I think that’s a reasonable point, overall. I think the top end European teams are better than NWSL teams. But comparing them to Arsenal isn’t 100% fair, given that Arsenal invests a lot of money in their women’s team. If you look outside of the top 4 in England, the teams are very bad. Same with most other European league. Not as true in the NWSL.
I can’t find the stat now, but early in the tournament, NWSL players had by far the most goals and assists in the World Cup. It’s still the deepest league out there
All that said, I think your point that we don’t spend as much on the top-end players as other countries is likely valid. We’ll see what happens with that going forward.
I think we still have a huge advantage because we have a ton of players and spend more money on them than anyone else because of Title IX. Other countries may have similar top-end talent, but they don’t have the depth we do. England and the US had similar injury problems going into the tournament. We were still favorites and expecting to win. England were neither. Most European leagues are dominated by a few teams, and the competition level week to week is higher in the NWSL.
I’m also not sure how much coaching benefits European teams, either. There is so much more money in men’s soccer than women’s soccer in Europe. Like factors of 100 to 1,000. The difference is not as big here, meaning it’s easier for coaches to go into the women’s game.
I do agree we’re not going to be favorites every tournament, but I still think we’ll be a top 5 team.
The World Cup has been a disappointment so far from the US women. The world has caught up with US development, but we were still the favorites, and still have a ton of good players. We shouldn’t be a post away from going out in the group stage. That said, there are a variety of issues right now:
We are between generations right now. The Morgan/Ertz/O’Hara generation is coming to the end of their careers. Rapinoe and Sauerbrunn are basically at the end of their careers. We have players like Sophia Smith that are close to filling that gap, but the transition isn’t easy. The backbone of this team is pretty old, and it’s really hard to get the balance right with these transitions.
Players who seemed ready to step up and fill that generational gap haven’t taken that next step. Rose Lavelle looked like the next big thing in 2019, but she’s been injured a lot and hasn’t developed as much as you’d like.
Injuries have hurt us a lot. Sauerbrunn, Sam Mewis, and Catarina Macario would all be starters. Mewis in particular would be huge to have in midfield.
Coaching is clearly a huge downgrade. I wasn’t the biggest Jill Ellis fan, but she’s way better than Vladko. I said it’s hard to manage the transition from generations, but he’s done a bad job there. Our team is filled with 30 year olds, and the women’s game is getting younger. He continued to play the older players and set us up for a down cycle now. The tactics aren’t working, and his in-game decisions are bad (1 sub against the Dutch is not okay).
The off field stuff is a red herring. The 2019 team was surrounded by controversy but still dominated that tournament.
I think the US will crash out early, unfortunately. But they have the talent to win it all, so you never know. In particular, if they can shoot better, they are extremely dangerous. The defense has been really good, especially with Sauerbrunn missing.
I'm fine with that criticism. Relying on gendered terms and gesturing at PC culture being the problem is a step too far. There are tons of things to criticize that don't need you to go down that road.
Yes, there's a definite lack of joined-up thinking in this trilogy. Nobody really realized the consequences of what Abrams did in TFA to the overall story, which really boxed them into certain things. I can see why people who grew up idolizing Luke would be pissed at his turn in TLJ.
Miss me with "Mary Sue" and "woke" and whatever other garbage people are spewing about this.
Maybe. It would be better if people just avoided calling someone Mary Sue. I'm happy to talk about whether Rey is too perfect. I don't think she is, personally, but I can sort of see that. Of course, if you think she is, then Luke is absolutely the same. Or hell, Leia, too.
Rey is constantly searching for a parental figure. That's why she latches onto Han in TFA, and she looks to Leia at the end of TLJ when she thinks it's hopeless. Very similar to Luke with Obi-Wan and Yoda in A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back.
She gets captured and tortured in TFA by Kylo Ren extremely easily. She does get out of that fairly easily, but it's not like she magically defeated Kylo Ren immediately. (FWIW, I think Abrams's story sort of sucks here - she just gets exposed to someone else using the force and becomes adept at it? Doesn't really make sense given the rest of the series.)
