MGoBlog: The MGoPodcast

Things Discussed:

Whit's done. Basis: Revolutions Podcast.

Why is Michigan a blue blood? The fans. What we can do is come to the UCLA game and cheer. We've done this before. The banner exists because of it. Tell the team you love them; that's all there is left.

Whittingham's errors: Didn't have a Michigan person around, and delegates everything, which works if you have Jay Hill, and not if you have Jason Beck.

Getting the most expensive guy isn't working out (Beck, Wink, BU), maybe we should get the 10th guy.

Beck probably knew he was riding a great QB, which was why it took so much to get him out of there.

M keeps changing bases, guys don't know what they're doing. No understanding of how to chip, no understanding from RBs in setting up their blocks. Beck has no idea how to iterate, stick & move.

Even Al Borges saw spring ball and was like "I dunno guys, this won't work."

Hoops: Yaxel going to be an all-pro! Deferred last year because his teammates were better at Michigan than Golden State.

Marquette: omigod was that kid a headband! Glad we played him because he seemed to unlock Cadeau.

Thiam really did look like the defensive anchor they need him to be.

Need to have all five involved in rebounding. Big boards last night from Roddy, Cadeau, Trey.

WBB vs UConn: They're national championship caliber. Need 3 stars and with Delfosse ready they're there.

For the person in the chat: here's Patrick's album of otters.

1 hour and 42 minutes

The Sponsors

Thank you to Underground Printing for making this all possible. Rishi and Ryan have been our biggest supporters from the beginning. Check out their wide selection of officially licensed Michigan fan gear at their 3 store locations in Ann Arbor or learn about their custom apparel business at undergroundshirts.com.

Our associate sponsors are: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, The Sklars Brothers, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, Radecki Oral Surgery, Long Road Distillers, Applied Fitness Solutions, The History of Michigan Football, an online course by Greg Dooley, and Venue by 4M where recorded this.

EDITOR'S NOTE:
This was recorded before Jason Beck’s firing. 

1. Complaining vs Michigan State
Starts at 0:54

There’s a certain scene from Planes, Trains, and Automobiles that we’re at (the rental car scene). Make Jason Beck the caretaker of the pyramids and watch them disappear. Sherrone Moore was problematic and shouldn’t be a football coach but he could at least run the ball!! Many movies are referenced in this segment. Just how far have we fallen? The Michigan State fans were REALLY NICE. You really felt the ‘enshittification’ of this game, the 2021-2023 teams were so good that you put up with all the stadium antics, would this athletic department be any different if Dave Brandon was in charge? How many Michigan fans looked like they were actually having fun at this game? This is the perfect test for the concept of “if you win a championship you don’t get to complain for five years.” This isn’t all on Jason Beck, some of it is on the QB who can’t make the throws yet. Put Bryce back in and if he shows improvement you might actually retain him. Offensive coordinating is NOT that super complicated. The play designs have become so simplified and they still can’t really run it, the play book has shrunk as the season has gone on. They have the best WR duo since Nico and DPJ and you can’t even put together a bad offense. Devon Dampier’s worst two years were his two years with Beck. Would you take Brian Ferentz right now?? What SP+ offensive ranking would Michigan need to have to be undefeated and #1 in the country right now, 70?

2. More Complaining vs Michigan State
Starts at 32:08

What’s the future, do they even really have an athletic director? Is there really a president? Is there a chance that Kyle Whittingham decides “this is not for me” by the end of the year? What donors even want to back him at this point? This is the lowest point even Seth has felt as a Michigan fan. Michigan fans love their players (except QB sometimes), but who is even going to be around next year? Part of why this feels so depressing is that the snake doesn’t even have a head to cut off, there’s no athletic director change to have. There’s no go-to coach to chase. Where is there to even go from here? After losing to THIS Michigan State team, does anyone who didn’t understand before see it now? Did you even WANT to go to this game? Credit to Michigan State for looking like a well coached team, they played their game and won this game by playing their game. Their fans showed up because of it. Michigan can’t do that, they’re a Hail Mary away from losing two games to teams that didn’t score a touchdown. This is the biggest deviation from preseason expectations we’ve experienced ever. We didn’t appreciate Lloyd Carr enough, he ran the program well and then stepped down when it was time to step down. They just needed competence to be in the mix with Texas or Oregon or Ohio State this season. Watch hockey and women’s basketball instead!

