I'm a Detroit/Livonia boy who's been living next door to Turkey (visited many times) for about 15 years now in Bulgaria.
I like this article for a couple of reasons. First of all, here is the opposite of an "ugly American" which I am so tired of hearing about (and witnessing) while residing in Europe, especially lately with all the animosity Trump brings.
Secondly, Turkey is a very important country in terms of world peace, sitting on the edge of East vs. West and one I'm concerned about at the moment. It's good to keep tuned in, even in this small way, of the Turkey/USA dynamic. It's a very complicated relationship between our two countries.
By the way, they mention the Turkish writer Pamuk in the article. Excellent few books that can give some insights into Turkey.
The whole conf champs are important argument bothers me. When I watched the CFP announcement, they showed Won-Loss records (Michigan was a "no", strength of schedule (we were low and similar to Wash/Penn St) and completely ingnored our record against top 10. They've continued to ignore it since, even dismissing OSU a bit which is also 3-1 against top 10.
CFP should be top teams and conf champs is meaningless. What about a future Conf 5 team who loses 2 non-conf games early, loses another conf game but still gets in and wins their conf championship game. Now a 3 loss team should play in the CFP? It could happen with a 4 loss team.
Since the bowl games expanded dramatically I find the overall quality very poor. Most Conf champ games as well. Didn't bother to watch Penn St/Wisc. It's time for conf championship games to be part of a playoff elim round.
Really wanted and felt we deserved a shot at Bama. The whole country would watch that.
Quick Lane Bowl? Cmon' man. What about introducing a Europa League/NIT like tournament for the lesser bowls to match an expanded CFP? I would watch the late rounds of that.
We can never seem to get easy slant type pass plays for 4-12 yards. But we give them up. Our DB's seem to favor giving away the inside cut when the out completion seems so much more difficult....edit...we just defended one well
Thank you!! Always love these breakdowns. Seems you were a bit kind to Wormley and Taco on some specific plays that make me a bit nervous about OSU.
Q1, 1st MSU drive, on the TD, 2nd and goal, Taco is in free, stutter steps, a bit deer in the headlights, then reacts too late to help. Shouldn't he at least continue to crash the handoff, with an outside bias, at least set the edge? Even if he wiffs he has disrupted the play.
Q3, 1st MSU play after the interception, Wormley does the exact same thing.
Q3, same drive, Mich 8, 2nd and goal, Wormley does the same thing again.
Q4, MSU 38, 2nd and 10, Scotts big gain, Taco slashes inside and gives up the edge big time
These stutter step "stop and see" moves almost look taught. Both guys are doing it. Love these guys but these kinds of plays usually go for big gains.
Absolutely loved this. Even with today's success it's hard to hear about the time when players were just not choosing Michigan. Not to be distracted, this beautifully written piece has heart and makes me an even bigger Jordan fan.
Went back and watched the attached video a bit longer. Priceless but had to empathize with the OSU fan. Been there way too many times and not so long ago.
This season is like a dream. I'm thinking it's going to be historically the best ever (for me at least - I'm 57), especially if Speight can keep improving. More bye weeks??
Had to ask about the the OSU's guys' comment on pass interference. It seems with all the pushing and hand checking going on the refs let more go at the moment the ball arrives. That was always PI in the old days.
Same call with Julio Jones/Sherman last week. If your arm is being pulled down? C'mon
It seems as a DB you have to push the envelope until they call 'em and hope the final call in crunch time is at least consistent with the rest of the game.
Re: Sharp. I thought it was fair. He was the only writer ever to cause me to write a lengthy email trying to persuade him logically that he was literally poisoning the best parts of sports with his style of writing and with subtle (I was trying to be nice) changes he could be so much more interesting and value added. I know...pretty lame
Sorry if this isn't the right place for these questions but would someone mind commenting, when and where appropriate, about what it means to be an elite corner in terms of technique while the balls about to arrive? Will an elite corner always attempt to turn back to find the ball while running with one hand extended toward the receiver? or do they teach to look in the receivers eyes only and not turn at all?
The reason I ask is I feel we have exceptional corners and defensive backs generally that seem quite capable of attaining and keeping engagement with the receiver but I see very little attempt to turn and find the ball. Even late in the play development (after 5 seconds let's say) or when the receiver is running out of real estate in the end zone.
