Unverified Voracity Executes Ref Bump
The full Hebner. If you've got a Scout account I highly recommend their latest video of Kyle Kalis($). It has many examples of Kalis burying some poor high school kid, sure, but the main attraction is a ref bump worthy of Wrestlemania:
At this point in the film I was expecting Luke Fickell to rush in from behind and deliver a low blow, then roll Kalis up for a pin.
In other news, holy crap Kyle Kalis hates people. Molk will be proud.
Will Campbell tackled Thomas Gordon after his INT.
Q: "Did he say anything do you?"
A: "Get off me."
My name is Boris. Michigan let Pryor golf partner and all-around weirdo Dennis Talbott in, but he was calling himself "Tennis Dalbott" and could not be identified:
"I actually spoke to him and told him he would no longer be credentialed," Dave Ablauf, Michigan senior associate athletic director for media and public relations, told ESPN.com. "He came in under a different name than what we were familiar with. Had the name I knew popped up, I wouldn't have credentialed him."
He's been booted, as has the organization he was working with. So… have a free spot on the sideline, do you, Michigan? #callme
Welcome to our pit of shame and despair. Amongst Eleven Warriors' constantly shifting cast of writers is a man named Danny. Danny seems new. Danny seems untouched by trouble, a happy-go-lucky fellow just raring for another bite at life's apple. This is going to last another two months, tops:
In a recent B1G conference power ranking by Adam Rittenberg of ESPN, the Buckeyes are listed at number six in the conference behind Wisconsin, Nebraska, Illinois, Michigan, and Michigan State.
I expect these numbers to change in OSU's favor by the time B1G play opens up against Michigan State on Oct. 1. Yes, Ohio State had a major meltdown against Miami, but this team will get better if the offense can gain some consistency coming out of this week's game against Colorado.
Rittenberg's rankings are pretty reasonable with the way the Buckeyes have played up to this point, but I expect to see OSU ahead of at least Illinois, Michigan and Michigan State later this season. Ohio State has endured much hardship stemming from last December, but this team is much better than sixth in the conference and time will prove that.
That's right: despite barely cracking 200 yards and only eclipsing 13 passing yards because of two pity throws allowed Braxton Miller at the end of the Miami game, OSU is "at least" better than Illinois, MSU, and Michigan. Danny's not sold on this Wisconsin business, and Nebraska's passing game? Eh… a little shaky.
He may actually be right about Michigan but when The Game is played for that all-important eighth win this guy is going to be a mite peeved, and by "a mite peeved" I mean "catatonic on the floor of a 7-11 in Euclid." At least he's not the guy who thinks a 9-3 projection is "worst case."
The 'freude! You like it this week, too. On Bauserman:
I got 3 lil boys all who can kick his ass and get nothing since they got clean records. honestly I bet someone on campus is going to kick his ass.if I knew where he lived he would take a ass whipping for laughing during that gm and f--- all u lil bitches who got somethin to say on here supporting him
Luke Fickell doesn't understand how time works. He doesn't think you can save timeouts, but he does think that he is going to run off as much time as a team trying to kill the clock:
“We still knew we were going to need two scores. Our thought was if we’re going to need two scores, we’re going to need to have the ability to stop the clock offensively,” Fickell said. “They were running (the clock) out.
“If we look back in hindsight, the very last (third down), maybe it would have saved us 30 seconds in our minds and maybe we could have got a little bit of a breather (for the defense, which) is something that I always look back at. Our thought was, ‘Hey, we’re going to do the best we can to try to make sure we have a couple (of timeouts) to score twice.’ ”
This is a breathtakingly stupid thought. Hire this man, OSU. (HT: DocSat)
ND pregame. We missed an impressively overwritten Tom Rinaldi intro for the Michigan-ND game never got aired because the SEC game went late. Bonus bits include full pregame festivities and Brent Musberger rambling semi-coherently despite no one watching him.
I bet Musberger does this on planes. YOU ARE LOOKING LIVE at a half-ounce packet of peanuts.
Road trips. An Ole Miss fan did the wise thing a couple weeks ago and hit up Ann Arbor instead of watching the Fighting Ackbars go at it one week before they'd feature in Vandy's biggest SEC win in 40 years. Overall gist:
Aside from being an incredibly exciting football game punctuated by a tense, high-flying fourth quarter which featured the Wolverines coming back from a 17-point deficit on the back of Denard Robinson's heroics, this number made the trip itself worth it. 114,804 is the largest attendance number ever recorded in the history of NCAA football. I'm sure that, in time, that record will be broken, but until that happens I will be able to proudly boast that I was a part of the largest crowd to ever watch a college football game. That's cool, dammit.