She immediately goes to the dark side pit/area when she's on the island with Luke.
You can see, like Luke in ESB and ROTJ, that she will sometimes draw power from the dark side.
She has to be rescued by Kylo Ren when she gives herself up to Snoke. Snoke destroys her.
Calling someone a "Mary Sue" isn't critiquing. It's using a charged term co-opted by a bunch of angry, chauvinistic people who are upset that Star Wars isn't exactly the way they wanted it. Spoiler alert: those assholes weren't going to like anything.
I actually agree that there seems like there was no overall plan to how this last trilogy was going to happen, and that's on Disney. But it's not because Rey is "too perfect." They let Abrams nuke the entire original trilogy with TFA, and have been dealing with the consequences ever since. But also, it's a made-up space opera, so whatever.
I haven't seen Rise of Skywalker yet, so I don't know.
Those points about "Mary Sue" and "certain demographics" are just utter garbage. If you're using them, then you really need to take a long look in the mirror. It sounds like you're just pissed that the main hero is a woman. If you're saying that's not the case, then maybe rethink your words.
Pausing those last 3 gifs right at or right after the handoff is frustrating. That's easily 50 yards we gave up because of bad reads on just those 3 plays. The 2nd to last gif could be a TD.
I'll go with the assumption that Patterson is being told to give here, and that will change as we get further into the year. But I'm worried that doing this is going to lead to missed reads later in the year (like the one we saw against MSU) because Patterson's hiccups will be in those games instead of against MTSU or Army.
To be the old man yells at cloud for a moment, the real reason behind this is that bowls aren't special anymore. With the playoff and the proliferation of bowl games, anything outside of the playoff isn't special. Players and fans don't care about a bowl game that much anymore.
Even into the late 1990s, going to a bowl game was still pretty special. In the 1998-99 season, only 5 Big Ten teams made bowl games. This year, there are 9 Big Ten teams that made bowl games. When every .500 team (and some teams under .500) make a bowl, it's pretty expected for every player to make a couple of bowl games in his career. For Michigan, the players expect to make bowls every year. It's a big who cares when it happens now.
The other thing is that the playoff has made it even more apparent that the rest of the bowl games don't matter. The former BCS bowl games had some cache in the BCS-era. That's dead now. I didn't even know the Peach Bowl was a "big" bowl until we got placed in it. Going further, I don't even know which bowls are NY6 bowls now. I can still name the BCS bowls.
So, every bowl outside of the playoffs has been devalued. Of course players are going to skip them. Fans were already skipping a lot of bowls; that will probably get worse.
Incidentally, this is probably one of the reasons playoff expansion happens. The bowls are money makers for the people running them, and that's probably threatened right now.
GERG has had such a weird career since the late 90s. He had 2 super bowl winning defenses in Denver, and then 2 years later, started a period where he had some of the worst defenses in the NFL. He goes to Texas, has a good defense. Then he goes to Syracuse and Michigan and was an abject disaster at both places. Then he goes back to Texas and actually makes that defense better when he became DC. I don't know how he did at SJSU, to be honest.
It's a stretch to say he had a "pretty decent career as a coordinator outside of his Michigan tenure." His NFL defenses in the early 2000s were really, really bad. But he's also had some pretty good defenses in the NFL and at Texas. I don't understand it at all. Because I've been a fan of his defenses when they've been really bad (2000 Broncos, his time at Michigan), and I cannot understand how his defenses could possibly be good.
Anyways, this is going to be a disaster. Robinson has been out of coaching for 3 years now, and he's been out of high-level coaching since 2013. He's clearly a crony hire by Mack Brown. I would be so pissed if I were a UNC fan.
I was cracking up pretty hard when Brian was smashing the garbage can so loudly we could hear it. Think I got some funny looks walking to work, laughing like I was some vagrant on a come down at 7am...
I bought my then 9 month old to the Maryland game in 2016. It was absolutely fine. It's probably better to bring them when they're not really mobile. I'm thinking about coming back with him next year, when he'll be 3 and a half (for a crappy game that I don't mind leaving early).
