JustThinking

Spawn reader JUSTHINKING posted this in the comments section of the Five Questions post. Wanted to highlight it and thank JT for sharing his thoughts. Sorry it took me so long to get this up, I am on vacation with my family in San Diego this week.

2010 will be my 33rd year of attending Michigan football games. I'm old enough to have seen Troy Woolfolk's daddy pound the rock behind Russell Davis' lead blocking. I wanted to be Rick Leach.

Michigan ran the probverbial table for so long that it never occurred to me that it would ever be possible for them to actually have a losing season. Ever.

But T-9 Wins with her defense comment. Therein lies the difference.

Bo Era Ave Score: 29 to 11
Mo Era Ave Score: 32 to 17
LLoyd Era Ave Score: 29 to 18
Combined Ave Score: 30 to 15

Rich Era Ave Score: 25 to 28

We need to only average 5 more pts/game to reach the average of the three prior coaches, from '69 to '07.

We need to remove 13 points per game from the opposing teams to reach the same average from '69 to '07.

Offense isn't much of a reach. Defense needs some WORK.

Now, Bo really skewed those defense numbers, as 7 of his 20 seasons he kept opponents under 100 points per season (nearly 1/3 of his coaching career!) In those 7 specific seasons, opponents only scored an average of 6.74 points per game against us!! Only Lloyd came close to the under 100 mark for a season (1997) at 114 - with the average score being 27 to 10.

Bo was right. Defense Wins Championships. Bo won 13 Conference Championships in 20 years (5 outright); Mo won 3 Big Tens in 5 years (2 outright); Lloyd won 5 Big Tens in 13 years (2 outright) - not to mention a National Championship - again, in that stifling Defensive year of 1997.

In the 21 years we won the conference, the average score was 31 to 13. Actually pretty close to the 30 to 15 average scores for those three coaches over those 38 seasons. Damn, we were good.

Now, herein lies the other problem. The unthinkable has happened in our lifetimes, and it has continued far longer than we could have imagined - if we could have ever imagined it happening in the first place....which we couldn't.

What a cluster#$%^&. The insanity of all insanities. Two back to back, losing seasons after nearly 40 years of glory. Four #$%^& DECADES of WINNING FOOTBALL. All the glory. All the domination. All the great teams, great players, a few Heisman winners,and wonderful, wonderful memories of Fall Saturdays with over 100,000 of your best friends at the Big House.

Folks, it is completely understandable that we are still reeling from the shock, the loss, the unimaginable itself.

Having watched my father die a slow death from cancer at the relatively young age of 55, I don't say this lightly. It's as though a cancer has spread through our team and all we can do is sit there and watch it as it grows and destroys all the joy we once knew to be Michigan Football. All we can seemingly do is sit there and pray and watch, and hope for the best. One thing I do know - being and staying negative doesn't help a #$%^&* thing.

Many people think Rich and his system are the cancer, as we haven't had a losing season in nearly 40 years before he arrived in Ann Arbor. Perhaps there is some truth in that, but not as much as people like to think.

A new coach, a completely new offensive system, several defensive schemes, some graduations, some attrition, a shitload of young kids and not a whole lot of leadership. All in the same place at the same time.

Flashes of greatness and shades of incompetence. From the heights of ecstacy to the valley of the shadow of death, it contniues - this rollercoaster of Michigan Football. One thing I do know - speaking for myself - I'm riding the bandwagon and I'm not getting off.

I see a bunch of great kids, (most of them not old enough to legally drink a beer), with enough talent to play Division One football, thrown into a firestorm of adversity. I happen to believe that those who have stayed have bought into the new system and are paying the godforsaken BARWIS PRICE to get ready for the upcoming season. Nobody wants to win more than they do - not even us.

And I believe that the ongoing adversity that has surrounded this program over the last two years has started to unite this team in a way that perhaps winning wouldn't have. It's them against the world.

Nobody wants to return Michigan football back to greatness more than these kids that are about to take the field a month from now against UConn.

