text:
United States House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means
- 1 Leadership
- 2 Membership
- 3 Subcommittees
- 4 Jurisdiction
- 5 Contact
- 6 See also
- 7 External links
- 8 References
113th congress
Dave Camp (R) retained his role as committee chair in the 113th Congress.[2]
112th congress
The committee chair in the 112th Congress was Dave Camp (R).
2013-2014 (113th Congress)
2011-2012 (112th Congress)
Jurisdiction: bills and matters referred to the Committee on Ways and Means that relate to programs providing payments (from any source) for health care, health delivery systems, or health research. More specifically, the jurisdiction of the Subcommittee on Health shall include bills and matters that relate to the health care programs of the Social Security Act (including titles V, XI (Part B), XVIII, and XIX thereof) and, concurrent with the full Committee, tax credit and deduction provisions of the Internal Revenue Code dealing with health insurance premiums and health care costs.[3]
- 113th Congress Chair: Kevin Brady
- 112th Congress Chair: Wally Herger (CA-2)
|Subcommittee on Health Members, 2013-2014
|Democratic members (5)
|Republican members (8)
|Jim McDermott Ranking Member
|Kevin Brady Chairman
|Mike Thompson
|Sam Johnson
|Ron Kind
|Paul Ryan
|Earl Blumenauer
|Devin Nunes
|Bill Pascrell
|Peter Roskam
|Jim Gerlach
|Tom Price
|Vern Buchanan
Human Resources
Jurisdiction: bills and matters referred to the Committee on Ways and Means that relate to the public assistance provisions of the Social Security Act, including temporary assistance for needy families, child care, child and family services, child support, foster care, adoption, supplemental security income, social services, eligibility of welfare recipients for food stamps, and low-income energy assistance. More specifically, the jurisdiction of the Subcommittee on Human Resources shall include bills and matters relating to titles I, IV, VI, X, XIV, XVI, XVII, XX and related provisions of titles VII and XI of the Social Security Act.
The jurisdiction of the Subcommittee on Human Resources shall also include bills and matters referred to the Committee on Ways and Means that relate to the Federal-State system of unemployment compensation, and the financing thereof, including the programs for extended and emergency benefits. More specifically, the jurisdiction of the Subcommittee on Human Resources shall also include all bills and matters pertaining to the programs of unemployment compensation under titles III, IX and XII of the Social Security Act, Chapters 23 and 23A of the Internal Revenue Code, and the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970, and provisions relating thereto.[3]
- 113th Congress Chair: Dave Reichert
- 112th Congress Chair: Geoff Davis (KY-4)
|Subcommittee on Human Resources Members, 2013-2014
|Democratic members (4)
|Republican members (7)
|Lloyd Doggett Ranking Member
|Dave Reichert Chairman
|John Lewis
|Todd Young
|Joseph Crowley
|Mike Kelly
|Danny K. Davis
|Tim Griffin
|Jim Renacci
|Tom Reed
|Charles Boustany
Jurisdiction: all matters within the scope of the full Committee's jurisdiction but shall be limited to existing law. Said oversight jurisdiction shall not be exclusive but shall be concurrent with that of the other Subcommittees. With respect to matters involving the Internal Revenue Code and other revenue issues, said concurrent jurisdiction shall be shared with the full Committee. Before undertaking any investigation or hearing, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight shall confer with the Chairman of the full Committee and the Chairman of any other Subcommittee having jurisdiction.[3]
- 113th Congress Chair: Charles Boustany
- 112th Congress Chair: Charles Boustany (LA-7)
|Subcommittee on Oversight Members, 2013-2014
|Democratic members (4)
|Republican members (7)
|John Lewis Ranking Member
|Charles Boustany Chairman
|Joseph Crowley
|Diane Black
|Danny K. Davis
|Lynn Jenkins
|Linda Sánchez
|Kenny Marchant
|Tom Reed
|Erik Paulsen
|Mike Kelly
Select Revenue Measures
Jurisdiction: those revenue measures that, from time to time, shall be referred to it specifically by the Chairman of the full Committee.[3]
- 113th Congress Chair: Pat Tiberi (OH-12)
- 112th Congress Chair: Pat Tiberi (OH-12)
|Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures Members, 2013-2014
|Democratic members (4)
|Republican members (7)
|Richard E. Neal Ranking Member
|Pat Tiberi Chairman
|John Larson
|Erik Paulsen
|Allyson Schwartz
|Kenny Marchant
|Linda Sánchez
|Jim Gerlach
|Aaron Schock
|Tom Reed
|Todd Young
Social Security
Jurisdiction: bills and matters referred to the Committee on Ways and Means that relate to the Federal Old Age, Survivors' and Disability Insurance System, the Railroad Retirement System, and employment taxes and trust fund operations relating to those systems. More specifically, the jurisdiction of the Subcommittee on Social Security shall include bills and matters involving title II of the Social Security Act and Chapter 22 of the Internal Revenue Code (the Railroad Retirement Tax Act), as well as provisions in title VII and title XI of the Act relating to procedure and administration involving the Old Age, Survivors' and Disability Insurance System.[3]
- 113th Congress Chair: Sam Johnson (TX-3)
- 112th Congress Chair: Sam Johnson (TX-3)
|Subcommittee on Social Security Members, 2013-2014
|Democratic members (4)
|Republican members (7)
|Xavier Becerra Ranking Member
|Sam Johnson Chairman
|Lloyd Doggett
|Pat Tiberi
|Mike Thompson
|Tim Griffin
|Allyson Schwartz
|Jim Renacci
|Aaron Schock
|Mike Kelly
|Kevin Brady
Jurisdiction: bills and matters referred to the Committee on Ways and Means that relate to customs and customs administration including tariff and import fee structure, classification, valuation of and special rules applying to imports, and special tariff provisions and procedures which relate to customs operation affecting exports and imports; import trade matters, including import impact, industry relief from injurious imports, adjustment assistance and programs to encourage competitive responses to imports, unfair import practices including antidumping and countervailing duty provisions, and import policy which relates to dependence on foreign sources of supply; commodity agreements and reciprocal trade agreements involving multilateral and bilateral trade negotiations and implementation of agreements involving tariff and non-tariff trade barriers to and distortions of international trade; international rules, organizations and institutional aspects of international trade agreements; budget authorizations for the customs revenue functions of the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. International Trade Commission, and the U.S. Trade Representative; and special trade-related problems involving market access, competitive conditions of specific industries, export policy and promotion, access to materials in short supply, bilateral trade relations including trade with developing countries, operations of multinational corporations, and trade with non-market economies.[3]
- 113th Congress Chair: Devin Nunes
- 112th Congress Chair: Kevin Brady (TX-8)
|Subcommittee on Trade Members, 2013-2014
|Democratic members (5)
|Republican members (9)
|Charles B. Rangel Ranking Member
|Devin Nunes Chairman
|Richard E. Neal
|Kevin Brady
|John Larson
|Dave Reichert
|Earl Blumenauer
|Vern Buchanan
|Ron Kind
|Adrian Smith
|Aaron Schock
|Lynn Jenkins
|Charles Boustany
|Peter Roskam
According to the official House website, the jurisdiction of the Ways and Means Committee includes the following:
- Federal revenue measures generally.
- The bonded debt of the United States.
- National Social Security programs.
- Trade and tariff legislation.
1102 Longworth HOB
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-3625
Fax: (202) 225-2610
See also
External links
- Official House Page
- Committee Minority House Page
- Official Committee Facebook Page
- Committee Minority Facebook Page
- Official Committee Twitter Page
- Committee Minority Twitter Page
- Official Committee Youtube Channel
- Committee Minority Youtube Channel
- Committee profile on Congress Merge
- Committee profile on Govtrack
- Committee profile on Legistorm


text:
ERT (company)
|This article needs additional citations for verification. (July 2013)
Clinical Research
Pharmaceutical Service
Medical Technology
|Philadelphia, U.S.
Key people
|James Corrigan(President and CEO)[1]
|US$141.9 Million (FY 2010)[2]
|US$9.8 Million (FY 2010)[2]
Number of employees
|~ 700 (2011)
ERT (eResearchTechnology, Inc.) is a global company specializing in clinical services and customizable medical devices to biopharmaceutical and healthcare organizations. It is the market leader[citation needed] for centralized cardiac safety and respiratory efficacy services in drug development and also collects, analyzes and distributes electronic patient reported outcomes (ePRO) in multiple modalities across all phases of clinical research.
ERT formerly known as Cardio Data Systems was founded in 1972 and analyzed ambulatory Holter electrocardiograms and conducted its first research study in 1975.[vague] By the end of that year the company expanded into the largest U.S. Holter monitoring research provider of evaluating cardiovascular drugs for approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In 1979, the company analyzed 4,500 Holter readings for the National Institutes of Health's Beta Blocker Heart Attack Trial. The study resulted in the recommendation to use the drug propranolol for at least three years in patients who have had a recent heart attack and who need to have their heart rate slowed down.
In 1987 Cardio Data Systems, Ltd. expanded to the United Kingdom to extend its business services internationally. They based their operations in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire. In 1990, now known as CDSResearch, they initiated a special computer analysis for cardiologists to measure the changes on a 12-Lead ECG electrocardiogram.[citation needed] The name was changed again in 1993 to CDSResearchWorldwide and moved its headquarters to Philadelphia, PA where they opened a 45-bed Clinical Research Unit located in center city Philadelphia, which was created for conducting inpatient and outpatient pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic and other Phase 1 Studies.
