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I've read Dune 10+ times and…

I've read Dune 10+ times and the entire original 6 books at least 3 times.  I obviously loved it - feels like the original Game of Thrones/Song of Ice and Fire with prescience replacing magic and set in space.  Be warned though, there are long sections of characters just thinking to themselves.  That's not everyone's cup of tea.

 

I read the Three Body Problem quite quickly and enjoyed it tremendously... until the last 30 pages or so.  I plan on reading the second book but I had a distaste for the ending.  Fortunately, most people I talked to about it didn't think the end was nearly as bad as I did so there's a good chance you may enjoy it.

 

If you're looking for an easy SciFi read after Dune then "A Memory Called Empire" was simple but enjoyable.  For more terrestrial material, you could also try "Recursion" (as the name implies it's more time travel based).

 

If you're looking for US history then I highly recommend Chernow's Hamilton (which led to the musical) and Chernow's Washington.  Some of the most page turning biographies I've ever read.

 

I'm still hunting for a good Jefferson biography.  Anybody got a suggestion for me?

I started the Jon Meacham biography but have basically stopped just before Jefferson goes to France in 1784.  It began to feel like Meacham liked Jefferson so much that he was whitewashing.  I think Meacham devoted 1 page to Jefferson's first term as governor of Virginia and maybe 6 pages to his second term.  Considering that was in the middle of the Revolution, it's impossible for me to believe that there was nothing worth writing about as he governed the most populous colony.  That along with other areas where he seems to completely dismiss or gloss over some of Jefferson's other activities made me question the completeness of the biography.  And once trust is broken with a biographer it's very hard to earn back.

Good to know.  Fortunately…

Good to know.  Fortunately our hotel is south of the parade and our seats are on the south side so we won't have to cross the street.

 

We're going to be Uber-ing there from the hotel.  I guess we'll be getting up early!  We're flying in to LA the night of 12/31 so that'll be... an experience.

Agreed!  I've listened to…

Agreed!  I've listened to the whole History of Rome podcast about 5 times.

If you like his style but not that topic, then I also recommend his Revolutions podcast (about various revolutions and "revolution adjacent"-events in history).

We might've taken the same…

We might've taken the same class.  I needed to get some more social science or humanities credits for engineering degrees.  Only thing that fit my schedule was History 201 - "The Roman Empire and its Legacy".  Highly enjoyable class with the best GSI I ever had at Michigan ("best" in terms of keeping everyone interested in the subject).

That got me interested but what really blew it up into a love affair between me and the history of ancient Rome was reading Adrian Goldsworthy's biography on Caesar.  I read that a few years after graduating and in the time since then I've read dozens of biographies on Roman and non-Romans.  Goldsworthy remains the gold standard in my opinion.  His book was captivating in that he made both the time and the man of Caesar himself come alive.  If anyone is looking for an entry point into Roman history, that is my first recommendation.

I love when 2 of my great…

I love when 2 of my great loves - Michigan football and Roman history - intersect on this blog.  I'm confident that Michigan is the ONLY college team where that would happen.

 

Although maybe an Iowa blog could say their offense is playing the role of Fabius vs. Hannibal by refusing to engage with the enemy.  But Fabius famously did that by only fighting small battles he knew he could win.  Iowa's offense just doesn't fight at all.

 

Anyways, thanks to Seth for the Roman references.  Now I should probably finish reading the article.

Currently listening the…

Currently listening the Malazan series through Audible.  On book 6 now.  Having trouble keeping myself going though.  There's a number of reasons it's tough sledding at the moment but the one I've been thinking about recently is the magic system.

Seeing Sanderson get millions of dollars for his next books reminded me of Sanderson's Laws of Magic.  Feels like Malazan fails on points 1 and 2 - the magic system is so ill-defined that I'm never sure when a magic user (or especially a magical creature) is going to be challenged and I don't really know what the limits are.

Yet I find myself enjoying it most of the time (except anything to do with Felisin in book 2, I hated her).

Why am I writing this/what am I expecting anyone to say?  No idea.  Just wanted to write it.