Bell's is enjoyed. He did us the service of getting a good shot of the U MAD Kelly sign:
Also, Orson hit up the LSU-Mississippi State game and reports back with what's left of his cowbell-shattered sanity.
You think we're wafer thin? I'll show you wafer thin. Michigan State's offensive line was a sore spot going into the season and has just been poked by Notre Dame to the tune of 27 rushing yards. That ain't good. The injury situation is worse:
A day after Michigan State announced starting right tackle Skyler Burkland will miss the rest of the season following left ankle surgery, Dantonio said starting center Blake Treadwell and backup tackle Jared McGaha will be sidelined with knee sprains.
Both of the latter are questionable for the M-MSU game on the 15th of October; MSU does get center Travis Jackson back this weekend. Dantonio got his customary shot in at Michigan about it, but if I had to pick between OL situations for that game it's a slam dunk for M, which has two solid backups and a complement of experienced starters. Michigan State just flopped a third defensive tackle—one who was seeing playing time!—to offense in less than eight months.
Michigan's situation. With Toussaint and Barnum's apparently healthy returns the injury situation for Michigan is not bad at the moment. Cam Gordon's has been out but is expected to play against SDSU, as is Brandon Herron. Then you've got Woolfolk's array of comically obvious minor injuries and… that's about it. Knock on wood.
Unfortunately shoddy. I was about to be all about Nate Silver's stab in the dark at the relative sizes of college football fanbases because the Big Ten made out like gangbusters and the M-OSU-PSU troika finished 1-2-3, but a little deeper poke into the numbers reveals they fail some basic sanity checks. Braves & Birds:
I love Silver's writing on politics and baseball, but you can tell from his post that he is not a college football fan. If he were, then he would know that he needs to go back to the drawing board when his methodology produces a conclusion that Georgia Tech has 1,664,088 fans, while Georgia has only 1,098,957 fans. Anyone who follows college football in this market …immediately knows that this number is wrong. Georgia sells out every game in a 90,000 seat venue, regardless of opponent. Georgia Tech struggles to fill a 50,000 seat stadium unless the opponent brings fans. Georgia has a fan base that will make massive donations in order to have the right to buy tickets; Georgia Tech has to offer ticket packages to get casual fans in the door.
That highlights a major bias towards 1) metro areas and 2) nerds, and while we joke about Ohio State's fanbase most of the counties in that state do have power. Can't say the same for a lot of places college football is popular.
There's also this:
When your data includes a note that it is "highly inaccurate" and your results defy common sense it's back to the salt mines.
A ridiculous picture of Ron English for no reason.
Via Philly.com. EMU is at Penn State this weekend.
Etc.: Big East folks are just bombing everything around them. Jim Boeheim more than anyone. On The Banks is in full Kelly mode, except they're seemingly justified because their ham-handed attempt to force Villanova football into the Big East blew it all up. My favorite part is Jack Swarbrick complaining about people doing things that have "very negative consequences" for other schools. Notre Dame has long been known for its teamwork and spirit of share and share alike, which is why they voted down a big rights increase for Big East football.
Jamiemac tries to say nice things about the Big Ten. A couple of cool counter plays Texas ran against UCLA. SEC expansion remains stupid. Craig James media awards are extra spicy this week. Silver featured.
September 21st, 2011 at 11:40 AM ^
We finally know the truth... Ron English = Pedro Cerrano
September 21st, 2011 at 12:04 PM ^
Damn! You beat me to it - however, Tanaka is actually the originator of the ball dance. See the video I posted below.
September 21st, 2011 at 11:41 AM ^
Regarding the comment about Nate and College Football, it's pretty much dead on. I've been acquainted with him for several years and been to dinner with him (and a half dozen others a couple of times), albeit before he hit it big in political commentary. We also competed against each other one year in a high profile fantasy baseball league -- we both did terriibly, but I did finish ahead of him. ;>) He barely had a knowledge of what was happening in college sports. However, most of his commentary is based on number crunching and pretty much he lets the numbers speak for himself. FWIW, he grew up in East Lansing and went to the University of Chicago.
September 21st, 2011 at 1:20 PM ^
He's a Spartans fan.
September 21st, 2011 at 11:42 AM ^
I think that picture of Ron English will be my new wallpaper or avatar. Can't decide which.
September 21st, 2011 at 11:55 AM ^
I think he was screaming: No not the spread!!!
September 21st, 2011 at 11:50 AM ^
Love, love, LOVE the ND pregame video. I can't believe ESPN didn't switch over from the Georgia/South Carolina game in the final minutes, not even for the folks IN Michigan.