In 1997 with the acquisition of DLB systems, Ltd. and a name change to Premier Research Worldwide, the company became publicly held on the NASDAQ National Market System under the symbol PRWW. Two years later, in 1999, PRWW sold its portion of CRO operations and in 2000 eResearch Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: ERT) was formed.
In 2007 ERT launched a new product line for patient-reported outcomes, ePRO. Finally 2008 and 2009 marked substantial growth for the company and brought two awards. First, CIO 100 Award of 2008 for their accomplishments in ECG analysis software that allows customers the flexibility needed to configure their ECG Clinical Studies. Second, the European Outsourcing Awards of 2009 Best New Product.[3]
In 2008 ERT acquired Biosigna, a Munich-based company, which specialized in biomedical signal processing.
In 2009 ERT ended its foray into the electronic data capture (EDC) business as ERT sold its EDC division for approximately $2.025 million of OmniComm shares.[4]
In 2010 ERT acquired the Research Services Division of the CareFusion Corporation. This nearly doubled the company in size and brought a new service line and enhancements to its two current service offerings; Respiratory Services, specializing in centralized spirometry, Multi-Mode ePRO for patient reported outcomes, and enhanced Cardiac Safety Solutions. Along with the acquisition, ERT now has the capability to design and construct their own clinical diagnostic devices from a manufacturing facility in Estenfeld, Germany.[5]
In 2010, the then current CEO of ERT was replaced on an interim basis by Dr. Joel Morganroth.[6]
In 2011 Jeffrey S. Litwin, M.D. was appointed ERT's new President and Chief Executive Officer. Litwin joined ERT in 2000 as Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer and was subsequently promoted in December 2005 to Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Litwin oversaw ERT's global cardiac safety operations for seven years.
In May 2012, Biosigna was liquidized and the office in Munich was closed.
On July 3, 2012, ERT announced that Genstar Capital LLC of San Francisco acquired ERT in a take-private transaction valued at approximately $400 million.
On July 9, 2012, ERT acquired and merged with invivodata, the leading provider[citation needed] of ePRO (electronic patient-reported outcomes) services and consulting.
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (headquarters)
- Bridgewater, New Jersey
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Peterborough, Cambridgeshire
- Estenfeld, Germany
- Tokyo, Japan
- ^ https://www.ert.com/about-us/james-corrigan-president-and-ceo/
- ^ a b ERT(ERT) annual income statement
- ^ http://www.ert.com/Home/AboutUs/ERTMilestones/tabid/61/Default.aspx
- ^ http://philadelphia.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stories/2009/06/22/daily19.html
- ^ http://ert.investorroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=379
- ^ http://www.realwire.com/releases/ERT-Announces-the-Appointment-of-Joel-Morganroth-MD-as-Interim-CEO

subset: commoncrawl


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text: Regan McCarthy Phone: (850) 487-3086 x374 Read more about Regan McCarthy Rep. Debbie Dingell On Protecting The Great Lakes And The Department Of Homeland Security By Patrick Campion • Feb 27, 2015 Office of Debbie Dingell Patrick Campion sat down with Michigan's 12th District Representative, Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, to discuss the Protecting Our Great Lakes Act and the funding deadline for the Department of Homeland Security. Listen Listening... / 11:24 An interview with Congresswoman Debbie Dingell An Interview With Béla Fleck: Music, Marriage, And Banjo Mastery By Linda Yohn • Feb 27, 2015 Jim McGuire / courtesy of the artist Throughout 2015, The Ark will present many special concerts to celebrate their 50th Anniversary. The first of these is this Sunday at the Power Center, featuring the husband and wife banjo duo of Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn. Listen Listening... / 11:18 Michigan House Adopts Bills To Relax Air Guns Rules By Rick Pluta • Feb 27, 2015 The state House has adopted legislation that would exempt air-, spring-, and gas-powered guns from Michigan firearms laws. Listen Listening... / 0:41 The legislation is backed by the NRA. Supporters says Michigan's rules are stricter and out of step with most other states and the federal government. Michigan Senate Sends Budget Cuts To Gov. Snyder That Divert Surplus School Aid Dollars By Jake Neher • Feb 27, 2015 State lawmakers have approved diverting surplus school aid revenues to help close a $400 million dollar budget hole. The legislation would shift $250 million dollars in money originally earmarked for the state's School Aid Fund. Another bill in the package would make cuts to several state departments. The Green Room: Pedestrian And Bicycle Access In Winter By Barbara Lucas • Feb 27, 2015 Barbara Lucas To decrease its carbon footprint, the Climate Action Plan of Ann Arbor calls for increasing walking, biking and public transit. But heavy precipitation events have increased 37% in the Midwest in the last century, and keeping pathways clear can be a challenge. In this installment of WEMU's "The Green Room," we explore local attempts to make sustainable travel viable, year-round. Listen Listening... / 8:41 The Green Room: 02/27/2015 David Sommerstein David Sommerstein, a contributor from North Country Public Radio (NCPR), has covered the St. Lawrence Valley, Thousand Islands, Watertown, Fort Drum and Tug Hill regions since 2000. Sommerstein has reported extensively on agriculture in New York State, Fort Drum's engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the lives of undocumented Latino immigrants on area dairy farms. He's won numerous national and regional awards for his reporting from the Associated Press, the Public Radio News Directors Association, and the Radio-Television News Directors Association. He's regularly featured on NPR's Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Only a Game, and PRI's The World. Read more about David Sommerstein 5:01 Jazz: The Doug Horn Trio At Rush Street Tonight By Linda Yohn • Feb 26, 2015 WEMU is pleased to present the trio of saxophonist-flutist Doug Horn, vibraphonist Cary Kocher and bassist Kurt Krahnke for our next free Sesi Motors "5:01 Jazz Show" on Friday, March 6th. Music starts promptly at 5 and goes until 7 - a great time to celebrate with jazz-loving friends after work. Cinema Chat: Mr. Turner, Timbuktu, Birdman, and more! By Russ Collins & David Fair • Feb 26, 2015 Michigan Theater / michtheater.org Michigan Theater Director and CEO Russ Collins joins David Fair for a a wrap-up of the Academy Awards and a preview of this week's film offerings. That includes the Will Smith movie "Focus", the Olivia Wilde vehicle "The Lazarus Effect" and a a very special screening from the New York Film Critics…Find out about that event, and more. Listen Listening... / 8:33 Issues Of The Environment: Bald Eagle Comeback By Patrick Campion • Feb 26, 2015 Glances at Nature / Audobon Guide The number of Bald Eagles in Michigan is on the rebound, from 85 pairs in 1970 to 750 pairs today, and they can be seen in all areas of Washtenaw County. Bald Eagles were greatly endangered and facing extinction due to habitat loss, DDT (a now-banned insecticide), and hunting, but they have come back due to conservation measures. Listen Listening... / 8:40 Listen as we talk to Rachelle Roake, Conservation Science Coordinator of Michigan Audubon to discuss the comeback of bald eagles in our county, and recent University of Michigan findings that they are contaminated with flame retardants despite the phase-out of these compounds. Pages« first ‹ previous … 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 … next › last »


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Mexican man sentenced to 30 years in 'Fast and Furious' case
TUCSON, Arizona (Reuters) - A Mexican citizen who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the 2010 shooting death of a U.S. Border Patrol agent in a late-night gun battle near the Arizona border was sentenced on Monday to 30 years in federal prison.
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text:
I did not make this headline up
Unverified Voracity Dominates Combines
Release the constructions. Stage N of the everlasting Crisler revamp has begun. Behold pictures of construction.
The renovations will be completed just in time for no one to be able to afford tickets.
Combine crushage. Mike Martin may not have put up as many reps as he wanted in the bench press but he still finished second amongst DTs. In everything else he was exceptional:
Bench press: 36 repetitions, where he tied for second
40-yard dash: 4.88 seconds
Vertical jump: 33.5 inches, where he tied for 13th
Broad jump: 113 inches
3-cone drill: 7.19 seconds, where he tied for 15th
20-yard shuttle: 4.25 seconds, tied for sixth
That is at 306 pounds. He's a riser amongst DTs.
Meanwhile, Junior Hemingway put up two 4.5 40s and killed the agility drills:
In the other events, Hemingway really stood out:
- Three-cone: 6.59 seconds, first out of 26 receivers
- 20-yard shuttle: 3.98 seconds, tied for first out of 26 receivers
- 60-yard shuttle: 11.16 seconds, 2nd out of 13 receivers
"There aren't many receivers who did more for themselves than that guy," an AFC scout said of Hemingway. "He wasn't even on our radar going into this thing. He is now.
Therein is the inexplicable YAC knack. I wonder why it seemed like he could never get separation if he's putting up those numbers. A 225 pound guy who can change directions that fast should be open all the time.
For his part, David Molk put up 41 reps in the bench, second only to Memphis freak of nature Dontari Poe. He is furious about this, because David Molk is furious about everything.
Ahem. Barwis?
