stop freaking out about the buzzer beater loss, please
Michigan was supposed to lose this game. Everyone in the entire country - including the writers of this blog and all of its participants - knows that OSU's basketball team is superior to Michigan's. Yes, it's frustrating, but it's true.
What would a Michigan victory today have meant in the grand scheme of things? All it would have given us is a victory over OSU, and we'd likely lose tomorrow. This was not a game that was going to be the difference between a Final Four appearance and a giant disappointment.
So if you want to rail on Beilein for his late-game decisions, fine. If you want to lament our season, fine.
But let's not lose perspective and fly off the handle. Today's outcome was representative of what Michigan's team has shown all year. If Beilein didn't deserve to be fired before today, he doesn't deserve to be fired now. If Michigan wasn't going to do anything in the NCAA tourney before today, a victory in this game would not have propelled the team to glory in the coming weeks.
This is the type of result a rational fan should have expected all along. Let's not get bent out of shape.
Is this a national fan blog?
We have every right to get upset about this loss. It sucks, flat-out. It would've been a great win almost exclusively because "Michigan was supposed to lose this game". Who the fuck are you Magnus to tell an entire population of UofM supporters that we're above some irrational reaction to a gut wrenching loss? Especially after an entire year of getting shat on by all-comers. If you've honestly gotten to the point where your initial, inherent emotional reaction to that outcome was "eh well...we were supposed to lose anyway" then I sincerely feel sorry for you as a person. You've lost the ability to enjoy / lose yourself in one of the most exhilarating and enjoyable American past times...being a sports fan.
If you're just trying to be the cool guy with the voice of reason less than an hour after UofM got it's heart stomped on, then I have no problem saying fuck you...save it.
...and this is an example of why I posted this thread in the first place.
Thanks for the "fuck you" comment. It was very necessary.
I am willing to bet when emotional attachment comes into play, there is a 1/r^6 relationship between general intelligence and irrationality (if one could quantify a metric for such a phenomenon).
Cool story bro.
Was what I said irrational? Wrong?
I'm upset as a fan of UofM basketball and a supporter of the kids who played their asses off to come up just short of beating the #7 team in the country that happens to be our biggest rival. Am I calling for Beilien's head? No.
The bottom line is, w/o the hope of something extraordinary happening, like winning this game, and maybe the next, and maybe the next, what fun is it being a fan?
Have you really become so desensitized? At what point in your life did you decide always being cold, calculated and rational was the way to go? This is why I sincerely feel bad for you...the highs/lows of being a die hard fan of any sports team are what make it great. With your approach you're just a casual observer....nothing else.
"With your approach you're just a casual observer....nothing else."
You're absolutely, 100% correct. I'm just a casual observer. I've earned 15,000-some points on here and I write my own Michigan football blog because I'm just a casual observer.
Imagine how many points I'd have if I were an actual Michigan fan!
So now you're claiming dedication to UofM blogs via the internet is a test of fandom?
Do I even need to respond to that?
No, I'm saying you're being ridiculous. I spend a lot of (too much) time on here, and I write a blog. Do you really, honestly, truly think that I'm not a Michigan fan through and through?
Look man, we can go back and forth about this all day. I'm not being ridiculous. Your post came off with a tone of "I'm too cool to care about these things". Judging by the general response I wasn't the only one that took it that way. Also, judging by your general inclination to ALWAYS play this role I don't think it was wrong to read that into your post.
My point is that you care enough about UofM to spend every waking hour scouring this blog and writing your own, yet you ridicule people for caring just as much. It comes down your quite transparent stance that you are a fan of UofM in the "right-way" and everyone else is in the "wrong-way". It's basically your self-appointed, self-important role as the smug "voice of reason" and judging watchdog of the irrational that bugs the shit out of me.
If your point was limited to "take a breath and think before you call for Beilien's head", then great, I agree with you. I didn't take it that way.
"If your point was limited to "take a breath and think before you call for Beilien's head", then great, I agree with you. I didn't take it that way."
This was my point.
Regardless, my post wasn't deserving of a "fuck you" and being called a "douchebag" a half dozen times.
My point was that I hoped the board wouldn't dissolve into [look up and down this thread] and, unfortunately, it has.
"Regardless, my post wasn't deserving of a "fuck you" and being called a "douchebag" a half dozen times."
