Member for

8 years 9 months
Points
416.00

Recent Comments

Date Title Body
Paddy Cronin.

https://www…

Paddy Cronin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h9rCTUfMxM

That's the offense my high…

That's the offense my high school team, Marine City, put in place my senior year.  In my day we had orange home and white away jerseys.  Even so in one of our away games, the refs blew the play dead when the ball carrier was running untouched 10 yards downfield with no one else near him.  (Unfortunately a side effect of all the tricky and deception was kind of nerfing the offensive line's necessity to run the ball, meaning I was less useful to the team that year than I had been the year before.)

They did switch to black home jerseys to add to the deception sometime while I was in college.

Glad it's not just me.

Glad it's not just me.

I don't think that's right…

I don't think that's right at all?  These matchups don't show a flaw in Seth's proposal.  (Which IMO is a clever way to learn more about the relative rankings of the best teams in the conference, and maybe provide some humor with the worst teams in the conference bumbling around each other.)  These matchups are bad because the current division structure of the Big Ten means the three best teams have already played each other!  So the best possible matchup is #1 vs #4, and matchups after that can only get worse.

In an 18 team Big Ten, there will be more competitive teams (I hope!) and it's much more likely they won't all have played each other in a season.  In that world Seth's idea makes a lot of sense, because it will get you the best matchups that haven't already happened, and some of those should be good games, and all of them will generate more information about the pecking order of the teams.

I was actually wondering…

I was actually wondering about this -- if we can find server logs showing OSU addresses hit the UFRs, is that illegal in-person scouting by OSU?

I feel like this analysis is…

I feel like this analysis is getting caught up in the details.  Big picture: There were two elements to this "scandal": 1) Stalions sending people (maybe including himself) to other teams' games.  2) Which allegedly allowed Michigan to get a completely unprecedented unfair advantage of knowing their opponents' signs.  The logic for why #1 was so bad immediate action needed to be taken was because of #2.

What this new information shows is that other teams in the Big Ten knew Michigan's signs last year.  That might not be illegal in the NCAA rules as written.  (Though if it isn't, I'd certainly argue that's pretty strong evidence the NCAA does not consider sign stealing to be a significant issue!!) But it almost completely defangs point #2 above.  How can you possibly argue that Michigan having your signs is the worst scandal in Big Ten history, but you having Michigan's signs is just business as normal?!

My copy of the podcast skips…

My copy of the podcast skips from the intro to the hot takes.  Is anyone else seeing this, or did my download just glitch?

So, it's the middle of the…

So, it's the middle of the night and I can't sleep and I'm going to do some crazed ranting here.

Suppose you're Ryan Day, and you truly believe Michigan beat you the last two years because of sign stealing.  Wouldn't the absolute last thing you want to do be punishing Michigan now?

I mean: 1) Michigan's ace sign stealer is suspended.  2) You've got a full six weeks to prepare for the possibility that Michigan might be going to try to steal signs.  (I mean, according to reports you had more than a year, but I don't know how well verified those reports are.)  3) You've got something huge to prove.

This is Ryan Day's big chance to prove the losses aren't his fault!

On the other hand, if you're Ryan Day and you're pretty sure you're going to lose The Game again this year, then a massive PR blitz make to it seem like Michigan is committing unthinkable cheating is a pretty great way to try to circulate the theory that it isn't your fault.

Gang, this isn't about Michigan at all.  This is an attempt by Ryan Day to change the narrative and keep his job.

 

 

 

I've noticed this before --…

I've noticed this before -- my instinct is also to go with "outloud", but dictionaries don't seem to think it is a word.  Is it a Michigan dialect thing, maybe?

My dad (RIP) was firmly of…

My dad (RIP) was firmly of the opinion that not giving it 100% was more likely to lead to injuries, not from karma but from practical physical considerations.

I don't have any clue if this was common belief back in the day, something he picked up from UofM Kinesiology in the early 60s, something he picked up coaching high school football and basketball later that decade, or just an observation he'd made over the years.

I have a vague memory there…

I have a vague memory there was a "sexy" recording of the Victors back in the late 70s / early 80s (you know, slowly sung by an alto), but I don't recall ever hearing a disco version.  But then it was a long time ago...

