Saturday, June 27, 2009

Flint Unis

My first reaction was that they are a perfect argument to show that M Flint and M Dearborn are not actually UM. But, as I think about, it is actually a good design to honor the main helmet design, but putting a new flourish on it.

The thing I don't get is why OSU has a club team.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Violation

That is clearly a reputation list. I don't feel at all comfortable that M has that rep with RR now in charge, but I also don't think it means much unless there is actually a violation. There is no question RR is not as clean as Lloyd and Bo. But, should we look at him as being a crook and a cheater or just as another coach who isn't quite Lloyd and Bo in that area? I don't know. I guess his winning percentage will also help in how we look at him here at M. I'm sure USC (#1) generally has little problem with their coach, Skippy. I would hope M fans/alums are able to stay above the fray and would want him gone the moment there is a violation, but I'm not sure how it would go if he turns the team around and is challenging for MNCs every other year. Of course, if he commits a major violation in the next year or two, he'll be gone within the week.

Odds on NCAA violations

Did you see this list of odds on next school to commit an NCAA violation from BetUS.com?

http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports_college_hurricanes/2009/06/dont-bet-on-the-canes-breaking-ncaa-rules-.html

Michigan ends up at 13-1 tied for 7th with Alabama. The list looks like they mean football only. Otherwise I don't see how Kentucky and Callipari wouldn't be ranked.

I think UCLA with Neuheisel at 20-1 odds might be the best bet.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Steele

He ranks ND #7. Yes, #7, in his preseason poll.

Phil Steele

I assume he also has Notre Dame "ranked" higher than Michigan making bowl eligibility require at least 1 upset.

Phil Steele predictions

So, Phil Steele says M is going to make a bowl game this year. He said the same thing last year.

He says M will be the 6th (tied with Wisconsin) best team in the league. And M plays all five of the others. So, if there are no upsets, M will lose to the 5 teams above it, lose to Wisconsin because the teams are even and the game is in Wisconsin. That means no non-conference losses to make a bowl. Yikes. Better hope we upset someone.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

V v S

It is so funny that you mentioned that. I just heard someone say almost exactly what you are disputing. Sports talk radio is filled with simple people. They have no nuance and they often miss the point. The guy on 1130 (at about 5pm) just kept criticizing the attorneys for being greedy and "how can they sleep at night?", and then finally Stallworth's family (for taking money). I don't think the whole idea of what the Justice system is for even comes into the minds of these people.

If anything, I think everybody should get 30 days in jail for drunk driving, regardless if anyone is injured because of it. But, that is another issue and is totally off point of your post and my above post. If only sports-talk radio could recognize that, too.

Vick vs. Stallworth

I don't understand how people cannot see a difference in these cases. Michael Vick essentially lead a crime ring for multiple years. Dog fights and selling guns and drugs were all part of his "kennel". When the crimes were discovered he denied any wrongdoing and tried to cover up any evidence of what was going on.
Stallworth drank too much, drove an killed someone. He called 911 and reported what had happened immediately. The family of the victim asked the court and the DA for leniency as they were willing to take a cash settlement in lieu of sending Stallworth to prison.
Saying "Vick killed dogs and got 2 years and Stallworth killed a person and got 30 days" is a VAST simplification of what occurred.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

trophy games

I plan to add a column to my M football game database to include "trophy games", where the all-time cup was up for grabs

Monday, June 15, 2009

Alltime Cup

In the storied history of this blog, that is probably the best post.

Even if we were to find out what WVWs games really were, I would assume we would have the same current cupholder. The only way I think it wouldn't be that way is if WVW lost to a different historically bad small school who never played bigger schools. It would have wandered around small unis and highschools and military bases for awhile. Eventually, it probably would have come back up to the Majors.

We need to get on WVU thing a little more.

Post about the All-Time college football trophy

Update edit corrections and made into table 7/14/2009 - need help with WV Wesleyan and Wichita St...

I think it about time we write about one of your greatest ideas. The first I remember you wanted to track a mythical trophy stating with Michigan's first football game after you were born.

