MICHIGAN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL COACH CAMPAIGNS FOR "THE RIGHT TO BARE ARMS"

Seems like every coach at the University of Michigan has to have their "signature look". Brady Hoke showed up on game days looking like an overgrown blueberry with a yellow "M" on his belly. Now Jim Harbaugh has his cutting-edge fashion statement of wearing khaki-pants every minute of every day.

Blueberry Fields Forever

What do you expect me to look like?

But there is another UM coach who likes to wear her emotions on her sleeves, or rather, on her bare skin. On game days. INDOORS.

It's Women's Basketball Coach Kim Barnes-Arico, "Queen of the Naked Shoulders". While most female basketball coaches present a range of fashionable haberdashery while prowling the sidelines, this Wolverine Woman sticks almost exclusively to the "look at my arms" appearance.

No big deal, I suppose, but also unprecedented in women's sports. What's next, "short-shorts"? Or maybe a tube-top? Perhaps a mini-skirt with patent-leather shoes?

For amusement purposes only, take a look at the various pictures below to see what we're talking about.

She believes in a woman's right to BARE ARMS

"Check out my GUNS!"

Hey, sleeve me alone.

I am shouldering such a burden here.

Cheer with me for my BICEPS!

---------

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.

HARBAUGH FIRST-SEASON RECORD RANKS ONLY NINTH-BEST IN UM HISTORY BOOKS

Jerry Harbaugh set Wolverines hearts aflutter with his "surprising" first season, right? But how good was it, really? We've asserted that the 2014 Michigan football team was more of a 7-5 team than a 5-7 team, dropping at least two winnable games due to poor coaching. So we predicted that Harbought would probably win 8-9 games in the 2015 regular season. When he won nine games (two by virtual "forfeit" due to abysmal coaching) we were NOT surprised. It sounded about right to us.

But the sports media has coronated Jake Harbo for his wondrous accomplishment of a third-place Division finish along with losses to each of his major rivals on his home field. Bully for Jaylen!

We still weren't convinced, so we looked into the record book and learned that the first season of Harshbutt barely made the Top Ten list of UM Football Coaches. There have been at least eight other coaches that did better than Hardbottom in their debut season in Ann Arbor:

1. Fielding Yost, 11-0  (1901)
2. Bennnie Oosterbaan, 9-0   (1948)
3. William McCauley, 9-1  (1894)
4. William Ward, 9-1  (1896)
5. Gustave Ferbert, 6-1  (1897)
6. Fritz Crisler, 6-1  (1938)
7. Brady Hoke, 11-2  (2012)
8. Langdon Lea, 7-2  (1900)
9. Jim Harbaugh, 10-3  (2015)

Granted, seven of the eight coaches who did better than Jamaal Harlow did so before Alaska was admitted to the United States, but hey, we're talking UM here, so we're allowed to count up things that allegedly happened back to the Stone Age.

---------

Tweet ****** Click on NO COMMENTS (or # comments) below to enter and view reader comments.   ----- Remember to check Spartan Headline links, updated real time, in the left column of SpartanResource.com (Web version only). *****Note: If you are receiving this post via automated email, you need to go to the site to view headline links and embedded videos in this post: http://spartanresource.com/ (Web version only). SIGN UP TO RECEIVE POSTS VIA EMAIL, TWITTER OR FACEBOOK IN THE RIGHT COLUMN.*****

HOKE VS HARBAUGH: FIRST YEAR COMPARISON

The 2015 college football regular season is over, and Jim Harbaugh continues to trail Brady Hoke in their comparative first-year performance. Hoke finished 10-2 in his first year, while Harbaugh struggled to reach 9-3 (with lucky wins over Minnesota and Indiana). Since Hoke also won his bowl game, he has clinched victory over Harbaugh in Year One.

