Are you normally an optimist?
I'm a moody ass mother fucker, pessimistic as hell one day, optimistic the next, but somehow willing to accept what ever my team puts forth, and keep coming back for more.
I like being an optimist because I would always love to see the best come out of a situation especailly a situation where there is hope for a better result or change. In this case Michigan's 2010 football season. I am a person who believes that football is a game that is won on the field and not in an ESPN studio where a bunch of analysists come up with the result before the game is even played. Yes Michigan has some weak points in their secondary and lacks some things that could help them. That I agree with. No, Michigan will not do worse than 2009 because now both Tate, Denard and many other freshman and sophmores from last year now are a year older and a year wiser. They have been practicing all summer long fixing mistakes and gaps from the 2009 season and are improving upon them. People that are saying Michigan will be bad again this year or watch them win only 2 or 3 games in the Big Ten have not seen the improvement for themselves to make such a call. I can't say that will we the best team in the conference because the season hasn't even started but I will say we will be improved, we'll win some more games, beat teams we are expected to beat and maybe some upsets and make a bowl. That is my optimism for our 2010 season.
I don't give a shit one way or tother, but aren't you the guy that was catching shit, for your pessimistic attitude about the Wings.
That I knew as soon as the Coyotes series was over. Howard was a rookie but did an amazing job in net, we didn't have some of the names that helped carry us in the finals in 08 and 09 like Sameulsson and Hudler. It wasn't our year. Iv'e watched replays of last season of Michigan football and out of some of our tough losses like to Iowa, Purdue, Michigan State, Ilinois, Wisconsin and OSU and I saw improvement and possibility. If we would of capitalized on our points chances in the Ohio State game we could of possibly pulled it off. We should of beat Iowa, Wisconsin, Purdue and MSU. We could of done so much better in the conference than what happened in 2009. This year I truly believe these losses to crap Big Ten teams will end. We have more than enough skill and depth to beat Purdue, Indiana, Ilinois, MSU, Wisconsin hell maybe even PSU, Iowa and OSU. It's not likely but it could happen.
Should have, could have, would have.
im not sayin, im just sayin...
of the OSU game this weekend. It's easy to say what COULD have happened if we finished a couple of the 2nd half drives instead of turning the ball over.
However, I also noticed that the sweater vest was in full on conservative mode and was only trying to eat the clock. If we scored, their offense would have been more aggresive in the play calling. The point is, the woulda/shoulda/coulda isn't one sided. They would have reacted differently and no one will ever know what would have come of it.
First off, WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK was wrong with Detroit tonight? 4 power plays and your telling me they can only get 1 of the 4?! They made Phoenix look like the fucking 87 Oilers! What in the hell was wrong with Detroit? Here's something. 1 no sense of urgency when they were down 3-1. 2 Bryzgalov IS NOT THAT FREAKING GOOD. We made him look like Tretiak tonight in net. We had him beat on several shots and we didn't follow through when we fired. 3 WHATS WITH THE WHISTLE BILL? Another goal robbed away from a stupid freaking whistle on what would of been 4-3. 4 Howard needs to be pulled he's let in now 11 goals in this first round and now his GAA has plumtted tremendously in the 3. range. Unacceptable effort all around in my opinion. Players though like Helm, Datsyuk and Filpula did their jobs some what well including Franzen. This better piss off the Wings something big going into game 4 because if they let Phoenix play like "an all Gretzky" team like they did tonight, then Detroit's gone in 5. Piss poor effort. Piss poor. There's a whole other animal with in these Wings and they need to freaking unleash it on Tuesday night and let these "desert dogs" know that this is fucking Detroit damn it. Horrible game.
http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/ot-put-osgood-i-have-had-it
As of late my Red Wings have been scaring the crap out of me. Franzen is out of the lineup for four possibly five months. Bertuzzi is still the same pathetic excuse for a player like we was back when we had Legace. Datsyuk left the game last night with an upper body injury not to mention WTF we lost to the Avalanche at home? I know it's early but my optimism for a Stanley Cup return to the Finals this year is not high. For the first time in a long time as a Wings fan I don't see us favored for another Stanley Cup or Stanley Cup appearance. How the hell is Columbus doing better than us? Babcock better work some magic later on in the season and get rid of FUCKING BERTUZZI. Nobody want's that cheap shot throwing fuck. And Osgood might want to think about retiring here soon. We need younger players because this constant veteran style is slowly but surely losing it's power.
http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/detroit-red-wing-fans-do-you-fear-playoffs-…
There's a reason you have multiple posts in the MGoHallofFame.
of all the doubters and critics. Hey if you are so interested in my archives from the past ahole how about seeing if I have ever once even said anything pessimistic about Michigan football? Look and see if I've ever said "looks like another horrible year" or "We are going to suck again" or any of that.