Michigan their season opener, then lost to Cal. Cal won their next game then lost to UCLA, etc.

But then you extended it to capture the All-time college football trophy - starting with the Princeton vs. Rutgers game in 1869.




TeamWonLostWinsties
Rutgers11/6/186911/13/186910
Princeton11/13/186911/30/187690
Yale11/30/187611/28/187891
Princeton11/28/187811/18/1882173
Harvard11/18/188211/25/188200
Yale11/25/188211/21/1885241
Princeton11/21/188511/12/1887151
Harvard11/12/188711/24/188710
Yale11/24/188711/28/1889290
Princeton11/28/188911/27/1890121
Yale11/27/189011/30/1893360
Princeton11/30/189311/10/189470
Penn11/10/189410/24/1896240
Lafayette10/24/189610/23/1897111
Penn10/23/189711/5/1898150
Harvard11/5/189811/24/1900221
Yale11/24/190011/23/1901111
Harvard11/23/190111/22/1902110
Yale11/22/190211/14/1903100
Princeton11/14/190310/15/190450
Navy10/15/190410/29/190411
Swarthmore10/29/190410/7/190520
Penn10/7/190510/13/1906122
Swarthmore10/13/190611/10/190630
Navy11/10/190610/19/190771
Harvard10/19/190711/9/190820
Carlisle11/9/190811/7/190881
Harvard11/7/190811/20/1909100
Yale11/20/190910/15/191040
Army10/15/191010/29/191010
Harvard10/29/191011/4/191171
Princeton11/4/191111/2/191280
Harvard11/2/191210/23/1915232
Cornell10/23/191510/28/191670
Harvard10/28/191611/18/191620
Brown11/18/191611/25/191600
Colgate11/25/191610/27/191720
Brown10/27/191711/3/191700
Syracuse11/3/191711/16/191870
MICHIGAN11/16/191810/25/191940
Ohio St.10/25/191911/22/191920
Illinois11/22/191911/13/192050
Wisconsin11/13/192011/19/192161
Chicago11/19/192110/28/192230
Princeton10/28/192210/20/192350
Notre Dame10/20/192311/10/192320
Nebraska11/10/192311/24/192310
Syracuse11/24/192311/8/192451
WV Wesleyan11/8/192410/24/192520
WVU10/24/192510/30/192690
Missouri10/30/192611/6/192600
Oklahoma11/6/192611/11/192600
Kansas11/11/192611/20/192600
Missouri11/20/192610/22/192730
SMU10/22/192711/5/192710
Texas A&M11/5/192710/13/192850
Centenary10/13/192810/20/192800
Baylor10/20/192811/10/192820
Texas11/10/192811/16/192972
TCU11/16/192911/15/193092
Texas11/15/193010/10/193130
Rice10/10/193110/17/193100
SMU10/17/193112/5/193151
St. Mary's12/5/193111/5/193241
Forham11/5/193211/4/193370
St. Mary's11/4/193311/30/193321
Oregon11/30/193310/13/193420
Washington10/13/193411/10/193420
Stanford11/10/19341/1/193520
Alabama1/1/193510/12/193511
Mississippi St10/12/193511/9/193530
LSU11/9/19351/1/193630
TCU1/1/19369/26/193610
Texas Tech9/26/193610/9/193610
Wichita St10/9/193610/31/193600
St. Louis10/31/193611/7/193600
Missouri11/7/193610/2/193730
Colorado10/2/19371/1/193870
Rice1/1/193810/1/193800
Oklahoma10/1/19381/2/193990
Tennessee1/2/19391/1/1940100
USC1/1/194010/26/194022
Stanford10/26/194010/11/194170
