Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Mike]

That fiasco can be blamed on the ref. Ortiz shouldn't have been trying to hug it out in the middle of a championship bout but the ref didn't have control of the situation. Why the hell is he talking to somebody ringside when the two boxers are touching gloves? If he would have just said "box" like he's supposed to the whole thing would have been averted.

[Hannibal]

Yup. Ortiz screwed up big time. Probably the biggest ref screwup that I have ever seen.

I couldn't believe that Larry Merchant lost his cool though. That's a time where you are supposed to be the bigger man. I'm guessing that if Larry Merchant was 30 years old again, he wouldn't be kicking Mayweather's ass.

[lineygoblue]

I worked a volleyball match tonight over in South Lyon. Four of us were assigned to work the match. I knew the other two guys, but I'd never met the fourth guy before tonight.

The guy walks in the door, and he is the spitting image of Jeff Buchanan. He was so close, that as he was walking towards us, I almost reached for my cell phone to dial Jeff's number, to see if this guy reached for his phone when it rang.

He was a pretty good official too. He was the "up" official for the varsity game, and he called a very good game.

[lineygoblue]

John Bacon has written another book about Michigan football. Many of you will remember him as the fellow who was writing a book with, and about Bo Schembechler at the time he died.

John's new book is called "Three And Out", and is being released on October 25th. He was given unfettered access to the team, the coaches, and the facilities during the 3 year term of Rich Rodriguez. He said on his Facebook page today that Rodriguez cooperated and gave him access in a way that no other coach has ever done before. He promises it will be a good read. Be watching for it on October 25.

[Hannibal]

He was supposedly banished to the back of the pressbox and he has to sit with Drew Sharp at Michigan football games because of his book. And it has apparently pissed off RichRod too.

[Dr. Strangelove]

If I were Rich Rod I'd be pissed too. Gave him unfettered access and got stabbed in the back. Stabbed in the back by an Administration that also swore up and down that he'd be given time to fix the mess that Carr and the Fort left behind.

[lineygoblue]

Well, I don't expect anyone from ohio to read the book, because they don't believe in doing that anyway.

John Bacon is one of my facebook friends, and I spoke to him yesterday about the book. He said its going to surprise a lot of people. Rich Rodriguez comes off in a much better light than people think.

I'm going to buy the book. He's going to have a couple of book signings here in Michigan when it comes out, and I'm going to go see if I can get him to sign mine.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Well, I'll say this ...... Rich wasn't the best when it came to judging who he should hang with and who he should trust, when to keep his mouth shut and when to speak. Whatever he might have said to Bacon, Bacon just reported it. John has a pretty good rep as a journalist and author. So, if he's pissed about what Bacon his written, it's his fault for being as open as he probably should not have been.

Bacon reportedly took some shots at the program while indirectly pointing at Lloyd. There are suggestions, I am told, that he implies that Rodriguez was purposly undermined but draws no direct links between people inside the program and the undermining. I've been told this is all sort of vague. The conclusion one draws from the inuendo is that there were forces outside the program with intent to bring Rodriguez down but the reader is left to decide on that issue himself.

[lineygoblue]

So, if he's pissed about what Bacon his written, it's his fault for being as open as he probably should not have been.

From what I understand, its quite the opposite. Rodriguez likes Bacon's book.

http://www.annarbor.com/sports/um-football/three-and-out-behind-the-scenes-look-at-rich-rodriguezs-tenure-its-drama-factions-and-football/

[Dr. Strangelove]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcIT0Tb5aEk"]Hamms Beer Bear In The Boxing Ring - YouTube[/ame]

[lineygoblue]

Strangelove, if you remember Hamms Beer commercials, you are most definitely an old fart ....

[Dr. Strangelove]

Ha...not that old, but I remember that distinct jingle as a kid (they were still using it in the 80's!) but could never remember the exact beer until the youtube era.

And really, Rocky Marciano pimping your product?? How sweet is that?

Apparently they still make Hamms but I have never seen it anywhere

[geo weidl]

Interesting article in usa today titled:

Demands on college athletic directors resemble CEO challenges

The article refers to mark hollis of msu and Dave Brandon at Michigan with their work at the universities.

The writer gives his interpretation of an AD:

They have to be fans and dispassionate observers. They must have creativity, imagination and vision, but they better know NCAA rules to the letter. They must lead, follow and get out of the way. They must be contrarians with deft conflict resolution skills. They must make deals and friends (wealthy ones, especially). They must hire and fire. They must understand contracts and contractors, traditions and academicians, Twitter and glitter.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/story/2011-10-18/athletic-director-salaries-cover/50671214/1

[Rocky Bleier]

No one mentioned Steve Jobs dying. My mom said people were calling him the Thomas Edison of our time. I'm not really up on my Steve Jobs history, but isn't that really farfetched? I mean. Edison was an actual inventor with 1093 patents! Did Jobs invent anything, or was he the visionary who had teams of people working for him?

[WM Wolverine]

Steve Jobs was great at polishing products and marketing/'branding' his products to be extremely desirable regardless of its performance next to another that performed every bit as good. One thing I think Apple 'gets' that very few other companies don't is the little details matter a great deal. Every Apple product I've used seems to be idiot proof, intuitive and very polished in appearance and for the most part, durability... Apple wouldn't ever consider using 2nd/3rd rate plastics/materials/technology in one of its products. Apple wasn't always cutting edge with its technology/hardware but their products always appeared to be... This allowed Apple to mark-up their products twice as much as the competition...

Jobs was also great at taking good ideas from others, patenting them and making those ideas much better. Apple setup tons of inventor seminars where people would showcase their inventions. Apple would buy any of these inventions/innovations that they could use themselves.