Another sign of the Apocalypse
What a couple weeks this has been. First, the market crashes. Next, Osama…oops, I mean Barak Mohammad Obama(bin Ladin) is about to take the White House and bring all his socialist andterrorist buddies to Washington. All that was very, very, very bad. But all of that I could have handled. Socialists? Domestic Terrorists? No problem. We’re used to that kind of stuff in Ann Arbor. What I can’t handle is what I’ve seen the lastsix weeks. I was excited to see theLloyd Carr era end, and had great hopes for the future. Sure, I expected a very tough transition year,as we moved from a Pro Style offense to the spread. Admittedly, I was a member of the Les MilesMafia, and had great hopes that he’d be leading the charge and bringing us backto respectability. Still, when RichRodriguez was named head coach, I embraced the selection.
I looked for the positive in a very ugly loss to NotreDame. Threat was starting to come around…ifonly we hadn’t turned over the ball so many times. Against Wisconsin, I gave up at half time. I started preparing dinner for my family andnoticed we scored a touchdown. Hownice. Maybe we’ll make itrespectable. Another touchdown. Well, let’s make it close. Then we win. Who’d a thought? Reality camecrashing back in last weekend, when we got manhandled by an average Illinois team.
Still, nothing prepared me for today. Crappy MAC team. Toledo? You’ve got to be kidding me. I can blame Lloyd for not having muchreturning on the offensive side of the ball, but I thought we had a soliddefense that would keep us afloat. Whatdefense?
I have now officially turned and suggest we end this Rich Rodriguezexperiment. This is just notworking. Even with a new offensivescheme and young players, there’s no way that Michigan should lose-EVER-to the MAC. This team looked unprepared and was verypoorly coached. Even Lloyd could havedone a better job than this.
I suggest that we get some of our best and brightest at the Michigan Law Schoolto figure out how we get out of this contract, and go hat in hand to LesMiles. Whatever he wants. Just get me a coach. This guy is a disaster.
October 11th, 2008 at 6:10 PM ^
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October 11th, 2008 at 7:29 PM ^
It's not... Lloyd should have stepped down then, too... it is no worse at all... it is equally horrible.
Signed,
Moron.
October 11th, 2008 at 6:37 PM ^
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October 11th, 2008 at 6:42 PM ^
After the first few sentences, I thought this guy was just being sarcastic and parodying the bastions of doom and gloom that are all over this site. He seems pretty serious, however. Obviously this season has sucked, but if we are going to compare Michigan's season to the current national situation I fear I have to quote Mandel from this week's mailbag:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/stewart_mandel/10/08/cfb.mailbag/2.html
"You are a silly, silly man Stewart. Typical big-shot schools lose once (sometimes ugly) and you move them down a few notches. USF, with an INJURED defensive line, gets booted out of the power rankings for a last-minute loss. How do you sleep at night? -- Gerald, Tampa
I have had some trouble sleeping lately -- but I'm 99.9 percent certain it has nothing to do with USF's poll ranking. You have my word on that."
October 11th, 2008 at 6:38 PM ^
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October 12th, 2008 at 12:28 PM ^
"i'm no longer on board" - i believe i'm speaking for everyone here when i say that you'll be sorely missed.
October 11th, 2008 at 8:15 PM ^
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October 11th, 2008 at 9:21 PM ^
I think that over the course of a season, not always in one game, but over a season, your belief can create gains that dont always play out in the win loss column. Michigan, collectively, needs to see other ways to win and lose and make gains even if they not are winning in the win column. Belief manifests at every level. Fear is a vibration just as confidence is one. Confidence and belief are not always shown in the win loss column. But that is ok in many ways. I think theres something being shown to us all here. It's an interesting moment in Michigan Football. But what you project out, from inside your self, eventually becomes your reality. You have to begin preparing to capitalize next year and the year after at this point. And I think RR has by playing freshman. The fans booing is part of it, Im sick of that to be honest. In lucid dreaming, you take control of the dream or you are aware that you are dreaming. You have to realize its a nightmare season and theres something deeper than the ego here. This may be good medicine for all of us involved with Michigan Football.
October 11th, 2008 at 9:27 PM ^
To the fan:
Rich has had to prepare for losses and project an attitude of winning. Even though he's holding a no hand for winning what so ever. This is a guy who does not like to lose. Maybe this is a big lesson for Rich here. Maybe he needed to be reminded of where he came from before the WV success. Maybe the average MI fan who boos needed to see this so they can develop new muscles to actually cheer and get crazy! Go over the edge, don't regress into a person who goes down memory lane here and into the Lloyd/Bo years. The loss today is connecting us to the resurgence.
