i find this extremely interesting
The Story, 2009
Filed under:
Part one of the all-singing all-dancing season preview.
I'm tired.
This is literal and metaphorical. Yesterday I got up at eight and shut off at some point between at 3 or 4 AM. I've spent the last two days discussing probably nonexistent NCAA violations instead of putting the final touches—read "writing the last third of"—this year's season preview. In the last year and a half I've spent one summer rolling my eyes and beating back an incredible wave of idiocy about Rich Rodriguez shredding every last bit of information on the West Virginia program and another attempting to explain to pastors and civilians the odd circumstances that led to a 3-9 season at hallowed Michigan. In between, hallowed Michigan went 3-9. None of it was particularly enjoyable.
I'm tired of reading obvious bullshit and having to explode it. I'm tired of filing particularly annoying articles in the folder where I keep the stuff to unearth and laugh at later. I'm tired of explaining and debating and debunking never getting around to the statistical work I did the first couple years of the blog's existence. I'm tired of oscillating between anger and uncertainty, apathy and sadness. I wanted to become unmoored from the static existence that was late-era Schembechler football, but it turns out the current is mostly undertow.
Most of all, though, I'm tired of this backup laptop, its half-gig of RAM, erratic wifi, and maddening inability to understand that I've plugged it into the damn wall. Seriously. Hurry up, Malaysia.
Rich Rodriguez is tired, too. He stood in front of a room of cameras and reporters yesterday and the first thing he said was "I don't usually have notes, but…" and then he sort of trailed off and fumbled with some paper and for a moment it seemed like he forgot how to read or just had to stare at the paper and wonder what had happened after Pat White injured his hand against Pitt, how he had gotten here and what a mistake it had been.
There was nothing for it, though, so the words formed themselves and stumbled out. Time goes one direction, at a constant rate.
------------------------------------------------------------------
As you might guess from the title, I write one of these every year. Last year's documents the whole sordid Rodriguez-defection-West-Virginia-hissyfit in elaborate detail—it comes complete with a Shot At Love With Tila Tequila reference—before wandering around to Michigan's prospects going into 2008 somewhere about 80% of the way through. It was that kind of offseason. This offseason was that kind of offseason, too.
Though the outlook was "grim," good God I had no idea how accurate this statement would turn out to be:
Michigan’s going to run out on the field and play like they’re one of those teams trying to make inferior talent work.
Yes, yes they did. Not so much with the working, and sometimes not even so much with the trying, but by God yes the running and the inferior talenting. "Great fun" it sounded like. Great fun it was not aside from a couple improbable plays against Wisconsin and an impossible afternoon against Minnesota.
The final paragraph was half-right:
It’s going to be a fiasco. It’s going to be ugly and tantalizing and dispiriting and awesome. I can’t wait.
Fiasco, ugly, dispiriting: check. Those other two qualities are pending.
A brief tour of the depths my mind sunk to when it wasn't turning in 200-word game columns featuring Henri, The Otter of Ennui:
DESPAIRING ASSERTIONS ABOUT THE STUPIDITY OF INFORMATION FLOW
Rich Rodriguez takes some time to talk about the internet's depressing tendency towards mocking and anger in some depth. The media takes the three sentences sure to generate the most outrage and create the dumbest image of Rodriguez, and the internet responds with mocking and anger.
I mean… what can you even say here?
IMAGINED CONVERSATIONS IN THE STYLE OF THE BIG LEBOWSKI
We've been frantically trying to reach you, EBay.
Where are my goddamn wins, you bum?
Well… we, I don't…
They did not receive the wins, you nitwit! They did not receive the goddamn wins. OUR STREAK WAS IN YOUR HANDS.
This is our concern, EBay.
EXTREMELY LOW-GRADE ASSAULT BEEFS
"Fort Sumter":
A couple rows above me, a middle-aged man stood on a bench and booed and booed.
He was angry. I was angry.
I stooped to pick up whatever flingable bit of detritus I could find, seized upon an empty water bottle, and chucked it at the booer. I missed,* lightly damaging an older man a row behind him. But I did get his attention. And the old guy looked like he was on The Other Side, so eff him.
