Unverified Voracity Casts The First Stone

Clarification: Yesterday I told people wishing to enter the BlogPoll that they should contact me, but I was not entirely clear. The BlogPoll is a college football poll much like the AP or Coaches polls (except, like, thousands of times better) voted on by college football bloggers. You have to have a blog. Sorry for the confusion.

Noooooo, my precious piñatas. Every once in a while -- usually when it's slow -- I come across something that reduces me to a gibbering rage machine. When this happens the result is usually something like "Matt Hayes looks like a horse" or "Stewart Mandel wants to sexytime Troy Smith" or "Tom Dienhart should be tasered and locked far away from the internet." These are not productive, per se. They do not advance the general understanding of football. And Peter Bean's got a point when he winces at them:

I sometimes cringe these days at some of the more inflammatory posts in the blogosphere these days - at least the ones which purport to be criticisms of mainstream media.

Mainstream media criticism is an important part of what a lot of sports blogs do these days, but I really do wonder whether it does anyone any good to write that ESPN "licks monkey balls" or something like that. Unfortunately, that’s more the norm than the exception.

I think the next big step for sports bloggers will be to maintain their edge and personalities but to get over the little guy complex that seems to motivate so many to lash out angrily at the big kids in the park.

Sometimes even I wince at the nasty things I write even before I publish them. But once the red mist has lifted it's like 1:30 and I've got this screed and my blog has seven mouths and no bottom so up it goes. So, yeah, I see where he's coming from. But but but... someone randomly linked an old post of mine in the comments at EDSBS and I went back and read it. "Litmus Lloyd" deals with the odd response to the mild opprobrium Carr offered Urban Meyer in the wake of the BCS fiasco:

I just think that based on some of the comments the Florida coach has made in the last two weeks, he has been campaigning strenuously for a berth in the championship game and making some statements about Michigan that I think were inappropriate. That certainly is going to stir a controversy, and who knows what that's going to lead to.

Mandel made this into something else indeed:

I wasn't particularly thrilled with either coach's approach, and I think the whole exchange marked a particularly ugly moment for the BCS. ... [Stuff criticizing Meyer snipped]

All that said, I thought Carr's response to Meyer went completely overboard. Never once during the final two weeks of the season did Meyer say anything derogatory about the Wolverines. He never even said his team was better than Carr's. All he said was that Michigan had its shot at Ohio State and that he felt his team had earned the right to get its shot at the Buckeyes. So don't give me this "Carr took the high road" nonsense.

This was totally wrong. Meyer:

Should the Wolverines upset the Buckeyes in a rematch, Meyer would not consider Michigan the champions.

"Absolutely (there would be no national champion)," he said. "If I'm Ohio State, I go get a bunch of rings and say, 'We won the national championship.' That's not right."

And I read this over again and just.... ooooohhh. Mandel had no idea what the coaches were saying in the biggest story of the year. WTF. This is a highly visible national columnist who has no idea what's going on.

See, the thing is: there are no Ivan Maisel rip jobs floating out there. No one's fisking Bruce Feldman or Pat Forde (at least not on a regular basis; exceptions made for credulously following Jim Harbaugh around on a leash) every time they publish something. The guys who really get it on a regular basis -- Mike Freeman, Dennis Dodd, Mandel, maybe a few others -- deserve it. They aren't getting heat out of some little guy persecution complex (which I do think is responsible for 90% of the Simmons complaining), they're getting heat because they suck so badly that college football would be covered better if they evaporated and were not replaced. They get more stuff wrong than right, constantly use the most banal shtick available to lend their opinions weight without actually doing any of that research stuff, and permanently implant memes into your rival's fans that will never go away despite their total lack of validity. Who looks worse: the blogosphere for caterwauling about it or the actual employers of these guys? I dunno. I feel that every time someone points out that Stuart Mandel never writes anything worthwhile is an opportunity for someone with some power to read it, agree, and send him to prep volleyball.

Hey, I'm with Peter: blogs versus MSM is tired. I don't have a problem with beatwriters or even most columnists. But I do have a problem with wastes of time and space and think they're worth a pillory or two every once in a while, if only because one of these days Mandel's head will split and tootsie roll pops will come spilling forth.

