Brandon Minor was Michigan’s leading rusher in 2008, after two consecutive years backing up Mike Hart. Despite being plagued with wrist injuries, he rushed for 533 yards last year, splitting carries with Sam McGuffie. Minor led Michigan to a 17-10 halftime lead over Penn State, one of the few bright moments in the year.

Nick Sheridan was Michigan’s starting quarterback in much of 2008, splitting duties with Steven Threet before Threet went down for the year with an injury. Sheridan passed for 2 touchdowns and ran for 1 on the year, and was the engineer of the Wolverines’ upset victory over Minnesota in the Metrodome on November 8th. Sheridan is the only remaining QB on the Michigan roster with more than 1 collegiate pass to his name.

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The poll will remain open for 7 days, closing at 5PM next Thursday. The full bracket is visible here.

Posted under Football, Personnel

For details on the contest (or whatever it is) check out last week’s post on the matter. Here’s the bracket:

Click the bracket to see it in all its full-size glory. Battles will start tomorrow, with fan voting determining the winners. Each battle will last about a week, with a new one starting each day (yes, they’ll overlap). When the first round is complete in 16 days, I’ll take a break to recap the action, and we’ll move along.

Posted under Football

The summer leagues have started up and a few Michigan players are currently making a difference on their respected teams.  Some guys are MIA.  If you happen to know where one of the other players are, feel free to drop a line in the comments.

Eric Katzman and Chris Berset were both listed with Leesburg, Katzman so much that he was mentioned in the season preview.

Vangeluwe and Broder show up on Grand Lake’s roster as stated by the Great Lakes League (both as #0), but aren’t on the Grand Lake Mariners team’s site.  I assume that just means they’ve gone to other teams.

Jake McLouth was originally signed with the Winchester Royals with Sinnery and Gerbe, but that’s no longer the case.  He was released on June 4th.

I’ll check up with these guys in a little while to look at how they did.  Most games started this last week so not much to report on now.

Ex-Player / Now Coaches

Jason Wuefel (’03 ) is also coaching the Butler BlueSox of the Prospect League.  Good for him.

Posted under Baseball

Among the many things that have often bothered me about the Michigan football program is the lack of serious Heisman buzz for any player (save, perhaps, for Mike Hart in 2006). So, as a Guy with Website, I fully intend to change that for the 2009 season. But far be it from me to determine which Michigan Wolverine deserves to have a full-fledged Heisman campaign this upcoming season. Why don’t I have readers vote in an enormous bracket, instead?

Who’s Eligible?

Originally, I had intended for this to be a ridiculously large bracket, with everyone on the roster eligible. Well, that didn’t get off the ground quite as I had intended, and to simplify things, most players with a reasonable expectation of playing time and stats will be a candidate in the bracket contest. There will be one contest each day, with voting open for 7 days (so the results will roll in over time). As the roster gets pared down to 4 or 8 candidates, they’ll be spaced out a little more to give each battle a chance to get the votes it deserves.

What’s the ‘Prize?’

The “winner” will have a Varsity Blue section created in his honor, to tout his candidacy for the Heisman trophy, a la the now-defunct Hart4Heisman.com, or official athletic department sites like CurtisPainter12.com (try to stifle your laughter). Depending on the level of effort I’m willing to put in, perhaps some of the runners-up will have pages as well, at least touting them for position-specific awards like the Ray Guy trophy or Rotary Lombardi Award.

Show Me the Bracket!

Ah, patience young one. I’ll reveal the bracket early next week (how does Tuesday sound?) and battles will get started the next day.

Posted under Football, Personnel

Not sure I’ve ever tried executing one of these, so let’s give it a try. Potential talking points:

• MCLA final v. Chapman may be the game of the year.
• Kelvin Grady on the football field (omg does he have a scholarship?)
• Dann O’Neill leaves the Michigan football team
• Basketball to play Kansas, Utah, UConn, BC this year
• Homecoming game v. Indiana scheduled for noon
• Anything else posted about (or not) this week

Let’s get it on.

