This Month in MGoBlog History: October 2008 - The Civil War Within the Fanbase Begins

Submitted by Maize.Blue Wagner on October 15th, 2018 at 10:14 PM

Previously:

September 2008

October 1 - Wednesday

Blogpoll ballot week 5.

Blogpoll week 5.

UFR: Offense vs. Wisconsin. Bolded Alter Ego asks an important question.

How?

Would you believe the offense rattled off three straight 80 yard touchdown drives, the last featuring a 58-yard quarterback keeper by Steven Threet?

Depends. Is this a Deep Space 9 episode taking place in the mirror universe? Is everyone wearing black leather?

I've been trying to figure that out for days, man.

Banner controversy!

Unfortunately, the winner from the banner contest uses a source photo from a flickr user who isn't exactly down with Creative Commons. He's asked me to take down the banner banner, and I've done so. In its stead is the other banner the banner banner creator submitted to the banner contest and yes I'm just trying to cram "banner" in to this sentence as many times as I can banner.

October 2 - Thursday

Rodriguez press conference notes. OL is continuing to shuffle.

Mailbag covering future non-con opponents, Marcus Witherspoon, recruiting younger kids (‘10 recruit Ricardo Miller commit a week ago or so), and does an offense need to stay on the field longer to give a defense a rest?

Unverified Voracity is Dedicated in 1927 with a video of Michigan Stadium’s dedication.

UFR: Defense vs. Wisconsin. Brandon Graham had a +9.5, but Morgan Trent got a -3.

October 3 - Friday

Unverified Voracity Stays in School, Maybe. Brandon Graham is hinting that he might be back. Maybe that means the defense as a whole will be better next year?

Game preview: Illinois.

Finally, three opportunities for me to look stupid Sunday:

  • Brandon Minor gets at least half the carries and someone breaks off a long one.

  • Mike Martin has a major impact as the 3-3-5 NT.

  • Michigan, 27-23.

October 4 - Saturday

Open thread: Illinois.

Illinois beat Michigan 45-20. I couldn’t find any highlights besides this short clip of Juice Williams plays. I supposes that’s for the best.

October 6 - Monday

Game column: Illinois.

We've passed the point where these things could be random chance. It's just a bad team. This revelation will probably be met with "duh" from everyone who's not a Michigan fan, what with skill positions that usually read junior, freshman, freshman, freshman, freshman, freshman and a coaching transition and, oh, I don't know, the nation's 110th best turnover margin.

Unverified Voracity Welcomes Other Sports. Hello Matt Vogrich. Also, a short hockey preview.

October 7 - Tuesday

The blogpoll is getting picked up by CBS Sports.

Blogpoll ballot week.

Tuesday Recriutin’. Another 2010 commit drops. Hello: Jeremy Jackson.  

Brian runs down the last several years of poor LB recruiting and development. This would become even more obvious in the next two years.

October 8 - Wednesday

Picture Pages: Illinois Hates Reading.

Picture Pages: Adjustments Not So Much.

UFR: Defense vs. Illinois. The best rated player was Tim Jamieson with only a +3.5. The lowest is Charles Stewart with -5.

October 9 - Thursday

Blogpoll is up at CBS.

Press conference notes. Martavious Odoms is starting to shine.

UFR: Offense vs. Illinois.

Goats?

The left side of the offensive line was harrowing this week, more so than usual.

MGoBlog has joined Twitter.

October 10 - Friday

Mailbag asking, do you have mailbag regrets? Why so many fumbles? Why so many injuries? Who starts at QB next year? Where do you find those yellow, alumni, cheerleading sweaters?

Unverified Voracity Directs Carving. Pumpkin carving patterns for Bo and Lloyd faces included!

Game preview: Toledo.

Finally, three opportunities for me to look stupid Sunday:

  • Non-McGuffie carries = 8, one of which is fumbled.

  • We finally start seeing Woolfolk and Cissoko.

  • Michigan, 27-10.

October 11 - Saturday

Open Thread: Toledo.

Toledo defeated Michigan 13-10. Highlights.

