Member for

9 years 6 months
Points
499.00

Recent Comments

Date Title Body
I think the bell could be…

I think the bell could be unrung if leaders in the CFB world can successfully argue to the NFL that there exists a symbiosis between the league and the NCAA, and that this trend is deleterious to the very institution from which, in so many ways, the league was first spawned and respawns itself with every draft. CFB is the tree that produces all the ripest NFL apples. Ultimately, this phenomenon is not good for the root structure, and if the word was sent forth from NFL front offices that they discouraged this practice, I tend to think what became a widespread problem almost overnight would also cease overnight.

As others have stated, nothing has fundamentally changed in this construct — pre-BCS, BCS, or Playoff Era — except the NFL’s tolerance for it. I don’t imagine many front offices would have drafted players who willingly sat out games throughout most of the history of the NFL. This is happening because it’s being allowed to happen. 

I think this is a big deal…

I think this is a big deal. I was asked by a fellow fan during the game — who has the best hands? And while we have many weapons — an arsenal even — we are handing out that #1 jersey with real flippancy these days. Likely for starz purposes.
 

There’s not a “#1” — despite having no time to even find 1, there was not one. It showed.

Also, Stephen King — your…

Ah forget it. Great season. No point in being salty. 

I’ve held out hope and, at…

Certainly not as fun as the last two games. I’ll be interested to see a UFR if one is undertaken. 

We shouldn’t even be talking…

We shouldn’t even be talking about fucking John O’Neil until we beat Ohio State.

This one. I like this one.

This one. I like this one.

So you just wanted to talk…

So you just wanted to talk about smoking? I mean, that’s fine, I was just expecting to see a glut of photos of people smoking with that kind of build-up. 

I saw, like, one guy smoking…

I saw, like, one guy smoking in these pics. 

”Smell Tugger”, perhaps?…

”Smell Tugger”, perhaps? Kinda gross; seems to imply onanism. I dunno, just workshoppin’.

And I gotta say it for maybe the last time: Mook D’Ambrosio.

Edit: you could also go with the same “not important enough to get it right” theme as Mork, and go with ‘Mel Torme’.

My simplistic way of looking…

My simplistic way of looking at it (read: rationalizing) is: if we’re going to lose the best Ohio recruits to Ohio State 95+% of the time anyway, then who gives a shit where they’re from? We don’t really lack talent, generally — we lack elite talent. I get that the more scouted a place is, the greater the likelihood that their ranking is accurate, but accounting for that, is an Ohio 3-star really any better than, say, a Texas 3-star? 

1. My title could be better,…

1. My title could be better, which I already copped to. Fair enough. People get routinely lambasted on this site for providing way too little information in their titles -- I was trying to provide more and conflated two incidents in the same game in my haste. Mea culpa. (Though I don't really get the vitriol directed against a fellow Michigan fan, but hey, whatever floats your boat.) 

2. Oh, sure he did. He was comparing Jim Harbaugh's behavior to that of a 4th grader, and he's saying it as he's retiring from the field.   

3. OK.

No, there already was that…

No, there already was that guy. Now you're just the guy making me want to run away and never post again. ;-)

Double bingo.

Double bingo.

Bingo. This was my problem…

Bingo. This was my problem with his comments as well. You'd like to think refs would understand the emotions at play during games of this magnitude, and shrug them off somewhat, given the fact that there are sometimes nearly a century or more of rivalry history, millions of dollars, and whole careers and legacies dependent on the outcomes. But Dan Capron clearly does *not* allow for much leeway in this regard, given the fact that he's insulting Jim Harbaugh's intellect and maturity years after the fact.

My title is a bit off --…

My title is a bit off -- noted. Wish I could edit, but alas, here we are. I do think the Barrett call is sort of THE (pardon my use of copyrighted material) questionable call in that game, and certainly what pushed Harbaugh to so publicly criticize the crew, and thus, what likely cemented the enmity and these comments, several years later -- somewhat overshadowing the earlier unsportsmanlike. But I stand corrected. 

My point, I guess, and a more accurate title might have been: "Dan Capron is a Petty, Unrepentant Jagoff".

I think your answer sucks…

Deleted. Forget it. 

This. Everyone seems…

This. Everyone seems concerned about the “inferior football product” thing, but A.) for viewing, IMO, that really only matters for the teams actually playing; it’s relative. What you hate to see is inferior vs. superior talent on the field *at the same time*, making for uncompetitive games and leagues, (cough cough Bama, Clemson, OSU), and B.) that’s also the definition of college football (at least talent-wise) compared to the NFL and I strongly prefer college ball for many, many reasons.

(At least for now. Lots of people, and many “Leaders and Best” types on this blog, seem absolutely committed to reducing those reasons and differences, and are getting their wish, so at some point, my enthusiasm for college football as a special institution will likely start to wane as teams do, in fact, become “inferior football product” versions of the NFL, which I frankly hate.)

