The End of History

I think there was a prevalent undercurrent of thought among many of us that this was something that would always be just out of reach for Michigan. 

For almost an uninterrupted two decades, we got bullied and humiliated by Ohio State. History that outlasts most of us dictates that 2nd place in that rivalry means no championship for you. 

And even putting that aside, the structure of college football as a sport as it unfolded in the 21st century always put that dread in many of our heads that Michigan's refusal to play the game the way others played it meant that there was a hard ceiling on our beloved football program. Ohio State runs roughshod over the rules, providing cars and incentives to players and recruits, self-reporting dozens of "minor" violations every single year under Jim Tressel, never suffering the consequences but always reaping the benefits. And then when they finally DO suffer the consequences, they have one down year before the most morally bankrupt elite coach in the history of the sport lands in their lap. 

Alabama, one of the most renegade, rule-breaking programs in the history of college sports, nearly gets Death Penalty'd at the turn of the century, but instead they survive to hire Saban, who looks the other way as Alabama boosters in the REC conquer the South like an octopus spreading its tentacles. 

Auburn blatantly and flagrantly buys Cam Newton. Clemson's phony holy man cries about not wanting to live in a world where college athletes get paid while numerous Clemson recruits and players slip and post social media pictures of the years of themselves holding huge stacks of money. 

We knew that Michigan never operated like this. I'm sure our program was never as squeaky clean as we pretended it was; but we all knew that Michigan wasn't dropping huge stacks of cash to land recruits. And seeing other programs that we knew were getting away with these things succeed unchecked created this sense of morose dejection that we were stuck. 

Of course, adding to this misery as all of the above was going on was App State and Rich Rod and Toledo and Hoke and Brandon and then even when we finally got it right there was trouble with the snap and JT was short and 62-39 and 56-27, and that pygmy thing in 2020, and if JIM HARBAUGH couldn't get over the hump here, what was the point? If Jim Harbaugh couldn't win at Michigan, who could? 

And then, even when Mt. Columbus was conquered, we got slapped around by Georgia in 2021 as a reminder that we were still the slow pasty nerds from the Midwest and this was still the SEC's sport. 

To finally, finally overcome all of this, along with the over-heated signgate FAKE SCANDAL...these are the good ol' times. This is Pax Michigana. We are living in the good times right now. They may be fleeting and they may end as abruptly as they began. But we are inside of our wildest dreams, and yeah -- our fandom is complete. 

Go Blue.

(credit: EFWolverine from the Victors board, aka, the edge of the internet)

Also, this is worth a look/click.

Scenes from Ann Arbor. The video doesn’t do it justice. pic.twitter.com/e22RVmCQvA

— Aiden Wagner (@TheAidenWagner) January 9, 2024