The bust. Rivals puts out a list of recruiting class busts highlighted by Kiffin's single year at Tennessee and three consecutive Florida State classes in the dying days of the Bowden era. Michigan's '05 class checks in 7th. Michigan finished sixth in the class rankings that year and got very little from that class.
- Kevin Grady (#22 overall)
- Jason Forcier
- Brandon Logan
- LaTerryal Savoy
- Mister Simpson
- Andre Criswell (not that anyone expected a ton from him)
- Marques Slocum (#37)
- James McKinney (#98)
- Eugene Germany
- Chris Richards
- Johnny Sears
- Justin Schifano (not a bad guy but didn't want to play football)
- Carson Butler
- Antonio Bass (#49)
- Cory Zirbel (#83)
- Chris McLaurin
- Mario Manningham (#45)
- Terrance Taylor (#96)
- Brandon Harrison
- David Moosman
- Zoltan Mesko
- Tim McAvoy (sort of)
- Mark Ortmann
That's brutal. You've got a couple of okay linemen, Manningham, Taylor, and Harrison. The next year's class was decent (Brandon Graham, Steve Schilling, Jonas Mouton, Steve Brown, Brandon Minor) but didn't produce anything past the four stars save Perry Dorrestein; 2007 had Mallett and Warren as five star headliners and was then mostly junk, which set Rodriguez up for failure from the start. Rodriguez then helped matters along, of course.
This is all so clear in retrospect. One of the things I'll be looking for in the first couple Hoke classes is how many guys we see burn out for character/grade issues. It certainly seems like that number is going to be a lot lower than we saw at the tail end of the Carr regime. So far Hoke's only got Chris Barnett, the surprise tight end with red flags galore who burned out halfway through fall camp and took Kellen Jones with him. (Jones ended up at Oklahoma. QED.) That's an understandable misstep in the midst of a chaotic final month before signing day with a new roster. Since then he hasn't approached a guy with a whisper of an issue.
Popcorn time. Sports statistics fabulist David Berri is still plugging his ridiculous notion that draft status is not at all predictive of NFL QB performance. This was one of the claims that caused me to write a long screed about how useless Berri is a couple years ago in which I collected Berri debunkings in the four major sports to point out that his claims are almost always either easily proven false or simpleminded simplifications of incredibly complex questions.
This remains the case if he's still pumping his inane NFL QB study. This time Phil Birnbaum has noticed:
They argue -- as does Gladwell -- that we should just assume the guys who played less, or didn't play at all, are just as good as the guys who did play. We should just disregard the opinions of the coaches, who decided they weren't good enough.
That's silly, isn't it? I mean, it's not logically impossible, but it defies common sense. At least you should need some evidence for it, instead of just blithely accepting it as a given.
And, in any case, there's an obvious, reasonable alternative model that doesn't force you to second-guess the professionals quite as much. That is: maybe early draft choices aren't taken because they're expected to be *better* superstars, but because they're expected to be *more likely* to be superstars.
He promises future posts examining the subject. I promise they'll leave Berri's study shattered at the bottom of a ravine.
Erp? TTB interviews Ben Braden and comes back with this:
Early playing time: Right now, the plan is that I will not be redshirting. I think I'll be a second stringer, and then just go from there. But right now that's the plan between me and the coaches. . . . [I'll be playing] right tackle.
I'm not exactly stressed that Michigan might miss out on a redshirt senior year from Braden what with the 2013 OL class, but if I had to bet I'd say Braden ends up redshirting anyway.
There's a difference between Jack Miller redshirting—the world will end before you see the field this year—and Braden's spot on the depth chart. It's not too hard to envision a situation in which he's forced onto the field. Even assuming Kalis is what he's reputed to be Braden's certainly in the running to be the second guy off the bench in the event of injuries at tackle. I bet we'd see Elliott Mealer in before Braden in the event a tackle goes down with a minor injury a la Lewan last year, as they'll want to preserve that redshirt if possible.
Etc.: Oregon in trouble yo. Bacon on Ford and Willis Ward. If you haven't read Baumgardner's extensive profile of Douglass and Novak you should.
Chatting With Taco Charlton, Wolverine
Pickerington (OH) Central DE Taco Charlton capped off Michigan's ridiculous Saturday during TGMFWITHOMFW* by becoming the sixth commitment of the day after Michigan basketball's upset of Ohio State. Growing up just outside of Columbus, the Buckeyes were his childhood favorites, but Charlton has done a complete 180 and will now represent the Wolverines. I caught up with Taco last night to talk about his commitment, the role Erin Andrews played in it, why he chose Michigan, and more:
ACE: What made you decide a couple weekends ago that it was the right time to make your commitment?
TACO: Going into the week, everybody asked me if I was going to commit, and I said no because I didn't think I was ready. After getting onto the campus and sitting down with the coaches and all the athletic people and all the academic people, then really getting a chance to sit down and talk to my parents about it, there was really nothing I was looking for in a college that wasn't at Michigan. It was just the perfect place for me.
ACE: Specifically, when you say Michigan had everything that you were looking for, what was that? What set Michigan apart from the other schools that you'd seen?
TACO: I definitely love all the coaches and everything like that, especially being how three of the main coaches are defensive line guys with Coach Montgomery and Coach Mattison and Coach Hoke, they're all defensive line guys, so that was a plus right there. They can really develop my game and make sure that I'm a great player.
ACE: Being there for that weekend, where seemingly everybody committed all at the same time, what was the atmosphere of that visit with everyone committing? Did that play a factor, seeing so many guys all decide at around the same time that they wanted to be at Michigan?
TACO: It was great to be a part of it, one of the biggest recruiting weekends in history, so that was just great to be able to say you were a part of that. Just seeing how everybody felt the same way that you did and they didn't hold back on it, you go, well, it may be about time to just commit.
ACE: How did you let the coaches know? I know mentioned on Twitter that Erin Andrews might have been involved in some way. How did it actually go down?
TACO: (laughs) Well, you know, Shane Morris, he was telling Coach Mattison if he would get a picture with Erin Andrews, he'd convince me to commit that day. I wasn't getting binded to it, I was just laughing it off. Coach Mattison got him a picture [with Erin Andrews]. So the game was over and we're on the bus back, and he's getting into my ear about committing and everything. After we got back to Schembechler Hall, we were just talking, and I was talking to my parents and everything. We just felt it was the right place for me to be and I just committed there.
ACE: You talked about the coaches. What set them apart from the other coaching staffs that you've been in contact with throughout the process?
TACO: You could just tell that they really care for the players. The players were telling me how they treated them, and with [Pickerington Central grad] Tamani [Carter] being there, just talking to him, you could really tell they really care for their players and they care for their well-being. It was like a whole family mindset and everything. Their whole families were up there. It was just great.
ACE: Being a part of this class that's already got 13 guys in it, and you guys seem to be interacting a lot on social media and everything and really staying in touch, what does it feel like to be a part of a class that's already this close, it seems, this early in the process?
TACO: It's good, you know, all the guys are real cool with each other, we all know each other, especially being at the game we got to meet a lot of each other since we all committed that week. That day we got to meet each other, and we were throwing the football and everything, making jokes, stuff like that. From the very beginning we had a good time.
ACE: Pickerington is being represented quite well between you and Jake Butt. What's it going to like having to face off with him as an opponent next season before being his teammate the year after?
TACO: You know, before—and right now—we're still rivals. But we're real cool with each other. Right now we're still rivals. Right now we've got to go up there and make sure we handle our business when we go against each other, but after that we'll be teammates and everything. It'll be good to say that we're both representing Pickerington at Michigan. That will be good.
ACE: Have the coaches talked to you specifically about what role you'll be playing once you get to Michigan?
TACO: I'll definitely be at end, they said, getting to be a speed rusher on the outside. Getting there, they said that the guy they had there last year [Craig Roh, I presume] is moving to the five-technique, so when I get there I'll play that position [weakside DE]. I'll try to add some power and work on my technique.
ACE: You just mentioned two ways that you were looking to improve before you get to Michigan. What else are you working on before you get to the college level?
TACO: I'm working on everything. I'm never satisfied with where I am right now. I always believe I have to get better somewhere, whether it's speed, strength, technique most definitely—anything that can improve my game, especially for my senior year.
ACE: Obviously you were able to wrap up the process relatively quickly, but throughout the whole recruiting process, what did you like about it, and what makes you happy that it's now over?
TACO: It was fun. I got a chance to really get offers from a lot of good schools, and if I would've waited I probably would've got a lot more. It was fun to get a chance to talk to schools from all over and even entertain the fact that I could maybe go out to anywhere, really, and get to play football. It was good to get it over with, though. All the stress goes away, having to make the big decision and everything like that, and I just get to focus on my senior year of football.
ACE: I've been asking the guys this question. In a few words, what would you say made you feel that Michigan was the right place for you?
TACO: Michigan is a big family, and that's what I like about it. It's just a big family and that's something I want to be a part of, how great of a family it was.
*The Greatest Mid-February Weekend in the History of Mid-February Weekends
Weekend Catchup: Hockey Situation
Hey, kids. I've been vague contact with the e-world over the past few days—just not at the exact moment when the site blew up—and I've got all these opinions and stuff.
