This is the first of what I hope will not be an often posted series. Today I want to talk about what it truly means to endure.
First, wow, I know it is late. I have stewed on this topic and debated whether to write on it for a long time. Ultimately my decision came down to the fact that this is a big topic and deserves attention. Joe Paterno passed this past week. If you do not know this you either live in a cave, literally, or you have made a conscious decision to ignore it. In either case I highly doubt you would be reading my blog if you fit in these categories.
I sent my condolences via Twitter, and Facebook. I think in this day and age it is sort of symbolic of how Joe's life has finished. He lived a life shrouded in mythology. If any one college football coach was above all else, it was him. The students of Penn State believed it. And to a fault so did the faculty of the university. What it led to was the downfall of the winingest coach in college football, and by proxy the university itself. Don't read this and assume that I think what happened was right. Or that the death of a legend should be related only to his most recent actions. I don't believe any of that. What I do believe is that JoePa lived a life of greatness. He was married to the same woman for most of his adult life. He helped raise countless fatherless, hopeless athletes, and turned them into men. There is no downplaying that. We as a society have a high standard though. It is a good thing. We want everyone to be perfect, and to a fault we like to see the ones we hold high fall from grace. The tabloids are full of it. Jim Tressel is another example. The bottom line is that we will hold JoePa dear, and caveat that with his inaction against the worst kind of criminal.
I want to believe that he did what he though was right. I can't help but think though, that he did what he thought would minimize the trouble for a close friend of his. A person he thought would be incapable of such wrong doing. All of this is still to be determined in a court of law, and I will wait to pass judgement until all facts are heard. If it is true, I think that JoePa should have done a lot more. A simple few phone calls to follow up. That's all I want. Make sure the charged is indeed being brought to justice. But he was still a great man. He knew how to connect with young men. His program rarely had legal issues, and his top recruits usually made it in the NFL. What I hope people don't do is label his life as one of failure. He had far more ups than downs, and his final year was one that even he realized was unlike any other in his 85 years on earth.
Many people will choose to remember the only black mar on his record. Don't destroy his memory by remembering only the last thing that he was published about. I urge you to research him and find as many stories as you can about him. Dig up as much dirt and put it into a 60 year coaching perspective. 60 years is a long time. If you can say you have lived a perfect life in 60 years, your name must be Jesus, because none of us are perfect. DO him the honor of remembering that.
My deepest heartfelt condolences go out to the Paterno family. I hope they find some measure of peace in the support that has flowed since his death. JoePa was a legend. Endure the time of mourning. Things must get better. On this site, and in this man's eye, JoePa will remain an iconic piece of college football history. I will remember him for the time he devoted to young men. I will remember that he helped many children become adults. The rest can do what they choose.
Fortitudine Vincimus
27 Januar, 2012
08 Januar, 2012
Football Season Wrap Up
Another new year passes, and another football season ends. This is the way of the world. At least, this is the way of my world. You see, college football ends on New Years Day, more or less. And Dallas, well they haven't been relevant in the new year for a long time. Soooo, lets start the wrap with the more depressing of the two.
Dallas Cowboys: Another season has come and gone, and another season has seen the Cowboys fall into mediocrity. A few weeks ago I had plans to write about a Dallas collapse that was imminent. I never got around to actually writing it, and of course now I wish I had, because this is EXACTLY what I have come to expect out of them the last few years. I have a love hate relationship with this team. More so than any other team I think. I root for the Cowboys to do well. I never want to see them fail. I have, however, grown to expect it because of TWO critically important people.
One is the owner. Jerry Jones is a rich kid with a VERY expensive toy. He wants waaay too much control of it, and it has shown in the way he micromanages the team. From the day to day coaching down to the draft selection. He is not the greatest football mind in America, yet he insists that his will be done regardless of whoever else is telling him he is wrong. I have mentioned that great leaders will surround themselves with great people. Well Jerry surrounds himself with people he knows he can manipulate and push around. Not always the best combination. When he hired Bill Parcels I thought, "Finnaly, he has realized his follies and is learning!" That clearly wasn't the case as he quit, and JJ was left with a gap to fill in the Head Coaching spot. Once JJ relinquishes day to day football operations to a knowledgeable football mind, this team will succeed.
The other one, and for those who know my wife you know that I am treading on thin ice here, is Tony Romo. Go ahead, throw statistics at me. Tell me he had the fourth best passer rating this year. Or in 2009 he was in the top ten. I will counter with this though: in the last game of the season, a game that by the team's own admission was a playoff game, he laid an egg. An INT, and a fumble in the game. And he only threw for 289 yds on 37 attempts. He seems to do well at the end of games when the game is on the line, but when it is pressure packed to start with, he just doesn't do well. Take a look at his playoff record, and his record in games at the end of the season that really matter. This quality, unfortunately, is transferred to the team, which all too many times takes the traits of its star player. JJ is inexplicably devoted to TR, and I guess that is good in the sense we are not always wondering who the QB is going to be. And to be fair, they had a lot of other issues this year as well. A new defense was supposed to start off rocky and then build to elite by the end of the season. That didn't happen. And for some reason the running game is only good against inferior opponents. I actually see that as a trend in most of the professional teams. Most teams run to make the PA seem like it might work, and if the defense doesn't respect the run, then they pound it in there. Most NFL teams are content to throw it a gazillion times a game and hope it all works out. That's another post though. Back to TR. He has had ample time, in my opinion, to rectify his problems. He is still making a lot of the same mistakes that he made in his rookie season. The difference is now there is a scouting report on him and people know how to defend him, and he can not get away with it any more.
Getting back to their season, and more importantly the end of the season, they said that the last 4 games essentially added up to an extension of the playoffs. They wanted to win them all and go into the post season with the momentum that the win streak would provide. At the time they had a TWO game lead on the Giants and instead of coming out that week and beating them to put them away, they lost. Something the team has grown accustomed to doing. That was when I was going to write the blog, because essentially they had already been eliminated in their own little playoff, and that was not going to bring good things. Additionally they went on to lose 3 of their last 4, including the ultra important "Win and your In" game. Their problems run deeper than any one player, and my dislike of Romo aside, they have the talent at all of the positions to get the job done. I am not sure what else they need, except to put it all together. That is what young head coach Jason Garrett needs to do. Start leading the team and getting them to gel. Make them work for each other, instead of the paychecks that JJ signs. There is always next season. I will endure the offseason with thoughts of drafting the one magical player that will fix all problems. Of course that will not happen, but maybe, just maybe, the team will come out better and stronger next year.
