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Date Title Body
A safety is 2pts and a…

A safety is 2pts and a turnover.  It's the only scoring play that results in the scoring team getting the ball.  It's already a huge thing.  It doesn't need to be more points IMO.

Oops.  I stand corrected on…

Oops.  I stand corrected on the class rankings.

He's certainly bounced around quite a bit, but he's gotten consistent raises when he does.  That suggests that the coaching community, at least, thinks highly of him.

Completely agree he's a big risk.  But if I were an MSU fan I'd want my administration willing to take the risk.  It'd be different if there was a proven guy available at this point, but I don't think there is.  There are a lot of parallels here to us hiring Juwan Howard.

Dead on.

It was a risky…

Dead on.

It was a risky hire given only one year HC experience, and that not super-successful.  But he pulled the #35 recruiting class in a transition year, and he did it from the talent wasteland that is the Mountain Time Zone.  By comparison Harbaugh's transition class was ranked 37th.  (Granted, with a higher average player rating).  I also don't think there's any doubt that he's an excellent DC.

I don't know if he'll be a good coach for MSU, but after the Fickell disaster he was probably the best option they had and they did what they had to do to get him.  I'd be happier living in a world where MSU is too dysfunctional to do that and instead settles on Tressell for a year or hires a low-level guy that feels safe but has no chance of actually being good.

I liked the second call. …

I liked the second call.  Going for it from the 43 was an obvious call.  Not taking the lead, though.  That was questionable, I think.

You misspelled "usually"

You misspelled "usually"

which begs the question: …

which begs the question:  Why call those plays?

A mesh read option that isn't really an option is just a super slow-developing run play where the RB has no momentum toward the line.

Nailor was their speed guy. …

Nailor was their speed guy.  He was the one guy who could really be scary in an open field.  This is a loss for them.

Haskins got smoked on that…

Haskins got smoked on that play.  The offense will not work if Shea doesn't trust his protection.  There was a guy to pick up that blitz.  The guy got there.  Shea did the right thing.

Then they guy whiffed.

Scott's a playmaker.  The…

Scott's a playmaker.  The truth is most passes in college football aren't perfect.  He's a good player and I wish MSU didn't have him.

Love them.

Preferred the…

Love them.

Preferred the original format because it gave a concept of expected best players overall rather than just best players by position.

If you have all the facts …

If you have all the facts (like why he was denied access) please share.  Otherwise don't pretend you're in a position to judge.

An MSU-grad friend of mine…

An MSU-grad friend of mine got me an autographed Stephen Threet jersey after the 2008 season with a note that said "3 more years!"

 

I still have that jersey.  If I ever have a fancy finished basement again I'm going to have it framed.

Exactly this.  Don't know…

Exactly this.  Don't know why anyone is acting like this is news.

Logged in for the first time…

Logged in for the first time in forever to upvote this.

Murray and Welborne.  The last great safety pair at Michigan.

+1 on the Branch play.

 

+1 on the Branch play.

 

Also against PSU (different game).  Daydrion Taylor's hit in '97 is still the greatest play by a Michigan safety I've ever seen.

Damn you and your 'minimum 3…

Damn you and your 'minimum 3 years' rule

  1. The Newsroom
  2. Justified
  3. West Wing
  4. Boston Legal
  5. Deadwood

Lose that rule and Firefly and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip are probably numbers 2 and 3.  (Yes, I like Aaron Sorkin.  Leave me alone.  All four of his would be in my top 10)

Holy shit!  You're 12-yr-old…

Holy shit!  You're 12-yr-old me!

Unpopular opinions

Not fan of either of their music styles, but for pure voice quality:

Male:  Roger Whittaker,  Female: Karen Carpenter

Now that is an eclectic list.

I like it.

