M-Borg vs. THE Flavortown U Thread, Orig. by Buckeye Paul, absconded w/by talent.

[iam416]

Coach Herman doing his penance for not running Hyde up MSU's ass when it mattered most: http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/01/ohio...nta-ice-storm/

[Jeff Buchanan]

We had non-stop news coverage on all the major networks from about 5pm on yesterday. I missed Ellen, Dr. Phil, NCIS then had to endure missing GMA this morning before I just went to the computers. Thank God we didn't lose power and/or the broadband connection.

If I heard it once, I heard it a thousand times from the news jerks ..... "in everyone of those cars trapped on the interstate there is a story." Hermann's is one of them.

But just like I would expect from anyone wearing the scarlet and gray, he is a dumb fuck. From Alpharetta he could have ditched his rental car and taken Marta direct to the airport. Reportedly they didn't stop running.

Heh.

[iam416]

Anything less than his odyssey would have been insufficient retribution for not running Hyde up Narduzzi's ass.

I'm now satisfied. Heh.

[Dr. Strangelove]

I read online that the GT/UNC game tonight is still on, but they are discouraging people from trying to drive to the game and giving them refunds. But anyone walking up will be let in for free

[Jeff Buchanan]

Anything less than his odyssey would have been insufficient retribution for not running Hyde up Narduzzi's ass.

I'm now satisfied. Heh.

Satisfied? Your team lost to the better (gag) of the two utterly despicable programs in the B10.

Deal with it.

In the words of the immortal Lombardi, "winning is not everything ..... it is the only thing."

You know this.

Speaking of which, remember when CFB used to be simple and really fun? Its getting harder and harder to enjoy the new entertainment it has become Watching the kids get pawned in the money grab that is part of CFB now makes me angry. Losing doesn't help either.

Talking recently to our mutual friend, you'll be interested to know his take on the 2014 season. He, among others who are season ticket holders and have been generous with their gifting, are considering not gifting and not purchasing season tickets along with the required seat license fees.

The reasons do not involve hating on the current state of M football but rather the suckitude of the home schedule for 2014 and the ineptitude of Dave Brandon.

The folks that are considering similar action, from inside sources he speaks with, are not small in number. Season ticket holders are not renewing at the usual rate. There's no panic yet but Dave's arm pits are probably getting a bit moist. It looks as though he might be in full panic mode by mid April if the trend continues.

What I might be doing in 2014, along with others of similar mind wishing to take on some manner of protest, is traveling to Ann Arbor when its still warm but watching the game on the tele at the tailgate site. At least I can get up, get a beer and a nice snack during the God awful-long commercial breaks this way, still see the grand kids and hang out with Sean.

This way I won't have go inside the Big House and be forced to listen to rawk and the really inane features that Brandon has engineered that then blast out of those huge screens he keeps bragging about. Awful.

I will miss the band although you can't hear them ever since George Cavender, who famously said, "if you play one note, play it loudly," left in 1979. Miking them when people complained they weren't loud enough was the worst decision ever. The band sucks about as much as the football team. Bad times.

As well, I've already planned and booked another European Cruise that goes from mid October through early November. 27 days. Why do I want to even sit out in the cold and watch a team and listen to a band that sucks. Even though things might change team-wise with Nussmeir, I have my doubts. Hoke is not the guy. I'd rather be in Venice. I will be back in ATL for The Game and will watch no matter what. That is one thing involving M football I will not bail on.

[Mike]

I'll see you in September when I hope to score tickets to early season games for about $20. I still plan on going to several games but I will not buy a single ticket through the ticket office. If I can't get any for below face then I watch at the tailgate. That's my new approach.

[hack]

What I might be doing in 2014, along with others of similar mind wishing to take on some manner of protest, is traveling to Ann Arbor when its still warm but watching the game on the tele at the tailgate site. At least I can get up, get a beer and a nice snack during the God awful-long commercial breaks this way, still see the grand kids and hang out with Sean.

This is what I've been saying for several years now. Is worth it to go inside the stadium once or twice a year only.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Ugly loss to Penn State. First time we've lost to them in 9 or 10 years.

