[DonAZ]

This is a very nicely done summary of the class.

Offensive line is an obvious point where another elite OT would have been nice. That said, I’m rather happy to see a true Center be targeted and secured.

You wrote: It is worrisome that M was not even on the radar for the vast majority of elite DB targets.

I wonder why that is? Perhaps because Harbaugh is mostly known as an offensive coach; perhaps because Michigan is not generally known as DB-University (DL, yes; DB, less so.) If Michigan’s defense continues to hold up as one of the nation’s best we start to draw that kind of talent from the Alabamas and USCs of the world.

[DonAZ]

I scanned through that, but I’m going to decline to participate.

FWIW, I’d prefer to the topic to remain off-limits in a sports discussion setting. In today’s climate, there’s very little profit in engaging the subject, particularly in a large-group setting such as an Internet forum.

(From a purely argumentative point of view, what often happens is people think they are arguing conclusions when what’s really going on is they haven’t settled premises. No argument towards conclusion can take place without first establishing the logical premises upon which the conclusions are built.)

[DonAZ]

I see now … Twitter. Whatever.

[DonAZ]

I missed something … what happened over at MGoBlog? Was it a main-page content post by Brian that stated some political position? Or was it a forum post that touched on political issues and blew up with comments?

[DonAZ]

I have a co-worker friend who lives in Columbus and is a big OSU fan. After the loss to MSU I joked with him about letting me down. It was one of the few times I would root for OSU and they lost. His response — “We’ve been waiting for the bubble to burst all year. We knew it would happen, we just didn’t know when.” Interesting response … fans there had a sense this was not the juggernaut team some made them out to be. Good, yes; invincible, no.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the playoff system and the effect of that on the structure of college football. I’ll confess I have a bit of the curmudgeon old man in me that yearns for college football as I remember it in my youth. But that said, I often wonder if the pressure to get into the top four is not putting immense pressure on the top programs today.

The Purdues and Virginias of the world likely have no real hope for making the top 4. Yes, they could do it if they had a miracle season, but they likely do not start the season with an expectation of competing for it. But teams like Alabama, LSU, Ohio State, and soon to be Michigan do. Undefeated seasons are the goal, and if there’s to be a loss, let it be early and against a non-conference foe. A late-season loss against a conference opponent likely spills a team out of the top four. And that kind of pressure has to really grind on a coach, a team, and a program.

So I wonder if what we saw from Jones and Elliott after the loss to MSU was not simply uncorked emotions after having been — most likely — knocked out of the playoffs? I wonder if the talk of Les Miles imminent departure is due, in part, to his failing to be a serious contender for the top four last year and this?

In a sense, having an 8 team playoff might actually be better, if only because the top-tier teams have a better chance of getting into a field of 8 than a field of 4. I recognize that using that logic suggests a team of 16 or 32, but I’m not arguing that. I’m simply saying that 4 teams means the pool of perhaps 12 to 15 or so truly “elite” programs are under enormous scrutiny to make that field each year. The stress might be causing tears in the fabric of the game, with the OSU incident being simply one early example.

[DonAZ]

I guess I wasn’t paying much attention … I didn’t realize J.J. Abrams was directing this new Star Wars, and I wouldn’t have immediately made the connection with the 2009 Star Trek movie by Abrams.

I very much liked the 2009 Star Trek movie. I’m a bit of an original series Trekkie, but less so the ones that followed. And other than “Wrath of Khan,” the other Star Trek movies were not very good. But the 2009 movie by Abrams hit most of the right notes, and it’s one I have in DVD format and will watch periodically when there’s no good sports on TV.

(The one false note in the Star Trek movie was brief romance scenes between Spock and Uhura. I’m every bit as much a fan of Zoe Saldana on the screen as the next man, but I found that scene in the elevator to make me shake my head in disagreement. Karl Urban as McCoy was terrific casting.)

[DonAZ]

Prepare for a bit of movie blasphemy … I don’t really like Star Wars.

I liked the first Star Wars well enough when it was in the theaters during original release — and yeah, I’m that old. I think I saw the other two of the first three, but I never saw the prequel three, and I don’t plan on seeing this new one. But I’m not that much of a science fiction buff, so there’s that.

To each their own, however … so for all you Star Wars fans out there, I hope you enjoy this one!

[DonAZ]

Well … I watched that and it makes me wonder just what the hell I was doing in the 1998 – 2000 time frame. I can’t recall the “Henson” era very clearly. I was living in the Washington D.C. area at that time, and it must have been a period when my interest in college football and Michigan was much lower than now.

This also reminds me how quickly the years go by. 2000 is 15 years ago! 🙂

[Author]

Posts