Wholeheartedly agree, the CFP and BCS are a big source of this issue, minimizing the value of what should have been the reward for a successful season. Although it is just another example of the money driving things and I doubt there is a natural force to counteract it.
I just don't see the benefit of the BCS / CFP or the Conference Championship Games. I don't like that 97 was a split championship, but we still have it in our recordbooks. Similarly under the 11 team conference we would have been able to tally more conference championships, they may have been co-championships, but in 5+ years they all fade together. Maybe it is the millennial in me, but all this "there can only be one" mentality creates more downside potential for teams.
The other for I think driving this trend is the recruiting sites and the endless ranking and analysis of individual players. Back in the day you needed the bowl exposure to be seen, now the NFL prospects are often tagged right out of high school and can track their own status compared to just hoping their name is called on draft day. This isn't going to change and while I understand it is a business decision I really don't like it. It also drives me to realize how much the mentality of the team has changed, the increased recognition of the individual also drives selfishness for lack of a better word. The players that are skipping are talented, but it was the team of guys who won't hear their name called on draft day that made the opportunities for the elite players to show their skill. I hope those who skip the bowl to go collect their millions remember to send some back to those that helped along the way and the they left hanging when the bowl game came around.
Part of this makes me wonder if recruiting violations are "worth it" if your metric is CFP appearances or national championships. Tressel built up talent at OSU in part through dirty means, which in turn generated successful teams and then more recruiting success. If they get dinged by the relatively toothless NCAA once a decade and vacate wins from 2 years ago which have long been forgotten how much does it really hurt the program.
It also makes me wonder how schools compare regarding NCAA compliance in terms of the letter of the law vs the spirit of the law. Is it possible that Harbaugh / the athletic department are too cautious to be successful?
I dislike the bye week. We seem to come out of bye weeks groggy and flat. In the last decade I cannot remember a game after a bye where it appeared special preparation was a great benefit to our performance.
I know it would be hard to dial back the current targeting enforcement and not have a backlash that things are being made unsafe, but I would just make targeting a personal foul. It is too harsh a penalty for what can often be a zig when you should have zaged scenario. Two personal fouls and you are ejected for the remainder of the game. Additionally the conference (or NCAA) reviews all personal fouls (and possibly other plays submitted by the teams) the following day and can hand out 1 game suspensions for targeting, intent to injure, etc.
I've always wondered about the mechanism of teams sending videos for review. Is there a limit on how much they can send? I feel like if Michigan sent in a steady stream of the holding that goes uncalled week after week and was direct about it something would change. I feel like the standard that for holding to be a penalty it has to substantially influence the play is troublesome when dealing with linemen where a little pressure can dramatically alter the following events in the play
I think is would be even better if the team submissions and league responses were public. You would think if the goal of the process is to clarify the rules and their interpretation making that information available for all teams would be desirable
I always find the holding penalty interesting in that the gap between the rulebook and as called on the field is so immense. The rulebook says " The hand(s) and arm(s) shall not be used to grasp, pull, hook, clamp or encircle in any way that illegally impedes or illegally obstructs an opponent.", which now occurs on about every play. I don't know where this notion of it need to be egregious enough to affect the play to be called a penalty came from, or the idea that the defensive player needs to demonstrate they are being held by trying to disengage.
I will say that I think this is an area where the Michigan O-line plays too conservative. I think we hold less than other teams, and operate at a disadvantage because of it.
I feel like our OL is playing with the rules as they were interpreted 10+ years ago. The holding penalty is almost extinct, but we don't take advantage of that.
Hard to judge, but I was surprised Darboh didn't lay out going for those deep balls. Maybe he didn't have a chance, but his lack of effort this season has surprised me.
I feel like many drives had a point where we 2nd and about 4 then we thew incomplete, didn't convert on 3rd and had to punt. The run game was picking up yards, not much, but if we kept it on the ground more there we probably would have had a couple more 1st downs that would have been key.
I feel like we spent too much time running up the middle or to a short left side of the field. I think Peppers was over 1/2 of the rushes to the right.
Also surprised by lack of trickeration in the playcalling. We needed to get their line off balance, but never really changed things up.
Also surprised by no deep crossing routes, he was overthrowing the deep ball an a crossing route might help Darboh adjust.
The second running into the kicker seemed a questionable call to me. I felt like the punter took an extra stride or two that made me think it might be a fake and the contact was unavoidable. Afterward we dropped a lot of intensity on the kicks which I think was a mistake.
The second running into the kicker seemed a questionable call to me. I felt like the punter took an extra stride or two that made me think it might be a fake and the contact was unavoidable. Afterward we dropped a lot of intensity on the kicks which I think was a mistake.
Peppers is kind of a lone wolf in the defensive scheme. This is the first game where I think he seemed out of sync. I like what he adds to offense, and they needed it, but how fresh was he at the end.
