I think I know why it took so long to get a contract put together for Harbaugh, they were too busy making one for Sherrone and ensuring that was good to go.
Something I think we take for granted with good, experienced coaches is the ability to match the system to the abilities of the current players. As the coach get players to fit his ideal system, then you can make that full transition while experiencing some success. You don't see that with a lot of the younger coaches who grew up in one system.
Additionally, I love players rotating frequently as it builds both confidence and depth. We saw for a few years what it looks like when you only have a good starter and nobody to back him up. This is how you build not only championship teams, but dynasties.
Don't really have an affinity for celebrities as they are humans just like me and presumably don't want to be bothered all the time. However, I did feel it necessary one time to try and help one out.
I volunteered for the Pebble Beach ProAm not long before COVID hit and was assigned to lead a team managing dropoffs and pickups for members/sponsor guests. The area was next to the gift shop and across from the entrance closest to the 18th green. It was usually quite busy and the setup was essentially a vehicle entry and pullthrough exit with the sidewalks on each side leading back to the entry area to get to either get to the gift shop or course entrance.
At the end of one of the days when traffic was very minimal, someone was coming out of the golf course walking towards my dropoff area and was being followed by a sizeable group of people. I quickly realized it was Bill Murray and in an attempt to help him make it to the parking lots behind my dropoff area as quickly as possible, I informed him he couldn't get out this way and tried to direct him to the sidewalk a few feet back the way he came, next the gift shop. He waved me off like he knew what he was doing and proceeded onward before I saw his realization about halfway through there wasn't actually an exit as he had originally thought. By that time had to walk all the way to the pullthrough to get out, not really making any progress the parking lots. At least I tried to help.
We had a similar situation in the fall. Our team, which is 9u and very good, was playing a team that was squaring up the ball on what seemed like every swing. There was an inning run rule so the score didn't get out of hand too early. Well, it's the 2nd or 3rd inning and we're down by 8 runs or so and they had a runner on 3rd, two outs. Something happened and the runner was heading home but the ball was by the backstop. The catcher didn't pay attention to where he was standing and he was right in front of the plate, no play imminent. The runner completely ran over the catcher who was in a vulnerable position so the ump called him out. The parents started going nuts talking about how it was a terrible call and he hadn't been making good calls all game. Then they said our guy shouldn't have been standing there implying he deserved it. This got our coaches and parents upset and then the yelling started at them from our side. I do get bothered by our parents because they argue with umps as well, definitely leading up a sense of entitlement from the players. When they hear that, the get the sense they were screwed out of a win, completely ignoring their own contributions to the loss. If my son complains about umping, he gets corrected right away that the ump isn't the reason you win or lose.
My son has his birthday coming up and it would be nice for him to experience his first football game in the Big House, I'd like to participate in this great cause.
Nice. I moved out of there before I reached legal drinking age, so I didn't have too many experiences at Melville's. It's really a beautiful area with all the lakes in the area. I'll be heading back there for the holidays to see family.
I liked the story, thank you for sharing. I have found that the way we feel about things is how define them. If you want to view it positively as a gift, then that's good. You could also view it as dumb luck because an idiot turkey decided to walk into your path. It's taken me quite a while to view things in a more optimistic manner, but my family around me says that it is much nicer to be around me when I am. Hopefully, this can work for you as well.
I was born and raised in Marcellus, do you happen to be in that area?
From a personal standpoint, I love playing sports, any sport that people want to play. Because of my love for playing sports, I naturally obsessed with watching them and rooting for my favorite teams as a youngster. There was a point when I could name pretty much every starter for every baseball team in MLB, that was my sport.
I eventually got more interested in UM sports and turned my devotion to that. I appreciated it more than the pros because the heritage of it all and the fact that these young men were devoting so much for a school and the legacy that will follow after them.
I still have a love and devotion for sports, which is why I'm reading this blog. However, I've come to a major realization after the nonstop onslaught of sports every day of the year and every hour of the day. It's a difficult realization, but one that people really need think about and come to grips with.
This is the realization: the results of UM sports (or any other college/professional) team for that matter, has absolutely no effect on my life. If UM were to win the National Championship this season, how would I benefit? There would be no direct benefit on me or my life. If UM were to lose every game this year, how would this affect my life? Absolutely no effect.
Because there are no effects for me, why should I allot time to a game when I could be spending that at the park with my children or going on a datenight with my wife? These are things that have tangible benefits in my life and we are better off for it. There is absolutely no need to be emotionally invested in something that doesn't affect me. While it is difficult, I am trying to separate myself from this world and devote myself to the things that really matter.
To go along with this, I even think those that report on these teams should be very careful with how much emotional investment they put into it. While it is a job and they earn money for themselves and their families, I think the past several years have proven that even in down times people are willing to pay to support the dedicated writers. Write about it, maybe even be a little disappointed when they lose, but focus the majority of your attention on your loved ones. They are the ones that really deserve everything we have.
