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I was introduced to this product at the Canyon Ranch spa In Las Vegas at the Pallazo resort and casino. I absolutely loved the result. I flew home and was lucky enough to find a barely used one on Ebay. This machine is absolutely WORTH it. It will change your life. It reduces puffiness, it makes your fine lines disappear. I use the Clarisonic facial brush, and the Sonicare. Both of those products were great life changers for me, so I trusted that this would work too. I use the sea serum which is quite sticky but it does the job, but I think I will try using my La Mer with it and compare the results. Buy this and you can thank me later.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No
I love this for my puffy allergy eyes. Not only does it feel great, but it really depuffs both my upper and lower lids. In the evening I use it with Dr. Dennis Gross Retinol and Ferulic eye serum (and finish with a moisturizing eye cream by Bobbi Brown on top). In the morning I use it with Caudalie Lip and Eye Serum (and finish with an SPF eye cream by DDF on top). My biggest problem is I want to keep using it and using it - sometimes I will do a whole 2 minutes per eye! I find that I use a lot less of my (pricey) serums with this.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No
So... I had a points to use in Shoppers, so was walking around the store. This thing cought my eyes. As I have Clarisonic MIA, so bought the Opal, because I just wanted to spend my points on my coupon. OMG!!! I did not expect that this thing is that good. I did not have really any problems with wrinkles or so, but what a difference. Just LOVE this thing. If I knew that would be so great I would buy it erlier. FANTASTIC!!!
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More reviews by Catloveschanel
We are moving into our new house, so I am swamped with boxes and of course, I will sit down and write a review. because it soothes me.... So our loan closed and one day until we get the keys, so I walk into Nordstrom and it is the first day in two months that I can buy something that is not from Home Depot. (I was afraid they would keep checking my bank account, but they don't... lol) So I walked smack dab into the middle of the eye care spider web and she sat me down and tried the OPAL on me. I swear one of my eye wrinkles disappeared. I bought it. I like it now that you can use any serum, as opposed to when it first came out. It is cheaper at Nordstrom's than Sephora by $10. I am loving it and I like the spot wrinkle remover for lips, etc.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No
I love love love this. I put my cream on my eye, then use this to massage it in. The first time I used it, woo it felt weird. But I learned to allow the thing to do the job, not with me pressing it in. I just lightly massage it with it vibrating. My son said, and this is after using it twice, that my lines/crows feet are disappearing and I noticed the bags are getting deflated a bit. The blue seems to be getting lighter as well. I am using my own cream, Dior, not the one that comes with the unit. So nothing would be due to the cream. I am loving this thing, almost more than the clarisonic brush!
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No
I like the Opal but I'm still on the fence if I really need this product. I have bad dark circles (part heredity, part year round allergies), and anything that comes onto the market that claims to diminish puffiness/dark circles I usually try it. When I bought my MIA I saw this and was curious, but for the price I wasn't going to just jump. I did some research and bit. So many people claimed what a big difference it made. So then I decided I had to have it. It does feel good (which is probably my favorite part). Overtime some of the darkness and puffiness have diminished and yes , the fine lines around my eyes do seem to be less noticable. But overall its not a huge dramatic effect like I look so much more refreshed thing, this is why I am on the fence. While I like it and think it has helped a little I'm not sure if I would repurchase. In fact my first one stopped working for no reason at all so I had to take it back to Sephora for an exchange. That makes me wonder how reliable this product will be after the warranty wears off. So over all I think I would repurchase but not 100% sure.
Ok, so I know this is VERY soon, too soon to be reviewing, BUT I've had such dramatic effects after only two uses, that I had to write in. I have become obsessed with the Opal while I was trying to decide whether to purchase it or not, and am so glad that I finally just went for it!
Background-I take very care of my skin, I religiously put serums and creams under my eyes (and all over my face) every morning and night.
The Opal appears to be massaging away my dark circles. They are not gone, by any means, but there is a major difference. I hope that continued use will make a big impact.
I will update in the near future, but I just had to excitedly report in. If you're on the fence, go for it!
Also, I suggest you buy it at Sephora. My sister's Clarisonic stopped working so she brought it in 3 days before her 1year warranty was up, and she upgraded to the Mia2 for free- no questions asked (well, since she paid $150 for the Mia at the time, there was no price difference).
I bought this having read many reviews. I couldn't bring myself to spend that much money on something that seemed so gimmicky. However, I broke down, after a friend of mine swore that the reason she looked so rested was due to the Opal. I have used it twice daily for three weeks. The area under my eyes is smoother, more toned and less puffy. A small reduction in dark circles is evident, too. Most improved is the lip area..the fine lines look more hydrated and less pronounced. I would say if you can swing the price, it's a good investment.
I purchased this after my fantastic experience with the Mia and have been using it morning and night for over three weeks. From other reviews I've read, people who have results seem to notice them anywhere from first use to 60 days after starting the system. So far, I've not seen any results or changes at all, including changes to my under eye circles (which aren't too severe, thankfully) or my twinkle wrinkles, both of which this product promised to reduce. However, it has become a very enjoyable part of my morning and evening ritual. The silicone tip and is comfortable and the treatment feels lovely around my eyes and upper lip. However, as delightful as it is to use, I think it's way overpriced, particularly as the promised results have not been forthcoming. In the end, I'm going to return this one. Although it is pleasant, I have reasonable expectations of getting more from a product at this price point and just don't think it's worth the dosh. I'd probably keep it if was priced around $85 and may buy it again if I find it somewhere (i.e. Ebay) for that price, hence my answering a very qualified "yes" to the question about whether or not I would buy this product again. I just don't have the inclination to throw away money on something that feels "nice" but does't deliver overall. Also, I hated the serum that came with it (it's purported to be the only one acceptable for use with this machine). It left my skin feeling tacky and not particularly soft and was all together, well, yuck. I ditched it in about two days and started using Algenist Concentrated Reconstructing Serum I got as a sample elsewhere. Lovely stuff, that, but that's another review. I would have given this a score 2.5 if I'd had the option, but I had to choose between 2 and 3 and was feeling generous tonight.
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No
I was very excited to try this as I suffer from medium bags, dark purple circles, and thin undereye skin. I use all sorts of treatments on my face and around my eyes, including full strength retinol@ .01 and a high frequency machine, so I thought nothing of trying this system. I was shocked that while my left eye looked noticeably tighter, my right eye looked puffy and the undereye was blue and bulging! Obviously the sonic waves had damaged some blood vessels, and it appeared as a varicose vein under my right eye....the SA, who was quite knowlegeable and the store manager, had no explantion for me but acknowledged my condition, which was met with a look of repulsion by my daughter. I imagine this machine might work well for people with thicker skin around the eyes, but it caused too much damage for me to even try it again.
