I'd like to see the MMB take over some of the PA music duties. Seven Nation Army sounds better with a university marching band playing it than as pumped in rawk. As I noted below, "Can't Turn You Loose" was a popular song when the MMB started playing it and made it their own. I'd just like to see more of that, blending the new into the tradition simply by having the MMB play their arrangements.
Traditions don't materialize out of thin air. "Can't Turn You Loose" is a MMB tradition, enough for kids like Denard and Roy to dance to it at basket ball games. The first time MMB played that song, was 1980. They played it because the Blues Brothers act with the SNL band currently on TV.
I'm not even forty yet and had attended UM football games before "Can't Turn You Loose" became a MMB tradition. I'll bet the grey hairs back then were pissy about the band playing that rock and roll music for the "wow" factor that got the students all riled up. I don't remember, because I sat in familial student seats in the first row behind the band as a kid so my idea of tradition was born among those damned rowdy college kids.
Today's new thing the band does that pisses you off might just be the next classic MMB tradition.
Well yes, to some degree that's correct. But keep in mind that they're being asked to get with a total of 12 starts covering the entire interior offensive line. It's not as if these guys were getting some playing time here and there over the course of those three years.
It's also worth keeping in mind that in many (maybe most) cases, good offensive line play is somewhat invisible while mistakes are glaring. Some of these guys are getting it some of the time, but if one gets it on a play and another doesn't, there's trouble. Furthermore, opposing coaches now know what and how to exploit the issues which steepens the learning curve for those kids.
I thought it looked pretty good. There was a pretty good progression from what Mattison said last week to what showed up on the field. Caveat for level of competition, but it was the kind of performance i'd expect to see. I still don't understand the consistently soft coverage, but i assume there's a reason for it.
Not a coach, but a coworker played Oline at a high enough level to be a projected draft pick at center (didn't go because he was already badly beat up from his college career). He's taken the time to explain a lot of things to me, the big one being how long it usually takes to develop offensive lineman. He's pretty clear that until the junior year, most offensive lineman aren't very good. His rants about which should be called "skill" positions are the best.
The O line is pretty terrible, but perhaps the best that can be hoped for is minor and gradual improvement over the course of the season. All of the interior being young, inexperienced, and even a walk-on isn't likely something that can just be corrected in practice.
This is not an excuse for Funk. It's likely just the law of averages. The right players with the right coach might develop faster. And we all know what kind of difference a good center makes, with much more of it being between the ears than strength and technique. As it stands, most of the offense's problems stem from poor line play. (And i'm including TE blocking as line play.) Individual players haven't reacted well to the line breakdowns and problems, but those are symptoms rather than diseases.
It might be worth examining how up tempo offenses take advantages of the rules. I like them, but the ploy of setting up at the line to stop defensive substitutions and then the whole offense standing up to receive a play call from the sidelines that takes as long as huddling is an unfair advantage. It's not the same as the offense having X number of set plays to run, or even the QB calling plays from the line. In fact, it's really not very up tempo at all. It just keeps the defense from being able to substitute.
If you want to run up-tempo, no huddle offenses, then run them. Deal with the up and down sides, which include having your QB make important decisions on the fly. Huddling at the line of scrimmage so the offensive coach has extra time that the defensive coach doesn't is bullshit. It also makes the offense look better in that tempo than it may otherwise be.
As it stands, faking injuries are the only logical response a defensive coach/players have to the situation. Attempting to correct that won't fix the underlying issue, but it will create a handful of unintended consequences that will likely be bad for the game and could create serious injury hazards.
I find buying certified pre-owned almost as much of a waste as buying new, with a little bit less hit from depreciation.
Buying a used car isn't that hard if you follow a few tips.
A. Avoid used car dealerships both for the markup and the too-often sleazy nature of them and their willingness to hide issues with the car. (This is not always true, but it's true enough of the time.)
B. Research well beforehand, and find out what you want as well as whether there are known issues with the model. For example, if the engine has a timing belt, asking the seller/salesman when it was last changed will tell you a lot about the car and the seller in a short amount of time.
C. Insist on a pre-purchase inspection. The person who has a well-kept car won't hesitate to agree and it's the best $50-100 you'll spend buying a used car. Not only will you know if you shouldn't buy it, but you'll also have a pretty good feel for your maintenance costs over the first year or two of ownership.
In general it's about knowledge: having it, getting it, or at least making it seem like you have it. This winter we bought a '99 Passat wagon (with the proper number of pedals) for $500 under blue book. It was a two-owner car with every record, including every oil change. It came with extra wheels/tires. And it was all arranged from MI while the car was in Denver. Picked it up, drove it home, and it's been what was expected.
That was for her though, i don't drive cars made after 1991 by choice. I'm only using the '03 Civic as my winter beater because the Passat replaced it and i don't have time to find and go get something German this summer.
German car ownership is a labor of love. I'm very leary of nice German cars after the mid-90's when they stopped engineering great cars and started engineering how many doo-dads with control modules they could stuff into something. Also, the e30 is the last BMW i truly love for styling so i'll just keep buying those.
Christians aren't evil. But you might keep in mind that those of us who aren't Christian are a little turned off by your insistence that we either A. become Christian or B. at least live according to your rules. I understand that our unwillingness to live as you tell us to live somehow becomes persecution of Christians. We're sorry.
Tim's problem is that he's just not very good at playing QB. I read that during last season he told Ryan that he was tired of "gimmicky" offenses and wanted to be a traditional NFL QB ... but i'm pretty sure that requires being able to pass effectively and with regularity.
However, the Jets' decision to not play him last year might have also been due to playing time related bonuses in his contract. Unless he was good enough to be the QB, it was likely not worth it to the Jets to play him.
You can try looking NW of A2 in the Pinckney/Dexter/Saline triangle. I lived in what was essentially a vacation cabin inside the Recreation Area for a while. Between phone, voter registration, and mail i was technically a resident of all three places. But since Hell was the closest place to buy milk, i generally said that i lived in Hell (and did my shopping commute to Hell by canoe when the weather permitted).
It's a quick and pleasant trip into the city but feels more like "up North" than Ann Arbor. I don't remember drive time to downtown proper, but as out of the way as i was, it wasn't more than a 15 minute commute to work on the far West side at Jackson and Zeeb.
