Goodbye 2011

Another year down in the world of sports, and while I saw only one title this year, here's hoping to many more in 2012! Now a recap of 2011.

My teams in 2011:

• Spurs: Ran to the best record in the Western Conference, only to run into the Grizzlies (best 8th seed I can ever remember) and see another year in the Duncan era roll by without a title. In a brash, and in my opinion smart, move, the Spurs saw an opportunity to get the best SF in the draft and traded George Hill to the Pacers for the rights to Kawhi Leonard, Erazem Lorbek and Davis Bertans. The latter two will hopefully develop into useful future pieces, but the key was Kawhi. Finally, the season got underway yesterday and the Spurs laid the smackdown on the Grizz to move to 1-0 and make a statement that they are still legit in the West. GO SPURS GO!
• Cowboys: Drafted Tyron Smith (who at 21, is their best o-lineman...ugh) and DeMarco Murray, the only difference makers. They proceeded to enter the 2011 season and set a new record for amount of games causing me to lose my mind and then get sucked back in. This team now enters next Sunday's game with the Giants needing just a win to win the NFC East and get into the playoffs and a most likely first round rematch with the Lions. At this point, if you told me 100 different scores between Cowboys win 52-0 and Giants win 52-0, I would believe you every time. This team will find a way to make this game unbearable in some fashion.
• Tigers: This team used 2011 as both a foray into the playoffs and a stepping stone towards future successes. They are now the cream of the AL Central as the Twins and White Sox retool and the Indians and Royals continue to mature. Never have I been more excited for a Tigers team as I am at the end of 2011. With the bulk of the 2011 AL Central Champs and ALCS participants returning, this Tigers team looks to move forward with a better bullpen and same strong offense and rotation that carried them last year. I look forward to what 2012 brings for the Motor City Kitties.
• Red Wings: Another year, another playoff loss to the San Jose Sharks. It was tough, and made even more so by the retirement of Brian Rafalski (WYANDOTTE NATIVE!). But the greatest defenseman of our generation (if you dare say Satan Spawn, we will have problems) returned to the Wings for one more year, and just like that, title contenders once more. Jimmy Howard seems to have taken that next step towards being a franchise goalie, Pavel and Hank seem to have more help this season in the forms of Mule and Flip, and the 4th line is the strongest it's been post-lockout. If the rest of the blue line can strengthen and the Wings can figure out their road struggles, the Winged Wheel looks to be as good a Stanley Cup contender as any in the NHL.
• University of Michigan: What a year. The basketball team was a buzzer beater away from knocking Duke out of the NCAA tourney and look to be ahead of where they expected to be this year with the strong play of freshman point Trey Burke. I expect another first or second round loss in the NCAA tourney before the arrival of Tre Robinson, Nik Stauskas, and Mitch McGary turn Michigan into a legit contender. The hockey team lost in the National Championship game in excruciating fashion, then saw most of that team graduate. The result: a terrible first half of the season and a second Michigan team in three years threatening to miss the tournament. Finally, the football team started the year with the worst bowl performance I've ever seen, which led to the firing of RR and the hiring of Brady Hoke (and even better, Greg Mattison!). This season's team put 10 wins on the board, including wins over ND and OSU, and are playing Jan 3 in the Sugar Bowl against VT. With a top 5 recruiting class coming in, this team has a bright future moving forward.
• AC Milan: Last but certainly not least, the rossoneri lost in the first knockout round of the CL AGAIN, to an EPL squad AGAIN. Yet, that really wasn't anything too bad to deal with as Milan played their way to their first Scudetto since 2004, moving two league titles away from that second star. They've carried that strong play into the first half of this season, sitting atop the Serie A table at the holiday break. With a second half battle with Juve for the Scudetto looming, as well as another CL knockout first round matchup with an EPL squad on the horizon, the first half of 2012 promises to be full of great soccer. The rumor mill is also in full gear, with rumors of Tevez, Keita, and others heading to the San Siro to play in the red and black. Honestly, the future is bright with or without those names, as Nocerino, Thiago Silva, and my personal fave, KPB, look to carry our boys to another Scudetto and CL title! FORZA MILAN!

2011 brought great joy (Tigers playoffs/Milan Scudetto/UM beat OSU) and great heartbreak (Spurs/Wings/UM Hockey losses), but one thing is for sure: it was a great year of sports as 2012 looms full of promise for the Seidman's teams! I hope it looks as rosy for y'all as well! Happy New Year!

The Seidman's Heisman Ballot

Every year, the most prestigious award in all of college football is awarded to a single football player. Some years, there is no controversy, other years, plenty. But for the first time in a while, we enter December where, not only are there multiple plausible candidates to win, there is no one single front-runner. The media will want you to know that Andrew Luck is the best player in the country, cool, that award is known as the Maxwell Award (awarded to the best player in college football). The SEC talking heads will want you to know that Trent Richardson is the best player in the SEC, awesome, give him the SEC Player of the Year award. The B1G people will scream that Montee Bell is closing in on Barry Sander's seemingly unbreakable touchdown record, great, I look forward to his Doak Walker acceptance speech. Mid-major fans will complain that Kellen Moore is getting overlooked for putting together another great season, this time against even tougher competition than ever before (sorry Kellen, blame Casey Pachall). Defense proponents will tout Tyrann Mathieu ("This is the honey badger...it's pretty badass, look, it runs all over the place!") And finally, Big 12 and all that Texas media will want you to take a look at the big season put up by RGIII (Wait, Baylor has a football team...with a good football player on it?). This, my friends, is the deepest, most well-rounded group of possible candidates I can ever remember. All of those players mentioned above have a legitimate case as the most outstanding player in college football this season. So I will attempt to break down this race, flesh out the leaders, and present my top five ballot, with my winner.

The Mission Statement

You cannot analyze the award without first seeing what the award itself purports to represent, so here is the mission statement from the Heisman Trophy Trust:

The Heisman Memorial Trophy annually recognizes the outstanding college football player whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard work.

This statement makes me believe that the award is not to be rewarded to the best football player, but rather the most outstanding football player, a key difference. It also tells me that big wins matter ("whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence") and that the criteria is limited to the field of play ("whose performance best exhibits the pursuit...with integrity"). The integrity is linked with the performance, another key point and something that will be very important in this analysis.

My Criteria

Alright, following that little bit of analysis, I can now set what I feel is the appropriate criteria for determining a worthy Heisman Trophy winner. My goal is to reward the player who, above all else, will be THE player we remember when looking back at this season.

• Must play for a winner. You can't be the most outstanding player if you aren't producing in the one category that matters. In this case, I will classify that as a Top 25 team with at least 9 wins. While that requirement is a little lax, I can allow it so that we aren't eliminating any great players who had brutal schedules and mediocre teams behind them.
• Moments of greatness. The player must have a moment where you look back and say, that was his season in a nutshell. All Heisman winners need to have that play on the big stage of a big game, preferably in front of a national TV audience with a great announcer taking that moment from great to a momentary glimpse into football Valhalla. I want a player who causes an announcer to blurt out "Helllllooooo Heisman!". I want a player who takes over a must-win game against a rival and just refuses to lose that game. I want a player who makes a once-in-a-lifetime, never-before-seen play look like it was child's play. I want a player that steps up on the biggest stage and takes over those moments.
• Bonus points for single season records. If a player has a season that has never been seen before in college football, that should matter...a lot.
• Schedule matters. Think of this as an offshoot of the previous moments of greatness requirement. While playing a mediocre schedule may not kill a player's chances, playing a terrible schedule most likely will as it will be hard for that player to make any name for himself playing Southwest Nowhere U on regional coverage on FSN (call this Colt Brennan Corollary).
• Must not choke in the big games. Another corollary of the Moments of Greatness, this one is the exact opposite of that principle. The worst thing one can do when establishing a great season is put up terrible performances in the biggest games of the season. I know I'll get flak for this, but this is THE reason that Peyton Manning lost in 1997. The voters always had Woodson and Manning 1-2 that season (Leaf made a push, but never really threatened). Unfortunately for Peyton, he lost to Florida in a game where he was under pressure all day from the Gators defense, threw two picks (including a pick six) and Tennessee was never really in it. That game hung over his entire season and I say cost him the Heisman.
• Age makes no difference. This is here for one main reason: since 1992, the three worst Heisman screw ups (in my humble opinion) were 1992 (Gino Torretta), 2001 (Eric Crouch), and 2003 (Jason White). The winners had great seasons for championship-level teams, but weren't the most outstanding players that season. So why did they win? Because the runners-up were all sophomores that the old guard refused to vote for. Marshall Faulk, Rex Grossman and Larry Fitzgerald should all have a vote this year if not for silly biases against underclassmen.

