MGoBlog: The MGoPodcast

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MGoBlog’s channel featuring the very professional, very visual, podcast with Brian Cook, Seth Fisher, David Nasternak, and Alex Drain, plus The Teams history podcast with Seth and Dr. Sap, The Michigan Hockeycast, the MGoBlog Roundtable on WTKA.

  1. 3d ago

    MGoPodcast 18.10: Desperately Envious of Iowa's Offense

    1 hour and 42 minutes The Sponsors Thank you to Underground Printing for making this all possible. Rishi and Ryan have been our biggest supporters from the beginning. Check out their wide selection of officially licensed Michigan fan gear at their 3 store locations in Ann Arbor or learn about their custom apparel business at undergroundshirts.com. Our associate sponsors are: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, The Sklars Brothers, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, Radecki Oral Surgery, Long Road Distillers, Applied Fitness Solutions, The History of Michigan Football, an online course by Greg Dooley, and Venue by 4M where recorded this. EDITOR'S NOTE: This was recorded before Jason Beck’s firing.  1. Complaining vs Michigan State Starts at 0:54 There’s a certain scene from Planes, Trains, and Automobiles that we’re at (the rental car scene). Make Jason Beck the caretaker of the pyramids and watch them disappear. Sherrone Moore was problematic and shouldn’t be a football coach but he could at least run the ball!! Many movies are referenced in this segment. Just how far have we fallen? The Michigan State fans were REALLY NICE. You really felt the ‘enshittification’ of this game, the 2021-2023 teams were so good that you put up with all the stadium antics, would this athletic department be any different if Dave Brandon was in charge? How many Michigan fans looked like they were actually having fun at this game? This is the perfect test for the concept of “if you win a championship you don’t get to complain for five years.” This isn’t all on Jason Beck, some of it is on the QB who can’t make the throws yet. Put Bryce back in and if he shows improvement you might actually retain him. Offensive coordinating is NOT that super complicated. The play designs have become so simplified and they still can’t really run it, the play book has shrunk as the season has gone on. They have the best WR duo since Nico and DPJ and you can’t even put together a bad offense. Devon Dampier’s worst two years were his two years with Beck. Would you take Brian Ferentz right now?? What SP+ offensive ranking would Michigan need to have to be undefeated and #1 in the country right now, 70? 2. More Complaining vs Michigan State Starts at 32:08 What’s the future, do they even really have an athletic director? Is there really a president? Is there a chance that Kyle Whittingham decides “this is not for me” by the end of the year? What donors even want to back him at this point? This is the lowest point even Seth has felt as a Michigan fan. Michigan fans love their players (except QB sometimes), but who is even going to be around next year? Part of why this feels so depressing is that the snake doesn’t even have a head to cut off, there’s no athletic director change to have. There’s no go-to coach to chase. Where is there to even go from here? After losing to THIS Michigan State team, does anyone who didn’t understand before see it now? Did you even WANT to go to this game? Credit to Michigan State for looking like a well coached team, they played their game and won this game by playing their game. Their fans showed up because of it. Michigan can’t do that, they’re a Hail Mary away from losing two games to teams that didn’t score a touchdown. This is the biggest deviation from preseason expectations we’ve experienced ever. We didn’t appreciate Lloyd Carr enough, he ran the program well and then stepped down when it was time to step down. They just needed competence to be in the mix with Texas or Oregon or Ohio State this season. Watch hockey and women’s basketball instead! 3. Hot Takes, Men's Basketball vs UConn Starts at 1:00:13 Men lose to UConn in a game that sort of resets the expectations of the season a bit negatively. Michigan looked like an 8 seed, UConn looked like they leveled up. Where was Trey McKenney in the first half? The whistles were fruit-flavored. Not concerned about Thiam in the long term, they should improve significantly on defense once he's back to form. There's not a post-up guy on this roster. Estrella and Goodman on the court together didn't feel great. Jalen Reed stock is down. Having Brandon McCoy out there would've helped a lot defensively. Dan Hurley is really animated but he's a good enough coach to back it up.  4. Men's and Women's Basketball vs UConn Starts at 1:26:45 Michigan brought in a bunch of guys that haven't been able to play together until now so they have some catching up to do. The new season goal is to stay off the bubble. This men's team might be like Dusty's first team - a good team that makes its way into the tournament and improves to a Sweet Sixteen team over time. Can this team play defense and what are they going to do when they get in foul trouble? Austin Davis would play 10 minutes per game on this team. Losing Brandon McCoy was huge, you could play him for 30 minutes off of him just being athletic. It feels like there's a tier of Final Four teams in women's basketball and everyone else is a mile behind. This felt like a program defining win and the biggest win in program history. Opposing teams can't just dial in on Olivia Olsen, Michigan has multiple threats. The conversation of vibes from football might lead to a championship for every other program.   MUSIC: "The Lonesome Loser"—The Little River Band "I Think I Missed Again"—Phil Colins "End of Time"—Olive Jones “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra

  2. 5d ago

    MGoRadio 12.9: Do It Like the Ladies

    The Sponsors We want to thank Underground Printing for starting this and making it possible—stop by and pick up some gear, check them out at ugpmichiganapparel.com, or check out our selection of shirts on the MGoBlogStore.com. And let’s not forget our associate sponsors: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, Radecki Oral Surgery, Long Road Distillers, Applied Fitness Solutions, and The History of Michigan Football, an online course by Greg Dooley, and SignalWire, where we are recording this. Featured Musician: Ettison Clio THE VIDEO: [After THE JUMP: The show notes.]  --------------------- 1. MSU Preview: Offense starts at the top If we're awake, they die. But are we awake? State's roster has been ravaged by injury. Best receiver is Fredrick Moore, other two guys are slot-sized oldsters; the TE was okay but he's hurt as well. If Alessio Milivojevic is still injured they're in trouble because their backup is already out and the two other guys who played against UCLA averaged under 3 YPA. They're also down to their #4 RB. Not hurt: an offensive line that is...judges?...BETTER THAN OREGON'S! Center Trent Fraley is an NDSU transfer and we think he's a dude. LT Ben Murawski was a big pickup from UConn. OC Nick Sheridan runs some Rich Rod stuff out of a pro-style look. 2. MSU Preview: Defense starts at 16:10 They're so very injured now that even decent performances for a quarter against Notre Dame etc. don't really translate. Best DL is out. Best LB is out. Best DB is out. Guys replacing them are not great, usually have one thing they do well and two they don't. If you can't run against Rutgers though... Maybe they can be burned down the middle like CJ Carr did. I'm sure the brothers have discussed this. 3. Basketball! starts at 32:41 Women defeat UConn before an amazing crowd: biggest win in program history, and an amazing game, where UConn gave the full UConn punch and Michigan just kept punching back. Huge game from Delfosse, who's rising to be a star, and fantastic finish from Olson who is that star. Are they now one of the elites? Gonna have to get through a brutal Big Ten season first. MBB takes on UConn in their championship rematch; Brian isn't feeling it yet but Seth thinks they're in the same boat we are: return three guys from their backcourt and replaced the frontcourt with a shot-blocker and a talented but sorta pushable PF, though theirs is a stretchy Duke. They're great defensively; Michigan might be able to generate enough offense. Can't really take much away from the Oakland game, which was a foul fest with Thiam out with illness. 4. After Further Review: Rutgers starts at 54:39 Saw like 20 inside zones or spit zones and it didn't work because Rutgers was pinching, and bounces not working. Dismayed by the approach. Obviously they've simplified and they can't do it well. Tommy was a HS quarterback against a HS defense. The defense had some kid mistakes. Featured Musician: Ettison Clio I saved EC for this week because they were really more of an East Lansing band, which peaked in the early 2000s. A punky rock outfit that would swerve into rock, they were probably the hottest band on MSU's campus when my brother was there, and played his ("the Brown...") house's most legendary party. Lead singer Stephanie Gunther (now with a NYC gloom punk band) had a major on-stage presence and a great voice, and drummer John Ostler was one of the better bangers around Michigan punk at the time they formed. Those two joined guitarists Brian Roop and J.P. Niemiec and bassist Jared Nisch, who originally formed the band in high school, at MSU, and for awhile everyone thought they were going to be a big thing. I believe the band name in fact refers to the two mid-Michigan towns that the guitarists are from, which I still think about whenever we drive through Clio. Incredibly, their website is still hosted, though its last update was for a Tsunami Relief Compilation in 2005. Songs: "Infectious" "L'ange Bleu" "Ash in the Empire" Also because Across 110th Street will get our Youtubes taken down, the opener and outro: “The Employee is Not Afraid”—Bear vs. Shark “Ruska Vodka”—Motorboat

