First & 17 Twitter Chat (Da'Shawn Hand)
Most readers are up to speed on all Da'Shawn Hand related news. With that said, I wanted to mention that there is a live chat on Twitter with Mike Farrell of Rivals and Brad Horn of the Washington Post. Brad is the journalist behind First and 17 and has worked closely all season with Da'Shawn.
Here is the Washington Post article discussing the chat and the Twitter Link:
https://twitter.com/firstand17/status/400297083376107520
As a diehard Michigan fan born with maize and blue blood, I hope we receive the news we want this week!
If you gotta go.... Go blue!
Kelly Lytle
November 13th, 2013 at 8:41 AM ^
November 13th, 2013 at 9:11 AM ^
Apologize for the confusion. Updated the post.
November 13th, 2013 at 8:52 AM ^
I've been so out of it with a baby on the way that I forgot he was making his decision on Thursday. It is tomorrow, right?
(Edit: Nevermind, I see it's noon, Thursday)
November 13th, 2013 at 9:11 AM ^
I see you "Let Me Google That For You'd" yourself...
November 13th, 2013 at 9:33 AM ^
November 13th, 2013 at 8:51 AM ^
So, let's handicap this decision. 65/35 Michigan? 60/40? I know you Chicken Little's don't give us a chance at all, but 2 losses matter way more to us than a recruit. Besides, we were expected to be 8-4 this year. And Mattison is not on the hot seat at all. Realistically, neither is Hoke, unless we regress again next year. Which I don't think will happen.
November 13th, 2013 at 8:55 AM ^
...and how he wouldn't let that affect his decision. Since it's on the Freep, I don't want to rile people up by posting a link to it. But it's there if you'd like to read it. The quotes are from Mike Farrell, not Hand.
November 13th, 2013 at 9:25 AM ^
To add to the optimism, before you scroll down to the negatives, every single person to do their Crystal Ball on 247 this month has picked Michigan, including JC Shurburtt (the director at 247) switching from Bama to Michigan. It sounds like, to me, there is just a lot of smoke out there. Gun to my head, house on the line, I'd pick Michigan, but I wouldn't be very confident.
November 13th, 2013 at 9:28 AM ^
Who's "we?" Was that your prediction? I'm a pessimist, and I had us at 9-3.
Both the preseason ESPN and AP polls put Michigan at #17, and that doesn't correspond to a finish of 8-4.
In terms of MGoBlog predictions, the predictions in this thread are representative of the predictions here: the large majority were in the 9- to 10-win range.
http://mgoblog.com/diaries/reading-tea-leaves-2013#comments
On top of all that, how many people were predicting that we'd barely escape with a victory at home against Akron and on the road against a UConn team that hasn't won a damn game all season? That we haven't been able to run the ball all season long, and that we'd crap the bed on the road at an "undermanned" Penn State squad? That we'd look so shitty by late season that we're an underdog to a Northwestern squad decimated by injuries and winless in the conference?
November 13th, 2013 at 9:37 AM ^
We were decidedly more optimistic than the mainstream media. We are two plays from being 8-1. Conversely, we are two drives from being 4-5. Such is life. Were we 8-1, and had scrapped through the two winnable games, would your opinion of our team be much different?
Despite the doom and gloom on these boards, our team has a bright future. It's hard for fans to look to the future when the present sucks so bad, but looking objectively. Our DC is solid. Our recruiting is solid. Our question mark is the offense, which is going to be greatly improving, simply due to an influx of talent at most positions.
November 13th, 2013 at 10:37 AM ^
Nobody could have predicted that we would be rushing for negative yards in November, but if you ask me the problem we have is obvious. Our coaching staff isn't doing their job right. This is unnacceptable. We have digressed as a team in the last 3 years. Al Borges and Darell Funk must go. Hoke needs to realize the offense is what's holding the team back, and his lack of adjustments during the game.
November 13th, 2013 at 9:03 AM ^
The MGoBoard erupted with goodwill and flowers for every man. The poor gardener the next morning had a very tough job.
It was a weird dream.
November 13th, 2013 at 9:12 AM ^
No, you did not have that dream.
November 13th, 2013 at 9:45 AM ^
...I did not have that dream...
November 13th, 2013 at 9:35 AM ^
November 13th, 2013 at 9:09 AM ^
Hand's father told Webb directly that academics is not the only factor in the decision; the current stature/success of the program will also play a role.
