WP: Harbaugh Microeconomics

if you stopped pretty much any random casual college football fan anywhere in the country and asked them to name five college football teams overwhelmingly one of those named would be Michigan. That was true in the sixties when Michigan was down, it was true during the ten year war, and it has remained true through the RIchRod and Brady Hoke years. 

While it gauls many of the fans of our rivals, Michigan is one of a handful of institutions that are uniquely linked to football in the national consciousness. That consciousness becomes unsettled when one of those teams falls on persistent hard times. Casual fans want to see Michigan return to top ten status because it feels right to them. It may be peripheral, but it's just one of those things that "should" be.

Harbaugh returning to college coaching from the NFL would have stirred interest. Harbaugh returning to coach Michigan football, to walk in Bo's shoes and "save" the program, is a movie script come to life. 

It costs $50 to park at Pioneer? Wow.

series in WaPo.  Interesting.  How many will post a link to each new article each week?

Coming soon to the Econ curriculum.