Not relevant. / Lon Horwedel/AnnArbor.com
Actually, there are few opinions here since I absorbed the games over twitter. Sounds like Friday was a total debacle in which Shawn Hunwick had his first truly bad game in a long time and John Merrill was again responsible for a very important goal. Saturday night was just another Gongshow performance, what with Michigan having to kill nine power plays against the worst team in the league. Yost Built has a better picture of what happened.
Michigan didn't skate Chiasson late in the Friday game and benched him in favor of Serville on Saturday. That sixth defense spot is obviously a sore spot; I wonder how much leeway either guy will get now that it's dyin' time.
Clare isn't great shakes himself. I don't mind him on the PK because when the puck ends up on his stick he can fling it down the ice. Even strength that puck is going to sit on his stick way too long and end up stuck in Michigan's zone. I think we're all regretting the way the Burlon thing turned out by now.
Pairwise. Even so, Michigan has finished second in the league and remains a one-seed in the PWR. Since BGSU is not a TUC and didn't swing any important COP points (all of which were against leaguemates) the only damage to Michigan's resume was to their RPI. That was slight and other one-seed aspirants had crappy weekends. mfan_in_ohio explains:
In fact, an oddity about the Pairwise rankings is that losses to bad teams hurt less than losses to good teams, in that Michigan's record against TUCs was unaffected. Also, Ferris only managed one point this weekend against Western, Lowell took only one point from Merrimack, and Denver split with North Dakota. So Michigan ends the weekend in 3rd place in the Pairwise, trailing only #1 Duluth and #2 BC.
At this point the Duluth comparison is largely out of Michigan's hands. It's all about the TUC record in that comparison and Duluth has approximately a two-game lead. Unless they get less than a split from SCSU this weekend it'll be tough to pass the Bulldogs.
Michigan's other lost comparison is against BC, and that's all about RPI. BC is on a nine-game win streak and has turrible Vermont next, so don't get your hopes up until the playoffs.
Michigan probably has to win the CCHA to get either of these comparisons; even if they do so the two teams above them will have an opportunity to hold serve.
Looking down, it's all about RPI. I count six teams that are potential threats if they do better than M in the playoffs—Ferris State, BU, Lowell, Maine, Miami, and Minnesota. Unless things fall very wrong the worst Michigan can end up is a low two seed. Since not all of these teams can do well in the playoffs, if Michigan gets to the Joe and goes 1-1 there they'll probably hold onto a one. This will be a lot clearer after this weekend.
CCHA. Michigan finishes second and gets the second-lowest seed to reach the second round. If there are two huge upsets in the first round that will be Alaska. If there is one that will be the OSU-ND winner. If chalk reigns that will be LSSU.
I'm not sure who Michigan wants. ND played them very tough earlier this year but have collapsed since that series, going 2-6 and playing themselves out of the tournament. Ohio State has done even worse since getting swept by Michigan in mid-January—1-7-2. LSSU is 4-6-2, which in this group of teams counts as on fire. I still think Notre Dame is by far the most talented team in there, so I'd prefer either of the other two.
Unless it's Alaska—highly unlikely—whoever Michigan gets will be a TUC even if they suffer a sweep. Lose that series and Michigan is not getting their #1.
Rooting interests. This will cause revulsion amongst many, but I think you might actually want Minnesota to do well. They're hosting this year because they host damn near all the time. If Michigan and Minnesota both end up one seeds they won't see each other in the regionals; Michigan will be going head to head with Ferris and UMD for the right to be the #1 at a dead building in Wisconsin.
While you're gritting your teeth about that, root against:
- Minnesota-Duluth/BC. These are likely pointless but whatever.
- The Threat Group listed above save Minnesota: Ferris, BU, Lowell, Maine, Miami.
- Northeastern. This is a little bit of a risk for obscure BU-comparison COP reasons but they're near the TUC cutoff and losing them drops a loss off Michigan's TUC record.
- Alaska. They're below the TUC cutoff and Michigan wants them to stay there.
Other than Minnesota, you might want to root for St. Lawrence, which amazingly has a longshot bid at getting over the TUC cliff.
Michigan Museday in Rock, Paper, Scissors
This is a follow up to to Doctor Rocklove a few weeks ago, where I identified the influence of offensive sets on philosophies. If you're not familiar with offensive theory you should go back and read that. If you're a football coach you are welcome to pinch the bridge of your nose and shake your head, for this is only going to cover about 20 percent of what you know to be the basics of offensive football.
The point today is to look at some of the base plays of various offenses, and a few of the constraint plays that they use to counter, and what defenses do to counter that. In doing so I hope to
find stumble upon a better explanation of Borgesian offensive theory than the "grab bag" this space has previously suggested.
That Thing You Do
You've probably read enough college football boilerplate by now to have heard a coach talk about "what we'd like to do." This does not have to mean one play, but it often means one concept—very much like a play—which the team will be able to execute to perfection against the defense they want to see. That play is usually going to be low-risk, and if executed flawlessly against the vanilla defense it's built to beat, it will gain a consistent 5 to 7 yards. It can be run out of many formations, and you will practice it a thousand million times until you are sure it will work every time unless the opposition "cheats" to beat it.
For Vince Lombardi it was the sweep. For Wisconsin (and virtually every high school in our division in the late-'90s) it was the ISO. It could be the Triple-Option (Bo), or the Zone Read (Rodriguez), or Hitch-n-Out (Walsh) or Levels (Peyton Manning's favorite), or 62 mesh (Captain Leachbeard). With passing offenses, which is Borges's thing, it's important to note that the core concept itself can often be a package of plays which work off of each other, none particularly favored; for running the same concept will vary where on the line it will attack.
You can go crazy for your core concept. You can practice it incessantly. You can recruit players whose skills best fit what they're supposed to do on that play. You can even focus physical training on developing muscles that are used on that play. The better you are at that play—and this is a sliding scale—the more the defense has to move someone or do something to "adjust" to you. But this is a zero-sum game, so if you're moving a defender to stop the base play, he's no longer doing the thing he was doing before. He is making something else way easier than it should be. He'll do this anyway, until you make him pay.
Constraint Theory of Offense and RPS
What you choose as your core play or concept will determine much about the other things your offense does, because now you add plays to punish defenses for adjusting to your base play. That's what coaches mean by "constraint"—you are constraining the level to which the defense can react to your bread and butter. What you are essentially doing is creating an environment in which you get to run your core play, which you've practiced more than any other play, exactly how you drew it up as much as you can.
Certain concepts are almost always constraints because they won't work against vanilla defenses. Delayed handoffs work because the defensive line is closing on the quarterback as if it's a pass play. Halfback screens work well against blitzes but if a linebacker is in man on the running back, a vanilla defensive concept, you're screwed.
Defensive wins in rock, paper, scissors are rare and lucky guesses; usually a D's successes come from outstanding execution of a vanilla defense, for example if the nose tackle shoots past a playside block and forces a pitch on a speed option (as if that could happen).
Defenses have constraints too but theirs are limited by the offense's greatest advantage: whoever has the ball chooses the play (the D's advantage is so much more can go wrong with offensive execution). Defensive constraints translated to boilerplate sound like "we took away the run and made Denard beat us through the air." What they mean is the defense was cheating against the offense's base play all game but leaving themselves more open to the constraint plays, betting on poorer execution by the offense.
Dantonio last year sent two blitzing linebackers up the middle on many occasions, taking away Michigan's bread 'n butter play "Denard-'n-stuff." This forced Michigan into our constraint, which was targeting open receivers in short zones, but then Dantonio took this away by having safeties replace the blitzing LBs. This opened up another constraint by making deep coverage completely up to the cornerbacks, but then a trash tornado covered that constraint for them.
What the constraint theory does for playcalling is create a kind of matrix of offensive adjustments to defensive adjustments and adjustments to those adjustments. For a typical varsity high school team that matrix is probably 20 plays, and for college football it's more complex, and in the NFL the adjustments are so myriad and subtle I'd have an easier time teaching EMI/RMI shielding (it sounds hard).
Because the shades of gray in such a big decision matrix make for convoluted understanding, I've tried to (over-)condense the basic constraints of four basic offenses. There is way, way more but these are a few of the constraint packages that Michigan used last year.
Offensive Concept: I'm bigger, faster and stronger than you are, so I'm gonna hit you so hard your momma cries, then evoke masculine metaphors.
Defensive Concept: Control the point of contact, win 1st down, never let the train leave the station.
|Man-on-man blocking, backs hit 2nd level at full speed running vertically. Repeated success quickly tires defenders, especially if the backs are regularly hitting defensive backs, and sets up soul-crushing play-action.
|Read and react. Have LBs who can react quickly to the right hole (5-2, 4-3 under, 3-4), or b) have superior DL beat their blocks while the LBs maintain their gaps (4-3). Zone behind that so CBs can pincer.
|Prey on the reacting linebackers by running play action, then rolling the pocket away from the point of attack and passing deep.
|Blitz their favorite gaps. The point is to control where the point of contact occurs, so the sooner that happens, the sooner one of them will take out the lead blocker, and the sooner the ballcarrier is tackled.
|Screens, draws, and quick, short passes to curl and out routes to take advantage of corners' fears of something deep.
|Back off into safe coverage--these days it's cover 2 man, meaning the cornerbacks are in man on WRs with safety help over the top. This takes the CBs out of run support but any pass deep is into double-coverage.
