Yeah it's terrible. Hopkins had 10,000+ sellout vs Maryland today, Syracuse had 8,000+ vs Virginia today and Army-Navy had 10,000+ last weekend. I mean, those are rivalry games in nice weather but those numbers are nothing to sniff at. I wonder what attendance would be like if they played just a few more weeks and pushed the championship to mid-June. I would almost rather see them get rid of the conference tournaments and just expand the NCAA tournament.
Yeah that was crazy. Seconds before he picked it up, I was like 'Taylor get in the goal!!!' But that was a great GB and clear, memorable hustle play to ice the game.
Much improved performance, nerve-wracking finish aside. They got lots of goals from their middies and Taylor seemed to have his best game in a while. Defense also seemed to go to a zone at times(?) that seemed to slow down and confuse the Buckeyes. The aforementioned Big Tasty didn't have a great game, which is a nice break for this team. But, like basketball, just seeing the ball go in can really help shooters. Hopefully that's what they needed and they can hit some shots next week and beyond.
Some other things. The women are ranked #4 right now! And they play #1 Northwestern tomorrow! At noon on BTN!
It's weird that this is the last regular season game. Weather is goregeous here on the east coast but college lacrosse is so tied to having the FInal Four on Memorial Day weekend (and stupid conf tourneys) that now that it's nice, the season is already over. Notre Dame, currently ranked #1 and has a number of sellouts, has only 11 games on its schedule this season. There's no way their lacrosse team should be playing fewer games than its football team. That's ridiculous. College lacrosse is so weird and stupid and can't get out of its own way.
I've tried not to act too snobby at myself but I've come to the conclusion that I legitimately like watching sports. And I (obviously) think college lacrosse is a great product. My list would like pretty similar: college football and the NCAA tournament are some of the great American sports traditions. And I love the Olympics and the World Cup as well, but I think there are a lot of other great college sports out there like you said. I really got into women's hoops this year and B1G women's volleyball is a really great product.
Yeah, really tough game. But Penn State is a good, strong team so it's not the worst L. But, still they're trending in the wrong direction. Box score tells another bizarre story: Wietfeldt dominated faceoffs and Michigan won the turnover and groundball battles and only gave up one penalty. But, they only had 8 goals on 54 shots - 14%. Looks like Fracyon was in the zone and stuffed 19 Michigan shots which is really impressive. Michigan went 0-4 on man-ups and Ronda was the only midfielder to score.
I'm excited that Brown got some playing time at least. He took 5 shots and didn't score. But I saw one highlight that was exactly what I was talking about: he made a hard move, the defense adjusted, he moved the ball and it ended up with Tiernan who took a great shot that clanged off the crossbar. Just keep doing that and the shots will fall.
Yeah. he had a pretty superb night. He was great. On the other end - Ross Scott's run of 3 straight goals in the first half was really impressive. Those were incredible shots; on the move, impeccably placed and with speed. Taylor had little chance.
Michigan has run into some hot goalies: UVA's Nunes, ND's Entenman and JHU's Ierlan; but I'm wondering how much of that is Michigan's poor shooting making them look good. The bad news is that PSU and OSU also have great goalkeepers. A 2nd half hat trick from John Morgan (what a good strong American name and I'm sure a fine young man) helped Michigan keep pace.
I'm also a little distressed that Justin Brown has been phased out of the offense lately. I don't know if he's dealing w/ an injury or if he's in the coaches' doghouse but he was key down the stretch last year. He has a decent outside shot - not the greatest placement but he definitely puts some stank on it - but he hasn't seemed to play at all lately. They've been getting little to no offense from the midfield, but Brown's speed can be a problem because he gets the defense to move, which is incredibly valuable, especially if you have a deadly crease attackman like Tiernan.
Beating Penn State would be a quality win and then a victory over the Buckeyes would bring them to 3-2 in the conference, which is nothing to sniff at. Another win or two in the tournament could help them make a strong case. But, there is no margin for error now.
THEY DID IT!!! Big Win! What a redemption game for Taylor! Great effort from him. 1-0 in the B1G is huge going forward. Take care of business at Hopkins next week! GO BLUE!!
Some sloppy play in there but overall 1000x better than last week. The def middies are doing much better and seem to be playing tighter and more physical on the ball. The d-men and LSMs - ROberts, Van Wees, Whitney and Stanzel have all made some good plays so far. And Michigan is causing Maryland a lot of trouble on the ride. Hopefully they can come away with the big win. GO BLUE!!
Is it me - or - does it seem like there are zero good coaches out there these days? Especially young ones. I don't know if there is a single coach in college football or basketball under 50 that you'd be like: that guy is going to win a championship one day. It's rough out there.
Only 2 lacrosse sickos joining in?! That was some of my best work!
Anyway, that was a complete disaster. I'm glad I went to the Maryland game and didn't stay home to watch this one. That game was a disappointment too (the B1G has an absolutely dismal record vs the ACC this year) but the weather was perfect, there was a great crowd and they actually sell pretty good beer.
Michigan got out to an early lead and then finished the first quarter 3-3 and I thought we had a good one on our hands. And then...11 of the next 12 goals were scored by ND. Michigan turned the ball over (10(!) by the 10 minute mark in the 2nd qtr.) repeatedly got lost on defense and couldn't get any stops. Taylor had an extremely rough day in goal, recording only 7 saves compared to 17 goals against in just 3 quarters. At one point, ND scored on like 5 or 6 consecutive shots. The D didn't provide him much help, getting beat on picks and either sliding when they didn't need to or not sliding at all. They also didn't create a lot of turnovers and Taylor wasn't making saves so they basically had no transition opportunities all game.
All in all, an absolutely brutal performance. Hopefully they can put it behind them, clean up their play and win some B1G games.
I really want to clip some of Harvard's goals from the other day and do a sort of defense 'film room' section but maybe I'll do that in the diaries if I ever get around to it.
I'm such a sicko these days that I'm seriously considering going to the Maryland-Virginia game, which is unfortunately on at the same time as this one. It's really nice here and that game should be a knock-down-drag-out brawl because those teams hate each other. Could be a big crowd and fun atmosphere.