MATCH returns the position…

MATCH returns the position but INDEX takes the position and looks up the value for that position.  Thus, while it's true that the position will change when sorting, it practice it doesn't matter because MATCH will still find the right item.

However, the 2 main benefits most users see with INDEX-MATCH vs. VLOOKUP are:

  1. INDEX-MATCH does not necessitate that what you want to look up in the table is to the right of the key you're searching by.
    1. For example, if the table listed # in the leftmost column then last name in the second-to-leftmost column, you could not use VLOOKUP to find # using last name unless you either moved the columns or made a helper column with =# to the right of last name.  INDEX-MATCH though could handle it without moving columns or a helper column.  You'd use: =INDEX(#Column, MATCH(LastNameBeingSearchFor, LastNameColumn, 0))
  2. INDEX-MATCH does not requiring counting columns.
    1. VLOOKUP requires that you specify how many columns over from your key value the return value will be.  Yes, you can make it flexible by using COUNTA and/or COUNTIF functions, but if you ever hard code in a number then insert a column - your VLOOKUP will be wrong.
    2. INDEX-MATCH allows you to simply tell Excel "this column [the index column] is where the resulting value is.  And this column [the match column] is where the key value [the value I already know] is."  So long as you're using an actual named table, you'll be able to insert columns, delete columns, and move columns without affecting your formula.
      1. And once you get good with INDEX-MATCH you can even give INDEX an array [a multi-column table] rather than a list [a single-column table] then use INDEX to also look up the table header.  That makes your formulas truly immune to changing table sizes.

TLDR: INDEX-MATCH is the superior Excel function and my many years of experience has multiple reasons why.

As I wrote last week,…

As I wrote last week, unrelated to the content but an idea for Ian: I noticed this article and the previous "Technical Flyover" didn't have any tags on it.  I'd recommend going back to both of them and adding tags - makes it much easier if you want to find an old article to refresh yourself on something technical.

 

I know I've sometimes gone back to re-read Seth's breakdowns and it's a lot easier since I can just go to the Neck Sharpies tag and find all of them.

Unrelated to the content but…

Unrelated to the content but an idea for Ian: I noticed this article and the previous "Technical Flyover" didn't have any tags on it.  I'd recommend going back to both of them and adding tags - makes it much easier if you want to find an old article to refresh yourself on something technical.

 

I know I've sometimes gone back to re-read Seth's breakdowns and it's a lot easier since I can just go to the Neck Sharpies tag and find all of them.

What French Revolution book…

What French Revolution book are you reading?

 

I've been wanting to find a good one ever since I listened to the Revolutions podcast on the French Revolution.  But finding a decent overview in one volume has been challenging.  I don't mind if it's 1000 pages but I'm looking for something going from before the Estates General until... whenever that author thinks the revolution ended.  I've already read a biography of Napoleon so it doesn't have to go all the way Napoleon's Consulate.

If you like Roman history…

If you like Roman history then I've got a ton.  The most accessible and interesting of those would be:

Caesar: Life of a Colossus by Adrian Goldsworthy

Goldsworthy is a historian specializing in Roman history and military history.  He gives you all the background you need to fully understand what how Caesar could be merciful to his Roman enemies (to the point of letting them go rejoin armies fighting against him) while also slaughtering villages of Gauls in no small part to increase his prestige back in Italy.  Through the book you can see how Caesar caused a chain of events that led to the world today.  Without Caesar there would be no August, and without Augusts the Roman empire as we think of it would never have existed.

 

For light fiction, try the Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson.

Extraordinarily readable and engrossing, each book in the trilogy manages to have a unique feel while maintaining characters and an overarching story.  The books are all set in a world where certain people can ingest small bits of metal to give themselves relatively basic powers - push up against metal, pull towards metal, sense emotions, enflame emotions, etc.  And some people can do it all.  The setting is effectively a world where the big bad guy already won.  And what's more, the big bad guy is immortal and has ruled for a thousand years.  Try overthrowing that!  And maybe overthrowing that guy isn't automatically a positive for the world...