Some tips:
Be prepared that at least one of you will have to leave early with the baby. So, get cheap tickets.
Everybody, including the baby, needs a ticket (this almost bit us in the ass ... wife planned the trip and tickets and didn't realize this).
We did have to go through some special screening with the baby gear, but it wasn't a hassle at all. Added maybe a minute, if my memory is correct.
Noise protection is good to have, even if you don't end up using it.
There's really not much special to it. I think younger is better, definitely easiest when they're not walking or crawling. He loved the carrier, and we used it a lot for other things, so it was easy for us. The biggest thing is just to be flexible and not expect to be able to see the whole game.
For what it's worth, it is pretty cool to have a bunch of memories with my kid as a baby in the big house. I'm glad we did went to that game with him.
Along those lines, a concert at Red Rocks might be something you can sneak in at night.
There's some decent hiking trails within about 20 minutes of downtown. This time of year, you can get in a quick hike after work if you want to. Check out Green Mountain - it's 20 minutes driving from downtown, and you can do a 2 hour hike after work, get to 7,000 feet in elevation, and have a sweet view of downtown.
In addition to the Rockies, there's a rubgy team called the Glendale Raptors that might be fun to check out if you're up for something like that.
Walk over to the highlands and check out the restaurant/bar scene there.
Boulder is worth a half day if you can spare it.
Denver Central Market is a cool place to grab dinner.
Biker Jim's for gourmet hot dogs, including rattlesnake!
Cherry Cricket is Denver's official dive bar - huge, juicy hamburgers, good beer selection. Walking around Cherry Creek can be interesting, but it's pretty snooty.
If you want some restaurant recommendations, I can give you a decent amount.
I lived in Bursley my freshman year and enjoyed it, but I would still have preferred central campus. I had a lot of engineering friends that were on central campus almost as much as I was. Central is just a better place to be, because you can walk to basically anything.
That said, the only time bussing was a pain was for football games. During the school day, they come every 5 minutes or so, and it's a really quick ride to central campus. On weekends, they were less frequent, but still came enough to get to campus and back quickly enough. It's still easier to get around and do stuff on central, so I would recommend trying to get there.
Dude, Speight can't even see Perry at all while he's scrambling. He had to bug out immediately, and look where his eyes are. Maybe he should get his eyes downfield a second earlier, but I'm not sure it would make much difference. He has a 2 vs. 1 with Crawford and the defender right in front of him. If Crawford either blocks or runs a half decent scramble drill, this is a TD or a Hill TD on 4th and goal from the 1. Coming off that would be a bad decision.
And that is ignoring the fact that this is an impossible throw for almost any QB to make. Yeah, Perry is open, but Speight is facing 90+ degrees away from Perry. Throwing that ball to Perry would require resetting his entire body downfield, which might make Perry run out of room to catch the pass. If he doesn't reset, there's a good shot it's a pick because it will be a floater.
This was a good play from Speight. He avoids the blitz and gets himself a 2 on 1 on the outside with an Air Force defender. Crawford doesn't make a decision, and Speight can't make a decision. Giving him a minus on this play is insane. Even with all that, it was fingertips away from being 6 points.
I get the frustration, but a lot of this thread is misguided bagging on Speight. Giving him minuses when there are unblocked players in his face is crazy. Getting off a half decent throw, which he did pretty consistently, is a good play. Your expectations are out of whack - this isn't the NFL and Speight is not Tom Brady.
Good stuff, as always, Ace. I really enjoy reading these. One of the many things that separates mgoblog from other football blogs. I actually get to learn some football concepts.
See, I disagree with that, too. Granted, I do live in a place where the biggest minority population is Mexicans, so I do have access to good Mexican food. But it's not a good example of Americanized-Mexican food either. The burritos are just meat in slop with cheese and salsa. Meh. Everybody raved over their burritos (same with Pancheros), but honestly, the Chipotle that opened up on campus blows them both out of the water. Literally if you get the added bonus of e coli.