Final 13-11 Harvard. Seems like they were chasing all game, down 4-5 for most of it. They cut it to 2 a few times in the 2nd but Harvard responded. And it seemed like the two teams were stuck on 13-11 for the last several minutes of the game so Michigan just couldn't quite complete the comeback.
This would've done a lot for the tournament resume but they're not out of it yet. Still opportunities for quality wins out there. And they can redeem themselves by knocking off ND next week. GO BLUE.
I wish I had the patience to look it up but Craig Ross had a really interesting piece on the state of higher education in the 1890s(?). At that point, Harvard and Michigan were the two largest universities in the country, and of course, football powerhouses. While Harvard was still exclusively focused on admitting its Old Money legacies and the sons of titans of industry, President Angell was innovating by democratizing higher ed. And Michigan was educating the best and brightest students from all backgrounds. And actually, football played an important role in engaging successful alumni who wanted to help the program and university. Very interesting.
Clark had 11 in the first half I think. She's a great shooter and savvy all-around scorer but her passing is fantastic. She doesn't get enough credit for that I think.
3-goal burst right out of halftime gave Michigan a nice cushion and they went on to win by five, 13-8. GOOD WIN. It's very possible Delaware will find themselves in the tournament again this year. Now they get another chance for a strong resume-buidling W when they play Harvard at home next weekend. GO BLUE!!
1. The Living Daylights (great song too). Goldfinger right behind, From Russia w Love is probably the best one, I have several close honorable mentions as well.
Great 2nd half after a sluggish 1st. Shot much better and Wietfeldt was great on F/Os. I really like Tiernan - he's a real crafty finisher/old school crease man. All round much better half to avoid the upset (albeit vs a dangerous opponent). Back up the coast to face Delaware on Saturday. Only gets tougher from here - GO BLUE!
J'ville up 8-6 at half. Haven't been able to watch very closely but from what I've seen it looks like they're just not finishing. And on offense they're getting caught ball-watching and not sliding well.
A few shots I've seen seem to reflect a return to their bad old habits. They have to do a bettem thjob of changing the levels at which they shoot. Far too often they'll shoot high-to-high, low-to-low and telegraph where it's going. Goalies are like major league hitters now. they're so good that 95mph doesn't phase them anymore. A
Michigan is down 3 now and Jv is going on a man-up. There's no need to panic but they have to clean it up fairly quickly. This is extremely trap-gamey.
Sorry- forgot to add some context: I have no idea why the game is being played at DCD. I'm guessing they have a fieldhouse there? Also, game will be streaming on the BTN Ocho so it's probably inaccessible for most of us.
While I'm here I might as well make a plug for my annual rant...Michigan has its own lacrosse facility (outdoors) and used to play games in Oosterbaan Fieldhouse (indoors) before the renovations made it unusable for hosting lacrosse games. But, then they built a lacrosse-only stadium which cost a few million dollars. And yet they're playing today's game indoors in Detroit because it's February, because I'm guessing the weather is awful. So they only really have 4 true home games and don't play a home game after April 7th, when the weather is still pretty awful. What are we even doing here? This all seems so stupid to me. College lacrosse needs to get its shit together.
No one is talking about 'de-arming' America. We didn't use to have this problem. We can get senseless gun deaths in line with other developed nations and get back to where it used to be. And I believe we can do that without violating the 2nd amendment. It just requires a little bit of willpower.
I'm in favor of the 2A and also strong, smart gun laws (also - I think most people that means confiscation which is not how those types of laws work).
Also - I'm not trying to be a dick, but try this thought exercise (I think I may have heard somewhere but I may have made it up?):
- Put two strangers in a locked room together, no one gets out, no one comes in. Just two people in a room with maybe a table and chairs. Who gets shot?
- Now, add a gun. Put a loaded pistol on the table. Now, who gets shot? Ideally no one. Could be either. Could be both.
- Now, add a second gun. Again, who gets shot? Hopefully, they're getting along and no one gets shot. Even if they're not, hopefully they are responsible enough not to shoot the other person.
- Then add a third person. Three people, two guns. Then another gun. Then another person. More people and more guns and so on and so on.
It's a little raw but I think it illustrates how an increased number of guns just adds to the permutations of what could happen. We have to try and make sure that dangerous people in that room aren't getting their hands on the gun(s). Because we're in that room too.
Northern Ireland was essentially at war with what many citizens believed to be an oppressive, foreign, occupying force. That's wartime so it's a bit different (also a lot of arms that ended up in the hands of the IRA came from the States).
Honolulu, this is outstanding. Let's make mgoblog the go-to spot for in-depth lacrosse coverage just like Brian, Seth & Co. do for every other sport!
Anyway...gahhhh, this game. So, first of all, it's frustrating M still gives up a lot of goals on simple pick plays. They gave up a few goals and other open looks on picks that they were somehow unprepared for. Defending a pick is simple. You do one of three things 1) switch 2) get through/over/under or 3) hard double. Option #3 isn't really a thing in basketball, but back in the day our policy on the rare pick would be that both defenders attack the ballcarrier and go all out for the strip. Too often, it seems like Michigan's on-ball defender gets stuck on the screen while the other defender stands there. Like hoops, you have to communicate and even decide beforehand what you're going to do. They also gifted UVA a goal when Michigan's man subbed off but UVA's LSM didn't, leaving them w/ a temporary man advantage. He just shot and scored. They have to cut down on cheap goals which were a problem early last year.
As for M's offense, they kind of forced Boehm into that creator role but that's not really his game. He's a crafty all-around player but if they wanted him to drive and dish they really needed to pick those huge defenders off of him and have him go against a shortstick. Sometimes, defending a guy who is much smaller than you is actually really difficult. While Boehm is quick and shifty, he doesn't have topline blazing speed like Millon and he's kind of scrawny so he was unable to muscle in close and cause problems for the defender. As a result, the d-men were much bigger AND could run with him which caused M a lot of problems. Still, they scored 11 goals and created a lot good looks on that incredible defense (UVA's goalie was incredible), which I think is promising?
