What Michigan is Selling - Printable Version

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What Michigan is Selling - Ronnietrader - 06-03-2013

Michigan picks up 3 * linebacker Chase Winovich whom I guess we had some interest in according to Winovich.  Upon giving his verbal commitment, he remarked "I have the best shot at winning a national championship with the kids they are bringing in.  Academically, it's as great or superior than any other BCS Program.  Athletically, it's competitive in any sport that it undertakes to do."  Hmmm... sounds like another school I know. 

Based on Shaw's tweet from about a month ago which most implied was a response to Jabrill Peppers, it is clear what Michigan is trying to sell.  I suppose we can look at this as a positive as Hoke deigns the existence of Stanford as a national power or be concerned that Shaw's biggest selling point is being severely challenged by what should be a recruiting rival for years to come.

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Re: What Michigan is Selling: BALONEY - Bruce Wang - 06-03-2013

(06-03-2013, 06:31 AM)Ronnietrader link Wrote:best shot at winning a national championship with the kids they are bringing in.  Academically, it's as great or superior than any other BCS Program.  Athletically, it's competitive in any sport that it undertakes to do."  Hmmm... sounds like another school I know. 

If by "sounds like another school I know" qualified as total bull, then yes it sounds like that parochial college in Indiana that the Wolverines used to have a rivalry with.

To be truthful, Hoke should have made the following disclaimer "Academically, as great or superior than any other BCS Program" with the exception of 11 other universities.

Michigan is a great university.  That's why I applied there.  The 2nd best public university 20 years ago.  Although it's now only the 4th best public university, it still likely still gets lots of applications from Asian-Americans across the entire Midwest that need a safety school.

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Re: What Michigan is Selling - oman - 06-03-2013

Helmet design and tricked up retro unis for the win.

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Michigan is NOT a top program - Redrum - 06-03-2013

It is a recovering program.  Brady Hoke is not a brilliant coach,  he's an adequate coach who won't crash the ambulance.  Michigan succeeds by sheer mass and momentum.  With competent leadership they can cruise along in prominence if not excellence.  They are doing a good job selling academics.  That's not true excellence, but as long as prominent programs at equally academically reputed public universities [xref K.al and and UCLA] continue efforts to slum their way back into respectability,  then Michigan will be able to succeed with their academic sell.  And, with competent leadership they will succeed anyway because of the Big Ten's regional gravity.

I never got the big deal with the Michigan helmets.  Iconic, I guess...but the striping and whatever that thing on the front is doesn't mimic any fur coloration on any wolverine picture I've seen.

Back in the dark times,  Stanford fans had a recruiting mantra that made sense then, and still does now: It doesn't matter which recruits we lose...it matters which ones we get.  We had to keep repeating it not to lose heart.  The last time I heard us having to reassure ourselves with that truth was in year two of the Harbaugh regime.  Haven't really needed it to steady our nerves since then.  But whether we feel we need it or not, it remains true.  If the football system is well coached and matches the talent we do get,  we don't have to fear Michigan.

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Re: What Michigan is Selling - OutsiderFan - 06-03-2013

Let's be real here.  If Stanford regularly filled a 100,000 seat stadium, Stanford would be given a much more serious look by a lot of recruits.  These kids can talk about how important academic pursuits and the brand value of a degree are all they want, but he bottom line is most are much more interested in the big time college football stages than they are the academics.

This isn't to say football players can't get a great education at Michigan, or even that Stanford football players are universally academically superior to Michigan's.  The point is Stanford's 50,000 (not always full) seats just aren't going to be big enough for some kids who when push comes to shove really do value big time football stages more than their academic opportunities and brand value of the degree.

I've never been one to believe it is a rote fact that having a Stanford degree makes someone more capable than someone with other degrees.  But it is an irrefutable fact that many of the best jobs are more available to former athletes with a Stanford degree, than Michigan ones.

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We are what we are - Redrum - 06-03-2013

Not being able to fill a 50K capacity stadium bugs me and depresses me sometimes.  I wish we had the kind of demand that already made expanding the stadium a realistic topic of conversation.  And I agree that some kids value playing in front of 100,000 fans over all else. So it goes.  We're not the school for them.  We're not the football program for them.   

BTW, it was a lot more fun watching Owen Marecic's career or Toby Gerhart's career than Denard Robinson's.  The only time a gave a crap about him or his team was when they played Notre Dame.

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Re: What Michigan is Selling - oman - 06-03-2013

Redrum, I've been attacked by wolverines hunting nutria in the U.P., and that helmet looks EXACTLY like a wolverine...




[**Yes, I meant to be vague about who was hunting the nutria.]

