If you missed it, I covered questions on basketball rule changes, hoops attrition under Juwan Howard vs. John Beilein, and a little off-topic stuff here. Today's mostly veers into OT territory. There may be some ska content. Skantent? I'm fine, everything is fine.

True Home Games

As someone who hasn't been able to attend games live for longer than the rest of us, what are you most looking forward to when you can go again? Any tips for enjoying games on TV when you're used to going live? #mgomailbag

— Ben (@JeepinBen) May 20, 2020

This is going to be a little different for me than many of you since I've been going to games for work, not as a casual fan, since 2011. Although that doesn't necessarily change the experience as much as you might think, my answer of "being able to have audible emotions again" doesn't apply to most people used to watching in person.

I most miss the parts of the experience you can't recreate at home. If they even bother to show them on television, the band's pregame performance, the drum major back bend, the team touching the banner, that moment when the crowd roars in anticipation as the national anthem ends—none of it hits the same. I miss walking my traditional route from my childhood home to the stadium, passing tailgate after tailgate along the way. I miss the people in the press box who've gone from colleagues to friends.

Most of all, I miss the rush of writing the recap while looking over the mostly empty field and trying to live-transcribe as they air the postgame presser on the press box televisions, or doing the same sitting in the Crisler Center press room while sorting through photos and pulling quotes from the coach statements and player breakout sessions. Those were among my favorite moments on the job.

you don't get this on the teevee [Eric Upchurch]

That said, there are parts of the home viewing experience that I greatly prefer to going to games. Those used to spending a huge portion of their weekend—or even an hour in traffic—traveling to and from Michigan Stadium may find the lack of hassle refreshing, especially when it allows one to consume a good deal more football that day. My couch is comfortable. There are no lines for the bathroom. I set the menu. I can check in on other games or even utilize multiple screens to watch them simultaneously. I can see replays that aren't in pore-o-vision and take advantage of my DVR.

If you don't feel too dorky doing it, creating your own viewing-at-home traditions helps make up for the loss of the in-stadium pageantry. The marching band has released several albums over the years and you can find a lot of their work on YouTube—I'll have this going at high volume before big games. Before I stopped drinking, I had a traditional postgame bourbon. I call the same friend after every game.

I also keep this in mind: there are a lot of Michigan fans and only so many have the privilege of getting inside the Michigan Stadium gates. I had a particularly fun way to watch games for eight years. Even if I never make it back, I'll always feel lucky to have had that experience. Keeping that perspective has made it a lot easier to enjoy, and appreciate, watching from home.

[Hit THE JUMP for the revenue sport athlete who would've been the best decathlete, a bunch of music questions, and a Beilein/Cavs/Michigan hypothetical.]

The Lost Decathlete

spoiler alert [Fuller]

Which Michigan revenue sport athlete would have been the best decathlete (excluding any who actually were decathletes)? #mgomailbag

— Ray Francis (@LordRayzor) May 20, 2020

Let's start with getting a sense of the typical high-level decathlete:

Since decathletes score over a wide range of points on the scoring tables there is a wide range of shapes, sizes and body types. But as one gets closer to world-class level the sizes get remarkably similar, averaging about 6-0 to 6-3 in height and 180 to 200 pounds. This may be an "ideal" size.

There are some variations since there's more than one way to win a decathlon, which has events ranging from the 100-meter dash to the shot put—components that require two entirely different set of skills.

My mind instantly went to Jabrill Peppers. He finished his Michigan career listed at 6'1", 205 pounds after bulking up a bit to play quasi-linebacker. He ran a 10.52 100-meter dash in high school. Given the picture leading this section, the high jump seems to be in his wheelhouse. At the NFL combine, he posted a respectable 19 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press and an explosive 10'8" broad jump. As a track star with a lot of natural strength, Peppers feels like an obvious choice.

I only thought about players I've had the chance to watch in person, though. I fully expect Seth to provide an extensive list of Michigan athletes of yore who excelled in multiple sports. Don't feel slighted, Bennie Oosterbaan, I wasn't alive yet.

Musical Interlude: RATM, The Last Dance, Worst of Swing, Best of Ska

best RATM album?

— Jane Coaston (@cjane87) May 20, 2020

I can't answer this question objectively. While I love everything Rage Against The Machine put out, up to and including the covers album Renegades, only one of their CDs took up near-permanent residence in my car for a good portion of high school: The Battle of Los Angeles. Absolute fire from beginning to end.

Since people were ranking the four albums in my mentions, I feel obligated to do the same:

1. The Battle of Los Angeles — I should probably apologize to my brother for how often he had to hear this while I drove him to school at 7:30 am.
2. Rage Against The Machine — the first two tracks will blow your shoes off your feet, one of the greatest debuts ever.
3. Evil Empire — "Bulls on Parade" is arguably the best RATM song ever but the back half of this one isn't as strong as the other two.
4. Renegades — while I love a few songs on here, chiefly "Renegades of Funk," I don't often listen to the whole album.

All four are at least very good. RATM: good. This is an original opinion.

Ace,

I felt like The Last Dance soundtrack did a nice job of capturing the era via music. Was there a track (or two) you wish had been included?

— Hoover Street Rag (@hooverstreet) May 20, 2020

First off, while there were some problems with The Last Dance—letting your subject essentially have the final cut of a documentary is a bit of an issue—the music was damn near perfect. Someone compiled it on Spotify and there's also a playlist on YouTube. The choice of Beastie Boys's "The Maestro" to back a Dennis Rodman highlight reel was particularly inspired; ditto using KRS-One's thunderous voice to soundtrack MJ's 63-point game against Boston. It's difficult to find a moment where it felt like they chose the wrong track.