Now that my criteria has been set, let's move on to the candidates

The Candidates (in alphabetical order by last name)

• Montee Ball: Wisconsin RB
• 275 carries, 1759 yds, 20 rec, 255 yds, 38 total TD
• Matt Barkley: USC QB
• 3528 yds, 39:7 TD:INT, 69.1% Comp Rate, 28 carries, 14 yds, 2 TD
• Justin Blackmon: Oklahoma St WR
• 113 rec, 1336 yds, 15 tds
• Robert Griffin III: Baylor QB
• 3998 yds, 36:6 TD:INT, 72.4% Comp Rate, 161 carries, 644 yds, 9 TD
• LaMichael James: Oregon RB
• 222 carries, 1646 yds, 17 rec, 210 yds, 18 total TD
• Case Keenum: Houston QB
• 5099 yds, 45:5 TD:INT, 71.7% Comp Rate, 50 carries, 25 yds, 3 TD
• Andrew Luck: Stanford QB
• 3170 yds, 35:9 TD:INT, 70% Comp Rate, 43 carries, 153 yds, 2 TD
• Tyrann Mathieu: LSU CB/PR
• 71 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 5 FF, 2 Int, 2 FR for TD, 2 PR for TD
• Kellen Moore: Boise St QB
• 3507 yds, 41:7 TD:INT, 74.1% Comp Rate, 19 carries, -65 yds, 0 TD
• Trent Richardson: Alabama RB
• 263 carries, 1583 yds, 27 rec, 327 yds, 23 total TD

The Breakdown

First, let’s look at Justin Blackmon, as he’s the only WR on the list. In my opinion, the last WR who should have won it was Larry Fitzgerald, so I will use Fitzgerald’s 2004 season as a benchmark for Justin Blackmon’s season. Larry Fitzgerald put up 1,595 yards and 22 (!) touchdowns that season on 87 catches. That’s right, Larry Fitzgerald averaged over 18 yards a catch and a touchdown every four catches! The season Larry put up in 2004 is the type of season a WR must have to win the Heisman. Unfortunately for Justin, his season is great and worthy of the Biletnikoff, but that’s as far as it will go. Blackmon will not end up in my top five.

Next, let’s compare the running backs. Firstly, James, Ball and Richardson all had similar seasons yardage-wise, with Richardson a little behind on the ground but he made up for it receiving. The only big difference between these three is in reaching the end zone, and that is where Montee puts himself at the front of this amazing stable of runners. Montee Ball is one touchdown away from tying and two away from breaking Barry Sanders’ single season touchdown record from Barry’s own Heisman campaign. This is the single most astounding number you will see from any of the candidates this season. Montee Ball has punched it in more times than 45 FBS programs did this season. 45 division one FBS football programs were unable to score as often as Montee Ball. Now that you’ve wrapped your head around that, let’s agree, Montee Ball is the best of the running backs this season. To decide between Richardson and James, I give the nod to LaMichael as he put up similar numbers as Trent in two less games due to injury and he would be pressuring Bell for top dog status if not for those lost two weeks.

Third, let’s try to compare and rank the quarterbacks. Immediately, we know all five quarterbacks had tremendous win-loss records this season. So, let’s look at the numbers. Looking at the numbers, we see that all five are very similar in touchdown to interception ratios, all are very similar in completion percentage, and all but Keenum are similar in yardage. Straight yardage though presents a skewed picture, so instead let’s look at yards per attempt to see who was making the most of his passes. Here we see that RGIII is first nationally at 10.8 yd/att, followed by Keenum at 9.5, Moore at 8.7, Luck at 8.5 and Barkley well below at 7.9. This stat gives us our first major separating tool for the group. Considering that Moore and RGIII were the only two to face top 20 nationally ranked defenses (Moore faced Georgia and RGIII faced Texas), and both played probably one of their best games of the season against those opponents, I think those two look best for me right now in the quarterbacks category. Now the back three, Keenum put up gaudy numbers from an air raid offense, Barkley did his with loads of NFL talent out wide and Andrew Luck did his with very little help outside of the tight end position. Luck looked the best in his loss, and Barkley and Keenum, well who cares, so I’ll rank Barkley lower because I don’t like USC. So, let’s rank them as follows: RGIII, Moore, Luck, Keenum, Barkley.

