Wilbon No!
I like Mike Wilbon but... ugh. From ESPN front page:
I like to take shots at Michigan football and Notre Dame football … though not as much lately because both have become so irrelevant. How much dislike can you work up for programs whose primary December activity is deciding whether to hire a new coach? Of course, I'd send my son to either school proudly, but there's no way you could have attended Northwestern before the mid-1990s and not at least smile at arrogance getting some comeuppance.
December 8th, 2010 at 12:23 PM ^
Remember things like this... I cant wait until everybody is hopping back on the Michigan bandwagon.
December 8th, 2010 at 12:40 PM ^
Theres going to be a reckoning coming.
December 8th, 2010 at 1:23 PM ^
It looks as though you are doing a reckonning on your MgoPoints. Glad to see you working back into the green.
December 8th, 2010 at 12:47 PM ^
a gigantic fucking wagon.
December 8th, 2010 at 12:24 PM ^
They've become so irrevelant that I like to talk about them every day.
December 8th, 2010 at 12:27 PM ^
Holy shit we're arguing about whether Michigan is still relevant? The transformation into the Notre Dame fanbase is complete.
December 8th, 2010 at 12:32 PM ^
I don't recall any tweets by UM players saying "I told you so" to the fanbase.
December 8th, 2010 at 12:51 PM ^
Averaging five wins a year since Rich Rod arrived seems to be the real reason for irrelevance.
December 8th, 2010 at 1:18 PM ^
So if a coach goes 0-12, then 12-0, you're upset because he's averaging 6 wins a year?
December 8th, 2010 at 3:22 PM ^
Aside from the shameless self-promotion of a Wilbon interview being a "Top Story", why hasn't the Urban Meyer story blown it off ESPN.com?????
December 8th, 2010 at 12:25 PM ^
But actually, the real point made is that he'd be proud to send his kid to U of M. That praise is higher than his digs are low.
December 8th, 2010 at 12:25 PM ^
have I ever cared about what Michael Wilbon thinks?
December 8th, 2010 at 12:26 PM ^
It must be great to be a Northwestern Wildcat these days. They're excellent at football.
December 8th, 2010 at 12:35 PM ^
"If a given baseball field is 120.2 yards long, and a football field is 120 yards long, and the walls are made of brick, and a human being running at full speed travels at approximately 20 mph, should we:
- a) Teach the players to stop in less than 0.2 yards,
- b) Forbid running during the game,
- c) Make the players play the entire game at one end of the field, or
- d) PLAY THE DAMN GAME SOMEWHERE ELSE
December 8th, 2010 at 12:39 PM ^
Considering the players on their roster, they might get more from their roster than any other team in the conference.
Plus, I don't think any Michigan fan is in any position to make fun of a squad going to their third straight bowl game.
December 8th, 2010 at 12:49 PM ^
And yet when these results are "the best they can get with their roster," then that means...
...a Northwestern fan shouldn't be making fun of Michigan, either.
December 8th, 2010 at 12:54 PM ^
They're the team that has been putting out a superior product in comparison to Michigan. An added bonus is Fitzgerald who is far and away a better man and coach then what Michigan has.
December 8th, 2010 at 1:01 PM ^
Same record + MUCH weaker non-conference schedule + lower Sagerin rating (72 vs. 48) + ??? = "superior product"
December 8th, 2010 at 1:21 PM ^
He doesn't know the difference between "than" and "then."
December 8th, 2010 at 1:34 PM ^
Your definition of "superior" and mine are very different.
They did beat Michigan by a single touchdown in 2008, so yeah, I guess that's something to be proud of.
December 8th, 2010 at 1:40 PM ^
/s ? ?
December 8th, 2010 at 1:23 PM ^
Agreed. Pat Fitzgerald has put together some of the most successful Wildcat teams in recent history. He's a great coach doing a great job. I think the current NW senior class has won more games than any senior class in the past 20-30 years or something like that.
December 8th, 2010 at 6:03 PM ^
Sure, for Northwestern 7-5 is a pretty good year, and finishing in the middle of the pack in the Big 10 is an accomplishment, but there is no reason for Northwestern fans to be smug about their program vis-a-vis Michigan.
December 8th, 2010 at 12:32 PM ^
The only thing that scares me more than Keyser Soze and spiders is Mike Wilbon's belief that his opinion truly has the power to move mountains.
December 8th, 2010 at 12:27 PM ^
When MSU fans talk about MSU football more than they talk about M football, then I'll be worried that we're becoming irrelevant. Two losing seasons do not undo 100+ years of history, and anyone who thinks so is a babbling idiot.
December 8th, 2010 at 6:08 PM ^
+1. So true. I was back in Michigan for the holidays, and Sparty fans were far more interested in rubbing Michigan's losses to Wisconsin and Ohio State in my face, speculating about RR ("spread don't work in the Big 10 you need MOAR MUSCLES"), and accusing Denard Robinson of being a pussy and/or a running back than they were in discussing any of Sparty's accomplishments.
December 8th, 2010 at 12:29 PM ^
ND hasn't been particularly relevant on the national stage in 15 years. Michigan was a play away from the National Championship game in 2006 (DON'T DO IT, SHAWN... PULL UP...), beat Tebow in 2007, and was ranked for something like 6,000 consecutive weeks before The Horror.
A couple of down seasons =/= a couple of down decades.
