SB Nation User Blog: Maize n Brew Dave

Happy Fourth of July

Maize n Brew Dave — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:06:07 -0000

And a special thank you to the men and women of our armed forces who continue to defend our freedoms at home and abroad.

via www.operationsupportoursoldiers.org

Godzillatron, Your Time Has Come at Michigan Stadium

Maize n Brew Dave — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:41:11 -0000

It's the offseason. Michigan Football isn't praticing. Michigan Basketball is quiet. Bill Martin's out sailing. There is nothing going on. No player felonies to report. No coach's hilariously minor violations of NCAA rules to mock (save Kiffin, but we'll leave that to the SEC guys). Recruiting's kinda quiet and there are only so many times we can watch the video of a monkey sniffing its own butt. Just kidding. We laugh hysterically every time. But all this free time causes our minds to wander, and these are the things we think about...

It's time for a Godzillatron at Michigan Stadium

Yeah. You heard me. At Michigan we pride ourselves on accumulating the best sports enthused nerds on the planet. They're engineers with a football problem. They pack Michigan Stadium with mental charts of run direction percentages and optimum downfield pass (>15 yards) scenarios. When they're not in the Stadium or playing World of Warcraft, they design things. Electrical things. Things that display objects with the clarity it would take a thousand naked eyes to fully absorb. They design and build things that can project a smilely face on the moon, but have to watch Michigan Football replays on this?

That ain't right. Especially when you realize Texas, TEXAS, Has this thing.

Behold the majesty of Godzillatron. All hail. It's the size of an office building. It's got more pixels than your skin has pores. The power it takes to run it on game day would keep all of Columbia well lit for two weeks. It is glorious. If a place like Texas, who cages their nerds and feeds them food pellets every time they design something, has something like this, what stopping us from building something better? Our nerds are free range. There are no organized nerd beatings in Ann Arbor. Hell. They run the damn place.

So lets put them to use.

I'm not talking about a Godzillatron like the one at Texas. No way. That's thinking small, baby. I want something that can be seen from space. Something that the people directly beneath it get a suntan from. Something so powerful you can watch the game clearly from two counties away. We can build it. We have the technology. We can make it bigger. Clearer. Awesomerer.

We've put ~~ten seconds~~ a lot of thought into this. We've even commissioned a ~~reputable engineering firm~~ five year-old with crayons to prepare an artists rendering of what the new scoreboard should, nay, WILL look like. Behold it's awesomeness.

Mind blowing isn't it? This isn't a Godzillatron. No goddamn way. This is something that would consume the Godzillatron whole and slowly devour it over the centuries in its electronic colon. Godzillatron's a pussy compared to this.

As you can see, the CLOVERFIELDTRON is four hundred feet high and so large that you can't even make out the complete "Michigan" over the top of it because it wraps around to the other luxury box, not because we suck at MS Paint. Further, when football is not being played, the American Flag will be its screen saver, reminding the world that Freedom brings you cool shit like this. It will be a constant reminder to all that you should live American, breathe American and buy American (specifically GM cars. Please? Anyone?). This, frankly, is the most AMERICAN scoreboard ever proposed. What's more American than building something unnecessary and totally symbolic on the backs of migrant and likely illegal immigrant workers? Nothing. If you are against this you are against America, and probably watch men's figure skating. So why are you against America? You can't be. CLOVERFIELDTRON = America. Somewhere J Leman just shed a tear of joy. Hopefully someone caught it. It will cure cancer.

Please join us in our movement, nay, CRUSADE to have CLOVERFIELDTRON built. It must be done. If for no other reason than to piss off Texas. We know Bill Martin's got the money to build this squirrled away under his matress, so there's no reason not to.

This must be built. For America.

Michigan Football to Host Georgia in 2010? It's Possible!

Maize n Brew Dave — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:10:46 -0000

More photos » by John Raoux - AP

How bout a Bulldogs Wolverines matchup? You know you want it.(AP Photo/John Raoux)

Browse more photos »

Please God, let this come to pass. Kyle. Doug. If this works out, you're tailgating with me. This may pave the way for my long held desire to party under the peach trees in Athens to actually come to fruition.

From Ryan Kartje of the Michigan Daily:

Some sources tell me that the Athletic Department is looking into a home game against the University of Georgia in 2010, one that would also bring the Wolverines to Athens in 2011.

Oh, if only. The Movement has been afoot since 2006, when Kyle first suggested the match up. It has been proclaimed dead. And now it is revived. I am hopeful, even if Kyle isn't.

HT: The Rivalry, Esq.

Wednesday Happy Hour is Loaded with Michigan Football Updates

Maize n Brew Dave — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 03:27:24 -0000

Maize n Brew gives you your daily (or semi-daily) rundown of all the Michigan Football, Michigan Basketball, College Football, and College Basketball news you need to get through the tedium at your boring ass desk job. For good measure we'll throw in a little irreverent information and commentary to help you salt away the time. Want it in 140 words or less, follow us on Twitter! Or you can find us on Facebook! Here's what's ON TAP:

Things You Need to Read Right Now

Coach Rod's got the Big Pun look rockin'. I can only pray LSU Freek gives us a little Marky M treatment. via The Detroit News.

Quarterback Achievement Under Rod Smith - WCA takes an indepth look at Michigan Quarterbacks coach Rod Smith. Per usual, Markus continues to rock the knowledge. WCA looks at Smith's success all the way back to 2001 while coaching under Jim Leavitt. Short version: things at Michigan under center look good with Smith in the fold. Stats galore for you numbers people.