Michigan just got no bounces at all. They had that broken-stick goal and another one in which Millon's shot went off a d-man's leg and in (don't worry, he still thinks he's hot shit though). And poor Cathal Roberts couldn't get a call to save his life. UVA's 7th goal came because Millon was holding him on the crease and he couldn't get free to slide up and cover #28; I was sitting on that end it and it sure looked like interference to me. And the same ref missed consecutive endline calls when Roberts hustled to the spot first but gave it to the Cavaliers. The latter led to their 14th goal; Roberts AND Taylor were closer to it when it went out. UVA got the quick restart and a goal.
Sounds crazy but there was a lot to like in this game. New pieces seem like excellent additions, esp. Roberts, Pederson and Tiernan. Plus, they won't play another team with that much of a size advantage the rest of the season. And they probably won't get such bad luck and atrocious officiating again. It's unlikely such a nightmarish game will repeat in the future. And it also seems like they really put it together and took it out on Canisius today!
I've been a huge Juwan fan and am hoping for a Juwan-aissance for Michigan hoops. But, man, it has gone really wrong lately. I don't think all of this can be attributed to losing Beilein's players and admissions troubles, but that certainly accounts for some of it. But, Coach Howard just seems different. I think he's a much better coach than this and he's shown that here. He probably gets a pass for his heart surgery but this season is extremely bad. And I think he's been dealing with some really difficult personal stuff since his best friend and then a close cousin (like a brother) passed away in 2021 (I remember rumors that Harbaugh was going through personal problems in 2020 that may have affected the on-field performance. I don't know if that's the case here, but anyway...)
I've said it in other posts, but it bears repeating: Burnett and Nkamhoua did not sign up for this. They are good players - so is Dug - and Williams is having his best season in a M uniform and Reed and Tschetter are coming along. That's a decent core that most coaches could do a lot with (I think Beilein would have these guys on the bubble at least, certainly better than 8 Ws). This team is so weird - but it certainly has ability (over the years, we've seen terrible teams at Michigan and around the BigTen and this is not one of those teams). And its poor performance is on the head coach. I'm not surprised at those luck stats. You have to find a way to make your own luck and win close games.
It's really disappointing and the most difficult thing - and maybe their biggest problem - is the lack of focus, heart and effort. Never thought that would be a problem with a Juwan Howard-coached team. Nevertheless, I think he's a natural-born coach and a brilliant offensive mind. However, it might be better suited to the pros where he doesn't have to deal with the heaps of bullshit that head coaches have to deal with in college basketball now.
Yeah, I can't get into it most years. I kinda like some of the dudes on the 9ers and the exposure of Mahomes/Kelce/Reid has really worn on me. But, this is not a particulary interesting game and even the halftime show is very meh to me. I can't stand the vast majority of the ads. But I turned it on bc what else is there to do? Actually, one year the game bored my girlfriend and I so much we turned on 90 Day Fiancee in like the 2nd quarter haha.
But. don't be fooled - the NFL wants you to think this overload of bullshit is the most important thing in the world. Don't let them.
Also: HOT TIP: If you're ever out of town this weekend, the Super Bowl is a great time to be on the road. A few years ago, I did NY to DC and Phila to DC and the roads were empty, made record time.
So, that was pretty rough. Obviously not the start they wanted. But I think they have a good base to build a strong season. Hopefully this will be their worst performance of the year and they can just put it behind them. Here are some of L'Carpetron's takeaways:
1) I can't get over how big Virginia's dudes are. I don't think it really came through on screen I mean their defense is enormous - it's like they took a power forward and some d-ends and gave them longsticks. Their F/O guy was also a mutant and a few other middies were huge. It looked like Michigan was playing the goddamn Chicago Bears or something. They were physical as well; Michigan never backed down and kept playing hard but they never matched Virginia's physical play/attitude.
2) Virginia's goalie was incredible. Michigan was slow to get on the board...and then keep pace...and then make a comeback because Virginia's goalie kept making tremendous saves. Maybe Michigan helped him out a few times w/ poor shot placement (my big worry this season is that they'll revert back to poor shooting) but it seemed like they generated plenty of good looks and that dude just stonewalled them. He's big, takes up space in the cage and just eats up every shot with no wasted movement at all.
3) Hopefully this is just some first game rust. M has a lot of new faces but I think those are strong additions and a lot of those guys played well especially Tierney, Roberts and Pederson. They need to figure out who will create on offense; it seemed like they wanted Boehm to be the facilitator but that wasn't really his role last year or his game. He often found himself forced into the teeth of their enormous defense. It seemed like when they let Brown or Lockwood key the offense it went a little better. But, overall, they got crushed on GBs and F/Os and Taylor unfortunately did not have his best game in goal. A lot of old problems - poor shooting, inopportune turnovers (same thing) and unassisted goals resurfaced. But those seem like fixable problems and the capable guys they've imported will settle in soon.
4) Virginia are a bunch of punks and the officiating was absolute dogshit. Virginia were some fucking goons out there; they got a good number of flags but they also got away with a ton of dirty shit and were chippy from the start. And the smallest guy on the team - Millon, seems to be the biggest punk of them all, I was disappointed no Michigan player took his head off. The refs gave only gave a 1-min penalty when a Virginia dude hit Billig square in the back in an extremely dirty and dangerous play. They also missed a late hit on Taylor (also from behind - what sportsmen!) and a h-2-h on our F/O guy. And they missed some blatant endline calls that directly led to UVA goals. None of this really made a difference because Michigan played poorly and had a hand in beating themselves. But I will be rooting my ass off for any team playing Virginia the rest of the year.
5) Despite the general odiousness of Virginia, that stadium is great and it was a really fun atmosphere. Box score said there were 4000 fans in attendance but it seemed like a lot more. And the Michigan fans really represented. It was the first time I've been to a college lacrosse game where it felt like big time college sports and not something that the athletic dept just sort of put up with. I would love it if every athletic dept treated their nonrev sports like that.
Michigan will put in much better performances than that so here's to a fun season!
I'm here! Sorry - I was at the game. It was rough. Great atmosphere and a lot of fun - box score said the attendance was approx 4,000 but it seemed like there were much more than that. Michigan was well-represented there and it didn't seem like just player's parents/families. They were vocal the whole game. The team kept grinding even when it was out of hand.