September 21st, 2011 at 12:01 PM ^
They didn't highlight the honoring of Desmond Howard, one of their main college guys on their network, pretty much at all. I didn't necessarily think they'd have time for the whole ceremony, but they pretty much ignored it.
September 21st, 2011 at 12:10 PM ^
I think they're contractually obliged to carry all games they televise to the final whistle on the original channel. Which of course was maddening when SC was kneeling on the ball while the Michigan game had started.
September 21st, 2011 at 2:03 PM ^
The pregame was on ESPN News, and I'm pretty sure Rinaldi's piece was shown on College Gameday. Still stupid that they can't cut away from garbage time though.
September 21st, 2011 at 11:54 AM ^
the eleven warriors crowd will start splitting into Fire Fickell camps. 3rd loss? 4th?
September 21st, 2011 at 11:55 AM ^
Ron English needs to carry a mic with him at all times on the sideline. I don't even care if the thing works, he just needs to look like he's bustin' rhymes. Y'all.
September 21st, 2011 at 11:57 AM ^
That English shot is screaming out for a photoshop thread or a caption thread... maybe both.
September 21st, 2011 at 12:08 PM ^
Leaving Michigan Spread uncovered out in a warm environment may cause abdominal cramps.
September 21st, 2011 at 12:03 PM ^
That timeout quote. Wow. I'm staunchly defensive about my team's coach, but he would lose my support in perpetuity the second he said something that moronic.
Does Fickell have a nickname? Because "interim coach" suits him well.
September 21st, 2011 at 12:19 PM ^
I believe his nickname is "Fecal". That should work too.
September 21st, 2011 at 12:52 PM ^
Not feeling comfortable against EMU up 4 scores with 10 minutes left. Or the QB is a pretty important position he touches the ball every play. Maybe the game starts with the center/QB exchange.
September 21st, 2011 at 12:05 PM ^
Looking at that pre-game video, it reminds me that the event staff did a much better job with the music not interfering with The Victors as the Team took the field. The video they play on the boards (ending with Hoke's "This is Michigan") just before The Victors was well timed and nicely done. Yeah, they still loaded up on the Pop Evil garbage later in the evening, but at least the entry was untarnished.
As for Ron English - that man is scary intense. I was on the sideline for a couple of games while he was DC and found it uncomfortable to be anywhere near him. He seems like he's ready to explode at any second and emits an aura of "get the fuck away from me". If in the jungle, he wouldn't need bug spray as mosquitos even get the message. I hope he does a great job at EMU (and it seems like he's headed in the right direction).
September 21st, 2011 at 12:47 PM ^
FWIW, they totally screwed it up last weekend, with the doom song playing as the team ran out to touch the banner.
September 21st, 2011 at 1:50 PM ^
Damn. That's truly unfortunate. For all of the many elements required to pull off a huge event (like a Michigan football game), they've really dropped the ball on the technical aspects of event production this year.
September 21st, 2011 at 2:10 PM ^
They did the "Michiganforgodssakes" video bit, then started playing it like mid-song, then banner touching started, and the band was playing, though you can't hear it from the trashy music over the speakers, THEN they shut it off again. It was actually more poorly timed than the opener.
Look, they want to play that nonsense in warm-ups, or between quarters or whatever, I get it may be someone's cup of tea. But how hard is it to play the most recent permutation of the hype video (which in week 3 is STILL getting crowd reaction), and lead right into team coming out, band playing. Even if they wanted to play that nonsense at the point the band is climbing into the stands and we're getting ready for kickoff, whatever. Just let the team come out as they should.
September 21st, 2011 at 2:22 PM ^
After the opener, I emailed DB to politely suggest that The Victors not be sullied with Pop Evil. Here is (in part) his reply:
Our production team only played the recorded music until the team was given the signal to take the field which was also the signal for the band to play The Victors.
So, a couple of thoughts:
1. I completely agree with your idea - hype video, then Victors/entry
2. The production team doesn't have their shit together. According to DB, the "recorded music" (or "shit" as I would call it) is to stop before the Team takes the field to The Victors.
3. I can't believe DB takes the time to reply to alumni emails (and quickly...I got a response within minutes).
September 22nd, 2011 at 9:51 AM ^
I must not be polite enough. Or my emails are too long for soundbyte answers like that. Because that answer is just patently false. Two time they didn't stop playing when the team too the field, and it wasn't a split second (sound traveling across the Stadium); it was well into banner touching. The point is though that it's not even needed at this moment. It wasn't necessary when it was AC/DC, and they're a world's better band than this junk. But they could raise Michael Jackson, Elvis, John Lennon and Sinatra from the grave for a barbershop quartet, and it still wouldn't be the time to do it.
