Another point of view on a common criticism of Carr EVANSTON, ILLINOIS OCTOBER 30, 2005 Lloyd Carr consistently gets criticism for not challenging for national titles despite having highly ranked recruiting classes year after year. This is certainly a valid discussion point, but I hardly ever hear Carr praised for delivering the depth and talent that Michigan possesses. There are several dimensions to this. First, this criticism kind of assumes that, by virtue of the winged helmets and “tradition”, Michigan simply opens the doors to Schembechler Hall and lets the top talent line up for scholarships. This implies that Carr has no hand in, a) actually recruiting the top prospects and, b) continuing to create a desirable program that kids want to be a part of (5 Big Ten titles, 9 straight New Year’s day bowls, let alone a place that parents are proud to send their children). These critics assume that anyone could come in and continue dragging in top talent year after year. I’m not so sure this is as easy as it seems to come to Carr and his staff. Second, I don’t hear Carr praised when the value of these deep recruiting classes actually makes a difference. Look at this season. This team continues to lose its top players yet there’s always a Wolverine back-up ready…
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Should We Trust the BCS Computers?
Sagarin featured in Wall Street Journal in October 19, 2005 piece SALINE, MICHIGAN OCTOBER 26, 2005 The debate on the use of computers as in input to determining the teams that play in the college national championship has raged since the BCS was first introduced in 1998. One of the most prominent mathematical formulas that is used to rank college football teams is run by Hendricksville, Indiana resident and former Indiana MBA Jeff Sagarin. Mr. Sagarin was recently featured in a Wall Street Journal piece due to his efforts to make Indiana move permanently to the Central time zone. The majority of the state for many years has remained on Eastern Standard time throughout the year, causing much confusion when the rest of us switch our clocks ahead in the summer for Daylight savings time. In April 2006, Indiana will move to use daylight saving time. The rub: each Indiana county needs to decide whether it is going to be on Central or Eastern time presenting some other dimensions of confusion, but that’s another issue. Sagarin has lobbied hard that the position of the sun over Indiana at noon makes it senseless to be in the Eastern time zone. Here’s some of his data on the topic from his website if you are interested if you have a few weeks…
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Carr-diac Arrest, Michigan Takes Iowa in OT
Once again it seems we are watching the same game over and over again this year. Michigan gets a lead, surrenders it, and then it's a crapshoot up and to the final seconds. Michigan decided to give the ball to fourth-string running back Jerome Jackson on third and goal from the Iowa 1 yard line, and he didn't waste the opportunity. This will set up a classic Big Ten showdown in Chicago next weekend.
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Henne Finds Manningham to Sink Penn State 27-25 (2005)
Michigan reverses fortune with the final second winSALINE, MICHIGAN OCTOBER 15, 2005 This team is getting pretty frustrating to watch. Nothing is coming easy for them, so it’s nice to take this one away as a win. The three loses clearly could have gone either way, and now Michigan’s two big wins are in the same category. Chad Henne drilled a pass through the Penn State secondary on the final play of the game, right in the hands of Mario Manningham for another glorious Michigan come-from-behind 27-25 win. This presents another chance for Michigan to redeem themselves and somehow the downtrodden Blue is still in the Big Ten race, at least for a share. A lot of this they control: Michigan needs to beat Iowa, Northwestern and Ohio State and hope for at least 1 more loss out of Wisconsin or Penn State. PSU hosts Wisconsin on November 5th. My take: Michigan will stumble again. Takeaways:– This Season. It seems every major game is coming down to the final few plays, and in most cases, seconds. It really shouldn’t be, Michigan should be putting these teams away. M is getting into a cycle of surrendering double digit leads and having to attempt a comeback. Twice they’ve pulled it out (MSU, Penn State), and twice they’ve failed (Minnesota, Wisconsin). I can’t…
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Michigan Man, Hercules Renda
Little man with big heart dies at 88Sad news out of Michigan’s Schembechler Hall as 1930s Michigan football player Hercules Renda died yesterday while doing his daily walk at a Pontiac high school track. By all accounts, this was a great guy/ My wife had my copy of Jim Brandstatter’s “Tales from Michigan Stadium” signed by the man. Check out the photo above, I like his style. First off, he signed on the page of the book with his photo, second, he simply signed it “Hercules”.
