Not so fast my friend. According to our trusted friends down in Columbus and East Lansing, their sources indicate the NCAA is going to BRING THE HAMMER any day now.
"Michigan better not dare try to claim that national title. Louisville beat them ON THE COURT, where it matters. That game happened, we all saw it with our own eyes, that win counts, regardless of what the NCAA says. Doesn't matter what they allegedly did. Michigan lost. Louisville was the better team. Whatever Pitino did doesn't change that. Michigan needs to accept that and move on."
OSU fans after Sign-Gate:
"THOSE WINS NEVER HAPPENED. MICHIGAN CHEATED. THIS IS A STAIN ON COLLEGE ATHLETICS FOREVER. VACATE THE WINS, WE SHOULD'VE BEEN THERE INSTEAD. WE'RE THE RIGHTFUL #1 SEED. NUKE THEIR PROGRAM!!"
I don't disagree at all. What I'm saying is that the Miami Athletic Department, and probably the university as a whole, probably wasn't complaining that the NCAA, and general public as a whole, devoted it's attention elsewhere.
I don't say this jokingly or to even remotely suggest that what happened in State College was a good thing, but the Penn State scandal probably yielded the best possible outcome for Miami because everyone completely forgot about Miami afterwards. I'm not even sure that Miami ever actually got punished anywhere for that, beyond the court of public opinion.
This seemed like it was inevitable from the get-go.
I wonder how thankful the MSU brass was when SignGate came out. Tucker embarrassed himself and MSU as a whole, and besides the Northwestern scandal that was all that anyone was wanting to talk about. Then Conner Stallions shows up and MSU's problems became ancient history. No one talked about it, no one cared anymore. Our short attention spans all moved along to the next scandal.
Reminded me a little bit of when Miami had that massive booster scandal come out right after Tattoo-gate. That was everywhere in the news, it looked like they were going to get cratered....and then when the Sandusky scandal came out a few months later, its like everyone just forgot about Miami. To be honest, I don't know if Miami ever actually got any kind of punishment from everything that happened.
Dusty has pressed all the right buttons so far. Granted, until we see the product on the court this is all somewhat immaterial, but given what he's brought in so far and the state of the roster (and program as a whole) that he inherited when he got here, fast forward a month and a half, and he's surpassed my expectations.
Seconded. Ghost of Tsushima was 50-60 hours well spent for me. Great gameplay, great side-quests that never felt boring or repetitive, and the visuals and cinematics were some of the best I've ever seen in any game. And the story.....my god the story was beautiful and heart-wrenching at the same time. You can tell the team poured its heart and soul into that game.
I'm very wary of a Ghost of Tsushima movie, though. That's a lot of content to pack into a 2 - 2.5 hour movie, so I feel like a lot of stuff would have to be skipped or glossed over.
Yep. One of my favorite quotes to come out of this entire saga.
Sign stealing had nothing to do with Hassan Haskins barreling over you like a bowling ball, Donovan Edwards breaking tackles and housing it for 85 yard back breakers, and McCord throwing picks when OSU had already had a whole month to learn about the sign stealing and change up their signs.
Will NCAA 25 offer side-quests where you get to play as Conner Stallions and sneak over to OSU's sideline during the middle of the first half to steal their playbook? Do you get to do character customization before the game and decide what kind of facial hairs, eye color or fake facial scars you want to give him to give him the ultimate disguise? What about alternate uniforms? Is a CMU polo the default disguise?
Can't wait to see the duck and cover gameplay! It's gonna be a doozie!
The only real arguments I hear now after all the Stallions crap came out was "Okay, fine, maybe you guys had a good team, but the bottom line is you shouldn't have been allowed to compete in the postseason so you don't deserve that trophy anyway."
Either that or it was the "it was a down year in college football so you're not a real national champion anyway. If you'd faced 2019 LSU, 2020 Alabama, 2022 Georgia, you would've been curbstomped and exposed as the frauds you are."
In terms of PS exclusives, Spider-Man, God of War (you don’t have to play the Greek trilogy to understand the Norse saga, but it helps to have the background), the Last of Us, and Ghost of Tsushima are are great games.
I have two kids, and when I play, I play for maybe an hour or two after they go down for bed, a few nights a week. Or I will play for an hour or two over the weekend when they go down for a nap. Assuming my wife and I don’t have a show we’re watching and want to catch up on. But that’s really the only time I can do it.
I’m not someone who can stay up until 2 AM on a work night to play video games (hell, can’t even do that on a weekend anymore), and most of the games I play are nowhere close to appropriate enough to play in front of a three-year-old. I don’t do Madden, any of the EA Sports games or Nintendo Switch so everything I play is rated T, at minimum. Usually M.