Beilein out on the town. Fluffy video from a Detroit charity basketball thing featuring Beilein and Duke's coach:



No big deal, but he's certainly more visible than Amaker ever was.

SMQB considers the Brennan. He asks "How good is Colt Brennan?" He concludes "not amazingly" after checking out the stats he put up against actual teams, of which he faced three:

More than anything, Brennan is a product of his environment and its benefits, namely a week-in, week-out dose of the crappiest defenses the Bowl Subdivision has to offer.

Why SMQB didn't come to this conclusion months ago when he voted Brennan the second best player in all the land and helped contribute to his totally unjustifiable victory in the inaugural MaxwellPundit we'll never know. What we did know at the end of the year: certain players were very good indeed against other players who were quite good themselves. You knew Darren McFadden and Reggie Nelson and Calvin Johnson and Alan Branch were amongst the best football players in the college ranks last year; all one knew about Brennan is that he was an improved version of Timmy Chang who is way better than the very worst defenses in I-A, which means we knew nothing.

If only SMQB had come to this epiphany in time and dumped Kliff Kingsbury 2006 off his ballot, the eminently deserving and completely awesome Reggie Nelson would have won, Sports Illustrated would have collapsed, and blogs would have overrun the mainstream media, triumphant. Or something like that.

This is a long way of saying that I don't care what Brennan does against this schedule...

Northern Colorado: I-AA (1-10 last year as "re-classifying/provisional" from Div. II)
Louisiana Tech: 118 [<---pass efficiency D] UNLV: 113
Charleston Southern: I-AA (68th; allowed 300-plus yards to Wingate and Coastal Carolina)
Idaho: 101
Utah State: 119
San Jose State: 67
New Mexico State: 111
Fresno State: 107
Nevada: 48
Boise State: 30
Washington: 74

...I ain't voting for him for anything, not even "Best Brennan," as there's no way he can prove as much as a dozen players around the country who will face actual competition and excel against it. Brennan's victory last year was so dumb it made me weep. Mandel could have done that! We did something that Mandel could have done. Fie on us if we allow it to happen again.

Well, yeah. Kirk Bohls has an on-point column about the whole Texas-Big Ten thing, though I'd like to see this report:

Texas was immediately rushed to the forefront as the prime object of the Big Ten's affections, even though there wasn't a single credible source behind it. One circulated report hinted that it was a 95-percent certainty the Longhorns would be swapping leagues.

Um... circulated where? I hate blind leads like that. A circulated report hints there's a 95 percent chance Jim Tressel is an alien from Trafalmadore. A circulated report suggests there's a 95 percent chance monkeys are made from rubber bands. Etc. Anyway, it tells everyone what we already knew -- no Texas -- suggests Missouri, and is generally reasonable aside from that. Note of particular interest to Michigan fans:

"We're happy," DeLoss Dodds says.

The athletic director says Texas hasn't even been able to persuade Michigan to schedule it in a home-and-home series. And frankly, Texas would never think about bolting to the Big Ten because of the excessive rigors such a move would place on its athletes and fans.

I wish we could make this happen, especially in like 2009 or 2010 when Mallett and McGuffie and maybe Stonum are Michigan's new era Hart-Henne-Manningham. Chances of that: zero. Sigh.

(Someone else's) mailbag! The Game addresses that traffic stop from earlier in this year:

So I remember hearing at the beginning of the summer that there was a random traffic stop in Michigan that apparently had Mr. Manningham in the car along with what was suspected to be prescription drugs and maybe marijuana. Did anything ever come of this? I remember most of that story was pure speculation but didn’t some local news station report that the drugs were Mario’s but not in his possession? Was Mario not in the car afterall? Is this still under investigation?

The incident Matt is talking about is linked here. As you can see in the somewhat vague write-up, Manningham’s name isn’t listed, nor are any of the players’. That’s because names were never put on police reports, nor were formal charges ever filed. At the time, I spoke with an athletic department spokesperson, who assured me that charges had not been filed and that I’d be notified if they were. There were some reports in blogs (I don’t think any actual newspapers speculated it was Manningham, though a few newspaper personalities may have hinted Manningham’s involvement on local sports television shows), but nothing has come from it.

Whether I think Manningham was actually involved in this incident would be strictly my opinion and I don’t think it matters. I don’t know if he was in the car, and speculating further would blow things out of proportion — kind of like what happened in May when the story was first reported. To my knowledge, the case is essentially closed.