I've no idea the origin of…

I've no idea the origin of the phrase, but we called it the "prevent offense".

Was trying to figure out why…

Was trying to figure out why I had no memory of this game, leading me to try to reconstruct what I was doing over New Year's  what year during college.  For some reason I was slow to pick up on the fact that the '92 football season was my first year of grad school.  Right, so this was the year I was sick and the family dog was killed by a car 2-3 hours after the Rose Bowl ended.  oof.  no stars, would not recommend that, made the football game very very secondary.

(For a happy-ish ending, we somehow managed to buy a new puppy for the family on Jan 2nd, and then go back to Ann Arbor for school the next day.  Sometime later that winter my parents brought her along to Ann Arbor to take my sister and I cross-country skiing.  I got in the car and the puppy instantly endeared herself to me by jumping straight in my lap and cuddling.)

Do the t-shirts still max at…

Do the t-shirts still max at out 3XL?  I would pre-order this in a second (hell at a premium price) if I thought this t-shirt would fit me...

I've got to admit I don't…

I've got to admit I don't remember watching this game at all.  I'm about 95% certain I wasn't there -- can't imagine I'd forget sitting through a late season evening game that went into 3 overtimes.   (I gave up getting season tickets (after going to almost every home game since 1988) either in 2004 or 2005 because of a hefty price increase.)  But I can't remember any reason I wouldn't have watched?

As for the format here, I liked it.  Seeing the post, I considered trying to track the game down on YouTube and watch it, but after reading the post, I'm really glad I didn't subject myself to the first three quarters!!

But they just asserted it…

But they just asserted it like everyone knew that, when it was the first time I remember hearing it?

My aunt says "Summer clubs…

My aunt says "Summer clubs are outdoor pools and 13 records in these clubs is good but it is the very beginning of swimming competition."  The really serious swimmers for the Marlins would be swimming during the school year.  (Should have said, my cousins went on to swim for Wisconsin and Harvard; I believe some of their Marlin teammates went on to swim in the Olympics.)

Also really encouraged by…

Also really encouraged by the fact he's in four sports, has good grades, and is looking to go into pre-med.

Though I can't find any…

Though I can't find any trace of him on the actual Marlins pages?  I'll ask my Cincy swimming cousins what the story is.

If I'm understanding things…

If I'm understanding things correctly, those are 2020 results (ie when he was in junior high).  Note that he's swimming for a YMCA team there rather than the Marlins.

Wasn't the block, it was the…

Wasn't the block, it was the one where they called a 5 yard penalty which didn't really help us, but lots of people thought it should have been a 15 yard penalty because of the part where the guy clobbered Robbins' plant leg.

At least, I think most of us are assuming that's when he got hurt.  Dunno if there's been any actual confirmation that is the case...

Absolutely not.  There's no…

Absolutely not.  There's no excuse for escalating from verbal to physical.

I think luck on a few high…

I think luck on a few high leverage plays explains the first half, but not the second.  Jamie Mac has a tweet claiming that Michigan had a higher success rate in the 2nd half than OSU: https://twitter.com/justcoverblog/status/1597351761458909184

Looking at the stats by drive, I'm sure he's right. Michigan had six real possessions in the second half.  Two were 3 and out.  Two were 75+ yard long drives for touchdowns, one with 7 plays, one with 15.  And the final two were 75+ yard long drives that averaged 2 plays, because Edwards toasted them.  That's not being mostly shut down with lucky breaks, that's almost complete domination.  (Along the same lines, it was the very first drive of the half that scored the winning points!!)

I thought Seth made a good…

I thought Seth made a good point I hadn't considered.  At that point the game is just as over if Michigan gets 4 yards and a first down as it is if Michigan gets a touchdown.  Might as well sell out to try to prevent them getting the those crucial first 3 yards.

Though of course giving up the touchdown is far more embarrassing...  

If the theory is that Corum…

If the theory is that Corum is so incredibly good that he racks up the yards despite a ho-hum offensive line, how the heck do you explain Edwards getting 3.9 yards more per carry this game?  Did we have the best two RBs in the country last year AND the best two RBs in the country this year?