Timed Passing (West Coast)
Offensive Concept: A symphony of route design and timing that puts defenses into a progression of impossible choices.
Defensive Concept: Throw off your timing, suffocate your routes, kill your conductor.
|Quick routes by receivers and RBs that make a zone defender commit to one guy, then hit the other guy before another defender can come up.
|Cover-2, and faster, smarter zone defenders who pass off receivers seamlessly, so that the O has to check down to nothing, throw into a super-tight window, or just runs out of time before the pass rush gets home.
|Run the ball with power, delayed handoffs and screens. Once the defense is thoughtlessly stepping backwards when the QB is, they're no longer able to react to something as basic as a RB and his convoy pointed downhill.
|Zone blitz, i.e. drop DL into coverage while random LBs and safeties blitz or squat in short zones. Reads and blocking are much more difficult, and small windows become no windows.
|Throw "hot" into the pressure, with pre-arranged hot (post-snap) reads that both the QB and his receivers make.
|Levels/Robber. Drop back in a 3-deep zone while rushing 5 (often the SLB/nickel). Robber reacts to runs/screens or replaces guy who blitzed for instant pick/scared QB.
Read Passing (Air Raid, Pro)
Offensive Concept: Spread, mesh, read, and gun, so on any given play, at any spot on the field, we can put it where you ain't.
Defensive Concept: Anywhere you can get, I can get faster
|Spread to pass. The O-line is spread to basically neutralize line play (DL will break through eventually but seldom right away). Receivers run "mesh" routes against each other, then cut off their routes when they've recognized the D in order to find soft spots in the zone.
|Cover-3 zone, trusting your LBs to intelligently route receivers and react and trusting the QB and WRs can't connect on all of their 7-yard passes and that soft spots are small.
|Dynamite with a cut-able wick
|Curls, and/or bubble screen whenever the defense is obviously backing off. Dana Holgorsen has altered this to delayed handoffs and screens by using two RBs and putting one in motion to simulate the spread.
|3-5-3. The Air Raid threatens the whole field to open up the easy passes off of two crossing routes, so forget pass rushing and clog up the middle.
|(This is just mean) Four Verts: suddenly the deep receiver is no longer just a quick glance to keep you honest but a high-low with the seam.
|Press man coverage/blitz up the middle.
Option (Triple-Option, Zone Read)
Offensive Concept: Reverse the traditional 7-on-6 "numbers" advantage of the defense in the running game (i.e. their front 7 versus 5 OL and a running back) by having the quarterback participate, and "blocking" an edge defender by optioning off of him instead of wasting a body.
Defensive Concept: The cat has more patience than the mouse.
|Isolate an unblocked front-7 defender against the QB and another accessible option he can go to once the defender commits.
|Change up the edge attack so the QB is reading the wrong guy or walking into a trap. Scrape exchange, slant the DL, etc.
|Fake the option and then send a quick seam over the heads of the oncoming defenders.
|Cheat extra defenders (8 or 9 in the box) into the area where the option will occur so nobody gets isolated and/or blitz into one of the options (e.g. CB blitz or MLB blitz into RB's hole) so unblocked guy can focus on one option.
|Option 3. This is the FB dive in a triple-option and the bubble screen in the spread 'n shred, and is a constraint called by alignment.
|Line up "clean" with safeties still in coverage, and if they option do what you can to delay the decision and await the cavalry.
Next time in this series: vanilla defenses, and the best offense for Michigan this year and beyond.
Hockey Regular Season Player Recap
[Ed-S: Bumped on a light day]
For a few different reasons I decided not to use a grade scale because each player is given different responsibilities by line. Brian Lebler deserved an A because he exceeded expectations, but how do you differentiate his A and Carl Hagelin's? It also helps avoid any kind of backlash I might receive from a player who decides to take a look at what I wrote.
Alex Guptill
|Scoring Line
Pre-Season Expectations: Moderate/Low
Coming into the year Guptill was one of six freshman, his role was supposed to be checking for the next four years and here he is as your teams leading scorer.
Big Gup really came up big for the Wolverines as the season went along, becoming a balanced scorer and a huge presence in front of the net. He did not fall into the freshman slump like the others mostly because opponents refused to acknowledge that he was standing in front of the goal by himself, he was given as much space as he needed to tip and redirect pucks all season long.
Coming in labeled as a big man, Guptill showed that he also had college level stick skills from the start. A big man who can lead the rush is more than valuable to a team who loves to run the transition game.
Best Moment: The overtime goal that snapped a 7 game winless streak for Michigan against Alaska, the team would finish the season on a 12-3-3 run.
Chris Brown:
|Scoring Line
Pre-Season Expectations: High
The first diary I wrote about hockey was a pre-season preview, I thought that the hardest thing to replace from last years class was going to be the leadership of Matt Rust. We lost a gritty, hard working, team player but Chris Brown has stepped in and done a great job to fill the void.
Brownie provided the best defensive option of our forwards and was a well balanced player. He has great offensive skills, defensive ability, checking and leadership. He provided the anchor for a line that carried the Wolverines through the second half of the season and into the NCAA tournament.
Best Moment: Brown pulling the string on Miami defensemen Will Weber.
David Wohlberg:
|Scoring Line
Pre-Season Expectations: Moderate
Looking deeper into the stats Wohlberg had a pretty good season statistically, he cut down penalty minutes drastically, improved his +/- by double digits and needs three points to match his career high. Posted a 194-192 record in the faceoff dot (.503%).
The contributions David brings to the team are invaluable, but they get a little overlooked being behind Brown and Guptill. His passing definitely was a major asset for the top line, as his 16 assists tied for team lead among forwards.
Best Moment: Named to the All-GLI team for his tourney preformance.
A.J. Treais:
|Scoring Line
Pre-Season Expectations: High
It was an interesting season for Treais, who ended the season red hot but spent the first half shying away from the plays and not making much of an impact.
The Daily did a great article on A.J. and he talked about how much being over his playing weight effected his game. When he got himself back into shape he became a completely different player and the talk started to flow in about Treais finally becoming what Red always thought he could be.
After shifting the lines for the first half of the season, Treais fell into place with Di Giuseppe and Glendening to provide a reliable scoring option. He has passed his previous career highs in goals with 15 and points with 26, also improved his +/- by +15.
Best Moment: One timer snipe in overtime to send the Seniors out with a victory.
[After jump: The rest of the team]
Chatting With Kyle Bosch, Wolverine
The first to drop in what became an eight-commit weekend, Wheaton (IL) St. Francis OL Kyle Bosch pledged to Michigan nine days ago. The Rivals100 lineman will likely play guard in Ann Arbor, though he has the versatility to play anywhere on the line. I had the chance to talk to Kyle yesterday about his commitment, why he chose the Wolverines, his future role on the team, and much more:
ACE: What made you decide that a couple weekends ago was the right time to commit to Michigan?
KYLE: It just felt right at that point. It didn't even make sense to keep dancing around the country and trying to find any place that had the same sort of academic and athletic combination that Michigan has. I've been all over the place, I've checked out every place, and at that point it just didn't make sense to let the offer sit. It seemed just like I should just act now and try to start recruiting for my class.
ACE: You mentioned the academics and the athletics. What set Michigan apart from the other schools that you were considering?
KYLE: It wasn't even the fact that it's the biggest stadium in the country or the best facilities in the country of any of that, it's more the people who were actually there working. From Coach Hoke to the athletic trainers, they're all very good people, and that definitely set them apart from a lot of other schools.
ACE: You were the first to commit in what would become a pretty wild weekend of commitments. What was it like seeing all the dominoes fall after you committed?
KYLE: It was kinda crazy. I don't know if it was because of my offer and my acceptance of the offer that started a bit of a firestorm of commitments, but if it was I'm glad I did it, because I think our class is going to be a very, very good class. We have about 13 commitments now, I think our offensive line is all filled up, we've got a great running back, Wyatt [Shallman], and the number one quarterback in the country, that's Shane Morris. I think we're going to be able to make a long run in the BCS standings, and I wouldn't be surprised seeing us in four or five years playing in the national championship.
ACE: Being a part of a class that's already up to 13 players, and seeing you guys interact on Twitter and stuff like that, it seems like the class is very tight-knit. What's it like being a part of a class that's seemingly so close at a point this early in the process?
KYLE: I think that's great that we're becoming this close. I'm definitely making a conscious effort to try and network with these guys and try to get to know them better, because these are the men that I'm going to be living and dying next to in the trenches and working my butt off in the weight room with in the offseason. I think getting this sort of relationship, this sort of brotherly relationship, we're already to already starting to grow on and grow with, it's really essential to the team. If we get that established before we even get to the first day of summer camp, I think that just the camaraderie will carry us a very long way.
ACE: You also mentioned already having the line class filled up with five players. Have you talked with the coaches about specifically what role, what position, you'd be playing when you get on campus?
KYLE: If I need to play guard, I know how to play guard. If I need to play center, this offseason I'm learning how to play center. If I need to play tackle, I know how to play both tackle slots. I think at this point, I talked to Coach Funk, and he said he sees me at guard for my junior and senior year, but if need be I can probably play tackle if someone gets hurt or if there's a spot that needs to be filled.
