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So there's actually an…

So there's actually an explanation for why the story changed. The communication team that issued the original statement screwed the pooch and got its information from Ohtani via Mizuhana. In other words, the person claiming that Ohtani willingly paid a friend's gambling debts was, in fact, the friend.

I remember Dayton and Grand…

I remember Dayton and Grand Canyon getting dinged for overspending, but not Charleston. I think Brian discounted Kelsey because he does not have a track record of mid-major success.

I think Brian left him off…

I think Brian left him off the short list because he does not enough of a track record. Charleston plays in the CAA, which too many tiers removed from the major conference. Meanwhile, Kelsey has just three years at Charleston and produced middling KenPom finishes of 144, 71, and 100.

Fenerbahçe is actually in…

Fenerbahçe is actually in Turkey, not Spain.  (By chance, I happen to know someone who's a fan of them.)  They may have played against some Spanish teams in the Euroleague (which is the basketball equivalent of the Champions' League), but they don't play in the ACB.

This comment may be the peak of MGoBoard's pedantry and I absolutely adore it. 10/10, no notes.

It's snowing here, but the…

It's snowing here, but the temperature is just at freezing and the flakes are big, so we've ended up with almost perfect packing snow. Not too cold, not too wet, just right. Everything is about ideal for playing outside. The kids are going to go absolutely nuts with snow people and snow balls.

I would like to see a time…

I would like to see a time-limited window for coaches to make challenges. If a challenge comes outside that window, then the opportunity to challenge expires. If challenged, play should continue as normal until the next stoppage. This should prevent both the psychotic Zaprudering that currently plagues college hockey and bad-faith challenges only intended to interrupt play.

My wholehearted belief in…

My wholehearted belief in this interpretation derives solely from unhinged wishcasting, but I could not be happier to know that OSU may have reverse Ewing Theory-ed itself on offense by hiring Chip Kelly.

No quips today. I'm just…

No quips today. I'm just here to bang and be banged in return.

I don't like this post. It…

I don't like this post. It is the middle of the offseason. I should be reading shitposts, snowflakes, and concern trolling, not finding excellent content that provides a concise summary without stealing everything from the original creator. OP, I'm disappointed.

Now? The MGoStaff has been…

Now? The MGoStaff has been ignoring basketball since the final buzzer of the Long Beach State game.

It's called football, it…

It's called football, it would be extremely dumb to eliminate kicking for points. 

Football got its name for historical, not descriptive, reasons. American football traces its origins to the wide variety of games played at English colleges, universities, and public schools in the mid-18th century and generally categorized as "football".* They acquired this general label because players participated on foot, not on horseback.

*Those games are the collective ancestors of rugby, soccer, and football. Indeed, "soccer" is actually a American contraction and mangling of "association football", the full name of the sport.

Bacon's comment gets at my…

Bacon's quip gets at my general dissatisfaction with Michigan's negotiating approach. Harbaugh may have set his mind on leaving for the NFL, but Michigan could have made his decision a lot harder.

I'm not sure the Ravens…

I'm not sure the Ravens would keep sending their aspiring staff to Michigan for finishing school, but we might be able to get one more John to Jim as a going away present.

I also found the revelation…

I also found the revelation about the buyout to be the more interesting part of Wetzel's story. Harbaugh's purported attempt to manipulate his buyout implies a lot about his future plans. On one hand, playing games with the buyout suggests that Harbaugh has very serious NFL aspirations. He's not just taking interviews to be polite but because he wants to an NFL position. On the other hand, he's actually negotiating with Michigan. But if he really wanted an NFL position, why bother negotiating over the timing of the buyout? His favorable buyout applies unless he signs a new contract. If he is really determined to go the NFL, he just has to leave the new contract unsigned.

No, but he does sound a lot…

No, but he does sound a lot like Eyabi Okie, who was able to thrive at Michigan for a season. Admittedly, Okie's success probably grew from his relationship to Biff Poggi. Denver Harris does not have that kind of relationship with Michigan's staff (and Poggi is no even on Michigan's staff at this point), but this kind of transfer is not unprecedented for Michigan in the portal era.

Fowler and Herbstreit were…

Fowler and Herbstreit were fine during the broadcast but as Michigan kneeled the ball out to end the game Fowler noted that even if this title is "tainted" Michigan should enjoy it.  That's just such an asshole thing to say at the end of a game, and then to kick it to Pete Thamel's buddy Rece Davis to do the trophy presentation drove me nuts.  ESPN is not garbage as a source of sports journalism but I thought they'd have enough respect to not beat that dead horse for a couple of minutes.

I am glad someone else noticed Chris Fowler's end-of-game shenanigans. Fowler could have complimented Michigan, stayed neutral, or even just kept quiet and let the moment speak for itself. Instead, he could not help but try to tarnish Michigan's moment of triumph.

I'm here for that sort of…

January 2024 UFRs: A nothing but bangers album.

It had better be over four…

It had better be over four hours, but then you'll be hearing from my doctors!