October 13 - Monday

Game column: Toledo. Brian marks this point as Fort Sumpter, the beginning of the civil war within the fanbase. ...Annnnnd there was actual fighting when he threw an empty water bottle at a guy who was booing the team.

At this point a shouting match ensued. Shouting matches are never like they are on TV—laced with penetrating logical deductions that leave the yelled-at victim incapable of response—so I mostly just told him to shut up like 10 times consecutively.

At some point he actually said "if this bothers you that much there must be something wrong with you," at which point my irony sensors exploded.

Blogpoll ballot week 7.

Gary Danielson is claiming that the spread is dead. He is mistaken.

October 14 - Tuesday

The hockey team swept St. Lawrence over the weekend.

Tuesday Recriutin’. MN WR Bryce McNeal has decommitted (again I think). ‘M’ might look harder at MI WR Cam Gordon now.

Fire Unverified Voracity Dot Com. Actually there is a “fire Rodriguez” site. Brian points out that there is one of these for every coach. Also, there’s a rumor that Rodriguez might leave for Clemson.

Uh, a walk-on football player broke hockey D Steve Kampfer’s scull. Not good.

October 15 - Wednesday

Blogpoll week 7.

Uh Oh. There is a computer model showing that ‘M’ is most likely to finish 3-9. That means only one more win. This could be bad.

The media is beginning to circle Rodriguez, and they are led by none other than Mike Rosenberg. Their primary mantra is that the offense needs to change to adapt to the current personnel.

October 16 - Thursday

Picture Pages: Pitch Sweep.

UFR: Offense vs. Toledo.

Blogpoll link to CBS.

Mailbag. A coincidence that the band did an emo halftime show? Is the spread too risky in how it gets QBs hurt? Does McGuffie run straight up too much?

That's only the tip of the iceberg, man: during the Wisconsin game they did a Ferris Bueller parody where the drum major was absent, then showed up at the last second. Just like the team!

October 17 - Friday

UFR: Defense vs. Toledo. Boubacar Cissoko led the team with a +3. Jonas Mouton finished with a -3.5.

Game Preview: Penn State.

Finally, opportunities for me to look stupid Sunday:

  • the universe is going to die someday.

  • it expands, taking everything away from everything else.

  • one day an atom will repulse another atom, and that will be it, the Last Interaction.

  • will the final score tomorrow matter then?

  • penn state fans think so.

On Saturday, October 18 Penn State beat Michigan 46-17. Highlights.

October 20 - Monday

Game column: Penn State.

  • No offense to a fine young man, but NICK SHERIDAN=DEATH. The decision to start him over Threet, or play him ever while Threet is physically capable of throwing the ball, will go down as the most inexplicable one of the Rodriguez era.

Eh, probably not.

There was a time when “We Own Penn St.” was a thing. Here’s a look back at half those games.

Blogpoll draft week 8.

Unverified Voracity will Punch You in the Internet. There is news coming out of East Lansing of a large fight between members of the MSU football team and hockey team.

October 21 - Tuesday

Tuesday Recruitin’. Interestingly, ‘M’ might not be done at QB. FL QB Eugene Smith continues to be a possibility. Also, 2010 recruits FL S Marvin Robinson and FL CB Lo Wood appear to be strong commit possibilities.

Gary Danielson is talking about the spread again, so naturally Brian is taking him to task again.  

Unverified Voracity on a Pumpkin. More details about MSU brawl are coming out, but it seems likely that nothing will come of it before the game on Saturday.

October 22 - Wednesday

Blogpoll ballot week 8.

K Anthony Fera has decommitted. He is likely to go to Penn State. Also, the first mention of Tom VanHaaren!

Blogpoll ballot week 8.

Unverified Voracity Likes Free. ‘M’ would be contractually obligated to go to the Motor City Bowl...if they make it to six wins.

UFR: Offense vs. Penn State.

October 23 - Thursday

Picture Pages: Reach for the Stars.

UFR: Defense vs. Penn State. Brandon Graham had a +4.5. Unfortunately, Obi Ezeh had a -7.5.

