Gratitude for UM Athletic Department
In light of the recent scandal(s) at Ohio State, I was just thinking it is very appropriate for us to show some gratitude for the leadership at the University of Michigan. We have three chief rivals in the East division: Ohio State, Michigan State, and Penn State. Within the last few years, all three of them have had truly disgusting black eyes - the final scope of which can ultimately be pinned down on poor leadership. All three of them put winning and/or institutional reputation over justice and the protection of the innocent. I know that Michigan leadership and our athletic department/football program are far from flawless. However, I am grateful that we as an institution strive for excellence in all areas. Football has proven to be the holy grail at all three of those other institutions. At Michigan, excellence is the holy grail, and this is just as important in academics and leadership as much as it is in athletics.
Of course, I want to beat those other programs on the football field as much as any of us do. However, I would rather lose with integrity then win at the expense of the innocent. Also, allow me to point out that even recently, we continue to have the upper hand on Penn State. Additionally, we have more all-time wins, more head-to-head wins, higher winning percentage, more national championships, and more Big Ten championships then all three of those programs. Hopefully we are in the process of restoring order in those rivalries.
Now, could our beloved university fall into the same predicament with our leadership? Absolutely, this is possible. However, it has not happened to his point. For that, I am grateful, and I credit our leadership for avoiding such shameful behavior.
Go blue.
Is patting ourselves on the back really the appropriate response to this???
Patting self on back is not appropriate, but I do think expressing gratitude for our leadership is an appropriate response. Maybe the timing seems in poor taste, but I am feeling particularly grateful to be a UM alumnus and not an alumnus of our rival schools at the moment.
While I think having gratitude for our leadership is an appropriate response, I also think when it comes to all of these situations, we always need to quickly turn inward and focus on prevention of any thing horrible like this from happening.
Based on the football team inviting Brenda Tracy to speak, it seems that the UM Athletic Department is doing exactly that, which is what we should express gratitude about the most.
Mad ups OP.
Here's the link to the funny Carmelo GIF that I had in response to this, but can't seem to figure out how to embed since MGoBlog 3.0 sucks.
http://gph.is/1ynJz28
Amen
Pretty asinine to post this. It'd be one think if the Athletic Department were readily bringing to light incidents they uncovered through checks and balances incorporated in their admin system. It's another entirely to post this, which essentially says... we haven't made the news, so everything must be ok.
Let's not puff up our chests too much on this. While I do think our AD sets a higher standard of integrity than most schools in general and the 3 you mentioned in particular, these things tend to not be as clear cut when you're in the middle of it as it is to an outsider looking in in hindsight. As much as I'd like to believe it can't happen here, it's probably just a matter of time before something in the same vein does. Hopefully the right people hear about it and deal with it the right way before it gets to the point it got with those 3.
It's nice to pat ourselves on the back, but didn't Brendan Gibbons rape a girl who was then later intimidated by Taylor Lewan? Those guys both hung around on their respective teams for a long time.
Yeah we handled the Gibbons thing so well. And there are some reports out there right now on Bob Bowman, who was also a former Michigan swimming coach. The mistake everyone has made about these incidents is thinking its a few bad actors. Its the entire culture around college athletics. Michigan isn't handling these things better.
So you're saying we'll win at the expense of the innocent in the future?
I am most certainly not saying that. Here is precisely what I did say about that exact question:
"I would rather lose with integrity then win at the expense of the innocent."
There but for the grace of God go I...
If we believe this could never happen in A2 then we are truly at risk.
Agree 100% and said as much in final paragraph.
Bad OP - thankfully others have somewhat rescued it but this is the kind of shit that others will throw in our faces for instances like the Gibbons case and who knows what in the future. Domestic violence, sexual harassment etc is widespread.
While I'm grateful that Michigan hasn't had a scandal in recently memory along the lines of our regional "State" schools, I'm also terrified that it may just be a matter of time before our administration is confronted with a challenge in this area.
Michigan's handling of the Brendan Gibbons situation left a lot to be desired (imho). The change at the top of the athletic department has restored some of my confidence. And yes, the difference, so far, has been that Gibbon's situation was a single incident (that we know of), compared to massive patterns of abuse at OSU/MSU/PSU supported by a system that's been bastardized to protect belligerents.
Bad people are going to do bad things. Even good people will do bad things. That's just human nature. What I hope, from the bottom of my heart, is that when the bad things inevitably happen at Michigan, our administration confronts them with honesty, transparency, zero tolerance for the belligerent, and compassion and support for the victim(s). THAT is truly the Michigan Difference.
Agreed OP. We've had (lesser) incidents in the past, and we'll have more in the future. But right now we are doing well, and right now we should celebrate that. Saying we shouldn't be proud of that is like saying we shouldn't enjoy a win over a rival because in the past we lost to them and on the future we will undoubtedly lose again.
This is not something to celebrate. There are no winners here, only broken victims whose lives will never be the same. We all lose whenever these types of events occur, be at Michigan or at our greatest rivals.
Nobody gets medals for doing what you should be doing. Michigan is doing (as far as we know) what we should be doing, at a baseline human level. Just because some of our rivals aren't, doesn't mean we lower our standard. Gratitude is meaningful (as I've stated above), but celebration is moronic.
I get the sentiment, but "good thing we haven't screwed up yet" seems like a weird thing to be excited about. Michigan 100% would have taken a hard look at Meyer had RR last one more year before he got fired.
I nominate for worst post of the year.
August 2nd, 2018 at 11:30 PM ^
Knock on wood. Let's hope our time isn't coming.
You have pretty much nailed this...have no idea what is generating all the negative comments. By all appearances, Michigan is doing an excellent job of recruiting high character kids, providing them with the tools to succeed and setting a larger culture that helps drive this little bus. This is the general picture.
It is my philosophy of life that people, in general, have a deep desire to do good and will do so if given the opportunity and support-this is called setting a culture. This does not guarantee perfection-mistakes will be made. However, here, life-shattering failures will most likely be mitigated.
It is okay to count your blessings and live with a spirit of gratitude...in fact, it's the best way to live.
Did you forget UM hired Warinner, who's probably going to be next in the cross hairs of this mess?
Dantonio is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay ahead of Warinner.