text:
well that's just, like, your opinion, man
Iowa offers scholarship to Berkley Edwards
don't do it, Berkley!
Big Ten Basketball Landscape: Second Tier
Ohio State
Out: William Buford, probably Jared Sullinger, possibly Deshaun Thomas
In: Nobody yet. LaQuinton Ross may qualify here since he didn't get until the second semester and did not play.
Status: Yes, it is odd to see OSU in this section, but fresh off a heartbreaking choke job in the Final Four Ohio State faces the prospect of life without 80% of its shots. William Buford is definitely gone. Jared Sullinger is presumed gone. Deshaun Thomas could go. He said "of course I might come back" in the aftermath of the exit. Interpret that as you will. To me that sounds like a guy who will get a first round grade from the NBA and take it. If Thomas is back, upgrade the Buckeyes into the contender tier. FWIW, he's #41 on Chad Ford's board. That seems low to me.
Replacing those lost will be… no one. At least right now. Ohio State is after a guy named Tony Parker who makes it seem odd that you associate such a bland name with French point guards. This version of Tony Parker is a 6'9" post from Georgia. OSU acquiring him is far from certain (the current leader seems to be UCLA) and the Buckeyes seemingly aren't in on any of the other one-and-done types who are probably headed to Kentucky.
Without reinforcements it's hard to see OSU keeping pace at the top of the league. The two returning starters are efficient players that provide a lot of value when they are not asked to be alpha dogs. They are unproven as go-to-guys. The backups will have to make quantum leaps if they're going to take up the mantle.
One probably will. These are highly touted guys, after all. One doesn't seem like enough given the additions at the top of the league.
Question in need of resolving: Can any of OSU's backups actually play basketball?
There are talented recruits behind the starters, but early returns on everyone except maybe Amir Williams are poor. No one could get on the floor for more than about 25% of OSU's minutes; no one save Evan Ravenel and the possibly-transferring, definitely-low-sample-size-possessing JD Weatherspoon cracked 100 in ORtg.
Five star point guard of the future Shannon Scott was particularly awful, shooting 22% from the line, 36% from two, and 5% from three and managing a turnover rate of 34.4. That's good for a 67.8 ORtg, which is the worst I think I've ever seen. Let's click over to his comparables… UNC PG Larry Drew is the #1 hit. He still managed a 79.1 in 2009.
OSU's going to need two or thee of these guys to step up and become quality starters or they're doomed.
Out: PG Bryce Cartwright, SG Matt Gatens, C Andrew Brommer
In: C Adam Woobury (4.5*, right), PG Mike Gesell (4*), C Kyle Meyer (3*), SG Patrick Ingram (3*), PG Anthony Clemmons (3*)
Status: While Iowa barely scraped their head above .500 this year, things are looking up for the Hawkeyes. They should break their NCAA tourney drought and if things go right they could be one of the nation's surprise teams.
Their only major loss is Gatens, who went ham at the tail end of his senior season. Cartwright was an assist machine who also manufactured copious turnovers and missed shots; Brommer was the end of the bench.
They return Andrew White, everyone's Big Ten Third Best Freshman of the Year winner, Roy Devyn Marble, budding wing snipers Zach McCabe and Josh Oglesby, and enigmatic but potentially lethal Melsahn Basabe. To this they add a seven-foot center they grabbed from everyone in the world and the point guard who set up most of Glenn Robinson III's dunks in that All Star game. He, too, is a consensus top 100 guy.
There's enough recruiting hype and proven Big Ten production here to see Iowa taking a significant step forward from its Big Ten form. That would have been a game away from a tourney bid if the Hawkeyes hadn't started off so poorly. Losses to Creighton, Campbell, Clemson, Northern Iowa, and Iowa State doomed the Hawkeyes to NIT aspirations before the Big Ten even started. That won't happen next year. The Hawkeyes should find themselves comfortably in the tournament.
Question that needs resolving: Melsahn Basabe was Tim Hardaway Jr Jr last year. Which way will he go?
Basabe hit the Big Ten running. His freshman year he was near top 100 in true shooting percentage, blocked a ton of shots, rebounded very well on both ends of the floor, and generally looked like he was going to be an All Big Ten player for multiple years. Like Hardaway, he backslid as a sophomore. He was worse at virtually everything, losing 5% off his FT and 2PT percentages, rebounding less effectively, and seeing slight declines in blocks, minutes and usage.
You'd think Basabe gets a boost playing next to White and Woodbury; last year he had to play a lot of time out of position at the five. Free to take short jumpers and slash into the post he should rebound, figuratively and literally.
Out: C Ralph Sampson
In: PF Trevor Mbakwe (essentially), PF Charles Buggs (3*), SG Wally Ellenson(3*)
Status: When Trevor Mbakwe went out for the year in Minnesota's seventh game, the world left them for dead. This was the right thing to do. The Gopher stomped through a weak nonconference schedule before stopping dead against Big Ten opposition. Eighteen games later, the Gophers were 6-12 with one win against a team that made the tournament (@ Indiana).
Was Mbakwe really that big of a deal? Yes. If you forget his thunderous first year in the Big Ten—something Zack Novak never will—here's a reminder: 58% shooting, top 20 in defensive rebounding, top 30 in getting to the free throw line, and a healthy number of blocks and offensive rebounds. His absence robbed Minnesota of a potential All Big Ten player.
They've got him back. Their only personnel loss is Ralph Sampson, a guy who played 42% of Minnesota's minutes and was no better than his projected replacement, rising sophomore Elliott Eliason. Two of their starters will be making freshman-to-sophomore transitions, and the silver lining to the Mbakwe injury was Rodney Williams bursting onto the scene, often through people's chests.
Minnesota has been a bear defensively since Tubby Smith arrived; they'll be good enough on offense next year to knock off anyone in the conference.
Question that needs resolving: Can Williams and Mbakwe play together?
While they're not quite the same player—Mbakwe is bigger and a much better rebounder—they fill the same niche in the offense. There are only so many alley-oops and thunderous putbacks to go around. I'd guess Minnesota plays Mbakwe at the five quite a bit; having that work out on the boards and on offense will go a long way towards determining how good the Gophers can be.
Out: PF Robbie Hummel, PG Lewis Jackson, SG Ryne Smith, SF Kelsey Barlow
In: PF Jay Simpson (4*), PG Ronnie Johnson (4*), C AJ Hammons (3*), SG Rapheal Davis (3*)
Status: If Minnesota and Iowa are going to rise without the teams that finished at the top of the standings sliding back, it will be Purdue that suffers.
They've lost the heart of their team in Hummel and Jackson. They used almost 50% of Purdue's possessions between them. Ryne Smith was Just Another Three Point Shooter, but he was really good at that (43%). Those three guys were the linchpins of an elite offense that saw Purdue scrape into the tournament as a ten seed, and now they're gone. (Also out the door is the dismissed Kelsey Barlow, but Purdue played a lot better without him.)
What's left behind is alarming given the talent already listed in these posts. Purdue's best returning player is… DJ Byrd? Terone Johnson? Anthony Johnson? It doesn't matter who it actually is, because any of them would be a third banana on a Big Ten contender. Meanwhile, Purdue spent most of the year running Hummel out at the 5 because their best post guy was Travis Carroll. Carroll was invisible offensively and had a defensive rebound rate only 0.4 percent better than 5'9" Lewis Jackson. Jackson created all the shots, too.
All this sounds grim. The Boilers do have a couple of quality recruits incoming who may be able to pick up some of the slack, but their guys are on the 3/4 borderline and seem like they'll take a year or two to get adjusted to the Big Ten. They can't provide enough in a Big Ten that looks even deeper than last year.
Question that needs resolving: Who, like, does stuff now?
About the only thing that Purdue can feel good about next year is Byrd raising up for an open three. The Johnsons drive to the basket with abandon and do not finish well when they get there. They were crappy defensively and their most experienced post is all but useless. Now they have to play him. Robbie Hummel is not walking through that door.
Unverified Voracity Debates The Number Three
Brief vacation note. I'll be limited Friday and Monday as I visit some friends. I don't think it'll be that noticeable Friday but it's likely there aren't going to be any major columns Monday or Tuesday. I won't be able to catch the hockey game since they're not on TV, but I will write something up on the Purdue game whenever I get a chance.
Northwestern. Via mgovideo:
Podcast. I guested on The Solid Verbal. They asked me if I could think of anything wrong with Brady Hoke and I came up empty. It's been a good 13 months.
Beilein recruiting vs. development. I'm not entirely clear on whether Dan Hanner's recruiting and coaching rankings have methodology gaps that would particularly affect John Beilien but the general idea is to evaluate a coach's recruiting on the ORtg of his freshmen and his development of players on the movement of that ORtg as the players age. Survey says:
|John Calipari
|Thad Matta
|Ohio St.
|Bo Ryan
|Mike Krzyzewski
|John Beilein
|Lorenzo Romar
|Mike Montgomery
|Bill Self
|Rick Barnes
|Jim Boeheim
There are some obvious holes in the evaluations here since they only take offense into account, they assume a guy like Burke's performance is all recruiting and no development when he's had on average a half-year of development by the end of his freshman year, etc. But they do make the case that Beilein's recruiting at Michigan has been horrendously underrated, especially since the defense is more than holding its own in this year's Big Ten. Throw it on the pile of evidence indicating Beilein has a great eye for players.
See also: Trey Burke, nation's #3 freshman according to CBS.
It might behoove us to move to a less three-mad offense. Emphasis on "might"—obviously there is something going on with Beilein's offense that works. But in Ken Pomeroy's ongoing quest to discredit defensive three point efficiency, he's doing collateral damage to offensive three point efficiency:
Oh dear. The defensive plot is just a random scattering of data, as has been discussed previously, but the offensive version isn't much better. If you shot 45% in the first half of the 2011 conference season, you'd be expected to shoot about 35% in the second half. If you shot 25% in the first half, you'd be expected to shoot 33% in the second half. A difference you couldn't notice with your eyes. I don't know exactly what implications this has on strategy, but when evenly-matched teams get together, action happening beyond the 3-point line is like a lottery. You take a shot and a third of the time you have success.
In contrast, two-point shooting correlates well. Pomeroy admits he doesn't know what the impact on strategy is, and neither do I. This could be an argument for Michigan to move its game inside the line, but it's not hard to see Michigan's #6 two-point shooting as a number that benefits greatly from Michigan's long-range bombing. As long as Michigan is going four-out, one-in they're going to have to take a lot of threes to stretch opponents into giving them decent opportunities from two.
Thirty-eight is way too many, though. Right now the Wildcats are obviously right with Michigan; in the future when McGary, Horford, Glenn Robinson, and Stauskas give M a huge size and athleticism advantage bombing it from the outside is asking to get upset. I wonder if we see Michigan cut back on the bombs in their new era of talent superiority.
Meet the new GERG? Iowa's new offensive coordinator:
If you were hoping that the Greg Davis rumors were nothing but smoke and disinformation, well, today is not your day. Kirk Bohls of the Austin American-Statesman, a gentleman who is about as well-connected to the Texas football program as Mack Brown himself, reported today that Greg Davis had accepted the Iowa offensive coordinator position.
Davis was run out of Texas on a rail after Colt McCoy graduated and the offense collapsed. Before that he'd told Vince Young to run around out there to good effect and transitioned to a pretty good McCoy-led passing spread, so this is not exactly hiring a guy whose only success in the past ten years was a one-year blip (Greg Robinson).
Still, a 61-year-old retread who cratered that much talent has Iowa fans shrugging. The consensus at BHGP is "decent"; if things go south this fall they'll turn quickly. Looks like Jacobi had to rewrite his headline after his initial take:
Also on the url of the above Prevail and Ride cartoon as uploaded to SBN:
Mattison is probably not quaking at the hire.
Elsewhere in Iowa blogging. The High Porch Picnic evaluates Michigan's recent recruiting from an Iowa POV and is a bit bothered that Hoke and Ferentz seem to have a lot more overlap than the Hawkeyes did with the previous Michigan regime. If I was Iowa I'd be more concerned with Michigan's sudden relevance in Illinois, a place they've struggled in for the past five years.
This reminds me to elaborate on something I mentioned in passing on the Solid Verbal: the current configuration of offenses in the Big Ten footprint is advantage Michigan recruiting. The two schools who do the best job of competing on the trail, Notre Dame and Ohio State, are now spread offenses. The second tier run pro-styles. Michigan looks like it's in a phase where it's rarely going to lose a battle against the second tier; meanwhile they should have an advantage with certain recruits in hostile territory simply because their opponents won't have a good place to put them.
Michigan's in a good position to starve Michigan State and, to a lesser extent, Iowa of offensive talent while bolstering their class with a guy like Jake Butt who Ohio State might have been pursuing hotly if they were still running a Tressel offense.
Side note: the impressive thing about Hoke's progress in Illinois is beating out ND. Remember when going up against Notre Dame was totally pointless, especially in Illinois? Yeah. We'll see what happens with Ty Isaac and LaQuon Treadwell; if Michigan lands them that will be a huge statement.
List o' jerkos. CBS's Eye on College Football lists the 30 BCS schools who voted to override the multi-year scholarship legislation and points out that their real desire is to avoid giving out multi-year scholarships themselves:
The motivation in Austin, Baton Rouge, Knoxville and Norman isn't that they can't hand out four-year scholarships, it's that they simply don't want to.
Of course, the legislation doesn't mean any school -- BCS, mid-major, or otherwise -- is required to offer multiple-year scholarships. But since that might put the schools that don't at a recruiting disadvantage against schools that do, the Texases (and USCs, and Alabamas) have tried to prevent anyone from offering them.
In short: because these schools don't want to promise their athletes a full four-year college education, they've decided the athletes at other schools shouldn't have the benefit of that promise, either.
But whatever, they failed. Wisconsin was the only Big Ten school to ask for an override. Their football team signed up with most of the rest of the conference in offering four-year rides, though, so why is unknown. IIRC, their hockey team has a bit of reputation for cutting kids loose. That might be it.
