Demar Dorsey's commitment has sparked controversey at U-M.
The fallout from Demar Dorsey’s commitment — especially the signing day press conference grillings by The Detroit Free Press’ Drew Sharp and AnnArbor.com’s Dave Birkett and the subsequent articles on Dorsey’s legal history — has sparked controversy in Ann Arbor and a considerable backlash against either (a) Rich Rodriguez or (b) the media themselves. I’ve already said my piece, but many Michigan bloggers and mainstream writers have written compelling pieces on the situation since last week. Here’s the best of what I could find:
Starting with the mainstream media, Jon Chait pens a very thought-provoking piece over at The Wolverine that brings up some very interesting questions. Instead of asking if Michigan should or should not have taken Dorsey (he actually gives merit to both sides), he asks if Michigan should be held to a different standard than other college programs (saying that is the only way to make the argument that Michigan shouldn’t have recruited Dorsey), and then takes the Free Press to task for their coverage of Michigan football:
Now, when evaluating a newspaper, it’s important to distinguish between straight news reporting and opinion columns. The latter shouldn’t normally be held up to taint the objectivity of the former. In this case, however, the distinction is impossible. The opinions of the columnists are driving the coverage of the straight reporters. In some cases, the opinion columnists are being allowed to break news about the same subjects they’re opining on.
From reading the Free Press, you wouldn’t suspect that Rich Rodriguez has had few disciplinary issues at Michigan, and those that have arisen (Justin Feagin, Boubacar Cissoko) have been dealt with swiftly and severely. One can legitimately debate whether and to what degree Michigan should have higher than normal standards of behavior and academics for its recruits. But that debate is very difficult in an atmosphere where the local media seems determined to impugn the coach’s integrity.
Rodriguez and Michigan are assuming a risk with Dorsey, a larger risk than with most players because of his history. If he gets in trouble in Ann Arbor, the head coach and the university will take heat for it. Heat they’ll deserve.
But is that risk large enough to push the Wolverines away when other programs wouldn’t think twice about adding Dorsey to their roster? Does Michigan have to hold itself to a perceived higher standard, a standard that might not even exist in college football, much less at U-M? Some will say yes, but these folks need to open their eyes and realize this is big-time college football.
Lloyd Carr gave players second chances, too. He assumed the risk of them messing up again. Every college football coach does. Like it or not, it’s part of this sport.
The Detroit News’ Bob Wojnowski looks at the Dorsey signing from a different perspective, asking “With all the shrieking for [Rich Rodriguez's] job, the real question might be: How could he not [sign Dorsey]?” and attacking fan hypocrisy:
Every fan wants to win, and the most vocal ones demand to win. No problem. Just don’t be a hypocrite and hope to reap the benefits without any risk.
I’m not a win-at-all-costs guy, but I’m also not an idealistic dreamer. I recognize Dorsey is a bigger risk than your average recruit, and the situation warrants scrutiny. If the kid blows it, he’ll damage more than himself, including Rodriguez.
Every time you give a chance, you take a chance. That’s the way it works in college football, like it or not.
Here’s the thing: Rich Rodriguez cares about his players. When he left West Virginia, they were the only people in the state to defend him. When the NCAA stuff came down and Rich Rodriguez had his press conference about it, he hit his shakiest, teariest point when he was talking about the effects this had on his players. When you listen to Mike Barwis talk about Pacman Jones, the pain is evident—they just couldn’t straighten him out enough. He has a good track record. He was right about Pat Lazear, and his disciplinary record over the past five years is considerably above average. Every time he picks up a guy with a rough past and puts him in college he’s trying to make the kid’s life better.
And yet he gets painted as a bad guy by people who don’t care about anything but themselves. Drew Sharp is a selfish, cynical bastard. He’s made a career out of making people angry with his half-assed, research-free opinions. He’s a disgrace to journalism. If the Free Press had any scruples whatsoever, rampantly bashing a kid with no evidence, or even an effort to collect any, would be so far beyond the journalistic pale that no combination of weasel words could save him.
That’s the point. Maybe Dorsey won’t make it, but he’s been clean for two years and deserves a shot. If he caught a break because he had a shot at going to college, that was a good bet by Broward County. He did, and now he’s going to Michigan. It’s up to Rodriguez and Dorsey to make it pay off.