I mean, okay, maybe we did both years, love these guys ... but it seems like a crazy leap not to assume the OL had something positive to do with it!!

Once the flutes start, I'm…

Once the flutes start, I'm never fully confident they're not going to doom us.  But I was confident we were the better team.

Yeah, I was looking at the…

Yeah, I was looking at the reply again reading this article, and really not seeing how Corum was down on the one.  But I didn't muck about to get a good slow motion replay to be sure...

Putting numbers on it: over…

Putting numbers on it: over two games, Corum has 22 carries, Edwards 15, Stokes 14, Dunlap 4, and Gash 4.  I think no other RB more than 1.

Just re-downloaded the…

Just re-downloaded the podcast, and now it has Sam Webb, so it's definitely not the podcast I downloaded yesterday.  Wacky!

Okay, just went through the archives, and what I listened to was the 8/19/2021 Roundtable -- https://mgoblog.com/content/wtka-roundtable-8192021-big-red-pilled  The OL preview talk near the end is really interesting after the season -- Ira comments that what he was hearing in camp made him optimistic about the offensive line, Seth tries to talk him down from what in retrospect was the 200% correct position.  On the other hand, Seth is completely right that they were saying nice things about Filiaga because he was getting passed.

In retrospect, if I was…

In retrospect, if I was listening to last year's podcast, the offensive line discussion makes a hell of a lot more sense!!

"Buy Hail to the Victors"?!?…

"Buy Hail to the Victors"?!?  Is it actually on sale?  Or did I somehow just listen to a podcast from this time last year?!

My impression was they are…

My impression was they are supposed to be regulars now, at least for a while.

 

And 100% agree, their segment was great!

Presumably bought as part of…

Presumably bought as part of a package deal -- entire album or soundtrack or artist's output or something.

That said, why is it only (as far as I've noticed) the Live podcast that doesn't get Across 110th Street?  Different rules for live streams?

No idea what it's like today…

No idea what it's like today in New England, but back in the 80s in Michigan 220 pounds and 240 would have both wrestled the same weight class, "Heavyweight".  If I recall correctly it was something like 198-275 pounds, and I don't know that I ever ran into anyone who had to lose weight to get into that range.

Best wishes to Brian, and…

Best wishes to Brian, and Seth, please don't wreck yourself trying to do two people's worth of work.

Now listening to the show,…

Now listening to the show, and Champion House!  The kind of Chinese place you could comfortably take your parents, nice place with good food.  Ate many times there.

Also loved Great Wall over by the VC, but fell out of the habit of going there once I moved out of East Quad.  China Gate just got mentioned -- sad to hear it is gone, but it never would have been my choice.  (Already talked about Dinersty in a different comment, though I didn't mention that they would take fax orders in 1993, and I used my computer's fax modem to order General Tso's for delivery at least once a week in grad school.)

(Also appreciated hearing Red Hot Lovers, the Half-Ass, White's Grocery, and Liberty Street Video...)

OMG yes.  I've had a lot of…

OMG yes.  I've had a lot of Chinese food I think was much much better than Dinersty over the years, but as far as I'm concerned their General Tso's was the Platonic ideal of General Tso's.

It's up now, thanks!

It's up now, thanks!

This podcast doesn't seem to…

This podcast doesn't seem to have propagated to my usual podcast listening software?  They're still showing the late August podcast as the latest...

On the "skewed goals"…

On the "skewed goals" newspaper clipping, something about the presentation was bugging me, so I looked things up.  Michigan did win the 1989 Rose Bowl, and freshmen on that 1988 team were fifth-year seniors on the 1992 team.  I didn't try to sort out a complete list, but Corwin Brown is one example that I can remember playing.  It's weird, because they start that sentence saying "five straight Big Ten titles", go on talking about things that happened over the last five years, and then suddenly act as if no one had been on the team that entire time.

 

My father (RIP) certainly…

My father (RIP) certainly was upset about the internal hire, though I don't remember him mentioning Neuheisel as someone he would have preferred.  His big arguing point was that internal promotions meant we were hiring the assistants who weren't good enough to be hired for better jobs elsewhere.  I don't think I properly appreciated this until I was listening to one of the Bo-era Teams podcasts last year, and realized there were multiple assistant coaches that year who left and subsequently won national championships as head coach somewhere else.