WHATEVER THIS WAS
Fear/Paranoia Level: 0 out of 10. (Fear is the mindkiller. Fear nothing anymore; in your despair you find the freedom only the forsaken can experience.).
Desperate need to win level: 0 out of 10. (Needs lash the soul to the rack of imperfection. You need nothing. You experience all things, and all things experience you.)
-----------------------------------------
It was a tough, apathetic year in which the main goal of the blog was to yell at people I thought were stupid or shortsighted, which is, I imagine, like getting in a knife fights against an endless army of Skip Bayless clones. There is a certain grim satisfaction to the work that must be done, but eventually you end up covered in viscera and no closer to making the world a less annoying place.
The team, meanwhile, left or sucked or sucked and left with a few notable exceptions. They looked lost, caused my brain to fritz out as per above, and drove poor Johnny into a malaise that saw him pop up infrequently and then only to level a complaint we all felt at some level: this isn't my team anymore.
This, as did everything last year, caused a small internet war to break out. People were booers or bottle-tossers, skeptics or believers. Michigan fans probably put more time into flaming the hell out of each other than any fanbase has in history. But nothing is good for unity like a war.
----------------------------------------
I had a hard time parsing out the emotion I felt yesterday, a melange of anger, skepticism, selfish pathos, scorn, more anger, and something strange. And then I'm on the radio yesterday and I think of something. I signal to John Bacon that I have something to say and once Wayne Drehs finishes up his thought I say it. I don't remember it exactly what I said but I remember the thought.
Rich Rodriguez is a fundamentally artless person.
I have winced at many a Rodriguez press conference. Corny jokes about the Lion King, awkward phrasing, distinct lingering unflattering accent, typical coaching banalities, etc etc etc. Basically all the cultural things that differentiate Rodriguez from Carr are negative to me except insofar as he doesn't tolerate 350-pound starting offensive linemen who just quit the team a few weeks ago. That I'm with. It's just all the peripherals that I'm leery of.
This is some part of why portions of the local media have gone bats lately and a major source of ammunition for the little guy with a pitchfork who sits on your shoulder and whispers "doooooooooooom… doooooooooooooom" into your ear. But it was incredibly helpful yesterday when Rodriguez was trying to work through his statement. Because not for a moment did it cross my mind, or apparently the minds of even the most cynical observers, that Rodriguez's emotion was not genuine. The Free Press folk immediately scurried back to their cave to write an editorial that opened with "The issue is not how much Rich Rodriguez and his fellow University of Michigan coaches care about the young men who play football for the Wolverines."
Lloyd Carr might have handled that differently, been snappy or angry or more aggressive but one of the things that became clear as his tenure lengthened is that a journalist that unfairly attacked one of his players would find himself between a grizzly cub and his mother. The most important thing to Carr was the making the kids under him happy and successful. Though Rich Rodriguez has different ideas about what qualifies, yesterday it appeared that went for him too. For the first time (and possibly the last time), Rodriguez reminded me of Lloyd Carr. I want the head coach at Michigan to react like that when his reputation is threatened.
So this is bizarre after everything. But this year one of the many, many reasons I want Michigan to win—you try hitching a career to your favorite team—will be a new one. I'll be rooting on a personal level for Rich so he can have a press conference during which he can make an awkward comment about all this with a smile on his face, and I can wince inwardly at it.
September 1st, 2009 at 1:22 PM | 
Ye Hah!
Ye Hah!
September 1st, 2009 at 1:32 PM |
Ooooh Rah!
Ooooh Rah!
Nice job Brian, you sounded like Johnny there for a moment. Excellent. Go Blue.
September 1st, 2009 at 1:36 PM |
Nothing
Nothing
Nothing else needs to be said. Somehow you twisted that into something I did not see coming.
"Run and armpunt that, homeboy." -Brian 10/22/12
September 1st, 2009 at 1:36 PM |
We appreciate you Brian!
We appreciate you Brian!
We appreciate you Brian!
"This is the EMU game, not the emo game."
