Let's Go Bowling
11/23/2013 – Michigan 21, Iowa 24 – 7-4, 3-4 Big Ten
![Ypsi-Arbor_Bowling_at_Night[1]](https://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Game-Column_26D9/Ypsi-Arbor_Bowling_at_Night1.jpg "Ypsi-Arbor_Bowling_at_Night[1]")
Ypsi-Arbor Bowl was demolished in early October.
MUSIC POST! HIT PLAY OR I KILL YOU!
I am one of those irritating people who believes the Big Lebowski is deep, man. I think this because of everything about it but mostly because of one particular scene. If you have not seen the Big Lebowski, you are about to be spoiled. Also, screw you you're a bad person and you deserve to be spoiled. What is wrong with you? You are bad and should feel bad.
Sorry. I am taking things out on people. I hip-checked an old lady into the frozen pizzas on Saturday because her earrings annoyed me*. That was wrong. I know that now. I will stop doing this posthaste.
The scene is the funeral. Because of miserable copyright bastards you have your choice of an official thing that cuts off before the crucial line or one with the volume turned way down. Here's the latter, turn up for hearings:
It is just so Dave Brandon that the Official Movieclips.com version manages to cut itself off before "Come on, dude… fuck it, man. Let's go bowling." Anyway.
At this point I simultaneously feel that I have to explain and that I have to explain that there's no point in trying. But fuck it, I'm talking to the guys who had the world's saddest tailgate before the season opener and came up to me at our event before the Notre Dame—another world—and were just so excited to be the world's saddest tailgate. They told me about their jury-rigged pancake plans for Notre Dame. They were engineers. That part is probably obvious. I loved them, and I feel badly for them. They're all 18 and probably don't know a damn thing about a movie that came out when they were three and Michigan was national champions.
I don't know anything about Buddhism but the Big Lebowski feels pretty Buddhist. The Dude comes into his apartment to a guy peeing on his rug and from that point on he's propelled through this rollercoaster over which he has zero agency. Literally everything he does in the movie is at the behest of someone else, and what little gestures towards doing something himself are quickly co-opted by the people he's doing them with. He picks up Walter to make the drop; Walter presses his underwear upon the dude and shoots up his car with an uzi. He has sex with Maude; Maude reveals that he acting as a living sperm bank. Etc.
The movie is a series of unfortunate events culminating in the death of Donny thanks to the bullheaded stupidity of Walter, who doesn't want to give up his fifteen dollars to some nihilists. That Donny dies as an indirect effect of that decision is the capper: your desires and actions are futile; you are subject to the random capricious whim of a universe that doesn't care about anything and if it was going to care about something it absolutely wouldn't be you. I don't have to spell the rest out for you. Sports! Fuck sports.
The thing about the funeral scene that kills me every time is the shoving rant from the Dude and Walter's scalded-dog reaction hug in the midst.
what THE FUCK does anything have to do with Vietnam?!?!
This is the guy with the Uzi who pulls a gun on the pacifist, and that is pious. It's a prayer for forgiveness. That kills me every time. And then the song. I mean.
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I've probably mentioned this before, but in the aftermath of The Horror the one thing I wanted and needed to do more than anything else in the world was watch The Big Lebowski. I don't think I knew why at the time; it was my favorite movie but if you asked me why I wouldn't have been able to come up with much in particular. As I was watching it the whole Lebowski-Sports thing dawned, the lack of agency over your emotional state, the attempt to come to terms with arbitrary bullshit wreaking havoc on your emotional state, the lumbering oaf you've chosen to have far too much influence on your emotional state. I revert to it still, because at the end the Dude reaches out and clasps Walter to him, and fuck it, let's go bowling.
I have to tell you that I am at a low ebb right now.
3-9 was awful but had an element of fun in it in the same way Naked and Afraid does: holding my frozen hands to the pretzel machine and feeling guilty when I returned to the stands to find that I'd tried to heat myself so long I'd missed Michigan's first three-and-out of the second half. This is worse, six years on. It's lost its novelty, and now staring at the Armageddon that is the last week of the season is just Promethean fate. I can't imagine accidentally missing any part of this football season and thinking anything other than "stroke of luck, that." I don't see a way in which Michigan gets on Ohio State's level in the near future, and even plotting out Michigan State's level is pretty murky.
I also don't see a FIRE THIS TURDFACE solution. This is the culmination of a dozen different things, all richly deserved by everyone except the fanbase, and my belief is that the best course of action is to persist with this low-attrition, good-dude, quality-talent recruiting and hope that the blithering recedes as things go along. I hate this, because I know that any realignment towards an offense that I actually like will be met with a reaction equivalent to George Wallace hearing that they're integrating the schools, and that the burden of Michigan's past hangs over them in a way that Ohio State was perfectly happy to throw over before Urban Meyer even showed up. I also feel that Michigan will insist that it's anyone's fault but their own, and that the best we can hope for is 1997: an outlier.
This is massively enervating. We're staring down a 20-year period in which Michigan beats Ohio State like 4 or 5 times. Memories of when Michigan could claim equality are as fresh as Jim Delany's letter about how the SEC was a bunch of stupid poopy pants, and as relevant. This feels like a new order, right now. Inescapable.
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Fuck it, dude. I'm going bowling. At 5 PM after Michigan gets its anatomy explored on Saturday, I'm going to Colonial Lanes on Industrial, which still exists, and I'm going to throw some balls in the general direction of some pins.
I can't stand bowling. I suck at it and there is nothing more frustrating than sucking at throwing a ball straight at things that aren't defended or even moving. Any time you fail to bowl you have failed to be a vaguely functional person. I hate bowling. So it is obviously perfect for Saturday.
If you promise not to talk about this year's football team, I would love for you to join me. I will tell you it is not your fault. You will tell me it is only about 5% my fault. It will not be a great time but I'm sick of staring at a computer screen trying not to check twitter. By God if I am going to be enervated it is going to be by not being able to throw a ball straight for a moderate distance. I'm done being enervated by sports, if only for just this moment.
In the moment where I take the ball down from its perch between my hand and my clavicle there will be a moment of beautiful, stupid hope that will persist past the results. And that moment will be enough to mitigate what follows.
Therefore I will bowl.
*[For the people who run the Children of Yost account: that's a joke, and your hat is unflattering.]
Other Stuff
There is no other stuff, except the elsewhere section because by God ST3 and bronxblue persist. Goddamn if bronxblue doesn't nail it:
And yet, I still can’t find it in myself to turn off these games. I know why, of course: there are only 13-14 games a year, and when times are good or at least exciting there is nothing better to watch. And when the team isn’t that good (which, let’s be honest, started well before RR’s tenure made it official), the calcified memories of former greatness and the diminishing hope of a return keep me coming back. And despite the losses and the continuing sense that UM is still on the wrong side of history, I’ll keep watching and coming back to watch, even games like this when you could feel the loss coming after Iowa’s first drive of the 2nd half. And in all likelihood, my kids will love watching UM football as much as me, even when they realize that patch of missing hair isn’t because Dad was pranked. But this simply cannot end soon enough for me, and next week’s OSU game will likely get the background treatment as I shop online, listen to music, and otherwise tool around the apartment.
And ST3 goes with the Smiths, because yeah:
Stop me, oh, stop me...
Link: http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/091413aaa.html
Akron, yes Akron, records 8 TFLs
Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before
Link: http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/092213aaa.html
UConn, still winless as I write this, records 10 TFLs.
You are both champions, gentlemen. Thank you for your posts.
Also, if you want a graphical representation of the way Michigan's offense is going, dnak438 has your evidence. It is grim.
![ypp_div[1]](https://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/Game-Column_26D9/ypp_div1.png "ypp_div[1]")
Not that I needed to tell you that.
November 25th, 2013 at 1:16 PM ^
The man is still a fan... he just isn't dropping money on this craptastic product.
For my part I haven't attended a game since 2009 and I will never return to michigan stadium because I think the tickets are overpriced, small, and I hate David Brandon.
I can watch the games at home or in the Golf course (which I have done the last three years when 418 high st. gets together).
jdon
November 25th, 2013 at 4:43 PM ^
It isn't that they are only not winning, it is why they aren't winning. In spite of the resources that DB has at his disposal, we simply don't pull in the coaches that we need, not that that guarantees NC's. It does help. Look at what Ohio spends or Alabama. If you have to top every coaching salary in the country, then do it. Only a handful of U's have our athletic resources and we should spend them. It is an investment that pays major benefits far beyond the football field. When the biggest crowd watching a football game in America today can no longer be spoken, someone will wish they had done anything and everything in their power.
More than that, I have become too emotionally invested in the team winning, and find myself down in the dumps when we lose. I was OK when RichRod was taking us through his brand of hell, but I just can't do it again.
I feel bad for Hoke. I really don't know if he is the right man for the job and if it doesn't work out for him,that will be a shame. I believe he loves Michigan and failure will be a stake in his heart that he won't get over, I suspect, in his lifetime. Borges, though, is his guy and Big Al's offense seems like a square peg in a round hold. I also think he has lost his players.
Who knows...maybe i will change my tune over the winter. I hope I do. I suspect getting tickets will be easy next year.
November 25th, 2013 at 10:48 PM ^
I've always thought that a "fairweather" or "bandwagon" fan is someone who barely even follows the team, knows any of the players, etc. Then when the team starts winning big, they buy a Michigan shirt on the way to the bar to cheer for "their team" and act like they know anything about the team other than the mascot.
What if someone goes to all the games but is disgruntled at the state of the program and out-loud critical for most of the game. Are they fairweather fans?
November 25th, 2013 at 2:00 PM ^
maybe if you stopped whinin, wed start winnin.
michigan is only as good as its weakest chain. so if one chain in the stadium breaks, we all fall down, including garderner. probably why nebraska had so many sacks.
dont be tha weak chain.
November 25th, 2013 at 4:13 PM ^
It's weak "link" in the chain. Not weak chain, that doesn't even make sense. And I think "garderner" will be ok.
November 25th, 2013 at 5:35 PM ^
Don't feed the troll.
November 25th, 2013 at 6:29 AM ^
Maybe Brandon can skywrite the fans back.
November 25th, 2013 at 8:50 AM ^
Brandon is anything if not a bottom line bean counter guy. Hoke will not want to make any changes, but Brandon may force him if people stop showing up.
Sports is about ego extension. The team wins, I win. Other than a core of die hards, the great mass of people don't want to spend much time following a team that does not win. You can't get the kind of R.O.I. that Brandon needs with just the core die hards. You need those general interest bandwagon fans. Lots of 'em.
The football team is the franchise. Brandon will protect it, because he is Brandon, even if reluctantly so.
November 25th, 2013 at 6:30 AM ^
like I should have all along. This year and this board has cured me. So thanks and a smile, especially to Brian and the crew here, who helped get me through my dissertation.
I think that this about says it all:
"This is worse, six years on. It's lost its novelty, and now staring at the Armageddon that is the last week of the season is just Promethean fate. . . I don't see a way in which Michigan gets on Ohio State's level in the near future, and even plotting out Michigan State's level is pretty murky.
. . .We're staring down a 20-year period in which Michigan beats Ohio State like 4 or 5 times. Memories of when Michigan could claim equality are as fresh as Jim Delany's letter about how the SEC was a bunch of stupid poopy pants, and as relevant. This feels like a new order, right now. Inescapable."
Fit enough, as a parting rationale goes. Gonna keep on loving Michigan, less through the prism/prison of football.
November 25th, 2013 at 6:30 AM ^
November 25th, 2013 at 11:15 AM ^
I think you summed up the mind of nearly every single Michigan fan watching the game. Well, at least mine.