ACE: You mentioned talking with Coach Funk and you talked about being with Coach Hoke. What really set the Michigan coaching staff apart from the other coaching staffs that you've come across?
KYLE: That's a good question. The thing about them is that there's not as much of "we're coaches, we're here to win," as there is "we're fathers, and you're my kids. If we win, great, but we're here to develop young men." Winning isn't the only thing, it's to develop young men, and not only help them maybe get to the NFL but develop them and get them ready for life. You can tell with Coach Hoke, he definitely has a very strong family mentality. When I told him I committed, he gave me a bear-hug when we were talking. I met all of their families, the families were all there. I got to talk to their kids. You could there that every coach there, whether it be Coach Funk or the defensive coordinator, everybody was basically an uncle to the kids and everybody was really close with the kids. You could tell that these men definitely have a lot invested in you as a person, not just as a football player, and I really respected that. I've seen that at Michigan State and Stanford also, and I really liked them too, but Michigan definitely set themselves apart.
ACE: Looking back on the times you've come up to Ann Arbor, what's really stuck out to you the most when you were on your visits?
KYLE: As a player, what stood out to me is how, no matter if the kid was a two-star recruit or a five-star recruit, they treated them all the same, they all gave everybody an equal amount of attention. I've been at junior days where I get talked to for 45 minutes but there's three other kids where it seemed like the coaches didn't know they were even there. I really thought that was pretty cool. What stood out to me, I guess as a physical attribute, is all of the fans. The fans are unbelievable there. When I was there for the Notre Dame game, it was the first game under the lights, and they came back and the fans were going insane. The Nebraska game, where the jumbotron didn't even work and the score clock didn't even work and the fans were screwing with the Nebraska quarterback, he wasn't getting the ball off until late and getting under pressure, I thought that was pretty cool too.
ACE: Coming from Illinois, it's a really strong class of players this year. Have you developed a relationship with the prospects coming out of your state—not just the guys who are committed to Michigan but the uncommitted guys as well?
KYLE: Yes, I have. I talk to Ty Isaac quite a bit. I've talked to Logan Tuley. I talked to a bunch of kids who were around our recruiting class. I have developed somewhat of a relationship with a lot of the kids in Illinois.
ACE: Now that you're committed, I know Shane has been spearheading a lot of the recruiting effort. Are you looking to pitch in and do some recruiting of your own?
KYLE: Yeah, absolutely. I'm doing that right now, actually. I know a kid named Henry Poggi that is a highly-recruited defensive lineman. I've gone to a couple camps with him and he's a hell of a player and a really good kid. I'm talking to Ty Isaac a lot, trying to get him. I'd actually talked to Patrick Kugler about three weeks before he committed, and I was actually going to come up this weekend when he did commit, but I ended up not going. He shot me a text right when he committed. It's really exciting to see all the guys commit and see what sort of class we're building up.
ACE: Are you planning on doing any other camps or combines over the offseason?
KYLE: I'll definitely be doing one of the Nike ones at the Barrington Fieldhouse in Illinois, just to see if I can go to The Opening. Other than that, I'm going to go to the Michigan camp, go to the one-day Michigan camp and work with Coach Funk and see how he works with me. That'll be fun to do. That's probably what I'll end up doing.
ACE: Evaluating your own game, and also taking what the coaches have told you, what would say are your biggest strengths on the field and what are you looking to improve upon by the time you get to the next level?
KYLE: My greatest strength is probably run-blocking and finishing my blocks. If I don't hit the guy down, I ride him until the whistle blows, even if I ran him 40 yards downfield I'm still going after him. I always roll my hips, [Coach Funk] said that for my age, for my size, me rolling my hips every single block is definitely a very unique thing I have to offer. Something I'd like to improve on would be my pass protection. I don't really have a problem with it, I didn't let up a sack this year, but we don't throw the ball as much as a lot of teams because we have such a good running back and a good scrambling quarterback. I'm working on that right now actually at my gyms, just working on pass protection. I'd like to learn how to snap, also, that's one thing I'd like to learn how to do. I'm also working on that.
ACE: You talked earlier about looking at this class and seeing a possible BCS contender down the road. What's the goal for you personally when you get to Michigan?
KYLE: My personal goal is just to help be a leader on and off the field. With my team I hold a lot of weight with a lot of the guys just because I'm always there for them on and off the field, and that's one of my big goals, not even to start but just to be there for all the guys, from the defensive backs to the running backs and of course the offensive linemen. I just want to build a good relationship with them. After that, probably just getting bigger, getting stronger, and seeing what happens about where the coaches want me to be.
ACE: If you can, in as short a sentence as you can, tell me why you ended up picking Michigan?
KYLE: That's a tough one. I'd say I chose Michigan, just the feeling that I got. I woke up that morning and I went from Notre Dame and MSU the day before to Michigan; I'd slept it over the night before I went on campus, and I said if I get that same feeling again that the time was now. Then I got that feeling and I committed.


text:
Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Pet with a purpose
Rescued from a life on the streets in Mexico, Lobo is being trained to help soldiers with PTSD
It was a sizzling day in Mexico when Winnipeg Blue Bomber Chris Cvetkovic first laid eyes on Lobo.
For both of them, it was love at first sight.
This was January and the long snapper had dragged a group of Canadian Football League buddies south of the border to spend a week working at a volunteer spay-and-neuter clinic.
It came about because Cvetkovic -- a father of two and, at 36, the oldest player on the Bombers -- has a lifelong love affair with animals. Last year he founded Cvet's Pets, a non-profit group dedicated to raising cash and awareness for Manitoba's animal rescue programs.
Over five days in Mexico, the volunteer clinic spayed and neutered 1,327 dogs and cats, and the football players did everything but surgery -- pulling starving animals off the streets, cleaning their wounds, inserting breathing tubes and administering anesthetic.
One sweltering day, they visited a shelter, Isla Animal Rescue, and there, in a kennel with four or five other street dogs, was Lobo, an emaciated boxer-terrier cross puppy.
"He was just ribs and hip bones," the 6-1, 235-pound Cvetkovic, in his 12th CFL season and 10th with the Blue and Gold, recalled over lunch last week. "There wasn't much to him, but he was full of life. Right away, he wanted me to pick him up. He picked me; I didn't pick him. He jumped up and started licking me and wouldn't stop. Of course, I was all salty and sweaty."
The easygoing special teams expert knew there was no way he was leaving the shelter, or Mexico, without Lobo. The plan was to make him another member of the family, joining Cvetkovic's two children -- son Hudson, 5, and daughter Payton, 6 -- and their two other rescue dogs, Cody and Jersey.
Back in Winnipeg, the Mexican street dog was quickly surrounded by warm hearts and a cold climate. "He had never seen snow," the single dad says with a chuckle. "It was fine for a second, but after that he didn't want to go outside."
The story took a dramatic twist at a Super Bowl party in February when Cvetkovic first heard about Courageous Companions, a made-in-Manitoba project that provides specially trained service dogs free to veterans dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The program was started eight years ago by MSAR, a volunteer organization whose members conduct search-and-rescue operations on Manitoba First Nations and train service dogs for almost every duty imaginable. The dogs -- trained to help people with everything from autism and dementia to serious depression -- are rescued from shelters and given to veterans at no cost.
In March, Cvetkovic met with Capt. George Leonard, search commander and master trainer with MSAR, who launched Courageous Companions in 2005 after meeting a Manitoba veteran crippled by PTSD.
"I wanted to work with him," Cvetkovic said. "I originally wanted to train Lobo with George just to better understand what goes into training a service dog to help someone with PTSD."
With Leonard's guidance, he started training his canine protégé, and Cvet's Pets began raising cash and awareness for Courageous Companions, which has placed about 85 service dogs with veterans.
The dogs, according to Leonard and Cvetkovic, can literally mean the difference between life and death, sensing when a traumatized veteran is in the grips of anxiety and pulling them back from a world of darkness. "These dogs literally are saving lives and stopping guys from committing suicide and helping veterans get their lives back together," Cvetkovic says.
It didn't take long to make a tough decision -- he'd train Lobo and donate him to help the cause. "He could be a lifelong pet for me or he could go on and save the life of a veteran," he says. "I loved him, but someone else needed him."
As we talk, Lobo lies quietly under the restaurant table in a bright orange vest sporting the warning: "Service dog in training. Do not pet!"
To date, his training has consisted largely of accompanying Cvetkovic to crowded public places. "Once the vest is on, it's time to work," he says. "You take them to malls because it's overstimulation -- different kinds of flooring, music blaring, little kids screaming, food smells. It's sensory overload for the dog. You want them to be 100 per cent focused on you."
At the end of this month, Lobo will be handed over to MSAR for more training and to be paired with a veteran, someone the Cvetkovic family will likely never meet. "Once Lobo's with a soldier, he'll be with him 24 hours a day," the CFL veteran says.
Happy now to be known more for his love of animals than his time on the gridiron, Cvetkovic plans to continue rescuing dogs and training them for Courageous Companions, even though the final step can be heartbreaking.
"The hardest part was telling my kids," he says softly. "They can't comprehend PTSD, but they can understand that someone is extremely sad and Lobo can make them extremely happy.
"My daughter Payton asked me what happened to all the love we gave him. I just said: 'That goes with him.'"