 

If you want some DENSE fiction, then you can read book 1 of 10 of the Malazan Empire: Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson.

Erikson throws you right into a world and offers nearly no explanation for anything.  You're left to figure it out.  The first book focuses on a group of soldiers trying to do their best for their empire, even if that means rebelling against it.  Oh, and there are gods each trying to mettle in the mortal world for their own purposes and magic and... words.  So many words.  It's enjoyable but tough.  Only finished it because I was listening on Audible.

 

If American history if your preference then I recommend reading Washington and Hamilton, both by Ron Chernow.

This is the biography of Hamilton that inspired the musical.  Together they tell of the genius of both men in creating the United States of America, warts and all.  I knew about Washington from classes throughout school, but this book made me truly appreciate his many sacrifices.  As a fan of Roman history, I agree with others that calling him the American Cincinnatus is true and the highest of honors.  Washington's character allowed a government to form.

And the government formed was greatly of Hamilton's design.  Although he might have wanted a different government, once the Constitution was written nobody was more diligent in ensuring its passage.  Indeed, the government we live under now very much feels like the natural extension of how Hamilton grew the various cabinet positions around him.

The Hamilton biography can get long and somewhat dry.  But both are still very well written regardless of how well versed you are (or not) in the history of both men.

 

Prefer something fast that'll make you feel a lot of emotions?  Then try Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls.

I'm sure many of us read this when we were kids.  I recommend rereading it as an adult and appreciating the different perspective you have while also letting it transport you back to your youth.

I extremely highly doubt…

I extremely highly doubt that the UFR has any affect whatsoever on OSU scouting Michigan.  OSU has the all-22 tape and a contingent of people with significant experience in breaking down tape.

 

The UFR is for us as fans to better train ourselves to understand what we're seeing and why plays worked/didn't work.  We have no reason to think it's having an effect on what OSU does.

If anyone is interested in…

If anyone is interested in watching a good player (FIDE rating 1939) walk through chess games - including the current Candidate's Tournament games that he finds interesting - I strongly recommend agadmator: https://www.youtube.com/user/AGADMATOR/videos

 

I watch daily and enjoy it even though I'm not amazing at chess.  He's very relaxed and doesn't really edit his videos (one time he got up to answer the door when his mailman knocked on it) but I find it to be part of the charm.

I read the first Malazan…

I read the first Malazan book and enjoyed it but felt so lost for the first third of the book.  And the end felt a bit "hand-wavey".  How does the first book compare to the rest of the series?  I don't want to Google too much because I abhor spoilers.

I'm looking forward to…

I'm looking forward to reading Chernow's Hamilton.  In Washington is seemed like Chernow was downplaying Hamilton's influence on Washington - he kept trying to bring up examples of Washington not being overly reliant on Hamilton yet several times the argument rang hollow.

I do feel that at the end of the book, mostly Washington's second term, Chernow lost track of Washington the man and instead was relaying the biography of Washington the symbol.  Not sure if that's due to primary sources venerating His Excellency even more but I doubt it considering that his second term is when Washington began receiving much more criticism.

Did you read his biography on Rockefeller?  If so, I'd be happy to hear your thoughts.

I read quite a few…

I read quite a few biographies in addition to Roman history.  Some suggestions:

  • Caesar: Life of a Colossus (Adrian Goldsworthy) - this is the book that really got me hooked into Roman history.  Goldsworthy is an excellent author.  He's especially good at making ancient military battles understandable.  Really though, Caesar lived such an interesting life that it's worth reading just to better understand one of the men that truly changed the world.  I've read 4 biographies on Caesar and this is the best.
     
  • Washington: A Life (Ron Chernow) - if the author's name is familiar it's because Hamilton is based on Chernow's biography of Alexander Hamilton.  That one is on my list not only because the musical is great but because the author did such a good job on Washington.  It's easy for biographers to either fall in love with their subject or begin to hate them.  Chernow definitely likes Washington but overall remains decently objective about a man who chose not to become a dictator when he could've.
     