I'm going to be there in the crowd of 109,000+ on September 4th. Ready to watch. Ready to pray. Ready to believe in greatness. Ready to believe in my team. Ready to watch Brock Mealer lead the team out of the tunnel, onto the field and under that glorious Banner while the band plays the Greatest College Fight Song Ever Written - the Michigan Victors.

I'll be there yelling until I can't yell. Supporting my team from the stands the only way I can - with whatever voice I've got left.

I'm still All In for Michigan, and I hope you are too.

Here's a video I put together last weekend. I think the theme of this song epitomizes this team.

"We stand and we won't fall - we're one and one for all - the writing's on the wall - we are the Youth Gone Wild"

Who let the cows out?

I could not let T9's great buffet post go without a little photoshop magic, featuring my favorite buckeye.

I strongly encourage you to go here and vote in the "Are you afraid of another cow attack?" poll. The current results show 51% (302 of 595) say YES. We need to swing the vote more in favor of "yes" to make the public more aware of the danger presented by these animals.

The REAL story not reported by the Buckeye news:
Last Wednesday two cows being transported to Ohio State’s Veterinary Hospital escaped and caused a chaotic two-hour round-up on the campus athletic fields next to Lincoln Tower.

OSU Police and university officials used at least seven police cars, a university tractor, a cattle prod and tranquilizers to corral the cattle. Head football coach Jim Tressel was called on the scene, but was unable to make a difference. The cows were being brought to the veterinary school to have their hooves trimmed, a regular procedure among some breeds of cows.

OSU veterinary staff didn’t have a long-range tranquilizer gun on hand, so they called officials at the Columbus Zoo, who sent an employee to tranquilize the second cow. Once the cow was tranquilized, police lassoed it and led it into a trailer.

After he was subdued, the cow was heard mumbling "Barwis" over and over.

You need to VOTE now !!!

Snowball Fight !!!!

I'd like to see them do this in the S.E.C.

Game Day Open Thread: Penn State

“They are not stupid, you're just pissed off you cannot do it.”

----Coach Barwis

pic from dictailgate.com

Excessive

Wow, I take a couple days off the keyboard and all hell breaks loose. I wanted to take a moment from our normally scheduled Sunday programming to provide a place for thoughtful discussion and comment.

The Detroit Free Press has posted a major story about alleged NCAA violations within the Michigan football program. This is quite a change from all the "fluff" you see from the Detroit papers. As you would expect, it was also picked up by ESPN, CBS Sportsline, and others. All of the allegations seem to revolve around the time spent working out both off-season and in-season. Michigan and Rich Rodriguez deny any violations. After reading the article, the key issue seems to revolve around the definition of "voluntary".

The timing on this could not be any better with the season less than one week away. The bandoliers of Michigan haters and RR hunters are full of new ammo this morning. I don't even want to look at the comment sections on any of the blogs that have picked this up. All the off-season talk about how "hard they worked" and how "everyone is on the same page" seems to be a little less inspiring this morning. On the bright side, Sru has something other than Larry Harrison to talk about.

The Michigan football program has never been found guilty of a major NCAA violation.

SpawnIcon Contest : Yost Division

Here is the final division. I am going to name this one the "Yost Division" because it contains fun Michigan iconic memories.

Barwis	Winged Helmet	Desmond pose
Braylon '04 MSU	Manningham at ND	Yost

Online Surveys & Market Research

Thank you all for sending me your ideas and voting.

Chaos on the sidelines

One of the more interesting parts of the Michigan - Ohio State game was the chaos that appeared to erupt on the sidelines early in the 1st quarter. At this point Michigan had already intercepted a Pryor pass and missed a FG. The horseshoe crowd was obviously very loud and confusion seemed to setting in.