Ugh you started this thread to get attention for yourself, whether you recognize it or not.
It's extremely impressive that you know my motivations for starting a thread, and yet we've never even met.
you are quite possibly the dumbest person I've never met:)
March 13th, 2010 at 10:18 AM ^
That says more about you than it does about me.
I normally respect everything you have to say, but man this was one of the douchiest things I've ever read on this board.
You're right.
It was extremely douchey to respond to attacks on my fandom with evidence that the person is wrong.
Mea culpa.
It was.
I love it when people call others "douchebags" on the internet.
Any other random ad hominem attacks you'd like to toss my way in your frustration?
Welcome to the internet Magnus, it's good to know you're finally learning the rules.
By the way, I actually like touchthebanner, I'm just pissed at you now. You're still in my head as someone who I would send a christmas card to with pictures of my children on it, if I had them and a wife and it was 10 years down the road.
Thanks.
The way things have gone since October, a win, especially against OSU would've been great and lifted our spirits, if nothing else, for at least the next 24 hours.
There's no such thing as a good loss, no matter how far the b-ball and f-ball teams fall.
And save the misplaced anger
Well...I'm not really angry. My tone was intended to be dismissive.
Not really misplaced either. I too am bothered when "fans" first reactions to losses are to point fingers, call for the coach's head, or berate athletes. I also try to keep sports in perspective. But what gets me even more are the supposed "fans" who play the "I'm too cool to care" role. It's like they surround themselves with people who are passionate about something in order to belittle the passionate reactions when they occur. The best part is, if Magnus doesn't care, why is he on the site posting like a mad man just after this loss?
Answer: because he is always here posting like a mad man...that is a discussion for another day.
Thank God Mangus is here to tell us all how to feel.
[Kidding... but not really]
Magnus, no need to be the "cool" douche on the site. If you're not pissed out of your mind about this loss, you're not a fan of UM athletics.
I am not pissed, am I not a fan of Michigan athletics? Get a grip dude.
You're right. I'm not a fan of UM athletics.
I'm a troll.
Jeez...I was wondering how long it would take somebody to catch on.
Shit, I'm not upset, so now I have to sell all my gear, season tickets, and find a new team.
I think rationality is a poorly understood construct - I usually can't tell rational behavior from emotional behavior - emotions can be a rational psychological or physiological response borne from evolutionary tendencies.
But I do know dumb when I see it - and uniqenam's statement is just dumb. Which is probably evolutionary on his part.
1) My response was made in full-douche mode, and mostly at Magnus.
2) Spoken like a true psych major :)
He's just a different kind of UM fan - a realist. He doesn't live in the fairy tale world where everything that happens in our athletics causes him to meltdown and contemplate suicide. There was nothing wrong with what he said and if you read it right then A) if we won it was a bonus and good for us but B) if we lost well then it wasn't going to be a surprise. But let me guess you're the fan that was singing Beilein's praises last year when we made the tourney but is now calling for his head cause we lose on a buzzer beater to a potential #1 seed in the tournament? Get a grip man.
You raise a good point.
No one here is contemplating suicide. They're venting. It's normal. It's expected. Telling people to settle down is futile and, frankly, a waste of time.
Listen to yourself. You sound like an Ohio State fan.
Worst dong punch since November 21st
To answer your question, "What would a Michigan victory today have meant in the grand scheme of things?"
1) A victory over a hated rival, who may get a #1 seed, who has the #1 or #2 player in the country
2) A chance for us to feel a little good about ourselves as Michigan fans after a REALLY disappointing year.
3) A chance for the b-ball players, who seemed to crack under the weight of expectations this year, to feel good. Read all the quotes from the DetNews article about how they were more relaxed now than at any time this year. A win here could have given them a chance to realize that next year they need to just "play ball", not worry about other's Top 25 expectations. With the loss, they have to deal with yet another close loss with a huge, "What If"
4) As noted by you, it was unlikely they'd win the necessary two more games to get in the NCAAs. However, beating OSU (with Turner) would have been the most unlikely win of the tourney for them, so who's to say?
You're right that if they'd lost by eight, I wouldn't be nearly as disappointed, as it would have been just another loss in a season that had five to six more of them then I thought they would. But the win was THERE for the taking - and instead of taking it, they (directed by Coach B, who I generally like) just passively sat back and let the other team dictate. That's not bad luck; that's poor performance.