It might be a better version of Taco Bell, but that doesn't mean it's some gastronomic delight. I really never understood the allure of BTB at all. I basically did not eat Mexican food in Ann Arbor when I was a student. There are too many other good places to get food from.
I will admit that their quesadillas were pretty good. But it's had to mess up a tortilla with cheese.
BTB is shitty. If you've ventured south and had some good Mexican food, you would realize that it's not actually good. Only thing I actually liked there was their quesadillas, which are pretty good. The burritos are plain bad.
In 2006, I was a sophomore at Michigan. On the day I was supposed to come home, Denver got hit with a huge snowstorm, dumping over 2 feet. That's a ton of snow for Denver. It shut down the airport for a good 2 days. I wasn't going to get back to Denver before Christmas by flying. Amtrak was sold out. So I took a Greyhound from Detroit to Denver. That was about a 30 hour trip that ended up taking more like 36 hours with some delays. Got into Denver about 1am on Christmas Eve. I think I actually ended up being lucky to get to Denver at any point. A few other people trying to get to Denver at the same time didn't get there until well after Christmas.
On the plus side, that snowstorm also stranded my future wife in Denver. We met on that break, when we otherwise would not have. Hard to believe that was 10 years ago.
DIdn't see the final box score, but Wisconsin was averaging just around 3 yards per carry at some point in the 4th quarter. Corey Clement had under 3 yards per carry.
Nebraska ran that play with Martinez lead blocking for Burkhead a couple of times a game. I expect there are going to be some counter punches out of that look or even that play. One that comes to mind is Morris faking like he's going to block and running past the safeties freaking out about Peppers.
Nebraska ran that play with Martinez lead blocking for Burkhead a couple of times a game. I expect there are going to be some counter punches out of that look or even that play. One that comes to mind is Morris faking like he's going to block and running past the safeties freaking out about Peppers.
Let's all take a moment to realize that Penn State hired the President of FSU during the Jamies Winston fiasco to be its President. I mean, how stupid can this institution be?
I'm excited about both of these hires. Got a defensive specialist, who was a past head coach to boot. I like almost everything I read about him. Washington seems like a great fit, especially in recruiting. Well done.
What Space Coyote said. It has jokes. Brian is wrong there. I can understand how he thinks they're not funny, but there are jokes. Since golf is my main hobby, I love Happy Gilmore.
Christopher MacDonald is the highlight of the movie to me. His character and acting is fantastic.
I found Psych 111 to be really easy, although I remember that there was one professor that was a lot harder than the others.
History 375 - Witchcraft. It wasn't a super easy class, but it was really interesting. You do have to do real work in it though. I think there were 2 exams and 2 essays you had to do.
If you can do upper level German courses, take German Soccer. Again, not an easy course, but a lot of fun.
Yeah, no kidding. This lineup has been pretty much perfect. Beckerman is huge, because he provides a base to build on and an outlet for the CBs. He would have been nice to have against Guatemala's high press the other night...
Yeah, I tend to agree with you. The U23 team's backline might be better the full men's team right now. I think the talent pool is deeper, although probably lacking a top end (for the US) talent like Donovan, Dempsey, or Gooch. Hell, in 2006, we were starting a 34 year old Eddie Pope at centerback. Gonzo is our 3rd or 4th choice centerback, and he's definitely better than 34 year old Pope.
But, the tactics and management by JK have been awful since the World Cup. The 4-4-2 he played against Guatemala was terrible. Mixx and Bradley are not holding midfielders, but that's what they played as. Yedlin was never used as a counterattacking threat, so why start him at right mid? Bedoya was more used in our counters, and he was pretty awful with them all night. Dempsey and Wood barely combined. Orzoco was a disaster. And then JK comes out and says after the game that there were a lot of positives. I mean, really? Ugh.
I would love to keep him as a technical director and get a real manager for the men's team. Don't think that would happen. I doubt money is that big of a problem - the USSF is pretty flush with cash from youth programs. But Gulati tends to hang on to managers too long, and JK probably wouldn't agree to stepping down as manager but remaining with the federation.
For what it's worth, Avs fans generally do not think highly of Granato. He had a good, but not great record with the Avs, but he definitely underachieved. Especially in 2003-04, where they had a ton of talent (that was the year Selanne and Kariya went to the Avs), but finished 2nd in their division and bombed out of the playoffs in the second round.
Who knows how he'll translate to college hockey, but it seems like a pretty good hire to me.
Michigan is in do or die time and they can't keep the puck in North Dakota's end. This North Dakota team is clearly better than us, but man if ending like a whimper seems very familiar.
Werenski was following his guy up the boards, but where was the other defenseman? Compher and Motte were closest to the guy in front of the net, but their job isn't to get that guy really.
Compher is awesome. I think he's the glue that holds this team together. Definitely the glue that holds the CCM line together, although Connor would be good anywhere.
Recent Comments
I think that’s a reasonable point, overall. I think the top end European teams are better than NWSL teams. But comparing them to Arsenal isn’t 100% fair, given that Arsenal invests a lot of money in their women’s team. If you look outside of the top 4 in England, the teams are very bad. Same with most other European league. Not as true in the NWSL.
I can’t find the stat now, but early in the tournament, NWSL players had by far the most goals and assists in the World Cup. It’s still the deepest league out there
All that said, I think your point that we don’t spend as much on the top-end players as other countries is likely valid. We’ll see what happens with that going forward.
Yep, I forgot about her. Great point.
I think we still have a huge advantage because we have a ton of players and spend more money on them than anyone else because of Title IX. Other countries may have similar top-end talent, but they don’t have the depth we do. England and the US had similar injury problems going into the tournament. We were still favorites and expecting to win. England were neither. Most European leagues are dominated by a few teams, and the competition level week to week is higher in the NWSL.
I’m also not sure how much coaching benefits European teams, either. There is so much more money in men’s soccer than women’s soccer in Europe. Like factors of 100 to 1,000. The difference is not as big here, meaning it’s easier for coaches to go into the women’s game.
I do agree we’re not going to be favorites every tournament, but I still think we’ll be a top 5 team.
The World Cup has been a disappointment so far from the US women. The world has caught up with US development, but we were still the favorites, and still have a ton of good players. We shouldn’t be a post away from going out in the group stage. That said, there are a variety of issues right now:
I think the US will crash out early, unfortunately. But they have the talent to win it all, so you never know. In particular, if they can shoot better, they are extremely dangerous. The defense has been really good, especially with Sauerbrunn missing.
Same on apple podcasts. Was coming to post the same thing.
I'm fine with that criticism. Relying on gendered terms and gesturing at PC culture being the problem is a step too far. There are tons of things to criticize that don't need you to go down that road.
Yes, there's a definite lack of joined-up thinking in this trilogy. Nobody really realized the consequences of what Abrams did in TFA to the overall story, which really boxed them into certain things. I can see why people who grew up idolizing Luke would be pissed at his turn in TLJ.
Miss me with "Mary Sue" and "woke" and whatever other garbage people are spewing about this.
Maybe. It would be better if people just avoided calling someone Mary Sue. I'm happy to talk about whether Rey is too perfect. I don't think she is, personally, but I can sort of see that. Of course, if you think she is, then Luke is absolutely the same. Or hell, Leia, too.
You're seeing what you want to see.
But, yeah, sure, she's perfect!
Calling someone a "Mary Sue" isn't critiquing. It's using a charged term co-opted by a bunch of angry, chauvinistic people who are upset that Star Wars isn't exactly the way they wanted it. Spoiler alert: those assholes weren't going to like anything.
I actually agree that there seems like there was no overall plan to how this last trilogy was going to happen, and that's on Disney. But it's not because Rey is "too perfect." They let Abrams nuke the entire original trilogy with TFA, and have been dealing with the consequences ever since. But also, it's a made-up space opera, so whatever.
I haven't seen Rise of Skywalker yet, so I don't know.
Those points about "Mary Sue" and "certain demographics" are just utter garbage. If you're using them, then you really need to take a long look in the mirror. It sounds like you're just pissed that the main hero is a woman. If you're saying that's not the case, then maybe rethink your words.