That said, of course Lloyd did win a national championship here.  It's a hard thing to figure, because if you don't count that year, the entire rest of his career matches my dad's prediction -- good but not great, mostly memorable because of the unexpected victories over Ohio State in the 90s.  But '97 was inarguably great.

I mostly missed this game…

I mostly missed this game the first time around because my cousin decided to get married that day and I was one of his groomsmen.  In Madison, Wisconsin, mind you.  (Significant portions of the Badgers 90s swim teams and cheerleading squads showed up to the reception.)  Dad and I desperately and confusedly caught snatches of the game when we could in-between the festivities, both extremely anxious because we were at the '94 game and remembered it all too well.

Would be very happy to have…

Would be very happy to have a regular issue even if a bit light on (uncertain) futures.

But the idea of doing UFRs for a couple of classic games is BRILLIANT.  Drooling now at the thought of a full UFR for the 313 game....

Haven't listened yet so I…

Haven't listened yet so I dunno if this is mentioned, but check out this ancestral insanity from England: https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/ashbourne-royal-shrovetide-2020-3861795

"Unlike a conventional football match, the game takes place over two eight-hour periods, the goals are three miles apart at former mills and there are few rules. It's better compared to rugby, with a huge, steaming hug at its centre, not unlike a rugby scrum."

"It is perfectly legal to kick, carry or throw [the ball]. These days, with large crowds stifling the open play, the ball generally moves through the town in a series of hugs, like a giant scrum in rugby, made up of dozens if not hundreds of people."

Hey, he's only 30 minutes'…

Hey, he's only 30 minutes' drive away!  May have to go catch a game or two.

Think I've said it on here…

Think I've said it on here before.  When I was a sophomore in high school, one of the starting defensive lineman on our varsity team was a guy who wrestled at (I think) 135.  IMO he was one of the better linemen on a team that reached the semi-final level of the Michigan high school football playoffs back when there were only half as many divisions as there are now.  For sure he was hell to block even though I outweighed him by 100 pounds -- though he was even worse to wrestle against!  If our defensive line had a couple of guys who were as tough as him but wrestled heavyweight, I think they'd do quite well for us.

I'm still up for football…

I'm still up for football content.  I love Michigan's football program, and I love it even if we cannot defeat OSU.  And I want to know -- are we tracking in the right direction as a program?

My impression is that we are.  I haven't checked it out (not sure how) but my understanding is that by SP+, this was our best offense ranking under Harbaugh (#20) and tied for our worst defense (#10).  Considering how dodgy the offense was at the beginning of the season, that seems like a solid result on that end of things, definite evidence we're moving in the right direction there.

When you make the whole season about The Game, then you miss the fact that our median SP+ overall rank the last five years is #9, and we certainly seem like we could still improve to make, say, #6 our normal rating, and that would be a good thing even if we're still losing to #1 OSU.

All that said, the basketball team is super exciting this year, and should definitely be MGoBlog's main focus for the next four months!

"Nearly free-pork shoulder…

"Nearly free-pork shoulder disposal is an increasingly serious problem."


Never really considered it a problem, as such, but here's my latest solution to it: https://blog.themalamarket.com/sichuanish-crispy-sichuan-pepper-pulled-pork/

Dead simple, tastes fantastic, only tricky bit is you have to have Sichuan peppercorns handy to make it.

What I don't get is what the…

What I don't get is what the hell memory of Michigan football do they have when this sort of season WAS NOT the norm?  (I mean, other than the obvious dark ages Harbaugh pulled us out of.)  I just grabbed 4 years in the early 80s to look at. Two of the seasons we already had our second loss by the third game.  One of the other ones we started the season ranked #1 and lost the very first game to a Wisconsin team that went on to a 7-5 record.  Overall records 10-2, 9-3, 8-4, 9-3.  Only real thing that was better then than now was we beat Ohio State twice -- but then OSU went 9-3 every one of those seasons, so OSU then was markedly worse than it has been the last five years.

I was thinking choosing a…

I was thinking choosing a best one was going to be impossible, and then I got to that.  As an old tackle who wore 72 in high school, that is likely to be my favorite shot of the entire season.