It seems to me that the speed, if any, that one loses by turning to find the ball while running with a hand up is more than offset by the information gained. It seems your chance for interceptions, PBU's, no pass interference calls all improve to much greater benefit than any slight engagement you might give up on the perfect throw.
I think I would generally prefer turning to look for the ball even earlier than actually engaging the receiver (while your on you way to catch up let's say). There is greater risk of "losing" the receiver here but I still think the advantages outweigh the risks.
Any ideas? Do they not teach find the ball? Is this just the final stage of development that is very difficult to achieve? Our DB's are often glued to their receivers and seem quite capable of more picks.
If someone could touch on the above in one of your pieces it would be appreciated. Old Alum who's been reading this blog forever it seems. Signed up last year but have never commented before. Forgive me if needed.
Recent Comments
gobshite
seems to interview really well
Kaeprnick, He's our man, if he can't do it.........
This train wreck of an offense needs fixing now.
JH will get it fixed. He's a perfectionist.
But will he do it mid-season?
We need HOPE!!
but the receivers are weak. Perry is a stud and the TE's can be
the offense seems so predictable
off a bye week?
c'mon man!
time to to go to Dylan, let him get his reps and learn how to lead this team
the playbook looks awfully dummed down now anyway
why can't we have a stud freshman come in and lead like other programs do
everytime
Been reading many years even though I only joined a few years back.
Rarely post but as a 1980 under and a Ross 1990 MBA alum I should have some cred?
OK I gueess not. Certainly no real football cred.
In any case.
A general request for a liittle bit more tolerance/kindness/patience for fellow posters/imposters/alumni
We are here because we love BLUE!!
The negativity is a bit too much.
Let's enjoy the journey.
Sorry if that sounds corny.
I JUST LIKE TO RELAX!!!
Play calling, Ol, Drevno, QB play, WR play?
Let's face it. It's just not great.
Perry looks like a stud. DPj like he could be. Crawford looks < average.
TE's certainly have potential.
Just not jelling.
Why?
Still think it's the coach's job to make kids look great.
I'm downvoting Drevno. What else?
Something's amiss,
OL coaching, play calling?
Not fealing great right now. Competition hasn't been performing great, save Florida near misses.
Purdue looked like a beast on defense, really?? Maybe that was just the DC head shots!
I'm counting on a wake up. Not necessarily O'Korn, just better offense. Please please OL.
Otherwise........damn!
Still...M by 20? I'll take 10.....Ok I'll take a win :-)
F... sake!
2012 reference
John O'Korn knows something
Otherwise winter is here
F this. M by 20
yeah baby
yer so bad even better :-)
running down a dream was a bit more difficult to pull off live :-)
but always worth a try
god bless
if it's true
god damn
stop this bullshit
why are we out in the first place, on scholarship? Michigan? we go out during the season? even on bye weeks? where is the leadership?
if it's true, burn 'em
sorry, I'm an ignorant fool and guessing but something's not right
others could do more with less
Looked like the touch ocurred before he gained possession
That sounded silly while writing it but damn......I just put some money down to win it all.....16:1
Come on Speight!!!
Anyone notice Tarik doggin' it on the 1st interception? Looked like he was free and closest to react but nothing.
Coach 'em up baby!
I'm a Detroit/Livonia boy who's been living next door to Turkey (visited many times) for about 15 years now in Bulgaria.
I like this article for a couple of reasons. First of all, here is the opposite of an "ugly American" which I am so tired of hearing about (and witnessing) while residing in Europe, especially lately with all the animosity Trump brings.
Secondly, Turkey is a very important country in terms of world peace, sitting on the edge of East vs. West and one I'm concerned about at the moment. It's good to keep tuned in, even in this small way, of the Turkey/USA dynamic. It's a very complicated relationship between our two countries.
By the way, they mention the Turkish writer Pamuk in the article. Excellent few books that can give some insights into Turkey.
C'mon Jim, make it happen
The whole conf champs are important argument bothers me. When I watched the CFP announcement, they showed Won-Loss records (Michigan was a "no", strength of schedule (we were low and similar to Wash/Penn St) and completely ingnored our record against top 10. They've continued to ignore it since, even dismissing OSU a bit which is also 3-1 against top 10.
