Unverified Voracity Sells A Work
[Eric Upchurch]
"When did you sign a contract?" /looks at Hackett… "YESTERDAY". The WSJ has the first shot at an excerpt from John Bacon's upcoming book, and they go with the courtship of one Jim Harbaugh:
In December, after Michigan finished a miserable 5-7 season that resulted in coach Brady Hoke’s firing, Hackett and Harbaugh had long talks on Saturday nights, developing a good rapport. (To avoid anything leaking to the media, Hackett always referred to Harbaugh internally as “Unicorn,” which reflected Hackett’s belief that Harbaugh was a one-of-a-kind candidate.)
“The interesting thing is,” Hackett later told me, “we never talked specifically about Jim being head coach. We talked about what Michigan needed. After a few weeks of this, we’re going back and forth and getting really excited about the possibilities, and Jim says, ‘We’re getting excited about this, aren’t we?’
“Yes we are,” Hackett said.
“You didn’t offer me the job, did you?” Harbaugh asked.
“No, I haven’t.”
“I didn’t accept, did I?”
“No, you didn’t.”
It wasn’t an agreement, by design, Hackett says, “But that gave me the confidence, no matter what pressure the media was putting on me, I could stick to my guns.”
Hackett was truly the right guy at the right time.
"So unlike him." The Indy Star remembers when Jim Harbaugh punched a guy, specifically one Jim Kelly, then a broadcaster:
"Even though Kelly certainly earned it for publicly questioning Harbaugh's pain threshold, it was costly and so unlike No. 4.
"But, obviously, even a coach's son and the ultimate team player had a breaking point.
"'I don't think you can use this season as an excuse for what I did,' Harbaugh said, refusing to provide any play-by-play on the altercation. "I've never been a fighter, but it happened and it's over.'"
And then:
"I regret throwing the punch, but I felt I had to do something since my toughness was being questioned," Harbaugh said. "I regret that I have a crack in one of my bones in my hand."
A truly disturbing incident, one that had a great impact on his future aspirations.
Mother said we can go to Six Flags now. Mother says we can buy timeshare in a Segway. Mother says I have done good and my sleepwalk murders have been redeemed. I still think I never done no sleepwalking.
Sadly, interested buyers, it turns out that you're already out of luck, too. The $1,500 piece of ... art ... has already been purchased by a 1965 Michigan grad and season ticket-holder.
The buyer, Roger Mayerson, told Putnam he simply knows what he likes.
"I think it's going to be quite a conversation piece," he said.
But I do want to ride a Segway.
Bring your Champion-type substances. BYCTOM previews the Northwestern schedule this year. On Michigan:
I can't wait to hate Jim Harbaugh. He comports himself like a nineteenth-century military officer just returned from some colonial posting no longer able to function in the West where he has to answer to a doddering hierarchy of muttonchopped generals with disastrous plans. Even by the insane standards of football coaches, whose lives revolve around yelling and watching film and taking fanboats to the east end of nowhere to convince a 300-pound 16-year-old to allow himself to be yelled at by them for the next four years, Harbaugh is intense. He seems to strive to exist in a world of wide-eyed zeal, where humans only communicate in elaborate football play argots, where discourse is limited to talking about how determined you are, and where the punishments for variation in pants style are unspeakably draconian. He is also a very good football coach and that is intolerable.
I will get you to read this blog if it is the last thing I do.
While I love this quote… OSU has a depressingly likable team this year, a fact that was emphasized by this quote from Josh Perry:
Favorite CFB preseason quote so far... pic.twitter.com/uIPBgp7ier
— Scott Carter (@GatorsScott) August 12, 2015
However, it is in fact very much like it went to crap and dilapidated and then some hipsters…
…moved in and renovated it.
OSU-Michigan, 1977. Specifically, Ufer going bonkers at the end:
Sigh. Anonymous Big Ten coach quotes from Athlon have dropped this year, and like most things they will make you upset about the coaching over the last few years:
"I think Devin Gardner was better than people gave him credit for. He is a unique athlete who was capable of throwing the ball. He could have been a great college football player in the right system.”