Haven’t played anything recently, but what I recently finished/played:
Spider-Man 2 - very worthy successor to the first game in terms of the story. Was not a fan of some of the side quests, as they were very repetitive, but the story itself was really stinking good. Left the door open for a third one, so I will absolutely be in line for it when the time comes.
The Last of Us II - This was more of a replay, as I’ve played it before, but I downloaded the remastered version. Still has gut-wrenching the second time around, but I love the game. I never understood all the hate. Joel did a lot of bad shit and crossed a lot of people. Love his character, but you can’t really tell me he didn’t have that coming, even though it happened an hour into the game. I loved Abby's character arc. Deal with it.
SOMA - admittedly, I stopped playing at about a month ago, but it was a really interesting premise. Got into it at the insistence of a friend. the underwater gameplay got too difficult and disorienting so I’m not sure I’m going to pick it back up, but it was really freaky and a really cool idea.
I don't know how much of that is true and its not my place to speculate on those allegations, but Chip Kelly always struck me as someone who isn't enjoyable to play for, regardless of race.
Reading about the UAE investing in collegiate athletics just does not give me good vibes. You've got a pretty darn good idea of where their money has come from, and the type of labor the UAE has "hired" in order to make that money. I have to imagine there would be quite a few states in this country that want zero part in the UAE interfering with and investing in their school's NIL programs.
We have the Ooni and that has been great for us. But truthfully, though, once I’ve gotten a cast-iron skillet and a smoker, I really haven’t been making pizza any other way for the last year.
I know we like to rag on OSU every chance we get, but to be fair, OSU is not a bad school. It’s actually, dare I say, pretty good. Let’s put it this way: you don’t have to scroll that far down the list on the US News & World rankings report to find them.
It’ll never be confused with Michigan, but it’s come leaps and bounds from where it was 40-50 years ago.
As much as it sickens me to say, OSU at 1 probably makes sense. I haven't done enough depth chart reading to see what Georgia has in the tank, although I'm sure they're loaded too.
But OSU pulled a Michigan last year in that sans MHJ, every draft eligible who had an option to come back decided to come back for one last shot. So they're loaded at a lot of positions, the defense will be just as good as last year, possibly better, and while receiver play probably takes a minor step back this year without MHJ, its a step back on a relative scale. Jeremiah Smith is still just a true freshman.
Where their season will probably be make or break is the OL play. I don't know how it got demonstrably better, if it did at all. It was lacking (by their standards) last year, and they added ol' butterfingers from Alabama. That looks like a situation that the better DLs on OSU's schedule (Michigan's in particular) can be set to exploit. I'm also curious how their transfer QB is demonstrably going to be any better than Kyle McCord.
All of it is based on Dylan Raiola. He's the big shiny new toy that the whole state wants to play with. Sounds like he performed really well in their spring game (in a manufactured environment with some defensive players already out, where there was no fear of him getting hit, but still), and with competent coaching he could be the answer they've been waiting for.
I don't expect them to win the Big Ten next year. I expect he'll have several moments of growing pains, and at least one really bad "welcome to college football, buddy" moment in him next year. JJ had that moment against MSU when he fumbled. But there is still zero reason for them not to make a bowl game next year and probably hit 7-8 wins.
Nebraska has only one game on its schedule that I look at and say "You have no chance in that game," and that's on the road at OSU. Probably @ USC too, but I'm skeptical that Lincoln Riley managed to fix all of SC's issues in one offseason. Nebraska has a path to a double digit win season. I won't bet on it, but it could happen.
I don’t think OSU will have much to be concerned about with PSU. It’ll be a close game for a while because Penn State has good talent and an awesome defense, but you can always count on Franklin to fall apart in crunch time. I expect they’ll make at least one back breaking mistake in the fourth quarter and let OSU run away with it, something like getting outscored 21-3 in the fourth.
Honestly, the scariest thing about playing Penn State is the venue itself. But Trace McSorely and Saquon Barkley are not walking through that door.
Oregon, however, will be a doozie of a game for OSU.
Isn’t cheering about winning the offseason the exact same thing they gave us shit for all these years?
Nothing OSU did is revolutionary or earth-shattering. They got tired of getting their asses kicked the last three seasons, and after they got all up on their moral high horse and were certain Michigan would be taken down through Sign-Gate, and the exact opposite happened as it all blew up on their face, they decided they had to throw as much money as they could at their problems and see if that would fix it. Maybe it will, but they have to actually handle it on the field.
Well, whatever makes you feel better. All the money in the world can’t buy you a winner. If it did, the Yankees or the Dodgers would win the World Series every year.
Although I'm happy to have him back because, frankly, we need as many bodies in the WR as we can get, this all frankly just goes to show how asinine and out of control the transfer portal has become.
