This week has felt something like a long hangover. Whether it was the quick and painful end to the Michigan basketball season last Friday or the lingering effects of St. Patrick's Day on Saturday, I know I have felt somewhat off all week. The same could be said around the rest of Maize n Brew when the authors have all simultaneously taken a couple days off to shift focus from basketball to football.
It has been over a month since Maize n Brew relaunched, and I would like to thank all of you for coming back and giving us the support that you have. We have all had a lot of fun so far, and we are looking forward to some exciting opportunities in the near future.
Until then, let's look over some news from the last couple days.
- Both AnnArbor.com and the Michigan Daily take a look at what Michigan's basketball team might look like next year. Rest assured, the scarcity of legitimate post players will be taken care of. Michigan will be getting two athletic guard/forwards with plenty of length (both 6'6) in Nik Stauskas and Glenn Robinson III and forward/center Mitch McGary (6'10) in the incoming recruiting class. On top of that John Horford (6'10) should be back into the mix at the five after an injury this year and redshirt freshman Max Bielfeldt (6'7) will be competing for a spot on the depth chart at the four. With Jordan Morgan, Evan Smotrycz and Tim Hardaway Jr. already established players, the only position that will lack size will be point guard --- and I think we can forgive Trey Burke for not being taller. If ever there was a time for John Beilein to transition back to his 1-3-1 zone, next year would seem to be it.
- Rivals.com has finally finished ranking the rest of Michigan's commitments. The last two to receiver updates were TE Khalid Hill (5.6, three-star) and CB Gareon Conley (5.6, three-star). Hill has been a bit of a sleeper throughout the recruiting process, but Conley is a well regarded four-star recruit to Scout and could see a move up. Both Jaron Dukes and Michigan's latest recruit DeVeon Smith come in as high three-star recruits (5.7) with Smith seeming to be the most likely of the four to move into four-star territory. Michigan has twelve players rated four-stars on Rivals to go along with these four three-stars. What more is there to say about the job Hoke has done so far?
- The rumblings about Devin Gardner getting time at WR seem to be legit, and Tremendous breaks down the pros and cons of the move. While I agree with the mantra "put your best 11 players on the field" I am not sold on Gardner contributing as a wide receiver. Quarterback is one position you don't mess with, and while I think Gardner could do okay at WR given enough practice time, I don't think there is any net gain in the long run. I think he stays there in spring practice, but once fall comes those snaps should go to Amara Darboh and Jehu Chesson --- two guys with bright futures at the position that aren't simply stopgaps.
Elsewhere:
Lane Kiffin, Urban Meyer agree SEC speed is "legit" - Eye on College Football gets Lane Kiffin, Urban Meyer, and Ted Roof(?) to weigh in on the mythical power of SEC speed. All three say it is legit but mostly when you talk about speed in the front seven on defense. Roof is the only one to contradict himself in doing so.
Unfortunately, instead of delivering a methodical takedown of the least sophisticated constituent of the Ohio State fan base, the author sourced his salvo exclusively through his own pre-existing and deep-seeded hatred of Buckeye fans (!) a Bleacher Report slideshow (!!) and a sampling of sports talk radio trolls like Bruce Hooley (!!!). Essentially, he went hunting for game on the world's smallest animal preserve.
In response to last week's piece in the Cleveland Scene, our pals at 11Warriors decided to take a crack at describing the vastly heterogeneous nature of college football fan bases. While I laughed heartily at the Scene's piece last week, I did so knowing that it was just another piece of internet trolling. Not all OSU fans are cooler poopers, not all MSU fans are Brahs, not all PSU fans are conspiracy theorist who worship at the feet of a JoePa statue, and not all Notre Dame fans are entitled assholes. All generalizations suck*.
*(Except that one)
Ten Weeks In: A Bill O'Brien Report Card - Speaking of Penn State, who would have thought a couple months into the tenure of the Notorious BOB that the Penn State blogging Illuminati would be throwing out grades in the A range. Maybe BOB wasn't a colossal mistake?
Gone Baby Gone: Jason White To Transfer - At some point the mass exodus of running backs from the Iowa depth chart has to be studied by our nation's top scientists, because there is either a mind altering plague at work or God exists and Kirk Ferentz has done something horrible to piss him off.
Ohio shirt pokes fun at Brady Hoke, Michigan's short tournament run - That's the best you can do Ohio? No wonder you're the second best school in the worst state ever.
Ann Arbor man punched during literary argument - In related news: two men were taken to jail in Columbus after fighting over the last copy of Tucker Max's latest book at a local Barnes and Noble.