November 1st, 2009 at 12:16 AM ^
So Notre Dame is a machiene?
November 1st, 2009 at 12:18 AM ^
That was a different thought.
November 1st, 2009 at 12:33 AM ^
I don't follow your logic. You realize 2009 Notre Dame lost to your "2008 Notre Dame", right? That would seem to suggest that we would be worse next year rather than a machine unless you mean a machine that makes something really bad suddenly appear to be mediocre.
November 1st, 2009 at 12:36 AM ^
Open your mind to the bending of time and space. The time is near.
November 1st, 2009 at 1:05 AM ^
Blasphemy! Only Zoltan is capable of such feats!
November 1st, 2009 at 1:34 AM ^
Mis-fired at exactly the wrong time in the 4th ... Just WTF was that soccer kick that dribbled down the field for about 25 yards? It set up the field goal for ILL that put the game officially out of reach.
November 1st, 2009 at 1:36 AM ^
on a moon rock that got caught up in his laces.
November 1st, 2009 at 12:43 AM ^
That logic assumes that teams only lose to opponents that are better than they are. The fact that we beat ND this year does not mean we are actually a better team than they are. They are clearly having a better overall season.
November 1st, 2009 at 12:28 AM ^
I'd murder for their current record/ 3-week outlook..
and Pryor would approve...
November 1st, 2009 at 12:32 AM ^
ND should finish at least 9-3, and 10-2 is within reach. I'd take that for next season. Our OL, QBs and WRs need to step up their game for that to happen, though (ND's defense remains mediocre).
November 1st, 2009 at 8:13 AM ^
lovely at this point for Michigan. Unfortunately mediocre is probably the ceiling next year for that unit, unless some young guys just come out of nowhere and blow up. I'm eternally hopeful but not optimistic about that.
As exciting as the potential of this offense is (we've seen flashes but little consistency), the key is still on defense, IMEO. Michigan is a couple years away from putting experienced and athletic players at every position on the field on the defensive side of the ball. And even then, the depth will likely be thin/young. Until that time, the D will likely have weaknesses that other teams will attack and exploit.
As for next year, 9-3 or 10-2 would be stellar, considering road games at ND, PSU and OSU.
November 1st, 2009 at 12:14 AM ^
This is something I can actually get behind.
One more win and I get to watch meaningful football into the winter months.
Whether it's against those adorable Hawaiians or not remains to be seen.
November 1st, 2009 at 12:28 AM ^
So we will be a machine with a double bond?
November 1st, 2009 at 12:40 AM ^
a double butt?
November 1st, 2009 at 12:42 AM ^
Sorry but it wasn't -10 degrees outside, you didn't miss 3 field goals in the 4th quarter as you lost by 1 point. Also your #1 WR wasn't missing either (yeah he was hurt last year too)
BC's shutout of ND last year felt much more similar, tbh
November 1st, 2009 at 12:48 AM ^
our #1 reciever, Tay Odoms, was missing today.
November 1st, 2009 at 1:03 AM ^
I thought Matthews or Stonum were the #1....
November 1st, 2009 at 1:07 AM ^
Tay is our #1 reciever, this year and last.
November 1st, 2009 at 12:55 AM ^
It was a spiritual comparison, not a literal one.
November 1st, 2009 at 1:00 AM ^
I would mostly agree with that then
November 1st, 2009 at 4:58 AM ^
it's always a shame when the weather only affects your team
November 1st, 2009 at 12:49 AM ^
Us vs. Minnesota last year except we were the gophers this time.
November 1st, 2009 at 1:50 AM ^
November 1st, 2009 at 12:55 AM ^
LOL at you pie in the sky optimists.
Q) What... if anything... that has ACTUALLY FUCKING HAPPENED in the Rich Rod Error has lead you to believe that this team will eventually achieve something great under his reign?
Please Fucking explain that to me...because if you are a REALIST you will know in your HEART that the answer is:
NOTHING.
November 1st, 2009 at 1:01 AM ^
LOL...Neg me all you want...give me 100000 negs...but you Fucking know that you can not answer the question:
WHAT HAS RICH ROD DONE AT MICHIGAN TO GIVE YOU HOPE THAT THIS TEAM CAN ACTUALLY BE A GREAT ONE?
lol... keep negging me...I dont fucking care. You have no clue as to what well coached teams look like apparently.
November 1st, 2009 at 1:05 AM ^
Dude, go cheer for OSU or something and leave if you're not down with this team. We don't fucking need or want you.
November 1st, 2009 at 1:06 AM ^
Lock the thread.
November 1st, 2009 at 1:15 AM ^
can't handle the truth...lol
November 1st, 2009 at 1:40 AM ^
yes well while you give up, i'm going to stick it out and wait for great things to happen. it may take a while but it will come around eventually. maybe you should find a new team in the mean time. douche
November 1st, 2009 at 1:19 AM ^
It doesn't look good right now. And I've got plenty compaints. But, the knowledge and the schemes are there. I get frustrated by decision like the goal line and clock management which cost us a game or two last year, and this one today. Also the stubborness of playing Drob vs. Iowa down by a touchdown. But, it will come.
November 1st, 2009 at 1:50 AM ^
Isn't that what Charlie Weis always hangs his hat on?
Look, I don't doubt that Rich Rod is a GOOD coach, but the question is: Is he the RIGHT coach?
I don't want to create some prosecutor's summary indictment, but really, if it were so obvious to him when he got here that his schemes wouldn't work with his personnel, why try to fit the square peg in the round hole anyway?
I'm willing to give him another season. I am. Coach K at Duke took 3 seasons to produce a winner. Fans were calling for his dismissal after two putrid seasons. He stuck to his guns, and it (eventually, obviously) paid off. If, however, Rich Rod can't get it turned around next season, show him the door.
November 1st, 2009 at 1:06 AM ^
If you know you're facing a rebuilding season, doesn't it behoove you to install in the system you ultimately want to run, to benefit your program down the road? It's not like Threet/Sheridan (or the OL) would have morphed into studs in a pro-style offense. They just weren't very good. A lot of our problems last year stemmed from the simple inability of our QBs to throw accurate, timely passes.
Note that John Beilein faced similar charges of being "inflexible" in his first season, when we collapsed to 10-22 after topping 20 wins the previous two seasons. At the end of last season, no one was complaining about his system. Hopefully we can say the same for RR soon.
November 1st, 2009 at 1:13 AM ^
we can win 2 of 3 including the last and everyone will feel much better. Of course, if we do end up at 6-6 (or worse) and anything comes of the practice hours investigation then all hell breaks loose. Despite all of the wining and complaining after losses, the administration and alumni will be pretty patient if things look like improvement. But, if there is any scandal at all, that patience will be out the window, and rightfully so.
November 1st, 2009 at 1:03 AM ^
Now I'm just really hungry for pie. Thanks a lot tom.
November 1st, 2009 at 1:03 AM ^
they should have sacked Patton, Nimitz, Ike, Monty, Dougy MacArthur, et al when they got their asses handed to them for a year or two.
Takes a while to gear up production, training, intel.
I've watched too much Band of Brothers this week, as if that's in question, but still:
calm the fuck down.
November 1st, 2009 at 1:08 AM ^
Just for you:
November 1st, 2009 at 1:47 AM ^
Among the best lines:
D-gAuLLe: stfu Benny ur not doing shit.
It's all so Neal Stephenson.
November 1st, 2009 at 1:31 AM ^
My friend transported from the year 1862 swears that "this Lincoln guy" is doing an awful job. "So he comes in, with this weird accent and mannerisms, saying he wants to shake things up, and the next thing you know, the whole union collapses. And now he can't get it back together. This SO would not have happened under Jimmy Buchanan's watch."
November 1st, 2009 at 1:05 AM ^
The ND game this year, for one. Our offense vacillates between total awesomeness and youth-induced incompetence. Give RR another year or two, let players mature under his reign, let him get his guys in. Our defense may never be what it was under Carr's better years or Bo, but our offense will be a machine. There is no doubt.
November 1st, 2009 at 1:13 AM ^
was in a bowl game and beat Hawaii 49-21. After today's game I'll be happy with that
November 1st, 2009 at 1:22 AM ^
Before the season, this was all we all wanted to see.
November 1st, 2009 at 1:29 AM ^
it'll work
November 1st, 2009 at 1:42 AM ^
I tend to agree with you more often than not, but I just can't this time.
Illinois? We can't beat Illinois? If not Illinois, then just whom are we supposed to beat at this point in the season?
We have not had a "quality win" since September, when we beat ND. Not one road win all season. And, we're headed toward 1-7 in the B10. That's worse than last year.
I've seen some underachieving UM teams, but never one that went backwards during the season. Even last year's team showed reasons for optimism in the second half of the season. Not these guys. They're utterly clueless on both sides of the ball.
I don't care what anyone calls it. This is not UM football.
November 1st, 2009 at 8:50 AM ^
So what are you, and people like Tom Hagan going to do about it? Get really angry? Impotently pound your fist on the table and declare this "unaccetpable"? Write ALL CAPS posts on message boards declaring your extreme disturbance with what's transpiring? Make sure everyone knows "THIS ISN'T MICHIGAN FOOTBALL"?
Fuck, dude, what's that going to DO, other than raise your blood-pressure. Did yesterday suck? Yes. Was I incredibly disappointed? Yes. Will I go as far as to say that some of my confidence is shaken? Yes. But I'm a schlub living in a condo in Chicago who's closest direct relationship with this program consists of being a startlingly frequent poster on MGoBlog and being the proprietor of a marginally-read blog that compares football terms to fucking Communism. What is my negativity going to do? I'm just a fucking fan. I don't play gold with Mary Sue or go sailing with Bill Martin.
Watching the team is supposed to be fun. It's a diversion from slogging away at a job for 12 weeks a year. I'd rather watch that Illinois game again than sit in another budget presentation with the CEO of my company. So, if sometime this week, I fail to place this Michigan game in the proper context and importance - it was just a game, it's a fun diversion in my life, etc. - and still carry around a tremendous amount of umbrage about it, then I really think I should make a change. If my DIVERSION from the unpleasantness of the work week does this to me, why the hell am I continuing in it.
So, my suggestion to people like you and Tom Hagan, and I'm not trying to be an ass, or call you a fair-weather fan, or whatever, is this: if this shit upsets you more than you enjoy it, stop watching. You put up with bullshit at work because they pay you to do it. Football isn't paying you. So if watching makes you upset, stop.
If you keep watching, remember that your concern for the future, your ANGER about what happened, literally does not matter. It accomplishes nothing. Coming on MGoBoard and saying "X should be fired" or "Y should be benched" accomplishes nothing. We are 100%, completely, and utterly impotent in any such decision. So, being angry or upset accomplishes nothing other than upsetting you and the people around you.
Is Rodriguez the right guy? Are we headed in the right direction? Fuck, I don't know. But I don't have to. If you're going to keep watching, just resign yourself to the fact that this is an open-ended question - one who's outcome, or the reaction to the outcome, you have absolutely no control over.
November 1st, 2009 at 9:28 AM ^
at first I thought you only worked 12 weeks a year, and I was going to call you the luckiest bastard in the world. Then I realized you were only talking about the football season. So, instead, I'll just thank you for the post.
November 1st, 2009 at 12:20 PM ^
To hear a revolucionario like yourself utter the words "we are impotent" wounds a part of my spirit, companero. Hope for a better world must live on in the hearts of men, and through our acts, conditioned by the collective consciousness of our experience, will the revolution come to pass. The revolution is not an apple that falls. You have to make it fall!
November 1st, 2009 at 11:49 AM ^
I've seen some underachieving UM teams, but never one that went backwards during the season.
You must not have been a fan in 2001. From 6-1 and ranked in the top 10 to losing to a mediocre Sparty team (admittedly clock-aided), needing a miracle to beat a bad Wisconsin team, laying down in the first half against a mediocre OSU team and then getting humiliated by 28 points in our bowl.
As for us being headed for 1-7, let's see how the season plays out. It's possible that we are a better team than we showed yesterday.
November 1st, 2009 at 1:47 AM ^
I am watching Jerry Maguire on TBS and this game reminds me of the time when he loses all of his clients, his gf and his self confidence. What does Jerry do? He doesnt bitch about the memo he wrote or the decisions he made, instead, he stays true to himself, nails a hot Renee Zelweger and gets Rod his quan.
We all knew this team would go through rough patches, but for those loyalists out there, the people who stick with this team through games like this Saturday, the BCS games and Big Ten Championships in the near future will be THAT much sweeter. We will always accept the bandwagon bastards who don't experience the utter dispair we are all feeling, but when we go on a run through the Big Ten and "Secret Garden" starts playing in the background the true Blue out there will enjoy just a bit more than the rest of you fair-weathered fans out there.
Yes, I am wasted...
GO BLUE!!!!
November 1st, 2009 at 1:23 AM ^
You have to have the bad (in this case, extremely bad), in order to appreciate the good.