November 25th, 2013 at 12:43 PM ^
November 25th, 2013 at 6:54 AM ^
November 25th, 2013 at 7:00 AM ^
Well done, sir. Roll On! But I’m afraid that you’ve forgotten why some MGoBloggers won’t be joining you and other dudes at Colonial Lanes after the Ohio State game on November 30. . . Shomer Shabbos!
November 25th, 2013 at 7:09 AM ^
There's hope. Next year may be touch & go with the offensive line, but the entire interior will not get shuffled mid-season (at least I hope not - do not want to see another tire fire). While disappointing, the Iowa loss was not really a surprise given the obvious deficiencies in both run & pass blocking. After the Sparty & Nebraska debacles, was the season really going to finish much different?
Time to take a longer view - with more talent & experience next year's team will be better. How good will depend on coaching and ESPN "rumors" aside, the head coach is not going anywhere. Hoke turned around 2 programs already - we were all spoiled when the first year was 11-2.
C'mon dear leader, get your chin up. Unless you are going retroactively back to 2001, we will beat Ohio more than 4 or 5 times in 20 years.
November 25th, 2013 at 9:05 AM ^
I think the problem is the line of sight of what's on the horizon.
In the beginning of the year, did we think we might lose to Iowa at Iowa? Yes.
Do we think that the team will be better next year? Yes.
So why are we so mopey? Because of line of sight of what's on the horizon. We see a program that will be better, but not elite. Because we don't see anything in the way of elite coaching.
In the meantime, Ohio State has moved into elite territory. And we're not keeping up. Add in that we're now being outclassed by Sparty as well, and you have a morose fan base.
The most frustrating thing is that we could be elite, but we are chained to dogma and stubbornness. Nobody seems accountable for results. And we were promised differently.
November 25th, 2013 at 9:51 AM ^
MDog - can you email that to Dave Brandon please? Not that I think he cares and not that I think he'll do anything about it but man did you ever nail the feelings of the fan base (or at least me and you if no one else) in a few short words.
November 25th, 2013 at 9:58 AM ^
And me. I felt this way when RR was fired and Hoke was hired. Then I perked up when it seemed like Hoke "got it" and started pooping gold and reeling in four and five stars and such. Now I'm back to that original feeling.
Switching between the Baylor/OSU (NTOSU) and UCLA/ASU games after whatever that was at Iowa made me realize we are playing 1995 offensive football and will be for the long term while everyone else is playing 2015 football.
Yeah, yeah, Alabama and Stanford (and even Wisconsin and *gulp* MSU). Maybe we'll get there. I still have some hope, and I don't have to pay for tickets b/c I have no money to pay for tickets. But still, I feel pretty much the way MDog and you said.
November 25th, 2013 at 1:34 PM ^
November 26th, 2013 at 1:51 AM ^
I'm sure losing this season and next season may cost us 4* and 5* but there are plenty of good 3* out there. Then when the talent boom blossoms in 2015 and 2016 we will be a top team with 5* knocking down our doors. It is just a cycle Hoke needs to get through and create good upper class depth for years to come! This cycle started under Carr and tanked RR and RR rippled it in to Hoke. But I think Hoke can keep treading water for the next couple of years until his great crop of recruits can become dominating in 2015 and 2016. The amplitude of these poor recruiting classes will decrease over time and we should turn out very well in the long run. Unless DB cans another coach too early!
November 25th, 2013 at 10:07 AM ^
Uh, they moved into elite territory in 2001 when they hired Tressel. He might be an unethical scumbag, but the guy is a helluva coach. Bringing in Meyer is just a continuation of the quality of coaching.
November 25th, 2013 at 11:33 AM ^
Do we have quality coaching? The product speaks for itself, "No". I believe Coach Hoke is a good piece of the puzzle, we need our coach to believe in THE TEAM. To believe in Michigan. That is one thing Coach Bo instilled that is relevant to any scheme that is being executed. The coaches also need to attend to the needs of the TEAM, however: To bring them up as men, to instill discipline and ensure the fundamentals are established. This has not been achieved and herein lies the crux of the issues. Coach Borgess is the obvious one to speak of; the offense has gotten worse as the season goes on, and as a quarterback coach, he is not. Some of the other position coaches need to be put on notice as well. This year is shot for all intents and purposes in terms of Michigan goals; Sadly, the only thing that can be achieved is for coaches to justify why they should be kept on for next year.
November 25th, 2013 at 12:19 PM ^
November 25th, 2013 at 9:53 AM ^
that is all it is--projection of your hope. We all hope we will be better next year--with more experience at some positions. Discounting for the moment the coaching issues, the elephant in the room is the offensive line---where we lose our 2 best players, one a first round draft pick. There is legitimate reason to fear we won't be better and might even get worse.
I don't believe Hoke is a bad coach necessarily, but very possibly not good enough at this level. The "Hoke turned 2 programs around" meme is clearly exaggerated. One good year--albeit an improvement over what he inherited-- at two stops before leaving for a new job isn't turning a program around. You have to stay and keep it up. And he has never done it in the majors. Not every mid-major coach is Bo.
November 25th, 2013 at 10:25 AM ^
This is an excellent point. Tons of coaches get hired to big time jobs with a history of "turning programs around" and fail miserably. Hoke has to prove he can win at a school like Michigan. Until he does so, his resume is fairly meaningless.
Hoke obviously deserves another year. This year and last were always going to be steps back. The only reason that what we've accomplished has failed to live up to expectations is because of the job Greg Mattison has done with the defense. That being said, I too am a bit down on the future of the Hoke regime. I always thought "getting it" as far as Michigan tradition was meaningless in terms of winning games, and the real question was whether or not he "got it" with respect to how to put an elite program together. If Hoke doesn't clean house with his offensive coachign staff, I'm afraid there's no real hope for the latter, even if we show improvements over the next couple years. And for the record, that's not remotely speaking to style offense we run, but merely a failure to recognize a lack of competence in members of the coaching staff.
November 25th, 2013 at 11:10 AM ^
Just don't get the "Hoke obviously deserves another year" line of reasoning. Why? For what? Look at UCLA, Arizona, Oklahoma State....their coaches have made BIG improvements in two years. Hoke has shown nothing after three to deserve another year.
November 25th, 2013 at 11:22 AM ^
he needs tohave his guys bro. jus calm down. when we have seniors = win.
November 25th, 2013 at 4:15 PM ^
Where did you find that avatar? And are you twelve?
November 25th, 2013 at 11:38 AM ^
Before Hoke got the job, it seemed quite clear that years 2 and 3 were not set up for great success. That's come to pass. I feel the offense is far below where it should be, but with a course correction, we can be competitive for the Big Ten title next year and at least on the periphary of the national title picture for the years to follow. Defense is certainly on the right course and a playmaker or two away from being beastly. The offense will still have talent (Gardner, yes, Gardner, Funchess, someone else from the young receivers corp, Green, Smith, Butt) that could do good things with a little better line play and better scheming. The team should be there next year.
Things could turn around and turn around quickly. I don't know if Hoke's the guy to do it, but I think cutting bait after three years is generally a bad idea for the program, especially after just firing a coach after 3 years. Not every new job is setup for a year 2 or 3 epiphany. I don't think this one was set up that way for Hoke. In year 4, he'll have had enough time with his guys that conclusions can be made. We need to let him get to that point. On the other hand, if he refuses to fire Borges, I'd axe Hoke in a heartbeat.
November 25th, 2013 at 11:49 AM ^
longer than 2 years.
How big has UCLA improved? They were 6-6, 7-5 under Neuheisel and now are 8-3? BIG improvement there!
Arizona is at 7-4. Same record as Michigan.