I'm curious....is there someone on Kentucky's staff who either:
Used to play for MSU/OSU or coach for them?
Has some kind of very, very personal grudge with Michigan?
It sure seems like whoever Michigan is in on, or Michigan has had transfer off its roster, a solid majority of them head to Kentucky or end up getting recruited away by Kentucky.
This isn't like losing a recruit to Georgia where all you can do is just shrug your shoulders and say "yeah that's not surprising." Unless Kentucky is literally offering the moon and stars in NIL money (and maybe they are?), I don't know what they really have as a program that Michigan can't offer at least as much of, if not more. Okay, they play in the SEC, but they are a freaking afterthought in the SEC.
Mark Stoops has made a really good program down there. For Kentucky's standards. But they will never, ever, EVER contend for the SEC, much less win a national championship. To me, at the clip Kentucky is picking up former Michigan players or guys that Michigan is seriously in on, it does sometimes feel like its a targeted approach. I wouldn't bat an eyelash if Michigan were losing these kinds of battles to Texas, Alabama, or Georgia. But losing them to Kentucky, at the rate they're losing them, and it not being a basketball recruiting battle? Its interesting, to say the least.
Oh well. At least Michigan is pretty darn well stocked at RB for the next few years.
While he could probably insert himself right into the starting lineup almost immediately, Michigan has a few things going against it.
Our QB situation looks extremely shaky right now. We have no idea who's going to be throwing the ball next year, and if that QB is going to be able to reliably throw the ball at all.
We are a very, very run-oriented team until proven otherwise. I don't doubt that Sherrone will start forming his own identity, unique from Harbaugh's, in the coming years. But for now, the personnel and make-up of this team is designed specifically to run the ball.
Does a guy who's catching 70 passes a year want any part of that? Maybe, but I'd also say it depends greatly on who else is offering him, because I'm not sure how much he's going to get the ball in his hands next year even if Sherrone wants to throw the ball.
It wouldn't shock me in the slightest to learn that Saul Goodman was inspired, at least partially, off Lionel Hutz. Especially considering Bob Odenkirk's brother is a writer/producer for The Simpsons.
To me, all of this is just OSU fans telling themselves what they want to hear. Michigan shattered their twenty year indestructible cocoon of success. Michigan couldn't have been better than them on the field. They just couldn't have been. There HAD to be some other explanation.
This whole Sign-Gate deal allows them to take that feeling and run with it. It allows them to return to the 2000-2020 days where all was right with their world.
If cheating was the only reason Michigan won, then why couldn't they stop Hassan Haskins? Michigan practically telegraphed its gameplan in the second half of 2021 and OSU STILL couldn't stop it. They didn't want to pass. Didn't bother trying. They still mowed OSU the f**k over.
Why couldn't they tackle Donovan Edwards in 2022? What does that have to do with sign stealing? Why didn't Sainristil know exactly where Stover was on that 3rd down play? Why did Sainristil have to sprint basically half the width of the field to catch up and break up that pass? If we knew the play, shouldn't someone have been blanketing Stover like a glove?
Why didn't Michigan fall apart before the 2023 Game? I mean hey, the jig was up when OSU came to town. Stallions was gone, Harbaugh was suspended, Michigan couldn't steal their signs, Michigan lost Zinter and Johnson for large portions of that game and OSU still lost.
---
At what point do you just take some f*****g personal accountability and say "You know what, maybe the other team was just better than mine today."
That ol' NCAA hammer coming down on Michigan aaaaaaaany day now!!!! Get your popcorn ready, because justice is at hand!!!! They have no idea what they're in for. DEATH PENALTY!!!!!
So who's going to decide, during all of this revenue sharing, who earns what amounts? I can't imagine Michigan and OSU are going to be very happy if their players are making the same money as Rutgers or Northwestern players. Or if Alabama and Georgia players are making the same as Vanderbilt players?
And then if they do all get equal shares, then what's stopping the setup we have right now where boosters come in to "be the difference-makers"?
At this point, with stuff like this or with Kadyn Procter transferring to Iowa just to transfer back to Alabama, its just comical. I hope whatever institution replaces the NCAA can put some common sense rules in place that addresses these issues.
I can't imagine how infuriating it must be to be a college coach these days, knowing that you really have no idea who's going to be on your roster in any given year. Especially when a kid leaves, comes back, and then can just leave again if he feels like it. I get that this is a bit of a unique situation since May is coming in and recruiting "his own guys" in the portal, but to enter the portal, come back, and then re-enter again in a few short weeks just feels like it shouldn't be allowed.
If a new coach comes in with his own philosophy and it doesn't jive with yours, so be it. You should get to transfer somewhere else and play immediately. That coach wasn't who you signed up for. I'm all for that. But to then come back, and then want to transfer out again?
