GoWings2008

March 4th, 2014 at 1:42 PM ^

That's pretty funny.  Well done Arizona coaching staff...well done.  I like how they spliced in the clips from the movie.

Seems like RRod has dropped a few pounds, too.  Needed it for his big screen debut. 

ChiBlueBoy

March 4th, 2014 at 1:48 PM ^

I just don't understand the value. Obviously, I don't think the NCAA Rules Committee is going to look at this and say, "Hey, RR's got a point, let's change the rules back." If this is aimed at recruits, it'll just make them say, "Oh, so the AZ offense is going to have to slow down. Won't that hurt their team? Maybe I should go somewhere else."

Clever concept. Fairly well executed for what I presume is a low budget. But it's like the hilarious commercial that you enjoy but can't remember what it's selling. What's the strategy? What's the end game?

Paps

March 4th, 2014 at 1:49 PM ^

You want about RR and whatever, but this video was awesome!!! Usually these type of things aren't good (see: Purdue song) but this was awesome! well played, Arizona, well played

dahblue

March 4th, 2014 at 2:12 PM ^

A number of Michigan-related folks I follow on Twitter have been re-tweeting Rich's many thoughts (one might say whining) about the proposal (yes, a floated proposal and not a rule change).  One the plus side, at least he isn't whining about his failed days at Michigan.  

The more he runs his mouth, the more evident it becomes that he was maybe the worst possible hire for Michigan.  He's like Tom Izzo (much ego and cheese) without the winning.  It's always about him, unless it's a negative, in which case it is certainly someone else's fault.  There's always a "hidden agenda" to Rich (how many times did he utter that phrase?)...How anyone could have spent two minutes with him and felt him a match for Michigan is beyond me.

Section 1

March 4th, 2014 at 3:52 PM ^

Brady ("family matter") Hoke.

I mean, really.  I like Brady Hoke as much as the next Michigan fan.  Nobody thinks Brady isn't a good guy.  Certainly, I have little doubt about Brady's being a wonderful, decent, caring, straight-up guy with his players.

But so was Rodriguez, wasn't he?  I've never heard any different.  I think his guys loved him.  His Michigan seniors weren't very happy about his discharge.

Anyway; you seem to be making a point that it is all about handling the press and creating a public persona.  And this year has not been a kind one for Brady Hoke on that front.

dahblue

March 4th, 2014 at 4:05 PM ^

Section1, you're pretty far off on this one.  I didn't like "family matter", but that's just press conference semantics.  I would have preferred "violation of team rules" (and that, frankly, wouldn't have been entirely true either).

That said, my gripe is with a coach more consumed with himself than the program.  It isn't about handling the press; it's about handling himself.  I don't like Izzo in an Ironman costume and I don't like Rich ranting on Twitter like an angry teenager.  Luckily, neither is a coach at my alma mater.

Section 1

March 4th, 2014 at 5:03 PM ^

...I think that the larger national perspective is that Rodriguez was speaking truth to power and was being smart about it.  Most people I saw seemed to think that Rodriguez was right.  Rodriguez's own perspective about the way that the NCAA had failed to alert anyone to discussion about the possible rule change was as informative as it was powerful in calling the NCAA to account.

By most measures I am familiar with, he's doing a good job in Arizona.  He put a team on the field last year that was probably as good as Michigan.  His recruiting out of Tucson is also comparable to Michigan:  2014 team recruiting -- Rivals AZ #28 (Michigan #31); Scout AZ #30 (Michigan #27); 247Sports AZ #31 (Michigan #20).

It really is interesting how smooth the coaching transition turned out to be in Columbus, compared to Ann Arbor.  I wondered why; it occurred to me that the Rodriguez loyalists weren't the outlier.  It was the Rodriguez-haters.  There is simply no corollary in Columbus, to the Rodriguez-haters in Ann Arbor.  They love them some Urban Meyer for sure, but it is never at the expense of Coach Tressel.  Jim Tressel still has a considerable wellspring of support throughout Ohio, Columbus and the Ohio State University.

