Glen Masons Hot Wife

March 23rd, 2015 at 4:15 PM ^

Glad it is gone.

Bad idea.  Like it better when players have a chance to make their own number special.

Joined: 07/02/2008

MGoPoints: 3685

Brian Griese

March 23rd, 2015 at 4:19 PM ^

Were a good idea and a bad idea all rolled into one, which could probably sum up DB's tenure (although his was more bad than good).  I like the idea of honoring the past, I hated the idea of Gardner being compared to the great Tom Harmon for two seasons.  One game, fine.  Multiple seasons, no.  Just my two cents. 

Joined: 10/25/2014

MGoPoints: 30275

Mr. Yost

March 23rd, 2015 at 4:21 PM ^

A repost of a previous rant of mine...

Get rid of those stupid patches... Build a monument park, an outdoor museum at the stadium. Inside of this park, statues of all of the formerly retired numbers...plus Woodson this year. AC next year. Desmond the following year. And Jake the year after that. Also should be plaques honoring great teams. Great players that aren't quite statue level, but awesome in their own right. A wall of All-Americans. Coaches. History. Have a cool "exhibit" of fan favorite moments like Woodson's catch vs. MSU, The Pose, and also moments like UTL1 and UTL2. Bo's first win over OSU. A place to relive the experience. Walk into a giant Michigan helmet to experience a video element with a loop of great plays on the inside. PLEASE MAKE THIS HAPPEN. Be a LEADER and a trendsetter! Make it cool, make it fun, make it corny, but do it up and do it right. Many people only visit Michigan Stadium every now and again, this would be an awesome feature to better the gameday experience. Or not even the gameday experience because many folks would come by on the holidays during the offseason just to check it out. It would be awesome if you could visit 365 days a year.

Joined: 07/25/2011

MGoPoints: -9898220

RuebenRileyonRye

March 23rd, 2015 at 4:28 PM ^

I never liked it. I thought it was disrespectful to Desmond and a money grab. Retire 21 and 2. Let the players make a name with their own number. Also, I think fans should chill on number 1. Up until Braylon the number was given out to whoever the coach thought should get it. There are so many numbers that mean something. Take 72, for example, Dan Dierdorf wore it. Should guys have to earn that one? Dierdorf is legendary. Coaches use numbers to recruit, inspire, or impress upon guys the importance and history of the program. A kid will work harder if given an honor right off because it will give them something to prove.

Joined: 07/06/2008

MGoPoints: 606

ClassOf14

March 23rd, 2015 at 4:29 PM ^

I think this is a good move, I don't think it was a good idea if you consider it long term. For example, let's say UM wants to honor Charles Woodson this year and give the #2 jersey a legends patch, and hypothetically, Jabrill Peppers goes on to wear the #2 jersey, has an incredible career that is also worthy of being honored down the road. 10 years from now are we going to stick two legends patches on the jersey? And so on and so forth?

The entire point of retiring a jersey number is to repeat overlap, so that one player will have a legacy with a number for as long as the team exists. The system Michigan promotes the opposite in a very flawed way in my opinion.



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Joined: 01/28/2015

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mmc22

March 23rd, 2015 at 4:49 PM ^

How about bring back every number and ad a small patch with the names, position and years of the great players that wear it. For example:

No: 1

Anthony Carter - WR - 1979-82

Derrick Alexander - WR - 1990-93

David Terrell – WR - 1998-2000

Braylon Edwards – WR - 2003-04

Every time a great player wears that number you add his name to the patch and once that patch gets to let’s say 10 names you can either retire the patch, or remove the first name like they do with the Stanley Cups rings. 

Joined: 11/18/2009

MGoPoints: 747

baldurblue

March 23rd, 2015 at 5:07 PM ^

Isn't there a bunch of empty blue space on the front of the luxury boxes?  They should paint the numbers and names, or something like it, of the all-time greats to honor them and their years at the university.  Then unretire all the numbers and let players wear them if they choose.  I like the museum idea too.

Joined: 08/24/2011

MGoPoints: 652

JamieH

March 23rd, 2015 at 5:09 PM ^

got to make their own identity.  Every player that showed star potential immediately got slapped into a "legends" jersey and was immediately overshadowed by the player who wore than number before them.

 

I don't mind the receivers fighting over #1.  Having ONE number at Michigan like that is kind of cool.  But having EVERY good player on the team switching numbers was just annoying.  Make your own number a legend.  Those of use old enough to remember times before Desmond or Woodson remember when #21 or #2 meant nothing, and it's incredibly cool that those guys showed up and made those numbers legends at Michigan.  Why take that possibility away from future players?

Joined: 09/05/2009

MGoPoints: 28331

UMxWolverines

March 23rd, 2015 at 5:10 PM ^

Good. In all honesty nobody should be wearing 98. But if you must keep the numbers active just do away with the dumb patches and just give them to whoever wants them. We have multiple guys that I think of when I see the #16 now and it shouldn't be any different with any of those other numbers. 

And for god's sake the #1 jersey thing wasn't even actually a thing until Braylon made it one. It didn't always go to the best receiver. But I suppose it's too late for that. 

Joined: 03/01/2009

MGoPoints: 65295

A Real Toe Tapper

March 23rd, 2015 at 5:15 PM ^

I'm not sad to see them go.  But let's not act like they were some sort of abhorrent brainchild of an evil money grubber designed to Destroy Tradition.  

It was a thing they tried because they thought it would be neat.  It sort of was, but not enough to stick long term.  It is gone now and the only effect was on what number a couple of players wore on their shirts.  End.

