MGoBlog: The MGoPodcast

Topics! COOPER BARTON. Ace was in The Presence. Then he got some chicken.  FUNCHESS. Like OMG I don't know why Ace is so high on this guy.  OFFENSIVE LINE: CONCERN? At this point, probably. DENARD INT. Still an every game thing, it seems.  DL: WHERE IS IT? Let's recycle this one from last week SPREAD PUNT PLZ. MSU, ND, and OSU are now using this thing. TALKIN' BIG TEN WITH JAMIEMAC. Mostly discussion of the MSU-ND game for obvious reasons. (Those being: no one else played anyone last week and no one plays anyone this week. Woo nonconference schedule.) We do get into Cal-OSU, the tire fire in Madison, and repeat this dramatic assertion: PURDUE IS YOUR LEWHATEVER DIVISION FAVORITE.  SONGS.  "I Bombed Korea," Cake. "Disarm," Smashing Pumpkins. "Gangnam Style," PSY. It happened. I saw it. Was anyone else paying attention?  The usual links: Helpful iTunes subscribe link General podcast feed link Direct download link What's with the theme music?

[DOH: this didn't get FPed when I posted it at nine.] Not terrible. First couple minutes got cut off, though, so the start is a little awkward. Topics! OFFENSIVE LINE WHAT. We are concerned. I do think they are coming from everywhere, FWIW. HELLO FUNCHESS. Welcome to our lives. FWIW, the guy who applied "the Funchise" to Funchess first was indeed Scott Burnstein of the Oakland Press. DENARD: ACCURATE? Seems like it. We're still being careful.  HELLO FRESHMAN LINEBACKERS. We're a bit less enthused about this development. Ace likes it.  DL: WHERE IS IT? Seriously.  JEREMY GALLON 2011. Someone return him to functional status please.  THIS LEAGUE! Man, we spent all last year complaining about the Big Ten. Hope you liked that because we're going to keep doing it. I ask Jamie if Purdue is the favorite in the Le-whatever division. We talk about Minnesota making a bowl in the Le-whatever division. The Big Ten.  SONGS.  "Highway to the Danger Zone," Kenny Loggins. Obligatory. "Paint It Black," The Rolling Stones. "E-Pro," Beck.  The usual links: Helpful iTunes subscribe link General podcast feed link Direct download link What's with the theme music?

Okay, so... Ace was in Dallas and so was Jamie and I'd forgotten that Jamie was going to be in an airport until we actually tried to call him. So we're at about 30 minutes this week. Also, this is a terrible podcast. Do not listen to it. This happens to us after extremely terrible games. We wake up the next day wanting to do nothing, go into the studio, mumble at each other for a while, and then stop. Do not listen to this podcast.  Topics! THAT SUCKED. Yup. SONGS.  The first one is a joke, please don't get mad. The second one is "Learn to Say No" by Lydia Loveless, off of Indestructible Machine. BONUS. The "general podcast feed link" should now work. Let me know if it doesn't. UPDATE: download link updated.  The usual links: Helpful iTunes subscribe link General podcast feed link Direct download link What's with the theme music?

A two-hour season preview spectacular. Topics! ACE DUCKS AND COVERS. Defcon suicide at a high school football game. QB, RB, WR, OL. The offense is previewed, Gardner is hyped, the OL is pumped except for the backups. NORFLEET!  Yeah, baby. DL, LB, DB. We're super confident about the defensive line! Seriously! False. But we've got safeties and linebackers and such. [Note: there's a couple minutes of audio distortion at the end of this segment. It gets better. Skip to 54 minutes to get past it.] HELLO JAMIE. We talk about the Big Ten (but not Indiana or Penn State). SPORTSWRITER IT UP. We finish up with a bit of a roundtable. Which Michigan pass-catching target will break out? How ludicrous can we make Ace's prediction of Gardner's production? SONGS.  "Bombs Over Baghdad," Outkast. "1901," Phoenix. "Fireworks," The Tragically Hip. The usual links: Helpful iTunes subscribe link General podcast feed link Direct download link What's with the theme music?

About 50 minutes. Also, I'm hosting, so you'll have to wait for another time to hear Brian's dulcet tones on the mic. Topics! RECRUITIN'.  Alex Gleitman of Eleven Warriors and Jeff Junstrom of Black Shoe Diaries join me to give an overview of the current classes at Ohio State and Penn State, respectively. MORE RECRUITIN'. The top remaining positions of need—and the top targets to fill those needs—are discussed. You should be able to guess my top three Michigan targets without even bothering to listen (but please listen). THE QUEST FOR THE HOLY RECRUITING GRAIL. Realistic expectations for how each class will fill out are put forth, as are guesses about where they will land in the national team rankings. I try very hard not to scream "eat it suckers we're number one!!!1!" I mostly succeed. EVERYBODY IN THE CLUB COMMITTIN' EARLY. Why? We have theories. NON-COMMITTABLE OFFERS AND YOU. Hate to break it to you, but Brady Hoke recruits a lot more like Urban Meyer than Bill O'Brien. SONGS. Um, Brian chose the songs. Ask him. [ED: There aren't any songs except for the intro and outro since it's just one long segment.] The usual links: Helpful iTunes subscribe link General podcast feed link Direct download link What's with the theme music?

