Want to Enjoy the 2008 Season?
This season is already an outrage to some, a dealbreaker to a fair-weather few, and a bitter pill to swallow for all. This is NOT our team's year, and it's not the easiest year to be a Michigan fan (notice I kept them separate-- being a fan through this and being a player are not even close to the same thing).
What's important is that you DON'T stop showing support-- Still wear the cap to the grocery store. Still put on the sweatshirt when you walk the dog. Don't peel the magnets off the side of your car. Show your character and have faith in that block M. Being a fan through this is something we don't have much practice in, thanks to Lloyd Carr. Kind of a shame that people are only understanding this NOW.
But all in all, at this point we need to accept one thing: THIS IS NOT OVER. And it will get worse before the season is over. AND it will get better before the season is over. I had some friends this weekend who couldn't wait to tell me how BAD my Wolverines looked on Saturday-- they're faces nearly dropped when I told them I think it was the best they looked all year. AND I was still wearing a UM shirt at the time, a day later.
If you want to get all you can out of this year, if you want to grow with the team and find something to grow on and look forward to, it's time to do the unthinkable.
ACCEPT IT.
RichRod, whether Carty wants to believe it or not, was right: By saying Michigan football will be back, it confirms that we're NOT there now. Michigan is NOT Michigan. It's not going to be easy to be proud of this team. Swallow the pill. Grow with the team. If it is necessary, repeat after me:
THE STREAK's GOING TO END. WE'RE NOT GOING TO QUALIFY FOR A BOWL.
Unless we do... hehe. Love your team. They need you.
GO BLUE
September 15th, 2008 at 12:00 PM ^
But I can't feel bad about this loss. This is how ND beats us. We've seen better Michigan teams lose to bad ND teams like this many times: out-gain them, out-defend them, turn it over at the worst possible times, lose.
Threet looked good (big step up from last week), McGuffie tore it up, we were in the game even after giving up 14 points on 25 yards in the first minutes of the game.
And, perhaps most intriguing of all, now everyone too lazy to explore how this game was lost simply thinks Michigan sucks. I'll tell you this; after Saturday I feel a whole lot better about our chances in the Big Ten.
September 15th, 2008 at 12:23 PM ^
I had a very good friend of mine who's a fellow UM alum text me immediately after the game and say "4 wins. That's the ceiling for this team." I had to disagree. The game I saw was a game where one team had the better run of the field but just didn't get any breaks (nor did they deserve to get them, but whatever.) This game was closer than the score indicated.
I mean, there's the obvious Mathews TD that could have gone either way (I thought the call on the field was wrong but the call in the booth was right) and the phantom PI call on Warren. In the alternative universe where those breaks don't go against us, that's a possible 14 point swing. Then there was the Jimmeh fumble that he got back that would have saved one of the early TDs. IIRC, ND put it on the ground a couple more times, they just got it back where we did not (shades of the OSU game last year). ND ended up with one sustained drive for a TD and just took advantage of every other opportunity they had. Good for them. ND played much better than I thought they would, but I don't think they were the better team.
Bottom line, I hate losing that game for dozens of reasons and I think 4-8 is probably the most LIKELY outcome right now, but by no means do I think that is the ceiling. They're probably gonna lose to Wisconsin, PSU and OSU. Outside of that, I think all of those games absolutely remain win-able. I saw a lot of improvement out there on the offensive side of the ball. If we can put together a game where both sides are playing at or near peak efficiency and we're not shooting ourselves in the foot, our ceiling is quite a bit higher than 4 wins. Again, probably not LIKELY, but all hope is not lost.
September 15th, 2008 at 6:37 PM ^
September 15th, 2008 at 12:08 PM ^
September 15th, 2008 at 12:13 PM ^
September 15th, 2008 at 12:15 PM ^
and also, watch the actual games. don't make a lazy excuse for only catching the ESPN highlights to see how 'our team' did. because if you do that you'd think we were the worst team eva. we aren't. we actually played well on saturday and all my co-workers thought i was crazy as well when i said i liked how we played (minus the exponential amount of turnovers). it's lame to take positives out of a loss but we have been getting better each week.
September 15th, 2008 at 5:36 PM ^
It's only lame to take positives from a loss when you're really reaching for something/anything to say positive.
Saying Threet looked like a player capable of managing this offense, and making plays... that's not reaching. He looked like a different player this game(omgdownfieldpassesbbq).
Seeing McGuffie be McGuffie and not the guy who averaged 1ypc on 8 carries... that's legit to be excited about. He's the real deal.
I'm excited. People can talk all the shit they want about us. I'm excited for the future, because I know this team can win. If 'the future' is next year, so be it. If the future is against Wisconson... HELL YES.
September 15th, 2008 at 8:44 PM ^
September 15th, 2008 at 8:51 PM ^
September 15th, 2008 at 8:54 PM ^
September 16th, 2008 at 9:42 AM ^
McGuffie was absolutely dynamic in this game.
I am more excited about watching this team after 3 games than I was about watching last year's team after 3 games. Watching this transition is exciting, and seeing the offense start to come together on Saturday was awesome. I will watch every game this year if for no other reason than McGuffie.
September 16th, 2008 at 11:13 AM ^
I'm not convinced that the season will get much better as it goes along. Nor will it next year. I think that it's going to be 2010 before we should expect significant results. Next year we are going to lose a lot of guys off of the defense, which already isn't as great as people expected this year.
Also, where is the outrage over the season? I haven't detected much, if any, anger over the team's 1-2 record. I think that everyone pretty much expected a crappy rebuilding year, and if they didn't expect it, they at least understand it.