Posted under Basketball, Football

Visits Michigan for the “premiere” of the feature today. Charles Woodson and Desmond Howard are planned guests on the set. This entire deal seems to be little more than an attempt by ESPN to get their show shouted out on school-specific sites from every state, but there’s definitely some potential for it to be cool. To see when CFB Live airs near you, check out the ESPNTV website.

In other stories over the weekend…

Softball, Golf bow out. The Michigan softball team, after a stellar season, lost to Florida and Georgia in the double-elimination format of the Women’s College World Series, ending their season. The team returns a strong core next year, as Shortstop Teddi Ewing is the only gaduating senior. Pitchers Nikki Nemitz and Jordan Taylor will return for the 2010 season, with hitters like Dorian Shaw and Angela Findlay providing the offense. The team will probably never have a repeat of the 2005 campaign, when they ripped of 31 straight victories, but next year’s squad should be a fun one to watch.

The Men’s golf team made a dream run into the match-play finals in the NCAA, before falling to Texas A&M in the semifinals. Michigan hadn’t made the NCAA Championships themselves in 12 years, so to make it into the match play rounds, and even win their quarterfinal against Southern Cal, was special for this team. Like their softball counterparts, this team is returning some important pieces as well. Super sophomore Lion Kim headlines a group of returners that should be very strong in 2010. Exiting seniors Bill Rankin and Nick Pumford were the team’s leaders, but other will hopefully be able to step up, and Kim will lead the team to (hopefully) another great year in ’10.

Kelvin Grady, Come on down? Mark Snyder reports in the Detroit Free Press that Kelvin Grady, ex-Michigan point guard, may become Kelvin Grady, Michigan scat/slotback. Grady had discussed playing two sports with the coaching staff of Lloyd Carr, but nothing ever came of the football option. Now, with his departure from the Michigan basketball team, that optino may be back on the table. If such a thing does end up coming to fruition, it shall be interesting to see whether he decides to stick it out on the basketball court for at least one more year, since he’ll still be enrolled in the school.

Barbecuin’. Grills. Meat. Likin’ it. The Big House Barbecue recruiting event seems to have gone off without a hitch. There were no commitments at the time, which is probably slightly disheartening for some Michigan fans. However, the recruiting for a couple Michigan prospects may have hit overdrive, and there could be a decision or two in the coming days. More on that in this afternoon’s recruiting post. Stay tuned for it.

Posted under Basketball, Football, Other Sports, Personnel, Recruiting, Spring Coverage

A softball preview? I’ve seriously gone off the deep end.

The Alabama Crimson Tide obviously is (are?) a good softball team. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t be in the Women’s College World Series, obviously. But what exactly should we know about the Tide before tonight’s game (7PM EDT on ESPN)? For starters, they finished the year second in both the SEC and the nation to the Florida Gators in terms of win percentage, and are the #4 overall seed in the tournament. Their head coach, in his 11th season (and 11th consecutive NCAA tournament berth), is Patrick Murphy.

Pitching
Alabama’s ace, who I assume the Wolverines are likely to see tonight, is sophomore Kelsi Dunne. She is tied for 16th in the nation (with the Wolverines’ Nikki Nemitz and 3 others) with 27 wins. However, Michigan might not see her for the entire game, as she’s one of 2 players in the top 30 nationally in wins with fewer than 200 innings pitched, clocking in at 194 2/3. The Tide’s other main pitcher is junior Charlotte Morgan (we’ll learn more about her momentarily, as well), who has thrown around 140 innings. Dunne is 20th in the nation in ERA, allowing 1.37 runs per 7 innings, and 27th in the country with 8.6 strikeouts per game. Morgan is not nationally ranked in any of these categories.