My buddy recommended Horse Soldier Bourbon. It is a distillery comprised of veterans and the name is a tribute to those soldiers:
"Some of the employees at American Freedom distillery were among the famous Green Beret soldiers who fought the Taliban on horseback in the mountains of Northern Afghanistan. Their story was the subject of the 2018 movie “12 Strong.” The distillery's Horse Soldier bourbon is a tribute to those fighters."
I bought a bottle and it was the best bourbon I've had yet.
I like carrying them for the workout in addition to the golf. I was playing about a month ago with a coworker who uses a pushcart. I put my bag down on the teebox to check that we weren't hitting into the group ahead of us and he had to move my bag to hit. He was astounded at how much it weighed and the fact that I'm willing to carry it on my back for 18 holes. I guess I'm so used to it that I don't notice how much it really weighs.
I've had the pleasure of living in Monterey, CA for the last 4 years and Augusta, GA for the 10 years prior to that. I haven't played Pebble yet, but hoping to do that sometime this year. For being in these two golf "meccas", I still don't find the golf as satisfying as I do in Michigan. The cypress trees are cool here, but they will eat your golf ball more often than not. The pine trees in Georgia are hideous and you find yourself hitting out of pine straw way too much (not an easy task). There's nothing like the hardwoods Michigan has to offer with the change in color as fall starts to set it. I can't wait to get back there and play a round.
Best course I've played: definitely Augusta Country Club and the members there are very kind (for the most part).
Another great one: Champion's Retreat in Augusta. I was told by a manager there, "if you are wondering what the membership cost is, this is not the club for you." I find that funny, yet refreshingly honest.
Cedar Chase in Cedar Springs: I only played it once, but I really liked it and I can still envision the layout of the course when I played it, several years later.
I've played it several times and it's near and dear to my heart, but Pine View in Three Rivers is good with 36 holes, not expensive, and a little bit of everything on the course.
This is the main thing. Wisconsin has their system and they do it very well, which works against the B1G West. When you see them in the B1G Title Game, they're getting blasted off the field because their style doesn't match up to what the more modern offenses are doing. In regards to Michigan, I think Wisconsin's team is set up to really take advantage of the weaknesses Michigan has, the primary one being a D-Line that can't stand up to double teams.
Michigan is trying to modernize and we see the growing pains with that. Should it take this long to figure it out? Maybe, maybe not. But I think the lack of development in quite a few of our players that should be those 4th/5th year starters is really concerning.
I once played pickup ball with players that had an interesting rule: If you made a basket and yelled "AND 1", the basket doesn't count and you take the ball out up top as you would if the basket wasn't made. I think they wanted to shut people up from making ridiculous foul calls. Also, it forced people to acknowledge the foul before seeing the result of the shot.
I was at the Texas A&M game as well, the only Michigan bball game I've seen in person. What a sweet game it was watching everyone hit everything from the floor. That game had such an atmosphere of a home game with all the Michigan fans, it was incredible. I'd like to go to another game, I'm just worried it won't live up to the experience of my first one. :)
One of the issues that seemed to come up during the games but wasn't overly addressed was the garbage-time minutes. I think there was such an emphasis put on preserving a shutout or a yardage number that the backups didn't get game action to get their feet wet. This causes a ripple effect and now these players are more unprepared to play than they would be if they'd gotten possibly a game's worth more action throughout the year during blowouts. It also risked injuries to key starters and had no positive benefits.
I think this wa a brief glimpse we got to see that short term results were more important than the long term.
This is my OSU-UM COVID prediction: Some on OSU will come down with it in week 3. Week 4 will see additional problems and then they herd mentality for the sole purpose of having everyone available for The Game. It works and they all test negative for The Game. Michigan is clear with only a person or two testing positive throughout the year. Week 7 hits and Milton gets injured early in the 3rd quarter against Maryland, up 31-0. He can't play the next week. OSU finishes the season 5-0 and wins the East, Michigan finishes 7-1.
Let's not forget Bell's completion that was overturned by inept B1G refs. I think he got the short end of the stick on a lot of balls thrown his way last year, but the big drop was unfortunately what defined him.
I'm out in California now and played basketball with someone that went to high school with Kekoa Crawford. He said Crawford hated Harbaugh. Don't know if it's because he was hard on him or what, but his style is not for everyone.
I've been seeing this since Harbaugh came here. I think he did a great job turning everything around and forcing the players to earn their spots, but he has been very hesitant to make a change a QB when things aren't going well in a game. My assumption is that since he played the position, he knows the effects and public perception of being replaced when you're not playing well. Since he knows the abilities of the players from practice (we don't), he's hoping that will be demonstrated in a game. Only when it is absolutely clear the starter has to come out will he make that decision. He's an extremely loyal person, which is both good and bad.