Michigan Wolverines: I have not neglected this team like the professional team I root for. A large part of that is actually that over here, it is much easier (and cheaper) to follow college sports than the NFL. I purchased one package through ESPN that lets me follow all college football aired on the ESPN family (which is about 90% of the teams that I follow). I don't have that option with the NFL. But since I have documented quite well my feelings on Team 132, I will not go on and on. I will wrap up this season by simply saying it was a refreshing change of pace to the last three years. I saw a clear outlined picture for goals that was established early in the year, and adhered to as the year went on. At the conclusion of the season, there was not talk about being happy with a 10-2 record, it was a disappointment that there was not a B1G Championship trophy to display. Goals. RR never seemed to value these set in stone goals to shoot for. I don't know if that had any influence on the seasons, but it was refreshing to see them this season.
ETC. All my attempts to load the hype/highlight video of the season that I made have failed. No one wants to hear my awesome selection of music that I put to it. If you want to see it, go to YouTube and check it out on my channel (ChThrillHill). It will be without music though.
Good luck to Alabama and LSU. Can't say that I will be staying up all night to watch that one, but it should prove to be a defensively competitive game. Their combined secondaries are probably better off than 1/2 the NFL secondaries (Dallas' definitely included).
Speaking of NFL, good luck to the remaining teams. I have no dogs in the fight but I guess if I had to pick any team left it would be the Texans. They seem to be playing good team ball right now.
Posts will continue through the off season. As I said in the first blog, I follow a lot of sports, so as the relevent ones come around, I will post on them. Expect a Super Bowl blog, a March Madness Blog, and of course opening day of Baseball is coming up. In the mean time, stay safe, and enjoy the off season (only 237 days left).
Fortitudine Vincimus
Dallas Cowboys: Another season has come and gone, and another season has seen the Cowboys fall into mediocrity. A few weeks ago I had plans to write about a Dallas collapse that was imminent. I never got around to actually writing it, and of course now I wish I had, because this is EXACTLY what I have come to expect out of them the last few years. I have a love hate relationship with this team. More so than any other team I think. I root for the Cowboys to do well. I never want to see them fail. I have, however, grown to expect it because of TWO critically important people.
One is the owner. Jerry Jones is a rich kid with a VERY expensive toy. He wants waaay too much control of it, and it has shown in the way he micromanages the team. From the day to day coaching down to the draft selection. He is not the greatest football mind in America, yet he insists that his will be done regardless of whoever else is telling him he is wrong. I have mentioned that great leaders will surround themselves with great people. Well Jerry surrounds himself with people he knows he can manipulate and push around. Not always the best combination. When he hired Bill Parcels I thought, "Finnaly, he has realized his follies and is learning!" That clearly wasn't the case as he quit, and JJ was left with a gap to fill in the Head Coaching spot. Once JJ relinquishes day to day football operations to a knowledgeable football mind, this team will succeed.
The other one, and for those who know my wife you know that I am treading on thin ice here, is Tony Romo. Go ahead, throw statistics at me. Tell me he had the fourth best passer rating this year. Or in 2009 he was in the top ten. I will counter with this though: in the last game of the season, a game that by the team's own admission was a playoff game, he laid an egg. An INT, and a fumble in the game. And he only threw for 289 yds on 37 attempts. He seems to do well at the end of games when the game is on the line, but when it is pressure packed to start with, he just doesn't do well. Take a look at his playoff record, and his record in games at the end of the season that really matter. This quality, unfortunately, is transferred to the team, which all too many times takes the traits of its star player. JJ is inexplicably devoted to TR, and I guess that is good in the sense we are not always wondering who the QB is going to be. And to be fair, they had a lot of other issues this year as well. A new defense was supposed to start off rocky and then build to elite by the end of the season. That didn't happen. And for some reason the running game is only good against inferior opponents. I actually see that as a trend in most of the professional teams. Most teams run to make the PA seem like it might work, and if the defense doesn't respect the run, then they pound it in there. Most NFL teams are content to throw it a gazillion times a game and hope it all works out. That's another post though. Back to TR. He has had ample time, in my opinion, to rectify his problems. He is still making a lot of the same mistakes that he made in his rookie season. The difference is now there is a scouting report on him and people know how to defend him, and he can not get away with it any more. Getting back to their season, and more importantly the end of the season, they said that the last 4 games essentially added up to an extension of the playoffs. They wanted to win them all and go into the post season with the momentum that the win streak would provide. At the time they had a TWO game lead on the Giants and instead of coming out that week and beating them to put them away, they lost. Something the team has grown accustomed to doing. That was when I was going to write the blog, because essentially they had already been eliminated in their own little playoff, and that was not going to bring good things. Additionally they went on to lose 3 of their last 4, including the ultra important "Win and your In" game. Their problems run deeper than any one player, and my dislike of Romo aside, they have the talent at all of the positions to get the job done. I am not sure what else they need, except to put it all together. That is what young head coach Jason Garrett needs to do. Start leading the team and getting them to gel. Make them work for each other, instead of the paychecks that JJ signs. There is always next season. I will endure the offseason with thoughts of drafting the one magical player that will fix all problems. Of course that will not happen, but maybe, just maybe, the team will come out better and stronger next year.
ETC. All my attempts to load the hype/highlight video of the season that I made have failed. No one wants to hear my awesome selection of music that I put to it. If you want to see it, go to YouTube and check it out on my channel (ChThrillHill). It will be without music though.
Good luck to Alabama and LSU. Can't say that I will be staying up all night to watch that one, but it should prove to be a defensively competitive game. Their combined secondaries are probably better off than 1/2 the NFL secondaries (Dallas' definitely included).