By the way you know nothing about me personally or anything I've had to go through in past so f*ck off.
Are you going to threaten to beat me or OMG Shirtless up again? Please, just don't threaten us. Anything but that...
Y'ALL DON'T KNOW ME
I DO WHAT I WAUNT
By the way you know nothing about me personally or anything I've had to go through in past so f*ck off.
I've heard that line once before. I was at a summer camp and was discussing music with another kid in my cabin. He mentioned that he hated oldies. I told him he hadn't lived until he listened to oldies. He proceeded to scream that line, almost verbatim, and tried to choke me out while I was in my bunk.
Good times!
That was funny! Thanks for the laugh.
I am a pessimist. My optimism has been beat out of me and my blood has been turned to ice. I will maintain the zen-like peace that allowed me to survive the last two seasons until such time as hope is allowed to rekindle.
I heard yesterday that optimism is divine inspiration. I've always felt things will get better. We've had a lot of breaks not go our way, but we'll surprise plenty of people this year...even if for some of us it won't be much of a surprise.
Most of the time I'm optimistic, unless something has really pissed me off.
This team is undefeated as we speak (type), hell...we could be 12-0 going into a bowl game.
Here's to running the table,hallelujah, where's the excedrin.
I would say I'm probably one of the most optimistic people on this board, especially during the games.
I am a pessimist for sure. The cruel world has taken away any optimism I might have had. I always expect the worst to happen so I am pleasantly surprised if things actually go well. If you want to tell me that is a horrible way to look at things, that is fine. It is tough when it comes to Michigan football. I consider myself more of a realist in regard to my outlook on Michigan football. I have season tickets so I usually go to at least five home games a season. However, if I don't go to the game, or it is an away game, I can't even bring myself to watch games live anymore. I tape the games and if Michigan wins I watch the game later. There have just been too many games where Michigan has looked good at first and hung in for awhile only to piss the game away near the end. Look, I really hope this season goes well and RR can get things on track. However, nothing would surprise me at this point. If Michigan wins five games or ten games I wouldn't be surprised either way. I just really want Michigan to make a bowl game this season. If not, it is going to be another long awful off-season.
I would like to be the hakuna matata type, or the Iz Kamakawiwo'ole type
p>
In reality though, I tend to rest somewhere between glass half empty and (to steal from some else, I forget who now) the glass is broken and the broken shards are flying off the table directly at my face trying to attack me and their little pointy ends have little tiny grains of salt and that red stuff that my grandma used to put on me when I got cuts.
"the glass is broken and the broken shards are flying off the table directly at my face trying to attack me"
I got it from my mother, who never failed to look on the negative side of things. Must have been a consequence of growing up on a poor Missouri farm during the Depression without indoor plumbing or electricity.
But also more optimistic, because I am currently not poor living on a farm in Missouri during the depression without indoor plumbing or electricity. I'm just a poor college kid living in Michigan during a recession with no cable or air conditioning. +1 to you sir
Each generation's privations are unique, and standards for what is unbearable are constantly changing. Having no AC in this weather would really suck, as would having no cable (although the amount of stuff worth watching on cable seems to be decreasing daily). The recession is the crowning piece of dung on the whole pile for all of us.
Which is one big reason why Michigan football is so ridiculously important to us, I guess.
optimistic, but I also occasionally enjoy being optimistic if I'm surrounded by habitually depressing Debbie Downers. I have to work at the optimism when it comes to sports, though.
... Ive been saying this is our year for the last 20.
Always a pessimist. Whenever I'm optimistic about something it usually ends up going down the shitter.
I guess you could put me down under "pessimist."
However, I'm a pessimistic person in general.
I would like to think fans of all sporting teams, whether Michigan or the Florida Marlins, can be both optimistic and realistic about the season prior to that season starting. Yes, I want Michigan to go 12-0 every year. This year, obviously, I don't think that will happen. Michigan was close in a few games last year where I think injuries (Forcier, Minor, Molk, Brown) and stupidity (Cissoko to a point) really cost them.
I look at the schedule and I see 8 wins as a realistic goal for the team this year. If they reach 8 I'll consider it a success given the problems of the last 2 years. Not only will 8 get them to a bowl game, but it will secure Rich Rod's job for longer, show recruits Michigan is back and Rich Rob will be around for a while, and almost by necessity mean Michigan's still young team has begun to get it together.
I'm not going to be pissed if they lose at OSU or at PSU and question their heart or my dedication to the team. I will certainly be disappointed, but I think I have a firm grasp of what the team is and is not capable of. A loss to Bowling Green, or home Illinois, or at Indiana and Purdue will certainly make me angry because I feel Michigan has better players overall.
