Personal Criticism of Players by Name
With the level of negativity directed toward our guys, particularly our young interior linemen, I'm hoping the mods might allow this to have it's own thread. This post says it well and speaks for a lot of us. Hat tip to MGrad.
I am uncomfortable with the level of personal criticism directed at the players by name in all of these threads.
They wear the Michigan uniform and play their hearts out for the Michigan team, and for that they have my 100% support for everything that they do on that field, even if they struggle.
They are still very young inside the tackles. Those names getting criticism are going to be excellent linemen in a year or two and we will all be smiling about their performance then, so support them now.
A little change-up right now makes sense, Let's see what happens over the next few weeks,
OL, OC and S&C coaching critical assessment, on the other hand, is fair.
October 19th, 2013 at 12:38 PM ^
October 19th, 2013 at 1:57 PM ^
They were poor. Their replacements have been worse. That doesn't mean they weren't the problem last year.
October 19th, 2013 at 2:21 PM ^
Omameh was signed to Tampa Bay's active roster. Taken from the 49ers' practice squad. Already on the depth list (back-up to starting guard).
(I approve of naming players when there's something nice to say. Lessons from Mom.)
October 20th, 2013 at 8:20 AM ^
And Tebow didn't pan out in the NFL. So does that mean he wasn't a great player in college?
October 19th, 2013 at 12:39 PM ^
Yeah, as a general rule, don't call out individual players. You can question certain plays or note poor performance (Brian does it in the UFR, but with data to back those assertions up), but there are too many people who simply call out player X as sucking, which is both counter-productive and pretty insensitive considering you are yelling at college kids for not being "good enough" by people who, with few exceptions, couldn't even dream of lacing up the cleats to play for a DIII program, to say nothing of UM.
October 19th, 2013 at 12:40 PM ^
What if we call them out by number? Is that kosher?
October 19th, 2013 at 12:44 PM ^
Aaron Craft is a bitch.
October 19th, 2013 at 1:15 PM ^
judge him for putting on blush before games.
October 19th, 2013 at 2:33 PM ^
Pitch the cottam' ball Tyler Ecker!!!
October 19th, 2013 at 12:46 PM ^
OL, OC and S&C coaching critical assessment, on the other hand, is fair.
Bum Phillips said, “I always thought I could coach. I just thought people were poor judges of good coaches."
Same goes for our players.
October 19th, 2013 at 12:55 PM ^
October 19th, 2013 at 12:46 PM ^
Dude, there's a right way and a wrong way to go about doing this. Saying they wear maize and blue and work hard doesn't mean we can't critically assess their performances. It seems to me this is the very reason for existence of this blog, and this isn't little league where everyone gets a trophy at the end.
That said, there's a right and wrong way to go about this. All of the 'hurr durr Miller blows wtf is wrong with him' is ignorant and contributes nothing. Saying things like, Miller seems undersized/outclassed by larger NTs and unable to combo well, should be welcome (not saying that's the case, it's just an example). If these guys aren't open to criticism we may as well shut MGoBlog down now and go home.
October 19th, 2013 at 1:01 PM ^
Understand what you're saying, but there seems to be a prevalant attitude on the blog that the interior line is struggling (true) and the reason is coaching or the players not playing up to expectations (not true).
The clear reason is a lack of experience. It was mentioned elswhere that five of the seven five-star offensive linemen in their second year aren't playing. But we're all over Kalis for being pushed into service and busting his ass when he probably shouldn't be out there. Just one example.
October 19th, 2013 at 1:08 PM ^
Well... that's exactly where the discussion comes in. I might say, Miller isn't doing certain things well. And you might say, the line is too young to criticize. And I might say, Miller is in his 3rd year. It's time to put up now. And you might say, well, I don't know what. I might also point out that if I recall correctly, Lewan and Molk both played pretty well in or around their 2nd year in the program, thus invalidating your argument to a certain degree. But that's why this blog exists. If you make a statement you should make it respectfully and be prepared to substantiate it.
October 19th, 2013 at 1:55 PM ^
My concern would be that fans are feeling entitled to an offensive line made up entirely of five Lewan/Molks. It's unrealistic and thus unfair to the players.
October 19th, 2013 at 3:04 PM ^
October 19th, 2013 at 1:24 PM ^
October 19th, 2013 at 1:03 PM ^
Why can't we get an upgrade that won't allow a repost for several seconds?
October 19th, 2013 at 1:01 PM ^
Well stated. If you can't call things like they are, then close the board. Being petty and demeaning toward players who make mistakes is another matter altogether.
In a couple of years, most athletes will be doing something other than playing sports for a university. If they are put off by honest criticism, life is going to be tough. I also suspect that most coaching staffs spew some tough love toward their minions.
October 19th, 2013 at 1:51 PM ^
I get your point, but it seems to me that the key is that when you are being criticized by your coach you are being criticized by an expert.