Yeah, while there are a…

Yeah, while there are a couple teams with M players, I liked DeVeon probably the most of those playing, so I think I’ll be a ground-floor Vipers fan. While there’s no accounting for taste, I also think those two-tone green uniformz are pretty snazzy. 

I feel a little like Cartman…

I feel a little like Cartman — once begun the song must be finished! Also, I was a choir dork under the one and only Ellen Bowen, (that’s a high quality Google for the uninitiated) and additionally, am impatient, so while the call and response thing would be, shall we say, “kewl”, the rest...

Swell the chorus, let it echo 

Raise it to the sky,

Hail to thee, our alma mater,

Grosse Pointe (South) High!

(Parens added for the benefit of Blue Devils before my time, back in those halcyon pre-North days, when many, even non-attendees called our school simply, “The High”.)

And our noble alma mater,…

And our noble alma mater, glo’rious to behold...

Was really hoping someone on…

Was really hoping someone on the board would ask/answer this. Didn’t disappoint.

I feel like we have a one…

I feel like we have a one-team problem in OSU. I don’t see how scheduling or not scheduling tough OOC opponents affects that in any real way. UCLA isn’t going to “get us ready” for OSU any more than UConn when removed by 10 or 11 games anyway.
 

Sure, it’s more fun to play UCLA than UConn, but unless they were removed from the schedule because they were seen as being “too tough”, I’m fine with it. Generally, I’m not for making our schedule any tougher than the murderer’s row it already is with regular B1G East play. I think these teams are almost perfect “Goldilocks” non-conference opponents for us — not too hard, not too soft, just right.

I've been pleased as punch…

I've been pleased as punch with our stable of running backs in the Harbaugh era. We just haven't had a fucking line. That's getting better. And thank God, or rather, thank Ed. 

Come on. It was only 118…

Come on. It was only 118 points. Don't exaggerate. 

Yeah, what? My head is…

Yeah, what? My head is asplode at everything in your post. I wouldn’t be “happy for him”, (not that I don’t wish people the best, but happy? No part of me. Maybe I’m just a bad person.) I also wouldn’t categorically say he would never make the jump here, (Don Brown is no spring chicken, after all). ‘Ole’ Miss has an ‘e’ in it, and if he proved himself as a DC there, it’s highly doubtful he’d come back to Ann Arbor in the same capacity.

A “win-win-win.” Jesus Christ, it would be a major blow to a program that needs exactly what he offers.

I swear, the phony baloney altruistic white-knighting on this board sometimes...

Life is so unbelievably…

Life is so unbelievably goddamn precious. We’re all hanging by a thread, man. I was lurking for years before I ever created an account, and of course I remember Blazefire.

Posters like he (him? Where’s Blazefire when you need...him) are what you come to like and then love about MGoBlog — not the daily content, great as it is, so much as the community. They’re similar to the program: they do it the right way. And none of us can beat Ohio State, either. (Ha! Fuck me.)

RIP, sir. Hope the hereafter offers a good cheese course. Go Blue ad eternum. 

Finished strong there. I…

Finished strong there. I giggled.

I will always consider him…

I will always consider him the man who made Iowa the annual hurdle they are for us. Hate that game. Dread that game. Always play us tough — always. But that’s what the sport is about.

For any “old” boxing fans out there, I always compare Iowa to “Merciless” Ray Mercer — you may beat ‘em, but you’re not going to look good doing it.

R.I.P. Coach Fry.

Well, that explains it.

Well, that explains it.

Hope that come January, he’s…

Hope that come January, he’s not watching the Tide roll away.

Appreciate the succinct…

Appreciate the succinct write-up. With some of our recruiting misses/general ‘crootin’ drama in recent years, I don’t find myself investing nearly the time I used to.

I’m not delusional in any…

I’m not delusional in any way, though I am talking like a fan boy because I’m a fan and a...boy, though it’s been a hot minute since that was an apt description, given my age. Bama will be favored heavily, and for good reason: Bama should win. They’re arguably the greatest football dynasty in the history of the game — which is why this is a great opportunity.

But as to the creampuff stuff, I would say that, in this season, Michigan is 1-3 against teams with “similar or better talent”, the one win being a total dismantling of #8 Notre Dame (granted, in a monsoon at home) and one of those three losses being a game against Penn State where we were certainly not a “creampuff” and probably should have won but for some truly shit calls, and a key drop. So, really, this year we’re more like 2-2, in terms of actual creampuffery.

Also, we’ve beaten the hell out of “similar[ly]” talented teams before this season, including two of the three teams we lost to this year, Penn State and Wisconsin. Against OSU? Well, there you have me. Of late, we’re a fuckin’ tub of Costco discount thaw-and-serve ‘puffs you eat in not more than two sittings. That’s where the “something to prove” comes in.

