Fred Roh's Post (Some good side notes)
(Side note: He said he loves UFR's, especially when Craig grades out well. He also said he has a 9th grade son that he thinks will be as good, or better than Craig.
As a freshman, he's already 6'2 165 and plays WR, and....SAFETY!!! He also has an 11th grade son that is a very good basketball player, and a 7th grade daughter that is a very good volleyball player. THE ROH FAMILY IS ABOUT TO SAVE THE MICHIGAN PROGRAM ONE CHILD AT A TIME!!!)
As the parent of a current UM player and 9 months out of the recruiting process, it is important for all forum posters to understand that recruits and their parents subscribe to and read your posts, both postive and negative. This is one of the easiest ways for a recruit to see what is going on behind the scenes in a football program.
So, before you write your next critical comment on Rich Rod and on a player, you might want to think about who will be reading it. Why in the world would a parent want to send their kid to a school where the coach and players are getting ripped every day by hundeds of online fans. Why would a parent want to send a kid to a program where half the fans want the coach fired; where there is continual discussion about universty in-fighting. Those of you who are continually writing these scathing comments are hurting recruiting and the UM football program!
One main reason I sent my son to Michigan was because of the great fan base and playing in front of 100k people. I am not naive enough to think that fans are not going to be upset after some heartbreaking losses and believe they have a right to criticize coaches and players. However, please understand that these guys came to UM because they believed in the program. They believed in Rich Rod and bought into the idea of building for the future. They want desperately to make things better. They want to go to bowl games and they want to win Bog 10 and National Championships. Do you really think that Rich Rod and Greg Robinson have no idea what they are doing? Do you really think the program will be better off firing Rich Rod? Who, either player or coach, would want to come to UM or stay at UM if Rich Rod got fired and the process starts all over again?
Please consider the next time you want to vent on this website that these players and coaches are working harder than you can imagine to bring Michigan football back. It is great for intelligent posters to give insights that talk about strategy, what is working and what is not. However, emotional reactions calling for the heads of coaches and players will do nothing but destroy this program.
Bear in mind, a lot of Buckeye, Spartan fans, etc read and post on this blog as well. Some of the nastier posts & fire RR diatribes could easily be from them, wanting UM to spend a few more years in the wilderness of implementing yet another system.
By the way, RR will have atleast 4 full years to turn around the program, it is the only way to fully evaluate him & this team has made enormous progress vs. last year.
Of course he doesn’t want anyone complaining about Rich Rod and getting him fired. This is the coach that recruited and has started his son all year. A new coach that could benefit the program in the long term doesn’t interest him or at least isn't his main concern. I’m not saying I don’t agree with some of the things he says but you do need to consider the source and know that his top priority to get his son into the NFL as opposed to the typical Michigan fan that wants sustained Michigan success.
If molk wasn't injured we'd probably be undefeated or maybe have one loss and you freaking idiots want to get rid of the best coach we're ever going to have at Michigan. You clearly don't understand football or just really you aren't a true Michigan fan, dude. Your mentality is the 9-3 mentality that plagues a huge faction of michigan fans.
How can anything be worse than having 8 pro bowl NFL players on your defense and still losing to OSU every freaking year. Did the wins against purdue and illinois those years somehow soften that for you? They did't for me. I'll take wins over ND and OSU in exchange for losses in games that none of us give a crap about. WHen we are trouncing OSU in two weeks and the stadium is going crazy like it did at ND I hope you won't be there.
In Rod I Trust,
Because he did inherit a pile of rust
With instructions that read:
On 4th and 4 punt from the buck's 39
when 4 yards would give you a win for the times
You won't keep your job
Cause I kept mine
undefeated ... really? we lost by 25 points to both PSU and Illinois, never seen a Center score that many points before
Really? Considering that the ACC is the top conference (numerically) for sending defensive line prospects to the NFL, you'd think that he'd be at one of those schools right now if that were his top and only priority.
C. Roh had one of the top GPAs of all the incoming recruits, so one would reason that academics played a factor.
I don't want to go any further, but make sure to put on your "logic" cap next time you write a comment.
If you think any of these highly touted athletes are using academics as a major deciding factor then you may want to try on your “logic” cap also.
Whoa there puck-fella.
There's a big difference between "NCAA is hypocritical about its 'amateur' athlete status," and thinking athletes don't make education a MAJOR consideration.
The opportunity for a great education is a major reason Michigan has been able to lure football players (and darn good ones) to this school for well over a century.
Did you think it was the winged helmets or something?
The coaches who recruit against Michigan would love it if prospective players never took academics into consideration. It would be the best thing to ever happen to them. Because no matter who's coaching here, we have always been able to offer a degree from one of the best universities in the country. How many places are there where you can play in a mega rivalry in front of 100k fans and compete for national championships, and then walk out with such a degree?
