unverified voracity

Unverified Voracity Finally Posts It Comment Count

Brian

By multiple, persistent request. Some time back the Hoover Street Rag pled for assistance, asking if anyone out in MGoBlog land had a copy of "The Victors" by a jazz singer named Pat Suzuki. Several people offered versions of this weird piece of Michigan apocrypha, the HSR's request was met, and I got a file containing the audio. At the time, however, the laptop's soundcard was on the fritz and I had no idea what was actually in my possession.

One thankfully persistent reader, however, has not let it drop. It turns out that the item in question is surreal. Its closest analogue in my experience is Marylin Monroe's infamous rendition of "Happy Birthday" directed at JFK; both are utterly transformative. And weird. And were undoubtedly undertaken in cocktail dresses.

Anyway, here it is. Click the play icon next to the link for a swanky javascript player; right click and "save as" to download.

Pat Suzuki SINGS(!) "Hail To The Victors"

Seriously. I was pretty annoyed by Josh Jarboe's sudden dismissal from Oklahoma for -- gasp! -- rapping, more annoyed when I read Bob Stoops' pre-dismissal quote to the effect of "sticks and stones," and just plain angry when the bitter old men at the Oklahoman smarmily applauded the about-face. So I wrote something to that effect.

I probably wouldn't have bothered, though, if I knew that SMQ was going to kick off his final week of amateur wordsmithery by dropping a bomb on the Typical White Middle-Aged Sportswriter villians referenced above:

Was it "the Internet culture" that asked him to act swiftly, with the full weight of his position? Every Day Should Be Saturday, the most widely-read college football blog on the Web, linked to the video with no call for discipline. The very mainstream-leaning Wizard of Odds, which broke the video's existence and posted the version that drew tens of thousands of hits last week, made no call for discipline. None called Jarboe a "thug" or described his freestyle efforts as "jabber." Who, then, is Stoops actually frustrated with?

The finger points squarely at the old men who don't understand the internet but feel free to blame it for all ills, real or imagined.

Maybe they need someone to degrade them. West Virginia has leapt up the Fulmer Cup scoreboard with a series of crimes spectacular and petty:

When I initially noted this apparrent explosion of bad behavior, Washington was believed to still be on the team and his nine points brought the 'Eers into a tie for the lead. It turns out he was dismissed after spring practice. The points go away but this is a kid who had some major issues in high school; Rodriguez pursued and acquired him.

So, like... WTF? As I've noted before, West Virginia was not a big mover in the first couple years of the Fulmer Cup, scoring nine points total. Michigan racked up 15 points, all of them coming last year when Lloyd Carr's retirement was impending. Driven by the realities of recruiting players to West Virginia, Rodriguez brought in his fair share of... uh... characters but he largely kept them in check. Even Pacman Jones had but one incident, that as a freshman. From there on he was off the police blotter.

"Coach Stew" -- West Virginia fans are constitutionally incapable of using their coach's full last name -- has not had similar fortune. Why?

bill-stewart.jpg

It's tough to scare the hell out of your players when you're obviously thinking "I can't believe I'm a Division I head coach. How much are they playing me? I get a whistle!"

I foresee this ending badly.

(Sidenote: in searching for Stewart pictures I came across this engineering dork LOL page:

Fatal error: Call to undefined function: graceful_fail() in /web2/dmblogs/docs/wp-content/blogs.php on line 77

Snicker.)

Back to the future. Wolverine Historian has assembled Rick Leach highlights for your edification.

Comments

chitownblue (not verified)

August 6th, 2008 at 8:53 PM ^

Don, you're trying your hardest to turn this into a racial issue, which shouldn't be surprising as a resident of Grosse Pointe in the days that realtors refused to show houses in town to such dregs as society as blacks and jews. The fact, my friend, is that you're creating a double standard. You frown upon a subculture that "glorifies violence, rhapsodizes about drug use, sexualizes young women, and dismisses education"? Have you listened to a Rolling Stones album? It's full of fist-fights, morphine trips, and fucking young girls. So why was it ok for you to engage in elicit activity and not OK for Jarboe to SPEAK about elicit activity? Because your white mommy could bail you and your friends out, and they could save your lilly white ass from any dumb-ass thing that you did? The fact that Jarboe doesn't (note: I don't even know what kind of family he comes from. Nor, do I suspect, do you, aside from the fact that they're black) have someone as well-connected as your Grosse Pointe parents means should be punished harder for his mistakes? That, my friend, is ten miles beyond moronic. The simple fact of the matter is this: Oklahoma was FINE with Jarboe when he was a felon. He got arrested for bringing a loaded gun to school, and they let him stay enrolled. They kicked him off the team, however, for talking. That's it - talking. Your entire argument for why what he said is impermissable revolves around his race. He comes from a "violent culture", so he shouldn't say that. You further imply that you could in your day, because your parents were part of a "complex social network". Your effort to turn this into a black vs. white issue speaks volumes as to who you are. Your effort, in your second post, to somehow assert that you could engage in the elicit behavior Jarboe only SPEAKS about because your family was wealthy and well-connected demonstrates that you're the guy that isn't racist because "he had a black friend once". As strange and frightening as people who didn't grow up around you may seem to be, it does not create a different standard of behavior for two people. That's patently racist, and disgusting.

Joined: 12/12/2017

MGoPoints: 0

gsimmons85

August 6th, 2008 at 9:25 PM ^

great post. and believe it or not Don, i respect your opinion as well (however i know plenty of unstable youth that listened to Van halen, and Queensryche, but whatever) as a educator over the last 10 years i have seen both sides of the spectrum... The first 7 in an area of the country where education was not important, single family homes were the norm, and teenage pregnancy sky high. The last three, in upper middle class, high class world. Things are different, priorites are different. The curriculum is the same though. blamning beavis and butthead for kids starting fires, or judas preist for teenage suicide has been a round for a long time, across generations, and across socio-economic lines. After all, Elvis was particular evil because he appealed to the hormoned youth of america who were most likely to pick up on his sexual induendus. If this is about saving our youth, OK should have helped the kid out, his family, is issues, not sent the kid packing....This is about a football program making a knee jerk reaction, and that is all.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 261

Michigan Arrogance

August 7th, 2008 at 10:23 AM ^

but nonetheless... what about the gun? i mean, everyone seems to say, 'hey that's indefensible' but what were the circumstances? i mean what if he literally brought the gun to school for self defense? just sayin'...

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 35484

chitownblue (not verified)

August 7th, 2008 at 10:48 AM ^

Dan - no idea, but I'm sort of anti "bringing loaded guns to schoool" as a general policy.

Joined: 12/12/2017

MGoPoints: 0

big gay heart

August 7th, 2008 at 10:55 AM ^

The point is that he brought the gun to school, was caught, due process ensued, and Oklahoma was ok with the outcome. They weren't, however, ok with Jarboe rapping on youtube after they were intially ok with Jarboe rapping on youtube. What gives? Media pressure? Is Stoops in coaching to assuage the complaints of the media or is he in coaching to help young kids figure the world out? Because, I'm pretty sure when he talked to Jarboe and his family durign his recruitment, he wasn't all like "yeah, my first priority is to appease the media."

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 1616

hat

August 7th, 2008 at 7:49 PM ^

There's got to be more to this story than just the YouTube video. I can't believe Stoops would be so stuffy as to boot a player for just that.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 15