On the Wagon (and Happy to Be There)
There are many Michigan fans who may believe that our Wolverines are at the bottom looking up. In fact, this bowl season gives evidence yet again that Michigan is now making the fundamental changes that leads back to national relevance for our team and our conference.
Living in Buckeye country as I do, I have observed that the hatred of RR is disproportionate to the apparent threat. In other words, if RR were as pathetic as this 3-9 season suggested (and as they argue), then why the frantic need to still tear him down at such a guttural level? Wouldn’t you think that, a la John Cooper, OSU fans would be placid about RR, encouraging all manner of good cheer for our new coach?
No, these Buckeye fans understand at a subconscious level that Michigan is in a better place than they are (and the rest of the Big 10). It is very much like Michigan is the first drunk on the wagon. Those first sober months are brutal. The other heavy drinking buddies are laughing and looking on our shaking hands and pallid complexion and telling each other that we are done, no longer functional. Then they stagger into their low-paying jobs and watch their sober competitors blow by them on the career path. Some, like OSU, are functional drunks who hold down a high-level management job, but to everyone in the know, the never really will be executive material.
Later, at the pub, all these lowlifes rationalize away why they are yet again passed over for promotions, for relevance. In their inner being, they know that their former barstool companion they passed looking haggard in his cubicle but working hard nonetheless is doing something they should be doing, but they can’t conceive of actually doing it.
High-level, nationally powerful football is what RR is working on: a blend of speed, aggression and power. Attacking offense, freak power/speed defense, relentless domination. Tressel will never get where RR is going. Paterno and his successor will never get there. Dantonio will never get there. Zook has potential, but Illinois is still Illinois. These guys are fossils that occasionally can scare the more fleet-footed and intelligent mammals, but only rarely. RR will one day be where USC is, where Florida and the SEC power are, where the Oklahoma is. OSU, PSU, MSU, even ND will not.
So take heart. This season’s bowls are the reason why 3-9 was necessary.
January 2nd, 2009 at 9:38 AM ^
I patiently wait for the day.
But I also wonder if the cold winters of a northern team will always dog us from a recruiting standpoint. Personally I don't think they are that bad (at least in MI w/ the buffer the big lake provides...), and welcome the seasonal change each year, with the crisp, fresh air, but I'm sick of it by the middle of feb.
I wonder if football will slide into a similar situation that college baseball has with warm weather teams dominating. But on the other hand football takes place on a professional level in cold weather conditions regularily, and will continue to do so.
January 2nd, 2009 at 11:06 AM ^
There is nothing new about the weather problem. California, etc. has had better weather in the winter for, well, forever. This was an issue for Lloyd, Moeller, and Bo. I heard Mark Messner interviewed about his recruitment. He said that he went to UCLA for a visit and came back dreaming of swimming pools, movie stars, etc. According to Messner, Bo pulled into his driveway in a Lincoln Towncar (this is the 80's), looked Messner in the eye and said "You're a Michigan Man and you're going to play at Michigan." (Messner didn't say if Bo was wearing Ray-Bans when he said this, but I want to believe he was.) Bo then got back into his huge Lincoln and drove away. Messner said he realized that Bo was right and that he was going to play at Michigan. He then became an All-American.
The point here, other than telling a great story, is that the weather has been, and will always be, an issue. But not that mich of one. At the end of the day, kids consider far more than weather. The University itself is top-notch. If we have a strong program and great coach, we will be fine. Remember, some in-state kids leave just to go away for school. Some go to warm weather schools, some don't.
January 2nd, 2009 at 11:41 AM ^
Fannman, I agree for the most part. I think that the difference is in depth and margin of error. When you look at USC, the chances of a class bombing out like our 2005 class is slim to none, and slim left town. Certain programs pick and choose early in the game the talent they want and other programs fill the class as time goes on. A program on the rise, at the top and/or in a great location (re: talent) - USC, Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, Alabama, LSU and, now OSU - are filling earlier and earlier with hand-picked guys.
The difference - and I think this shows up in only some classes - is that while LSU, OSU and Michigan might all have had a stud QB or OLineman, LSU and OSU got a March commitments from guys who wanted to make sure they got a scholarship from the "hot" school while Michigan's guy (I am suggesting the late Lloyd years as an example) might be like a Mealer or a QB who kicked the tires here and there and went with a school that had a promise of playing time.
This is a staggeringly broad and marginally useful generalization only to the make the point that "hot" schools fill quicker with more of "coaches 1st choice" guys, while other national schools fill later with more "coaches 2nd choice" guys. Their classes might be close in quality as far as Rivals goes, but there's more risk on the 2nd tier side.
January 2nd, 2009 at 9:56 AM ^
"Tressel will never get where RR is going."
If RR wins 3 BCS games (including a NC) in his first five years as our head coach, I would be thrilled.
He'd also have to go 7-0 against OSU in the coming years to match Tressel's record in The Game.
Not to be a buzzkill, but RR won't even be close to matching Tressel's success in the best case scenario. I'd be happy with half of Sweatervest's accomplishments at this point.
January 2nd, 2009 at 10:12 AM ^
We had that with Lloyd, but I understand your point. I, too, would take Tressel's record in The Game...but not his national record. Sure, he has a NC, a fluke one if you ask me. And one part of me would desperately take a fluke NC and some BCS embarrassments after this 3-9 season, but the other part is making the point that Michigan's national future is brighter than OSU's, and that's what I am signing up for. Tressel has a flaw, albeit a minor one: he is incapable of shutting down crazy offensive coaches/schemes at a high level and that is the future of college offenses.
January 9th, 2009 at 7:05 PM ^
Good analogy. RR is building for the long haul. In a few years Michigan will be well ahead of the curve in the Big Ten.
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