sometimes. Stop writing off the OSU game as a loss....
We have a shot to win every single game on that schedule. This is the best we've looked talent-wise since maybe 2006. Stop shitting on the team as some doomed mediocrity, before they even get out of the gate.
August 29th, 2018 at 9:30 AM ^
Agreed, we're supposed to feel good going into a new season, not be talking about how we're going to lose 3 games before any games have even been played. I get losing to OSU continually sucks and I don't enjoy the week of that game anymore and won't until we win more, but to have this attitude is just nuts.
August 29th, 2018 at 9:15 PM ^
I'd agree with you if I hadn't read that Offensive Tackle preview post.
August 28th, 2018 at 10:27 PM ^
You're upset because he didn't pile on Durkin??? Give me a break. I know not a lot of people don't want to hear this, but that shit that happened had NOTHING to do with Harbaugh.
He doesn't owe a fucking explanation. It's not his problem. It didn't happen under Jim, and I'd be shocked if something so stupid ever did.
You think Durkin is the first "bully" coach at Michigan??? You don't think they existed under Lloyd or Bo?
This melodramatic moral high-horse shit is too much. I'm not defending what Durkin did, but this whole guilt by association bend is bullshit. The bitching and whining is getting to be too much.
August 29th, 2018 at 9:31 AM ^
Well said, thank you
August 29th, 2018 at 9:24 AM ^
What is this, Depression Blog?
August 29th, 2018 at 7:55 PM ^
Me: man, today’s been rough telling a couple of people their kids have cancer. I need a break, I’ll check MGoBlog, surely today can’t get any more depressing.
Brian: Hold my beer.
August 29th, 2018 at 9:09 PM ^
They can shut down the blog now. It will never get better than this.
August 29th, 2018 at 9:14 PM ^
Hell, man, I'd trade the "All-time winning percentage" and "All-time wins" numbers, the stadium, and half a dozen other things Michigan fans revere to have one freaking game where we lay it on OSU 55-24.
August 29th, 2018 at 11:37 PM ^
I look forward to every season's 'The Story' post almost as much as I look forward to the season itself. This one did not disappoint. Well done, Brian.
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