About 1:05. Topics! WHERE THAT CAME FROM. We have a theory. Y WE NO RUN STRAIGHT AT HEAD. Also bubble bitchin'. RVB AND MARTIN. Statue-worthy. LOLBEAMER. Yikes. WHY PLAYING LIKE IT'S 1950 WAS COOL.  It was 1950. NEXT YEAR. Offensive line chatter, Stonum issues, where do the DL come from? SONGS. "Blue Orchid" by the White Stripes, "Bust a Move"  by Young MC,--I had a reason--"I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" by Wilco,--dedicated to Danny Coale--and "Vincent O'Brien" by M. Ward. The usual links: Helpful iTunes subscribe link General podcast feed link Direct download link What's with the theme music? We are planning a Signing Day podcast, which will be the next one, and we'll probably talk basketball with John Gasaway at some point.

About an hour. Topics! MGODITCHPARTY. A real good time. ACE ON THE SIDELINES. Job perk, that. DENAAAARD. Denard. INVERTED VEEEEER. Yes sir. WHA HAPPEN, SECONDARY? Where did you go? BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP GAME. Wisconsin is one loss away from Dead To Us status. BOWL SCENARIOS. Boo Georgia. BCS COMPLAINING. This year the BCS proposes to have a national title game between LSU and Alabama. Assuming LSU does not lose the SEC title game, nothing Alabama can do will make them have a better season than LSU. The BCS is dumb. SONGS. "Blue Suede Shoes" by Carl Perkins, "One Chance" by Modest Mouse, "New Coat of Paint" by Tom Waits, and "Sons and Daughters" by the Decemberists. The usual links: Helpful iTunes subscribe link General podcast feed link Direct download link What's with the theme music?

This one comes in at about 1:25--big week, big podcast, Big Ten. Topics! FUN. I say "fun" a lot. DEFENSE. Defense so hard. NEBRASKA'S COOL OPTION PLAY. Thanks for running it on the three. FITZKREIG. Mike Hart except fast, Chris Perry except fast, or Tim Biakabutuka except short? BORGES. Still Gorgeous this week. ACE'S HARROWING TALE OF SURVIVAL IN A PRESS BOX WITHOUT POWER. They had cake, I guess. SPECIAL TEAMS. Congrats, Terrence Robinson and your extra year of training table. GAME THEORY. Hoke uber alles. PENN-STATE WISCONSIN. Weekly Jamie conversation ditches the rest of the Big Ten schedule to focus on the East Division championship game and... THE GAME. We hate how optimistic we are about it, but we are. Songs this week are "Folsom Prison Blues" by Johnny Cash, "Poets" by The Tragically Hip--our Tressel tribute--and "Everybody Chooses Sides" by The Wrens. The usual links: Helpful iTunes subscribe link General podcast feed link Direct download link What's with the theme music?

Just over an hour. Topics! RON ZOOK: A WINNER IS EVERYBODY ELSE. Seven minute drive down 17 with ten minutes left. Thanks, Ron. WE BE LIKE DANG ABOUT THE DEFENSE. Martin, Ryan, and Floyd come in for specific praise. Mallory is wondered at. Mattison w00t. SPECIAL TEAMS: EXTANT. Hurrah. Unfortunately, this section caused us to reminisce about last year's special teams. BORGES: DEFENDED VIGOROUSLY. Serious. DENARD VS DEVIN: ACE HATES YOU TWITTER. Do not tweet him about how Devin should start or he will look up stats. WHICH BIG TEN TROPHIES WOULD ARCHEOLOGISTS LOSE THEIR CRAP OVER? Heated debate here. Seriously. Trends in ancient pottery THE BIG TEN: THE BIG TEN. Jamiemac of Just Cover comes on to predict Illinois annihilation at the hands of Wisconsin, does not want to hire Danny Hope, and predicts victory.  I've had the White Stripes on the brain ever since I listed various songs that would actually be welcome in Michigan Stadium so this week the musical selections are "Conquest" (off Icky Thump) -- obvious reasons, also the a-ha reversal angle -- and "Little Room" (off White Blood Cells) because the defense is moving to a bigger room. BONUS BONUS BONUS BONUS!  I didn't break the iTunes link, so it still works. SLIGHT UNBONUS. The first few seconds of the segment with Jamie got cut off. The usual links: Helpful iTunes subscribe link General podcast feed link Direct download link What's with the theme music?