"Mary Sue" ... "superficial nonsense to win brownie points with certain demographics" ... hmmmm ...
Pausing those last 3 gifs right at or right after the handoff is frustrating. That's easily 50 yards we gave up because of bad reads on just those 3 plays. The 2nd to last gif could be a TD.
I'll go with the assumption that Patterson is being told to give here, and that will change as we get further into the year. But I'm worried that doing this is going to lead to missed reads later in the year (like the one we saw against MSU) because Patterson's hiccups will be in those games instead of against MTSU or Army.
Anyone else's pants go missing after the second segment?
How did the guy who was 2 rebounds and 2 fouls away from a 23 minute trillion end up with a 195 O-Rating?
To be the old man yells at cloud for a moment, the real reason behind this is that bowls aren't special anymore. With the playoff and the proliferation of bowl games, anything outside of the playoff isn't special. Players and fans don't care about a bowl game that much anymore.
Even into the late 1990s, going to a bowl game was still pretty special. In the 1998-99 season, only 5 Big Ten teams made bowl games. This year, there are 9 Big Ten teams that made bowl games. When every .500 team (and some teams under .500) make a bowl, it's pretty expected for every player to make a couple of bowl games in his career. For Michigan, the players expect to make bowls every year. It's a big who cares when it happens now.
The other thing is that the playoff has made it even more apparent that the rest of the bowl games don't matter. The former BCS bowl games had some cache in the BCS-era. That's dead now. I didn't even know the Peach Bowl was a "big" bowl until we got placed in it. Going further, I don't even know which bowls are NY6 bowls now. I can still name the BCS bowls.
So, every bowl outside of the playoffs has been devalued. Of course players are going to skip them. Fans were already skipping a lot of bowls; that will probably get worse.
Incidentally, this is probably one of the reasons playoff expansion happens. The bowls are money makers for the people running them, and that's probably threatened right now.
GERG has had such a weird career since the late 90s. He had 2 super bowl winning defenses in Denver, and then 2 years later, started a period where he had some of the worst defenses in the NFL. He goes to Texas, has a good defense. Then he goes to Syracuse and Michigan and was an abject disaster at both places. Then he goes back to Texas and actually makes that defense better when he became DC. I don't know how he did at SJSU, to be honest.
It's a stretch to say he had a "pretty decent career as a coordinator outside of his Michigan tenure." His NFL defenses in the early 2000s were really, really bad. But he's also had some pretty good defenses in the NFL and at Texas. I don't understand it at all. Because I've been a fan of his defenses when they've been really bad (2000 Broncos, his time at Michigan), and I cannot understand how his defenses could possibly be good.
Anyways, this is going to be a disaster. Robinson has been out of coaching for 3 years now, and he's been out of high-level coaching since 2013. He's clearly a crony hire by Mack Brown. I would be so pissed if I were a UNC fan.
I was cracking up pretty hard when Brian was smashing the garbage can so loudly we could hear it. Think I got some funny looks walking to work, laughing like I was some vagrant on a come down at 7am...
I bought my then 9 month old to the Maryland game in 2016. It was absolutely fine. It's probably better to bring them when they're not really mobile. I'm thinking about coming back with him next year, when he'll be 3 and a half (for a crappy game that I don't mind leaving early).
Some tips:
There's really not much special to it. I think younger is better, definitely easiest when they're not walking or crawling. He loved the carrier, and we used it a lot for other things, so it was easy for us. The biggest thing is just to be flexible and not expect to be able to see the whole game.
For what it's worth, it is pretty cool to have a bunch of memories with my kid as a baby in the big house. I'm glad we did went to that game with him.
I also live in Denver. Some other suggestions:
If you want some restaurant recommendations, I can give you a decent amount.
I lived in Bursley my freshman year and enjoyed it, but I would still have preferred central campus. I had a lot of engineering friends that were on central campus almost as much as I was. Central is just a better place to be, because you can walk to basically anything.
