Harbaugh GIF-off - Harbaugh as Grinch vs. Spring Game Grin

Submitted by EastCoast Esq. on

As of this post, "Harbaugh as Grinch" (HG) and Spring Game Grin (SGG) are literally neck-and-neck. HG as 1,604 votes, while SGG has 1,603 votes. I figured that, with the voting so darn close, it might be cool to have a forum topic on the race.

Which one did you vote for and why?

I chose Spring Game Grin because it was the moment that I realized how much Harbaugh enjoyed being back at Michigan. His grin is ridiculously big and he just looks so happy with what he is building.

Converse! (I will not take DISCUSS MAN's signature word)

 

To be clear, I know that there is absolutely no need for this thread. However, there is NOTHING going on with Michigan football right now. The most exciting thing we have is counting the number of camps Harbaugh will attend next month. Therefore, I don't think a silly thread like this will exactly clutter the board.

EDIT: Apparently I was wrong about the origin of the Grinch Grin. Welp.

EDIT2: As an update, the vote is 1,952 for Grinch, 1,951 for Spring Game. That's ridiculous.

mGrowOld

May 16th, 2016 at 9:27 AM ^

I think of Harbaugh as the mad scientist plotting our enemies downfall.

And FWIW I think Discuss Man's signature word isn't "discuss"



It's "Nike"

BrownJuggernaut

May 16th, 2016 at 9:24 AM ^

There is something devious about the Grinch grin that I just absolutely love. Also, the Grinch is probably my favorite Dr Seuss related thing, so that may have also played into it. Both gifs have high usability, which is another important consideration IMO. 

SAMgO

May 16th, 2016 at 9:27 AM ^

Harbaugh as grinch is my favorite gif of him because it finally convinced me that's he's a robot. When he turns his head, his left eye seems to move independently of his right. I cannot unsee it.

Hab

May 16th, 2016 at 9:27 AM ^

Both are exceptional.  The spring game grin to me shows that he just really likes what he's doing for the sake of doing it.  Football for the sake of football.  You don't see that often in the world. 

The grinch smile is more about having won.  Great, yes.  But everyone smiles when they win.  Not everyone smiles through a "7-0 Morris v. Malzone practice."

MGoBrewMom

May 16th, 2016 at 9:32 AM ^

Of the Spring Game Grin--BUT!! the Grinch is the best because he is SO up to something in that one. He has something on his mind and nobody but JMFH knows what it is.

GRINCH!

LSAClassOf2000

May 16th, 2016 at 9:38 AM ^

Don't worry about appropriating DISCUSS Man's trademark word - his trademarks expired when he was sent to Bolivia for wanting to discuss really insignificant things. Don't feel bad about it, just don't be the other DISCUSS Man.

As for my vote, Spring Game Grin and it was for basically that reason - it was when you knew this is exactly where he wanted to be, where he was needed the most. 

bgoblue02

May 16th, 2016 at 9:38 AM ^

because that was the moment when you can see the motto of "win with cruelty, win with character" as a facial expression.

The spring game grin was full of joy and optimism, the grinch grin was him knowing that he now has a team not to be messed with. 

Heptarch

May 16th, 2016 at 9:56 AM ^

For the same reason as the OP.

During the coach search we had heard over and over again from so-called experts that Jim didn't really want to be back at his Alma mater.

That picture showed once and for all that what WE believed to be true really was: That Michigan football means as much (or more) to Jim Harbaugh as it does to us.

rbgoblue

May 16th, 2016 at 10:01 AM ^

Sounds like this has been mentioned already, but when it was announced that we had hired Harbaugh, I was elated and was completely ok accepting the fact that he would be here for 3-4 years, turn our program around, and leave is in good hands when he returned to a top NFL head coaching gig. When I saw the grin during his first spring game, I thought that he looked truly content and started to believe that he may taking up residence in Ann Arbor in a more long term capacity.




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M-Dog

May 16th, 2016 at 10:11 AM ^

This^.  Plus, all that drama he has created / absorbed in his first year at Michigan . . . he's invested here now.  

If you were to ask him what is on his mind right now it would be satellite camps, recruits, his QBs, the assholes that make up the SEC.  It would not be the 2013 Super Bowl.

CarrIsMyHomeboy

May 16th, 2016 at 10:15 AM ^

The spring game grin. To me, it's reminiscent of the most pleasant kind of poetry.

As for the grinch one: Actually, it ranks in my lower quartile of favorite Harbaugh gifs.