As a Tampa native, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that Tropicana Field should be at the absolute bottom of the list for MLB parks, and it shouldn't even be close.
There are great baseball stadiums, and then there are bad baseball stadiums. Then there is 500 yards of crap, and THEN there's Tropicana Field.
That pit is an insult to the game of baseball, and unless you live right in downtown St. Pete there is no easy way to get to the game. Tampa/St Pete do not have good public transportation between the two cities, and if you live in Tampa and don't want to drive to the game, pay for parking, etc., you're probably looking at paying at least ~$100 for Uber. Depending on where you live in Tampa, that could be $100 one way.
They've drafted up a proposal for a new stadium, but keeping it in St. Pete would be (in my opinion) a mistake. You're taking the game away from your population center in Tampa. That's why the Lightning have such a great setup. Amalie Arena is right downtown, in an area that has been completely revitalized over the last 10-15 years and packed to the gills with young up and comers with money to spend.
But I digress....
As far as my favorites. In no particular order:
Wrigley - You really can't ever go wrong with a game at Wrigley, and sitting in the outfield bleachers is a rite of passage. The scene outside the stadium is always great too.
AT&T Park - is that what its still called? Anywho, the park the Giants play at is beautiful. Only seen one game there like 10 years ago but I'd love to go back. I always thought people kayaking out in the water beyond the outfield, waiting for home run balls was the coolest thing.
Fenway - only been to one game at Fenway but its another one where you just can't beat the old time charm it offers.
Camden Yards - Can't say I've been to a ballpark that feels so new and yet so "old time" at the same time.
Busch Stadium - I think just getting the backdrop of downtown right in the outfield made it a really cool, beautiful stadium to go see a game at. Couple that with St. Louis being a big baseball town.
That's it. That's the kicker right there, and the big massive question mark that we won't know for some time.
No one will argue that on paper, this is a pretty good team now. They're not going to win the Big Ten, but they've got some players for sure. The issue is that almost none of them have played together (not the guys who will be starting or be important rotation pieces anyway) and they've got bad history going against them when it comes to teams that have built through the portal. I think NC State was one of two teams last year that built mostly through the portal and made the tournament, and Final Four run aside, they barelymade it in as a 17-14 team to begin with.
Granted, Dusty built this roster through the portal out of sheer necessity, so he gets a pass for that this season. But these guys still have to learn how to play together, and do it in a relatively short amount of time. I think they have the talent to make the tournament, but I hold no expectations about them actuallymaking the tournament.
At the end of the day, we've got to remember that its just a game. Personal health and well-being (mental and physical) are infinitely more important than what's on the scoreboard.
Also got to remember that a lot of these guys either played high school ball against each other, were teammates in high school, or did the recruiting circuits together, so they're still friends off the field (or just know each other really well) even if they're hated rivals when they step on the field.
I mean at this point, they're both playing for the same team. The rivalry will always be the rivalry, but now they have a common interest. You're in the big leagues now, so all that matters at this level is winning for that team. I'm sure there will be some playful banter back and forth, but at this point, all its about is winning for the Browns. I'm sure they both recognize that.
Same goes for the fans. I may have hated MHJ in college, but if my team drafted him, hey, he's on my team now, so of course I'm going to root for him.
Meyer had a Really good track record on that at OSU. Malik Hooker immediately comes to mind. Pretty sure he was a generic three star nobody that Meyer molded into a ball hawking first rounder.
His life, his choice. If Kentucky is going to offer him more money then so be it.
Hard not to think he’s making a short term decision without considering the potentially greater long term, but I don’t know his personal situation. Maybe he’s got a family he needs to provide for.
Looks like Kyren has missed 12 games over the last two seasons. That is nearly two thirds of a whole season. Sure looks like Blake could be in line to get a lot of touches if those injury trends keep up.
Looks like Kyren has missed 12 games over the last two seasons. That is nearly two thirds of a whole season. Sure looks like Blake could be in line to get a lot of touches if those injury trends keep up.
Blake’s work ethic is second to none, and he is the exact kind of person and mentality that you want in your locker room. As long as he can stay healthy, he can carve out a really good career in the league.
Recent Comments
Not so fast my friend. According to our trusted friends down in Columbus and East Lansing, their sources indicate the NCAA is going to BRING THE HAMMER any day now.
I always think back to Dillon’s (aka Carl Weathers) quote from Predator when I hear about stuff like this:
“You’re an asset. An expendable asset. And I used you to get the job done.”
To the NFL, we’re not fans. We’re not people. We are numbers on a spreadsheet.