For UM, the backup comes in and plays well, only to get injured for the rest of the year.
OSU, the backup (or third string) QB comes in and leads them to a National Championship.
Someone I was talking to was telling me that's why Saban is one of the best coaches ever, if a change needs to be made he will make it regardless of the position. I just wish we had the quicker hook here at UM so we can actually get to see who are gamers and who are the practice stars.
I'm not Jewish, but I did learn Hebrew. Because of that, I've had many interactions with Jews and it has been phenomenal to learn more about the historical aspects of the people and the lesser known traditions. I had not heard about that context to Tisha B'Av, I just know that one day I was in a class and the Jews were sitting on the floor trying to be miserable. Once I asked them what was going on, it made sense. It's really, really interesting with some great people.
I think this is a great piece and proves that players from all across the rankings can not only succeed in college, but the NFL as well. The one thing I think needs to be addressed is that the 5-star/high 4-star players might not make up the majority of pros, but they most likely provide a higher floor for college. When the majority of your team is composed of players with a higher floor and let's say 20% of those hit as stars, you're going to be in good shape year after year. If you are after those unranked/3-star players flying under the radar, a miss is a bigger hit on your ability to get him on the field.
The current powerhouses are able to build up the depth and can suffer "misses" at a higher rate because of it. They're also able to pull those that aren't performing for the guys waiting in the wings more quickly. Same applies to injuries.
Overall, this style of analytics can identify those players with a high ceiling that are undervalued; however, it requires you to hit on a higher percentage in order to compete with teams composed of players with a higher floor and star players with unlimited collegiate ceilings. It can also depend on the ability to develop that player quickly enough to get a few years of high-level of play out of him.
We have seen this year after year as UM fans. We hope the underhyped, undersized DT the coaches love out of high school will be able to put on weight in a few years to be a star in lieu of the ability to get enough high-floor/endless-ceiling type guys on a steady basis. They don't pan out and we're in a situation of trying to cover up that weakness using other means that ultimately collapses the whole defense against top-flight competition.
I'm really curious to know how open the players are to the coaches about all this. For example, Rashan telling Harbaugh about how much schools were willing to pay him to go there, but not just that. I recall reading something where a recruit told a coach what another school was offering and the coach not offering anything said, "I understand, go there if you need that." I think the recruits would be pretty open about it because 1) they really do build strong relationships with the coaches and 2) the coaches can't say anything about it. NCAA regs are endorsing silence and allowing the wrongdoers to continue to flourish without any repercussions. When OSU was beating the shit out of M on Saturday, I had to explain to my children why it was happening. Their program is set up like others to be a "Murder, Death, Kill" (Demolition Man) team based on the players they get. The NCAA doesn't care one bit if they get their cut.
I feel Coach Howard has really lifted some pressure off all the players. He has that experience that as a player, mistakes are going to happen. He has carried that into his coaching and allows the players to play through the mistakes. It appears as though he is even willing to allow them to play and develop, even though they might not be 100% ready. Beilein was all about perfection and making the best decision, which I think put a lot of stress on the players. Now they can play freely and not have to worry about getting pulled for making mistakes and each player's confidence seems to be through the roof. I never played at a high level, but when you're always concerned that a mistake will get you taken off the court, you always seem to defer if there is any question if it's the right decision. That's not the way it is now and it appears as though these young players are really taking to it and it's really fun to watch.
I have switched primarily to gin over the last couple of years. The one I like most on the rocks is Plymouth Gin. They also have a Sailor's Strength that ups the alcohol content, but I haven't tried that yet. I usually use Bombay to mix and won't touch Tanqueray at all.
I've been thinking about this for a while. I think the main issue with Shea (in regards to the passing offense) is his lack of anticipation skills. We see it in the pocket when he anticipates pressure but it doesn't exist. When it comes to throwing, he doesn't anticipate his receiver getting open, he waits until he is actually open. This leads to him waiting an extra second and then bugging out, or he hits someone a little late on a drag route that doesn't allow for much YAC. When facing a zone, this is pivotal because you have to anticipate when one defender will drop off and the next one will pick up the receiver. If you miss that window, you won't have anyone to throw to which I feel is why he does so poorly against zone defenses. All great quarterbacks have that ability and right now Shea is a very accurate passer when he gets the ball out. The major question he needs to answer is can he lead his receivers open or is he going to make them get quite open before he delivers.
I don't think that's accurate. I'm not a football guru by any means, but he has put together gameplans that were successful. The only issue is that he has not had the personnel to get it done (see o'korn-osu). It seems the problems that have taken the longest to fix are the ones where it takes the players the longest time to develop; qb and ol. I think Runyan and JBB will now be benched in order to get the younger, more high upside players developed.
