As a alum of University of Michigan I have many proud moments ranging from beating OSU in the 100th game to graduation, but I have to say the proudest I have been of the University of Michigan has to be when Gerald R. Ford passed away. Several members of the Michigan Marching Band volunteered and drove up to Grand Rapids to play the Yellow and Blue as Ford's casket was wheeled across the tarmac. This is the proudest I have been of University of Michigan and my affiliation to such an outstanding institution.
I find myself in the same situation. I am a diehard Michigan football fan, but I do feel guilty while watching games. Seeing a player (a kid no less) get knocked senseless really tarnishes the game. I think the NFL and NCAA have a serious problem on their hands and this subject will continue to receive increased attention.
Many suggest improving recognition and diagnosis of concussions as a way to make the game safer, but unfortunately, the damage is already done.
One radical suggestion by John Madden (don't quote me, but I believe it was mentioned in a Time article a few months back) is to have players on the line stand upright rather than in a bullrush position. The idea is that this will decrease their momentum. It is an interesting thought, though I don't think it will ever happen.
I think baseball is a bit different because you wear a helmet that protects you against a baseball to the head. I have been hit by baseball in high school ball before and the worst I got was a bruise. I don't have any statistics to back it up, but I don't believe that head injuries in baseball is a common occurrence. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong.
I agree with you, there is risk associated with any sport, some more than others.
I think the issue comes down to playing a sport for a long period of time. As the article points out, the professional football players have been having issues with disability for a quite some time. Playing sports up through college and then some, football is probably much harder on one's body compared to other sports, especially when you have a S&C coach encouraging his players to eat pizzas to gain weight.
Barwis does not seem to be interested in this approach, which is probably much better for the longevity and health of the players.
http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/dave-pear-article
No worries though. I am on break now so I check the blog constantly looking for any news or occasional freak-outs. I didn't respond to that one, but wanted to.
The article was alarming. Regarding your conundrum, I was in a similar situation when I was a kid. For about 2 weeks, I wanted to play football because some of my friends were playing. My parents would not allow it and I took up soccer and baseball instead. It turns out I played soccer competitively at the state level for 15 for years and it was one of the best decisions I/my parents made.
I love watching football and went to every game while I was at UM. However, in my opinion, there are other sports available for kids that provide the same team work, exercise, and life lessons that football provides. If it were me, I would encourage my kids to participate in other sports.
game and performed well, it would be a huge positive lift for the football team. Just finishing out on a positive note would be incredibly beneficial in so many ways.
Sorry to post this in this board post, but I am curious what people think regarding Brandon Minor. Is he hurt or not? If he is, why are we still using him in such odd situations (he came in the last 2 minutes to block - I believe)? If he is not injured, why aren't we using him more? I keep reading that he has a high ankle sprain, but why does he continue to play sparingly? I suppose he did come in for the one goal-line stop, but it just seems odd to me. Does anyone have any input on this?
This article from Ann Arbor.com is a little concerning to me.
http://www.annarbor.com/sports/michigan-running-back-brandon-minor-bare…
EDIT: When has has played, he has played well.
I didn't mind the piped in music except when they cut off the band at one point. I like the music selection of 8 mile. I don't like that they pipe in music tht the band can play, and play well. Also, I don't like the white stripes because it reminds me of PSU. Otherwise, I am indifferent about the piped in music. I do think the music gets the fans more into the game. The crowd seems (or seemed today) more into the game.
It was definitely louder. One big difference that I noticed was fan participation. I was in the alumni section and stood for most of the game. Only sat for the timeouts. The last time I was at a UM game sitting in the alumni section, the section was quiet and sat most of the game. It was way different this time. I did not hear one "sit down up front." The crowd was really into it. Also, spoke with Brandon Minor after the game. He is a pretty nice guy. Thanked us for supporting the team.
The problem with just printing anything is they lose journalistic credibility and fewer and fewer people will take them seriously leading to lower sales/clicks. I understand they want to sell papers, but this could be short-term gain for long-term pain.
I emailed his assistant a short email of support and asked that it be passed on. I got a reply about 15 min later that said she will pass along my letter of support and go blue!
I emailed his assistant. I hope she passes the message on. I never liked the "All in for Michigan" slogan either, but now, I must say it means so much. I hope that during these challenging times, we come together as a university and as a football TEAM. It is time to put the past behind us and look to the future. Michigan is special because the support for the university from the fans and alumni is unmatched. This is the time to show that support in anyway you can. Go Blue and All in for Michigan.