3. Hot Takes, Men's Basketball vs UConn
Starts at 1:00:13

Men lose to UConn in a game that sort of resets the expectations of the season a bit negatively. Michigan looked like an 8 seed, UConn looked like they leveled up. Where was Trey McKenney in the first half? The whistles were fruit-flavored. Not concerned about Thiam in the long term, they should improve significantly on defense once he's back to form. There's not a post-up guy on this roster. Estrella and Goodman on the court together didn't feel great. Jalen Reed stock is down. Having Brandon McCoy out there would've helped a lot defensively. Dan Hurley is really animated but he's a good enough coach to back it up. 

4. Men's and Women's Basketball vs UConn
Starts at 1:26:45

Michigan brought in a bunch of guys that haven't been able to play together until now so they have some catching up to do. The new season goal is to stay off the bubble. This men's team might be like Dusty's first team - a good team that makes its way into the tournament and improves to a Sweet Sixteen team over time. Can this team play defense and what are they going to do when they get in foul trouble? Austin Davis would play 10 minutes per game on this team. Losing Brandon McCoy was huge, you could play him for 30 minutes off of him just being athletic. It feels like there's a tier of Final Four teams in women's basketball and everyone else is a mile behind. This felt like a program defining win and the biggest win in program history. Opposing teams can't just dial in on Olivia Olsen, Michigan has multiple threats. The conversation of vibes from football might lead to a championship for every other program.
 

MUSIC:

"The Lonesome Loser"—The Little River Band

"I Think I Missed Again"—Phil Colins

"End of Time"—Olive Jones

“Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra

The Sponsors
We want to thank Underground Printing for starting this and making it possible—stop by and pick up some gear, check them out at ugpmichiganapparel.com, or check out our selection of shirts on the MGoBlogStore.com. And let’s not forget our associate sponsors: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, Radecki Oral Surgery, Long Road Distillers, Applied Fitness Solutions, and The History of Michigan Football, an online course by Greg Dooley, and SignalWire, where we are recording this.

Featured Musician: Ettison Clio

THE VIDEO:

[After THE JUMP: The show notes.] 

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1. MSU Preview: Offense
starts at the top

If we're awake, they die. But are we awake? State's roster has been ravaged by injury. Best receiver is Fredrick Moore, other two guys are slot-sized oldsters; the TE was okay but he's hurt as well. If Alessio Milivojevic is still injured they're in trouble because their backup is already out and the two other guys who played against UCLA averaged under 3 YPA. They're also down to their #4 RB. Not hurt: an offensive line that is...judges?...BETTER THAN OREGON'S! Center Trent Fraley is an NDSU transfer and we think he's a dude. LT Ben Murawski was a big pickup from UConn. OC Nick Sheridan runs some Rich Rod stuff out of a pro-style look.

2. MSU Preview: Defense
starts at 16:10

They're so very injured now that even decent performances for a quarter against Notre Dame etc. don't really translate. Best DL is out. Best LB is out. Best DB is out. Guys replacing them are not great, usually have one thing they do well and two they don't. If you can't run against Rutgers though... Maybe they can be burned down the middle like CJ Carr did. I'm sure the brothers have discussed this.

3. Basketball!
starts at 32:41

Women defeat UConn before an amazing crowd: biggest win in program history, and an amazing game, where UConn gave the full UConn punch and Michigan just kept punching back. Huge game from Delfosse, who's rising to be a star, and fantastic finish from Olson who is that star. Are they now one of the elites? Gonna have to get through a brutal Big Ten season first.

MBB takes on UConn in their championship rematch; Brian isn't feeling it yet but Seth thinks they're in the same boat we are: return three guys from their backcourt and replaced the frontcourt with a shot-blocker and a talented but sorta pushable PF, though theirs is a stretchy Duke. They're great defensively; Michigan might be able to generate enough offense. Can't really take much away from the Oakland game, which was a foul fest with Thiam out with illness.

