CONNOR COOK BEAT MICHIGAN FOOTBALL, 3-0

Have you gotten tired of all the ragging against Connor Cook? All the guy did as a starter was win double-digit games three years in a row with two bowl victories and a league championship. He obviously was a key part in one of the best three-year runs in Michigan State football history, a leader from his quarterback position.

He was also "voted a captain", despite the obsessive claims to the contrary. Cook finished in fourth-place in the Captain voting, and that would make him a "Captain" on any other NCAA team, as four players are allowed by rule to serve as Captain in each game. Every other program names their top four vote-getters as "Captains", but Mark Dantonio has bypassed normal practice by installing a "rotating Captain" position. Dantonio names a "Captain-of-the-Day" for each game, allowing him to honor twelve (or more) players for the price of one regular spot. The fourth vote-getter is effectively the Lead Captain-of-the-Day, as he is pre-named for the most prominent home game on the schedule. Since Cook was the fourth vote-getter, that was him. But that doesn't mean that he wasn't "voted a captain".

So why all the hate towards Captain Cook? Check the headline of this story for the most likely answer. There are forces emanating from Ann Arbor that are trying to reap revenge against Cook since they have run out of chances to beat him on the field. The claims against Cook are largely unwarranted, with players and coaches systematically making statements in the media on a near-daily basis to de-bunk the smear campaign.

Who is really good at making unwarranted claims?

I think we all know the answer to that question.

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Tweet ****** The purpose of this web site is to expose the mainstream media bias that consistently portrays Michigan in a favorable light under any and all circumstances. We present current facts and review historical records to show that UM is not all they are cracked up to be. This process involves information that is negative by nature, offered as a counter-balance to the biased picture we all see on a regular basis in the mainstream media. These negative facts may involve Wolverine teams, players, coaches, administrators, and/or fans. We are here to prove that Michigan is NOT AS DIFFERENT as they want us all to believe.

A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS

A VISUAL COMPARISON OF THE PROGRAMS: 
MICHIGAN STATE FOOTBALL vs MICHIGAN

*Picture courtesy of MARK OSTERMAN from his M-Live account

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Tweet ****** The purpose of this web site is to expose the mainstream media bias that consistently portrays Michigan in a favorable light under any and all circumstances. We present current facts and review historical records to show that UM is not all they are cracked up to be. This process involves information that is negative by nature, offered as a counter-balance to the biased picture we all see on a regular basis in the mainstream media. These negative facts may involve Wolverine teams, players, coaches, administrators, and/or fans. We are here to prove that Michigan is NOT AS DIFFERENT as they want us all to believe.

WILL BEILEIN START DOING "SLEEP-OVERS"?

Whatever happened to John Beilein? Seems like he was the hottest thing going just a short time ago. Now it looks like he's headed the way of the "Pet Rock".

Okay, maybe more like the "Hula Hoop". You know, a novelty toy that you pick up every so often to play with, just to remember what it was like when you first got it. But not something that would entertain you on a regular basis.

My, how the Mighty have fallen! Tom Izzo was playing second-fiddle to Beilein in the minds of so many Michigan fans, and now it looks like fiddling might suit the Old Apple Farmer better than coaching basketball.

The word out of Ann Arbor is that UM is "as good as they can be right now". The head coach says his players aren't the problem, it's not a lack of effort, they're just not good enough. They need to get better, or they need to get better players. Lord only knows, if Beilein could just get some talented freshmen, he'd send these good-for-nothings packing before they get a chance to sniff their senior seasons in yellow-and-blue.

The Wolverines had their mini-run and now it's over. They finished atop the conference standings and made it to the third weekend of the Big Dance. They sent players to the NBA, many in the First Round. They literally eliminated "Senior Day" since their young players were so darned good. But not so much anymore, eh?

Look what happened to basketball recruiting at Michigan since those glory days of yesteryear:

2013 Recruiting Class:  This group was ranked #11 by 247-Sports. That's a good enough group to build a successful program if you can score this high every year.

2014 Recruiting Class:  This group was ranked #27 by 247-Sports. That would be like an "inbetween recruiting year" for Tom Izzo. You can survive with classes like this, provided they are surrounded by better groups.

2015 Recruiting Class:  This group was ranked #106 by 247 and was unranked by Rivals. This is a "dead-class". You really can't have this happen more than once per decade in a successful program. And you need to follow it up with a super-haul the next season.