OSU fans after Louisville vacates 2013 title:
"Michigan better not dare try to claim that national title. Louisville beat them ON THE COURT, where it matters. That game happened, we all saw it with our own eyes, that win counts, regardless of what the NCAA says. Doesn't matter what they allegedly did. Michigan lost. Louisville was the better team. Whatever Pitino did doesn't change that. Michigan needs to accept that and move on."
OSU fans after Sign-Gate:
"THOSE WINS NEVER HAPPENED. MICHIGAN CHEATED. THIS IS A STAIN ON COLLEGE ATHLETICS FOREVER. VACATE THE WINS, WE SHOULD'VE BEEN THERE INSTEAD. WE'RE THE RIGHTFUL #1 SEED. NUKE THEIR PROGRAM!!"
I don't disagree at all. What I'm saying is that the Miami Athletic Department, and probably the university as a whole, probably wasn't complaining that the NCAA, and general public as a whole, devoted it's attention elsewhere.
I don't say this jokingly or to even remotely suggest that what happened in State College was a good thing, but the Penn State scandal probably yielded the best possible outcome for Miami because everyone completely forgot about Miami afterwards. I'm not even sure that Miami ever actually got punished anywhere for that, beyond the court of public opinion.
This seemed like it was inevitable from the get-go.
I wonder how thankful the MSU brass was when SignGate came out. Tucker embarrassed himself and MSU as a whole, and besides the Northwestern scandal that was all that anyone was wanting to talk about. Then Conner Stallions shows up and MSU's problems became ancient history. No one talked about it, no one cared anymore. Our short attention spans all moved along to the next scandal.
Reminded me a little bit of when Miami had that massive booster scandal come out right after Tattoo-gate. That was everywhere in the news, it looked like they were going to get cratered....and then when the Sandusky scandal came out a few months later, its like everyone just forgot about Miami. To be honest, I don't know if Miami ever actually got any kind of punishment from everything that happened.
But I digress.....
Dusty has pressed all the right buttons so far. Granted, until we see the product on the court this is all somewhat immaterial, but given what he's brought in so far and the state of the roster (and program as a whole) that he inherited when he got here, fast forward a month and a half, and he's surpassed my expectations.
I'm sure he's made a good call here.
Seconded. Ghost of Tsushima was 50-60 hours well spent for me. Great gameplay, great side-quests that never felt boring or repetitive, and the visuals and cinematics were some of the best I've ever seen in any game. And the story.....my god the story was beautiful and heart-wrenching at the same time. You can tell the team poured its heart and soul into that game.
I'm very wary of a Ghost of Tsushima movie, though. That's a lot of content to pack into a 2 - 2.5 hour movie, so I feel like a lot of stuff would have to be skipped or glossed over.
Yep. One of my favorite quotes to come out of this entire saga.
Sign stealing had nothing to do with Hassan Haskins barreling over you like a bowling ball, Donovan Edwards breaking tackles and housing it for 85 yard back breakers, and McCord throwing picks when OSU had already had a whole month to learn about the sign stealing and change up their signs.
Here's the real question in all of this:
Will NCAA 25 offer side-quests where you get to play as Conner Stallions and sneak over to OSU's sideline during the middle of the first half to steal their playbook? Do you get to do character customization before the game and decide what kind of facial hairs, eye color or fake facial scars you want to give him to give him the ultimate disguise? What about alternate uniforms? Is a CMU polo the default disguise?
Can't wait to see the duck and cover gameplay! It's gonna be a doozie!
The only real arguments I hear now after all the Stallions crap came out was "Okay, fine, maybe you guys had a good team, but the bottom line is you shouldn't have been allowed to compete in the postseason so you don't deserve that trophy anyway."
Either that or it was the "it was a down year in college football so you're not a real national champion anyway. If you'd faced 2019 LSU, 2020 Alabama, 2022 Georgia, you would've been curbstomped and exposed as the frauds you are."
I'll echo the same sentiment I'm sure OSU had in 2016 when they were gifted a win due to highway robbery from their local hometown hero refs:
Stop whining and get a better team.
Stop whining and go tackle Hassan Haskins.
Stop whining and go tackle Donovan Edwards.
Stop whining and find a QB who won't throw picks in crunch time.
In terms of PS exclusives, Spider-Man, God of War (you don’t have to play the Greek trilogy to understand the Norse saga, but it helps to have the background), the Last of Us, and Ghost of Tsushima are are great games.
All of them have immense replay value.
I have two kids, and when I play, I play for maybe an hour or two after they go down for bed, a few nights a week. Or I will play for an hour or two over the weekend when they go down for a nap. Assuming my wife and I don’t have a show we’re watching and want to catch up on. But that’s really the only time I can do it.