Imagine if in your job you were being criticized by anonymous yahoos on a blog. I think if you took exception to that criticism it wouldn't mean you can't take criticism.
October 19th, 2013 at 5:44 PM ^
October 19th, 2013 at 6:58 PM ^
It wasn't an analogy. It was in response to the previous poster's comment about players needing to take criticism because they will eventually have jobs where they will be criticized. I was pointing out a difference that seemed relevant to me.
October 19th, 2013 at 12:51 PM ^
Personal attacks on players and coaches is not ok but there's nothing wrong with critiquing performance. Kalis is struggling right now does not equal I don't root for nor support Kyle Kalis.
October 19th, 2013 at 1:32 PM ^
October 19th, 2013 at 12:48 PM ^
...
CHRIS BRYANT IS COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY
friendly and hardworking.
...
October 19th, 2013 at 12:57 PM ^
Criticism of player performance re: blocking/tackling with a specific analysis of their performance is very different from being a donkey and making statements "[insert player name] has regressed!"
Once again, Brian Cook, renew the Neg. and a whole lot of this MLive BS leaves the board.
October 19th, 2013 at 1:02 PM ^
October 19th, 2013 at 1:18 PM ^
"I got all you Michigan obsessives in the palm of my hand...hahahahahaha!"
I'd be shaky by the Wednesday.
October 19th, 2013 at 1:02 PM ^
Funk, Borges, and Wellman are not the tastiest biscuits in the biscuit barrel?
October 19th, 2013 at 1:03 PM ^
Well I'll say it.
Tacopants is a freaking joke, completely worthless as a human being, and should have his scholarship pulled. I've never once seen a pass to him result in us gaining yards. That whole perpetual eligibility thing really eats up our recruiting class sizes.
October 19th, 2013 at 1:07 PM ^
look like child molesters.
October 19th, 2013 at 1:13 PM ^
Was that said about one of our coaches?
October 19th, 2013 at 1:17 PM ^
Mr Rager said that about Funk after the PSU game.
October 19th, 2013 at 2:16 PM ^
And he's deservedly gone. So what's the point of bringing it up?
October 19th, 2013 at 2:57 PM ^
Mr. Bong Smoke I Hate (Coach?) Magnus is gone? Say it ain't so ...
October 19th, 2013 at 3:04 PM ^
I didn't know he was gone. He was still posting here a couple of days ago.
October 19th, 2013 at 1:20 PM ^
"The appearance or implication that our coaches could be child molesters could impact recruiting."
/InsensitivePennStateFan'd
October 19th, 2013 at 1:09 PM ^
Pretty please with sugar on top. Play better Oline...
October 19th, 2013 at 1:10 PM ^
October 19th, 2013 at 1:14 PM ^
October 19th, 2013 at 1:19 PM ^
If we're going to praise certain players by name we should also be critical of certain players by name. It's not like we're giving up on them by saying that they did something really bad in a game or had a bad game. That is when I think this board goes too far. "Player X is terrible I never want to see him play in a game again" etc.
October 19th, 2013 at 1:23 PM ^
_______ was really bad last game
_______ missed a lot of blocks
_______ was getting pushed 5 yards into the backfield
etc, are all fair game IMO. I mean, Brian's UFRs are pretty much all about identifying issues and grading out players.
On the other hand, ________ sucks, isn't acceptable. Neither is questioning effort or "heart."
October 19th, 2013 at 1:33 PM ^
I agree with this. I think it's perfectly acceptable to be critical of players if you explain WHY you are being critical specific to their play. Saying "Kalis is having a tough day and getting pushed back" is ok but remember, they're kids so try and go easy. Saying Kalis sucks well.....sucks and should not be tolerated by the Mods (seeing as Brian wont let us police ourselves anymore).
Coaches are in whole different category IMO though. While it's not OK to say "Borges is fat and he sucks" I think saying "calling repeated stretch plays into 8-9 man fronts without giving Devin an audible to check out of is killing us THEREFORE he sucks" seems ok by me.
One man's opinion.
October 19th, 2013 at 2:13 PM ^
Is it the guy himself that "sucks" or his job performance?
People might re-listen to "the team, the team, the team"; there is some wisdom in it.
October 19th, 2013 at 1:26 PM ^
October 19th, 2013 at 1:33 PM ^
Yes, absolutely this. Think about how embarrassing it looks when you've seen other teams' fans booing.
October 19th, 2013 at 1:45 PM ^
October 19th, 2013 at 1:49 PM ^
October 19th, 2013 at 1:52 PM ^
Just because you have a right to so something doesn't mean you should. It does absolutely no good whatsoever, as if the coaches and players will start trying harder because you let them know you're not happy with their performance. It's totally conterproductive to morale, and looks absolutely terrible to visiting recruits.