Unverified Voracity Picks Up Tree
Harbaugh gonna Harbaugh. I'd be more surprised if this story ended up involving anyone else:
To the surprise of Ofc Cooper, the good Samaritan was @CoachJim4UM who wanted to help clear the road. Ofc Cooper then gave Coach a pair of work gloves and the two of them went to work. (2/3)
— Ann Arbor Police (@A2Police) February 23, 2023
I went to Home Depot once and the first person I saw was Harbaugh, wandering around looking for something like he was just a person, a normal person.
Your new punching bag. The NCAA has a new president. Here he is not saying "absolutely not" to a thing:
Asked if SEC football players should be paid—a question that his predecessors would have answered with a resounding “No”—Baker took a different tack. He paused, then said it was something he planned to address with his member schools and conferences. Pressed on what those conversations might entail, he remained vague.
“I guess what I would say is that I’m planning to have a conversation with the membership about change,” he said, adding that he preferred to have those talks before saying more. “We’ll see what that kind of change can look like. But I certainly believe there will be change.”
This may be more about the writing on the wall than any genuine change of heart from Generic Suit in Charge Of NCAA. But at least that's something? Baker also says you "don't have to treat everyone the same… and probably shouldn't," which is sensible enough.
[After THE JUMP: we are willing to compromise on toe length.]
And we want a puppy. The NCAA is lobbying Congress to fix the NIL Wild West, naturally, and On3 FOIAed an internal memo from the ACC:
This memo provides a window into what the Power 5 could be willing to compromise on to get a desirable federal bill.
— Andy Wittry (@AndyWittry) March 1, 2023
Five “must haves”:
- No employee status
- No granting NIL rights in telecasts
- No recruiting inducements
- Federal bill preempts state laws
- Antitrust exemption https://t.co/IJ8kwA23nM
The things the NCAA is "willing to compromise on" include:
The ACC memo says “we have not discussed in detail and have not reached a consensus” regarding three additional categories that a potential bill is expected to address. The other categories: additional student-athlete support, healthcare benefits for student-athletes and enforcement of laws in new legislation.
“These three items are what we consider, and what the Senate will consider, the price to obtain our ‘Must Haves’ above,” the memo says. “In other words, we must be prepared to negotiate and possibly compromise on items … in order to arrive at a bill that can pass the Senate and be signed by the President.”
The second is P5 conferences trying to negotiate something they should already be doing, morally and ethically. The third doesn't make sense to me; they want to compromise on whether laws are enforced? The first is just pay-for-play with PR attached to it.
The NCAA badly misreads the room here. Nobody likes them. They're a rare bipartisan pinata in 2023. Judges are on the verge of striking down key parts of the NCAA's house of cards. They have no leverage. They have a Hail Marry lobbying attempt to get a law passed that will preempt the never-ending fountain of lawsuits. Nobody is going to step forward to white knight for them, and nothing approximating this wish list is ever, ever, ever going to get out of even one house of Congress. It's just a matter of time before the de facto deregulated Wild West is law. But don't take my word for it, here's regent Jordan Acker:
The politics around these are basically impossible, and I may save a lot of this discussion for @MVictors class on the 15th, but how do you reconcile pro-labor Democrats and pro-free market republicans around these guidelines? It's nearly impossible. And 60 votes in the senate? https://t.co/4MH52DbgvW
— Jordan Acker (@JordanAckerMI) March 1, 2023
Get out! Michigan doesn't feature in Matt Norlander's rundown of weird NCAA resumes but a competitor for a bid does:
Wisconsin (16-12, NET: 74)
Best Ws: @ Marquette, @ Iowa, vs. Maryland
Worst Ls: vs. Wake Forest, @ Nebraska
If the Badgers work their way into the NCAAs, they're going to flirt with last year's Rutgers team for the worst NET (77) to ever receive an at-large. As I've written in the Court Report earlier this year, each season there's one or two teams who sort of blend into the environment of the season and ever-so-quietly work their way into the field. Wisconsin is a prime candidate to pull this off, but obviously it needs two more Q1 wins to feel secure. I think it's out of the field as of today (10-11 in top two quads, Q3 loss to Wake), but a win over Purdue on Thursday might clinch it the other way.
You will have to steel yourselves and… root for Purdue over Wisconsin. FWIW, Michigan is in Dayton in Jerry Palm's latest.
Combine coming up. The NFL draft combine starts tomorrow, and a couple of Michigan players will have all eyes on them. One is Mazi Smith, who's moved up into the late first round of Nick Baumgardner's latest mock draft:
30. New Orleans Saints (via San Francisco): Mazi Smith, DT, Michigan
Smith’s combine workouts will be must-see television. In 2021, Lions OT Penei Sewell became one of just 22 players in modern NFL history to broad jump 9-foot-1 or better while weighing at least 330 pounds. Michigan says Smith (335 pounds) can pass 9-4. Get your popcorn ready.