So that's good. Nothing came of the stop, but since I was the guy who said it was Manningham I feel I should defend myself. A few days before the incident became public knowledge with the publication of an article in a local newspaper, I received a tip from someone stating details confirmed by that article -- three guys, football players, traffic stop in Monroe county, some drug suspicion -- that named Manningham as one of the players. Even though this seemed totally credible I didn't want to just run with it in case it was an elaborate hoax; a friend and I spent a couple hours calling the various law enforcement branches of Monroe County attempting to verify. We could not, so I sat on it until the publication of said article proved the source's validity beyond a shadow of a doubt; thus the post from which that impression was gleaned.

This blog does deal in rumor, as internet rumors have proven to be highly accurate predictors of future events, but those things are always denoted as such and when I come out and break something -- these posts are tagged "actual news" -- it's because I have multiple sources or one proven source indicating the same thing. My credibility is critical for this endeavor, and I want to make it clear that I do not run around printing stuff without good reason. End unnecessarily paranoid self-defense.

(Side note: MGoBlog welcomes all tips, no matter how peripheral or totally unusable due to salacious content, and the proprietor thinks well of the tipsters during his nightly prayers. Email address can be found on the left sidebar near the top, or: mgoblog@gmail.com.)

Etc: MVictors points out a rip job from the husband of Michigan academic support honcho Shari Acho -- often approvingly cited as a major factor in impressing recruits' parents -- that is way over the line. I mean... I called Harbaugh a name or two, but... wow.

CFN is stupid; CFN still stupid; CFN causes birth defects in fetuses. RBUAS on Henne.

Final Maxwell Pundit Ballot

So. What seems clear disappears into a heap of confusion as the season clatters to a halt. Troy Smith bites the dust against Florida. Darren McFadden goes meekly against Wisconsin. Slaton's fumbles still haunt WVU, and it's not like I was voting for Brady Quinn anyway but good God the NFL has to perk up to these performances sooner or later, yes/no?

Jumble jumble. So who was the best player in the country? Hell if I know. Candidates in no particular order:

Reggie Nelson

PRO: Indisputably best defensive back in the country no matter what the Thorpe people think. Crusher who mixed highlight reel hits with actual interceptions (and interceptions caused either directly or indirectly). Leader of a secondary that plain annihilated Heisman winner Troy Smith. Possesses kickin' dreads.
CON: Is a safety, and not one of those run-supporting terrors that rack up a lot of tackles. Statistically thin: 6 INTs, 34 tackles, 2 TFL. (Noted that the INTs are not thin.)

Alan Branch

PRO: Man-mountain defensive tackle was the real motive force behind the Michigan defense all year and can't be blamed for its secondary-based implosion. One of the few Michigan defenders to show well in games against OSU (two turnovers and can't be charged with any of the damage done) and USC (key in limiting USC's run game when they bothered with it). Featured abandoning the carcass of Anthony Morelli in one of the year's iconic images. Guaranteed top ten NFL draft pick, which is not what the award is about but is an indicator of his talent at a position the layman finds hard to judge.
CON: Like Nelson, plays at a position that is not looked upon kindly by statistics. Unlike Nelson, plays on a defense that was scalded in two consecutive losses at year's end.

Calvin Johnson

PRO: Is Calvin Johnson.
CON: Erased in several critical GT games this year, whether it was by opposing defenses or Reggie Ball.

Darren McFadden

PRO: Few players can claim to have the sort of transformative effect on a program that McFadden did this year upon the Razorbacks. Houston Nutt was headed for unemployment at the beginning of the year after a crushing at the hands of USC followed up by limp and fortunate wins over SEC dregs Vanderbilt and Alabama. A nooner versus #2 Auburn on CBS loomed as the first step on a downward spiral that would end in a game versus a Sun Belt foe. Then -- poof -- like that, he's gone. McFadden went Keyser Soze on the Auburn defense, staked Arkansas to a lead and they didn't look back until they ran straight into vastly superior opposition in LSU and Florida. Before the ride was over McFadden had taken the Razorbacks to the SEC championship game and a New Year's Day bowl despite playing on a team with -- and I want to make this very clear -- not even the barest hint of a functional quarterback. Also was bestowed with the year's coolest nickname: "Humanity Advanced."
CON: He was bottled up and watched his team lose the aforementioned SEC championship game and New Year's Day bowl.

