Hello: Enormous Retraction

for this

brass balls man

Shit Happens. We were all taken for a ride, regardless of what Brian or anyone else had to say.

I hate to place blame on other people, but the author in question who published this should also be grilled for the mud-slinging he and many others have done towards RichRod.

It seems like every direction you look, someone is trying to bring him down with any method available and that includes bringing in Uncle Lloyd.

from most msm types. You're willing to stand up and admit mistakes, even when you don't have to.

Thank you, Brian. I was really, really, really saddened that you wrote what you did earlier. This post is to your enormous credit.

Also, a lightly-researched, heavily opinionate hitjob? Would you like to write at the WLA?

The ability to be critical and reevaluate your thinking is what makes mgoblog so great. This same reevaluation and subsequent improvement has been made with UFR, the weekly recruiting posts, and the (fairly) new site layout which allowed for user-generated diaries from mispogon and the like. 

I too have grown tired of the Jihad.

I just want Michigan to play some football.

Keep up the good work Brian.

Harry Truman had a simple but effective way to deal with his own volatile and foul-mouthed temper. He would write a letter in angry response to someone who he thought had wronged him, but he would then seal the letter and put it in a drawer instead of mailing it right away. If he still felt secure in expressing his anger in a few days, he'd mail the letter, but it seems as though he thought better of doing so much more often than not, since he apparently accumulated a crapload of these unsent letters. I wonder if that would have worked for him in the era of email.

The difference between Brian Cook and Drew Sharp, Mitch Albom, Terry Foster, Jeff Defran, and on and on is having the courage to say "I fucked up. Please forgive me."

No worries Brian. This is one of the setbacks of fast technology and a potential trap of message boards, blogs, etc.  Sometimes our fingers are a little too quick...

And Lloyd spoke out in the way that only Lloyd could and reset our MGoConstellations that guide our fandom. At least now we know that the athletic department is all on the same page in wanting what's best for Michigan football and how to get there.

Brian, I greatly appreciate what you wrote in this retraction. I was irked by Trent, and shrugged my shoulders at the smear job (that's what sells books, after all.) But I was really non-plussed and concerned about your comments on Carr. It seemed pointless to even wander into the comment thread. I love RR, and am so fond of Carr, and it didn't seem like there was anything positive to add. In fact, I after the first 50 or so comments, I shut down . . . no point in reading more.

So then, however, tell us, Brian:  could you have contacted Carr and asked him, face to face? If so, can you tell us why you didn't?

This whole debacle also illustrates how good Angelique is. We (in the mgoblogosphere) are quick to castigate the Freep, and withhold any clicks. This article from Angelique almost demands a bravo and applause for what she has done.

Lastly, I really understand more and more the bunker mentality among some coaches.

Thanks again, for your honesty and transparency.

im too dumb to embed, but bravo brian.

Well done Brian.

At what point do we just get to watch the football?

Everything turned around when Michigan beat Miami to make the finals of the CCHA tourney.  The cloud lifted and everything is better.

I refuse to believe any differently.

Well done.

As I noted earlier, I do give you lots of credit for owning up to this.

Out of curiousity:

Frequently, you've castigated MSM journalists who have merely passes opinion or unverified innuendo without contacting a source, or researching the item when BLOGS has frequently blown up their story by simply picking up a phone.

I noticed that in the piece on Bengals.com, neither Carr nor RR were ever asked for comment, which struck me as notable.

At what point, in your opinion, do you think YOU pick up the phone before writing the angry screed?

I don't think you're 100% off base.  Trent still said this:

"I brought it up to him, and he said he had heard some of the same things."

So.....you can't trust the words coming out of Trent's mouth, yada, yada...but Carr may still have a shadow of culpability.  Note that Lique didn't press him on "Which part is a distortion?  What exactly did you tell Morgan?"  I don't say this to point fingers, or further the sad divide that has befallen our program, but merely to say...your mea culpa, while 1000% honorable, might have swung even too far the other direction.  Which isn't to criticize, but merely to say, maybe you don't have to be so hard on yourself.

Much respect for being able to admit a mistake. 

Interesting question to ponder: Did Brian's rant inspire Angelique to push for this interview with Lloyd? If so, although the rant was mostly off base, it still was very effective.

Edit: Seems like this question has already been answered below.

When you have to look in the mirror, we all do. I was right there with you, and the post absolutely got me all pumped up, maybe because I was looking for that sort of thing. I loved seeing it at the time, and now I feel rather silly, and like an asshole, because I hated when people called for Lloyd's firing; I loved him as a coach, and as a person except for a span of a few hours this afternoon. We all make mistakes.

double post? Come on. First one ever :'(. I told you we all make mistakes

EDIT: might as well make this useful. Brian, I know that that last post will be a marker of shame of sorts for you, and probably one of everybody's least favorite posts. But this is one of my favorite posts, and should be held up as an example of the integrity of MGoBlog.

It's alright Brian. I grew up down the street from Lloyd. I trick or treated at his house. Even I was extremely frustrated and disappointed when Lloyd had not come out and squashed the rumors about what he said. I think that I was thinking/feeling the same thing about this situation the entire time.

That being said, if I were in your situation, I would have just pulled the post and had a section in the next UV about how I was wrong. That's why you run the most successful sports blog and I don't. I have built an enormous amount of respect for what you have to say and this post is now at the top of the reasons why.

Honestly, I was troubled by how quickly Brian went out on a limb today to attack Lloyd Carr on the basis of this rather flimsy story, and good on you for realizing it was incredibly premature. 

Lloyd Carr deserved better on this blog today.  Period.  His reputation and his years of service to this University merit a lot more respect than most here are willing to give.  And I hope all who were posting drivel about how he wouldn't speak up, negbanging the living hell out of anything that defended him, etc. etc. realize that you reached for the torches and pitchforks just a tad too soon. 

The Freep, on the other hand, is closing in on one year of silence for their faux pas.  Not one word of apology or retraction.

Brian, you are THE man.  No problem, bro.

Good work, Brian.

I still have to ask this question, because I have yet to get an answer. What is the real issue with Rodriguez saying these things to scouts, if he actually did? I feel it is necessary for the head coach to give appropriate reviews of the talent they have, because, in my opinion, if you don't, and just say, "Morgan was great, worked hard, he'll do well for you." And then say, "Brandon Graham is amazing. Hardest worker ever. Amazing talent." There isn't enough disparity there. It needs to be fair for all the athletes.

Those who work hard, deserve to be highly touted. Those who lack do not. Simple as that.

This is just about the only conclusion that lets me preserve my feelings about RichRod and Carr (assuming they are both telling the truth). I assumed yesterday I was going to have to pick a side. As for Trent, should this really affect his reputation either way? He heard rumors and believed them. I don't think the book on him needs to include this non-story.

Meanwhile Tiger Woods' marriage and Andrew Bogut's arm are laughing at the stability of Michigan Football right now.

You still da man.  That's awful big of you to man up on this thing.  And just think in 20 years none of us really remember this shit or we won't give a crap if we did.

We got a whole 100+ days til kick off.  I just hope RR holds on and finishes the job 20 + years from now.