The worst thing about all this pressure is that a Dorsey MIP is now a big deal in a way that Kevin Grady getting frighteningly drunk and falling asleep in his car is not. If Dorsey doesn’t keep his nose clean at Michigan, the rest of the team can have a spotless record and the storyline will be Dorsey this and Dorsey that. That’s a hell of a burden, one that few players with “checkered legal pasts” have to deal with. When Roderick Jenrette came to Michigan State, he was carrying two burglary arrests with him—about which more later—and no one knew. His troubles were explained away by Mark Dantonio and people either respected his privacy as a juvenile offender or were lazy or were just stunned by how magnificent Dantonio’s jaw was, and he was left alone.
Both are well worth a read. Meanwhile, the Wolverine Liberation Army has a couple takes of their own on Dorsey. The first is along the lines of what you’d expect from the WLA, a hilarious hatchet-job on Sharp that takes a suddenly serious tone at the end:
The worst part is that Sharp holds his audience in open contempt. He has stated that “You (the audience) morons should make sure you get both sides of the story before saying something definitively.” He genuinely dislikes his readership and listeners. I’m not sure why anyone would indulge Sharp in his patently sadomasochistic fantasies, yet here I am. Perhaps I’m a glutton for punishment. Or perhaps I think Sharp was disgustingly indecent to a high school senior on what should have been (and hopefully still was) the best day of his life thus far. Either way, grab your snorkel. We’re chest deep in liquid manure.
The second piece is guest-written by a friend of the WLA who has “extensive real-life experience dealing with juvenile offenders.” The whole thing is a must-read, especially when the author pulls out the stat that, if a juvenile offender stays out of trouble for two years, they have about a 4% chance of re-offending. Demar Dorsey has been out of trouble for two years, so take that for what it’s worth. Also, from the author:
Finally, let us remember, aside from all the dismissed and acquittal squabble, that no one was physically injured by Mr. Dorsey. Maybe that is why the judge decided this kid was worth a chance. Had Mr. Dorsey been incarcerated, he may not have come out the kind of person he is today. Those are not charm schools those kids go to. They are not matriculated with academic all americans and missionaries. The lowest common denominator rules in such facilities. Kindness is a weakness. Hyper vigilance is the law. Perhaps it really is prudent to reserve such treatment for those who truly need it and not to just foist it upon those who upset our personal moral compasses.
My endgame is this, and I hinted at it a while back, but sadly, I’m starting to firmly believe it: 2010 is starting to look like the end for Rodriguez at Michigan. Not because of one specific incident, but because of everything. The list is long, we all know what’s gone on. But the longer we hear silence from the UofM athletic department, the longer we can only assume that it will take an enormous improvement in 2010 to save Rodriguez. Could it happen? Maybe. I could definitely see an 8-win team. Would an 8-5 season calm the storm? In a perfect world, yes.
But as we’ve all become painfully aware of, since we lost Bo in November 2006, nothing is perfect about this situation, this university, this athletic department, and this football program.
This, obviously, is a situation that won’t be resolved overnight, or even over the next couple years: no matter what happens in the interim, Rodriguez and Dorsey won’t be out of the media crosshairs until Dorsey has gone on to the next stage in his life (whether that is the NFL or a career after graduating from school will largely be determined by Dorsey’s performance on the field) with a clean criminal record. So, for now, this is all I’ll be writing on Dorsey. We simply have to wait and see what happens. For now, I’m happy to have a talented and charismatic player at a position of great need. It is up to Dorsey to determine if we’ll have to look at him as anything other than, simply, that.
Michigan's defense also appears ready for the season to end.
As the season wears on, it’s getting tougher and tougher to write these game recaps. I think, for the sake of my sanity, my mind has stopped allowing me to get emotionally invested in Michigan basketball games. On Saturday afternoon, as Michigan’s deficit hung somewhere between 16 and 20 points for what felt like an eternity, my friends and I took entertainment in seeing which referee would make the most animated call (Ed Hightower, of course, emerged as the champion). We left when the clock ticked below eight minutes. Call me a fair-weather fan if you want, but at some point, you have to cut your losses and move on with the rest of your day.
Despite the score, the team didn’t play particularly bad, at least in the first half — Wisconsin simply didn’t miss, shooting 15-22 from the field (and a ridiculous 9-13 from three) in the first 20 minutes to open up a 49-26 halftime lead that would not be relinquished. For the latter stanza, Michigan seemed resigned to its fate, as DeShawn Sims (15 first-half points, 2 second-half points) and the rest of the team (12-20 on field goals and 2-2 from three-point range in first half, 5-19 — including 0-9 from three — in second half) cooled off considerably.
Manny Harris continues to slump — and kill his 2010 draft stock — with some ugly shot selection and a broke jumper. He scored just 11 points on 4-11 shooting, and just doesn’t look like himself. It’s tough to tell how much of Manny’s woes are mental and how much are physical, but it’s clear that he’s not playing on the same level he was early in the season, and this team can’t afford to have one of its two stars not playing like one. I guess the positive here is that Manny may have no choice but to come back next season.
DeShawn Sims did all he could in the first half to carry the team, dropping in 15 points on an array of fallaway jumpers and inside post moves, but was likely discouraged by the lack of support from his teammates — with only two second-half points on five shot attempts, it didn’t look like Peedi was working as hard to get in position like he was earlier in the game. It’s tough to blame him on this — after that kind of first-half effort, only to see those results, I’d be discouraged too.
The (only) bright side of these past few games, Darius Morris has made some encouraging progress at point guard, where he has now earned the starting spot. Morris was efficient in all facets on offense, scoring eight points on 3-4 shooting and dishing out three assists against only one turnover. Since he doubles as Michigan’s most athletically gifted perimeter defender, expect to see Morris get even more playing time as the season wears on.
The rest of the team was nowhere to be found. Zack Novak and Stu Douglass combined for three points on 0-5 shooting. Those two players comprise 40% of this team’s starting lineup. That wouldn’t be so bad if this team had any bench production, but only Laval Lucas-Perry scored among the reserves, with four points on 2-3 shooting. You can’t expect your team to be competitive if only five players score in a game. You just can’t.
I haven’t even bothered to check if this team has a chance at postseason play (and when I say postseason, I mean the NIT or that other random postseason tournament that nobody watches), but at this point, I’d like for this season to mercifully end as soon as possible, so we can regroup, assess what went wrong, and gear up for next season. This team is clearly ready for this nightmare to end, as DeShawn Sims is the only player you could say has remotely lived up to expectations, and he’s an outgoing senior. Hopefully John Beilein can get this team to put together a few decent games down the stretch, Manny will reaffirm that he’s coming back, and we’ll move on.
Joe Paterno's 25th-ranked 2005 class, which included future stars Darryl Clark and Sean Lee, came on the heels of consecutive losing seasons in 2003 and 2004.
According to Rivals.com, Michigan has managed to put together the nation’s #20 overall recruiting class despite coming off two consecutive losing seasons. This doesn’t happen often — in the Rivals era (covering the class of 2002 through today), a school has managed to haul in a top-25 recruiting class after two losing seasons just 16 times, an average of exactly two per year. To be honest, I was surprised the number was even that high. I thought I’d take a look at the teams that pulled off the feat, and attempt to (1) explain how they were able to put together a good recruiting class and (2) see how the team fared down the road. In chronological order, here are the schools that finished in the Rivals top 25 team rankings after consecutive losing seasons:
Team/Year:Penn State, 2002 (Rivals.com’s #21 overall class) Coach: Joe Paterno (34th year at Penn State) Previous two seasons: 5-7 (2000), 5-6 (2001) Why?: The back-to-back losing seasons were the first by Penn State in the Paterno era, and came right after a 10-3 1999 team that featured the top two overall picks of the 2000 NFL Draft (Courtney Brown and LaVar Arrington), so Penn State could sell early playing time, a strong winning tradition, and a potential NFL future to their recruits, as well as the chance to play for a legendary head coach who wasn’t going to get fired despite the team’s uncharacteristically poor performance. How did they fare?: This class wasn’t as strong as it appeared on paper — it featured 11 four-stars, but only four (Levi Brown, Tamba Hali, Jay Alford, and Calvin Lowry) would really live up to their billing, and the class didn’t get much contribution from its two- and three-star players. After a 9-4 2002 season, Penn State would undergo another back-to-back losing stretch (more on that later) before an 11-1 2005 season brought them back to the top of the Big Ten.
Team/Year:Arizona, 2002 (#25) Coach: John Mackovic (2nd season at Arizona) Previous two seasons: 5-6 (2000), 5-6 (2001) Why?: Putting together his first full recruiting class, John Mackovic was a big-name coach (with prior head-coaching stints at Wake Forest, Illinois, and Texas) for a team coming off its best decade in school history. Also, anyone who has been to Arizona knows that it should not be difficult to recruit high school kids to Tucson (a quick Google image search for “University of Arizona” brings up Olympic swimmer — and former Playboy covergirl — Amanda Beard studying in a pool). How did they fare?: Not so well. Mackovic had to publicly apologize to his players during the 2002 season because of his over-the-top verbal abuse (in the most publicized incident, he called tight end Justin Levasseur a disgrace to his family), and was fired five games into the 2003 season. Arizona finally hit the .500 mark in 2006, and wouldn’t field a winning team until 2008. You’ll be seeing the Wildcats on this list again, as well.
Team/Year:Mississippi State, 2003 (#9) Coach: Jackie Sherrill (13th season at MSU) Previous two seasons: 3-8 (2001), 3-9 (2002) Why?: Sherrill was the first coach to lead the Bulldogs to four consecutive winning seasons (1997-2000) since the 1940s, so despite the two losing seasons, this was still a Mississippi State squad that had recently experienced almost-unprecedented success. Sherrill had also hauled in the nation’s #17 class the previous year. The elephant in the room: after Sherrill retired following the 2003 season, the NCAA put the football team on four years of probation, took away eight scholarships, and banned them from postseason play for recruiting violations involving two assistants and boosters between 1998 and 2002. So, there’s that. How did they fare?: The Bulldogs obviously weren’t helped by the NCAA sanctions, and this class suffered through another four losing seasons. Those who made it to a fifth year, however, did get to play for Sylvester Croom’s 8-5 2007 squad, so the class wasn’t a total loss. I wouldn’t take much away from this class because of the obvious cloud hanging over its legitimacy.
The WLA, in the wake of the MGoBlog/Maize n Brew piped-in music feud, gives their own proposal for how Michigan should handle in-game music: cannons. Like, real ones. The above video comes highly, highly recommended, as long as you don’t mind over-the-top visual enhancements and, well, cannons (and Miley Cyrus, briefly). Chitownblue, you are full of WIN.
Signing day has come and gone, and Michigan has 27 shiny new recruits to talk about: The Rivalry, Esq. evaluates the class, Burgeoning Wolverine Star and MVictors run down yesterday’s press conference, and the Big House Blog has highlights of preferred walk-on Baquer Sayed, a three-star WR from Dearborn. MVictors also has the audio from yesterday’s grilling of Rich Rodriguez by Drew Sharp and Dave Birkett on Demar Dorsey’s legal history, for those of you who missed it. My quick take: Dorsey was acquitted of one charge, and the other was dropped, and he was 16, he hasn’t been in legal trouble since, and I think it’s pretty uncalled for to turn a signing day presser — when we are celebrating the arrival of these high school kids — into a moral discussion about an 18-year-old. Rich Rod obviously did his homework checking into Dorsey’s background, and decided it was worth it to offer him a scholarship. I realize these reporters were doing their jobs, but they took it too far when it comes to a juvenile — back off, let the kid have his day, and the issue will be addressed in full if Dorsey hits a legal snafu as an actual adult.
In hoops, Dylan had a correspondent at the Grand Ledge – Jackson game last week, and he has a full scouting report and video on Jon Horford, Al’s brother and a potential 2010 recruit for Michigan. Horford put up big numbers against an undersized and overmatched opponent — he appears to be a pretty raw prospect, but a guy with the potential to be a solid Division I player.
Dorsey is Rivals.com’s #13 safety and the #162 overall prospect. ESPN is very high on Dorsey, rating him as a five-star prospect and the #12 overall player in the country.
Here are some highlights of Dorsey from the Under Armour All-American Game (EDIT: Original video was removed by the uploader, who is a Florida State fan. Sore loser. Here’s another highlight tape from the same game — again, I’m in class, so be warned if you’re at work that the sound may not be appropriate):
Watching that video, you learn three things about Dorsey:
He’s fast. Very fast. [Note: His cousin is Denard Robinson. I hope there are more cousins. We could field a whole team.]
He has good instincts around the football.
He likes to dance. A lot.
In my opinion, we need all those things from a safety (okay, the dancing is just an added bonus). This is a huge pickup for Michigan, and another signing day feather in Rich Rodriguez’s cap.
Sean Parker surprisingly chose Washington over UM and USC.
We’re in the thick of signing day now, and one of Michigan’s two remaining targets has made his decision: four-star safety Sean Parker announced this morning that he would attend Washington, a surprise late entry in what was seen as a two-horse race between Michigan and Southern Cal.
In better news, Michigan fans bracing themselves for a surprising decommit (after last year, I don’t blame you) will be happy to hear that all 19 commits who had not enrolled early have sent in their Letters of Intent, including DT Terry Talbott, who had been struggling with a decision between Michigan and North Carolina.
Also, there have been some positive message board rumblings about four-star Florida safety Demar Dorsey, who will announce his college choice at 1 pm. Dorsey, once a Florida commit, is down to Michigan, USC, and Florida State, who until today appeared to be the clear leader, with rumors of a possible silent commitment even being thrown around. I’ll have an update as soon as Dorsey makes his decision.
Programming note: Between signing day and a busy Wednesday class schedule, I’m going to pretend last night’s hoops debacle at Northwestern didn’t happen. If you want postgame coverage, check out UMHoops.
Sean Parker is one of two four-star safeties that could commit to Michigan during tomorrow's National Signing Day.
College football’s National Signing Day is tomorrow, and although it signifies the first day that recruits can sign a letter of intent, it usually marks the last day in a prospect’s recruitment. With 26 prospects already committed, Michigan should have a relatively quiet NSD, but they are still in on a couple of big-time safety prospects. Unfortunately, one player Michigan was looking to have come in at defensive back came off the board today, as four-star safety Rashad Knight told SI he had chosen Rutgers over Michigan. That leaves three players for Michigan fans to keep an eye on over the next day or so, barring any unforeseen circumstances:
Demar Dorsey (Rivals 4*, #13 safety, #162 overall): Dorsey, a former Florida commit who had his offer pulled when he continued taking visits, will announce his decision at 1 pm tomorrow. He is expected to sign with Florida State, and USC has also become a major factor is his recruitment, but Michigan has an outside shot after an impressive in-home visit from several coaches last week. The odds are strong that Dorsey will be a Seminole, but stranger things have happened on signing day.
Sean Parker (Rivals 4*, #21 safety): Parker must be a morning person, as the California prospect has set his announcement for 7 am PST (10 am EST) tomorrow morning. His decision will come down to USC and Michigan, and this is a call that could go either way — insiders from both sides each seem to think their school has the inside track. With Knight going to Rutgers, Parker is Michigan’s best chance at adding a four-star safety to this year’s class — I like Michigan’s chances with him, but you always have to be wary when the opponent is USC (see: Johnson, Ronald and Perry, Nick).
Terry Talbott (Rivals 3*, #61 DT): Terry, along with his brother Terrence (3* CB), has been committed to Michigan since August, but he took a late January visit to North Carolina that caused him to take another look at his decision. His brother, who did not accompany Terry on his UNC visit, is still firmly committed to Michigan, and still expects that the brothers will attend the same school. According to The Wolverine’s Josh Helmholdt, Terry should have his final decision made by tonight. I’d be surprised if he didn’t end up at Michigan, simply because that would be spurning his own brother, but, again, you never know with football recruiting.
Updates will be posted as soon as information gets out. Hopefully Rich Rodriguez can one again work some signing-day magic.
Brandon Graham took home Senior Bowl MVP honors with two sacks and a forced fumble.
The normal basketball recap will be a bit abbreviated today, because, in the interest of full disclosure, my friends and I left the game with about ten minutes left when it was clear that Iowa had attempted to sneak a D-II team into Crisler Arena dressed as the Hawkeye basketball team. Instead, I’ll give my thoughts on an interesting weekend of Michigan sports.
After a week of practices that turned a lot of heads in the NFL, Brandon Graham earned MVP honors in the Senior Bowl with five tackles, two sacks, one TFL and a forced fumble. The week began with Graham projected as a late first/early second-round NFL draft pick, but his outstanding week has almost certainly solidified him as a first-round pick and one of the top defensive players available. I think Graham had to overcome the (patently false) perception that he was a decent player on a bad defense, and he exceeded the expectations of everyone who hadn’t seen him play at Michigan to show that he is, simply, a great football player. The only thing holding Graham back is his size — at 6′1, 263 pounds, Graham could be either an undersized 4-3 defensive end or a big, pass-rushing 3-4 outside linebacker. Personally, I think his future is with his hand on the ground, but a lot depends on what team grabs him in the draft. Either way, Graham showed this week that he is one of the elite prospects in the draft this season.
Yeah, the Iowa game was about that easy.
In basketball, Michigan beat Iowa 60-46 in a game that wasn’t nearly as close as the final score would indicate. I’m really not sure how much can be taken away from this one — Iowa is now 2-7 in the Big Ten, with their wins coming against Penn State (winless in conference play) and Indiana (3-5). Michigan scored the game’s first 13 points, held Iowa scoreless for nearly seven minutes, and kept the Hawkeyes without a field goal until almost ten minutes had elapsed. We spent half the game joking that Iowa guard John Lickliter — son of head coach Todd Lickliter — looked like he had been given his spot on the team as a Bar Mitzvah gift. It was one of those games.
DeShawn Sims carried the scoring load early, and finished with 20 points (on 9-18 shooting) and 12 rebounds (including nine offensive boards), as nobody on the Hawkeyes could really check him on the block. Manny Harris also finished with 20 points, but that number is deceiving — most of his points came in the second half, and he shot only 6-16 from the field and turned the ball over six times.
Other than that, it was your standard performance on offense from the Wolverines: nobody else finished with more than six points (Douglass and Novak), the team shot poorly (36.2% from the field, 26.9% from three) but came up with a lot of their own misses (15 offensive rebounds out of 27 missed shots), and the only consistent offense came when Harris and Sims were creating for themselves. Michigan dominated on the defensive end, however, holding Iowa to just 17-55 shooting and allowing just nine offensive rebounds, which allowed the Wolverines to rout the Hawkeyes.
One final thought on the game: Zack Novak was in foul trouble for most of the game, finishing with four fouls, and when he was replaced by Anthony Wright it really showed on both ends of the floor. On offense, Novak gets his hand on seemingly every miss that comes into his area, and even if he doesn’t pull down the offensive rebound he makes the defense work to get the ball back. Wright tends to hang out by the three-point line and occasionally throw up a brick. On defense, Novak has solid positioning and displays the same tenacity that makes him a great offensive rebounder for his size. Wright appeared lost on defense and doesn’t rebound as well as Novak despite a considerable height advantage. In short, let’s hope Novak stays out of foul trouble from now on — this team can’t afford losing him against a competent opponent.
I was actually able to catch both hockey games against MSU, as this was the rare weekend when both Michigan hockey games were televised. Michigan salvaged a split, losing 3-2 on Friday at Munn and taking a wild 5-4 decision Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena, but the team was robbed of a chance for a sweep thanks to a very untimely whistle in the opener (from TBTYB):
So now Michigan has a man-advantage with just over two minutes to go and a chance to pull off a huge comeback on the road. Just after the penalty expired, Chris Brown was standing in the slot. The puck hit him and bounced down, through the legs of Drew Palmisano, and into the net. Like, straight through the legs of Palmisano. We’re not talking pinballing. We’re not talking the puck died between his legs but was still loose and someone jammed it in. It hit Chris Brown, bounced down, went right through Palmisano into the net.
Shegos somehow missed this and blew the play dead within milliseconds of the puck going underneath Palmisano. The whistle may not have gone until the puck was in the net (I’m not sure), but thanks to the most retarded rule in sports–the play is dead when it’s dead in the referee’s mind, not when he blows the whistle–you can’t review it.
That’s a missed call. You can see from the behind-the-net cam that the puck was never even remotely covered. And the guy who is widely considered the best ref in the conference–as if that’s not like saying someone is the prettiest ugly girl (by the way, there were options in the crowd tonight….for as many good-looking girls as there are supposed to be at Michigan State, they must have found every fug in the bunch during the crowd shots tonight….holy buckets)–completely blew it.
The same “intent to whistle” bull has cost the Red Wings a couple games this season as well, so sadly I wasn’t even remotely surprised when the goal was waived off. It was a terrible call, and I don’t want to exonerate Shegos in any way, but that rule is a black eye for hockey at every level it’s enforced — one of these day someone is going to get sick of answering angry emails and actually change the damn thing, and I hope that day comes as soon as possible. The controversy of the third period overshadowed a completely lackluster effort from the Wolverines — they couldn’t get any sort of offensive rush into the zone or set up a power play until the game was nearly out of reach. The goal that put MSU up 3-0 was vintage Bryan Hogan of the worst kind, a juicy rebound on a routine shot that was hammered home by (argh) Corey Tropp.
Saturday’s game was just crazy. Michigan appeared to put the game out of reach with three goals in the first period — A.J. Treais drove the net hard and knocked home a rebound to get the first goal, Chris Summers netted a laser from the point for the second, and Brian Lebler’s wrister gave Michigan a 3-0 lead heading into the first intermission.
Then State scored four unanswered goals. Michigan gave up an inexcusable shorthanded tally at the beginning of the second period, and Hogan allowed another rebound goal halfway through the period to cut the lead to one. State tied the game up just 50 seconds into the third period, and I think I speak for all Michigan fans when I say that I was resigned to a loss at that point. When Dean Chelios netted the go-ahead goal with a little under seven minutes to go, I almost shut off the TV. When Michigan took a penalty shortly afterward, I almost threw the remote through the TV, which probably would have been an effective way of permanently shutting it off.
Good thing I didn’t. On a seemingly innocuous play in the Spartan zone, Carl Hagelin made a great effort to force a turnover and took two shots on Drew Palmisano. The second shot bounced off to the side, where Matt Rust was able to hammer home the rebound. Just two minutes later, Chris Brown refused to budge from the side of the net, and whacked home the game-winner past both Palmisano and a Spartan defenseman on a great, gritty play.
This weekend’s series was a microcosm of the season for Michigan: very inconsistent play, a lot of chances, some soft goals allowed, and a weekend split. The Wolverines now are in great danger of missing the NCAA Tournament — Brian thinks Michigan probably needs to win eight of nine (or, of course, take the CCHA Tournament) to get a spot in the tourney. With Michigan’s shaky goaltending situation, I don’t really see that happening.
[UPDATE: The Pitt to the Big Ten rumors are, predictably, completely false, as reported by the Chicago Tribune from a Big Ten source. I still think Pitt is a very viable candidate to join the Big Ten, but the conference will stick to their 12-18 month review period before moving forward with any expansion plans. Since this article looks into Pitt's viability as a candidate to be a 12th team, I still think it's worth reading, but please be aware that nothing official will happen until December, at the earliest.]
Sorry, couldn’t help myself with that title. I know, it’s awful.
Internet scuttlebutt — and I stress that at this point the rumors are no more than that — has Pitt joining the Big Ten as a 12th team, likely in the fall of 2012 (probably the earliest a move from one major conference to another could be feasibly made). Obviously, this is far from a done deal, since there is no official confirmation (or denial) coming from any of the major parties, but I thought it would be interesting to take a closer look at what Pitt would bring to the Big Ten, and the ramifications of adding a 12th team.
Heisman winner Tony Dorsett is a part of Pitt's rich football tradition.
Football: Pitt’s recent rise back to national prominence (or, at the very least, relevance) would make them a more-than-acceptable addition to the Big Ten as a football school. The Panthers finished last season with a 10-3 record and were ranked #15 in the final AP poll, and after a rocky start to the Dave Wannstedt era (16-19 in his first three seasons) it appears Pitt has built up enough talent to compete on a national level (19-7 last two seasons).
A move to the Big Ten would allow Pitt to renew their storied series with in-state rival Penn State — the two teams have met 96 times on the football field, but haven’t played each other since the 2000 season. Since joining the Big Ten in 1993, Penn State has been without a natural rival, and while their contests against Michigan and Ohio State have become hotly-contested because of their impact on the conference title, having a natural rival with some history would be good for PSU and the conference as a whole.
Of the realistic candidates for a 12th Big Ten team (that excludes Notre Dame, Texas, and Nebraska, for the record), Pitt probably has the best football tradition: the Panthers have played the sport since 1890, claim nine national titles (1915, 1916, 1918, 1929, 1931, 1934, 1936, 1937, and 1976), and boast a Heisman Trophy winner (Tony Dorsett, 1976), 24 College Football Hall of Fame inductees, and 49 consensus All-Americans, including such names as Hugh Green, Dan Marino, and Larry Fitzgerald.
The biggest knock against Pitt’s football resume would be their stadium: the school tore down the ancient Pitt Stadium after their final season there in 1999, and have shared a stadium with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the seasons since. The Panthers take second-class status behind the Steelers in their own stadium, and have a difficult time selling out Heinz Field — in 2008, Pitt averaged 49,352 fans in a stadium that holds just over 65,000.
Pitt hasn’t been a national power for a generation or so, but their recent success, rivalry with Penn State, and rich tradition make them a welcome addition to the Big Ten as a football school. With back-to-back bowl appearances, at least two more years with electric running back Dion Lewis, and solid recruiting classes from Wannstedt (Rivals rank last four years, in order: 21, 26, 28, 47), I think the Panthers could be a Wisconsin-type presence in the Big Ten — a little up-and-down in terms of success, but a team that usually finishes in the upper half of the conference standings and occasionally threatens to make a BCS bowl.
Not exactly what comes to mind when I think of "Michigan Stadium" and "music"
Brian has already covered this in his latest Unverified Voracity, but I figured I would chip in my two cents on the piped-in music at Michigan Stadium, in the wake of Maize n Brew Dave posting his suggestions for what should be played over the PA (in short, a lot of 80s metal). Brian makes a couple great points in his post: it’s impossible to make 100,000+ people with widely varying ages and musical tastes happy with piped-in music, and what the music takes away from more traditionalist fans in gameday experience far outweighs what it adds for those who support it. Personally, I initially enjoyed the new music — the first time “Lose Yourself” came on over the PA, I got pretty excited. Then came a bombardment of “Sweet Caroline” (seriously, anyone who plays that song at a game, party, bar, wedding, etc. should have flesh-eating beetles inserted into their ears), “Don’t Stop Believin’” (ditto), and Bob Seger, played at 1000x the recommended volume for sound quality. So, yeah, the musical choices aren’t really adding anything to the game, except to please the (admittedly sizeable) Rick’s-going, fist-pumping portion of the student section.