Sam also said that the Hand family doesn't regard the academic differences between Alabama and Michigan to be all that significant.
Taking all this into account, I still think that Alabama leads over Michigan now, and that Florida is really the long shot.
November 13th, 2013 at 9:14 AM ^
I must say that I agree Alabama is the favorite. That program is winning national titles and Michigan hasn't won a damned BIG TEN title since 2004.
November 13th, 2013 at 9:14 AM ^
That's... pretty damning if true. Let's hope it is a smokescreen. But it runs counter to what the Freep has stated about Michigan's record not being an issue.
November 13th, 2013 at 9:17 AM ^
November 13th, 2013 at 9:18 AM ^
November 13th, 2013 at 9:18 AM ^
Sam's recruiting roundup this morning just sounded like he was setting UM fans up for the disappointment tomorrow. The part about academics not being the only factor, he said don't read too much, but read a little into the fact that he wasn't going to be at Hand's announcement, like he was at Green's. It just sounded negative overall.
November 13th, 2013 at 9:28 AM ^
November 13th, 2013 at 9:33 AM ^
November 13th, 2013 at 10:16 AM ^
Sam tried to assert that his non-attendance didn't mean anything one way or the other, but my reaction when I heard him say that was that he can't justify his employer spending the money to send him down to VA because the odds don't look good right now.
Hand's been close-mouthed enough throughout the process that nobody outside the family truly knows what he's going to do, but all of this is why I think we're the underdog now, regardless of the fact we were leading for him earlier in the year.
November 13th, 2013 at 9:20 AM ^
Can you provide a link or is it $?
Sounds like dad is applying pressure. Wonder if Da'Shawn agrees? It's always possible (albeit very unlikely) for the kid to disagree with the parent. I'll be cautiously optimistic while I take my reality pills.
November 13th, 2013 at 9:40 AM ^
That's not indicated by anything Sam has reported. In fact, Webb reiterated this morning that his father's stance is that regardless of what decision Da'Shawn makes, he's going to have to justify it and explain it to him. In other words, his dad isn't going to be OK with a decision that appears to be off the cuff or poorly thought out.
November 13th, 2013 at 9:22 AM ^
I usually consider "academics are important!" to be just fluff. There are exceptions, as always, but I think that's definitely the case here. Unless there is a degree that Alabama offers that Michigan doesn't, no one would pick Alabama over Michigan based on academics. A couple weeks ago he said he was considering Alabama for engineering, which is comical.
Kid looks like Bama to me and I've already resigned to the fact that noon Thursday he's going to put the red hat on. Better to get the disappointment out ahead of time.
November 13th, 2013 at 9:30 AM ^
November 13th, 2013 at 9:45 AM ^
Do we even know whether Hand would be admitted to UM's engine school as a freshman? It's a tremendously rigorous program and very selective in its admission standards. Plenty of smart high school students with strong academic records can't get in.
November 13th, 2013 at 9:52 AM ^
November 13th, 2013 at 10:48 AM ^
Normally first year classes were all on main campus (physics, chem, eng, math, math, math), you got the E101 = Fortran experience as a weed-out class for all types of engineers. This may have changed over some years.
I think Eng has to reserve a spot at the start but its not all over if one decides to change their mind along the way and go LS&A or other.
November 13th, 2013 at 3:12 PM ^
They said at michigan he would be going into Sports Management and Marketing, not engineering
November 13th, 2013 at 9:43 AM ^
Are you saying that you would refuse to buy a building whose structure and mechanical systems were designed by graduates of Alabama's engineering program? That you would refuse to fly in a plane whose hydraulics were designed by Alabama engine grads?
There's no doubt that Michigan's engine program is much more highly ranked than Alabama's, but that doesn't mean that Alabama grads in engineering are automatically incompetent idiots who can't perform professional work. It's not like Da'Shawn is choosing between Michigan and the University of Phoenix.
To make an analogy: nobody would sensibly assert that UM's program in medicine isn't superior to the vast majority of medical programs out there. Does that mean that patients facing surgery anywhere in the US should refuse to go under the knife if the surgeon is a graduate of a medical program rated lower than Michigan's?
November 13th, 2013 at 9:46 AM ^
November 13th, 2013 at 10:01 AM ^
That's a great point. I don't know the educational background of the Hand family, but for a large percentage of minority high school kids from all over the country, they are among the first in their families to attend college of any kind. Coming from that, the differences between Michigan and Alabama might well seem insignificant.