September 1st, 2009 at 1:37 PM |
Nice
Nice
In a word - nice. Posts like that keep me coming back for more.
September 1st, 2009 at 1:39 PM |
The Freep columnist has very
The Freep columnist has very
The Freep columnist has very badly overplayed a very weak hand. Time to go "ALL IN."
September 1st, 2009 at 1:49 PM |
Amen --
Amen --
"Lloyd Carr might have handled that differently, been snappy or angry or more aggressive but one of the things that became clear as his tenure lengthened is that a journalist that unfairly attacked one of his players would find himself between a grizzly cub and his mother. The most important thing to Carr was the making the kids under him happy and successful. Though Rich Rodriguez has different ideas about what qualifies, yesterday it appeared that went for him too. For the first time (and possibly the last time), Rodriguez reminded me of Lloyd Carr. I want the head coach at Michigan to react like that when his reputation is threatened"
Rod came in without a full appreciation for why the Fort was the Fort. This ain't your grandfather's WVU program, ya know.
The thing that I haven't like about Rod is that at times he plays the "victim" role. Well, here, as far as the Rosenberg article is concerned he appears to legitimately be the victim. Instead of playing that card, he gave a statement in which he was unapolgetic for the way that he is dealing with the kids. Running the program. That he knows the rules and played by them.
So, going forward, it is my expectation that we see more of this type of protective, aggressive tact with those members of the media that have not developed trust with the program --much like Lloyd did, albeit in his own style. At least that is my hope . . .
When did your mother let you out of the basement Mr. Rosenberg?
September 1st, 2009 at 1:41 PM |
Well said
Well said
That was a joy to read. You manage to encapsulate everything a Michigan fan is feeling and say it with the usual candor and articulation. It is great to have you as a steady and rational voice on Michigan football.
September 1st, 2009 at 1:43 PM |
Hear, hear.
Hear, hear.
Hear, hear.
September 1st, 2009 at 2:18 PM |
I came to the comments with
I came to the comments with
I came to the comments with the sole intention of saying "Well said. I could not elaborate more on this so I'll just say 'Hear, hear.'" So I guess I'll just tack this on here.
September 1st, 2009 at 1:42 PM |
Thank you Brian
Thank you Brian
If I stick with MGoBlog long enough, I hope to achieve the Zen-like state where I can follow each and every one of the twists and turns on the Brian coaster. In the meantime, I still enjoy it even when I occasionally get tossed off the ride and have to hang on for dear life.
September 1st, 2009 at 1:43 PM |
Brian
Brian
This is what i love about this site...it is written by a true fan of Michigan and is read by true fans of Michigan. This is all we need to be successfull......And a win vs. Western
“I am going to treat you all the same. Like Dogs.” - Bo Schembechler
September 1st, 2009 at 3:30 PM |
MGoBlog
MGoBlog
A harbor in the tempest
September 1st, 2009 at 1:45 PM |
My sentiments exactly.
My sentiments exactly.
This will make or break the team, if you can't come together now, then it may never happen. I just hope he isn't second guessing his decision to take the job in the first place..
Don't be a Douche
September 1st, 2009 at 3:38 PM |
He's probably second guessing it every night of his life.
He's probably second guessing it every night of his life.
He's still waiting to wake up any minute now from the bad dream of the WVU-Pitt injury to Pat White, and go out and play the second half.
"There's no place like home, there's no place like home . . ."
M'Dog
September 1st, 2009 at 1:48 PM |
Couldn't have said it better
Couldn't have said it better
Couldn't have said it better myself Brian.
For a' that, an' a' that,
Our toils obscure an' a' that,
The rank is but the guinea's stamp,
The man's the gowd for a' that.
Our toils obscure an' a' that,
The rank is but the guinea's stamp,
The man's the gowd for a' that.
September 1st, 2009 at 1:49 PM |
Fight the good fight!
Fight the good fight!
"I'm tired of reading obvious bullshit and having to explode it."
Uh huh. I'm glad someone is doing it, though.
"..."
September 1st, 2009 at 1:49 PM |
Damn...
Damn...
