CC - Denards Comments
Denards comments about CC
"If it was up to me, I'd tell them he has to come back," Robinson said. "We had a pretty good season, and our future's really bright. We've got a young team and we're just starting to jell now.
"I see us in the future winning a national championship or moving in the top 10."
http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/21577/denard-robinson-rested-r…
Robinson's success this season appears to be the biggest reason for Michigan to retain Rodriguez, especially since the sophomore quarterback is such a perfect fit for Rodriguez's offense.
December 30th, 2010 at 12:39 AM ^
What happens, like in the aforementioned UW and OSU games, when said good offense struggles?
The offense I speak of hasn't happened yet, and therefore those games are not good reference points. This years offense is/was merely a preview.
Having said that, I understand all offense struggles from time to time, and I am not arguing that defensive improvement is not necessary to win B1G titles, but I believe the offense will improve greatly and defense will improve some, and those two things happening simultaneously will prove fertile ground for very competitive Michigan Football next year.
Like Kevin Costner said in Field of Dreams, "There comes a time when all the cosmic tumblers have clicked into place and the universe opens itself up a few seconds to show you what’s possible." To me, that will be the team next year. Just my opinion, but, you sir, sound like a person with their mind made up.
December 30th, 2010 at 12:10 AM ^
Players are developing. Look at the linebackers. Don't try to tell me that Demens and Mouton haven't gotten better. The corners and safeties are pretty much a wash from 08 to 10 because of crippling injuries, rejected applications, and true freshman-itis (see Decimated Defense for details). The three-man line isn't the greatest thing in the world and personally I would rather see a four-man front, but it's serviceable with the personnel we have available.
Perhaps the 3-man line's hidden advantage is that it's allowed us to redshirt key DL prospects and get them bulked up for next season. If we went for broke with a traditional 4-3 the quality of the D-line would go down and result in a net worsening of the defensive performance.
Getting rid of GERG will probably help too.
December 30th, 2010 at 12:35 AM ^
Decimated defense brings us back to recruiting. Who ever the coach is in our future, we need to start retaining talent.
December 30th, 2010 at 12:40 AM ^
What's wrong with Milli Vanilli? "Blame it on the rain" went all the way to the top of the charts.
December 29th, 2010 at 11:57 PM ^
of this CC crap. regardless of which side you find yourself on. It's really about the kids on the team, These kids have alluded how bad the transistion was. I'm willing to wager 08 was hell as the team was obviously split. This team is starting to jell and mature.
December 30th, 2010 at 10:01 AM ^
I hope it's "really about the kids." Because all a coaching change will accomplish is to deprive those who signed up for the rebuilding/modernization process and suffered through the worst three-year period in Michigan football history their chance at glory.
If RR stays and the offense doesn't have to learn a new system, this team will win between 9 and 11 games next year, and could even win it all with a few breaks. If a coaching change is made, one of two things can happen. A spread coach can come in and win big, getting all of the credit when the team finally grows into RR's vision for it, or a power, pro set coach can come in and we will see at least two mediocre years before it gets better.
So, all a change will accomplish, at least if it is the one a large portion of the fanbase wants, is to turn "those who stay will be champions" into "those who stay will have the carpet yanked out from under them by the administration just as they have a chance to be champions."
RR and Michigan tradition are not mutually exclusive. If he is given a fair chance to finish what he started, RR could be a very large part of Michigan tradition down the road. Besides, any follower of Michigan tradition and Bo's reaction to Mo's firing at Illinois knows that Bo would give RR a chance to do his job with his own senior class.
December 29th, 2010 at 11:57 PM ^
to love DR- talent, speed, optimism and his ability to predict the future.
December 30th, 2010 at 12:10 AM ^
If RR is fired, I would support Denard transferring to play in an offense which can give him the best opportunity to succeed over the last two years of his college eligibility and beyond. Three reasons: (1) He's my 2010 Heisman. He has a chance to actually win that award in this offense. A year's worth of chaos isn't a good thing, no matter what paradigm the new coach comes in with. And, I don't want to hear any of this Harbaugh ran a version of the spread at USD nonsense. The offense he ran there spread the field, but it's not all that similiar to what RR is doing now. (2) It would serve as an adequete punishment for those fucking knucklehead fans who lose all context and demand winning on the simple merits of "this is Michigan." (3) It would expose Brandon as an egotistical meathead who places hiring "his guy" over making a sound, reasoned decision - presuming, of course, he purues change in the manner which it is currently speculated.