Let's take a closer look at the first-year of each Michigan Head Coach, to verify that the Great Harby stands in the Big Boy's shadow after one season on the job. Here are the season results for both coaches:

BRADY HOKE:  10-2

• Beat Western Michigan by 24
• Beat Notre Dame by 4
• Beat Eastern Michigan by 28
• Beat San Diego State by 21
• Beat Minnesota by 58
• Beat Northwestern by 14
• Lost to Michigan State by 14
• Beat Purdue by 22
• Lost to Iowa by 8
• Beat Illinois by 17
• Beat Nebraska by 28
• Beat Ohio State by 6
• Beat Virginia Tech by 3

• 2-1 against ranked teams (#23 MSU, #16 Nebraska, #11 Virginia Tech)

JIM HARBAUGH:  9-3

• Lost to Utah by 7
• Beat Oregon State by 28
• Beat UNLV by 21
• Beat BYU by 31
• Beat Maryland by 28
• Beat Northwestern by 38
• Lost to Michigan State by 4
• Beat Minnesota by 3
• Beat Rutgers by 33
• Beat Indiana by 7
• Beat Penn State by 12
• Lost to Ohio State by 29

• 2-2 vs ranked teams (#22 BYU, #13 NW, #7 MSU, #8 OSU)

The "macro" view (above) shows that Hoke had a better record than Harbaugh, giving him the mythical Year One Title with a bowl victory in hand. A UM victory over Florida would still leave Harbaugh looking up to Hoke.

Some people might say there are differences that don't show up in the "macro" view, so we turn up the microscope now to analyze various aspects of the season performance. For this "micro" view, we will examine the season schedule in four different parts:

• Non-Conference games
• Games against Common Opponents
• Rivalry Games
• Games against Uncommon Opponents

As you will see (below), Hoke has the edge in three of the four categories listed (above). Here is a detailed listing of those groups of games:

Non-Conference Schedule

• Hoke beat Western Michigan by 24
• Hoke beat Notre Dame by 4
• Hoke beat Eastern Michigan by 28
• Hoke beat San Diego State by 21
• Harbaugh lost to Utah by 7
• Harbaugh beat Oregon State by 28
• Harbaugh beat UNLV by 21
• Harbaugh beat BYU by 31

• Hoke = 4-0, +77 points
• Harbaugh = 3-1, +73 points

Conference Schedule - Common Opponents

• Hoke beat Minnesota by 58
• Harbaugh beat Minnesota by 3
• Hoke beat Northwestern by 14
• Harbaugh beat Northwestern by 38

• Hoke = 2-0, +72 points
• Harbaugh = 2-0, +41 points

Conference Schedule - Common Rivalry Games

• Hoke lost to Michigan State by 14
• Harbaugh lost to Michigan State by 4
• Hoke beat Ohio State by 6
• Harbaugh lost to Ohio State by 29

• Hoke = 1-1, -8 points
• Harbaugh = 0-2, -33 points

Conference Schedule - Uncommon Opponents

• Hoke beat Purdue by 22
• Hoke lost to Iowa by 8
• Hoke beat Illinois by 17
• Hoke beat Nebraska by 28
• Harbaugh beat Maryland by 28
• Harbaugh beat Rutgers by 33
• Harbaugh beat Indiana by 7
• Harbaugh beat Penn State by 12

• Hoke = 3-1, +59 points
• Harbaugh = 4-0, +70 points

As you can see, Hoke wins two categories by game-record, and a third by the point-differential tie-breaker. The only advantage to Harbaugh is in the category of "Uncommon Opponents". (Hoke lost to Iowa by eight points, while Harbaugh beat Indiana by seven points in overtime.)

We wish the sports media would examine the actual performance records of the same program with the two different coaches before anointing the new guy as The Savior. A key aspect we haven't included is that the recruiting classes immediately preceding the Hoke hire were NOT AS GOOD AS the recruiting classes immediately preceding the Harbaugh hire. In other words, there is reason to believe that Harbaugh may have had more talent to work with than Hoke did at the beginning.