I understand where you're going with that. Unfortunately, I don't think it works quite that way in college bball. I don't know if it was an mlive podcast or article, but Brendan Quinn and Nick Baumgarder talked about Beilein not being able to bring in the "top" recruits. Ultimately, they said it boiled down to due to the fact that Beilein isn't willing to pay for them, he realistically has a chance at one or two five-stars a year. Do I think he should have done better coming off those two really good years, absolutely. But I don't think we're going to see many of the best coming to Ann Arbor to be a one/two-and-done when the offensive system is so intricate. I think the system of Calipari et al. sending out the five most athletic and saying "go play" appeals more to those players.
and was going to respond but wasn't sure if you'd look back and see it. Shoot me an email to [email protected] and we'll see we could work something out.
I'm heading down to the game this weekend and will be staying the night. Do any locals have recommendations for hotels that aren't too expensive and relatively close to the hotel to possibly walk? Also, any good bars close to the arena for a post-game celebration?
I just got restationed in California and am strongly considering heading down to the game on Thursday. Does anyone living in the area have a spare bedroom or recommendations where to stay for a night? I have never been to LA and have no idea where to start.
I think it's good that they want to make sure they get the calls right in order to make it as fair as possible, but it's gone too far. A main point of this is them reviewing pretty much every made shot with under one minute to play. They almost always go to the monitor and have to decide if the clock-keeper stopped it at the proper time. This punishes the team that just got scored on because the other team now gets a free timeout and can set up their defense. Not only that, the majority of the time the time is right, maybe off by one tenth of a second. This is drawing out games and making it pointless for coaches to keep their timeouts because they are getting so many free ones at the end of the game. As to replay, if you can't tell within 15 seconds of live action replays, then the call shouldn't be overturned. There's no reason to have a frame-by-frame analysis in order to make a call.
That being said (and I was saying this as the ball got poked away), Matthews started that play way too early. If he makes or misses, he is still leaving too much time on the clock for Purdue to create something. Otherwise, an excellent game. Unfortunately, the last ten seconds pretty much overshadowed it.
I think they have been in the ear of some of the top targets, just haven't been able to pull in an elite recruit at that position. Isaiah Wilson choosing UGA over UM last cycle really hurt when he was so solidly for Michigan. I think the situation would be drastically different had Newsome not gotten injured. For a position that takes time/experience to really develop, having the lack of depth from the previous staff is really hurting us. I think next year we'll see a much improved line with if Newsome comes back near the level he was and the current bunch develops.
O'Korn had another chance to do something positive but missed it. He could have given props to his O-line when asked about their play, but chose to talk about TEs, WRs and the RB. Don't know how you can't give out a few good words to those that had a much better week and opened some good holes for the RBs this week. Maybe I'm reading into it a little too much, but it would have been good to hear that.
I think the experience of the WRs allowed them to get open quickly and Speight knew what to expect with them. Speight and the new WRs haven't shown that chemistry yet (outside of Perry) and that's what we're seeing now with this offense. Last year the teams with good front sevens just tried to do whatever they could to overwhelm the line in order to take away all rushing opportunities but Speight was able to mitigate that some due to his familiarity with the WRs we had.
I think we'll see a lot more teams stacking the box with 8 or 9 players in hopes of completely stuffing the run or being able to get pressure on Speight. This, coupled with the fact that most of our receivers aren't getting a whole lot of early separation and Speight's inaccuracy when pressured, has led to many stuffs at the line and horribly thrown balls to receivers. With this in mind, defenses will pin their ears back and tell Speight to beat them (especially in the redzone). I bet if we could start connecting on some decent quick-hitters in those situations, it would cause the defense to back off a little. Hopefully we'll be able to see some of this execution and start softening up the defense to actually be able to see what this offense is capable of.
but made sure not to see or hear anything about bball until I got home. Definitely worth it. I also have to agree with some of the people that thought it was going to be a heartbreaking loss, especially after the Robinson misses.
One thought: I think a missed front-end of a one-and-one should count for an 0-2 in the stats. I know the shooter technically only missed one, but that's two points given away. In regards to Duncan Robinson, I really don't feel 2-5 captured how bad those misses really were. Just my two cents...
The fact that he went to a National Championship and Final Four and this is where he is now is pitiful. He has absolutely squandered any recruiting chances he had and we're left with these players that can't play defense and have a hard time generating offense. I know it's tough to get five star recruits, but it seems he's looking at only a few four stars and the rest diamond in the rough players that don't pan out.
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I think I know why it took so long to get a contract put together for Harbaugh, they were too busy making one for Sherrone and ensuring that was good to go.
Something I think we…
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Something I think we take for granted with good, experienced coaches is the ability to match the system to the abilities of the current players. As the coach get players to fit his ideal system, then you can make that full transition while experiencing some success. You don't see that with a lot of the younger coaches who grew up in one system.
