Friday, July 17, 2015

Michigan Friday: Enjoys the Summer Break

This is a down time for college football as coaches take time with their families before fall camp and the season begins.  Recruits are pretty much doing the same, they can take un-official visits but many want to wait to see practice, go the BBQ on 8/2, or wait for an official visit during the season.   They also need to get ready for HS practice to start. 

For a Michigan Blogger there isn't much to write about, so we search for any news where we can find it.

  • St. Edwards CB Tony Butler out of Ohio has now been to Michigan twice for visits.  His second visit came this week and TB left with out a commitment.   Tony recently de-committed from Pitt and is no longer considering them.  Jimmy is in Paris so Tony got to spend time with his position coach Mike Zordich.   He said all the right things after, like he is comfortable in Ann Arbor and would be a good fit in the program.   He is a 3 star CB and is planning to take all of his officials as he waits for more offers.  Clemson just offered this week.   I don't know Tony but he seems like a guy  waiting on an OSU offer.   I expect there won't be room in Michigan's class if he waits until the season is over to make a decision.

  • 2016 CB, brother of  Delano and PSU commit Levert Hill is expected to attend the BBQ at the Big House on 8/2.  This is going to be an interesting recruitment right to the end.   He continues to say he is solid with PSU but has been taking visits.   Does he also want to play a year with his brother? Wouldn't it be easier on the family to attend games with both boys in Ann Arbor?

  • Now switching gears a bit, ESPN has been taking a bit of a revenue hit as cable subscribers are moving off of cable and on to the internet to watch their favorite shows.   ESPN's business is off 7% since 2011 and they have lost an estimated 3M+ subscribers the last couple of years.   When you multiply that by $4-$6 a month that they are charging us, that is big dollars.   Many experts believe that live sports is the only thing keeping cable around.  Expensive talent like Bill Simmons and Keith Olbermann have recently been shown the door by ESPN management.  Now just after making headlines in the Jimmy interview, Colin Cowherd is leaving ESPN for probably Fox.  Simmons and Olbermann where expensive trouble makers but reports are that ESPN wanted to keep Cowherd, but he elected to leave for more money.   This is going to be an interesting ride for Cowherd, who has to believe that ESPN didn't make him, that he is bigger then the network.    This is always the case in TV as well, when the popular guy leaves the trendy show to make movies.  Will he be George Clooney leaving ER or that red haired guy that left NYPD Blue?  I will bet you a donut, his star won't be nearly as bright at Fox.   Remember when Erin Andrews left ESPN because she wanted to be more then a sideline reporter?  Fox gave her a studio show and quickly found out she was a good sideline reporter. 

  • We can call this the Brady Hoke rule - The NCAA approved an experimental rule allowing head and neck injury observers at games.  Their job will be to sit in the booth and review instant replays if necessary.   If they believe and injury as occurred, they notify the official and that player is removed from the game. 

  • A possible medical breakthrough in the treatment ore prevention of head injuries, Alzheimer's and CTE: Author Kun Ping Lu, MD, PhD, Chief of the Division of Translational Therapeutics in the Department of Medicine at BIDMC and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS), states "Our study shows that an early neurodegenerative process induced by the toxic tau protein can begin just hours after a traumatic brain injury. In both cell models of stress and in mouse models simulating sport- and military-related TBI, the production of this pathogenic protein, called cis P-tau, disrupts normal neurological functioning, spreads to other neurons and leads to widespread neuronal death.    We have developed a potent monoclonal antibody that can prevent the onset of widespread neurodegeneration by identifying and neutralizing this toxic protein and restoring neurons' structural and functional abilities."

2 comments:

Scott K said...

I have absolutely NO idea what Kun Ping Lu said in that quote, but it does sound encouraging.

GO BLUE!

Unknown said...

How one can visit Michigan and acknowledged to recruiting the new class?

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