Brian, your insight into the world of Michigan athletics is unbelievable. This sight means the world to me!
September 1st, 2009 at 1:51 PM |
Wrong
Wrong
"Because not for a moment did it cross my mind, or apparently the minds of even the most cynical observers, that Rodriguez's emotion was not genuine."
Mike Valenti railed on him yesterday for faking his emotion. He also went on to say "now West Virginia players are coming out to confirm the story" without providing the actual detail.
MAKE PLAYS!!
September 1st, 2009 at 2:10 PM |
There's an implicit
There's an implicit
There's an implicit requirement that he have a mind in order for the thought to cross it...so I think Valenti is excluded from who Brian was talking about
September 1st, 2009 at 1:53 PM |
I'm tired too...
I'm tired too...
As much as it is the high road to take all this abuse and not lower ourselves to the level of rosenberg and the lot, it gets old. i really want to strike back somehow. it would be nice if lloyd or some other well respected michigan person would step up and just lay into the freep.
September 1st, 2009 at 2:30 PM |
Agreed
Agreed
I have no problem with how RR handled himself yesterday, but part of me wishes he had gone all Mike Gundy on the Freep twins.
September 1st, 2009 at 3:35 PM |
sorry
sorry
accidental double post
September 1st, 2009 at 3:33 PM |
join
join
the fire rosenberg facebook page!
September 1st, 2009 at 1:56 PM |
What is the sense...
What is the sense...
in negging myself if yous guys gonna give me points?
stop that shiat now!
caw caw!
Time wounds all heels. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwGXMryTbwE
September 1st, 2009 at 1:58 PM |
Post
Post
Great post, all of us are having these emotions.
September 1st, 2009 at 2:06 PM |
my god, i love michigan football.
my god, i love michigan football.
brian, you captured so much in so little space.
very rbuas-like. i don't know if i can give a higher compliment when it comes to this stuff. well done.
by the way - where IS johnny? anybody know?
September 1st, 2009 at 2:01 PM |
It is as if some of the
It is as if some of the
It is as if some of the Michigan community--press, fans, pundits--have wanted to humble Rich Rod. He is a proud man and has accomplished much in life.
Many have opined that he is too unpolished for urbane Michigan. But what has happened to him is unfair--a real blind-side attack that shows little regard for accuracy and scant knowledge of the actual rules. Brian's comments capture the feelings of many who may have had doubts about Rich Rod but resent the unfairness of the attack on him and on Michigan. Now is the time to rally around a man who has shown us in his tears that he does care. And rally around a school and its traditions of hard work and decency.
Remember what Bluto said -- let's do it:
D-Day: War's over, man. Wormer dropped the big one.
Bluto: Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!
Otter: Germans?
Boon: Forget it, he's rolling.
Bluto: And it ain't over now. 'Cause when the goin' gets tough...
[thinks hard]
Bluto: the tough get goin'! Who's with me? Let's go!
[runs out, alone; then returns]
Bluto: What the fuck happened to the Delta I used to know? Where's the spirit? Where's the guts, huh? This could be the greatest night of our lives, but you're gonna let it be the worst. "Ooh, we're afraid to go with you Bluto, we might get in trouble." Well just kiss my ass from now on! Not me! I'm not gonna take this. Wormer, he's a dead man! Marmalard, dead! Niedermeyer...
Otter: Dead! Bluto's right. Psychotic, but absolutely right. We gotta take these bastards. Now we could do it with conventional weapons that could take years and cost millions of lives. No, I think we have to go all out. I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part.
Bluto: We're just the guys to do it.
D-Day: Let's do it.
Bluto: *Let’s do it*!
September 1st, 2009 at 2:01 PM |
Lloyd Comparison
Lloyd Comparison
The YouTube video from "14 years ago" thats starts out with Lloyd saying to the media something like "You have no idea the pressure involved with being the coach of the University of Michigan." struck me. RR, after 18 months, probably fully understands that pressure now.
I was a half-hearted fan until M hired RR and I don't think its wrong to hope for his success.
I've been All-in for Michigan for 18 months and MGoBlog has done more to educate me on the program than any other source I could have found.