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Approved by the Stephen F. Austin State University Board of Regents in January of 2012, the Division of Multidisciplinary Programs is the newly defined home of those academic programs previously housed in the Office of Interdisciplinary Programs (Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences, the Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies, the Bachelor of Science in Multidisciplinary Studies, and the Masters in Interdisciplinary Studies) along with the addition of the Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy. The degree programs (majors and minors) housed within this new division are, overall, interdisciplinary in nature and have been designed to offer academic opportunities for those students whose professional and educational desires either do not correlate with traditional major programs offered at the university or those who are seeking degrees that stress the importance of interdisciplinary discussion and knowledge. Information on each of the major programs can be found by following the corresponding link found on the left hand side of this page.The Division of Multidisciplinary Programs also serves as the coordinating office for the various interdisciplinary minor programs offered through the College of Liberal and Applied Arts. These minors include: Classical Studies, Film Studies, Gender Studies, International Studies, Latin American Studies, Leadership, and Religious Studies. These minor programs are open to students, and information on each individual program can be found by following the link for "Interdisciplinary Minor Programs" found on the left hand side of the page.
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Autodesk to cut 750 jobs, lowers earnings outlook
Autodesk announced on Thursday plans to cut about 10 percent of its workforce--or about 750 employees--as it lowered its fourth-quarter earnings outlook.
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The company's shares … Read more


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Schwarzenegger Says Movies Aren't to Blame for Gun Violence
Calls it "entertainment"
The Terminator disagrees with the notion that violence in movies has anything to do with America's perceived gun violence problem. In an interview promoting his latest movie, The Last Stand (plenty of gun violence in this movie too, by the way), the former governor of California spoke on the recent Sandy Hook shooting, telling reporters: "[This is] entertainment and the other thing is a tragedy beyond belief. It's really serious and it's the real deal." He added: "We have to analyze how we deal with mental illness, how we deal with gun laws, how we deal with parenting." (Guardian)


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After reading the comments in this thread, I honestly can't believe we watch and follow the same sport.
Larry Brown is here to stay, DELETE this thread please.
D'Antoni is an overrated prick he sucks as a coach.
I think Hendo is the next MJ. Clearly already a better player than MJ was at this point in his career. Maybe better than SJack.We'll have to see but, this guy looks like 2nd GOAT (behind Allen Iverson) material to me
After reading the comments in this thread, I honestly can't believe we watch and follow the same sport.
Larry Brown is here to stay, DELETE this thread please.
We totally have the personal to run more. If Dantoni could fix the offense we would be beastly, plus it is a much more exciting style to watch. I am fine with LB staying as long as we break more in the future sorta like the nuggets do after a turnover by the other team.
Lets just say for a second that D'Antoni actually is a good coach (he's incredibly overrated, his 2005-6 team and the success that DIDN'T follow should more than prove that), we don't have the personnel for it. How many shooters do we have on this team? Two on a good day at most. You think JAX liked gunning before, wait until he's actually encouraged to do it. D'Antoni here would drop us back to Sam Vincent levels overnight.
Avery Johnson is a hack - any Dallas fan can tell you. This is a guy who has Jason Kidd fall into his lap, and instead of modifying his gameplan to take advantage of this Hall of Famer's skillset, he decides that running ISOs for Josh Howard all game is a much better idea. Also, the debacle against Golden State was almost entirely his fault as well.
End of the speculation. He stays with Charlotte. Yes.
I could care less what anybody thinks of Avery Johnson personally because what really matters is what he brings to the Bobcats or any team he coaches. People need to remember that when Avery took over the Mavericks he had NO head coaching experience. He took the Mavericks to their only finals and because they were not able to win it all that year or go again to the Finals let alone win a championship, Avery was made the scape goat. Also Dirk Nowitzky went soft and rubbed off on his teammates.
I feel that Avery Johnson would be good for maybe 5 years at most so I don't find him the right replacement for LB but this dislike for a guy who showed he could achieve success at the highest level when given the chance is just silly.
With all that said I would like the replacement to LB to be a guy with at least 5 years of head coaching experience and way more than an average winning percentage.
Teej writes..Johnson is an idiot
BobCatsFanInTx responds..When did it become important for a head coach to be liked by the fanbase? As far as I am concerned I could care less about what my personal feelings are for a coach if he can keep my favorite team relevant for as long as possible.
I doubt it means anything but I'm sitting here in South Park Mall right now and I saw Herb Brown and his wife? in here shopping for a china set. Staying?!
It's not my personal feelings, it's the fact that he's stupid. He has no trend-setting ability nor imagination. He also isn't the "details" kind of coach LB is, which compensates for the other two. He has no specific ability as a coach, he's just a "buddy" and with our personnel, that's not necessarily a great idea. He's certainly not worth the money.
GoBobs, I don't even know what to say. On the roster right now we have 3 shooters, one of whom likely won't be back next year (Hughes) and another who, if coached by D'Antoni, would be the all time biggest chucker (Jack). There's no reason to EVER bring him in as a coach, much less with this team.
Avery Johnson took a team that won 60 games in the previous season and then guided them to the biggest playoff catastrophe in NBA history. Do. Not. Want.
As it stands, he'd have to take a team like the Pacers or Kings to 40 wins or playoff berth before I'd have any respect for him as a coach. IMO, Isiah Thomas was a better coach... and thats saying something.


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Photo by Rob Varela, Ventura County Star
SARAH BAXTER SIMI VALLEY 1,600, 3,200 Baxter remains undefeated in her high school career in the 3,200 and won her third straight state championship with a time of 10 minutes, 10.71 seconds. She broke the Ventura County Championships record for the event in 10:06.74. That time was best in the state this season and second best in the nation. The junior also won her third consecutive title in the CIF-Southern Section finals (10:24.69) and the CIF-SS Masters Meet (10:17.58). Baxter also captured her third straight Marmonte League 3,200 title in 10:34.31, as well as the 1,600 in 4:55.26. Her best 1,600 time this year was 4:53.66, No. 16 in the state. Baxter also won three state cross country championships in a row and was named Gatorade National Girls Cross Country Athlete of the Year in 2012, when she ran what is believed to be the fastest girls cross country race ever recorded — 16:00 for three miles. ROB VARELA/THE STAR
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...says Denzel Valentine of Big Ten Tourney favorite MSU, which is 5-7 in its last 12 games. Cumong, man.