Washington State's student newspaper, The Daily Evergreen Online, marks yet another arrest in Pullman with arguably the greatest editorial on arrest problems among student athletes ever. This is full of WIN.

Why you can't just play "assignment football" against the flexbone/triple-option - Smart Football is just awesome. Chris breaks down Paul Johnson's rushing attack in detail.

The Blue-Gray Sky provides us with "The Idiot's Guide to Interacting with Recruits." Words to live by people. Words to live by.

Michigan Football

Gibson expects a better mix - Rivals fluff on secondary coach Tony Gibson. Please, Tony, under no circumstances shift Warren to Safety ever again.

DT Thornton excited over Michigan offer - thank god, a DT with interest. We just covered this yesterday.

GA Corner Darius Robinson likes Michigan - Michigan seems to be in the lead for Georgia Corner , whom I regrettably omitted from my cornerback run down. Robinson's offer list is fairly impressive for a 3*. One concern is that for an Atlanta guy, there isn't a Georgia or Georgia Tech offer.

Along those lines, Heisman Pundit rates the nation's top corners. Donovan Warren checks in at No. 8.

Lloyd Carr, still awesome. - Carr talks to Petoskey Alumni about missing the sidelines and what he's been up to since retiring.

Rich Rodriguez anticipates better second season with U-M - File this under "Duh." Rodriguez sits down with the Detroit News and talks a little 2009/2008 football. Awesome quote? Check.

Q . But there seems to be the perception that Michigan State is taking over the state in recruiting

A . Last I checked, Mike Martin and Will Campbell were playing for Michigan.

Being Seantrel Henderson - Fluff on the No. 1 recruit in the country. Take what you want from this, but I'm not taking it as an indication he's planning on attending Michigan. Hope he does though. While he says he will wait until Signing Day to make a decision, he plans to cut his list to ten schools soon. He says Minnesota, Ohio State, USC, UCLA, Oklahoma and Florida State will make the cut for sure and he also likes Michigan, Iowa, Florida and LSU.

Picking the Big Ten - Further proof Dennis Dodd is not playing with a full deck. Dodd picks Michigan near the bottom of the Big Ten because the offense sputtered during the spring game. Now, I understand that Michigan's offense is not a well oiled Machine at this point, but when the offense scores five touchdowns with it's first team against the first team defense, the concern generally shifts to the play of the defense!

8. Michigan -- I was at a Michigan scrimmage in April during the Final Four. Granted, you don't learn much from watching a scrimmage but it seemed to me the offense still struggled to move the ball. Rich Rod better hope that the early-enrolling Tate Forcier is the answer at quarterback. There isn't much behind him. The defense should toughen up. A bowl is a possibility but will a 5-7 season be considered progress?

I fail to understand the benchmark being used, Mr. Dodd. Would you suggest the Defense was a disaster had the offense scored on every possession? Would you laud the defense if the offense couldn't move the ball? Or shouldn't you suggest that things looked about even on both sides of the ball? I'm just saying...

Michigan Basketball

Maize Ragin' - Basketball season ticket sales up to 2,076 student season tickets compared to 480 last year.

2009 Michigan Camp Wrap-Up - UM Hoops.com gives you the lowdown on Michigan's summer camps.

D'oh! Incoming recruit Jordan Morgan suffers knee injury. Morgan is scheduled to undergo knee surgery (cartilage repair) and will be out for 4-5 months. Dammit. Morgan was a likely candidate for a redshirt, but this just confirms it.

Zack Gibson isn't invisible. But he's so white he might as well be. I mean, seriously, I can see the man's arteries when he's not wearing a long sleeve t-shirt. (j/k). ($) Fluff on MnB's all-time favorite balla, shot calla.

Michigan Hockey

2009 Michigan Hockey Season Ticket Renewals Arrive. Link included for awesome photo of Yost.

Michigan had a boatload of incoming 2010 recruits in the NHL draft last weekend. Michigan Hockey Net has your total wrap up. Yost Built also takes a look at what happened. MGoBlog is relieved.

Big Ten Football

I hate these guys. Except for Zemek and Jon Miller. They can live. But only click on this if you want to be irritated and read recycled, tired lines about speed and recruiting. Scout.com: 6/25 Roundtable - Why Does The Big 10 Stink?

Part III of the Rivalry, Esq.'s ongoing series 11 Things I Want To See In the Big 10 During 2009. Point of interests? "I want to watch a UM-OSU game where I reasonably believe that Michigan can win." yeah. Me too.

College Football

Screw it. Marky M is in my head.

Bistec y tetas, es the fuckin’ mejor
Todd Reesing never lie, know he mannin’ the door
Keep the nacho fountain hot, he know what it for
Dippin titties in the queso, hater know the score–WHAAAATT? (Sheer genius courtesy Orson and Freek)

Gobbler Country scores an awesome interview Q&A with Virginia Tech play-by-play man Bill Roth.

Team Speed Kills takes a look at what's happened to SEC Quarterbacks going into this season. Of note, Mallett at Arkansas. I don't know how he's going to fair, but he's certainly going to have to work harder for the Hawgs than he ever did at Michigan to be successful.

So st quarterback it's not just us, everyone's screwed. Doctor Saturday takes a look at the viable and not-so-viable quarterbacks around the BCS schools. Kind of amazing to think that there are only two proven, capable quarterbacks in the SEC, two passable ones, and a whole bunch of head scratchers. Hell, the Big Ten has six useful passers. Does this mean Renaissance? I don't think so.

