Michigan vs. Iowa: Denard’s NFL Tryout

Posted on November 24, 2012 by Jeff

First off, thank you to all of the Seniors for the last 4-5 years.  They went through a lot and these guys deserve a lot of credit for bringing this program back.  Also, in case you missed it, here is the 60 minutes special.

It was glorious to be able to see Denard Robinson play one last game in the Big House.  I was concerned that I would never get to watch him play in person again, and he has easily become one of my favorite Michigan football players of all-time.  He is arguably the most electric player that has suited up for Michigan since Steve Breaston, if not longer than that.

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Detroit Lions vs. Green Bay Packers: Elimination

Posted on November 21, 2012 by Jeff

The Detroit Lions are now all but officially eliminated from the playoffs.  They play in the toughest division in the NFL and there is no end in sight to their struggles at this point.  They choked this past Sunday.  They had a lead and they just let the Packers go up and down the field no problem.  Then when they had to make plays, they didn’t even get close to completing them.  And now Titus Young has been suspended for behavior issues.

I personally thought that the Lions would be past this.  They have been showing maturity for most of this year, but apparently Young isn’t ready to grow up.  Young was in trouble this week for putting his own personal desires and goals ahead of the team.  This type of selfishness will not be tolerated in the pros, and I’m glad they’re benching him.  Quite honestly I’ve had enough of Titus.  I wasn’t a fan when they drafted him out of Boise State, and he’s done nothing but act like a punk since he got here.  He’s had one really good game in the last two years, and that gives you no reason to be cocky.  He’s shown flashes of talent, but he spends most of his time taking plays off.  They said that he wants to be “the man” in Detroit, but perhaps he should wake the hell up and realize that Calvin Johnson is the man.  Titus Young will not be the one getting the majority of the targets and him whining about it is an utter joke.  His behavior was so disgraceful that the wide receivers coach Shawn Jefferson freaked out and yelled at offensive coordinator Scott Linehan.

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The Detroit Lions are an utter disappointment

Posted on November 18, 2012 by Jeff

Here are a few quick thoughts that I have before I head off to Ford Field for the afternoon.

I don’t even like to write about the Detroit Lions right now because they just make me too upset.  They have the talent on offense, and their defense has been playing far better than expected, but their play calling has been utterly terrible.

The offensive play calling in the first half is always terrible.  They can’t move the ball and then the defense stays on the field too long.  They give up points and get in a hole and it’s usually deep enough where they can’t come back.  It’s the same theme every week pretty much, and it’s terrible to watch.  They need their second half play calling, the sheer aggressiveness of it, to be their play calling in the first half.  They need to get after the defense and get the ball in the hands of Calvin Johnson as much as possible, even if he is banged up.

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Michigan vs Northwestern: The Near Heart Attack

Posted on November 15, 2012 by Jeff

To be honest, this game gave me visions of the Appalachian State game.  Not the way it was played, but just the way it ended.  A totally improbable throw and catch to set up a field goal, and I was just terrified it would be blocked.  I had faith that Gibbons could make it from that close, it was basically a chip shot.  But I was afraid that in all of the excitement of them getting into field goal range that someone would miss a blocking assignment.

Fortunately that was not the case, and we got to see a stellar performance in overtime by Devin Gardner, Roy Roundtree and Kenny Demens.  All three of whom had utterly fantastic games.  I mean, this was easily one of the best games I’d ever seen Roy Roundtree play and he has the stats to back it up.  That catch he made is surely going to be one that is on Michigan highlight reels for years to come.  He may not have the production of a #1 wide receiver, but he sure as hell makes a ton of clutch catches.  Kenny Demens meanwhile asserted his dominance with some gorgeous wrap up tackles, particularly the one on 4th down in overtime.

A few GIFs of the clutch plays of the game are over at DieHardSport.com.

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Official: Six Bowls will make up College Football Playoff format

Posted on November 14, 2012 by Jeff

Earlier this week the BCS commissioners and the Presidential Oversight Committee agreed on a rotation for the BCS Bowl Games, and the teams that would be able to gain access to the bowl games.  Initially it was thought that they would add a seventh BCS game, now referred to as “Access Bowls,” but they decided against it and settled on six games.