Find the Pinckney State Recreation Area on Google Maps for an idea of the land and locations. Many of these cottages are open year round. Access is generally year round even on the private roads. For the early Fall games, there's also plenty else to do. Regal friends back home about your canoe trip to Hell or canoe trek to the iconic Zukey Lake Tavern
They say that going deep in the tournament is about peaking at the right time. Last night looked like a team that found its moment to start peaking. A very, very talented team that's fallen short in more than its fair share of crushing defeats this season could have given up. Given the team's youth, it would have even been understandable.
Instead they rose to the challenge. Intangibles matter on a level playing field of talent, and UM may well have the most important intangible for a championship team. They should believe that they can beat any team, any way ... no matter how improbable it seems. It wasn't flukey. They just kept doing their thing, stuck together, and won what might well be one of those history book games. For all Trey did, it wasn't hero ball. When they look at the film, they'll see McGary scrapping, GRIII scooping a ball from the floor and playing it just right, Morgan with so few minutes playing excellent defense when it mattered most. Trey's heroics don't win the game without his brothers' less heralded heroics.
Let's hope that those kids are looking at each other and seeing a team that can't be beat when it sticks together and refuses to quit. Championship teams all share a belief in their own invincibility. This Michigan team just might have found that, and done so at just the right time. I won't be surprised if they come out against Florida and everybody just has the stroke to hit any shot they choose.
Other than the fact that come 2015 the Tigers will have $90M in payroll for just four players, i'm thrilled. Not that it matters to me beyond hoping that it doesn't impinge on filling out the rest of the roster. It is impressive the way Mr. Mike runs a sports organization, and he manages the near impossible: not being cheap but also generally spending money wisely. You can't let JV go to save a few million bucks.
Verlander's loyalty is impressive too. I have a feeling that he never even thought about testing the market. He wanted to play in Detroit, they made him a solid offer, and the deal was done.
Between flashes of brilliance, he had mechanical and control issues this spring. It would be possible to get him innings without being the closer but he's just a kid playing a position that's mostly psychological. Far better for him to make changes and improve at Triple A where he won't have to worry so much about mistakes getting pounced on, and where the coach won't have to worry about that scenario shaking his confidence.
I expect to see him under the bright lights this summer, and don't think that closer by committee is anything to worry about in the first 1/3 - 1/2 of the season anyhow.
I'm a little bummed the Berry didn't make the team, but they really wanted a right-handed bat and Tuiasosopo hit well. I think i'd rather have Berry's speed to plug into the lineup. I am glad that Don Kelly has been hitting well and made the team; his versatility is huge if he can keep hitting.
Shy of fielding an all-star team the Tigers are there. It would be theoretically possible to upgrade at SS, but not realistic in the market. LF too maybe, but that's pointless with very good young outfielders coming through the system and close to the bigs. Not many teams have stars throughout the rotation, and if Porcello's added pitch and good command continue from the Spring he'll be better than good enough for a fifth starter.
So basically we're missing a closer, but we have multiple players capable of handling the role and a guy who got sent to Triple A to start the year to fine tune mechanics and control.
If you're generation company had 4,473 reportable incidents of injury in 2011, MIOSHA would be setting up a permanent office. At that point, federal OSHA would probably be hanging around too. Your employees are likely (potentially) exposed to all sorts of things like Pb/Cd, asbestos, PCBs, etc. and, yes, the rules for medical monitoring and informing them of their exposure and potential health effects are significant.*
Clearly, the NFL does not have to deal with OSHA. Just as clearly, being a substation electrician is quite different from being an NFL player in terms of acknowledged risks inherent in the employment ... though anyone who's seen the more grizzly arc flash safety videos would probably chose getting tackled by Ray Lewis. I'm with you, not sharing the full medical records with the players is the disturbing part of this story. It undermines the NFL statements about being committed to safety as well as the argument that the players are making an informed choice.
*From the perspective an industrial hygienist who's been tied to a power generatio company for the last two years as a third-party consultant.
His ceiling is incredibly high, certainly first round draft choice. Heisman is a lot about luck or having a good sob story for the press. Ceiling is also not the same as what we might expect.
I expect really good things, and great things depend on making a few relatively minor improvements as well as decisions outside of his control. Some of his passes last year were a little late, not being a QB coach, i assume that he's still thinking rather than knowing and acting instinctually.
If Michigan can establish a running game and at least one of the receivers steps up, then Devin will likely be making a lot of national media sit up and take notice. I don't have a lot of worries about what Borges wants to do. Looking at what Hoke/Borges did at SDSU suggests that with my above caveats, we're likely to see a prolific and exciting offense. Devin looks like he can run a passing game, including the vertical stretching Borges likes. Devin can both keep a play alive and burn a defense with his legs (and he showed the decision making chops last year to checkdown to his legs or throw it away when necessary). If the coaches feel that Bellomy can be the 2nd string guy, then i think we're also likely to see a little bit of QB designed runs for Devin. Not like Robinson QB running, but using them to keep the defense honest.
Get that redshirt, letting the rest of the team develop around him, and, yes, we might be talking Heisman finalist and very high NFL pick.
A specific list of public figures that i vow to kick directly in the nuts if i ever see them in public. It's been decades and no one has yet knocked Jimmy Buffet from the #1 spot. Still, Izzo seems like a nice addition to the list.
They volunteered, got paid, and get education benefits besides. It's not even all that hard to get the military to pay for multiple degrees while you're enlisted, or at least it doesn't seem to be given the number of people i know who received advanced degrees on the taxpayer dime.
I had a similar situation with UM and it took an entire semester to straighten it out. It was all because i happened to have mailed my grad school application from St. Petersburg, Russia. My permanent address had remained in MI throughout my time in Russia but the uni didn't seem to care. It wasn't until i took my passport to a meeting and read the visa information to those concerned that it got fixed.
But if this guy actually changed his residency, filed taxes in another state, etc. while in the military i don't see why the UM should give him in-state tuition.
Most places wouldn't even produce as much footage as we've seen. It happened pretty fast, as meteor do and all.
Driving in Russia is something of an experience. I used to sky dive and jump off of mountains for fun. I've driven a car at speeds greater than 150 mph. Yet all of my near death experiences happened on Russian roads. Because the craziest things happen on Russian roads (including insurance scams, fights, corrupt traffic police, etc.), most Russians run a dash cam to collect evidence in case of what would be a rare eventuality for you but an everyday occurance for Russians.