The Good Doctor also has a humble suggestion for college football broadcasters, Give the end zone angle a shot. Co-signed.

Smart Football continues to make us all smarter by previewing Nick Saban's Alabama defense.

When did it become the Bolshevik Championship Series? This is just gift wrapped for the WLA. Da Comrades?

Rivals releases its 2009 Football Recruiting Top 300. Michigan's sadly lacking commits in the top 100, but has plenty in the 101-300 range.

Misc...

Former Wolverine Jake Fox hit his first MLB home run in the first inning against the Tigers at Comerica Park on Thursday. He's playing for the Cubs.

2009 Michigan Football, Position by Position: Defensive Tackle and Defensive Tackle Recruiting

Maize n Brew Dave — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:59:40 -0000

Going into the 2009 season there are three positions on the Michigan Defense that are causing a great amount of concern among the Michigan faithful. Cornerback. Safety. Defensive Tackle. All three of these positions have highly touted players starting for the Wolverines. All three of these positions are also an injury away from becoming an aneurysm inducing mess. In an effort to assuage those fears (or stoke them like coals in a furnace) we'll be taking a look at Michigan Football's positions of need, the quality in place, the replacements on the way, and recruits that hopefully will carry the load for Michigan going forward.

Defensive Tackle

If you're looking for an iconic photograph that basically encapsulates how Michigan fan feels about Michigan Football, you really need to look no further than the aftermath of Alan Branch planting Anthony Morreli in 2006.

The end of Times, via www.thewolverineblog.com

It's all there. Strength. Power. Devastation. Arrogance. This photo sums up both the expectations and historical results of Michigan Football. So, as emblematic as the Corner position has become for Michigan over the past couple of decades, Defensive Tackle may be a more apt symbol. Will Carr, Rob Renes, Alan Branch, Gabe Watson, Terrance Taylor, and the lot. Just like Michigan's football seasons, they've run the gambit from overachievers, to underachievers, to just what you'd expect, good or bad. If you're looking for a positional representation of Michigan's Football fortunes, look no further than Defensive Tackle.

Along those lines, the last two years have been down ones at Defensive Tackle. The talent was certainly there in the forms of Terrance Taylor, Will Johnson and Mike Martin. Unfortunately the results (save Martin) haven't been. Taylor was projected to be a second round pick in 2007, came back to a revamped (totally screwy) defense and wound up dropping into the fourth round after a disappointing senior season. Will Johnson, despite being one of the strongest guys on the team, never lived up to his billing. As a result, teams ran all over Michigan. Now you can't pin the failure of the run defense on these two guys. But the reality is they were serviceable at best for most of the year, with the occasional flash of brilliance. Regarding Martin, it appears he's got star written all over him. But that's easy to say when you're coming off the bench fresh mid game rather than starting.

While game play at the Defensive Tackle position has been adequate, it's impossible to classify Michigan's recruiting at this position as anything better. When you think about the spectacular flame out of Marques Slocum; the underdevelopment Renaldo Sagesse and Jason Kates (transfer); and the fact that we've moved Vince Helmuth from fullback to DT, well, you start to wonder what the hell is going on.

Defensive Tackle has been such a frustrating recruiting slot that John Ferrara, a DT recruit, is now on the opposite side of the ball as an Offensive Guard! I mean how screwy do things have to be when you move a player to a position of need, and his former position becomes the most dire on the team? However you want to read it, with the graduations of Taylor and Johnson Michigan was down to one starter worthy player, a handful of guys whom we really have no idea whether they'll provide any serviceable time, a converted fullback, and an all-star freshman in the mold of Terrence Taylor. In a word: Yikes.

The DT position wasn't supposed to be this dire heading into 2009. Michigan had all but inked a pair of highly rated DTs to the 2009 class in Pearlie Graves and DeQuinta Jones to go along with uber-recruit Will Campbell. Unfortunately, as the weeks leading up to national signing day unfolded, Michigan lost both Jones and Graves to last minute defections. This left only Campbell to fill what was suddenly a cavernous DT void. This isn't to suggest either Jones or Graves would be contesting for starting time, but a couple of extra bodies in the middle would come in real handy this year, ready or not.

So where does that leave Michigan heading into 2009? Surprisingly adequate, but an injury away from a serious, serious problem. Greg Robinson's transition to the 3-4 Deathbacker defense takes some of the pressure off the middle of the line in terms of numbers. Michigan won't need to prance out both of its best DTs on any one play unless Robinson switches to a more traditional 4-3 just to mess with the other team. Based on Robinson's track record, I don't see that happening... too often. The Deathbacker means that Mike Martin will start the season as Michigan's 1st team DT. Martin had a solid year as a freshman in 2008 and on several occasions outplayed his senior teammates. You might recall Martin doing this against Wisconsin:

Skip to 8:00. Courtesy of Wolverine Historian, of course.

Yeah. The kid can play.

Backing him up, though not confirmed, will likely be freshman Will Campbell. Campbell was an all-world recruit in the 2009 class who enrolled at Michigan early, despite rumors and a head fake toward LSU. The book on the kid is he is a monster in that Alan Branch mold... when he wants to be. The fear is Campbell is a lot like Terrance Taylor in that he was known to have lapses mid game, and take a play or two at 50%. Even so, he's a dominant style DT that absolutely throttled anyone who challenged him at the recruit camps or on the high school field. The key to Campbell, at least from what I've read, is when he's challenged he's a beast. When he's bored, meh. Still, a bored Campbell would start for all but the top 5% of college football teams, so it's hard to nit pick too much. But if Michigan can motivate this kid, Michigan will arguably have the two best DT's in the conference by the season's end.

