bad mojo

There have been several threads already created, attempting to assign blame for yesterday’s debacle of a football game: the coaches, the offense, the defense, etc.  While the coaches, players, playcalling, etc. do have a role in the outcome of the game, everyone seems to be shying away from the obvious primary culprit, and that is fan mojo. 

Now when I was younger, I was somewhat arrogant and quite a bit arrogant, and I thought I could control the outcome of games by wearing a lucky shirt or chanting “Go Blue!” over and over again.  I now know how absurd that is now.  I mean it’s scientific.  There is no way one fan could control the whole outcome of an entire game. Nobody’s mojo is that good and that would also ignore the influence that thousands of other fans have. 

Through my years of wisdom, I’ve come to realize that mojo is a cumulative effect of many, many fans, though sometimes one person’s mojo can be responsible for an individual play or player now and again.  For example, my mojo affects Gibbons’ kicking.  You may scoff, but I was there helping him all along through most of his record string of successful field goals. I didn’t know I had this affect until the 2011 season. Through 2010 I almost always was leaning on a pillow watching the games.  I realized I have no influence on length whatsoever, or on blocks, but I can control the side to side movement of the ball once it’s been kicked.  If I sit up straight, the ball goes right down the middle; if I lean to one side, the ball moves close to that upright; if I lean too far or lean the wrong way, there is a miss. 

Yesterday, during the overtime where the FG sailed outside the upright, I tried to lean to help the ball go through, but I accidently leaned the wrong way.  Had I been in the bathroom or not paying attention, Gibbons probably would have made it on his own.  But stupid me, I thought he needed help, and instead of helping, once I saw the kick going slightly off course, in my haste, I accidently leaned the wrong way and pushed the ball wide.  I apologize to the coaches, players, fans, and especially to Brendan Gibbons.

Now that’s just one small (yes, and important) part of the game.  But there was some bad mojo at work overall too.  Nobody can look at that game and not think otherwise.  Michigan had good chance after good chance to win, but kept coming up short.  So it’s time to fess up.  Who else contributed to the loss. Did you wash all the luck out of your stinky lucky socks?  Deviate from your usual pregame ritual?  Let’s stop this witch hunt for scapegoats among the players and coaches and admit our role in this loss.  Who else is willing to step up and take responsibility? Believe me, it's better to get it all out in the open.  It's cathartic.