In my gypsy cabbing adventures i experienced road rage leading to off course chases so that my driver could scream and spit on the windshield of another car. I've been in cars that swerved at pedestrians (this was a Chechan screaming "Russian swine" and missing pedestrian babushkas by inches). I've driven on sidewalks at speed, played chicken with trams, and driving in oncoming traffic just stopped seeming like a very big deal.
To be fair, some of this was my fault. I reached a point where at times i'd offer a fair fare for the destination and then structure monetary rewards for quicker times to the destination.
While it looks like face-paint boy might be trying to get overall-girl's attention with a shoulder tap that missed it's target, he may be looking behind her. Look at hippie-hat have his attention drawn, pause celebration, lean behind overall-girl, and congratulate face-paint boy with a high five. Part of the general celebration, maybe, but the timing is odd as is the way hippie-hat goes right back to what he was doing.
Also, everyone is going crazy except face-paint boy, who's attention is solely focused on overall-girl. What could have had to say to her at that very moment that was so important that it overrode the emotions everyone around him (include her) are experiencing? I think that the tap/grope and hand around the waist are less likely if they know each other, because in that case they'd have plenty of time for that elsewhere and he wouldn't be stopping what he was doing to try and catch a jiggling boob.
Especially on the O line, there's a lot of complexity to grasp and implement at nearly the level of instinct. Those young guys might have a lot more talent but weren't overall better because they were still learning.
You may also be putting a little too much into those statement from the coaching staff. These are also the guys who call staph infections "boo boos" and pay a lot of lip service to the seniors. I don't doubt that they'd play a young guy ahead of an upperclassman if the former was signficantly better than the latter. I also wouldn't be surprised to find out that one of the major reasons for that statement being used so often was simply to foster competition in practice.
But still want to point out that Devin Gardner does resemble John Amos. The facial structure differences almost disappear from certain angles. I nicknamed Devin "Good Times" for it.
In a household without generational or attendence allegiances, i can see it. I live in the UP now and i imagine that there's a lot of Yoopers like that ... though there's a lot of Yoopers who love the Tigers, Wings, and Packers, so with a history of treasonous behavior maybe it's not a good anecdotal data point.
I hate State, and i didn't attend either school (didn't apply to MSU, was accepted and declined UM, twice). I do however come from a multi-generational UM family and spent my childhood living in Ypsi. My first UM game was against IU in '79 when i was not yet 6, so the die was probably cast before i had the rational ability to make my own decisions. On the other hand, there's never been any thought of changing those allegiances.
I can see casual fandom for both schools, but that's about it.
They have to be actual dual threats. Gardner has that. He wasn't perfect in 2012, but given his still limited game experience the downsides of his passing game are understandable and hopefully able to be improved.
Especially modeling on SF. Throughout the playoffs i kept wondering if SF's offense is the future of the NFL. I still don't think that there will be true, running spread offenses at that level; however, much of the best QB talent coming out of college will continue to be dual threat.
SF runs my ideal of a hybrid offense, and i would be incredibly happy if UM looked like SF. I think we all would be, because we're likely to win a lot of games over the next two (hopefully) years with Gardner running a SF style offense.
The thing you might notice about these newfangled NFL offenses (two of three are referenced here, but i'll include Seattle) is that the QBs running them can pass effectively. All the scheming in the world doesn't help if the offense is effectively one dimensional and you don't have an overpowering O-line.
Also, these kids have limited time to learn things and are still developing their skills. If Denard had a hard time incorporating new concepts into the offense and running them, then it's really not possible.
don't necessarily run the QB all that often. Play choice where the QB can run (so long as he does it every now and again) can be enough to have the desired schematic effect. If the QB is a potential running threat, that threat has to be accounted for by the defense.
However, like the NFL offenses in question, i assume that Gardner's legs will be the check down. He's shown good ability to both throw on the run and make that choice correctly. If the defense is going to give you 10-15 yards, take them and fall down.
that there's a misreading of the lay of the land. Proving that football is dangerous will not be necessary or even likely tried. Citing evidence that it isn't (assuming such evidence exists) will have little effect in the court of public opinion. One NFL player questioning it is enough to overshadow any clinical study. But more importantly, nobody's ever going to file criminal charges against a football organization claiming some sort of negligence that must be proven beyond reasonable doubt.
The legal precedent will be in civil court, where the argument will be that the NFL knew about the potential danger/risk and did not A. inform players who could make a decision based on that information and B. did not act on its information to make the game safer for its employees. This will be in front of a jury where players and their wives can tell the story, and while we may not be immediately sympathetic to millionaires, the jury only has to be more sympathetic to them than to the billionaires being sued.
A couple of cases won, and insuring football programs below the revenue level of the NFL will likely become prohibitive. Game over if some NCAA players successfully sue their alma mater. And long-term, the game might be over as parents and kids decide against football. I know a young man who did the research himself and decided not to sign up for football (no parental pressure). He's sticking with soccer and basketball.
Shirt was in the mailbox today! Can't wait to wear it ... especially most Saturdays at the Farmer's Market where i'll have the most opportunities to explain it (i'd wear it for animal slaughters at the farm, but it wouldn't remain regularly wearable for long).
But the shirt was just a bonus. I'm more looking forward to the garden updates and seeing the project come together. I wish i could volunteer directly, but the shores of Superior are a long ways from Pahokee and my knowledge, centered as it is on growing in the cold white north, wouldn't be all that applicable anyhow.
With the dual threat QB becoming a norm in the NFL (and it will continue) and the fact that we're seeing read option plays on Sundays with some regularity, Kelly will be the test of the spread making a real jump to the pros. And of all the spread minds, Kelly's is probably the best bet for success.
Or, Philly's taking a huge chance with either being the league innovator and getting at least a few seasons head start or the failure will be laughable.
Southern California might be slightly better for a kid wanting to break into popular music than Ann Arbor. There's a good chance that the people he idolizes in music and can help that career will know his name from the football field, maybe not so much playing at UM.
His routes and his hands will obviously be the question. Though he's technically big enough to be a back in the NFL, i'd guess that teams will want to see him in space where he can do the most damage to defenses.
I've got hope. The right organization drafting Denard could make things interesting. Clearly, the era of the dual-threat QB has begun in the NFL, and it's going to continue. Denard's not ready to be a starting NFL QB. However, an innovative team could pick up a hardworking kid that can provide immediate impact on offense and devote offseason resources to teaching him the details of playing QB that he needs.
