Sorry for the shoddy excuse for content – I’m out of town. Regular blogging resumes tomorrow.

MGoBlue gallery.

Posted under Photo Album, Spring Coverage

Board.

I reranked the players in accordance with the latest set of Scout rankings, and moved a couple of guys’ positions. There is new information on most prospects. I also added new fields for offer status and decision/enrollment timetables. Player/personal and recruiting information have been separated. Most of the new players come on the recommendation of Jim Stefani, who I owe big time.

Changed position:
OH S Justin Turner had been at CB
MS CB David Conner had been at LB
AZ DE Corey Adams had been at DT
TX DT Jamarcus McFarland had been at DE

Added:
FL WR Andre Debose
MA OL Brennan Williams
AZ DE Devon Kennard
MD LB Jelani Jenkins
OH LB Julius Ferrell
GA S Donavan Tate
MI S Shamari Benton
PA CB Corey Brown
GA CB Ryan Campbell

Posted under Recruiting

Mike Martin will be joining the Michigan football team in the fall, but he ended his high school days at Detroit Catholic Central with his other favorite sport: wrestling.

Martin was the 2007 state champion in the heavyweight division, and defended his crown successfully, winning a 7-3 decision over DJ Charneski of Hartland. Martin finished the year with a record of 42-1.

Free Press Link.

Posted under Personnel

For the rest of the Stadium Atmosphere series, see the sidebar.

With a new headman roaming the sidelines in Ann Arbor, and a facility in transition, 2008 will likely see several changes in the overall atmosphere at The Big House.

Rich Rodriguez brings an exciting new style of play, both offensively and defensively. This may mean that fans in the seats are more into the game, but it could also bode poorly. Transitioning to new systems is always difficult, and the radical change expected of Michigan will likely lead to major struggles, at least on the offensive side of the ball. The fans need to understand this, and support the team through tough times early in the 2008 season.

At West Virginia, Rich Rodriguez’s teams consistently played under the lights, and many fans are hoping the concept of a night game will follow the coach to Ann Arbor. However, this may not be as likely as presumed. While Lloyd Carr never was a proponent of late starts, the general issue stems from the administration. Michigan’s athletic department has routinely stood against night games for several reasons, including national exposure (which is no longer the case with primetime network coverage), alumni preference, and preventing all-day drinking. While Rich may be able to cast one more vote for later games, it would take a minor miracle to make a change in year one.

Michigan Stadium will feature a new look in 2008, as it works through phase one of renovations. New concessions, first aid, and bathrooms will be present, along with a metal frame for the luxury boxes. During the season, work will continue on non-gamedays. The stadium won’t be aesthetically pleasing, but the wait will be worth it for the final result.
http://mgoblue.com/football/article.aspx?id=111194
It will be an interesting dynamic to see how players and fans (and visiting recruits) will respond to a stadium in transition.

Posted under Analysis, Coaching

So… it seems as though people don’t really care for the t-shirt designs. I have to say, no combination really draws me in or inspires me. A lot of people seem to be nostalgic for the ephemeral student design contest (it lasted 3 years, right?). In total disclosure, my favorite student t-shirt in my time at Michigan, the same four years as Hart and Henne, was the ultra-Nike 2006 edition:

The font, the winged attitude, the message were all spot on especially after the rough 2005 season. Part of it also probably has something to do with the amazing season that happened that year (I have blocked out the last two games).

Now, there aren’t really any good choices (you can see them here). I don’t dig front 1 and back 2 because of “The Tradition Continues…” and the overly complicated designs. Back 1 is fine. I actually like it, it’s everything that the back of the football shirt needs to be. Front 1 is way too simple. So… where are we now?

The Man has let us down, so let’s do it ourselves. At least one person has said they could make a better design in an hour, so… lets see them! I’m not quite sure what the endgame will be, but the we’ll probably have a vote on the blog among the submissions (or finalists if there are too many). The winner can either make their shirt and have it pimped here or we’ll make the shirt and sell it on the site.

THE DETAILS
There are a couple ground rules:

1. Shirts must be maize
2. Shirts should be family friendly (unless really funny)
3. Try to keep it around 5 colors

I was thinking there might be two different categories: a mainstream shirt and a inside-blogosphere joke shirt.

To submit your design, leave a link to the design in the comments or e-mail the graphics to panel1382 |at| gmail |dot| com. Please submit them as .png, .gif or .jpg. Other formats may or may not work, but I’ll try to make it work.

Let’s see what you guys have out there. Tim and I know a couple people in the Athletic Department and we may forward the winner onto a couple of them. It obviously won’t make a difference this year, but it may help in the future. Who knows? Please try to get them in the next week or so.

Good luck.

Posted under Misc.

Board.

A lot of removals on this week’s board. In the next week or so, I’ll roll out a new version of the board with decision/enrollment timeframes, offer status, and maybe another couple things.

Added:
TN WR Marlon Brown. He has a Michigan offer, and will likely end up a top-25 national player.
LA WR Rueben Randle. He also has a UM offer.
OH OT Marcus Hall. Not sure we have a great chance with this guy, considering his school (Cleveland Glenville). He has been offered.
AZ DE Devon Kennard. He has reportedly been offered.
FL DB/QB Brandon McGee. He has an offer now as well. Interesting to see which position he wants to play in college.
VA CB Javanti Sparrow. Teammate of QB Kevin Newsome.