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jordan kovacs
Upon Further Review 2012: Defense vs Northwestern
Formation notes: We've already talked about Michigan's 3-3-5 at the end of the game, which was really blue for some reason:
filmed in post-apocalyptic-Denzel-Washington-vehicle-o-vision
The rest of it was as per usual. Michigan goes with an even front against spread packages and flares the LBs out to deal. This results in things like this…
…and is a declaration of immense faith in the DTs. Here's Ryan over the slot again:
Michigan used some super wide splits once, when they were sick of getting edged by the option:
This was a FB dive that looked dangerous before Pipkins spatted the ballcarrier for two yards.
Finally, here's something. What? I'm not sure. THANKS DIRECTOR GUY
I swear these guys who come in and think they're Football Tarantino.
Substitution notes: Secondary as it always is. The front seven saw the same rotation they have in the last couple games, with CGordon/Bolden/Ross backing up Ryan/Demens/Morgan at LB and Heitzman/Black/Pipkins/Clark backing up Roh/Campbell/Washington/Beyer. Heitzman's increased PT continued; Bolden got relatively few snaps. Ross got more, including the last drive, but maybe not as many as I expected he did going in.
[AFTER THE JUMP: getting gashed, responding, Kovacs in your grill]
Picture Pages: Ending It, Part III
So. Michigan got a nice play from Will Campbell to turn second and three into third and one despite kind of conceding the first down, then saw Kenny Demens blow upfield as soon as he saw Venric Mark block a blitzing James Ross. He hewed down a Colter scramble in the backfield. Now it's fourth and two, and all the timeouts have been taken.
Michigan comes out in… this. I guess. Whatever this is. Weird is what it is.
Please note that Northwestern has also brought their share of weird to the party. They're in a two back set with all three WRs to the field, which means one of those slots is covered up. Michigan is seven on eight in the box, with a safety—Gordon—hanging out deep. If Northwestern can get guys blocked they should have a guy running free. As we'll see, they don't.
This has been mentioned before, but Michigan came out in this weird formation on fourth and two in an attempt to bait Northwestern into a handoff up the middle, which they successfully did.
As a bonus, the bait here is compounded by Northwestern confusion. It does not matter what Colter does here. They're dead.
Part The First: Black Surge
Jibreel Black is shaded playside of the center above and immediately shoots upfield of said center.
This is easy for him. Just go straight upfield. It does two things:
- Invites Colter to hand off. That looks dangerous to him because if he's forced to pitch early by a Black surge then Roh is likely to contain the back.
- Forces the dive back to the backside of the play, where there are two Northwestern OL and three Michigan defenders.
In the wider view you can see three Northwestern OL releasing, with the fourth dealing with Clark.
Part The Second: Handoff Away From Strength
That looks un-promising. But here's what they'll do:
The option provides blocking strength to the front side of the play because you're letting the end go to option him; on the backside you're blocking him. Here Northwestern burns that strength as two confused guys go after Ross. A third has to cut Ryan, and there's no one for three separate Michigan defenders.
At the mesh point Colter is looking at Roh on the edge and Black surging through, which seemingly puts acres of space between the NT and backside DE. There are acres, in fact.
Part The Third: Free Train With Purchase Of Handoff
Everyone run around and do things! Be happy! And then play the dog groomers song and kill everyone's buzz. But those first 5 seconds were rad.
Things And Stuff
This was dead in every way. If Colter decides to keep he is probably going to get pushed wide by Black, maybe even have a pitched forced by him a la Mike Martin last year. If he does not…
…it's Mike Trumpy in space against Jordan Kovacs with Roh pursuing from the inside-out. We've seen how that story ends, against this team even.
That was forth and inches, this is fourth and two. I'll take my chances there.
This play seems specifically designed to defeat the option. The Black surge is going to do one of two things. One option is what it did. The other is for the playside G to block Black, likely with help from the center, and leave one guy for Ross. If those guys can combo Black a keep meets the same fate you see in the frame on the last bullet. If those guys can combo Black and the C manages a release to the second level, then you are possibly in business as you hypothetically have enough guys to block the LBs.
I don't see how that happens though given what Black does here. No one is coming off that guy fast enough to be useful. The only option that gets yards is a check.
Nothing else? Just a check? The only other way in which this might eke out the first down is by letting the backside end go, too, and having that tackle hit Demens. This may or may not work and exposes the back to Clark coming down the line; at least if he's hit by Clark it's from behind. Really, though, there's nothing.
Demens! This isn't the hardest play in the world for a linebacker but even so you can't do it any better. There's no drama after this:
No spinning out or grinding forward or sliding off. The guy just goes down, backwards, game over. That's one of them form tackles.
Cat and mouse. This play followed a series of timeouts. Michigan showed the formation they ran before the first one:
Northwestern called TO, and came out with their covered slot formation. Michigan again showed the 3-3-5 alignment…
…until everyone in the front seven yelled at Ryan to get on the LOS…
Roh had to do a ton of pointing and talking to get this to happen
…and then Michigan called timeout before a false start. As a bonus, unless the slot receiver moved after the camera took him out of the picture, Northwestern only had six on the line of scrimmage and would have been hit with an illegal formation.
So they went to it, got a TO, showed it, got rid of it, called a TO, and then ran it. The dance of doom.
A gimmick defense for gimmick times. Yeah this could get gashed by stuff other than what Northwestern ran; Michigan knew their comfort zone and had a plan to blow it up. They had plenty of problems in this game, and I think Mattison is going to have to make some adjustments to slow the Wildcats down in future years, but at the end it was Michigan who got the last stab in after a knock-down, drag-out fight.
Stripped To The Metal, We Root For The Abstract
- 2012 northwestern
- brady hoke poops magic
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- devin gardner
- drew dileo
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- freeze play
- game columns
- game theory
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- jordan kovacs
- kenny demens
- math
- ondre pipkins
- randomness
- roy roundtree
- scramble
- stadium experience
11/10/2012 – Michigan 38, Northwestern 31 (OT) – 7-3, 5-1 Big Ten
College sports are a rich-get-richer kind of operation. American pro sports reward their best teams with crappy draft picks and salary caps that make it hard to keep successful operations together. Yes, successful operations can keep their heads above water for periods, and the Lions can be awful for 50 years. A relentless gravity still pulls everyone towards .500.