Finally, there is Tyrann Mathieu, the cornerback/nickelback/safety/punt returner for LSU. His numbers alone pop out as he is able to make loads of play on a defense that would be too easy to get lost in. He has forced seven turnovers, scored four touchdowns, gotten to the quarterback twice (once with help) and made nearly 6 tackles a game from the secondary. This man has been all over the field this year as the star player for the LSU defense, which is saying something on a defense that could easily replace the Carolina Panthers defense tomorrow and do a better job this weekend.

So we’ve now looked at all the players and now have what I feel are the five best players in the country this year and the Seidman’s Heisman finalists: Montee Ball, LaMichael James, Robert Griffin III, Kellen Moore, and Tyrann Mathieu.

The Finalists Eliminator

Now that I have my final five, the question is how to pick my Heisman winner. This is where I return to my biggest element: the Moments of Greatness. Who of the five stood out to me the most when looking back at this season? Let’s start with each team’s biggest games:

· Montee Ball (B1G Championship) – As any B1G fan will tell you, playing for the Rose Bowl is as big as it gets, so of course, the game that punches the ticket to the Rose Bowl was Wisconsin’s biggest game this season. Montee Ball showed up big time in that game, putting Wisconsin up big early with two first quarter touchdowns and added two second half touchdowns in Wisconsin’s comeback victory. He finished with 144 total yards and four touchdowns.

· LaMichael James (@ Stanford) – Oregon had three games I could choose as the big game (LSU, Stanford, Pac-12 Championship), but after some thought, I went with the game that clinched the berth in the Pac-12 title game as LSU was too early and UCLA was a pushover. In the Stanford game, James was the star of the show, totaling 156 total yards and grabbing three touchdowns in what turned out to be the only victory in three games against real opponents for Oregon in 2011.

· Robert Griffin III (v Oklahoma) – Baylor had a rough patch in the middle of the season and its voice was fading fast. As a result, this game against the then-number five Oklahoma Sooners stands out as the biggest game of the season for the Bears. Following this game, Baylor would beat two in-state rivals and close out a nine win season. In this game, RGIII ended that game with 551 total yards, four touchdowns, and a game-winning touchdown drive that ended with a touchdown pass to Terrance Williams with 8 second left to give Baylor quite possibly its biggest victory as a program EVER. Combined with his great efforts against Texas and TCU, RGIII had a season full of Moments of Greatness.

· Kellen Moore (v Georgia in Georgia Dome) – Boise entered the season with a huge game against Georgia. While Georgia was considered down, it was still a premier SEC opponent for the Broncos to make noise against, and did they ever. Kellen Moore went 28 of 34 for 261 yards and three touchdowns en route to a 35-21 rout of Georgia. In the game, Moore tore apart the number three defense in the nation on the way to a prominent win on national television. That right there is one hell of a Moment of Greatness. Unfortunately for him, his moment came in the opening game and not later. Boise’s only loss of the season came in a game in which he was outshone by Casey Pachall.

· Tyrann Mathieu (SEC Championship v Georgia) – Honey Badger was all over the field at the Georgia Dome, making huge plays in a game which at one point looked like an upset in the making and ended in a laugher thanks in large part to the contributions of Mr. Mathieu. Georgia was up 10-0 late in the first half when Tyrann broke a punt return loose, running it back to make it 10-7 heading into the half, with the momentum squarely in LSU’s corner. Then, on the third play of the second half, Tyrann recovered a fumble, which shortly after led to a LSU lead. Following a three and out on Georgia’s next drive, this is THE Moment of Greatness for this season of college football. With Georgia trapped in a tree, Mathieu climbed that tree, grabbed them by the jugular and put the game away in emphatic fashion with a punt return back to the Georgia 17 that made everybody watching yell, “DID YOU SEE THAT?!?”.

So those are the Moments of Greatness from this year’s finalists. So after setting those out, it sets up my final ballot for this year’s Heisman Trophy as such:

5. Kellen Moore

4. LaMichael James

3. Montee Ball

2. Robert Griffin III

My Heisman Trophy winner
Tyrann Mathieu. If you wanna argue with a defensive back winning this award, too bad. "Honey badger don't care. Honey badger don't give a shit, it just takes what it wants!"

*If you don't understand the honey badger quotes, go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r7wHMg5Yjg
You are welcome!

