Space Coyote Appreciation Thread
Congrats you sniveling morons, you're on the verge of driving him off. I'd say 90% of you know way less football than you think you do and that's generous.
Space Coyote, as anyone who follows him on Twitter knows, literally breaks down the X's and O's of a game faster than anyone out there. Insanely intelligent.
My suggestion is to shut up and read. Literally the first time I've ever heard him driven to cursing.
This constant, idiotic, bull shit attitude where about a dozen people look at things Borges says and twist it, act like he's stupid and doesn't know shit, is really, really annoying. Someone the other day bitched about Hoke saying "most teams have 4 base runs and 4 base passes". "Haha, how stupid is that? How much are our coaches out of touch, eh?" Well guess what, most teams have about 4 base runs and 4 base passes.
People on this thread bitching about "we'll lock into some plays". Guess what, every coach at this level will lock into some plays. Why is it stupid for Borges to say, "alright, I don't want my college QB to get into a chess match with one of the best DCs in the country?" Why is it stupid to think Michigan's OC, that has tons of experience, might have a better idea of what's going on? Why is it, that if Borges calls a pass play that has a single high beater to one side and a two high beater to the other, that he needs to have DG have the ability to check out?
People are bringing PSU nearly three weeks after it happened and still don't understand shit about what happened despite the attempts by some to explain "maybe it wasn't the greatest, but it was far from the worst. Very far from the worst." People keep bringing up "27 for 27" and don't even understand what half of it fucking means, don't understand the game situations that corresponded with it, don't understand that Borges in fact called 14 runs to RBs in the first 54 minutes, which if Michigan weren't trying to eat clock at the end, amounts to a very modest 17 runs in the game.
And then people use a bunch of BS logic. "How many QBs does Borges have in the NFL?" How many has Tressel had? Maybe Pryor? How many does Rich Rod have? Zero? How many does Meyer have? One from his Utah days? What the hell does this even have to do with successful college QBs? But let's bring up how a RS FR, for the first time ever, won the Heisman. Then lets disregard any actual knowledge of anything. Did he check into better plays? Did he run the offense against Alabama? Why are we comparing our QB to maybe the best QB in college football as if that is exactly what Michigan's QB should always be because it's the way it is in your NCAA football game.
But no, it's way too much credit to think an OC that's been in the game has even a functional knowledge of football. I think that the people that think this is his first time seeing a football game since he played Tecmo Bowl as a child are on to something. Oh God he's so fucking stupid that half the posters on here know he's an idiot and see things and understand things he has no idea about.
Honestly, this is getting beyond annoying. The posters here, at least a lot of the outspoken ones, are complete fucking morons that think because they are outspoken they are right. Maybe I should take a break from these boards, from these sites, and let it just degrade into idiocracy. Because I'm sick of every thread even tangentially about Borges turns into this "Hurrr duurrrr Borges dumb, he don't even know that you no can run out of formation not called spread". The wave of stupidity and ignorance mixed with unentitled arrogance that has washed over the board is overbearing. I don't mind debate, I don't mind different opinions, but opinions stated repeatedly time and again without even the effort to have any damn clue what your talking about, and then ignoring people that try to say "wait a second" time and again is exhausting.
Am I done here? Yeah, I think I'm done here.
October 29th, 2013 at 11:02 PM ^
October 29th, 2013 at 11:10 PM ^
Thats the hard part about being a coach. At times you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. I've stood on those sidelines before and had that helpless feeling as a coach because 1) you can't play for them 2) telling them what to do is only 20% of the battle. If Devin would've been out there slinging the ball around while playing with a late lead and threw a pick, that would've been Borges' fault too and to the fan base he's still an idiot. Lose-Lose. I guess thats why coaches don't read blog comments lol
October 29th, 2013 at 11:45 PM ^
actually throwing the ball to try to get a game winning first down was a smart move. it would have been wide open. however, weis tried to throw a long pass and score another TD in order to run up the score (imo) and he got burned. and deservedly so.