October 11th, 2008 at 9:20 PM ^
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October 11th, 2008 at 11:07 PM ^
truebluegeorgia is right. The defense was horrid. They got torched for six points! What an abysmal performance. Let's burn Schafer at the stake. Are you effing kidding me "trueblue?" The defense gives up SIX EFFING POINTS and you say they got beat up? And what do you expect from an offense with NO LINE, a FRESHMAN quarterback and FRESHMAN (minus Matthews) at EVERY skill position. You're a moron. But you are right about RR setting us back. We don't have the number 5 recruiting class in the nation for next year and 3 five star recruits ALREADY committed for 2010. Go cheer for State and good riddance you fair weather fan. THOSE WHO STAY WILL BE CHAMPIONS. There's a reason Bo created that phrase his first year at Michigan.
p.s. You're probably one of the people who boo'd and left at halftime of the Wiscy game and in the fourth quarter of the State '04 game.
October 11th, 2008 at 11:58 PM ^
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October 12th, 2008 at 3:30 AM ^
I'm surprised no one called you out on this, but, hopefully you are joking. Those first few statements are really offensive. I'm hoping you are kidding.
However, I see you live in Georgia so I may be wrong. If you are serious, you may be interested to know that when one of McCain's supporters showed their true colors (as a racists, terrified, bible-thumping puss-bag) at his recent rally, it didn't go well. His supported called Barack an Arab, to which McCain said, "oh, no, no, he's a decent man". Sure, to you in Georgia that sounds fine, but there happen to be a BILLION Arabs in this world, and guess what? 99.99999% of them aren't trying to steal your 83' F150 and your case of Budweiser. The fact that McCain would calculate in his mind that Arab=badman is extremely offensive and ignorant. Not surprising, given his supporters. I suppose you're just another ignorant McCain supporting asshole. Oh and by the way, you spelled Barack wrong, dumb shit.
OK...rant over. If you were joking than rant redacted. I really hope you're joking. I'm not.
October 12th, 2008 at 11:02 AM ^
October 12th, 2008 at 11:09 AM ^
- If you're an academic, you are going to demand more time and different variables TrueBlueGeorgia. Variables being better players or more experienced ones. If anything the realm of comparisons should not be even allowed. Meaning RR success at another school was a reason to hire. To rehire though, he and his program will need to win in their first contract/campaign. I do believe they are trying to do that. I've said it since the get go, Michigan is a tough, tough place to coach football. The fans boo, the alumni are everywhere, and people like to see you lose. It's a place for men who love marathons or never ending seasons. I like Rich as a guy, I think if I met him in the hallway or at the supermarket I'd enjoy the few laughs you know. Also, this first season losing seems to be a pattern with Coach Rod. One could also say that Carr bailed at the wrong moment and didn't care how it was left and to who it was left as well. Let it play out over the next few years bro. It may not play out like you like it too though. There were a lot of Carr haters who assumed anyone was better. Once again, you cannot compare, or it is unwise to. Each team has a certain dynamic, some click and win and some simply do not. Look at the Detroit Tigers. Leyland's won a World Championship with the Marlins. He came to D-town and got close but never won. And this year they were supposed to be everything and they were anything but. Sometimes you'd have to be pre-cognitive on the level of William Shakespeare to get a team to win. It is unfair to throw Rich under the bus this early.
- Now I do think LoPata's missed kick, the fumbles and what not are process indicators though for a change in philosophy. They are struggling more than expected. They know, the players that is, that in 10 years. They will be considered to be one of the worst teams to ever suit up in the Big House. They know people will want to forget them. Why worry about self actualizing and your lineage so to speak if you know its already blown. The fans need to come to terms with what they expect and let these kids breathe. The media as well. Soon it will be winter and Beilen will struggle. And then spring and so on. We need to play for spring ball. Sure, try to win but this next game should start a new approach. The drops, the fumbles, the missed kicks, and all the endless lists of bad grades will continue but how we deal with them can change.
October 12th, 2008 at 11:16 AM ^
October 12th, 2008 at 1:02 PM ^
- I think that there is a tendency to go out and look for explanations as to why things go wrong when they go horribly wrong. And the reasons we come up with to justify it may not be even close to the reality as to why or how it happened. Also, when things go wrong people are going to begin to spin their angle and stick to it. That being said, yes, the most logical reason and the most probable reason as to why Michigan Football is where it is, is attrition. On all fronts. Football has more variables than say Basketball. Take lineman for example, you need time to develop them both in technique and in physical stature.
- Every experiment comes to an end though. Sooner or later the side you support wins out or the opposition does. However, I do think in tough times you can see a good deal more revealed than when things are easy or your cupboards are overflowing. One on hand we will wait till the cupboards are stacked then look back to this moment when they are not and form the larger opinion of the overall state of Michigan Football under Coach Rod.
- One thing I've noticed, is that Michigan's players need to come up to a higher level mentally. Game prep is not something the coaches can baby you through. Michigan's players, in my opinion, will need to learn how to fight, when no one has their back. The mystique died yesterday. So the ego is best left at home when they enter MON's practice. It is not all coaching, no matter what that article from the GR PRESS says.
October 12th, 2008 at 1:28 PM ^
October 12th, 2008 at 2:29 PM ^
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