If his routes and hands are acceptable, you've got a guy that with some polish can play the slot, come out of the backfield, and even go wildcat. Put him in a backfield with a dual threat QB and you could give a DC real fits. Can you say halfback pass? Five years ago he would have been special teams only, or maybe seeing time in a 5 wide set. Now, there are a lot more possibilities.
Look at the trend in NFL QBs. Nobody's running a read-option spread offense, but seeing the play run on Sundays is getting to be pretty common. When RGIII got hurt in the playoffs and Cousins came in, the Skins had to change the offense drastically. Now it's unlikely that an NFL team will have a backup QB returning kicks and entering the offense for some plays, but you never know.
And teams will spend money teaching QB mechanics. The Broncs tried with Tebow, but he couldn't figure it out ... which is probably why they shipped him away. The right team might see in Denard a guy that can provide value immediately with potential as a project too.
I have a coworker who was the starting OC at GVSU under Kelly (was already there when Kelly ascended), so i take his consultations on OL play and intricacies pretty seriously. He gets all bent out of shape when we call WRs, and RBs "skill positions". In his estimation, those are talent positions and playing the line is skill position because it requires so much learning to do well as opposed to being born able to run really flippin fast.
Because of the learning and ability to apply the learning instinctively, he maintains that linemen don't become really good until their junior/senior seasons. That doesn't bode well for UM in the next year or two. I guess we'll just have to hope that there are some real gems in these two classes, the kind that can come in and contribute early. That may not produce outstanding OL play in 13 and 14, but if it can produce decent play now, then 15, 16 and beyond look very bright indeed.
I refuse to own cars with automatic transmissions or any made after 1995 (and i prefer older than that). This is partly because i prefer German cars and the computer control modules combined with incredibly thin gauge control wire mean that things go wrong and are stupidly expensive to fix. So i'm probably not a good gauge of the American consumer.
But I'm no luddite. I have a smart phone that runs my business and personal life via the synced calendar. HD smart TV, PS3, subscription video service, etc. But to hell with a refrigerator that wants to talk to me. As much as my Asian experiences with singing toilets establishes some nostalgia for such appliances, just no. A good refrigerator already costs a bundle, and that's fine if it's well made and i can expect it to last many, many years with proper care and maintenace (see, old German cars). It needs to keep shit cold, reliably. As my tap water is as clean and cold as it gets, i don't need any of that fancy shit on the front door either.
So, no, no, no, no, no. Recipe for frustration and disaster based on a false sense of convenience. And i like cooking, so the appliance manufacturers can STFU about smart, induction ranges. Gas, a real fire the way we've been doing it for thousands of years is still best.
You might have a difficult time finding someone who thinks we are there yet, but your comments give the impression that you think we should be.
Hoke can't go back and rerecruit classes from a time when he wasn't the coach. What he has done indicates that there is an upward progression. Success breeds success, so as talent increases (and depth) there will be more games won which focuses the attention of young talent on the program. That increases the chances of winning more games.
Very few fans have gotten complacent about the UM football program, the realists among us take into account that the program is rebuilding and that takes some time. What realists want to see is consistent improvement, the establishment of a working system on both sides of the ball, and solid recruiting. Winning big road games is still on the "to do" list, as is establishing an offensive identity. The recruiting is already solid; in fact, it's rather spectacular considering Hoke is not Urban Meyer and he's rebuilding a program.
I dont' know if you know this, but we played the national champion this year, and we likely wouldn't have done any better than ND at the end of the season. The realist fans aren't complacent, you're unrealistic to expect that in year two of the Hoke era UM should be recruiting 5 stars left and right and winning every game.
Thinks he can parlay the DC spot into HC when Kiffin leaves? Figures that DC at USC is a much higher profile gig and when he takes a shot at HC jobs elsewhere he might be able to skip the MAC coach career stage? Or even doesn't figure that he'll ever be a HC so taking the DC spot at premier school makes great career sense.
All three are fantastic games, and while playing in order isn't necessary, there's something to be said for it. As another reviewer has said about 3, even the 12 hours of walking through the desert is cool. (it's not really 12 hours and it is cool)
I haven't played Far Cry 3 yet. Two is good, but can be kind of frustrating.
Driver San Fransisco has returned to most of the goodness that marked the first installment for, shit, was that the original PS? But i suppose you'd have to like driving games (not a simulator) and you didn't mention an interest.
In the days of the Flying Wedge, football was nearly banned. Interestingly, the new rules gave birth to both the forward pass and the NCAA. This is one of those times when taking away the pads and making it more like rugby wouldn't have changed anything, because that's the kind of hit that happens all the time in rugby.
The NFL is killing itself because it doesn't know what to do. It's rules to prevent injuries (mostly to highly paid, star players at skill positions) do not appear to be working very well and are hurting the product. I don't know what the answer is, but given that youth football participation is falling off a cliff; the lawsuits will continue to pile up; and the NFL will struggle to adapt, we may be watching the beginning of the end of football.
Industrial hygienist here, i'd imagine that lead is the most common and well known health issue that Detroiters (especially kids) face, but off the top of my head, i'd suspect that there are issues with a host of heavy metals, asbestos, and industrial pollutants. Some won't be found without top-flight medical care, and others have longer latency periods that will keep them hidden. I've read that the urban agriculture boom in Detroit could be problematic because of industrial contamination of the soil and uptake by garden crops (also former professional horticulturist). Heavy metals don't go away, they just recycle.
And of course the problem with these pollutants in residential areas is that removing them is time consuming and expensive. Arson and standard demolition are likely to spread rather than remove the problem.
This is Hoke's first full recruiting class, and the poster you're replying to is making a valid point. The rumors were that Devin taking over at QB sparked interest in WRs looking at UM because they could see that without Denard there was going to be a whole lot more airing the ball out.
And the Hoke regime is recruiting a ton (literally) of talent on offense. It's not that a monsterous O-line makes second tier skill positions great or anything, but it changes a lot when there are holes to run through and time for receivers to get open. Or, it's difficult to build the roof of a house before you lay the foundation.
Been performing well in Venezualan winter ball. Even when he's been roughed up it hasn't come on walks, which is the most important thing (imo) for a young, hard throwing reliever. I agree on Coke; he was auditioning for the job after Valverde imploded, and it might be a great fit for him.
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There's a specific instance it's used by the band and a formation that goes with the song, and that tradition is nearly 30 years old.
I'd like to see the MMB take over some of the PA music duties. Seven Nation Army sounds better with a university marching band playing it than as pumped in rawk. As I noted below, "Can't Turn You Loose" was a popular song when the MMB started playing it and made it their own. I'd just like to see more of that, blending the new into the tradition simply by having the MMB play their arrangements.