The next player on the depth chart depends on who you talk to, when you talk to them. It could either be large, Biggie-lookin' Canadian Renaldo Sagesse or new to the position Vince Helmuth. My money's on seeing a bit of Sagesse this season. He's a monster, size-wise, at 6'5" 300+. Unfortunately, three years in, the kid hasn't cracked the starting rotation. He's been good enough to see the field, but not good enough to log appreciable minutes. It's hard to blame the kid for not taking the leap forward we'd like when you consider he's had a new position coach every year he's been at Michigan. But players step up, and Michigan needs Sagesse to do just that because after him things are more than dicey. Vince Helmuth, while more than talented, isn't a DT. He's a fullback playing DT, strike that, learning to play DT. Maybe in a year or so Helmuth can contribute, but I'm not holding my breath that he's going to be a difference maker anytime soon.

DT Recruiting for the 2010 class is at best, questionable. Michigan continues to pursue this year's all world DT prospect Sharrif Floyd of Philly. Floyd's been fairly tight lipped about where he'll end up, but Michigan hasn't really garnered a lot of press in his recruitment. Without the instate pull that Michigan had on Campbell, I'm not high on Floyd's prospects of ending up a Wolverine. Though it'd certainly help. After him are a plethora of prospects who don't seem to be decided one way or another.

Richard Ash 4* Pahokee, FL

Ricky Heimuli 4* Salt Lake City, UT

Mike Thornton 3* Stone Mountain, GA

Johnathon Hankins NR Detroit, MI (no offer/claims OSU offer) (3* Scout)

Michigan's best bet a DT appears to be with Ricky Heimuli. Heimuli stands 6'4", 280, and appears to be one of the risers in the recruiting process. Michigan offered him in early May, but that offer simply piled on top of an impressive sheet that lists 20 other offers (including USC, LSU and Oklahoma). While Heimuli is from Salt Lake and the cold might not be as big a turn off as it is for other recruits, he recently camped at USC and his mom liked USC. On the plus side, a recent Scout article said Michigan's history with LDS athletes help it stand out. So we've got a shot. TIFWIW.

After Heimuli, things aren't so rosy. Despite Michigan's connections at Pahokee, Ash appears to be looking at the Florida instate schools. If he goes out of state I'd be shocked. The only other DT in this class that's still available and actually holds a Michigan offer is Georgia DT Mike Thornton who received his offer this week. Thornton seems to have rocketed up the recruiting charts over the last few months and holds a number of offers from top tier BCS programs, including Georgia and Alabama. It's a little early on in Michigan's recruitment to get a picture as to whether Thornton's a legit candidate to accept, but you have to expect that other schools who've been on his trail for a while are in a better position than Michigan at this time. Finally, there's the curious case of Johnathon Hankins, a Detroit kid with an unrequited love of Michigan who can't seem to buy an offer from the Wolverine. Hankins camped, but didn't receive an offer apparently due to conditioning issues. Unless Michigan changes its mind, Hankins will probably end up at OSU or MSU. I'd list the remaining DT prospects, but none of them are holding Michigan offers, so it's the above guys or nothing.

So that's where Michigan stands. A position that really needs at least two 2010 commits, but realistically will only see one guy accept an offer. With Martin a sophomore, Campbell a freshman, and Sagesse still with two full years to live up to his potential, Michigan's in a not-bad, but not-good position. Going forward, unless Michigan pulls in another DT or two, it could get ugly. If Michigan lands a commit for 2010, start breathing again but don't relax. Two commits, breath easier. None? Panic Cloverfield style.

But for this year, Michigan's playing with two kids and one underachieving upperclassman. Only one player at DT has logged significant playing time. Even though Michigan's got talent at DT, an injury to either of the top two and it could be a rough year up the middle for Michigan.

2009 Michigan Football, Position by Position: Cornerback and Cornerback Recruiting

Maize n Brew Dave — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:24:18 -0000

Going into the 2009 season there are three positions on the Michigan Defense that are causing a great amount of concern among the Michigan faithful. Cornerback. Safety. Defensive tackle. All three of these positions have highly touted players starting for the Wolverines. All three of these positions are also an injury away from becoming an aneurism inducing mess. In an effort to assuage those fears (or stoke them like coals in a furnace) we'll be taking a look at Michigan Football's positions of need, the quality in place, the replacements on the way, and recruits that hopefully will carry the load for Michigan going forward.

Cornerback

With the possible exceptions of quarterback and receiver, it's hard to imagine a position on the football field over the past twenty years that's been as quintessentially "Michigan" as the cornerback position. Ernest Shazor. Marlin Jackson. Leon Hall. Charles Woodson. When you thought about big names on the Michigan Defense, you naturally turned to the backfield to find them. One of the main reasons those Michigan defenses piled up so many sack was the fact that opposing quarterbacks (usually) had no place to throw the ball.

Unfortunately for Michigan, the last two years have seen that reputation diminish substantially. In 2007, Wolverine fans watched in horror as short slant after short slant turned into 50 yard plus touchdowns. Teams had no problems going deep on the Wolverines where only a few years before they wouldn't have dared. Part of the problem was recruiting. Michigan normally stockpiled highly rated DB recruits and threw them out when they were ready. But Michigan no longer had that luxury. Defensive backs and safeties were being recruited to become linebackers. Of the pure corners that were recruited, it was a 50/50 chance that they'd be boom or bust. In fact, Michigan took to taking players out of position and installing them at cornerback.