October 24 - Friday

The owing of Penn State part two. This one covers 1997-2001.

Game preview: Michigan State.

Finally, opportunities for me to look stupid Sunday:

  • Minor outgains Ringer.

  • Special teams continue to screw up in ways unfathomable.

  • Michigan State, 24-20.

October 25 - Saturday

Open thread: Michigan State.

Michigan State beat Michigan 35-21. Highlights. The bowl streak has ended.

October 27 - Monday

Game column: Michigan State.

  • Michigan's inability to run against State is the last straw as far as hope for the offensive line goes. They couldn't block the Big Ten's iffiest defensive line; there's no hope until next year.

Blogpoll draft week 9.

Mailbag. How much value will be lost without bowl practices? How can anyone possibly watch Nick Sheridan try to play QB? Is there any hope with the freshmen who are red-shirting? Is Scott Shafer any good?

October 28 - Tuesday

Tuesday Recruitin’. TX WR Josh Gordon is no longer being recruited, so he is off the board. Also, the blog is really benefiting from recruiting interviews being posted by Tom VanHarren.

Unverified Voracity Talks Basketball (?). Hello Blake McLimans. That should complete the 2009 class along with Morris, Vogrich, and Morgan.

October 29 - Wednesday

Blogpoll ballot week 9.

Brian tries to give a reason for hope for each of the remaining games.

4. They have just cancelled the Ohio State game because of the election.

That's the ticket!

Blogpoll week 9.

UFR: Offense vs. MSU.

October 30 - Thursday

Unverified Voracity Steals Painter. As in Purdue QB Curtis Painter who is injured and not going to play on Saturday. That means that third-string Justin Siller will likely start. Quite a break for ‘M’.

UFR: Defense vs. MSU. Brandon Graham led the team with a +11, and Tim Jamieson deserves a mention for a +7. Stevie Brown came in with a -7.5.

Brown -7.5 -7.5 I'm going as him for Halloween because he's the scariest thing I can think of.

October 31 - Friday

Brian realizes that next year doesn’t hold a lot of promise either as he tries to determine the starters.

It is reasonable to expect a significant step forward next year; it is not reasonable to expect the team to be actually good. The hole Michigan is in will take until 2010, or maybe even 2011, to dig out of entirely.

Game preview: Purdue.

Finally, opportunities for me to look stupid Sunday:

  • Cissoko sees a lot of time spotting Trent and as a third corner.

  • Minor cracks 125.

  • Michigan, 16-13.

On November 1, Purdue beat Michigan 48-42. Brief Highlights.

Comments

stephenrjking

October 15th, 2018 at 10:40 PM ^

"The hole Michigan is in will take until 2010, or maybe even 2011, to dig out of entirely."

2011, technically speaking. 

But for that sentence to be factually correct, it should read:

"The hole Michigan is in will take until 404 file not found to dig out of entirely."

I fervently hope that the object of that sentence can be permanently rewritten as 2018. We'll find out soon.

cheezypoof209

October 16th, 2018 at 9:31 AM ^

A sobering review of how far we dropped, but also a little perspective about how far we've come from those years.  Back then, it was almost impossible to find consistent week-to-week improvement, so it's nice to actually feel optimistic about the next game

Malum In Se

October 16th, 2018 at 10:07 AM ^

2008 was a horrible year for me, personally, professionally, economically and football-wise. 

A Wolverine and Lions fan, my two favorite football teams won 3 games combined.  Michigan had its worst season in 45 years and had its bowl streak snapped.  The Lions turned in the NFL's 1st 16 game un-victorious season.  I'm used to the Lions looking a JV team playing the varsity, but that was the 1st time the Wolverines looked like local enhancement talent to make our opponents look good every game for basically an entire season. 

Every weekend, instead of being a thrilling distraction from the challenges and problems of real life, football was somehow more depressing and hopeless.  Watching the games was an exercise in gallows humor.  May 2008 stay forgotten and forsaken. 

Maximinus Thrax

October 16th, 2018 at 2:13 PM ^

I was at that Toledo game.  It was terrible.  Multiple children were seen crying around the stadium.  Nonetheless, I still had faith.