  3. 6d ago

    WTKA Roundtable 11/5/2026: You're Not Coming Out of Your Cage

    Things Discussed: Tommy Carr looked like a good high school quarterback against a high school defense. Run game still doesn't make sense, e.g. WR does split action and doesn't block back side of stretch. Rushing for basically no yards against Rutgers while running offense that doesn't have any purpose. Defense: Jay Hill was gambling too much. Yes Snowden shouldn't fall down, but also there's no safety on that play, and they already showed it. There are a number of throws in this game from Carr that won't work against not-Rutgers. Tommy Talk: We're finding out what he can and can't do. A little worried about his arm strength. Poise is tremendous. Also like that he'll be here. Think programs are going to avoid the uber 5-stars unless they're ready to sit for a few years, because you just end up preparing them to start somewhere else. Bryce will transfer and be successful somewhere (Missouri with Chip?). MSU? We could lose to this team like 2017 or 2020 but they're not good. The best of Fred Moore isn't Ricky White. Just don't play with your food. #1 way to lose this game is if Jason Beck continues to call offense like he's a plant for the other team. Hoops: The story of the Oakland game is they need Thiam. That Grizzly center was bullying Estrella. Seeing Oscar Goodman start it's like Why don't we have a 6'9" lottery pick? Costello is going to be a very valuable piece. Mike Boynton should just coach him to be a switchable defender and not work on offense. Can he be Braylon Mullens? Don't know if he'll hit a crazy shot to beat Duke. Estrella needs to get hard; he was taking fouls from bad footwork. We saw this last year in the Elite 8 game, when Michigan pushed him away from the basket. Maybe more of Reed?

  4. Nov 3

    Michigan HockeyCast 9.6: More Tricks than Treats

    1 Hour and 8 Minutes With David Nasternak and Alex Drain This Podcast Has a Sponsor: Michigan Law Grad Jonathan Paul is the guy with the C you want skating next to the ref and pleading your case. He's also a good guy to sit next to at the hockey games. Segment 1 Michigan hockey talk starts at 11:50. Michigan’s lackluster Saturday showing at Ohio State. The team never played very well and didn't show any signs of life until late in the second period. They got closer in the game but were never able to dig out of the hole. Odd man rushes and turnovers were a problem. Segment 2 The Sunday game was better, but still not great. Very eventful on special teams and an all-time Michael Hage performance. Should we be mad about these two games? Then a review of the scores around the conference, including more dirty play by Notre Dame. Michigan is on bye next week and then will resume against PSU   MUSIC NHL on ESPN Theme "Last Dance"--Donna Summer Ice Hockey (NES) Theme

  5. Nov 1

    MGoPodcast 18.9: Tommy Poise!