I’m not someone who can stay up until 2 AM on a work night to play video games (hell, can’t even do that on a weekend anymore), and most of the games I play are nowhere close to appropriate enough to play in front of a three-year-old. I don’t do Madden, any of the EA Sports games or Nintendo Switch so everything I play is rated T, at minimum. Usually M.
Haven’t played anything recently, but what I recently finished/played:
Spider-Man 2 - very worthy successor to the first game in terms of the story. Was not a fan of some of the side quests, as they were very repetitive, but the story itself was really stinking good. Left the door open for a third one, so I will absolutely be in line for it when the time comes.
The Last of Us II - This was more of a replay, as I’ve played it before, but I downloaded the remastered version. Still has gut-wrenching the second time around, but I love the game. I never understood all the hate. Joel did a lot of bad shit and crossed a lot of people. Love his character, but you can’t really tell me he didn’t have that coming, even though it happened an hour into the game. I loved Abby's character arc. Deal with it.
SOMA - admittedly, I stopped playing at about a month ago, but it was a really interesting premise. Got into it at the insistence of a friend. the underwater gameplay got too difficult and disorienting so I’m not sure I’m going to pick it back up, but it was really freaky and a really cool idea.
He's the head coach. He should know EVERYTHING going on in his program.
Someone had better investigate this. OSU is putting safety of those players in danger.
PETTITI!!!! WHERE ARE YOU?!?! WE DEMAND ACTION!!! SHOOT FIRST, ASK QUESTIONS NEVER, BECAUSE F**K 'EM, THAT'S WHY!!!
I don't know how much of that is true and its not my place to speculate on those allegations, but Chip Kelly always struck me as someone who isn't enjoyable to play for, regardless of race.
Reading about the UAE investing in collegiate athletics just does not give me good vibes. You've got a pretty darn good idea of where their money has come from, and the type of labor the UAE has "hired" in order to make that money. I have to imagine there would be quite a few states in this country that want zero part in the UAE interfering with and investing in their school's NIL programs.
We have the Ooni and that has been great for us. But truthfully, though, once I’ve gotten a cast-iron skillet and a smoker, I really haven’t been making pizza any other way for the last year.
Guess he won’t have to worry about denying Michigan players his Heisman vote anymore.
I’m sure this is all Harbaugh’s fault, somehow.
Careful. Pettiti might slap another three game suspension on Harbaugh for that.....
I know we like to rag on OSU every chance we get, but to be fair, OSU is not a bad school. It’s actually, dare I say, pretty good. Let’s put it this way: you don’t have to scroll that far down the list on the US News & World rankings report to find them.
It’ll never be confused with Michigan, but it’s come leaps and bounds from where it was 40-50 years ago.
As much as it sickens me to say, OSU at 1 probably makes sense. I haven't done enough depth chart reading to see what Georgia has in the tank, although I'm sure they're loaded too.
But OSU pulled a Michigan last year in that sans MHJ, every draft eligible who had an option to come back decided to come back for one last shot. So they're loaded at a lot of positions, the defense will be just as good as last year, possibly better, and while receiver play probably takes a minor step back this year without MHJ, its a step back on a relative scale. Jeremiah Smith is still just a true freshman.
Where their season will probably be make or break is the OL play. I don't know how it got demonstrably better, if it did at all. It was lacking (by their standards) last year, and they added ol' butterfingers from Alabama. That looks like a situation that the better DLs on OSU's schedule (Michigan's in particular) can be set to exploit. I'm also curious how their transfer QB is demonstrably going to be any better than Kyle McCord.
All of it is based on Dylan Raiola. He's the big shiny new toy that the whole state wants to play with. Sounds like he performed really well in their spring game (in a manufactured environment with some defensive players already out, where there was no fear of him getting hit, but still), and with competent coaching he could be the answer they've been waiting for.
I don't expect them to win the Big Ten next year. I expect he'll have several moments of growing pains, and at least one really bad "welcome to college football, buddy" moment in him next year. JJ had that moment against MSU when he fumbled. But there is still zero reason for them not to make a bowl game next year and probably hit 7-8 wins.
Nebraska has only one game on its schedule that I look at and say "You have no chance in that game," and that's on the road at OSU. Probably @ USC too, but I'm skeptical that Lincoln Riley managed to fix all of SC's issues in one offseason. Nebraska has a path to a double digit win season. I won't bet on it, but it could happen.
Guess you didn't read / watch LOTR.
GET THE FUCK OFF MY COURT
That jumper against Duke that would’ve tied the game up at the end of the game. So freaking close to going in….
They fought ALL THE WAY BACK in that game.