December 30th, 2010 at 12:15 AM ^
Of winning the 2010 Heisman. Book it.
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<br>2. You'd rather punish fans than wish success for your team and
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<br>3. You'd rather be right than have what's best for your team.
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<br>Who's the real knucklehead fan?
December 30th, 2010 at 12:17 AM ^
C'mon M-Wolverine, we're all upset with the fan base right now. I'm sure we've all posted or thought things about our fellow M fans that we regretted later.
December 30th, 2010 at 12:26 AM ^
Rich is the best road to success for the program. Or that think Harbaugh will get us where Rich hasn't. There's arguments to be made, because no one really knows. But to root for failure if a change is made is just as bad as those who wanted us to lose so we'd get rid of Rich. Michigan Football is bigger than any one man. I want whoever is going to get it back. And I hope Brandon knows enough to make the right call, whoever that is.
December 30th, 2010 at 12:27 AM ^
1. "2010 Heisman" means that if I had a vote, I would have voted for him THIS year.
2. I'm a bigger fan of the kids on the team than I am of the fans. Fuck the fans. I've been embarrassed to be a Michigan fan since week 6 this year.
3. It's not about being right. Like I said, I'm a bigger Denard Robinson fan than I am a fan of the institution. Denard is all that's right with amatuer sports. He seems geniunely excited to be alive, has a 100,000 kilowatt smile, and a great attitude that perhaps, just perhaps, some people who claim to be Michigan fans could adopt. Conversly, this year has shown the Michigan instiution to be all that's wrong with sports. Arrogant, in posession of class and dignity only when things are going smoothly, demands winning based solely on the fact that some dead white guys won football games a long time ago. Tradition is fake, plastic thing used to mask the commercial aspects of college sports.
4. You can go enjoy a bag of dicks.
December 30th, 2010 at 12:31 AM ^
"Tradition is something you can't bottle. You can't buy it at the corner store. But it is there to sustain you when you need it most. I've called upon it time and time again. And so have countless other Michigan athletes and coaches. There is nothing like it. I hope it never dies."
-Fritz Crisler
That's Michigan. And if that's not OK anymore, then it's not the alma mater I thought it was when they handed me my diploma.
December 30th, 2010 at 12:40 AM ^
Believing in "tradition" in the current context is juvenile. This is a big business, cousin, nothing more. Think of this:
Michigan spends millions of dollars to remodel the Big House, in which the primary thrust of of that remodel was to add luxury boxes. Thank god we preserved tradition.
Michigan hires the former CEO of fucking Dominoes Pizza. Once on the job, he repeatedly calls himself the CEO of Michigan Athletics. Again, is this tradition?
Michigan agrees to play an out of conference football game in fucking Dallas Texas. Is that tradition? Did the 1948 Michigan Wolverines travel halfway across the country because some rich asshole who wears cowboy boots with bespoke suits threw some money their way?
The aformentioned CEO of Michigan athletics seriously fucking considered moving the OSU-U of M game to the middle of season, on the premise that a rematch in the Preperation H Big 10/12 championship game wouldn't garnish the viewership numbers ideal for selling ads. Again, you can't seriously believe in tradition.
I can go on and on. Tradition, here, is a joke. Like Fritz Crisler, tradition is dead, cold, and buried in the fucking ground.
December 30th, 2010 at 12:44 AM ^
Michigan played neutral site non-conference games at Yankee Stadium in the 1940's and 1950's. How is that different than playing Alabama in Dallas?
The Brandon-Moving-The-Game meme was blasted to hell months ago. And it didn't happen anyway, so strawman on that one.
The Athletic Director IS the CEO of Michigan Athletics. Ever heard of Don Canham? And Brandon is a bit more than the former CEO of Domino's. Former Regent, Michigan letterwinner, proven businessman, etc. etc.
Luxury boxes, you've got a point, but let's not pretend the Stadium didn't need a serious renovation, and that it doesn't look beautiful.