1VaBlue1

May 16th, 2016 at 10:18 AM ^

I love the Grinch Grin because of the deviousness behind it.  The simple fact that he knows he's got something, and he's going to use it to crush someone.  And it was a calculated move made in front of the camera for all to see, for all to know.

But Spring Game took my vote.  That was a look of total contentment, looking around at the entire scene - the field, the stadium, the crowd, his team...  It said 'I'm home, this is mine', and it was said to himself.  That smile wasn't for a camera; it wasn't for benefit of anyone looking in his direction.  It was to himself.

Our coach is here, and Bo is resting easily.

707oxford

May 16th, 2016 at 10:47 AM ^

Tough choice, but I voted for spring game.

I love watching the evolution of he grinch grin. However, I don't know what the context was as far as what was said before/after, and the cheesy BW3 logo'd background knock a few points off.

The spring game grin is pure. Nothing but Harbaugh and his joy overseeing M football. Bonus points for taking place as the start of an era make it even more epic (as opposed to occurring after a middle-tier bowl game).

OrlandoWolverine

May 16th, 2016 at 10:57 AM ^

It was a really touch choice, but I voted for the Grinch smile.  I'm not totally convinced that his Spring smile was about contentment.  It could also have been him coming to the realization that this team wasn't very good as he looked out over the field, and that he had a lot of work to do.

 

 

MaizeMN

May 16th, 2016 at 11:12 AM ^

I was really torn between these two and feel like the winner of this GIF war will be the ultimate champion. On the one hand, there is the evil genius of the Grinch grin, on the other, the pure, unadulterated joy of the Spring Game grin. To choose between the two is quite a quandry. Perhaps we should declare the two GIFs co-champs and have the best of both worlds. After all, you really can't have one without the other. Just as we celebrate a MICHIGAN victory with Temptation AND Hawaiian War Chant, perhaps we should also celebrate each MICHIGAN victory with the evil grin and spring game GIFs also. I'm certain that both are an integral part of every JH Saturday coaching sojourn

1VaBlue1

May 16th, 2016 at 11:32 AM ^

Stand on the fence and make no decision?  WWJMFHD when faced with a 4th and goal from the one to win the game - run the FB dive, run a naked bootleg, or do neither and accept that both are good play calls while not winning the game?

A decision must be made!!

El Jeffe

May 16th, 2016 at 11:30 AM ^

I voted for Grinch in part because of the complexity of that grin. There are like five different micro-grins in it, whereas the spring game grin is just happy. NTTAWWT.

Amaizing Blue

May 16th, 2016 at 11:37 AM ^

Seems unfair to have them meet this early.  I voted for Spring Game Grin, but by the same razor-thin margin as currently exists in the poll.  As a couple others have said, it was THE moment when I felt like he would be here coaching for quite a while.

Hemlock Philosopher

May 16th, 2016 at 12:37 PM ^

This is look is absolutely how I feel when I go some place that I love that I haven't visited in a while. It's the look of I'm here and I missed it and I am so very very happy to be back. 

bluepow

May 16th, 2016 at 2:24 PM ^

Spring Game and Grinch are exactly tied at 1905 each.  I am finding this horserace unexpectedly entertaining.  Ace should announce a hard cut-off to make things fair.

I am a Spring Game guy myself.  It just sums up so nicely the state of our program.

Gr1mlock

May 16th, 2016 at 2:33 PM ^

I had the exact same feeling as OP about spring game grin.  It was this look of pure contentment, this expression of "this is where I belong, and exactly where I want to be".  Not the most exciting Harbuagh gif ever, but quite possibly my favorite.  

josejose50

May 16th, 2016 at 7:02 PM ^

The smile in the spring game is just pure happiness and joy. Its the smile of someone who achieved a moment of zen and achievement that they wanted.

The Grinch smile is definitely awesone, and has that mad scientist vibe going for it, but what was the story behind the smile? Outside of it happening at the BW3 bowl does anyone know what triggered it?

 

Edit: Also, I would say if we were doing a 30 for 30 on Michigan in this period, the Grinch smile is in your opening montage as the perfect "the villain" look. The Spring Game smile is your closing shot.

BLUEDOZER

May 16th, 2016 at 8:02 PM ^

Spring Game for me. I see the look of a man that loves where he's at and what he's doing with his life. The thought that he is happy here makes my smile just as big. GO BLUE and God bless you coach!!