Put 11 men on the field in crunch time and then I’ll take you seriously
I don’t think OSU will have much to be concerned about with PSU. It’ll be a close game for a while because Penn State has good talent and an awesome defense, but you can always count on Franklin to fall apart in crunch time. I expect they’ll make at least one back breaking mistake in the fourth quarter and let OSU run away with it, something like getting outscored 21-3 in the fourth.
Honestly, the scariest thing about playing Penn State is the venue itself. But Trace McSorely and Saquon Barkley are not walking through that door.
Oregon, however, will be a doozie of a game for OSU.
Isn’t cheering about winning the offseason the exact same thing they gave us shit for all these years?
Nothing OSU did is revolutionary or earth-shattering. They got tired of getting their asses kicked the last three seasons, and after they got all up on their moral high horse and were certain Michigan would be taken down through Sign-Gate, and the exact opposite happened as it all blew up on their face, they decided they had to throw as much money as they could at their problems and see if that would fix it. Maybe it will, but they have to actually handle it on the field.
Well, whatever makes you feel better. All the money in the world can’t buy you a winner. If it did, the Yankees or the Dodgers would win the World Series every year.
Although I'm happy to have him back because, frankly, we need as many bodies in the WR as we can get, this all frankly just goes to show how asinine and out of control the transfer portal has become.
I'm curious....is there someone on Kentucky's staff who either:
It sure seems like whoever Michigan is in on, or Michigan has had transfer off its roster, a solid majority of them head to Kentucky or end up getting recruited away by Kentucky.
This isn't like losing a recruit to Georgia where all you can do is just shrug your shoulders and say "yeah that's not surprising." Unless Kentucky is literally offering the moon and stars in NIL money (and maybe they are?), I don't know what they really have as a program that Michigan can't offer at least as much of, if not more. Okay, they play in the SEC, but they are a freaking afterthought in the SEC.
Mark Stoops has made a really good program down there. For Kentucky's standards. But they will never, ever, EVER contend for the SEC, much less win a national championship. To me, at the clip Kentucky is picking up former Michigan players or guys that Michigan is seriously in on, it does sometimes feel like its a targeted approach. I wouldn't bat an eyelash if Michigan were losing these kinds of battles to Texas, Alabama, or Georgia. But losing them to Kentucky, at the rate they're losing them, and it not being a basketball recruiting battle? Its interesting, to say the least.
Oh well. At least Michigan is pretty darn well stocked at RB for the next few years.
While he could probably insert himself right into the starting lineup almost immediately, Michigan has a few things going against it.
Does a guy who's catching 70 passes a year want any part of that? Maybe, but I'd also say it depends greatly on who else is offering him, because I'm not sure how much he's going to get the ball in his hands next year even if Sherrone wants to throw the ball.
It wouldn't shock me in the slightest to learn that Saul Goodman was inspired, at least partially, off Lionel Hutz. Especially considering Bob Odenkirk's brother is a writer/producer for The Simpsons.
Yeah. Sure. It may be technically closed, but I doubt its ever really going to be closed again.
As Lionel Hutz would say:
"There's, the truth........and, THE TRUTH!!"
To me, all of this is just OSU fans telling themselves what they want to hear. Michigan shattered their twenty year indestructible cocoon of success. Michigan couldn't have been better than them on the field. They just couldn't have been. There HAD to be some other explanation.
This whole Sign-Gate deal allows them to take that feeling and run with it. It allows them to return to the 2000-2020 days where all was right with their world.
If cheating was the only reason Michigan won, then why couldn't they stop Hassan Haskins? Michigan practically telegraphed its gameplan in the second half of 2021 and OSU STILL couldn't stop it. They didn't want to pass. Didn't bother trying. They still mowed OSU the f**k over.
Why couldn't they tackle Donovan Edwards in 2022? What does that have to do with sign stealing? Why didn't Sainristil know exactly where Stover was on that 3rd down play? Why did Sainristil have to sprint basically half the width of the field to catch up and break up that pass? If we knew the play, shouldn't someone have been blanketing Stover like a glove?
Why didn't Michigan fall apart before the 2023 Game? I mean hey, the jig was up when OSU came to town. Stallions was gone, Harbaugh was suspended, Michigan couldn't steal their signs, Michigan lost Zinter and Johnson for large portions of that game and OSU still lost.
---
At what point do you just take some f*****g personal accountability and say "You know what, maybe the other team was just better than mine today."
That kid may need a fresh start more than anyone who was on last year's team.
Best of luck to him.
That ol' NCAA hammer coming down on Michigan aaaaaaaany day now!!!! Get your popcorn ready, because justice is at hand!!!! They have no idea what they're in for. DEATH PENALTY!!!!!
-11W, probably
So who's going to decide, during all of this revenue sharing, who earns what amounts? I can't imagine Michigan and OSU are going to be very happy if their players are making the same money as Rutgers or Northwestern players. Or if Alabama and Georgia players are making the same as Vanderbilt players?