Go Blue Michigan Wolverine blogspot state there would be some negative PR coming out about the program soon, some to worry about and some not? I thought there was something like that, but could be wrong.
He said that it was raining the whole time, so he may have had trouble gripping the ball. Not an excuse, but a concerning. I am sure Nick has improved quite a bit from last year. I am taking the opinion that the coaches have seen all 3 play more than I have so the person they name as starter is probably best. If Nick is it, then he must have performed the best through camp.
I have a friend who saw the whole scrimmage. Of course this is all hearsay and coming from someone who doesn't know a lot about football. He was not too impressed with the way the team looked yesterday, but they may have been holding a lot back. A few things that stuck out to him was NS threw 2 INTs, Tate looked good (prob should be starter), and Carlos Brown had a good showing. For what it is worth.
Wow, I didn't know Michigan has such a strong swimming program. I knew they were good, but I didn't know to what extent. That is impressive. I will pay more attention to swimming in the future. Thanks for the post.
He offered guys with multiple arrests? I don't doubt you, but just curious who? Looking at JF, IIRC looks like he was arrested twice for assault and battery. I am just curious who Michigan offered that had a similar background.
I appreciate the way JF's dismissal from the team was handled by RR, but what concerns me more is the fact that he was on the team in the first place. This kind of information is not hard to find. The fact that he had two previous arrests and we still offered him is concerning. I believe a similar situation occurred with Noel Devine. I believe he had some baggage before going to WVU.
This is my main concern with RR. I think (hope) this is a product of timing and recruiting. I think if RR had more time, he would have thought twice about offering JF. Given the circumstances around the coaching transition, time of the year, and the lack of a decent prospect at the QB position there may have been some panic and an offer was extended.
Not sure we will ever know on this one. Hopefully it doesn't happen again.
Why would you want to change something like the University of Michigan football uniform? It is one of the most recognizable uniforms in sports. It is perfect just the way it is (home and away). I think that is part of the allure of the PSU uniform. It doesn't change. Michigan football is very unique, in that it doesn't need gimmicks to bring an audience. IMHO, no uniform change is needed.
Everything I have seen on the internet is that it would be a home/home. If we don't return it next year, it would be in the future. For a dedication game, UConn has little relevance to UM football. Personally, I liked the idea of Virginia because they are another academic institution and we have a history with them.
I agree with trying to mic the band, especially when they come out at the beginning of the game. This would be difficult to do, but when they are in the student section it is entirely possible. Please no rock music like PSU. They don't even use the band there. To me, the band is am extremely important part of the game-day experience.
Sorry, I guess my question isn't very clear. The point I was trying to make is that with the talent we have on our d-line it seems to me that you would want 2 strong DTs on the field at the same time.
My question is about personnel and running the 3-3-5. I am not trying to knock the 3-3-5 because I don't know enough about it. Just looking at WVU stats, it looks like a pretty good D.
But, suppose "otter" commits and not '09, but '10, we have MM and Otter, or whoever else as a DT, wouldn't we be better off having them both on the field. I think MM will be very, very good and depending on how others pan out, we could have a lot of talent on the Dline to only play one of them at a time.
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As a alum of University of Michigan I have many proud moments ranging from beating OSU in the 100th game to graduation, but I have to say the proudest I have been of the University of Michigan has to be when Gerald R. Ford passed away. Several members of the Michigan Marching Band volunteered and drove up to Grand Rapids to play the Yellow and Blue as Ford's casket was wheeled across the tarmac. This is the proudest I have been of University of Michigan and my affiliation to such an outstanding institution.
I find myself in the same situation. I am a diehard Michigan football fan, but I do feel guilty while watching games. Seeing a player (a kid no less) get knocked senseless really tarnishes the game. I think the NFL and NCAA have a serious problem on their hands and this subject will continue to receive increased attention.
Many suggest improving recognition and diagnosis of concussions as a way to make the game safer, but unfortunately, the damage is already done.
One radical suggestion by John Madden (don't quote me, but I believe it was mentioned in a Time article a few months back) is to have players on the line stand upright rather than in a bullrush position. The idea is that this will decrease their momentum. It is an interesting thought, though I don't think it will ever happen.