Speaking of NFL, good luck to the remaining teams. I have no dogs in the fight but I guess if I had to pick any team left it would be the Texans. They seem to be playing good team ball right now.
Posts will continue through the off season. As I said in the first blog, I follow a lot of sports, so as the relevent ones come around, I will post on them. Expect a Super Bowl blog, a March Madness Blog, and of course opening day of Baseball is coming up. In the mean time, stay safe, and enjoy the off season (only 237 days left).
Fortitudine Vincimus
04 Januar, 2012
Enduring Happiness: An Offseason to Look Forward to, and a Beach Full of Brunettes Never to Forget
Without further ado: Congratulations to the 132nd Michigan Football team. Much has been made of your season in the short time this blog has existed, but you banded together and created a lasting memory. Well done, as a fan I thank you, but your accomplishments mean so much more to you than they can ever mean to a man sitting by his computer tapping away at a keyboard. You endured like no other UM team has ever needed to, and you came out victorious. Those who stay will be champions, and no one understands that better than you. Well done. Enjoy your off seasons, prep for respective classes or camps. Those that are NFL bound, best of luck. Those coming back, follow your senior examples and be LEADERS!
Now, some thoughts on the game. The hype leading up to the bowl was actually its lack of hype on a national scale. It seemed no one thought that either team belonged, and you couldn't read a column, blog, or feature story that didn't start with: "(Pick a team) has taken a lot of criticism for being selected..." The coaches for both sides handled it with grace, proclaiming joy at being selected, and reminding everyone that they had no choice in the selection. I am sure they would have happily played a day earlier in Florida if that was to be their fate. It wasn't though. And both teams set out to prove they belonged. Perhaps along the way UM over-hyped themselves and lost the timing that is crucial to its offense. Maybe they bought into the media that showered praises of their 10 win season, and told them how easy it was going to be to win the 11th. I don't think anyone but the players and coaches will ever know exactly why they came out flat. VT's defense was stout, absolutely no doubt about that one. The secondary disguised coverages and made a play on just about every ball that Denard threw. The zone read never took off, and Fitz had a MSU-esque rushing day. Still, when the game was over, it was UM on top. By a field goal. A BRENDAN GIBBONS field goal no less. Who would've thunk it? Not this guy. Even after a season of making the easy ones, and a hard one or two, I still caught my breath when he lined up to kick. No offense to the guy, he has more than proved himself, but some things are not easily forgotten, and the debacle of last years kicking game is one of them. So how did he do it? How did he put last year behind him and pull through in the clutch every time he was called upon? Brunettes my friend. Brunettes. Personally, I am more of a blonde kind of guy. Ask my wife. But if thinking about brunettes on a beach can somehow calm this guys nerves, well go for it Brendan. Cindy Crawford laying out on the beach is just what the doctor ordered then.
The intriguing thing about this story to me is not the color of the women's hair that he thinks about though. No, to me, this is just another example of how great a leader Brady Hoke is. Gibbons came into the year as the backup place kicker. A walk on usurped his job last season after making only 1 of 5 attempts. He stayed beat out by the guy who only made 3 of his 9 attempts. By all rights, Gibbons should have packed it in and left Ann Arbor. Hoke came in though and gave him a clean slate. And a better way to do things. After what I can only assume was RichRod screaming at him for a year (thats just what RichRod does) a new approach was obviously what he needed. Well done Brady. Some guys just know how to coach, and more importantly connect to their players. The sample size on Hoke is small. One season with a roster full of mostly RichRods recruits. But clearly this guy knows how to motivate and how to get the best out of his players. No one expected much from this team. Brady did. No one expected to contend for a B1G championship this year. Brady did. No one expected a victory in a premier bowl game. Brady did though. And he made the players believe. Couple that with the strong senior leadership already discussed in this blog and the team was bound to exceed all the outside expectations.
So once again, congratulations to team 132. My hope is that team 133 will be as inspiring and as devoted to each other as this team was. Well done, and I look forward to blogging the off season recruiting and draft picks bound to happen. Endure the off season, I will spend it by latching on to other sports all while counting down the days till kickoff (241 by the way).
Fortitudine Vincimus
The intriguing thing about this story to me is not the color of the women's hair that he thinks about though. No, to me, this is just another example of how great a leader Brady Hoke is. Gibbons came into the year as the backup place kicker. A walk on usurped his job last season after making only 1 of 5 attempts. He stayed beat out by the guy who only made 3 of his 9 attempts. By all rights, Gibbons should have packed it in and left Ann Arbor. Hoke came in though and gave him a clean slate. And a better way to do things. After what I can only assume was RichRod screaming at him for a year (thats just what RichRod does) a new approach was obviously what he needed. Well done Brady. Some guys just know how to coach, and more importantly connect to their players. The sample size on Hoke is small. One season with a roster full of mostly RichRods recruits. But clearly this guy knows how to motivate and how to get the best out of his players. No one expected much from this team. Brady did. No one expected to contend for a B1G championship this year. Brady did. No one expected a victory in a premier bowl game. Brady did though. And he made the players believe. Couple that with the strong senior leadership already discussed in this blog and the team was bound to exceed all the outside expectations.
So once again, congratulations to team 132. My hope is that team 133 will be as inspiring and as devoted to each other as this team was. Well done, and I look forward to blogging the off season recruiting and draft picks bound to happen. Endure the off season, I will spend it by latching on to other sports all while counting down the days till kickoff (241 by the way).