We already told you before the season started that UM fans would laud the new guy and celebrate his excellence NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENED DURING THIS SEASON. And that's been exactly the case. The sports media collectively predicted Michigan to go 7-5 this season, and the Wolverines would have finished 7-5 if not for the brain-hemmorage suffered by the Minnesota Interim Head Coach at the end of the game, along with the generous officiating that allowed UM to sneak by Indiana in two overtimes. Those details are set aside in the public consciousness to allow the disciples of Jimmy to herald him for his wondrous brilliance.

NOTE:  This article contains no predictions, and is not intended to make claims about future seasons of Michigan Football. However, it seems clear that Brady Hoke actually had a BETTER FIRST SEASON than Jim Harbaugh, based on the actual facts of the two seasons.

---------

Tweet ****** Click on NO COMMENTS (or # comments) below to enter and view reader comments.   ----- Remember to check Spartan Headline links, updated real time, in the left column of SpartanResource.com (Web version only). *****Note: If you are receiving this post via automated email, you need to go to the site to view headline links and embedded videos in this post: http://spartanresource.com/ (Web version only). SIGN UP TO RECEIVE POSTS VIA EMAIL, TWITTER OR FACEBOOK IN THE RIGHT COLUMN.*****

JIM HARBAUGH LOSES TO BRADY HOKE IN FIRST-YEAR PERFORMANCE RECORD

The college football regular season is over, and it's time to shower Jim Harbaugh with accolades for the wonderful job he did in his first year as Head Coach of Michigan Football. The sports media starting singing his praises before he left the field after losing by four touchdowns to his arch-rival.

But, as good as some folks want to say he did in 2015, Harbaugh did not match the first-year success of BRADY HOKE in 2011:

• UM: 9-3 in first year under Harbaugh
• UM: 10-2 in first year under Hoke

The Hokey Wolverines finished 11-2 with a victory over Ohio STATE and a bowl win. Harby cannot match that record in the history books. Hoke rode the Rich Rodriguez recruits to the stellar first season, while Harbaugh was riding on Hoke's outstanding recruiting classes this year.

Bottom Line: HOKE DID BETTER.

First-year coaches often get a surge out of the regime-change, newfound enthusiasm, and breaking old habits with new systems. John L. Smith comes to mind, as he started out 7-1 in his first season at Michigan State. Smith never experienced anything close to the success he had right at the very beginning of his MSU career.

The second and third seasons are often much more revealing than the debut campaign. The "novelty" of Harbaugh will gradually fade as the reality of a third-place division finish settles in, and perhaps people begin to wonder a bit about things like pouring gatorade on cereal, calling steak a "vitamin", and running around shirtless with a bunch of high-school boys. Oh, and the sideline antics, of course. Things that drift into the background while victories are piling up tend to move closer to center-stage when reality inevitably comes more into focus.

Is "Harbaugh Hysteria" over? Maybe, maybe not.

(We can only HOPE!!!)

---------

Tweet ****** Click on NO COMMENTS (or # comments) below to enter and view reader comments.   ----- Remember to check Spartan Headline links, updated real time, in the left column of SpartanResource.com (Web version only). *****Note: If you are receiving this post via automated email, you need to go to the site to view headline links and embedded videos in this post: http://spartanresource.com/ (Web version only). SIGN UP TO RECEIVE POSTS VIA EMAIL, TWITTER OR FACEBOOK IN THE RIGHT COLUMN.*****

MICHIGAN FOOTBALL FANS STILL EXPECTING A NATIONAL TITLE THIS SEASON

Hard to believe that Michigan's "Dream Season" has almost come to an end. Just two more games, and the dream will be over. Their fans have been riding on the belief that a team could finish 5-7 one season, then win the national championship the very next season.

Let's give Jim Harbaugh credit. He won the seven (7) games that all of the sports media predicted he would win. He has won the eight (8) games that I predicted he could win, and he has two chances to win one more game. If he can do that, win nine (9) games in his first year with Brady Hoke's players, he will have reached the high-end of my prediction for UM.

But can he win one more game this season?