The National Semifinal games will rotate through the six different bowl game sites, which sets up two semifinal games, and four other bowl games.  The National Title game will be bid out between the six bowl game sites, as it would have been when there were only five BCS bowl games.

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The AP Poll Olympics: Week 11

Posted on November 14, 2012 by Jeff

And now my worst fear has been realized.  Alabama was upset because they decided not to play the first half of a football game and now we have an absolute cluster at the top of the standings.  I still believe, that regardless of their loss, that Alabama is the best team in the country.

I really hope that Oregon doesn’t get left out, and I am absolutely dreading a Kansas State and Notre Dame championship game.  I honestly probably wouldn’t even watch.  Notre Dame hasn’t even beat anyone that good other than Oklahoma.  People say, well what are elite wins that Alabama has or Oregon, etc, etc.  Oregon beat an underachieving USC team on the road and Alabama beat LSU on the road, both of whom would absolutely torch any of Notre Dame’s opponents.

Hopefully Notre Dame and Kansas State lose, so we can get the Oregon and Alabama matchup I’ve been dying to watch.  I will say this, if Notre Dame goes undefeated with a win at USC, I won’t like it, but I will understand them being in the National Championship game.  At least if Oregon and Kansas State aren’t undefeated.

On a separate note, I hate Nebraska.  Getting two absolutely crucial calls in their favor in back-to-back weeks is trash.  I’m starting to believe there could be a conspiracy theory that the Big Ten wants them to get into the Rose Bowl.

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Michigan vs. Minnesota: The Emergence of Devin Gardner

Posted on November 9, 2012 by Jeff

It’s unfortunate that we had to wait until the Minnesota game to see Devin Gardner.  Based on what I saw, there is zero reason that he shouldn’t have played against Nebraska. He looked like he was a highly recruited five-star quarterback coming out of high school. Sure he had some rust to shake off early, but once he got going he looked great.  And sure it was only against Minnesota, but I was definitely encouraged for the future of this team.

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The AP Poll Olympics: Week 10

Posted on November 8, 2012 by Jeff

Week 10 brings us some new faces after a weekend of disappointing results.  I had been hoping (obviously), that Pitt would do something useful for the entire football community, and that Michigan State would be able to help out Michigan, but I was sorely mistaken.  Pitt missed a field goal when Notre Dame had two guys with the same number on the field, an infraction that went unnoticed.

I will say this, Pitt should have never been in that situation.  They gained less than 25 yards in the fourth quarter and went into a complete shell.  You can think that Notre Dame turned it on defensively as much as you’d like, but Pitt did themselves zero favors with the uber-conservative playcalling.  Pitt had that game locked up and pissed it all away.

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Michigan vs. Nebraska: The Travesty

Posted on November 2, 2012 by Jeff

With their Big Ten Championship hopes in the balance, Denard Robinson went down with a pinched nerve in his elbow (the Ulnar Nerve) and I proceeded to watch the remaining 2 1/2 quarters, watching the bid to the Big Ten Championship slip away.

The issue on Saturday was not the defense.  They played very well and were led by Craig Roh, who had one of the best games all year.  The reason for the 23 points given up then you ask?  The defense was simply on the field for far too long.  A casualty of the ineptness of the offense.  Yes, we had just as much time of possession, but that was due to our lead prior to Denard getting injured AND because we ran the ball a lot and kept the clock moving.

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The NCAA Approves Tougher Sanctions: It’s about time

Posted on November 2, 2012 by Jeff

Seriously, this is something that was long overdue.  It was literally years in the making.  College programs were running amok and the NCAA had no way to enforce any of it effectively and no one was taking them seriously.  But now, this could all change.

On October 30th, ESPN reported that “the NCAA’s board of directors passed a package of sweeping changes that will hold coaches more accountable for rule-breaking offenses and threaten rogue programs with longer postseason bans and fines that could cost millions of dollars.”

In another big move, they boosted their rules enforcement committee from 10 to 24, in hopes of hearing more cases and getting punishment dealt out in a proper amount of time.  This is key.  They needed to find a better way to investigate and enforce so they didn’t miss things like they did with the UNC or USC cases, and so they didn’t take four years to investigate one program.  They need to be able to expedite the process without compromising the system.

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