Oregon St10/11/194110/25/194100
Washington St10/25/194112/6/194140
Texas A&M12/6/19411/1/194200
Alabama1/1/194210/31/194250
Georgia10/31/194211/21/194220
Auburn11/21/194210/14/194430
Georgia Tech10/14/194411/4/194420
Duke11/4/194410/6/194560
Navy10/6/194512/1/194551
Army12/1/194510/25/1947122
Columbia10/25/194710/2/194850
Harvard10/2/194810/9/194800
Cornell10/9/194810/23/194810
Army10/23/194812/2/1950201
Navy12/2/195010/6/195101
Princeton10/6/195110/11/195290
Penn10/11/195211/1/195211
Penn St11/1/195211/8/195200
Syracuse11/8/19521/1/195320
Alabama1/1/19539/18/195300
Southern Miss9/18/195310/31/195340
Memphis10/31/195311/7/195300
Arkansas St11/7/195310/2/195431
Mississippi St10/2/195410/15/195410
Miami (FL)10/15/195411/6/195420
Auburn11/6/195410/29/195581
Tulane10/29/195511/12/195510
Vanderbilt11/12/195511/26/195510
Tennessee11/26/19551/1/1957100
Baylor1/1/195710/5/195720
Miami (FL)10/5/195710/11/195700
North Carolina10/11/195710/19/195700
Maryland10/19/195710/26/195700
Tennessee10/26/195711/16/195720
Ole Miss11/16/195711/1/195871
LSU11/1/195811/7/1959110
Tennessee11/7/195911/14/195900
Ole Miss11/14/195911/4/1961181
LSU11/4/196111/3/195291
Ole Miss11/3/19521/1/1964112
Alabama1/1/19641/1/1965100
Texas1/1/196510/16/196540
Arkansas10/16/19651/1/196650
LSU1/1/19669/24/196610
Rice9/24/196610/1/196600
Tennessee10/1/196610/8/196600
Georgia Tech10/8/196611/26/196650
Georgia11/26/196610/14/196740
Ole Miss10/14/196711/18/196721
Tennessee11/18/19671/1/196820
Oklahoma1/1/19689/21/196800
Notre Dame9/21/19689/28/196800
Purdue9/28/196810/12/196810
Ohio St.10/12/196811/22/1969150
MICHIGAN11/22/19691/1/197000
USC1/1/197010/10/197031
Stanford10/10/197011/14/197040
Air Force11/14/197011/21/197000
Colorado11/21/197012/12/197000
Tulane12/12/19709/18/197110
Georgia9/18/197111/13/197170
Auburn11/13/197111/27/197100
Alabama11/27/19711/1/197200
Nebraska1/1/19729/9/197300
UCLA9/9/19739/23/197210
MICHIGAN9/23/197211/25/197280
Ohio St.11/25/19721/1/197300
USC1/1/197310/27/197351
Notre Dame10/27/19739/28/197470
Purdue9/28/197410/5/197400
Duke10/5/197410/19/197410
Clemson10/19/197410/26/197400
Tennessee10/26/19749/20/197551
UCLA9/20/197510/4/197501
Ohio St.10/4/19751/1/197670
UCLA1/1/197611/20/197691
USC11/20/197610/8/197760
Alabama10/8/19779/23/197890
USC9/23/197810/14/197810
Arizona St10/14/197810/28/197800
Washington10/28/197811/11/197810
USC11/11/197811/15/1980222
Washington11/15/19801/1/198110
MICHIGAN1/1/19819/12/198100
Wisconsin9/12/19819/19/198100
UCLA9/19/19819/26/198100
Iowa9/26/198110/24/198130
Minnesota10/24/198110/31/198100
MICHIGAN10/31/198111/21/198120
Ohio St.11/21/19819/25/198230
Stanford9/25/198210/9/198210
Arizona St10/9/198211/13/198230
