Another Steve Fisher Resurrection article
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I won't speak for the haters here, as I'm sure they'll speak for themselves.
But I, for one, always liked Coach Fisher, and thought he was an improvement over Bill Frieder. I'll never forget following the team in 1989, and I loved the Fab 5. I give Fisher a lot of credit. I don't know for sure, but to the best of my knowledge, Fisher never bad mouthed Michigan after his departure. (And if he did, I trust someone will dig up a link.) Regardless, doing as well as he has done at San Diego State is incredible, and I am so happy for him.
Regarding the haters, it seems some people always have to have someone to blame. Whether it is Fisher, or Webber, or Ellerbe, or Amaker, or the AD Office, it has to be SOMEONE'S fault. As with most of life, that's probably too simplistic. I suppose you could blame Fisher for being too naive and trusting, for failing to be more suspicious of Ed Martin, but I think that's too harsh.
Whether or not and to what degree Fisher was to blame in the past, he has done a great job at SDSU, and deserves all the credit and accolates coming his way.
Fisher was too naive? That is the problem all Michigan fans have with him, is that he is a liar. If we are going to call Tressel a liar, then Fisher is right in front of him. He has never come clean about what he did at Michigan, just like Webber and left the program in ruin. That is the truth, not blaming anyone. If Fisher did not know what was going on or who Ed Martin was, than he is the stupidiest coach in the country.
Exactly how does holding Steve Fisher responsible for the cesspool of violations the program became on his watch constitute being a "hater?"
I think most people here have been pretty charitible to Fisher. I liked him, but it became obvious that the inmates were running the asylum during his tenure. When it comes to the NCAA, the "ostrich" defense never works very well.
Thus the hole that the program is just now beginning to escape...
March 24th, 2011 at 10:25 AM ^
I'm definitely rooting for them from here on out. I can't think of a team I would rather win the tourney than them. I really enjoy watching them play also.
March 24th, 2011 at 10:28 AM ^
poorly, and some of the scenes in the Fab Five documentary paint him as a pretty weak figure (good bball mind, obviously) when it came to discipline. I'm not sure "whether or not he killed people in the past, he's doing a great job in the present" stacks up real strongly in the morality department, but I retain pleasant feelings toward the guy, too.
I always thought of Frieder as the Bobby Fischer of hoop. A dazzlingly bright guy, but didn't connect as strongly to people.
March 24th, 2011 at 10:37 AM ^
I never knew Bo fired Bill Frieder before the start of the 1989 tourney. I need to take MGoBlog Michigan Sports HIST 101.
I'm rooting for Fisher and Aztecs, especially against Calhoun.
March 24th, 2011 at 11:33 AM ^
Before the tournament, Frieder told Bo he was going to go to Arizona the following season. Bo famously said, "Only a Michigan man will coach a Michigan team. You're fired." Fisher became the interim head coach, won the NCAA tournament and recruited the Fab Five. Like most Michigan fans, I thought Bo's reaction was perfect. Why anyone would rather coach anywhere than Michigan has always been and probably will always remain a mystery to me.
I always like Fisher, and never did understand why he was fired. Today's Washington Post article states that he was totally exonerated, but it may be that there were things the athletic department thought he should have been doing to keep a tighter rein on how the players were behaving. It always struck me as being similar to the way the University of Maryland threw Lefty Driesell under the bus after the Len Bias situation, a situation those of us who live in the DC area came to read about for a number of years. I always doubted Lefty wanted Bias to overdose or, for that matter, had any reason to think it was even a possibility. Fisher's situation seemed similar to me. From what I have heard of him, he seems like a person who believes in the good in people and perhaps is a little slow to recognize the bad. Personally, I'd rather go through life giving folks the benefit of the doubt than being highly cynical even if it costs me from time to time (as it has).
ASU.
Not only that, but it's the original "Michigan Man" story. Not that it necessarily means it's the most famous one, but what else would be?
March 24th, 2011 at 11:16 AM ^
I hope you are either young, a relatively new M fan, or have been living under a rock.
As far as I know, the only thing that Fisher was ever accused of doing was initialling the sheet that freed up tickets for Ed Martin...and then using Perry Watson's initials.