I agree with everything you said.
And while it would have felt good to win, I just don't think calling for Beilein's head is necessary.
(And to someone who asked above, yes, I have seen people calling for his job due to his late-game decisions.)
For the few posters (and I haven't seen more than a couple, but perhaps there have been more) who think he should be fired, that is crazy. He needs to be given at least two more years and as far as I've seen, most (upset) posters reflect that sentiment.
However, one big thing I've relied on when he was hired is how glowingly other coaches talking about how well he "knows the game" and "teaches." To have him completely f'up the last two seconds of a game that was there to be won makes me wonder how smart he really is. While this isn't "take the wind" Marty Mornhenwig dumb, it is really inexplicable. I am eagerly awaiting his post-game comments b/c I literally can't understand his strategy (or lack thereof).
One trip to the "Big Dance" and a preseason top 15 ranking led to heightened expectations especially since "all the team lost was two walk-ons".
As much as last season was a thrill this season has been a disaster and for it to come to an end with the worst defensive 2.2 second strategy I have ever seen is a shame. This is probably the first time in my life I have seen a coach allow the other teams top dog (EDIT: how could I forget about Kalin at the buzzer, but that was a different situation) a free path to a game winner. It was a difficult shot, but it would have been much more difficult if they had put any pressure on Turner.
I really feel for the players because they played the best game they have all season and it still ended with a L.
As fan(atic)s, isn't this what we do? We celebrate phenomenal wins and we languish gut wrenching losses.
People have some frustrations that they need to get out and this is how some choose to release those frustrations.
Seriously, if this behavior bothers you, you don't go to fan blogs after a loss like this. When I logged in, I saw exactly what I expected to see.
Yeah, I expected it. That doesn't mean it's necessary.
I expect that somebody somewhere is going to cheat on the SAT tomorrow morning. That doesn't mean it's okay.
One of my coworker's husband is employed at a local factory whose parent company recently decided that they could no longer sustain the local shop. 500 jobs will be lost. I imagine that things were pretty somber the day they heard that news.
I don't much care for people moping around but instead of avoiding the shop, I should have went there and told people to suck it up because there's nothing they can do about it...
Yeah..... your analogy was ridiculous too.
Think about it now. We're all here on this blag wasting massive amounts of time following the program we love. Many of us even neglect work to follow this shit. I mean, come on man.
You don't hear me spouting off a bunch of b.s. about this loss, but I was pretty devastated by it. I think most of what people have posted here is ok, given the circumstances this year. I don't subscribe to the idea that JB should be fired over this, but I can sympathize those who do.
Exactly my point. This is what fan(atics) do. They bitch hardcore about losses they have no control over, because they love the team. If Magnus thinks his sanctimonious ass is better than that, he's welcome to it, but no need to patronize us for our love of UM.
The too cool for school crowd doesn't care about the results, what the fuck is the point of being on a Michigan Sports Fan Blog?? With a bunch of people who CARE about losing. Who don't like seeing gut-wrenching loses. Who worry about bad decisions that cost us games. What's the point, it's only a game...
Does that hold true for football, and hockey, and good teams, as well as bad teams? The metric for how much the games "matter" in "real world" terms doesn't change if the team is losing a game for the National Championship, or ending a bad season.
But I guess they wouldn't care if we were really good either. So what's the point of even being here?
I "wouldn't care if we were really good either."
I'm completely devoid of emotion, and I don't care about Michigan athletics.
Remember what I said about being rational? This is what I'm talking about.
I hope you're just as rational when we win a big game. Be sure and be the first to say eh, don't get so excited.
I know you won't be rational.
Seriously, why are you so emotionally attached? It is not healthy from a stress point of view. Just relax and realize there is always next season. The world is going rotate around its axis. Life is going to go on regardless what happens in a basketball game to which you have zero control over the results.
Isn't the point of being a "fan" to react emotionally to the success and failures of the team you support?
You aren't one of the blue hairs sitting in the vicinity of section 15, row 60 are you?
and what does crying like a five year old on a sports blog solve again? I am still trying to wrap my head around that concept.
You haven't wrapped your head around a Sport Blog. Or sports even. Why do you follow both?