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Wednesday, November 10, 2021 — 7
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When I watch Michigan football
games, here’s how I set it up: The game
goes on my TV, I have my laptop open
to watch another game and toggle
through
Twitter,
then I have my
phone to occupy the
inevitable simulta-
neous commercial
breaks with some-
thing else.
Saturday’s game
was ridiculous. It
started at 7:30 p.m.
and ended at 10:54
p.m., and that was one of the short-
er games of the season. Last week,
against Michigan State, the game last-
ed three hours and 59 minutes, almost
identical to the NCAA average, is aver-
aging three hours and 24 minutes a
game this season. Way back in the
before times of 1996, college football
games averaged just over three hours
in length, almost exclusively because
of the commercials.
Watching college football games
is losing its excitement. In a game
like Saturday’s, when neither team
was especially electric and tensions
were low, the continuous commercial
breaks kill the flow of the game. And,
as a viewer, those frequent breaks
make it hard to stay engaged.
You can’t watch a football game
for football’s sake because you aren’t
actually watching football. You’re
watching an ad for some auto insur-
ance group that you’ve seen 27 times
in the last month. You’re watching the
announcers come back from commer-
cial break for 30 seconds to talk about a
sponsor that the TV network lined up,
just so they can send you back to com-
mercial break to watch an ad about
a drug for a disease you don’t have. If
you’re lucky, you’ll see a punt or kickoff
between the breaks.
The college football viewing expe-
rience is no longer about Michigan
versus Indiana, or watching Purdue
upset Michigan State, but it’s about the
commercials.
When Michigan isn’t playing, I
generally don’t watch college foot-
ball. When 3:00 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. rolls
around, maybe I’ll turn on a couple
games in order to watch the last eight
or so minutes of close matchups. I
want to see if North Carolina can upset
Wake Forest, or if Alabama will actu-
ally lose to LSU, but the TV networks
made it so only the last 15 minutes are
interesting.
The football doesn’t matter.
The first three-plus hours of the
game isn’t fun to watch, no matter how
good the teams are because I can’t
watch the game. Tennessee versus
Kentucky was an electric, high-scor-
ing game. I could only watch the end of
it because every time there was a com-
mercial in the Michigan game, there
was a commercial in that game, too.
Commercials at the end of drives
make sense — it’s a sensible ending
point and people are expecting to
take a break. There were 11 drives in
the first half of the Wolverines’ game
Saturday, and 27.5 minutes of com-
mercials each half isn’t terrible. But
when a drive lasts one play because of
a turnover, and they go straight back to
a commercial, it feels like I’m not even
watching football.
Instead, the excess number of com-
mercials comes from one main source:
booth reviews. It’s one of the biggest
reasons the Michigan versus Michi-
gan State game was four long hours
— a product of eight replay reviews.
Some reviews take up commercial
breaks and minutes of dead air time
as announcers flounder to fill the
void of silence that would otherwise
accompany watching slow-motion for
five minutes. There cannot be replays
that take minutes away from the game,
removing the viewer and sowing dis-
satisfaction in the audience.
Maybe put a time limit on replays or
create a quicker process to go through
replays. I don’t know, I’m not an expert,
but this needs to be reigned back in.
The NFL has an average game length
12 minutes shorter than college football
with much less variable game lengths.
So we know it isn’t about the sport itself.
Major League Baseball, which is
notorious for its pace-of-play problems
and has been experimenting for years
on how to improve it, finishes its games
16 minutes faster than college football.
The audience for college football,
unlike the MLB, will not shrink.
Instead, its pace-of-play problem will
simply prevent it from growing as
average viewers will be turned off by
the commercial-plus-football model of
televised games.
Something needs to change. Maybe
the replays, maybe a shortened half-
time, I don’t know what.
But college football often just isn’t
fun to watch anymore.
Managing
Sports
Editor
Kent
Schwartz can be reached on Twitter @
nottherealkent.