Oh, it matters alright, and you'd better thank your lucky stars that it does!
This team is under construction. We thank you for your patience.
Michigan athletes make up only three percent of undergraduate students but 49 percent of general studies majors.
If academics is such an important factor then why does most the team major in general studies (previously know as kinesiology)? I would think they would be more focused on the specific majors that made them select Michigan. Don’t get me wrong, I hope it does play a major part since it benefits us but I just don’t believe it does.
Of all my friends from college, the most successful guy so far was a General Studies Major.
Small sample and all, but his studies were no more of a joke than my History degree.
Kinese isn't a joke at M either -- guy I knew freshman year was buried under a tower of door-stopping anatomy books.
You point to G's and Keeze as throwaway subjects -- is it possible that they just happen to most closely fit the interests of major athletes? There's also an inordinate amount of kids from High School Debate teams in Poli Sci, and Communications classes have way more former members of school newspaper and yearbook staffs than the school average.
I took that History of Ancient Sports class which was targeted by the Ann Arbor News "investigation" a few years ago. It was heavily populated with athletes. To the News, this meant the class had to be a laugher. It wasn't. It wasn't, like, the hardest History class I ever took, but it wasn't any different than other History courses. The reason it was filled with scholarship athletes was...dum dum daahhhh...it was about athletics!
I grant you that the typical 4-star scholarship athlete's career at Michigan will probably be very different than yours or mine. But there's a huge difference between "campus life is structured around competing in a major sport" and "pro athlete in all but name and paycheck."
I don't think academics are on the top of every 18-year-old athlete's mind. But it is a consideration, likely for the parents more so than the recruits, and likely more so for the guys who choose Michigan than most other schools.
This team is under construction. We thank you for your patience.
Really, what it does is create flexible for a wide education. It's really no more worthless or valuable than any other LSA degree, unless you plan on teaching in that particular area. People don't realize you have to take over half your credits in 300+ level course, so it's not like it's just all the blowoff courses. You just dodge a lot of crappy classes you don't really need but are required. Great degree for going to grad school, like law school and such.
...I have shown him...a man without hope...is a man without fear...
“is it possible that they just happen to most closely fit the interests of major athletes?”
Funny how the major that most closely fit athletes interest changed dramatically from Keeze to G’s in 2003 when the kinesiology professors decided to strengthen the course work for the program.
I think for kids who score relatively well academically in high school and are realistic about their NFL hopes, yes, I think it does play some role. We do have players in the business school, for instance.
And let's not kid ourselves, for the majority of LS&A graduates, it doesn't really matter what your major was, and General Studies is pretty much as good as anything. Michigan also offers a lot less b.s. professional school majors so they can't major in like, human resources or something.
I'm pretty confident that a kid who graduates with a General Studies degree from U of M leaves school a lot smarter than he was when he came in, and probably also significantly better off than if he had gone to a lesser school. They do force them to study you know.
Every time I begin to write a reply to this I realize another level on which your comment fails.
You can hate on me all you want to, but what can you possibly say to somebody that looks like Rambo, pretty much, with his shirt off?
One of the things that stands out the most to me are posts with declarative titles like "RichRod will be gone by 2010." This website has an established reputation for providing good insider information, mainly on the blog but also sometimes on the board, and with thread titles like that, it would be easy for someone unfamiliar with the site to mistake it for gospel.
Unless you actually have good information, I think it would be beneficial to all of us to title posts so that readers understand that the post is your opinion/analysis or is a question designed to stimulate discussion.
This post has been circulating on other Michigan blogs, and I think it's a great wake-up call. Thanks, Mr. Roh, and Go Blue!
I don't know if we should should trust Mr. Roh, he can't even spell BIG. (sarcasm)
What do you get if you see an Ohio State fan buried up to his neck in sand?
More sand.
Perhaps it was a veiled joke about the state of the conference or maybe where we'll be burying the bodies of our opponents when we are dominant once again.
Thanks Fred! I think the post was much-needed on this blog. Thanks for writing it. I may have done some unproductive venting on here in the past. Nothing really bad...certainly not as bad as some people on this blog. I've never ranted about any particular player and I haven't called for firing anyone. But I will remember your post in the future when I get frustrated with the progress of the team. I guess I should have known that players, recruits and their families read a lot of the stuff on here, but I didn't really think about it.
I have so many fond memories of Michigan football...I watched almost every games with my dad (who passed away this year) growing up. And I will never forget driving 1000 miles with my him to the 1998 Rose Bowl and watching Michigan clinch the National Title in Pasadena (I don't acknowledge the other team that claims that title). So, I will never stop being a fan of Michigan and I will always root like hell for the team even when they are struggling like they are now. I look forward to the next few years, when we get back to our rightful place atop the Big Ten standings. With players like your son, I know that it's only a matter of time before we get there.
