Three years ago, when Hunter Dickinson was finishing his freshman season on U of M men’s basketball team, in which he was Michigan’s leading scorer and rebounder, my son Christopher told me that Michigan basketball would be better off if Dickinson went pro and left the program. He felt that Dickinson was too slow and caused the offense to stagnate as everything was run through Dickinson. At the time, I didn’t agree with Chris, but as time passed, I could see Chris’ had a valid point. By the end of last year’s disappointing season, I was glad when Dickenson entered the transfer portal and transferred to Kansas, who is now favored to win the national championship.
Last night Michigan unveiled a different kind of team than seen in the last three years. They played the game with fluidity, balance, and at a fast pace , with lots of assists and very few turnovers. It was fun to watch as they beat a good UNC Ashville team, 99-74.
I am not saying they are going to be a top tier B1G team and make the NCAA tournament, but I know they will be much more fun to watch than the teams of the last three years. See my Video of the Day.
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I chuckled today when I read this story that appeared in the Free Press that the NCAA is considering using technology like the NFL and MLB to make sign stealing a moot point. Here are the leading paragraphs from the Freep story.
Talk of sign-stealing is all the rage in the college football world, but the practice may become a thing of the past in the near future.
The NCAA, infamously slow to adopt the technology used in the NFL for coaches to relay plays to players, passed a resolution over the summer that will allow the use of comms during non-College Football Playoff bowl games. As of last week, The Athletic reported those same games will also allow video review via tablets on the sidelines.
It was, in fact, the Big Ten that made the request to allow the communications before the teams in the conference began their alleged Cold War.
This should have been done a long time ago. As we are learning from the Michigan investigation, sign stealing is pervasive in college football. The NCAA needs to enter the 21st century before it is half over. It is also ironic, that the BIG is the conference that made the request, considering Michigan and the B1G are embroiled in a battle over sign stealing.
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It has been over a month since the attack on Israel by Hamas. As I indicated early on, support for Israel was going to be overwhelming during the first week or so, but once they went on the attack and innocent civilians started dying, the support would start waning.
We are now at that time when supporting countries are asking how much is enough? Where, when, and how will this end? Will Israel take over Gaza? Will it end there? Who will be governing Gaza?
President Biden is rightfully asking Israel to show restraint and to protect civilian life. Unfortunately, less than 20 years ago, the U.S. attacked Iraq based on inaccurate information about Iraq’s nuclear capabilities. Innocent civilians died in the attack. Many world leaders asked for constraint, but we moved forward. Prime Minister Netanyahu is saying his action in Gaza is the same as the U.S action in Iraq.
It is a mess. When Israel’s action is completed, they will not be closer to peace. There has never been peace in the middle east in my lifetime. I don’t see that changing.
In the meantime, the War in Ukraine continues for over 1 and ½ years. The U.S. ability to support Ukraine and Israel will be tested in the coming months when there is no end in sight for either conflict. We need to pray for peace.
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Quote of the Day: “What the world needs now is love, sweet love. It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of. What the world needs now is love, sweet love. . No, not just for some but for everyone.” Dionne Warwick
Orchid of the Day: The Michigan men’s basketball team. They learned a lesson from MSU.
Onion of the Day: Albert Morrison, the corrupt former Madison District Public Schools president, is a greedy liar and bully who deserves to spend almost a decade in prison for receiving more than $561,000 in bribes, federal prosecutors said while portraying him as partying while out on bond and blowing ill-gotten money on big-ticket items, including a Chevrolet Camaro.
Prosecutors filed the request for a nearly 9 1/2-year sentence ahead of Morrison, 62, being sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Laurie Michelson for his role in one of the more lucrative bribery conspiracies uncovered during a years-long crackdown on public corruption in Metro Detroit.
Question of the Day: Does anyone care about the Republican debate tonight?
Image/Video of the Day: