Perspective, anyone?

Submitted by Gandalf the White on

When it comes to sports in general, admittedly, I have tunnel vision. I love my wolverines, a few professional teams, and that's about it. For the sake of perspective, with the exception of outright scandals, is there a similar implosion that comes to mind? I have seen teams slowly erode into mediocrity (which we have already done); but, this team, THIS STAFF, seems to have spiraled into complete chaos in very short order.

Maybe I'm looking for an inspirational story...

Waters Demos

September 28th, 2014 at 7:53 AM ^

If you need someone to authenticate this piece of evidence, I can do so as a self-appointed custodian of MSU football miseries past.

Difference with us of course was that we didn't have high expectations for those years, and moved quickly/immediately to indifference.  You guys seem to be grinding through various painful phases/emotions, and wading through the bile of a decaying program.  

Best advice?  Just like us in pre-MD years, look forward to basketball season!

BlueinLansing

September 28th, 2014 at 12:42 AM ^

1982  Muddy Waters last team, started 0-8 so it was pretty much a death spiral from the start, finished 2-9.

 

Michigan State 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2006 all collapsed, it was a fun thing then.

 

2002 started 2-0 finished 4-8

2003 started 6-1, played and lost to us, finished 8-5

2005 started 4-0 played and lost to us, finished 5-6

2006 started 3-0, won 1 of its last 9 games a 3 point win over Northwestern finished 4-8

 

If I'm honest Michigan looks worse than any of these Michigan State teams except Muddy's.

 

 

btn

September 28th, 2014 at 12:41 AM ^

Auburn under Chizk went south in a hurry, bounced back the next season under Malzahn.

That is hopefully something that brings a little hope.

CLord

September 28th, 2014 at 1:14 AM ^

Since you joined on my birthday last year, here's easy inspiration.  A few years ago, this very same Minnesota team lost 58-0 to this very same mediocre Michigan team, and they didn't fire the Minnesota coach or any of his staff.  And obviously a few seasons made a lot of difference.  

Now to sadly deflate that inspiration, that Minnesota team didn't have their 1st string QB, didn't have many 4-5 star recruits, and was Minnesota where you expect mediocrity.

Perspectives change I guess when you get older.  At 45 now, my feelings are more melancholy than the fury I would have had 20 years ago.  I mourn for Hoke who is a good man, but a horribly flawed coach who, like RichRod, has zero concept for what happens on the other half of the line of scrimmage.  He loves this school.  I wish we could retain him in some capacity but won't be able to.  I mourn for these players, many of whom gave up scholarships to places like Alabama and Ohio State to play here, who deserve better.  I will root for them, and respect them, and I won't boo at home games because they are young men, who wouldn't realize my boos wouldn't be directed at them.  I mourn for this institution and its brand as a winner.

Be inspired that tomorrow the sun will rise.  That Michigan has hit rock bottom, or will do so in a few weeks when we lose 45-3 in East Lansing, and that it will only get better, because it just can't get worse.  We thought that last year after 20 yards on 20 carries vs PSU and -58 yards rushing vs MSU, but this, my friends, is rock bottom.

We have a team now who has the worst Division 1 offense in the country.  An offense so horrid it would be, without question, the worst offense in the MAC.  An offense completely devoid of imagination or RPS flair.  Of incompetence at every position.  With 4-5 star talent permeating throughout. With the #1 RB in the nation.  With a 5 star QB and the #1 dual threat QB from a few years back.  With endless 4-5 star offensive linemen.  With a 1st round mini-Megatron receiver.  A demonstrated, unimaginable, and arguably unprecedented malfeasance in terms of wasted talent.  Has any other blue blood program ever done less with so much?  

The math is simple.  We hired two coaches in a row with no clue about the other side of the ball, thus who's success would be dictated almost entirely, and blindly, by the success of their coordinator hires on said opposite side of the ball.  Yet both such coaches completely misfired on, or simply mismanaged those 4 straight critical coordinator hires in Schafer, GERG, Borges and Nuss.

We've seen the bottom.  Be inspired that after this season, when  inept guys like my avatar will no longer be receiving Michigan paychecks, the string of ill-fortune is bound to turn simply due to the law of averages..  It will only get better because it just simply cannot get worse.

JTrain

September 28th, 2014 at 8:00 AM ^

True. It isn't the end of the world. So our football team sucks. When they clean house at the end of the year I can only hope we have someone with enough credibility and know how to right the ship
I too,like clord, feel for the players. The sales pitch they believed. I feel for brady hoke who basically fumbled his dream job away. A job that he undoubtedly wanted to succeed at more than anything in the world. I know how hard all these guys work and how much they invested in this team...and to have it turn into a shitshow in front of our beloved wolverine nation has to suck more than answering any stupidly obvious reporter question that he has to answer every week after these godawful games (run-on sentence..I know).
Unfortunately we just have to chalk this up as one of those "oh well...life could be a lot worse" moments.

I have the fortune,or misfortune some of you might say, to work in a hospital in a critical care setting. It definitely keeps you grounded. It puts your life in perspective. I have no doubt that Michigan will be relevant again. It's just a matter of time. And, I'm sure we'd all rather be complaining about our shitty football team than our or a loved ones terminal medical diagnosis. Sometimes we need to keep life in perspective. This is definitely one of those times.



Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

BlueGoM

September 28th, 2014 at 8:01 AM ^

"At 45 now, my feelings are more melancholy than the fury I would have had 20 years ago"

Well I'm in my 40's and I still have  fury about this program.  Come on, man!

This is the worst I've ever seen a Michigan offense play.  We're looking at 2-10 here.  That should upset you.

 

 

Maize and Blue…

September 28th, 2014 at 8:22 AM ^

Good men don't do to Shane what Brady did.  Period end of story.  If you actually believe his BS from his presser than what was he doing daydreaming about donuts?  The whole stadium saw it, it was on the big screen, and yet the man who is supposed to be coaching the team didn't see it.

BlueDragon

September 28th, 2014 at 1:34 AM ^

The '08 team was capable of occasional flashes of brilliance and i.e. scoring TDs on offense once or twice a game. The '14 Wolverines have abandoned the concept of offense altogether. Gaining 2 yards rushing instead of -2 rushing on 1st and 10 is fresh and new but our pass game is still stymied by every opposing team loading the box and daring M to throw.

JohnnyV123

September 28th, 2014 at 1:03 AM ^

Oh fuck that argument before it gets going (nothing personal against you).

Arizona is a spectacular 4-0 after barely beating UTSA (3 points) who has been playing division 1 football for two years I think?, barely beating a California team (4 points) that has one of the worst defenses in the country despite playing bad competition so far, a decent Nevada team by 7, and a solid win over 1-4 UNLV who improbably has a worse defense than Cal.

Call me when Rich Rod starts beating Oregon, USC, UCLA, Utah and you'll have me convinced we made a mistake.