Man of the hour: Mike Hart...
...for two reasons.
1) It was Mike Hart who coined the 'Little Brother' moniker. The way that Sparty played on Saturday proved that they really do deserve it. Coupled with Jerel Worthy's idiotic tattoo, Sparty's unapologetically dirty play yesterday indicates that an atmosphere of resentment, bitterness, hatred, and inferiority pervades Dantonio's program. They don't just see it as a rivalry, they really do hate UofM. These are textbook little brother characteristics. They could win 10 strtaight against us, and they'll still be Little Brother because that's they way they think. In Hart's words, "If they think we think that, then yeah, we think that."
2) It was also Mike Hart who called Jim Harbaugh out as not a true Michigan Man and someone who he wishes never played at Michigan. The way Harbaugh acted toward Jim Schwartz after the 49ers' victory over the Lions proves Hart right. Harbaugh clearly has issues with sportsmanship and class. This is part of a pattern of behavior by Harbaugh dating back to his days at the University of San Diego. He carries himself like a fratboy jock, not a coach. These are not the qualities of a Michigan Man.
In conclusion: Mike Hart is a genius.
October 16th, 2011 at 10:12 PM ^
I love me some capt comeback and his enthusiasm. The shake was a bit over the top, but the reaction wasn't much better.
October 16th, 2011 at 10:18 PM ^
October 16th, 2011 at 10:20 PM ^
Agreed.
October 16th, 2011 at 10:25 PM ^
It wasn't just the handshake. Schwartz said that Harbaugh directed an obscenity toward him as he shook his hand. If you watch the video and observe Schwartz' reaction immediately after the handshake, it clearly looks like he's reacting to something Harbaugh said, not the handshake itself. Given Harbaugh's past behavior, I don't doubt for a second that he said something unsportsmanlike to Schwartz that caused him to react the way he did.
October 16th, 2011 at 11:29 PM ^
Well, Schwartz did what supposed to do.How do you view a coach when someone steps on his head showing off and the coach just take it like a coward. He is the man who leads this team and an icon for the team, therefore when Harbaugh did that Schwartz should go after him. I mean you just shake the hand and go enjoy the victory, what Harbaugh did to Schwartz was lack of RESPECT to the coach, to the players, to the team, and to the fans period.
October 16th, 2011 at 10:15 PM ^
Come on man. Get off your high horse. Harbaugh was excited he won and admitted after the game he went too far.
October 16th, 2011 at 10:41 PM ^
That was a backhanded jab if I ever heard one. Handshake was too hard? Why didn't he just come right out and call Schwartz a pussy?
October 16th, 2011 at 10:45 PM ^
Yeah I definitely agree. He said "I guess I shook his hand too hard," with a major smirk on his face. That was undoubtedly a veiled shot at Schwartz. I realllllly hope these two teams meet again in the playoffs, especially with the complete lack of class afterwards by San Fran.
October 16th, 2011 at 11:56 PM ^
He also refused to apologize while reiterating that it was on him.
October 16th, 2011 at 10:48 PM ^
Alright, I only heard it during the halftime of the pats-cowboys game. Still it's not like hr went out there and kicked him in the balls.
October 16th, 2011 at 10:50 PM ^
There is always a next time
October 16th, 2011 at 10:15 PM ^
I wonder how Harbaugh will react when Schwartz direspects him next time they play ... and the Lions win.
But, I gotta give the man the respect he deserves on the field ... he is doing a hell of a job coaching everywhere he goes.
October 16th, 2011 at 10:19 PM ^
It's actually not hard to see a scenario where they meet in the wild card round of the playoffs. If the Lions have the best record among second-place division finishers and the 49ers have the worst record among NFC division champions (both those things could very well happen), the Lions would play in San Fran the first weekend of January.
October 16th, 2011 at 10:15 PM ^
Come on man. Get off your high horse. Harbaugh was excited he won and admitted after the game he went too far.
October 16th, 2011 at 10:16 PM ^
Yes, it needed to be said twice.
October 16th, 2011 at 10:23 PM ^
but not for the handshake today; that was an equal opportunity disaster on the part of him and Schwartz.
October 16th, 2011 at 10:24 PM ^
Jim Harbaugh called the victory against Ohio State, among many other things for us. I don't care what we've dreamed up this "Michigan Man" to be, Jim Harbaugh is a major player in the history of Michigan football.
October 16th, 2011 at 10:25 PM ^
1) Hart did not coin "Little Brother," he just escalated it. The term has been around for years.