That said, the only time bussing was a pain was for football games. During the school day, they come every 5 minutes or so, and it's a really quick ride to central campus. On weekends, they were less frequent, but still came enough to get to campus and back quickly enough. It's still easier to get around and do stuff on central, so I would recommend trying to get there.
Dude, Speight can't even see Perry at all while he's scrambling. He had to bug out immediately, and look where his eyes are. Maybe he should get his eyes downfield a second earlier, but I'm not sure it would make much difference. He has a 2 vs. 1 with Crawford and the defender right in front of him. If Crawford either blocks or runs a half decent scramble drill, this is a TD or a Hill TD on 4th and goal from the 1. Coming off that would be a bad decision.
And that is ignoring the fact that this is an impossible throw for almost any QB to make. Yeah, Perry is open, but Speight is facing 90+ degrees away from Perry. Throwing that ball to Perry would require resetting his entire body downfield, which might make Perry run out of room to catch the pass. If he doesn't reset, there's a good shot it's a pick because it will be a floater.
This was a good play from Speight. He avoids the blitz and gets himself a 2 on 1 on the outside with an Air Force defender. Crawford doesn't make a decision, and Speight can't make a decision. Giving him a minus on this play is insane. Even with all that, it was fingertips away from being 6 points.
I get the frustration, but a lot of this thread is misguided bagging on Speight. Giving him minuses when there are unblocked players in his face is crazy. Getting off a half decent throw, which he did pretty consistently, is a good play. Your expectations are out of whack - this isn't the NFL and Speight is not Tom Brady.
Those shanked punts were not great. I think we should see Robbins next week.
Good stuff, as always, Ace. I really enjoy reading these. One of the many things that separates mgoblog from other football blogs. I actually get to learn some football concepts.
This one and the recruiting mgopodcast showed up just fine in my iPhone's podcast app. Thanks, Ace! Whatever you did worked.
See, I disagree with that, too. Granted, I do live in a place where the biggest minority population is Mexicans, so I do have access to good Mexican food. But it's not a good example of Americanized-Mexican food either. The burritos are just meat in slop with cheese and salsa. Meh. Everybody raved over their burritos (same with Pancheros), but honestly, the Chipotle that opened up on campus blows them both out of the water. Literally if you get the added bonus of e coli.
It might be a better version of Taco Bell, but that doesn't mean it's some gastronomic delight. I really never understood the allure of BTB at all. I basically did not eat Mexican food in Ann Arbor when I was a student. There are too many other good places to get food from.
I will admit that their quesadillas were pretty good. But it's had to mess up a tortilla with cheese.
BTB is shitty. If you've ventured south and had some good Mexican food, you would realize that it's not actually good. Only thing I actually liked there was their quesadillas, which are pretty good. The burritos are plain bad.
In 2006, I was a sophomore at Michigan. On the day I was supposed to come home, Denver got hit with a huge snowstorm, dumping over 2 feet. That's a ton of snow for Denver. It shut down the airport for a good 2 days. I wasn't going to get back to Denver before Christmas by flying. Amtrak was sold out. So I took a Greyhound from Detroit to Denver. That was about a 30 hour trip that ended up taking more like 36 hours with some delays. Got into Denver about 1am on Christmas Eve. I think I actually ended up being lucky to get to Denver at any point. A few other people trying to get to Denver at the same time didn't get there until well after Christmas.
On the plus side, that snowstorm also stranded my future wife in Denver. We met on that break, when we otherwise would not have. Hard to believe that was 10 years ago.
DIdn't see the final box score, but Wisconsin was averaging just around 3 yards per carry at some point in the 4th quarter. Corey Clement had under 3 yards per carry.
Nebraska ran that play with Martinez lead blocking for Burkhead a couple of times a game. I expect there are going to be some counter punches out of that look or even that play. One that comes to mind is Morris faking like he's going to block and running past the safeties freaking out about Peppers.
Nebraska ran that play with Martinez lead blocking for Burkhead a couple of times a game. I expect there are going to be some counter punches out of that look or even that play. One that comes to mind is Morris faking like he's going to block and running past the safeties freaking out about Peppers.