I'm old, and I'm not afraid to admit it

1. Shawshank Redemption

2. The Color of Money

3. The Usual Suspects

Fun fact:  To this day I'd have probably never seen Shawshank.  I was dragged kicking and screaming to the theatre by my then-girlfriend.  Instantly became my #1 and no movie before or since has seriously challenged it for me.

I'll always owe you for that, Shell.

And it's not just us.

PSU plays way above their heads at night at home.  Does anyone really think PSU was better than OSU last year?  I'm scared to death of the PSU game this year.

We'll be starting, what, 10 second year players?  I think 9 wins is most likely scenario, and I think 8 wins is more likely than 10.

Coaching or recruiting?

Newsome was rounding into shape last year before he got hurt.  Magnuson was alright  (our seniors last year may have been hampered by too much coaching before Drevno got here).

Also, as the run game coordinator and OC he was wearing too many hats.  They took one of those off him, and also let him focus on the interior line.

For recruiting we lost that kid late to Stanford for the 2016 class.  That hurt, but doesn't appear to be Drevno's fault.  This year's OT class looks pretty good.

Thank you, Ladies

4 great years of softball, and even better representation of the University of Michigan.

 

On a separate note, who would downvote a piece like this?  Can we find out who it is and ban them on general principles?

For a while

"Brown had OSU dead to rights. Barrett was getting sacked every other play, and the supposed vaunted duo of Samuel/Weber were bottled up anytime they even touched the ball. "

This was absolutely true for 3 quarters.  But the fourth quarter and both OTs were a different story.  Urban eventually figured out where they could exploit us and the game turned hard.

The defensive backfield will step back this year.

You can't go from all seniors, all multi-year starters to a first year starters, 3 are 2nd year players without stepping back.  

By the end of the season they'll likely be fine (though I doubt better than that).  Early in the season will be a little rough.

This doesn't even take into account the fact that there are basically no backup safeties.

Come on, man

The OP said:

"Although I believe it's quite possible that 2017 Speight could be improved enough to be the one to give them what they need, I don't see it as a guarantee."

He explictly acknowledged Speight may improve.  He didn't trash the kid.  He listed stats that showed Speight is better against bad teams than good ones.  These are facts.

If you want to take exception, ask why the OP didn't do similar research on other QBs.  I suspect it's pretty common to have significantly better numbers against bad teams.

 

This is my read, too.

I'd guess Cole - Bredeson - Kugler - Onwenu - JBB, with Ruiz being the sixth guy like Newsome was as a true freshman.

Looks pretty good, coming from VHS

The aspect ratio is stretched to wide-screen.  Not sure if there is any way to keep that from happening.

Otherwise it's great.  Thanks for sharing.

Jay's got some game.

She's stunning.  Congrats, Jay!

Lived in Texas for ten years.

There are 27 million people in Texas, and most of them never leave the state.  I agree traveling Texans tend to be unbearable, so I was leary of moving there.  Most of them are actually very nice.

Example:  I bought a scalped ticket to see the Wings play the Stars in the Western Conf finals in 1998.  I'm by myself in an Yzerman jersey, sitting in a morass of green and black.  Everyone was nice.  There was a lot of good-natured ribbing, but nothing bad at all.  I thought at the time "wow, if you folks wore Dallas green in Joe Lewis in the playoffs you might not get out alive."

Please note Texans do NOT consider themselves southerners.  They consider themselves Texans.  I suspect a lot would root against Michigan, but I also suspect that has more to do with how polarizing Jim Harbaugh is.

I agree

Unfortunately, the article linked does not appear to imply what Brian said it does.  Harbaugh expects him back.  He did not say he expects him back for 2017.

Personally, I suspect a medical redshirt is coming and he'll compete for a spot in 2018.

Staying in the league is a nice career.

But there's never been a GM, not even Matt Millen, who would willingly give a #4 overall pick for a return guy.

I respect him, but he was a bust all the way.

 

Your statement is correct

But you're a bears fan, so I hate you anyway.