I promised I would "look at the tape" to figure out what happened. The ABC announcers said it was Charles Stewart (and other defensive players) yelling at the coaches. In my opinion, they were wrong. The players were not yelling at the coaches. Both the players and coaches were yelling at some "dude" on the sideline. I don't know who he is, but he has a Michigan adidas hoodie jacket on and a visible sideline pass.

I have grabbed a couple of video shots and put them in chronological order to explain what I think happened. I have also added the video (which does not show everything in order) so you can judge for yourself.

Edit: I agree with T9 that the "Dude" is Chris Allen, one of the S&C coaches. Now why he was pulling on Stewart's facemask is a question I would like to have answered.


1) Charles Stewart and the "Dude" argue while Ohio State is in the huddle. The "Dude" has his hand on Stewart's facemask and is pulling it.



2) There are already 11 men on the field when Stewart frees his facemask from the "Dude" and starts to run on the field


3) Defensive backs Coach Tony Gibson pulls Stewart off, then calls timeout. Defense team rolls to the sideline.


4) Coach Gibson yells at the "Dude" (guy in the adidas hoodie with the red arrow pointing at him). I have circled in red his sideline pass. RR stares him down. Barwis is pissed.


5) Stewart yells at the "Dude" again during the timeout. Barwis is still pissed.


6) The "Dude" stands quietly during the timeout. Again, I have no idea who this guy is or what he is doing on the sideline. I don't know why he and Stewart were fighting. He is not a member of the Michigan coaching staff as far as I can tell. If anyone knows who he is, please share.


7) Coach Gibson yells something to Mike Barwis. If I had to guess, it was something to the effect of "get that idiot out of here". Barwis nods his head. Someone should figure out if the "Dude" is still alive and/or arrange for his remains to be transported from Columbus.

Edit: We have gotten many (like almost 8,000) hits on this post over the last 36 hours. Several Ohio State and Michigan State boards have linked. Welcome to our horror show guys. Yes, it is clear to me that Barwis yells something back at Gibson, but the way that he nods his head and goes to the now identified Chris Allen -- indicates to me that he is going to take him away. You can read anything you want into the drama that is Michigan football these days. Keep in mind, Barwis and Gibson have worked together for years, I have no doubt Barwis dropped an F-Bomb (I did the same thing) but I also don't believe this was a battle between S&C and the position coaches.

Here is the video. Keep in mind, the fight between Stewart and the "Dude" is not shown until the end. Brian's Dad incorrectly states that it is a battle between the players and coaches.



I think it is important to note, this event did not have any effect on the game. Michigan's defense was playing with passion and speed early on. They were stopping the Buckeyes. It was not until they got worn out (a quarter and half of 3 and outs by your offense will do that) that Ohio State started scoring.

Halloween Hi-jinks

By this point just about every Michigan blogger in the universe has made a comment about Justin Boren's choice of halloween costume. While I would admit it is not a great idea for any high profile college football transfer to poke fun at his former school - most of you don't know the WHOLE story....

Rather that jumping to emotional conclusions and adding more fuel to the rivalry fire, we here at the Spawn of MZone have done a little bit of research on this very interesting night in Ohio's capital city. According to our inside sources, Justin Boren was originally going to a local TUOS campus Halloween party dressed as the Batman villain TwoFace, but right before he got dressed he took a phone call from a former Michigan teammate with some disturbing and shocking news. After what he heard, he was compelled to change his costume to respond to Rich Rodriguez, who apparently had a special costume of his own on Friday night...

Well, Justin Boren got dressed and eventually went out, had a few beers, caused a few laughs with his funny Michigan coaches gear ("....dude... they suck man....") and tried to use his official buckeye football id card to get closer to a drunk (and quite frankly not very attractive) blonde chick dressed like a crack whore in a playboy bunny outfit named Jessica. After getting shot down by Jessica he decided to walk to another bar when his worst nighmare came true... Apparently word of Boren's costume had spread quickly back up to Michigan -- and before anyone knew what happened Mike Barwis jumped in his car and headed south. What happened next is anyone's guess. No one from Columbus is talking, but someone did snap a picture with their cell phone.