4. After Further Review: Rutgers
starts at 54:39

Saw like 20 inside zones or spit zones and it didn't work because Rutgers was pinching, and bounces not working. Dismayed by the approach. Obviously they've simplified and they can't do it well. Tommy was a HS quarterback against a HS defense. The defense had some kid mistakes.

Featured Musician: Ettison Clio

I saved EC for this week because they were really more of an East Lansing band, which peaked in the early 2000s. A punky rock outfit that would swerve into rock, they were probably the hottest band on MSU's campus when my brother was there, and played his ("the Brown...") house's most legendary party. Lead singer Stephanie Gunther (now with a NYC gloom punk band) had a major on-stage presence and a great voice, and drummer John Ostler was one of the better bangers around Michigan punk at the time they formed. Those two joined guitarists Brian Roop and J.P. Niemiec and bassist Jared Nisch, who originally formed the band in high school, at MSU, and for awhile everyone thought they were going to be a big thing.

I believe the band name in fact refers to the two mid-Michigan towns that the guitarists are from, which I still think about whenever we drive through Clio. Incredibly, their website is still hosted, though its last update was for a Tsunami Relief Compilation in 2005.

Songs:

"Infectious"

"L'ange Bleu"

"Ash in the Empire"

Also because Across 110th Street will get our Youtubes taken down, the opener and outro:

“The Employee is Not Afraid”—Bear vs. Shark

“Ruska Vodka”—Motorboat

Things Discussed:

Tommy Carr looked like a good high school quarterback against a high school defense.

Run game still doesn't make sense, e.g. WR does split action and doesn't block back side of stretch.

Rushing for basically no yards against Rutgers while running offense that doesn't have any purpose.

Defense: Jay Hill was gambling too much. Yes Snowden shouldn't fall down, but also there's no safety on that play, and they already showed it.

There are a number of throws in this game from Carr that won't work against not-Rutgers.

Tommy Talk: We're finding out what he can and can't do. A little worried about his arm strength. Poise is tremendous. Also like that he'll be here.

Think programs are going to avoid the uber 5-stars unless they're ready to sit for a few years, because you just end up preparing them to start somewhere else. Bryce will transfer and be successful somewhere (Missouri with Chip?).

MSU? We could lose to this team like 2017 or 2020 but they're not good. The best of Fred Moore isn't Ricky White. Just don't play with your food. #1 way to lose this game is if Jason Beck continues to call offense like he's a plant for the other team.

Hoops: The story of the Oakland game is they need Thiam. That Grizzly center was bullying Estrella. Seeing Oscar Goodman start it's like Why don't we have a 6'9" lottery pick?

Costello is going to be a very valuable piece. Mike Boynton should just coach him to be a switchable defender and not work on offense. Can he be Braylon Mullens? Don't know if he'll hit a crazy shot to beat Duke.

Estrella needs to get hard; he was taking fouls from bad footwork. We saw this last year in the Elite 8 game, when Michigan pushed him away from the basket. Maybe more of Reed?

1 Hour and 8 Minutes

With David Nasternak and Alex Drain

This Podcast Has a Sponsor: Michigan Law Grad Jonathan Paul is the guy with the C you want skating next to the ref and pleading your case. He's also a good guy to sit next to at the hockey games.

Segment 1

Michigan hockey talk starts at 11:50.

Michigan’s lackluster Saturday showing at Ohio State. The team never played very well and didn't show any signs of life until late in the second period. They got closer in the game but were never able to dig out of the hole. Odd man rushes and turnovers were a problem.

Segment 2

The Sunday game was better, but still not great. Very eventful on special teams and an all-time Michael Hage performance. Should we be mad about these two games? Then a review of the scores around the conference, including more dirty play by Notre Dame. Michigan is on bye next week and then will resume against PSU
 

MUSIC

NHL on ESPN Theme

"Last Dance"--Donna Summer

Ice Hockey (NES) Theme