Removed:
TX QB Russell Shepard. A single tear is still on my cheek.
TX RB Hasan Lipscomb. He was really only included because I thought he might commit to LSU, convincing Shepard to go to Baton Rouge. Hey, I had it backwards!
MI RB Larry Caper. He is now somewhat committed to THE Michigan State University.

New Information:
VA QB Tajh Boyd. MVP of the Air7QBU quarterbacks camp.

A few new articles about prospects receiving offers, so lots of new prospects added to the board. Larry Caper to MSU hurts a bit, because he’ll be one of the top couple in-state prospects, but he had gotten too big to be a fit for the RR spread. Craig Loston is tenuously still included on the board, because I feel he may follow Shepard to LSU, for their dream class.

Posted under Blog News, Recruiting

I feel like I put way to much thought into this decision (especially since I may not be able to get one as I’m graduating and all). One thing that is kind of weird is that “they” seem to be pushing “The Tradition Continues” as the motto for the team. I really don’t get that. Why not something like “It’s Morning in America Again?” I get it. Martin definitely reached outside the Bo coaching tree, but I don’t think it’s necessary to force Coach Rod into the Michigan Tradition; they’ll come together eventually.

Another thing, I’m not a huge fan of is cursive script in football. It just looks casual and flippant. Imagine if Barwis’ words were captured in a speech-bubble. That’s the font I want for my football t-shirt.

Finalhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifly, I’m a big fan of simplicity and empty space in graphic design. A lot of shirts get exceptionally busy and have way too much stuff going on (like the tiny “THE TEAM THE TEAM THE TEAM” in last year’s shirt).

I won’t vote yet (I think I have until March 11th to vote), but I’m leaning toward Front 2 and Back 1. It’s simple, bold, strong and doesn’t try to be anything more than a cool looking t-shirt.

Update: The contest is on!

Posted under Misc.

Board.

I rearranged the information for a few prospects to make it a bit easier to digest.

A lot of prospects have reported that they aren’t “feeling the love” from the new staff like they were from Carr’s or are from other schools. However, it is important to note that the staff not only had to fall behind in ’09 to catch up with the ’08 prospects (they caught up with ’08, so one must assume with an entire year they’ll be able to do it in ’09), but they also are moving families to a new city, getting acquainted with the team’s current players, and even getting to know each other and develop new schemes. Once some of these things get worked out, ’09 recruiting should pick up.

If Michigan ends up with any of their top 3 quarterback prospects (Shepard, Murray, and Forcier, IMO), they will have a QB who is enrolling in winter for spring term. Hopefully it works out better this time than it did for Ryan Mallett.

Junior Day is next week (3-14ish), and after that, the recruiting picture could start to clear up quite a bit (including, possibly, a commitment or two).

New Information:
TX QB Russell Shepard. Linked to an article from New Era Scouting. BON thinks Mack Brown may give up on him.
FL QB Aaron Murray. Now reporting a Michigan offer, though I’ve noted conflicting information on the topic.
CA QB Tate Forcier. PSU and Oregon are the favorites? Michigan still seems to be strongly in this one.
FL WR Nu’Keese Richardson. He was the high school teammate of new Wolverine Martavious Odoms.
MI WR Cameron Gordon. 2007 Michigan summer camper. He will be playing at Inkster, not Melvindale this coming season.
PA OT Eric Shrive. Linked to local paper’s blog devoted to Shrive’s recruitment.
OH OT Chris Freeman. Have noticed that some fans are curiously interested in him as a power forward for their basketball squads.
LA DT Chris Davenport. Now has a Michigan offer.
MS DT Josh Boyd. Plans to decide on signing day.
OH DB Justin Turner. Left him at CB, though he may be a college safety. He now has a Michigan offer.

Removed:
MI RB Edwin Baker. To Michigan State. A candidate to be re-added if he wavers.

Added:
OK RB David Oku. Michigan is in his top 9. His junior highlight.

Posted under Recruiting

Once you are heading a corporation that has over $15B in real estate assets as well as serving on the boards of many influential equity groups, you get a lot of coin. But the problem becomes finding stuff to spend it on. There has to be some sort of upper limit on the marginal utility of another solid gold toilet. So what is a loaded alum to do?

• Donate $100M and get the Business School named after you? Check!
• Donate $5M to get your name on an academic center? Check!
• Hold a killer sex and cocaine party? I only assume.

So what is left for him to do with all of his money? Buy a majority stake in the Miami Dolphins, I guess. Wayne Huizenga will remain the controlling partner until he decides it’s time for him to step aside or he is asked to step aside. What this means for the Dolphins? Likely nothing. Mr. Ross doesn’t strike me as the Jerry Jones type, but rather he just likes to see his name on buildings.

So what could be next for Stephen M. Ross? This seems like the only logical next step.

Posted under Blog News

Rich Rodriguez spoke at halftime of the basketball victory over Ohio State yesterday.

Proof:

Posted under Coaching, Video