But really, it was just a Bo quote, my dude, and watching football for almost 30 years has simply taught me that weird things happen. OK, usually, they’re bad things and they happen to us — but not always. And I’m personally not going to walk around like a sad sack of BPONE believing the worst all the time. You can call it a head in the sand, I’ll call it a belief in the team’s potential.

I’ll end with a different quote this time, a favorite of my late dad’s: “That’s why they play the games!”

But I hear you. We could get killed. Let’s hope we bring our A-game, yes?

Go Blue!

OP sums up my position…

OP sums up my position exactly. This game could help reset things for the entire program moving forward. This is now our “Super Bowl”, and a chance to play and beat the only program in the nation that can lay claim to being consistently better than OSU — along with everyone else.

The last time I can recall us going into a bowl game as such “sure-fire, guaranteed, 100% lock losers” was vs. Florida in Lloyd’s last game and we remember what happened there. Hell, even a fiercely fought, close loss might have some upside.

I say go out there and play like you’ve got nothing to lose and the world to gain, because you do. People can dread this game, and believe me, I get it. But these are exactly the kind of post-season matchups that make this a great sport. Relish the opportunity and go out there with something to prove. 

“Michigan ain’t no creampuff!” 

I don’t think people are…

I don’t think people are wrong to be pissed off. I am, too. Early in the B1G Championship Game tonight, I’ll admit, I was going “Aha! Don Brown is the problem! Curse you, obviously great defensive coordinator Don Brown! Look at what Wiscy can do — and with less talent!” ...And then Ohio State shut them out in the second half, turned on the jets, and dominated utterly in what became a comfy win.

Look, we’re trapped in the same division with an historically great OSU football program, sustaining (and building) the momentum of 20+ years of winning big games and benefiting from really solid coaching and recruiting. At the same time, we’re coming off a pretty dismal 20 year stretch of our own. Accept failure? I don’t think Jim Harbaugh will do that. Not here. Magically produce victories? I don’t think he will do that either.

Win the goddamn bowl game. Recruit better talent. Maintain focus on the objective. Hope the other guy stumbles. It is what it is. 

[Edit: OK, I’ll put something in for anybody who cares to neg me: as a suggestion, I’d probably say to can the extracurriculars. Podcasts with dear old dad, ads for fabric softeners, family merchandising photo-ops, and yes, grandiose foreign excursions. I know, I know, we exploit the working class and the kids have earned it and I’m a fascist and an old person and they get to see the world and isn’t that what this is really about? etc., etc. You know what trips the team should take? They should tour all the U.S. military bases overseas — get some local culture, absolutely, but learn what a team that absolutely cannot afford to fail expects of its members. OK, neg away. Or more likely, ignore my post completely.]

Wow. This. Fuckin’ A, man. I…

Wow. This. Fuckin’ A, man. I want BlueInWisconsin talking to the team before The Game next year.

Dining out on the…

Dining out on the accomplishments of earlier generations. Low energy. Sense of entitlement. Not able to forcefully confront our chief rival in any meaningful way. Unable to recognize changes in the game. Defined by opponents. Unlikely to make a real comeback. Strong record in our state, but weak when leaving its borders. Rich. Well-educated. Networked with all the right people and monied interests, but unable to capitalize on our advantages. Inexplicably awkward at key moments despite our pedigree in this exact field of human endeavor. Frequently ride buses despite access to private jet. Plagued by history of well-publicized unforced errors.

Nah, I just don’t see the comparison at all.

Ja, das stimmt.

Geh Blau!

Ja, das stimmt.

Geh Blau!

Ohio State has asymmetrical…

Ohio State has asymmetrical advantages we need to overcome. While theoretically possible, trying to overcome these advantages through “conventional” means, (i.e. hiring ‘super recruiters’, out-scheming them on Xs & Os, getting somehow more “fired up” on gameday, simply relying on some luck, or a possibly natural return to Earth from Ryan Day & Co. on the recruiting trail, etc.), will likely prove more or less impossible. Maybe we can steal one game in ten.

Instead, with the football program being an enormous cash cow and showpiece for the school, I propose a Michigan Manhattan Project. Utilize Leaders and Best from all parts of the school to comprehensively attack Ohio State on multiple fronts simultaneously.

Use our sterling legal minds to go after their rumored malfeasance. Use our Ross business talent and marketing types to develop a plan to aggressively counter OSU through public relations campaigns, (think: those preachy “truth” ads going after Big Tobacco). Use our CS wizards to conduct shadowy campaigns to dig up their dirt. Harass, agitate, stymie them at every turn.

Would everything I suggest above be legal? Probably not. But let’s look at the bigger picture: we’re losing a fuck ton of football games to these goobers. Time to get our priorities straight. ?