Fortitudine Vincimus
23 Dezember, 2011
A Failure in Leadership: OSU, Tressel and the Sanctions Levied by the NCAA
Much ado has been made on the blogosphere WRT the OSU investigation, and the penalties that were released this week. Most notably are the people in a tizzy about the ONE year bowl ban imposed by the NCAA. When reading OSU blogs, and even the B1G blog on ESPN, the common theme coming out of Columbus was that there would be no post season ban. A scholarship reduction was expected, and the show cause against Jim Tressel was the believed outcome. The line has been firmly drawn in the sand (by OSU fans in my opinion) as to how egregious these findings are. In short, if you are a OSU fan, they were too harsh. If you are a UM fan they hardly registered a slap on the hand (USC fans tend to lean towards this side as well for obvious reasons.), and the rest of the college football world thinks its about right. The way I see it it is about right. There was some rule breaking going on in Columbus. Many people, coaches, students, and players, knew about it and did nothing. It took a federal investigation into a drug distributor to bring it to light, and even then there was an attempt to cover it up. I will try not to go winding down the rabbit hole on this, but come on Vest, it was a federal investigation, did you really think you could hide this from everyone???
A good friend of mine is a student at OSU, and is even involved in the athletic program there. He has first hand knowledge not only of the situation, but has met and talked with the Vest at least a time or two. He has the same background as me, and has and continues to stand by the Vest through all of this. Admirable. His point is that the Vest did what any good leader would do and take the fall for his boys. And now the NCAA has punished the school beyond what the offender has done. I agree that Tressel, when faced with a lose lose scenario, did what he should have done, and fell on the sword. His "resignation" enabled OSU to build their case that this was not a recurring problem, it was contained to one bad apple, and therefore, with the apple gone OSU could be expunged. The fallacy to this argument is the events that preceded it all. Leadership doesn't start at the point that extreme action has to be taken. As leaders we always try to protect the boys. To a fault at some times. With nothing else to compare this to (I am not a head football coach at a major university) I am left with comparing this to the countless inventories that are due every month. If there is a discrepancy on one of the inventories, the report must be made immediately. The ass chewing and even possible punishment handed out is much less severe than if you fail to report it and hope it all goes away. Bad news does not get better with time. There is a lot more to effective leadership than just "protecting your boys." How were the boys protected when he let them play in a game he KNEW they should not be playing in? How was he protecting his boys when he lied to the NCAA about the same thing? How is he able to protect his boys now that he is no longer coaching the team? No, the Vest had an obligation, not to HIMSELF, but to his BOYS, to report his knowledge of the incidents as soon as he learned of them. Is it unpopular to do this? Of course. He would without a doubt have gotten an evil eye or two from the players and fans. As a leader he has to be able to deal with that, and do what is right for his team. Hiding it only compounded the problems and in turn he ruined the chance any of those kids had at a decent year, and by proxy draft stock and so on.
Look at Terrell Pryor. His legacy at that school and across the nation is one of a selfish child. If the Vest does the right thing in the beginning TP sits a game or two, plays his senior season, and concludes his career quite possibly on a high note with no bad PR in his way to a top round draft pick and a potentially great career in the NFL (as a TE, but that's another post).
I don't see how to defend the Vest's position on this. He claims fear for his players safety. By my estimation, he was not the best person to know that. In fact, to best PROTECT his boys, he should have involved whomever he needed to to ensure that they were safe. No, as sad as it is, he lied not to protect his boys, but to protect the image he had conjured up for himself and the school he represented. That is a failure of leadership in my book. I am sure that he has influenced far more young men for good than the other way around. As is always the case, 1000 good things are wiped away by ONE single bad decision, and no one knows that any better than the Vest right now.
As for how severe the punishment was, well I think the end state here is that there were several players breaking the rules, and the head coach knew about it and did not report it. That it was only a small dollar amount probably saved OSU on this one. The rabbit hole of how ridiculous the rules are on this will be explored another time, but suffice it to say that I do not agree. My contention during all of this is that the shear number of players involved and the continued onslaught of reports that came out of it insinuated a lack of control. But that is why I am not levying the punishment. I know nothing of what ACTUALLY happened. Given what is in the official reports though, I would say things are copacetic. OSU will hardly be phased by this. The post season ban for next year hurts as I see them as a competitive force in the, ahem, Leaders division. I also see UM as the, ahem, Legends favorite, and as such will NEVER pick OSU over UM in ANY situation, regardless of how hopeless it is. So I do not see Pasadena in their future next year. Is it fairly annoying? Yes, but totally recoverable. Meyer is already recruiting the heck out of the midwest, and by all accounts should continue to do so. The loss of scholies is not brutal. THREE in one season for THREE seasons is hardly a death blow. It might cause some depth issues down the road, but if dealt with correctly, should not effect the overall strength of the team.
In closing, to the Buckeye fans, I leave you with this. Persevere through the nonsense that is the NCAA. Try not to wrap yourselves too tight around the penalties. I know it is tough that the school is punished for the wrongs of a few, but such is life. The future is bright there. UM/OSU will continue to be The Game. In TWO years the fans will hardly remember the names of the ones who sold gear.
Fortitudine Vincimus
Merry Christmas!!
A good friend of mine is a student at OSU, and is even involved in the athletic program there. He has first hand knowledge not only of the situation, but has met and talked with the Vest at least a time or two. He has the same background as me, and has and continues to stand by the Vest through all of this. Admirable. His point is that the Vest did what any good leader would do and take the fall for his boys. And now the NCAA has punished the school beyond what the offender has done. I agree that Tressel, when faced with a lose lose scenario, did what he should have done, and fell on the sword. His "resignation" enabled OSU to build their case that this was not a recurring problem, it was contained to one bad apple, and therefore, with the apple gone OSU could be expunged. The fallacy to this argument is the events that preceded it all. Leadership doesn't start at the point that extreme action has to be taken. As leaders we always try to protect the boys. To a fault at some times. With nothing else to compare this to (I am not a head football coach at a major university) I am left with comparing this to the countless inventories that are due every month. If there is a discrepancy on one of the inventories, the report must be made immediately. The ass chewing and even possible punishment handed out is much less severe than if you fail to report it and hope it all goes away. Bad news does not get better with time. There is a lot more to effective leadership than just "protecting your boys." How were the boys protected when he let them play in a game he KNEW they should not be playing in? How was he protecting his boys when he lied to the NCAA about the same thing? How is he able to protect his boys now that he is no longer coaching the team? No, the Vest had an obligation, not to HIMSELF, but to his BOYS, to report his knowledge of the incidents as soon as he learned of them. Is it unpopular to do this? Of course. He would without a doubt have gotten an evil eye or two from the players and fans. As a leader he has to be able to deal with that, and do what is right for his team. Hiding it only compounded the problems and in turn he ruined the chance any of those kids had at a decent year, and by proxy draft stock and so on.