Baumgardner has Mike Morris and DJ Turner in the third round, FWIW. Rivals has a comprehensive overview of folks who will participate.
Mess with the mouse, get the ears. I do not think this has a snowball's chance in hell of happening but I beg Disney to actually do this:
Making sure that Florida, Miami and FSU are bad forever and also pressuring the NCAA to take action against Florida schools until ron’s higher ed policies are dropped should be a centerpiece of progressive politics right now. People, especially donor rich people, really care
— kang (@jaycaspiankang) March 1, 2023
Repeal our special whatever region and attempt to crack down on our content? Here is money for football players to leave the state of Florida. This won't happen because large corporations actively attempt to be as milquetoast as possible. The mere idea is entertaining enough to relate.
NHL draft stuff. Adam Fantilli checks in second on Scott Wheeler's most recent NHL draft projection. Gavin Brindley also sneaks into the first round:
25. Gavin Brindley — C/RW, University of Michigan, 5-foot-8
One of three draft eligibles on this list playing college hockey this season, Brindley hasn’t just settled in at the University of Michigan, he has looked anywhere from comfortable to impactful in every game, including at centre and on the wing. Brindley’s a plus-level skater who gets through his extensions quickly (including from a standstill), excels on his edges, rounds corners sharply, and darts around the ice, hunting pucks and pushing through holes.
He’s also got some of the quicker hands and better touch on this list. He thrives in the small-area game, using light passes and rapid movements to play in and out of coverage. He has now impressed me wherever I’ve watched him (NCAA, USHL, Five Nations, U18 Worlds, world juniors, etc.) as a small but highly-involved forward who plays the game with energy and pace, making little skill plays between coverage. He buzzes around the ice and does such a good job releasing from one battle or chance to hunting or getting open for the next one. He’s always moving. He’ll make the soft play to the middle of the ice from the perimeter, or go there to get to rebounds or position himself on screens/tips. He’s excellent in puck protection twisting away from coverage to make things happen along the boards. And he just always seems to play well, no matter the role/usage/stage. The beauty of Brindley’s game is that while he may prove talented enough to play in a skill role at the NHL level, he’s got the approach/tools to play an effective bottom-six game too. That will limit concerns about his height (he certainly hasn’t played small in his freshman year so far).
Nobody else committed to or playing for Michigan makes his top ~90, which can be attributed to the Mel Pearson debacle.
Etc.: Michigan was 23rd in turnover luck last year, which means they have a little bit of regression to expect there. It's only 2 points per game, though. Daniel Snyder charges the Commanders 4.5 million dollars a year to put their logo on his private jet. LIV DOA. Whiskey fungus runs amok. Lines looking good. Basketball's February turnaround.
There is nothing imaginary about the culture wars.
What I am saying is that campuses dominated by progressives policies and influence upon American culture has become a target for the Right and Radical Right. That should alarm us.
How you interpreted that I think violence should happen I will let you explain. I think it is obvious that I was expressing a concern.
Can you just... stop, one fucking time?
Can you?
I took it as college campuses are very strange places these days. Violence seems to be an acceptable recourse for people when they feel aggrieved these days. It sure feels like someone is aggrieved on a college campus every day anymore. Every time we turn around a college is in the news for a protest, boycot, controversy, etc about some cultural issue that ends up in a lawsuit. I just saw one at Howard University about racial discrimination against a white student. I don't know the veracity of this lawsuit, just that it was in the news yesterday.
College campuses are easy targets. Large, open areas where police presence is going to be relatively easy to avoid. There is a vulnerability there that needs to be addressed inasmuch as it can.
Outside of turning them into minimum security prisons what can you really do? Tens of thousands of students mingling about on a daily basis on very large campuses. The bigger colleges and universities are intertwined throughout their cities. Hard to tell the public they can't be on campus when the restaurant they want to eat at is technically part of the campus.
I remember going to a concert in downtown Atlanta and having to drive through Georgia Tech's campus to get there. Also, given the nature of the age most students are at, a lot are still in the invincible stage. Add all this up and you get a vulnerability that is very hard to fix.
yes but have you considered the fact that our ancestors used to kill each other with flint tipped spears for resources? Really makes you think.
Human violence is a recent development. Humans are not the result of hundreds of thousands of years of evolution. Evolution, biology and psychology don’t matter at all when it comes to the issue violence. Everything happens in a vacuum,
Signed,
4th phase.
Every discussion with you is a series of non sequiturs.
Glad you recognized I was trolling you by saying something you might plausibly post on here as you pat yourself on the back and admire the profound wisdom of your inane and tangential insights into human nature.
You don’t bring anything to any discussion. So your criticism means less than zero. It would be one thing if you shared with us an opinion that indicated you possess an intellect greater than a potato.
But you don’t. All you have to give are insults.
You strive to reach the level of inane.
Okay, but these "oasis' of learning" that are experiencing violence include K-12 schools.