 

The PSU game killed it for me.  I listened to it while I applied window insulating plastic to the outside of my windows on my old house.  Don't ask.  I was drinking a lot.  Towards the end of the game I fell off a ladder and sustained some serious injuries.  Dark days.

FreddieMercuryHayes

October 16th, 2018 at 2:25 PM ^

Oh, I was so innocent back then.  I remember when UM beat the UW team and I thought 'finally we've turned the corner.'  It would only be a year to two more until UM was in national championship convo with the great recruiting UM was doing.

Oh how young and stupid I was.  When I though the wings on the helmet meant that my team was better than yours and would always be ranked and winning championships. 

The years since then have not been kind to my fandom.  But also taught me that sports will only every disappoint, so I suppose that's a good lesson to learn.  But like all bad abusive relationships, I still can't quite walk away from this one.  Instead I just steel myself for next wave of hardship and continue on without silly optimistic feelings.  But what choice do I have?  I have not better alternatives at this point.

Njia

October 17th, 2018 at 10:01 AM ^

“Sports will only ever disappoint.”

Thats pretty much what being a Michigan fan has felt like since at least 2004. It’s why I don’t have a lot of confidence that we pull out a win on Saturday. We are supposed to win, we have the better team, and yet that nagging feeling that we’ll lose, again, just won’t go away.

sammylittle

October 16th, 2018 at 5:21 PM ^

Yikes, what a time. I was marginally affiliated with the Wolverine Liberation Army, which disbanded about the time our savior Brady Hoke was hired to coach our team back to relevance.

In 2008, I turned to football to cope with shock and disbelief that my youngest son had been born with a lethal genetic disorder. I had never known a University of Michigan football team to suffer a losing season or miss a bowl game in my, then, 38 years of life. Needless to say, that football season did not provide the relief I sought!

jmblue

October 16th, 2018 at 9:40 PM ^

I thought I was numb to the pain of that season but going through that again is still pretty rough.

One trend that's held over the course of this blog is that Brian's score predictions have tended to be overly optimistic regarding our defense.  Here for example he predicted us to give up 23 to Illinois (we gave up 45), 10 to Toledo (13), 24 to MSU (35) and 13 to Purdue (48, ouch).  

Don

October 17th, 2018 at 9:05 AM ^

"More details about MSU brawl are coming out, but it seems likely that nothing will come of it before the game on Saturday."

Some things haven't changed one bit in the last decade.

GRMaizenBlue

October 17th, 2018 at 11:19 AM ^

Funny how the mind can create a black hole for the sole purpose of forgetting times like this. I was a Michigan fan my whole life and was never fortunate enough to make it to a game prior to my freshman year in AA. The day finally arrived, we were preseason AP #5 and many were picking us to win it all that year. I remember walking to the stadium, shoulder to shoulder with other maize clad students filled with excitement for my first game! 

That day was 9/1/07.

As many of you remember, the years following that would bring me to my senior year and graduation were nothing short of soul crushing. To be honest, it really makes me appreciate the era we are in now with Michigan football. I know we have had a rough couple of years against our rivals but at least we are in every game. I mean, I remember looking at the schedule back then and wondering how badly we were going to get beat and whether or not I wanted to stand in an ice storm to be humiliated game after game. 

Its good to be back in a time period where the expectation level is Big Ten Champs. 

mGrowOld

October 17th, 2018 at 12:19 PM ^

Really cool feature OP.  This was about the time I started to read the blog every now and then but was mostly on Maize n Brew so I remember some, but not all, of this.  But it does remind of certain things that are gone (but not forgotten)

I miss the Blog Poll.  While I rarely participated in it I found it very interesting.

I miss Mailbag as regular feature.  I know Brian still does it from time to time but it used to be a staple a-la Dear Diary (which has also gone by the wayside)

And I miss TWIS when Brian was writing it.  I know it's still around (sort-of) but DAMN was that funny when he did it.  Probably his best stuff comedy-wise IMO.