September 21st, 2011 at 2:49 PM ^
Yep, they totally screwed it up. I'm one of the paltry minority who LIKES that song, but not at the expense of the band playing when the team comes out. The timing was particularly bad last week.
FWIW, last year one of the band admins told me it is insanely stressful and difficult to properly coordinate the amplification of the band (cutting it in and out at the right moment). With a new scoreboard system that can't have gotten easier. If they can't solve the music conflicts around the team entrance, then they need to just ditch the song altogether.
September 21st, 2011 at 12:06 PM ^
I'm pretty sure the Rinaldi piece aired during College GameDay and prompted Andy Staples to say "Geez, they're playing at night, not landing on Mars." on his Twitter feed.
At least Rinaldi didn't kill off Lloyd Carr like he did Lou Holtz in a pregame montage last year.
September 21st, 2011 at 1:00 PM ^
I think Tom Rinaldi might be giving Jeremy Schaap a run for his money for intro/montage/video narrations at ESPN, he has really developed into a solid narrator. Also, that rendition of God Bless America was chilling now having seen it on TV.
September 21st, 2011 at 12:15 PM ^
ESPN actually showed that way up on the dial (ESPNU or news) while the other game was finishing, FYI. Not that I disagree with Brian's take on Musberger.
September 21st, 2011 at 12:45 PM ^
I watched the Notre Dame game on ESPN3, which showed the full pregame, so, yes, there was a live audience for Musburger's rambling intro.
September 21st, 2011 at 12:58 PM ^
Since I was going to watch the game on the HD channel, the 'way up the dial' channel was actually only 3-4 channels away.
I learned something from missing the end of the USF/ND game when it went to Versus. Always look for an alternate channel.
September 21st, 2011 at 2:11 PM ^
My DVR was not smart enough to change channels before the broadcast started. Can't the stupid thing read the scroll on ESPN?!?
September 21st, 2011 at 12:20 PM ^
Boeheim's being a dishonest ass. The decision was made by the Big East and not ND:
Big East commissioner John Marinatto said there were mixed feelings about turning down ESPN's deal initially -- and the divide was pretty much between the so-called basketball members and the football members -- but the announcement of the Pac-12's lucrative deal ($3 billion over 12 years) convinced them all it was the right move.
"The [price of programming] dramatically changed when the Pac-12 announced its deal," Marinatto said. "And we were unanimous. There was splintering before that, but, on that day, we were unanimous 'we're walking away.' College football has firmly been implanted as the No. 2 most popular sport.
"What we bring to the table in terms of assets is very unique and going last and having last at-bats [among the major conferences negotiating new TV deals] provide us the opportunity to evaluate what everyone else has done."
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11215/1164696-233-0.stm
In fact, the Pitt AD wanted to hold off on the contract in an attempt to expand to 12 members.
September 21st, 2011 at 12:27 PM ^
On the pregame video, I had found this on a filesharing site - and since it had no 'bottom line' and didn't reair on ESPNU later in the week, I guessed it was unaired. But I really had no idea where it came from. Very few people saw it, that's for sure.
I love that Hoke touches the banner, btw.
September 21st, 2011 at 1:00 PM ^
where some of the members think it's a good idea to elevate a decent I-AA program directly to AQ status. (I'm assuming they'd have to do the usual transition thing, but who knows?)
I mean, if New Mexico and New Mexico State aren't available, Villanova's probably the next-best option, right? And they're already halfway in! Of course, they'll have to move their desk to the football side of the room, but whatever.
I still like the EDSBS idea of the Sunbeast Conference.
September 21st, 2011 at 1:01 PM ^
Not only did Rutgers put the kibosh on the Villanova thing but they were also the lead villain in the rejection of the $11 million/team/year deal from ESPN. Rutgers apparently led the push to turn that down in the hopes of being able to play ESPN and NBC against each other in a Pac-12 style bidding war to drive up the price.
Obviously that failed miserably. It's easy to see why I think the basketball schools are holding wild GTFO orgies and probably secretly trying to engineer WVU into the SEC.
September 21st, 2011 at 2:50 PM ^
celebratory, fun video, gordon wraps it up with "he's still got room to improve." :(
September 21st, 2011 at 10:28 PM ^
I think BWC probably gets (-2) for being late, not having a clean tackle, and likely flirting with a facemask penalty.
September 22nd, 2011 at 10:51 AM ^
Did you guy see Hoke give that security guard a "good game" after he touched the banner? Now thats a football coach.
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