We're on the front page of cnnsi...
Not that any of us are that surprised or that we haven't talked about the Woolfolk comments ad nauseum but now they are on the front of CNNSI with the title "Teammate: Wolverines may tune out Forcier."
http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/view/211210-teammate-wolverin…
Lovely... Please take me back to the days of media lockdown so we didn't have this kind of crap being fawned over by the media... And, in all honesty, the more I read it the more I'm disappointed in Woolfolk. I had really thought he was a good guy but, IMO, you just don't do something like that when it's all about the team.
EDIT: My only hope is that Forcier makes Woolfolk look like a complete idiot and comes out as the starter, kicks ass and leads us to a double digit win season.
August 4th, 2010 at 10:09 AM ^
The team... The team... As a player on the team you don't talk bad about another player behind his back or to the media, that is something you do face to face.
August 4th, 2010 at 11:01 AM ^
It has been implied many times that the coaching staff has tried to explain to Tate that he needs to grow up off the field, and get ready to compete on the field. Or else life will pass him by.
I'm sure the seniors who were organizing off season workouts called him many times, and tried to get him out.
He has been dealt with repeatedly behind closed doors. The season is about to start, and it's a HUGE season for the future of the program. If the guy who is supposed to be the leader of the offense isn't showing up, he deserves to be called out.
Also, don't forget that the Forciers started it with QBForce.com and the wall of shame.
As long as that website stands, and they continue to post articles about how good Denard and Devin are looking as "shame," Tate should be bashed openly for anything and everything he does that isn't the action of a good teammate and a good leader.
All, in my opinion. Which I'm sure wont be a popular one.
August 4th, 2010 at 11:38 AM ^
Woolfolk messed up, he knows it, and he apologized. Young leaders say a lot of things they shouldn't before they figure it out.
Not everybody's the perfect person in the world. I mean everyone says stupid things, calls people diseased, whatever
August 4th, 2010 at 10:31 AM ^
This is a defensive player opining on the quarterback situation. Keep it in perspective...I'm thinking it won't carry much weight. If David Molk were saying it I would feel differently.
August 4th, 2010 at 10:15 AM ^
I took Woolfolk's comments more as praise for Robinson than disparaging for Forcier.
August 4th, 2010 at 10:20 AM ^
pisses me off that it gets spun like this. we all know denard has a very high work ethic, that doesn't mean saying his is really high (and is thus improving his skill quickly) is taking a dig at every other player who isn't working as hard. It's not even practice time yet, so we can't say someone "isn't working hard enough yet" anyway, and Wolf knows that.
Remember, they don't "need" to be working at all. That's what got us in trouble before.
Repeat (if the NCAA is listening in on this): We know it's not mandatory! Don't hurt us!
August 4th, 2010 at 10:46 AM ^
Don't think you read all of his quotes...
August 4th, 2010 at 10:50 AM ^
I'ma let you in on a little secret:
The coaches don't say it's mandatory. That's what matters to the NCAA.
But when it comes to the team captains & your teammates: voluntary == mandatory.
August 4th, 2010 at 10:16 AM ^
Well - not sure if the curse extends to CNNSI, but being front page news with SI is bad. So maybe this has an weird inverse effect. Since the spin is bad, maybe the result is good. (i.e., Tate goes after Troy in practice -- threads passes to receivers Troy is covering, jukes Troy, etc. -- and both get better as a result.)
August 4th, 2010 at 10:28 AM ^
I would not call a link for "truth and rumors" front page. I went looking for a feature article and all I got was JoePa and Osborne cheating death. I think we are ok on the curse front.
August 4th, 2010 at 10:16 AM ^
Strangely, a very similar thread was deleted yesterday, even though it added new details to the Woolfolk comments. I lambasted Wollfolk. I don't care if Forcier is as bad as the Pillsbury Dough Boren. You shut up about him if he's on your team. Call him out in the locker room, in a private setting...