I withhold the option, though, of taking back these statements if Michigan starts 7-0 going into Penn State.....
I'm a pessimist. I am a complete waste of life that has done nothing to better society. My kids will be less successful than myself and my entire bloodline will probably end up incarcerated.
But hey, Michigan might go 13-0 this year if things fall their way.
Or incinerated, after the asteroid crashes into the earth?
Christopher Nolan has converted me to optimism
Or did he convert you to pessimism...
I look at myself as a realist. Last year I predicted 5-7 when most would suggest 8 wins. I can't find my prediction from 2008 when I said 4 wins, but in no way did I pick the 4 specific games correctly, nor did I think 3 wins would be it.
So what does your crystal ball say about this coming season?
I need the pre-season information to come out before I'm willing to solidify my prediction. I think I'm between 5 and 6 right now, with a slight lean toward 5. Losing Minnesota and Northwestern (both would be auto-wins in my mind this year) from this year's schedule, and adding UCONN does not make me feel good about the chances.
Only higher percentage chance of wins I see are UMass, Bowling Green, Illinois, and Indiana, ranked in order of difficulty.
I think we take one or two from ND, MSU, and/or Purdue. If we only win one of those toss up games, I wouldn't be surprised if we stole a game from one of the teams I would consider us an underdog to, like Wisconsin.
That would put us at 6 on the season, assuming we take two of the three toss up games. That'd be my optimisitic scenario. My pessimistic version has us taking only one toss up and not upsetting anyone for 5 wins. And with our secondary, I've been leaning that way most of the off season.
but I hope you're off by a game or two.
No offense.
It's not that I don't hope for that either, but if someone was to ask me how many I see winning based on our secondary, our linebackers' history, losing our top DL, our quarterbacks' play to end last season and taking into account their spring performances were against the defense I just described, etc.
I think pessimism isn't totally unwarranted. It could be wildly wrong, and I hope that's the case.
For sure. Can't fault you for looking at the evidence and making an honest prediction.
If I were betting, it would be anything from 5-7 to 7-5, and primarily for the main reasons FA mentions: the defense (or possible lack thereof).
I think our offense is going to be capable of performing well enough for 8-9 wins if our defense is just average. Will our defense be at least "average?" Hell if I know. A lot of people are putting a lot of faith in the fact that this is GERG's second year as DC. IMHO, a huge part of RR's job security is riding on what GERG can accomplish this year and next.
so my ears droop a little bit when I see the 5/6 win prediction. I must now try and convince you otherwise
Tate will improve, and if Denard beats him out, that means he's better than an improved Tate - net gain over '09. QB is the most important single position in football. Roh as playmaker, Martin/Van Bergen/Campbell/Banks all returning offset Graham loss - I say push. LB's are a push until we know more, with I believe a lean towards improvement. DBs I have as a push, with the Kovacs move and assignment familiarity offsetting the Warren loss. WR's better with all having more experience. OL much better.
So, vs. 2009:
QB +, OL +, WR +, RB - (recognizing Minor was out for several close games)
DL =, LB =, DB =, Special Teams -
Positives offset negatives, we'll be better than 5 wins. The improvement comes in two very key areas, QB and OL. Special teams are what worry me going in
I am and always will be an optimist, but just like FA I am also a realist. I try to be even keeled but normally lean towards the glass being half-full.
I can tell you however, as being an optimist, you're more likely to end up disappointed. That disappointment makes you more hopeful and optimistic though, thus creating a vicious cycle...
optimism keeps me vibing positive looking waiting and open for opportunity. Re: Michigan football I'm 75 25 optimist, pessimist respectively. I've been this way since Carr ( no Carr bashing here loved him for what he's done here at Michigan) was the coach my reasons are that we have not won 10 games and a bowl game in the past 10 years. I't just seems to me that teams get sky high for Michigan and the team is caught by suprise sometimes. But, each Saturday I'm like we can win this game, we can win this game. Each time we are loosimg I'm right there we can pull this comback off we just need a break, a stop, a touch down and we're back in this.
I still watch the Lions, so what does that mean, optimist or glutton for punishment? For the most part I am a Kool-Aid drinking mofo, but when the optimism starts leaning towards pessimism it usually means superstition is about to make an appearance.
Ricky from Trailer Park Boys has a positive outlook on life:
"I'm not a pessimist, I'm an optometrist."
I couldn't agree more Ricky.
I'm optimistic that within 5 years Michigan will be back in the BCS championship game hunt! We just need to rebuild the defense and it has already started!