Look at Terrell Pryor. His legacy at that school and across the nation is one of a selfish child. If the Vest does the right thing in the beginning TP sits a game or two, plays his senior season, and concludes his career quite possibly on a high note with no bad PR in his way to a top round draft pick and a potentially great career in the NFL (as a TE, but that's another post).
I don't see how to defend the Vest's position on this. He claims fear for his players safety. By my estimation, he was not the best person to know that. In fact, to best PROTECT his boys, he should have involved whomever he needed to to ensure that they were safe. No, as sad as it is, he lied not to protect his boys, but to protect the image he had conjured up for himself and the school he represented. That is a failure of leadership in my book. I am sure that he has influenced far more young men for good than the other way around. As is always the case, 1000 good things are wiped away by ONE single bad decision, and no one knows that any better than the Vest right now.
As for how severe the punishment was, well I think the end state here is that there were several players breaking the rules, and the head coach knew about it and did not report it. That it was only a small dollar amount probably saved OSU on this one. The rabbit hole of how ridiculous the rules are on this will be explored another time, but suffice it to say that I do not agree. My contention during all of this is that the shear number of players involved and the continued onslaught of reports that came out of it insinuated a lack of control. But that is why I am not levying the punishment. I know nothing of what ACTUALLY happened. Given what is in the official reports though, I would say things are copacetic. OSU will hardly be phased by this. The post season ban for next year hurts as I see them as a competitive force in the, ahem, Leaders division. I also see UM as the, ahem, Legends favorite, and as such will NEVER pick OSU over UM in ANY situation, regardless of how hopeless it is. So I do not see Pasadena in their future next year. Is it fairly annoying? Yes, but totally recoverable. Meyer is already recruiting the heck out of the midwest, and by all accounts should continue to do so. The loss of scholies is not brutal. THREE in one season for THREE seasons is hardly a death blow. It might cause some depth issues down the road, but if dealt with correctly, should not effect the overall strength of the team.
In closing, to the Buckeye fans, I leave you with this. Persevere through the nonsense that is the NCAA. Try not to wrap yourselves too tight around the penalties. I know it is tough that the school is punished for the wrongs of a few, but such is life. The future is bright there. UM/OSU will continue to be The Game. In TWO years the fans will hardly remember the names of the ones who sold gear.
Fortitudine Vincimus
Merry Christmas!!
07 Dezember, 2011
UM vs MSU: The Controversy
(ed. note: This is a total venting post.)
Holy crap. If I hear one more fan, blogger or random college football guru say one more time "MSU got shafted, and UM is going to a better bowl game even though MSU beat UM in the head to head by two touchdowns" I am going to scream. As anyone who follows football knows (and the people mentioned are presumably this type) the distributive property (DP) NEVER works out in college football, or athletics really in general. Just because team A beats team B, doesn't mean that it will beat team C, whom team B beat. Never works. Just look at this scenario. UM beats Notre Dame, who beat MSU. So that means UM beats MSU, right? Nope. And MSU loses to Nebraska, who then should beat UM right? No again. So why do these self proclaimed pundits keep saying that MSU was such a better team. Lets break it down shall we.
ND beats MSU, well pounded really. MSU was on the road. Against UM, ND lost on the craziest 72 seconds in college football history. They too were on the road at UM. So, how does this even out? Well you could say that UM offense is much more explosive than MSU, which is a true statement, and was therefore able to keep pace with a ND offense that was pretty good, but definitely not great. So we will say for arguments sake that the UM offense was able to feed off the momentum of being at home and keep pace with ND, whereas MSU was flustered and never recovered. Still, you have to give the UM squad the benefit of the doubt here as they showed the rest of the season that the offense is explosive. UM wins this battle.
UM loses to MSU. By two touchdowns. While on the road. Bad Denard showed up in the fourth quarter and threw it to the wrong team, who then ran it in for a TD. Basically, UM was one bad throw from tying the game. That is what good defenses do though, they make the other team make mistakes. So we have to give them credit here. UM lost by two touchdowns, got it. Moving on,
MSU loses to Nebraska (UNL). By three touchdowns. On the road. Bad Sparty showed up and got worked by a UNL team that was hot and cold all season. There was no one play here. It was all bad for Sparty who was never in it. Then UNL goes to the Big House and gets curb stomped to death in a game that also was never really close in the half that mattered. A loss here is a loss though, and since both UM's win and MSU's loss were in convincing fashion the winner has to go to the team that won.
UM loses to Iowa (shudder). Also on the road. By eight points. Also should have had at least a chance to tie it if not for sub-par officiating. Difference here of course is that UNL is ranked while Iowa is just rank. Hmm.... Oh yea, and Sparty played them on the road the following week and manhandled them. So, Iowa is a loss for UM.
Meanwhile, in the win category UM handled the teams it was supposed to handle. Example: Minnesota. Worked them over to the tune of 50 plus points. MSU, barely beat them. Now teams change throughout the course of a season, one of the principal reasons that the DP does not work, so since I am arguing against the DP, I can't use that here. So even though I feel I can argue this for UM, we will call this example a push.
And on and on.
If you are scoring at home, we have a push, and two wins for each team in this simulated Distributive Property Mash Up. Equaling out in a split decision. These teams are on equal footing by this logic.
So you see, there is no way to compare teams via the distributive property like that. The way the ranking system works is this: lose, you drop in the polls. Win, you move up ONLY if teams ahead of you stumble, or you win so big against a good team that the pollsters have to move you up. MSU lost early to ND, which didn't allow them to enter the polls till later in the season. UM ripped off 6 straight wins. MSU loses again to UNL, drops back in the polls. After the MSU game, UM won, and then lost to Iowa. Then they didn't lose again until..wait, they haven't lost since. Like it or not, when MSU went to the CCG, they lost. When they lost they were forced down in the polls. Is it unfair? Maybe. But think about this, it happened to ALL the teams that lost. No one singled Sparty out and said they specifically could not go to a bowl game. They just fell victim to the same process that every other team in the country is also a part of. In the final BCS standings, there are only three teams separating them. With 120 teams and 11 conferences in play here, three spots is not that bad. So fergodssake, let it go already!!!