2016 Recruiting Class:  These guys just signed last November and got a ranking of #25 by 247-Sports and #28 by Rivals. It's another inbetween-class, not a huge problem by itself, but look at the ranking of the previous group. The only way a program could sustain success with two or three groups like UM has recruited would be to score a Top Five class the following year.

So what can John Beilein do to improve his recruiting in order to salvage his program? This brings us to the main thrust of the question currently facing University of Michigan Men's Basketball:

Should John Beilein start doing

"sleep-overs" to get better players?

The UM folks think it's fine,

and it seems to be working for Jim Harbaugh.

Heck, the Catholic Church built their dynasty on the same principles, and they seem to be surviving just fine.

Maybe John Beilein should grab his most colorful jammies, pack up his overnight kit, and start working the Midnight Circuit, ala Coach Jim. Beilein knows a lot of campfire songs from his apple-picking days, so he can serenade the young hoopsters to dream-land while regaling them with glorious stories of shooting 50 three-pointers in a single game. To help them relax and fall asleep, he can assure them they will not be expected to play defense at UM. If the academic challenge of a four-year degree from Michigan seems too daunting, he can explain that he's not looking for a full four years from anyone; just a couple of seasons, then move on before you get too old.

We expect Beilein to pick up the ball right where Jim Harbaugh left it for him. If the Wolverines get better in the future, maybe Harbaugh won't spend time in the visitor's locker-room at half-time while his home team is getting a butt-kicking on the court.

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Tweet ****** The purpose of this web site is to expose the mainstream media bias that consistently portrays Michigan in a favorable light under any and all circumstances. We present current facts and review historical records to show that UM is not all they are cracked up to be. This process involves information that is negative by nature, offered as a counter-balance to the biased picture we all see on a regular basis in the mainstream media. These negative facts may involve Wolverine teams, players, coaches, administrators, and/or fans. We are here to prove that Michigan is NOT AS DIFFERENT as they want us all to believe.

PICK A STREAK, ANY STREAK: MICHIGAN STATE MEN'S BASKETBALL SERIES VERSUS MICHIGAN

It seems like ages ago when the Michigan fan-base was trumpeting their pride in a (dare I say it?) FLUKEY pair of three-game win-streaks against Michigan State in Men's Basketball. These folks reached fever-pitch when they could claim "six-out-of-the-last-nine" wins over MSU. We always respected the fact that UM did win those games, but we thought it was a bit premature to start talking about John Beilein taking over the State and forcing Tom Izzo into retirement.

We saw that each of those three-game win-streaks included a one-point victory, and all the wins were by single-digits. We couldn't help but notice that most of those six victories came with one or more Spartans injured and unavailable, usually from the starting lineup. And four of the six wins were in games played in Ann Arbor. But mathematically, there was nothing we could do to shut down their noise except wait for our team to get back on the winning track against the Wolverines.

The rivalry series is back in order!

Four straight (double-digit) wins by Michigan State

have left Michigan with no more win-streaks to shout about.

We recently summarized the last 25 games between the two teams to see the macro-picture of the rivalry series. Now we take a micro-picture of the "streaks" by both teams over that 25-game span, covering the last 13 years. Take a look at the list below to see every streak up to 25 starting from NOW.

The last 25 games are arranged in reverse-chronological order, with the most recent game at the top. The bolded text shows what the streak is, for either team, as of TODAY. There is no longer any need to cherry-pick the number of games to be described, as all 25 are listed below. Those who wish to count up the last four, or the last 13, or the last 22, or whatever, may simply refer to this list:

