Brian's Gold Poop
Brian's post about Hoke got me to thinking about the last few years and while it has not been great for Brian as a fan it has got to be great for business. Consider the previous 10 years for Michigan football before Brian started the blog(95-04).
We had 1 coach the whole time, no real coaching controversy, we would have had the NC coverage which would have been nice. Other than that it was pretty much 8-11 wins, countless grinding blah wins over overmatched foes, a few times we got upset in Big Ten play. We owned MSU and PSU. Some great wins over OSU early and some tough losses late. We had a few incidents like Kelly Baraka getting kicked out and Ty Law saying he was from Alliquipa, but for the most part the machine moved on.
Now start in 05.
05-Huge disappointing injury fest with several unreal wins.
06- Magical year crushed by Bo's death and loss to OSU
07- The Horror, Oregon debacle, Fan outrage, ND redemption, Lloyd retires, Upset Tebow, Coaching Search Debacle, Hire RR.
08- One of the worst seasons ever spawns endless stats and research to help bring sanity to the situation.
09- The Free Press Jihad generates daily drama and fuels 24/7 coaching speculation.
10- Denard, Coaching speculation, RR Fired, The Process, Actual Wins, Hoke
If when Brian started this blog he predicted 3 coaches, 2 bowlless seasons, an NCAA investigation and Rawk music in Michigan Stadium he may have never got a web hit again.
It's been a crazy 6 years, hopefully we can continue the craziness with just great seasons going forward.
I've found what's wrong with UM football!!!! Don't you see, ever since Mgoblog was created, UM football has been in turmoil!!!!!
Brian is obviously using some sort of voodoo or dark magic to create drama and unrest witthin the program for the sole purpose of having something to write about!!!!!! You heard it here first.
....will be Brians reaction to your post
I have to ask: What keywords did you use in your search engine of choice to come up with that .gif?
Leslie Chow, The Hangover, "so long gay boys".
Ancient Chinese curse:
"May you live in interesting times"
Dude, you saw that episode of Star Trek: Voyager, too?
/sci-fi nerd orgasm
Deep Space 9 was better. Janeway was a loose cannon.
It's always a pleasant surprise to find others who liked DS9 more than Voyager.
Stay strong, brother!
There was someone that actually LIKED Voyager??
I agree. I remember being pumped it was Gutierrez' turn. Then I saw #7 and thought "is that spencer brinton??!"
<br>
<br>I thought Henne was a game time change though?
It wasn't announced publicly before the game, although I think Henne was told a day or two before, so it might have leaked out now that we have Twitter and everything.
Not to mention speculation and stats on any potential starting QBs (cf. 2008). I hadn't thought about it, really, but yeah, the Internet is really upping the ante, I think.
A radio host in LA said he was buddies with Rush Limbaugh. Right after Bush got elected he expected Limbauh to be elated. He was down in the dumps. Clinton and the friction of having someone in there he didn't agree with was great for business. Brian's ability to weave commentary on Hoke and man ball and all that is great for Mgoblog's popularity. It is a little different than the democrat as president for LImbaugh. Brian can piss off a large majority of his audience and get everyone worked up. Total harmony ultimately leads to people going and looking for a fight on the Freep comments section or Mlive.
Yes, because the blog was failing miserably when Brian was salivating over RR's offense for 3 years.
Brian's love of Rodriguez was not exactly a controversy-free stance. Plenty of people saw Brian as having pretty big blinders on when it came to all the things that Rodriguez and the 2010 team did so poorly (e.g., Brian constantly quoting yardage stats while ignoring actual scoring stats).
That said, I agree with the OP and the other posters. Mgoblog has ruined Michigan football.
It's not like things have ever been total harmony dating back to the Haloscan era. Indeed, I recall week in/week out entire groups of posters bitching about "LLoyd" and how he *only* achieved 8 wins per year and how the offense needed to be modernized and was pwned by the spread etc. DeBord was a frequent and reasonable target, Gittleson also regarding the pizza etc. etc.
Then came the Horror and kittens and pink backgrounds and Lloyd bashing and spread worshipping etc. etc. followed by Rodriguez, transfers, quarterback armageddon wins, mostly losses, Tate and dilithium.
