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Note: Do you hate it when politics are discussed in places you go for sports? Then skip this episode entirely or skip to 36:19. Things Discussed after 36:19 Leak to Thamel says NCAA told Michigan they'll suspend Sherrone for CMU and Nebraska. Sam: Leak is overblown—it's part of the back and forth with Michigan, not something that's been accepted. Would we take it? Brian thinks it's harsh but if this ends it, fine—you kowtow to the power and move on. Thamel aside, let's go over what Sherrone did. Facts we are relatively certain of: Sherrone deleted all of his texts off his phone around the time the Stalions thing came out, knowing he still has a copy of them. He then went and retrieved the texts for the investigators, and there was nothing incriminating on them. Seth: The question I have is whether he deleted those texts because he regularly cleans his phone, or was that unusual behavior? If it happens regularly this is just trying to make an innocuous thing sound as bad as they can. If it was unusual, then yeah, considering he's the coach now (he wasn't then), and considering how important we value transparency from people in positions of power, a two-week suspension (week->not an Urban Meyer suspension where you just sit out the game) is appropriate. Craig: Is it? If he did nothing wrong, why should he deserve a punishment? It's not a crime to not cover up what's not a crime. [Hit the JUMP for the rest of the discussion, the player, and video and stuff]  Things Discussed before 36:19: Santa Ono's departure and academic freedom (from start of the show): Turns out he was just another suit. Taking $3 million and taking his name of something he signed 2 weeks ago and go do what Ron DeSantis tells him tells you all you need to know. People are going to try to pretend this was taking a stand against the regents or because The Hammer is coming down or that this is about Warde's stance on NIL—whatever stupid narrative they want to believe in. People try to make everything fit the story they want to tell. You'd have to be a quisling to work at the University of Florida. Some empathy because becoming the face of something like that is a life-defining choice, and the nature of the job is you're going to have unreasonable people mad at you because, e.g., they think divesting Michigan from Intel will stop Netanyahu from killing Gazans to placate the far-right members of his coalition that are keeping him out of jail. Part of being the president of Michigan is you are going to have to take a stand for liberalism (as defined). Justice, knowledge, freedom of study: these liberal ideals are the foundational principles of our school, and our school is the best public university in the country. When those ideals are challenged, as they are now by an illiberal authoritarian administration in Washington, you have to tell them "No." And no, this isn't about their DEI policies either. The DEI Office was already was already the midst of being rearranged. And to be clear (Brian said, and I generally agree) we're in favor of that, because the expense of the university's bureaucracy (1 administrator to 5 students—don't quote us on that) is too much, and that money is better off being spent on housing, on improving the Go Blue Guarantee, and on more and better instructors. The most direct parts of the policy (e.g. student housing assistance) were also better off shifted, along with their funding, to parts of the administration that were already doing the same things, and the layers of forms and oversight were probably not the best way of accomplishing the admirable and necessary goal of taking responsibility for an equity of experience for students of certain minorities. Need to be clear: When the White House says "DEI" they aren't talking about Michigan's DEI office nor which books are in the library; they're talking about things like whether I can give a lecture to Dooley's class every semester on the history of integration in college athletics, or whether Women's Studies can be a subject matter. Next president, next on NIL (17 minutes) Next president: what do we want? Brian thinks it'll be another administrator off an expensive search. Seth thinks there are going to be big names calling the school because it's a prestigious job. We need someone who has values, someone who is going to stand up for the university, and (let's not forget) someone who is going to value athletics as an essential engine of the school's value. Brian's not concerned about that so much because the donors won't sit around long if we drop to 126th/134 teams in passing. It's not the donors worrying about that; it's the parts of the school that usually get lots of donations making that a concern. NIL: House settlement is going to include some sort of auditing process that is going to curtail the amount you can directly spend via NIL on players. Don't know how enforceable that is going to be. Congress is going to step in eventually to provide them an antitrust exemption or they're just going to keep getting sued. They might have done it by classifying the players as labor but that's unlikely if it happens now given the party in power who'd be crafting legislation right now is extremely anti-labor. We should say what we want in a president for Athletics: stand up for Michigan when the NCAA goes after them. Brian: Probably won't be facing any significant decisions since the big sports all have relatively new coaches (Why do you always say that?) What they need is someone who will have a spine. The Michigan community will support you. Seth: I'm not just looking for someone who'll rebel; I'm looking for someone who's going to win. Losing funding—which the government gave to the University not as a handout but because the People of the United States want, e.g., a cure for cancer and Michigan can put together the tools and best people to do that. Losing that funding would be devastating. It's not like they just stop doing the research—they already built the labs and financed it, so they'd be under water and lose capability to get it back. Brian: It's going to happen anyways. This is an administration of idiots making decisions based on wanting to hurt the people they don't like, and the University of Michigan is a bright blue beacon of every kind of value and kind of person they want to eradicate. Seth: So we don't just need a fighter; we need a uniter—someone who is going to get all the other institution's administrators (sorry, the faculty isn't the same thing), so when war comes they can win, or at least make it hurt. The towns that resisted the Danes got slaughtered and the towns that paid a danegeld just got more Danes; Alfred beat them by forming England. In the break: MGoBlog's readership, based on Google Analytics on how people voted for national offices, was about 55-45 Democrats to Republicans when I took over advertising in 2012. It's now close to 75-25, without shifting any other metrics about our readership, meaning we're still talking to (a lot more of) the same kind of (educated, hyper-curious) person, but that kind of person, if they ever were a Republican, is leaving the party now.

