Catching up with the Michigan Blogosphere

Items:
1) M Zone says goodbye, so long, and thanks for all the fish. They will be missed. How else are we going to keep Colin Cowherd in line? I moved them down from Daily Reads. Our source for BBall recruiting news, UMHoops, takes their place.

2)Ronald Bellamy's Underachieving All-Stars returns with great post about setting up an interview with Lloyd Carr that highlights all the things we loved the most about our former coach. Hopefully RBUAS will find a contact in the new regieme and will be able to continue his excellent work. I've returned him to the Other Fine Sites to See list.

3) Brian from MGoBlog writes of any interesting court case involving Duke football @ AOL Fan House. To summarize, in order to avoid damages for breaking their four game contract to play Louisville lawyers for Duke had to argue that Duke football is so bad that Louisville wasn't really harmed by not playing them, since any college team they pick up will be a suitable replacement. Apart from being really funny for North Carolina fans and all others who dislike Duke football, this case does have some implications in the Rich Rod vs WVU case. Now I'm no lawyer, but my understanding of the case is that in order to prove that Rod's departure has caused them damage equal to $4 million dollars, WVU lawyers will have to prove that his replacement is significantly worse. Just about every 'Neer fan alive will be rooting for an undefeated season for WVU and a crash and burn for Michigan, but it might be in their interest for the opposite to happen.

4) A Michigan blog with large type called Go Blue Michigan Wolverine (not apparently related to the Scout site of similar name) posts a interesting article about academic support for the athletes. The upshot, despite publicly rejecting the conclusions of the infamous Ann Arbor News report, the AD appears to be taking steps to shore up some of the issues raised in that investigation.

5)Finally, Fingerle Lumber has put their 7 acre site in AA up for sale for $21.95 million. Why is that relevant to sports fans? Fingerle's site is just to the north of the athletic campus and there have been some rumors around town that the university is looking to purchase that land to possibly expand the campus. Perhaps some more athletic facilities, or possibly even a new dorm.

Oh, one more thing, I added a section with non-sports sites. Mostly friends' blogs, but I will put a few other things there from time to time.

Harbaugh Follow-up

Of course, right after I publish my post on the Harbaugh situation, MGoBlog comes out with a outstanding analysis that takes Harbaugh, ESPN's Pat Forde and other critics to task for proclaiming something that is plain as day to anyone with half a brain as if it were earth-shattering news.

MGoBlog also takes all of us to task for our narrow definition of education, and of intelligence:

I find the lazy, stupid athlete stereotype irritating, and always have. Is intelligence a simple vector that you have or do not? I have always been very, very "smart" and felt that I got far too much credit for an aptitude for standardized tests and memorization when I knew that the guys truly marked for success didn't have truculent attitudes towards people that were slightly different from them. There is a certain sort of social aptitude that I lack that, a particular sort of empathy and intelligence far more important in the world than the ability to sort out the Pythagorean theorem in no time flat, but how do you measure that? I'll tell you: find my salary and that of class president Tom O'Neill, a man the entire world liked, in ten years and get back to me. I'll lose. So who's to say that Mario Manningham isn't "smart"? I've watched him perfectly set up cornerbacks time and again, burning them deep when they know what's coming. Even if Manningham couldn't spell his own name -- something I am not asserting is true, for the record -- he would still be a particular sort of genius.

The point being that one of the primary goals of a university education is to prepare students for life after they leave. In that sense, pushing athletes into majors that fit our narrow sense of intelligence doesn't make them any more prepared for the future than their participation in big time athletics does.

This and That

June 19, 2008 Note: This is a post that originally appeared on Golden's Football Rankings and is reproduced here for posterity.

-Went to the Michigan/Iowa game last night. It was a typical Amaker loss. They came out with a lot of defensive intensity and built a solid lead on hustle, some fast breaks and some good one-on-one play. Iowa made some adjustments after going down by 14. Michigan’s top defender, Brent Petway, went out of the game with an uncertain injury. Iowa then went on a 20-1 run as Michigan went scoreless for over 8 minutes. By the time they woke up, Iowa was up by seven with five minutes to go. A couple of key turnovers and fouls down the stretch sealed the deal, and they suffered a tournament-shattering loss. AD Bill Martin was at the game. One can only hope that he is reaching the same conclusion that many of us are reaching: we need a new coach.
-There’s a lot to dislike about the hype leading up to the Super Bowl, but one of the things I like is how college football fans from every section of the country can all claim a little piece of the game each. For us up here, its good to see Cato June and Marlin Jackson of the Colts get their shot at a ring.
-Once again, MgoBlog has nailed it, with an article about how coaches salaries are affecting college football. Our readers in SEC country will appreciate the new nickname for Nick $aban he came up with.
-After losing four of the last six, perhaps Bruce Pearl should spend more time coaching and less time painting his body for Lady Vols games.
-A lot was made recently up here about a slight alteration made in Lloyd Carr’s contract for 2007. His most recent contract was signed in 2005, and it called for $300,000 to be put aside in a separate account to be given to Carr if he remained Michigan’s head coach on July 1, 2007. The alteration made in late December calls for Carr to get an additional $300,000 if he is still employed (in any capacity)by the university on July 1, 2008. The assumption that everyone here seemed to make was that Carr was going to retire or announce that 2007 was his last at some point. I’m not so sure that’s what’s going on here. It’s quite possible that this is just an extension of the prior terms.
-So with the Carr contract news, and the basketball struggles, the Michigan message boards are awash in new coach talk in both major sports. Imagine how stressed the Bill Martin will be if he has to replace both coaches in the same season.
-Football recruiting things are getting crazy up here. I try not to get sucked into all the angst on message boards, but its hard not to read about it when there is nothing to but sit and wait for the basketball team to make their annual NIT run.
-I know I’m a week late with this, but the Duke/Clemson thing was a travesty, if you can use such strong language for a game. I don’t understand why the league couldn’t order the teams to replay the last play when they realized the officials had made a mistake. In the coaching I do, we have a rule in our state league that a judge’s bad decision cannot affect an outcome. If we find a judge has ruled wrongly, even after the match is finished, we will change the ruling and have the players replay the last game. Why couldn’t the ACC order the two teams back to Cameron the next day to replay the last 3 or so seconds?
-I like Tony Dungy’s suggestion to play the Super Bowl in Fort Wayne, Indiana, halfway between the two cities. I believe that football was meant to be played in the snow.