Hope remains while company is true
Someone famous*, probably a coach**, once said that the difference between a bad team and good team having a down year is whether you accept it.
Doya kennit?
Let me paint you a picture. We have the No. 2 team in the land. That team, during its undefeated march to such unforeseen heights, had its closest call, early in the season, against a team that finished 3-9.
Now, if you are that 3-9 team, are you...
A. Telling everyone you know you almost beat the No. 2 team in the land
B. Kicking yourself for not going all the way
C. Haven't really thought about it.
It's been a few days, and nobody has yet to mention Michigan's opening day brush with what it now seems like would have been our biggest upset. That means either we're still under the illusion that we have a good team in a down year, or we have so much pride that the 4th quarter comeback that almost was, wasn't really.
Brian, if you have perspective, I suggest you use it. Because right now, I'm seriously trying to figure out whether we had an almost historic victory and totally missed it, and if so, if I should even care?
*Actually, I don't know if he was famous or not, but I'm guessing he was, because if he wasn't, he'd have had to say it all the time to everyone he knew.
**Like if Sartre coached Little League.
***I'm also worried the guy who said this was Marty Mornhinweg.
January 9th, 2009 at 5:11 PM ^
We sucked. They dominated that game, 1st half particularly. Would have been a steal had we won. They did everything to give it away, and the refs helped too. I take away from that game: we were lucky to be that close.
January 9th, 2009 at 5:34 PM ^
I watched mostof Utah's games this year and Utah is not the #2 team in the country. The team we saw in the Sugar Bowl was not the team I saw all year long. The only problem is that no one else gets to watch any of Utah's games because of their TV contract. Yes they did go undefeated, and major props to them for that, but they are not the #2 team based on what I saw from Florida, USC, Oklahoma, and Texas. Just my opinion.
January 9th, 2009 at 5:36 PM ^
Outgained UM 341 to 203. We completed 50% of our passes and ran for 1.4 yards/game. I don't know. The 2 point margin screams "fluke" to me.
January 9th, 2009 at 7:03 PM ^
Utah beat us by 2 points. That's all I could think about when I was watching them dominate Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. If the two point conversion had gone differently and our young team managed to take the W in overtime, Utah certainly would have had a much tougher road to #2 with a loss to a 3-9 team (or presumably an 4-8 team) on their record, regardless of how good they actually are. In reality, they probably would have found their way to a non-BCS contest (i.e. Ball State) with far less attention paid (which is pretty hard to do when you're Utah).
Thus, if we managed to beat Utah waaaaaay back in September (August?), they probably wouldn't have gotten the chance to trounce Alabama in the first place. We could be just as content with an almost-win over the would-be #2 team in the country as we would be with an actual win over a 12-1 team that never got a chance to prove itself.
January 9th, 2009 at 7:06 PM ^
I'm sorry, but if we would have won that game, it would have been about the flukiest Michigan victory ever - rivaling the Brett Bell Wisconsin game (2001). They massively outplayed us.
January 9th, 2009 at 7:29 PM ^
Our presence in that game being competitive was based on a blocked punt, and an extremely flukey outbreak of pass interference calls on Utah. We had a single successful offensive play.