A word on Michigan fans, and today's liveblog

Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on
Many of you know me - some of you don't. I am an occassional moderator of your Saturday gameday chats on this site. Today, I moderated the Michigan State chat, along with a colleague.

A brief sampling of comments I received towards the end of the chat:

"Steve Threet should have his scholarship revoked."

"I wish John Thompson was hit by a truck."

"I wish Stevie Brown's crackhead mom never had him."

This is a harsh, but somewhat representative sample of the bile submitted as "commentary" at the end of the game. Roughly 80% of the comments received towards the end were ad hominem attacks on players and coaches. I declined to post them at the time, but thought better - those who participated in this shit should be embarrassed.

I am completely sick of people calling out our players as "sucking", or anything. Threet is a redshirt Freshman in his 4th offense in 3 years. If not for extraordinary circumstances, he would not be relied on at this point. He has an injured elbow. DESPITE this, he continues to play, continues to throw, refuses to slide, drops his shoulder for additional yards, and FINISHES his fucking runs.

Stevie Brown scrapes his ass off the field, with the screams of thousands screaming how shitty he is, and forces AND recovers a fucking fumble - gift-wrapping 7 points for Michigan. Despite all the negativity, the kid kept his head, and executed at his next opportunity.

They suit up, in the Maize and Blue, and, like their teammates, bust their asses 7 days a week to perform as well as they possibly can on the field. You think this shit is disappointing for you? It's disappointing to you, sitting in the stands with a coke in your hands? Or on your couch with a beer and a laptop? How fucking disappointing do you think it is for the kids who bust their ass, 7 days a week, on the fucking field?

This is INFINITELY easier for us, as spectators than it is for them, as players. Reasonable criticism is one thing, ad hominem insults are another.

There are many that will greet the following with "thank god!" or "good riddance!" - and I won't say it's completely unwarranted - I've been a dick at times on these pages. But, I'll never moderate a chat again - it degrades my opinion of my fellow alumni and fans.

We like to say we're "The Leaders and Best". Maybe we should fucking act like it.

Comments

FieldingBLUE

October 26th, 2008 at 2:07 AM ^

A Benton Harborite now, I was formerly a chitownblue myself. I agree tremendously. Do I sometimes say 'Stevie Brown has no business on the field during a passing down'? Yes. It's true. And also, it's true. I am thoroughly convinced that the angriest fans had no real clue what it takes to reload each season and that the perfect storm of a retiring coach, a new coach and some players who just flat out didn't pan out leads us to 2-6. We aren't good, but we aren't Colorado or Washington either. Those teams seem to have little to no hope after years of being in the tank. (As long as we keep Neuheisel away, we might be fine.) Personally attacking players and coaches with vitriol is weak sauce. Let's face it, it's a Sparty thing to do. Don't be Sparty. Be Blue, everyone.

Joined: 08/28/2008

MGoPoints: 4507

2Blue4You

October 26th, 2008 at 2:39 AM ^

I am sick of it. I found myself walking out of a bar in Honolulu after watching it w/ some people from michigan (not really football fans) a little disappointed we were close to pulling it out, but encouraged that we made a game of it. It hurts but I can't help but be excited for the future. This is going to take some time and the growing pains are part of the transition. These are 18-21 YO kids that we put out hearts and souls into picking apart. Have some perspective and lets come together for what the future will hold. Jeremy Jackson is 16 or 17 years old and he has the best attitude about the direction of this program that I have seen in awhile. Patience, believe, respect, GO BLUE!

Joined: 08/28/2008

MGoPoints: 4521

GNM

October 26th, 2008 at 4:23 AM ^

That is just inexplicable. To be honest, I've been known to be critical of players. I often think "I wish Threet could improve accuracy and speed, because he makes pretty good reads for a freshman." Even more frankly, I yelled today, "I wish some coach had taught Stevie Brown how to tackle with a part of his body other than his fingertips." That being said, I don't ever think it is appropriate to wish ill on players I have never been within 200 feet of. Players, regardless of team, seniority, or talent should be free of any personal attacks. There are very few people in this world who I would like to see hit by a bus, and I would certainly never type about it on the internet. None of them are sports figures, as I don't know those people personally. I don't advocate taking the high school approach of not criticizing kids at all. These guys are playing at a high enough level that they can certainly take being called out for a poor performance. They should never, ever have to take hate or threats though. Football is a game. If you are that angry about Ringer juking Ezeh out of his shoes, perhaps you should consider the priorities in your life carefully.

Joined: 09/15/2008

MGoPoints: 43

Wangler2Carter

October 26th, 2008 at 8:04 AM ^

I am appalled by the stories that have been told about people in the Big House and their booing and slamming of players and coaches. This also angers me because having grown up in Wisconsin, I have yet to make my long-awaited pilgrimage to Ann Arbor for a football game (hopefully Homecoming next year). I understand frustration, but deal with it with the class and dignity that we as Michigan fans take pride in. I know that alumni are mad, but the end result will be worth the means. The Rich Rod offense takes time to implement, and we will see some results as soon as next year. Be patient, be calm, we will be back on top soon. Oh, and when I visit the Big House I will be standing and screaming the entire game, if you don't like it you can take your ass to the country club, this is football, not golf.

Joined: 10/24/2008

MGoPoints: 8

doc_spartan

October 26th, 2008 at 9:26 AM ^

College football fans everywhere should read this. I'm not a big fan of Bill Maher, but how about this? "New rule, if you could do it better you're entitled to comment." No doubt there will be people who think "Even I could have thrown that pass"...to them I say try it in front of 100K screaming fans, on a real field, behind a wall of 6'6" offensive linemen, with real big ten linebackers looking to tear your head off, into one of 10 different pass coverage schemes you've seen that day. If you really think you could do it better, wipe the chip dip off your shirt, get up off the couch, jog down to the stadium and walk on.

Joined: 10/26/2008

MGoPoints: 4

jamiemac

October 26th, 2008 at 11:19 AM ^

Thanks for saying this. Agree 100%. Especially about Threet and Brown. I want to say that my section was supportive all game and I heard a lot less vitriol being shouted down from the rafters.....maybe because those folks sold their tickets to Spartan Fans.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 8446

jfs52

October 26th, 2008 at 12:21 PM ^

While I agree with most of your what you said, your comments would be much easier to take seriously if you didn't post comments like this all the time: chitownblue: Hoyer is getting double-dong raped, for those who complain about no pressue. While I actually agreed with that particular assesment as well (came after a B Graham sack I think), it is hard to post comments like that and then chide others for being "too vitriolic". The response will undoubtedly come back that I've missed the point entirely, and that chitownblue only talks about the other team getting 2x dong raped and ergo his comments are not vitriolic, etc. But I still think it's difficult to spew out the amount of profanity that you do and then ridicule others for comments that aren't that awfully different. I'm not saying it's the profanity I have a problem with, it can be funny, and in this case it was sort of funny. I just think it's not quite on for someone that spews what you do to be chiding others about it. I do get that you are criticising others for their specific comments about Michigan players and not theit vitriol in general, but it's not like your comments on the board encourage restraint, is it?

Joined: 08/07/2008

MGoPoints: 6

papabear16

October 26th, 2008 at 2:57 PM ^

I'm not going to get pulled into this who is/is not a hypocrite thing, because that doesn't really matter. What we all need to realize is that it's one thing to say "I hope they bench Brown for the rest of the year" and "I hope his life ends." One relates to football, while the other is wishing something horrible on some young kid just because he's not as good of a football player as we could wish. The first is fine. (I, for one, wish we had options other than Threet at QB.) The second is offensive and shows an incredible lack of perspective.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 1508

amael

October 26th, 2008 at 4:28 PM ^

Couldn't agree more. Sure, you can say that Threet or Brown didn't perform as well as they should have, or as well as theyre capable of, but until YOU can get onto the field and do it, people need to keep their mouths shut. And a note to students: if you really want to show your school spirit, don't sell your ticket to a state fan for $80. Have a little less money in your pockets and pack the big house with maize and blue. You'll be glad you did it nomatter what the outcome

Joined: 07/16/2008

MGoPoints: 7

El Trotsky

October 26th, 2008 at 7:38 PM ^

jfs, Saying that Chitown can't complain about these fans because of the tone or potentially offensive nature of his comments doesn't even logically make sense. The only stuff he complains about with vitriol are those who act like what he described in this diary. His comments may not be all that different in tone from those he complains about, but who he directs it at makes all the difference in the world. Take away the idiots, and he would stop complaining. Take away chitown, and the idiots are still there.

Joined: 08/13/2008

MGoPoints: 22

MaizeNBlue

October 26th, 2008 at 10:23 PM ^

...is completely useless, so I agree with chitown. One thing, though, that people seem to overlook (most of them aren't fans that pay close attention) is the fact that our offensive line just isn't good. It's a rag-tag line to begin with, and throw in injuries and basically the worst circumstances you can think of, and, well, you've got Michigan Football 2008. The defense can't perform its best when the offense and special teams gift wrap the ball several times per game, either. Nobody "sucks," it's just a long string of bad circumstances mixed with lack of experience and out of position players that don't fit the offense to begin with. It'd be a miracle to be above .500 as any team with that kind of situation. I just wish RRod wouldn't say things like "I need to stop feeling sorry for myself". But I don't think you can blame the coaching over-much until we're 2-6 with a team that doesn't have these kind of problems.

Joined: 07/29/2008

MGoPoints: 490

99bobcats

October 27th, 2008 at 5:02 PM ^

Be careful not to paint with a broad brush. Most Michigan fans do not act like this. There is a certain type of people who hang out here during the games that is not indicitive of all Michigan fans and alumni. Some people love to paint Michigan fans with a broad brush, especially non-Michigan fans. Michigan fans are mostly reasonable and objective but unfortunately some of the more vocal ones are the ones that represent the fanbase.

Joined: 08/20/2008

MGoPoints: 1320