Seems to me it's pretty easy to trash what you think is "Michigan Tradition" when you have little understanding of what that tradition actually is.
December 30th, 2010 at 12:46 AM ^
Well homie you can keep blowing The Victors on the skin flute and pretend that CFB hasn't been irrevocably ruined by commerce. Your choice, whatever.
December 30th, 2010 at 12:50 AM ^
When argument fails, ad hominem away!
December 30th, 2010 at 1:03 AM ^
My argument didn't fail. What am I supposed to say? I can't, as Jay Z said, "make you see the facts." You're going to see precisely what you want to see. It's just funny that you choose to talk about tradition during a time period when Michigan has very clearly prioritized making money over retaining "tradition." I mean, the CC has been propelled by the media. There's huge consideration of Michigan's "brand" here. The "Michigan Man" concept is an absurd arm of this branding endeavor. Think about it: the formalization of that term was first used to describe Steve Fisher, a man with no connection to Michigan beyond the fact that he wasn't Bill Frieder.
CFB is contigent upon the whims of the Disney empire. The Big 10/12 has taken it's current shape to support the Big Ten Network. That awful logo was designed to fit nicely in the corner of the taglines that run across the your television screen when watching the Big Ten Network. It goes on and on.
December 30th, 2010 at 11:09 AM ^
December 30th, 2010 at 12:57 AM ^
Since your response to everything is homophobic insults.
December 30th, 2010 at 12:46 AM ^
Why don't you find something else to do with your time? Save you all this horror, and save us hearing your bitching.
December 30th, 2010 at 1:06 AM ^
That's Michigan. And if that's not OK anymore, then it's not the alma mater I thought it was when they handed me my diploma.
God, you are such a pompous ass.
December 30th, 2010 at 7:40 AM ^
Ted Kaczynski also graduated for the UofM..... What is the point.?
December 30th, 2010 at 12:41 AM ^
Did they receive your ballot? I'm also glad you're a Denard fan, so we can get your ass out of here in two years when he's gone, Michigan Football is still here, and you're busy following him in the NFL so we don't have to put up with you anymore. If you'd rather root for one player or a coach over your school or the program, be my guest. No one will miss a shitty fan like you when you're gone.
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<br>And 4. Thanks for illustrating how weak your argument is, where you're coming from, and the level of fan we should all aspire to be. I'm sure it worked great for you in junior high too.
December 30th, 2010 at 11:53 AM ^
I'm only replying here because it seems to be the end of this particular MGoBlog civil war, not because it's directly responding to what M-Wolverine has to say.
My own thoughts, I think, are along the lines of BGH's, though I would state them with less hyperbole and fewer fellatio references. My concern all along is how DB is treating the head football coach of the team I root for. Let's assume JH is hired and RR is fired. Would it not seem colossally disingenuous that DB claimed he was "waiting until the end of the season?"
Honestly, I understand the argument that DB will make the best choice of a football coach that will enable M to win ball games. Maybe JH is that choice, I don't know. But given how things have played out, there will be no other conclusion than that DB allowed RR to twist in the wind while he pandered to the whims of JH and allowed him (JH) to coach Stanford in the bowl game before announcing his acceptance of the M job.
That just feels so wrong to me. I would honestly be ashamed to be a fan of M at that point, and here's where I think BGH is on to something. If we want to claim we're different from a typical SEC school, then I think we can't behave that way (and when I say "we" I mean DB). Allowing your current coach to twitch at the end of a noose while you kowtow to the desires of his future replacement, all the while acting like it's just "the process" is really fucking shady, IMO.
I won't turn in my M gear for the gear of whatever team RR coaches next. I'm a third gen M grad, and fucking proud of it. But man, if what I think is about to happen does in fact happen, I will be very sad, and I will feel like much of our moral high ground has been surrendered in the name of the hoary "Michigan Man" trope. A cruel irony, that.
December 30th, 2010 at 12:00 PM ^
THIS THIS THIS THIS. We can talk all we want about our honor and tradition, but it seems like MICHIGAN MAN is what drives so many people here, regardless of what is respectful to human beings. We rail the SEC for being so concerned with nothing but winning, then people clamor for that exact thing.