This is obviously not how M envisioned their season opener. They couldn't bury their first few looks (UVA's goalie was insanely good) and then the game got away from them. Virginia seemed like in mid-season form though. Hopefully this is Michigan's worst game of the season. I'll post some more thoughts in Honolulu's diary thread!
Yeeesssssssssss. This is excellent, Honolulu, thanks for posting. UVA lost a lot of key contributors but it never really matters for them because they always lose historic guys and just replace them with more historic guys. And they still have Schellenberger, who if I recall correctly, Michigan kept somewhat in check last year. He's also a candidate for the Jacque Vaughn-Aaron Craft Been Here Forever Award (even for a lacrosse player).
I'm curious to see how Michigan does replacing their key players from last year. They lose Bryce Clay, Peter Thompson, Josh Zawada and Josh Jackson. I also had no idea Zawada still had eligibility and transferred to Duke (booooo). But Boehm and Coen can make plays and importing a versatile offensive guy from Princeton and a 40+ goal scorer from Lehigh should help. I'm excited to see the second line midfield guys from last year - Justin Brown and Isaac Aaronson and do-itall middie Emmit Houlihan. Those defensive transfers could be great additions too; Whitney and Van Wees were pretty strong last year but I think LSM Shriber will be out for a while. I'm weirdly excited about Beau Pederson, a short stick d-middie who is 2nd team preseason AA; that could be huge bc Michigan lost some good ones and it's probably the hardest and least appreciated position on the field. I love Taylor or Carr in goal. Taylor is a lunatic.
This game could be interesting. Michigan could pull an all-time upset...or lose by 10 goals. But honestly, I'm leaning towards the former. Last year, they hung within 1-2 goals all game until a bad call helped UVA stretch the lead in the 4th. That was before Michigan really learned how to win. This program has got a fun new attitude. GO BLUE!
I really meant anything more than 4 but since it's going to a 12 team format I figured I might as well just say that. But in any event - the back half of the top 10 had some really interesting teams that might have made some noise if they got a chance in an 8 or 12 team playoff: Georgia and Oregon seemed like great teams and I'm curious how dark horses like Missouri or Arizona would've performed if they were able to sneak in.
For obvious reasons, I'm glad Michigan won the championship. But even beyond that, this seemed like an excellent college fb season with a lot of great teams. It marks the end of an era and it also seems like the CFP jeopardized a fantastic by awarding Alabama a spot. Generally, college sports feels like they're losing something these days but I'm glad this turned out to be a great season.
I'm not even that big of an NFL guy so I'm not missing football that much this weekend hah. But, if you're jonesing for sports, looks like there's some good premier league and NBA on this weekend (Knicks-Lakers tonight)
My only real advice is: Don't go to law school if you don't know what you want to do. I'm not an attorney but some excellent (powerful even) ones I know say to not go unless you really want to do it. It's also generally just not a great experience.
Does UM offer kids full tuition if their family's/parent's net worth is under $X amount? And does your nephew qualify for that? If so, that offers him a lot of flexibility.
I didn't come from that kind of background so I can't speak to the kid's experience or desires for the future. I grew up in a well-to-do town but my family wasn't particularly wealthy and there were a lot of much richer kids at UofM. I was never very motivated by money (though I was always broke in those days) and all my college friends have made a lot more $ than me since graduating, so I'm not exactly the right person to offer advice here hah.
But I would advise him not to fall into the trap of chasing big money as soon as possible. One of my friends was a B-school kid and got what is basically the highest paying job you can get out of college. And...he kind of went nuts. Those types of jobs (Big Law, too) might pay handsomely, but they also take a lot from you.
That's why I say to tread carefully and be patient, especially if he doesn't have loans. Without a massive debt load hanging over his head, he can do a lot of different things, even nonprofit work. And he'll be somewhat comfortable. It's important to remember that "not being poor anymore" does not necessarily equal "making as much money as soon as possible."
Attaboy, Seth! Doing your civic duty. Very patriotic. It's incredibly important and I hope a lot of people follow your lead.
On the partisan/electioneering side: I would also encourage people to volunteer for campaigns to knock doors and work on GOTV stuff for your chosen candidate. It's hard work and can be very not fun (I've knocked in some very cold temps and very hot temps). But, it can be really rewarding and you can have great convos with voters. I'll probably take some time off and knock a few shifts this summer/fall. They say that despite the insane amount of money in politics now, voter-to-voter canvassing is actually the most effective tool in campaigning, which I always found really fascinating. So, don't be afraid to get involved!
That was when I was becoming truly obsessed w / college football. I remember that weekend because those other games were hyped so much too. That was a great UNC team and the infamous Nebraska-Missouri game was that day too. The best weekend in one of the all-time greatest seasons. As Jackson said: if that doesn't whet your whistle, you're watching the wrong channel.
At least your bit was committed; wasn't just a string of pussy jokes! Well done, nts. Michael Palin rules.
Dennis - sorry to hear what you went through. And unfortunately, I think your story is tragically not uncommon. But it sounds like you're on the right path and I commend you for that. Take care of yourself and please remember if you get any of those ideations/thoughts again, you can always call 911 or go to the emergency room. I always found that comforting.
Recent Comments
Yeah it's terrible. Hopkins had 10,000+ sellout vs Maryland today, Syracuse had 8,000+ vs Virginia today and Army-Navy had 10,000+ last weekend. I mean, those are rivalry games in nice weather but those numbers are nothing to sniff at. I wonder what attendance would be like if they played just a few more weeks and pushed the championship to mid-June. I would almost rather see them get rid of the conference tournaments and just expand the NCAA tournament.
Yeah that was crazy. Seconds before he picked it up, I was like 'Taylor get in the goal!!!' But that was a great GB and clear, memorable hustle play to ice the game.
Much improved performance, nerve-wracking finish aside. They got lots of goals from their middies and Taylor seemed to have his best game in a while. Defense also seemed to go to a zone at times(?) that seemed to slow down and confuse the Buckeyes. The aforementioned Big Tasty didn't have a great game, which is a nice break for this team. But, like basketball, just seeing the ball go in can really help shooters. Hopefully that's what they needed and they can hit some shots next week and beyond.
Some other things. The women are ranked #4 right now! And they play #1 Northwestern tomorrow! At noon on BTN!
It's weird that this is the last regular season game. Weather is goregeous here on the east coast but college lacrosse is so tied to having the FInal Four on Memorial Day weekend (and stupid conf tourneys) that now that it's nice, the season is already over. Notre Dame, currently ranked #1 and has a number of sellouts, has only 11 games on its schedule this season. There's no way their lacrosse team should be playing fewer games than its football team. That's ridiculous. College lacrosse is so weird and stupid and can't get out of its own way.
I've tried not to act too snobby at myself but I've come to the conclusion that I legitimately like watching sports. And I (obviously) think college lacrosse is a great product. My list would like pretty similar: college football and the NCAA tournament are some of the great American sports traditions. And I love the Olympics and the World Cup as well, but I think there are a lot of other great college sports out there like you said. I really got into women's hoops this year and B1G women's volleyball is a really great product.
Yeah, really tough game. But Penn State is a good, strong team so it's not the worst L. But, still they're trending in the wrong direction. Box score tells another bizarre story: Wietfeldt dominated faceoffs and Michigan won the turnover and groundball battles and only gave up one penalty. But, they only had 8 goals on 54 shots - 14%. Looks like Fracyon was in the zone and stuffed 19 Michigan shots which is really impressive. Michigan went 0-4 on man-ups and Ronda was the only midfielder to score.
I'm excited that Brown got some playing time at least. He took 5 shots and didn't score. But I saw one highlight that was exactly what I was talking about: he made a hard move, the defense adjusted, he moved the ball and it ended up with Tiernan who took a great shot that clanged off the crossbar. Just keep doing that and the shots will fall.
It's AQ or bust now though.
My Simpsons bit from Frinkiac didn't work!
Yeah. he had a pretty superb night. He was great. On the other end - Ross Scott's run of 3 straight goals in the first half was really impressive. Those were incredible shots; on the move, impeccably placed and with speed. Taylor had little chance.
Michigan has run into some hot goalies: UVA's Nunes, ND's Entenman and JHU's Ierlan; but I'm wondering how much of that is Michigan's poor shooting making them look good. The bad news is that PSU and OSU also have great goalkeepers. A 2nd half hat trick from John Morgan (what a good strong American name and I'm sure a fine young man) helped Michigan keep pace.
I'm also a little distressed that Justin Brown has been phased out of the offense lately. I don't know if he's dealing w/ an injury or if he's in the coaches' doghouse but he was key down the stretch last year. He has a decent outside shot - not the greatest placement but he definitely puts some stank on it - but he hasn't seemed to play at all lately. They've been getting little to no offense from the midfield, but Brown's speed can be a problem because he gets the defense to move, which is incredibly valuable, especially if you have a deadly crease attackman like Tiernan.
Beating Penn State would be a quality win and then a victory over the Buckeyes would bring them to 3-2 in the conference, which is nothing to sniff at. Another win or two in the tournament could help them make a strong case. But, there is no margin for error now.
All out of Simpsons bits but this always applicable...
Homer: sports, sports, sports - YouTube
WHoa! Go get 'em ladies! GO BLUE!!!
THEY DID IT!!! Big Win! What a redemption game for Taylor! Great effort from him. 1-0 in the B1G is huge going forward. Take care of business at Hopkins next week! GO BLUE!!
Some sloppy play in there but overall 1000x better than last week. The def middies are doing much better and seem to be playing tighter and more physical on the ball. The d-men and LSMs - ROberts, Van Wees, Whitney and Stanzel have all made some good plays so far. And Michigan is causing Maryland a lot of trouble on the ride. Hopefully they can come away with the big win. GO BLUE!!
They could've very easily gone with "Juwan Gone" or "Howard's End", come on Daily.
Is it me - or - does it seem like there are zero good coaches out there these days? Especially young ones. I don't know if there is a single coach in college football or basketball under 50 that you'd be like: that guy is going to win a championship one day. It's rough out there.
Only 2 lacrosse sickos joining in?! That was some of my best work!
Anyway, that was a complete disaster. I'm glad I went to the Maryland game and didn't stay home to watch this one. That game was a disappointment too (the B1G has an absolutely dismal record vs the ACC this year) but the weather was perfect, there was a great crowd and they actually sell pretty good beer.
Michigan got out to an early lead and then finished the first quarter 3-3 and I thought we had a good one on our hands. And then...11 of the next 12 goals were scored by ND. Michigan turned the ball over (10(!) by the 10 minute mark in the 2nd qtr.) repeatedly got lost on defense and couldn't get any stops. Taylor had an extremely rough day in goal, recording only 7 saves compared to 17 goals against in just 3 quarters. At one point, ND scored on like 5 or 6 consecutive shots. The D didn't provide him much help, getting beat on picks and either sliding when they didn't need to or not sliding at all. They also didn't create a lot of turnovers and Taylor wasn't making saves so they basically had no transition opportunities all game.
All in all, an absolutely brutal performance. Hopefully they can put it behind them, clean up their play and win some B1G games.
I really want to clip some of Harvard's goals from the other day and do a sort of defense 'film room' section but maybe I'll do that in the diaries if I ever get around to it.
I'm such a sicko these days that I'm seriously considering going to the Maryland-Virginia game, which is unfortunately on at the same time as this one. It's really nice here and that game should be a knock-down-drag-out brawl because those teams hate each other. Could be a big crowd and fun atmosphere.
Final 13-11 Harvard. Seems like they were chasing all game, down 4-5 for most of it. They cut it to 2 a few times in the 2nd but Harvard responded. And it seemed like the two teams were stuck on 13-11 for the last several minutes of the game so Michigan just couldn't quite complete the comeback.
This would've done a lot for the tournament resume but they're not out of it yet. Still opportunities for quality wins out there. And they can redeem themselves by knocking off ND next week. GO BLUE.
13-11 H in the 4th now. Seems like a real dogfight and M has been clawing back.