I think we got too fancy, wasted short yardage situations against a line where picking up 4 on 3rd down was not a sure thing. Also, the refs did us no favors.
While I will agree the flyer on the left is not very constructive I was surprised how many facts are supported by data. I was also surprised that the flyer was originally produced in 2011, well before the whole BLM movement. Hopefully thoughtful and reasoned discussion can supersede the current climate of shouting and generalties that only seek to divide.
Just call an unsportsmanlike penalty, so two in a game and you are ejected. If its really bad there is the flagrant personal foul that can eject someone with one incident.
Then have committee that can look at all the incidents to determine if 1 game suspensions need to be handed out. If someone actually had 2 targeting incidents in a game he should get a 2 game suspension. One time incidents can still be punished, but hopefully it will be a more uniform judgement, and not one guy having to make a quick decision.
Why does the school calendar matter. I know its the NCAA and they have trouble with logic, but why isn't the limit in force for the duration of the season. Could a school adopt a schedule that adds a couple weeklong breaks to get all their athletes more practice time?
I actually think the block attempt was executed quite well. Chesson bailed when he needed to, an the contact was on the punters kicking leg, which is allowable. The punter being knocked over by his own teammate was probably more influential in the penalty being called than anything else.
I also find it silly that the penalty for using a computer is 5x more prision time and 2.5x the fines than the original crime itself. He probably will end up with some probation / community service and fines, and have to deal with the registered sex offender label.
Watching Nebraska's last drive made me wish we had current Rudock instead of where he was 3 weeks ago. I don't think if would have come down to the last play.
I'm not liking the score so far, but considering Rutgers 2 most successful drives were built off of penalties I think we are doing ok. Just wish some of the holding by Rutgers would get called, gotta love big ten officials.
I just want one of theose deep balls to Chesson to connect. If we can just get a a few completions on those deep balls it will open things up tremendously.
Now I can spend another unproductive week of work discussing the new staff, and looking forward to steady improvement (hopefully in all sports) through 2015.
Excellent write up, it's funny how your age plays a role in all of the names you connect. I feel like it has always been the Outback bowl for me.
I think there needs to be a long term commitment on these sponshorships. Like 25 years minimum, I'm kinda okay with the peach bowl as it has always to me been the Chick-fil-A peach bowl. Having fewer bowl games would help a lot too. Making the sponsorships harder to get and you could incentivise continuity.
On the macro scale it is another indictment of the corruption of money in sports. How did the Florida citrus growers ever have the money to run a bowl game. Nowadays, you big shot sports types would tell you it could never be done without these sponsors.
As someone who grew up with private schooling I think one difference may be the number of sports teams some of the private schools field. My school had limited athletic opportunities, and thus many top athletes who excelled in multiple sports were limited to basketball, soccer and football. If we had swimming, lacrosse, hockey or wrestling it may have drawn some of these athletes away.
Be prepared, because I am sure Brandon has some drone based T-shirt carpet bombing planned. Of course it will be in conjunction with Coke, Dominos, and Sam Bernstein.
I really have begun to wonder how they could go from 11-2 to looking this incompetent in such a short time. Were they ridiculously lucky, or was there some organization or work ethic that held over from RR? I am curious if no one sees what the issues or are they just ignoring them.
Recent Comments
Wholeheartedly agree, the CFP and BCS are a big source of this issue, minimizing the value of what should have been the reward for a successful season. Although it is just another example of the money driving things and I doubt there is a natural force to counteract it.
I just don't see the benefit of the BCS / CFP or the Conference Championship Games. I don't like that 97 was a split championship, but we still have it in our recordbooks. Similarly under the 11 team conference we would have been able to tally more conference championships, they may have been co-championships, but in 5+ years they all fade together. Maybe it is the millennial in me, but all this "there can only be one" mentality creates more downside potential for teams.
The other for I think driving this trend is the recruiting sites and the endless ranking and analysis of individual players. Back in the day you needed the bowl exposure to be seen, now the NFL prospects are often tagged right out of high school and can track their own status compared to just hoping their name is called on draft day. This isn't going to change and while I understand it is a business decision I really don't like it. It also drives me to realize how much the mentality of the team has changed, the increased recognition of the individual also drives selfishness for lack of a better word. The players that are skipping are talented, but it was the team of guys who won't hear their name called on draft day that made the opportunities for the elite players to show their skill. I hope those who skip the bowl to go collect their millions remember to send some back to those that helped along the way and the they left hanging when the bowl game came around.
Part of this makes me wonder if recruiting violations are "worth it" if your metric is CFP appearances or national championships. Tressel built up talent at OSU in part through dirty means, which in turn generated successful teams and then more recruiting success. If they get dinged by the relatively toothless NCAA once a decade and vacate wins from 2 years ago which have long been forgotten how much does it really hurt the program.