  • Churchill: Walking with Destiny (Andrew Roberts) - I picked this up after visiting the Churchill War Rooms in London (aside: easily in my top 3 things I did in London after spending a week there).  I thought I knew much of Churchill from watching too much of the history channel with my dad, but was I ever wrong.  His life was so much more than just being PM during WWII.  This book takes a symbol and makes him a man - complete with flaws but also someone we can aspire to be like in many ways.  The Audible addition (which is how I read this one) is EXTREMELY well done if you prefer to listen rather than read.
Copy-and-pasted from…

Copy-and-pasted from previous weeks:

 

I will buy Brian 1000 hair ties if it means he'll use them to prevent his hair from randomly tapping the mic during the podcast!!!

Alas, it's been like this for a LONG time so I have no hope of it getting better.  As it is, I find it just annoying enough that I have to stop listening for a while but not so bad that I can easily allow myself to just skip the podcast entirely.  And the randomness of the tapping makes it nearly impossible for me to tune out.

This little thing is far and away the biggest gripe I have with this otherwise excellent site.

Note: I'm assuming it's Brian's hair based on a comment Seth made when someone else brought up this exact issue in the Comments section of a different podcast.  Seth said he can't make Brian stop.

Based on previous comments…

Based on previous comments from Seth et al, I believe it's Brian's hair touching the mic.  I absolutely hate it too but it's been going on for years so I doubt it'll ever change.

Copy-and-pasted from last…

Copy-and-pasted from last week:

 

I will buy Brian 1000 hair ties if it means he'll use them to prevent his hair from randomly tapping the mic during the podcast!!!

Alas, it's been like this for a LONG time so I have no hope of it getting better.  As it is, I find it just annoying enough that I have to stop listening for a while but not so bad that I can easily allow myself to just skip the podcast entirely.  And the randomness of the tapping makes it nearly impossible for me to tune out.

This little thing is far and away the biggest gripe I have with this otherwise excellent site.

Note: I'm assuming it's Brian's hair based on a comment Seth made when someone else brought up this exact issue in the Comments section of a different podcast.  Seth said he can't make Brian stop.

According to this calculator…

According to this calculator, $209k puts you in the 97th percentile.  That doesn't change if you look at just Texas but it does go down to just the 90th percentile if you specify College Station.

 

I don't really have time to compare $209k to the average golfer so I can only contextualize against my own experience.  In my subjective opinion - that seems like a lot of money for that position.

I will buy Brian 1000 hair…

I will buy Brian 1000 hair ties if it means he'll use them to prevent his hair from randomly tapping the mic during the podcast!!!

Alas, it's been like this for a LONG time so I have no hope of it getting better.  As it is, I find it just annoying enough that I have to stop listening for a while but not so bad that I can easily allow myself to just skip the podcast entirely.  And the randomness of the tapping makes it nearly impossible for me to tune out.

This little thing is far and away the biggest gripe I have with this otherwise excellent site.

Note: I'm assuming it's Brian's hair based on a comment Seth made when someone else brought up this exact issue in the Comments section of a different podcast.  Seth said he can't make Brian stop.

As you might be able to…

As you might be able to guess from my avatar, I love Roman history.  So when I visited Italy Rome was my favorite place.  But a highly unexpected close second was Siena.  On paper it shouldn't be that amazing but it simply was.  My most well traveled friend (he's been to probably 40+ countries now) recommended it to me and I'm so grateful he did.  That said, if you go to Siena I strongly recommend spending at least 1 night there so you can see the moon over the piazza.  I may or may not go back to Venice but I absolutely WILL go back to Siena.

 

Regarding the leather in Florence, it is high quality IF you look past the cheap street vendors but instead go to a well established building.  Don't be afraid to leave and come back - whatever you're thinking of buying will still be there.  If they're pressuring you to buy now, then just leave.  I bought a leather messenger bag from Florence and although it was expensive I expect it to last for decades.  Oh, and do some haggling.  It's awkward and difficult but if you paid the list price then you paid too much.