Traditions don't materialize out of thin air. "Can't Turn You Loose" is a MMB tradition, enough for kids like Denard and Roy to dance to it at basket ball games. The first time MMB played that song, was 1980. They played it because the Blues Brothers act with the SNL band currently on TV.
I'm not even forty yet and had attended UM football games before "Can't Turn You Loose" became a MMB tradition. I'll bet the grey hairs back then were pissy about the band playing that rock and roll music for the "wow" factor that got the students all riled up. I don't remember, because I sat in familial student seats in the first row behind the band as a kid so my idea of tradition was born among those damned rowdy college kids.
Today's new thing the band does that pisses you off might just be the next classic MMB tradition.
So your Michigan, representing one of the finer institutions of higher education in the nation?
Well yes, to some degree that's correct. But keep in mind that they're being asked to get with a total of 12 starts covering the entire interior offensive line. It's not as if these guys were getting some playing time here and there over the course of those three years.
It's also worth keeping in mind that in many (maybe most) cases, good offensive line play is somewhat invisible while mistakes are glaring. Some of these guys are getting it some of the time, but if one gets it on a play and another doesn't, there's trouble. Furthermore, opposing coaches now know what and how to exploit the issues which steepens the learning curve for those kids.
I thought it looked pretty good. There was a pretty good progression from what Mattison said last week to what showed up on the field. Caveat for level of competition, but it was the kind of performance i'd expect to see. I still don't understand the consistently soft coverage, but i assume there's a reason for it.
Not a coach, but a coworker played Oline at a high enough level to be a projected draft pick at center (didn't go because he was already badly beat up from his college career). He's taken the time to explain a lot of things to me, the big one being how long it usually takes to develop offensive lineman. He's pretty clear that until the junior year, most offensive lineman aren't very good. His rants about which should be called "skill" positions are the best.
The O line is pretty terrible, but perhaps the best that can be hoped for is minor and gradual improvement over the course of the season. All of the interior being young, inexperienced, and even a walk-on isn't likely something that can just be corrected in practice.
This is not an excuse for Funk. It's likely just the law of averages. The right players with the right coach might develop faster. And we all know what kind of difference a good center makes, with much more of it being between the ears than strength and technique. As it stands, most of the offense's problems stem from poor line play. (And i'm including TE blocking as line play.) Individual players haven't reacted well to the line breakdowns and problems, but those are symptoms rather than diseases.
It might be worth examining how up tempo offenses take advantages of the rules. I like them, but the ploy of setting up at the line to stop defensive substitutions and then the whole offense standing up to receive a play call from the sidelines that takes as long as huddling is an unfair advantage. It's not the same as the offense having X number of set plays to run, or even the QB calling plays from the line. In fact, it's really not very up tempo at all. It just keeps the defense from being able to substitute.
If you want to run up-tempo, no huddle offenses, then run them. Deal with the up and down sides, which include having your QB make important decisions on the fly. Huddling at the line of scrimmage so the offensive coach has extra time that the defensive coach doesn't is bullshit. It also makes the offense look better in that tempo than it may otherwise be.
As it stands, faking injuries are the only logical response a defensive coach/players have to the situation. Attempting to correct that won't fix the underlying issue, but it will create a handful of unintended consequences that will likely be bad for the game and could create serious injury hazards.
I find buying certified pre-owned almost as much of a waste as buying new, with a little bit less hit from depreciation.
Buying a used car isn't that hard if you follow a few tips.
A. Avoid used car dealerships both for the markup and the too-often sleazy nature of them and their willingness to hide issues with the car. (This is not always true, but it's true enough of the time.)
B. Research well beforehand, and find out what you want as well as whether there are known issues with the model. For example, if the engine has a timing belt, asking the seller/salesman when it was last changed will tell you a lot about the car and the seller in a short amount of time.
C. Insist on a pre-purchase inspection. The person who has a well-kept car won't hesitate to agree and it's the best $50-100 you'll spend buying a used car. Not only will you know if you shouldn't buy it, but you'll also have a pretty good feel for your maintenance costs over the first year or two of ownership.
In general it's about knowledge: having it, getting it, or at least making it seem like you have it. This winter we bought a '99 Passat wagon (with the proper number of pedals) for $500 under blue book. It was a two-owner car with every record, including every oil change. It came with extra wheels/tires. And it was all arranged from MI while the car was in Denver. Picked it up, drove it home, and it's been what was expected.
That was for her though, i don't drive cars made after 1991 by choice. I'm only using the '03 Civic as my winter beater because the Passat replaced it and i don't have time to find and go get something German this summer.
German car ownership is a labor of love. I'm very leary of nice German cars after the mid-90's when they stopped engineering great cars and started engineering how many doo-dads with control modules they could stuff into something. Also, the e30 is the last BMW i truly love for styling so i'll just keep buying those.
Christians aren't evil. But you might keep in mind that those of us who aren't Christian are a little turned off by your insistence that we either A. become Christian or B. at least live according to your rules. I understand that our unwillingness to live as you tell us to live somehow becomes persecution of Christians. We're sorry.
Tim's problem is that he's just not very good at playing QB. I read that during last season he told Ryan that he was tired of "gimmicky" offenses and wanted to be a traditional NFL QB ... but i'm pretty sure that requires being able to pass effectively and with regularity.
However, the Jets' decision to not play him last year might have also been due to playing time related bonuses in his contract. Unless he was good enough to be the QB, it was likely not worth it to the Jets to play him.
You can try looking NW of A2 in the Pinckney/Dexter/Saline triangle. I lived in what was essentially a vacation cabin inside the Recreation Area for a while. Between phone, voter registration, and mail i was technically a resident of all three places. But since Hell was the closest place to buy milk, i generally said that i lived in Hell (and did my shopping commute to Hell by canoe when the weather permitted).
It's a quick and pleasant trip into the city but feels more like "up North" than Ann Arbor. I don't remember drive time to downtown proper, but as out of the way as i was, it wasn't more than a 15 minute commute to work on the far West side at Jackson and Zeeb.