    2 hours and 11 minutes The Sponsors Thank you to Underground Printing for making this all possible. Rishi and Ryan have been our biggest supporters from the beginning. Check out their wide selection of officially licensed Michigan fan gear at their 3 store locations in Ann Arbor or learn about their custom apparel business at undergroundshirts.com. Our associate sponsors are: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, The Sklars Brothers, Champions Circle, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, Radecki Oral Surgery, Long Road Distillers, Applied Fitness Solutions, The History of Michigan Football, an online course by Greg Dooley, and Venue by 4M where recorded this. 1. Offense vs Rutgers Starts at 0:54 Football was played in a football stadium with not many people in it. Pat McAfee is a little baby man who can't take a little ribbing. It was hard to summon emotions for this game. It's weird seeing Rutgers when you see them every three years instead of every year, why are they in this conference?? It used to be the nice, easy game in an otherwise difficult schedule. Did it look like Jason Beck made any adjustments against a terrible defense? Michigan could throw to wide open receivers, but couldn't run against a team that has been giving up 6 YPC to everyone else. The rhino is here to stay, it was deployed on a 3rd and 15. Tommy Carr got to observe erosion from the pocket. He didn't get pressured and if everyone was covered he could just run it, it was like the Spring Game. You just wanted to see them consistently push guys around for 5 and 6 yard rushes and they couldn't do that. If Rutgers knew Michigan was going to run the ball on every play you should still be able to rush for 5 yards. They're still trying to find anything that works. Jordan Marshall has to be broken, right? Tommy Carr long-term things - arm strength is an issue right now. You can't run power with Tommy Carr, you can run it with Bryce. The offense sucks so the best thing you can do is just toss it up to JJ if he's in one-on-one and see what happens. Jake Guarnera might still be hurt. There is a disturbing trend of not knowing what the snap count is.  2. Defense vs Rutgers Starts at 42:05 It was like two big plays that were very annoying and then not really anything else. For the longest time the score bug annoyingly said 3/8 for 135 yards. Don't fall over! But also there was no deep safety on that play. Mason Curtis had a pretty bad game with missed tackles and not being put in positions to succeed. The Rutgers offense is better than their defense but they're still bad. Benny Patterson really explodes off the ball. There's still a decent rotation of guys that you're hopeful for that aren't checked out. Chris Bracy had another good performance despite bouncing off a guy. He'll be in the NFL next year. Their gameplan against Duff was the same gameplan against Becker (Indiana). Zeke Berry had a nice game and looks better at corner than nickel. Chase Taylor looked pretty good pending charting, he has all the skills you need in a linebacker. Troy Bowles looks like a senior now.  3. Hot Takes, Special Teams, and Game Theory Starts at 1:05:29 Takes hotter than JJ Buchanan on contested catches. The special teams should make field goals. Some of these field goals are a bit out of range, the 35 yarder is a thumbs down. Punting was... fine. No kick returns, woo. What was the actual plan at the end of the first half? If you can't figure out that situation you're not figuring out anything. Are they just trying to get stats? Would you rather have a 40+ yard field goal or go for it on 4th and 6? Roughing the passer on the first play, the QB got hit in the thigh not below the knee. Some other weird holding calls. The kick catch interference call was valid.  4. Around the Big Ten with Jamie Mac Starts at 1:32:53 USC 30, Ohio State 18 Ohio State outgains USC 464 to 338 but have to settle on field goals and don't get a touchdown until the last two minutes. USC hurdled a fool. Fahey would be under pressure and then chuck it hoping Jeremiah Smith was out there somewhere. USC's run game is what Michigan's should be (without the rhino). There are injured QBs everywhere, everything the rest of the season is on the table.  Indiana 23, Minnesota 16 (OT) This game goes into OT after teams exchange 60 yard field goals in the last minute. This is like chaos team Indiana except chaos team Indiana always lost this game. Indiana outgained Minnesota 419 to 215 and keeps escaping these close games. In the last three games, Indiana has only scored one touchdown where the ball started in their own territory. Josh Hoover is out either due to injury or performance, hard to say. Cignetti let way too much time come off the clock before the last Minnesota field goal.  Oregon 34, Northwestern 26 Yards are Northwestern 456 to 441, this was a fun game all around. Northwestern scores on the L-formation!  Washington 17, Nebraska 10 Demond Williams (Washington QB) is benched for Elijah Brown. Nebraska was winning 7-3 with 1:31 remaining. They were down 17-7 with 1:15 remaining. Nebraska fans are the most stoic fanbase in America. Matt Rhule is 2-12 when Nebraska is sitting on 5 wins.  Illinois 20, Maryand 17 Maryland gets their dead cat bounce. Illinois is one win away from bowl eligibility! They play a Nebraska team sitting on 5 wins next week.  Iowa 30, Wisconsin 0 Just a slow motion Iowa strangulation. The second straight year that Wisconsin has been shut out by Iowa. Fickell was just off the hot season, is he back on it? Iowa is 6-2, is there a playoff path? Penn State 31, Purdue 17 Yards were Penn State 457 to 175, it should have been a lot worse than a two touchdown game. UCLA 27, Nevada 0 This was a show up and win game but that's a new concept for UCLA.    MUSIC: "Just Another Moment"—Michael Kiwanuka "Far Rider"—Still Corners "Side By Side"—The Meltdown “Across 110th Street”—JJ Johnson and his Orchestra