As with everyone else, I…

As with everyone else, I recommend skipping the golf.

 

If I could only see 1 thing in Florence again it would Michelangelo's David.  By the time I saw The David I'd already seen quite a bit of Italian art and everybody knows what it looks like, but seeing it in person was completely different.  I looked at it for 30 minutes and could've gone longer but the little museum was closing.  Absolutely breathtaking.

And that doesn't even get into Michelangelo's Prisoners (statues he started but didn't finish).  I wish I'd had more time to look at them but they line the walls in the corridor leading up to The David.  I'd intended to look at the David then go back to the Prisoners but I couldn't stop looking at The David.

 

Buy tickets beforehand to skip the line: http://www.accademia.org/

 

I'd recommend checking out Rick Steves' site for Florence: https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/italy/florence

The tour I saw The David on was a Rick Steves tour and almost all of his recommendations for Italy were great.  Take some time to just walk around and experience the people, eat somewhere that has little-to-no English on the signs, and drink some great wine.

May we both have celebratory…

May we both have celebratory causes for drink in a little over 24 hours!

I'm terrified.

 

Logically…

I'm terrified.

 

Logically I think we'll win but logic has had no place in several of our recent battles with OSU.

 

I've been waiting to drink my last dram of a wonderful scotch I have... I have been waiting for YEARS because I can only drink it for a BIG positive event.  Please let me drink it tomorrow.

I'm curious as to why you'd…

I'm curious as to why you'd say it has to be after the implementation of the Principate.  And, when would you say the Principate was actually implemented?  Augustus was a master of slowly accumulating power and disguising that fact (aided by a willing Senate).  It becomes very hard to nail down any definitive date when the change occurred... which is exactly what he wanted.

 

I would contend that the Empire doesn't even HAVE to begin after the end of the second triumvirate.  The second triumvirate in a lot of ways was simply the earliest east/west split of the empire ruled by 2 emperors as became the norm during The Dominate.  And one could argue that Augustus and Agrippa truly were co-rulers (with Augustus as the "Augustus" and Agrippa as the "Caesar" to use the terms as Diocletian used them).  And nobody would claim that the the empire wasn't an empire during The Dominate despite the existence of multiple emperors.  Thus, the power struggle of the second triumvirate doesn't preclude the existence of an empire.

 

It seems like the answer to "when did Rome become an empire" requires that you first specify what defines an empire.  And that's probably beyond the scope of a blog focused on Michigan sports... unlike the rest of this conversation which is definitely inside the scope of MGoBlog.

2408 years actually.

2408 years actually.

Excellent.  Between that…

Excellent.  Between that correction and the memory of OSU getting eviscerated by Purdue, I shall sleep well tonight.

In the year 390 BC, in the…

In the year 390 BC, in the earliest days of the Roman Empire...

I believe you mean Roman Republic, not Empire.  Although some people would want to debate the exact start of the empire - was it with Antony's defeat at Actium, Antony's death, the death of the Liberators at Philippi, the effective transfer of a huge amount of wealth and the loyalty of legions from Julius Caesar to Octavian upon Caesar's death, the death of Pompey, or even earlier? - NOBODY would ever call the sack of Rome an event that happened during the Empire.  It was well after the Roman kings had been removed and the Republic formed yet still centuries before even the Punic Wars let alone the Principate.

 

Don't you just feel foolish now?

 

/sarcasm and history lesson

Those last 20 seconds...

...it was crazy!

Fastest last 20 seconds of basketball ever!

Fastest last 20 seconds of basketball ever!

 

HAIL!!!

Verification # 595381

595381

They probably won't move

Part of investigating this idea will be asking them but... they almost certainly won't move simply because they won't want to not be with the group of friends we see 6-8 times/year every year for the last few decades.  Thus, I won't count on getting 2 more tickets that way.

Not already accounted for?

Do you think that isn't already accounted for by the market?  I'd assume most people know it's all-but-certain to be a night game, so I'm hoping the pricing is already reflective of that fact.

 

But maybe I just think most people know that because I'm on this site.