Hitting
Though she’s not the Tide’s best pitcher, Morgan is certainly their best hitter. Last year, she was an All-American on the basis of her prowess at the plate. This year, she’s 33rd in the nation with a .414 batting average, and is 22nd in the country with just barely under 1 RBI per game. She’s the Tide’s main hitting weapon, as they don’t have anyone else nationally ranked (top 30) in either category. Of course, for comparison’s sake, Michigan doesn’t even have a single player ranked by those metrics – the Wolverines get it done with pitching. On top of Morgan’s hitting ability, the Crimson Tide really hurt teams with lots of stolen bases. Senior outfielder Brittany Rogers, the team’s second-best hitter, is tied for third in the country with 0.84 steals per game, and her freshman teammate Jennifer Fenton is #30 with 0.52 stolen bases in each contest. Fenton is third on the team in batting average, so being on-base more frequently allows for more stealing opportunities: it seems like Murphy really likes to get his players moving whenever they’re on the basepaths (the Tide are 1st nationally in SBs with nearly 5 per game). Put all that offense together, and you have the 5th-most prolific scoring team in the USA.

Fielding
Going back to defense, the Tide are a good fielding team as well. Their fielding percentage is .975, good for 10th in the country. They’ve committed only 40 errors on the year, so getting cheap bases will probably not happen. If you’re looking for chinks in the armor, infielders Whitney Larsen and Kelli Eubanks are the only regular starters with fielding percentages below .950 – and they also happen to be the team’s weakest hitters. Another weak fielder is extraordinarily-named Jazlyn Lunceford, who is not a starter, but has seen time in 50 of ‘Bama’s 61 games.

So, what have we learned about the Tide? They’re very strong on offense. And defense. They are very strong on offense and defense. Whereas Michigan gets it done mostly through pitching and defense (3rd in the nation in ERA, 16th in fielding percentage), Alabama gets it going on both ends, generating offense through not only hitting, but also stealing bases, all while relying on very good fielding and pitching to keep the score low for the opponents. Based on those two aspects, I would be surprised if they were anywhere other than 2nd nationally in scoring margin, though the NCAA doesn’t keep stats on that. They’re certainly a formidable first test in the WCWS, and Michigan will absolutely need to be on their game to pull out a ‘W’ tonight.

Posted under Other Sports

You have the offseason to thank for these essentially content-free posts.

The Rimington Award, given to the nation’s top center, has released its watch list for the 2009 season. At this point, it’s basically little more than a list of returning starters at teams of note, bu David Molk is on it, so pay attention we will. Molk is one of only 5 sophomores on the list, and if the offensive line makes the huge leap that most Michigan fans are expecting (more on that next week), he could stand a chance to make it through a couple rounds of cuts. (HT: DocSat)

Rivals gives a little fluffery on incoming freshman running back Teric Jones. Jones’s track exploits (10.99 100m) are discussed, along with his efforts to bulk up with past-and-future teammate Thomas Gordon, using workout techniques that they learned from Mike Barwis. Jones will be a slot/RB at Michigan.

As was expected, outgoing WR Toney Clemons will transfer to Colorado, where he is a better fit for the offensive system. Clemons was put in a really tough spot last year, forced to play a slot role that he didn’t really fit in. Best of luck to him in the future, and may he find other white rappers with whom to make dorm room videos.
D.Cone Goin In For Life.

I encourage all who can to make it out to the Softball Super Regional tomorrow at Alumni Field. The game takes place at 8PM, and tickets are available at the Michigan Ticket Office. If you’re unable to make it out, you can watch on ESPN.

Posted under Football, Other Sports, Personnel

This is not going to be exactly as the title implies (i.e. game schedules, or even an in-depth discussion of the Wolverines on College Football Live), but rather a couple quick notes that have appeared on ESPN of late. This is deserving of its own post because the offseason sucks.

First: Pryor e-mail-gate.