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For a limited time, upgrade to ‘The Storm's' paid tier for $5 per month or $55 per year. You'll also receive a free year of Slopes Premium, a $29.99 value - valid for annual subscriptions only. Monthly subscriptions do not qualify for free Slopes promotion. Valid for new subscriptions only.WhoStuart Winchester, Founder, Editor & Host of The Storm Skiing Journal & PodcastRecorded onMarch 4, 2025Editor's note1) The headline was not my idea; 2) Erik said he would join me as the guest for episode 199 if he could interview me for episode 200; 3) I was like “sure Brah”; 4) since he did the interview, I asked Erik to write the “Why I interviewed him” section; 5) this episode is now available to stream on Disney+; 6) but no really you can watch it on YouTube (please subscribe); 7) if you don't care about this episode that's OK because there are 199 other ones that are actually about snosportskiing; 8) and I have a whole bunch more recorded that I'll drop right after this one; 9) except that one that I terminally screwed up; 10) “which one?” you ask. Well I'll tell that humiliating story when I'm ready.Why I interviewed him, by Erik MogensenI met Stuart when he was skiing at Copper Mountain with his family. At lunch that day I made a deal. I would agree to do the first podcast of my career, but only if I had the opportunity reverse the role and interview him. I thought both my interview, and his, would be at least five years away. 14 months later, you are reading this.As an accomplished big-city corporate PR guy often [occasionally] dressed in a suit, he got tired of listening to the biggest, tallest, snowiest, ski content that was always spoon-fed to his New York City self. Looking for more than just “Stoke,” Stu has built the Storm Skiing Journal into a force that I believe has assumed an important stewardship role for skiing. Along the way he has occasionally made us cringe, and has always made us laugh.Many people besides myself apparently agree. Stuart has eloquently mixed an industry full of big, type-A egos competing for screentime on the next episode of Game of Thrones, with consumers that have been overrun with printed magazines that show up in the mail, or social media click-bate, but nothing in between. He did it by being as authentic and independent as they come, thus building trust with everyone from the most novice ski consumer to nearly all of the expert operators and owners on the continent.But don't get distracted by the “Winchester Style” of poking fun of ski bro and his group of bro brahs like someone took over your mom's basement with your used laptop, and a new nine-dollar website. Once you get over the endless scrolling required to get beyond the colorful spreadsheets, this thing is fun AND worthwhile to read and listen to. This guy went to Columbia for journalism and it shows. This guy cares deeply about what he does, and it shows.Stuart has brought something to ski journalism that we didn't even know was missing, Not only did Stuart find out what it was, he created and scaled a solution. On his 200th podcast I dig into why and how he did it.What we talked aboutHow Erik talked me into being a guest on my own podcast; the history of The Storm Skiing Podcast and why I launched with Northeast coverage; why the podcast almost didn't happen; why Killington was The Storm's first pod; I didn't want to go to college but it happened anyway; why I moved to New York; why a ski writer lives in Brooklyn; “I started The Storm because I wanted to read it”; why I have no interest in off-resort skiing; why pay-to-play isn't journalism; the good and the awful about social media; I hate debt; working at the NBA; the tech innovation that allowed me to start The Storm; activating The Storm's paywall; puzzling through subscriber retention; critical journalism as an alien concept to the ski industry; Bro beef explained; what's behind skiing's identity crisis; why I don't read my social media comments; why I couldn't get ski area operators to do podcasts online in 2019; how the digital world has reframed how we think about skiing; why I don't write about weather; what I like about ski areas; ski areas as art; why the Pass Tracker 5001 looks like a piece of crap and probably always will; “skiing is fun, reading about it should be too”; literary inspirations for The Storm; being critical without being a tool; and why readers should trust me.Podcast notesOn The New England Lost Ski Areas ProjectThe New England Lost Ski Areas Project is still very retro looking. Storm Skiing Podcast episode number three, with site founder Jeremy Davis, is still one of my favorites:On my sled evac at Black Mountain of MaineYeah I talk about this all the time but in case you missed the previous five dozen reminders:On my timelineMy life, in brief (we reference all of these things on the pod):* 1992 – Try skiing on a school bus trip to now-defunct Mott Mountain, Michigan; suck at it* 1993 – Try skiing again, at Snow Snake, Michigan; don't suck as much* 1993 - Invent Doritos* 1994 – Receive first pair of skis for Christmas* 1995 – Graduate high school* 1995 - Become first human to live on Saturn for one month without the aid of oxygen* 