Unverified Voracity Is Now Just A Series Of David DeJulius Embeds
Keith Jackson remembered by several people. At SBN:
That training meant calling everything ABC threw at him, but college football was different. One of Jackson’s gifts that made him so, so good at college football games was to make the viewer feel at home wherever the game might be. Ann Arbor became the Big House, Nebraska became the friendliest town in the world, and even beneath “the broad shoulders of the San Gabriel Mountains” you could feel at home, because ... well Keith did, didn’t he? Nowhere wasn’t home on a Saturday if Keith was calling it, because he had a map with a single line connecting everything.
This was all part of a whole to him. The things with names had definite pronunciations only Keith could nail; the things without names would be given them in time. The language of this sport — right down to the love for the great, the ugly, the undersized, the local, and the brutal — is his.
"That big smiling face, and just the thrill and the love he had for doing college football," Bob Griese told SportsCenter when asked what he'd remember about Jackson, his longtime broadcast partner whom he started working with in 1985.
"He did it for a long, long time. ... He never intruded on the game. It was always about the kids on the field. Never, never shining the light on himself. And that was one of the things that I most admired about him."
By Andy Staples:
It was probably on some lazy Saturday afternoon or evening in 1990 when the sound burned itself into my memory. I was in seventh grade, and a Notre Dame linebacker with a previously checkered career was in the midst of an All-America season. He must have been playing on the road, because if he’d been in South Bend, Brent Musburger would have been the one saying his name. Instead, Keith Jackson was calling the game, and when that linebacker made a tackle, Jackson said…
Miiichael Stooooonebreaker.
And there it was.
From that point forward, the quintessence of college football in my mind was Keith Jackson saying the name Michael Stonebreaker as a drumline pounds out a beat between plays. I can’t think of the sport without hearing those two words uttered by that voice. I cover college football for a living, so I think about college football a lot. Consequently, my brain frequently serves up the memory of Keith Jackson identifying a 225-pound middle linebacker from Louisiana playing for a Catholic university in Indiana.
"I can't get them any more open than that." You may have had some similar frustrations midway through the Maryland game:
“I can’t get em more open than those 2 shots.”
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) January 16, 2018
We need @umichbball's John Beilein mic'd up 24/7 pic.twitter.com/0w81dKHCU2
Bi-weekly David DeJulius hamblasting video. This one features nine(!) threes in a 49-point performance against Chicago Orr:
Sounds like fun. Next year's schedule is kind of a doozy:
From Michigan’s gauntlet to Oregon’s cakewalk, my 2018 Strength of Schedule Rankings: pic.twitter.com/CoAlFYGrMD
— Matt Smith (@MattSmithCFB) January 16, 2018
@ ND, @ OSU, @ MSU plus crossover games against a couple ten win teams in Wisconsin and Northwestern will do that.
Priority one: don't pay anyone. This would be an insane way to defuse the increasing media heat on the NCAA for restricting player mobility:
I spoke w/ an NCAA official this week who was “95% certain” transfers will soon be allowed to play immediately in basketball & football. Could be a one-time freebie, plus grad transfer option. So in theory, a student-athlete could play for three different schools w/o sitting out.
— Matt Schick (@ESPN_Schick) January 17, 2018
The grad transfer rule already sucks out loud for lower-level schools. Creating open season on every all-conference football and basketball player turns the MAC into a collection of JUCOs, essentially. It's far worse for competitive balance than paying kids would be, because you get to swoop in on anyone you missed and yoink them. You're also inviting kids to leave whatever degree program they're in for sports, damaging your hoary claims to academic integrity.
But it would eliminate a set of arguments against amateurism, so full speed ahead. Because keeping the money is all they care about.