Washington11/13/198211/20/198200
Washington St11/20/19829/10/198310
MICHIGAN9/10/19839/17/198300
Washington9/17/19839/24/198300
LSU9/24/198310/1/198300
Florida10/1/198310/29/198320
Auburn10/29/19838/27/198440
Miami (FL)8/27/19849/8/198410
MICHIGAN9/8/19849/15/198400
Washington9/15/198411/10/198470
USC11/10/198411/17/198400
UCLA11/17/19849/28/198531
Washington9/28/198510/19/198520
Oregon St10/19/198511/2/198500
Arizona11/2/198511/9/198510
UCLA11/9/198511/23/198510
USC11/23/198512/28/198510
Alabama12/28/198510/25/198670
Penn St10/25/19869/12/198760
Alabama9/12/19879/19/198700
Florida9/19/198710/3/198710
LSU10/3/198711/7/198730
Alabama11/7/198711/14/198700
Notre Dame11/14/198711/21/198700
Penn St11/21/19871/1/198800
Clemson1/1/19889/17/198820
Florida St9/17/19889/2/198990
Southern Miss9/2/19899/9/198900
Mississippi St9/9/19899/23/198900
Georgia9/23/19899/30/198900
South Carolina9/30/198910/28/198920
NC St10/28/198911/4/198900
Virginia11/4/19891/1/199020
Illinois1/1/19909/8/199000
Arizona9/8/19909/29/199020
California9/29/199010/27/199030
Washington10/27/199011/10/199010
UCLA11/10/199011/17/199000
USC11/17/199011/24/199000
Notre Dame11/24/19901/1/199100
Colorado1/1/19919/14/199110
Baylor9/14/199110/12/199130
Rice10/12/199110/19/199100
TCU10/19/199110/26/199100
Baylor10/26/199111/16/199110
Texas Tech11/16/19919/3/199210
Oklahoma9/3/19929/19/199210
USC9/19/199210/3/199200
Washington10/3/199211/7/199240
Arizona11/7/199211/14/199200
USC11/14/199211/21/199200
UCLA11/21/19929/4/199300
California9/4/199310/9/199340
Washington10/9/199310/16/199300
UCLA10/16/199311/13/199330
Arizona St11/13/199311/26/199300
Arizona11/26/199310/8/199450
Colorado St10/8/199410/22/199410
Utah10/22/199411/5/199410
New Mexico11/5/199411/12/199400
Wyoming11/12/19949/9/199510
Air Force9/9/19959/16/199510
Colorado St9/16/19959/30/199500
BYU9/30/199510/14/199500
Arizona St10/14/199511/24/199530
Arizona11/24/19959/7/199610
Iowa9/7/19969/21/199610
Tulsa9/21/199610/19/199620
BYU10/19/19969/6/199770
Washington9/6/19979/20/199710
Nebraska9/20/199710/10/1998150
Texas A&M10/10/199811/27/199850
Texas11/27/19988/28/199910
NC St8/28/19999/18/199920
Florida St9/18/199910/7/2000140
Miami (FL)10/7/20001/3/2003310
Ohio St.1/3/200310/11/200350
Wisconsin10/11/200310/18/200300
Purdue10/18/200310/25/200300
MICHIGAN10/25/20031/1/200430
USC1/1/20041/4/2006250
Texas1/4/20069/9/200610
Ohio St.9/9/20061/8/2007100
Florida1/8/20079/29/200740
Auburn9/29/200710/20/200720
LSU10/20/200711/23/200730
Arkansas11/23/20071/1/200800
Missouri1/1/200810/11/200850
Oklahoma St10/11/200810/25/200810
Texas10/25/200811/1/200800
Texas Tech11/1/200811/22/200810
Oklahoma11/22/20081/8/200920
Florida1/8/2009


So there you have it - Florida is the current holder of the All-Time College football trophy.

Friday, June 12, 2009

RB on ESPN

The real question is whether there will be a viable internet/TV combo created before the total end of over-the-air sports. I'm thinking there won't, as they haven't even created a successful model yet. If the RB was what it was 10 years ago, this would be a sad day. The only real sad thing about it is that ESPN just gets more powerful. TV has told college sports when and where to play. Will there be a time when ESPN chooses who the Universities hire as coaches, etc. Or who they are allowed to recruit? That may sound far fetched, but if NBC told ND to fire Weiss or they won't renew the contract, ND would listen. Is ESPN getting that kind of power? We'll see.

MHSAA, BACON

I think he makes some good points, but, as you said, he misses the big points. Sure, do we all with it didn't happen and let us have it the way it was? Yes. But, it was not equal the way it was. I don't know if it is any better or worse now, and I wonder about why it was really done, but being different did make a difference.



Also, blaming any money problems on anything but the economy is silly. They are moving to have 8 man football in a couple years. Posen is going to that because they don't have enough kids. People are leaving the area, and the schools, and the athletic programs are going to suffer.



I think a lot of people (not Bacon, necessarily) first look at how things will effect them and make their decision on what they think about it. They don't look at it overall. A perfect example of that is Sam whatshisname filing a class action suit against EA Sports for using college football players' likenesses. First things I read (other than MGOBrian's logical column) is how stupid Sam is and etc. etc. When what they really think is "oh, no, they are going to take the good things about my game away." Because he is right. Will it be better for the majority of the college football fan world if the suit fails? Of course. Is that the right thing? I don't know (it is too complex for me). The MHSAA thing is similar. It is probably bad for those parents who have a B-ball playing son and a B-Ball playing daughter. They will have a lot of scheduling issues. But, it is still right.



Did you see Paul Dodd commented?

MHSAA schedules

John U Bacon writes on the change in girls' sports (I say girls' sports as I say boys' sports for high school - for the AA schools to call their programs men's and women's is ridiculous) schedules and the impact it has had on the state's schools, and kids.

http://blog.johnubacon.com/2009/06/12/good-intentions-gone-wrong.aspx

I really like John, but I think he misses the point on this one (and I told him so in the comments). To blame the mothers for MHSAA financial problems, lower turnout in sports etc. is too great a leap.

How much could the MHSAA have saved if they'd just accepted the ruling? I think the downturn in the economy has a great impact on HS sports. More schools have gone to pay-for-play. More kids might need to work to help support the family etc. Less sponsorship of teams by local businesses.

The MHSAA held their breath, kicked their feet and didn't want to follow the rest of the country. They spent millions of dollars they didn't have to fight change to avoid the "problems" that every other state finds ways to deal with.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Movie maker site greatness

You aren't kidding, I don't think I'll be doing much else other than making movies for the rest of the summer.

As for the accent - the only choices for English speaking male were American, English and Australian. I didn't want us to have the same voice.

It takes a long time to load the data - so shorter films may be the way to go.

I'll try to fins more e-mail conversations

Movie

That website may be the most awesome website in the history of websites.

And that movie was great. I liked my slight British accent and the way you dance at the end.

making movies

this website is awesome - here's an old conversation of ours - in a movie

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch?e=2009061007364237

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Green Bay in the NFL

I hate to admit stealing the base of this idea from Colin Blowhard, but I did...

Green Bay WI is the 261 most populace city in the US and has a successful NFL team. Cities with greater population include: South Bend (# 243), Billings (#255), Ann Arbor, Lansing and Flint (#214-216).
The second lowest city with a big 3 professional sports franchise is Orlando (#83) with over twice the population - I would assume it would be much higher if we were looking at surrounding area.
It is impressive that the city was able to maintain the team before the NFL became what it is today. The other legendary teams from small town - Canton Bulldogs, Portsmouth Spartans etc. got gobbled up by bigger cities or went out of business. It is not surprising they are able to maintain business today, with the protections offered by revenue sharing of the massive NFL TV contract. But I would assume that had they not been the dominant team of the 1960s - there would be no team in Green Bay today.

Monday, June 8, 2009

worst play-by-play combination ever

Since Dan Dickerson is apparently only doing home games since he blew out his knees, that leaves Jim Price as the primary play-by-play voice of the Tigers on the road. His primary color man (who also does 2 innings of play-by-play) is John Keating from FSD.

These guys are horrible. Price is barely acceptable as a color guy, but he cannot carry pbp. Then when Keating does his 2 innings, it seems like Price may have been the best announcer ever.
Why can't they convince Ernie Harwell to come out of retirement and fill in? I'd take Pat Caputo and Dennis Fithian.