Thank you Brian, et al.
"That ball IS the program."
September 1st, 2009 at 2:03 PM |
thanks
thanks
for expressing your emotions (and, I suspect, those of many fans) so eloquently. have you been hanging around with johnny of rbuas this offseason?? ;) i keed, i keed. thanks again.
For my privacy, my new username is "non-Oriental non-Andrew"
September 1st, 2009 at 2:40 PM |
RR playing the victim?
RR playing the victim?
In what instance?
Shredding the docs - turns out to be a complete crock of shit
Boren/Family values - turns out to be a complete crock of shit, says nothing
Mallett leaves - no comment other than I want to talk about Michigan
Wermers leaves, smears RR and teammates - RR says nothing
Feagin booted, Freep smears RR - turns out to be complete crock of shit
Snydenberg smears RR - turning out to be crock of shit, RR defends himself and players.
I've lived and voted as a Democrat in liberal Ann Arbor for over 30 years, and believe me, I recognize when someone's playing the victim card. RR ain't it.
Further, if the feisty, cantankerous, obnoxious Bo Schembechler who came to Ann Arbor in 1969—with no internet, no talk sports radio, no ESPN, and miniscule media coverage in general—was the guy who'd been hired in late 2007, Snydenberg would have had a field day ripping him, his brusque manners, his imperious, demanding personality on the field, and his dripping contempt for the media in general. And there's no doubt in my mind that Bo would have personally, physically confronted Snydenberg for the crap they wrote, especially wrt to Stokes and Hawthorne. It's just par for the course that fat slobs like Valenti can't see genuine, artless emotion for what it is.
Now if it had been Dantonio up there on the dias struggling to hold his emotions in check, then Valenti and Snydenberg would be elbowing each other to be first in line for the fellating interview afterwards.
September 1st, 2009 at 2:09 PM |
The emotions are hard to describe
The emotions are hard to describe
from this week. At first I was mad, then disappointed, then I don't know... at this point today, how I feel can only be summed up by quoting from the seminal sports movie of our lifetime, "Major League":
Locker Room Scene, after the owner comes in and says that all she wanted was for the team to suck so bad that they could move out of Cleveland:
Jake Talor: "Well I guess there's one left to do then"
Willie Mays Hayes: "Yeah, what's that"
Jake Taylor: "Win the whole fucking thing."
GO BLUE!
"So I come out of Ohio Stadium after we beat the Buckeyes, and right there on the hood of my friend's car, some one took a dump, in the shape of an 'O'. no shit. Oh, sorry, bad pun."
September 1st, 2009 at 3:31 PM |
All In.
All In.
Deal.
M'Dog
September 1st, 2009 at 2:10 PM |
I'm tired, boss.
I'm tired, boss.
September 1st, 2009 at 2:11 PM |
this has
this has
gotten completely out of control.
Time wounds all heels. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwGXMryTbwE
September 1st, 2009 at 2:11 PM |
Fuck. Yes.
Fuck. Yes.
Fuck. Yes.
September 1st, 2009 at 2:11 PM |
Great Post Brian
Great Post Brian
Great post brian! May the robots in Malaysia work quickly to bring you a laptop!
I must say I love that you are out there fighting the good fight, but be carefull. There is a saying (that I cannot find right now) that the more you fight the enemy, the more like them you become. It's ok to take the high road sometimes and just let stupidity go.
I personally am ignoring the freep and their attention whoring ways for now.
September 2nd, 2009 at 1:33 AM |
Are you thinking of Nietzsche?
Are you thinking of Nietzsche?
"Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."
I say, Brian, keep fighting the good fight.
"Cry 'Havoc!' and let slip the dogs of war."
Michigan Resurgent? Michigan Resurgent!
The beatings will continue until the uniforms improve!
September 1st, 2009 at 2:35 PM |
Don't YOU go cryin too, Brian
Don't YOU go cryin too, Brian
...and, now, BACK TO FOOTBALL.
Edited to say: Dang boys can't you hear the maternal concern in my voice? I'll restate: I feel the same pain, but I *especially* agree with the part that there are things I'd rather talk and think about this week than the &*@fREEP.