Here’s my biggest problem with the piped-in music: it kills the crowd noise. This sounds crazy, as it was intended to have the opposite effect, but I can’t count the number of times last season (especially on defense) when the student section began making noise, only to be drowned out by the 657th playing of “Welcome to the Jungle” or some other beyond-played-out song. With the band playing, the students have set cheers, and the band has over a century of experience in knowing how to work the crowd into a football frenzy. I come to Michigan Stadium for the team, the experience, and yes, the tradition. Axl Rose is not part of that tradition. “Hawaiian War Chant” is. Let’s end this experiment while we can still say it was just that, an experiment, and a failed one at that.
[Steps off soap box]
In other, more directly football-related stuff, Markus has a great post over at Maize n Brew with some in-depth research on the correlation between defense and winning in the Big Ten (hint: having a good one helps), and how Michigan should go about developing their D. At The Fifth Quarter (the blog, not the crappy 18+ bar), JB breaks down Michigan’s needs on offense and defense for the recruiting class of 2011. I agree with him for the most part, except that I think Michigan needs, at the bare minimum, four offensive line prospects next season, after securing just one lineman in this year’s class.
On to hoops, where Burgeoning Wolverine Star, continuing his streak of not-at-all-depressing posts, ponders the future of Michigan basketball without DeShawn Sims. If you think our depth up front is poor now, you may not want to click that link. Hopefully, Evan Smotrycz can come in and immediately contribute as a power forward, and Jordan Morgan or Blake McClimans or Jon Horford (2010 recruit and brother of Al) or anyone 6′8 or taller can play a passable center. Ben Cronin being irreparably broken really, really hurts. For the lighter side of Michigan hoops, check out the WLA’s article, “The Ineffable Lightness of Laval Lucas-Perry,” which contains a Ghost reference and therefore I must link to it.
Michigan has a huge series with Michigan State this weekend (game one is tonight at 7 at Munn, televised on the BTN; game two is tomorrow night at Joe Louis Arena, on FSN and FSN-HD), and both The Blog That Yost Built and MGoBlog have the requisite previews. The Big Picture, courtesy of Brian:
This is the biggest series left in the season for many reasons. One: it’s Michigan State. Two: a sweep puts the MSU-UM pairwise comparison back in play; anything short of that and Michigan basically can’t win it unless the two teams meet in the CCHA playoffs. (And even then Michigan will probably have to get three points this weekend.) Three: Michigan can drop two, maybe three games in the eleven they have left and still have a reasonable chance of a bid without a CCHA tourney championship. Aside from the Wisconsin game, these two are the toughest left on the docket.
A weekend sweep would be huge for Michigan, with a win and a tie being the only other outcome that won’t cause me to die a little inside.
Finally, John U. Bacon uses the recent episodes involving Jack Johnson (whose GM, Ernie Lombardi, had some very harsh comments regarding Red Berenson and the Michigan hockey program) and Manny Harris (the suspension) to show how Berenson and John Beilein put integrity above all else, including victories — a very good read, and one that makes you proud to root for our programs. Brian (man, I link to this guy a lot — he must be popular) nabs a screenshot from The Wire (the greatest television show ever made) of a corner kid rocking a Michigan baseball jersey while selling drugs to Herc. I’m going to go ahead and say this is great, because The Wire is awesome, and ignore the connections between drug dealing and wearing a Michigan jersey, especially since this is a TV show. In reality, we all know juvenile delinquents root for Ohio State and Michigan State, anyway.
"When your team is winning, be ready to be tough, because winning can make you soft. On the other hand, when your team is losing, stick by them. Keep believing."
- Bo Schembechler
“I ask no man to make a sacrifice. On the contrary! We ask
him to do the opposite. To live clean, come clean, think clean.
That he stop doing all the things that destroy him physically,
mentally and morally, and begin doing all the things that make him keener, finer and more competent" - Fielding Yost
“People come up to me and say, ‘I’m sorry.’ I’m not sorry because I received the greatest thing from the University of Michigan anyone can receive: a degree.” - Zia Combs
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