I like being able to hear the Tigers at work, I just wish I could hear the White Sox announcers instead.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

magazines, newspapers

I'm not one to agree that newspapers and magazines are dead, but I've noticed that those that try to be the same thing they were 5-10 years ago just won't succeed. I've heard SI is actually about 1/2 the size now that it was a decade ago. I think the reason it still exists is because of people like you who have the nostalgia of it.

I was thinking the other day of how much I loved Pro Football Weekly and Football News. Those weekly football papers (monthly during the offseason) had so much info. All of that info is certainly available online today, but there was something about getting it in the mail and looking at it. And, as you know, saving it.

I don't know what the purpose of magazines will be. I don't think you can replace a specialty magazine like Hour Detroit with its high gloss and perfect doctor office appeal. But, more mainstream/widespread mags like Time and Newsweek are nothing more than a series of articles that you can find online. I think newspapers are pretty much the same. I haven't heard anything about the Oakland Press having serious problems, though the number of ads on the front page of each section has increased. But, so has the local sports coverage. That is because it is really serving the smaller suburbs and townships of Oakland County. There is no other news source (no internet news on what happened in Highland Township last night), so I think it will last longer. The Freep specializes in national, state and metro area news. There are way too many sites that have this info.

So, print media isn't dead, but I think big print media is.

Long live the Montmorency County Tribune!!!!!

Sports Illustrated

I've decided not to renew my subscription to SI. I've had it since coming down for school in 1985. I have all but 2-3 editions in the basement. I missed a couple during summer moves in college.

I don't see too much need for weekly/monthly magazines anymore. What really irks me is the Internet edition is available for free about 3-4 days before I get my copy at home. Why should I pay for a magazine when I can view it earlier for free. I visit the blogs and websites that interest me outside of SI and don't have to page through the "Golf Extra" section that they think is so important.

SI had a chance to buy ESPN at the start, but decided they were above this little cable station - I don't think that worked out too well for them.

However if Matthew wants some magazines to make sports collages out of, send him over.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

wings

I predict the team that wins four games wins the Cup. HAHAHAHAHA. Never a dull moment.

TOO MANY MEN

The Penguins had 6 skaters for 21 seconds last night and no penalty was called. Who cares. They didn't score or even get a shot on goal as I recall. The Wings have not been so great that a PP goal was a sure thing.
I think the Wings got so breaks the first 2 games. The Pittsburgh goalie let in a few horrible goals.
I think Osgood was the difference in the first 2 games. If the Penguins win game 4, the Wings might be in trouble. I predict the winner of game 4 wins the Cup.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

It is good that ticket prices are down. This way, I can sell mine for much less than I paid for them.

Tickets

I checked ticket sites and tickets were available below face value for each of the 1st 2 games of the Stanley Cup finals at the JLA.
How much is economy and how much is boredom with the wings being expected to win?
Then there is this All-in package for UM football games. I've heard they're claiming there would always be extra tickets until the stadium reconstruction is complete - but they really seem to be pushing this.

I'm sure the collapse of the auto industry will help keep ticket prices down...

gm

Government motors - hahahahahahahahahahahahahahah

Monday, June 1, 2009

GM

I'm not sure about any of it. What does GM stand for?

Beaking News alert - GM bankruptcy

Everything on WDIV is breaking news. I'm tired of the auto industry news. I mostly turn off when they're talking about it anywhere. But here is what I think I've heard, feel free to correct me where I am wrong.

  • Government has given some bailout money to both GM and Chrysler
  • Set requirements for them to meet before they would get more money
  • Both companies have filed for bankruptcy
  • Both companies are shedding jobs
  • both companies are shedding car lines
  • Both companies are expected to build more cars overseas in the future

I understand that MANY jobs are tied to the auto industry, especially here in Michigan, but it doesn't seem like either of these companies (and Ford as well) are planning on having too many US workers going forward - or at least are planning to have a lot less than they do now.

Henry Ford essentially invented the middle class by paying Ford workers a decent wage. I don't think the "Big" three want to do that anymore.

I guess the good news would be that neither company will be too big to fail going forward.