1995-98 – Attend Delta College* 1997 - Set MLB homerun record, with 82 regular-season bombs, while winning Cy Young Award with .04 ERA and 743 batters struck out* 1998-00 – Attend University of Michigan* 1998-2007 - Work various restaurant server jobs in Michigan and NYC* 2002 – Move to Manhattan* 2003 - Invent new phone/computer hybrid with touchscreen; changes modern life instantly* 2003-07 – Work as English teacher at Cascade High School on Manhattan's Lower East Side* 2003-05 – Participate in New York City Teaching Fellows program via Pace University* 2004 - Successfully clone frozen alien cells that fell to Earth via meteorite; grows into creature that levels San Antonio with fire breath* 2006-08 – Columbia Journalism School* 2007-12 – Work at NBA league office* 2008 – Daughter is born* 2010 - Complete the 10-10-10 challenge, mastering 10 forms of martial arts and 10 non-human languages in 2010* 2013 – Work at AIG* 2014-2024 – Work at Viacom/Paramount* 2015 - Formally apologize to the people of Great Britain for my indecencies at the Longminster Day Victory Parade in 1947* 2016 – Son is born; move to Brooklyn* 2019 – Launch The Storm* 2022 – Take The Storm paid* 2023 - Discover hidden sea-floor city populated by talking alligators * 2024 – The Storm becomes my full-time job* 2025 - Take Storm sabbatical to qualify for the 50-meter hurdles at the 2028 Summer OlympicsOn LeBron's “Decision”After spending his first several seasons playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron announced his 2010 departure for the Miami Heat in his notorious The Decision special.On MGoBlog and other influencesI've written about MGoBlog's influence on The Storm in the past:The University of Michigan's official athletic site is mgoblue.com. Thus, MGoBlog – get it? Clever, right? The site is, actually, brilliant. For Michigan sports fans, it's a cultural touchstone and reference point, comprehensive and hilarious. Everyone reads it. Everyone. It's like it's 1952 and everyone in town reads the same newspaper, only the paper is always and only about Michigan sports and the town is approximately three million ballsports fans spread across the planet. We don't all read it because we're all addicted to sports. We all read MGoBlog because the site is incredibly fun, with its own culture, vocabulary, and inside jokes born of the shared frustrations and particulars of Michigan (mostly football, basketball, and hockey) fandom.Brian Cook is the site's founder and best writer (I also recommend BiSB, who writes the hysterical Opponent Watch series). Here is a recent and random sample – sportsballtalk made engaging:It was 10-10 and it was stupid. Like half the games against Indiana, it was stupid and dumb. At some point I saw a highlight from that Denard game against Indiana where IU would score on a 15-play march and then Denard would immediately run for a 70 yard touchdown. "God, that game was stupid," I thought. Flinging the ball in the general direction of Junior Hemingway and hoping something good would happen, sort of thing. Charting 120 defensive plays, sort of thing. Craig Roh playing linebacker, sort of thing.Don't get me started about #chaosteam, or overtimes, or anything else. My IQ is already dropping precipitously. Any more exposure to Michigan-Indiana may render me unable to finish this column. (I would still be able to claim that MSU was defeated with dignity, if that was my purpose in life.)I had hoped that a little JJ McCarthy-led mediation in the locker room would straighten things out. Michigan did suffer through a scary event when Mike Hart collapsed on the sideline. This is a completely valid reason you may not be executing football with military precision, even setting aside whatever dorfy bioweapon the Hoosiers perfected about ten years ago.Those hopes seemed dashed when Michigan was inexplicably offsides on a short-yardage punt on which they didn't even bother to rush. A touchback turned into a punt downed at the two, and then Blake Corum committed a false start and Cornelius Johnson dropped something that was either a chunk play or a 96-yard touchdown. Johnson started hopping up and down near the sideline, veritably slobbering with self-rage. The slope downwards to black pits became very slippery.JJ McCarthy said "namaste."Cook is consistent. I knew I could simply grab the first thing from his latest post and it would be excellent, and it was. Even if you know nothing about football, you know that's strong writing.In The Storm's early days, I would often describe my ambitions – to those familiar with both sites – as wanting “to create MGoBlog for Northeast skiing.” What I meant was that I wanted something that would be consistent, engaging, and distinct from competing platforms. Skiing has enough stoke machines and press-release reprint factories. It needed something different. MGoBlog showed me what that something could be.On being critical without being a toolThis is the Burke example Erik was referring to:The town of Burke, named for Sir Edmund Burke of the English Parliament, was chartered in 1782. That was approximately the same year that court-appointed receiver Michael Goldberg began seeking a buyer for Burke Mountain, after an idiot