Regional vs. National Program
Yesterday on 97.1 Mikey V. kept saying over and over that Michigan has a "National perception, Regional reality."
I'm sure this was talked about a bit on one of the 300-post threads, but I wanted some direct feedback.
Obviously, Mike has his bias. But do any of you feel he is, however unpleasant to admit, correct?
I tend to feel that he is wording it wrong and that Michigan will always be a "national" program and have national appeal. I suppose there is an argument that Michigan is no longer "elite", but to say it is a regional program doesn't make much sense. Thoughts?
January 7th, 2011 at 2:56 PM ^
I think the fact that our vacant head coaching position is plastered all over ESPN and such, it's a national program.
January 7th, 2011 at 2:57 PM ^
No. He got that from Drew Sharp and they are both turds.
They can say what they want, but would a regional program have been that widely covered for dismissing their coach? No.
Would Michigan State receive that kind of coverage if they fired Dantonio after a 7-6 season? No.
It just holds no bearing. Michigan is still a national program trying to find its footing. These guys that say regional are just spewing shit and trying to convince themselves its true.
January 7th, 2011 at 2:58 PM ^
Jesus on a cracker, STOP LISTENING TO TALK RADIO AND THEN GETTING UPSET.
January 7th, 2011 at 2:58 PM ^
Denard
Mike Hart
Tom Brady
Chad Henne
Must I go on???
January 7th, 2011 at 8:40 PM ^
I'd sub Jake Long for Chad Henne, but that's just me.
January 7th, 2011 at 3:00 PM ^
Michigan recruits nationally and schedules games with teams located throughout the country. What Sharp is referring to is we are not competitive nationally. To some extent, he is correct.
January 7th, 2011 at 3:00 PM ^
Valenti is an idiot every day; yet is still surprises people on a daily basis.
January 7th, 2011 at 3:04 PM ^
Take a look down the all time winnings list and you'll see the "national" programs. Take a look at number one while you're at it. That says a lot.
January 7th, 2011 at 3:06 PM ^
It's essentially saying Michigan is Michigan State, in that Michigan needs in-state recruiting to contend for the Big Ten Title and a national championship. As it turns out, MSU could not recruit in-state under John L. Smith, and MSU's program could not tread water during his tenure. On the other hand, Michigan is competing at the same level as other Big Ten teams in recruiting when focusing on recruiting Florida and Ohio as well as a few of the top prospects in-state.
Sadly, it's difficult to completely support this claim without looking at how well Michigan football does in the next few seasons, whose success of how well Michigan does while mimicking a National Program is tainted. However, it's true that MSU is truly a regional program, and Michigan's football program is still > MSU's.
January 7th, 2011 at 3:11 PM ^
Michigan, ND, Texas, USC, OSU, Florida.
Personally, I think the only ones currently ahead of Michigan are ND and Texas (I see Longhorns stuff everywhere), but you could make a decent argument for the others as well and it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility. But look at media coverage, TV numbers, where recruits come from, where alumni go, Michigan is all over the map, and football will always be number 1 with Michigan. The program is down, but it's still important to college football as a whole, and to many, many people nation-wide. The "regional reality" is absurd.
January 7th, 2011 at 5:54 PM ^
But we sure seem to be working hard as hell to change that.
It CAN happen . . . Pitt, Washington, Colorado, etc.
January 7th, 2011 at 8:35 PM ^
I'm not sure if Washington was ever really considered a National Power. They just happened to make a few Rose Bowls in a row.
The other two weren't able to keep up in a money race with other programs. Even if we struggle for another decade, we will have a very large money advantage over any of these teams.