6 total

I agree - getting 6 together does make it more expensive and difficult.

Fair idea but...

That's a good idea.  I already have 2 season tickets so I'd only need 4 more... but my seats are actually right next to my parent's seats.  The bachelor party might not want to be sitting next to them... it just might "harsh the vibe" as I'm sure all the cool cats are still saying.

 

But, it's worth investigating anyway just to have the information/option.

ESPN summation

This is actually a pretty good article on all of the proposals: http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/19149025/why-stakes-high-ncaa-hq-week

 

Essentially:

  1. Cannot hire inidividuals associated with prospects (IAWP): Only applies if you try to hire someone for a non-coaching position.



    Do we like it: Probably.  Harbuagh has hired some people which would not be allowed under this rule, but it seems probable that this is abused much more by other programs.

     
  2. Reduce number of days, when, and where satellite camps can be performed: Essentially reduces satellite camps from 15-days in June or July to just 10 days in June.  Camps must take place at college campuses rather than high school.



    Do we like it.  No.  This blog has gone over this many times, but satellite camps only hurt coaches who opt not to participate as fully as possible.  This is obviously just a way of reducing the ability for teams to contact/form relationships with recruits which aren't already geographically close to campus or that have enough money to travel.

     
  3. Allow official visits to be earlier: Currently official visits can only occur on/after September 1st of a recruit's senior year of high school.  This would allow officials to occur starting on/after April 1st of the recruit's junior year in high school.  Effectively, this gives an extra 6-months to have an official visit.



    Do we like it.  Yes.  We all know recruiting is happening earlier-and-earlier.  The inabiltiy to host a recruit on campus until their senior year is a handicap to those teams in less talented states (i.e. most of the B10).  This helps mitigate that somewhat.

     
  4. Allow a 10th coach: Allow a 10th on-field coaching position.



    Do we like it.  Yes.  It doesn't help or hurt Michigan any more than any other school except in-so-far as Harbaugh has a good track record of hiring excellent people.  So the more excellent people that are allowed to recruit and coach players, the better.

     
  5. Limit scholarships to 25/year: A hard cap of only 25 scholarships/year can be given out.  It apparently gets a bit tricker when it comes to walk-on players.  Players that enroll early can still count to the year before their class or count towards the same year as the non-early enrollee players.



    Note: The SEC is proposing an amendment which would effectively make medical hardship players that never played in a game not count towards the 25 cap.



    Do we like it: Generally, yes.  Obviously Harbaugh likes to get as many kids as possible but even this year we're going to have less than 85 full scholarship players on the team come the Florida game.  So, this shouldn't really affect Michigan too much.  It should curb the Ole Miss 37-man recruiting classes which is good.  The devil will be in the details on this one.  This could be good but if it's too easy to get around then it'll be a slight annoyance to Michigan while having no affect on "certain" other schools.

     
  6. Longer summer dead period: Classify the last Wednesday of June-July 24th as a dead period and classify August as a dead period.  Currently most of that is a quiet period.



    Do we like it: NO!  I'm surprised this one isn't discussed more.  This takes out a huge swath of time during which recruits cannot even unofficially visit a school (which they can do during a quiet period).  Michigan, since we're away from the greatest density of talent, needs as much face-time as possible.  Changing all those days to a dead period significantly reduces our ability to recruit kids during the summer.

One man's opinion - this is negative for the B10 and Michigan.  We'll have to see if it passes.  Based off of absolutely no information whatsoever, I expect it will pass with supporting votes from the SEC, ACC, half of the B12, and some P12 votes (i.e. similar to the last rule change that was implemented).

Thanks for the input!

Excellent - thanks for the input!

Any move to fix this?

Do you know if there is any movement within the Athletic Department to get MSU back to being "opposite" the OSU game instead of on the same schedule?

Restoring the safeguards?

I have not yet read the book but during Bacon's talk at the book release event at Rackham, there was much discussion and focus on how institutional safeguards had been removed (purposely or not) by Brandon.  A lot of those safeguards effectively were institutional knowledge/traditions/morals contained within people (the ~140 Brandon fired from the athletic department including Falk "resigning").

