EGD's Michigan Football Preview - 2014 [Fixed]
Okay, so back in like 788 (or maybe 1998, I don't know, it's been a long time) I started writing my own little annual football preview. Back then, there was no paper (or maybe it was just a fledgling internet--again, the details are hazy) so I had to scrawl the preview out on cave walls and sleeve tattoos. Over time, creating the preview became progressively easier with important technological advances like Proto-Indo-European, cuneiform, and the Commodore 64. By now, of course, I am just plain soft.
Thing is, I almost couldn't muster the motivation to do a 2014 edition, having been thoroughly demoralized by the latter half of last season. But it's been written that "Hoke springs eternal," and plus we have this guy named Jabrill, so I've been slowy crawling back into the spirit. And yeah--click the photo below for this year's edition. A couple warnings before you click: (1) the document contains some mild political content, so if some left-coast grumbling about a handful of SCOTUS decisions from the past 60 years is going to bother you, it might be best to skip the first couple pages; (2) actually, (1) was the only warning. Hope you dig.
[Edit: some people reported problems accessing the document from the original link; here is an alternative one to try: LINK; I hope this solves the problem but I will check back in a while to see how things are going with it.]
[Edit #2: Okay, I created the document on my MacBook and had no issues with it, but when I came to my office and tried downloading it my office PC I observed the same problem others have reported. Fortunately, the alternative link worked. So I have replaced the original link with the new link, and believe the problem has been solved. Again, I apologize for inconveniencing many of you. Thanks for being willing to try again.]
August 27th, 2014 at 10:42 AM ^
my (admittedly shitty) work computer tells me that the document is corrupted and i am not permitted to open it.
August 27th, 2014 at 10:52 AM ^
I got the same error, and my work computer is decidedly not shitty (one of the perks of being in IT).
August 27th, 2014 at 10:47 AM ^
I do have a PC but it generally gets the job done
August 27th, 2014 at 10:48 AM ^
One click...
....two clicks...
...oh, nevermind
August 27th, 2014 at 10:50 AM ^
Acrobat: There was an error opening this document. The file is damaged and could not be repaired.
August 27th, 2014 at 11:43 AM ^
New link fixed it for me. Thanks!
August 27th, 2014 at 12:47 PM ^
Thanks for giving it another shot.
August 27th, 2014 at 11:07 AM ^
No trouble opening the file, but you're predicting that Michigan will play in the United States Capitol One Bowl? There are so many new bowls, it's hard to keep track, but I think you meant to say Capital One aka Citrus Bowl.
/thatguy
August 27th, 2014 at 10:59 AM ^
August 27th, 2014 at 11:01 AM ^
I had no problem downloading. Now, of course my computer is probably hacked by EGD.
PSK - DD
August 27th, 2014 at 11:07 AM ^
You're hosting a file to download? Lol I would upload it to a site and let people read from their browser if I were you
August 27th, 2014 at 11:07 AM ^
"Access Denied"
Not surprised one bit.
August 27th, 2014 at 11:45 AM ^
Ditto
August 27th, 2014 at 11:09 AM ^
I am on an HP latptop running Windows 8 (sort of), and I had no issues downloading and opening the PDF. Of course, the settings on the corporate firewall have been pretty lax since they opened us up to social media and even streaming video, so I don't know if other people are having permissions issues or not.
I went to the game prediction section first admittedly - the Miami (OH) one gave me a chuckle. I didn't realize that they'd only lost one of their games by only 1 TD. You have to wonder if there was simply a miscommunication and Treadwell just didn't specify where the "end zone" in fact was.
August 27th, 2014 at 11:34 AM ^
Damn. I am sorry that folks are having trouble accessing the document.
I uploaded it to a different file-sharing site, as I am hoping the problem occurred with FileSnack and not with my original document. If you want to give that a shot, try HERE.
I am not sure how to uplad the document to a website (as Carlos S.W. suggested) without toally destroying the formatting, but I can look into that later today if necessary.
August 27th, 2014 at 11:45 AM ^
Kudos for the work sir. 24 pages = that's serious time input.
August 27th, 2014 at 12:49 PM ^
Some of those pages are even about football!
August 27th, 2014 at 12:08 PM ^
I didn't read the whole thing, but I think I might. The formatting would be better as a standard blog for ease of reading. Really liked the analysis of the Lacy run. Keep up the good work!
August 27th, 2014 at 12:50 PM ^
Yeah, especially after this year's technical glitches I may want to do it differently next year.
August 27th, 2014 at 12:13 PM ^
I enjoyed that read. It had enough technical stuff that I got some insight into the nutz-n-boltz of what UM will be doing in 2014 without the extruciating detail that is often favored by some on this site which just makes my eyes glaze over.
Two questions:
1) What is the rule change you mentioned in your Indiana prediction that "may slow the Hoosiers somewhat"?
2) Is that Cloud Giant Neutral Evil or Neutral Good? (Bonus question: Any other DnD-ers wonder why Cloud Giants were the only giant type that had variable alignment?)
August 27th, 2014 at 12:55 PM ^
There had been an NCAA proposal to require at least 10 seconds to run off the play-clock before the ball could be snapped; I was under the impression that some version of that rule had been adopted--but not it appears the proposal was withdrawn: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2014/03/05/college-football-rules-committee-pace-of-play/6036617/
Oops.
Obviously, Michigan only recruits Lawful Good cloud giants; the Chaotic Evil ones go to Ohio State.
August 27th, 2014 at 12:17 PM ^
August 27th, 2014 at 12:56 PM ^
Mahal kita, Boots.
August 27th, 2014 at 12:28 PM ^
My hat's off to EGD for this. Clearly a labor of love, and a helluva read.
August 27th, 2014 at 12:29 PM ^
Great write up, although I don't have time to read the entire thing either. As a non-technical guy, I did appreciate the breakdown of how Inside Zone is supposed to work.
Thanks!
August 27th, 2014 at 3:04 PM ^
So, I distinctly saw today, at some point, on the freep, an article entitled something like:
Sports writer picks Michigan for college football playoff.
The person was unnamed, and the article was a train wreck in terms of format.
Did anyone else see this?
August 27th, 2014 at 6:04 PM ^
Read this earlier while I ate lunch (work too much) and REALLY enjoyed it. Nice synthesis of analysis and entertainment. Also, quite the curveball in the one turtley prediction!
August 27th, 2014 at 7:22 PM ^
I loved the background on Nussmeier, as well as the IZ breakdown and the over/under comparison.
I did not like the elaborate SCOTUS opening. It was fine for a paragraph or two, but then it was just too long for a football preview.
Despite that niggling flaw, this is an amazing piece of free content for which I am very grateful. +1 to you, sir.
August 27th, 2014 at 8:13 PM ^