In college, success adds to success. You can tell recruits they'll go to the Sugar Bowl and the Rose Bowl instead of, like, Nashville or wherever. Your pile of money is larger than someone else's pile of money and you can put up buildings where every brick is an XBox. You can point to some guy making millions in the NFL and promise recruit X will as well. You can tell recruits that you're not going to be fired and replaced by some guy from the Sun Belt, unlike every other school recruiting Derrick Green. The more you win, the higher your draft picks are.
Gravity has no place in college sports, just entropy. Entropy: the tendency of things to move from ordered states to disordered ones. Entropy: the gradual decline and fall of the Carr era. Entropy: Greg Robinson. Entropy: Northwestern football. With 18 seconds left there's a fifty-yard pass on the way, and things are about to get disordered.
I mean, what can you say when your glorious victory is so clearly a gift from the cosmic random number generator? I have seen many things in my time as a sports fan. None of them have been an opposing safety taking a pass that is about to sail into the turf 10, 20 yards further downfield and flailing at it in such a way as to send it into the arms of the Michigan receiver he'd battered to the ground, gently. Feather-like. After all of that… easy.
Meanwhile, that event had been immediately preceded by a Northwestern fourth-and-one conversion on which the ref had to make sure every chain was ramrod straight and get his nose down to the field level before awarding the Wildcats a first down they probably didn't get but could not be overturned from above. Fitzgerald Toussaint's only decent run of the day ended with a bizarre pop-up fumble. Trevor Siemian came in and tore Michigan's secondary to shreds.
I like it better when the randomness is under a nice ol' narrative. When it's in your face so spectacularly, it's like the gods of math are taunting you for daring to care about anything they have their fickle fingers in. Go home, get a pen, and root for Fibonacci psuedo-randomness, they are saying. What you are doing is the equivalent of rooting for 3, they say. The number. The literal number. Woo 3. Go 3. You are so much more prime than 4. That's so 3! Oh god those people who like 4 are just animals. They poop in coolers, you know, and drive trucks. They're so… divisible.
Stripped of the narrative bit the mind goes back to a game of partial information, high stress, and plain evidence that worshipping the gods of math gets you nowhere. Big stacks matter in tournament poker, too. With many chips you can lean on people, play with the numbers on your side, and force people to decisions for all their chips. You get to be the gorilla. You get the good recruits.
Back in the day when laws were unclear and jerks hadn't yet banned online poker by attaching a rider to a bill about port security, I played a lot. I was pretty good. I played online satellites until I'd gotten a buy-in to the World Series of Poker, and went. I made the second day in rough shape, and started repairing my busted stack by chopping off preflop raisers. While I'd risk more, I'd be in fewer hands, give off a tight image and get 5-6 blinds instead of 1.5. I would have no illusions about whether I should GTFO if someone played back at me. It was working, and I caught a couple hands. I was on my way to day three.
I'd done this to the guy to my right two or three times already, and his frustration was evident the last go-round. He raised preflop again, and I looked at kings. Long story short, we ended up all-in, he turned over aces instead of anything else, and I did not suck out. Short-stacked after, it was a matter of time.
Brady Hoke hasn't had kings, but he has sucked out, and sucked out, and sucked out.
With 11-2 and a BCS win in the rear view, Michigan picked up the kind of momentum that saw them lock down a top-five class by March. Getting there took a series of desperate heaves to Junior Hemingway. This year the heaves have been a little less desperate but twice Michigan has had 18 seconds and needed big chunks of yards to set up do-or-die field goals and got them. They're not getting every break—see refs in all Nebraska games—but with a combination of skill and fortune Hoke is building quite a stack for himself.
The latest chip is a 2013 starting quarterback out of nowhere, a guy who had looked basically awful in any extended playing time before Denard's elbow injury forced Devin Gardner into the Minnesota game. And even if Saturday was too transparently chaotic to go down as an all-timer, it's another step through this rough patch as Michigan waits for the large, mean cavalry to arrive.
In the meantime let's all just stay here on the floor breathing heavily and slathering narrative over the terrifying randomness of the universe.
Football looks hurty sometimes, and by sometimes I mean all the time.
Also, here's Gardner chucking that TD to Funchess:
Brad at Maize and Blue Nation had a day with his shots. He's the guy who grabbed the shots that lead the post and then this is pretty great too:
Also, nightmare fuel!
Full gallery here.
The News got a great shot of Gardner:
David Guralnick/Detnews
That's Bryant in the extremely large track jacket BTW.
More videos posted by Thorin on the board. UMGoBlog shots. Favorites from Mike DeSimone's page.
Brady Hoke Epic Double Point Of The Week. Roy Roundtree, come on down. Not only did you spawn a strange and likely short-lived meme when the Larrys, about whom more later, made a bizarre joke about how he would be better at catching the ball if his name was "Squaretree"—because square things are good at catching I guess—but you also put up 139 yards receiving, including the game-saving deep miracle. Also on 'Tree's docket: a beautiful corner route catch, getting run over on third and seventeen, and a critical hitch-and-run in OT.
Honorable Mention. Devin Gardner (at this rate will be Vince Young by next year, too bad about plateaus and such), Jeremy Gallon (hitch/bomb/punt return/let's ignore those other punt return opportunities), Kenny Demens (a close, close #2 with back to back OT TFLs).
Epic Double Point Standings.
3: Jake Ryan (ND, Purdue, Illinois) deytikerjerbs
2: Denard Robinson (Air Force, UMass)
1.3: Jeremy Gallon(Alabama, 1/3 Minnesota), Drew Dileo (Michigan State, 1/3 Minnesota), Roy Roundtree (1/3 Minnesota, Northwestern)
1: Craig Roh(Nebraska).
Brady Hoke Epic Double Fist-Pump Of The Week. NEW NEW NEW NEW NEW
This must be awarded to the play that spawned it, which is Demens decleating Northwestern to end the game. In the future awarded to the BOOM YES play of the week.
Honorable mention: Kenny Demens stones Northwestern on third and one too, Treezy to the rescue, Devin Gardner kind of balletically flings a ball way high except it's to Devin Funchess so it's on the money, Jibreel Black forces a Colter fumble, Jordan Kovacs implodes Colter's back.
Epic Double Fist-Pumps Past.
11/10/2012: Mattison baits Fitz, Kenny Demens decleats Northwestern, game over.
Our hipster quarterback. WHICH ONE OF THESE DUDES IS DEVIN GARDNER
you've probably never heard of me
Probably the one on the left. PROBABLY
Open contempt. Northwestern fans were pretty hype on Nick Van Hoose as the cornerback who might rescue their secondary from its overwhelming Northwesternness; Van Hoose did not play. The Northwestern secondary was overwhelming in its Northwesternness.