CFP should be top teams and conf champs is meaningless. What about a future Conf 5 team who loses 2 non-conf games early, loses another conf game but still gets in and wins their conf championship game. Now a 3 loss team should play in the CFP? It could happen with a 4 loss team.
Since the bowl games expanded dramatically I find the overall quality very poor. Most Conf champ games as well. Didn't bother to watch Penn St/Wisc. It's time for conf championship games to be part of a playoff elim round.
Really wanted and felt we deserved a shot at Bama. The whole country would watch that.
Quick Lane Bowl? Cmon' man. What about introducing a Europa League/NIT like tournament for the lesser bowls to match an expanded CFP? I would watch the late rounds of that.
just got too greedy on that punt
shouldn't DB's always line up inside and make the WR crash thru you to get the inside move
that was a sweet run with great WR blocking
We can never seem to get easy slant type pass plays for 4-12 yards. But we give them up. Our DB's seem to favor giving away the inside cut when the out completion seems so much more difficult....edit...we just defended one well
Brilliant as usual....the baby GIF is the funniest thing I've ever seen lmao....(temporarily) feeling much better....
Big Ten goes 7-7 today
Thank you!! Always love these breakdowns. Seems you were a bit kind to Wormley and Taco on some specific plays that make me a bit nervous about OSU.
Q1, 1st MSU drive, on the TD, 2nd and goal, Taco is in free, stutter steps, a bit deer in the headlights, then reacts too late to help. Shouldn't he at least continue to crash the handoff, with an outside bias, at least set the edge? Even if he wiffs he has disrupted the play.
Q3, 1st MSU play after the interception, Wormley does the exact same thing.
Q3, same drive, Mich 8, 2nd and goal, Wormley does the same thing again.
Q4, MSU 38, 2nd and 10, Scotts big gain, Taco slashes inside and gives up the edge big time
These stutter step "stop and see" moves almost look taught. Both guys are doing it. Love these guys but these kinds of plays usually go for big gains.
Absolutely loved this. Even with today's success it's hard to hear about the time when players were just not choosing Michigan. Not to be distracted, this beautifully written piece has heart and makes me an even bigger Jordan fan.
Went back and watched the attached video a bit longer. Priceless but had to empathize with the OSU fan. Been there way too many times and not so long ago.
This season is like a dream. I'm thinking it's going to be historically the best ever (for me at least - I'm 57), especially if Speight can keep improving. More bye weeks??
Had to ask about the the OSU's guys' comment on pass interference. It seems with all the pushing and hand checking going on the refs let more go at the moment the ball arrives. That was always PI in the old days.
Same call with Julio Jones/Sherman last week. If your arm is being pulled down? C'mon
It seems as a DB you have to push the envelope until they call 'em and hope the final call in crunch time is at least consistent with the rest of the game.
Re: Sharp. I thought it was fair. He was the only writer ever to cause me to write a lengthy email trying to persuade him logically that he was literally poisoning the best parts of sports with his style of writing and with subtle (I was trying to be nice) changes he could be so much more interesting and value added. I know...pretty lame
Sorry if this isn't the right place for these questions but would someone mind commenting, when and where appropriate, about what it means to be an elite corner in terms of technique while the balls about to arrive? Will an elite corner always attempt to turn back to find the ball while running with one hand extended toward the receiver? or do they teach to look in the receivers eyes only and not turn at all?
The reason I ask is I feel we have exceptional corners and defensive backs generally that seem quite capable of attaining and keeping engagement with the receiver but I see very little attempt to turn and find the ball. Even late in the play development (after 5 seconds let's say) or when the receiver is running out of real estate in the end zone.
It seems to me that the speed, if any, that one loses by turning to find the ball while running with a hand up is more than offset by the information gained. It seems your chance for interceptions, PBU's, no pass interference calls all improve to much greater benefit than any slight engagement you might give up on the perfect throw.
I think I would generally prefer turning to look for the ball even earlier than actually engaging the receiver (while your on you way to catch up let's say). There is greater risk of "losing" the receiver here but I still think the advantages outweigh the risks.
Any ideas? Do they not teach find the ball? Is this just the final stage of development that is very difficult to achieve? Our DB's are often glued to their receivers and seem quite capable of more picks.
If someone could touch on the above in one of your pieces it would be appreciated. Old Alum who's been reading this blog forever it seems. Signed up last year but have never commented before. Forgive me if needed.
Thanks
littlee