Frank Ragnow on Ben Herbert. Strong, detailed praise for Michigan's new S&C guy:
"He's probably one of the most detail-oriented people I've ever met," Ragnow said. He then paused. "Actually, he is the most detail-oriented person I've ever been around. The first thing he's going to do with his players is a thorough individual evaluation of them. He'll learn their tendencies, strengths and weaknesses and try to get a feel for how their body reacts to different movements and different processes. Nutrition-wise, I'm guessing the Michigan players are going to learn a lot. Coach Herb is always finding new ways to gain an edge on the nutrition side of things and it was probably the one part of how he did things that I learned and took the most out of."
In addition to being good at S&C stuff, Ragnow "wouldn't let" Steve Lorenz hang up until he'd expressed what an excellent dude he was as well.
Exit various Irish. In addition to a few NFL departures, Brian Kelly booted four dudes. Three are offensive skill guys and will be relevant for Michigan's upcoming series against the Irish:
Stepherson was arguably Notre Dame’s most explosive receiver last season, finishing with 19 catches for 359 yards and five touchdowns. However, he was held out of the season’s first four games for a suspension that Notre Dame never publicly acknowledged.
The departures of McIntosh and Holmes come after a single public rules violation and seriously dent Notre Dame’s running back depth chart. With Josh Adams off to the NFL Draft, the Irish will likely open spring ball with just three scholarship running backs in Dexter Williams, Tony Jones Jr. and early enrollee Jahmir Smith.
The fourth is a DL who wasn't going to be in the rotation anyway.
Etc.: Andrew Ebbett and Chad Kolarik make the Canadian and American Olympic hockey teams, respectively. Francis Atuahene set to go high in the MLS Superdraft. Trey Burke reunited with THJ. Minnesota reporter suggests that there should be a Red Berenson trophy. I'm in.
January 17th, 2018 at 10:23 PM ^
that Mork has outcoached Harbaugh each of the last three years.
January 18th, 2018 at 12:25 AM ^
January 17th, 2018 at 2:18 PM ^
i'm already sick and goddamned tired of the upcoming seven months of bitching about the schedule. if we're as good as we have a chance at being, the schedule won't make a lick of difference.
we were a lousy spot from making the playoff in 2016. replace at iowa with at notre dame and it's pretty much the same schedule.
January 17th, 2018 at 2:27 PM ^
Good comparison. Especially since all those fortunate bounces that went Iowa's way that night was very reminicent of the kind of crap that usually happens in South Bend.
Either way, it makes you want to throw up. But you throw up a little more in this case because Notre Dame is the bigger dick.
January 17th, 2018 at 2:18 PM ^
Nobody.
Go Blue. Win them All.
January 17th, 2018 at 2:23 PM ^
A no-wait undergrad transfer rule would be a terrible idea. Just awful, potential to seismically change the landscape of the sport in a bad way.
"But what about the need to destroy amateurism?" I'm not as much on that bandwagon as others, but insomuch as things need to change the logical move right out of the box is to allow players to make NIL money without forfeiting eligibility.
Not only will this allow star football and basketball athletes to capitalize on their value, but also Olympic athletes like Katie Ledecky and various gymnastics stars whose primes occur before they are college-aged. This circumvents title IX issues (which many simply ignore in this debate) while boosting olympic NCAA sports and better serving athletes whose paths to success don't follow the high school-to-college model.
January 17th, 2018 at 3:16 PM ^
Why? Because freedom sucks? I don't know, I prefer giving more power to the student-athletes and less to the Man.
January 17th, 2018 at 3:43 PM ^
it could lead to further imbalancing the haves and the have-nots. Talented underclassmen in G5 schools leave for P5 schools which have openings from kids leaving early for the NFL.
January 17th, 2018 at 3:56 PM ^
someone like Jalen Hurts who loses his job to a younger player transfers elsewhere and helps a have-some. That's a win-win for Hurts and Have-Some-University.
Consider back when scholarship limits were 105 or 95 instead of the current 85. There was much less parity back in those days because OSU and UofM could load up their rosters with the best players, whether or not they were starters. If you are not starting at Bama, OSU, or Clemson today, you are forced to stay hoping you can someday make the starting lineup as a 5th year senior. If it's clear you are not going to play, it's better for you and the Haves competitors for you to transfer to the competitor.