October 29th, 2013 at 11:05 PM ^
Your mature, thoughtful, detailed, knowledgeable posts would be greatly missed. Don't let a certain vocal contingent with none of these qualities run you off this board.
October 29th, 2013 at 11:06 PM ^
Space Coyote's problem is that he just cannot resist trying to correct every single person on the board. He's so desperate to impart his football knowledge on every poster and when he can't quite keep up, he flips out. This is a blog with many, many fans, and a lot of them are going to be both emotional and ignorant. It's really shouldn't be that hard to deal with once you accept that basic fact. I genuinely feel bad for him. He seems very angry and upset.
October 29th, 2013 at 11:11 PM ^
October 29th, 2013 at 11:15 PM ^
Ghost of, phonetics man, they are your friend
October 29th, 2013 at 11:13 PM ^
What?
October 29th, 2013 at 11:17 PM ^
Attitudes are contagious. Those few emotional and ignorant fans rub off on others. While I havent been here for years, I've been here longer than you and I can tell you that the pessimistic feel of the board was not always the case. Its been transitioning towards that since Akron and has not stopped ever since. Even when we win, its just like we lost. This is why others are a lot more aggravated by it than you.
October 29th, 2013 at 11:25 PM ^
I agree that it rubs off on others, and I actually think it has the potential to do legitmate damage to the program, which is why it should be stopped. All I'm saying is that if a guy wants to leave and hates the posting of other people on the board, having an appreciation thread probably isn't going to convince him to stay.
October 30th, 2013 at 12:54 AM ^
do you even remember the board during any of the RichRod years?
October 29th, 2013 at 11:19 PM ^
I'm glad you're qualified to get inside another person's head and distinguish if they're angry or upset.
There's a reason this thread hasn't been downvoted, most people here think Space Coyote is a level headed individual, well spoken individual who's opinions are well thought of around here, if he leaves it's just another istance of this blog getting to popular for its own good and bringing to low hanging fruit around (which is/has already happened.)
October 29th, 2013 at 11:23 PM ^
Did you read his post? It doesn't take a psychologist to figure out that the dude is pissed. I thought the whole swearing and 500-word rant made that pretty clear. I already clearly stated that I do not want him to leave.
October 29th, 2013 at 11:22 PM ^
Come on. You think Space Coyote wrote that rant while having a good laugh? He explicity talks about being annoyed. You can't be annoyed without being upset and/or angry to at least some degree.
October 30th, 2013 at 9:10 AM ^
SC does not attempt to correct every person on the board. He chimes in when he is commenting in an educated and insightful fashion, and then periodically complains when the whining and complaining from persons with no apparent football knowledge or insight flood the board.
October 30th, 2013 at 1:05 PM ^
I LOVE that about him. Passion for informing is the THI*NG when it comes to blogging.
October 29th, 2013 at 11:08 PM ^
October 29th, 2013 at 11:08 PM ^
It's been said that the group of posters fanatically against Borges was small in comparision to the whole, but they were clearly the most outspoken. Space Coyote himself mentioned this problem back in the immediate wake of the PSU aftermath, but he continued to make it his mission to stand gaurd at the wall and fend off the same small sect of posters time after time. Serenity early in the aftermath led to the insanity that we just read in that post. So, if he has the interest in returning that you hope he does, then we either need a karma/points system back to stop people from just posting the kinds of things he made reference to over and over again, or he'll have to live with people being wrong on the internet. The karma and points are entirely meaningless, but man does it ever affect how people post on this board.
October 29th, 2013 at 11:23 PM ^
A few of those posters are obvious trolls,likely MSU or OSU fans pretending to be Michigan fans, but there also seems to be a contigent who've been around for several years, haven't posted much lately but got the Borg signal or something and are now activated and behaving in drone fashion to repeat the same mantras over and over about failure and doom.
October 29th, 2013 at 11:26 PM ^
I actually think a lot of them are trolls. You're spot on that most of them have very few posts and seem to only interject when it's about a controversial topic or pertaining to MSU/OSU.
