Hope Without Reason
I'm sure some of you will find this post to be a waste of time, but considering that a couple spots down is a post entitled "Why Does God Hate Us?" I figured I would put it out there.
Up until today, I had hope for the 2010 Michigan Football team for many reasons. More depth and experience at several positions, third year in the offensive system, second year defensive coordinator, etc, etc, etc.
However, the thing that gave me the most hope was a feeling that the team was coming together and that despite losing the 2 or 3 most talented individuals from last season, the team as a whole would be better and overachieve for some intangible reason.
Well, as I right this post today we are all feeling a lot of the hope we had for this season slip away from us. And justifiably so. The experience and depth mentioned above seems to have evaporated a little bit, and the other reasons for hope seem like their effect might be minimal considering that on paper we won't be able to cover even the most humble wide receivers on the schedule.
But the one reason for hope that remains is the one that for me personally was the strongest to begin with. This team WILL come together and they WILL make us proud that they wear the Maize and Blue. Maybe that will be measured in wins and maybe it won't, but the feeling around this team is a good one. One that won't be challenged by an injury to any individual.
Does anyone remember a Michigan hockey team from a few years ago that lost everyone and came into the season expected to do absolutely nothing? They ended up having a pretty good season, and that is what I expect the boys to do this season as well.
Anyways, I have spoken my piece on the matter. If it talked even one of you off the cliff, then I am happy that I took the time to type it out. Go Blue for Life!
August 17th, 2010 at 8:25 PM ^
HELL NO!
Hey, I'll take anything I can get right now. Go Blue!
August 17th, 2010 at 8:59 PM ^
Fantastic Animal House reference.
I still say this is't something that will break the defense. No one knows how could he would've been. Who knows, he may have been bad. Cullen could be great. Just need to sit back, take a deeeeeep breathe, and watch some football be played.
August 17th, 2010 at 8:26 PM ^
Go Blue!
August 17th, 2010 at 8:30 PM ^
I hate to say it, but this just puts that much more pressure on Denard. I thought we needed a great offense to win. Now we need a historic one.
But it is possible. Go Blue.
August 17th, 2010 at 8:35 PM ^
Sadly, offenses don't win championships. I had hope for 7+ wins this season but now that seems unreasonable. The departure of Graham, Warren, and Brown was painful. I'm a very sad panda now that Woolfolk, Turner, Cissoko and Dorsey won't be contributing to the most depleted part of the team.
August 17th, 2010 at 8:38 PM ^
I wasn't hoping to win a championship next year. I was hoping to win 10 games.
August 17th, 2010 at 8:40 PM ^
There's no adage that says "Defense wins 8 games". With a great offense we can still get 7-8 wins.
August 17th, 2010 at 8:33 PM ^
Woolfolk getting injured doesn't make me any less excited for the season. Think of it that way.
August 17th, 2010 at 8:32 PM ^
Clicked on and and I want jump off a ledge from a 14th floor building? Are you kidding me? Our best corner is out for the season? God please help us! RR is in for a tough season and I pray he/we make it through.....HAIL
August 17th, 2010 at 8:36 PM ^
This is the Hope thread. Take your negative attitude to the other 18 threads of DOOM. I, on the other hand, am going to drink 1-12 beers and play this on a continuous loop
Let's all mellow out and look forward to the season...hope springs eternal.
August 17th, 2010 at 8:40 PM ^
Just to throw another positive spin out there, at least JT Floyd and the freshman have almost 3 weeks to get ready. I'm sure they will all be getting tons of snaps and we just have to hope that one of them is a superstar in the making.
7 or more wins is still doable. We just have to hope that the rest of the defense can compensate for the weak corners, which is something you could have said yesterday as well.
August 17th, 2010 at 8:45 PM ^
August 17th, 2010 at 8:41 PM ^
August 17th, 2010 at 8:41 PM ^
...we'll outscore easily...nearly without regard as to how good (or bad) our defense is...our younger guys learn faster at corner, then T-Wolf comes back and is 100% for the home stretch against Iowa, Wisconsin and OSU...Go Blue!!
August 17th, 2010 at 8:42 PM ^
August 17th, 2010 at 8:54 PM ^
I ask for forgiveness for my comments in the official post about Troy, I overreacted, and considered making another account to hide the shame I had for myself. Thinking about it, there is only one answer to this season...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnSOwvj24M0
yet I'm too dumb to figure out how to embed youtube videos...
August 17th, 2010 at 8:54 PM ^
Will you shut up? no one cares, you said a dumb thing on the internet and got negged, move on.
August 17th, 2010 at 8:50 PM ^
think of the Mealer's before you make the 'Doomed'' comments, seriously. We, as a team, are going to come out strong for our opening game, we too shall rise above this adversity to win our opener, after that, anything can happen! Go Blue!
August 17th, 2010 at 8:57 PM ^
Damn you for putting things in perspective....
August 17th, 2010 at 8:52 PM ^
I have posted it before, the Kenny Powers reasoning: "God wanted to show me hell so when I finally got back to heaven I would finally appreciate it." I keep hope that Michigan will be champions once again and it will taste sweeter because we would have gone through hell and high water to get there.
GO BLUE!!!!!
August 17th, 2010 at 8:55 PM ^
Danny Hope is a real douche bag. I'd have to have a pretty compelling reason for that.
August 17th, 2010 at 8:58 PM ^
Before you move on to acceptance, have you tried barganing?
August 17th, 2010 at 8:59 PM ^
Troy going down is certainly a loss, but there's no way of knowing how much of one. There is no way of knowing how CC (if he's the slated replacement) will do.
Corner is probably the easiest position on defense for a freshman. Safety would be far worse, LB would be almost as bad, DL would arguably be somewhat worse. The scheme may have to simplify a bit more, making the defense more predictable but less prone to breakdown, helping all the other inexperienced guys like Cam Gordon and Floyd.
We are worse off, for sure, but maybe not that much worse. The one guy who is absolutely worse off is Troy himself. If it is season-ending, let's hope that he makes a full recovery and redshirts himself into an even better 2011.
August 17th, 2010 at 9:01 PM ^
or a weepy kitten. Actually, I'm not any sort of imaginary overtly emotional cuddly animal whatsoever.
I feel strong and hopeful and proud.
Adversity? check.
Triumph? It's coming brother.
August 17th, 2010 at 9:04 PM ^
With all of these unfortunate events this summer, and heck for the past few years, I still choose to believe in the tremendous opportunities that exist. I hope that this will put one or more of the young DB's on the fast-track to a very long and successful career. I hope that the rest of the defense steps up their game, knowing they have an inexperienced secondary behind them. I hope the coaching staff figures out a way to hide the weaknesses in the team, and guides the young men through all of the adversity they are facing. Particularly for Coach Rodriguez and his staff, turning this season into a success, despite all of the odds against them, could really turn everything around for the program. Go Blue!
August 17th, 2010 at 9:05 PM ^
remember all that stuff I said about notplayingforMichigan et cetera et cetera. Well, coaches have to say certain things to the media sometimes, son. Say, that's a nice tatoo you've got there I was thinkin' of gettin' one like it myself. Anyhoo, I got to thinkin' the other day thereabouts that it would be a crying shame if you were to shoot off out of here before we really had a chance to get to know one another.
August 17th, 2010 at 9:15 PM ^
Guys, it's cool. We can just put Marvin Robinson's Abs at corner and the rest of his body at FS. Guaranteed success.
August 17th, 2010 at 9:19 PM ^
I believe in this team
August 17th, 2010 at 9:21 PM ^
Our secondary is going to get run over. Sucks, but that's reality. Here's hoping Kirk Cousins has a stomach flu the night before the game.
August 17th, 2010 at 9:39 PM ^
Here's expecting Martin and Mouton turn Cousins into a wimpering, drooling fool. GERG is going to have to work some mojo. I was always assuming the plan was multiple blitzes from all directions. It was going to be risky, and we were going to lose some battles. Well, maybe we lose a few more. Offense is going to have to score a couple more TDs.
EDIT: And Cam G. is going to have to commit violent acts.
August 17th, 2010 at 9:21 PM ^
I've got no problem with winning games 42-35.
August 17th, 2010 at 9:22 PM ^
I'm sad for Woolfolk but we will have some young players at corner who have to be thrilled at the opportunity to show why they are Wolverines, why they lift those weights and why they came to the University of Michigan. I am confident that one of them will step up and make some big plays.
August 17th, 2010 at 9:27 PM ^
Obviously this kills our depth and is dissapointing, but Woolfolk isn't that big of a stopper that we were solely depending on his talents. Hopefully others can step up and the whole can be better than our CB individuals.
August 17th, 2010 at 9:28 PM ^
This unfortunate situation brougth back a memory of Eric Mayes, the senior captain of the famed 1997 squad, who went down very early in the season with a knee injury. I Googled his name as I couldn't recall exactly what game he went down. Came across a pretty inspiring introudciton to the 1997 season. We all know how it ended, but perhaps some forgot how it looked pre-season. Obviously comparing apples to oranges, and it's from Wikpedia (not the greatest citation), but at this point of the night and all the negativity around here, I'll take anything:
Going into the 1997 season, Michigan faced low expectations. The Wolverines were ranked No. 17 in the pre-season Coaches' Poll and had experienced four consecutive four-loss seasons for the first time since the 1934–1937 Michigan Wolverines football teams.[2] Michigan had not won a national championship in nearly 50 years and had not played in a Rose Bowl Game since the 1992 season. The 1997 Michigan team was the first since the 1969 team to have no Rose Bowl veterans.[3][4] In early September 1997, The Columbus Dispatch wrote off Michigan, noting that "the longtime beast of the Big Ten ... has lost much of its aura" and predicting that Michigan's 1997 schedule "doesn't create a feeling that the pendulum is about to swing back."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_Michigan_Wolverines_football_team
August 17th, 2010 at 9:41 PM ^
Excellent post. Worth sorting through the nonsense to get to a good comment like this.