The result of this was talented athletes, like Morgan Trent, being forced to learn the position on the fly because the guys previously recruited for that position couldn't hack it or were being moved elsewhere. Certainly Michigan hit a homerun at corner recruiting, taking in both starting corners Donovan Warren (Jr.) and Boubacar Cissoko (So.) (both were consensus five star recruits), but depth is a huge issue for the Wolverines heading into 2009 and 2010. Looking at Michigan's depth chart, there are no junior backups. No sophomore backups (however JT Floyd is a red-shirt frosh who came in with Cissoko). The second line of defense is comprised entirely of freshmen.

Like it or not, the Wolverines are an injury away from a crisis at corner. Though Warren and Cissoko legitimately have the talent and ability to be 1^st Team All Big Ten, Michigan's primary corner backup is a kid that's not even on campus yet (though he may have arrived by now - ed.), Justin Turner.

Turner was one of the highest regarded defensive back recruits in the 2009 class. Originally thought of as a safety because of his size, the recruiting sites took note of Turner's speed and quickness and realized the kid could not only play corner, but was one of the best high school players in the country at it. He's a 6'2" cover corner with wheels. You may squeal now. Turner was one of the Army All American game standouts and comes into his freshman season almost assured of playing at nickel back or at starting corner should Warren or Cissoko go down. If as quick as advertised, Turner's size will be a considerable benefit to the Wolverines as their schedule is jam packed with tall, speedy receivers. It may be hard to project how he'll fare until he steps on the field for the first time, but the recruiting services, coaches and recruitniks are say this kid could be special.

Also backing up the starters will be JT Floyd and Adrian Witty. Both are eligible as freshmen, though Floyd's redshirt year gives him a significant experience advantage over Witty in the depth chart battle. Floyd came is as a mid level recruit, garnering 3 stars from the primary recruiting sites. Rated as No. 20 on South Carolina's top 25 recruits, he originally committed to Tennessee. Floyd had a slate of offers from high mid-tier BCS schools, and no end of suitors when it was perceived his commitment to Tennessee was less than firm. Floyd has some natural ability, pulling double duty as a wide receiver and corner (9 TDs as WR/55 tkls as DB). At 6 feet, Floyd has the size you want at corner, but he's light, apparently not that fast (even his fake forty time is a 4.7 which roughly translates to a 5.2-5.6), and needed a lot of time in the weight room to survive a season. Hence, the redshirt. He may see some time, but he's no projected as an impact player and realistically would fall into the "contributor" category at best.

Adrian Witty is a total unknown. Sidelined by a knee injury his junior year he never had the chance to make anyone take notice of what he could do. Then, during his senior year, he was still rehabbing and trying to play through the pain. When you see the words "Total ACL Repair" on a lightly regarded sophomore, you don't automatically think "star." Witty was reputed to have sickening straight line speed, prior to his injury. We like that. However, since his injury everyone's kind of holding their breath to see how well he runs in pads, at the college level. If you're not familiar with his recruitment, he's BFFs with incoming QB recruit Denard Robinson and also ran on his high school team's 4 X 100 relay team as a senior, so you get the impression his wheels are returning. But whether that means he's going to contribute now, or ever, is anyone's guess. My guess, personally, is no. I'm pulling for the kid, but I don't see him hitting the field until his junior year at the earliest, and then only in a fill-in role.

That's our corner depth going into the season. Scared yet? My reservations about the Michigan defensive backfield are primarily concentrated on the safety position rather than corner, but with wafer thin depth at a critical position it's hard to go into the season uber-confident that covering wide receivers won't be a problem against teams with more than two receivers on the field.

The coaching staff, to their credit, seems aware of this issue and has been chucking out offers at corners like Frisbees at a Phish concert. Unfortunately, to date, Michigan has just one corner commit in Courtney Avery (who was theifed away from Stanford's clutches). Avery is listed as a middling corner recruit (3*/NR), but came to Michigan's camp and earned an offer fairly quickly. Further, Avery's recruitment was hindered by an early commitment to Stanford, being short (5'6-5'8), and playing QB until throwing in corner last year. So there's definitely room for improvement and the kid may well be a diamond in the rough based on his performance and Harbaugh's interest. Avery is #23 on Scout and unranked by Rivals.

Outside of Avery, there are a lot of highly rated CB recruits either favoring or listing Michigan as a final destination. So here's who we're looking at based on Rivals'/Scouts' databases:

Cullen Christian 3*/4* - 6-0/180 - Pittsburgh, PA - (#3 CB According to Scout)

Rashad Knight 4*/3* - 5-10/181 - Jacksonville, FL - (#69 CB According to Scout)

Dior Mathis 4*/3* - 5-8/166 - Detroit, MI - (#21 CB According to Scout)

Tony Grimes 3*/4* - 5-11/166 - Hollywood, FL (#5 CB According to Scout)

Spencer Boyd 3*/3* - 5-10/178 - Cape Coral, FL (#28 CB According to Scout)

Lo Wood 3*/3* - 5-10/160 - Apopka, FL (#42 CB According to Scout) - Committed to ND over the weekend.