Brian's ability to weave commentary on manball speaks more to his ability to meaningfully recognize that the large segment of Michigan fans who were troubled by the Rodriguez years might have been right on a lot of counts. Maybe "manball" as professed by Bo, Mo, Lloyd, Hoke etc. is our manifest destiny. I initially opposed the Hoke hiring (thinking a sane DC hire might get the job done) but as time goes by and I look at the approach taken by Hoke (assuredly advised by Brandon, Lloyd and others) it does appear that perhaps Rodriguez was out of his depth here.
Total harmony will only be achieved after Hoke wins his fourth MNC in a row and, even then, will likely be undermined by those who were unhappy that the defense gave up 3 points all year (a garbage time field goal to tUofOSU).
National Champions:
2006: Florida, spread
2007: LSU, bizarre hybrid with impossibly unpredictable Les Miles
2008: Florida, spread
2009: Alabama, conventional pro set offense
2010 Auburn, spread
Two of the runners-up in that timeframe ran the spread, too. Also, TSIO beat Michigan in 2006 by using a spread formation in the first half, and last year's NC game featured two spread teams.
Maybe it's not spread worship as much as spread logic.
I go to 247 or NDNation when I want to crack heads open.
I imagine controversy has driven hits on the website through the roof. Sometimes I just wish there was a little more John Feinstein in his content and a little less Drew Sharp/Mike Valenti(yeah, I dont like typing those names either).
Are you serious? Serious question. I find Brian to be the farthest thing from Foster/Valenti. Not once would I say he's a blow-hard or doesn't have facts/stats to back up his arguments. He also doesn't just throw shit against the wall to see what sticks. I do not agree with everything this blog's leader has to say by any means, but to complain he's too much like Valenti is being a little Valenti-ish yourself, is it not?
Also, what has driven hits to this website through the roof is great content and the readers appetite for good (not MLive) discussion on UM athletics...and muppets I guess. This blog has that market cornered.
It is also the only blog where I have been able to have a meaningful discussion about Olympic level curling. So, there's that.
Is it Winter Olympics time yet? I miss me some curling. If you would have told me suffleboard on ice using rocks with handles screwed to them, slippery shoes and cute little brooms was so awesome, I would not have believed you. Then I watched some few Olympics back and I'm on board now. Throw in some pleasantly attractive female curlers (and their calendars...ohhhhh the calendars) and you've got yourself a fan, sport of curling. You've got yourself a fan.
If I were a girl and curling were a man, the guard stone has been cleared and my house is wide open...
It is indeed frightening how many people find the sport cool; indeed, how many sports make it a part of the rules that you have to buy your opponent a drink after the game (in my club you'd get tossed if you violated that...). Any sports that legislates drinking into it's code is fine by me.
As an aside, I have curled out by 9 mile Rd. in Ferndale back in the day; the club there in a rec centre, while not palatially Canadian, is still very cool. Also, it is the only place I have ever been in Michigan that purposefully subscribes to a Canadian satellite in order to get the curling coverage. Crazy stuff. If your house is open and the guard cleared maybe its time to throw that first rock.
Too late, my e-friend on a blog. My curling cherry was popped a few years ago in Windsor. We went there for a buddy's bachelor party. It's harder than it looks and gives a new appreciation to watching the professionals when you've tried it yourself.
I spend way too much time here, and I agree, there are lots of really terrific posters, and much of what Brian posts is informative and insightful. Since Harbaugh turned down the job though, I dont know if I have seen a Brian generated post that didn't include some element of contrarian/shock jock/riling up the fans for the sake of attention that Valenti and Sharp make their living on. Someone with a better vocabulary help me out...Sensationalism? No, not quite right.
You're right though, said FM radio host is just a tool, and comparing Brian to him isn't fair or warranted. The Sharp comparison though...yeah. I have read some Sharp articles that have blown me away, made me think he was one of the most talented sportswriters around. Then he goes back to this contrarian/shock jock schtick and it makes me want to throttle him because I've seen what he is capable of and cannot believe what he is wasting his talent on. Exact same thing.
I tend to agree with you on Brian's lack of love with Hoke, which is understandable. It's hard to love again when the last person seemed so good (offense), only to leave you broken and ruined (defense, special teams, W/L record, etc).
Honestly, I think everyone needs to chill out on Brian possibly not being "all in for the Hokestravaganza". He hasn't even played a down of football. At least give Brian a game or two.