10-6 Harvard in the 3rd. Hopefully they can put together a good second half game plan and take control.
I wish I had the patience to look it up but Craig Ross had a really interesting piece on the state of higher education in the 1890s(?). At that point, Harvard and Michigan were the two largest universities in the country, and of course, football powerhouses. While Harvard was still exclusively focused on admitting its Old Money legacies and the sons of titans of industry, President Angell was innovating by democratizing higher ed. And Michigan was educating the best and brightest students from all backgrounds. And actually, football played an important role in engaging successful alumni who wanted to help the program and university. Very interesting.
Yes - I forgot to mention they're ranked 13th. They held steady at 13 from last week while there was a lot of movement in front and behind them.
Clark had 11 in the first half I think. She's a great shooter and savvy all-around scorer but her passing is fantastic. She doesn't get enough credit for that I think.
I forgot to add this, v important...
No Livers?!?!
3-goal burst right out of halftime gave Michigan a nice cushion and they went on to win by five, 13-8. GOOD WIN. It's very possible Delaware will find themselves in the tournament again this year. Now they get another chance for a strong resume-buidling W when they play Harvard at home next weekend. GO BLUE!!
Kind of hard to see but yes, it looks like they do?
Looks like Boehm has a few goals so far and thus recording his 199th and 200th career points!
Tiernan has a few as well, on some really good-looking shots.
6-5 M at half according to twitter.
It's on this? https://my.flosports.tv/partner/caa?utm_campaign=caa&utm_medium=partner&utm_source=teams&utm_content=teams&rtid=hofstra&coverage_id=.
1. The Living Daylights (great song too). Goldfinger right behind, From Russia w Love is probably the best one, I have several close honorable mentions as well.
2. Batman
3. Nicholson's Joker.
4. No response, don't know enough to answer.
Great 2nd half after a sluggish 1st. Shot much better and Wietfeldt was great on F/Os. I really like Tiernan - he's a real crafty finisher/old school crease man. All round much better half to avoid the upset (albeit vs a dangerous opponent). Back up the coast to face Delaware on Saturday. Only gets tougher from here - GO BLUE!
J'ville up 8-6 at half. Haven't been able to watch very closely but from what I've seen it looks like they're just not finishing. And on offense they're getting caught ball-watching and not sliding well.
A few shots I've seen seem to reflect a return to their bad old habits. They have to do a bettem thjob of changing the levels at which they shoot. Far too often they'll shoot high-to-high, low-to-low and telegraph where it's going. Goalies are like major league hitters now. they're so good that 95mph doesn't phase them anymore. A
Michigan is down 3 now and Jv is going on a man-up. There's no need to panic but they have to clean it up fairly quickly. This is extremely trap-gamey.
Sorry- forgot to add some context: I have no idea why the game is being played at DCD. I'm guessing they have a fieldhouse there? Also, game will be streaming on the BTN Ocho so it's probably inaccessible for most of us.
While I'm here I might as well make a plug for my annual rant...Michigan has its own lacrosse facility (outdoors) and used to play games in Oosterbaan Fieldhouse (indoors) before the renovations made it unusable for hosting lacrosse games. But, then they built a lacrosse-only stadium which cost a few million dollars. And yet they're playing today's game indoors in Detroit because it's February, because I'm guessing the weather is awful. So they only really have 4 true home games and don't play a home game after April 7th, when the weather is still pretty awful. What are we even doing here? This all seems so stupid to me. College lacrosse needs to get its shit together.
No one is talking about 'de-arming' America. We didn't use to have this problem. We can get senseless gun deaths in line with other developed nations and get back to where it used to be. And I believe we can do that without violating the 2nd amendment. It just requires a little bit of willpower.
I'm in favor of the 2A and also strong, smart gun laws (also - I think most people that means confiscation which is not how those types of laws work).
Also - I'm not trying to be a dick, but try this thought exercise (I think I may have heard somewhere but I may have made it up?):
- Put two strangers in a locked room together, no one gets out, no one comes in. Just two people in a room with maybe a table and chairs. Who gets shot?
- Now, add a gun. Put a loaded pistol on the table. Now, who gets shot? Ideally no one. Could be either. Could be both.
- Now, add a second gun. Again, who gets shot? Hopefully, they're getting along and no one gets shot. Even if they're not, hopefully they are responsible enough not to shoot the other person.
- Then add a third person. Three people, two guns. Then another gun. Then another person. More people and more guns and so on and so on.
It's a little raw but I think it illustrates how an increased number of guns just adds to the permutations of what could happen. We have to try and make sure that dangerous people in that room aren't getting their hands on the gun(s). Because we're in that room too.
Northern Ireland was essentially at war with what many citizens believed to be an oppressive, foreign, occupying force. That's wartime so it's a bit different (also a lot of arms that ended up in the hands of the IRA came from the States).
Can't recall anyone riding their gun to work or to drop their kids off at school or to deliver a pizza...
Honolulu, this is outstanding. Let's make mgoblog the go-to spot for in-depth lacrosse coverage just like Brian, Seth & Co. do for every other sport!
Anyway...gahhhh, this game. So, first of all, it's frustrating M still gives up a lot of goals on simple pick plays. They gave up a few goals and other open looks on picks that they were somehow unprepared for. Defending a pick is simple. You do one of three things 1) switch 2) get through/over/under or 3) hard double. Option #3 isn't really a thing in basketball, but back in the day our policy on the rare pick would be that both defenders attack the ballcarrier and go all out for the strip. Too often, it seems like Michigan's on-ball defender gets stuck on the screen while the other defender stands there. Like hoops, you have to communicate and even decide beforehand what you're going to do. They also gifted UVA a goal when Michigan's man subbed off but UVA's LSM didn't, leaving them w/ a temporary man advantage. He just shot and scored. They have to cut down on cheap goals which were a problem early last year.
As for M's offense, they kind of forced Boehm into that creator role but that's not really his game. He's a crafty all-around player but if they wanted him to drive and dish they really needed to pick those huge defenders off of him and have him go against a shortstick. Sometimes, defending a guy who is much smaller than you is actually really difficult. While Boehm is quick and shifty, he doesn't have topline blazing speed like Millon and he's kind of scrawny so he was unable to muscle in close and cause problems for the defender. As a result, the d-men were much bigger AND could run with him which caused M a lot of problems. Still, they scored 11 goals and created a lot good looks on that incredible defense (UVA's goalie was incredible), which I think is promising?