Now the Free Press won't exist for anyone else, either. Gannett hastens its own decline:
"We will begin to restrict some access to non-subscribers," said Bob Dickey, [Gannett] president of community publishing. The model is similar to the metered system adopted by The New York Times a year ago, in which online readers are able to view a limited number of pages for free each month. That quota will be between five and 15 articles, depending on the paper, said Dickey. Six Gannett papers already have a digital pay regimen in place.
The Free Press is a Gannett paper, so to get your Drew Sharp fix you'll have to start kicking in subscription dollars. I'm sure the line will be lengthy: Gannett projects they'll increase subscription revenues by 25%—$100 million per year. Think of all the press conference rehashes, trolling, and Mitch Albom columns about angels you'll be missing out on.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I'm not going to steal Ace's recruiting roundup thunder entirely but just… holy hopping ham sandwiches:
The Levenberry family is looking for a paternal figure to guide son E.J.'s career. It's found him in Ann Arbor.
E.J. Levenberry Jr. said this week that Michigan is the lead school for his services. The ESPNU 150 Watch List linebacker prospect from Woodbridge (Va.) C.D. Hylton referenced Wolverines coach Brady Hoke as one of the primary reasons why.
"He kind of reminds me of my dad, the way he carries himself," Levenberry said.
Add Levenberry, Isaac, Treadwell, and O'Daniel—all players who Michigan reputedly leads for now—and that's nine Rivals 100 recruits, three guys who would be consensus five-stars if rankings hold, and a class that will compete for the best in the country. They'll probably lose at least one of those guys and rankings do not hold*; even so… good God.
*[Because there's not many places to go but down and as the year goes along recruiting analysts will turn up top flight talent they missed the first time around. See: Ondre Pipkins. Even if Rivals's opinion of Jake Butt doesn't change at all he's likely to slide 20-30 spots by Signing Day.]
Briefly. Ohio State fans are now the ones annoyed by the "spread can't work in B10 lol" meme propagated by hobos, people who think wrestling is real, and newspaper columnists—all the same people. They get bonus annoyance because Rich Rodriguez just "proved" this by having a quarterback run for 1700 yards. As I said: people who think wrestling is real.
So they're trying to dispel the Rodriguez stink:
Rodriguez largely failed to evolve his offense past the spread's origins. Chris Brown, for instance, prophetically predicated at the beginning of Rodriguez's Michigan tenure that Rodriguez's passing game lacked the conceptual nature necessary to succeed as teams adapted to the spread's basic tenets. Nor did Rodriguez (for the most part) diversiify his offense in the way an Oregon has to counteract things such as scrape exchanges. Michigan never embraced plays such as the midline option, inverted veer, power or counter trey like others. The upshot is that, while Michigan's offense was largely succesful once Denard Robinson was in place, it never hummed in the way Oregon's offense did (particularly against better teams) to overcome Michigan's defense or special team liabilities.
That's not really true. Rodriguez adapted his system to use Lloyd's collection of tight ends, burned many defenses with plays specifically designed to blow up scrape exchanges, and eventually shelved large sections of the old playbook in favor of having Denard Robinson run QB isos and stretches, pairing those with "aigh he's open" moments when a Robinson run turned out to be a pass. The reason 31 points against Penn State and 28 with a missed chip shot field goal against Wisconsin were bad performances didn't have much to do with the offense.
Rodriguez's offense never reached the high-pitched hum of Oregon's because he never had a returning starter at quarterback and the only non-freshman was a breathtakingly green Denard Robinson. Also his tailbacks were pretty bad. If OSU fans are looking for narratives to combat hobos, "we'll have an assload of talent relative to Rodriguez" is your best bet.
Etc.: Tremendous has an even more detailed breakdown of Hoke's appearance at the Glazier Clinic. Rodger Sherman narrowly survived the Michigan-Northwestern game but the prognosis is grim. Michigan's off to a healthy lead in the name-based recruiting class derby but there's a "Zanquanarious Washington" out there—they will not win. Blue wall! You've already seen Luke Winn's decision to put us in SI's "magic eight" teams from which a national champion will come. That seems like a bad bet to me, but whatever. TTB interviews Jehu Chesson, who I will probably call "Jehuu Caulcrick" at some point during his career.
Unverified Voracity Is Not Eating The Lemon
This could be going better. I was really thinking there'd be a Hello post yesterday. Instead, bupkis. Armani Reeves sticks with his buddy and Alex Kozan commits to Iowa. Michigan's 50-50 shots are coming up tails. With Sam Grant headed to Oklahoma, even their better than 50-50 shots are coming up tails.
Big deal? Somewhat. It's not a huge deal to downgrade from a 3/4 star type like Kozan to a sleeper three star like new DT hotness Willie Henry*. Losing Reeves and having Yuri Wright go off the board** because of various tweets about organisms (not those organisms) does leave corner a little dodgy, especially if you look at 5'8" Cass Tech corners skeptically these days. The depth chart looks fine there, though.
OL and TE not so much. Diamond is a huge priority now and if Chris Muller looks like he might shake free from Rutgers (survey says… probably not, but not out of the question) I would hop on that rather than vacate a bunch of scholarships. Michigan has five more slots and looks like they'll fill two or three from Henry/Diamond. Insert extreme confusion about Arnett situation here.
Along with Kozan, Iowa's getting guys from eight-man football who have commit posts begin…
Your average Iowan has probably never heard of Tabor, Iowa or the Fremont-Mills Community School District. Hell, they probably aren't even aware that there are counties named Fremont or Mills.
That's Nate Meier, a running back/MLB who will either be Chad Greenway or a shiftless hobo in five years depending on which side of the ball he ends up on. The point: no one in the division is recruiting at Hoke's level and with a huge focus on getting character kids, eventually that's going to pay off.
*[Who is not the surprise I was talking about in an earlier post, FWIW. I think that is off the table now; not sure what changed but Henry certainly seems like a one for one drop in for mystery guy. Most likely scenario: they watched Henry's film just now and veered towards him over mystery guy.]
**[LEMON BET STATUS! since every post about Wright's situation ostentatiously mentions Michigan's withdrawal from his recruitment, it is void. The disbelief was that a player from NJ would choose to go to Colorado over Michigan; Wright basically had no choice.
Also: no, Yuri Wright did not get expelled for some frickin' tweets. That does not happen. Similarly, Michigan did not drop the kid for some frickin' tweets. Put the pieces together and you have something like Stonum. The relatively minor thing was the last straw. This is entirely speculation.]
Bye week hockey. Another chaotic weekend in college hockey saw Bowling Green win(!) and UMD come out of a weekend against Michigan Tech on the short end of things. Tech is now .500 on the year and 9-7-2 in the WCHA. Mel Pearson: I be like dang.
Anyway, when the dust cleared Michigan blipped down to seventh in the Pairwise and sixth in the CCHA, but it's not all that bad:
|Ferris State
|Western Michigan
|1 1/3
|Ohio State
|1 1/3
|Notre Dame
|1 1/3
|1 2/3
|Lake Superior
|1 2/3
|Michigan State
|2 2/3
|Northern Michigan
|4 2/3
|Bowling Green
They are a point from a massive n-way tie for third. The schedule doesn't look that intimidating anymore, with series against #3, #8, #9, and 11, though of course there's little difference between 2-9 in the league.
What if we look at goal differential?
|Western Michigan
|Ohio State
|Ferris State
|Notre Dame
|Michigan State
|Lake Superior
|Northern Michigan
|Bowling Green
Michigan is #1 by a second ENG against OSU and faces #2, #7, #9, and #11. Suddenly things are manageable. After this weekend they'll be exceedingly so. Anything better than a split against Miami and they're rolling to the finish.
As for the Pairwise, pay no attention to the drop. Lowell, BC, and Ferris are ahead by RPI shavings. A collapsing OSU is ahead by a COP shaving. If Michigan plays like they deserve a one seed down the stretch they'll get it. The target number of wins to enter the CCHA playoffs as a top seed is six, which is very doable: sweep terrible BG and one other weekend, split the other two.
The only truly annoying comparison is versus CC, which overcomes a massive RPI gap by playing fewer TUCs (both teams are two games above .500) and beating Union instead of losing to them. Root against the Tigers from here on out.
Negative recruiting: not so much. Amara Darboh:
"A lot of the other coaches, when I would talk to them, they'd ask, 'What other schools you looking at?'" four-star Iowa receiver Amara Darboh said. "And then then they would talk badly about the schools, or bash where I just went.
"But, not Michigan. I don't know why they didn't, but I like that they didn't, and it says a lot about them."
Wormley, Reeves, and Pipkins also vouch for that. And Darboh's guardian brings up Hoke's masterful self control during a key moment:
Dan Schaefer, legal guardian of Darboh, said he was highly skeptical of Michigan because of the failures of the Rich Rodriguez era and the instability of a coaching change. Two things changed his mind.
First, it was Hoke's measured handling of struggling punter Will Hagerup in the Ohio State game last season, which was Darboh's official visit.
"He wasn't overreacting," Schaefer said. "Like, the punter missed the snap. But (Hoke) didn't go over there and get in his business right away. I liked that. It gave me confidence he could handle Amara."
I was uttering every cussed cuss I knew and inventing six new ones as this went down. Mienke also has a story on Darboh's turbulent past. Turbulent as in "caught in a civil war."
'98 Wisconsin. Part of Michigan's recovery from that ugly 0-2 start ("Cross is boss! Cross is boss!"):
Via Wolverine Historian, obviously. You can also check out '83 Ohio State.
Well done, America. Texas hates Craig James:
Public Policy Polling just came out of the field with news that only 2 percent of Texas Republicans will vote for him for U.S. Senate. It's early yet, but if Republican political consultant Brian Mayes is correct, 2 percent is about where we should expect him to end up. In the interests of disclosure, I'm working for one of the Democrats in the race, and we aren't concerned with James in the slightest.
"I'm surprised it's that high," said Mayes. "If you ask the average Republican voter... he's remembered for the scandal at SMU and using his position at ESPN to get a wildly popular coach fired. He is by far one of the most hated men in West Texas."
Money quote:
"It's not that people in West Texas don't like him," said Mayes. "It's that nobody likes him."
The only downside to this is ESPN will rehire him on the Stephen A. Smith principle: ESPN hates us as much as America hates Craig James and knows we can't change the channel.
[HT: Blutarsky.]
Let the looting begin. The NCAA has come to a fairly obvious realization in the aftermath of finding out there's an Indiana State:
he NCAA will look this summer at retooling its Division I governance structure amid what some officials say is growing sentiment to further split its top football-playing schools.
Association President Mark Emmert said Sunday he'll appoint a working group to examine the issue, stressing it will focus on "the way in which Division I is organized for the purposes of making decisions" - and not on a competitive format that now groups football programs into bowl and lower-tier championship subdivisions.
IE, Indiana State shouldn't be able to say anything to anyone. Anonymous officials a bit later in the piece suggest Emmert is being coy in public and another split between football programs is at least going to be spitballed.
Anything that gets San Jose State out of I-A is fine by me, but it seems unlikely anything will come to fruition here. If it does, the break should be based on institutional support offered a football team. If it's over X, GTFO. Prediction: if there is a split, eventually those left behind from the current I-A will merge with FCS as it becomes increasingly difficult to tell the two lower divisions apart.
Success with… actually let's just scratch both. Penn State cuts freshman center Peter Alexis from its basketball team, effective at the end of the season. This is described as the result of a… "carefrontation." That is not a word.
Alexis appears to be a good student and has not gotten in any trouble. Two thirds of BSD voters say this is okay even if it was "purely based on his basketball ability."
This is what happens. Q: What is Molk talking about here?
"I don't like it; I don't care about it; it (ticks) me off," Molk said. "It just adds to my anger."
A: Everything.
Also, Molk has to be Michigan's internet-era record holder for most bowdlerized quotes in the newspaper. This story alone has the above plus:
"Missing the Senior Bowl (stinks)."
And then Barwis gets in on it:
"It shows something to the NFL that the guy tore a tendon off a bone and played with a tendon off the bone, and he said, '(Forget) it, I'm going to dominate a game."
Godspeed, Molk.
Etc.: The East side upper deck of Spartan Stadium is "kind of like 1980s Poland," says A Beautiful Day For Football, which I can vouch for since I've been in it three times. If it was just a holding pen for opposing fans it would make sense. It's not. How to tweet at recruits. I'm surprised Kenpom isn't sitting on top of something tall, screaming "COME AT ME BRO" about Wisconsin after the Badgers resurrected their season.
Bob Miller scouts U17 NTDP commits JT Compher, Tyler Motte, and Evan Allen plus fellow 2013 commit Michael Downing. TomVH gets Barwisized. Remember how Ohio State fans were outraged by oversigning? Never mind. Plague of non-caring students extends to MSU.
Unverified Voracity Deploys The Napkin
[Tardy thanks to MRI, about which more later, and Stonum going poof. Please excuse any datedness that may appear.]
Some progress. Over the summer the SEC further clamped down on oversigning by reducing a Houston Nutt-induced cap of 28 signees in any particular year—a fig leaf—to an actually impactful 25. You only have to look at Michigan's projected 2012 class of 27 or 28 to know there's at least some teeth in the SEC's latest cap, but if you want more direct evidence, Georgia running back Justin Taylor provides it:
One of Georgia's top running backs said that was told by Alabama's Nick Saban this weekend that he will have to wait until next year to sign with the Crimson Tide. …
Coach Saban just said I'm the 26th commitment. I would be the 26th signee. I guess he went and picked up somebody else. He said I make 26 and they only get 25. They talked about bringing me in next January." [Note: Alabama has 27 commitments]
That somebody else was Auburn decommit and five-star TJ Yeldon. Taylor, a generic three star who lost his senior year to a knee injury, is now adrift two weeks before signing day after spending almost a year committed to the Tide.
