Get A Life

brian you are so much better at saying the same thing that i am trying to say over at three and out...

God I'm glad you posted the whole text of what he said, as I hadn't read it in any of the mainstream outlets. I went from agreeing with him, but wishing he didn't say it publicly to absolutely agreeing with him and glad that he said it after reading the whole thing. The way this has been portrayed is just garbage.

Besides grammar ("more bolder"), that is probably the best answer that Rodriguez could've given that's still honest. In fact, it sounds like that is extremely honest which gives him bonus points in my book but is apparently a poor strategy to employ when speaking with the media.

Since I've only been a rabid superfan for the last 5 years or so (now with a Brian Cook endorsed black belt for staying through the whole Northwestern game... while sick... and needing to work on my senior project) I don't know how much Lloyd attitude towards the media changed over time. I love the "What kind of stupid question is that?" but I don't know if he became more prickley towards the media over time as the head coach. Anyone have any insight into this?

It will be interesting to see if after this year, Rodriguez does get a little bit more clammed up and Lloyd like (as Brian suggests).

Oh, and there's a small typo. Your second asterisk point in the article needs a second asterisk, right now they both have only 1.

Excellent post and commentary.

I thought "more bolder" was endearing.

I didn't know you could increase retardation when the knob was already set to 11, man.

Literati rules...I just hope it doesn't end up destroying my life.

well put

just STOP IT!. yea, you heard right. STOP reading it, STOP buying it, STOP listening to it. it's all garbage. their purpose isn't to accurately report the news. it's to make money. they do this NOT by accurately reporting the news, but by creating news out of nothing. by reporting excerpts out of context b/c they only have 30sec or 11 inch segments or whatever.

that said, most of the problem is idiots reading those articles and not realizing any of this.

What a chodeface. Somehow I get the impression he HATES any person even remotely associated with the University of Michigan. The more I read about this guy (and the things he says), the more I think he is a PERFECT match for Sparty: unfailingly paranoid with a massive inferiority complex. I have no doubt in my heart that this guy would vote against UM going to the Rose Bowl if a scenario like what happened in 1973 played out again.

I think Mark Dantonio is the guy who needs to get a life. I honestly cannot believe he would rather root for tO$U to beat us this weekend, thus eliminating his team from going to the GRANDDADDY OF THEM ALL because his head is so far up his ass about hating Michigan. What a dick.

Edit: Unless his words were taken out of context somehow.

Brian, you just ripped on the media for selective quoting.

Dantonio said "I'm going to focus on our task at hand here and worry about the things we can control."

The rest was the stupid part, but he gave the real coach-speak response before jokingly saying he would be disowned if he publicly supported Michigan. The collective UM fanbase is so damn sensitive these days...

You can't passionately denounce the media and then do the same thing. If you're going to give Rodriguez a free pass on his quote, just say so.

that they should all give the Seniors a hug.

Man, Rich needs a hug.

DiNardo's response to this on the Big Ten Network made me want to punch that old fucking piece of shit in the face.

Great stuff, Brian. Keep up the good fight.

pulitzer stuff. and used 'heap crap on.'

in all its glory. I am a political junkie and I see how the media can latch on to stupid memes and actually ruin careers and generally fuck people over because soundbites overrule context. Sensationalism outweighs thoughtfulness and critical insight. I mean, if you were a Pennsylvania Democrat voting in the primaries, you were convinced that Obama thought you were a bitter, gun-toting Bible-thumper if you opposed him. The context showed a completely different sentiment behind the statement. But who cares, right? As long as you clip the quote just right you can make some money off it.

In your rush to condemn Brian, you forgot to bring logic with you to the party.

The "coach speak" that your panties are all in a bunch over being omitted from Brian's quote, have ZERO effect on the statement: "Go Bucks!"

Rodriguez spent 4 paragraphs talking about the internet culture and how rotten fans can be now. He even followed the quoted comment up with: "At least they have passion." Where was that in the AP quote?

God help you if you can't see the difference. I mean you had to have thought about it, analyzed it before posting here? Maybe you should have taken a few more minutes with that analysis.

I'll tell you what, if my coach went public with something to the effect of he'd rather miss out on the Rose Bowl so long as a rival lost a game? I'd lose respect for him. Further, it really does show you how small State's aspirations are. They want to continue to define themselves by Michigan. That's sad, man.

And thanks for putting up the entire quote. I would have never seen it otherwise.

As long as we're excoriating the media, can we give a shoutout to Pat Forde for spending nearly 400 words, more than 10% of his "column," talking about the Dead Schembeclers? Is he the only person not dressed in scarlet and gray who finds them even remotely amusing or relevant? And for those who worry he's damaging his journalistic credibility, don't worry, he included an interview with the band's leader. Seriously Forde, are you an OSU homer or just a douchebag with an awful sense of humor?*

*I realize I may be proving Brian's point about inappropriate attacks on message boards with this phrasing but c'mon, Forde is a national columnist who spends 10% of a weekly preview talking about not just a novelty band, but one whose name is patently offensive. I don't give two craps how much money they donated, Bo is still dead and the name is still tasteless as hell. I'm sure his family really appreciates the joke, guys.

Rich Rod said what he said. It's easy to be a know-it-all tough guy behind the Internet's vail of anonymity. I give RR a ton of credit.

My only complaint since Rodriguez came on board is that he doesn't choose his words selectively enough. Which is his option, you know, he's not into the whole brevity thing. And I respect him for his up-front honesty and all that; it shows a lot of self-confidence, among other things...

But Lloyd's evident disdain for the media was not the only reason for his brief treatment of them, scumdogs that they are. There is a pragmatic reason, as well: No matter what you are saying, the media will find a way to use it against you at their discretion; the more you say, the more ammunition you are giving them. That's all there is to it.

Booing the team at the stadium is bad enough, but the paste-eaters who send anonymous vitriolic emails to players are a special class of cockroach.

Winston Churchill had an astute if very cynical observation:

"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute
conversation with the average voter."

To paraphrase:

"The best argument against the internet is a five-sentence post from the average commenter."

I agree with the early posts.

Rich Rodriguez really needs to work on the press interview skills. He can improve his skills in this area, but he needs to acknowledge this weakness (it's getting him into trouble) and get some help.

Sometimes he just comes across as a nice guy, a good ole southern boy. Other times he sounds like a dumb hick. He also tends to ramble on and get distracted away from the original question that was asked, which is what happened in this instance. Then his words will be quoted by the press and taken out of context.

I like how he handles interviews some of the time. I think his heart is in the right place - being forthright with the media about the situation and intellectually honest when discussing the upcoming competition.

RR doesn't have to be polite all the time. But his choice of words, his grammar usage, and just his strategic approach to answering press questions needs counsel. He represents the University and the football team, so interviews are very important.