Additionally, I love players rotating frequently as it builds both confidence and depth. We saw for a few years what it looks like when you only have a good starter and nobody to back him up. This is how you build not only championship teams, but dynasties.
Don't really have an affinity for celebrities as they are humans just like me and presumably don't want to be bothered all the time. However, I did feel it necessary one time to try and help one out.
I volunteered for the Pebble Beach ProAm not long before COVID hit and was assigned to lead a team managing dropoffs and pickups for members/sponsor guests. The area was next to the gift shop and across from the entrance closest to the 18th green. It was usually quite busy and the setup was essentially a vehicle entry and pullthrough exit with the sidewalks on each side leading back to the entry area to get to either get to the gift shop or course entrance.
At the end of one of the days when traffic was very minimal, someone was coming out of the golf course walking towards my dropoff area and was being followed by a sizeable group of people. I quickly realized it was Bill Murray and in an attempt to help him make it to the parking lots behind my dropoff area as quickly as possible, I informed him he couldn't get out this way and tried to direct him to the sidewalk a few feet back the way he came, next the gift shop. He waved me off like he knew what he was doing and proceeded onward before I saw his realization about halfway through there wasn't actually an exit as he had originally thought. By that time had to walk all the way to the pullthrough to get out, not really making any progress the parking lots. At least I tried to help.
We had a similar situation in the fall. Our team, which is 9u and very good, was playing a team that was squaring up the ball on what seemed like every swing. There was an inning run rule so the score didn't get out of hand too early. Well, it's the 2nd or 3rd inning and we're down by 8 runs or so and they had a runner on 3rd, two outs. Something happened and the runner was heading home but the ball was by the backstop. The catcher didn't pay attention to where he was standing and he was right in front of the plate, no play imminent. The runner completely ran over the catcher who was in a vulnerable position so the ump called him out. The parents started going nuts talking about how it was a terrible call and he hadn't been making good calls all game. Then they said our guy shouldn't have been standing there implying he deserved it. This got our coaches and parents upset and then the yelling started at them from our side. I do get bothered by our parents because they argue with umps as well, definitely leading up a sense of entitlement from the players. When they hear that, the get the sense they were screwed out of a win, completely ignoring their own contributions to the loss. If my son complains about umping, he gets corrected right away that the ump isn't the reason you win or lose.
My son has his birthday coming up and it would be nice for him to experience his first football game in the Big House, I'd like to participate in this great cause.
Nice. I moved out of there before I reached legal drinking age, so I didn't have too many experiences at Melville's. It's really a beautiful area with all the lakes in the area. I'll be heading back there for the holidays to see family.
I liked the story, thank you for sharing. I have found that the way we feel about things is how define them. If you want to view it positively as a gift, then that's good. You could also view it as dumb luck because an idiot turkey decided to walk into your path. It's taken me quite a while to view things in a more optimistic manner, but my family around me says that it is much nicer to be around me when I am. Hopefully, this can work for you as well.
I was born and raised in Marcellus, do you happen to be in that area?
From a personal standpoint, I love playing sports, any sport that people want to play. Because of my love for playing sports, I naturally obsessed with watching them and rooting for my favorite teams as a youngster. There was a point when I could name pretty much every starter for every baseball team in MLB, that was my sport.
I eventually got more interested in UM sports and turned my devotion to that. I appreciated it more than the pros because the heritage of it all and the fact that these young men were devoting so much for a school and the legacy that will follow after them.
I still have a love and devotion for sports, which is why I'm reading this blog. However, I've come to a major realization after the nonstop onslaught of sports every day of the year and every hour of the day. It's a difficult realization, but one that people really need think about and come to grips with.
This is the realization: the results of UM sports (or any other college/professional) team for that matter, has absolutely no effect on my life. If UM were to win the National Championship this season, how would I benefit? There would be no direct benefit on me or my life. If UM were to lose every game this year, how would this affect my life? Absolutely no effect.
Because there are no effects for me, why should I allot time to a game when I could be spending that at the park with my children or going on a datenight with my wife? These are things that have tangible benefits in my life and we are better off for it. There is absolutely no need to be emotionally invested in something that doesn't affect me. While it is difficult, I am trying to separate myself from this world and devote myself to the things that really matter.
To go along with this, I even think those that report on these teams should be very careful with how much emotional investment they put into it. While it is a job and they earn money for themselves and their families, I think the past several years have proven that even in down times people are willing to pay to support the dedicated writers. Write about it, maybe even be a little disappointed when they lose, but focus the majority of your attention on your loved ones. They are the ones that really deserve everything we have.