In a hilarious effort to create a binding commitment between a party with no power and College Football Stalin, Saban proposed they deploy a +5 Napkin of Ultimate Bonding:
"He said he was going to sign me with the next class. But he also said he would sign a piece of paper to show that they are keeping their word – they are going to sign it and they want me to sign it to make sure I know I still have my scholarship"
You have to hand it to Saban. That is weaselry worthy of Magnetar. The HSR suggests a T-shirt:
So Saban is still a disingenuous weasel. Here he does exactly what Sevon Pittman did to MSU, except he's a millionaire adult instead of an addled 18-year old with two dollars to his name. He is still committed but looking at options, which means he's trying to find a landing place as fast as possible.
At least Taylor found that out before he signed a document that committed him to Alabama but not vice-versa. This is still not ideal since 25 x 4 = 100 and it seems like a reasonable number to average on a yearly basis is 22, but it does forcibly hack the worst oversigning offenders' practices in half.
To repeat the brilliant suggestion of an Oversigning.com commenter, the best way to fix the problem is to do away with an 85 player limit entirely in favor of a yearly limit on letters of intent somewhere between 22 and 26. This removes any incentive to take kids off the team. Unfortunately, Title IX probably makes this impossible.
Indiana State could not be reached for comment.
Decline and fall. Virginia Tech's special teams looked surprisingly weak in the metrics tracked by the NCAA, but that fails to account for blocks and whatnot that were a large portion of the "Beamerball" free touchdowns. I wondered if that had evaporated recently. Survey says:
One blocked kick with major upside per year each of the last three, with a couple of blocked PATs thrown in there. Foster's defense is keeping them afloat these days. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I just thought it was interesting.
We're really mad now, you guys. The NCAA is going to get serious… just in time for Ohio State to get off mad easy. I'll believe this when I see it:
"We were damn mad and not going to take it anymore," Ed Ray, Oregon State president and chair of the Enforcement Working Group, said.
Given Miami AD Paul Dee's comeuppance after the "high profile compliance" shot against Reggie Bush, expect Oregon State to be swallowed whole within the year. The working group has created a penalty matrix that provides two different violation levels with a total of eight tiers between them. No one seems to know what goes in those categories but hoo boy, getting hit with a Significant Level I violation would net you a 2-3 year postseason ban and a loss of 38-50% of your scholarships. Dang.
Apparently even Michigan's piddling violations would have netted a four-scholarship loss "per year"—not sure how many years we're talking about here—which is more than OSU's massive year long head-coach-lying carnivale got them. Again, believe it when I see some athletic department burned to the ground.
At least they didn't take dumb action. The totally outrageous proposal to hack down scholarship numbers in an era when TV networks can't throw enough money at schools was voted down. Also it sounds like the 2,000 stipend may return in some other form and the board of the directors is going to make schools who want to override the multi-year scholarship proposal get a 5/8ths majority to vote it down.
So okay. The Indiana States of the world can stew.
Guh. A portion of a paywalled interview with Brandon on playoffs brings up an old canard that's annoying when bloggers deploy it and doubly so when it's your athletic director($):
"This whole notion of a playoff is ridiculous because I don't care what you come up with, it's not going to be a fair playoff. You've got a bunch of teams that don't play one another and play different competition and in different time zones in different conferences in different stadiums in front of different crowds and different weather and suddenly at some point in the year you are trying to arbitrarily decide which one is better and which one deserves to be in a four-team playoff or a six-team playoff."
This is a downside of a playoff that the current system doesn't have? Except infinitely worse because you can literally win all your games and still get passed over? Are these even questions? No?
Rothstein challenges Brandon on his arguments, to his credit, but you'll have to have Insider to see the result. Spoiler: it's the usual pastiche of academics and wear and tear that apparently only applies to I-A, with an added bonus of "kids love bowl games." CBS surveyed players on the four teams in the Fiesta Bowl and SEC West Division Championship Game. They found 19% favored a bowl game and 43% a playoff with 38% abstaining.
The thing that bothers is not the opposition to a playoff, which is a somewhat tenable position as someone who believes the current system benefits his schools. It's that the arguments put forth are all logically inconsistent.
BONUS: Weird that he went from four teams to six instead of eight, eh? MGoPlayoff's tentacles extend.
Winter Classic: official? Not officially official but someone is now saying it is a done deal instead of something discussed in nonbinding chats over tea:
The NHL, the Detroit Red Wings and the University of Michigan have finalized a deal to hold next season's Winter Classic at Michigan Stadium, a source told MLive.com.
They're going to build a rink at Not Tiger Stadium as well to "appease Mike Ilitch." Maybe the GLI will be there. Or something. I don't know. It's weird.
Michigan may now lose its own record for hockey attendance and force a bunch of people to choose between that and the inevitable New Year's Day bowl Michigan will find itself in unless it manages the same at-large BCS trick it did this year or makes the MNC game. But, hey: incremental revenue.
Star turn. CBS's Jeff Goodman was in the house yesterday; he profiles Trey Burke:
"I knew pretty quick in the summer," Novak said. "Trey was doing things right away that it had taken me four years to pick up. He has such a high skill level -- and you can tell he wasn't fazed by anything."
Speaking of things it took Novak four years to pick up, how about the shots he's generating off the dribble now? Needs more usage.
Head: removed. Entertaining board thread on Hardaway's emotive pictures notices that… uh… he has opted out this time.
Photos via UMHoops
I don't like the socks either, trueblueintexas.
If you'd like to revisit the old bad thing, BHGP has put up their Fran Graphs on the Michigan-Iowa game.
Recommended. It was interesting hearing Beilein talk about the five games in thirteen days thing as a major factor… but in retrospect Michigan has shot like total crap from the outside lately. Hopefully they can get their legs before facing down the all-press all-the-time Arkansas runs (even when it's just giving Anthony Davis dunks).
Personal note that may affect you at some point. If you follow the mgotwitter account you may know that Michigan is bad at scheduling MRIs. This is because I had one. I had one because ten months ago a guy put his spikes into my knee when I was playing indoor soccer. I went to the doctor; the doctor said "walk it off," basically. I tried that but the knee was obviously unstable even after the swelling and whatnot had gone away.
Since I was getting married, going on a honeymoon, and not missing football games there wasn't much point in finding out until now. I'm in the process as we speak. In all probability I'm going to find out my ACL is no longer extant and get the surgery, which means there is going to be a period of time I'll be taking an involuntary vacation.
Yes, the "Michigan Difference" commercials are currently making me peevish. BONUS: I am passionately arguing for red cards whenever I watch anything, especially NASCAR.
Etc.: New soccer coach Chaka Daley on WTKA. Michigan lax is taking on Detroit-Mercy in Warren if you're from around there. Van Bergen's Sugar Bowl foot injury was a lisfranc sprain. I would bet on Van Bergen in a fight with a bear.
Unverified Voracity Has New Hockeybear
New Hockeybear. The Alaska hockey series is previewed by Yesman. Alaska means hockeybear. There is new Hockeybear.
Yeah, it's not as good as last year's, but they were due for a comedown after making the greatest hype video in the history of the world. I do like that it makes me think of Take On Me.
UFR update. It is not going to happen this week. It's a long story but I ended up having to disassemble my laptop almost wholly—I still have a half-dozen screws left over, looking for a home—over the course of the week. This was accompanied by the usual shouting and banging that precedes total laptop disassembly. Sorry; look for both halves early next week.
We are 2% of the way to this game. The thing the man said to the people at Tulane about wanting a game against Michigan turns out to be a real thing:
Rich Rodriguez wants a piece of his former employer.
UA athletic director Greg Byrne said Thursday he and the Wildcats' new coach discussed playing Michigan, which fired Rodriguez after the 2010 season.
"He brought it up like, 'Hey, let's look at this down the road,'" Byrne said. "I said, 'Sure.'"
But not a really real thing.
Byrne said the conversation lasted 10 seconds. He has yet to contact the Wolverines.
"It's a two-way path to play a game," he said.
I'd rather not dredge that up again, but if they want it enough to do a one-off at Michigan Stadium it's better than playing East Nowhere.
Something that turns out to not be true. Yeah: the seat filler thing was a hoax that lured me in. Mea culpa. Well played, whoever you are.
Iowa on the decline? The High Porch Picnic breaks out the recruiting stars for a rough evaluation of the amount of talent available for the Hawkeyes next year, finding that the offense will drop a little (from 3.0 to 2.9) and the defense will fall off a cliff even from its current dilapidated state. This year Iowa's average is 2.7; they graduate seven starters and will be dealing with this:
Dominic Alvis:
Steve Bigach:
Joe Gaglione:
Carl Davis:
Christian Kirksey:
James Morris:
Quinton Alston:
BJ Lowery:
Micah Hyde:
Collin Sleeper:
Tanner Miller:
Average: 2.36
Standard disclaimers about stars not being the be-all and end-all apply but holy dang, man. Remember that window when Iowa was recruiting at a top 25 level? Not so much these days. HPP sums up:
Not only do we lose 7 starters to graduation but their replacements (based upon our current depth chart) aren't highly touted. For guys like Alvis, Hyde and Miller the stars don't seem to matter much. For everyone else, especially the rest of the defensive line, it's one big GOD HELP US. That's just something to think about following the bowl game. Remember when Vint wrote this article and Ross wrote this one? Yeah, just like Penny Lane said: it's all happening.
With a couple of disappointing years in the rear-view mirror already, unless that defense vastly outperforms recruiting expectations this could be the beginning of the end for Ferentz. While Iowa is grateful and patient it will be hard to look at the trajectory there and get excited about it.
BONUS IOWA WORRY: They lost a freshman WR to a transfer in a class Vint says this about:
Grant is the third member of the Class of 2011 to leave the program -- defensive end John Raymond left in September under similar circumstances (Raymon was from the Philadelphia area and got homesick), and Rodney Coe was unable to qualify and left for Iowa Western C.C. -- which, coming off massive attrition in the classes of 2008 and 2009, is a troubling number for a class that Iowa desperately needs on the field.
Boy, we've been there. Now if Ferentz can maintain his puntasaur ways against us we're in business.
Speaking of corn. Iowa State is this weekend. UMHoops has a full preview; the Cyclones are a hodge-podge of former Big Ten players like MSU's Chris Allen, Minnesota's Royce White, and PSU's Chris Babb.
They're better than they were a year ago but haven't really played anyone—Lehigh and Northern Iowa are their only top 100 opponents in Kenpom—and lost games against Drake and UNI, both in-state mid-majors. Their offense is humming along thanks to a 56.8 EFG%; their defense is still pretty crap. They let opponents shoot a lot of uncontested shots (223rd in EFG% D, 300th in turnovers forced, 22nd in FTAs allowed) and rebound well.
Michigan should win. This is a team that was 3-13 in the Big Twelve last year and they haven't so much as played a major conference school to prove they're much different. Kenpom has them an eight point favorite with around an 80% chance of victory.
More NBA draft. The Daily hits up Ford for his opinion on Burke:
"I spend the start of my year talking to our high school scouting guys about who are the freshmen to watch, who are one-and-done candidates — he wasn't mentioned," Ford said. "He was a steady kid, not flashy like a lot of the players can be. I think a lot of the scouting guys … see that and they say, 'He's not as good.'
"Well now when you see him play that way in college, it's all poise. He's unselfish, he's getting people involved, he gets his own shot, but he's not out there just primarily looking for his own shot." …
"One of the NBA GMs said to me, 'Well look, think of the 30 backup point guards in the NBA and then look at him and what he does and say, 'Could he do that?' And I think the answer is yeah."
There's some one-and-done chatter, which is a bit scary. Michigan does not have a Burke waiting in the wings like they did last year and would have to go with… uh… Brundidge? That's a scary prospect since he's currently behind Eso Akunne. I still think anyone not going in the lottery this year will be inclined to hit up a much weaker draft in 2012, but can a brother get a four year player around here?
Exit Burns. The only head coach in the history of Michigan soccer is gone:
"As a Michigan alum, I'm proud of everything we've been able to accomplish within the soccer program," Burns said in a statement released by the Athletic Department.
"I will forever cherish the relationships that I have developed over the past 12 years with players, assistant coaches, support staff and fellow coaches within the department. However, it's time for a new direction in my life and leadership for Michigan soccer."
Losing Meram, both Saads, and his top incoming recruit was too much to deal with and the team collapsed from a College Cup appearance to a 5-14-1 record. Speculation as to his successor naturally focuses on Caleb Porter, the piped piper of Akron and the Olympic team's coach. It was Porter's team that made Michigan look like the USNT against Brazil in that College Cup game.
Many in a thread with a lot of people close to the situation say he won't leave, but there's got to be a chance. Michigan should punch him in the face with the highest salary in the country; this is a high leverage opportunity to make one of your programs a national power for a relative drop in the bucket.
Montoya on Yost. Bang:
"I've played in some great rinks in the NHL and with Team USA, but when you get those 7,000 fans in Yost Ice Arena, there's not anything like it," he said. "I'm glad I went to a program like that."
Etc.: Other Brian unearths self for Genuinely Sarcastic column, receiving bonus points for reminding me of Bring Your Champions, They're Our Meat by referencing historical events with no apparent connection to the game in question. If Johnny posts I think we'll have everyone save IBFC covered in the aftermath.
Bacon on beating OSU. OSU fights to keep the Sarniak-Tressel emails secret under FERPA.