[iam416]

They are so bad defensively it's impossible to watch. I expect the offensive shitshow (speaking of which, I'm not exactly why you slow the tempo down once you get an 11 point lead with an offense that is awful in the halfcourt). However, I can't watch them play that poorly on defense -- and it's been ongoing for the entire conference slate. They can't defend for shit.

Team defense takes 5 good defenders. Ross is horrid and Williams is terrible.

Oh well. I think it's pretty much etched in stone now that they're NIT at best. That makes for a stress-free March for me. After the last 4 years years, I guess I could use the break. Bah.

[Dr. Strangelove]

BTW, how did we miss talking about Gene Smith's promotion and contract extension?

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/01/28/OSU_Gene_Smith_promotion_raise.html

[iam416]

Buchanan:

I wouldn't fault anyone for bailing on season tickets this season. Well, especially since I don't get season tickets for OSU. It's far too easy to go to games ala carte. And cheaper. I still love going and tailgating. But, man, that is a brutal home slate. OSU had to deal with that for awhile. They got back-to-backed with PSU and ended up with PSU/M always on the same home slate. OSU eventually was the plus side of a back-to-back so it reversed. But those years w/o PSU and M were not good. They tried to get good OoC games at home for those years -- and were decent with it including USC and Texas. But woof -- bad schedule.

M is in the same situation. The schedules are always done in 2 year increments, so no one loses out on a home game. Brandon really needs to push to get MSU and OSU split again.

[Jeff Buchanan]

...... Oh well. I think it's pretty much etched in stone now that they're NIT at best. That makes for a stress-free March for me. After the last 4 years years, I guess I could use the break. Bah.

Lombardi also said, "winning is a habit, unfortunately, so is losing."

I loved Lombardi .... as much as I enjoy your pain.

Welcome to the club of pain.

It's humbling.

How's your cycling? Do you do any indoor spinning to keep an edge?

[iam416]

OSU will be fine. Just not this year.

I crank up running in Winter and mix in suffering on my bike on a trainer, which is basically spinning.

When it gets nicer more cycling and less running. Very complimentary for me, at least.

Logging outdoor miles this winter pretty much blows. My tolerance for misery is about 15 degrees and bad road conditions. 140 running miles but only one decnt ride this month. F. Cant wait for 45 degree days.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Buchanan:..... It's far too easy to go to games ala carte. And cheaper. I still love going and tailgating.

I'm near the top of the wait list for season tickets. Sean could be too and we considered splitting a pair of season tickets and biting the bullet on seat licenses for 2013 but decided against it.

We've been ala carting too using a pool of tickets we've been in on for over 8 seasons. Up until now, we've bought the entire lot of home games each season ...... doubt I'll do that this year though because the slate is terrible and I'm just pissed off.

I'm with Mike on the approach for this season. I'll discuss this with our pool buddies but I just don't want to help feed the machine that Brandon thinks he can depend on. The more loyal fans just cave for, well, because we're loyal, the more it feeds into the kind of game Brandon thinks he can play.

He needs a string of games where only 80 or 90K buy in, students stop showing up and its obvious on TV that the stadium is no longer selling out and the talking heads start talking openly about it. The product right now is shit for all the reasons we've talked about here.

He and the rest of deciders need to feel the pressure and start listening to what fans with deep pockets want and not the cardboard for pizza he's trying to sell them. It may not cost anything now, and Brandon can play this game for a while but someone with a brain inside the U better be paying attention.

There's a generation, maybe two of potential M fans who are going to want to be doing something else with their kids that they value more than M football on Saturday afternoons. They'll stop shelling out big bucks for a poor quality product to keep the loyalty train running. They won't do it. Those who could be cultivated as the core of future M football loyalists will be lost to the game forever.

[hack]

Thomas was a terrible defender last year, so perhaps your OSU team has something else in addition going on this year. Odd that it would happen in Craft's senior year. The rest of the league dodged a bullet with OSU not really adding any talent around Craft. He's played with significantly less talent every year.