Overview: Waste of time
Fun Bill Martin Pythagorean Theorem: A2 + B2 = C2 (Ann Arbor + Beilein, Borseth = Championship, Championship)
Number of raffles and lame contests: Approx. 15
Notably Absent: Ekpe Udoh
Mary Coleman’s size as a proportion of Bill Martin: 1/2
Things said that have not been already mentioned at at least one press conference: 0
Number of recent Kevin Borseth recruiting trips to Virginia: 1
Posted under Basketball
Ryan Mallett is one of the most talked about recruits Michigan has had in a while. Luckily for us, he decided to enroll early, which meant we could see him in the Spring. A couple commenters asked for video on Mallett’s throwing mechanics. Well… without further ado:
The final slow motion throw is just the first one. I’m not exactly an expert on mechanics, and this is just warm up throwing, so I can’t really draw a huge amount of conclusions. One thing is that he seems to have a fairly high release point which is something that, despite being about the same height, John Navarre did not.
Next, it has been rumored that Mallett’s arm has been replaced with a rocket launcher a la Grindhouse. To examine this, we have a couple shots of Mallett throwing downfield (there was one that was deeper than both of these, but the snuck it in right after some special teams practice).
During that second throw, all I could think of is replacing Greg Mathews (I’m pretty sure) with Mario Manningham, who, if he stay for his senior year, could be running under a ton of Mallett bombs. He looked like he has good touch on the deep balls, but just like most freshman quarterbacks, a year under an experienced, senior quarterback will help him develop even more.
As brief as it is, we have Ryan Mallett’s Michigan career highlight reel. Look for it up on YouTube with more slow motion than 300 and the most NSFW rap song I can find:
It looks like he is pretty comfortable with the staple DeBord play action waggle to the TE (assuming Michigan has TEs…). Also, I was really hoping that either Mathews or Savoy would have caught the touchdown pass from Mallett, so I could say something cliche like “You’ll be hearing that combo a lot in the future!” The TD pass was caught by David Middleton, who looked good for a walk-on, but probably won’t see the field with Manningham, Arrington (fingers crossed), Matthews, Savoy, Hemingway, Clemons, etc.
Finally, there were those who saw the vitals on Mallett (6’6″, 247lbs) and immediately started complaining about how Michigan always recruits statuesque quarterbacks that can’t escape pressure. In defense of most Michigan fans, most of these people were on the espn.com message boards. Anyway, in response to that, here is Mallett using his legs. Please note the hilarious stiff arm conveniently slow-mo’d for added bad ass-ness (despite my previous snide 300 remark):
What makes the stiff arm so funny is that the defense isn’t allowed to tackle the quarterback, so they just had to touch Mallett for him to be down. So by stiff arming he’s touching which might make him technically down. Ignoring the obvious hold, he showed he’s not slow, although he might be a loper, but he has some moves. Don’t expect Vince Young, but don’t be looking for Mt. Rushmore either.
I have some pictures as well, but I think I will just put those up on flickr and link since this is already fairly heavy from the video.
In the coming days we’ll have interview wrap ups as well as scrimmage footage from people other than Ryan Mallett. I know a lot of people were curious, so I’d love to hear your observations or thoughts on how he looked, so use that comment section.
Posted under Spring Coverage
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Yeah, we’re going to try to milk this for all it’s worth.
Guys who weren’t there:
Adrian Arrington
Marques Slocum
Jason Forcier
Guys who were there, but didn’t dress:
Mike Hart
Kevin Grady (crutches)
Jamar Adams
Carlos Brown
Johnny Thompson
Chris Graham
Terrance Taylor
Dressed but only participated in position drills:
Jake Long
Shawn Crable
Recent ex-players in attendance:
David Harris
Steve Breaston
Alan Branch
Rondell Biggs
I think that’s about it, if I missed anyone you saw, drop it in the comments.
Posted under Personnel, Spring Coverage
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Unfortunately, we had some technical difficulties, so we don’t have any audio on our interviews. All the players said basically the same thing, so we’ll try to get a loose paraphrase up at least. If anyone can read lips and wants to do a transcript, let us know.
We’re kind of tired and ready for a standard Saturday night in Ann Arbor, so look forward to the full review tomorrow or monday complete with pictures and moving pictures!
Just to whet your appetite, here’s a picture of the wide receivers with Verne Troyer:
Posted under Blog News, Spring Coverage
T-minus one day until spring practice. Finally, the public gets a chance to review what the 2007 Wolverines will look like.
However, keep in mind that the impressions you get aren’t always going to be accurate. A year ago, Carlos Brown and LaTerryal Savoy looked like they were going to be world-beaters. At the end of 2006, Brown had 16 carries for 41 yards, Savoy had a statistically-anomalous 0 catches for 7 yards (he recovered a fumble).
Here are some things I’ll be looking for at spring practice (some of them suggested by commenters, and I encourage you to continue making suggestions):
Things to ask players/coaches:
Things to observe, take pictures, gather footage of:
If there is anything else specific that you want to hear, speak now or forever hold your peace.
Posted under Mail Bag, Recruiting, Spring Coverage
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Ironically, though I follow recruiting to a near religious degree, I rarely post about it on this here internet blogsite. This is for various reasons (i.e. what am I going to post that isn’t either easily available elsewhere or premium information from a recruiting site). However, I’ll hopefully start getting a little more recruiting info out there, starting with this piece on Detroit WR Fred Smith, in which he speaks glowingly of Michigan.
