The Silver Lining: I Have Found It

I thought for a while that Brady Hoke's treatment of Shane Morris was without parallel, and then I remembered Lane Kiffin's treatment of Robert Woods against Utah in 2012. And here is the silver lining: there is no record, at least so far as I can find on the internet, of USC fans demanding Kiffin's head for the dangerously poor judgment.

The Michigan Difference is just this: this community actually cares. We care about the safety of our players and the integrity of our coaches. When a coach does not live up to the standard of integrity at Michigan, we demand change. When an athletic director runs a program that does not put the well-being of student-athletes first, we demand change. And when a football player's future is endangered by the incompetence or callousness of a coaching staff entrusted with his development and protection but blinded to the realities of medical science by the mantra of toughness, we demand change. Let there be change. Ensuring that the job not only gets done, but gets done right--that's the Michigan Difference. This time, at least, it has to be.

Sub-snowflake addendum: the main reason I don't like Dave Brandon is that he is the only person I have ever met in the administration at Michigan--and maybe Brady Hoke will turn out to be this kind of person, too--who does not respond to criticism from their Wolverine brethren with an honest attempt to learn from the feedback to do the job at a level that reflects well on an institution that's bigger than all of us. Dave Brandon is the only one who reacts to criticism with sarcastic dismissal, the only one who won't listen to his fellow Wolverine, and the only one who does not do everything he can to do the job at a level Michigan deserves.