The soundtrack hit on a huge swath of my favorite rap artists from the late '80s and '90s, so I'm going to make this a little more difficult on myself by only picking songs by artists that weren't included. Apologies to Mobb Deep's "Survival of the Fittest" for being most directly impacted by this rule.

• "All The Places" by Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth. One of my favorite beats ever. Would've worked well for one of the Dream Team sequences if you didn't mind that this song came out in 1994.
• "Ready or Not" by Fugees. This could've worked for the entire Eastern Conference post-1990.
• "North Carolina" by The Poets of Rhythm. Self-explanatory.

Again, it's hard to say the people who put together The Last Dance made a musical misstep. That was a very fun, albeit flawed, documentary.

swing revival bands of the 90s, ranked in increasing order of embarrassment

— HOCKEYBEAR (@AKHockeyBear) May 20, 2020

Because of how the formatting works on this site, I'm going 1-5, with one being the least embarrassing:

1. The Brian Setzer Orchestra. The name isn't ridiculous, their songs were catchy, and the band could rip. I played The Dirty Boogie on CD more than I care to recall.
2. Squirrel Nut Zippers. So, yeah, the name is ridiculous. Get used to that. You cannot say how much you like a band named "Squirrel Nut Zippers" and sound like a serious person. That said, while their lineup cycled through a lot of members, Andrew Bird—one of my favorite solo artists—appeared on three of their records during the 1996-98 swing revival peak. They composed some snappy singles and showed a surprising amount of restraint in the absurd hat department.
3. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. There's at least a good story behind this ridiculous name involving blues legend Albert Collins. Got so big that they were a prominent part of the Swingers soundtrack, played the halftime show of Super Bowl XXXIII, and were the house band for the ESPYs for two years. That all sounds well and good; they also leaned harder into the swing revival look than anyone else and I'm catching serious second-hand embarrassment.
4. Royal Crown Revue. One the one hand, they're credited with starting the swing revival movement. One the other hand, they're credited with starting the swing revival movement.
5. Cherry Poppin' Daddies. It's not even close. They named their band... that. A bunch of white guys from Eugene, Oregon named their breakout album Zoot Suit Riot, after one of the darkest moments of racist violence in American history. By comparison, incorporating ska into their music and thereby tainting my beloved flash-in-the-pan genre of the time by association is an insignificant offense. 

How did we let the '90s happen? Anyway...

Top five ska bands that still hold up

— matt jaworowski (@Matt_Jaworowski) May 20, 2020

I'll keep this shorter.

1. Less Than Jake. Either horribly sold out or did a good job of transitioning to pop-punk, depending on your point of view. There's a sweet spot they hit in the middle there.
2. Catch 22/Streetlight Manifesto. There's so much crossover between these two groups in personnel—and they also released two versions of literally the same album—that I can't separate them. Helped greatly by strong musicianship and playing songs that weren't all ridiculously upbeat.
3. The Slackers. Didn't get as big as some of these groups but their stuff holds up better than most thanks to a grimier sound than the usual ska fare.
4. Reel Big Fish. Epitomizes the absurdity of the ska movement but "Beer" is an all-time great track.
5. Big D and the Kids Table. Purely nostalgia because of the dangerous levels of non-irony and Boston contained therein. 

I deserve all of your scorn.

WolverCavs

Hey Ace,

How many games would John Beilein have won with the Cavs with an all Michigan Alumni team?  Probably more than he did with the Cavs squad he had, right?  Feel free to change up the rotation or positions below if you want to organize it in a better way.

1) Trey Burke, Derrick Walton
2) Caris LeVert, Tim Hardaway Jr, Jordan Poole
3) Duncan Robinson, Iggy
4) Glenn Robinson III, DJ Wilson
5) Mo Wagner, Mitch McGary (to at least hold up the “Win the Game” sign)

Head Coach: John Beilein

Bonus: What other Michigan Basketball alums would you use that are playing in the G-League, Internationally, or that are even retired to fill out the rest of the roster for either depth or entertainment value?  Mitch clearly fits this category.

-Kevin McCarthy

I hate to say it: this team is worse than the Cavaliers.

At the one, Collin Sexton may be flawed but he's shown the ability to be a high-level scorer. Trey Burke, meanwhile, is a fringe backup with major defensive limitations, and Derrick Walton has played in 42 games across three seasons for three different teams, none of which held onto him afterwards. It's a bad sign when you're hoping to coax Jamal Crawford out of retirement to start, something he hasn't done regularly since 2009. He's also 40 and, again, retired. (My other roster change to the above, by the way, would be swapping out Iggy Brazdeikis for Nik Stauskas.)

There's strength for the Michigan squad on the wing with LeVert, Hardaway (who deserves a starting spot after a strong year), Duncan Robinson, and GRIII, and this team's best approach may be to allow LeVert to handle the point, but that leaves the team perilously thin and it's an awkward defensive fit. There isn't really a viable four on the roster; DJ Wilson fell out of Milwaukee's rotation while shooting below 40% from the field and GRIII is closer to an NBA shooting guard than he is a power forward.

Add in having one true big man who can't play defense and this team would get torched. Moe Wagner vs. Andre Drummond could get ugly, there's nobody to guard Kevin Love, and the offensive firepower isn't there to make up for the serious defensive problems. Beilein would probably be trying to bring Jordan Morgan back from Turkey just to get a body up front.

Sorry. Being good in the NBA is very, very difficult.

I have a couple spots for bench mob types. Given my previous writings on the matter, I have to go with Andrew Dakich and Corey Person. This team is keeping a short rotation anyway.