Travis Williams 3*/NR - 5-10/170/- Cooper City, FL

As of the time of this posting, I understand Michigan to be in the lead for both Christian and Knight. The disparity between the rankings for these two is kind of hard to explain, but both appear capable of stepping in a playing from day one in some capacity. Christian's been to Ann Arbor several times and it appears he will eventually commit. Knight has been listing Michigan for a long time, but his list of offers is growing on a daily basis and Michigan may end up in serious competition with some southern schools to land his services. One of these guys will commit, and my hope is that both do based on their interest so far. Both of them commit, and Michigan is done recruiting at this position until the 2011 class.

Assuming one commit out of the above, that leave Cass Tech's Dior Mathis and Tony Grimes as the top rated CB's on Michigan's radar. Mathis is a wild card in my opinion. I see him ending up in Miami, even though I hope he chooses Michigan. He's got the tools, but it seems MSU commit Mylan Hicks is in the process of usurping Mathis' long held title of Michigan 2010 best cornerback. At this point, your guess is as good as mine. Grimes is a mystery to me as well. Obviously talented, the Florida corner has drawn all kinds of interest from the SEC, including Alabama. He's another kid that would be a great fit at Michigan, and seemed to enjoy himself at the BBQ at the Big House. Even so, my gut tells me based on his offer list, camps elsewhere, and upcoming Ohio State visit, he looks to be ticketed elsewhere.

Of Boyd and Williams, my guess is that one of them will end up at Michigan. Williams is the lower rated of the pair but apparently committed after his visit to Ann Arbor. Based on the recent trend of players saying "Woo! Commit!" and Michigan saying "NSFMF," I'm not 100% certain how the (non)commitment played out. With Lo Wood out of the picture and Boyd a heavy Notre Dame lean, I think Williams will probably end up on board but more as a depth commit than a potential starter.

So that's where Michigan stands at corner until 2011. Two potential All Big Ten corners. One in-coming hot recruit who has the potential to start right way. One redshirt that looks like filler for the time being. One freshman who is a total unknown. On the recruiting end, Michigan has one good corner in the fold. There are two good to outstanding corners with Michigan leans in Christian and Knight. There are two good to outstanding corners that are listing Michigan, but are 50/50 on signing. Finally, there are two good corners out of which Michigan will take one if the need arises.

What it comes down to is injuries. If Michigan can make it through the season with BooBoo and Warren healthy, the Wolverines are secure at corner. Justin Turner should compete for playing time and see plenty of action at nickel corner. However, life is usually unkind to Michigan's secondary, so if either starter goes down Michigan's lack of depth could really become evident.

On the plus side, help appears on its way. The 2010 class should include two highly rated corners and at least one well regarded corner. Add that up for 2010, and Michigan is looking at turning a position of need into a position of strength next year.

Michigan Basketball Receives Tim Hardaway, Jr.'s Commitment!

Maize n Brew Dave — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:25:00 -0000

via media.scout.com

John Beilein just keeps raking in high class recruits. After impressing Beilein at Michigan's summer camp, Hardaway quickly accepted Michigan's scholarship offer. Hardaway is Michigan's second commitment in the 2010 class joining F Evan Smotrycz. As always, UM Hoops has your breakdown of the incoming 6'3"-6'4" guard.

Hardaway is exactly the type of player that seems perfect for the Beilein system. Very smooth with the ball, Hardaway is an excellent outside shooter. But he's not limited to that role. Hardaway has shown an excellent first step toward the basket and plays the pick and roll very well. ESPN threw some praise his way back in late May. Following his recruitment, there's been a significant up tick in not just his recruitment, but the praise for his game that's followed.

If you need numbers to justify a recruitment, Hardaway is a 3* recruit to both services, but is ranked #93 in ESPN's Top 100 for the 2010 class. Lanky at 6'3"-6'4", Tim, Jr. seems to be a perfect fit for the 1-3-1, able to play man defense but also able to clog the passing lanes with his arms and legs.

Great pick up by the Michigan coaching staff.

Friday Happy Hour Says Good Bye to the King of Pop and Looks at the End of the Michigan Football Summer Camps

Maize n Brew Dave — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:43:13 -0000

Things You Need to Read Right Now

via a.abcnews.com

As you may have heard, Michael Jackson passed away yesterday. Say what you want about his personal life, and very, very unfortunate choices, he churned out some damn catchy music. "Don't stop till you get enough," "PYT", "Billy Jean", etc. Thriller is still the coolest video I've ever seen. Orson says good bye to the King of Pop as only Orson can, and NWO pays tribute to Jackson with the Nittany Lion's version of Thriller from this past season.

The Real Price of Freedom - Black Heart Gold Pants
OPS puts on his serious face and pens an excellent op-ed on the death of Ed Thomas, the First and Second Amendments, and the cost of what it really means to be an American citizen. We don't get political here, and this is not meant to stir debate, but regardless of where you stand this is a must read.

Lake the Posts turns two today. Whippersnapper. Get off my damn lawn. Congrats guys. LTP is a daily read for me.

2009 Preseason Consensus - The consensus national top 25 and conference predictions of all the college football preseason magazines, for 2009. Yeah. We're nowhere to be seen.

Michigan Football

Our friends over at Maize & Blue Nation are putting together their Watercooler Guide to 2009 Michigan Football. Here is The Offense Part I and The Offense Part II.

Tailback Kevin Grady expected to return to Wolverines - Grady, the elder, will be back on the team.