October 30th, 2013 at 7:20 AM ^
October 29th, 2013 at 11:38 PM ^
That part of the group is why I wanted to throw in the part about karma/points. It's changed how people post on this board and has predominantly affected people who have been around here before (well, I guess that's trivial. Can't really affect someone who came in afterwards. Anyways:). It's not new that people come back to this board en masse when Michigan football is back and especially when there are struggles to talk about. The thing that's new is the majority of the board can't weigh in on types of posts (see: The Rant) that they don't believe is up to the level of discourse they want to see on the board via karma or point votes. Last year after the ND game, people could down vote someone pushing the "bench Denard" idea in every thread days after the initial shock of the game wore off. But now that doesn't happen, and people continue to do it (in this case re: Borges), and the only "defense" has been people responding to it, which is something the majority won't always step in and do. Space Coyote essentially took on that task himself, and here we are.
October 29th, 2013 at 11:48 PM ^
October 29th, 2013 at 11:14 PM ^
October 29th, 2013 at 11:18 PM ^
October 29th, 2013 at 11:46 PM ^
The question at hand could be which is better for the day-to-day operations of the site and the message board, quality or quantity.
The quantity of page clicks result in a larger paycheck, which is good for business in a sense. Lately, it seems like a lot of negativity has driven a lot of traffic for the site (example, the many Fire Borges Threads, and the "Purge" thread). As a result, a lot of valuable posters have gotten fed up trying to shout rational ideas/discussions over the simply stated 'fire borges" statements.
Quality: Using a self moderation system where the community can patrol the message board so that rational discussion of football can easily rid and discourage users who tend to inflame other, most rational contributors. As a consequence, there may be a slight loss in traffic to the site. The users who tend to provide insightful and thought provoking discussion/debates/ideas should have the louder voices in my opinion.
Self Moderation will make the mods jobs much easier since I can sense some burnout from a few of them. The lack of acknoweledgement of the community from Brian and lack of fixes to the board is starting to show.
October 30th, 2013 at 8:25 AM ^
I'm finding myself growing tired of the boards, too, for this very reason. Maybe it's always been this way, but it seems like more and more people are just taking up space here instead of trying to talk rationally about football. The lack of moderating by the group has taken a toll. I actually liked it when Brian got angry a few weeks ago and started banning people, but that was a short-lived attitude.
October 30th, 2013 at 8:59 AM ^
but this is a blog, not the Bible. This is the ultimate "free speech" arena. If SC wants to rant, so be it. If you read his posts they have plenty of reasoning included ... is there room for disagreement, absolutely. No one on the planet knows everything, and suggestions that you are the all-knowing giver of facts on football strategy is no way to prove a point.
Go Blue!
October 30th, 2013 at 10:05 AM ^
I don't really think this is the ultimate free speech arena, though. This is a sports blog about Michigan, and there are lots of rules. If you can't post "OT" things during football season, it's reasonable to expect that there are going to be some other standards as well.
October 30th, 2013 at 10:56 AM ^
But I think the Mods do a pretty good job in regard to content related issues. We have all seen several threads be "dismantled" when they have crossed the "out of bounds" line (politics anyone?). This really seems more of an instance where SC decided enough was enough for him and voluntarily choose to suspend his postings ... isn't that his perogative? Why are we looking to blame anyone as a result ...
Go Blue!
October 30th, 2013 at 9:05 AM ^
Good news for people who love bad news.
October 30th, 2013 at 10:44 AM ^
Yes, it's too bad. Before that "purge" there weren't any trolls or bickering here at all. It was just sunshine and lollipops. Damn you Brian!
October 29th, 2013 at 11:20 PM ^
If you're going to respond to every dumb person on the internet, your experience of it will be hell. Make your main point in reply to a post by Brian or whatever and then, if you wish, only engage in debate with people who are being reasonable and genuinely seeking answers. You're not going to change the trolls. A shit leopard can't change its spots.
At least we're not arguing about Rich Rod anymore, amirite!?
