Remember This Feeling

Submitted by heckdchi on

Fellow Michigan fans, remember this feeling. Last year the Michigan men's basketball team lost a school record 22 games. This year they've beaten two then top 5 ranked teams and competed well at a neutral site and on the road. (Side note to Tommy Amaker: yes, games played at neutral sites and on the road DO COUNT) They have done so with the same guys who lost 22 last year.

What does this all mean? It means that good coaches don't become disgraceful idiots over night. It means that even good or great coaches have a hard time winning with a bunch of freshmen who weren't recruited to play their system. It means that good players who weren't recruited for the system they are playing in can succeed if given the time and opportunity.

I'm not saying Michigan football will set the college football world on fire next year. They will likely be led by a true freshman quarterback which is usually not a good thing (unless of course that true freshman quarterback is blessed with 3 NFL caliber receivers and the eventual all time leading rusher at that school). But this is what we can expect moving forward, eventually.

Eventually the Michigan football team will look competent, then good, then great. And when that happens and the Wolverines are back to beating Joe Pa, Senator Sweater Vest, and The Exceedingly Angry Man in East Lansing with regularity, it will be all the more satisfying because of where this journey began.

Remember how you felt when Michigan beat UCLA and Duke this year. Remember how you'll feel when they finally make the Big Dance again. We will all feel that way again about the football team soon enough.

Time to celebrate...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvZ6f7lD3eM

Sorry for the political portion of this video, I couldn't find just the song through a brief YouTube search.

Comments

qbwaggle

December 6th, 2008 at 10:34 PM ^

I had a good feeling about this game going in (ok, I admit, I didn't think Blue would win, but I thought it would come down to the wire) so I DVR'ed the game prior to tip-off so I could watch again later. In hindsight, a great decision. I'm re-watching the second half right now.

Feeling really great about Michigan sports again. It's good to be back.

PeteM

December 7th, 2008 at 6:07 PM ^

Heckdchi, My wife is the biggest Michigan basketball I know who isn't related to a player (we flew to NY for the NIT final a few years ago). I was supposed to DVR the game (we were there), and screwed it up. Can you burn the game to a DVD (and would you)? Let me know, and I'll post my email address, and then we can discuss how to do it (I'd be happy to send a DVD, return envelope and whatever else).

2Blue4You

December 7th, 2008 at 1:37 PM ^

Crisler looked great! I get nervous to see how Crisler looks on National TV w/ crowds that sometime are pretty small, a dated venue, a shaky team, etc. The new lights really make the new court look great and the crowd was awesome. Watching the game in HD on a big LCD screen really made the Maize jersey's POP! I coudlnt' help but think this is making Michigan look sweet right now. Go Blue!

jmblue

December 7th, 2008 at 3:04 PM ^

Honestly, I don't think Crisler's that bad. People complain about it too much. We just need to fill the place up. When it's packed, its atmosphere is fine.

The only real facility issue we have (IMO) is that we don't have a practice facility. That needs to get rectified.

2Blue4You

December 7th, 2008 at 6:18 PM ^

that might be true. I have never understood when pro teams are complaining about dated facilities. They all seem to be pretty good and adequate.

I did think the lights were very dim in the past years but now with the new lights and court, it really comes down to filling the place up and exciting games to get the crowd into it. The energy can be there.

bhallpm

December 7th, 2008 at 6:01 PM ^

but I don't care about basketball. Still, I love what Beilin's doing for the team. And I love what the team did to Duke!

jeag

December 8th, 2008 at 11:40 AM ^

So why is having a practice facility such a huge deal? I think it would be more fun to practice in Crisler all the time anyway. Is it just a recruiting issue--that we feel like we need a big shiny facility to attract guys? And I've heard that the team has to practice in the IM building on occasion--anybody know how often this happens, and if people really hate it?

jmblue

December 8th, 2008 at 3:43 PM ^

Six varsity sports teams use Crisler, which means that men's basketball can't always practice in it. That means practicing in really crappy locations like the Coliseum from time to time. It's a real inconvenience, and it's not exactly a big selling point to recruits.

evenyoubrutus

December 8th, 2008 at 12:11 PM ^

As you said, Henne had three future NFL receivers, and Jake Long, and what Forcier (or Beav) will have next year is an offense returning all of its starters, and all the backups (with exception of a couple from attrition, perhaps). And he'll have another QB who was the starter in this system for a whole year already. Some people don't realize how valuable that is, which is the same reason why guys like Colt McCoy or Sam Bradford can be so succesful as freshmen.