Joined: 09/07/2008

MGoPoints: 505

I WAS THERE

March 23rd, 2015 at 6:51 PM ^

Gallon, Roundtree, and Hemingway definitely stepped their games up while in #21...and Kovacs deserved to be recognized. IMO, Gardner should've given #98 back until he earned it...that being said, he's my favorite player over "The 10 Year Snore" that UM's football program has fallen upon.
-"The 10 Year Snore" trademark pending fuckers, do not use. I'm trying to put together a 30 for 30 type film.

Joined: 01/09/2012

MGoPoints: 2712

MichiganMAN47

March 23rd, 2015 at 5:29 PM ^

It could have worked if it wasn't arbitrary. The problem with the numbers is that they became a distraction from the things that mattered, players switching numbers left and right. It should have been reserved for players who earned the right, perhaps reserved for returning All Americans or All Big Ten players, or team captains. Maybe even have them used only on Homecoming . If these things weren't handed out like candy it would have been a really cool tradition, and a true honor.

It was a good idea, but was implemented horribly.

Joined: 02/24/2015

MGoPoints: 3216

Perkis-Size Me

March 23rd, 2015 at 6:29 PM ^

I'm okay with it. I guess I saw the point behind it, and it was kind of cool, but to me, the Legends Jerseys were emblematic of one of the many ways that this program has been hopelessly trapped in the past.

Besides, why not let our players forge their own legacies with their own numbers?

Joined: 11/30/2011

MGoPoints: 105246

LDNfan

March 23rd, 2015 at 6:41 PM ^

Felt like another distraction from what's really important that is today's players playing like champions and making their own championship legacies...not worrying about jersey numbers and patches. 

Joined: 09/28/2014

MGoPoints: 10364

maizenblue87

March 23rd, 2015 at 7:38 PM ^

Good. Every player on the team should start from scratch. Plus, many of those awarded the legends jerseys didn't play well enough to honor the legend, in my opinion.

Joined: 06/22/2011

MGoPoints: 6630

uncleFred

March 23rd, 2015 at 8:02 PM ^

Michigan stadium so fans pass under them on their way to the game and let us all forget the marketing move that brought them out of retirement. Especially Gerry Ford's number which was retired to honor the death of the only Michigan grad to become president of the United States of America. 

I opposed bringing those numbers out of retirement and I would love to see them returned to their place of honor. I mentioned in a comment to another thread that Brandon did some astonishingly stupid things. Bringing those numbers out of retirement was one.

Joined: 10/14/2011

MGoPoints: 2399

Mr. Owl

March 23rd, 2015 at 8:29 PM ^

I hate "retired" jerseys.  After a while only hard core fans know anything about the number and all you get is a player not getting to wear the number he wants.

I thought Gardner was fine with 98.  Wish his career was even half as good as Harmon's, but it is what it is.  He did everything he could, and it looked good out there.

Courtney Avery wearing 11 though?  That seemed like they felt obligated to put the number on SOMEBODY.

Where I'm concerned, unretire numbers, but reserve them for special cases.  Braylon wanted #1 and said so when he got to campus.  Earn it.  He did.  I remember a computer game I played where I got the #1 overall recruit who was a center and the game assigned him #1.  I thought "why not?"  In the game he was phenomenal.  He deserved it.

I would like to see a plaque in ever locker with the names of significant players who wore that number.  You wear it now.  Earn the right to have your name engraved along with them.  If it's one of the reserved numbers you have to earn it.  Show me you know why the number is reserved and why you are worthy of wearing his jersey number.

Having the numbers back on the field did a positive thing in teaching the history of the program to some people who may not have thought about certain things.  The name "Tom Harmon" is more well known and remembered now than it was 5 years ago, and that is a positive to me.  Do I want to see it issued to a walkon DT?  No.  But if some kid comes in and says "I love 98 and want to honor Tom Harmon by being the next All-American to wear it" he shouldn't be told "sorry, here's number 4.  98 is special, 4 isn't.  And you'll never be good enough to wear it no matter what you do.

Remember, 21 was good enough for Biakabutuka.

Joined: 01/15/2015

MGoPoints: 346

Mr. Owl

March 23rd, 2015 at 10:26 PM ^

I chose 4 for a reason.

It could be argued that 4 is a modern legend jersey.  Outside of his now being coach, Jim Harbaugh was a great QB at Michigan.  Yet it's not an issue when Marquis Walker, Brandon Minor, De'Veon Smith, et all wear it.  If a DE wants to wear 4, he can get 4.  If a QB comes in and wants to wear 98, he should have the opportunity to do so, provided he KNOWS who wore it before and wants the chance to live up to... or better the legacy of those who wore it before him.

With the weight of having such a number on you comes just as great a chance to not even be remembered.  If you don't live up to it, we'll remember the guy who wore it before you.  It's the way it is.

Joined: 01/15/2015

MGoPoints: 346

Ryanonymous

March 24th, 2015 at 7:13 AM ^

#2 and #1 - these should be earned, however, and should go to the best DBack and WR respectively but do not need to be worn each year.
That was my problem with legends jerseys under DB/Hoke. It was like they were handed out as participation trophies to "good" players not necessarily those who seemed to earn it on the playing field.
We should be able to tell they deserve the jerseys when we watch them play.

Joined: 05/02/2011

MGoPoints: 1018

johnvand

March 24th, 2015 at 8:44 AM ^

Legends Jerseys should only be brought out for Homecomming.  Serves two purposes:  1) honoring the players of the past.  2) Allows current players to still make a name for themselves with "their" number.

Joined: 02/04/2010

MGoPoints: 5470