text:
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Industry Roundup: Sean Penn to Hang Ten, Heather Graham's a Wacky Aunt
Plus: Adam Brody joins 'Scream 4.'By Josh Duboff
Plus: Adam Brody joins 'Scream 4.'By Josh Duboff
Well, it's about time.By Adam K. Raymond
Scott Rudin backed down, and now Pitt may star.By Claude Brodesser-Akner
The Michael Lewis adaptation got a new director this weekend.By Amos Barshad
Are you sick of hearing about Soderbergh's 'Moneyball' movie that was put on ice three weeks ago? Too bad!By Lane Brown
This looks funny! We bet Amy Pascal isn't laughing, though.By Lane Brown
Three studios agree: bad!By Lane Brown
With just three days before it was to begin shooting, Sony scrapped Steven Soderbergh's Brad Pitt–starring baseball-statistics movie.By Lane Brown
Plus: Marlon Wayans better look good in sandals.By Amos Barshad
Plus: Jason Bateman switches semen!By Amos Barshad


text:
As you heard on a previous blog we have been extremely busy recently and we are continuing to be be busy as everyone is flocking to come and see the critters that have been on display!!
The Blue-Ringed Octopus has been seen many times over the last three weeks – we normally average 2-3 sightings a month but we have seen 4 on one dive alone and also probably 8-10 other sightings in the space of two weeks. They are a favourite due to their rare nature and also the fact that they are one of the most venomous creatures on the planet!
Another regular has been the Pygmy Pipehorse – they are very hard to get a photo of as they take after their distant relative – Seahorses – and love to turn away as soon as you get them in focus. They are a relatively new discovery and are not seen in many places in the world. We have also seen the Hairy Ghost Pipefish which is not a regular sighting!
Don't worry all the other critters are been seen as well – Flamboyant Cuttlefish and Frogfish are frequently seen as are the Mimic Octopus, beautiful Nudibranchs, Pygmy Seahorse and crazy-eyed Mantis Shrimps!!
We have also continued to have more people come to Lembeh to start or continue their dive education. Congratulations to Elodie on gaining her Open Water, Maria, Miguel and Bethune for completing their Digital Underwater Photography Specialty ( Bethune also completed his Night Diver Specialty) and Linda completed her Advanced Open Water course, which included an awesome dive on the Mawali Wreck!
If you are coming to Two Fish soon, then we are looking forward to having you stay!
So as the World Cup came to end in mid-July, Two Fish Divers has got busier and busier until now where we are full to the brim!
It has been a great 6 weeks over in Lembeh firstly the critters have been out in force and we are regularly seeing some of the more rarer species. Blue-Ringed Octopus, Wonderpus and Tiger Shrimps have all been making numerous appearances. As you may or may not know, Lembeh Straits is a Mecca for Frogfish and we have been them in large quantities whether they be Hairy, Painted or Giant! You name it we have seen them!
Night Dives are always a winner and it is the same here in Lembeh – Guests regularly sit done to the evening meal and hardly eat as they reel off the weird that come out at night – some of the crabs still make me laugh with their camouflage techniques and a guest favourite is the Bobtail Squid, so cute and small!!
We have had our first Open Water Courses and many people completing the Advanced Open Water or some Adventure Dives. All of students realised the unique place that they had come to learn to dive and really enjoyed the experience!
Lembeh is also a great place to complete PADI Specialty courses as well and the following have completed a mixture of Digital Underwater Photography to Search and Recovery to Enriched Air Diver: Maitri, Luke, Meagan, Dan and James.
It is still looking busy going into September but there is still some spaces left so drop us an email if you fancy coming to dive with Two Fish! (firstname.lastname@example.com or email@example.com ).
We are currently enjoying a couple of quiet days before the summer rush and we are making the most of it, getting in as many fun dives as possible. The last few days have really rewarded us with lots of Frogfish and Flamboyant Cuttlefish action and lots, lots more!
We have found a site where there are 3 Hairy Frogfish (Antennarius striatus) now residing and the one that has been living at Jahir 2 for months is still loving his home! Gizmo managed to get a great shot of one of the newly found Hairy's yawning at us!!
We (the guests as well) have also enjoyed an up close encounter with one of the largest Giant Frogfish (Antennarius commerson) I have ever seen and most impressively we have discovered another Randall's Frogfish, which is one of the rarest inhabitants of the Lembeh Straits!
Flamboyant Cuttlefish (Metasepia pfefferi) have also been in abundant supply and of many different sizes – ranging from around 8cm down to the a tiny one that was only about 1cm long. We also got this picture of Flamboyant Cuttlefish eggs on the underside of a coconut shell, the female injects them through a hole in the top to protect them from predatory fish! Juvenile Flamboyant's start to show the normal coloration from birth, so letting any predators know that they are a pretty toxic snack!
Also in the last couple of days other sightings numerous Thorny Seahorses, Zebra crabs, Long Armed Octopus, Wunderpus, Ornate / Robust / Halimeda / Rough Snout Ghost pipefish, Pygmy Seahorses and Pipehorse, Ambon Scorpionfish…I am getting exhausted from just writing the list!!
Want to come visit??! Check out our website www.twofishdivers.com or drop us an email.
"Who??," we hear you cry! Its the lovely Boxer Crab of course!
We found this little guy at a close-by dive site, recently, hiding in some coral rubble extremely shallow. As you can imagine we and our guests were all pretty excited to see him as they are pretty rare and are often hiding under small rocks, so making them even harder to find!! It seems like there was some kind of crustacean party going on – look at the two other little crabs he was hanging around with!!
You will notice it has a distinct colour pattern and enjoys a mutualistic relationship with small anemones, which is carries in its claws. The anemone's stinging cells protect the boxer crab against predators, in return boxer crab provide food for its protectors. Boxer crabs use at least three different species of anemones, Bundeopsis sp and Triactis producta. The bonding with the anemone is not required for their survival and boxer crabs have been known to live without them and sometimes substituting other organisms such as sponges and corals.
We had already enjoyed a lovely dive before we happened upon the crab on our safety stops ( which went on for about 20 minutes so that everyone could get a good look!) – we had seen Wonderpus, Seahorses and a free-swimming Ribbon eel which is another rarity!
May has come to an end and we have to say if has been an awesome month for diving in Lembeh! The month did start off a little bit rainy and grey but the diving was anything but sad and gloomy – it has been a great month for Frogfish sightings, octopus encounters, cool Nudis, rare Rhinopias…all the lovely Lembeh Critters!!
We ran our first day trip to Bangka Island, which was a great success. The strong currents brought in lots of pelagics for our group – tuna, trevally and large stingrays!
We have also been trying out some new sites in more southern end of The Straits and come up with a couple of gems in particular one near the monument which was is a Mecca for different types of ghost pipefish!
Work has started in earnest on our artificial reef with a couple of structures in place – we are going to check on them tomorrow and see what has moved in!!
Scubi is now fully settled in as our new resort dog and is busy charming all the guests with his cuteness and annoying Chocolate with his boundless energy!
Over the last couple few days in particular our dive guides ( Opo, Franz and Steven & Helen has been moonlighting as a guide!) have been on top form and pleasing our guests with sightings of Flamboyant Cuttlefish, Wonderpus, Mimic & Blue-Ringed Octopus, Pygmy and Pontohi Seahorses, all different kinds of Ghost Pipefish and so many Frogfish - from Warty to Painted and from Giant to Hairy – we literally have seen them all!! It has been hard to log the dives as we are seeing so much on the dives we are forgetting what we have seen and it like a competition at the dinner table who has seen the coolest critters!!
Lets hope that June is just as good!!