January 7th, 2011 at 3:13 PM ^
There are probably 10 storied programs out there and yes michigan is still one. We were lucky to not have a down turn for 40 years, but it happens. Let's hope its a brief one. It was also mentioned that michigan can not do a national search on that show. If thats the case why did Tony Dungy on Dan Patrick say today "I hope Michigan doesnt call, that would be too hard to say no to" Mike V and his lap dog have no clue whats going on which seems to be the case with everyone in the media. For foster to say MSC wont let them get harbaugh, give me a break. DB seems to be playing things extremely close to the vest and people are just throwing things out there fishing for stories. My advice let this play out see what happens. Until I hear JH say he is staying or going to SF I think feel he is the guy.
January 7th, 2011 at 3:18 PM ^
This entire line of thinking is just so idiotic and exposes some obvious biases. This is the same crowd that has made a big deal of how MSU has "taken over the state" because UM's roster is from everywhere else. Can't have it both ways.
January 7th, 2011 at 3:19 PM ^
It pissed me off something fierce when I heard that tard Drew Sharp say that on SportsCenter. Even one of the analysts made a sort of shocked noise when he said it. I still have no idea why ESPN always goes to that negative douche-knuckle whenever it involves sports in Michigan. He is just an idiot that uses his press powers to get across his negative biased opinions. To say that "Michigan needs to stop thinking that they're a national program" is just ridiculous! God I hate that guy!
January 7th, 2011 at 3:22 PM ^
We sure are getting a lot of national coverage on our coaching search. More than Minnesota, and even Florida I'd say.
January 7th, 2011 at 5:56 PM ^
100 car pile-ups are always fun for the media to cover.
January 7th, 2011 at 8:10 PM ^
Florida did see a coach end a successful tenure and have a smooth hiring process. Whereas we had a coach get run out of town and then proceeded to start this charlie foxtrot of a process.
But I'm pretty sure even if JL Smith left after as much promise as RR and Dantonio was hired in February, it wouldn't get half this much coverage.
January 7th, 2011 at 3:22 PM ^
If Michigan were one of the teams tied atop of the Big Ten like MSU, OSU and Wiscy this year, I would be willing to bet anything UM would get a BCS bid
January 7th, 2011 at 3:30 PM ^
Two days ago, ESPN put up a poll and asked the public to rank the top football programs in the country. Despite the past three "subpar" years and the current nightmare CC situation, UM is sitting at #7:
http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/rank?versionId=3&listId=488
Apparently this is the third time ESPN has run such a poll and these results are consistent with the previous two. UM might be down, but all of the other major programs have been down at one point or another too. It takes much more than a few down years to destroy an iconic brand as strong as Michigan's.
January 7th, 2011 at 3:38 PM ^
Do yourself a favor and tune Valenti and his puppet Deary out until we hire a coach.
If you want to hear what Valenti will spew next, simply subject yourself to the front page of tRCBM. It's quite apparent he uses that cess pool for his entire show prep.
January 7th, 2011 at 3:39 PM ^
I grew up a half hour from Ann Arbor in Northville and believed growing up that Michigan was a national program. After college I moved to several different states and have since learned that Michigan is not as big as it thought it was. The desired places are down south and on the coast and away from the automotive industry. Maybe up to the 70's Michigan was national, but since then the economy and football has changed. And the whole coaching change thing has shown how regional Michigan is. We act like we have a birthright to a national championship when in fact there are plenty of programs out there who have worked harder at building quality football programs.
Wherever I have lived out of state it was easy to find ND, USC, Florida, Miama, Alabama, etc fans with no connection to the university, but it is hard to find diehard Michigan fans who haven't attended the school.
And a national program wouldn't be so suspicious of outsiders. It is a hick thing to spurn people who are not like you.
January 7th, 2011 at 4:10 PM ^
I'm pretty sure Michigan was a National Program in 1997. I live in Miami (not Miama) and anytime I walk around with Michigan gear someone takes notice. How did you get over 1000 points?
January 7th, 2011 at 6:17 PM ^
January 7th, 2011 at 6:21 PM ^
all these years i thought it was an american/french/european/east coast/west coast/midwest/hick/southern/texan... thing to spurn people who are not like you.