1. MSU - 1 of the last 1 (2-6-16) MSU by 16
2. MSU - 2 of the last 2  (2-17-15) MSU by 13
3. MSU - 3 of the last 3  (2-01-15) MSU by 10
4. MSU - 4 of the last 4  (3-16-14) MSU by 14
5. MSU - 4 of the last 5  (2-23-14) UM by 9
6. MSU - 4 of the last 6  (1-25-14) UM by 5
7. MSU - 4 of the last 7 (3-03-13) UM by 1
8. MSU - 5 of the last 8  (2-12-13) MSU by 23
9. MSU - 6 of the last 9  (2-05-12) MSU by 10
10. MSU - 6 of the last 10  (1-17-12) UM by 1
11. MSU - 6 of the last 11  (3-05-11) UM by 7
12. Tied  - 6 of the last 12  (1-27-11) UM by 4
13. MSU - 7 of the last 13  (3-07-10) MSU by 16
14. MSU - 8 of the last 14  (1-26-10) MSU by 1
15. MSU - 9 of the last 15  (2-10-09) MSU by 12
16. MSU - 10 of the last 16  (1-27-08) MSU by 15
17. MSU - 10 of the last 17  (2-27-07) UM by 11
18. MSU - 11 of the last 18  (2-13-07) MSU by 15
19. MSU - 12 of the last 19  (2-18-06) MSU by 19
20. MSU - 12 of the last 20  (1-25-06) UM by 5
21. MSU - 13 of the last 21  (2-12-05) MSU by 15
22. MSU - 14 of the last 22  (1-27-05) MSU by 11
23. MSU - 15 of the last 23  (2-24-04) MSU by 3
24. MSU - 16 of the last 24  (1-17-04) MSU by 17
25. MSU - 16 of the last 25  (1-26-03) UM by 2

Did you notice? The Wolverines have no more win-streaks in recent history! The best claim they can make is that the series is TIED over the last 12 games.

There is only one "streak" going back 25 games

in which Michigan State does not lead Michigan.

- - - Over the last 12 games, the series is tied, 6-6 - - -

The other 24 "measuring-sticks"

ALL FAVOR THE SPARTANS.

We call for an end to the prideful boasting and arrogance from Ann Arbor. Congratulations to them and their team when they win a game or two, and for bringing their program up to "par" with the rest of the conference. We don't need to laugh at them for having a down season now and then, but they really ought to shut up about their rare and narrow wins over MSU.

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Tweet ****** The purpose of this web site is to expose the mainstream media bias that consistently portrays Michigan in a favorable light under any and all circumstances. We present current facts and review historical records to show that UM is not all they are cracked up to be. This process involves information that is negative by nature, offered as a counter-balance to the biased picture we all see on a regular basis in the mainstream media. These negative facts may involve Wolverine teams, players, coaches, administrators, and/or fans. We are here to prove that Michigan is NOT AS DIFFERENT as they want us all to believe.

MICHIGAN STATE BASKETBALL HAMMERS MICHIGAN TWICE IN RIVALRY LAST WEEK

Rivalry Week 2016 has come and gone, and what is there left to say about it? Michigan State drilled Michigan twice on the basketball court, once at Breslin and once at Crisler. Both the Men's and Women's teams play each other only once during the regular season, so last week was all she wrote, pending the conference tournaments.

Here's how good it was for Spartan Basketball against the Wolverines:

The MSU Women hosted UM last Wednesday night at Breslin. The Spartans forced an early timeout after a quick 13-4 opening run, they led by 20 points at half-time and by 27 at the end of three quarters. The Wolverines trailed the entire game. Michigan State wins by 21.

The MSU Men traveled to Ann Arbor last Saturday afternoon, laying a whipping on their rivals. The Spartan lead ballooned to 30 with under three minutes to play, making it two home losses in a row for Genius John Beilein. 89-73, Michigan State.

The big question facing all of us is whether any of this will serve to SHUT UP THE chUMps. All we've heard for the past month is "38-0" from every loud-mouthed blueblood, despite the 42-13 shellacking their football team took on their home-field during Redshirt-Junior Day. Now that Beilein's Boys were slammed by both Indiana and Michigan State in consecutive home-games, will the chUMps kindly crawl back into their holes?

The Spartan Men are 16-9 against UM in the last 25 contests.

The Spartan Women have now defeated the Wolverines

seven-of-the-last-ten games, as well as 21 out of the last 25.

BASKETBALL CAKEWALK OVER FOR MICHIGAN

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Tweet ****** The purpose of this web site is to expose the mainstream media bias that consistently portrays Michigan in a favorable light under any and all circumstances. We present current facts and review historical records to show that UM is not all they are cracked up to be. This process involves information that is negative by nature, offered as a counter-balance to the biased picture we all see on a regular basis in the mainstream media. These negative facts may involve Wolverine teams, players, coaches, administrators, and/or fans. We are here to prove that Michigan is NOT AS DIFFERENT as they want us all to believe.