named Ariel Quiros nearly sent the ski area (along with Jay Peak) to the graveyard in an $80 million EB-5 visa scandal.Now, several industrial revolutions and world wars later, Goldberg says he may finally have a buyer for the ski area. But he said the same thing in 2024. And in 2023. And also, famously, in 1812, though the news was all but lost amid that year's war headlines.Whether or not Burke ever finds a permanent owner (Goldberg has actually been in charge since 2016), nothing will change the fact that this is one hell of a ski area. While it's not as snowy as its neighbors stacked along the Green Mountain Spine to its west, Burke gets its share of the white and fluffy. And while the mountain is best-known as the home of racing institution Burke Mountain Academy, the everyskier's draw here is the endless, tangled, spectacular glade network, lappable off of the 1,581-vertical-foot Mid-Burke Express Quad.Corrections* I worked for a long time in corporate communications, HR, and marketing, but not ever exactly in “PR,” as Erik framed it. But I also didn't really describe it to him very well because I don't really care and I'm just glad it's all over.* I made a vague reference to the NBA pulling its All-Star game out of Atlanta. I was thinking of the league's 2016 decision to move the 2017 All-Star game out of Charlotte over the state's “bathroom bill.” This is not a political take I'm just explaining what I was thinking about.* I said that Jiminy Peak's season pass cost $1,200. The current early-bird price for a 2025-26 pass is $1,051 for an adult unlimited season pass. The pass is scheduled to hit $1,410 after Oct. 15.The Storm explores the world of lift-served skiing year-round. Join us. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

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SKLARS TONIGHT Mark Ridley's Comedy Castle in Royal Oak. Show's at 7:30, doors at 6:30, VICTORS books for sale and signing after the show. HOT TAKES segment during the show if enough MGoBlog fans are there. Tickets. Things Discussed: Basketball big picture: they're a good team, though they've been more of a 10-seed than a 4-seed since January because they hit their ceiling. Strategy has stagnated but tactics are good, wins close games. Take Michigan in the 1st round vs a 12 or 13 because they won't have someone who can stop Vlad. Tre Donaldson needs to play better—ball is getting stuck in Wolf's hands, also Tre's defense has fallen off. Cason? Very high upside: defensive athleticism, #1 on the team at getting himself to the rack, shooting is just bad luck—big difference between his shots that circle the rim and Gayle's shots that barely touch it. But he's not going to be ready this year. During break: Craig uses the F-word. Is something wrong with Tre Holloman? Seth: If that guy played for us we'd love him. MSU floor-kissing: mostly nothing. Seth believes the rule should be whoever wins gets the midcourt/midfield logo. That game was over. Women's basketball: Michigan's playing five guards, the game has gotten much better, incredible what KBA did after her roster was gutted by the portal. They can stick with anyone in the country. Hockey: Need help. No bid stealers. Comfortable that one of the many Big Ten and Hockey East at-large teams will win their tournaments, need Arizona State to go out, need Quinnipiac to go out early enough not to pass Michigan or win their bid. Naurato: This won't be a problem again. What does he mean? Maybe he's going to raid Canada.

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Sam Webb, Brian Cook, Seth Fischer, and Craig Ross with their weekly roundtable discussion See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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GoFundMes to support victims of the fires in LA who are part of the MGoBlog community: General Fund. Reader's mother-in-law Anne Cohen. Reader Chef Robert. Reader Josh Bishop-Moser. Reader Mike on behalf of Mika Yoshitake & daughter Sora. Readers Liberty and Mark. 1 hour and 21 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, the Autograph: Fandom Rewarded app, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, and Venue by 4M where usually record this. 1. Men's Basketball vs Illinois Starts at 1:00 Michigan was asking for a game like this after the last couple months, you can't give up 19 offensive rebounds in a game and expect to win. Illinois got 9 more shots than Michigan and their young guys went off. Vlad Goldin was the only one who was getting an advantage. Danny Wolf is officially in a funk, this likely doesn't affect his draft stock. Michigan might be a popular pick to get upset in the first round of the tournament. They're fading down the stretch and not getting better in a lot of departments, especially rebounding.  [The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP]  2. Men's Basketball vs Michigan State Starts at 23:06 This was a "make your shots" game, Michigan State hit their shots. Also Michigan had an 11 shot deficit. Michigan now has a worse 3-point shooting percentage than Michigan State. Roddy Gayle has not hit a three-pointer since January, nobody is covering him anymore and that extra player is guarding the paint. Tre Donaldson might've had his worst game.  3. Hot Takes and Men's Basketball vs Rutgers & Nebraska Starts at 34:06 Takes hotter than yours truly after the 19th Illinois offensive rebound. These two games were polar opposites in what basketball is. Michigan had poor shooting and looked tired after the Michigan State game. The three-point shooting has come down tremendously. Seth thinks the worse three point shooting is mostly random except for Roddy Gayle, opposing defenses can always plan for Roddy not being able to shoot. For one half, Rutgers was the greatest basketball team in the world, then it came crashing back to Earth. Is it time for L.J. Cason to play more? Sometimes he looks great and sometimes he doesn't box out at all. Vlad Goldin is just not a passer in the paint. Who would you take for free throws to win the game, Roddy Gayle or Nimari Burnett? 4. Hockey vs Ohio State Starts at 1:10:08 Michigan steals four points from Ohio State and has their tournament percentage up to 85%. Michigan hosts Penn State in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament but Penn State is playing very hot at the end of this season. The "It gets worse" call is now legendary. Win this upcoming series and you're in, get swept and... you might still be in.  MUSIC: "You Don't Know The Shape I'm In"—MJ Lenderman "Loser"—Jerry Garcia "Whip Appeal"—Babyface “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra    

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Come for us live reading Mgoblog, stay for the X-men MCU wishcasting

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GoFundMes to support victims of the fires in LA who are part of the MGoBlog community: General Fund. Reader's mother-in-law Anne Cohen. Reader Chef Robert. Reader Josh Bishop-Moser. Reader Mike on behalf of Mika Yoshitake & daughter Sora. Readers Liberty and Mark. 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, the Autograph: Fandom Rewarded app, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, and Venue by 4M where usually record this. 1. Men's Basketball at Ohio State Starts at 1:00 Bienvenue! Recorded remotely this week because Seth's 19 year old ski boots exploded. Michigan wins a defense-optional shootout, they rebounded half their misses which ended up being the difference (Ohio State just couldn't out-rebound Goldin and Wolf). There's a big difference between Goldin being the role guy and Tschetter being the role guy, so why did Goldin only get 24 minutes? Officiating in this game and how it relates to the Bo Ryan era. Don't elbow someone in the head but also don't put your head into someone's elbow. Roddy Gayle returns to Columbus and silences the boos out of timeouts. Stop missing dunks. Neither team got a double digit lead, the game was tense the whole time.  [The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP]  2. Men's Basketball vs Purdue Starts at 24:50 Michigan avenges a terrible loss to become co-favorites to win the Big Ten. Braden Smith plays an insane 12 minutes to open the game for Purdue, making the first half extra frustrating. His mid-range shots weren't even bad shots, necessarily. Rubin Jones and Roddy Gayle combined for 20 points and played excellent, annoying defense. They came through in a way that was required to win this game. Michigan shoots below their season 3-point average but only had 11 turnovers. They also got to the line a lot (off of some calls that weren't great). Caleb Furst should've fouled out in the first six minutes! The physicality of the Big Ten is more than Dusty May realized. Purdue had zero bench points.  3. Hot Takes and Hockey vs Minnesota Starts at 49:12 Takes hotter than Michigan basketball in a three point game. Michigan gets slightly more than a split against Minnesota which decently increases their NCAA tournament chances. A split with Ohio State and a first round win in the Big Ten Tournament should do it. Minnesota was out-shooting Michigan 12-2 to start the game on Saturday, not great! Welcome back, Michael Hage. Tyler Duke played a nice game when everyone else was gassed. Bye week upcoming so we won't know much about tournament chances for a while.  4. Tournament Outlooks Starts at 1:16:40 Men's basketball is now projected to win the Big Ten but Wisconsin is looming with the easier schedule. Purdue and Michigan State both finish with a gauntlet. Of Michigan's last six games, four or five of them will be against tournament teams. Finishing 3-3 could maybe be enough to win a share of the Big Ten and get a banner. It's been a while since it's come down to Michigan and Michigan State down the stretch. Torvik has Michigan jumping between 3 and 4 seeds, which takes win margin into account. Hockey is projected to play Penn State in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. They're now 80% to make the NCAA tournament but everyone ahead of them in the Pairwise rankings is pretty much a lock. The worst tournament in sports is suddenly in Michigan's favor! There's a regional in Toledo but Michigan probably doesn't go there. Shout out to Hockey Bear.  MUSIC: "Real Life"—The Marias "MUTT"—Leon Thomas "THE BADDEST"—Joey Valence and Brae “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra

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GoFundMes to support victims of the fires in LA who are part of the MGoBlog community: General Fund. Reader's mother-in-law Anne Cohen. Reader Chef Robert. Reader Josh Bishop-Moser. Reader Mike on behalf of Mika Yoshitake & daughter Sora. Readers Liberty and Mark. 1 hour and 28 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, the Autograph: Fandom Rewarded app, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, and Venue by 4M where usually record this. 1. Dusty May Talk Starts at 1:00 Welcome to the Plodcast. This game had the awkward undertones of Mike Woodson getting "fired" and Indiana wanting to hire Dusty May. What's a better job, Indiana or Michigan? Indiana is home for Dusty but there's also a lot of pressure there. If Michigan needed the money to match, they could get it. He did turn down the Louisville job so maybe the biggest thing that would bring Dusty May back to Indiana is that his mom still lives in Bloomington.  [The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP]  2. Men's Basketball vs Indiana Starts at 22:30 Once again it is the story of the season where Michigan gets a big lead and then suddenly looks like they forgot how to play basketball. Kenpom said Michigan would win by four so maybe we're overexaggerating. They've gone from a top 10 team to a top 25 team, so a 5-6 seed in the tournament. The turnover margin between the most turnovers and the fewest in the Big Ten is only four turnovers. Three point shooting was extremely frustrating. Gayle is driving to the basketball when he should be shooting a 3. Screwing up the foul on Goldin really hurt Michigan. Nimari Burnett's shooting percentages have simply fallen back down to earth.  3. Hot Takes and Men's Basketball vs Oregon Starts at 41:22 Takes hotter than the Indiana fanbase when Dusty May spikes a three hundred million dollar offer in their faces and says "I'm a Michigan man forever, babyyyy". Another game where Michigan had a double digit lead that they almost blew! Roddy Gayle got to the line a lot but also traveled enough that John Beilein would've ripped his esophagus out. Will Tschetter had a nice game and led the team in scoring. The bench players aren't quite ready and that's okay. Is Supreme Cook the best version of Brian?  4. Michigan Hockey vs Michigan State Starts at 1:13:28 Michigan picks up a split against the #2 team in Pairwise, getting one win was the best possible scenario. Both games were about the same but Michigan State actually scored in the second game. Michigan is a team of just guys. Nobody really pops besides Hage. The WWE aspect of these games in the 3rd period against Michigan State has become a bit much. Michigan has a 70% projected chance of making the field, which feels great right now. Is the most boring Michigan hockey team in memory? This isn't a bad team, they're just not the team last year that booted Michigan State out of the tournament. Pre-season expectation was to hopefully make the tournament and that hasn't changed. MUSIC: "Aston Martin Music"—Rick Ross "Waiting For The Bells"—Joel Alme "Vines"—Cameron Winter “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra    

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GoFundMes to support victims of the fires in LA who are part of the MGoBlog community: General Fund. Reader's mother-in-law Anne Cohen. Reader Chef Robert. Reader Josh Bishop-Moser. Reader Mike on behalf of Mika Yoshitake & daughter Sora. Readers Liberty and Mark. 1 hour and 9 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, the Autograph: Fandom Rewarded app, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, and Venue by 4M where usually record this. 1. Men's Basketball vs Rutgers Starts at 1:00 Brian returns after a week (or two) of trying not to die ala ice and norovirus. The Rutgers game was a weird game of two offensive-oriented teams not scoring much. Rutgers has 15 more shots than Michigan and still loses due to poor shooting. Michigan did a great job defending Ace Bailey. Rubin Jones made a two! Rutgers likely won't make the tournament but this was still a solid road win. Tre Donaldson is averaging 1.7 fouls per game, can't just pull him with two fouls. Things feel bad but Michigan has a tournament bid pretty much locked up if they stay the course.  2. Men's Basketball vs Penn State and Purdue Starts at 21:34 Penn State is the most Clingon team in college basketball. Tre Donaldson was the hero with 21 points, also the Vlad Goldin "empty tubes" game. Only nine turnovers was a great improvement against a team that forces a bunch of turnovers. Speaking of poop, the Purdue game! This was not a game from the start. Michigan can't handle Purdue's pace and then the second half is just coasting home for both teams. Every Michigan coach has to get their head caved in by Painter once. It was discombobulating to see Michigan so discombobulated. The final stretch of this schedule is a gauntlet, they're all quad 1 games (besides maybe Rutgers). If Michigan finishes .500 they'll be fine.  3. Football Stuff Starts at 41:23 Ross Dellenger got a leak of a portion of Michigan's NCAA response. Michigan is taking the route that the allegations are unsupported and should be level 2 allegations. In the past they've laid down and taken it for allegations. All the released texts about Connor Stalions within the program almost sound like they're annoyed with him. The portal has been pretty quiet recently, this might be it for the incoming wide receivers. All signs point towards Ty Haywood coming to Michigan. The NIL values you see are probably made up.  4. Michigan Hockey vs Penn State Starts at 56:09 Michigan is down to 14th in Pairwise and on the bubble. The remaining games are the hardest part of the schedule so they need to go at least 3-3 to try and get into the tournament. This is such a frustrating team to watch. In some years, the Michigan defense can do spectacular things while making mistakes, this year they just make mistakes. They're running out of time to figure stuff out.  MUSIC: "Alaska"—Maggie Rogers "Help Me"—Joni Mitchell "Don't Dream It's Over"—Crowded House “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra    

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Things Discussed: The Book: It's what we would have wanted. Kickstarter backers: I wrote an update but the gist is tracking numbers might come after the books because USPS. Ohio State is Flag-Mad. Brian: 11W and MGoBlog diverged in business models a long time ago: they do clickbait, we make big books. Seth: The reason this hits Ohio State so hard is they have nothing else to be proud of anymore. They bet everything on beating Michigan and then got absolutely punked again. Symbology is all that's left. Chip Lindsey: Came up through high school so he's got a lot of different ideas. Lots of coordinator experience. He develops somebody else's quarterback. QBs take fewer sacks, run less (more scrambles than called runs). Lindsey's philosophy, if there is one, is to run what works best for the players he's got. He doesn't want to have a "blob" on usage distribution—wants you to worry about screens and downfield, outside runs and inside runs. Portal? UNC guys of interest (Hampton is probably going pro). Michigan's portal strategy: looking for guys they can get value. ZVADA is the epitome of portal success: a guy who's going to be more valuable to you. Part of that value is seeing if you can make more out of a player (Barham, Stewart, etc.) than he is. You're in a salary cap world. Kentucky guys? Miller Moss? Feeling different because he's getting big portal offers. Brendon Lewis—that would be a dude; he's a Year 6 guy, probably will come down to dollars because it's not certain there's an NFL future. Don't be too worried about Underwood in Year 1 because he's not turning 18 until August. Billy Edwards? Sam nodding. UMD had the worst OL, Edwards is a perfect example of a guy who looks a lot better as a 25x/game thrower. Hoops: Danny Wolf is the tallest 5-10 guy we've ever seen. Sucks to lose to Calipari. Craig says hit your free throws. In a dozen years we'll say "I remember getting beat like that by Boogie Fland in college."

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Thank you to 247's Steve Lorenz for joining us, as always, for a Podcast-length edition of Across the Crooked Blue Line. 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, Champions Circle, Human Element, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Venue by 4M, Winewood Organics, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, Royal Oath Insurance Group, Community Pest Solutions, Autograph: Fandom Rewarded, who just launched an app where you earn rewards for things like reading MGoBlog and listening to our podcast, and SignalWire where we are recording this. THE VIDEO: [After THE JUMP: People in yellow puffy jackets.]  --------------------- 1. Things We're Watching and Offensive Recruits Starts at the top PEOPLE OF INTEREST: Jayden Sanders will sign tomorrow; that's just when his school does that. Olesh might get caught up in Oregon's big day, since he's their final target. Good that he's held out, Michigan's working the phones. Lean? Who knows. Derek Meadows: sounds like Alabama came in with a bigger NIL offer. Ty Haywood: 5-star, as long as he makes it up to campus we're in good shape. QB BRYCE UNDERWOOD: The cackling segment. Been a five-year recruitment—there was a Bryce Underwood recruitment paragraph on every QB target since Dante Moore was on their radar; shows M is serious. Steve's comp is Trevor Lawrence, but runs like Vince Young. Ivins thinks the distance between #1 overall the the #2 and #3 guys in the class is massive. RB JASPER PARKER: So underrated he can't be called underrated anymore. Not fast but is Hart-But-Big. RB DONOVAN JOHNSON: Freaks list, early 5-star because IMG, big injury drop and other schools dropped out, but made Freaks list after recovery. WR ANDREW MARSH: Elite WR. How? Bellamy did work. Seth comps to Cornelius Johnson, because elite double-moves and intellectual family. WR JACOB WASHINGTON: Never wavered even though big Sr season and had Washington come calling. Bellamy's HS, his HC is still the HC. Adrian Arrington/Marquise Walker tall possession type, but needs a redshirt. WR JAMAR BROWDER: Might be 6'5"—flipped from NC State and big riser, contested baller. NC State thought they had a dude. Common pick for class sleeper. Nico? Nico was a unicorn because of his speed. Bellamy recruiter of the year? West Bloomfield legend, Louisiana legend, and owns North Carolina since brother-in-law Biakabutuka lives out there. FB ELI OWENS: Wants to be Max Bredeson!!!! LT ANDREW BABALOLA: Comps to Stanford guys don't work; Jake Long in that he's a bit raw, basketball, length. OG AVERY GACH: Yay Groves, Yay Seth's Temple. Zinter/Sainristil of the OL who led Groves to the greatest season in school history (along with Barry Sanders's son). Why hasn't been bumped up? Nobody was at his games. C KADEN STRAYHORN: Funniest commit; dad is the color guy on MSU radio, but MSU was out a long time ago, won over OSU. IMG center, might be a little small. 