Is 'Bama and OSU being able to poach MAC school kids really going to overcome the hit to their depth that transferring away from those schools is going to cause?
I don't like unfettered free agency, but I also don't like screwing over people in the name of maintaining the status quo. Coaches leave all the time and can start coaching right away elsewhere, but the kids have to sit out a year.
I also don't like MAJOR CHANGES because of the rule of unintended consequences. I prefer a gradual approach towards MOAR freedom. The grad transfer rule was the first step. Perhaps a better second step would be allowing transfers for kids whose coaches leave. Or perhaps we've already taken a second step where universities that f*ck up like Ole Miss see their players have the option of transferring without sitting.
It's complicated. My initial response to StephenJr.Viking was too snarky.
January 17th, 2018 at 4:29 PM ^
Allowing transfers if the coach leaves or is fired makes a lot of sense - so doubt NCAA ever does that one.
Ultimately depends on what they're trying to accomplish with something like this rule. Is it for the benefit of the kids, to get more parity, to further solidify the top schools/conferences or no apparent reason? Because like you say re: unintended consequences whatever it is some schools/people will figure out how to turn it to their advantage.
Without going too political it's like any time there is a new tax reform bill and any one with the best attorney/CPA willing to spend will figure out where the exploitable loopholes are. Because there always are some.
It's not like the NCAA has a track record of common sense decision-making after all.
January 17th, 2018 at 11:51 PM ^
What parity are you talking about? Between which schools?
January 18th, 2018 at 10:09 AM ^
"parity" in more of a theoretical sense since it doesn't/hasn't really existed now or ever. Maybe attempting to level the playing field is more appropriate but that still doesn't feel right. Anways I threw it in there as a possible option for the decision not that I agree with it.
I just don't get the sense that NCAA and the P5 conferences that seem to set the agenda and rules give 2 shits about the smaller schools because most of the money comes from the top and the TV contracts that those teams drive.
January 18th, 2018 at 1:12 PM ^
And you would be right. Because the big schools do not care what happens to the smaller schools. Have you (I haven't) ever seen or think UofM cares about EMU's football program? Or EMU overall for that matter?
Even though the money pie for NCAA Football and Basketball (and baseball/hockey to some extent) keeps getting bigger, every school wants more and more of it for themselves. And there is really nothing wrong in it.
I have no problem in competitive balance in the NCAA sports arena. But I don't think it ever existed. Hence, whenever someone says "but what about parity", I wonder if they were living under a rock or whether my sarcasm meter is broken.
Thank you for explaining your position. Appreciate it. If we or the fans and general population really wants a truly balanced playing field, it can be done, but it will also change the landscape a lot.
January 17th, 2018 at 6:14 PM ^
Imagine the conversation.
"Hey coach I deserve more minutes and if you don't give them to me I am going over to play against you on your rivals team because they are thin at my position.
Or
"Hey guys now that we are all conference on our respective different teams lets all transfer as a package deal and make a super team ala Lebron!"
None of that is what I want to see on college ball.
January 17th, 2018 at 11:59 PM ^
It doesn't matter what you want to see. If the players/coaches want or the "market" wants, it will happen.
January 18th, 2018 at 6:08 AM ^
The single no-wait transfer exists in all NCAA sports except football, hockey, and basketball. The NCAA is simply removing an impediment they imposed on a few sports because, they claimed, it was necessary to improve graduation rates in those sports.
I don't think it is possible at this point to predict all the consequences, but I generally approve of removing exceptions.
January 17th, 2018 at 2:37 PM ^
Colorado, Troy, and MSU at home...Michigan, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Ohio State, and Iowa all on the road...jeez...
January 17th, 2018 at 3:20 PM ^
Please bring this up every time someone complains about our schedule. The whining gets old.
Good luck Scott!