Thanks again for talking some sense into the fair weather fans. And know that most of the fans support the team %110...players and coaches.
Michigan Wolverines=Ricardo Miller's troops
I made a post a little bit ago when people kept saying RichRod was not a "Michigan Man."
I said something along the lines of, "Michigan Man is a concept that seems to come up as an abstract concept. Whenever anyone doesn't like what's happening with a player or coach, they dub him 'not a Michigan Man.' It never seems to come up when someone is doing it right."
I'm gonna say it right now. Craig Roh is a Michigan Man. I am a big fan. I think he, Campbell, LaLota are a really nice start to a great defensive front. And thank you to Mr. Roh for weighing in.
I loved hearing from a guy with so much emotionally invested in the program. I also appreciate the way his son plays the game. If he continues to pROH-gress in this pROH-gram, he could have a shot at the pROHs. I'm just sayin...
(I am so, so sorry.)
Tom VH and Mr. Roh.
AJ Bluefan
Mr. Roh,
Your sentiments have gotten me off the sidelines and into the game. When rationale people sit silent, it gives the wackos more credibility. I have faith and trust in Coach Rod, and I knew this year would be tough. We are not building a team to win the 1995 National Championship, and the game has changed. The goal is also not to contend for Big 10 titles...that will happen, but that's not the goal. The real goal is to WIN the national championship. We are building a team that will beat Texas, USC, Florida, etc. That will take time, but it will be well worth it. Thank you!
Thank you for pROHviding me the inspiration to join the conversation.
Good one, TapaROHga.
The Human Torch was denied a bank loan.
I was interested in Fred Roh's athletic background so I did some googling and found this.
http://www.naymz.com/fred_roh_2241883
It appears he is also quite the scholar, which is not surprising, as his son appears to have possibly the best football smarts on the team.
"And he we are in Columbus in front of a sellout crowd of 10,000 alumni and 74,000 truck drivers." --Bob Ufer
Great show of support for our pROHgram, thanks Fred. Really great to see the young players and their families are committed to the bigger picture and our teams future. Let's hope the younger Roh is as high on Michigan as his brother and dad.
Oh my I do enjoy a good pun
I know from experience dude. If you know what I mean.
This just proves to me that we should all stealth sign up on various sites as Buckeye fans and talk trash about Tressel.
An informed voter's vote counts the same as someone who votes for the candidate they think is better looking.
To have freedom of speech, we must share these freedoms with knuckleheads. That being said, I've appreciated many of the recent post because they've objectively criticized or questioned the newish regime. The emotional, dipshit blasts seems to have tapered off following the Illini loss. I expected much worse following the Purdue loss and have been pleasantly surprised.
Very few freshmen are doing a better job nationwide than Tate Forcier and Craig Roh. Even Matt Barkley, who plays behind an NFL team, has his struggles. I can't wait until next year. This team will get more fun and less frustrating to watch every year, provided RR stays at the helm.
That was some beautiful pROHse there Mr. Roh.
Keep it going folks...
But Falcon Seven, I'm decoupaging! If I leave now, it may bubble!
...but what some men consider loss, i consider roh-gain.
"Real n*gg*z do real things." -Braylon Edwards
Like all of us, this family enjoys a rousing chorus of The Victors, but the men and boys in particular take great delight in singing the line "Hail to the conqu'ring he-Rohs."
If I could give you 200 of my MGoPoints, I certainly would.
I compulsively downvote Brian Cook.
not bad advice, Mr. Roh. Thank you.
Infinity can only happen once. Think about that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwGXMryTbwE
Your son has made us proud this year despite the adversity... kid's been fun to watch.
"I will fight, 'til I'm dead, with a Winged Helmet on my Head"
His point is a valid one, obviously, and I think most of us knew that even before this post. The flip side, of course, is that we fans want a place where we can have our internet version of "free speech."
It seems like we need a pay-wall or something that recruits can't access, combined with an "official fan support site."
I don't think I spew a lot of negativity, but even a little criticism could be harmful to recruiting.
And I agree about Craig's dad being cool. It's great to be able to interact (even in a limited way) with someone who has insight to the program, and put his money where his mouth is by sending his kid to play there.
I think venting frustration in of itself is OK. It's just how you do it. There's no doubt that players and coaches aren't any happier with a bad season than the fans are, of course. I think the problem is when people are unreasonable and start flinging bile.
The Free Speech issue was the first thing that I thought of when I read the post. It's a really slippery slope when you suggest that people don't speak their mind. Ultimately, I guess that this was just a reminder that Free Speech comes along with some responsibilty.
I think everyone knows that RR will be back next year (as he should be). Nothing written on MGoBlog is going to change that.
I actually enjoy reading posts from both sides of the coin. It's the beligerent (or profanity filled) posts that are the toughest to take seriously.