2. Defensive Line and Linebacker Starts at 43:25 DE/DT NATE MARSHALL: Most surprising commit x2. Big win out of Chicago. Steve sees him growing into a DT but has the athleticism to stay outside. WDE JULIUS HOLLY: Injury meant nobody got to see him after a killer start to his Sr year but great measurables, guy Michigan sees as next Dom Nichols. DT BOBBY KANKA: Matt Godin. SDE BENNY PATTERSON: Might be the Wormley of the class. Build-a-bear rose late, should have been a 4-star. Edge for sure. PSU and USC were also trying to flip off senior tape. DT TRAVIS MOTEN: Wrestlers have the stamina as well as the leverage. His Hudl looks like Chris Hinton. Might be 280 already. Seth comp: Rayshaun Benny. MLB NATHANIEL OWUSU-BOATENG: Another early highly ranked IMG kid, injury hid him as a senior, probably much much larger than his listed 6'0"/200. More of a MIKE to Michigan. WLB CHASE TAYLOR: The Sullivan-esque super long athlete, outside linebacker with crazy athleticism and length, finally rose late. 3. Secondary and Class Wrap Starts at 1:00:40 CB JAYDEN SANDERS: Legit 6'3" and long. Ceiling is insane. Amorion Walker but this time he's starting as a CB. Freakish ability to move—if you can play cornerback at that size… CB SHAMARI EARLS: Will Johnson Memorial Hey Elite Cornerbacks Are Good. Sam Webb all over this recruitment. Expect the 5-star cornerback track. ATH ELIJAH DOTSON: Pat Narduzzi complains about Michigan throwing around money. Freaky athlete, late riser, CB-WR-S freaky athlete type. Might be best as a CB (think Jeremy Clark). FS JORDAN YOUNG: Clemson decommit because "their recruiting class wasn't that good." Michigan operating in the real world. Flipped him after we lost Ike Taylor, similar ceiling, similar profile (think Zeke Berry) but he's right that he needs some development. NK KAINOA WINSTON: Reminds Brian of Quinten Johnson. Reminds Seth of Rod Moore and Mike Sainristil in that Winston is a football savant. Also a sprinter. THE CLASS AS IT STANDS: Talent parity with Ohio State! What happens when Michigan isn't disadvantaged by rules they follow and their competition doesn't? Look at 1990s: they had a LOT of talent on those teams. Now they just need to get an OC who isn't going to run 80% of the time when he has Tom Brady. Class put together in adverse circumstances: Yes a natty run but also Will Harbaugh Go to the NFL? Their slow walk to taking NIL seriously. Their rough 2024 before winning The Game. OFFENSE Pos Player State Stars In a nutshell QB Bryce Underwood MI 5.0 Drew Henson 2.0, basically. RB Donovan Johnson GA 4.0⬇⬇ Elite as a Fr, IMG, injured as Jr. RB Jasper Parker LA 3.8⬆ Hart-selected, Alford approved WR Andrew Marsh TX 4.5⬇ Gliding track athlete/deep threat WR Jacob Washington LA 4.0 Parker's teammate. Big & Tall WR Jamar Browder FL 3.6⬆ Giant contested baller. TE Andrew Olesh PA 4.4⬆⬆ #1 target, catchy-blocky, Bama wanted. TE Eli Owens TN 3.7⬇⬇ Blocky FB/TE. OT Andrew Babalola KS 4.8 Elite 1st rnd type but a bit raw too. OG Avery Gach MI 4.1⬆ Smart and nasty Zinterish G. C Kaden Strayhorn MI 3.8 IMG, top C in class, son of MSU radio DEFENSE Pos Player State Stars In a nutshell NT Travis Moten KY 3.5⬆ Wrestling build-a-bear DT Bobby Kanka MI 4.0⬆⬆ Tenacious DT DT/DE Benny Patterson IN 3.6⬆ Build-a-bear flipped from Cincy. SDE Nate Marshall IL 4.6⬆ Elite heavy edge, maybe DT WDE Julius Holly GA 3.9⬇ Solid high-floor pass rusher. MLB Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng MD (IMG) 4.3⬇⬇ Ravens-type, BJM top target all cycle. WLB Chase Taylor GA 3.6 Lanky/speedy underrated athlete Nk Kainoa Winston DC 4.4⬆ Rod Moore-ish Mike Sainristil. S Jordan Young NC 4.3 Zeke Berry-ish burst CB Shamari Earls VA 4.5 Elite tall CB flipped from UGA CB Jayden Sanders TX 3.9⬆ Tall/skinny super athlete ATH Elijah Dotson MI 4.2⬆⬆⬆ Very tall CB/S/WR, Belleville 4. Hoops vs Wisconsin Starts at 1:21:29 What did we learn? We learned WOLF! He wasn't playing like this at Yale—he was a point center but not a point GUARD. Finding that 14-foot pick-and-roll and Wisconsin has no answer. Defense is also this team's calling card, because Wolf can stay in front of a 6'5" guy. Rebounding? Maybe they didn't focus on it because everyone is still playing icebreakers to get to know each other, maybe they didn't practice it because Wisconsin and Gayle used to guard PGs. Songs: “Hi, Hey There, Hello”—The Mowglis    "Strawberry Letter23”—The Brothers Johnson “Mr. Fear”—SIAMES 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