SportsWednesday: Please, for the love of god, make football games shorter
KENT
SCHWARTZ
MADELINE HINKLEY/Daily
College football’s excessive reviews and commercials have led to a pace of play problem that’s killing the enjoyment of the sport.
With just three games remaining on its
schedule, the Michigan football team isn’t
sugarcoating the challenge that lies ahead.
“The last stretch is the most important
three games,” junior offensive lineman
Trevor Keegan said. “We gotta lock in.
Hone into our assignments, hone into film.
It’s on us.”
By winning eight of their first nine
games, the Wolverines have put themselves
in an admirable position
entering the home stretch;
a Big Ten title remains
within their reach. The
path to Indianapolis —
which
some
Michigan
players have referred to as
a new three-game season
— begins with a daunting
trip to State College to face
No. 23 Penn State.
It’s a game that the Wol-
verines may not be at full
strength for.
A bevy of Michigan
players
departed
Sat-
urday’s contest against
Indiana prematurely, turning the pop-up
medical tent into a popular destination.
Sophomore running back Blake Corum
hobbled off in the first quarter and was later
seen on the sidelines in street clothes and
donning a boot. Senior cornerback Gemon
Green was helped off the field before half-
time. A pair of wide receivers — sophomore
A.J. Henning and freshman Andrel Antho-
ny — left in the third quarter.
Most notably, Cade McNamara spent an
offensive series in the tent, with Harbaugh
admitting after the game that the junior
quarterback is “working through some-
thing,” which Harbaugh also said after the
Oct. 30 loss to Michigan State.
And that list doesn’t even include junior
tight end Erick All, who missed the game
after limping off in the waning seconds of
the Michigan State loss.
“I don’t have any updates on injuries at
this time,” Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh
said on Monday. “It’s a matter of the team
working every day, grinding every day.
You’re refreshing, trying to have good days.
Good meetings, good practice and then go
play the game.”
On the surface, the rash of injuries
would seemingly pose challenges for
Michigan’s offense. All is the Wolverines’
leading receiver. Corum is an integral
component to the explosive 1-2 running
back punch. Anthony burst onto the
scene against the Spartans with an elec-
trifying 155-yard, two-touchdown per-
formance.
Missing any of them would presumably
limit Michigan’s offensive capabilities. And
yet, they’re attacking practice as if all were
healthy.
“It doesn’t change,” Harbaugh said of
the game plan. “It’s more of a next man-up
mindset than changing a game plan.”
For the most part, that’s because Har-
baugh has confidence in the reserves to help
fill any voids. He specifically mentioned that
the running back room is equipped to han-
dle the potential loss of Corum and fresh-
man Donovan Edwards, who has been out
since the bye week.
“There’s really good, quality players
there,” Harbaugh said. “Those guys that have
been preparing, they’ve been working all sea-
son and now comes their opportunity.”
At this point, nine games into the season,
hardly anyone is fully healthy. Still, the Wol-
verines are embracing the injury bug as part
of the grind.
“It tests your manhood,” Keegan said. “If
you’re a little banged up, we want to play, we
want to play for each other.
Coach (Harbaugh) talks
about it all the time when
his elbow popped out
(when he was playing).”
Keegan is no stranger
to playing through injury
himself. He’s battled a
shoulder injury through-
out the year, an issue he
maintains has plagued
him since high school.
Now, he says the ailment is
on the upswing.
“It’s just getting a lot of
treatment to try and get
your body right,” Keegan
said. “You’re gonna be up at six o’clock,
6:30 every day in the facility not leaving
until nine. The biggest thing is trying to
play with confidence because you know
if you’re lagging with something, you’re
not gonna be able to play with full confi-
dence.”
Added Harbaugh: “It’s a quality. It’s
something that a lot of football players take
a lot of pride in. Pain threshold — some have
it, some have a very high pain threshold. It’s
a very good quality. I know a real football
player prides himself on it.”
Against the Nittany Lions on Saturday, it
appears as if the Wolverines will have to test
how high that threshold can go.