This manifested on second down after second down when Michigan generally followed up a one yard run by going with a 2TE I-Form set and throwing a hitch in front of a helpless cornerback, or a corner at a helpless cornerback, or a hitch and go well past a helpless cornerback. I get pretty irritated when Michigan, which cannot run from under center even a tiny little bit, goes OOPS POW SURPRISE PLAY ACTION on obvious passing downs, but in this game it worked because every hitch route came with either a first down or some YAC baked in.
I have no idea why Northwestern didn't just bracket Michigan's single WR hard and dare Michigan to make them pay by getting to the second level—something it seemed they were four or five blocks from on every play. But they didn't. So, yeah.
RUUUUUUUUUUUU—oh you are nevermind. IIRC, Michigan did not have any called runs for Gardner except the goal line rollout (and that did have a pass option). He got sacked once. That means his seven other rushing attempts were all scrambles. That's more than Denard has acquired in eight games. They were also effective—an average pickup of almost seven yards without any of those coming on fruitless third and longs.
Yeah, that is Vince Young-like. The combination of effective deep balls and a willingness to take off is potentially deadly. Covering four verts and containing Gardner seems hard, and add in dumpoffs to space players like Norfleet and Hayes, and that's a nice recipe. Hopefully Michigan explores that once they don't have to minimize QB impact at all costs.
[UPDATE: After checking out the Gardner errysnap video, Michigan did have another called QB run in a goal-to-go situation that went for five or six yards, so six scrambles.]
not always pretty, but so far so good / Upchurch
Air check. We should erase the desperation bomb to Roundtree, which was a throw Gardner had to attempt, missed, and got a miracle deflection to complete it. That excised, Gardner was 15 of 28 for 8.3 YPA, two touchdowns, and a turrible interception. Add in the scrambles and that's good in a vacuum. Your context: Gardner was playing a poor defense minus its best cornerback and on an offense that can't run the ball even a little.
Those probably balance out, leaving Michigan with a good performance from a guy who'd been playing WR two weeks ago and has eligibility next year. That is huge.
Unlike last week, I can't remember anything particularly outlandish that happened to alter Gardner's stats since we've already set aside the desperation heave at the end of the game. Gardner actually lost a long completion to Jerald Robinson, and there was nothing on the order of Roundtree, Dileo, and Gallon going all circus for their QB in the Minnesota game. When Gardner missed, it wasn't by much. Minnesota was some good throws interspersed with a lot of shaky ones on which the receivers were great; Northwestern required a lot less heroism from the WRs.
You'd expect rapid improvement from a guy getting almost his first extended playing time and transitioning back to reps at QB from reps at WR; Gardner leapt even that high bar.
Y'all be jumpin'. Michigan has now pulled opponents offsides five times in two weeks with Gardner under center, with Northwestern threatening to go three or four more times.
That's a credit to Gardner's hard count and evidence of how much more comfortable Borges is with an offense that operates from under center. To run those freeze plays you have to be under center quickly enough to try it and then try something else if it doesn't work, something that has not often been the case for most of the year when Michigan was struggling just to get plays in. Against Northwestern, how often did you think "GET OUT OF THE HUDDLE" to yourself? For me, it was zero times. That's down a half-dozen from most games this year.
SIDE NOTE: I've seen a lot of credit going to Gardner for having the awareness to fling those fades when guys go offsides. That's a misunderstanding of what's going on. The way it works is this:
- Gardner huts his hut real hard, and then waits.
- Guy jumps or does not jump.
- If guy jumps, Mealer snaps it, free play.
- If guy does not jump, Michigan checks into something else.
So if Gardner gets the ball he knows someone is offsides and he has a free play and just throws the fade. He only gets the ball if he has a free play. The credit should go to Borges and Mealer.
SIDE SIDE NOTE: Yeah, Michigan did try to do similar things under RR from the gun. Bizarrely, what seemed to happen is that Michigan would get a guy to jump but he would get back before Michigan could snap the ball, leaving Michigan to burn a down on a low-percentage play.
Hello, Fitz. Not that Fitz. Hey, three broken tackles en route to a touchdown on a nothing dumpoff: that is a play. I enjoy Fitzgerald Toussaint making plays. he also picked up a bunch of bonus yards on his 50-yard inverted veer give, and then fumbled. That's his first fumble, right? I guess he gets a pass for it. Even Mike Hart finally broke.
A tip, I say, a palpable tip. Did anyone else notice Michigan removing AJ Williams for Devin Funchess on the third and goal in OT, and think to themselves "rollout to Funchess's side"? Lo, it transpired, and Northwestern covered Funchess but had no one else on the edge once a playside LB tried to shoot inside Omameh and got walled off.
I require more Dileo. Michigan finally had enough of seeing punts hit the ground and put Dennis Norfleet back there in place of Gallon; Norfleet let the next punt hit the ground. Dileo fair-caught the next one. Meanwhile, balls are being tossed at the thus-far ineffective Jeremy Jackson and Jerald Robinson as Dileo watches from the sideline. I humbly request more targets for Dileo, who gets separation and catches passes, instead of larger receivers who do neither of these things
Maize and Blue Nation
Kenny Damn Demens. Remember when he was getting lined up two inches behind a nose tackle on a three man line and obliterated by guards releasing clean? Yeah. Demens isn't going to be a guy who makes every #25 in the future wear his name on the chest, but any time he walks into a bar for the rest of his life sporting that mustache of his someone is going to be like "CONSECUTIVE TFLS TO WIN 2012 NORTHWESTERN" and buy him a beer, and I love it when that happens. See also: Jerome Jackson, 2005 Iowa.
Demens did get beat by Northwestern's #1 WR on their last touchdown, but that's an RPS thing and a function of Michigan's LB slide plus Northwestern consistently gashing Michigan on the corners. Projected % of Michigan fans instantly reminded of Chris Graham against Anthony Gonzalez: 37%.
So sexy. Michigan came out with a a weird three man line featuring Jibreel Black as the NT that all but begged Northwestern to run up the middle on their fourth down, with the results noted above: Ryan gets cut off by the backside G, Black shoots playside of the tackle and forces a cutback on the handoff NW was baited into, BOOM.
That was exactly the plan:
"The last tackle there — number one, I like the call that (defensive coordinator Greg Mattison) made because it was one where it may have talked (Northwestern) into running the football because of some of the space inside," said Michigan coach Brady Hoke. "And then Kenny just did a nice job of just working inside out to the ball, where maybe a little bit earlier he was maybe getting too far ahead of it."
