There are...
...days until Chuck Christian sees the Michigan Football program begin its 142nd season.
Considering Ace’s resignation yesterday, it was all the more appropriate to feature his final mgoblog piece in the main post. And, considering the relevance of the subject matter itself yesterday, vid:
With all the individuals on which to place direct accountability long dead, there is no justice – and no easy answers on how to get closest to it now. On the other hand, victims such as today’s #85 are currently living through the irreversible damage, and this community owes them our fullest effort in learning such answers and preventing further atrocities.
All I personally ask is that we take responsibility to center the mission above, no matter where any of our comfort levels and beloved institutions take us. The necessary conversations of legacy-reckoning that may strike us most immediately ring hollow without that priority.
“No coach is more important than the team”
I already wasn’t looking forward to the football season bc of the on field performance. Now I just want to forget it all and skip to basketball. This will be a shit show waiting to happen and I have zero faith Harbaugh will be able to navigate it off and on the field.
Why is Harbaugh’s handling of this cluster f&@$ so important to people? He wasn’t accused of anything. He didn’t cover up anything. He didn’t even say he doubts the players who reportedly complained to Bo.
He basically said this wasn’t the Bo he knew and highly respected. Nothing more.
Why aren’t people screaming for Lloyd Carr to weigh in? Or Gary Moeller? I believe they were head coaches WHILE Anderson was still there. Did they field complaints? Did they hear stories?
Sorry, but Jim Harbaugh is not the problem. He’s just the highest profile person to attack.
I don’t think Harbaugh throwing Bo under the bus is going to happen. There will be plenty of people to do that.
And I don’t think Harbaugh has any responsibility to the victims either. What’s he supposed to do, say “what happened to you was wrong”? Duh!
If I were in his shoes I would probably reach out to Jon Vaughn and clarify what was meant by his statement on Bo. But I would do that personally vs publicly and as another former player.
There IS evil in the world. And there are those who can stop that evil at times. Some people fail to recognize it and some fail to take action. And some fail to accept what is happening. No idea where Bo fits in.
I’m fine with removing the statue and renaming the building because that’s how we roll these days.
But I don’t think Harbaugh needs to condemn the man IF he believes in his heart that Bo didn’t intentionally turn a blind eye. We can’t tell Harbaugh WHAT to believe just because it’s obvious to outsiders. Because that’s what we are - outsiders.
This message started as a small joke about the number 85. Then I read the follow-up comment, and recognized today's post warrants more than light-hearted joking.
Thanks, JWG.
Bring back the neck roll
And the jelly roll.
Sincerely,
Mr. Morton, composer of "Wolverine Blues"
Thank you for these, as always. Gets me in the mood for football (except the Bo stuff, obviously).
Thanks for this. This excerpt from the NY Times article always gets me
...Christian sobbed as he recently discussed his avoidance of crucial testing that might have detected the cancer sooner.
“I regret it so much,” he said. “I wish I had done it. But I didn’t.”
Poor guy. Sounds like he's an interesting dude (art major on the football team!), hope he's doing alright