Do you see what I'm talking about? I am talking about a situation in which there is a "Denard Robinson = Juice Williams?" thread on the message board. Also there is a podcast. It's a hair over an hour. Topics! COMPLAINTS. We have many about the offense.  MANY STATISTICS THAT WERE ALREADY IN THE GAME COLUMN. They were fresh wounds when we were looking at them on the podcast. SPECIAL REF/GAME THEORY SECTION. Complaints about the pass interference are lodged. Going for two and the use of the final timeout are also discussed. (Something which has just occurred to me: Michigan would have had an extra timeout if they hadn't blown one on Iowa's final punt. Guh.) WITHER THOMAS GORDON? That was odd. THE BIG TEN: STILL NOT GOOD. Jamiemac of Just Cover comes on to talk about the league slate and help preview the Illinois game. OBLIGATORY PATERNO OPINIONS. Are offered during this segment.  Musical interludes are "I Was Born (A Unicorn)" by the Unicorns, "Opposite Day" by Andrew Bird, and "Die, All Right(!)" by the Hives. Eventually I will run out of songs about death to play post-losses. BONUS BONUS BONUS BONUS!  I fixed the iTunes subscribe link for serious this time. Like, people have used it successfully. The usual links: Helpful iTunes subscribe link General podcast feed link Direct download link What's with the theme music?  

This one is slightly over an hour, like 1:06. Topics! Purdue. That happened, and apparently that is my terrible catch phrase. The offense is kind of a bunch of different things. Is this good or bad? An excessively detailed explanation of the pin and pull zone. Is offered. Toussaint. Is praised. It is wondered why he only got two carries against State. The defense. Is this real life? The Big Ten. Is not good. Iowa. Doesn't seem real good, either. Jamie brings a statistic that has us laughing in disbelief. Music this week was tough to link to anything in particular. I stumbled across my Dismemberment Plan directory and "Memory Machine" (from Emergency & I) seemed appropriate, since they're all engineers and we could all use one of the aforementioned machines for the last few years. Then I was in the same directory and went with "Face of the Earth" (from Change) for a reason that shall remain secret. (I like it is the reason.) The usual links: Helpful iTunes subscribe link General podcast feed link Direct download link What's with the theme music?

This week on the podcast: complaining, complaining, and more complaining. It's kind of jovial-like, though, so it's not as annoying as that might sound. But in the interests of full disclosure: We complain about the fourth and one call. We complain about the offense in general. Ten minutes in, we consider whether we will stop complaining. Answer: no. We complain about throwing the ball in a trash tornado. We start talking about the defense, get in a few complaints about holding the edge, find the defense too not-depressing to talk about for an extended period of time and so move on. We complain about Rich Rodriguez's offensive and defensive line recruiting. We complain about the uniforms. We complain about our wow experience. Then Jamie of Just Cover comes on and we talk about the Big Ten. I don't think we complained much in that segment. Musical interludes from Bonnie Prince Billy, one of Will Oldham's alter egoes, and Rilo Kiley. The former's tune is "Death to Everyone" of off I See a Darkness. The latter is "The Execution of All Things" off the album of the same name. I see what I did there. The usual links: Helpful iTunes subscribe link [which I might be able to fix now that I think I know the issue] General podcast feed link Direct download link What's with the theme music?

This week on the podcast: I fixed the iTunes feed. I eeee like a little girl about fourth and two. Naturally. Offensive bitching is considerably more restricted. We get a little bit in but focus more on things we liked. Jake Ryan is polarizing. At least in the short term. Turnovers are debated. Luck or skill? Actually it was more like lots of luck and some skill or equal parts luck and skill. Ace kills segments like a rock star. They dead, yo. Jamiemac appears. We discuss the Big Ten slate, which is mercifully devoid of MAC snackycakes. Just Cover is his blog, which you should go to. Musical interludes this week include a double shot of Stars's "Your Ex-Lover Is Dead," which is lovingly dedicated to Kyle Turley, and R.E.M.'s "Fall On Me" for no reason other than R.E.M. ceasing to exist. The usual links: Helpful iTunes subscribe link General podcast feed link Direct download link What's with the theme music? Next week: more!

A third week. Only kind of late. Is this late? Have I established this happens on Mondays now? God, I hope not. Topics! What's wrong with Denard? We have theories. Jet sweeps and other matters. The defense: it existed after the first quarter. We try to maintain Will Campbell skepticism, talk about the status of the freshmen, and have this ... cautious optimism thing going on. Yeah. Weird. We are going to miss Pahokee. Smith, Hawthorne, Odoms, Ash... that's a good hit rate. Total crazy TresselSU comparison. I say something Hoke did is "very Ohio State to me" and I mean that as such a compliment. Srs. The Big Ten has gone from suck to blow. There are no games in the league this week. Seriously, the most interesting matchups are M-SDSU and OSU-Colorado. So we take the opportunity to hit up Jamie for a State of the Big Ten. That state is "not good at football." LOLSU. We save our longest, giddiest conversation for the stuff going down at OSU. We can totally beat them! (No we can't.) Musical guests this week are Michigan themed: "Intimidation," by Mason Proper. Off There is a Moth in Your Chest. "They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back from the Dead!! Ahhhh!" by Sufjan Stevens. Yes, that's the actual name. It's off Come On Feel The Illinoise. Sufjan is Sufjan. He's the guy who did Seven Swans; he's from the west side of the state and is now indie darling. Mason Proper is from Alpena and would be based in Ann Arbor if they were currently being spastically awesome, but they're on a hiatus. Q: can someone help us with the iTunes thing? The usual links: Helpful iTunes subscribe link General podcast feed link Direct download link What's with the theme music? Next week: more!