  6. Oct 30

    MGoRadio 12.8: The All-Receiver Dating Show

    The Sponsors We want to thank Underground Printing for starting this and making it possible—stop by and pick up some gear, check them out at ugpmichiganapparel.com, or check out our selection of shirts on the MGoBlogStore.com. And let’s not forget our associate sponsors: Peak Wealth Management, Matt Demorest - Realtor and Lender, Ann Arbor Elder Law, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, Sharon's Heating & Air Conditioning, Winewood Organics, Community Pest Solutions, Radecki Oral Surgery, Long Road Distillers, Applied Fitness Solutions, and The History of Michigan Football, an online course by Greg Dooley, and SignalWire, where we are recording this. Featured Musician: Great Lakes Myth Society THE VIDEO: [After THE JUMP: The show notes.]  --------------------- 1. Rutgers Preview: Offense starts at the top This is the better side of the team, mostly because they managed to hold onto 1st round WR KJ Duff, who may not play—he's listed as Doubtful. Starting QB Dylan Lonergan, the BC transfer, had one too many concussions and is sitting out, but AJ Surace is playing instead. He's a popgun arm but it's enough to loft it to Duff. Their OL is actually pretty decent; Kwabena Asamoah started against Michigan in 2023, and Tyler Needham (listed as Doubtful) moved in from left tackle; he wasn't the worst. Alex likes their RB room: Antwan Raymond was on the questionable list last week but played; LaTech transfer Clay Thevenin is another little rascal. 2. Rutgers Preview: Defense starts at 17:59 Alex gave zero dangerman stars. The punter is the dangerman. Secondary is a mess; Sage Clawges is a linebacker trying to play quarters field safety, Chris Joines is a Mercer transfer, JJ Conyers and Devonte Anderson are true freshmen rotating on the left side, Kevyn Humes lost his nickel job to another safety. DL is okay, but Keshon Griffin is questionable for this game. Get-right game and easy afternoon for Tommy, we hope. 3. Gimmicky Top Five: People Doing Better than Jason Beck starts at 32:53 Reid McCarthy from Ann Arbor Elder Law joins us for five people not doing a great job right now, but doing a better job than poor Jason. Mine were Dylan Larkin, the owners of Plex who fired the entire staff that runs the thing they do over Slack, our felonious donation pickup driver, Wayne the root programmer, and Warde during his convalescence. 4. After Further Review: Indiana starts at 52:31 Offense: Even worse than we thought. The Rhino is your worst player; there's no reason to be playing him. Tommy had some good things but not seeing anything from him that's better than sticking with Bryce except Carr will throw to other receivers. OL had big problems ID'ing their blocks, as did Eli Owens. When it's holistic it's on the coordinator. They didn't practice for the thing Indiana does. Defense was spectacular, which only makes us madder at Jason Beck. Hate doing the "I told you so" thing with Jay Hill because I get why they went the other way around, but Zeke Berry is a corner and Smith Snowden is a nickel. Jyaire Hill wasn't perfect (zone issues) but I saw the CBs change their approach to contested balls, watching the receiver instead of the ball, which you don't usually see but prevented them from getting pushed around. Benny Patterson's first start went well, still some things to clean up. Saw Palepale go upfield on Stretch. Other backup DL got pushed around; why are we still putting Cam Brandt out there? Featured Musician: Great Lakes Myth Society The band I meant to introduce you to was The Original Brothers and Sisters of Love, until I learned they broke up right after I got their 2003 album, then reformed as The Great Lakes Myth Society minus one member. One or the other this band that used to tour with Saturday Looks Good to Me is as Pure Michigan as a fish fly wearing a LIONS GRIT t-shirt under a Mike Hart jersey while reading a book about the Edmund Fitzgerald and floating on a can of Vernors over a pothole watching Escanaba in da Moonlight. They're indie, folkie, and very Ann Arbor, even if they formed originally in Brighton. Like, their Wikipedia page has a photo of them playing at the Half-Ass. Songs: "Across the Bridge" "She's Come Home to Steal Her Rainbows" "The Salt Trucks" Also because Across 110th Street will get our Youtubes taken down, the opener and outro: “The Employee is Not Afraid”—Bear vs. Shark “Ruska Vodka”—Motorboat