I also doubt that MGoBlog is…

I also doubt that MGoBlog is the only or original source of this idea or even the basis for the bandwagon that Herbie has joined. But I could not pass up the chance to cast Herbie as a sudden convert to the newest tenet of MGoBlog doctrine.

XM, I would never shear my…

XM, I would never shear my regard for you based on your viewing habits. Clarkson's Farm is a reality show, but it has an interesting premise. Jeremy Clarkson is a well-known English TV presenter with a famously bombastic personality. He also happens to own a 1,000-acre farm in central England. For many years, he leased the land to a local farmer. When that farmer retired in 2019, he decided to take over management himself and conspired with Amazon, where his other show currently airs, to document his efforts (and failures). The first season of the show documents the annual life cycle of a medium-sized working farm as seen through the eyes of Clarkson, a complete neophyte. Clarkson freely admits that he has no idea what he is doing before charging ahead with reckless abandon.

As far as I can tell, the show does manufacture (much) drama. The difficulties of running a working farm and Clarkson's inexperience are enough to drive the show. The show itself does a magnificent job of showcasing both the importance of farming and the immense structural difficulties of running a modern farm. I cannot recommend it enough. Based on my limited knowledge of your personal history, I suspect you might see a bit yourself in Clarkson as he figures out to run a farm with no prior experience. Also, Kaleb and Charlie are absolute gems.

XM's latest farm report…

XM's latest farm report reminds me of Clarkson's Farm. Specifically, there is an episode in season 1 where Clarkson spends several days as a nervous wreck while overseeing and assisting with his first season of lambing. Being a seasoned lambing veteran, it sounds like XM handled his situation with a bit more sangfroid than Clarkson.

XM, have you watched Clarkson's Farm? If so, do you have any thoughts to share?

It's probably my favorite…

It's probably my favorite HTTV t-shirt.

I thought the design was a…

I thought the design was a weird YouTube compression artifact until I started watching Matt's clips.

I like this format (if not…

I like this format (if not what it implies about this year's team). Any chance you can turn it into a more recurring feature?

Out of curiosity, how do…

Out of curiosity, how do lineal championships work in boxing? I see two major complications. First, boxers compete in different weight classes that may not have overlapping competitors. Can you reconcile a line of welterweight champions with a line of heavyweight champions that does not overlap? Second, boxers can retire. What happens to the lineal championship if its holder retires without a final defeat?

...

We were supposed to…

...

We were supposed to stop?

Did you see the state of…

Did you see the state of Colorado's offensive line? As far as Shedeur Sanders is concerned, this might be true.

To make some low cost…

For some low cost pizzazz, I would like to Michigan build off of the Donovan Edwards & Semaj Morgan package that debuted last week. Having Morgan running jet sweep with Edwards flaring or running to the other direction looked like it really stressed OSU's defense.

The basic idea is already on tape, so Michigan won't be giving up anything substantial if it runs the other parts of the base plays or some basic constraints, like double play action to a tight end delay down the seam.

You're not the first person…

You're not the first person to notice this year (or even last year). Alex has shifted the focus of Manball v. Basketball on Grass from play style to blocking scheme. Many of us disagree with the shift, but he has sustained it for two years now. I don't think we're ever going back to the way things were.

This is the answer. Seth has…

This is the answer. Seth has Michigan deployed in a 5-2 with four DBs and no Josh Wallace. In this formation and personnel grouping, Mike Sainristil plays corner, not nickel. Sainristil is a good corner, but he's not an All-American (even if he avoided getting Mossed by Marvin Harrison, Jr. last week).

The conference is not even…

The conference is not even four months old; any scandal would be the biggest scandal in Pac2 history.

Ultimately, no one knows…

Ultimately, no one knows. The CFP committee has never been very clear (or consistent) about their  ranking methodology. Are they ranking by resume or power? Personally, I prefer resume rankings for postseason decisions. Every ranking method has an element of subjectivity, but power ranking always feels like an exercise in motivated reasoning. It always looks like the ranker starts with their desired outcome and works backwards to find a justification.

To be fair, neither do most…

To be fair, neither do most of the NFL's talking heads.

I'm here to take my…

I'm here to take my punishment (and my praise). In the Maryland offense FFFF, I questioned whether Mike Sainristil still deserved his shield. (https://mgoblog.com/content/fee-fi-foe-film-maryland-offense-2023#new)


Of course, I also said that he would make up three to four yards and break up my foolhardy proposition.

They are working fine for me…

They are working fine for me,* but I send regular shipments of choice comestibles to the hamsters running HUEL's servers so my traffic gets extra special attention.

*Not really.

Brian picked a rough minute…

Brian picked a rough minute to post an offensive UFR.

But given how hard the hamsters powering the HUEL backend are working to keep the site afloat under the current deluge of traffic, I suspect Brian's not too upset.

Congratulations on emerging…

Congratulations on emerging victorious from the first-to-post Thunderdome!

Your experience is the exact…

Your experience is the exact problem Michigan faced. I summarized it generally below, but Michigan might be able to win this fight at an enormous cost. But its victory would be limited to the B1G's process, not the substance of the decision.