O-H...

Mike Barwis Facts

There has been a lot written and said about Michigan Strength and Conditioning Coach Mike Barwis recently. I thought it was important to get some things straight.

Here are the top 10 things about Mike Barwis that you did not know:
10. Mike Barwis can sneeze with his eyes open.
9. Mike Barwis beat the sun in a staring contest.
8. Mike Barwis can strike a match on a bar of soap.
7. When Mike Barwis crosses the street, the cars have to look both ways.
6. Mike Barwis had his tonsils removed with a chainsaw.
5. Simply by pulling on both ends, Mike Barwis can stretch diamonds back into coal.
4. Mike Barwis can slam a revolving door.
3. Mike Barwis uses tabasco sauce instead of visine.
2. When Mike Barwis wants an egg, he cracks open a chicken.
1. Mike Barwis doesn't own a can opener, he just chews through the can.

I look foward to reading all your added Mike Barwis Facts.

Sports Science Friday: The Barwis School of Pukitude

AKA: STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING.

The language of Barwis (spoken in a gravel-like rumble at 78 rpms, minimum). As many of you know, I have been calling for Mike Gittleson's head for AGES, but who knew that the transformation / evolution of Michigan's S&C program would be, ahem, Barwinian????

In an attempt to define and translate what the heck Barwis is doing, I went to what is clearly his "Origin of the Species"......The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research......proving that there is definitely method behind the man's madness.

THE GOAL: condition, speed, agility, balance, flexibility, power, explosiveness

MATERIALS:

1) FAST-TWITCH FIBERS + Olympic training movements = Explosiveness

Human skeletal muscle contains 2 muscle fiber types: slow twitch (type I) and fast twitch (type II). The slow twitchers are involved in sustained strength movements and provide endurance. Fast twitchers are best at quick force generation and fine motor activities. Slow twitchers have a long latency period, meaning you fire them, and they provide a long, strong contraction but then take a while to recover. (sound like anything we know Catie???? )

anywho.....

Fast twitch fibers however, can be recruited quickly, with maximal force generation and then recover quickly---but they can fatigue faster. SO, by recruiting fast-twitch fibers you get an explosive response in terms of quickness and amount of force generated, but you can flame out quickly. (as it were, so to speak, DRINK YOUR MILK)

Barwis' Olympic weight lifting regimen involves (wait for it)...THE TWO HAND SNATCH and THE CLEAN AND JERK (heh heh heh, tee hee)

That's why the weight room is now full of free weights. It's all about reps, weight, and recovery....reps, weight, and recovery....REPEAT!!!!!

2) BALANCE & FUNCTIONAL AREA, control in 3D space. This seems to encompass a lot of things for Barwis. First he wants to stabilize things ANTERIOR TO POSTERIOR ie, building up agonist/antagonist muscle groups. Think biceps/triceps pairs or hammy/quad pairs. Delts/Lats. Pec Major/Trapezius. Rectus abdominus/Erector spinae. Iliospoas/Gluts. Tibialis anterior(shin)/Gastrocnemius (calf). The agonist is the muscle being exercised, while the antagonist acts in opposition to the agonist. You want the two muscle groups to be balanced to avoid injury since you wouldn't want your quads stronger than your hammys.....OUCH!

This concept then leads to something he refers to as:

3) FUNCTIONAL FLEXIBILITY PROGRESSIONS, active movements, dynamic flexibility, and static stretches. Basically the idea here is to increase flexibility and stretch on the muscle groups so that the range of motion around a joint is not limited by the muscless' inflexibility. You want to increase the flexibility of all the things connected to the joint thereby preventing resistance from one's own musculature in whatever action you are trying to perform at a joint. The science isn't as robust around static stretches---I won't bore you with the 129+ articles I found but basically for every article that says that stretching helps performance, there is another one that says not so much. But this leads into what Barwis calls

4) INJURY PREVENTION AND "PRE-HAB", His point is that AFTER an injury at a joint occurs the treatment is all about strengthing surrounding muscle groups to support the joint, increasing tendon strength and length etc. He (rightly I think) says HEY, let's do that stuff BEFORE someone gets injured....