Michigan's defense finally got gashed, but man did they dial it up at the end.
Will it happen again? Ohio State is going to be checking out the Northwestern film quite a lot, but I'm not sure they have a Mark-like back to hit that edge. They've got a couple thumpers who will challenge tackling skills more than speed.
Linebacker switching. I didn't notice this live but a lot of people have said Desmond Morgan had a rough game, which seems logical since after a couple weeks of limited linebacker swapping we saw a lot of James Ross, including on the final two Northwestern drives. Ross was the guy who came an inch away from stuffing the Northwestern fourth and one. I'll get to the bottom of what went down in the UFR.
Pipkins comes on. Also receiving a lot more PT: Ondre Pipkins, who had a rough few plays against Minnesota before getting the hook. Again not sure why but probably based on Northwestern being one of those hurry-up outfits that puts a heavy demand on opposing defense's depth. Insert usual desire to be a team that puts that kind of pressure on the opponent.
Getting edged. Michigan's really got to do something about their option scheme, probably. I'll have to check it out to see if it was much different than what happened against Air Force.
Oblig. Kovacs number switch bitching.
Me = Dude (obvs)
Car = Kovacs
Flame = #11
Nihilists = Brandon (obvs)
He's still JKovacs32 on twitter, at least.
"I've worn No. 32 for quite some time, I think I'll always be No. 32," Kovacs said
Yes. Dammit that needs to be the walk-on-who-plays number. Does no one understand how to make things? /wireseason2
Oblig. game theory bit. Big points to Pat Fitzgerald for going for it on fourth and short with around three minutes left. That is a spot in which it's easy to go NFL and derp your way to shrugging postgame coverage, but the obvious play is going. One yard and you've got the other team trying to complete a 50-yard miracle to tie. Punt and even Michigan's languorous two-minute drill still has time to ease down the field.
Northwestern got it by a few molecules thanks to what seemed like a favorable spot, albeit not one that is ever going to get overturned by the Big Ten's milquetoasty replay officials. (After the Penn State TD debacle they are now the Rod Gilmore Memorial Big Ten Replay Officials.)
Fitzgerald gives back about half of those points on the punt. You hate variance if you are Northwestern punting the ball back with 25 seconds left. NW…
- took a delay of game penalty instead of using a timeout
- ran out their rugby guy to bash a line drive into Gallon's chest
- got a net of 11 yards as a result
Rugby punts are generally effective but tend to be more unpredictable than regular stuff: shanks are easier, and if the returners are positioned correctly they get an opportunity like Gallon got. The play there was to take a timeout and hang one in the air to force a fair catch. The upside of that is about equal to the rugby punt and the downside is nil.
Michigan didn't really face any major decisions. They could have taken a shot at the endzone after the Roundtree completion but chose to kick. The difference between that decision and the end of last year's ND game was one second on the clock and a timeout, which they had against ND but not here. The Roundtree completion took six seconds, and it's easy to see that last one slip off the clock for any number of reasons.
FWIW, Michigan played their TOs right by taking all of them immediately once they were facing do-or-die time on defense.
Git R Done, for values of R that equal racism. If you don't follow me on twitter you missed the saga of the Larry The Cable Guy clan in my immediate vicinity, a group of redneck yahoos that said a lot of things like "LEZ GO CUMONG" and "GIT EM CUMONG," which was annoying when they did that really loudly after a four yard run—now my hopes are all up and it's second and six—but mostly harmless.
That ceased on a Norfleet kickoff return on which one of them screamed "run like you stole it" and I was processing the I am somewhat uncomfortable with the racial overtones that statement displays thing when one of them almost certainly dropped the n-word. I looked at the MGoWife, and she looked at me to confirm, and then I just really hoped that it wouldn't come up again because if that happens a second time, well… words will be exchanged and I'm trying to panic myself to death at a football game thanks, please let's not get in a screaming match.
It did not come up again. Hurrah. There's no real lesson here except it's not very fun to be surrounded by Larry the Cable Guy.
BONUS BONUS BONUS: a Larry next to me left after the Gardner INT, which lol. I moved over because there was a tall guy in front of me… directly into the path of a woman with four pom-poms whose thought process in relation to those was:
I bet if I shake these really hard they're invisible.
If only, lady. If only.
* NW ended up with 431 total offense yards. That's the same amount that Alabama,
the greatest team ever assembled, a pretty good offense, had against us. I never would have guessed that Alabama and NW would be equivalent at anything. After the Alabama game, I wrote, "If we can hold everyone else under 431, I'll be happy." NW didn't get more than 431, so I'm not unhappy, I'm just confused.* Thomas Gordon led us in tackles with 11, not a good sign. Demens and Morgan were next with 9 apiece. Considering Mattison substituted freely with the LBs, that's a lot of tackles.
I bumped Best And Worst but in case you didn't click through:
…this week's game definitely felt like the first one to showcase Al Borges's "preferred offense." It was a number of shorter passes, a dedication to running the ball with the RB, and play-calling that couldn't fall back on a Dilithium-fueled QB if the first and second reads were not open. Minnesota showed this a bit in the first quarter, but that game felt over at halftime and so I'm not sure what you could glean from it except that the offensive line still couldn't get a push inside.
mGrowOld's kid meets Kovacs. MGoUsers of little faith.
Opponent stuff. The Northwestern blog POV includes an analysis of Northwestern's success on speed option pitches, misery, more misery, and misery. Lake The Posts:
Does it need to be said much more than that? Inches decide ball games, particularly close ball games. Against Nebraska inches separated Northwestern from a clinching interception and a devastating blown lead and loss. Against Michigan, those inches mattered even more.
You can slake your schadenfreude needs if you're weird and hold some sort of grudge against Northwestern at the SoP postgame thread.
Blog stuff. The Ann Arbor Chronicle has a photoessay documenting everyone recording the football game. Meta.
not actually photos of the Roundtree catch
KENNY DEMENS – He didn't play a perfect game but he did make the tackle of his life – TWICE! It's a play and situation you dream of as a kid growing up playing Pop Warner Football. Demens not only made the big stop to win the game on 4th Down, but he also made the stop the play before on 3rd Down! OUTSTANDING!
Michigan struggled on defense in this game for a number of different reasons. Jake Ryan and Frank Clark both lost contain frequently which gave Northwestern big gains on the ground. In addition, and I think Mattison figured this out before the fourth quarter, but Michigan was defending the speed option in an unsound manner. The playside linebacker was always playing the quarterback, forcing a pitch to the running back who had nothing but blockers in front of him. I think Mattison assumed his corners and safeties could get off of their blocks on the outside the help contain the rushing attack, but Michigan's corners aren't very good at doing this. By the fourth quarter, Michigan started forcing the runs back inside.
