3 Michigan Football articles on Big Ten Blog
AR must be in a Maize and Blue mood this morning. First article is about Hoke, second is about Mattison, and third is about Michigan-Ohio rivalry.
April 19th, 2011 at 11:50 AM ^
Rittenberg is bored.
April 19th, 2011 at 12:28 PM ^
he knows that he is going to get the most blog hits writing anything about Michigan on his page. Smart career choice for little Rittenberg. Go Blue.
OR...
He visited Michigan last week, which is the actual reason.
April 19th, 2011 at 11:57 AM ^
i'd like to be more like brady hoke. the first step? answer every question by starting with the word "well."
April 19th, 2011 at 12:12 PM ^
there's no question about it... you know.
April 19th, 2011 at 12:18 PM ^
I think he learned that from Carr.
April 19th, 2011 at 12:03 PM ^
Rittenberg spent last week up at Michigan, so it is no surprise that he has these three articles out.
The more I hear Ryan Van Bergen speak the more I like him as a player and team leader. I have high hopes for this defense in the future. It seems like the guys are all buying in to Mattison and they are learning. While this year the most we can expect is probably a bad defense, right around 70 in ranking, the future is bright.
As a RR supporter the last 3 years I think something that has become increasingly obvious from player quotes is that they stopped believing in RR. JB Fitzgerald, Cox, etc have all spoken about how it feels like Michigan again. I think one of the positives of the coaching change is that the players will be focused and believing in the coaches.
I have moved from firmly opposed to the Brady Hoke hire to supportive but skeptical. If the players can take this new found focus and live up to there potential I think Michigan will be fine.
April 19th, 2011 at 12:16 PM ^
The whole meta-narrative of "Michigan Again" is in many ways unfair to RR, but it seems to be working. I hate to see a guy we/most of us were just recently cheering for be thrown under the bus like this. But the fact that most of the players don't seem to be offended certainly is telling.
April 19th, 2011 at 12:20 PM ^
Yeah I certainly cringed the first dozen times I read a player or someone saying this. It is probably not fair to RR to say that it is Michigan again. However, rivalries are fun to be a part of and it is exciting to have a coach who publicly declares these games so important. I imagine the players are excited and responding well to the public emphasizing of these games. I think RR understood the importance of these games, but he made a mistake in not publicly declaring them as important.
Either way I am excited about the direction of the program. I hate Ohio and I am glad to have a coach and team who are not afraid to display their hate, and respect, for Ohio and MSU.
April 19th, 2011 at 12:52 PM ^
To be fair to Rittenberg (who I like), he goes out of his way to say that Rodriguez didn't get a fair shake when it came to perceptions of his feelings regarding the UM-OSU rivalry:
I never liked the way Rich Rodriguez constantly had to defend himself about the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry during his tenure as Michigan coach...Rodriguez could have come up with the greatest gimmicks, the most inspirational quotes and the most creative motivational tactics possible, and it wouldn't have made a difference in late November. Maybe an "I hate Brutus" tattoo across Rodriguez's chest would have quieted his critics...Rodriguez understood what The Game meant.
I definitely get annoyed by the whole "Hoke gets Michigan" story, because of its implication that Rodriguez didn't "get Michigan," which I think is asinine. But part of me can't help but just enjoy all the positive press surrounding the program after the past few years.
2 of his final 4 schools are Michigan and Purdue. That gives him a 50% chance of eventually ending up a Wolverine.
Hoke really likes Michigan and doesn't like Ohio. But seriously never ever wearing red?
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<br>I can understand not wearing red the week of the game but never wearing red is.. Well just kinda weird.