January 7th, 2011 at 8:17 PM ^
Wherever I have lived out of state it was easy to find ND, USC, Florida, Miama, Alabama, etc fans with no connection to the university, but it is hard to find diehard Michigan fans who haven't attended the school.
You may just run in different circles than me, but everywhere I've lived and visited both in the states and beyond have heard of UM and are fans even if they did not attend. Yes, there are fans of Alabama and USC because those teams won MNCs recdently, but UM is still a big-time program with a national following. OSU has been one of the most successful programs over the past decade, yet reside in a state with an equally-poor economy.
I agre with your final point about not accepting outsiders, but I think that has more to do with 3-9 and 5-7 instead of the fact RR came from outside the program. I honestly think that if he had even gone 7-6 in his 2nd year, he'd still be at UM.
January 7th, 2011 at 4:04 PM ^
start out by saying Valenti is a complete moron. He's just abrasive for no reason. Yells at callers, then hangs up on them. Moron. He also said MSU, Wisc, and Iowa have out recruited us in the past three years. Of course Michigan is a national program.
Also, here in SoCal, I see a lot more Michigan stuff than Texas, LSU, Bama, Florida, etc etc
January 7th, 2011 at 4:15 PM ^
I emailed Drew and reminded him that he's laboring away as a sportswriter (not an editor) on a dying, "regional" newspaper that in reality is more of a blog than a newspaper, in a dying region, and reminded him that if he was a "national" reporter, he'd be somewhere else better.
Um...he didn't respond. Wonder why?
January 7th, 2011 at 4:17 PM ^
For my money here are your "National Programs" that despite the current records have national juice for ratings, recruits and pub.
Mich, OSU, PSU, Neb
Okl, Tex
LSU, Bama, Fla, Georgia, Ten
FSU, Miami
USC
Notre Dame
and the Big East sucks they get nothing
January 7th, 2011 at 4:35 PM ^
...is beyond regional...
...beyond national...
...beyond international...
...space bitches...outer...fucking...space.
January 7th, 2011 at 4:49 PM ^
That said "some Michigan blog" was crazy for tracking flights, and that we're the only fan base who would do that. Pshh. I'm pretty sure this blog isn't the only one to engage in crazy fandom.
January 7th, 2011 at 5:04 PM ^
I was reading a Boston Red Sox message board the other day and I stumbled across this site which discussed "destination" coaching jobs in college football in general. Michigan was near the top of virtually every list, for what that's worth. Again, this was on a baseball-oriented BOSTON Red Sox message board.
Drew Sharp and that radio asshat are the ones struggling for relevance.
January 7th, 2011 at 9:00 PM ^
Oh, you mean "MGoBlog, whatever that is"?
January 7th, 2011 at 8:36 PM ^
January 7th, 2011 at 8:59 PM ^
I listen to Valenti everyday because his obnoxious personality is entertaining to me, but when it comes to Michigan, listen at your own risk. Mike likes to knock down strawman arguments about Michigan all the time, and "regional versus national" is one of them. Who cares? Nobody gave any thought to such a meaningless idea until he says something about it.
Like someone else said -- perception is everything, and the major sports media perceives the goings-on at Michigan as important. Case closed.
ND is a national program. So are we. They're bad. We're bad right now, too. Hopefully, we'll cease being bad very soon. The end.
January 7th, 2011 at 9:01 PM ^
As a side note, kudos to them for extensively talking about oversigning today. It was refreshing to hear them talk about an actual pressing issue for once.
January 7th, 2011 at 9:04 PM ^
Harbaugh made him nervous. And he's sure that Harbaugh made the folks in Columbus nervous as well. As opposed to be being all "who cares" about it, he knew what a Harbaugh hire meant. A Hoke hire doesn't bother him.
I don't agree with a lot of what Valenti says, especially when it's non-sports related, but I don't think he's as bad as he's been in the past.