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Merkel Says EU Willing to Tighten Syria Sanctions, Passauer Says
China and Russia were "wrong" to veto a United Nations Security Council resolution backing an Arab League plan to transfer power in Syria, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, the Passauer Neue Presse reported, citing an interview.
"The European Union has already agreed to important sanctions against Syria, and we are willing to tighten these measures," Merkel said, according to the German newspaper. Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy also support creating a contact group to solve the conflict, the publication said.
The chancellor also said Iran's nuclear program is of "great concern," and that the European Union must increase political pressure on the Tehran regime, the newspaper reported.
Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal. LEARN MORE


text:
Synonyms of high in English:
1 a high mountain
multistory, high-rise
[Antonyms] short, low
2 a high position in the government
high-ranking, high-level, leading, top, top-level, prominent, preeminent, foremost, senior;
informal top-notch, chief
[Antonyms] low-ranking, lowly
4 high prices
inflated, excessive, unreasonable, expensive, costly, exorbitant, extortionate, prohibitive, dear
[Antonyms] reasonable, low
5 high winds
strong, powerful, violent, intense, extreme, forceful;
blustery, gusty, stiff, squally, tempestuous, turbulent, howling, roaring
[Antonyms] light, calm
7 I have a high opinion of you
favorable, good, positive, approving, admiring, complimentary, commendatory, flattering, glowing, adulatory, rapturous
[Antonyms] unfavorable
8 a high note his high voice
high-pitched, high-frequency;
soprano, treble, falsetto, shrill, sharp, piercing, penetrating
[Antonyms] low, low-pitched, deep
9 informal they were high before they even got to the party
intoxicated, inebriated, drugged, on drugs, stupefied, befuddled, delirious, hallucinating
informal stoned, wired, blitzed, baked, hopped up, high as a kite, tripping, hyped up, doped up, coked, spaced out, wasted, wrecked
[Antonyms] sober, straight
10 high in fiber
elevated in, rich in, ample in, loaded with, plentiful in, full of
informal chock-full of, jam-packed with
[Antonyms] deficient
nounBack to top
1 prices were at a rare high
high level, high point, peak, high-water mark;
[Antonyms] low
adverbBack to top
1 a jet flew high overhead
at great height, high up, far up, way up, at altitude;
in the air, in the sky, on high, aloft, overhead
[Antonyms] low
Word links
extreme fear of high places
high and dry
high and low
- I searched high and low for my keyseverywhere, all over, all around, far and wide, 'here, there, and everywhere', extensively, thoroughly, widely, in every nook and crannyinformal all over the place, all over the map
high and mighty
- informal he feels high and mighty just because he was lucky enough to keep his jobself-important, condescending, patronizing, pompous, disdainful, supercilious, superior, snobbish, snobby, haughty, conceited, above oneselfinformal stuck-up, puffed up, snooty, hoity-toity, la-di-da, uppity, full of oneself, too big for one's britches/boots
on a high
- informal she was obviously on a high after Joey proposedecstatic, euphoric, exhilarated, delirious, elated, ebullient, thrilled, overjoyed, beside oneself, walking on air, on cloud nine, in seventh heaven, jumping for joy, in raptures, in high spirits, exultant, jubilant;excited, overexcitedinformal blissed out, over the moon, on top of the world
Definition of high in:
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33 reviews | 4.5 out of 5
This is probably the thickest softest toilet paper around, but my family went through a roll in 2 days. I usually buy Scott 1000 rolls which last 3.5 days. Although Cottonelle is soft, it is not strong when wet and you can easily poke a finger through it, not a good thing for toilet paper! You only need about 3 sheets, but if your family is used to another brand, they will use more. If you have one of the watersaving toilets that tends to clog up easily, this toilet paper can be a disaster unless you get everyone to cut way back on the number of sheets. The roll is not any wider than any of the other toilet papers and does not cover the holder. I would buy any toilet paper that was the old width, but sadly, all the manufacturers have decided to cheap out by making a narrower roll.
My wife purchased a 12 roll pack of Cottonelle Ultra and I have been through two rolls but no more. I have to admit that this is a very soft tissue, but, that is its only good quality. This is not a strong tissue. There is a tradeoff between strength and softness and it appears that Cottonelle Ultra is more on the soft side than the strength side of the spectrum. This tissue tears easily when using it and you will find yourself using more sheets to get the job done than are necessary with other products. You will notice that when tearing sheets from the roll the sheet will many times tear in the middle before tearing at the perforations. This is a sign of things to come if you know what I mean. For this reason and because of its high cost per roll, in my opinion, this product is very uneconomical. I have gone back to the Charmin Ultra Strong and find it to be a superior buy.
cottonelle ultra is the only bathroom tissue I buy. I try the northern kind and I was so disappointed. Conttonelle is a lot thicker and stronger and its soft I wont try any other tissue again no matter how good of a deal it is
Good quality
We've tried many brands and eventhough Cottonelle is one of the most expensive, we prefer it over all the others.
I am always looking for a bargain, but bargain tissues don't cut it. I really like Cottonelle because it is not cashy, but it does the job. And I can't stand foofy TP that leaves lint everywhere. This is simply soft and durable.
The name speaks for itself. I love the soft cottony feel yet it absorbs well. The price is affordable. i I used the great value toilet paper prior to this, and found it a total opposite.
I love this toilet paper. I do pay more for it, but its really absorbent and a little goes a long way.
Cottonelle Ultra is the absolute greatest TP i have ever used! I love it!
I find Cottonelle Ultra is the softest toilet paper, It is my favorite.
Love this brand, great price and a great product. Thank you!
Does what it's supposed to do.
love it thank you