I too had a concern with Fred Roh's post. It can be read to mean that saying critical things about a player and/or coach makes one a bad fan who is harming the program. However, I've decided that isn't a fair reading of where he was coming from. I think the bottom line, and what Mr. Roh was getting at, is just don't be a jackass. Criticism is a part of life in big time sports with good fans who care. Being an asshole should not be.
I think that alot of the on-line negativity is created as commenters over-react to each other. Rather than discussions among friends, we have Jim Rome inspired arguments where people try to "bring it strong." This leads to ALL CAPS and name-calling and just gets real tired.
I will certainly try to give Mr. Roh's post consideration. He is coming from a good place. I think Shakespeare said it best when he said that: "A ROHse, by any other first name, is still a Michigan Man."
"Integrity can only get you so far." - My little brother, the State grad.
the take away from his post isn't a message about censoring speech (what is it that people don't get about free speech? the government can't censor your speech. if brian wants to, he can) it is that if you're going to be critical, be reasonable, respectful and agenda driven. if your goal is to promote the long term success, keep that in mind when you post. also refrain from calling 18 year old kids who commit to another team something profane, particularly because these kids are constantly changing their minds. if you want to voice your displeasure there are means to communicate that effectively without forcing someone else's parent to tell you to be more reasonable.
I understand it perfectly, which is why I put it in quotation marks. My point, in case you misunderstood it, is that as fans, we want to freely post our opinions without worrying about the effect on the program. I hope my post didn't suggest that I think we have a constitutional right to post anything we want on MGoBlog - did it?
It's one thing to be a troll, but its quite another to voice legitimate concerns. And, I think we agree, there are a number of things that Michigan fans could reasonably be concerned about right now.
So, one of the downfalls of the internet boards is that if I post something one here that I find troubling, then I must also consider the effect that my post has on potential recruits. Another poster (raleighwood, above) said it best - posting comes with responsibility, and it sucks that our internet "speech" is more public than something I rant about at the bar on Friday nights.
You nailed the crux of it. This is a public forum, so it's reasonable to think we should be mindful of what we say, even if we ourselves are veiled in anonymity. Rage all you need to, but try to do it somewhere a) it's not recorded b) the entire world can see it (meatspace is good for that :) )
more like filtering. using common sense.
it's a reminder about who reads your "free speech". you can say whatever you want, just realize that your subject, their family members, friends, etc may read what you wrote.
i mean, sometimes players even need to be reminded to not say things like "everybody murders..."
"Real n*gg*z do real things." -Braylon Edwards
...that'd be 4 in a roh.
"Real n*gg*z do real things." -Braylon Edwards
LOL
Clever, I like it!
At Mr. Roh's post: it's interesting to hear about recruiting from the side of the recruited. And he brings up some very good points. I don't think I've been too harsh on here so far, but I'll definitely watch myself when I make posts from now on to be sure.
Also, hopefully the rest of his family will choose Michigan too. If you're reading this, kids, come to Michigan! :)
Since he emailed TomVH to post it, I started thinking if we needed to extend Mr. Roh an invitation to join MGoBlog. That way he could post here directly, and maybe we could ask some questions on how he sees certain things etc. But then I realized that is probably not a good idea. Not only because being somewhat of an insider would make it complicated to express his opinions, but I also know I'd feel embarrased everytime The King Of Belch would try to start an argument with him.
100% correct. There's no doubt that many of those posting long diatribes here and elsewhere about why RR deserves to get fired at the end of this season if not sooner secretly harbor a conviction that if only the right people (MSC, BM, Bo Schembechler's ghost, etc etc) read THEIR diatribe, they would see the light, follow their recommendations, and fire RR on the spot. MSC would then announce in the press conference "I want to acknowledge that it was the King of Belch who finally got me to recognize what an awful choice Rich Rodriguez was. Why it took me so long, I don't know, but it was the magic prose and deadly yet caressing logic of Belch that finally enlightened me. Accordingly, I am immediately placing KOB at the head of the new search committee. Belch will report only to me, and, organizationally, is above Bill Martin and his eventual replacement. Belch and I are also going to take a two-week cruise together, because I need his advice on other pressing matters concerning the University, and because I'm so lonely in this job."
If the King of Belch then came on stage to accept the job AND he looked exactly like his sig-pic/avatar, I think it just might be worth it.
I'll remember that the next time I think about posting negatively.
Oh how I love to hate Ohio State...GO BLUE!
They were reading this note on WTKA this morning. It looks like Mr. Roh is trying to reach out to the local community to make sure they are representing M football in a positive light to recruits. He definitely has a good perspective on the process.
Can we refer to Mr. Roh as Death Sr.?
Ann Arbor is a classy broad.
"Get off my plane!" - Ricky Stanzi, Air Force One 2
If he sends all his kids here I think that would make him the Harbinger of Death(Roh)! (shout out to the BSG fans on that one ;) haha)