Edit: Curiosity got me and i did a quick search:
http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rentals/michigan/pinckney/r8457
Find the Pinckney State Recreation Area on Google Maps for an idea of the land and locations. Many of these cottages are open year round. Access is generally year round even on the private roads. For the early Fall games, there's also plenty else to do. Regal friends back home about your canoe trip to Hell or canoe trek to the iconic Zukey Lake Tavern
They say that going deep in the tournament is about peaking at the right time. Last night looked like a team that found its moment to start peaking. A very, very talented team that's fallen short in more than its fair share of crushing defeats this season could have given up. Given the team's youth, it would have even been understandable.
Instead they rose to the challenge. Intangibles matter on a level playing field of talent, and UM may well have the most important intangible for a championship team. They should believe that they can beat any team, any way ... no matter how improbable it seems. It wasn't flukey. They just kept doing their thing, stuck together, and won what might well be one of those history book games. For all Trey did, it wasn't hero ball. When they look at the film, they'll see McGary scrapping, GRIII scooping a ball from the floor and playing it just right, Morgan with so few minutes playing excellent defense when it mattered most. Trey's heroics don't win the game without his brothers' less heralded heroics.
Let's hope that those kids are looking at each other and seeing a team that can't be beat when it sticks together and refuses to quit. Championship teams all share a belief in their own invincibility. This Michigan team just might have found that, and done so at just the right time. I won't be surprised if they come out against Florida and everybody just has the stroke to hit any shot they choose.
Other than the fact that come 2015 the Tigers will have $90M in payroll for just four players, i'm thrilled. Not that it matters to me beyond hoping that it doesn't impinge on filling out the rest of the roster. It is impressive the way Mr. Mike runs a sports organization, and he manages the near impossible: not being cheap but also generally spending money wisely. You can't let JV go to save a few million bucks.
Verlander's loyalty is impressive too. I have a feeling that he never even thought about testing the market. He wanted to play in Detroit, they made him a solid offer, and the deal was done.
Between flashes of brilliance, he had mechanical and control issues this spring. It would be possible to get him innings without being the closer but he's just a kid playing a position that's mostly psychological. Far better for him to make changes and improve at Triple A where he won't have to worry so much about mistakes getting pounced on, and where the coach won't have to worry about that scenario shaking his confidence.
I expect to see him under the bright lights this summer, and don't think that closer by committee is anything to worry about in the first 1/3 - 1/2 of the season anyhow.
I'm a little bummed the Berry didn't make the team, but they really wanted a right-handed bat and Tuiasosopo hit well. I think i'd rather have Berry's speed to plug into the lineup. I am glad that Don Kelly has been hitting well and made the team; his versatility is huge if he can keep hitting.
Shy of fielding an all-star team the Tigers are there. It would be theoretically possible to upgrade at SS, but not realistic in the market. LF too maybe, but that's pointless with very good young outfielders coming through the system and close to the bigs. Not many teams have stars throughout the rotation, and if Porcello's added pitch and good command continue from the Spring he'll be better than good enough for a fifth starter.
So basically we're missing a closer, but we have multiple players capable of handling the role and a guy who got sent to Triple A to start the year to fine tune mechanics and control.
If you're generation company had 4,473 reportable incidents of injury in 2011, MIOSHA would be setting up a permanent office. At that point, federal OSHA would probably be hanging around too. Your employees are likely (potentially) exposed to all sorts of things like Pb/Cd, asbestos, PCBs, etc. and, yes, the rules for medical monitoring and informing them of their exposure and potential health effects are significant.*
Clearly, the NFL does not have to deal with OSHA. Just as clearly, being a substation electrician is quite different from being an NFL player in terms of acknowledged risks inherent in the employment ... though anyone who's seen the more grizzly arc flash safety videos would probably chose getting tackled by Ray Lewis. I'm with you, not sharing the full medical records with the players is the disturbing part of this story. It undermines the NFL statements about being committed to safety as well as the argument that the players are making an informed choice.
*From the perspective an industrial hygienist who's been tied to a power generatio company for the last two years as a third-party consultant.
His ceiling is incredibly high, certainly first round draft choice. Heisman is a lot about luck or having a good sob story for the press. Ceiling is also not the same as what we might expect.
I expect really good things, and great things depend on making a few relatively minor improvements as well as decisions outside of his control. Some of his passes last year were a little late, not being a QB coach, i assume that he's still thinking rather than knowing and acting instinctually.
If Michigan can establish a running game and at least one of the receivers steps up, then Devin will likely be making a lot of national media sit up and take notice. I don't have a lot of worries about what Borges wants to do. Looking at what Hoke/Borges did at SDSU suggests that with my above caveats, we're likely to see a prolific and exciting offense. Devin looks like he can run a passing game, including the vertical stretching Borges likes. Devin can both keep a play alive and burn a defense with his legs (and he showed the decision making chops last year to checkdown to his legs or throw it away when necessary). If the coaches feel that Bellomy can be the 2nd string guy, then i think we're also likely to see a little bit of QB designed runs for Devin. Not like Robinson QB running, but using them to keep the defense honest.
Get that redshirt, letting the rest of the team develop around him, and, yes, we might be talking Heisman finalist and very high NFL pick.
A specific list of public figures that i vow to kick directly in the nuts if i ever see them in public. It's been decades and no one has yet knocked Jimmy Buffet from the #1 spot. Still, Izzo seems like a nice addition to the list.
They volunteered, got paid, and get education benefits besides. It's not even all that hard to get the military to pay for multiple degrees while you're enlisted, or at least it doesn't seem to be given the number of people i know who received advanced degrees on the taxpayer dime.
I had a similar situation with UM and it took an entire semester to straighten it out. It was all because i happened to have mailed my grad school application from St. Petersburg, Russia. My permanent address had remained in MI throughout my time in Russia but the uni didn't seem to care. It wasn't until i took my passport to a meeting and read the visa information to those concerned that it got fixed.
But if this guy actually changed his residency, filed taxes in another state, etc. while in the military i don't see why the UM should give him in-state tuition.
Most places wouldn't even produce as much footage as we've seen. It happened pretty fast, as meteor do and all.
Driving in Russia is something of an experience. I used to sky dive and jump off of mountains for fun. I've driven a car at speeds greater than 150 mph. Yet all of my near death experiences happened on Russian roads. Because the craziest things happen on Russian roads (including insurance scams, fights, corrupt traffic police, etc.), most Russians run a dash cam to collect evidence in case of what would be a rare eventuality for you but an everyday occurance for Russians.