Michigan dealing with rash of injuries
ahead of clash with Penn State
JARED GREENSPAN
Senior Sports Editor
MILES MACKLIN/Daily
Michigan is entering the last three games of its season with a load of injuries.
On a roster as deep as the No. 2 Michigan hock-
ey team’s, players know they need to maximize
their time in the lineup to maintain their spot on
the depth chart.
This weekend against Michigan State, the
Wolverines knew they’d be without senior defen-
seman Nick Blankenburg due to injury which
created a hole in their lineup. Steve Holtz was the
next man up.
The sophomore defenseman suddenly found
himself debuting on the first pairing with sopho-
more defenseman Owen Power in a tough rivalry
series against the Spartans. In the Wolverines’
series sweep, Holtz cashed in on his opportunity.
“He’s getting the most
of his debut,” junior for-
ward Nick Granowicz
said after Saturday’s win.
“Second game and he
looks like a regular.”
In
unsheltered
ice
time,
Holtz
rounded
out Michigan’s defense
with a sound physical
game. He can be a reli-
able option for the Wol-
verines’ defense, whose
bottom pairing has been
a revolving door between
junior Jay Keranen, freshman Ethan Edwards
and senior Jack Summers.
All weekend, Holtz delivered punishing hits
to the Spartans’ forecheckers. Like many physi-
cal teams the Wolverines have played, Michi-
gan State tried to dump the puck in and force
bad passes but Holtz’s 6-foot-4 frame meant he
could take those hits and make the right play on
defense, buying time for his teammates to get in
position.
“I take pride in (my physicality),” Holtz said.
“When I’m looking to hit someone, I’m looking
to separate them from the puck and then that
way I can create some space and some time for
my partner.”
But it’s not just his large body that creates phys-
ical success — it’s how he uses it. Skating next to
Power, Holtz looked small despite being only an
inch shorter. However, he skates with his center
of gravity held lower than most other skaters, and
his body acts as a spring to leap out onto an oppos-
ing player. His stout hockey stance makes him
practically immovable.
That showed itself on Friday, when he leveled
Spartans forward Erik Middendorf with a hit in
front of the Michigan State bench. As Holtz sent
Middendorf halfway over the boards to the erup-
tion of the Children of Yost, he not only took his
man out of the play but also pushed the momen-
tum further in the Wolverines’ favor.
By delivering punishing hits and playing with
an edge, Holtz rounds out the offensively-gifted
top four defensemen. On such a skill-heavy roster,
Holtz diversifies the units that the Wolverines
can send on the ice.
“(Holtz) brings a little bit of an edge, a little
grit that we don’t have,”
Michigan
coach
Mel
Pearson said. “Especially
the way teams are playing
against us (is) so aggres-
sive, physical, and he
brings that physicality.”
Not only does his size
offer a different look for
the defense, but Holtz is
one of three right-handed
defensemen on the Wol-
verines’ roster — Blanken-
burg and junior Keaton
Pehrson being the others.
Lefties have a harder time pinching along the
right side boards without exposing themselves to
big hits, but those three have an easier time han-
dling that workload than most.
Holtz proved he’s a good shutdown defense-
man against Michigan State, and it’s a role that
helps solve Michigan’s unsettled bottom pair.
While he doesn’t have the offensive prowess of
the top four, he shuts down opposing rushes and
throws his body around. That’s something Pear-
son will look at when he calls Holtz’s name.
“We always talk about players having money
in the bank so to speak,” Pearson said. “ … (Holtz)
made some deposits, so when he goes to try to
get some money out or has an off night or tough
game, at least he knows he can go in there and get
a deposit, get another chance to play.
“He made a huge deposit this weekend.”
Holtz adds physicality to Michigan defense
CONNOR EAREGOOD
Daily Sports Writer
KATE HUA/Daily
Steve Holtz steps up to fill hole in lineup
created by Blankenburg injury.