Case and point?? Women and ACL injuries. Women have a rate of ACL injury 2-8 times higher than that of men, particularly in sports such as soccer and basketball. The original research was done by U of M's own Dr. Ed Wojtys, Professor of Orthopedic Surgery, and a member of the 1972 Football Team. He and his group (among a zillion others) have done extensive research showing that you can decrease non-contact ACL injuries in women by neuromuscular strength training, teaching appropriate jumping and landing techniques, and of course---the right shooooooes.

Walking us right into>>>>

5) CORE TRANSFER, where you strengthen the core muscle groups such as the abs/low back/pelvis/spine in order to provide a stable center thru which force can be transferred, stabilized, and/or generated. This prevents buckling or twisting of the back and hips providing a strength and power advantage. How does one do this you ask??? By using an unstable apparatus like a crazy-ass exercise ball, balance board, or heaven forbid...performing pilates. The instability triggers ones' proprioceptors, which are sensors within a muscle providing your brain with information about joint angle, muscle length and tension as well as your own sense of self in space. By training on an unstable surface you actually train yourself to adjust in 3D space more quickly and accurately--as Barwis says, think about a wide receiver reaching back across his body to catch a ball, or a running back making a quick juke move....

"whammo"

6) PLYOMETRICS AND EXPLOSIVE TRAINING thru impulse training and the development of muscle elasticity/rebound (aka the stretch reflex). Basically developing springlike action within the muscles to transfer potential energy to kinetic energy. BOING!!!!

WTF are plyometrics you ask??? Things like two-foot ankle hops; 15-cm cone hops; tuck, pike, and box jumps; one- and two-leg vertical jump and reach; squat jumps. Basically stuff that will KILL you at first, but make you strong grasshopper in the end...Not yet a believer?

Take a look at the science as demonstrated by women in bikinis on the beach. REALLY!

Marques, MC, van den Tillaar, R, Vescovi, JD, and Gonzalez-Badillo, JJ. Changes in strength and power performance in elite senior female professional volleyball players during the in-season: a case study. J Strength Cond Res 22: 1147-1155, 2008

It is often recommended that in-season training programs aim to maintain muscular strength and power developed during the off-season. However, improvements in performance may be possible with a well-designed training regimen. The purpose of this case report is to describe the changes in physical performance after an in-season training regimen in professional female volleyball players in order to determine whether muscular strength and power might be improved. Apart from normal practice sessions, 10 elite female volleyball players completed 2 training sessions per week, which included both resistance training and plyometric exercises. Over the 12-week season, the athletes performed 3-4 sets of 3-8 repetitions for resistance and plyometric exercises during each training session. All sessions were supervised by one of the investigators as well as by the team head coach. Muscular strength and power were assessed before and after the 12-week training program using 4 repetition maximum bench press and parallel squat tests, an overhead medicine ball throw (BTd), as well as unloaded and loaded countermovement jumps (CMJs). Strength improved by 15% and 11.5% in the bench press and parallel squat, respectively. Hope you liked the healing picture because Mikey B also digs.

7) BIOENERGETICS which, fingers crossed, is not this, but rather the study and understanding of energy utilization within human tissues. Things like aerobic and anaerobic metabolism, oxidative stress, heat transfer, and nutrition extraction, maybe?????? I'm willing to give the guy the benefit of the doubt....

Add it all up, and here are the RESULTS, which many of you have already seen---but maybe now we can all understand.....????

GOT IT????

GOOD, cuz here comes Barwis' F*%& LION (work alert)

One last thought...

Core transfer healing picture for the ladies:

Don't you wish your boyfriend had abs like these??????

dayyyyum.

that is all.

HT: Shawn Windsor and SiC