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Golden Gophers Grift Growler
Little Brown Jug disappears after defensive breakdown SALINE, MICHIGAN OCTOBER 8, 2005 Third and nine, deep in Michigan’s end. The Golden Gophers had run on first and second downs, seemingly content to run out the malfunctioning game clock. Certainly they wouldn’t put the ball on the arm of a back-up quarterback, and would take their chances in overtime. Lloyd Carr acknowledged all of this after the game. Instead of stopping Gary “Love Muscle” Russell, the solid sophomore running back slipped around the right side, up Minnesota’s sideline to the Michigan 13 yard line. Bye, bye Jug. How could this possibly happen? Here’s a few takes on this disaster: – Rushing Gained, Allowed. Michigan only managed 94 rushing yards. The Gophers surrendered 364 to Penn State last week. This wasn’t the fault of Mike Hart, who went over 100. He ran hard; he didn’t have the holes. – King a Homer. Despite Rivas’s tough day, he did drill a 47-yarder in the second quarter. Michigan Stadium public address announcer Howard King had a tough day as well, messing up some calls. On Rivas’s field goal, as the ball was in there air, you could hear King mutter “Come On” urging the ball through the uprights. Assume King forgot to turn off the microphone, but it is nice to know that his…
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Firelloydcarr.us – Website Review
Simple site needs some help, Fails to deliver SALINE, MICHIGAN OCTOBER 5, 2005 As the early season troubles mount, so does the pressure on University of Michigan head football coach Lloyd Carr. Certainly the Lloyd Carr haters have been well represented on radio talk shows and message boards for a long time now, but finally someone has pulled together an anti-Lloyd website a’ la fireronzook.com, which was widely publicized during the former Florida coach’s tough times in Gainesville. Here’s a quick review of firelloydcarr.us, which overall is pretty disappointing. Opinions of coach Carr aside, here’s my take on the site: First off, the actual website name. The media don’t often mention the actual domain of the site, so my take is that many assume the site is simply firelloydcarr.com (as opposed to .us). I don’t blame the guy: in the fireronzook craze, a bunch of people probably bought up all the “fireCOACHNAME.com” sites. Someone owns firelloydcarr.com. So, the .us extension is a little troublesome, but he’s doing what he can. The layout is of low quality. It looks like the guy just learned how to publish a website, and his Firelloydcarr.us banner looks as though he discovered the primary colors, and then learned how to add a drop shadow to text. Weak. Maybe a Lloyd Carr bobblehead would be better!…
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MSU Buries Irish, Plants Flag
Above, check out a video of the 2005 MSU flag-planting incident in South Bend Five in a row in South Bend? SALINE, MI SEPTEMBER 18, 2005 A half time you knew this was going to be a classic. Congratulations to the Spartans for an impressive 44-41 win over ND, and now five straight wins against the Irish on the road? Wow. This game sparks a bunch of thoughts. Five thoughts on the game: 1. Five straight in South Bend? My god, what a feat. From the perspective of the Michigan fan, there are few things going on with MSU Football that bring on feelings of envy for those in Ann Arbor. This is certainly one. The Spartan’s dominance over the past decade over the Irish is amazing. It is comparable with Michigan’s dominance over John Cooper’s Ohio State teams. 2. No TD for Irish. For Irish fans grumbling about the play where MSU knocked the ball away on the goal line. It was close, but couldn’t be overturned. Chad Henne was probably in the end zone on first down last week (before fumbling on second down), and that wasn’t even reviewed. My advice: take your beatings like men. 3. Planting the Spartan Flag. For Irish fans concerned that excited Spartan players (see above – #14 should’ve had a V8) took…