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Adjusting to Pregnant Life
A swelling belly isn't the only change you'll face while pregnant. Find out how you can adjust to this monumental event in your life.
Pregnancy FAQ
Find answers to the most common questions about life as a pregnant woman.
Pregnant at Work
Your employer should provide a safe environment for you and your unborn baby. Know your rights.
Staying Connected
Be sure to touch base with your partner often to help each other through this journey.
Pamper Yourself
Stress during pregnancy is normal, but try not to let it affect your sleep, nutrition, or general health. Read about how to best manage stress and find ways to relax.


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Photo Flash: THE MENTALIST's 'There Will Be Blood,' Airing 3/10
|Related Links
|Origin Story of First-Ever Female Firefly Ignites on GOTHAM Tonight
October 19, 2015
On THE MENTALIST's upcoming episode, titled "There Will Be Blood," Lorelei Martins returns, determined to find out if Red John had a role in her sister's death, and Jane is forced to confess to Lisbon his part in Lorelei's prison escape, on Sunday, March 10 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on CBS. Emmanuelle Chriqui returns as Lorelei Martins. Emmanuelle Vaugier guest stars as Melissa Enfield, a trustee at a women's shelter.
Check out a first look below!
Photos by: Robert Voets/Warner Bros.


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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) - An investigation into the killing of
a corrections officer in Daytona Beach found the officer wasn't
wearing a body alarm or carrying a radio when she died.
It is unclear why Officer Donna Fitzgerald was without the
security measures when she killed at the Tomoka Correctional
Institution in June. She had been supervising inmates in a work
Enoch Hall, 39, has been charged in Fitzgerald's death. Hall,
who was already serving two life terms for sexual battery and
kidnapping, has pleaded not guilty.
Prior to Fitzgerald's slaying, the last time a Florida corrections officer was killed was June 2003.


text:
(AP) Police are wondering why a bar of used soap is among the items stolen during a home robbery in Clearfield. Matt and Saundra Ramos and their four children returned home from an Easter weekend vacation Monday night to find their TVs, a laptop and other electronics had been stolen.
But also missing were cleaning supplies, toys, underwear and food from their fridge.
Detective Kyle Jeffries said he's never seen a robbery like this before.
He said the perpetrator probably knew the Ramoses would be out of town, because so much time was spent inside the house. But there are no leads or suspects yet.
Information from: Standard-Examiner, http://www.standard.net
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


text:
Want beautifully flowing waves without the dent? Self holding strap secures the roller in place without uncomfortable pins or plastic clips that clamp down on your hair and create a dent. Simple to use.
• No hard plastic clamp
• Soft, self-holding grip closure reduces dents in hair and damage caused by hard plastic clamps
• Comfortable foam rollers soft enough to sleep on
Includes: Roller
Used For: Hair Styling
Features: Leave In
Hair Type: All Hair Types
Material: Plastic
CPSC Warnings: choking_hazard_small_parts
other Info.
- Online Item #: 14436691
- Store Item Number (DPCI): 063-04-0311
- Item can be gift wrapped.
- Imported


text:
1200 Reviews
$1000 Protection*
I've used Appliance Factory Parts previously and had a very good experience. Easy to find what I needed. Easy checkout process.
Use 687133 wire dr
Kenmore: 122.16118
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This part may fit other models. Please contact us if you require additional assistance.
Our warehouse is stocked full of parts for all kinds of appliances.
Questions? Just ask - No call centers!
We are a USA business based in Denver, Colorado and we stand fully behind our products and service


text:
Welcome to my new MSDN blog. I'm a Developer Advisor at Microsoft Canada working alongside my great peers (such as John Bristowe, Christian Beauclair and Dan Sellers - among others). I'm currently managing four blogs:
ASP.NET (http://weblogs.asp.net/jld/) - No longer maintained - archivedTeam System Rocks (http://www.teamsystemrocks.com/blogs/jldavid/) - Postings will continue, especially for new TFS bookMSDN (http://blogs.msdn.com/jldavid) - My primary blog Canadian Developers blog (http://blogs.msdn.com/cdndevs/) - Another primary blog focused on important events, announcements and so forth
As you can imagine, that's a fair amount to update. The main point of my ASP.NET blog was to highlight community events and my activities as a Microsoft MVP. I am now officially switching over the blog to MSDN (since I'll be undertaking a whole brand new range of community activities at Microsoft). The ASP.NET blog will remain online as is as an archive.
I've also decided to continue posting to Team System Rocks. As of the end of the year, I have a new book coming out called Professional Team Foundation Server. The release date for the book is slated as November 2006. I'd love to share content from the book to the community at large.
I'm currently in Redmond attending a Web Development Summit presented by luminaries such as Scott Guthrie and Anders Heijlsberg. Photos and details coming up! :-)


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Welcome to the Office of Educational Partnerships
PLEASE NOTE: SUNY Orange is on a summer schedule from May 31 to July 29, 2016. The college will be open Monday - Thursday, and closed on Fridays during this time period. OEP office hours will be from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm.
SUNY Orange's Office of Educational Partnerships (OEP) extends the educational mission of the College beyond its Middletown and Newburgh campuses to meet the educational needs of Orange County residents.
The focus of OEP is to engage in collaborations with area high schools and four-year colleges and other organizations to provide a variety of academic opportunities as well as explicit and focused pathways for connecting and sequencing their academic plans.
These partnerships allow us to learn from each other, contribute to the educational, economic, and cultural vitality of the region and broaden the scope of the educational experiences of area residents. (See left menu for links to individual programs).