January 17th, 2018 at 2:39 PM ^
Not a fan of no-wait transfers. I can see obvious benefits for kids, which usually is the be all end all for this, but the idea of needing to not just recruit high schoolers but also recruit your whole roster is going to be a nightmare, especially for teams outside the top 25 and traditional powers. I wonder if the NCAA will introduce an accompanying rule along the lines of "coaches can't initiate contact with players for other teams" to keep the recruiting free for all from becoming a true shitshow.
January 18th, 2018 at 6:11 AM ^
The proponants of the rule change have proposed accompanying extended "no tampering" rules. You have identified the biggest potential flaw in the change, I think.
January 17th, 2018 at 2:39 PM ^
You'd think someone from this board would have mentioned this by now.
January 17th, 2018 at 2:42 PM ^
In theory it should give more wiggle room for a "good loss." But, on the other hand, the committe has proven they will give the benefit of the doubt to a 1 loss team over a 2 loss team regardless of quality wins or SOS.
January 17th, 2018 at 3:23 PM ^
Me too. But I think if USC or Ohio State had close losses instead of getting whooped in their losses they might have been in, instead of Alabama. No way to know for sure, but ESPN seemed to think so.
January 17th, 2018 at 3:06 PM ^
You'd ever get a guy transferring once and then also doing a grad transfer. If you transfer from a smaller school to a larger school, the odds you graduate early are pretty low. Functionally this just seems like allowing kids who maybe aren't the best student to get the one no strings attached transfer that the smarty pants kids already get.
January 17th, 2018 at 3:25 PM ^
I'm not sure any kids are currently functionally barred from grad transfers, other than those who aren't on track to graduate. I think the vast majority of schools will figure out a grad program to put a valuable player into no matter what his grades. We've seen a number of occasions where a player grad transfers to a school, and only later do they figure out what grad program he's in.
January 18th, 2018 at 10:35 AM ^
They are graduating in 4 years, not early.
January 17th, 2018 at 3:15 PM ^
Keith Jackson, to me, was NCAA football for so many years. RIP and WHOA NELLY!
January 17th, 2018 at 3:16 PM ^
I love UofM playing top-notch opponents almost every week. For me, the lead-up to each game, the game itself, and the after the fact analysis are all big parts of each game. I would much rather see UofM be at #1 than #57.
BTW, I also respect ND playing a Top 10 schedule every year. It's great for their program and for the teams that play them.
I suspect UofM's players and coaches much prefer playing against good teams rather than patsies.
January 17th, 2018 at 3:19 PM ^
1. My strongest Keith Jackson memory is one that I didn't see live because I was at the game not watching it on TV. But it is hard to top "...do we know who the MVP is? Well, I'm standing next to his proud daddy..."
2. I get the idea that Belein puts up with everything else in coaching...the recruiting, the media appearances, etc., just so he can COACH, like that mic'ed up segment shows him doing.
3. Getting full circle to point #1 here; in 1996 we were 8 - 4 with a next year schedule so tough, Lloyd Carr used the "climbing Mount Everest" metaphor. We need to approach next year with the same resolve.
January 17th, 2018 at 3:43 PM ^
any of Michigan's schedules in the 80's and 90's...granted, then, it really was much more about winning the B10 title and going to the Rose Bowl but those conference schedules weren't easy...
January 17th, 2018 at 3:23 PM ^
January 18th, 2018 at 3:19 AM ^
Hoping for gravelly voice like Barwis.
January 17th, 2018 at 3:39 PM ^
January 17th, 2018 at 3:41 PM ^
I really think with some improvement from the tackles and the QBs next year that this team could be final four caliber. I also really think that SOS is going to have us end up with more than one loss.
Too bad this team couldn't play in the Big Ten like 5-10 years ago when it was awful.
January 17th, 2018 at 3:55 PM ^
I am in favor of this rule change as I have always thought it is ridiculous that kids have to sit out a year while coaches and their staff can move at will.
For the gradtransfer part, they can already transfer without sitting out as long as they go to a school that has a program their current school doesn't have. I don't see anywhere where that part is changing, so really, its the same as it is now. And really, there are not alot of grad transfers that happen because if you are ready for the NFL, you are leaving as early as you can anways.