Well I will do what I always do, endure all the nonsense and smile knowingly when karma, or good will, or fortune, or whatever you call it deals the equaling hand.
Fortitudine Vincimus
Holy crap. If I hear one more fan, blogger or random college football guru say one more time "MSU got shafted, and UM is going to a better bowl game even though MSU beat UM in the head to head by two touchdowns" I am going to scream. As anyone who follows football knows (and the people mentioned are presumably this type) the distributive property (DP) NEVER works out in college football, or athletics really in general. Just because team A beats team B, doesn't mean that it will beat team C, whom team B beat. Never works. Just look at this scenario. UM beats Notre Dame, who beat MSU. So that means UM beats MSU, right? Nope. And MSU loses to Nebraska, who then should beat UM right? No again. So why do these self proclaimed pundits keep saying that MSU was such a better team. Lets break it down shall we.
ND beats MSU, well pounded really. MSU was on the road. Against UM, ND lost on the craziest 72 seconds in college football history. They too were on the road at UM. So, how does this even out? Well you could say that UM offense is much more explosive than MSU, which is a true statement, and was therefore able to keep pace with a ND offense that was pretty good, but definitely not great. So we will say for arguments sake that the UM offense was able to feed off the momentum of being at home and keep pace with ND, whereas MSU was flustered and never recovered. Still, you have to give the UM squad the benefit of the doubt here as they showed the rest of the season that the offense is explosive. UM wins this battle.
UM loses to MSU. By two touchdowns. While on the road. Bad Denard showed up in the fourth quarter and threw it to the wrong team, who then ran it in for a TD. Basically, UM was one bad throw from tying the game. That is what good defenses do though, they make the other team make mistakes. So we have to give them credit here. UM lost by two touchdowns, got it. Moving on,
MSU loses to Nebraska (UNL). By three touchdowns. On the road. Bad Sparty showed up and got worked by a UNL team that was hot and cold all season. There was no one play here. It was all bad for Sparty who was never in it. Then UNL goes to the Big House and gets curb stomped to death in a game that also was never really close in the half that mattered. A loss here is a loss though, and since both UM's win and MSU's loss were in convincing fashion the winner has to go to the team that won.
UM loses to Iowa (shudder). Also on the road. By eight points. Also should have had at least a chance to tie it if not for sub-par officiating. Difference here of course is that UNL is ranked while Iowa is just rank. Hmm.... Oh yea, and Sparty played them on the road the following week and manhandled them. So, Iowa is a loss for UM.
Meanwhile, in the win category UM handled the teams it was supposed to handle. Example: Minnesota. Worked them over to the tune of 50 plus points. MSU, barely beat them. Now teams change throughout the course of a season, one of the principal reasons that the DP does not work, so since I am arguing against the DP, I can't use that here. So even though I feel I can argue this for UM, we will call this example a push.
And on and on.
If you are scoring at home, we have a push, and two wins for each team in this simulated Distributive Property Mash Up. Equaling out in a split decision. These teams are on equal footing by this logic.
So you see, there is no way to compare teams via the distributive property like that. The way the ranking system works is this: lose, you drop in the polls. Win, you move up ONLY if teams ahead of you stumble, or you win so big against a good team that the pollsters have to move you up. MSU lost early to ND, which didn't allow them to enter the polls till later in the season. UM ripped off 6 straight wins. MSU loses again to UNL, drops back in the polls. After the MSU game, UM won, and then lost to Iowa. Then they didn't lose again until..wait, they haven't lost since. Like it or not, when MSU went to the CCG, they lost. When they lost they were forced down in the polls. Is it unfair? Maybe. But think about this, it happened to ALL the teams that lost. No one singled Sparty out and said they specifically could not go to a bowl game. They just fell victim to the same process that every other team in the country is also a part of. In the final BCS standings, there are only three teams separating them. With 120 teams and 11 conferences in play here, three spots is not that bad. So fergodssake, let it go already!!!
Well I will do what I always do, endure all the nonsense and smile knowingly when karma, or good will, or fortune, or whatever you call it deals the equaling hand.
Fortitudine Vincimus
UFC Welcome Post
With the UM football season winding down (no game until Jan 3rd), and Dallas losing to the Arizona Cardinals (see the carnage of clock (mis) management here), and thereby causing me to lose hope once again that they will pick up their 6th super bowl ring, lets take a little time and explore my UFC musings.
First off, I love combat sports. It really is the only sport where the "players" are out to end the contest by obliterating their opponent. Whether it is by a brutal knock out, or by forcing them into submission, the primary goal is to beat the opposition. This strikes many as brutal and to an extent it is. There is a higher set of rules though, that I feel the good ones follow. These are the fighters that I choose to root for. Arrogance, cockiness, "swagger" (i really, really hate that word) is not an attribute of these fighters. They respect all, and fear no one. They willingly take to the cage to engage their opponent in martial combat. Most relish the contact, but all strive for that balance between taking contact and delivering their own. After the fight they will often help their opponent up, check to make sure they are ok, and may even embrace them as brothers. Its more than sportsmanship. The good ones look forward to the combat, and once done, they always respect their opponent more. Not all are friends of course, but there is almost always a mutual respect for each other. The code I mentioned above is summed up very well in one of my all time favorite movies Ronin. In one particular scene, a supporting character (Jean-Pierre) asks the lead character, played by Robert Deniro, if he understands the warrior code. The need to serve something higher than themselves on the field of combat. What is left if there is no longer that serving need? Only, "a man without a master". In a personal musing of mine I have compiled pages of quotes, most of them centered around the warrior ethos. That quote, and I encourage you to look it up to read it in its entirety, is definitely my favorite. It encompasses my belief that Honor comes before arrogance, Servitude comes before cockiness, and winning will only come with the desire to do both to the best of your ability. The fact that in today's society you can achieve great things by using pure athleticism is disconcerting to me. To see grown men mix words with each other is shameful and lacks a certain respect for them mutually. All the instigating words spoken before the matches are mostly propaganda forced upon the fighters by the promoters, a sad price to pay for the sport. But there are certain fighters who have been able to side step the back and forth and choose to let their actions in the ring speak for themselves.