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Florida's death row can be a quiet, sobering place. But if panhandle republican Brad Drake has filed a bill that could change that.
Under Drake's new bill, Florida would become one of only two states to perform executions using a firing squad.
Inmates could opt to be put to death in the electric chair, but our current primary method of lethal injection would disappear.
Drake says a heinous crime calls for a heinous punishment. It's an argument FAMU political science major John McMillon doesn't buy.
"That's basically murdering, the same thing he's trying to get people against, and he's doing the same thing, so, you know, you can't do 'an eye for an eye'."
Florida stopped using the electric chair as its main method of execution because of worries a court might have found it to be cruel and unusual punishment. That could have ended the death penalty there, and that has to be a concern about firing squads, as well.
Right now, Oklahoma is the only state that uses a firing squad to execute death-row inmates. Utah repealed its firing squad law in 2004.


text:
Data Object-Oriented Middleware from Object Descriptions
Award Information
Small Business Information
27 Airport Boulevard, Ann Arbor, MI, 48108
Principal Investigator:
Charles J. Jacobus, Phd
(734) 668-2567
(734) 668-2567
Business Contact:
() -
Research Institution:
AbstractThis proposal suggests that a basic data collection, management, and fusion framework is ideally suited for integrating distributed data from multiple heterogeneous source systems and making it available on a multi-point basis to other combat systems for analysis, viewing, and C**4I applications. The basic framework proposed was built (and is currently under ongoing development) to support object-oriented, temporally consistent multi-point data collection, archival, and query. This environment is structured into three major C++ software components: (1) the Data Interchange Library, (2) the Data Collection Environment, and the (3) Data Viewing, Analysis, and Management Environment. This environment is supported on Win 32 platforms (i.e. Windows 95 and NT), Posix Platforms (i.e. Unix derivatives), and embedded system (DSPs, MS-DOS machines, and other microcontrollers). Our goal in this project is provide an interface from IDEF object definitions and the object oriented data collection, management, and fusion framework.
* information listed above is at the time of submission.
An Official Website of the United States Government


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Hi there,
Im new here on the forum!
So my problem is that when I open my wordpress admin section, my administration is a lil bit difficult to review. My default FONT is gone and now I got a stupid FONT...
Im really sorry cause of my bad english, but I got some photos so you will see what Im talking about !
my WP Admin section:
please help me :|


text:
The Daily Rundown 12/12/13
GOP must deal with 'reality' of Obamacare
Sen. Ron Johnson discusses his evolving views on the Affordable Care Act and how he's now looking at it through the context of the law. ... more Duration: {{video.duration.momentjs}}
GOP must deal with 'reality' of Obamacare
Junger: Instead of jobs, soldiers offered...
Sanders on change, by states and by people
CO could be first state with single payer...
John Kasich on his alternative to Obamacare
Sanders: 'Much more' to be done on health...
John Kasich: I reject Obamacare
SCOTUS hears case on birth control mandates
Carson elaborates on goals for U.S....
How Trump views universal health care
Sanders believes healthcare 'is a right'
Sanders healthcare plan to mirror Britain...
Clinton vs. Sanders on health care reform
Clinton, Sanders spar on health care
Sanders camp on Clinton health care attacks
Clinton and Sanders' war of words over...
Clinton draws distinction from Sanders
Sanders responds to Clinton health care...
Hillary: 'We have a caregiving crisis'
Newly elected KY governor may roll back ACA
Retrieving data...
- Information
Live Online
Retrieving Data...
- Information
Health Care Reform on msnbc
Top Stories
from NBC News and MSNBC
SNL Weekend Update on MSNBC
Best of MSNBC
Can Democrats hold serve in Philly?
Sanders delegate: We have to defeat Trump
Clinton campaign discusses DNC shakeup
Pennsylvania governor weighs in on DNC
Clinton senior advisor on DNC shakeup
Clinton responds to Wasserman Schultz...
Trump: Priebus the 'smart one', not...
Obama: Wasserman Schultz has had my back
A 'tortured' day for Democrats
Former NAACP head throws support behind...
Debbie Wasserman Schultz out as DNC chair
Trump's stance: Muslims, David Duke and...
Protesters march on eve of Democratic...
Michael Bloomberg to endorse Clinton: NYT
Emails suggest Clinton favored by party
Green party candidate seeking presidential...
Jeff Weaver: DNC officials 'clearly not...
Melania's image less positive than other...
Reality check on the southern border
The key to a good DNC speech
Rachel Maddow
Programming notes for the next couple days!
Kaine 'a believer in possibilities'
What Tim Kaine means for electoral map math
Kaine utility to Clinton ticket questioned
Kaine stance on abortion rights an evolution
Kaine a reflection of Clinton's confidence
Clinton taps Sen Tim Kaine as running mate
Trump thanks GOP for cheering LGBTQ rights
Do presidential nominees need to be likable?
Under review: Fact-checking Trump's speech
Trump upends traditional Republican values
Did Trump speak to angry Americans?
Trump's test: reaching beyond the base
Great teleprompter failures in history
Maddow: RNC's openly-gay speaker a 'tough...
Trump remarks shock foreign policy world
Franken: Expect positive message at DNC
Ailes Fox News exit shakes Republican Party
Manafort: Women afraid husbands can't pay...
Trump responds to Cruz boos
Morning Joe
Joe: Trump did what he was supposed to do
David Brody: Donald Trump 'had them at hello'
Ohio poll: Clinton, Trump tied at 44 percent
Trump hits a chord with 'dark change'
Will a 'mistake-filled convention' doom...
Chuck Todd: This will be a polarizing speech
Did Trump reach beyond the base with speech?
'It's just rude': Ted Cruz and the RNC '16
Barnicle: Trump not talking about US I...
'Remarkable': RNC makes history
Police shoot caregiver helping autistic...
Time asks: Who is the real Hillary Clinton?
Brokaw recalls the 1968 DNC
Young audience member joins the crew
Al Franken: It's been an ugly campaign
GOPers on why Clinton not a change candidate
Can any DNC speech top Ted Cruz's speech?
Cruz, drama and a made-for-TV convention
Trump Jr.: We knew Cruz endorsement wasn't...
Donald Trump Jr. on RNC, speech, Kasich


text:
Separate names with a comma.
not sure...93 coupe
Thats what I ment, drive not docs...my bad.
so that method didnt work.
u think the file is to big to transfer?
iv been running my droid 4 for a year now. so of coarse all my apps and data are on that titanuim backup.
heres my problem-
i copied my tb to...
vzw hit me with a 300$ damage fee which i have no idea why since i havent had time to call. motorola unbricked it but i called vzw abt the power...
what plan is assumption of liability?
so this little figurine can charge my droid 4 and nexus s 4g?
is that all it does also?
If u don't win, where can u go to buy one?
i like the chronus clock style but i dont like the cartoonish weather icon. any body know where i can find one with the "fancy weather style"?...
Where can I buy one
I made my jb aokp backup on ss 3.05 and then updated to 3.11. So once in recovery i hit restore cause i completely wiped the phone. I hit restore...
i gotta have a keyboard or else its going thru a wall! lol.
i personly wouldve got a gnex. the detail graphix are better then my droid 4 which im...
no way bro! i wont take no for an ansewer.
I'm lost on that reply lol.
I was trying to see if someone could make a zip to have the 4.2 pulldown with the tiles by sliding down the right side.
the rom i have for my gnex has the 4.1 aokp pulldown, but if u swipe down on the right side it pulls down the 4.2 version with the tiles.
and im...
What phoneu getting
OK thanks
yea iv been using google drive. im a fan...im assuming theres no difference in the 2 is there?
can u have a private album on google plus? not familiar with that place.
i have been using picasa to store pics online so i wouldnt loose them like i have on my sd card.
but a friend of mine said he keeps his on google...
unlocked bootloader means u can switch carriers?