Columbus delenda est! 

Right. People talk about the…

Right. People talk about the Wisconsin and PSU losses as if they were in a vacuum. I’m as down after The Game as anyone, but to ignore the fact that we installed a new offense with a first-time OC — and that offense clearly got going well enough to inflate people’s hopes (mine included) that we had a chance against OSU where before we viewed it as an almost guaranteed loss — and that there would be a transition cost to be paid during the season just isn’t being objective. Hated villain Urban Meyer himself said it would take half a season to get off the ground and it pretty much took exactly that.

Now, if we get flattened next year, talent gap or no talent gap, well, we may officially be out of options with this coaching staff, and Jim may be the first to admit it. But we *should* certainly be the clear second best team in the B1G — cold comfort as it would be.

Hey WD — first off, to…

Hey WD — first off, to second Et Tu Brute, you're one of my favorite posters here, dude, love the commitment, as well as your thick skin — but I have a question I'd really appreciate your help on. (Or, I suppose, anyone else who knows.) 

I've totally gotta go see Desmond, he's the one who infected me with this incurable disease of fandom, but do you happen to know which sporting goods manufacturer made Desmond's helmet circa 1991? Were there various models used by different guys on the team, or a single vendor?

DJ, CH and EJ were lucky to…

DJ, CH and EJ were lucky to get some cartons at Zoombezie Bay during the Peach Jam festival in South Carolina. Obviously.

Man, that’s funny. Duffy D…

Man, that’s funny. Duffy D’Augherty. +1 to you, Gimmick. 

I agree with freelion here…

I agree with freelion here. When you’re the underdog against a team of OSU’s calibre, you basically have to play mistake-free for 60 mins., not just to keep pace with them, but for yourself, to maintain the idea that you’re “on”; you’re playing against mortals and you can beat them. The missed PAT was a bad omen and you could see it happening in slow motion, literally, with the clock winding down. I’d also add the two consecutive missed DPIs that killed our drive and were followed up by a Buckeye TD. The offsides resulting in a 1st down added to that general feeling of futility, and by the end of the first half, the margin of error was now incredibly thin. With a bunch of drops in the 3rd, it was clear with almost half the game left that this just wasn’t going to happen.

[Edit: But I certainly and obviously wouldn’t put the loss on Shea. “Mistake-free” in reality, is all but impossible. You have to be able to play past it, which he did. It hurt us, bad, but Shea had a great game otherwise. The loss was truly cumulative. Just so goddamn unfortunate.]

So, as a free speech…

So, as a free speech advocate, I’m not real big on the “moms, ban this guy” thing. But meta question: have they kinda stopped doing this in the interest of generating controversy and engagement? I wouldn’t at all blame them if they did, but it definitely feels like Open Season for troll accounts around here. And seriously, that’s totally cool by me. I like objectionable speech and contrarianism. Even base trolling. But they should probably keep faith with the commentariat and say that’s the new policy. Otherwise there’s just this kinda “But but but...did you hear what this Ohio State dicknose said?!” feeling of confusion, when really, people should just #FanhammerNotBanhammer these kinds of sons of bitches.

Fuckin’ A. I hope he is…

Fuckin’ A. I hope he is restored to perfect health immediately after The Game. And if he plays, I hope we scheme accordingly. The White Knighting around here...Jesus. We get it, your compassion transcends the lowly tribal bounds of collegiate athletics. Everyone get the signal? This person has altruism coursing through their veins. This is an *enlightened being*. Take note. 

100% when a non-lawyer says …

100% when a non-lawyer says “Unnecessary Bravado” it’s a great band name.

I could get behind a team of…

I could get behind a team of Ronnies. The University of Michigan Wolveronnies.

Well no shit, MeanJoe. And I…

Well no shit, MeanJoe. And I’ll add: purple monkey dishwasher. 

(But seriously, hope you’re OK.)

Who’s downvoting this? Talk…

Who’s downvoting this? Talk about heroic, Jesus Jumped-Up Christ. That was a Homeric epic of goo-gobblery. Grotesque enough to (almost) sour me on the very concept of blowjobs, but epic nonetheless.

Love it, OP. I’m with you…

Love it, OP. I’m with you. Was gonna say “heroes” earlier in the “What Do You Want To See Saturday” post. The Game is won by heroes. And Giles Jackson is a great candidate — the guy’s electric. Reminds me of Desmond on returns. He even scores touchdowns after he’s completely and utterly down. ?

Also dig the Haskins, Bell, Mineral King, and even Joe Milton choices. I’d also throw Tru Wilson into the mix — he runs hard, and if the game is tight going into the third, and OSU is starting to wear down a bit, look for some demoralizing, body blow-style runs by Truuuuu to start to turn the tide.

Perhaps the best news is the list of dudes who could plausibly fit the bill. I like this team, man. They can do it.