I cannot agree with Maize and Blue Nation about this:
The running game. It showed signs of life this week. I think the more pro-style offense that Gardner runs suits Michigan better on offense. We're still trained to run the spread-option, but I don't think it's working for Fitz. He's a downhill runner. I really like that Rawls can come in and compliment Fitz...although, it might be the other way around, actually. I thought the line blocked better this week. Hoke stayed with the same lineup he's had all year across the line, so it was encouraging to see the interior especially, play better.
Michigan got a 50-yard gain on an inverted veer give—blocking not relevant unless you're a WR—and 41 yards on six Gardner scrambles. They also lost six yards on a Hayes jet sweep that's now scouted by opponents. Their other 23 carries went for 49 yards. Death. If Michigan finds itself trailing against OSU there's going to be a point at which it'll be time to run the quarterback from the shotgun even if it's Gardner and the backup option is Jack Kennedy. Michigan just can't move the ball on the ground without the numerical advantage provided by using the QB.
U-M Student Section Sucks
And I thought the key play nonsense was bad.
The empty seats are past the point of ridiculous now. Michigan has been reduced to having its football players make videos begging fans (read: students) to show up on time for the games. WTF?! This isn't Ball State. Bo's probably rolling over in his grave.
I'm not sure what more can be done since the athletic department already instituted the points system. But seeing all those empty seats up there after the game starts is a slap in the face to Hoke and the Michigan players.
That should be "30% of the student section sucks." 70% of them are there. The solution is to give out t-shirts.
FWIW, the key play thing has not been done in probably ten years.
It wasn't a perfect day. The Toussaint fumble was maddening, but a great play by the Wildcat defense. Special K remembered where "In The Big House" was on his hard drive. There weren't enough holes in the offensive line to run through, things of this ilk.
But it was sunny, warmish for a November day. Al Wistert got a tremendous ovation from the Michigan Stadium crowd, the MMB put on a funny show, Devin Gardner continued to look good, Roy Roundtree remembered that he's a heck of a receiver, Gibbons is still money, and in the end, Michigan was victorious, Really, that's more than we should be able to ask for from the football gods. After all, you need to stay humble.
Warmish? High standards over at the Hoover Street Rag.
Recaps from Maize and Go Blue, TTB, MVictors, Holdin' The Rope,
Mainstream stuff. Meinke on the division race. Wojo:
For Michigan, it's never over until the last pass is thrown, and tipped, and cradled, and caught. For Devin Gardner, same thing — it's not over even when others think it is.
Nothing is over for the Wolverines, and it's just getting started for Gardner. How many times can a game, or a season, or a young career twist? Gardner was a receiver a couple of weeks ago, hoping to be a quarterback again. Now he's directing a team contending for the Big Ten title.
The Daily on Brady Hoke's magic:
The last time Brady Hoke and Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald were at Michigan Stadium together was Oct. 7, 1995.
Hoke was a first-year defensive line coach on the home sideline. Fitzgerald was Northwestern's burly junior middle linebacker, wearing a white No. 51 jersey and terrorizing Michigan quarterback Brian Griese.
With the Wildcats leading 19-13 and just 1:40 remaining on the clock, Griese and the Michigan offense were 41 yards from the end zone facing a third-and-15. Fitzgerald had ended the previous drive by tipping a pass out of harm's way.
Nesbitt FTW; great great angle there. Hadn't even thought about it. Also Estes on not saying sorry.
Gardner saying the right things:
Gardner on Denard Robinson : "This is Denard's team, and this is always going to be Denard's team. He's done way too much for two games to change that."
Meinke has like another column—indefatigable! And another! Baumgardner numbers. Game story.
Northwestern Postgame Presser: Players
Jordan Kovacs and Kenny Demens
Opening remarks:
Kovacs: "Coach Hoke let me know early in the week that I'd be wearing No. 11. He asked me how I felt about it, and of course I felt it was a huge honor. I've worn 32 for quite some time. I think I'll always be 32, but I think it's a great opportunity to recognize our legends. That's the approach I have. I did a little research on the Wisterts and I actually had the opportunity to meet Albert yesterday, and he said that when he was first given 11, he was just so humbled and so excited, and it was a huge honor for him. He said he prayed before every game that he put it on that he'd be worthy enough to wear it, so that's kind of my approach. It's a huge honor and I just hope I'm worthy enough to wear it."
Kenny, were you 100% assigned to Colter on those last few plays, and what was it like to be able to make that play at the end?
Demens: "Well I just have my reads. The coaches, they give us bullets to come out with and to make that play, I just felt so proud of myself, but not for me, but for my teammates. The defense, we didn't play as well as we wanted to, and just to come up and make a play and to finish strong how we did, it means a lot."
OFAAT: Northwestern Past
[Note on these posts: Yes, gifs are very bandwith-heavy, which is why we put all but one below the jump. There's not really a way around this that doesn't involve people having to click through to a new page for every gif, which isn't exactly ideal. If your page is lagging severely, try hitting 'escape' on your keyboard (unless you have Chrome, in which case you're SOL), which will stop the animation, then you can right-click and hit 'view image' to open each gif individually.]
We're expanding the MGoGifs beyond recapping each game; starting this week, we'll be taking a look ahead with gifs of great (or at least gif-tacular) moments from past games against Michigan's upcoming opponent. So, today's One Frame At A Time features Northwestern gifs of yore, and there's only one place to begin—Jason Avant's absurd one-handed catch in 2003's 41-10 victory.
First, however, I just want to thank everyone who sent in suggestions on Twitter, and also express my eternal gratitude to WolverineHistorian, whose videos provided the source material for most of these. The man is a treasure. And now, here's Avant:
[When you've finished watching that on a loop for, oh, 20 minutes, hit THE JUMP for the rest of the gifs.]
Picture Pages: Misaligned, Temporarily
[PROGRAMMING NOTE: Due to a three-pronged failure in various systems I lost the first half of UFR and had to re-do it. I tried, but couldn't get it done for today. 2x UFR tomorrow.]
Minnesota's offense struggled to move the ball most of Saturday. When they did move it was often because Michigan was in a difficult position against spread principles. For example: on Minnesota's first snap, Michigan slid their linebackers way to the field against a trips formation and gave up five yards when the tailback cut all the way behind the defensive line.