Ok, so I will now step off my soap box and continue on to reviewing some recent results in the ring, and talk about a couple of upcoming fights. The TUF (Ultimate Fighter TV series) finale ended spectacularly for the two winning fighters in the show, and sort of fizzled for the main event between the coaches. I grudgingly accept that Bisping won this fight by totally dominating an opponent who I don't particularly care for, but rooted for nontheless because of my dislike for Bisping (see above and think OPPOSITE!). Mayhem was not prepared for this fight physically, or emotionally. He had not fought in over a year, and his previous fights had been in the underwhelming Strikeforce promotion. This amount of time off is usually reserved for injuries (of which he had none) or a lack of contract. In either case though the challenge in this sport is staying in fight condition, which you do by fighting. No amount of sparring or treadmill time can equate to the pressure, weight cut, and build up of fight week. It is all very taxing and I think it showed. Additionally he spent the last few months in verbal sparring matches with Bisping as they were coaches on TUF. Whether Bisping got into his head no one knows, but I am sure it was an inefficient way to train for a fight.
Meanwhile, in the undercard, the latest addition to the UFC, the featherweights and bantamweights, went toe to toe for their respective contracts. The bantamweight fight between John Dodson and TJ Dilleshaw was a huge upset. Dodson, who annoyed most of the fighters in the house by not respecting his team and leaking vital fight information to his buddies on the other side, came out swinging and effectively took away the wrestling of ground and pound artist Dilleshaw. Dodson was a huge underdog due to his height disadvantge, but showed you can win at a high level without reach (although his reach was actually pretty even with Dilleshaw, monkey arms??). In the featherweight match top class Brazilian Diego Brandao handled Dennis Bermudez fairly easily, although he did get knocked down early in the first. This kid is good. He has a rather sizable chip on his shoulder that I would like to see go away as he has more success, but for now he is a good up and coming fighter for this packed division. One thing about the little guys is that they rarely have a slow match. Their conditioning is always top notch and rarely do fights go the distance. I was extremely glad to them added to the UFC.
The next season of TUF promises to be a good one as Uriajah Faber and Dominick Cruz square off as coaches. For those of you who do not know the history behind this rivalry, check it out here. See Faber's take here. And Cruz's take here. Bottom line, it will make for good TV. Also, it will be live and on FX as opposed to Spike, so something else to look forward to. Dana White really is a marketing genius.
I am looking forward to the Jon Jones fight coming up, as well as Georges St Pierre (aka GSP, but not to be confused with THAT GSP). More to follow on those fights as they get closer.
Fortitudine Vincimus
First off, I love combat sports. It really is the only sport where the "players" are out to end the contest by obliterating their opponent. Whether it is by a brutal knock out, or by forcing them into submission, the primary goal is to beat the opposition. This strikes many as brutal and to an extent it is. There is a higher set of rules though, that I feel the good ones follow. These are the fighters that I choose to root for. Arrogance, cockiness, "swagger" (i really, really hate that word) is not an attribute of these fighters. They respect all, and fear no one. They willingly take to the cage to engage their opponent in martial combat. Most relish the contact, but all strive for that balance between taking contact and delivering their own. After the fight they will often help their opponent up, check to make sure they are ok, and may even embrace them as brothers. Its more than sportsmanship. The good ones look forward to the combat, and once done, they always respect their opponent more. Not all are friends of course, but there is almost always a mutual respect for each other. The code I mentioned above is summed up very well in one of my all time favorite movies Ronin. In one particular scene, a supporting character (Jean-Pierre) asks the lead character, played by Robert Deniro, if he understands the warrior code. The need to serve something higher than themselves on the field of combat. What is left if there is no longer that serving need? Only, "a man without a master". In a personal musing of mine I have compiled pages of quotes, most of them centered around the warrior ethos. That quote, and I encourage you to look it up to read it in its entirety, is definitely my favorite. It encompasses my belief that Honor comes before arrogance, Servitude comes before cockiness, and winning will only come with the desire to do both to the best of your ability. The fact that in today's society you can achieve great things by using pure athleticism is disconcerting to me. To see grown men mix words with each other is shameful and lacks a certain respect for them mutually. All the instigating words spoken before the matches are mostly propaganda forced upon the fighters by the promoters, a sad price to pay for the sport. But there are certain fighters who have been able to side step the back and forth and choose to let their actions in the ring speak for themselves.
Ok, so I will now step off my soap box and continue on to reviewing some recent results in the ring, and talk about a couple of upcoming fights. The TUF (Ultimate Fighter TV series) finale ended spectacularly for the two winning fighters in the show, and sort of fizzled for the main event between the coaches. I grudgingly accept that Bisping won this fight by totally dominating an opponent who I don't particularly care for, but rooted for nontheless because of my dislike for Bisping (see above and think OPPOSITE!). Mayhem was not prepared for this fight physically, or emotionally. He had not fought in over a year, and his previous fights had been in the underwhelming Strikeforce promotion. This amount of time off is usually reserved for injuries (of which he had none) or a lack of contract. In either case though the challenge in this sport is staying in fight condition, which you do by fighting. No amount of sparring or treadmill time can equate to the pressure, weight cut, and build up of fight week. It is all very taxing and I think it showed. Additionally he spent the last few months in verbal sparring matches with Bisping as they were coaches on TUF. Whether Bisping got into his head no one knows, but I am sure it was an inefficient way to train for a fight.
Meanwhile, in the undercard, the latest addition to the UFC, the featherweights and bantamweights, went toe to toe for their respective contracts. The bantamweight fight between John Dodson and TJ Dilleshaw was a huge upset. Dodson, who annoyed most of the fighters in the house by not respecting his team and leaking vital fight information to his buddies on the other side, came out swinging and effectively took away the wrestling of ground and pound artist Dilleshaw. Dodson was a huge underdog due to his height disadvantge, but showed you can win at a high level without reach (although his reach was actually pretty even with Dilleshaw, monkey arms??). In the featherweight match top class Brazilian Diego Brandao handled Dennis Bermudez fairly easily, although he did get knocked down early in the first. This kid is good. He has a rather sizable chip on his shoulder that I would like to see go away as he has more success, but for now he is a good up and coming fighter for this packed division. One thing about the little guys is that they rarely have a slow match. Their conditioning is always top notch and rarely do fights go the distance. I was extremely glad to them added to the UFC.
The next season of TUF promises to be a good one as Uriajah Faber and Dominick Cruz square off as coaches. For those of you who do not know the history behind this rivalry, check it out here. See Faber's take here. And Cruz's take here. Bottom line, it will make for good TV. Also, it will be live and on FX as opposed to Spike, so something else to look forward to. Dana White really is a marketing genius.
I am looking forward to the Jon Jones fight coming up, as well as Georges St Pierre (aka GSP, but not to be confused with THAT GSP). More to follow on those fights as they get closer.
Fortitudine Vincimus
06 Dezember, 2011
B1G Title Game, and Why the Sugar Bowl is the Best Place to Go Bowling
The Big Ten Football Championship Trophy
UM's reward for the 2011 campaign
UM football has the weekend off this week, as it is Championship Week, and well, they did not qualify for the game. An overall good season has one black mark on it. The loss to Iowa. This was about the only game that I watched where I just didn't think they came to play. They were pushed around up front on offense and defense, and just generally failed to compete. I can't sit here and say that they lost because of a blown call on the last play of the game in the end zone. They were down by eight, not six or seven. Completing the two point conversion would not have been easy given how they struggled to move the ball that game. So no, that game was lost well before the final drive. If the team had played like they were capable, they would have won. Simple as that. With the win, they would then be playing for the B1G championship this weekend, but instead they are at home watching. As it stands, UM is waiting for the bowl selection process to play out and grant them a BCS bowl (more on that in a bit).
Just because UM is not playing doesn't mean they don't care who wins (well I care who wins anyway)
From what I have read, read, and read again, UM is being slotted in the Sugar Bowl. At first, when the projections started flowing in, I had reservations. UM benefited from a generous schedule. 8 Home games. An away game at Northwestern, where the UM fan base out numbers the NW fan base. Missing Penn State, and Wisconsin. Not to say that they have not impressed with their wins. In fact, I firmly believe that on a neutral field UM defeats either one of those teams. But playing them would wear on the team, and that is no small thing. So while I am super excited to watch the team play, I am not super excited about losing another bowl game. Enter the Sugar Bowl. The projection has UM playing against a ridiculously overrated
So that just happened.
Michigan (BCS #13)averages 34 points per contest and the Hokies (BCS #11)average 28. Many fans complained/will complain about the LSU-Alabama game because of lack of points. That should not be a problem in this game. Of course both teams sport above average defense, tied for 7th nationally at 17.2 points/game. But no one thinks this will be a defensive struggle. These teams score, and while UM has improved their defense dramatically this year, VT will get theirs one way or another.The fact remains though, that these are two teams who have faced little in the way of real talent this year. UM is 1-1 against teams currently ranked in the top 25. VT is 0-2 with BOTH losses coming against THE SAME TEAM!!
That provides the third picking standard. Now, lets examine the first two, and most important, criteria.
Money: UM fans travels well. With alumni scattered around the country (and world for that matter) there has never been a problem getting fans to buy tickets, and by proxy hotel rooms, food, gas and all the other money making endeavors that come with going to a different city to watch a football game. No doubt, UM fans will be spending money over the new years holiday in New Orleans. Considering that the Sugar Bowl forks out $18,000,000 (!) for this game, it is still a business and needs to regain something out of it. (BTW don't ask me how they make this money back. I have no idea. I am sure advertising and TV contracts help, but I just don't understand how they make this money year in and year out) VT, meanwhile, has a history with the SB, and likely will travel well, as they have in the past for this game.
Storylines: I can't speak to the VT angle on this as well as the UM angle, but I will try. VT has only two losses, as mentioned above. Although they were to the same team, they have good balance on offense and defense, plenty of history with the bowl, and like it or not, made it into the ACC championship game (ask MSU how it feels to finish second in the conference and not even get an invite to the BCS). VT fields a "Beamer-like" team, with speed and athleticism at all positions, and a strong defense. Their running back ranks 7th nationally in yards gained, and their special teams are.... ok that is the only un"Beamer-like" thing about this team. They are actually pretty horrible in that area for the first time in forever.
As for UM, well besides the massive defensive turnaround mentioned above (108th in 2010, to 7th in 2011) this is a program steeped in college football lore. In recent seasons, however, it has fallen on some hard times. The RR era was a failure. The fans (not just me, but I am included) are begging to be recognized in the national spotlight again. We have the B1G coach of the year (and maybe nationally) and two of the best coordinators in the game to back him up. We have last season's Big11Ten player of the year in Denard Robinson, and although he threw waaaaay too many interceptions this year to receive any accolades, he remains the most explosive player in all of college football.
So of course I have my own interests at heart here, but UM has played one heck of a season. The team enjoys a great chemistry and WANT to play another game, just to be together. With their softer schedule they could use a win against another high ranked team to validate how well this team really has performed. One of the responsibilities of playing in a high visibility bowl game is to perform well not just for your school, but for the conference. The B1G has been baaaaad in bowls lately and UM has a chance to change that. Most of these points would still hold true for any of the other bowl games this year. The reason it isn't any other bowl game, though, is because "This is Michigan fergodssakes!".
Enjoy the bowl games everyone, endure the silly names and the mismatches. Enjoy the holiday season. Best of luck to your team (unless they play UM, or any other B1G team). As always,
Fortitudine Vincimus.
Abonnieren
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