November 13th, 2013 at 10:15 AM ^
just like I have no problem with Wayne State engineering or even MSU engineering. I have a problem when a recruit says academics are important/priority and they choose Bama engineering over U-M engineering. Whether Hoke steered him away from engineering is irrelevant, it's obvious that academics aren't that important to Hand.
November 13th, 2013 at 10:21 AM ^
Completely fucking obvious, seeing as the kid hasn't even made a pick yet. This place pisses me off sometimes. But go ahead and knock the kid because shit isn't going well in your life and you need somewhere to vent.
Or, you know what? Don't have an input about the choices a kid makes on his 18th birthday. Or just act butthurt on a message board. Either way, I guess, is cool.
November 13th, 2013 at 10:24 AM ^
Haha. Well said.
November 13th, 2013 at 10:35 AM ^
For lots of kids, I agree that "academics are important to me" is just fluff that they say because they know that's what people want to hear, but I don't think that's necessarily the case with Hand.
Most here are probably too young to remember the recruitment of Myron Rolle, a DB from New Jersey who was the top-ranked DB in 2006 and on everybody's HS All-America list. Every program of any significance offered him, and because he had stellar grades in HS and made it known that he eventually wanted to go into medicine, most Michigan fans thought he was a lock to come here.
I still remember the absolute shock and disbelief in Ann Arbor when he chose Florida State, and many UM fans immediately concluded that he wasn't serious about education after all. He was a three-year starter at FSU, but still managed to become a Rhodes Scholar in the bargain. After a brief stint in the NFL, Rolle is now enrolled in FSU's College of Medicine in the class of 2017.
In other words, the fact that Rolle chose FSU over UM didn't mean he didn't take education seriously back in 2006, and there's no reason right now to think that Hand doesn't take education seriously too.
November 13th, 2013 at 1:21 PM ^
There are too many people who refuse to accept that you can get a quality education at many schools, even some that aren't super high in the US News rankings. And I say that as a Michigan grad.
November 13th, 2013 at 2:00 PM ^
There was a recent video put out by an African American student at UCLA pointing out that there are more NCAA titles at UCLA than non athlete African American male freshmen. Many students of color may choose academics and will choose a school that we may consider lesser because they feel they will actually get the resources they need to succeed.
it is not always the ranking in US News and World Report that matters.
November 13th, 2013 at 9:38 AM ^
November 13th, 2013 at 9:19 AM ^
Bama is going for its third championship. Michigan has not even been to the B1G championship game. In fact, I will be surprised if Hand and McDowell pick Michigan. If this coaching team (rightly or not) struggles again next year, wd it surprise you if there is another coaching change? If you are a top recruit who doesnt really care about academic, you would probably pick Bama too.
November 13th, 2013 at 9:30 AM ^
November 13th, 2013 at 9:35 AM ^
Let the kid make his own decision.
November 13th, 2013 at 10:01 AM ^
I have no clue what's going to happen, but the board overall pessimism certainly doesn't match the 247 Crystal Ball:
http://247sports.com/PlayerInstitution/DaShawn-Hand-at-Woodbridge-26727…
88% Michigan with predictions as recently as yesterday.
November 13th, 2013 at 10:04 AM ^
They're not UM fans who love to dwell on the upcoming misery that is our football team
November 13th, 2013 at 10:14 AM ^
Based on everything Sam Webb has said recently, and listening between the lines so to speak, 88% seems a bit high to me. I'm curious what goes into their analysis, since Hand and his family have been pretty tight-lipped.
Regardless, Hoke and his staff have already proven that they're tremendous recruiters, and if anybody can keep Hand away from Saban, they can.
November 13th, 2013 at 10:35 AM ^
You say it yourself that you're "reading between the lines", I am not sure how you do that because you can add in your own interpretation of anything he says. If you think about his dad saying he will have to explain his decision I see it as "we know where you should go son and you know where you should go but if youre going to make a decision we dont agree with than youre going to have to really justify that choice." If we all werent so pessimistic about everything because our football team lost a couple games than we wouldnt see the negative in words that we gone and placed there with our own minds
November 13th, 2013 at 10:39 AM ^
Sam is very good what he does. The best UM based reporter that there is in my opinion. However, he doesn't bat .1000. Just recently he picked Blackmon to UM the very morning James was making his decision. He is wrong sometimes. Nothing wrong with that.