“They had one of the most dangerous receivers in the league in Devin Funchess. They had two or three five-star running backs. They had a slot receiver (Dennis Norfleet) who could make some plays. So I don’t think it was a lack of skill.”
“They lacked confidence. That was a big problem.”
“It’s not like they were horrible. By no means did I think they lacked talent.”
There are a couple mentions that the talent level was down "a bit" and the like, but the overall picture painted is one of Big Ten coaches marveling at how absurdly bad Michigan was despite having good players last year.
There are exceptions. I am generally opposed to police militarization, but in some circumstances they need all the help they can get:
"The Ohio State University Police Department asked for an armored vehicle to assist with 'football missions.'" http://t.co/xc5hn2NDjc
— Suzy Khimm (@SuzyKhimm) August 10, 2015
Should have asked for some airstrikes, too.
On Maize. "Distinctly golden."
Origins of maize: "..the yellow was decidedly golden. Never has there been any warrant for the sickly yellow.." pic.twitter.com/Wu4zIWlXNE
— MVictors (@MVictors) August 14, 2015
Etc.: The Lions are going full Brandon. Cordell Broadus made it about as long as Tony Posada. More from Stagg vs Yost. I talked to Concentrate about the reduced stadium capacity. Jordan thing. I'm confused. Hooray Jordan thing, say recruits. Okay, I guess.
August 14th, 2015 at 12:22 PM ^
I love that 1977 video.
Anyone else notice Ufer continually called them "Ohio" rather than "Ohio State"? Looks like Brady didn't start that after all.
August 14th, 2015 at 12:51 PM ^
Yeah, I wonder why no one ever got mad at Jesse Owens for doing that either.
August 14th, 2015 at 12:53 PM ^
The other thing I noticed was the ABC Sports logo attached to the top of the scoreboard. I guess the "no advertising" rule has been broken before.
August 14th, 2015 at 1:21 PM ^
August 14th, 2015 at 2:57 PM ^
August 14th, 2015 at 5:16 PM ^
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August 14th, 2015 at 5:56 PM ^
IIRC, back int he day it was easier to just show the stadium scoreboard to display the score on TV (as opposed to a CG graphic). So ABC would just prop up a little sign when they had the game so everytime to score was shown on TV, it also said "abc". I'm sure they needed permission from M, but I doubt they paid any fees for that.
August 14th, 2015 at 12:24 PM ^
Who hired Hackett?
Just curious, as Brian said, he was truly the right guy at the right time.
Great to see great talent stepping up to fill holes when needed.
August 14th, 2015 at 12:50 PM ^
Anyway, just like Brandon was brandin', I'm glad Hackett can hack it.
August 14th, 2015 at 2:36 PM ^
August 14th, 2015 at 12:28 PM ^
2 Crisler 2 15-17
15 Yea and forsooth, Maize shall be represented as a golden yellow, 16 and yellows of pale or brighter shades are an abomination, 17 and Harbaugh did say, "I am the maize of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in scarlet, but will have the light of life in football."
August 14th, 2015 at 12:34 PM ^
I'm pretty sure I've had text convos similar to this one with prospective GFs. Just throw an additional word in front of "job."
"We’re getting excited about this, aren’t we?"
“Yes we are,” Hackett said.
“You didn’t offer me the job, did you?” Harbaugh asked.
“No, I haven’t.”
“I didn’t accept, did I?”
“No, you didn’t.”
August 14th, 2015 at 12:44 PM ^
My day is better now than it was 30 seconds ago. Thanks.
August 14th, 2015 at 12:53 PM ^
Brian, you have won me to BYCTOM. What a great read.
"He comports himself like a nineteenth-century military officer just returned from some colonial posting no longer able to function in the West where he has to answer to a doddering hierarchy of muttonchopped generals with disastrous plans."
Hmmm...makes me want to brood and read Graham Greene novels.
