Why is the Media out to derail Coach Rod?
What is going on here? The Freep and now the Ann Arbor News is determined to make Coach Rod look like an idiot by saying he's playing dumb. http://www.annarbor.com/sports/whether-it-was-a-punch-or-not-michigan-l…
Hello!!! This is football!! People get hit, shoved, pushed, spit at, called names, elbowed, etc. Does anyone remember the little incident between Woodson and Boston when UofM played OSU? Nobody made a big deal out of that and that was much more obvious! I would never encourage players to hit another but things do get intense on the field. One of my sons has played football since 5th grade and is now a freshman in high school. Just about every year he tells me of guys punching.
Does anybody know Bill Martin's email address? We need to email him our support for Coach Rod and ask him to somehow denounce all this negative press and media move to degrade Coach Rod.
Now that Michigan is on the rise the media is all upset and doesn't want the football program to succeed.
All In For Michigan and Coach Rod!!
September 17th, 2009 at 9:04 AM ^
cause he's white.
September 17th, 2009 at 9:05 AM ^
It's as good as over. Follow RR's lead and let the story die.
September 17th, 2009 at 9:10 AM ^
I love RR and have even since he was in WVU. I think what he is doing (playing dumb as they call it) is probably the best thing to do in this case as was discussed by a previous poster. However, when you play dumb you have to expect that you may get called on it. He has, but I am not sure he didn't anticipate it under the circumstances.
As to your title, it should be very clear by now that everyone (especially the media) have their own agendas and it seems that many want RR out of A2. IME it is because they know he is for real and building something special here in A2. Everyone can see that from our prefromance thus far.
Edit* I mean many in the media, not UM fans want him out of A2
September 17th, 2009 at 9:16 AM ^
in this case the media is reporting news. They wrote an opinion piece about the punch, which actually happened and the coach is conveniently playing dumb about it.
How does this turn into "The Media Doesn't Want Michigan To Win?"
Cognitive Dissonance.
September 17th, 2009 at 9:30 AM ^
It was a punch. If Rodriguez calls it anything different, he should expect to be called dumb.
September 17th, 2009 at 9:50 AM ^
IF it was a punch, that Notre Dame o-lineman has the slowest reaction time evah.
September 17th, 2009 at 10:11 AM ^
Rothstein's headline...
"Whether it was a punch or not, Michigan linebacker Jonas Mouton should sit against Eastern Michigan"
Does that even make sense? So *if* it's *not* a punch, Mouton should sit anyway? Huh?!
I think it's more of a love tap than a punch. When I think punch I think of what LeGarrette Blount did. What Mouton did pales in comparison. Not saying I condone it, though I don't know what Mouton's intent was (unlike that Wisconsin player who tried to twist Breaston's ankle and he got nothing but "internal discipline"). *If* he intended to do it, it was cheap, but in games between rivals where emotions and chippiness run high, we've all see much worse than that either get nothing or just a personal foul. I think if a ref saw it, it'd be a 15 yard penalty and nothing more. But benching him because no foul was called during the game? Eh...no.
September 17th, 2009 at 10:29 AM ^
co-sign
September 17th, 2009 at 9:56 AM ^
That's why he plays for ND, slowest reaction times ever
September 17th, 2009 at 10:31 AM ^
Everyone knows that local media types are HUGE Kipling fans....
September 17th, 2009 at 11:08 AM ^
I think this negative story got AA.com their most comments ever. It's also 1 blogger's opinion (which is stated in the title), who does not represent a major newspaper, so who cares.
September 17th, 2009 at 11:15 AM ^
The media hate puppies, kittens, cookies, apple pies, grandmas, america, jesus, hooters, long walks on the beach, si swimsuit edition, my house, and all things good.
September 17th, 2009 at 11:17 AM ^
This isn't a media hit piece like the Freep's. Watch the video, Mouton clealry strikes the ND player in the face in such a manner that one can reasonably conclude the contact was intentional. Whether you want to call it a punch, a slap or an unfriendly jaw massage Mouton made struck an opposing player long after the whistle and the camera caught him.
As Brian mentioned precedent says no suspension, however, precedent should be reexamined. How can a player that punches another in the jaw not be punished? 1 Quarter? 1 series? Something. For Rich Rod to deny something that was captured on tape and spread across the internet is patronizing.
I love Rich Rod and theoretically support punching ND players (somewhat kidding), but if you get caught red handed, you can't deny it a la Shaggy "It Wasn't Me".
In front of the media Rich Rod needs to condemn Mouton's actions, behind closed doors he can tell Mouton "no big deal, it happens, just don't do it again" but you can't have a head coach essentially condoning such action in public.
September 17th, 2009 at 11:39 AM ^
My guess is that just because Mouton is not forced to sit out a series or a quarter does not mean RR has not made it clear that he will not tolerate such a stunt in the future. Teams tend to punish within when necessary - those stories about Manningham running stairs every morning to stay on Carr's good side are just one example - and this seems like the type of incident where the guy has to "voluntarily" do some extra work but not much else. I mean, it wasn't like he bulldozed the ND guy unexpectedly and then stomped on his head. He lightly punched a guy after a play. I'd punish him for nearly costing the team yardage due to a potential penalty; not the fact he got into it a bit with a rival.
September 17th, 2009 at 11:48 AM ^
Either Mouton is amazingly good at predicting when Cissoko is going to shove the guy, or he has the fastest reaction time ever. The guy was still moving from Cissoko's shove when Mouton's hand started to move. I think he was just trying to get up and the chin happened to be in the way.
September 17th, 2009 at 11:20 AM ^
Clearly Barwis is not imparting his MMA knowledge on his players, if he had, Olsen's golden dome would have come clean off and sent Mr. Olsen to see Touchdown Jesus.
September 17th, 2009 at 11:38 AM ^
How about we just shut the hell up about this. Punching a guy in the helmet probably hurt Mouton's hand more then it hurt the linemen. Have u ever been punched while wearing a football helmet? It doesn't hurt. Weis is being that smug complaining blob that he is and we all need to just stop listening to his sniveling complaints.