Great article. Reads like it's from the Daily, which is pretty high praise. Good luck to her this year.
That Wisconsin OL information is a great nugget. I had no idea about that, and that is crazy. Really good stuff, Jamie.
Let's all take a moment to realize that Penn State hired the President of FSU during the Jamies Winston fiasco to be its President. I mean, how stupid can this institution be?
I'm excited about both of these hires. Got a defensive specialist, who was a past head coach to boot. I like almost everything I read about him. Washington seems like a great fit, especially in recruiting. Well done.
What Space Coyote said. It has jokes. Brian is wrong there. I can understand how he thinks they're not funny, but there are jokes. Since golf is my main hobby, I love Happy Gilmore.
Christopher MacDonald is the highlight of the movie to me. His character and acting is fantastic.
Any of the 1 credit GeoSci courses.
I found Psych 111 to be really easy, although I remember that there was one professor that was a lot harder than the others.
History 375 - Witchcraft. It wasn't a super easy class, but it was really interesting. You do have to do real work in it though. I think there were 2 exams and 2 essays you had to do.
If you can do upper level German courses, take German Soccer. Again, not an easy course, but a lot of fun.
Yeah, no kidding. This lineup has been pretty much perfect. Beckerman is huge, because he provides a base to build on and an outlet for the CBs. He would have been nice to have against Guatemala's high press the other night...
Yeah, I tend to agree with you. The U23 team's backline might be better the full men's team right now. I think the talent pool is deeper, although probably lacking a top end (for the US) talent like Donovan, Dempsey, or Gooch. Hell, in 2006, we were starting a 34 year old Eddie Pope at centerback. Gonzo is our 3rd or 4th choice centerback, and he's definitely better than 34 year old Pope.
But, the tactics and management by JK have been awful since the World Cup. The 4-4-2 he played against Guatemala was terrible. Mixx and Bradley are not holding midfielders, but that's what they played as. Yedlin was never used as a counterattacking threat, so why start him at right mid? Bedoya was more used in our counters, and he was pretty awful with them all night. Dempsey and Wood barely combined. Orzoco was a disaster. And then JK comes out and says after the game that there were a lot of positives. I mean, really? Ugh.
I would love to keep him as a technical director and get a real manager for the men's team. Don't think that would happen. I doubt money is that big of a problem - the USSF is pretty flush with cash from youth programs. But Gulati tends to hang on to managers too long, and JK probably wouldn't agree to stepping down as manager but remaining with the federation.
For what it's worth, Avs fans generally do not think highly of Granato. He had a good, but not great record with the Avs, but he definitely underachieved. Especially in 2003-04, where they had a ton of talent (that was the year Selanne and Kariya went to the Avs), but finished 2nd in their division and bombed out of the playoffs in the second round.
Who knows how he'll translate to college hockey, but it seems like a pretty good hire to me.
Really fun team to watch, even with its obvious deficiencies. I'm not too upset by losing this game. It seems about right for this year.
Yeah, not that it matters, but what the hell was he doing there?
Michigan is in do or die time and they can't keep the puck in North Dakota's end. This North Dakota team is clearly better than us, but man if ending like a whimper seems very familiar.
Werenski was following his guy up the boards, but where was the other defenseman? Compher and Motte were closest to the guy in front of the net, but their job isn't to get that guy really.
Bleh, once again a goal for them as we're getting a stronger foothold in the game.
Oh man, and it hit Racine's glove on the way through. He's been great this game, but that looks like one he should stop.
I forgive you Compher!
Woah, what's this called again? A powder pay?
Holy shit Compher, that was awful. We were growing into the game, too. Their forecheck is brutal, but no excuse for that mistake.
Dancs was about 6 inches away from a top shelf goal there. Damn.
So Connor gets hit with the puck gone, and no call. And then we called for that. Come on refs.
Compher is awesome. I think he's the glue that holds this team together. Definitely the glue that holds the CCM line together, although Connor would be good anywhere.