In a quiet moment, as Lobo licked burger grease off a columnist's hand, Cvetkovic turns to his five-year-old son and asks: "What's Lobo going to be?"
Chirps Hudson: "He's going to be a superhero!"
Which brings a smile to the face of a tough guy who loves helping others. "That's the only way I can think to tell the kids why we're giving him away," he says. "I love him, but if he can save someone's life, that's amazing.
"He's going from being neglected on the streets of Mexico to being a guardian angel."
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 17, 2013 C5
Updated on Tuesday, September 17, 2013 at 6:51 AM CDT: Adds video
11:00 AM: Adds link, fixes bad character.
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Details on Industry Insight.
Press Release:
Encinitas, CA (November 2, 2010) - Sacred Craft, the leading consumer surfboard show, announces 2011 dates for spring and fall events. Sacred Craft will stage at the Rittenhouse in Santa Cruz, CA March 19th and 20th and at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in Del Mar, CA on October 8th and 9th. Both locations were selected for their rich shaping heritages, vibrant surfing consumer bases, world-class facilities and direct access to the ocean.
The Rittenhouse is located in the heart of Santa Cruz with access to a wide variety of local businesses and a world class shaping culture. "When you're talking historically significant surf communities, Santa Cruz has always been on the top of our list and we're stoked to officially bring Sacred Craft to this amazing location," says Scott Bass, Sacred Craft Expo Director. With access to a wide range of surfers not only from Santa Cruz but also the Pacific Northwest, San Francisco, San Jose and Santa Barbara, the spring edition of Sacred Craft is set to deliver strong results.
The shaping community is backing Sacred Craft's Santa Cruz location. "I'm super excited to see the expo come up to Northern California," says surfboard shaper Marc Andreini. "The Santa Cruz community lives and breathes surfing and the culture is deeply authentic."
In addition, the local government in Santa Cruz is rolling out the red carpet for Sacred Craft's debut. "The City of Santa Cruz is extremely excited about Sacred Craft coming to our town," says Jennifer Karno, City of Santa Cruz Economic Development. "The community is already buzzing with anticipation. There are so many great shapers and surf manufacturers right here in Santa Cruz. We're all very stoked."
The fall edition of Sacred Craft will mark a return to Del Mar, one of the most storied surf communities in the country. "Sacred Craft's downtown San Diego debut in summer 2010 stayed true to our founding principle of keeping the surfboard central; we brought in the crowds and had great synergy with ASR. However, after surveying our exhibitors, the majority felt more at 'home' in Del Mar," continues Bass.
At both events consumers and exhibitors can expect the traditional attractions such as the Shape-Off, Art Grotto, music stage, 'Roadshow-style' appraisals and stand-up paddle demos. New surf culture-related features will be announced in the coming months.
Sacred Craft has a simple philosophy; it is all about the surfboard. The 2011 editions of this one-of-a-kind event will reassert this philosophy and put the surfboard-and the modern-day kahunas who craft them back at the forefront of surf culture. For more information on how to get involved with these celebrations and associating your company with the passion, stoke and power of the surfboard and all of its ancillary trappings please contact Scott Bass at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Located across the Puget Sound from Seattle and sandwiched between several natural preserves and parks, the city of Bremerton puts you in the center of everything that makes the Pacific Northwest so special. Situated on the Kitsap Peninsula and accessible by both ferry and car, residents who live in Bremerton apartments for rent are in for a true maritime experience. With its diverse population, high quality of life, unique culture, appreciation for the military and warm and welcoming personality, it should come as no surprise that people are flocking to apartments for rent. in Bremerton
There are a variety of attractions and recreational opportunities for people looking into Bremerton apartments for rent, including 11 parks, the Bremerton Ice Arena, a gorgeous boardwalk, a naval museum and the bountiful Elandan Gardens. Some of the most popular neighborhoods for Bremerton apartments are Manette, which is across from the Port Washington Narrows. East Bremerton and Downtown Bremerton are also excellent options for Evergreen State citizens. Lots of residents enjoy living here because of the small-town ambiance paired with the easy access to a major metropolis. Many families also enjoy moving into homes here, since Bremerton is nationally ranked for its excellence in education.
Bremerton has experienced a steady but modest growth in population over the years, and the cost of living is definitely a big part of that. According to City-Data, the 2012 cost of living index for Bremerton apartments for rent was around 8 percent more expensive than the overall U.S. average. However, since Bremerton is a coastal community with loads of oceanfront property and is only a ferry ride away from one of the largest cities on the western seaboard, this is actually a very affordable rate for people living in apartments in Bremerton.
The city is known for being the location of the Navy Naval Base Kitsap, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center and the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, so it should come as no surprise that many people living in Bremerton often work for the armed forces. According to CityTownInfo, some of the most popular professions in the area are in nursing and teaching as well due to the city's great schools and military hospitals. There are also several educational opportunities for college students looking at apartments for rent in Bremerton as well, including Olympic College, which offers a range of associate degrees for residents. The University of Washington in Seattle and Seattle University are just a ferry ride away from Bremerton and offer four-year degrees.
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This 1970 Chevrolet Nova 2 Door Coupe has a 454c.i. 4BBL V8, Automatic (Turbo 400) Transmission, GM 12 Bolt w/ 4.11 Limited Slip, Power... More
This 1974 Chevrolet Nova has a 350 C.I. 4BBL V8, Saginaw 4 Speed Transmission, Correct Cream Beige Exterior, Correct Medium Saddle Bucket Seat Interior,... More
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This 1972 Chevrolet Nova has come a long way from its commuter car roots. Instead of being a reasonably economical and practical 2-door sedan,... More
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9:10: The Inaugural Ball
Live streaming: C-Span * CBS * CNN
Link to all 2013 Inauguration posts here
Greg Sargent: So the big story of the day is that House Tea Partyers are vowing up and down that they may be willing to allow the country to default on its obligations to prove to Obama how serious they are about cutting spending.
Today, at his presser, Obama reiterated that there will be no negotiating over the debt ceiling….
…. even more so than the fiscal cliff battle, this year's debt ceiling fight is shaping up as a kind of epic final confrontation — perhaps the Tea Party's last chance to force Obama to do what the what American people emphatically declared in the election that don't want, i.e., solve the country's fiscal problems primarily by dramatically shrinking government, unraveling the safety net, and sparing the rich more sacrifice. And while we should reserve judgment until we see what happens in the end, Obama is certainly behaving like someone who is determined to break the Tea Party once and for all.
Full post here
Charles Pierce: … Today's action-packed episode is another in their continuing series: Stuff Republicans Tell Us That We Will Print Verbatim….
In this installment, our intrepid gumshoes manage to pry loose quotes from various vandals and dumbasses … to the effect that they have every intention of blowing up the American economy over the next few weeks if they don't get absolutely everything they absolutely want. (There are drug gangs in Mexico who are more open to negotiations than these people.) ….
…. Presented with a clear example of how the Republicans have become demented …. Politico instead presents this information merely as a threat to the speakership of John Boehner, as though that's all that's at risk here. (This problem might have been solved if the two newshounds had talked to, you know, Democrats, but this is Politico, and y'all know better than that) ….
Photo by Democratic Underground – read about it at ThinkProgress
NYT: Several parents whose children were killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting joined the national debate on gun violence on Monday, gathering to begin sketching their response to the massacre by helping start a nonprofit organization intended to help prevent the kind of bloodshed that turned this quaint New England community into a national symbol of grief.
In some of their first public statements since the Dec. 14 shooting that killed 20 children and 6 staff members at the school, the families of 11 of the children and adult victims appeared at a news conference and called for a national dialogue around issues of mental health, school safety and what their organization, called Sandy Hook Promise, described as "gun responsibility."
Full article here
Steve Benen: Though much of the right has been unhappy with Vice President Biden's task force on gun violence, an unscripted comment Biden made last week caused conservatives to ring the alarm even more aggressively …. "The president is going to act. There are executive orders, executive action that can be taken…."
…. the right, without having seen the still-unwritten orders, accused President Obama of taking dictatorial actions on guns without congressional approval…
…. The fact that Bush/Quayle administration issued an executive order on guns, within its legal authority, did not mean the then-president had seized authoritarian power in a bloodless coup …. So can we stop pretending perfectly legal executive orders are evidence of creeping tyranny?
….. meanwhile:
Greg Sargent: Yep: The NRA represents an extreme worldview. A new Post poll finds that 65 percent of Americans support banning high capacity magazine clips; 58 percent support an assault weapons ban; and a whopping 88 percent support closing the gun show loophole.
Also: 89 percent of Republicans support closing that loophole, and 69 percent of Republicans support requiring background checks on those buying gun ammunition.
Meanwhile, a new Pew poll finds solid to overwhelming majorities support background checks, a federal gun-tracking database, and bans on assault weapons and high capacity magazine clips….
More here
Pierce was in spectacularly excellent form today:
Charles Pierce: The voices inside the head of Washington Post blogger Jennifer Rubin are unanimous in their dislike for Chuck Hagel … I think this is an unusual display of harmony for the voices inside Jennifer Rubin's head since, during the presidential campaign just past, all the voices in Jennifer Rubin's head had different opinions regarding Willard Romney. Was he merely awesome? Super awesome? Super-duper awesome? Super-duper-infinity awesome? Or was he a steaming super-duper-infinity awesome hunk of brilliantly coiffed man-meat who could make the bobsleds run on time while hitting Lady Liberty's G-spot until she crooned "Columbia, The Gem Of The Ocean." Now, though, all the voices hate Chuck Hagel. It must be a lot quieter around Rubin's ears these days….