A Hearty Portion of What's Stewing on my Mind

Apologies for being away from the blog for the past three weeks, and apologies in advance for being away for the next three week, as the finals season of the law school life kicks into full gear and I become a recluse to the world. As a little something to relieve stress for myself and to provide a little light reading for y'all, here are a couple thoughts and predictions that have been floating around my noggin the past couple days.

• NFL Thoughts and Playoff Predictions

As a Cowboys fan from a family based in Michigan, Thanksgiving has always been a great family day for me as my entire family would sit together and watch their team and my team both play on Turkey Day. This year, I finally expected two good games for the first time since Barry roamed the ol' Silverdome. Unfortunately the games were meh and the storylines from the day were the Suh Stomp and Harbaugh Brother Bash. But this brings me to a big point I wanted to make: Best thing that could have happened for this Cowboys team was to get a win and be forgotten about, and that is exactly what happened. Now for the next ten days, while the Cowboys practice for the Cardinals, all the talk will be elsewhere. The Cowboys can work their asses off and set themselves up to be 8-4 going into that primetime match-up with the Giants and that's all they can ask for.

Now my playoff predictions with 5 weeks left in the season:
AFC:
1. Baltimore, 2. New England
6. Cincinnati @ 3. Denver
5. Pittsburgh @ 4. Houston

NFC: (this conference has a distinct mid-90s feel to it)
1. Green Bay, 2. San Francisco
6. Detroit @ 3. Dallas
5. Atlanta @ 4. New Orleans

• CFB Thoughts and BCS Predictions

This past Saturday, the Michigan Wolverines beat Ohio State for the first time in 8 years. After the game though, I was conflicted. Was I happy that we won? Yes. Was I ecstatic? No. And here is the reason why: that puts us at 1-7 the past 8 years. That's worse than John Cooper was, percentage-wise. So as great as it was to watch us win, it means nothing if we can't insure that this stays an annual possibility moving forward. In this regard, I truly hope that Brady Hoke and his staff look at the win and say, "not enough". I hope they look at the win and say, "Good stepping stone, now let's take another step and win a BCS bowl, and continue taking those steps to returning to Big Ten Champions next year, and finally bursting into a full out sprint towards our first undisputed national title since 1948" (bleeping Tom Osborne...but that's for another day). This is what I want, I don't want to hear any more talk, just results. And that is my wet blanket speech on this season (by the way, I predicted UM to go 10-2 before the season, so don't think I'm a pessimist). GO BLUE!

Now my BCS Bowl Predictions:
NC: LSU v Alabama
Sugar: Michigan v Houston
Orange: VaTech v Cincinnati (I'm sticking with my preseason prediction, Cincy QB woes be damned!)
Rose: Wisconsin v Oregon
Fiesta: Oklahoma v Stanford

• CL Thoughts and AC Milan Dream Scenarios

I went into this season hoping the Rossoneri could regain their former form on the continent and prove to everyone, once again, they are world beaters. Then the group draw put Milan in with Barcelona and I immediately became apprehensive, knowing that Messi and company could easily annihilate Milan if our boys in red and black gave up possession to easily and weren't stout in the back. Instead, Milan showed up and forced a draw at Camp Nou, then played Barcelona in the most fiercely fought match I've ever seen when the result didn't matter. While Milan did lose to Barca at San Siro, they showed to me as a fan that they are capable of going toe-to-toe with the Spanish giants. If my excitement was high entering this season, it's been increased exponentially with the recent play in Serie A and the aforementioned group play in CL. The attack has been stupendous, with Ibra looking as good as ever, Robinho playing great, Nocerino stepping into the old Gattuso role perfectly, and Abate, Aquilani, Pato, and others showing how much great youth ready and able to contribute the Rossoneri have accumulated as of recently. Finally, of all the players mentioned above, none have carved out a place in my heart quite as large as the crevice in which Kevin-Prince Boateng has settled into. My favorite player on this squad, his play this season both in Europe and Italy has been simply superb and he is just a joy to behold. I can honestly say KPB is number one in this blogger's heart. Now hopefully, Milan can continue their strong push towards the top of the table in Serie A and get a dream draw in CL.