August 17th, 2010 at 9:32 PM ^
I really think if we can put a lot of pressure on the QB, then our secondary will make a lot of plays with all the talent they have. They just don't have a lot of experience.
August 17th, 2010 at 9:55 PM ^
Hope Without Reason
you mean, faith?
August 17th, 2010 at 10:07 PM ^
Listen, Floyd was going to go nuts on our corners no matter what, so nothing has changed there...
Our hope remains the same: that our safety play will be surprisingly good and our linebackers remove their heads from their anuses.
If we have a good defensive front, and the safeties aren't mind-cripplingly bad...and our offense turns it up to 11...how will this not be a successful season? How did all of our hopes and dreams rest on Troy Woolfolk? When did that happen?
My 8 win prediction has not changed...although I'll be watching Cullen Christian verrrrry closely during that UConn game.
August 17th, 2010 at 10:46 PM ^
Great post (and now i'm going to rant to get it off my chest)
We are Michigan, MICHIGAN. We dominate medicine, engineering, the arts, law, business, and football. We went to the moon for fuck sake! We are the winningest program in history, graduating heisman trophy winners, superbowl winning quarterbacks, and a fucking President of the United States. People call us arrogant, and I for one love that. You're damn right we're arrogant, becuase we're better than you. We have the best fight song, the biggest stadium, the best helmets and do the heisman pose all over your fucking endzone. Troy Woolfolk is a loss for the defense, that is certain, but do you think he'd want us to fold our hand, the team to not give everything they have in his absence? Hell no, the team will stand by him, and rely on each other and we need to do the same. Bo said it best, The Team, the team, the team. Everything is about the team and doing what we can to make them the best they can be. Everyone is posting, including me, like the season is over and we aren't going to win until 2020. I, for one, am ready to be done with it. I'm done with denard v tate, I'm done with wingless helmets and maize jerseys, and I'm fucking done with Rich Rod hot seat number of win bullshit. As of this post we have 17 days, 17 hours, 16 minutes and 35 seconds until kickoff against UConn and I have never wanted 17 days to go by faster. As a fan I will do my damndest to do everyhting I can to support the team, whether it be wearing my Michigan jersey proudly while I watch the games in Ohio, cheer my ass off when I'm in the Big House, or making sure people know we're not going down without a fight. We are the fucking leaders and best, the victors, the University of Michigan. We have Dilithium, we have the Force, we have the Hulk, the Impailer and fucking Death Roh. Hope without Reason? Nay I say! Nay! We have reason to hope, more than most teams! And when the season is over we will look back and not say "well, I guess that was supposed to happen, I wonder if I should post another 'should Devin Garner play the spring game with his shoe laces untied?' thread", we will say "Of course we beat the shit out of UConn, of course we dominated Notre Dame, of course Michigan State is still little brother and of course we went down to Columbus and shut Ohio State's fucking mouth. We did it becuase we're Michigan, and that's what we do!"
When Brock Mealer walks the team out this Sept 4th people will be thinking, wow that's a nice story. But we know what it really means. A man did the impossible. He faced impossible odds, trememndous struggle and devastating loss...and yet he carried on. He faught the battle of a lifetime and walked out the tunnel into the light, into a stadium of 110,000+ fans cheering for him. If Brock Mealer can hear that he'll never walk again, and then do say "fuck it, I'm walking, you're not stopping me", you damn well better believe we can do him the honor of winning that day.
To UConn, I say best of luck, sorry for what's about to happen. You are the first in a long line of teams that will walk away wondering what the fuck just happened. As you look out from the bus window as you drive away I can promise you won't see Tate, or Denard, or Craig Roh...you'll see a giant. A titan, walking tall wearing the winged helmet and smirking arrogantly. Only then will you realize what other teams can only wait to figure out themselves. We are Michigan, we are back, and you have no fucking idea what we're coming with...
August 18th, 2010 at 9:48 AM ^
August 17th, 2010 at 10:34 PM ^
Time for plan B: dig like hell for recruiting violations on every team we play and get eligibilities yanked.
August 17th, 2010 at 10:33 PM ^
A devastating blow, and I feel horrible for Troy as a person, but we've got to stay positive as we head towards a huge waterfall.
August 18th, 2010 at 8:12 AM ^
There is no point in freaking out. This is as good a time as any to break out the ole Unreasonable Optimism. Try it out. It will help.