DairyQueen

February 10th, 2016 at 11:04 PM ^

I agree, but Rome just plays the part of going AGAINST whatever the latest popular opinion is.

He's like "opposite day".

I don't even think he fully believes what he says (he only ever speaks with pure confidence--which no rational human being would ever do), he just takes WHATEVER the opposite of popular opinion is, and goes 160MPH in that direction.

He's like a politician of sports. It's not even him talking. I can't even take him seriously enough to even get mad in the first place.

Joined: 04/20/2014

MGoPoints: 6642

ijohnb

February 10th, 2016 at 1:06 PM ^

I know that most people think his act is old, and I would agree that it is getting there, but he still entertains and makes me laugh more than any other radio sports personality.  For particularly long drives I will listen to entire shows and each particular show has a feel and personality all its own.  His openings remarks are still the best in the business.  I don't really understand why a lot of people don't like him. (Listeners, that is, I completely understand why a lot of people in sports don't care for him).

Joined: 09/21/2009

MGoPoints: 69986

True Blue Grit

February 10th, 2016 at 1:12 PM ^

pretty good (the Jim Everett one notwithstanding).   What I don't like is all the useless "smack talky" crap he fills the in between time with.  A lot of what I don't like about him is probably because he's targeting a much younger male listener than me.  So he wastes a lot of time with fluff and using terms I've never heard of before just to try and sound like "one of them".  

Joined: 01/21/2011

MGoPoints: 32362

BeatOSU52

February 10th, 2016 at 1:25 PM ^

but has Rome ever made an attempt to interview Harbaugh on his show (or his TV show)   since he's been at Michigan (or ever?) ?  Even Rome's biggest critiques usually will admit he's the best interviewer in sports.

 

Also, I generally enjoy Rome but I agree with the comment about this from TrueBlueGrit that the amount of time he spends on the "smack-off" gets pretty tiring pretty quickly.

Joined: 11/13/2011

MGoPoints: 14554

ijohnb

February 10th, 2016 at 1:31 PM ^

of the "smack talk" element of the show is a waste of time and does get annoying.  However, when he lands on a funny take and he knows he has a good one he is really, really funny.  He misses a lot of the time but when he hits he is laugh out loud funny.

Joined: 09/21/2009

MGoPoints: 69986

ramenboy

February 10th, 2016 at 12:49 PM ^

I was nodding my head throughout the whole article until this part:

"A league which built its success on aggressive recruiting practices shouldn’t decide to hide under the bed because some carpetbagger from up North joins the fray."

Is he basically admitting to SEC bagmen and fringe (not french) benefits?

Joined: 02/05/2013

MGoPoints: 1811

xxxxNateDaGreat

February 10th, 2016 at 12:59 PM ^

"Is he basically admitting to SEC bagmen and fringe (not french) benefits?"
No, he isn't admitting anything like that. I mean, I'd bet my life and the lives of all of my family that the SEC does cheat harder than everyone else, but you are seeing what you want to see, as far as what the author was saying.

Joined: 11/28/2011

MGoPoints: 2312

JonnyHintz

February 10th, 2016 at 12:59 PM ^

Historically, a carpetbagger is a northerner who went down south to profit from the reconstruction era in the South after the Civil War. Modernly, it's more used to describe someone who seeks to gain political office in a region where they don't hail from. So Harbaugh seems to fit the latter description a bit more. Edit: replied to wrong post.

Joined: 01/11/2015

MGoPoints: 48317

Carpetbagger

February 10th, 2016 at 1:50 PM ^

I certainly understand it's often used in politics, but it also used quite often when "professional" yankees are hired, with the tacit understanding that there was no experienced local talent available.

And I understand it's quite fashionable to bash southerners currently, but I've enjoyed the people in the South, and even married one. I've described them as non-city dwelling Midwesterners with funny accents. Good people, just conservative.

Joined: 12/31/2010

MGoPoints: 6550

Naked Bootlegger

February 10th, 2016 at 1:02 PM ^

Not only did carpetbaggers move south, but they purportedly did so for handsome profits during Reconstruction.   And they were friends with scalawags.  

The funny part is that the term "carpetbagger" infers a defeated south that some northerner is trying to plunder.   The SEC cannot be classified as a beleaguered and defeated entity.  Ergo, FAIL for deploying the carpetbagger terminology on Harbaugh.

Joined: 01/28/2011

MGoPoints: 34640

Alton

February 10th, 2016 at 1:34 PM ^

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adonijah_Welch

A perfect example of a carpetbagger.  He grew up near Hillsdale, graduated from Michigan, became President of what is now EMU (which has a Welch Hall on campus), but quit and moved to Florida in 1865 to go into the lumber and citrus businesses.  He was elected Senator from Florida in 1868 when the state was readmitted to the union. 

He had no ties at all to Florida prior to 1865, and 3 years later he was a Senator and a major landowner.

Joined: 07/05/2008

MGoPoints: 13273

Brimley

February 10th, 2016 at 2:10 PM ^

A lot of the narrative of Reconstruction was driven by people pining for the antebellum South (Gone WIth the Wind, Birth of a Nation being good examples).  Notherners went South for a lot of reasons, some being totally altruistic, some completely driven by greed, most somewhere in between.  The image from literature and movies has led to a narrow, exceedingly negative view, in my opinion.  Anecdotally, I lived in Texas a couple years in the 80s and got called carpetbagger and goddamn Yankee just because of my Michigan accent.  Trust me, I didn't have a large citrus business.

Joined: 03/22/2011

MGoPoints: 11658

Alton

February 10th, 2016 at 2:35 PM ^

Yes, I was going for the southerner's worst stereotype of the "carpetbagger," because that's kind of what set off this whole discussion.  I agree emphatically with everything you say here.  My uncle also had stories of his father being called a "carpetbagger" after moving from rural North Carolina to rural South Carolina in the 1920s (!)

You are 100 percent right that the idea of the carpetbagger and even the word itself is completely loaded with Lost Cause neo-confederate crap.

Joined: 07/05/2008

MGoPoints: 13273