In my gypsy cabbing adventures i experienced road rage leading to off course chases so that my driver could scream and spit on the windshield of another car. I've been in cars that swerved at pedestrians (this was a Chechan screaming "Russian swine" and missing pedestrian babushkas by inches). I've driven on sidewalks at speed, played chicken with trams, and driving in oncoming traffic just stopped seeming like a very big deal.
To be fair, some of this was my fault. I reached a point where at times i'd offer a fair fare for the destination and then structure monetary rewards for quicker times to the destination.
While it looks like face-paint boy might be trying to get overall-girl's attention with a shoulder tap that missed it's target, he may be looking behind her. Look at hippie-hat have his attention drawn, pause celebration, lean behind overall-girl, and congratulate face-paint boy with a high five. Part of the general celebration, maybe, but the timing is odd as is the way hippie-hat goes right back to what he was doing.
Also, everyone is going crazy except face-paint boy, who's attention is solely focused on overall-girl. What could have had to say to her at that very moment that was so important that it overrode the emotions everyone around him (include her) are experiencing? I think that the tap/grope and hand around the waist are less likely if they know each other, because in that case they'd have plenty of time for that elsewhere and he wouldn't be stopping what he was doing to try and catch a jiggling boob.
Especially on the O line, there's a lot of complexity to grasp and implement at nearly the level of instinct. Those young guys might have a lot more talent but weren't overall better because they were still learning.
You may also be putting a little too much into those statement from the coaching staff. These are also the guys who call staph infections "boo boos" and pay a lot of lip service to the seniors. I don't doubt that they'd play a young guy ahead of an upperclassman if the former was signficantly better than the latter. I also wouldn't be surprised to find out that one of the major reasons for that statement being used so often was simply to foster competition in practice.
But still want to point out that Devin Gardner does resemble John Amos. The facial structure differences almost disappear from certain angles. I nicknamed Devin "Good Times" for it.
In a household without generational or attendence allegiances, i can see it. I live in the UP now and i imagine that there's a lot of Yoopers like that ... though there's a lot of Yoopers who love the Tigers, Wings, and Packers, so with a history of treasonous behavior maybe it's not a good anecdotal data point.
I hate State, and i didn't attend either school (didn't apply to MSU, was accepted and declined UM, twice). I do however come from a multi-generational UM family and spent my childhood living in Ypsi. My first UM game was against IU in '79 when i was not yet 6, so the die was probably cast before i had the rational ability to make my own decisions. On the other hand, there's never been any thought of changing those allegiances.
I can see casual fandom for both schools, but that's about it.
You mean like his charity that he doesn't contribute to?
They have to be actual dual threats. Gardner has that. He wasn't perfect in 2012, but given his still limited game experience the downsides of his passing game are understandable and hopefully able to be improved.
Especially modeling on SF. Throughout the playoffs i kept wondering if SF's offense is the future of the NFL. I still don't think that there will be true, running spread offenses at that level; however, much of the best QB talent coming out of college will continue to be dual threat.
SF runs my ideal of a hybrid offense, and i would be incredibly happy if UM looked like SF. I think we all would be, because we're likely to win a lot of games over the next two (hopefully) years with Gardner running a SF style offense.
The thing you might notice about these newfangled NFL offenses (two of three are referenced here, but i'll include Seattle) is that the QBs running them can pass effectively. All the scheming in the world doesn't help if the offense is effectively one dimensional and you don't have an overpowering O-line.
Also, these kids have limited time to learn things and are still developing their skills. If Denard had a hard time incorporating new concepts into the offense and running them, then it's really not possible.
don't necessarily run the QB all that often. Play choice where the QB can run (so long as he does it every now and again) can be enough to have the desired schematic effect. If the QB is a potential running threat, that threat has to be accounted for by the defense.
However, like the NFL offenses in question, i assume that Gardner's legs will be the check down. He's shown good ability to both throw on the run and make that choice correctly. If the defense is going to give you 10-15 yards, take them and fall down.
First, they're all the best of the best. Second, they don't have any time limit on practicing. That second one helps a lot.
that there's a misreading of the lay of the land. Proving that football is dangerous will not be necessary or even likely tried. Citing evidence that it isn't (assuming such evidence exists) will have little effect in the court of public opinion. One NFL player questioning it is enough to overshadow any clinical study. But more importantly, nobody's ever going to file criminal charges against a football organization claiming some sort of negligence that must be proven beyond reasonable doubt.
The legal precedent will be in civil court, where the argument will be that the NFL knew about the potential danger/risk and did not A. inform players who could make a decision based on that information and B. did not act on its information to make the game safer for its employees. This will be in front of a jury where players and their wives can tell the story, and while we may not be immediately sympathetic to millionaires, the jury only has to be more sympathetic to them than to the billionaires being sued.
A couple of cases won, and insuring football programs below the revenue level of the NFL will likely become prohibitive. Game over if some NCAA players successfully sue their alma mater. And long-term, the game might be over as parents and kids decide against football. I know a young man who did the research himself and decided not to sign up for football (no parental pressure). He's sticking with soccer and basketball.
Shirt was in the mailbox today! Can't wait to wear it ... especially most Saturdays at the Farmer's Market where i'll have the most opportunities to explain it (i'd wear it for animal slaughters at the farm, but it wouldn't remain regularly wearable for long).
But the shirt was just a bonus. I'm more looking forward to the garden updates and seeing the project come together. I wish i could volunteer directly, but the shores of Superior are a long ways from Pahokee and my knowledge, centered as it is on growing in the cold white north, wouldn't be all that applicable anyhow.
With the dual threat QB becoming a norm in the NFL (and it will continue) and the fact that we're seeing read option plays on Sundays with some regularity, Kelly will be the test of the spread making a real jump to the pros. And of all the spread minds, Kelly's is probably the best bet for success.
Or, Philly's taking a huge chance with either being the league innovator and getting at least a few seasons head start or the failure will be laughable.
Southern California might be slightly better for a kid wanting to break into popular music than Ann Arbor. There's a good chance that the people he idolizes in music and can help that career will know his name from the football field, maybe not so much playing at UM.
His routes and his hands will obviously be the question. Though he's technically big enough to be a back in the NFL, i'd guess that teams will want to see him in space where he can do the most damage to defenses.
I've got hope. The right organization drafting Denard could make things interesting. Clearly, the era of the dual-threat QB has begun in the NFL, and it's going to continue. Denard's not ready to be a starting NFL QB. However, an innovative team could pick up a hardworking kid that can provide immediate impact on offense and devote offseason resources to teaching him the details of playing QB that he needs.