August 14th, 2015 at 2:13 PM ^
Also sold on BYCTOM, thanks to that quote. For me, it conjured a combination of Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant" and Kubrick's Paths of Glory. Neither are 19th century but that's a problem with me, not the text.
August 14th, 2015 at 12:36 PM ^
What's not to love about the man!?
Excitedly: "Hold onto your kilohertz" is uniquely Ufer.
Fond memories of fall Saturday's with the voice of Ufer painting a very maize and blue picture.
He was a gem.
August 14th, 2015 at 4:44 PM ^
Toss in a "Dr. Strangehayes" every now and then. I sorely miss Bob Ufer.
August 14th, 2015 at 12:53 PM ^
The Michigan - Ohio State rivalry did go to crap. When one team wins 12 of the last 14 meetings and 2 national titles while the other team is middling to bad, it's not a good rivalry.
Basically, we are to Ohio State what Minnesota has been to Michigan for ages. Sometimes competitive but only very occasionally successful.
August 14th, 2015 at 1:17 PM ^
so when michigan won 10 out of 13 years with john cooper coaching it ceased to be a rivalry? that is why it is a great rivalry, it extends over decades with ups and downs for both teams. i love people who focus so much on the last decade of these rivalries like the rest of history was erased.
August 14th, 2015 at 1:27 PM ^
Ohio State was still a good team/program during those years though. The games had impications for both teams for bowls and conference championships. That's not the case in recent years. It's a one-sided game where the only intrigue for people outside of Michigan and Ohio is the unrealistic chance of Michigan pulling off an insane upset over a powerhouse program.
August 14th, 2015 at 1:41 PM ^
To say they've all been one sided games in this stretch is going a little far. Other than Rodriguez's two trips to Columbus and the Chad Henne rubbar arm game, they have all been competitive games. Not denying the point that you have to actually start winning some of these games, but to say that the actual games have all been one sided is inaccurate.
August 14th, 2015 at 1:54 PM ^
It's been one-sided because the games only have implications for one team in the postseason. The games haven't been a battle of top-tier programs. It's been a battle of Michigan just trying to play spoiler and Ohio State playing for championships.
August 14th, 2015 at 2:34 PM ^
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August 14th, 2015 at 2:35 PM ^
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August 14th, 2015 at 2:53 PM ^
2002 - Duh, OSU goes to NC game or UM keeps them from going. HUGE.
2003 - Both teams in top 5 I believe. Rose Bowl on the line as well?? BIG
2004 - Not so much. Troy Smith burst on the scene and OSU won easily. But it didn't mean much in the national picture for either. OSU went to the Alamo Bowl and was already bowl eligible before the game. UM lost but still went to Rose Bowl. MEH
2006 - DUH
2007 - Umm, not sure what the big implication for either team was. MEH
For the record, I'm going with national implications/BCS bowls/etc as big implications. Obviously an unranked OSU squad upsetting a top 15 UM team in 04 was big for OSU specifically. And in 07, I remember the game played in a monsoon and Wells running all over the place but not much other offense on either side. OSU did get a share of B1G with the win and a Fiesta Bowl birth so I suppose that counts but it didn't seem like more than that during the game.
August 14th, 2015 at 3:03 PM ^
The 2007 game was for the big ten title and therefore a BCS bowl. So once again, national implications by your standards.
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August 14th, 2015 at 3:07 PM ^
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August 14th, 2015 at 4:06 PM ^
2014 is pretty much the definition of a game that only has intrigue from one narrative; Ohio State's narrative. Michigan added as much interest to that matchup as Iowa State did to TCU's last game of their season in 2014. They were nothing but potential spoiler teams that fell short.
August 15th, 2015 at 2:34 AM ^
was #1 and #2. Michigan could have won that game on the road! If it were in Ann Arbor, I think we would have won! Up until LC retired both programs were good and most of the time the game meant something. I did like 95 and 96 when Michigan upset a higher ranked OSU! OSU just made just came out better with their coaching changes. But that will change with Harbaugh. Harbaugh will make Michigan relevant in a few years, may be this year!