Michigan's Football Recruiting Yield Since 2005
When Carcajous Attack! continues it's stellar preseason work. Taking a look at .... It's shocking when you think about it, but Michigan has lost 25 players over the past four years. Damn. Sure there's no guarantee that any of these kids would have, or could have, been a star. But at the least we'd have some depth. Great work by Markus putting this all together.

Michigan vs. WMU Game On ABC: Ready for Some Ridicule - More good stuff from Markus.

The summer camps are over and the Michigan coaching staff will have a little time to catch their breath. Everyone except Barwis, who never really rests. Apparently he hangs from the Schembechler Hall ceiling wrapped in a cocoon of his own wings for twenty minute stretches every couple of days. Otherwise he's in the weight room using titanium sheets to make origami cranes and, surprising, delicate watercolors that give a glimpse into his inner soul. The result? Tate Forcier is up to 190 pounds. He came in at 175.

Michigan Sports Center has some Michigan Football TV Times for you. A lot of late afternoon games. Don't really know how to feel about this. I like having a little extra tailgate time, but that's a lot of time to sit in the sun boozin. September 5 - vs. Western Michigan | 3:30 PM, ABC September 12 - vs. Notre Dame | 3:30 PM, ABC September 19 - vs. Eastern Michigan | 12:00 PM, Big Ten Network October 31 - at Illinois | 3:30 PM, ABC

Lloyd Carr, still awesome. - Carr talks to Petoskey Alumni about missing the sidelines and what he's been up to since retiring.

Michigan Football Recruiting

J.D. Pride Reflects On Michigan, Elite Camp - Pride is Seantrel Henderson's buddy, and apparently a decent QB. No one is sure if he's BCS D1 material yet, but he definitely got a look see at camp ($).

Being Seantrel Henderson - Fluff on the No. 1 recruit in the country. Take what you want from this, but I'm not taking it as an indication he's planning on attending Michigan. Hope he does though.

While he says he will wait until Signing Day to make a decision, he plans to cut his list to ten schools soon. He says Minnesota, Ohio State, USC, UCLA, Oklahoma and Florida State will make the cut for sure and he also likes Michigan, Iowa, Florida and LSU.

($) HS coach fluff on Courtney Avery's commit.

MSU, U-M have a shot at 'maniac' DL from Cincinnati - Fluff on a big dude DT that Michigan seems to be on the outside looking in on.

Big Ten Football

11 Things I Want To See In the Big 10 During 2009, Part 2 - "#8 - I want RichRod's Spread to succeed spectacularly" - Hell yeah. Seconded.

The Spartans pilfer MI QB Joe Boisture from Boston College. Congratulations. You now have your own 6'6" arm that moves like a coffee table.

College Football

Premature Assessments: Exiting 'rebuilding,' young 'Canes can't be held back - It's no secret that I have a soft spot in my heart for Miami. Tha "U", bitches. I don't know why. But ever since I started watching college football seriously Miami was always on the tube. All the antics. Jimmy Johnson's hair. Larry Coker. Erickson. You name it. There was always a swagger that Miami players had that I envied and wished I could emulate as a teen and pre-teen white boy whose physical growth had far exceeded his body's ability to wire neurons to match that growth. I may think that George Teague's catch and strip of Lamar Thomas in the 1993 Sugar Bowl is the greatest play in College Football history, and one I'll watch over and over again, but I was rooting for Miami. So, when the Good Doctor is predicting the 'Canes have the talent and potential to show up in the ACC championship game, that makes me happy. More on Miami's emergence from the fog from the good Doctor.

16 years later, this is still awesome.

Oklahoma makes Bob Stoops a very rich man by Matt Murschel - Oklahoma is revising the contract of Bob Stoops that will look to pay the Sooners football coach close to $5 million in 2011. insert scrooge mcduck vault picture.

- Scout is slowly releasing their Pre-season State Rankings for the Class of 2010. Here's the 2010 Mid-Atlantic Rankings and the 2010 Illinois Rankings There are a couple of Michigan targets on there, including Javarie Johnson (LB) and Kyle Prater (WR). Just FYI, here's the 2010 Kentucky Rankings.

Smart Football: Urban Meyer Q&A on his offense - Urban Meyer Q&A on his offense

Oregon's new uniforms. - LSU Freek and Orson have a little fun with . My personal favorite is the bubble wrap version.

Voter Certification - Heisman Pundit gives us a ballot. Worth a read.

Mike Leach, Party Pirate - Just go there for the photo. It's priceless.

College Basketball

The Big Blue Daily Mail -- Calipari Taking Flack for "Oversigning" - A Sea Of Blue
More on the Oversigning mess at Kentucky from A Sea of Blue.

Misc...

Home run a cool debut for U-M's, Cubs' Jake Fox - Former Wolverine Jake Fox hit a home run in the first inning against the Tigers at Comerica Park on Thursday.

LSU 11 - Texas 4: National Champions! - LSU thumps Texas to take home their 5th CWS title. Congrats guys.

Runnin' Late: 2005 Michigan Penn State Highlights in Lieu of Content!

Maize n Brew Dave — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:34:21 -0000

Hey folks. I'm running a tad behind today. Happy Hour will be up in the afternoon. In the meantime enjoy these Michigan Penn State 2005 highlights. - ed.

