Unverified Voracity Can't Get Jinxed This Time Comment Count

Brian

Liveblog update. I think we've found a much more reasonably-priced liveblog solution. We're taking a test drive at around noon Monday if you want to stop in, check it out, and ask a question about Will Campbell I can't really answer.

Hopefully this works out better than the last one. Denard is one of SI's 62 regional covers:

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Hey, I wonder how Michigan did the last time they featured on one of SI's 64 regional covers?

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Yipes. At least if they lose their opener this time no one is going to set the world on fire.

The Burzynski hypothesis. Joey Burzynski on his developing all-time beard:

"Facial hair goes in 150-year cycles," he says. "This was popular in the Civil War, and it should be coming back right about now I think."

And Mealer talking about… well, I'm going to pretend he's talking about their beard rivalry instead of their competition for starting LG:

"Joey's great," Mealer said. "He pushes me to get better and I hope I push him to get better."

Yeah, man, yeah. Follicles.

Wormley ACL bits. Chris Wormley's torn ACL is suboptimal but I don't think it'll be much of an issue either this year or down the road. Wormley was behind definitely Roh and probably Nate Brink, and Tom Strobel is a pretty big dude himself. If Wormley ended up being the #2 three-tech—vaguely possible—then Michigan has picked up a downgrade, but again, Matt Godin is already big enough to be an okay rotation player if Washington or Wilkins don't step up.

As for the injury itself, it's reportedly just a plain ACL tear with none of the assorted meniscus/PCL issues that are not fun. It just so happens I had a plain ol' ACL tear and am coming through rehab as we speak. Wormley will be on crutches for a month and then will start rebuilding his strength; he'll probably be limited or out for spring practice but by this time next year he should be good as new.

Meanwhile in Lansing injuries. Aaron Burbridge's rumored knee thing is now just a knee thing; he's out six weeks and will likely redshirt as a result. Meanwhile, starting LG Blake Treadwell has a stress fracture and will be out four or five weeks at least—hairline leg fractures can linger, especially when you're an unnaturally large human.

Hype that Bellomy. Russell Bellomy is coming in for a wide sampling of hype now, which makes sense what with Devin Gardner looking more and more like a wide receiver. Do you buy it? I dunno, man. Bellomy looked better than Gardner in the spring game but he was mostly dinking and dunking.

It doesn't really matter, does it? I mean, we're boned if Robinson goes down for an extended period of time either way. Carry on.

How did this happen? Tom Crean pulled a Les Miles yesterday as Indiana told 2012 recruit Ron Patterson that he wouldn't actually be enrolling at Indiana… after he had already enrolled at Indiana. He is eligible to transfer to another four year school immediately—he's eligible in the NCAA's eyes. Indiana had 14 players for 13 scholarships.

Q: isn't that against Big Ten rules? IIRC, if you don't have a spot for a player you have to explain where you're getting it before the Big Ten will allow you to go over. That reason could not have been "we will let this guy take some classes and then tell him to talk to the hand halfway through August despite being through the NCAA clearinghouse." How did Crean get this through?

Anyway, that's some dirt Indiana just did. They took a guy who was eligible, put him in classes, and then dumped him two weeks before fall classes start most places. Dwight Schrute, I am disappoint.

Etc.: Yahoo ranks Michigan #6; Pre-Snap Read goes with #18. I like reading previews just to see how many fanciful assertions each makes as someone with only a passing familiarity with the team in question tries to say stuff about guys on the line. Steve Sapardanis on Billy Taylor's shoes. Yeah, Pro Combat's a pretty dumb name for amateur non-combat. Maize and Go Blue breaks down some of Denard's mechanical issues.

Comments

mgordoblue

August 16th, 2012 at 2:27 PM ^

Dear Sir,

I wish to complain in the strongest possible terms about the song you have just broadcast about the lumberjack who wears women's clothes. Some of my best friends are lumberjacks and only a few of them are transvestites.

Yours Faithfully,

Brigadier Sir Charles Arthur Strong (MRS.)

PS: I have never kissed the editor of the radio times.

Erik_in_Dayton

August 16th, 2012 at 1:29 PM ^

I believe that Denard is saved by the question mark.  SI does not implicitly say, "Denard is awesome," which I think has been the fundamental cause of the jinx for athletes (rather than simply appearing on the cover in any context).  I don't study metaphysics professionally, but I'm pretty sure that an interrogative utterance cannot cause a jinx.  I believe Godel showed that in one of his...proof-thingys.  

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

August 16th, 2012 at 1:27 PM ^

 

And when this is pointed out to people, some of them will guffaw and say, "Well, by golly, the kids like it!" Because I guess critical thinking should be shelved on behalf of the whims and tastes of testosterone-addled 18-22 year old boys.

Halle-MFin-lujah.

 

elm

August 16th, 2012 at 1:29 PM ^

I've heard of the long cycle theory of war, but never the long cycle theory of facial hair.  I wonder what the causal mechanism is that explains why it takes 150 years for a beard style to come back into fashion.