This does make me start to pull for DRob, I hate guys with bad work ethics, although it shouldn't have even come to light.
August 4th, 2010 at 10:43 AM ^
I've never bitched about a neg, but negging a post where the phrase Pillsbury Dough Boren is coined? Really? Where's the fat hater boy for me?
its cuz you can't spell Woolfolk.
August 4th, 2010 at 10:19 AM ^
We're not going to talk about each other. We're not going to criticize each other. We're going to encourage each other.
As always, the man was spot on.
August 4th, 2010 at 10:20 AM ^
I have mixed feelings on this.
On the one hand, I think that it is NEVER a good thing to voice internal team issues with the press. If you have an issue with someone on the team, deal with it within the confines of the team. This can only serve to undermine team chemistry and it gives the media - which is all about running negative stories - something to feed on.
On the other hand, I don't think that we can ignore that Troy is not the only one who is calling out Tate to some degree. RR has repeatedly alluded to maturity issues. I believe that at least one of the O-linemen also made similar comments last year. I think that it is a safe bet that there is some issue here, and I would not doubd that various teammates have tried to address it with Tate directly, without much success. Perhaps Troy's statement was a combination of calling out Tate publicly to step it up and at the same time trying to motivate Tate to get his ass to the voluntary practices.
August 4th, 2010 at 10:23 AM ^
and I think no matter what, when the first question the media asks is "Who is going to start at QB?" every single time someone is interviewed, you gotta expect a player to give a real answer, instead of coachspeak.
It's a mistake on Woolfolk's part to think the media might actually be interested in who is progressing more than whom. They aren't. We are, but they aren't. They're interested in spinning it all into the dirty "behind-the-scenes" comments digging on other teammates. That's not what this was, but it's sadly how it has panned out.
We can complain about the media for days, but it's not gonna change how they do things.
August 4th, 2010 at 10:20 AM ^
From Troy's twitter
"story was written about me putting Tate in a negative aspect. This was phrased wrongly and is not the truth"
So I wouldn't jump on the kid for misspeaking.
August 4th, 2010 at 10:45 AM ^
Exactly, thank you.
August 4th, 2010 at 10:49 AM ^
Did you read all of his quotes? IME, it would be very hard to mis-represent all of the things he said, he's just backpeddling.
August 4th, 2010 at 11:02 AM ^
Yes, and nowhere in disease quote did he say Tate. Again, maybe Troy said to get a few guys who weren't showing up to realize the captains were paying attention. Maybe he said to motivate those guys. Maybe he really is frustrated. We dont know though. So we shouldnt be chastising people when we don't have all of the information.
Go read it again. He was specifically talking about Forcier, it's very clear.
August 4th, 2010 at 10:50 AM ^
My only problem is that Troy is not some Bambi freshman who doesn't know any better. He knows, especially after the FreeP BS affair, that what he says will most definately be used against Michigan if at all possible.
End of the world? No. Preventable drama? No doubt.
Yeah, but he does joke around a lot. We don't know the tone or context of his full statement.
August 4th, 2010 at 10:26 AM ^
This always happens with the media. I remember something similar happening in Florida last year. Players are asked on the spot questions and give their best answer without realizing they might be throwing someone under the bus. I'm sure Troy did not purposely try to cast a negative light on Tate, but its just the way his words came out. The media will always run with it. My bet is he was just trying to boast about Denards progress.
August 4th, 2010 at 10:34 AM ^
more than you think. I've heard from people who were interviewed by newspaper reporter and read the paper the next day. They told me that the quotes were not exactly true because he didn't really say that type of quote word for word. It's merely the reporter trying to twist the quote to fit the story or to his liking.
August 4th, 2010 at 10:26 AM ^
Based on what I've seen with Tate talking to the media, he has a somewhat odd personality ("I don't get nervous" kind of stuff). I wonder if the players feel they have more in common with Denard and therefore connect with him better.