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" that helmet looks EXACTLY like a wolverine" - Redrum - 06-03-2013

Wolverines are blue, with yellow stripes?    And how do they kill anything with that big face guard cage?  How do you know it was really a wolverine and not a drunk Michigan football player?

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Re: We are what we are - oman - 06-03-2013

(06-03-2013, 08:27 AM)Redrum link Wrote:Not being able to fill a 50K capacity stadium bugs me and depresses me sometimes.  I wish we had the kind of demand that already made expanding the stadium a realistic topic of conversation.  And I agree that some kids value playing in front of 100,000 fans over all else. So it goes.  We're not the school for them.  We're not the football program for them.   

I think if we win and we have Voldemort candidates, it levels the field, but I think ultimately this is correct and just the way it goes..  The game day experience with that many fans is intoxicating.  Kids base their decisions on colleges based on some pretty non-scientific criteria.

I picked Stanford because of the weather.  I hadn't even been to a game.

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Re: What Michigan is Selling - FarmBoy - 06-03-2013

17 year old boys have never been the most non-partisan observers and rational decision makers. I'm sure Michigan recruiters are able to cherry-pick enough "facts" to make Michigan look truly on par with the other truly elite academic institutions. As for their championship potential, I won' t poo-poo their chances given how quickly fortunes can change in big-time college football (see Stanford '07 vs. '10-'12 and Auburn '10 vs. '12.) Michigan clearly has the resources to put together a run and given the overall weak B1G, their opportunity of running the table in the future are better than most.

In the end, a recruit's choices reveals their true nature, not what they said was important going into the process. And not just choices of school, but what they do when they're there. If Winovich attends UM and avails himself of all the academic opportunities that are open to an elite athlete with interest, then I'm sure he can get an elite education.

Even if we filled a 100K stadium, it wouldn't get the recruits who are drawn to the all-consuming football culture of the SEC, ND and some B1G schools. These boys don't just want the screaming fans on Saturdays, they want to be idolized for their efforts Sun through Fri as well.

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Re: " that helmet looks EXACTLY like a wolverine" - Bruce Wang - 06-03-2013

(06-03-2013, 08:36 AM)Redrum link Wrote:Wolverines are blue, with yellow stripes?

This Wolverine is blue and yellow with black stripes.  Does that count?

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Sure, Michigan might break through to true excellence - Redrum - 06-03-2013

Nothing categorically eliminates that possibility.  They've got a way to go before that, though.  Brady Hoke was seen as the antidote to the quirky, untraditional regime of Rich Rod.  Hoke =  A return to the true Michigan Way.  Now,  Hoke has to prove that he's special and he can make the Michigan team special.  Nothing he's shown so far in his career or back at Michigan screams "special" but that doesn't mean he can't do it.

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Re: What Michigan is Selling - fullmetal - 06-03-2013

If Michigan doesn't start getting the recruits it wants, it'll keep floundering in its offensive identity crisis for a while.  Nu-spread or old-school smashmouth?  Well, who'd they get?  And who's coming back next year?  And how comfortable is the OL with the blocking schemes?

The "run what fits your personnel" idea only works as far as your personnel share the same schematic strengths.  If the recruits read the tea leaves, Michigan is a very confused giant.  A giant to be sure, but one who isn't sure which way to go.

If Chase Winovich thinks that Michigan is the best place for him to win a national championship, he must not have been recruited by Stanford or any $EC schools (or Oregon or Ohio State).

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Re: What Michigan is Selling - jacketree - 06-03-2013


I kind of see it.

I thought the helmet striping was supposed to evoke the old leather helmet pattern. Or maybe they just stole it from Aptos High School.

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Re: What Michigan is Selling - fullmetal - 06-03-2013

If I remember right, they stole the design from Princeton way back in the day.

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Re: What Michigan is Selling - CowboyIndian - 06-03-2013

(06-03-2013, 05:25 PM)fullmetal link Wrote:If I remember right, they stole the design from Princeton way back in the day.

The stripes on their retro jerseys from last season are reminiscent of old Princeton unis. Princeton's stripes down the arm were thinner. The Michigan helmet is a copy of the Princeton 'Tiger' helmet worn by the Tigers in the 30s when they were coached by Fritz Crisler, who went on to coach at Michigan. Coincidence? I think not.


Here's the whole story: http://www.princeton.edu/football/helmet.html

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Re: What Michigan is Selling - yvonne - 06-03-2013

Dick Kazmaier's daughter Patty was a star on the women's ice hockey team in the early 1980s. She was class of '84 or '85.

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Re: What Michigan is Selling - yvonne - 06-03-2013

Wow. I was wrong on the year, '86, but more importantly, I just found out that she died in 1990 of a rare blood disease.

sad.

http://www.goprincetontigers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10600&ATCLID=205243960

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