  7. Oct 29

    WTKA Roundtable 10/29/2026: That is a Puzzle

    Things Discussed: Beck'd. When he wasn't fired on Sunday it became a Whittingham problem. Best playcall: Counter Draw in redzone, but the OL can't pick up a stunt. That's something IU does all the time. What was different at Utah? They had a base, and their players were prepared to run their base against all sorts of tricks, so their opponents had to play them honestly. Stretch? It works against stunting—you can see that when Michigan stunted—but Michigan didn't teach how to deal with other counters, so when they ran it and got something other than stunts they were defeated by all the little tricks of a team that prepared for it. Offensive coordinating is not pressing the right playcall button, and it's not chess either. In chess you don't have to teach the pawns how to execute an en passant. Beck's job is to put together a gameplan based on what the other team does and you do, and then have the assistants prep to that gameplan. Rhino: was a disaster in this game, because Beigel is a German DT who's been out for weeks, and doesn't know what he's doing. No, we didn't talk about anything else. What else is there to talk about (unless it's basketball or hockey, but we ran out of time, sorry).

  8. Oct 27

    Michigan HockeyCast 9.5: Buzzer Beatin'

    1 Hour and 44 Minutes With David Nasternak and Alex Drain This Podcast Has a Sponsor: Michigan Law Grad Jonathan Paul is the guy with the C you want skating next to the ref and pleading your case. He's also a good guy to sit next to at the hockey games. Segment 1 A discussion of great buzzer beaters in sports history. Recap of the WMU game talks about power play woes, good goaltending, the early 3rd period surge, Horcoff’s blunder and then his heroism. This was a big game to win. Segment 2 A look around the former opponents including Denver’s clash with BC, MSU’s struggles with UNH, a surprising weekend from Minnesota, and more lackluster B1G results. Then a preview of Ohio State. The Buckeyes are controlling play well so far but finishing and goaltending issues have led to a poor non-conference showing so far. Bonus segment: A division by division look at the NHL season so far   MUSIC NHL on ESPN Theme "Bloodsport"--Sneaker Pimps Ice Hockey (NES) Theme

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MGoBlog’s channel featuring the very professional, very visual, podcast with Brian Cook, Seth Fisher, David Nasternak, and Alex Drain, plus The Teams history podcast with Seth and Dr. Sap, The Michigan Hockeycast, the MGoBlog Roundtable on WTKA.

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    MGoBlog
  • Years Active
    2009 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
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    Explicit
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    © Copyright 2017 MGoBlog All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    MGoBlog: The MGoPodcast

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