Must eat crow

Midseason I hated this team.  It's one thing to lose, it's another to lose because you're soft.  I'm so impressed with the way they've buckled down and competed.  I'm sorry I doubted you, guys.

Unfortunately I don't see a tournament run, not because they're not playing well enough, but simply because of the seeding.  We'll very likely draw a 1-seed in the 2nd round.  That's a pretty tough road to the sweet 16.

This is an excellent description.

He is the Michael Jordan of football (except I despise Michael Jordan)

Eddie McDoom and Nate Johnson

wave at you

Thanks for posting.

I did miss this game and it was very fun to watch.

My list is the correct list.

Michaels, Summerall, Jackson, Scully.

2nd team: Mel Allen, Nessler, Thorne, Lundquist

 

Worst: (probably  unpopular except the first one)

Joe Buck, Gus Johnson, Dick Vitale, Hawk Harrelson.

Honorable mention: Marv Albert, Rod Allen

Kell was PBP for the Tigers.

Kaline was the color guy.

Yes.

Costas was great until he started thinking he was great.  Garagiola was right there with Kaline (biased) for great base color announcers.

And Bob Ufer ISN'T a homer vote?

He holds a special place in all of our hearts, but he's nowhere near this list.

I logged in to say exactly this.

I find his answers more reasonable than the OP's, to be honest.  I don't agree with all of them, but I certainly don't have a problem with them.

Brian.

That offense.  Are you related to Matt Millen?

Also needs to be said:

Don't EVER stand under a supported load.  Once something is being pulled up NOBODY is allowed to be under it.

^This.

The genius is in the simplicity!

Chromoly is good stuff

But you're talking pretty long columns here.  Buckling is not normally something someone in racing is worried about.  It IS something you need to worry about.

I'm 25 years removed from my mechanical engineering days, so hopefully the structural engineer who chimed in above will do so again.

You know those private antenna towers that have 3 main 'pipes' in a triangle, connected to each other every foot or so?  Think in those terms.

I'm a regular there.

...and can confirm Eye of the Tiger.  It's a lot less anti-Michigan now.  Also, they have about 17 writers, and only one of them is the hugely anti-Michigan OSU guy.  He's one of their more active writers but I can tolerate him because I think he's pretty funny.

Woodson, and it's not close

Woodson picked off a pass the QB was intentionally throwing out of bounds!  Everything about the play had to be perfect, from the timing of the leap, to the ability to leap that high, to the one-handed catch, to the body control to get a foot inbounds.  He did it before the crazy sticky gloves were availble.  He did it on the road, at a rival.

JD badly mistimed his jump.  It was athletic as hell to catch it anyway, but you don't get extra credit for screwing up the first part.  Plus he actually hurt his team (slightly) by catching it instead of batting it down.

JD's play was amazing to see, but in my opinion it's not even in the same league as Woodson's pick.

I was on a westbound American Airlines 757

...just like two of the planes hijacked.

Was headed to San Jose from Austin (like every Monday morning), trying to get a little sleep on the plane.  I noticed we started to descend, and then noticed it was way to early to do that.

The pilot announced he had been "directed by American Airlines central command to land in Albuquerque."  We were running light (maybe half full) so most of us just assumed we were going to load up and let AA cancel a flight.

Once we landed we all just sat there until the pilot announced we would be deplaning, and everyone should take the personal possessions.  At this point it felt very weird.  A few minutes later (while we were deplaning) they announced they had received permission to tell us that "a hijacked plane has been flown into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon has been bombed."

It was sureal.  It was so out-of-left-field that no one really believed it.  I got off the plane and looked at a TV in the concourse just in time to see the 2nd plane hit the 2nd tower.

My PM and I rented a car and drove 12hrs back to Austin.  Hertz didn't charge us for the rental.  I think they rented nearly their entire fleet to people for one-way trips home and didn't charge anyone.

Exceptional work, Brian.

Thank you.