August 14th, 2015 at 1:57 PM ^
but we've got about 20 more years of incompetence to reach Minnesota vs. Michigan levels
August 14th, 2015 at 8:29 PM ^
We've lost to Minnesota twice in the last 28 years and the great majority of our wins over them have been blowouts. The last decade against OSU has been painful but not THAT bad.
August 14th, 2015 at 12:43 PM ^
August 14th, 2015 at 12:48 PM ^
Looking at the picture of him by the plane - painfully obvious choosing his clothes is the ONE thing he can't do well. The blazer/shirt are ehhh...but those jeans tho!
August 14th, 2015 at 1:17 PM ^
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August 14th, 2015 at 1:18 PM ^
I don't think you should use an ancient clipping as support for "golden maize" when it also describes Michigan blue as "azure blue."
August 14th, 2015 at 2:26 PM ^
Conclusion: "color" is a stupid concept.
August 14th, 2015 at 1:25 PM ^
I can't believe you left this classic image of Harbaugh out!
August 14th, 2015 at 1:29 PM ^
I could then wear whatever the hell I want when greeting Harbaugh off the plane.
Seriously, What is going on there?
Hackett don't care
August 14th, 2015 at 1:52 PM ^
Got to love that picture of Jim getting off the plane. Early winter sunset on a clear cold evening.
August 14th, 2015 at 2:05 PM ^
One thing to add: the American use of school colors undoubtedly derives from the European tradition of heraldry and the granting of armorial bearings, of which I've made a certain hobby/study.
In heraldry, blue is called 'azure' (and would generally most closely resemble the Italian national soccer team's blue; the Azzurri, as they're called, though a Google search would quickly reveal even back then, there was variance--you'll see the French royals go with a deeper, "more Michigan" blue on their coats of arms). Also, there is no 'yellow' or 'maize', per se, but instead 'or', the latinate term for gold.
Naturally, this is a totally outdated and arcane field, and with no "real" heraldry authority in the U.S., (since it is a relic of ancient aristocracies), the colors can be whatever the hell the people wearing them want them to be as a practical matter. But as a fan and proponent of the darker, more deep golden maize color and critic of the neon dayglow yellows begun under Nike and then exacerbated by Adidas, I find it funny that people would ironically probably have a bigger issue with the dark Michigan blue vs. the original bright azure-blue than the lighter yellow vs. the traditional (or "right", as I'm going to call it) maize.
But since heraldry is mostly a forgotten artform (it used to be among the first courses taught in art schools even well into the 20th Century), obviously there's no need to stand on ceremony and people can choose whatever they like best.
August 15th, 2015 at 12:16 AM ^
Holy shit, your talents are truly wasted on us. Way overkill for the task at hand.
Like a Playboy Centerfold at a Star Trek convention, you deserve better.
August 15th, 2015 at 3:20 PM ^
August 14th, 2015 at 2:12 PM ^
I can't help but wonder who that coach had in mind other than Green.
August 14th, 2015 at 2:27 PM ^
August 14th, 2015 at 2:30 PM ^
There was Green... Devin Gardner was a five-star, Justice Hayes I think was a five-star according to some recruiting site... Smith was a four-star.
I guess the prevailing notion is that there were a lot of stars in the backfield.
August 14th, 2015 at 5:11 PM ^
That coach was exaggerating, just like some fans do. He was doing so to make a point, presumably. When fans do it, it's to show how bad our coaches were. That's not somethig opposing coaches usually do.
Gardner was obviously not a RB. Smith was a 3/4 star. Hayes was a 4*, not close to a 5* anywhere. I think Hayes was our only consensus 4* RB since Sam McGuffie. RB recruiting had been OK, nothing special, certainly not by Michigan standards,
August 14th, 2015 at 2:53 PM ^
August 14th, 2015 at 5:16 PM ^
August 14th, 2015 at 7:03 PM ^
Ok, so I found the only thing ever that Jim Hackett has done wrong.
Mom jeans:
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