December 30th, 2010 at 12:27 PM ^
THIS THIS THIS THIS. We can talk all we want about our honor and tradition, but it seems like MICHIGAN MAN is what drives so many people here, regardless of what is respectful to human beings. We rail the SEC for being so concerned with nothing but winning, then people clamor for that exact thing.
December 30th, 2010 at 12:53 PM ^
I like your thoughts and if we lived in a society more resembling the past where honor and integrity prevailed, I would absolutely agree with you. But, we live in a different world and it's cutthroat. I would not be happy that DB let RR twist as you said, but DB has to do what he thinks is best for the school. There is alot more at stake than RR, and I support RR.
Only problem I have with the wait is that we need to work on next year to win the B1G and beat MSU and OSU. I can understand DB waiting for whatever reason he has. It's his decision and timetable and he knows more than all of us. I just want to move forward with the program with RR or JH, or someone else.
December 30th, 2010 at 1:45 PM ^
I appreciate the thoughts. I guess I'm saying that I don't agree that letting RR twist is "best for the school." I'm saying the opposite. I'm saying that DB allowing RR to twist is doing violence to at least my image of the school, if not to public perception overall. I'm saying that by ignoring the progress (3-9 to 5-7 to 7-5), by ignoring the positive outlook for the future (20 returning starters, etc.) in the hopes of snagging JH, DB is reducing M to Notre Dame or Maryland or some SEC school. In other words, I'm not lamenting DB's treatment of RR; I'm lamenting DB's treatment of the U of M.
December 30th, 2010 at 2:43 PM ^
I hate using a double negative but I can't disagree with you there. The perception of how we treat our coaches may affect other coaches coming here in the future. Also, the perception of how we treat our people. I like the last sentence and that is my fear as well.
December 30th, 2010 at 12:17 AM ^
Are you a bigger Michigan fan, or a bigger Rich Rodriguez fan?
Because here I'm reading more of the latter than the former.
December 30th, 2010 at 12:28 AM ^
Virtually everyone on this board wants Michigan to win games. Whether you are for a CC or not.
I don't see saying that getting rid of RR is bad for Michigan is not being a Michigan fan.
December 30th, 2010 at 12:28 AM ^
I'm a fan of treating people right.
December 30th, 2010 at 12:42 AM ^
Not as I do.
December 30th, 2010 at 12:57 AM ^
You're either with us or against us. Let's roll Amurikuh.
December 30th, 2010 at 9:37 AM ^
his next team will be my second favorite. I will root for him for everyone that has rooted against him because he isn't a goddamn Michigan man and has a West Virginia accent. The guy is a good man and a hell of coach and he'll find success whether he's wearing maize and blue or something else.
December 30th, 2010 at 12:17 AM ^
Makes it all better! Everytime!
December 30th, 2010 at 1:24 AM ^
I may just say less cowbell.
But more Christopher Walken. Always.
December 30th, 2010 at 12:23 AM ^
You're evil. STOP!
December 30th, 2010 at 12:36 AM ^
RR and Co. have the opportunity to give DB something that eluded him as a player; a post-season victory.
December 30th, 2010 at 12:38 AM ^
If we show some pride this turn around would go alot smoother. and i think if you look around the country we r not that far off from having the big ten and the country back at the feet of wolverine nation.As far as i can see we need two things to happen 1. health tailbacks 2. for our deffense to have 3 full summer of barwis. it usely takes 3yrs for RichRod style to take over but the 1st year he did not know how empty it was.
December 30th, 2010 at 12:41 AM ^
I love Denard, but the kid said we had one of the best defenses in the country. He is just very supportive in public and that's nice, but obviously it's to the point that I wouldn't put too much into what he says to the media about embattled people in the program.
December 30th, 2010 at 1:19 AM ^
Denard just made a follow-up comment: "What does swdude12 have against the apostrophe?"
December 30th, 2010 at 9:08 AM ^
He also said " That dude is a totally Sweet Dude"!
December 30th, 2010 at 1:41 AM ^
I could not have said it better.
December 30th, 2010 at 7:49 AM ^
A true leader is optomistic and emenates subtle confidence, just like Denard.
That guy really is my hero.
December 30th, 2010 at 9:35 AM ^
A bird in the hand is better than two in the bush....
Just sayin.........