Relevant information, as quoted by Brian:

Pryor: “I really want to be like a great quarterback. People tell me I can’t throw and this and that, and I’m not that good and I’m overrated and all that.”
Herbstreit: “Who?”
Pryor: “A bunch of people. Michigan players e-mail me and stuff.”
Herbstreit: “Come on, are you serious?”
Pryor: “Yeah man.”

Do I question the veracity of Pryor’s accusation? Kinda, because it seems really petty, and why bother? “Durrr u r overrated lolz”
Do I care either way? Not really. In the age of Facebook, e-mail, etc., things like this are bound to happen. It’s along the same lines of Facebook groups encouraging members to poke the opposing team’s QB, and harmless in the end. To the extent that “bulletin board material” can affect a player’s preparation for a specific team (a concept I question: do you really think it takes an e-mail to motivate Terrelle Pryor to want to beat Michigan?), it might be an issue, but other than that, it’s not. The main reason I hope this isn’t true is that I hope MIchigan’s player’s aren’t lame enough to waste their time with it.

Minor… is Major! Ivan Maisel thinks we should be ready for more Brad Nessler-isms next year, apparently.

Minor wants to grab his senior season by the throat. As long as his wrists cooperate, the Wolverines will be all the better for it.

The majority of the column is about Minor’s hope for an injury- and fumble-free 2009, leading to a better year for the Wolverines. Fluffy stuff, this.

Posted under Football, Personnel

It’s the offseason, which means it’s time to complain about the lack of a playoff in college football, right? Thought so.

I won’t say an overwhelming majority of college football fans are strongly in favor of moving to a larger playoff structure (since the current system is indeed a “playoff,” but only 2 teams are invited each year). However, there is certainly strong sentiment among followers of the college game, and especially those who constantly have ESPN cramming the idea down their throat. I’m a playoff proponent, though not as vehement a supporter as many. However, even if the BCS is somehow modified into a playoff, or even if a playoff structure is built from the ground up, it’s unlikely that the structure will be beneficial to college football.

I’ll be the first to admit I don’t like the NFL at all. Sure, I’ll watch the occasional game, because it’s a chance to watch the foot-ed ball on a day when the college guys don’t play, but I don’t think I’ll ever get true enjoyment out of The League. The atmosphere around the whole affair (and I don’t just mean game atmosphere) is overly sterilized, and everything seems so soulless, the exact opposite of college football. I guess it’s difficult to voice that sentiment in any way other than to look at college football, and look at the NFL, and note the clinical feel of the NFL in comparison. It sours the whole vibe of the game. So, I guess that’s something of a tangent, but it boils down to this: I don’t want the game to feel meaningless. It often does just that in the NFL (regardless of whether that’s true or not).

For an NCAA football playoff to be successful, it can’t grant automatic bids to conference champions. This leads to meaningless games. If Florida and Alabama hadn’t been gunning for a trip to the national title game last year, but rather an auto-bid into a grand tournament, their games in the final 2-3 weeks prior to the SEC Championship Game would have been meaningless, as they had already locked up their divisions of the conference. Of course, they would try to win the remaining games still, because, well, that’s what you do, but it certainly takes a lot of the magic out of college football.

Unfortunately, the big conferences, and the schools they represent, will never vote in favor of a national tournament that doesn’t include auto-bids for their conferences, and the precious dollars that said auto-bids bring to the conferences. Therein lies the rub: A tournament without auto-bids can’t happen, and a tournament with auto-bids would suck. I’m not strongly in favor of the MGoPlayoff, because restricting to 6 teams seems a little small to me, and I think the difference between 2 home games and 1 home game (between the 1-2 seeds and the 3-4 seeds, as opposed to 1 home game with a bye for the top dogs) is incentive enough to be in those top 2, both from a competitive and (perhaps much, much more importantly – think of a team finishing the year with 10 home games(!)) financial standpoint.

So, what does it all mean? I guess very little, other than your standard off-season musing about the merits of a playoff. Because if Congress doesn’t intervene, it ain’t happenin’.

Posted under Football