sabretooth

It was great, but I was starting my career and on the west side of the state....my wife was going to UM but finishing her degree, we were engaged, and we didnt get to go to any games....while it was sweet, I didnt feel as personally invested. Also, my 2 sons started to go to U of M 4 years ago....we went to a fair number of games, and have been mired in this stretch of losing big games, starting with the MSU punt fail. We got to celebrate today and it was a very sweet time. Plus one of my sons has had a terrible health break this year, so it felt like we really needed this more than ever.

Ohio state has absolutely ***no*** reason to complain about the weather. It is only their advantage in the weather that allows them to recruit better than Michigan.

Correct

Great point, the d backs had a really tall task and they basically held OSU in check.

I am connected to UM by my siblings, two sons, a brother and sister in law. I didnt go there myself, but I have always been a huge fan. Today is the sweetest feeling I have had since the 1989 basketball championship.

I thought they had a chance to win if they scored 40, but I didnt think they would do it. Amazing game beating a really good OSU team.

The Offensive Line had the finest performance I have ever seen by any unit. Incredible domination.

A decent player, but IMO too old, not enough glove, not enough power anymore, not even against RHP. Not enough split differential to make a strong platoon player either. I guess he has the benefit of not being a liability at anything. I suppose he could pull a Robbie Grossman and have a career year in his 30s... There are other guys that I would prefer in that slot if I were pursuing a regular OF for less than $15M per year.

Awesome

Yes....Go Mets! Love me a good Story instead.

Of the three examples you cited, only Hongbits was a general indictment of his time management and in game skills. The other two examples it seemed to me were not focusing on his general use of TOs. The chart you cited was a measurement of how successfully coaches avoid wasting TOs. A coach can avoid wasting TOs and still be incompetent at time management and make more than his share of critical end-of-game mistakes. I viewed the chart and the argument at hand as apples and oranges.

Where did anybody criticize his use of TOs generally speaking? The concern expressed here is that he and his coaches and players have made too many critical mistakes late in games. That doesnt necessarily mean that he generally makes mistakes with TOs, and nobody to my recollection claimed that was the case.

In addition to all of this, in his post game press conference, Campbell said that the 2nd time out was called *knowing* that it would cause a 5 yd penalty and the resulting 3rd and 4th, instead of 3rd and 9. In Campbells words, you couldn't afford to allow a touchdown in the 3rd 9 situation due to a blown defensive alignment. Actually allowing a touchdown in that situation would have at least given the offense the ball and a chance. I realize that he wanted the defensive alignment fixed in order to avoid the TD **and** to stop the 1st down, which was actually more critical than stopping the TD. Maybe Campbell is right and the 5 yd penalty didn't really matter, because the blown defense was going to give up any yardage that Chicago wanted in that situation, and maybe they would have gained the 1st down yardage and just sat down on the 2 yard line to milk the clock. And maybe it's really the players' fault for blowing the defensive alignment change audibled on the field. But at the end of the day it all comes back to the head coach in some manner, and they keep getting themselves into these twisted messed up situations at the end of competitive games because errors made by players and coaches. Every week it seems like some new effed up way is invented to lose a game that even we as Lions fans haven't seen before. I would not be opposed if they fired Dan Campbell's end of the year, but I know it will never happen. They have sunk their costs into him, and they are going to keep him through the '23 season, which basically fates this team to his influence one way or another through at least '25, because another HC in '24 (or even '23) would require a couple of seasons to retool and reset. Its gonna be Campbell. Lets hope he can learn and grow.

Sometimes you just gotta say **** it

Seems likena correct read.

Lets face it, Campbell is going to be the HC for two more years no matter what happens and no matter how stupid his decisions are. If he is a bad HC, this will basically hamstring them in terms of replacing him and having to go through another HC transition with all of the usual roster changes and other typical transition fallout and excuses. We have to hope that he will learn to overcome his mistakes, or there will be serious consequences for on field performance for a number of years, even after hes gone.

I would be nearly as happy with Story...if its Story or Correa and Cobb I would be just thrilled.

If he adds Correa and Cobb I would be VERY happy with this offseason! That would be awesome.

Campbell seems to have the strength to get a horrible team into a position to win most of the time, but unfortunately he has poor in game managing skills that costs them late in the game. Whether the results are on him is a question, but he is going to have to win games more often than not for a few seasons before he is given the benefit of the doubt.

I would like to see them go out and get a value pitcher who is fairly healthy. With Matz gone, I think they can get Kikuchi or Wacha for around/under $10M/yr for 2 - 4 years, not a lot of $$ and a solid 150 IP per year. If they want to take a flier on a guy with some arm issues they could go for Duffy, Cobb, or Archer. Smyly is also a swingman option who could provide some depth in the BP at a cheap price.

True dat....probably worth at least 5 losses.

It doesn't bother me that they might whiff on a coaching and/or coordinator selection, happens all of the time in the NFL....the key is to know when to hold em and when to fold em. The Lions have held onto failing/flailing management personnel, that's what they do. I for one would have no issues with them firing Lynn if he's the cause of failure, and frankly, I think this organization needs a sense of urgency....if not for wins and the playoffs soon, at least that they are not going to tolerate failure. That doesn't mean that I want Lynn fired now or even at the end of the season...but if there are doubts about his play-calling ability in year 2 and 3 and he's still hanging around like Don Brown, then that would suck.

Yes, yes, agreed 100%.

I mean, Ray and Semien (and Graveman for the matter) could all turn into pumpkins....Ray with his historical control issues and the fact that he's turning 30 (though he doesn't have a ton of miles of his arm), Semien with his age and the fact that he was a mediocre (but VERY durable) player before 2019, and Graveman, as all relievers, are a twinge away from oblivion. Nevertheless, with their amazing lineup, they don't need Semien to do much more than to show up every day (which he has been great at doing), field his position well, and hit OK with a chance to repeat some of his recent greatness. And while Ray like every other pitcher is a bit of a risk, he still had a Cy Young level season and could continue that level of dominance. And Graveman is a good reliever....FWIW. The rich use $ to get richer on the field. That's a great way to build on their successes at building/acquiring very good young talent, especially in a Chicago-sized marketplace.

Good gravy! The White Sox are becoming the new Monsters of the Midway. What a rocketship of a roster that would be.