By Rights We Should Have To Play There Comment Count

Brian

appalachian-state-university

never heard of it

We didn't listen!

The University of Michigan football program will open the 2014 season with a match-up against Appalachian State University on Aug. 30 at Michigan Stadium. This will be the second [sic] meeting between the Wolverines and Mountaineers at Michigan Stadium.

Sorry about that error in the second sentence above. Michigan has never played Appalachian State.

If you'll excuse me, I feel like having a seizure.

Comments

M-Dog

August 25th, 2011 at 8:52 PM ^

Agreed.  It's not that we're afraid of losing, it's that there is nothing to gain when we win.

We get to relive the Horror in the media for three months, and then when we win and get our "revenge", the response will be "big deal, it's what you should have done the first time". 

jmblue

August 25th, 2011 at 9:39 PM ^

What if you were to ask a member of the 2007 team how they'd feel about this?  You really think they're OK with what happened? 

Hell, Mike Hart probably wanted to play App State the next day.  We've got to even the score against these guys.  It doesn't matter what the national media thinks.  We need to do it for ourselves.

 

BiSB

August 25th, 2011 at 5:18 PM ^

It isn't that we're afraid of losing to App State in this, our first ever meeting. It's that there is nothing to be gained here. Win, and you get a week of "remember last time" stories leading up to the game, and the glory of beating an FBS team. Lose, and I have to move to Yemen.

These demons shall not be exorcised.  They shall remain forever.

MGoShoe

August 25th, 2011 at 8:48 PM ^

...wrong. There's a check in the W column to be had. The demons only exist in your mind. They are not real.

You went to ND for law school and now live in East Lansing, right? Yemen would be an improvement.

BiSB

August 25th, 2011 at 9:42 PM ^

There's a W to be had. But if you're gonna sign up for a cupcake (which by definition includes any FCS opponents, including App State), why would you make it a cupcake that would remind people for MONTHS ahead of time about that time Armanti Edwards looked like Denard Robinson and Michigan's '07 defense looked like Michigan's '10 defense.

And yes, Yemen might be an upgrade, were it not 173 degrees.

jmblue

August 25th, 2011 at 9:47 PM ^

Don't obsess on the potential downside.  Channel your inner Bo Schembechler:  "Dammit, we're going to play them again!  And we're going to beat them!  Michigan doesn't back down from anybody!  No team is going to have a winning record against Michigan!  No ifs and buts about it!"

BiSB

August 25th, 2011 at 10:12 PM ^

Of COURSE Michigan will win. And of course Michigan isn't scared of playing them.  But even assuming everything goes exactly as planned, there is nothing to gain.  Who in the hell is going to say, "ah, yes, NOW we see that Michigan Football is superior to App State.  I wasn't sure before."

Forget being the little brother; App State is like our 6-year-old nephew who beat us at a game of Horse.  Sure, if we played them again and actually paid attention, we'd probably beat him easily.  But we wouldn't take any less crap from the rest of the family.

Michigan didn't regain its Michiganness in 2007 by beating Eastern to prove they could beat cupcakes.  They regained their Michiganness by beating the shit out of Notre Dame and Purdue, beating Penn State and Michigan State, and smacking Tebow around.  THAT'S how you change the story. You don't challenge the 6-year-old to a rematch.  You find the best player in the family and you take HIM down one-on-one. Challenging the kid again makes you look as embarassed as everyone imagines you to be.

jmblue

August 25th, 2011 at 10:42 PM ^

If the game's a sure thing, that's all the more reason to play them.  It will get us good TV ratings, fill up the stadium, and allow us to even the series with them.  It's the only possible FCS matchup that is compelling to watch.

Needs

August 25th, 2011 at 5:09 PM ^

Let's just cap the whole miserable thing off with special pregame festivities to honor Kordell Stewart, Michael Westbrook, and Donovan McNabb.

M-Dog

August 25th, 2011 at 9:00 PM ^

This brings up a good point about false "revenge".  We beat Colorado a couple of years later at their place, by thwarting a last play Hail Mary pass.  Should have been the very definition of sweet revenge.

Dream on.  It in no way made up for Stewart-to-Westbrook nor diminished its searing stabbing pain throughout the years.

 

jmblue

August 25th, 2011 at 10:47 PM ^

Maybe it didn't mean much to you, a fan, but you'd better believe it meant a lot to the players on that team.  And I'd wager that the guys in this program have been itching to play App State ever since that fiasco.  It's a shame that all of the 2007 players will have graduated by the time we get revenge. 

Needs

August 26th, 2011 at 8:58 AM ^

Meaning and memory are different things though. It may be meaningful to players to beat ASU (though none of the players that lost the first time will be on the team, thus reducing the kind of meaning that the guys who lost in 94 likely took from the 97 victory). But regardless of the meaning built atop the game, it will do little to erase the memory of the 07 game, and the emotions (ahhh, turn away) that that memory sparks in most fans and, likely, many players (I don't know, I didn't play in that game).

The point is that playing this game to somehow erase the memory of 07 is a futile gesture. It's best to let painful memories fade, rather than forcing them up again. 

Therapists on the board may disagree, but for me, repress, repress, repress.

KSmooth

August 25th, 2011 at 5:16 PM ^

Setting aside the whole we-really-don't-need-this-rematch thing, Brian's undeniably right about one other thing.  If this game's going to be played it should be at their place.  If they want to sell more tickets, Charlotte's reasonably close.  But the bottom line is we lost, fair and square.  If there is going to be a rematch, it should be on their turf.  Honor demands no less.

smwilliams

August 25th, 2011 at 5:18 PM ^

Conversation between Brandon and Michigan Fans

Brandon: So I'm thinking about scheduling Applachian State in 2014.

MF: Nooooo!!!!!

Brandon: What's the problem?

MF: The Horror! The Horror!

Brandon: Didn't we all agree to pretend that never happened. Plus, revenge is a dish best served Hoke.

MF: This is a terrible idea. Nothing good can come of it and if anything, it'll make our guys extra nervous because all they will hear about leading up is about the Horror. If we lose, we're humiliated again. If we win, it does nothing, but drudge up old memories.

Brandon: PIMP HAND ACTIVATE!

*2 seconds later*

The University of Michigan football program will open the 2014 season with a match-up against Appalachian State University on Aug. 30 at Michigan Stadium. This will be the second meeting between the Wolverines and Mountaineers at Michigan Stadium.

Wave83

August 25th, 2011 at 7:21 PM ^

I would like to declare  fatwa against Dave Brandon. 

I am sickened by the stupidity of this.  It is Bill Martin stupidity multiplied by the fact that we now have the experience of Bill Martin's stupidity.

jmblue

August 25th, 2011 at 9:52 PM ^

We have a long-standing tradition of difficult nonconference schedules.  We've historically taken on all comers.  Heck, our mascot is an animal that fights much larger animals than itself.  But now we should forget all that and run away from a challenge by App State?

Wave83

August 26th, 2011 at 7:43 AM ^

App State is now a challenge?  It was bad enough that they beat us in a fluke game -- now you think they are a "challenge."  If App State is a challenge, maybe we should give up on this football thing.

There is massive downside (if we stumble into another loss); there is zero upside if we got to 1-1 with App State.  Meanwhile, we invite all the negative attention regarding The Horror at the same time we are trying to move on, build up our program, and play teams like Alabama to start the season.

This decision is stupid and was made by someone who now appears to be more of a corporate airhead than I had thought he was soley to make money off a freak show.

bklein09

August 25th, 2011 at 5:18 PM ^

I'm actually kind of surprised that App State agreed to this one.

I always figured they wouldn't want to play us again so that they could always have the "We are 1-0 against Michigan" thing.

Then I realized that even if we beat them in 2014, they will still be able to talk trash along with the rest of the college football world.

Plus, this get their university massive amounts of positive press for the second time. Michigan will get some pub too, but not the good kind.

How much do you want to bet that this game ends up on ESPN. It's going to be horrible.

That being said, we should just show up and wipe the floor with them, and move on with our lives. 

Then we can play our next game, will which will undoubtedly be Oregon since DB likes us to relive the pain.

However, unlike App St, I would fully endorse a rematch with Oregon. Just not for a couple of years when they have come back down to earth. 

M-Dog

August 25th, 2011 at 9:11 PM ^

Bet it won't be broadcast on a BTN overflow channel that nobody can get this time around.

Do we get extra money if it is shown on ESPN or ABC?  Otherwise, I can't see why we would do it.

Maybe we should make it our night game and really milk it.

  

BRCE

August 25th, 2011 at 5:19 PM ^

No one should ever forget that game.

It's essentially an instructional video to all incoming coaches at major programs on what NOT to do when opening the season against lightly-regarded opponents.

Go Blue Beat T…

August 25th, 2011 at 5:19 PM ^

i was just about to comment earlier about how i stopped reading the comments section on this site because everyone was so damn depressed. it was nice to see happiness and an optimistic outlook for 2011. But then i didn't write it, because i knew it would somehow jinx our future. and here, hours later..........