My buddy recommended Horse Soldier Bourbon. It is a distillery comprised of veterans and the name is a tribute to those soldiers:
"Some of the employees at American Freedom distillery were among the famous Green Beret soldiers who fought the Taliban on horseback in the mountains of Northern Afghanistan. Their story was the subject of the 2018 movie “12 Strong.” The distillery's Horse Soldier bourbon is a tribute to those fighters."
I bought a bottle and it was the best bourbon I've had yet.
https://horsesoldierbourbon.com/our-story/
I like carrying them for the workout in addition to the golf. I was playing about a month ago with a coworker who uses a pushcart. I put my bag down on the teebox to check that we weren't hitting into the group ahead of us and he had to move my bag to hit. He was astounded at how much it weighed and the fact that I'm willing to carry it on my back for 18 holes. I guess I'm so used to it that I don't notice how much it really weighs.
I've had the pleasure of living in Monterey, CA for the last 4 years and Augusta, GA for the 10 years prior to that. I haven't played Pebble yet, but hoping to do that sometime this year. For being in these two golf "meccas", I still don't find the golf as satisfying as I do in Michigan. The cypress trees are cool here, but they will eat your golf ball more often than not. The pine trees in Georgia are hideous and you find yourself hitting out of pine straw way too much (not an easy task). There's nothing like the hardwoods Michigan has to offer with the change in color as fall starts to set it. I can't wait to get back there and play a round.
Best course I've played: definitely Augusta Country Club and the members there are very kind (for the most part).
Another great one: Champion's Retreat in Augusta. I was told by a manager there, "if you are wondering what the membership cost is, this is not the club for you." I find that funny, yet refreshingly honest.
Cedar Chase in Cedar Springs: I only played it once, but I really liked it and I can still envision the layout of the course when I played it, several years later.
I've played it several times and it's near and dear to my heart, but Pine View in Three Rivers is good with 36 holes, not expensive, and a little bit of everything on the course.
and bathed ev'ry vein in sweetch liqueuer.
It's been a minute. We had to memorize the first 14 lines in Middle English when we were in 10th (I think) grade. Definitely more than 20 years ago.
This is the main thing. Wisconsin has their system and they do it very well, which works against the B1G West. When you see them in the B1G Title Game, they're getting blasted off the field because their style doesn't match up to what the more modern offenses are doing. In regards to Michigan, I think Wisconsin's team is set up to really take advantage of the weaknesses Michigan has, the primary one being a D-Line that can't stand up to double teams.
Michigan is trying to modernize and we see the growing pains with that. Should it take this long to figure it out? Maybe, maybe not. But I think the lack of development in quite a few of our players that should be those 4th/5th year starters is really concerning.
I once played pickup ball with players that had an interesting rule: If you made a basket and yelled "AND 1", the basket doesn't count and you take the ball out up top as you would if the basket wasn't made. I think they wanted to shut people up from making ridiculous foul calls. Also, it forced people to acknowledge the foul before seeing the result of the shot.
I was at the Texas A&M game as well, the only Michigan bball game I've seen in person. What a sweet game it was watching everyone hit everything from the floor. That game had such an atmosphere of a home game with all the Michigan fans, it was incredible. I'd like to go to another game, I'm just worried it won't live up to the experience of my first one. :)
One of the issues that seemed to come up during the games but wasn't overly addressed was the garbage-time minutes. I think there was such an emphasis put on preserving a shutout or a yardage number that the backups didn't get game action to get their feet wet. This causes a ripple effect and now these players are more unprepared to play than they would be if they'd gotten possibly a game's worth more action throughout the year during blowouts. It also risked injuries to key starters and had no positive benefits.
I think this wa a brief glimpse we got to see that short term results were more important than the long term.
This is my OSU-UM COVID prediction: Some on OSU will come down with it in week 3. Week 4 will see additional problems and then they herd mentality for the sole purpose of having everyone available for The Game. It works and they all test negative for The Game. Michigan is clear with only a person or two testing positive throughout the year. Week 7 hits and Milton gets injured early in the 3rd quarter against Maryland, up 31-0. He can't play the next week. OSU finishes the season 5-0 and wins the East, Michigan finishes 7-1.
Let's not forget Bell's completion that was overturned by inept B1G refs. I think he got the short end of the stick on a lot of balls thrown his way last year, but the big drop was unfortunately what defined him.
Michigan catch vs. Wisconsin gets overturned on highly ...
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I'm out in California now and played basketball with someone that went to high school with Kekoa Crawford. He said Crawford hated Harbaugh. Don't know if it's because he was hard on him or what, but his style is not for everyone.
I've been seeing this since Harbaugh came here. I think he did a great job turning everything around and forcing the players to earn their spots, but he has been very hesitant to make a change a QB when things aren't going well in a game. My assumption is that since he played the position, he knows the effects and public perception of being replaced when you're not playing well. Since he knows the abilities of the players from practice (we don't), he's hoping that will be demonstrated in a game. Only when it is absolutely clear the starter has to come out will he make that decision. He's an extremely loyal person, which is both good and bad.