As for undergrads, its says its a 1 time deal, so its not like a kid is going to transfer 3 or 4 times and get off scottfree. They can transfer 1 time as an undergrand without sitting out and I am ok with that. Kids can already transfer today but they sit out a year, but in reality, the flood gates are not going to just suddenly open and it will be like the wild west. There are still scholarship and roster limits. Now, if people are worried about the Alabama's of the world and the infamous soft handshake, then put some limits in place on when kids can transfer, how they are contacted by other schools and when coaches have to notify current athletes their scholarship is no longer valid.
Personally, I liken this to the NFL's reluctance on Pass Interference. I believe that rule is ridiculous and they need to move to the college rule of spot foul up to 15 yards. However, the NFL has always argued that DB's would committ PI all the time if it was just a 15 yeard penalty. Well, college has had that rule for years and we really don't see DB's committing PI at an alarming rate, do we....
Let the kids transfer, set guidlines on how and when, be done with it. Or here, how about this, let them transfer, play right away but the first year post transfer, no athletic scholarship, make them pay their own way...Problem solved when their own money is now on the line..
January 17th, 2018 at 3:58 PM ^
In other Michigan hockey alum news, Andrew Cogliano just got suspended and broke one of the longest active game streaks in NHL history--830 games, over 11 seasons. Insane.
January 17th, 2018 at 4:11 PM ^
Between complaints about Beilein's scheduling and the yearly complaints about football scheduling, I'm amazed anyone around here has time to actually watch the games.
Michigan screwed up when Brandon agreed to OSU and MSU having the same home and road splits. If Michigan wants to correct for that, they have to eat another road game at one of those places and then it's settled. Michigan screwed up, and so they have to fix it at whatever cost it is. MSU or OSU don't owe Michigan anything.
As for complaining about ND and 2018, that schedule doesn't look demonstrably worse than 2016, and that was basically one mis-called 4th down run from a playoff spot. So people already assuming Michigan is doomed because they have to go to ND are just reacting for the sake of it.
January 17th, 2018 at 4:50 PM ^
Michigan had zero non-conference road games in 2016. 2018 is a tougher schedule. I'm in favor of it -- the harder the schedule, the more it means to be victorious -- but 2016 was a cake-walk schedule, which is a big part of why Michigan was undefeated going into the Iowa game, with a first-time starting quarterback.
January 17th, 2018 at 6:05 PM ^
January 17th, 2018 at 5:43 PM ^
They lost their four best O-Lineman and a shit ton of talent. They are not deep and lost most of staff. Losing this game would be alarming even in ND.
It is absolutley beyond comprehension anyone approved playing MSU at MSU two years in a row.
Its like the kid who traded for a Gates Brown card for Babe Ruth and Willie Mays because he liked the Tigers.
January 17th, 2018 at 4:28 PM ^
January 17th, 2018 at 4:39 PM ^
January 17th, 2018 at 5:14 PM ^
Who will all be lining up to get paid if amateurism rules are loosened and if they're not then Title IX violations AHOY!!!
One reason I have yet to get why the pay the players crown is so strident about it, it's the one way to completely blow up this thing they claim they all love so much.
January 17th, 2018 at 7:56 PM ^
January 17th, 2018 at 7:59 PM ^
Every time this argument comes up, I get the feeling that a good amount of the "pay the players" crowd doesn't fully understand the implications of what they're asking for.
January 17th, 2018 at 11:32 PM ^
January 18th, 2018 at 10:16 AM ^
camp until someone here pointed out that the bigger schools will just pay them more so nothing would really change. Still not sure that outweighs the fact that schools make money off the product/kids. Since only 1-2 sports generate said money is it fair to pay every athlete the same or would there be different compensations per sport? Seems like inertia is the answer until someone/something moves this in one direction or another.
January 18th, 2018 at 1:00 PM ^
January 17th, 2018 at 5:27 PM ^
I get the impression other teams fans felt that way as well. He had a gift.
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