text:
With a history spanning over 80 years in footwear, Jacobson Group believes that success is built on a solid foundation and a commitment to deliver, our expertise spans all aspects of sourcing footwear, a skill set that is ever evolving to meet the changing needs of the marketplace.
Offering a unique and colourful approach to footwear, Jacobson Group understands footwear at all levels and offers a perfectly balanced combination of design, sourcing, quality control, marketing and distribution, an essential skill set, imperative to deliver footwear solutions at various levels of retail.
As a supplier of custom developed footwear to fashion retail, the design function is central to our business proposition. Teamed with our excellent sourcing ability and our wholly owned dedicated sample facility in China, we are at the front end of the fast paced world of footwear.
Each of our brands and our custom developed footwear business has its own dedicated design team, meaning we can develop product quickly and effectively whilst it remains tailored to the specific market sector needs.
This is complemented by our established and respected sourcing facilities, with audited factories across the globe, our long-standing supplier relations are a genuine asset to our business giving reliability, outstanding quality and superior buying influence.
Bespoke product design and commercial styling are central to our business function, it's the way we do business and in our experience it's the best way to give major customers a distinctive edge and resonance.
In order to better facilitate our customer needs we operate a fabulous showroom and office facility in the heart of London, this, together with our Far East sample facility dramatically increases our speed to market, giving us the ability to turn samples around quickly, an ever prevalent issue in the world of fast fashion. This combination brings our customers the convenience of dealing with a UK company but offers the benefits of direct Far East sourcing.
Our dedicated in-house marketing team allows Jacobson Group to draw on all elements of the marketing mix, from social media and experiential to in-store merchandising and media campaigns. With an extensive list of press and blogger contacts for all relevant market sectors, we hold regular press events at our London showrooms resulting in influential coverage for all our brands. Additionally we operate a wide variety of social media platforms to keep fans of the respective brands informed about the latest goings-on.
Retailer support is a key priority for us and as such we invest significantly in the development of eye-catching and retail friendly point of sale, together with online imagery to assist sell through. To complement this we also produce a selection of supporting literature at both a trade and consumer level.
We are also happy to work with the specific needs of major retailers, to develop bespoke promotional packages enabling us to address the individual requirements of our customers.
Born in a small factory in England on 22nd May 1905, Gola holds a treasured place in British sporting history having been associated with some of the biggest names in sport from the worlds of football, rugby, tennis, athletics and boxing. Gola's unique and fascinating story has seen the brand conquer various trials and tribulations to become the number one British sportswear brand of the day in the '60s and '70s.
Today, Gola's quintessentially British personality and vast sporting heritage are creatively combined with today's key fashion looks. This ethos has paved the way for many successful collections, cementing Gola's reputation for offering genuine styled merchandise to those who choose not to follow the crowd.
Gola has a strong retail presence and in recent years has opened its own retail outlets across Europe, South America and the Far East. Gola has also invested heavily in a state of the art website, which features a responsive design, allowing the brand to engage with its audience on a global level.
To ensure Gola merchandise caters for a wide audience, the brand has a strong twofold presence in the market. In addition to the premium 'Classics' collection, Gola also offers lifestyle product that is commercially designed and competitively priced.
Footwear suitable for fitness, football and the great outdoors is addressed with Gola's diffusion lines, Gola Active, Ativo 5 and Gola Outdoor. Styles from each collection champion design features and functional benefits to offer desirable products that will appeal to even the most discerning customer.
As well as footwear, a comprehensive range of apparel, bags and accessories is available; appealing to men, women and children of all ages and tastes. Each collection is produced to exacting standards capturing Gola's philosophy for offering exceptional quality and distinctive designs at realistic price points.
Frank Wright was established in a small workshop in Kettering, Northamptonshire, in 1885 and originally made peg sole boots for the British Armed Forces. Over the next few decades the brand continued to innovate and moved into offering more fashionable products, becoming a major part of the 'Carnaby Street' scene in London in the 1960s. During the late '70s and '80s Frank Wright became well known for its classic loafers and 'Beatle' boots, cementing its place amongst the youth culture of the day to become a wardrobe staple on the terrace scene.
Today Frank Wright is at the forefront of men's footwear offering a collection of trend led, classic designs with modern styling. Most recently, Frank Wright introduced the 2700 (pronounced two-seven-hundred) collection; developed to incorporate influences from Frank Wright's rich cavalry heritage. 2700 is a historical reference to the service numbers of the cavalry personnel that served at Chelsea barracks in the year Frank Wright was established; 1885.
2700 offers vintage inspired and highly wearable footwear designs. The collection features a number of on-trend, traditional shoes and boots with a strong emphasis on intricate detailing and high quality leather and suedes to give a unique look and a superior product.
Lonsdale London began as a boxing brand in 1960, but its origins go back to much earlier times. In 1891 the 5th Earl of Lonsdale, Hugh Lowther, organised the first boxing match with gloves following the deaths of three boxers in bare knuckle fights.
In 1960 Lonsdale produced a range of boxing clothing and equipment which became an immediate success, the brand was sought-after by boxing champions of the day and over the years has been donned by big boxing names such as Muhammad Ali, Henry Cooper, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis, Joe Calzaghe and many more. In the sixties the Lonsdale shop on London's Beak Street, in Soho, became a Mecca for celebrities of the day such as Paul McCartney, Gregory Peck, The Jam and Tony Curtis as well as the boxing fraternity and general public, business was booming.
Lonsdale remains at the top of its game in both the sporting and fashion arenas, offering functional and lifestyle apparel and footwear. The current footwear collection is produced by Jacobson Group under license, taking inspiration from the world of boxing whilst incorporating current fashion looks to offer a unique range of footwear for men and women.
The last 40 years have seen Ravel flourish into a household name. As a leading footwear brand in the fashion arena associated with high quality, stylised footwear and accessories for the fashion minded consumer, Ravel is a name with a colourful story to tell.
Since the early 60s when the first 'Chaussures Ravel' shop opened its doors on London's Oxford Street, many fashion icons have sought out shoes from this vibrant brand. So it's no surprise that as the brand has continued to grow, fashion devotees and many shoeaholics have been seduced by Ravel's 'must-have' styles.
Season on season an abundance of high fashion looks are prevalent in the Ravel collection. These trend led styles continue to create shoe envy with the uber-stylish crowd, as divine fabrics, ornamental features, striking prints and stunning colour combinations grace the uppers giving a distinctive Ravel signature.
Babycham, the much loved British brand, was founded in 1953 and was possibly the single most significant innovation in the drinks industry at the time. Developed specifically for women, the last fifty years has seen Babycham earn the love of countless fans who enjoy the light, sweet and sparkling drink.
In more recent years, Babycham has diversified and today offers a footwear collection of choice. With vintage charm and lots of attitude, the collection features kitsch and quirky designs for the fashion conscious female who likes to make a statement with her style. A mix of clashing prints and colours make for a sweet and eclectic range of footwear and bags. Typical Babycham design elements include oversized bows, rosettes and cute ribbons with the addition of contrast print linings, all helping create a unique and distinctive look. You'll be charmed!
Dunlop holds outstanding brand recognition within the consumer arena and is a name synonymous with high quality and dependability, this enviable reputation extends to the slipper and casual footwear range for which Jacobson Group owns the rights. Designed and manufactured to exacting standards, Dunlop offers an imaginative and creative range with emphasis placed on innovative fabrics, creative trims and exceptional comfort.
To maintain Dunlop's enviable position within the marketplace Jacobson Group believes in reinvestment in the brand. Incessant investment in research and development results in progressive and fresh products season on season, of which Dunlop is proud. Remaining true to Dunlop's footwear roots, emphasis is placed on developing new casual collections for men and women, incorporating comfort sandals and a market leading slipper collection.
Established in 1759, the Lotus brand holds an incredible heritage with a wonderful tale to tell. Over the years Lotus has prospered and has firmly cemented itself as a leader within the industry. Securing and continually attracting a loyal following of style minded women who appreciate good fitting shoes, exceptional styling and high quality footwear.
Signature Lotus styling is applied to both timeless classic options and a wealth of contemporary, easy to wear footwear styles. Distinctive finishing touches, an alluring colour palette and exquisite upper fabrics are applied to every pair to ensure statement making shoes are created. To give a stunning finishing touch to the wearer's look, many styles from the Lotus ladies' footwear collection perfectly harmonise with a number of co-ordinating bag designs in key shapes for the season.
Lotus also offers a stylish men's collection. The collection is functional yet distinctive, options range from essential casuals to smart formals all featuring leather uppers and a quality standard for which Lotus is renowned.
With demand for Naturalizer footwear continuing to soar globally, the famous American brand was launched in the UK by the Lotus subsiduary of Jacobson Group in 2008. Naturalizer's UK debut exceeded all expectations with superb sell through; retailers were delighted with the instant results of this 'new brand on the block', putting the success down to Naturalizer offering 'product with no compromises'. Following this launch, Naturalizer has steadily grown, season on season, and now has distribution in a balance of high grade multiple and respected independent accounts throughout the UK.
Launched in 1927, Naturalizer has continued to capitalize on its heritage, producing exceptionally styled comfort footwear designed to make women look good and feel great all day long.
Naturalizer's philosophy is to interpret key seasonal trends in a way that ensures each style is versatile, but more importantly wearable in everyday life. This is aided by the unsurpassed attention to detail that is injected into every pair of shoes, coupled with the brand's innovative 'N5 Comfort Elements' system.
A fashion forward footwear brand, Dolcis was first brought to life on a street barrow on Woolwich Town Market in 1863. Business soon grew and Dolcis graduated to its first store trading under the name of The Great Boot Provider. By 1920 the company was a public success and the name Dolcis appeared above the shop doors. Dolcis went on to dominate the fashion scene throughout the 1950s, with bold and statement footwear designs that British fashion demanded. Film stars of the moment, Jean Simmons and Lana Morris were quick to get in on the action, featuring heavily on advertising campaigns to bring the brand even further into the mainstream. By 2007, Dolcis was represented on the high street with 65 stand alone stores in the UK and over 150 concessions. Dolcis was acquired by Jacobson Group in 2012 and re-launched for the spring/summer 2013 season, which marked the brand's 150th anniversary.
Today, the Dolcis brand continues to serve up stylish, cool and contemporary designs to appeal to style minded young women. Catwalk inspired styles are adopted each season, all incorporating trend relevant prints and intricate finishing touches to appeal to the avid follower of fashion.
Jacobson Group holds an impressive portfolio of brands which cater for a broad cross section of market sectors with varying price points. These ranges are suited to a diverse mix of retailers from traditional, service led outlets and self selection, value for money ventures to ecommerce operations.
Whether you're looking for a comfort footwear brand or to follow fashion trends, our in-stock range gives the opportunity to offer increased value at a consumer level with our range of recognised and respected in-stock brands. This, in turn, encourages consumer loyalty, a desirable on every retailer's wish list.
Our in-stock service is supported by our highly skilled customer service team who strive to develop strong relationships with all our customers, satisfying their needs in an efficient and timely manner. To complement this we have a highly experienced sales team committed to supporting our retailers' every need and happy to share their comprehensive knowledge of the ever evolving footwear market.
Regardless of how good we are at designing and sourcing product and no matter how great our brand portfolio is, we appreciate that we must be able to deliver to our customers in a professional, fast and efficient manner. That's why, at Jacobson Group we prioritise the distribution function in our business model, we have over 685,000 sq ft (63,000sqm) of modern warehouse space allowing us to ensure the timely and accurate delivery of goods.
We distribute to all corners of the globe and we're able to quickly and effortlessly handle both small and large volumes of merchandise. Distribution from our various warehouses across the UK is carried out by our own fleet of vehicles and contracted hauliers. This essential element of the supply chain has a fully committed team dedicated to providing a service that is second to none.
We're always on the look out for energetic and talented people to join our team; if working for Jacobson Group is something that appeals to you please forward your CV via the link as we'd like to hear from you.
Apply today: email@example.com
+44 (0)1706 219444
+44 (0)1706 212512
+44 (0)1706 212512


text:
For a theme I'm working on, I want a simple way to tell if a given post -- the current one -- has trackbacks (and/or pingbacks). I thought this would be rather simple (or even built into WordPress) but it doesn't seem to be.
If you have a good idea for how to do this, please share it. If not, I'd appreciate any feedback on this PHP function.
function are_trackbacks($comments) {
foreach ($comments as $comment) {
if (get_comment_type() != 'comment') {
return true;
return false;
I'm pretty sure this is failing because of something I don't understand about
foreach loops, arrays, or
return. But my thinking was that I could just cycle through the "comments" on a post until I found a trackback or pingback (i.e. not having the comment type
comment), which would cease the loop and make the function return true. If the loop went through all the comments and found only comments (i.e. only comment type
comment), it would return false. It seemed straight-forward but pretty clearly isn't working for me.
Any help at all is appreciated.