Ghost of BCook…

March 4th, 2014 at 6:17 PM ^

You wondered why Ohio State's transition was smoother than Michigan's?  You have to look no further than 12-0 versus 3-9 in each respective coach's first season. 

Cast away your conspiracy theories and accusations of sabotage, it was about winning.  Meyer did, Rodriguez didn't. 

Section 1

March 4th, 2014 at 6:42 PM ^

No one ever went broke understimating the insight of sports fans.  For many of them, nothing matters except winning.

Of course Urban Meyer walked into a team with a future Big Ten Conference Player of the Year at QB, and Rodriguez inherited Saline High School's QB.

dahblue

March 4th, 2014 at 3:55 PM ^

Easy now...While I forgot about the Sugar Bowl, that's one game.  He did not win "BCS bowls" so my statement remains accurate.  It's most certainly not a lie.  And the Oklahoma win was no more his than Michigan's NCAA bball championship belongs to Bill Frieder.  I don't think you'll find many WVU fans that think the Oklahoma win counts for Rich.

TheNema

March 4th, 2014 at 4:04 PM ^

Bill Frieder did not practice and gameplan for tournament teams save for maybe the first one. Not to mention cross-sport comparisons are apples to oranges.

Standing by what you think West Virginia fans, who again are WEST VIRGINIA FANS, say is maybe the lowest you have stooped yet.

 

 

NRK

March 4th, 2014 at 4:56 PM ^

Congratulations on making the most semantically-based horrible defense I've ever read on MGoBlog. And that's saying something.

 

It goes without saying that being technically correct here (I could make an argument to the contrary but its not worth the bandwitdh) does not count as a moral victory. If anything it looks like a defeat.

A simple "my bad, I was wrong" sometimes can go a long way...

dahblue

March 4th, 2014 at 4:00 PM ^

Why such personal attacks?  Isn't that kinda forbidden (and obnoxious)?

Someone is a match for Michigan when they put the TEAM above themselves.  The team, the team, the team.  There is no "I" is team.  There's a ton of "I" in Rich.

A head coach who routinely spouts off about his conspiracies on Twitter, who has produced multiple "look at me" videos, who wants a woe-is-me singalong, etc. is not a Michigan-type coach.  

In all of your haste to drop some jailhouse lawyerish insults, you failed to realize that there's a broader view of these things than maybe you're up to considering.  

mtzlblk

March 4th, 2014 at 4:22 PM ^

I thought the video was awesome and I have no problem with RR calling out a BS proposal for a rule change that would ostensibly seek to hinder his offensive scheme...seems like a smart move to me.

As for RR, I would gladly have him back in exchange for all the old-school, manball type fans represented in the video by the 80's phone talking guy who wants to turn back the clock. 

If he was a bad fit for Michigan, it is only b/c a large segment of the fanbase still lives in the dark ages of football and pine for a time and place in the sport that is more or less disappearing. Yay for them getting what they want, jury is still out on how that is going to work out for us heartened somewhat by hiring an OC that can hopefully bring us back to post-1999 football on that side of the ball, fingers crossed.

TheNema

March 4th, 2014 at 4:39 PM ^

In another comment today, DahBlue called someone "young fella" and said he had no time for a team (Arizona) that came on at 10:30PM EST.

Gonna take a shot at this and say he is an old school, manball, '80s phone, dark ages guy.

Pit2047

March 4th, 2014 at 2:23 PM ^

Still not great but not too far off, a little cheesy for my taste.  Definitely an improvement to that god awful western video he put out last year.  That thing was the perfect embodiment of his time at Michigan, good idea but the worst execution imaginable.

blueblueblue

March 4th, 2014 at 2:51 PM ^

Cute video, but it highlights RR's not-so-deep thinking. If the proposed change is all about the personal agenda of someone who does not like speed, then RR's battle against it is also about a personal agenda - his own, as someone whose obviously loves speed.

The video is just one big self-contradiction.