And it is easy for the B1G to regroup and try again. After losing, the B1G could just follow its process and come to the same result. Or it could find a new rules, rationales, and punishments until it swamped Michigan with more punishments than it could hope to challenge in court.

After running through the…

After running through the possible outcomes, I came to a similar conclusion. Michigan lost when the court did not grant the TRO last Saturday. In the court's preliminary analysis, Michigan would not suffer an irreparable harm if Jim Harbaugh could not coach last Saturday. That result suggests that today's hearing would not result in a ruling in Michigan's favor. Indeed, Michigan may not have gotten any decision from today's hearing. I am not up to speed on Michigan's rules of civil procedure, but I think it plausible that the court could have held a hearing and decided to issue a ruling at later date, which could be a week or two or three later. In the meantime, the suspension would remain in place.

With this potential outcome looming, I think Michigan decided to settle to avoid winning a meaningless battle while committing itself into an unwinnable war of attrition. Again, I will admit that I have not comprehensively glossed the B1G's bylaws and rulebook. But what I have read suggests that the B1G has fairly broad discretion in deciding why and how to discipline its members. Michigan's primary argument seems to be that the B1G did not follow the right process. A Michigan victory and a preliminary injunction would just restart the process, which the B1G could follow to the same result. And the B1G's broad range of disciplinary options meant that it could continue to imposing new sanctions any time it wanted to chastise or get back at Michigan.

By agreeing to the current suspension and nothing more, Michigan may have decided that it was better to take this punishment and avoid an endless game of legal whack-a-mole as the B1G flooded the zone with endless punishments. It takes more energy for Michigan to challenge the B1G's punishments and refute the underlying basis than it does for the B1G to impose them. Michigan just took its best legal shot at the B1G and came up a bit short. I am not sure Michigan could sustain the energy necessary to keep suing the B1G after every hypothetical punishment.

I hope that Michigan decided to settle because it concluded that its fight with the B1G is political, not legal. A courtroom only offers limited remedies for specific problems. Michigan's real problem is the newly discovered cracks in its relationship with the B1G, not Harbaugh's absurd suspension. The way to fix that problem is by finding allies who will back Michigan in the B1G or find a new friendlier conference.

Cultural issues aside, that…

Ignoring the magnificent culture clash that would result, that would not be a terrible match for both parties.

I have not committed myself…

I have not committed myself to a comprehensive study and catalogue of Balas' oeuvre, but he seems to have shifted from trustworthy insider to hysterical click-merchant. MGoBoard's second-hand descriptions of his posts always seem to start by taking Balas' overwrought headline at face value before someone with a subscription chimes in, clarifies that Balas has nothing but vague innuendo and unfalsifiable insinuations about future events to back the headline.

Ultimately, nothing happens, everyone forgets what was supposed to transpire, and Balas starts the cycle anew. The goal is to sell subscriptions; the promise of insider knowledge is the (illusory) bait.

Sure, for a definition of…

Sure, for a definition of recently that stretches back at least a year.

And as much as I hate to say…

And as much as I hate to say it, the persistence of Mike Sainristil's shield might not be warranted.

(Now that I've spoken it into existence, I fully expect Sainristil to make up three to four yards and break up my foolhardy proposition.)

That is a fair concern…

That is a fair concern. Ultimately, I am more interested in how recruiting changed than why. In other words, an analysis of where recruits in various tranches generally landed before and after the great recruiting change, a breakdown of how teams with different ambitions and profiles would build their rosters before and after the great recruiting change, and your thoughts on how Michigan should approach recruiting in this new era.

It's great to see you back…

Matt, it's great to have you back and I hope your family is on the mend.

In your last post, you mentioned that you would be pivoting away from basketball recruiting because the portal has upended the normal recruiting cycle. Before you make that final pivot, do you think you could put together a post that explains how basketball recruiting has changed?

I would love to see a three-part post that looks at recruiting strategies before the portal, how the portal affected the traditional cycle and hierarchy of recruiting, and how you would position Michigan's recruiting efforts after those changes.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XUu3_pLPUE

 

And Cornelius Johnson should…

And Cornelius Johnson should probably have his name.

Those feeds do not exist if…

Those feeds do not exist if you do not have an account. If you are not signed in and head to Brian's feed, you now see a pinned post from 2016 about Scott Frost's mom, followed by a 2022 post about Purdue basketball scholarships for a city-destroying skeleton, and various other posts of varying untimeliness. For users without an account, Twitter/X now orders the default feed by popularity. There is no way to sort by new or see a particular account's most recent posts.

You have uncovered one of…

You have uncovered one of the many reasons that I hate what Elon Musk has done to Twitter. I do not have (and do not want) a Twitter account. Brian and Seth usually use Twitter to alert us to delays or changes to the usual posting schedule. But now that chronological feeds hide behind a login, Twitter is even more useless because I cannot find current updates on Brian's and Seth's (or others') feeds.

You disappoint me. It's been…

You disappoint me. It's been 20 minutes with only 3 more Signgate posts. This thread is still on the front page!