AC Milan Dream Draw (this requires predictions for the final days of matches)

The Rossoneri will be in the unseeded pot after Barca claimed the top spot in their group. This means that Milan will be drawn against one of the top teams from the other groups. I see those 8 teams as being the following: Bayern Munich, Inter, ManU, Real Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Arsenal, APOEL, Barca. If those are the eight, then that leaves Milan with 6 possibile matchups (following the removal of Barca and Inter, due to fellow group member and fellow countrymate). From those six, I see three tiers of teams: yes please, oooo this should be interesting, and WHY DO WE ALWAYS GET SCREWED IN THE DRAW.

Under the yes please tier: APOEL and Bayer Leverkusen.
APOEL are the Cypriot minnows who are playing above themselves. Anybody who draws them will be cheering...please be us! Bayer Leverkusen are a German side who are playing good, but not great ball this year. They are 6th in the Bundesliga and only are going to get the top spot in their group because they didn't grab any draws while Chelsea/Valencia each had at least 2 and face each other in the final match. I would be fine with drawing them as well.

Under the oooo this should be interesting tier: Arsenal
This is one matchup that I think would be a blast, if only because of the Twitter war of letters Goddeeris and I would have rooting for our players in RVP and KPB, respectively. Also, this would be a blast because Arsenal is a team that I believe Milan could beat more times than not, but all matches would be close, hard fought matches filled with beautiful soccer.

Under the WHY DO WE ALWAYS GET SCREWED IN THE DRAW tier: ManU, Real, and Bayern Munich
Yeah yeah yeah, I know that I put half of the available teams under this category, but this is only because Milan was drawn against the top team in the world for the group stage, just to be turned around and drawn against the second best team in England and Spain or the best team in Germany this season (I know they are third in the table right now, but c'mon). So, if we get drawn against any of these three, I will immediately be expecting to continue our terrible run of being knocked out in the first knockout round of European competition that has persisted since winning the CL in 2007 (losses to Arsenal, Werder Bremen, ManU, and Tottenham).

In my dreams, we are lucky and get drawn against one of those first three to make for an easier road. If not, at least this team has shown me that I can have confidence they can go punch for punch with these heavyweights and maybe, just maybe, run a gauntlet of heavyweights to win our 19th international title. FORZA MILAN!!

The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades

The first time I heard that song by Timbuk 3, it was while watching one of my favorite cheesy movies of the 1980's (My Best Friend is a Vampire). Why do I bring this song up? First, to make reference to a movie that I feel everybody should see at some point in their lives, and secondly, and more relevant to this blog, that is the song playing in my head right now whenever I think of Michigan athletics.

Basketball:

• 2011-2012 Thoughts: The basketball team has me so excited that I'm fondly remembering the last time I viewed the team this way, and I thought I would never fondly remember the 90's teams ever again. I grew up with the first teams I followed had rosters with such players as Maurice Taylor, Tractor Traylor, Louis Bullock, LaVell Blanchard. Big name players, big time expectations. Then, before I ever had a chance to truly get into Michigan basketball, it was all gone. Sanctions given, Steve Fisher fired, and years of talented but troubled or undeveloping players led by incompetent coaches led to the hiring of John Beilein to save the program. For the first time in years, I'm genuinely excited for a season. If Darius Morris had returned, this section right here would be predicting that Michigan would be a thorn in Ohio State's side and a legit contender in college basketball. As it stands, the 2011-12 team will once again make the tournament, this time behind the scoring of Timmay Jr, the tenacity of Novak, and the (hopefully) developed interior play of Morgan and Horford. I see a team that gets into the tourney with a middling seed.
  
• Why The Future's So Bright: So why would a middling seed team make me so giddy? Because this season is a foundation layer, a season in which the young players learn how to play Big Ten ball from Novak and Douglass, and gain experience in high pressure situations. This will be very important for next season, with the arrival of the most highly touted Michigan recruiting class of this millennium (yeah I went there). When Mitch McGary (#2 overall recruit in the country), Glenn Robinson III (Little Big Dog), and Nik Stauskas (The Man from Mississauga) step on campus next fall, the talent level of the Wolverines will finally be at the level to compete for the school's first national championship in 23 years. In fact, Beilein has the classes loaded with top 100 recruits for the next three years. It seems things are going great, and they're only getting better!
  