August 4th, 2010 at 10:30 AM ^
There are enough nerves coarsing through me during games that I could be nervous for the entire team.
August 4th, 2010 at 10:30 AM ^
Since when is confidence/borderline cockiness odd? Id rather him say he doesnt get nervous than him saying I was scared shitless and incredibly nervous.
While I'm glad he is cool under fire, I believe the whole "I don't get nervous" meme is overplayed and, to a degree, false.
Late in the season, he showed signs of getting rattled. See Ohio State.
August 4th, 2010 at 10:33 AM ^
I think Troy maybe needs a PR lesson, but I don't think this is as big of a deal as the media is making it. He didn't say anything "disparaging" about Tate. He merely was stating a [perceived] fact that Denard had been doing more voluntary work than Tate had. Troy felt that Tate would need to put in more time to reach the level of comfort and precision that Denard has worked himself up to.
I don't think there's any ill will, but Tate may be upset by those comments (perhaps wrongly, perhaps rightly), and I think RichRod should pull Troy aside and remind him (gently) to keep those sort of things in-house.
My main interest is that it sounds like all the fuss about Denard may not be a bunch of bullshit after all.
August 4th, 2010 at 10:39 AM ^
August 4th, 2010 at 10:40 AM ^
... one of the only commenters on the article defending you has an OSU avatar.
August 4th, 2010 at 10:47 AM ^
Troy should have kept this private, even if he didn't mean any harm. It does us no good, and gives the media more hate to spew at the program.
August 4th, 2010 at 11:35 AM ^
it likely won't end Sept 4. If Michigan smokes UConn then UConn will be "overrated," and people will keep talking about how Michigan won their first 4 last year etc. It will end when they start beating down Big Ten teams. So maybe more like October 9, it will end.
August 4th, 2010 at 11:39 AM ^
True, but I will feel a lot better after we smoke UConn. You're right, though. A good season will go a long way in cleansing the demons of year's past.
August 4th, 2010 at 10:49 AM ^
he can't be held accountable for his words. The mere sight of the letter "O" causes him intense fits of rage yet his own name contains four O's. I blame his deep self-hatred for any insensitive remarks. How can he love and respect others when he can't love and respect himself?
August 4th, 2010 at 11:28 AM ^
That's what my mom always tells me.
August 4th, 2010 at 11:36 AM ^
I thought I'd surprise you by signing up for an Mgoblog account. You don't call enough and I just wanted to check in and see how you're doing! Please remember to call.
August 4th, 2010 at 11:06 AM ^
I hope Forcier gets his act together but don't kid yourself, Denard will be our starter vs UCONN.
August 4th, 2010 at 11:18 AM ^
The Team, the Team, the Team!
August 4th, 2010 at 11:21 AM ^
The real problem here is that every day is still "free shots at Michigan" day in the media. That is what happens when a program that has won for forty years finally loses a few and gets its wrist slapped for nebulous "violations." It's like there was and still is a pent-up demand for negativity involving Michigan.
As soon as they start winning and making the top 25 again, the "Resurgent Michigan" card will trump those currently being played. I am hoping it starts this season.
August 4th, 2010 at 11:32 AM ^
Winning cures all.
August 4th, 2010 at 11:33 AM ^
on that page are hilarious. Especially the ones by that Penn State fan.
August 4th, 2010 at 12:54 PM ^
Woolfolk was more or less just praising Denard, he may even have been trying to "knock some sense" into Forcier, If you're the QB, you need to go to the voluntary workouts. Especially when your teammates call you out on it...
I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts that Woolfolk has talked to Tate about this already, even before he made those comments, which seem more like a plea for Tate to show up once in a while more than teammate bashing.
This reminds me of a talking head who criticized Lloyd Carr for publicly stating that he and Braylon weren't "on the same page." He had no way of knowing how much had been said and done behind the scenes resulting in Braylon's failure to clean up his act. Braylon did straighten up after that and realized his potential. Sometimes you need to go to the next level to get through to people.