For UM, the backup comes in and plays well, only to get injured for the rest of the year.
OSU, the backup (or third string) QB comes in and leads them to a National Championship.
Someone I was talking to was telling me that's why Saban is one of the best coaches ever, if a change needs to be made he will make it regardless of the position. I just wish we had the quicker hook here at UM so we can actually get to see who are gamers and who are the practice stars.
Military will be first. Get it in them, see how they respond, then pass it on to the high-risk groups and filter down.
I'm not Jewish, but I did learn Hebrew. Because of that, I've had many interactions with Jews and it has been phenomenal to learn more about the historical aspects of the people and the lesser known traditions. I had not heard about that context to Tisha B'Av, I just know that one day I was in a class and the Jews were sitting on the floor trying to be miserable. Once I asked them what was going on, it made sense. It's really, really interesting with some great people.
תשעה באב - Tisha B'Av. Love it, bringing out one of the saddest days in the Hebrew calendar to talk about football. Good stuff!!!
I think this is a great piece and proves that players from all across the rankings can not only succeed in college, but the NFL as well. The one thing I think needs to be addressed is that the 5-star/high 4-star players might not make up the majority of pros, but they most likely provide a higher floor for college. When the majority of your team is composed of players with a higher floor and let's say 20% of those hit as stars, you're going to be in good shape year after year. If you are after those unranked/3-star players flying under the radar, a miss is a bigger hit on your ability to get him on the field.
The current powerhouses are able to build up the depth and can suffer "misses" at a higher rate because of it. They're also able to pull those that aren't performing for the guys waiting in the wings more quickly. Same applies to injuries.
Overall, this style of analytics can identify those players with a high ceiling that are undervalued; however, it requires you to hit on a higher percentage in order to compete with teams composed of players with a higher floor and star players with unlimited collegiate ceilings. It can also depend on the ability to develop that player quickly enough to get a few years of high-level of play out of him.
We have seen this year after year as UM fans. We hope the underhyped, undersized DT the coaches love out of high school will be able to put on weight in a few years to be a star in lieu of the ability to get enough high-floor/endless-ceiling type guys on a steady basis. They don't pan out and we're in a situation of trying to cover up that weakness using other means that ultimately collapses the whole defense against top-flight competition.
I'm really curious to know how open the players are to the coaches about all this. For example, Rashan telling Harbaugh about how much schools were willing to pay him to go there, but not just that. I recall reading something where a recruit told a coach what another school was offering and the coach not offering anything said, "I understand, go there if you need that." I think the recruits would be pretty open about it because 1) they really do build strong relationships with the coaches and 2) the coaches can't say anything about it. NCAA regs are endorsing silence and allowing the wrongdoers to continue to flourish without any repercussions. When OSU was beating the shit out of M on Saturday, I had to explain to my children why it was happening. Their program is set up like others to be a "Murder, Death, Kill" (Demolition Man) team based on the players they get. The NCAA doesn't care one bit if they get their cut.
I feel Coach Howard has really lifted some pressure off all the players. He has that experience that as a player, mistakes are going to happen. He has carried that into his coaching and allows the players to play through the mistakes. It appears as though he is even willing to allow them to play and develop, even though they might not be 100% ready. Beilein was all about perfection and making the best decision, which I think put a lot of stress on the players. Now they can play freely and not have to worry about getting pulled for making mistakes and each player's confidence seems to be through the roof. I never played at a high level, but when you're always concerned that a mistake will get you taken off the court, you always seem to defer if there is any question if it's the right decision. That's not the way it is now and it appears as though these young players are really taking to it and it's really fun to watch.
I have switched primarily to gin over the last couple of years. The one I like most on the rocks is Plymouth Gin. They also have a Sailor's Strength that ups the alcohol content, but I haven't tried that yet. I usually use Bombay to mix and won't touch Tanqueray at all.
I've been thinking about this for a while. I think the main issue with Shea (in regards to the passing offense) is his lack of anticipation skills. We see it in the pocket when he anticipates pressure but it doesn't exist. When it comes to throwing, he doesn't anticipate his receiver getting open, he waits until he is actually open. This leads to him waiting an extra second and then bugging out, or he hits someone a little late on a drag route that doesn't allow for much YAC. When facing a zone, this is pivotal because you have to anticipate when one defender will drop off and the next one will pick up the receiver. If you miss that window, you won't have anyone to throw to which I feel is why he does so poorly against zone defenses. All great quarterbacks have that ability and right now Shea is a very accurate passer when he gets the ball out. The major question he needs to answer is can he lead his receivers open or is he going to make them get quite open before he delivers.