October 29th, 2013 at 11:34 PM ^
I don't really remember SpaceCoyote responding to many people with the "Borgess sux cuz h'es fat" type arguments. I could be wrong on that, but I don't think so. I think the whole point, and the reason there is such an outspoken sentiment backing him, is that shit has gotten ridiculous these past few weeks with comments that are nothing but negative for the sake of being negative.
I wish people that didn't find sports fun would give posting on a sports blog a rest. Newsflash: Michigan will lose to Ohio State again this century, basketball won't be winning every game by 73 and a relatively weak defense and young goaltending will lead to problems for hockey. It's fine to root for all of those to be false, but it's not worth the personal attacks on players, coaches or fellow fans and it's not worth bringing down the entire board in a sea of vitriol.
October 29th, 2013 at 11:21 PM ^
October 30th, 2013 at 12:02 AM ^
What's the entry criteria; I'm sold.
October 30th, 2013 at 12:06 AM ^
October 30th, 2013 at 12:35 AM ^
October 30th, 2013 at 1:09 AM ^
I too find many comments on this board knee-jerk, lacking in insight and sometimes just stupid. My pet peeve are those who post 20-30 times on a single topic. But Jeezus, for the most part, I just ignore them, But some people, and Space Coyote often, cannot do that. Not every comment needs to be responded to. The need to do so implies its own form of arrogance and closed-mindedness.
October 29th, 2013 at 11:23 PM ^
Just here to sign the petition in support of Space Coyote.
His posts add a TON to this site, and I really don't feel that he comes across as arrogant or as a know-it-all.
October 29th, 2013 at 11:30 PM ^
"His posts add a TON to this site, and I really don't feel that he comes across as arrogant or as a know-it-all. "
Thats because you don't say random, non-sensical things that he's had to rebuttle and thus make you feel insecure about yourself. A hit dog will holler.
October 29th, 2013 at 11:23 PM ^
Space Coyote, I appreciate you dude.
October 29th, 2013 at 11:24 PM ^
Space Coyote but also Reader 71 and a few others have brought a welcome relief of reason and sanity to some of the recent threads.
October 30th, 2013 at 12:18 AM ^
October 29th, 2013 at 11:27 PM ^
...I was this blog's version of Space Coyote. I, too, got fed up with idiocy and snark. I had a decent amount of diaries, and I decided to delete them all.
Now, we can all sit here and say, "Interwebs gonna interweb," and that's largely true. The problem is that this site claims to be a non-mlive type of place, and a lot times over the years rational thought has been deleted while douchey, snarky, non-value add comments dominate the content of the board and comments to main page posts and diaries.
To Brian's credit, he's come a long way in his football knowledge, even went to a coaches' clinic to learn more ball. How many bloggers of teams have done that? Does Brian have a lot to learn? Sure. But, as we've all seen, even some coaches have more to learn. I'm not saying Brian knows as much (or even close) as coaches. What I'm saying is that he's doing a good job of always trying to learn more. I always found him to be open and receptive to listening.
I think if Space Coyote wants to make comments that are free from idiocy, he go start his own blog and he can delete whatever he wants. I think he's spent enough time here that doing his own blog wouldn't be more time-consuming. If mgoblog had an x's and o's guy on staff, I don't know how much Brian would add, other than turning into Ronald Bellamy's Underachieving All-Stars.
October 29th, 2013 at 11:29 PM ^
October 29th, 2013 at 11:32 PM ^
It's weird I was actually way more pissed about the defense giving up an 80 yard drive in a pathetic 27 seconds than I was about Borges' playcalling, yet nobody seems to talk about that.
October 29th, 2013 at 11:47 PM ^
October 30th, 2013 at 12:00 AM ^
i actually had a civil exchange with SC. and i enjoy his thoughts, though i don't agree entirely with his opinions. but i largely agree with your point here. imo, we have seen borges call some great games, IU, osu at home, neb at home, iowa at home. but he has also had some stinkers; primarily on the road: osu, iowa, nw (first half), msu, nd, ala. i don't think it should be a 50/50 success rate for the UM OC. he gets paid a lot of dough to be more consistent than that.
October 29th, 2013 at 11:31 PM ^