It also makes me wonder how schools compare regarding NCAA compliance in terms of the letter of the law vs the spirit of the law. Is it possible that Harbaugh / the athletic department are too cautious to be successful?
I dislike the bye week. We seem to come out of bye weeks groggy and flat. In the last decade I cannot remember a game after a bye where it appeared special preparation was a great benefit to our performance.
I know it would be hard to dial back the current targeting enforcement and not have a backlash that things are being made unsafe, but I would just make targeting a personal foul. It is too harsh a penalty for what can often be a zig when you should have zaged scenario. Two personal fouls and you are ejected for the remainder of the game. Additionally the conference (or NCAA) reviews all personal fouls (and possibly other plays submitted by the teams) the following day and can hand out 1 game suspensions for targeting, intent to injure, etc.
I've always wondered about the mechanism of teams sending videos for review. Is there a limit on how much they can send? I feel like if Michigan sent in a steady stream of the holding that goes uncalled week after week and was direct about it something would change. I feel like the standard that for holding to be a penalty it has to substantially influence the play is troublesome when dealing with linemen where a little pressure can dramatically alter the following events in the play
I think is would be even better if the team submissions and league responses were public. You would think if the goal of the process is to clarify the rules and their interpretation making that information available for all teams would be desirable
I always find the holding penalty interesting in that the gap between the rulebook and as called on the field is so immense. The rulebook says " The hand(s) and arm(s) shall not be used to grasp, pull, hook, clamp or encircle in any way that illegally impedes or illegally obstructs an opponent.", which now occurs on about every play. I don't know where this notion of it need to be egregious enough to affect the play to be called a penalty came from, or the idea that the defensive player needs to demonstrate they are being held by trying to disengage.
I will say that I think this is an area where the Michigan O-line plays too conservative. I think we hold less than other teams, and operate at a disadvantage because of it.
I feel like our OL is playing with the rules as they were interpreted 10+ years ago. The holding penalty is almost extinct, but we don't take advantage of that.
Harbaugh needs more emotion on the sideline. I think we would actually draw some more penalties if he was making a stink about it.
at holding.
While I will agree the flyer on the left is not very constructive I was surprised how many facts are supported by data. I was also surprised that the flyer was originally produced in 2011, well before the whole BLM movement. Hopefully thoughtful and reasoned discussion can supersede the current climate of shouting and generalties that only seek to divide.
http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=datool&surl=/arrests/index.cfm#
http://www.cdc.gov/std/stats13/minorities.htm
Go Blue
47-7 MIchigan
28-13 Paramus
Just call an unsportsmanlike penalty, so two in a game and you are ejected. If its really bad there is the flagrant personal foul that can eject someone with one incident.
Then have committee that can look at all the incidents to determine if 1 game suspensions need to be handed out. If someone actually had 2 targeting incidents in a game he should get a 2 game suspension. One time incidents can still be punished, but hopefully it will be a more uniform judgement, and not one guy having to make a quick decision.
34-29 Michigan
I also find it silly that the penalty for using a computer is 5x more prision time and 2.5x the fines than the original crime itself. He probably will end up with some probation / community service and fines, and have to deal with the registered sex offender label.
Go Blue
The post bad gateway posbang and now this, I might be overdoing it....
Go Blue
Watching Nebraska's last drive made me wish we had current Rudock instead of where he was 3 weeks ago. I don't think if would have come down to the last play.
Now for more drinking and posbanging
I think you misunderstand officating, consistency is apparently not one of their chief goals
Faked out the camera men too, needed to use one of the stadium cams
http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2015/11/7/9689248/michigan-football-referees-jim-harbaugh-intent-to-deceive
I'm not liking the score so far, but considering Rutgers 2 most successful drives were built off of penalties I think we are doing ok. Just wish some of the holding by Rutgers would get called, gotta love big ten officials.
I just want one of theose deep balls to Chesson to connect. If we can just get a a few completions on those deep balls it will open things up tremendously.
Green runs a lot better outside. I don't know if it is vision or confusion, but he just slows down when going through the middle.
Noticed it all day, see if it continues for the conference sechedule...
Now I can spend another unproductive week of work discussing the new staff, and looking forward to steady improvement (hopefully in all sports) through 2015.
Posbang Friday, giving me the fortitude do deal with sick kids.
As someone who grew up with private schooling I think one difference may be the number of sports teams some of the private schools field. My school had limited athletic opportunities, and thus many top athletes who excelled in multiple sports were limited to basketball, soccer and football. If we had swimming, lacrosse, hockey or wrestling it may have drawn some of these athletes away.
Given Brandon's micromanaging ways I don't know how much is Hoke's stubborness or Brandon's fingers in the pie.