A few weeks ago EDSBS had its annual charity drive, and for the second straight year Michigan led the way in donations -- this time with $6316 (more than the rest of the top five combined). Michigan will receive its prize in the form of a themed week over at EDSBS, a disparaging post about Ohio State, and as you no doubt see above, an episode of Shutdown Fullback dedicated to the maize and blue.
If you donated, thank you not only for making Michigan the best (once again) but for doing such wonderful things for a good cause. It is things like this that make the words "leaders and the best" ring true.
Now I overslept so we are going with a lightning round for the links on this beautiful Friday morning:
A Few Recruiting Notes 5/17 - Tremendous has some insights on Michigan recruiting including a top in-state basketball target and a top lineman in 2014.
Leadership, chemistry first on Beilein’s summer to-do list - John Beilein has a lot to work on this summer as Michigan brings in five new players to replace the five departing players from last year's team. More than just getting the new players to learn his system, Beilein is going to have to find leadership among the remaining players while getting everyone to play together. No small task, but there is plenty of talent to work with.
Big Ten post-spring power rankings - ESPN's Big Ten blog has a post-spring power ranking that looks pretty similar to the pre-spring power ranking. Michigan State and Michigan are one and two -- in that order -- and while you could make an argument for reversing them, I think for now it is right.
B1G aims 'to not be the barrier' any more
"But it's pretty clear that some level of compromise is necessary. So instead of putting stakes in the ground and making it hard for the various constituencies around the country to get ideas up on the table, we're trying to be part of the process."
Instead we will just roll over and let the SEC do whatever it wants. Because that is compromise, right? One side gives up all its leverage for the sake of happy feelings all around.
Urban Meyer Committed an NCAA Violation for Telling a Recruit "Good Luck" Before a Game - This week on "The NCAA Is Incredibly Stupid" OSU commits such violations as not understanding facebook and being ignorant of Germany's primary education system.
Ban The College Football Hall of Fame - Or at least fix it so guys like Tommie Fraizer and Orlando Pace get in.
No. 99: Central Michigan - Paul Myerberg on Michigan's neighbor to the north.
Big Ten wants to stress strength of schedule in college football playoff
"I personally believe that strength of scheduling should be more important, so we don’t get to a world where we’re all being incentivized to come up with the (easy) schedule the way we can, because people forget in December who we played in September," Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon said.
Dave Brandon then got on the phone and scheduled Appalachian State to a lifetime series.
A Takeaway from 'Bama-WVU in 2014
Here’s the second takeaway: Alabama and West Virginia were not afraid to schedule each other in the 2014 season opener even if the chance exists that the new playoff system widens its eligibility standards to include teams that did not win their own conference.
In essence, such a decision might eliminate the loser of this game from the playoff conversation – it might, though both could obviously make a push for the top four with an undefeated run through SEC and Big 12 play, respectively. But the general theory floated amid rumors of a new postseason format was that this would dilute the level of competition during non-conference play.
Once a decade or so, the pragmatic Jim Delany comes out from his time-deprivation chamber to advance the plodding Big Ten a revolutionary step forward. Inexplicably, Delany then crawls back into his shell like a frightened turtle where the league hibernates for an indeterminate amount of time.
This cycle is as predictable as the day is long.
Either Jim Delany is a mastermind whose prodigious talents for negotiation and advanced planning/scheming are being wasted on college football, or someone is giving ol' Jim too much credit.
Learning How to Lose — and Bounce Back - Getting cut in high school isn't any fun, and doing the cutting isn't any fun either, but as John U. Bacon says, it is that kind of life experience that helps children grow into adults capable of dealing with the larger problems that life will throw at them. As someone who both played and coached high school sports, I can't recommend this strongly enough.