And then if they do all get equal shares, then what's stopping the setup we have right now where boosters come in to "be the difference-makers"?
And then afterwards watching Harbaugh sing The Victors by himself in the Chargers war room....
He's still a weirdo, but he'll always be our weirdo.
At this point, with stuff like this or with Kadyn Procter transferring to Iowa just to transfer back to Alabama, its just comical. I hope whatever institution replaces the NCAA can put some common sense rules in place that addresses these issues.
I can't imagine how infuriating it must be to be a college coach these days, knowing that you really have no idea who's going to be on your roster in any given year. Especially when a kid leaves, comes back, and then can just leave again if he feels like it. I get that this is a bit of a unique situation since May is coming in and recruiting "his own guys" in the portal, but to enter the portal, come back, and then re-enter again in a few short weeks just feels like it shouldn't be allowed.
If a new coach comes in with his own philosophy and it doesn't jive with yours, so be it. You should get to transfer somewhere else and play immediately. That coach wasn't who you signed up for. I'm all for that. But to then come back, and then want to transfer out again?
Man, at that point that's on you.....
As a Tampa native, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that Tropicana Field should be at the absolute bottom of the list for MLB parks, and it shouldn't even be close.
There are great baseball stadiums, and then there are bad baseball stadiums. Then there is 500 yards of crap, and THEN there's Tropicana Field.
That pit is an insult to the game of baseball, and unless you live right in downtown St. Pete there is no easy way to get to the game. Tampa/St Pete do not have good public transportation between the two cities, and if you live in Tampa and don't want to drive to the game, pay for parking, etc., you're probably looking at paying at least ~$100 for Uber. Depending on where you live in Tampa, that could be $100 one way.
They've drafted up a proposal for a new stadium, but keeping it in St. Pete would be (in my opinion) a mistake. You're taking the game away from your population center in Tampa. That's why the Lightning have such a great setup. Amalie Arena is right downtown, in an area that has been completely revitalized over the last 10-15 years and packed to the gills with young up and comers with money to spend.
But I digress....
As far as my favorites. In no particular order:
"If the team gels"
That's it. That's the kicker right there, and the big massive question mark that we won't know for some time.
No one will argue that on paper, this is a pretty good team now. They're not going to win the Big Ten, but they've got some players for sure. The issue is that almost none of them have played together (not the guys who will be starting or be important rotation pieces anyway) and they've got bad history going against them when it comes to teams that have built through the portal. I think NC State was one of two teams last year that built mostly through the portal and made the tournament, and Final Four run aside, they barely made it in as a 17-14 team to begin with.
Granted, Dusty built this roster through the portal out of sheer necessity, so he gets a pass for that this season. But these guys still have to learn how to play together, and do it in a relatively short amount of time. I think they have the talent to make the tournament, but I hold no expectations about them actually making the tournament.
At the end of the day, we've got to remember that its just a game. Personal health and well-being (mental and physical) are infinitely more important than what's on the scoreboard.
Also got to remember that a lot of these guys either played high school ball against each other, were teammates in high school, or did the recruiting circuits together, so they're still friends off the field (or just know each other really well) even if they're hated rivals when they step on the field.
I mean at this point, they're both playing for the same team. The rivalry will always be the rivalry, but now they have a common interest. You're in the big leagues now, so all that matters at this level is winning for that team. I'm sure there will be some playful banter back and forth, but at this point, all its about is winning for the Browns. I'm sure they both recognize that.
Same goes for the fans. I may have hated MHJ in college, but if my team drafted him, hey, he's on my team now, so of course I'm going to root for him.
Meyer had a Really good track record on that at OSU. Malik Hooker immediately comes to mind. Pretty sure he was a generic three star nobody that Meyer molded into a ball hawking first rounder.
Couldn’t be happier for him. At the same time, as a Bucs fan, I hate having to root against him twice a year.
His life, his choice. If Kentucky is going to offer him more money then so be it.
Hard not to think he’s making a short term decision without considering the potentially greater long term, but I don’t know his personal situation. Maybe he’s got a family he needs to provide for.
Looks like Kyren has missed 12 games over the last two seasons. That is nearly two thirds of a whole season. Sure looks like Blake could be in line to get a lot of touches if those injury trends keep up.
Looks like Kyren has missed 12 games over the last two seasons. That is nearly two thirds of a whole season. Sure looks like Blake could be in line to get a lot of touches if those injury trends keep up.
Deserves any and all success coming his way.
Blake’s work ethic is second to none, and he is the exact kind of person and mentality that you want in your locker room. As long as he can stay healthy, he can carve out a really good career in the league.
They took him at pick # 69
Nice.