I'm not sure if this is actually a problem Michigan should fix or if they're taking away certain things that would otherwise be open and will just open up another hole in the dam. In certain cases, anyway. I caught a second-quarter run—at twelve yards, Minnesota's long run of the day—on which Michigan's alignment had them in trouble from the start. Since the Big Ten Network was running an uncommonly large number of useful replays, we can take a look at it from the end zone.
From the dead center of the field Minnesota comes out in a pistol formation with two backs flanking the quarterback. Minnesota has two WRs not shown. When Blue Seoul was pumping out With Pics on the regular he would often point out presnap alignment issues, and Michigan has one here.
This is a balanced formation right smack in the middle of the field, but note that the linebackers are shifted to the left—Demens is left of the center; Morgan is inside the tackle to the right while Ryan is well outside. The line is also shifted left: Washington is inside the guard, Campbell outside. As a result you can draw a line with five Minnesota players to one side and three Michigan defenders:
Minnesota will run at this, running the back on the left across the QB and pulling a guard to keep that two-man advantage as the center uses his angle to take care of Campbell.
Before the mesh point a few things are clear: the three backside defenders are basically nonentities. Demens has a shot, maybe, but he's getting a free release from a tackle with an excellent angle and is in tough. The two backs are available to take on Clark and Morgan.
At the mesh point and just after, two things. First, Clark:
Clark dives inside the pack trying to get him, which could be a valid move. The second frame there has a pulling guard; if Clark hits him that's two blockers on one guy. Because Michigan was badly aligned that still won't matter, though. Minnesota will run this later at Keith Heitzman; Heitzman will do the same thing and peg the QB, so this was what Mattison wanted… sort of. I'll explain below what he actually wanted, probably.
Second, Demens:
He eats a block, but I'm not even mad when he eats a guy before it's even clear who has the ball. Even if he reads the play on the snap this guy probably gets him since he's got a great angle; if the tackle doesn't the pulling guard literally has no one to block so Demens will again feel the wrath of two different OL on the same play. If Demens is at fault it's for presnap stuff involving this alignment that gets him in trouble.
By the time the back breaks outside, it doesn't really matter what Morgan does, the play is getting yards, whether it's inside or out.
But man you still shouldn't get hewed to the ground like this and give up the edge:
It was faintly possible that Washington, who beat a down block, gets in some sort of tackle attempt, and you also wouldn't be forcing Kovacs to get on his horse outside like he does. Note that Raymon Taylor is also on his knees after eating a cut block:
Kovacs has to take an awkward angle around that block and misses the tackle as a result. He does get the guy off balance; Taylor recovers.
Twelve yards.
Things And Stuff
I don't really have a big theme here. Often these posts are attempts to explain a general trend—like Michigan not blocking anyone against Nebraska—with some concrete examples. This is just a thing that happened and probably doesn't mean much of anything. These things pop up from time to time; the defense is still really good.
If there is a theme it's that these things tend to get fixed, as we'll see in the next bullet.
Clark is less good at defending the run than other folk/Mattison adjusts fast. There are two main differences between this and a –1 yard run later in the game off this same play. One is Heitzman. Watch the defensive end to the bottom of the screen:
That may be a different playcall that causes Beyer to move down on the tackle and prevent him from releasing. It is more useful than what Clark does above. While that's not a two for one the guy taking Demens is now the pulling guard, who takes a lot longer to get out on him. That allows Demens to get outside of him; a gap further inside James Ross is also playside of that tackle when he finally releases.
The other difference is of course JMFR, who demonstrates what the coaches are talking about when they call him an "unorthodox" player by taking a cut block hard and still managing to fling his off-balance body at the RB for a TFL.
Even if that does not happen Michigan has this covered as this chain…
- Beyer holds up T
- Demens beats pulling G to outside
- Back bounces it outside
- Gordon runs past RB with no angle now
…has an unblocked guy waiting to clean up if'n Ryan isn't a wizard or something.
These things tend to get fixed. Note that Michigan's alignment above is even instead of slid to one side or the other.
I am sorry to remind you of our shared, dark past, but remember the GERG defenses when Michigan would frequently get annihilated by the same thing over and over again? In the Oh God Justin Siller game (to be fair, a GERG defense only in spirit, not in letter) it was ten yard outs over and over. In the 2010 Wisconsin game I think the Badgers ran power 28 straight times in the second half, and I am not even sure that's a joke. One of the most frustrating aspects of Michigan's terrible terrible defenses pre-Mattison were the times when the same thing just kept working.
Here Michigan gets burned for a first down. The next two snaps they see out of this formation are runs that go for zero and –1 yards. That's why there's not a theme, because the things that seem to be dodgy with this defense are pure talent issues. Michigan doesn't have an elite pass-rusher or a lot of speed in the secondary. This leads to lots of attempted deep bombs that have not come off yet, mostly.
Minnesota backs and receivers can really cut block. Seriously, our guys could learn something from the Gophers in that department. Michigan CBs and LBs hit the ground a lot in this game, even if sometimes they got up like an unkillable zombie and made the tackle anyway.
Washington: pretty good. He couldn't do anything about the 12 yarder above; he did get off a block and pursue in case he could.


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Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 2
Attention Bar Builders !
Hey fellow Bar builders, just wanted to start a thread where everyone can post pictures of their finished work, unfinished work, and give helpful hints and maybe unique ideas for others like myself planning on building their home bar soon. thanks let the posts begin !
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Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 9,635
Attention Bar Builders !
Make sure you think through how you are going to chill things. For example will you use the bar on weekends or special occasions or continuously and needing 24/7 frig freezer. Where are you going to make or store nice ice in any event.
If kegs of draft beer or something are in your future, make sure to allow enough room to move them in and out of the way. You need some locks on doors if there is any danger someone, say a teen other than yours, might possibly gain access. You are liable for serving them underage whether present or not. Of course any teen wanting at the Jack Daniel's will not be stopped by the locks but you can argue you tried. Think through cabinetry choices and other options for storing your barware and glassware. Think about cabinet or shelving to hold tall bottles of stuff. If the budget allows, look into a single drawer dishwasher for washing the barware and glassware and build it into your cabinetry scheme. A single drawer frig for fruit and so forth is nice too. I little one for sodas and cans of beer is a good idea two. Get a nice wine cooler if wine is part of your bar scheme. Is your bar to be prep and serve thing or do you need to provide people to sit at it? Think about how you will handle water supply and drainage. Think about lighting the bar. Buy lots of plastic monkeys and paper umbrellas for girl drinks. Last edited by user1007; 01-03-2012 at 02:20 PM. |
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