Michigan just got no bounces at all. They had that broken-stick goal and another one in which Millon's shot went off a d-man's leg and in (don't worry, he still thinks he's hot shit though). And poor Cathal Roberts couldn't get a call to save his life. UVA's 7th goal came because Millon was holding him on the crease and he couldn't get free to slide up and cover #28; I was sitting on that end it and it sure looked like interference to me. And the same ref missed consecutive endline calls when Roberts hustled to the spot first but gave it to the Cavaliers. The latter led to their 14th goal; Roberts AND Taylor were closer to it when it went out. UVA got the quick restart and a goal.
Sounds crazy but there was a lot to like in this game. New pieces seem like excellent additions, esp. Roberts, Pederson and Tiernan. Plus, they won't play another team with that much of a size advantage the rest of the season. And they probably won't get such bad luck and atrocious officiating again. It's unlikely such a nightmarish game will repeat in the future. And it also seems like they really put it together and took it out on Canisius today!
GO BLUE!
I've been a huge Juwan fan and am hoping for a Juwan-aissance for Michigan hoops. But, man, it has gone really wrong lately. I don't think all of this can be attributed to losing Beilein's players and admissions troubles, but that certainly accounts for some of it. But, Coach Howard just seems different. I think he's a much better coach than this and he's shown that here. He probably gets a pass for his heart surgery but this season is extremely bad. And I think he's been dealing with some really difficult personal stuff since his best friend and then a close cousin (like a brother) passed away in 2021 (I remember rumors that Harbaugh was going through personal problems in 2020 that may have affected the on-field performance. I don't know if that's the case here, but anyway...)
I've said it in other posts, but it bears repeating: Burnett and Nkamhoua did not sign up for this. They are good players - so is Dug - and Williams is having his best season in a M uniform and Reed and Tschetter are coming along. That's a decent core that most coaches could do a lot with (I think Beilein would have these guys on the bubble at least, certainly better than 8 Ws). This team is so weird - but it certainly has ability (over the years, we've seen terrible teams at Michigan and around the BigTen and this is not one of those teams). And its poor performance is on the head coach. I'm not surprised at those luck stats. You have to find a way to make your own luck and win close games.
It's really disappointing and the most difficult thing - and maybe their biggest problem - is the lack of focus, heart and effort. Never thought that would be a problem with a Juwan Howard-coached team. Nevertheless, I think he's a natural-born coach and a brilliant offensive mind. However, it might be better suited to the pros where he doesn't have to deal with the heaps of bullshit that head coaches have to deal with in college basketball now.
Yeah, I can't get into it most years. I kinda like some of the dudes on the 9ers and the exposure of Mahomes/Kelce/Reid has really worn on me. But, this is not a particulary interesting game and even the halftime show is very meh to me. I can't stand the vast majority of the ads. But I turned it on bc what else is there to do? Actually, one year the game bored my girlfriend and I so much we turned on 90 Day Fiancee in like the 2nd quarter haha.
But. don't be fooled - the NFL wants you to think this overload of bullshit is the most important thing in the world. Don't let them.
Also: HOT TIP: If you're ever out of town this weekend, the Super Bowl is a great time to be on the road. A few years ago, I did NY to DC and Phila to DC and the roads were empty, made record time.
So, that was pretty rough. Obviously not the start they wanted. But I think they have a good base to build a strong season. Hopefully this will be their worst performance of the year and they can just put it behind them. Here are some of L'Carpetron's takeaways:
1) I can't get over how big Virginia's dudes are. I don't think it really came through on screen I mean their defense is enormous - it's like they took a power forward and some d-ends and gave them longsticks. Their F/O guy was also a mutant and a few other middies were huge. It looked like Michigan was playing the goddamn Chicago Bears or something. They were physical as well; Michigan never backed down and kept playing hard but they never matched Virginia's physical play/attitude.
2) Virginia's goalie was incredible. Michigan was slow to get on the board...and then keep pace...and then make a comeback because Virginia's goalie kept making tremendous saves. Maybe Michigan helped him out a few times w/ poor shot placement (my big worry this season is that they'll revert back to poor shooting) but it seemed like they generated plenty of good looks and that dude just stonewalled them. He's big, takes up space in the cage and just eats up every shot with no wasted movement at all.
3) Hopefully this is just some first game rust. M has a lot of new faces but I think those are strong additions and a lot of those guys played well especially Tierney, Roberts and Pederson. They need to figure out who will create on offense; it seemed like they wanted Boehm to be the facilitator but that wasn't really his role last year or his game. He often found himself forced into the teeth of their enormous defense. It seemed like when they let Brown or Lockwood key the offense it went a little better. But, overall, they got crushed on GBs and F/Os and Taylor unfortunately did not have his best game in goal. A lot of old problems - poor shooting, inopportune turnovers (same thing) and unassisted goals resurfaced. But those seem like fixable problems and the capable guys they've imported will settle in soon.
4) Virginia are a bunch of punks and the officiating was absolute dogshit. Virginia were some fucking goons out there; they got a good number of flags but they also got away with a ton of dirty shit and were chippy from the start. And the smallest guy on the team - Millon, seems to be the biggest punk of them all, I was disappointed no Michigan player took his head off. The refs gave only gave a 1-min penalty when a Virginia dude hit Billig square in the back in an extremely dirty and dangerous play. They also missed a late hit on Taylor (also from behind - what sportsmen!) and a h-2-h on our F/O guy. And they missed some blatant endline calls that directly led to UVA goals. None of this really made a difference because Michigan played poorly and had a hand in beating themselves. But I will be rooting my ass off for any team playing Virginia the rest of the year.
5) Despite the general odiousness of Virginia, that stadium is great and it was a really fun atmosphere. Box score said there were 4000 fans in attendance but it seemed like a lot more. And the Michigan fans really represented. It was the first time I've been to a college lacrosse game where it felt like big time college sports and not something that the athletic dept just sort of put up with. I would love it if every athletic dept treated their nonrev sports like that.
Michigan will put in much better performances than that so here's to a fun season!
I'm here! Sorry - I was at the game. It was rough. Great atmosphere and a lot of fun - box score said the attendance was approx 4,000 but it seemed like there were much more than that. Michigan was well-represented there and it didn't seem like just player's parents/families. They were vocal the whole game. The team kept grinding even when it was out of hand.
This is obviously not how M envisioned their season opener. They couldn't bury their first few looks (UVA's goalie was insanely good) and then the game got away from them. Virginia seemed like in mid-season form though. Hopefully this is Michigan's worst game of the season. I'll post some more thoughts in Honolulu's diary thread!
Yeah, the whole thing has a "Dickinson-to-Kansas" vibe to it. Disappointing.
But, I'm pretty sure he's from NC so maybe that's why.
Me too! I recently moved back to the DC area and weather's going to be nice and I don't have anything else to do! Should be a good afternoon. GO BLUE!
Yeeesssssssssss. This is excellent, Honolulu, thanks for posting. UVA lost a lot of key contributors but it never really matters for them because they always lose historic guys and just replace them with more historic guys. And they still have Schellenberger, who if I recall correctly, Michigan kept somewhat in check last year. He's also a candidate for the Jacque Vaughn-Aaron Craft Been Here Forever Award (even for a lacrosse player).
I'm curious to see how Michigan does replacing their key players from last year. They lose Bryce Clay, Peter Thompson, Josh Zawada and Josh Jackson. I also had no idea Zawada still had eligibility and transferred to Duke (booooo). But Boehm and Coen can make plays and importing a versatile offensive guy from Princeton and a 40+ goal scorer from Lehigh should help. I'm excited to see the second line midfield guys from last year - Justin Brown and Isaac Aaronson and do-itall middie Emmit Houlihan. Those defensive transfers could be great additions too; Whitney and Van Wees were pretty strong last year but I think LSM Shriber will be out for a while. I'm weirdly excited about Beau Pederson, a short stick d-middie who is 2nd team preseason AA; that could be huge bc Michigan lost some good ones and it's probably the hardest and least appreciated position on the field. I love Taylor or Carr in goal. Taylor is a lunatic.
This game could be interesting. Michigan could pull an all-time upset...or lose by 10 goals. But honestly, I'm leaning towards the former. Last year, they hung within 1-2 goals all game until a bad call helped UVA stretch the lead in the 4th. That was before Michigan really learned how to win. This program has got a fun new attitude. GO BLUE!
I really meant anything more than 4 but since it's going to a 12 team format I figured I might as well just say that. But in any event - the back half of the top 10 had some really interesting teams that might have made some noise if they got a chance in an 8 or 12 team playoff: Georgia and Oregon seemed like great teams and I'm curious how dark horses like Missouri or Arizona would've performed if they were able to sneak in.
For obvious reasons, I'm glad Michigan won the championship. But even beyond that, this seemed like an excellent college fb season with a lot of great teams. It marks the end of an era and it also seems like the CFP jeopardized a fantastic by awarding Alabama a spot. Generally, college sports feels like they're losing something these days but I'm glad this turned out to be a great season.
I'm not even that big of an NFL guy so I'm not missing football that much this weekend hah. But, if you're jonesing for sports, looks like there's some good premier league and NBA on this weekend (Knicks-Lakers tonight)
My only real advice is: Don't go to law school if you don't know what you want to do. I'm not an attorney but some excellent (powerful even) ones I know say to not go unless you really want to do it. It's also generally just not a great experience.
Does UM offer kids full tuition if their family's/parent's net worth is under $X amount? And does your nephew qualify for that? If so, that offers him a lot of flexibility.
I didn't come from that kind of background so I can't speak to the kid's experience or desires for the future. I grew up in a well-to-do town but my family wasn't particularly wealthy and there were a lot of much richer kids at UofM. I was never very motivated by money (though I was always broke in those days) and all my college friends have made a lot more $ than me since graduating, so I'm not exactly the right person to offer advice here hah.
But I would advise him not to fall into the trap of chasing big money as soon as possible. One of my friends was a B-school kid and got what is basically the highest paying job you can get out of college. And...he kind of went nuts. Those types of jobs (Big Law, too) might pay handsomely, but they also take a lot from you.
That's why I say to tread carefully and be patient, especially if he doesn't have loans. Without a massive debt load hanging over his head, he can do a lot of different things, even nonprofit work. And he'll be somewhat comfortable. It's important to remember that "not being poor anymore" does not necessarily equal "making as much money as soon as possible."
Attaboy, Seth! Doing your civic duty. Very patriotic. It's incredibly important and I hope a lot of people follow your lead.
On the partisan/electioneering side: I would also encourage people to volunteer for campaigns to knock doors and work on GOTV stuff for your chosen candidate. It's hard work and can be very not fun (I've knocked in some very cold temps and very hot temps). But, it can be really rewarding and you can have great convos with voters. I'll probably take some time off and knock a few shifts this summer/fall. They say that despite the insane amount of money in politics now, voter-to-voter canvassing is actually the most effective tool in campaigning, which I always found really fascinating. So, don't be afraid to get involved!
Ooooh 2006 at ND - how could I forget?! Lloyd's last game in the Citrus (?) Bowl vs Florida was always one of my all-time favorite games.
That was when I was becoming truly obsessed w / college football. I remember that weekend because those other games were hyped so much too. That was a great UNC team and the infamous Nebraska-Missouri game was that day too. The best weekend in one of the all-time greatest seasons. As Jackson said: if that doesn't whet your whistle, you're watching the wrong channel.
The Coach 30 bits are hysterical. 1000x funnier than SEC shorts!
At least your bit was committed; wasn't just a string of pussy jokes! Well done, nts. Michael Palin rules.
Dennis - sorry to hear what you went through. And unfortunately, I think your story is tragically not uncommon. But it sounds like you're on the right path and I commend you for that. Take care of yourself and please remember if you get any of those ideations/thoughts again, you can always call 911 or go to the emergency room. I always found that comforting.