August 12th, 2019 at 9:22 AM ^
Surprise, surprise.
Welcome back, Nick!
August 12th, 2019 at 9:23 AM ^
Guessing he is still covering Michigan?
August 12th, 2019 at 9:28 AM ^
Michigan, Michigan State, and the Lions.
August 12th, 2019 at 9:29 AM ^
That's brutal.
August 12th, 2019 at 2:23 PM ^
There is guy named Austin Meek that moved to The Athletic last month to cover Michigan. He is a complete outsider and can offer a different perspective I suppose. He was covering Oregon in prior years. So far he is doing a nice job.
August 12th, 2019 at 9:28 AM ^
Michigan State and the Lions too. Michigan State fans don’t take criticism very well. It’ll be interesting to see how his State commentary goes lol.
August 12th, 2019 at 10:18 AM ^
Nicks not afraid to critique.
August 12th, 2019 at 10:33 AM ^
Uh.. most fan bases don't take criticism well.
August 12th, 2019 at 11:00 AM ^
Most people don’t. You should have seen this OP a few threads ago.
August 12th, 2019 at 9:28 AM ^
I just signed up for $30 to give it a try.
August 12th, 2019 at 10:27 AM ^
Me too. He's far better than anyone else on the Michigan beat.
August 12th, 2019 at 11:44 AM ^
I signed up around Christmas this past year, and I absolutely love it. It will pick up in the fall for sure.
August 12th, 2019 at 9:32 AM ^
Started subscribing to the Athletic about a month ago, and it's been underwhelming to say the least. On the bright side, it's made me more thankful for content I get here without having to pay anything.
August 12th, 2019 at 9:38 AM ^
August 12th, 2019 at 9:54 AM ^
How is their FF coverage?
August 12th, 2019 at 10:31 AM ^
Damn good
August 12th, 2019 at 11:02 AM ^
Excellent. Ciely is the #1 ranker in the industry, and there are tons of "chat sessions" where you can ask questions to the experts live.
August 12th, 2019 at 1:12 PM ^
Hun?
FF - Flag Football?
FF - Female Football?
August 12th, 2019 at 9:52 AM ^
Not sure what you have been reading, but the story on the Minnesota Wild GM self destructing was a wonderful read.
August 12th, 2019 at 9:57 AM ^
It's mid-summer a.k.a. the dark ages of sports coverage unless your team is in the thick of a pennant race. Once football starts you'll enjoy it.
August 12th, 2019 at 10:32 AM ^
"This site is dead!" /s
Also, below is Nick's "Intro" Article (free).
August 12th, 2019 at 11:27 AM ^
This is an awful take. What exactly have you been reading there, and what is your basis for comparison? Not to mention, it lacks the two things MGoBlog has in spades: ads and idiots.
And it's available as an app!
I'd gladly pay $5 a month for MGoBlog for such features.
August 12th, 2019 at 2:13 PM ^
Dollars or Rubles?
August 12th, 2019 at 2:25 PM ^
Awful take. Some people are just never happy.
For college football coverage, they have Andy Staples, Bruce Feldman, Steward Mandel, our old friend Chantel Jennings and a bunch more.
They were all over NBA free agency and have a boatload of great NFL coverage.
The Athletic is like peak-ESPN from the early-aughts but with even more depth - they'll cover everything important and have a good take on it.
I'm just trying to find a way to re-up my subscription without paying full price!
August 12th, 2019 at 11:39 AM ^
Their Michigan football coverage is not as good as here, I agree. The last two writers they hired (before Nick) were both beat writers from out west who didn't know much about Michigan football, so they focused on covering press conferences and giving surface-level reports / interviews / opinions twice per week. As a hardcore fan, it's not the most satisfying content, but I understand it.
That said, Chris Burke covering the Lions in fantastic. It seems like he writes every day, with detailed roster breakdowns, training camp reports, NFL draft coverage, and more. He's worth the price of admission alone (during football season, at least).
Otherwise, I like the national stuff from Feldman, Mandel, Glazer, Lombardi, etc.
August 12th, 2019 at 9:47 PM ^
When Michigan basketball is in full swing, Brendan's articles more than make up for the subscription cost. It'll get even better with Nick on board.
August 12th, 2019 at 9:32 AM ^
Unsurprising but very exciting. Glad he immediately announced they're getting the band back together and doing a Nick/Quinn pod. Just in time for football!
August 12th, 2019 at 9:49 AM ^
Let’s just hope they bring back the wolverine beat opening song by Quinn‘s brother...
August 12th, 2019 at 9:45 AM ^
It’s funny how I still skim over these announcements and say “wow The Atlantic is really spicing up their staff beat. But what does Nick know about geopolitics?”
August 12th, 2019 at 9:48 AM ^
The quality of Nick’s writing has improved substantially over the last few years. He has gotten into breaking down plays with astute observations that no one else is making. I have subscribed to The Athletic since early on, mainly because of Brendan Quinn, and I find the content to be excellent. Every month they seem to be adding new writers and new teams to cover. They also are looking for a quality over quantity, and they are getting both. Congrats to Nick and looking forward to more of his articles without advertisements.
August 12th, 2019 at 10:06 AM ^
I wish I could tag the guy on here who called it when they announced his resignation.
cheers to nick and the user who called it.
August 12th, 2019 at 10:13 AM ^
I wasn't the person to whom you're referring but the Athletic was definitely my first thought when he announced his Freep departure and teased a new landing spot.
August 12th, 2019 at 11:07 AM ^
‘‘twas I, now bring me and my hunch producing brain all of your meats and cheeses.
August 12th, 2019 at 11:16 AM ^
Huzzah. Huzzah. Huzzah. three cheers long live Bo
August 12th, 2019 at 6:15 PM ^
It wasn't exactly out of left field; I think a lot of people surmised that The Athletic would be his destination.
August 12th, 2019 at 10:20 AM ^
Does that make him an Athletic Supporter?
August 12th, 2019 at 10:20 AM ^
Yussssss
August 12th, 2019 at 10:21 AM ^
Yes!
Nick has long been one of the better writers in Michigan and now I'll be able to get him on my The Athletic app including his podcasts with Quinn. Good to know.
August 12th, 2019 at 11:04 AM ^
I'm not a subscriber to The Atlantic so all I really see from them is anything on social media and while those stories do look interesting and while the space is completely different than what it was, I feel the The Atlantic is the 2019 version of The National.
August 12th, 2019 at 11:06 AM ^
The Athletic is making moves. Nice hire for them.
August 12th, 2019 at 1:16 PM ^
Seemed to be inevitable, I mean who else is hiring sportswriters in 2019? Nobody. Good for Nick though.
Maybe this fall I'll get around to doing a trial.
August 12th, 2019 at 7:45 PM ^
Nick is by far my favorite Michigan writer, my i'll give the Athletic a try.
August 16th, 2019 at 2:07 AM ^
This place has a good reputation. I never paid for paywall stuff before. I might to this place.