MosherJordan

August 16th, 2012 at 1:37 PM ^

Based on last year, and his general reputation for drawing up plays, I'm going to say we see a QB-trips formation this year, with Bellomey under center, and Denard and Gardner lined up in the slot and on the outside, respectively. Between flea flickers, HB pass, and reverse and double reverse options that could all at any point be runs or throws, you'll put opposing secondaries into eplileptic shock.

WolvinLA2

August 16th, 2012 at 2:02 PM ^

Just that there are a lot.

Looking at that 2007 cover, we beat the preseason #3 team in our bowl game, so that's cool. Weird seeing Louisville up that high, too.

EDIT: Props to USC, LSU, Wisco, WVU and OKlahoma for making the top 10 in 2007 and 2012. Un-props to SI for mistakenly tacking the St. at the end of our name.

UMaD

August 16th, 2012 at 1:46 PM ^

We may lose to the toughest teams without Denard, but if the backup QB can't produce we might also lose to someone like Iowa or Northwestern too.  These are season-altering scenarios.

I think the notion that the staff is hyping Bellomy IS due in part to Gardner's partial-move to WR and their reluctance to call it a full-time change is there because Gardner's still the best option.

chunkums

August 16th, 2012 at 1:50 PM ^

I feel like the Wormley issue is bigger than you think. Physically, he is going to miss out on a year of college S/C training at least at full strength. The dude probably needs to get stronger, and I'm guessing he will miss out on some squats and cleans in order to rest.

WolvinLA2

August 16th, 2012 at 2:05 PM ^

Not just S&C, but a full season worth of practice reps too. Young guys need as much work on technique as they do in the weight room, and Wormley will miss out on both. This will certainly put him behind where he would have been in 2013 even if he's fully recovered by then.

biakabutoucan_sam

August 16th, 2012 at 1:56 PM ^

I think that Megatron (Madden) and Denard (SI) can combine to form the double-jinx jinx-killer.

Because I find it very hard to eat, work, and continue to exist in a perpetual fetal position.

His Dudeness

August 16th, 2012 at 1:57 PM ^

I am not sure what a Giant Step means? Statistically speaking he wasn't as dominant... although he did win more games... but shouldn't that be on the team getting better since individually he got statistically worse? I hate SI headlines. Make a play on words based on the picture and who gives a shit if it makes no sense and drives His Dudeness crazy.

IncrediblySTIFF

August 16th, 2012 at 2:13 PM ^

I read a newspaper article in the Herald Times (Bloomington news) that Patterson was academically ineligeble.  Unfortunately the online version is behind a paywall.  From what I understand, he was taking classes in order to meet the requirements to enroll at IU, and did not complete them.

Brayden09

August 16th, 2012 at 2:54 PM ^

Comparing Bellomy and Gardner at the spring game scares the hell outta me.From what i saw Bellomy looked much more comfortable and confident than Gardner. Gardner looks as if he is shot putting passes into coverage with his eyes closed most of the time. He clearly lacks the confidence as a passer from the pocket and has proven he has questionable decision making skills when on the run ie the msu pass from 8 yds past the line of scrimmage.

Fort Wayne Blue

August 16th, 2012 at 3:03 PM ^

So I was talking with my cousin, who's a HUGE Hoosier fan. He's saying that Patterson was enrolled in a "pre-school" probation type class schedule this summer, and he didn't pass from that.

He also said that the plan was, if Ron passed, that a couple of the seniors (Hulls or Elston) would have paid their own ways; seeing as they have already graduated. Thus 14/13 would be 13/13 ....... 

Also, sidenote: like every player at IU is graduating in 3 years ..... and rumor is that Cody Zeller is on schedule to graduate in 2 years(!)......

OmarDontScare

August 16th, 2012 at 3:15 PM ^

Question: Anyone have a link to that recruiting video where Gardner is playing WR? Would love to have a look at that.

jlvanals

August 16th, 2012 at 4:46 PM ^

Brian,

As an Indiana grad and lifelong IU fan, I just wanted to thank you for being the only major media personality I follow to point out how shady our university has been in dealing with Ron Patterson and how he probably got screwed.  Tom Crean has been oversigned in that class for months and no one knew how it would get "resolved" until, with 5 days until the deadline, Patterson purportedly got a C- when he needed a C in summer school to gain admission to IU.  I always thought IU fans were a cut above other sports factories, especially after our long cold winter following the Sampson debaucle, but I was dead wrong.  Almost every IU fan I know is taking the same "basic inferences = baseless speculation" tactic that still plagues both the OSU and Penn State fan bases.  



That kid hopped on the IU bandwagon in 2010 when no one wanted to come here and to now have him leave in this way is sickening.  I don't think it is a coincidence that he was our lowest ranked recruit in his class as well (suppose someone could argue for Jurkin, but he plays a position of need, so relatively his worth basketball wise is higher).  Anyway, I wish this would get more coverage because Tom Crean is going to do the same thing next year and we'll again be in a position where we have to hope a recruit or one of the kids on the team screws up.  And that is unacceptable to me, at least.  I'm half expecting IU fans to come off peegs to flame me here too, but I'm glad that someone else thinks this whole situation stinks.