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New Recruiting Class of 2009 HQ

The new site has given us a lot of new options that we didn’t have on Blogger. The ablity to do something like this easily and locally is probably the biggest.

We have put together a page on each current 2009 commit and pulled information from the recruiting board, recruiting updates and Friday Night Lights posts.  Now almost all the information Varsity Blue has on a particular commit is in one place where readers can comment and discuss (and share video highlights, news stories, etc).

The page can be found here as well as in the Quick Links box at the top of the page.

Posted under Blog News, Recruiting

Programming Update: Dead Weekend

We will not be posting this weekend, for several reasons:

  • Varsity Blue may or may not be moving venues starting on Monday. I’ll let Paul fill in the gruesome details, since he’s far more knowledgeable on the matter.
  • I currently believe that I am going to be unavailable most of the time (as I was last weekend, hence the inconsistency in posting).
  • With the season over, there is little to post about, and I think it’s time to take a little break from scraping together content.

That said, the Big Ten Recruiting Class Rankings that are typically posted on Saturdays will make their tomorrow afternoon. Friday Night Lights (the final substantive update of the year) will appear on Monday. There may be a post or two shuffled in today or tomorrow as well, but no guarantees.

Posted under Blog News

Programming Update

No podcast this week, because the Sports Editor of [STUDENT MEDIA OUTLET REDACTED] is too important to answer his e-mail. This is unfortunate, because I’ve really been enjoying the podcasts, as well as the process of making them. Such is life, however, and we will move on.

Inside The Play for this week will be published this afternoon. It will focus on the Kevin Koger touchdown that helped spark the Michigan comeback against Wisconsin.
I hadn’t been planning on posting the 201o recruiting board until after the season, and even when Ricardo Miller committed, I had hoped I would be able to delay. I figured the next commitment would come over the MSU recruiting weekend (a biggie, where I also originally expected Ricardo Miller to drop), and I would still be fairly timely by waiting until December. However, with two commits already in the class, I would be remiss to not publish what I’ve already been working on. I’ll finish polishing it up this week and over the weekend, and you can expect to see the 2010 recruiting board sometime early next week. If you’re dying for info before that, head over to Genuinely Sarcastic, whom I helped a bit with adding prospects to their board.
That said, don’t expect to see 2010 recruiting updates with any frequency until after the 2008 football season ends. Once the 2009 class is signed, the assumptions (scholarship numbers, needs, etc.) for the 2010 class will be much more concrete, and the updates will come fast and furious (though at this pace, the 2010 class might be full by then).

Posted under Blog News, Recruiting

Varsity Maize

In honor of this weekend’s Maize Out game against the Wisconsin Badgers, Varsity Blue shall be known as “Varsity Maize” for this entire week. You may have noticed our RAD NEW BANNER at the top of your screen.

We here at Varsity Maize encourage everyone who is attending Saturday’s game against the Badgers to wear maize clothing, and be loud in support of the Michigan Wolverines in their Big Ten kickoff.

Posted under Analysis, Blog News

Become a Fan of Varsity Blue

Not that you aren’t already, but it’s time to make it official, since we all know that Facebook is more real than real life.

Become a fan of Varsity Blue on Facebook.

Posted under Blog News

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Programming Update

As we get into the actual football season, the posting schedule ’round these parts is going to be changing up a bit. Here is what you can expect during the season:

  • Recruiting Updates will now be relegated to one day a week, which I have yet to definitively determine. However, I am contemplating making Saturday morning posts dedicated to the Friday night performances of Michigan commits. Thoughts?
  • I will be posting a draft BlogPoll ballot for commenting on Mondays, then the final ballot on Wednesdays.
  • The podcast will be switching from Sunday to a time late in the week. The new focus of it will be previewing the upcoming opponent. Tomorrow, the podcast will feature our guest Tony Pizza, live from Salt Lake City, Utah (by which I mean “recorded yesterday from Salt Lake City, Utah”).
  • I’m thinking about posting a new video feature each week that will be called “Inside the Play.” It will be an in-depth breakdown of one notable play from the game in the preceding week. All in favor? Opposed?
  • I will also (possibly) be trading posts once a week with our colleagues/rivals at Buckeye Commentary. More details on that forthcoming.

If you have any requests for features you’d like to see on a weekly basis, let me know in the comments.

Posted under Blog News

About a Board

The new Recruiting Board is up, so I thought I should go over some of the new features.

When Tim and I were discussing what would be ideal, we started thinking something that was basically a message board with each prospect getting his own thread. The only problem there was formatting the information and making it look nice and convey the information quickly. And then there are the issues of maintenance and moderation inherent in message boards.

It seemed like a hybrid would be the best solution, so now you can comment on each and everyone of the recruits individually. Any info or articles, rumors you’ve heard, an opinion/gut feeling you have, anything that could give a more rounded picture of the prospect can be posted there. You have to register, but that is really quick and no personal information is required (the registration link is at the bottom of the board as well as under the comments section- Tim). This helps prevents spambots from doing what they do and gives troll another hurdle.

I hope everyone will contribute so we can have a super complete, informative source for the 2009 class.

Posted under Blog News, Recruiting