Hockey:

• 2011-2012 Thoughts: The moment the national championship game was over last season, I was devastated. I knew that that was our best chance to win a title, as that team was loaded with seniors. There was no way this season's team could make it that far when the roster was so heavy with freshman. My hope going into the season was to compete in the CCHA and keep the tournament streak alive. Eight games into this season, and my dreams have gone back to national titles. I am not saying this team is the best in the country, not by a long shot, but as we all know, college hockey come tournament time is as kooky and unpredictable as it comes. This year's edition of Wolverine hockey is much more potent offensively than the last few years, and is doing so with it's most talented player in Jon Merrill suspended for at least 12 games. And it also has probably one of the best, if not THE best, goaltenders in the country in Shawn Hunwick. This team may not win a title, hell, maybe not even a CCHA title, but it's strong enough to get my hopes up again.
  
• Why The Future's So Bright: This is yet another Michigan program that's not losing much after the season, with only four seniors (Hunwick, Wohlberg, Glendening, Pateryn) and not many early defection possibilities (Merrill, Brown). On the opposite side, if the Wolverines can hold off the slimier-than-the-ol'-Southwest-Conference OHL's advances, they bring in a freshman class that will have an immediate impact on the roster. First, the big names in Jacob Trouba (predicted to go in the top 10 of next year's NHL draft), Boo Nieves (another predicted first rounder) and Jared Rutledge. These three represent the top prospects available at D (Trouba), forward (Nieves) and goalie (Rutledge), and will all get loads of ice time immediately. To go along with those three, Connor Carrick (US U-18 team), David Milne (USHL) and Justin Selman all bring talent that should push the current roster. This results in a Michigan roster that, going forward, looks mighty strong and promises to keep the Michigan boys in the tournament and title contention for the foreseeable future.
  

Football:

• 2011 Thoughts: This year's Michigan football team has me so frustrated, yet they are 7-1 with the possibility of still playing for a Big Ten Championship. I love what Greg Mattison has brought to the table already, and look forward to having great defenses again at Michigan. I think Brady Hoke is a good coach with great intangibles, we'll see if that's good enough to keep the job. I think Al Borges is a little bird-brained at times, but I also understand it's hard to change what you've always done to fit your personnel and appreciate that he's trying. In the end, I see this year's team going 10-2 (as I predicted in August) and missing the inaugural title game. Still, a good showing in the bowl, and we're doing alright, getting good grades.
  
• Why The Future's So Bright: Brady Hoke rocks my recruiting junkie world! I have always loved following recruiting, and seeing the quality and quantity of recruits Brady is bringing in has me all tingly in my nether regions. Combine that with the fact that the Wolverines are only getting rocked by departures on the defensive line (hopefully Big Will and Death Roh are ready to step up after a year under Mattison), and next year's team looks like a good team already depending on what the freshmen bring to the table. While next year is Denard's senior season and I want to predict great things, that future season is nowhere near as bright as the few to follow, with Devin's senior season and the rise of Shane Morris...ooh, I get shivers down my spine just thinking of it.

So in summary, while my five years living in Ann Arbor will go down as the worst stretch for Michigan athletics collectively in history, the future is crazy bright by my estimation. This current trio of coaches (Brady Hoke, John Beilein, Red Berenson) are all at different points in their careers, but they do have one thing in common: they are all heavenly blessed and worldly wise, and leading my Wolverines to new heights! Now if only the athletic department was being led by such a leader...but that's for another day and another post. Go Blue!

My Tigers Offseason Plan

First off, let me start with a disclaimer: I have complete confidence in Dave Dombrowski and will not claim to know better than him and his staff. This post is purely how I would try to improve on a team which made the ALCS in 2011 and hopes to take that next step in 2012 to give Detroit it's first World Series title since 1984. With that, let's move on to my plan.

Current Roster/Salary + Projected Salary

The Tigers will most likely boast a salary around $100 mil, following arbitration and picking up of options. Moving forward, I predict that Illitch will allow the salary to reach close the average from 2008-2010 of $123 mil, so let's say the Tigers have $23 mil to play around with this offseason. Now let's find the needs this team has to fill.

Upgrades Needed
Looking at the Tigers current roster, I see four areas where the team needs to improve or fill a hole.