November 25th, 2013 at 12:32 PM ^
Dude, I'm not sure what your standards are, but UCLA going from 6-6 to 8-3 IS a "BIG" improvement. Arizona was 4-8 and 7-6 the last two years under Stoops. Going to 7-4 IS the definition of an improvement.
November 25th, 2013 at 1:05 PM ^
He actually undersold how bad UCLA was under Neuheisel: 4-8, 7-6, 4-8, 6-8. The last one was the weird year where UCLA qualified for the Pac 12 championship at 6-6 because of USC's sanctions and had to petition for bowl eligibility only to have them lose to Illilnois in the great "coachless" bowl of 2011. 9-4 and 8-4, at worst, regular seasons have been a huge step forward for UCLA.
November 25th, 2013 at 7:50 PM ^
Stoops in his last year was 1-5 before he was canned mid year but before then he had gone: 7-6 (4-5 in league), 8-5 (6-3), 8-5 (5-4), 5-7 (4-5), 6-6 (4-5).
RR has gone: 8-5 (4-5) and 7-4 (4-4).
November 25th, 2013 at 7:10 AM ^
November 25th, 2013 at 7:12 AM ^
November 25th, 2013 at 7:24 AM ^
This mediocrity where we are Iowa just fills me with a general malaise. There appears to be no desire from those in charge to be more.
So, I watch and root for the kids to do well and not let anything register on an emotional level.
November 25th, 2013 at 7:36 AM ^
There are some people who are casual michigan fans out here who want to set up a tailgate for osu at their house, have us M transplants over. I say, " yeah, that will be fun!" And I'm really thinking, "why the fuck would you want to do that?"
November 25th, 2013 at 7:50 AM ^
November 25th, 2013 at 9:58 AM ^
Nice first post
November 25th, 2013 at 12:26 PM ^
was uplifting. I felt like I would be forced to give up if we kept borges. (I also felt forced to give up if we gave Toussaint decent carries again, and I had kinda given up on THE GAME).
But this inspired me to keep on trucking. I've only been a michigan fan since I enrolled at the school in 08. (just missed the horror) So while I see that many of you all have gone through years of hardship. I've just started. (if 5 years is considered just starting) and I have a few more painfully mediocre years and snaffu's I can handle. I still be all in for michigan. I'll have hope for THE GAME and the program despite the coaching.
I enjoyed my time at Michigan and remain an avid Michigan fan because I will not let the enept Borges or the CEO-style manicacly evil Brandon decisions ruin my only chance at true devotion to a University. It's Michigan or bust, so Go Blue.
But please... Fire Borges and stop running Toussaint up the middle.
November 25th, 2013 at 8:00 AM ^
November 25th, 2013 at 10:17 AM ^
because at the top or bottom, or even 9n the middle, we tend to think that what's happening now is what will cntinue as far as they can see. I do agree with you, but if we get some decommits before February, God forbid, I will tip over into Brian's camp.
November 25th, 2013 at 10:37 AM ^
Just out of curiousity, if your football-conscious life began in 2004, how can you say recruiting is better than the mid-90's? FWIW, I don't think Hoke has brought us to new heights in recruiting. I think he's returned us to our historical norm before the last couple classes of the Carr regime. Luckily, that historical norm is pretty damn good. So I agree with your general sentiment, we can be elite again in relatively short order, though I do wonder if Hoke is the guy to get us there.
November 25th, 2013 at 3:20 PM ^
It's almost impossible to know, since modern recruiting rankings didn't exist until 2002ish.
November 25th, 2013 at 3:34 PM ^
Yeah, it's impossible to do an apples to apples comparison but there are some ways to form a perception of a school's recruiting performance. Various publications would provide a ranking after signing day. Various all american teams were assembled. Yes, every player in the country wasn't scouted like they are today, but if you at least knew how many of the country's, region's, state's, etc. best players were coming your way.