I don't think that's accurate. I'm not a football guru by any means, but he has put together gameplans that were successful. The only issue is that he has not had the personnel to get it done (see o'korn-osu). It seems the problems that have taken the longest to fix are the ones where it takes the players the longest time to develop; qb and ol. I think Runyan and JBB will now be benched in order to get the younger, more high upside players developed.
I understand where you're going with that. Unfortunately, I don't think it works quite that way in college bball. I don't know if it was an mlive podcast or article, but Brendan Quinn and Nick Baumgarder talked about Beilein not being able to bring in the "top" recruits. Ultimately, they said it boiled down to due to the fact that Beilein isn't willing to pay for them, he realistically has a chance at one or two five-stars a year. Do I think he should have done better coming off those two really good years, absolutely. But I don't think we're going to see many of the best coming to Ann Arbor to be a one/two-and-done when the offensive system is so intricate. I think the system of Calipari et al. sending out the five most athletic and saying "go play" appeals more to those players.
and was going to respond but wasn't sure if you'd look back and see it. Shoot me an email to [email protected] and we'll see we could work something out.
I'm heading down to the game this weekend and will be staying the night. Do any locals have recommendations for hotels that aren't too expensive and relatively close to the hotel to possibly walk? Also, any good bars close to the arena for a post-game celebration?
I just got restationed in California and am strongly considering heading down to the game on Thursday. Does anyone living in the area have a spare bedroom or recommendations where to stay for a night? I have never been to LA and have no idea where to start.
I think it's good that they want to make sure they get the calls right in order to make it as fair as possible, but it's gone too far. A main point of this is them reviewing pretty much every made shot with under one minute to play. They almost always go to the monitor and have to decide if the clock-keeper stopped it at the proper time. This punishes the team that just got scored on because the other team now gets a free timeout and can set up their defense. Not only that, the majority of the time the time is right, maybe off by one tenth of a second. This is drawing out games and making it pointless for coaches to keep their timeouts because they are getting so many free ones at the end of the game. As to replay, if you can't tell within 15 seconds of live action replays, then the call shouldn't be overturned. There's no reason to have a frame-by-frame analysis in order to make a call.
That being said (and I was saying this as the ball got poked away), Matthews started that play way too early. If he makes or misses, he is still leaving too much time on the clock for Purdue to create something. Otherwise, an excellent game. Unfortunately, the last ten seconds pretty much overshadowed it.
I think they have been in the ear of some of the top targets, just haven't been able to pull in an elite recruit at that position. Isaiah Wilson choosing UGA over UM last cycle really hurt when he was so solidly for Michigan. I think the situation would be drastically different had Newsome not gotten injured. For a position that takes time/experience to really develop, having the lack of depth from the previous staff is really hurting us. I think next year we'll see a much improved line with if Newsome comes back near the level he was and the current bunch develops.
O'Korn had another chance to do something positive but missed it. He could have given props to his O-line when asked about their play, but chose to talk about TEs, WRs and the RB. Don't know how you can't give out a few good words to those that had a much better week and opened some good holes for the RBs this week. Maybe I'm reading into it a little too much, but it would have been good to hear that.
I think the experience of the WRs allowed them to get open quickly and Speight knew what to expect with them. Speight and the new WRs haven't shown that chemistry yet (outside of Perry) and that's what we're seeing now with this offense. Last year the teams with good front sevens just tried to do whatever they could to overwhelm the line in order to take away all rushing opportunities but Speight was able to mitigate that some due to his familiarity with the WRs we had.
I think we'll see a lot more teams stacking the box with 8 or 9 players in hopes of completely stuffing the run or being able to get pressure on Speight. This, coupled with the fact that most of our receivers aren't getting a whole lot of early separation and Speight's inaccuracy when pressured, has led to many stuffs at the line and horribly thrown balls to receivers. With this in mind, defenses will pin their ears back and tell Speight to beat them (especially in the redzone). I bet if we could start connecting on some decent quick-hitters in those situations, it would cause the defense to back off a little. Hopefully we'll be able to see some of this execution and start softening up the defense to actually be able to see what this offense is capable of.
He was on Western's team for a few years with his brother.
but made sure not to see or hear anything about bball until I got home. Definitely worth it. I also have to agree with some of the people that thought it was going to be a heartbreaking loss, especially after the Robinson misses.
One thought: I think a missed front-end of a one-and-one should count for an 0-2 in the stats. I know the shooter technically only missed one, but that's two points given away. In regards to Duncan Robinson, I really don't feel 2-5 captured how bad those misses really were. Just my two cents...
The fact that he went to a National Championship and Final Four and this is where he is now is pitiful. He has absolutely squandered any recruiting chances he had and we're left with these players that can't play defense and have a hard time generating offense. I know it's tough to get five star recruits, but it seems he's looking at only a few four stars and the rest diamond in the rough players that don't pan out.
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