The deadliest school massacre occurred in 1927.
holy crap, print that one out and file it under “dishonest arguments - school violence.” it’s a keeper!
i mean, yah - we’ve definitely figured out the whole “violence in schools” thing, right? i mean, the bath township massacre was, y’know, BOMBS in, around, and under a school, so has next to nothing to do with school violence - certainly as it relates to guns - but why let that stand in the way?
you sacrificed any reason to take you seriously about a thousand posts ago, this is just one more stick of dynamite on the pile.
The NCAA seems to never out do themselves. They live in a fantasy world and think "go fuck yourself" is a term of endearment and respect.
They are the epitome of Plankton from Sponge Bob.
Michigan was 23rd in turnover luck last year, which means they have a little bit of regression to expect there.
This is a surprisingly inaccurate sentiment. Turnover luck has no obligation to regress to the mean. Next season could be even better. Or it could flip to one of the worst in the country. If anything, an exact +0 turnover margin is as unlikely as any other outcome. Quick Google check, out of 131 FBS teams, the number with net zero turnover margin was. . . four.
Turnover luck is like rolling a d100. You're going to get "average" a miniscule percentage of the time. Sure, there's a distribution curve, but in terms of expectations it's better to just clench your butt and hold on for the ride.
When you have faster, stronger, and better conditioned players, seems likely you can have better than average luck recovering fumbles.
I don't recall how many sack fumbles the team generated, I would guess better than average and I also expect the defense has a particularly good chance of getting fumbles generated when sacking the QB.
That's not really what the article is saying; it's pointing out that, on average, a team recovers about 50% of its fumbles (and by extension the defense picks up about 50%) and 21% of passes defended (interceptions + breakups) turn into picks. He mentions there are slight differences based on defensive style (i.e. man vs. zone) but in general football has a fair bit of randomness + roster turnover so at some point turnovers can only be "coached" so far. Last year, for example, Michigan recovered 4 fumbles and lost 4 fumbles; a perfect average in terms of fumble luck. But with picks they had 14 interceptions while only 47 passes defended. That's about 30% defended vs. picks, and that's slightly above historical averages. And considering UM will be losing 2 multi-year CB starters and be replacing them with one ball hawk and (potentially) a WR conversion, 3 fewer picks would be considered a "regression" but not some unexpected drop.
I think the point here is that it's more likely that roll is going to be worse next year than it is that it will be better - which is the case the year following any year it happened to be favorable. The point is not that it's likely to be precisely average
Charlie Baker lives in the same area I do. I’ve only had one conversation with him, which he initiated with a “Go Blue” because he saw my Michigan shirt before a Michigan/OSU football game. He proceeded to tell me how much he dislikes Ohio State.
People in charge of things, etc. etc. but in terms of fandom of NCAA presidents, Michigan could do much worse.
Baudonia!!
The SEC just needs to get kicked out of the NCAA. That’s the only answer to cleaning up the system. Two years of following rules, then they can apply for membership again to one of the NCAA conferences. And if the member schools want to piss on the rules, they are relegated to the SEC. The SEC says they don’t need the NCAA. Let’s find out.
The NCAA will soon be usurped by a power 5 conference created oversight entity
Hey, Michigan can still win the Big Ten regular season championship. Rooting for Purdue to lose to Wisconsin unless that championship shot's off the table by 9pm tonight
Oops, double post :I
MGoPolitics
Few things are as predictable as Michigan folk defending an institution like Disney, while railing on a guy like DeSantis. By pretty much every measurable economic, not to mention common sense metric, DeSantis is hitting it out of the park pretty much every time he steps up to a microphone. His success and popularity drives the prototypical self appointed intellectual Michigan alum apoplectic with loathing for everything DeSantis stands for. Disney stepped in the horse manure by wading in on the bill they are so fond of misnaming. Their enterprise is in a free fall, their brand is tarnished, and their pipeline of golden goose films has all but dried up. 'Mess with the mouse, get the ears".......More like mess with things outside your bailiwick, and get your ears knocked off.
More football, and more recruiting please, and thank you
All that out of the park stuff is very debatable. I'll give it to you he is scoring big in the (recently fully outed by their own testimony) fantasy reality of RWM.
In the larger scheme, outside of an increasingly very radical State, we're talking about a guy with the charisma of a tree stump. He'll need the party's front-runner to either pass away or get tossed in prison to even secure the nomination. That's a political and numeric reality.
He's Harvard educated and made the pretty sudden pivot into crazy grievance attack politics in the last couple years.
I doubt he believes most of what he says or does. But he's shooting his one and only shot. No one can take that fact from him.
You beclown yourself by defending DeSantis. He is a bully and a proto-nazi. He denies science. He bans books! He stifles open inquiry on college campuses. If you call that hitting it out of the park, one wonders just what kind of small minded park you live in. I have to think you have had zero encounters with a university, or at least no lucid encounters. Yeesh is all I can say. Yes, stick to football you clown. I can see by your past posts that you do not do that enough. You degrade the site with your presence.
Progressive sides with one of the worlds most powerful corporations. Film at 11.
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