Dwayne Jarrett

PRO: Is also Calvin Johnson, basically.
CON: Missed significant chunk of the year with an injury. Of no use in MNC-shattering loss to UCLA.

Jamarcus Russell

PRO: A defensive tackle who throws the ball willy-nilly all over the field and to extraordinary effect. Fastest waddler in history of college football. Culpepperian/Lorenzenian dimensions always good for a laugh/wonder.
CON: Singlehandedly responsible for most of LSU's turnovers against Florida and thus actively lost his team's most important game of the season. Other players with resume flaws were usually neutralized.

Brady Quinn

[laughter]
...but seriously, folks...

Ballot

1. Reggie Nelson, Florida. I will admit to the possibility that I have been seduced by extracurriculars that have little impact on his play on the field (Orson's mancrush, his ability to fill the disappointing shoes of the last guy who looked like the Predator, Omar Jacobs, with bone-mangling authority befitting the hairstyle -- which should now be passed on to sufficiently badass Florida safeties until the stars grow cold and dim, like the #1 finds its way onto the shoulders of Michigan receivers). But six interceptions and a convincing case from various announcers during Florida games that a fair number of the rest of Florida's staggering total of 21 picks were caused either directly or indirectly by Nelson make a convincing case outside of personal biases. Florida was fourth in pass efficiency difference in a year when knowledgeable Florida fans were downright panicking about everyone other than Nelson in the secondary.

Plus... you know you're dealing with some sort of eccentric football genius if you've ever watched the guy line up 15 yards deep presnap. Who does that? Who aligns themself like that and singlehandedly removes the deep pass from every opponent? A cover-two in one body, I give you Reggie Nelson.

2. Alan Branch, Michigan. The one benefit of Smith performing so miserably and OSU losing so heavily -- other than schadenfreude and a sudden thinning of the OSU troll horde in the comments and the crowd shots of OSU fans late in the MNC game and... let's start over.

One of the many benefits of Troy Smith performing so miserably and OSU losing so heavily in the national championship game is it allows me to vote for defensive players with a clear conscience, which I must confess was always my hope. For a long time it looked as if my MaxwellPundit ballot would be indistinguishable from that of an addled Heisman voter who only acknowledges that players exist on one side of the ball. Not so in the wake of Smith's sudden (and severe) mortality.

So here goeth Branch, which may be homerism of a sort, but all I can say is that I've watched every snap he's played this year and good God. Michigan returns Terrance Taylor and Will Johnson, two very promising players who were outstanding as mere sophomores this year, but Branch is a once-in-a-generation talent for the Michigan program. But, really, this is the reason:



For ten games this year the story was the Michigan defense, and though it came crashing down around him Branch remained steadfast in the middle.

3. Darren McFadden, Arkansas. Sheer improbability counts for something. Earns major style points for the Wildcat stuff. Featured in one of the year's turning point plays; threw touchdowns when too bored to run them in himself; arose and dragged Arkansas through the muck. This year's Atlas, and next year's, too, if Mustain doesn't improve quickly. Bonus points for nickname and tendency to zip into endzones.

4. Troy Smith, Ohio State. Hideous failure slides him way down. What do you do with this guy? He was magnificent when called upon, aside from that Penn State game, -- and even then he turned in one of the year's most memorable plays -- until the final hurdle, when he almost literally could not have played worse. There is much crowing about speed and pressure and blah blah from slack-jawed yokel country, but from this observer's perspective the only speed deficiency suddenly apparent in the Not Fiesta bowl existed in Smith's synapses. Particularly inexcusable was the final nail in OSU's coffin where he held onto the ball far, far too long, allowing Jarvis Moss to rattle it free from behind.

I still can't shake the terror that bastard engenders in me, though, so on the list he stays.

5. Calvin Johnson, Georgia Tech. Pure sentiment, I'll admit, the equivalent of a Heisman voter slapping a token defender third on his ballot or that guy who voted for an Alabama punter one year. What could have been if Johnson had not saddled himself with -- and I submit that this is no exaggeration -- the worst four-year starting quarterback in NCAA history? No one knows.

Viva la defense!