 

Is Hackett, or anyone else, working to re-implement those various safeguards and/or reacquire those people with the institutational knowledge that was "lost" during Brandon's tenure?

 

This question is specifically focused on the future.  Due to the "Dave Brandon experience" a generation of Michigan fans will be worried every time a new AD arrives or tries to change anything.  But, we can be less worried if many of the instituational safeguards are restored since before "true damage" can be done, those safeguards would have to be removed again and we're probably going to notice/react to those removals more strongly the next time it happens.  If, however, those safeguards are never re-implemented, then Michigan fans are much more strongly at the mercy of whoever the new AD happens to be.

20min

20 min is the long-term goal for sure.  You're right that 24 is pretty achievable this summer.  I've just done it minute-by-minute.  Once I was under 26 then the next goal was sub-25 and so on.

 

I'm a very slim guy and struggle to actually eat enough so I know that's an area to work on.  I try and do other exercises on non-running days (especially core workouts) but running is the only exercise I truly love to do.  Weight training is something I'm very intimidated by because I know nothing about proper form or what I should be able to do (I know, I know - Google (and Reddit) can easily fix that ignorance).

 

Mostly, I just wanted to brag about my new PR.

5k

I just ran a new personal best 5k (24:29).

My summer goal is sub-24 so I'll be working towards that.

But I'm posting on here as I walk back home so I'm still a degenerate.

Sad

I'm sad that my first though on reading your comment was M00N.  But Harbaugh will banish those terrible memories to the forgotten past!

Hey MeanJoe07, Catch

+1 MGoPoint

Is that right?

Are you sure announced attendance is based on ticket sales? I've seen a lot of people on here say that but I'm not sure what the origin of that idea is.

I'm not going because I'm fairly sick (and I don't want to be sick over Thanksgiving due to being out in the wet and cold) but I'm going to make sure my ticket is scanned anyway.

Authority

As long as it was made clear (at least to Athletic Department employees) who was really in charge, then could work (call Hackett the 1st Assistant Athletic Director or something). I'd just want to avoid having 2 equals.

2 heads = bad

I'm in a situation where my department has 2 directors - it's terrible. There's always the chance (and this happens often) that one will tell you do "stop everything and do X" but then the other one will say "stop everything and do Y". It makes life very difficult and less productive for everyone underneath them.

I doubt Hackett would stay on for any length of time once a new AD is hired. What if they disagree on firing someone - what do they (and that person) do?

I could understand a 2-4 week "transition" where Hackett is the one doing any official firing of Brandon's people (in that scenario, it would be the new AD's decision executed by Hackett so the new guy can keep his hands clean). Beyond a specified, short, timeline such a 2-headed department seems like a bad idea.

Credibility?

Please excuse my ignorance, but is Football Scoop a credible source? I hope so since everything they're saying makes sense, but I don't know how reliable/insidery their "sources" typically are.

This!

This seems like something could be effective.  I doubt questions at the Regents will matter so much as having a huge mass of people calling for Brandon to be fired (with the implication or outright statement that if he's not, the candidate will not receive our votes).

I read a lot of Roman history - if there's one thing I've learned from the Late Republic, it's that elected officials can often be cowed into going along with the masses' wishes as long as there's a big enough mass.

Anything said to the Regents should be respectful, civil, and well thought out.  But, a united front of anti-Brandon sentiment being the overwhelming message they receive could be very effective.

Students could easily attend since it's on campus.

The UM-Flint location would be much harder to overwhelm.  I strongly recommend we focus on having a mass of obviously anti-Brandon people at the October 8 meeting.

Eh...

I get the sentiment with this, but I don't think that will do anything towards removing Brandon.  If making the Athletic Department lose out on a few grand is all it takes to fire the AD, then Brandon would never be removed since we keep setting records for revenues (I know it'll go down if all this keeps up, but that's not necessarily something the decision makers will see).

Thus, I doubt not buying concessions will do anything.