November 25th, 2013 at 8:04 AM ^
And while I would love to go bowling, I also have a wife and two children who are only vaguely aware of Michigan Athletics (though my daughter - a high school junior who is hoping to one day be a Wolverine - is more interested during those moments when she extracts herself from text messages and the Twitters). It's not about you: my need to keep them happy, fed and well-adjusted exceed my desire to immerse myself in all things U-M.
Somewhere in the past decade, the outcome of these games started to matter less and less to me. Truthfully, it might have started in 1997. The subsequent 16 seasons of mediocrity punctuated by moments of oh-so-close-to-brilliant performances that followed have sucked the joy from me. Whether it's called emotional scar tissue or the death of a thousand missed tackles, I'm simply unmoved anymore. Truth be told, if not for MGoBlog, I'm not sure I could muster up so much as a primal shrug.
But what the emotional detachment has given me is a clarity that I could not see when I agonized about the wins and losses, and that is this: for the past 20 years and more, wins and losses don't matter as much to the Department's power brokers as keeping the money rolling in. Mediocrity on the football field - in the form of 3-, 4- and even 5-loss seasons and only occasional sniffing of a championship berth - is less important than healthy P&L and cash flow statements. That's not to say the coaches and administrators don't mind losing, but at least in the minds of the people with the Power of the Purse, whatever keeps people buying their U-M memorabilia counts for more.
When Don Canham hired Bo in 1969, he needed a winning program because most football revenue (and in fact the department budget) came from ticket sales. That's not the case for Dave Brandon, which is why he can seem so dispassionate about the product on the field. His "enervation" comes when getting an earful from well-heeled donors like John Junge, who made their displeasure over Rich Rod and GERG very clear.
Yes, it's about the money. The University of Michigan Department of Athletics is a business; not-for-profit to be sure, but a business nonetheless. Not until the health of the corporation is threatened will anything really change.
November 25th, 2013 at 9:10 AM ^
"Not until the health of the corporation is threatened will anything really change."
This may come sooner rather than later. Like a teenager with a part time job, we spend the money as fast as it comes in. We have little margin of error to absorb things like a 20% reduction in football ticket sales.
November 25th, 2013 at 8:04 AM ^
November 25th, 2013 at 8:07 AM ^
This season reminds me of 2005 shitshow for some reason. Here's hoping it's the floor to the Hoke era. Most had M at 7-8 wins at the beginning of the year for starters so will see. Next year has the brutal schedule but could be special or the start of another transition.
November 25th, 2013 at 9:16 AM ^
"Most had M at 7-8 wins at the beginning of the year for starters so will see."
Not accurate at all, 9-3 and 10-2 were projected by many as "Heisman candidate" Devin Gardner got better as the year went by, a young interior OL benefited from an easy schedule (save ND) early in the year, full of cupcakes like Akron, a weakened UConn, and CMU... a trip to Happy Valley with a freshman QB (who wins with a freshman QB, even if he is #1 overall!), and a team that had a backloaded schedule that coincided nicely with its young players getting 3 months of experience and DEVELOPMENT by the coaches (LOLLLLZ). The team was "so close" last year, and only by going up against the #1, #2, and #3 teams in the nation plus not having a functioning QB for half the Nebraska game did it really falter. And more of Hoke's players were coming in, and RR's out...
Let's not revise history. It is like saying that 3 months ago "Most had the #1 RB recruit in the country Green being largely ineffective or benched most of the year." Most had UM, Neb, MSU and NW in a 4 way battle for the division - al teams with holes, but all supposedly near equals. Only NW has crushed their season worse than this team. 7 and 8 win seasons were proclaimed by those who said it was likely if Devin got hurt mid season and Shane had to play the remaining games.
Look the board is going through the 5 stages of loss and grief. I think the last remnents of "anger" are still out there - those who were still a bit delusional. I think the whole fan base has now moved past denial. Many are still in the bargaining stage. Others in depression. And the enlightened are in acceptance. Of course I do expect many to return to bargaining and denial in 6 months when a fresh new pile of paint has been slapped on the same product. And then IMO we have a very similar season in 2014.
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