2) Beating Michigan four straight years in no way reinforces that you are "Little Brother"
3) Hart talked trash on his way out the door and never once faced an MSU team after the comments. His own coach (Carr) noted this and said he was putting the underclassmen in a tough spot. He did the same thing to OSU, saying they weren't that good and Michigan would have won had he and Henne been healthy. Again, he never once had to face OSU again.
I loved Hart as a player, but that is not exactly behavior to be celebrated nor were his Harbaugh rants, which put that stupid story back in the news after it had thankfully died.
October 16th, 2011 at 10:26 PM ^
ban him
October 16th, 2011 at 10:29 PM ^
The discourse is high.
October 16th, 2011 at 11:01 PM ^
He's contributed a lot more here than you ever have.
October 16th, 2011 at 10:35 PM ^
If people blame Mike Hart for the losing streak to MSU, whom should we blame for the losing streaks to OSU, PSU, Iowa, Wisconsin et al.? We didn't badmouth all these teams. Maybe we just got worse as a program and it had nothing to do with any postgame comments.
October 16th, 2011 at 10:40 PM ^
It wasn't just that they beat us, it was the way they played. They outplayed us on both sides of the ball, which makes their cheap shots all the more puzzling. In fact, their massive penalty yardage is what kept us in the game. Their dirty play and their coaches' unapologetic attitude about it afterwards indicates that they look at us the way a resentful little brother would view his more accomplished older sibling.
October 16th, 2011 at 10:44 PM ^
Perhaps Hart created an untenable situation for classes to follow, and yet (at least in my opinion) he said exactly what most Michigan fans think about MSU. That MSU has worked so hard to disprove the "little brother" moniker, and takes every single opportunity to say "HA! SEE? NOT YOUR LITTLE BROTHER!" would seem to suggest that it's a very sore spot for them. Likely because it's accurate. Besides, if they weren't taking exception to the Hart quote, they'd be taking exception to something else.
October 16th, 2011 at 10:33 PM ^
but his "little brother" comment and his calling Harbaugh "not a Michigan man" were both equally stupid.
Harbaugh can be a jerk but the video appears to show that Shwartz was the jerk today not Harbaugh. Harbaugh appears to give him an enthusiastic handshake and friendly pat on the back. Then Schwartz totally flips out, chases him down, yells at him and bumps him. Like a 5 year old who's an incredibly bad loser.
I'm rooting for Schwartz and the Lions but Schwartz needs to show a bit more maturity and get better control over himself.
October 16th, 2011 at 10:46 PM ^
That's not at all what it looked like to me. To me, it looked like a perfunctory handshake and then the hit on the back looked like him shoving Schwartz away. As in, yeah, good game, get away from me. Schwartz reaction would seem to suggest that something was said or done. People don't just flip out like that for no reason. We may never hear the actual story (like when Hoke says MSU didn't play a dirty game, despite the fact that the evidence is to the contrary), but my guess is that something was said.
October 16th, 2011 at 10:35 PM ^
Harbaugh simply was disrespectful in the fact that his handshake was more of a high-five than actual acknowledgment (this is assuming that he didn't actually direct obscenties at Schwartz). But I mean, was any one actually surprisd by that? He's an emotional guy. Doesn't make him a bad coach or a bad peson, just arrogant or insensitive.
But you gotta love Schwartz's passion. Brings energy to the Lions.
October 16th, 2011 at 10:38 PM ^
I don't think Mike Hart coined the term "Little Brother" -- too many people have said it has been around for years and for a fact MSU players were using that term to talk trash about Michigan in the State News the Friday BEFORE the 2007 game.
It is only known to be associated with Mike Hart, because it was unclassy to retaliate through the TV postgame presser and then Dantonio stooped down to a teenager's level with the height comments before turning the Little Brother into a highly effective propaganda piece.
October 17th, 2011 at 8:03 AM ^
I never heard the term little brother until Hart said it. I actually hate the usage of it, as it applies to MSU. I really want that to go away.
October 16th, 2011 at 10:39 PM ^
has gotten about as much mileage out it as he can possibly get. At this point they actually believe they are little brother now, otherwise they wouldn't continue to use it as motivation.
October 16th, 2011 at 10:42 PM ^
for Dantonio's comments about The Horror
http://blog.mlive.com/ganggreen/2008/10/dantonios_moment_of_silence_co.html
October 17th, 2011 at 6:16 AM ^
And MSU had 2 players in the Friday edition of the State News before the 2007 game go off on a long crying tirade about how UofM is so arrogant, stupid, dumb and think that MSU is a "little brother".
Hart was clearly referencing Caulcrick's comments as Hart finished his comment by saying "and I only say that because that is what they think we think"....yes this is the same Caulcrick that helped plant a flag at Notre Dame Stadium and then literally cried about Hart not winning with dignity like he does.
October 16th, 2011 at 10:49 PM ^
MSM side with Harbaugh, not Schwartz. See Seifert piece at ESPN. Problem is, there are too many Lions homers here. I look at the tape, and Schwartz looks like a lot more of a tool than Harbaugh to me. It sounds like complete sour grapes, for those who are ticked JH wasn't interested in coaching Michigan, and that his team beat your beloved Lions.
I'm not suggesting that Harbaugh isn't a jerk sometimes. But c'mon, he isn't the tool of all tools. He is a passionate coach who wants his team to win, and I applaud him for that. Running down the field and having to be restrained makes Schwartz look completely out of control. If JH can pull his string that easily, Schwartz is pwnd.
October 16th, 2011 at 11:08 PM ^
Harbaugh admitted he was out of character and too aggressive. He provoked the incident.
October 17th, 2011 at 12:19 AM ^
I'm not really a Lions fan. I actually want to see Harbaugh succeed in the NFL because at the end of the day, he did play here. He'll be associated with Michigan whether we want him to or not. But the guy is an all-around prick.
Schwartz said that that he reacted the way he did because Harbaugh directed an obscenity toward him. Given Harbaugh's history in these kinds of situations, I would take Schwartz' word over Harbaugh's any day of the week.
October 17th, 2011 at 12:40 AM ^
and I think Swartz was left with no other option. He had to confront Harbaugh right there on the field. He would have looked like a baby if he would have said something in the press room without saying it to Harbaugh first. I always opt for the high road but in this situation, something needed to be said. Thank God, Michigan didn't hire this ass!
October 16th, 2011 at 10:56 PM ^
wanting to see how the game would have played out differently if Harbaugh was on the U-M sideline instead of Hoke? I dare say #2 would have left the field on a stretcher and the post-game handshake would have definitely been must-see TV. Saturday might have been as good of a time for a less-than-classy response to the MSU thuggery as I have ever seen.
October 16th, 2011 at 11:10 PM ^
Hoke is a PR guy and Harbaugh is not. Until I have reason to think otherwise, I'll believe that he was livid in the locker room and that we'll come out swinging (figuratively) next year. That being said, I would have had no problem with Harbaugh getting into a fight with Dantonio/Narduzzi for having one of their players try to kill Denard.
October 16th, 2011 at 11:11 PM ^
im a lions fan and part of the reason i cant full yget behind this team is becuase i don't like schwartz at all. Also i dont really like stafford either.
October 16th, 2011 at 11:44 PM ^
If your not fully behind Jim S. and this Lions team then you can go somewhere else. They just won 9 straight regular season games. Get a clue.
October 16th, 2011 at 11:48 PM ^
And is destined to go to the playoff. You need to GTFO of the Lion's bandwagon
October 16th, 2011 at 11:42 PM ^
Thinks Harbaugh is series when he said this was out of character is clueless. This is normal protocol with him and has been for years. He Provoked the entire situation, regardless of how Shwartz acted Harbaugh is an idiot. Clearly from his post game interview he was not really owning up to being an idiot he was laughing and being an ass. That's what he is so it all makes sense. I really hope these teams make it to the playoffs and we play those pieces of shit again.
October 16th, 2011 at 11:44 PM ^
He'll come back as a graduate assistant in a couple of years after which he will replace Fred Jackson as our RB coach. And in due time he WILL be the HC at Michigan. He loves Michigan too much and is too driven and too smart for this not to be destiny. I know I'm getting wayyy ahead of myself here but damn I'm excited for some of his postgame conferences and not to mention how great of a recruiter he'll be...
October 16th, 2011 at 11:58 PM ^
Mike hart will not replace Fred Jackson, if they go with a former player it will be Tyrone Wheatley.
October 16th, 2011 at 11:45 PM ^
And if Harbaugh ever comes back to MIchigan, you will be the first person to tell everyone how great he is and how you wanted him back all along.
October 17th, 2011 at 12:21 AM ^
Whatever the case, Mike Hart (as a Offensive Quality Control assistant) has EMU (YES that Eastern Michigan) rushing for 230 yards a game. That is good for 15th best in the nation. They played Michigan and Penn State, so I think that is still pretty good. Eastern Michigan being in the top 25 in ANYTHING is amazing.
October 17th, 2011 at 9:23 AM ^
because Jim is a douche.