Wednesday Happy Hour Looks at Michigan Football Players to Break Out, Inexperience on the Defensive Line, and Finding Diamonds in the Rough

Maize n Brew Dave — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:38:15 -0000

More photos » by TONY DING - AP

Michigan running back Brandon Minor makes a move during the annual spring game, Saturday, April 11, 2009, in Ann Arbor, Mich. (AP Photo/Tony Ding)

Browse more photos »

Things You Need to Read Right Now

Michigan Football players poised for a breakout in 2009 - When Carcajous Attack! considers a few Michigan players who are poised for a break out year this fall. It's a long, optimistic list. My personal pick is to the right.

The Blue-Gray Sky Looks at Offensive and Defensive Line starts for their opponents. Of note, Michigan is 6th on Offense with 75 combined starts among its line. On the other side of the ball the news is not so good Michigan is 10th of 12th teams with only 17 starts on the D-Line, and Brandon Graham has 16 of them. Chew on that for a while before you get too excited about how we'll defend the run this year. Moving back to the offense, even with an experienced line, we can expect all Tenooota Blitz! just about every down. The answer? Tight ends. Mr. Kroger, your table is waiting.

Ever wanted to know what the breakdown of each conference's out of conference slate really looked like? One of Conquest Chronicles' posters put together a thorough breakdown of the OOC slates and projected the winning percentages and chances of upsets. Great work, even if I don't agree with some of the commentary. Well worth your time just for the numbers

Michigan Football

Our buddy Pat over at It's Just Sports sat down with Rich Rodriguez to talk about the upcoming season and lessons learned from year one.

Free Press fluff on Courtney Avery's commitment to Michigan.

Rodriguez Free Press fluff on turning the tables on the decommits this year (i.e., receiving commitments rather than losing them). Meh...

The Michigan Daily takes a look at how will Kelvin Grady fare under Rodriguez. Interesting read on the transition to the gridiron.

Michigan's football camps seems to be unearthing the diamond, or at least quartz, in the rough. Yet another Cornerback seems to have emerged from the morass:

Melvindale cornerback Wayne Pettus attended Michigan’s regular, four-day camp as well as their one-day senior camp this past Saturday. The 5-7, 155-pound Pettus has gone largely overlooked thus far in the recruiting process because of his size, but he is serving notice with his play that he is one of the Midwest’s top cornerbacks. He was the most consistent cover corner at the Michigan camps and preceded that appearance with an MVP performance at the NIKE Camp in Champaign, Ill., on June 6.

Big Ten Football

2009 Michigan State Spartan Football Team Preview
SpartyMSU gives us their 2009 Football Preview. Beware, overly optimistic chatter that borders on comic delusion contained there in. The dismissal that Ringer and Hoyer will be easily replaced seems ludicrous to me. You can't replace a 57 carry a game running back. It just doesn't happen outside of USC. Also, depending on two guys that couldn't beat Hoyer out last year (and believe me guys, Hoyer was nothing special) does not bode well for the offense. That said, I am a tad bit more bullish on the Spartans line and receivers than I was previously. However, the gaps in the defensive secondary are going to be hard to plug.

"This is our last coaching job as a family," he said. "This is where I want to be. I'm 53 years... - The Only Colors
At the risk of pointing out the obvious, those types of words have been spoken by every coach in this conference. Including Michigan's. I wouldn't put a whole lot of stock in it boys.

Fitz is resigned through 2015. I think the boys at Lake the Posts need a towel. EDSBS is complimentary as well.

Northwestern a Better Football Destination Than UND? - My eternal thanks to Boiled Sports for pointing this out:

What I love -- LOVE -- about Adam Rittenberg's analysis of the situation is that it appears that for a young, Irish, up-and-coming coach who is from the Chicago area, coaching at Notre Dame wouldn't be all that appealling. Fitz loves Northwestern (I know!) and says that's where he wants to be.

11 Things I Want To See In the Big 10 During 2009, Part 1 - Go. Read. Laugh.

Michigan Basektball

Pat at It's Just Sports also sat down with John Beilein to talk hoops, Basketball's resurgence, and expectations following Michigan's first NCAA appearance in a decade.

Why would anyone do this to themselves? Brian Ellerbe, after an eight-year hiatus, will be an assistant on George Washington's bench this season. Yeah. This is a good idea.

UM Hoops gives us a little more info on our new S&C coach.

A good Big Ten Hoops rundown courtesy of the FoxSports Boards (HT: UM Hoops).

College Football

Traditional molting season is here again in Oregon - Oregon's new uni's are out and Holly takes a closer look at the Ducks' new... er... feathers.

Sprints Is Not Responsible for Georgia's Trouble in 2008 // 06.24.09 - Recent comments from Georgia Head Coach Mark Richt seems to blaming the willingness of Georgia's players to sit back and let the now NFL departed Stafford and Moreno carry the team, as opposed to getting involved themselves, for some of the disappointment of 2008. Call me nuts, but I think the guy's got a point. Georgia massively underachieved last year, and you can't blame lack of talent.

College Basketball

The Kevin O'Neill Thing Is Too Good To Be True - Our friends at Bruins Nation could not be happier over USC's new choice of Basketball Coach. One minute we were worried that SC would hire Ben Howland's best friend, and the next they hired one of the least liked people in the sport of basketball.

Misc...

Horns Force Game Three For National Title - Game three for all the marbles tonight. Hook 'em Horns!

Why Georgia Should Stop Spending So Much on Basketball and Invest in the Diamond Dogs - The Mayor wants his hardball, and he'll step on your neck to get it.

Lately, basketball has been getting all the attention and baseball has been generating all the wins. It's time the Georgia Bulldogs invested in success on the diamond rather than overpaying for an underperforming hardwood squad.