Damn fella, you watch that potty mouth bringing up Valenti in these parts. I'm far from a Brian apologist but the guy is able to construct a sensible argument most of the time, unlike Valenti and his incessant and indefensible yelling.
Brian is opinionated and sometimes I agree and disagree. Valenti is nothing more than a Sparty slappy.
I am relieved. I was expecting a photo of Brian with a golden penis exiting his arse.
Challenge to those skilled in the art of MS Paint.
Ohh, well, I entered here expecting a gif, this is very dissapointing
Timing? That is your point?
First, if this blog was started 10 years earlier, it would have been a BBS (Bulletin Board System) and we would be posting ASCII Art pictures of our Rose Bowl bid:
@>-%--
Second, you know things seem simpiler in retrospective. That is why everyone always talks about the "good old days." But, in reality, the "good old days" had just as much controversy:
Let's REALLY start 10 years ago (and not 9):
1. 1994-1995 - The scandal and resignation of Gary Moeller. Maybe some saucy stuff about Les Miles' wife.
2. The 1997 NC controversey with nebraska and Woodson winning the Hesman over Manning.
3. Larry Harrison, Jr. doing embarrassingly ridiculous things on campus.
4. UM.... the years and years of coverage of the Ed Martin scandal, his death and fallout/sanctions. This was far worse than anything Brain has covered since starting the blog.
5. The leaving of Greg Mattison for the same position to a competitor (was NOT popular at the time).
6. Controversey over Woodson's dealings with an agent and getting paid.
7. The 2000 shoutout loss to Northwestern and their "spread offense" nationally embarrassing the stalwart Michigan defense.
8. Tom Brady almost transferring because of Drew Henson. (like the Tate transfer rumors recently).
10. Our star QB and Heisman hopeful, Drew Henson, leaving the team to play baseball. (That fired up a lot of Michigan fans).
etc. etc.(These are just off the top of my head and in addition to the ones you mention.)
The list goes one and on. Now if you want to say the "on the field" product has been worse, well it has, but that is not dirving up traffic. People want to follow winning teams (and winning teams with controversy). If Indiana had 3 coaches, 2 bowlless seasons, an NCAA investigation and Rawk music over 10 years, it wouldn't matter.
In other words, the "website traffic" from controversey and scandals would have been about the SAME, but Brian probably would have had MUCH MORE "website traffic" if the team was as good as it was in those earlier years.
You are wrong.
Also, Lloyd Carr himself was under considerable fire from the fanbase going into the 1997 season. Then, after a national title that quieted all that, we promptly lost our first two games of 1998 in embarassing fashion, which led to resumed misgivings about him, which returned every now and then. The only time the fanbase was really fully in his corner was in the 1997-98 offseason.
Ever since I decided that I wanted to go Blue I heard complaints about how Lloyd was too conservative and ought to retire.
A .735 overall win percentage and .779 in-conference record spoiled us. The way some of my friends have put it, missing bowl games for two seasons and being tragic in the Big Ten was karma for being ungrateful about Lloyd.
Let my memory get better with age.
-Drew Henson couldn’t play because of injuries.
-GM resigned for health reason not drinking.
-1994 vs some team lead by Kordell Stewart.
No meltdowns here.
After a 40 year run of winning seasons we were bound to have a few lean years! I think Hoke will have the program back on track in a few years, who knows may be he will surprise us and win 9 games this year! I'm looking forward to another 40 year run. I got to follow the team through most of the past 40 years. I look forward to the next 40 years, though I'll be 87 by the end of this next run!!!!
How can you be so wrong about history of Michigan sports? There has and always will be controversey....things much bigger than the coach search and the Freep jihad.
Your failure to know anything about the past is troubling.
is that they are much too negative and cynical by and large. And too much obsession w/ granular data.
Too negative and cynical? No way. I don't agree with Brian all the time. But he is an independent thinker, not a cheerleader with blinders. And whatever he says he says with extreme eloquence. Well-stated cynicism can be very funny.
I'm also not into stats as much as Brian and others here, but in a larger sense they have revolutionized the way we look at sports, and much for the better. This is a blog by and for smart people. Not everyone measures up, of course, but I well remember how delighted I was to discover this. Brian is a treasure.
I still laugh at his "punched in the dong" post to this day.