Great quote from RVB regarding alumni

Wow, so he can't talk about something he perceived and that at least some players perceived because he's not "worthy"?  Not worthy to have an opinion?  OK.  Ready for a future in which negs matter again - I'll miss your "worthy" additions to the board.

Every fan has an investment in the team.  They support the program by buying merchandise, buying tickets, and watching/listening/blogging about the team.  I think we have the right to feel irked by the bewildering contempt of the past

You really need to pay attention when you read. Whoa.

I was not trying to say that they were told they were not welcomed back. I am talking about perception on their part. They lost their connections to the inner sanctum of the program. It doesn't matter if RR was wide open with the program, he could not welcome a player back the way a former coach could. If part of the aura of  alumni coming back to AA was catching up with an old coach who helped develop them into the men that they are is gone...and when they show up to AA and everyone there is a stranger, they don't have an idea of who an alumnus is (by no fault of their own) then some alumni aren't going to feel the same about returning, or may feel disappointed that they lost a connection to the program. I was not trying to place blame on the RRs staff, simply give my insight as to the loss that some of the alumni might have felt and why it was so emotional for them.

To assume that we the fans are more invested in Michigan football than the men who gave their blood, sweat, tears, joints and limbs for the program is insane.

This is obviously talking about the Michigan football program and NOT the University as a whole. Also, I'd be interested in finding out what the graduation rate at the University of Michigan is, as well as what the average course of study is for students attending. Finally, screw the players because you don't have to cheer for them any more right? You have used them for what you needed from them and they are no longer required, so their feelings about the program that they represented don't matter. Does that about sum it up?

Actually, yeah, just about every player is more invested than a regular Alumni. Because almost all of the time when discussing their greater voice, we're talking about the team or athletic department. No one is saying that player consensus is how we should determine fiscal year funding for the Philosophy department.

And it's really not insane at all. Actually, the opposite, completely rational. To think otherwise comes off as "jock stole my girlfriend" mentality. I'm sure you think you put in blood, sweat, and tears...but you mean it metaphorically. Try running for three hours, then run into a brick wall a dozen times full speed, and then have to go take a midterm exam. Then, yeah, you've give your bleeding your own blood, actually broke a sweat from more than fighting over the last slice of pizza, and experienced real, tangible tears...where unlike when you screw up and no one knows about it but your professor and MAYBE you're parents, you don't have the whole campus saying YOU SUCK then next week.

You never read Bacon's Blog reference to what he learned in his new book, did you?

The coaches have to ask their players to work almost as hard -- not just on the field but in the weight room and in the classroom. I followed Michigan’s Big Ten MVP quarterback, Denard Robinson, for one day, which started at 7 a.m. with treatment for his swollen knee, followed by weightlifting, classes, an interview with ESPN Radio, more treatment, meetings, practice, a third round of treatment, dinner and study table. When he walked out of the academic center at 10 p.m., two middle-aged men who’d been waiting all night asked him to sign a dozen glossy photos. I went home exhausted—and I hadn’t done anything more than take notes. Conditioning, however, was even harder. I worked out with the strength coaches for six weeks, just to see what it was like. They doubled my bench press and tripled my squat – and also showed me I could throw up from running or weight lifting. I had not known that. After each workout I collapsed on my couch for an hour or two —not to nap, mind you, but to whimper in the fetal position like a little kid. How those players got any school work done at the end of those days is a mystery to me.

from http://blog.johnubacon.com/2011/01/07/inside-a-college-football-tragicomedy.aspx 

So yeah, going to college is tough, but almost no students have full time jobs where in the job you get the crap physically beat out of you while you're trying to do your classwork.

And I like your knock on "they're just dumb jocks, they don't, like, graduate", but really, it's not that different. Athletes graduates at a 79% rate over a 6 year period (http://www.michigandaily.com/content/u-par-national-student-athlete-grad...), whereas the student body (over the same time periods graduated anywhere from a 81-89% rate over 6 years, with them touting an amazing 3% jump the final year. (http://house.michigan.gov/hfa/PDFs/grad%20rate%20sub%20memo.pdf)  So, it's really pretty comparable. And I bet the percentages of those who leave to go get a job in their field of study mid-study aren't really close. And the majority of Athletes are studying the same courses as the majority of non-athlete students. The minority are those in the truly more difficult programs, throughout the whole University.

So yes, players don't really have any more say than you or I (which guess what..in non-existant too) on how hospital construction is going to go. But a say in how the Athletic Department represents them? It may not be much, but it's a hell of a lot more than the average student or Alumni who just claps and buys a ticket (sometimes...I mean, do we give special say to the 20,000 who bothered to show up for the Spring Game? Because I wasn't seeing a lot of dedication there...). The fact that you think otherwise is immense hubris, blindly ignoring what a student-athlete goes through to be a student-athlete. It's nice that you worked hard too. But really, you didn't walk a couple of steps in their shoes, no more miles.

Your last paragraph could easily be put in the people who are unhappy now, and complaining about people not complaining anymore, and who are longing for the continuation of the last 3 years. But it's all relative....if "I" don't agree with it, it's justified, but if "he" didn't agree with it, well, "screw them". If you don't like how it is...well....your words....