September 1st, 2009 at 2:12 PM |
Bravo...
Bravo...
... and well played; perhaps the Big Lebowski tells all about the cub reporter's Pulitzer gambit:
>>The Dude: God damn you Walter! You fuckin' asshole! Everything's a fuckin' travesty with you, man! And what was all that shit about Vietnam? What the FUCK, has anything got to do with Vietnam? What the fuck are you talking about?<<
_______________________________
P.S. Walter = Rosenberg
Vietnam = Violations
September 1st, 2009 at 2:15 PM |
First MNC
First MNC
We will all look back on this after RR wins his first MNC at M and wonder "what the hell were the detractors thinking".
"Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger"
Life should not be a journey to the grave to arrive safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What A Ride!" HST
September 1st, 2009 at 2:17 PM |
Thanks Brian,
Thanks Brian,
You and MGOBLOG are our island of hope in a sea of putrid, selfserving hacks that is the MSM.
Well done and thanks again for the hope you provide.
New Oldsmobiles are in early this year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIdGxR-aU6o
September 1st, 2009 at 2:18 PM |
Yep
Yep
Thank you Brian. I've been trying to find a way to verbalize my emotions correctly and this piece is exactly what I was looking for.
Go Blue
productivesweatpants.com
@prodsweats
September 1st, 2009 at 2:20 PM |
In this corner
In this corner
We have an organization that prides itself of publishing outrageous and/or partially true articles purely for the sake of ratings and money.
In the other corner, we have an organization that prides itself on publishing well-researched, well-written, funny, timely, balanced articles for the love of it. Profit is second.
Final score: MGoBlog 1,000, MSM 0. Keep up the good work, I intend to buy a "In Rod We Trust" shirt this weekend to support you and our new coach.
BS-Computer Science, UMich class of '98.
"Why would you ask a dumb question like that?" -Lloyd Carr
September 1st, 2009 at 2:32 PM |
Agreed
Agreed
The end is what I believe the most. I felt for the first time he showed the true Michigan Values that we all had been looking for so badly. I am rooting for him so much, and I want a t-shirt saying "I'm All In for Rich Rodriguez". He deserves some freaking support because his resume should be enough to generate some faith. The only thing not proven was that he has the character of a michigan man, which is a very high standard in my mind. He truly has it and GO BLUE!
September 1st, 2009 at 2:33 PM |
Kill Western
Kill Western
Nothing personal, Broncos. I just want to see the Wolverines thrash Western Michigan so bad Rosenberg goes to his basement and hides behind the furnace.
September 1st, 2009 at 2:38 PM |
it's a marathon
it's a marathon
not a sprint. that said, I'm exhausted. never answered more mundane questions asked by curious minds about the program. fringe minds at that. I don't have any more answers to these folk. we're losers and cheaters until we prove otherwise I guess. so be it. due process. blood alone moves the wheels of history.
"Play hard and with great effort"
September 1st, 2009 at 2:39 PM |
Separation
Separation
I thank you for your comments.
Shit like this only makes me love this program more. I love being booed and I love the pressure. For the first time in a long time we (Michigan football community) are under the gun to produce. You don't like Michigan? Fine, fuck you and get out of my face.
Some of you hated (still hate) Carr? Get behind RR! Now we have to fight for our respect. Step up! I love it and I accept the challenge. Now it's up to RR to powder 'em up, throw 'em over his shoulder and head into battle!
"I don't know where you people get the nerve."
"From a long, hard winter, Mr. President."
September 1st, 2009 at 2:40 PM |
RR has gained
RR has gained
more support in the last three days than he has in the prior 18 months. The freep overstepped a line with their baseless attacks. FUCK THE FREEP. In ROD we trust.
http://ttifi.blogspot.com/ for interesting vids
http://ttifiblog.tumblr.com/ for interesting pics
September 1st, 2009 at 2:41 PM |
Perfecto
Perfecto
Thank you Brian for echoing what I myself am unable to say.
Go Brian go!
caw caw!
Time wounds all heels. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwGXMryTbwE