Weather
Damn….It’s
cold. EVERYWHERE. Chances are if you’re reading this and you’re
not traveling somewhere exotic…Wherever you are, you’re region is setting arecord cold temperature either Tuesday or Wednesday evening.
Apparently,
this next particular event has only happened on several occasions in history: All 50 states will experience sub-freezing
temperatures (That includes Hawaii – top of the volcanoes drops below
32 all the time). The appropriate term
at this point in this blog should be well-known at this point:
Well
That’s Fantastic….
And I don’t
mean that in the good sense…..I’m sure some people will be breaking out the
cold weather gear for Saturday’s games…even though we’re supposed to get a
slight warm up…..All of the following are probably appropriate attire!
(You keep
warm what you want to keep warm – I’ll keep warm what I WANT to keep warm!)
Anyway, onto
some football related stuff.
CFB
Play-Off Final 4
In case you
haven’t seen it:
- Alabama
- Oregon
- FSU
- Miss State
- TCU
- Ohio
- Baylor
Baylor REALLY
screwed…their non-conference is really hurting them. There’s a possibility they can creep in, but
not looking good. I guess the committee
is working off the BCS page at this point…Interesting to see how it will all
play out…
Frank
Clark
Yes – I know
that he had to be kicked off the team.
But I was really pulling for this kid.
He grew up on the streets of LA with a non-existent home life and a drug
addicted mother. That he somehow found
his way to the University of Michigan was a miracle itself and it made you feel
good about the things that a football program can do for a kid like this. But, he couldn’t shake his street side and
had issues with stealing and the final straw, the domestic abuse charge that
actually makes you cringe a little if you read the whole thing. It’s unfortunate because even if he manages
to get all this straightened out, I’m not sure the suddenly PR happy NFL will touch this guy. Maybe the CFL will take a gamble and he can
keep himself on the straight and narrow.
Whatever the case, I wish him well and I’m not going to be one of these
fans that has the attitude, “Good riddance – hope you rot in hell.” That’s the easy way out for the fans to feel
good about themselves. Not
doing it here….
Not saying it’s
right, either. Just sayin’…..
Pat
Forde Agrees with the MMQ
Pat Forde
ranked the top 5 Dumpster Fire programs
in his weekly round-up on Tuesday and named Michigan as the number one program that is in a world of hurt! The problem is, he didn’t really provide any
solutions, not that anyone can nor is anyone expected to, other than the new
interim AD who currently has the weight of the UM athletic department and the rudderless football program on his
shoulders. While I ‘m sure Hackett
jumped at the chance, did he understand how bad the situation was when he
leapt? Does it matter if you make good
decisions and do the right thing? I
suppose not, but again, he’s not an AD and that’s been the problem at Michigan
(not having an AD that knows sports) for like….forever. I guess if I WAS Hackett, I would immediately
find someone outside of the department and outside of Michigan that knows
athletics to come in as a “permanent assistant” that would be
there to manage the athletic side of things and stay on as a carryover for the
permanent AD once that individual is identified. This way, you’ve got someone that is thinking
nothing but sports and he or she might be better qualified to find the right
fits and make the day to day decisions better than Hackett ever could. Again, just sayin’ if I was King
for Just a Day….
But, getting
back to Forde: The one issue he didn’t mention was the Schlissel side of this mess. I’m not yet convinced that old East Coast Mark has the stomach that is
required to have to deal with the Football Problem on a daily or weekly
basis. His predecessor(s) should have
made him aware of that issue before he took the job. If footballs doing well, no problem. If you have any kind of issues going on in
Football - prepare to be time strapped
and pressured by a lot of people. We’ll
see how Mark does, but right now, he’s only earned the BranDictator forced resignation points, which after E-MailGate, was a no brainer.
And
Speaking of Hackett
And if you
like those “Feel good kind of thingies that corporate people are supposed to do
and say and write”, here’s Hackett’s attempt to calm the turbulent waters.
Again, in my
opinion, actions always speak louder than words and the new AD search is
probably a backseat to the most glaring issue:
The removal of the current head coach and the search and hiring of a new
head coach. Yes, it’s wasteful and it will
take the new guy time to re-build or fix whatever is wrong now. But Hoke has demonstrated he can’t do it at
this level and he needs to go. And Hackett needs to make a list of candidates…quickly.
Speaking
of New Coaches
Did I say
something about new a new coach? Oh, no….Everyone
else did. I vaguely remember
seeing all the stuff regarding who Michigan would get after the Rich Rod
dismissal, but to me, anyway, I felt BranDictator’s choice was obvious – He was
taking the guy that people thought could bring this program back together which
was Hoke when it was clear that Harbaugh
and Miles were non-options. So, there wasn’t as much speculation. This time…Wow, the list is as long as a line
at 3:00 AM outside of Walmart the day
after Thanksgiving….
First – Don’t
believe anything that’s being said or written unless it has the initials “Sam
Webb” after them. I wanted to get excerptsfrom the article, but couldn’t get it to open. Here’s the link….
Sam seems to know
someone inside and right now, the oracle is saying that Hoke is PROBABLY gone,
but that decision is still being evaluated and a search for someone to replace
him still needs to happen.
This makes me
ill…We’re going to get to watch and see how Gatorland handles their situation at the same time as Michigan is
handling theirs. My feeling is Florida
is in the lead right now due to the fact they’ve fired Muschamp, but are
letting him coach his last two games. Gee,
what a novel and innovative idea!
Get the kids to rally around the coach and maybe pull an upset off down in Columbus with a spirited try….Otherwise, it’s all elementary. I guess if we lose to Maryland there will
still be time for the pre-rivalry firing???
Michigan is somehow a 5 point favorite in the 3:30 start on Saturday….I
hate 3:30 November start times against non-rivalry opponents….they suck.
Florida
probably, and I’m guessing here, has already spoken through the back channels
to SOMEONE regarding the head coaching position. That’s how Foley did it before with Urban Legend Meyer, if you can recall
back that far. When the Domers came
knocking on Urban’s door at Utah, Florida had just decided to can Ron
Zook. There was no “official” word that
Florida had spoken to Meyer, but when the domers called, Urban Legend had to
explain that he’d “made another commitment.”
It was a comical affair with the domers coming out of it with “timing
and no back channel contact” egg on their face. I’m sure Foley has a target in mind and that
individual is either coaching right now and won’t “leave” his position for
Florida until his responsibilities are complete. Just the way class guys handle it. Not like Petrino or Graham that leave a note on
the door saying, “Thanks, it was great.
I’m outta’ here!”
So, yes,
Michigan is once again is probably behind…unless they are way ahead and no one
knows it. Which, I’m guessing is extremely
doubtful.
Speaking
of Maryland
Last home
game of the season and quite possibly, the last home game for many season
ticket holders, at least some of the ones that I’ve spoken with, that are all
thinking the same thing: I can get a way
better deal through the aftermarket and go to the games I want to go to if I
choose to give up my season tickets.
They just aren’t that hard to get and juggling games in the fall is
difficult. Michigan will continue to put
fannies in the seats, just not as many as usual. And wrapping up a season with a home game to Maryland
just isn’t a great idea. That needs to
be studied and a better final home game opponent will be necessary in the
future schedules.
Of course, Season
Ticket Holders received this (Hackett already at work or other forces
that had been telling BranDictator this the entire time?).
Which now tells us
that the cost for the programs is at or below $2 and the cost of a coke and a
dog or popcorn is below $5. Which,
duh. In addition, for anyone that hasn’t
“Been on the Field”, Michigan is allowing season ticket holders 30 minutes of field access after the game. I’m not sure if this is too little too late
or if people will actually change their mind and go.
Come to think
of it, the field access is kind of dumb.
Depending on how many fans decide to “Take the field”, it could take 30
minutes just to get them out there.
Hackett’s trying. I’ll give him
credit for that. But, I dunno…..
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