The sports media think so, as they have the Wolverines favored over Penn State in Happy Valley on Senior Day against a successful veteran quarterback. That's the same formula that ended in a double-overtime white-knuckler in Bloomington, Indiana last weekend. We openly predicted that Michigan would have their hands full on the remaining road trips this year, and now they have another one on the schedule.

Now that Jake Rudock and Jourdan Lewis are "Heisman Trophy candidates", anything can happen, right?

Heading to Indiana, several members of the Detroit sports media showed their bias by picking UM to win easily. Jeff Seidel and Drew Sharp of the Free Press had the Wolverines winning by two touchdowns, as did Nick Baumgardner of M-Live. Brendan Quinn of M-Live picked a four-touchdown romp for the blue-and-yellow against the crimson-and-cream.

We're sticking with our analysis that Michigan, like Northwestern, has a deceptive season record based on a weak schedule. We've shown several times that the UM schedule is not all it's cracked up to be.

The Michigan fan-base is convinced that if Ohio STATE beats a team that already beat UM, then UM will have a great chance to beat Ohio STATE. Don't bother trying to work that one out on paper.

We can't be sure which team will win any particular game, but we are certain of one thing. No matter what happens the rest of the way for the Michigan football team, its fan-base will proclaim Jim Harbaugh the King of the Universe afterwards, and celebrate their great season no matter what the record is, because they always know that if they don't win it all this season, they will certainly win it all next season. (rinse and repeat)

---------

Tweet ****** Click on NO COMMENTS (or # comments) below to enter and view reader comments.   ----- Remember to check Spartan Headline links, updated real time, in the left column of SpartanResource.com (Web version only). *****Note: If you are receiving this post via automated email, you need to go to the site to view headline links and embedded videos in this post: http://spartanresource.com/ (Web version only). SIGN UP TO RECEIVE POSTS VIA EMAIL, TWITTER OR FACEBOOK IN THE RIGHT COLUMN.*****

WILL THE INFAMOUS "MICHIGAN FAN" RETURN TO PENN STATE THIS WEEKEND?

The last time Michigan traveled to Penn State for a football game was 2013, just two short years ago, during the "Golden Era" of Brady Hoke. The most notable part of that game was the introduction of the UM Fanbase to America, courtesy of the chUMp you see in the picture below:

SPRAY THE MACE IN THE FACE OF THE MICHIGAN FAN BASE

This guy represented very well the exact thing that we oppose: chUMps. For the price of a jersey, this guy believed he had the right to invade an opposing team's stadium and act like a complete jerk, an "a-hole", a prick, etc. Make no mistake, it's guys like this one that drew the nickname "scUM" over the years, a derogatory word we are trying to replace with "chUMps".

This guy was maced in the face and thrown out of the stadium before halftime. You can read all about his antics at many sources on the Internet:

• Story from Deadspin
• Story from the Huffington Post
• Story from the New York Daily News
• Story from The Bleacher Report
• If you'd like to view a large assortment of pictures, try clicking here.

There was never a follow-up regarding who this guy is, where he's from, how did you get into this kind of mess, etc. But we Spartans know that THIS GUY IS EVERYWHERE. Wherever you find University of Michigan sports teams, this guy is in the mix. We have seen him, we have heard him, we have reviled him.

We even started this web site to fight against him.

I have no doubt that as he was being dragged out of the stadium, he was proudly shouting out whatever he thinks the "All-Time Wins Record" is for UM against PSU, or the overall total that counts rugby scrums from the 1880s. I have personally seen that type of behavior, so I feel certain he was doing that stuff in Happy Valley.

Will he return to the scene of his crime?

Let's look for him in the stands on Saturday.

---------

Tweet ****** Click on NO COMMENTS (or # comments) below to enter and view reader comments.   ----- Remember to check Spartan Headline links, updated real time, in the left column of SpartanResource.com (Web version only). *****Note: If you are receiving this post via automated email, you need to go to the site to view headline links and embedded videos in this post: http://spartanresource.com/ (Web version only). SIGN UP TO RECEIVE POSTS VIA EMAIL, TWITTER OR FACEBOOK IN THE RIGHT COLUMN.*****