If his routes and hands are acceptable, you've got a guy that with some polish can play the slot, come out of the backfield, and even go wildcat. Put him in a backfield with a dual threat QB and you could give a DC real fits. Can you say halfback pass? Five years ago he would have been special teams only, or maybe seeing time in a 5 wide set. Now, there are a lot more possibilities.
Look at the trend in NFL QBs. Nobody's running a read-option spread offense, but seeing the play run on Sundays is getting to be pretty common. When RGIII got hurt in the playoffs and Cousins came in, the Skins had to change the offense drastically. Now it's unlikely that an NFL team will have a backup QB returning kicks and entering the offense for some plays, but you never know.
And teams will spend money teaching QB mechanics. The Broncs tried with Tebow, but he couldn't figure it out ... which is probably why they shipped him away. The right team might see in Denard a guy that can provide value immediately with potential as a project too.
I have a coworker who was the starting OC at GVSU under Kelly (was already there when Kelly ascended), so i take his consultations on OL play and intricacies pretty seriously. He gets all bent out of shape when we call WRs, and RBs "skill positions". In his estimation, those are talent positions and playing the line is skill position because it requires so much learning to do well as opposed to being born able to run really flippin fast.
Because of the learning and ability to apply the learning instinctively, he maintains that linemen don't become really good until their junior/senior seasons. That doesn't bode well for UM in the next year or two. I guess we'll just have to hope that there are some real gems in these two classes, the kind that can come in and contribute early. That may not produce outstanding OL play in 13 and 14, but if it can produce decent play now, then 15, 16 and beyond look very bright indeed.
I refuse to own cars with automatic transmissions or any made after 1995 (and i prefer older than that). This is partly because i prefer German cars and the computer control modules combined with incredibly thin gauge control wire mean that things go wrong and are stupidly expensive to fix. So i'm probably not a good gauge of the American consumer.
But I'm no luddite. I have a smart phone that runs my business and personal life via the synced calendar. HD smart TV, PS3, subscription video service, etc. But to hell with a refrigerator that wants to talk to me. As much as my Asian experiences with singing toilets establishes some nostalgia for such appliances, just no. A good refrigerator already costs a bundle, and that's fine if it's well made and i can expect it to last many, many years with proper care and maintenace (see, old German cars). It needs to keep shit cold, reliably. As my tap water is as clean and cold as it gets, i don't need any of that fancy shit on the front door either.
So, no, no, no, no, no. Recipe for frustration and disaster based on a false sense of convenience. And i like cooking, so the appliance manufacturers can STFU about smart, induction ranges. Gas, a real fire the way we've been doing it for thousands of years is still best.
You might have a difficult time finding someone who thinks we are there yet, but your comments give the impression that you think we should be.
Hoke can't go back and rerecruit classes from a time when he wasn't the coach. What he has done indicates that there is an upward progression. Success breeds success, so as talent increases (and depth) there will be more games won which focuses the attention of young talent on the program. That increases the chances of winning more games.
Very few fans have gotten complacent about the UM football program, the realists among us take into account that the program is rebuilding and that takes some time. What realists want to see is consistent improvement, the establishment of a working system on both sides of the ball, and solid recruiting. Winning big road games is still on the "to do" list, as is establishing an offensive identity. The recruiting is already solid; in fact, it's rather spectacular considering Hoke is not Urban Meyer and he's rebuilding a program.
I dont' know if you know this, but we played the national champion this year, and we likely wouldn't have done any better than ND at the end of the season. The realist fans aren't complacent, you're unrealistic to expect that in year two of the Hoke era UM should be recruiting 5 stars left and right and winning every game.
Thinks he can parlay the DC spot into HC when Kiffin leaves? Figures that DC at USC is a much higher profile gig and when he takes a shot at HC jobs elsewhere he might be able to skip the MAC coach career stage? Or even doesn't figure that he'll ever be a HC so taking the DC spot at premier school makes great career sense.
but disemvowel them. The ultimate punishment for internet trolling: finish the job and turn the spittle flecked ranting into actual jibberish.
All three are fantastic games, and while playing in order isn't necessary, there's something to be said for it. As another reviewer has said about 3, even the 12 hours of walking through the desert is cool. (it's not really 12 hours and it is cool)
I haven't played Far Cry 3 yet. Two is good, but can be kind of frustrating.
Driver San Fransisco has returned to most of the goodness that marked the first installment for, shit, was that the original PS? But i suppose you'd have to like driving games (not a simulator) and you didn't mention an interest.
In the days of the Flying Wedge, football was nearly banned. Interestingly, the new rules gave birth to both the forward pass and the NCAA. This is one of those times when taking away the pads and making it more like rugby wouldn't have changed anything, because that's the kind of hit that happens all the time in rugby.
The NFL is killing itself because it doesn't know what to do. It's rules to prevent injuries (mostly to highly paid, star players at skill positions) do not appear to be working very well and are hurting the product. I don't know what the answer is, but given that youth football participation is falling off a cliff; the lawsuits will continue to pile up; and the NFL will struggle to adapt, we may be watching the beginning of the end of football.
Industrial hygienist here, i'd imagine that lead is the most common and well known health issue that Detroiters (especially kids) face, but off the top of my head, i'd suspect that there are issues with a host of heavy metals, asbestos, and industrial pollutants. Some won't be found without top-flight medical care, and others have longer latency periods that will keep them hidden. I've read that the urban agriculture boom in Detroit could be problematic because of industrial contamination of the soil and uptake by garden crops (also former professional horticulturist). Heavy metals don't go away, they just recycle.
And of course the problem with these pollutants in residential areas is that removing them is time consuming and expensive. Arson and standard demolition are likely to spread rather than remove the problem.
This is Hoke's first full recruiting class, and the poster you're replying to is making a valid point. The rumors were that Devin taking over at QB sparked interest in WRs looking at UM because they could see that without Denard there was going to be a whole lot more airing the ball out.
And the Hoke regime is recruiting a ton (literally) of talent on offense. It's not that a monsterous O-line makes second tier skill positions great or anything, but it changes a lot when there are holes to run through and time for receivers to get open. Or, it's difficult to build the roof of a house before you lay the foundation.
Been performing well in Venezualan winter ball. Even when he's been roughed up it hasn't come on walks, which is the most important thing (imo) for a young, hard throwing reliever. I agree on Coke; he was auditioning for the job after Valverde imploded, and it might be a great fit for him.