December 8th, 2010 at 12:38 PM ^
Don't want to be a debbie downer, but they were unranked much of 2005.
December 8th, 2010 at 12:44 PM ^
You are correct. How I could forget the Year of Infinite Pain is beyond me. Probably blocked it out somehow.
December 8th, 2010 at 12:50 PM ^
That's what I get for being long-winded.
December 8th, 2010 at 12:30 PM ^
and it all goes away!
Although I don't know if you can get away with a Josh Groban sing along even if you are 13-0 with a NC.
December 8th, 2010 at 12:52 PM ^
Rich Rod can sing whatever the hell he wants in the middle of the diag if he goes 13-0 with a MNC
December 8th, 2010 at 3:23 PM ^
Especially since it is impossible given our 14 game schedule if undefeated from here on out.
December 8th, 2010 at 12:32 PM ^
well, Mike Wilbon said on Tony Kornheiser's radio show last year that Rodriguez would NOT return for 2010. He cited as a source a "former Michigan player in the know" who pulled out his wallet and placed it on the table as a wager that Rodriguez would be fired during the 2009-2010 off-season.
In otherwords, I trust him completely.
/s
December 8th, 2010 at 1:20 PM ^
I remember this exactly, but wasn't it a former WVU player that was extremely close to RR..
It was a joke, not to mention the other day Wilbon said RR has done more than enough to bring him back and supported him for the Groban song thing..
December 8th, 2010 at 12:34 PM ^
I would imagine most Northwestern alums feel this way and I don't really blame them (you need a defense mechanism against a lifetime of losing results). I'm pretty sure Vanderbilt grads take pleasure when Tennessee and Alabama struggle. Rice alums probably got a big kick out of Texas' struggles this year. The rest of the Pac 10 roots against USC football and UCLA basketball.
When you are a traditional power that beats the little guy far more often than not, people who went to other schools don't tend to like you.
December 8th, 2010 at 12:36 PM ^
Did any one see PTI last week when they do the 5 second cutback to the studio between commercials and he said he wouldn't see Lebron's return to Cleveland because he was going to be at a Kenny G concert? Hilarious.
December 8th, 2010 at 12:39 PM ^
The Michigan football program played in the NBA. Now I get it! The owner of this Blog is Brian Cook from the LA Clippers.
Everything is starting to make sense now.
December 8th, 2010 at 12:39 PM ^
The guy was in college during a time when NW would get absolutely throttled by teams like UM. If OSU was down, he would say the same thing about OSU. Having met him and having a friend who knows him pretty well, Wilbon is pretty normal. Any normal NW fan would have no reason to like Michigan in the least or ND considering how bad the local Chicago media slurps them. I would be more surprised if he professed his love of UM since I would wonder what was wrong with him or what link he has with the school.
December 8th, 2010 at 12:40 PM ^
...Michigan every chance he gets. When he used to do live chats at washingtonpost.com, any question that dealt with Michigan got a snarky reply.
He is simply incapable of separating his disdain for Michigan learned during his undergrad days at Northwestern from his commentary.
December 8th, 2010 at 1:03 PM ^
Kendra is the least hottest of the three
December 8th, 2010 at 1:12 PM ^
She's the most hottest girl in a pic with Mr. Wilbon and every post needs eye candy in proportion with the word flavor.
December 8th, 2010 at 1:22 PM ^
True that, also is one of the most annoying humans ive ever heard speak
December 8th, 2010 at 12:42 PM ^
Just win, and all is magical again.
December 8th, 2010 at 12:44 PM ^
Wilbon clearly has never liked Michigan and that is because he is a Northwestern guy. He's honest about his bias in this regard and he owns it. I'd rather have a columnist who lays out where he's coming from and what colors his view than one who tries to play everything as "all things being equal."
*-columnist, not a reporter. That's different.
December 8th, 2010 at 12:59 PM ^
I like Wilbon. I grew up in Chicago and he loves all of my teams except Michigan. Wilbon hates M and ND the same way I grew up hating ND.
If you weren't/aren't a Michigan fan, you probably hate Michigan, just like the Yankees. Decades of dominance and success will do that. Northwestern home games Vs. Michigan are really Michigan home games in Evanston.
He's got a grudging respect/fan hate for us, and there's nothing wrong with that. At least he's up front about it. He's usually got pretty sane takes on things (he recently said Rich needs another year, remember Denard in the beginning of the year, etc.) and he's entertaining
December 8th, 2010 at 3:12 PM ^
he thinks by speaking loudly it makes his opinions less dumb. don't work for me.
December 8th, 2010 at 12:47 PM ^
Wilbon and Kornheiser are nothing more than entertainers. At least they both somewhat admit to it unlike guys from a local newspaper in town (cough drew sharp cough). He takes shots at Michigan because that is what people like to hear. Just like people like to hear that the Heat are losing.
I personally like Wilbon because he is a pretty funny guy who rarely takes himself too seriously. I know he's a very respected journalist from his days with the WaPo...but I think his switch to ESPN.com officially signals the end of that era.
December 8th, 2010 at 12:50 PM ^
Honestly.
Is his opinion supposed to be important or something?
I just read that he's a Chicago-area sports fan and sportswriter, but I'm not sure why his negative views of ND and UM would cause so much worry.
Perhaps you can take heart in the fact that he's a Chicago Cubs fan. That means Mr. Wilbon has a full and complete understanding of what living hell must really be like.