Interesting things: He holds a Michigan offer, and loved Michigan growing up (read: it’s not unlikely he ends up a Wolverine). This article didn’t appear in a Detroit paper, or even a Michigan paper, for that matter. Rather it is in USA Today, so maybe Smith is a higher-profile recruit than some are giving him credit for, especially since they say he is one of the top wideouts in the nation. However, in four batches of “elite wide receivers,” Jim Stefani has yet to mention Smith, and he’s not in Scout or Rivals early top lists.
However, at a 4.4 (reported) 40 time, and with his size (6-3, 215), he certainly has some potential.
SIDE NOTE: Don’t forget to comment in the post below with your questions for spring practice.
Posted under Recruiting
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Paul and I will be attending the final spring practice this Saturday, armed with cameras (video and still) and our comprehensive note-taking abilities. There is a high likelihood that we are able to interview a player or two, especially among those who won’t be participating in full (Nobody important: Hart, Long).
If you have anything that you want us to take a closer look at, something you want video or pictures of, or any questions you want us to ask, post them in the comments and we’ll do our best to accommodate you.
Posted under Mail Bag, Spring Coverage
Bill Martin has been in the media a lot lately (makes sense, seeing as how he, you know, just hired a new basketball coach or two). Some highlights from his interview with the Monroe Street Journal:
On accusations that luxury boxes threaten the tradition of Michigan Stadium:
“Think about Fielding Yost when he built Michigan Stadium in 1926… Many of the Alumni clubs fought him and said, “You’re going away from the traditions of Michigan”. He recognized the reality that Michigan must be up with the times. You know, you’re either moving forward or backwards in life… Minnesota is building a new stadium right now and for the next 30 years every student will be paying a $30 -$45 student fee each semester to help build it. We are going to do it all on our own. People have to understand the reason we are building premium seating is not that it’s the end-all-be-all, but it is a way of paying for renovating the bowl. Look at it this way: 5,000 people are going to pay to give 105,000 other people a brand new state of the art stadium without putting a nickel on their backs.”
He goes back to the old standby “Yost did it, so I can, too.” It works I guess, and as someone who’s not adamantly opposed to the boxes, I have no issue with it.
On potential increased crowd noise in the stadium:
“By the nature of our new structures, the sound will be reverberated back in to the field. We also have an older Alumni crowd. Many want to go to Ohio State game in the late November cold, but want to see the game in comfort, in warmth, and have a nice social experience.”
Getting all the lame old people who refuse to cheer out of the bowl is fine by me. I doubt the acoustics will be drastically affected, but replacing some non-noisemakers with people who will hopefully be a bit more rowdy can’t hurt.
Still, I think of the Notre Dame game. They fit less people into a similarly-shaped structure, with no luxury boxes, and it still manages to be louder than Michigan stadium on a level that’s not even comparable.
On scheduling for football:
“Scheduling is one of the toughest things we do at Michigan and that’s because nobody big wants to come play us here, and they often only will if we’ll do a return game. Every time that stadium stays vacant on a fall Saturday, there goes 4.5 million dollars that I don’t get to pay the bills and fix the place. I’ll tell you that my principle objective in scheduling today is to play a complete round robin in the Big Ten… While I’m around we’re never going to have a conference championship game.”
The “not able to pay the bills” argument rings a little hollow when the athletic department rings up $16 million in profit every year. A home-and-home with a big school is unlikely to cost us that much lost profit, when you take into account TV incentives, etc. The round robin in the Big Ten is something that I’ve been hoping for a while, though the decrease to 2 non-conference games would lose Bill 4.5 million every year (5 home conference games and 2 potential home non-conference games each year, against 4 home non-conference games and 4 home conference games each year). I am glad to hear that there is no desire from Michigan’s end to have a championship game.
On the feasibility of getting a round-robin conference schedule:
“Well, it takes a vote of 6 of the 11 ADs. I’ve got a ways to go.”
On his career aspirations:
“My career as an athletic director begins and ends at Michigan. I put my heart and soul into this place because I love it. When it’s time to go into the shuffleboard business or whatever you do next in life, I’ll figure it out.”
Bill Martin wants to grow up to be a shuffleboard salesman.
Posted under Basketball
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Please, real-life football news begin soon.
MGoBlue covers pretty much all the bases, except mentioning that the award goes to the best offensive or defensive lineman… or linebacker?
Woodley won the award last year, and Jake looks to make it a repeat for the maize and blue.
Posted under Personnel
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There is some great news for all those attending the Final Spring Practice this Saturday at the Big House. In the press release on mgoblue.com there is this beautiful paragraph:
The two-hour practice will focus on individual position, full team drills and feature an offense against defense scrimmage.
As much as I like seeing some 7-on-7 passing drills and the lineman duking it out on the M, seeing actual plays and game-like football is something I’ll desperately need in order to tide me over until NCAA 2008 comes out. That usually gets me to August.
If you can make out for the Spring Practice (with some psuedo-game action!) I recommend it, if only to sit in a seat that most of us will never be able to afford during the regular season.
Posted under Spring Coverage
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