OT? Spielman, I can't hate him...
Just watched ESPN's College Football Live. They are doing the 50 state tour thing.
I almost deleted this episode as soon as they announced it would be in Ohio, but I persevered. Anyway, Spielman was there to get interviewed, and as always, I can't find the inner strength to hate him.
Maybe it's the Lions connection or the way he admires and reveres Bo (he told a good story about his recruitment and how Bo convinced him to commit to Michigan but his Dad called him a traitor and forced him to OSU), but unlike all the other OSU talking heads, I find him amusing and likable. Anyone else have this problem?
How do I cure myself of this?
Fuck Urself Up
championships he brought to the D!
because I hate Steve Yzerman for his lack of championships! Go figure, eh?
Canadian friend. I don't understand hockey and don't want to google that dude.
Anyway, my point is that he wasn't that good for the Lions, never won a championship, nor was close (and take out Barry, his team was awful).
On top of that, he didn't do much after the Lions, so who cares...
I have no idea what the other poster's joke is supposed to mean (Yzerman won multiple Stanley Cups), but you can't possibly tell me you don't know who he is.
The poster before me said remember Spielman for all his Lions championships...obviously a joke. Mine...the exact opposite of that...
I thought he was very classy today on CFL. The story he told about his recruitment was great. Bo stories are always welcome around me.
was a warrior. He played with heart. IIRC one season he had an chest injury and had to have like four quarts of fluid drained from behind his pectoral muscles after each game. He never missed a down. You have to respect that.
“They’re dead men walking,” Spielman said. “They’re all walking the green mile.”
“They’re not very good,” he said later. “The problem Michigan has is they know they’re not very good and the coaches know they’re not very good and the fans know that they’re not very good.”
“I love seeing them beaten down,” Spielman said. “It’s not our fault that Michigan’s bad. What do you want us to do? Give ‘em some of our players to make it fair? Spread the wealth around amongst all these football players? They’re not holding up their end of the bargain. It’s on them.”
-----------------------------------------------------
Yeah...I've got no problem hating him.
Where/when did he say this? I've always loved Spielman for his days with the Lions, but I'd do a quick 180 if he really said this...
It was in the Detroit News, and of course since they're desperate for dough, it's behind a pay wall now. But it was a pretty big deal during the week leading up to last year's Game.
Apparently it was from a radio interview he did with Herbstreit before The Game last year. As much as I hate linking to an OSU blog here, it was the only place I could find it:
http://www.elevenwarriors.com/2008/11/spielman-herbie-stoke-the-rivalry…
The last line takes the cake, IMO:
Spielman: “I wish it was, too, but they screwed up. They had to go and mess it up. They got their dirty maize-and-blue hands on it, they screwed it up.”
WTF, man. I guess I always thought he had a little more respect for Michigan seeing as how he, uh, was an eyelash away from PLAYING HERE. Whatever, I'll promptly add him to the shit list right alongside his buddy Herbstreit.
From reading that interview, Spielman actually makes Herbstreit seem like less of a douche by comparison -- no small feat.
I think it was in a joint interview with Herbstreit. Herbie was trying to be polite about us sucking, and Spielman dropped that little bomb. If that wasn't the quoted interview, he said it twice. I'm not sure if I hate the guy, but he earned a ton of a'hole points in a hurry.
Also, I find the guy to be brutal covering games. Assigning him to a game is ABC's way of saying that your team sucks.
what about pam ward
Purgatory has to be something like listening to her announce a game. It can't be much worse.
said all that shit about M on a radio show with Herbstreit in Columbus the week on last year's game.
Then ESPN sends those douchenozzles out to provide "color" commentary on Saturdays. The "World Wide Leader" can bite me.
Look, I lose more respect for guys who don't hate their rival than those that do. OSU players should despise UofM, and UofM players should despise OSU. If asked a logical, thoughtful question they should realize and respect each other, but in the heat of the moment, or if they just react and don't think first, they should always spew forth hatred.
That's fine. Unfortunately, he was right for the most part. Last year's team was a train wreck, and he was simply pointing that out. At least he had a point, as opposed to Holtz comparing RR to Hitler.
I'm not disputing that he was right about us sucking. But he wasn't just pointing it out -- he threw in some shit-talking on top of it. I'll always respect the hell out of him as a football player, but he's a typical OSU asshat in my book now.
As for Lou Holtz comparing RR to Hitler ... again, I'm behind the curve here, I haven't heard anything about that. I definitely believe it though. I'm sure it's on youtube somewhere but I'm too damn tired/lazy to look for it right now.
... his dad, however...
