An Unbiased Journalist on UM vs. BYU
http://www.vanquishthefoe.com/byu-football/2015/9/23/9381473/byu-footba…
It is more of this kind of objective, unbiased journalism that we truly need in America.
Actually, other than the title, it's a pretty fair (if short) preview of the game from a non-Michigan-fan, BYU-fan, dude-from-Ohio perspective...
September 24th, 2015 at 9:21 AM ^
I haven't read the article yet, but when I clicked on it from this thread claiming "unbiased" journalism, I didn't quite expect the first sentence of the title to be "I've hated Michigan my entire life" and the photo caption to be "Michigan is the worst. Please beat the Wolverines".I'll go read it now.
September 24th, 2015 at 9:55 AM ^
I was being ironical. Not "all I have is spoons when I need a knife" ironical, but actually ironical... :-)
September 24th, 2015 at 10:14 AM ^
It's more like a rain on your wedding day type of irony.
September 24th, 2015 at 10:38 AM ^
Awful song full of shitty things that have happened to a person, not necessarily ironic.
Also, how the eff is that a free ride??? Doesn't the payment negate the free part??? Alanis, why??? WHY??????????????????????
September 24th, 2015 at 10:50 AM ^
Say I bought a train ticket to San Francisco, then somebody came along and said, "Hey, I'm going to San Francisco, want to come?".
Now, I have a free ride, when I already paid.
September 24th, 2015 at 11:14 AM ^
Jeez, I thought Alanis Morisette was like revered around here? Don't go skewing the lyrics to suit your cause, you bastard.
September 24th, 2015 at 1:24 PM ^
I thought the irony was that the song contained no irony, just misuse of it.
September 24th, 2015 at 10:33 AM ^
No...that's not irony. Not even close.
September 24th, 2015 at 11:33 AM ^
and our boys IS.
September 24th, 2015 at 11:36 AM ^
You don't get an F for this joke, but you do get an Fe.
September 24th, 2015 at 12:15 PM ^
Ferris State.
September 24th, 2015 at 6:01 PM ^
But I am happy when it's done.
September 24th, 2015 at 11:25 AM ^
Um, yes, yes it was. It was at least ironical in the classical sense, i.e. stating something and meaning the diametrical opposite.
Or were you employing irony here as well in saying that what I said was not ironic? Oh shit, I am now caught in an infinite loop...
September 24th, 2015 at 1:11 PM ^
Actually I think it was sarcasm, not irony. /s
September 24th, 2015 at 1:47 PM ^
Oh, that was just a BRILLIANT insight! Thanks SOOOO much for that! Seriously, if you're looking for a job, Professional Sarcasm pays a LOT, I hear!!!
(No, THAT was sarcasm...)
September 24th, 2015 at 5:01 PM ^
I was being ironical.
September 24th, 2015 at 10:02 AM ^
Off Tackle Empire. Hoo boy they bask in the Michigan hate there like it's 2005.
September 24th, 2015 at 9:29 AM ^
Yes, it was well written and factual.. however an odd, glaring ommission is when he is talking about our great defensive line, he fails to mention the teams best player Chris Wormley. Quite odd. Wonder if this has anything to do with OSU being so pissed they lost him to us.
September 24th, 2015 at 9:31 AM ^
He hasn't exactly gotten the hype he deserves yet too. So I'm sure that leads into it.
September 24th, 2015 at 9:38 AM ^
we haven't played a lot of top talent offensive lines, either
September 24th, 2015 at 10:11 AM ^
last i checked osu was doing just fine at DL.
im sure wormley would help (and he has been quite good so far though well see if he can remain consistent and perform against better OLs this year), but theyve had enough all league and nfl players on DL over past decade or so
September 24th, 2015 at 9:30 AM ^
"Ann Arbor is a better college town than Columbus"
Glad they are finally accepting facts down there!!!
It actually was a pretty well written article, though
September 24th, 2015 at 9:30 AM ^
Started reading it with the clear Ohio Bias, but it really is completely unbiased under the first jabs.
One of the better SB articles I've read.
September 24th, 2015 at 9:32 AM ^
This article is pretty bad. I barely got through the offense section. Had to quit when he called Darboh one of the fastest on the team and mentioned Green before Drake Johnson even after Drake ran through his beloved Buckeye D last year. Can't expect fans of other teams to be michigan fanatics like us, but if you're gonna write a snapshot of the team try to do it well.
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September 24th, 2015 at 9:52 AM ^
season and until he does, this isn't far off.
I'd say omitting Jourdan Lewis in the defensive section is a much larger lapse' although I understand you didn't read that far.
September 24th, 2015 at 10:26 AM ^
No, but neither has Green.
September 24th, 2015 at 10:33 AM ^
Even at that, Drake has been more of a factor this season than Green has. He should have gotten a mention before Green was ever brought up. I guess it doesn't matter though. As the season wears on, Drake's name will end up in plenty columns for being one of the best (if not THE best) backs on the team.
September 24th, 2015 at 1:13 PM ^
Jeez yeah that's an egregious omission. JD is All B1G
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September 24th, 2015 at 4:19 PM ^
Darboh's speed is certainly in the top 15 or twenty of the team. He's clearly faster than any of the linemen.. He just got Amara confused with Jehu when it comes to speed.
September 24th, 2015 at 9:33 AM ^
"Dominant offensive line" <---- ?????
This is the best offensive line we've had since Molk left.
September 24th, 2015 at 9:43 AM ^
The dominant Michigan offensive line that we've all been expecting for the past three seasons just has not materialized yet
He isn't calling our offensive line dominant. He is 100% correct in his statement above.
September 24th, 2015 at 9:47 AM ^
I can't hide behind not having my morning coffee because I have already had it. I am just out of it this morning.
September 24th, 2015 at 10:05 AM ^
coffee?
September 24th, 2015 at 10:12 AM ^
I think its time for you to leave
September 24th, 2015 at 11:28 AM ^
Vegemite. Need I say more?
September 24th, 2015 at 10:11 AM ^
Haha. We can let it slide. We'll file it under the "It's still morning" category.
September 24th, 2015 at 9:35 AM ^
I can't imagine that this kind of anti-Michigan hate is based on interactions with real people. They build up this obnoxious straw man to hate that I don't see as reality. Example:
"Michigan fans hate it when you mention that a huge chunk of those wins came from an era when beating your local YMCA was considered a quality win, and before inventions like the forward pass, or I dunno, penicillin. Because of this, you should probably find a way to mention it at your tailgate."
Who the hell actually gets flustered and annoyed by someone bringing that up? I can't imagine that's a real thing. After this, the author doesn't even cite any more reasons of why Michigan merits his hate other than something about wine and cheese and I guess an inability to say the word 'Michigan'.
I, on the other hand, lived in Ohio for several years and my distain for their fans is based on actual interaction with real people. A great many unfortunate interactions.
September 24th, 2015 at 9:58 AM ^
Amen. OSU (and to a similar extent MSU) fan hatred of UM almost always seems based on an stuffy image of Michigan fans that really only represents a very small segment of the fanbase, and probably exists at every institution of higher education to some extent.
Also, while I would never get mad at someone belittling our pre-WWII accomplisments since it's just some good banter, I do always find it quizzical that rival fanbases like to harp on this point. College football history is college football history; we know it's changed titanically over the years and eras, but why does it matter what era something was accomplished in? I'm damn proud of Michigan football's championships from the wild west era of college football.
And furthermore, I seriously doubt if the situation were reversed that OSU or MSU fans would be willing to humbly consign their pre-WWII stats to the dustbin of history.
September 24th, 2015 at 10:19 AM ^
A lot of OSU fans wouldn't care because we would lead the series with you. It would also erase our only loss to a MAC team. I would, we would lose a Heisman and a MNC.
But again, other Buckeye fans would be fine setting the cutoff date at 1950, because you would also only have 1 MNC or even if we go to 1945 you would only have 3.
September 24th, 2015 at 12:53 PM ^
The problem is MSU and OSU also played those shitty teams in the early 20th century but they didn't win them as often as us. You can bet your ass if Michigan State had won more games against shitty competition and they were in the talk for most wins, they would trumpet that shit all day long. Michigan fans are proud of the wins because that means we have been a good football team for well over 100 years, not just the past 8 years. This is the reason MSU fans only want their games against us to count after a certain date.
September 24th, 2015 at 10:06 AM ^
If I were to reply to any posts here mentioning your all time win total and commented it included High School teams, I would not get negged?
I don't imagine Michigan is the only team that did that and those were not your only wins from then so I don't think it is particulary useful to discuss it. Usually comes up when someone talks about the last 10 years of Michigan football. Prior to Harbaugh, the defensive reaction of real live Michigan Fans I know has been to go to either the overall record or the Cooper years. This season it has been more Harbaugh is coming.
September 24th, 2015 at 10:17 AM ^
Mentioning the Cooper years is a reminder to Buckeye fans that this shit is highly cyclical.
September 24th, 2015 at 10:31 AM ^
To paraphrase Dantonio it us based on results and not Hope. It is still recent enough for most OSU fans to be well aware of it and there really isn't much defense. And as you said, it points to the fact there will come a time when you guys regularly win against us. The rivalry has been a bit out of whack since Cooper.
September 24th, 2015 at 11:44 AM ^
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1892_Ohio_State_Buckeyes_football_team
Everybody did it so it is not a good argument. Prior to jets, conferences, and big athletic budgets, teams played who was close.
September 24th, 2015 at 1:07 PM ^
I said you likely weren't the only ones to do that, and you also won what folks would consider real games which is why it is a bad argument. But a few of folks got so worked up over the mention of it that the reaction seemed to be: "OMG, He said we beat non-college teams [hit neg and/or call me obnoxious] when I was agreeing in reality it is a bad argument but it works on some of you.
Thanks for those that made my point for me.
H/T
September 24th, 2015 at 1:29 PM ^
I thought that is what you were saying and know you acknowledged that every program does it. With that said, since it is a tired argument, it deserves to be negged.
September 24th, 2015 at 12:10 PM ^
To answer your question: you probably would get negged for that because Buckeye fans are obnoxious and posting on a Michigan board with caveats regarding our successes is a pretty solid example of that behavior.
Sticking to the example in the story of somebody mentioning Michigan's history at a tailgate, however, I and most Michigan fans I know would likely not even bring up the most wins thing. But if it came up, I and most Michigan fans I know certainly wouldn't dispute or get riled up by the fact that the program has a long history which spreads those wins out over a long period of time (including a time when competition was not as abundant) and that recent history has not been wall-to-wall wins.
I like this team and its legacy and it just ain't about you, kid.
September 24th, 2015 at 10:15 AM ^
are articles of faith, rote responses from childhood upbringing in Columbus. The fact that Michigan played those opponents back then wasn't a function of beatability but capability to play the game. He doesn't bring up the fact that Ohio State couldn't beat Michigan the first 20or more times they played, which is the prime reason for their primal hate of Michigan.
But I digress. Arrogant success is the result of arrogant winning and playing the game well over time. Michigan hasn't done that lately and that's about all he gets right. The fact is, the writer tells us less about Brigham Young than about his own predilection of hopey joy that the Cougars come to town and knock off his hate rival.
We know what kind of team we got and that this will be a tough matchup. And his review hardly shakes out as an expert's opinion, more like a visitor's guide review of familiar landmarks and places of interest.
Being objective about crowd noise when your purpose is to assure your audience that this team isn't intimidating and neither is fan feeling inside its stadium does his audience no favor since he probably hasn't been to Michigan Stadium since the Carr years.
Brigham Young reminds me of Penn State with a better offense and a scrappier quarterback. It means Michigan will have difficulty sustaining drives and will have to break through with some big plays possibly after turnovers while limiting their big play penchant and first down capability. I expect Michigan to close down on the rush and am looking to see another strong secondary performance against a team with a host of big receivers. This will be a challenge for the secondary and the Dline putting pressure on Mangnum.
September 24th, 2015 at 10:20 AM ^
That paragraph is true. But it seems like the author wants to live in "now" than the history. It sounds similar to what MSU fans say to us. We are down but history repeats itself and we will be back. It seems like people want to forget history when it is convenient. Same way, we want to ignore the recent past, when it is convenient to us.