1. Second Base: The revolving door that was second base for Detroit last year needs to become more stable for the Tigers in 2012. Last year saw Wil Rhymes, Scott Sizemore, Danny Worth, Ryan Raburn, Carlos Guillen and Ramon Santiago all get playing time at second base, a testament to the mediocre play the Tigers received from that position all year. Carlos Guillen and Ramon Santiago are most likely leaving via free agency, Rhymes and Worth will get shots to make the team in spring training but aren't the solution, Sizemore was traded and Raburn will continue in his role coming off the bench.
2. Third Base: Another spot that saw lots of turnover throughout the year, this was more due to the fact that Brandon Inge finally went from semi-useless fan favorite to completely useless fan favorite...but golly gee wiz, we love him! Don Kelly attempted to provide an upgrade there, ultimately failing. Wilson Betemit was acquired at the trade deadline, and while he provided an upgrade over Inge, Leyland does not seem to like Betemit at the hot corner for his team.
3. Fifth Starter: While the Tigers could go after a more expensive front-line starter, I see the top four of Verlander, Scherzer, Fister, Porcello as strong enough as it is, especially considering the ages of those four suggest natural improvement moving forward. Instead, the Tigers should get a veteran to step into the fifth starter role and battle Jacob Turner and Andy Oliver for that final position heading into next season, with the loser of the battle entering the bullpen and being protection as the sixth starter.
4. Backup catcher: Alex Avila is a stud catcher, no doubt. Yet he faltered in the postseason after being required to carry the load the entire season due to Victor Martinez being too injured (i.e. too old) to play behind the plate. By moving Victor Martinez to DH full-time (now that Guillen and Ordonez are no longer filling that position), the Tigers optimize the offensive output of their lineup. This unfortunately requires the addition of another catcher to the roster.

What I Would Have the Tigers Do

1. First priority in my mind: third base. Brandon Inge is no longer a viable Major Leaguer. Accept that, Tigers fans. He'll always be a Tiger, beloved in Detroit. So play out the contract as a backup, be a power bat off the bench, save the knees for playing with the children during retirement and replace Rod Allen as television color analyst. My dream signing: Aramis Ramirez to a 3 year deal, at about $16-18 mil a year. That would fill the Tigers hot corner until Nick Castellanos will be ready to step into the position, while putting a great bat into the Tigers lineup. If they strike out on Ramirez, resign Betemit to a 2 year deal.
2. Next, find a second baseman. The goal in my mind: Find someone who is good to great defensively who also is average to above average with the bat. The reason: The upgrade at third base should result in enough offense to cover a mediocre second base, so defense should be a priority. My dream signing: Aaron Hill. Give Hill a 3 year deal, worth somewhere between $18-24 mil. This solves the second base problem and puts a grinding defensive second base who has shown hot streaks with the bat into the Tigers lineup. Immediately Brandon Inge is forgotten by the Tigers faithful. If they strike out on Hill, sign Jamey Carroll to a short term deal.
3. Third, find a cheap veteran starter who can eat innings in case Turner or Oliver aren't able to grab the spot in Spring Training. There is no dream signing in this spot, but my top three, in order of preference: Jason Marquis, Joel Pineiro, Paul Maholm. Get one of those three and the rotation is set even if the young starters aren't ready, and the bullpen is stronger if they are.
4. Finally, backup catcher. Best scenario is to find a right-handed bat, which can allow Avila and his left-handed bat to sit against southpaws. Dream signing: Ryan Doumit. Doumit would be the dream scenario, but that assumes no one would be willing to give Doumit a shot at starting, which in my estimation is a pipe dream. More realistic dream: sign Chris Snyder. If they strike out on Snyder, sign Kelly Shoppach.

If all goes to my plan, the perfect offseason sees Illitch allow the salary to go a little past $123 mil and the Tigers sign Aramis Ramirez, Aaron Hill, Jason Marquis, and Ryan Doumit, creating an offense to rival any in the AL and providing depth to one of the best young rotations in the league.

My more realistic prediction: Tigers sign Aaron Hill, Wilson Betemit, Jason Marquis, and Kelly Shoppach and use some of the extra cash to maybe sign an extra reliever to compete with Ryan Perry and Daniel Schlereth to create a stronger bullpen behind Valverde, Benoit, Alburquerque, and Coke.

Let the offseason begin!

Howdy

Hello readers of my blog. I look forward to using this space in the future as a way to let my ideas about the world of sports run free. I do follow most sports, so expect an eclectic collection of topics from the world of sports. Hopefully this results in an enjoyable read for those who do stumble upon this and some responses and good debate on my takes on various sports-related subjects. That is all for now.

Thank you and here's to hopefully a sports-intensive future together!

Andrew Seid