I would like him less if he pretended to be sympathetic to Michigan's struggles. He's a tough player and I always admired his game.
He's actually a pretty decent announcer too. He always tells it like it is. I remember him ripping Mathews pretty good for being lazy on a punt during the PSU game last year. I like when athletes are commentators during the game. So long as they actually can speak English well enough.
I always liked Spielman as well. The fact he played for OSU really doesn't mean much. I mean, I love Desmond Howard as a Wolverine, but as a talking head he can be as annoying as anyone. Simply hating a guy because he went to some school seems like a waste of energy - dislike the guy because he acted like an asshat, is a thug, etc. I always thought Spielman acted with class while with the Lions and Bills, and has been a good color analyst the past few years.
Desmond Howard a talking head? What kind of Michigan pride is that? I would rather listen to Desmond all day than the other three goons on college game day. Shame on you!
Agree - although Desmond is no Keith Jackson (God, I miss him), I'm going to lean towards a bit of Michigan nepotism here.
I don't like Madonna or Ann Coulter, and I think David Allen Grier is kind of hit or miss. Am I just being shamefully moronic?
Granted none of the above were ever nearly as awesome at anything as Desmond was at playing football, but it seems kind of insincere to base your opinion of someone's media skills on their affiliations.
Not to mention borderline psychotic....
Seriously, Kirk Herbstreit is the best color analyst that ESPN/ABC has for college football, imho. Spielman is pretty good, too. Maybe people should try and understand that Spielman made those comments on his radio show IN COLUMBUS. He was hamming it up and catering to his audience. Some of you need to lighten up a bit.
IMHO indeed... don't take it personally if I don't agree with your HO.
I have to agree with VA above-- the only colors he's analyzing on Saturday nights is Scarlet and Gray.
"Crave On!"
Snappy comeback there. Good to know that I am unable to have an objective opinion about anyone who signed with UM to play football. So the next time some UM player gets caught smoking weed, violating his parole, slamming a hockey player into the cemment and nearly killing him, I'm not allowed to criticize him because it would show a lack of "pride" for UM.
What is this "Michigan pride" crap? You know, not everyone who went to UM is super-duper awesome, while everyone else is a loser, inbred hick or arrogant jerk. I think Desmond Howard was a great player, but as a color analyst he can be as annoying as anyone else on TV, and don't you think his pro-Michigan bias certainly rubs people who are not, you know, UM fans a litte rough? You know, kind of like how Spielman and Herbstreit rub UM fans? Not seeing the fallacy in your irrational standards seems pretty moronic, if you ask me.
Just remember: If you've got a block M on your shirt, he's got no problem hating you.
As far as I'm concerned, he's just another douche with a block O hidden somewhere beneath his ESPN blazer.
I might be wrong because I read the book last year but I thought there was a story in Bo's Lasting Lessons about when Spielman came in for a meeting with Bo to talk about his scholarship offer or something (which Bo treated more like a job interview). Spielman had holes in his jeans and long messy hair and he asked Bo what he was going to promise him if he committed to Michigan or something like that. IIRC Bo started yelling at him, kicked him out of his office and told Spielman that when he went to ohio state he was going to kick his ass. If I remember this story correctly, I hate him. If not, I still hate him
Normal people don't hate someone they don't know.
The majority of folks on this blog are not normal.
Mr. Plow -- hate him!
McFarlin -- hate him!
Random recruit who goes elsewhere -- hate him!
I could go on and on. Are you trying to take all the fun out of my anger management issues?
I hate you
funny
You're one of us now!
no sugarcoat, that did feel pretty good.
The dude clocked in and worked hard everyday as a Detroit Lion. That is more than I can say about most of the players in my 30 years of existence. However, that was awhile ago and with all the shit talking he has been up to lately it is hard to separate the two. So....I have created two humans. One Lions Spielman...love him. Two is Buckeye Spielman...hate him. They are separate entities that roam the Earth. The Lions Spielman is pure and hard hitting. The Buckeye Spielman is dirty and diseased from living in the state of Ohio for too long.
Spielman for the Lions=not someone to hate, though nothing to gush about.
Spielman for the Buckeyes=the enemy. Someone to be despised. An absolute douchebag who deserves an eternity of pain and gnashing of teeth.
I don't hate him, but I hate listening to him do color commentary. He constantly gets tongue-tied and tries way too hard to come with cheesy Chris Berman-esque lines.
Personally I like it when rivals (old rival players) bash us, thats the whole point of the rivalry. I dont take offense to it, it just adds that lil spark to the game. To me theres a line between normal bashing and OMG Why the f is Kirk Herbstreit announcing this game annoying.
Ehh to each his own I guess.