Full post here (thanks Susanne)
President Barack Obama at the Fox Theater in Redwood City, Calif., May 23
All times Eastern
11:30: Attends a campaign event at the The Fairmont Hotel, in San Jose (Closed press)
1:00: Departs San Jose en route Newton, Iowa
4:00: Arrives in Des Moines
4:55: Tours TPI Composites, a wind manufacturer
5:15: Delivers remarks on urging Congress to act on the 'To Do List'
6:55: Delivers remarks at a campaign event (listed in CNN's live streaming schedule)
9:20: Departs Des Moines en route Joint Base Andrews
11:30: Arrives at Joint Base Andrews
11:45: Arrives at the White House
President Obama greets a crowd upon arriving at the Moffett Federal Airfield in Mountain View, California, on May 23
Steve Benen: We talked last week about Ohio Gov. John Kasich delivering a message to his constituents: the state's economy is improving, jobs are being created, and there's reason for optimism. It is, of course, the exact opposite of what Mitt Romney wants Ohioans to believe right now. This week, Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) was similarly unhelpful to the larger GOP cause.
….. You can almost hear Romney shouting in the background: "You guys are screwing this up royally. We need people feeling depressed and hopeless, not excited about 'brighter days.'"
This keeps happening. Many of the nation's key swing states — Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Nevada, Wisconsin, Iowa, Pennsylvania — are led by Republican governors, each of whom are eager to tell their constituents that the economy is looking up. They're hoping to boost their own fortunes, but inadvertently, they're also helping President Obama in an election year in which the economy is easily the nation's top issue.
Charles Pierce: I spent four years living under the barely distinguishable leadership of Willard Romney, Governor of Massachusetts. Since he's out on the road now, running for president, and since he seems to be pretending that it was somebody else who was governor here …. I guess it's up to the rest of us here to be his living memory of what happened when he won an election for the only time in his life.
…. speaking to a group of Latino businessmen in Los Angeles, Romney took time out from reassuring them that he wasn't the racist goober he appeared to be in the primaries to excoriate public school teachers and their unions…
….. In 2006, he cut $37.8 million from the state's higher education budget. Fees skyrocketed, as they did generally throughout the state. In 2003, he tried to cut $100 million from that same budget while raising tuition by $50 million at state colleges and universities. He also wanted to slash job training initiatives and workforce training funding. Things were rather worse at the primary and secondary level, where Romney passed down budget cuts and left cities and towns holding the bag. And that's the way it was.
TPM: A new poll commissioned by NBC News, the Wall Street Journal and Telemundo shows President Obama with a large lead among Latino voters, 61 percent to 27 percent over likely Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. President Obama's approval rating among Latinos polled is 61 percent approve to 32 percent disapprove, while his handling of the economy is at 54 percent approve versus 38 percent disapprove. Romney's favorablity is underwater at 26 percent favorable versus 35 percent unfavorable.
This can never be posted enough….
I chuckled when I saw that even the stomach-churning Rubin concedes that GOPolitico "has gone pro-Romney, big time".
And I LOLed again when I read our old buddy Byron Tau breathlessly reporting Romney's attack on PBO's "administration for allowing the daughter of Cuban head of state Raul Castro into the United States".
Tau: Castro was allowed into the United States to attend a meeting of the Latin American Studies Association. Romney's condemnation follows on the heels of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) YouTube comments, where the Cuban-American politican called the younger Castro an "arm" of the regime and slammed the visa as "shameful."
The Cuban-American community is highly anti-Castro – and the issue could resonate among an influential Florida constituency that is a bit more conservative than the wider Latino community.
What did Tau neglect to mention?
The GWB administration allowed Mariela Castro visit the United States ….. three times.
Another Pulitzer for our Byron!
Have a beautiful day Zizi!
Morning everyone ;-)
First lady Michelle Obama is joined by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at the future site of a Northgate Market in Inglewood, Calif., Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012. Michelle Obama says the proposed new supermarket in the middle of a blue-collar Hispanic neighborhood in Southern California is an example of how the effort to bring healthy foods to low-income communities is paying off.
AP: First lady Michelle Obama on Wednesday said the campaign to bring healthy food to all Americans is happening neighborhood by neighborhood.
Standing in a vacant Southern California store set to be refurbished and reopened this summer, Obama lauded efforts to bring large grocery retailers to inner-city areas that traditional supermarket chains spurn.
…. Obama, who is on the second day of her two-day visit to the Los Angeles area, made the stop in the blue-collar, largely Hispanic neighborhood as part of her "Let's Move!" campaign to boost healthy food and fitness.
Part of the campaign includes promoting initiatives such as the $264 million California FreshWorks Fund, which finances grocery businesses willing to open in urban areas.
…. After the Inglewood event, Obama was scheduled to appear on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and to deliver a luncheon speech at the Democratic National Committee.
Washington Post: U.S. factories grew in January at the fastest pace in seven months, boosted by a rise in new orders. And builders ended a poor year for construction by spending more on homes and projects for the fifth straight month.
The reports bolster other data showing the U.S. economy started the year strong.
The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, said Wednesday that its manufacturing index rose last month to 54.1 from 53.1 in December. Readings above 50 indicate expansion.
Consumers are buying more cars and trucks, while businesses ordered more machinery and other equipment. That has driven manufacturing, which expanded for the 30th straight month.
Both new orders and order backlogs rose to nine-month highs. Increasing order backlogs suggest manufacturers are lacking the capacity to meet demand. That could mean more growth in production and employment in the near future, economists said.
Export orders also rose, a sign that U.S. manufacturers haven't yet been affected by Europe's slowing economy.
"This is a very encouraging report on manufacturing activity that shows particular strength in leading indicators," said John Ryding, an economist at RDQ Economics.
Steve Benen: For campaign watchers, Florida's Republican presidential primary was the big draw yesterday, but there was another noteworthy race on the other side of the country: a U.S. House special election in Oregon's 1st congressional district.
Just two weeks ago, the National Republican Congressional Committee took an interest in the race, airing attack ads against Democratic candidate Suzanne Bonamici. The GOP candidate, Rob Cornilles, even released an internal poll showing him trailing by only four points.
Yesterday, however, it became clear Republicans were chasing a mirage.
Democrat Suzanne Bonamici swept to victory Tuesday in Oregon's 1st Congressional District, continuing her party's nearly four-decade-long hold on the seat covering the northwestern corner of the state. With the bulk of ballots counted, Bonamici was defeating Republican Rob Cornilles by about 15 percentage points…..
President Barack Obama at the James Lee Community Center in Falls Church, Virginia, February 1
Forgot to post this yesterday:
TPM: The Obama administration announced Wednesday that the Medicare Advantage program, which allows seniors to receive health coverage through a private insurer, is enjoying lower costs and more customers as a result of the health care reform law.
Yahoo: If you watched President Obama's Google+ hangout Monday night, you saw two interesting exchanges between the president and Jennifer Wedel, a 29-year-old Texas mother of two.
It turns out that Wedel's digital meeting convinced her to vote for Obama in this year's presidential election – despite her support for the GOP.
…. Afterwards, Wedel, who described herself as a "good Republican," is now planning to vote for Obama in this year's presidential election.
"I didn't vote for him four years ago. But I have been so disappointed with the presidential race. I haven't seen anybody who would have been a good replacement. I know how Obama is now. I know how he rolls. So I'd probably vote him back in," said Wedel in an interview with The Atlantic. "I (feel) like I know him a little more," Wedel said. "There was a connection. He should definitely do this with more people….."
….. for those who watched the event, a slightly odd moment near the end might have jumped out. During that personal question round, Wedel asked Obama if he would do a little jig. Obama demurred. What was that about? It's a YouTube meme thing, explained Wedel. An extremely popular video on the site is a minute-and-a-half clip of then-candidate Obama shaking it on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" back in 2007; one version has 12 million hits and counting.
"It's so funny," said Wedel. "You've got to watch it."
Thanks nintendowii10
Make sure you don't miss Liberal Librarian's post below
Don't miss the '2011 Year in Photos' at the White House site (here)
Steve Benen: Jennifer Rubin today reflects on President Obama's re-election strategy, and argues he'll struggle to point to meaningful accomplishments …Obama "accomplished nothing," she says, other than "jamming through" – which is apparently synonymous with "passing with large majorities in both chambers, following a year-long fight" – the Affordable Care Act.
Well, he also passed the Recovery Act, which prevented a depression and created 3 million jobs.
And there was also the Wall Street reform package …. which featured the most sweeping overhaul of financial industry regulations since FDR.
Come to think of it, we also saw a rescue of the American auto industry, DADT repeal, a breakthrough student-loan-reform bill, ratification of New START, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the biggest overhaul of our food-safety laws in 70 years, new regulation of the credit card industry, a national service bill, expanded stem-cell research, the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, net neutrality, the most sweeping land-protection act in 15 years, and health care for 9/11 first responders……
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