Building a Mystery

I know I've written this post before.  I know I touched on these same feelings when I said goodbye to Coach Rodriguez after his 2010 loss to MSU at the Big House.  For me, this is, and always will be, about player development.  I don't see it.  And honestly, I've never seen it.  It was the same complaint I had about Coach Carr and Coach Rodriguez, and it's same complaint I have now.  Show me where things have gotten better from year to year when the staff has remained the same.  Show me where we have improved in the middle of a season.  Don't tell our next "amazing" recruiting class, but I'm pretty sure this is where good players go to die.  Maybe that's a little harsh.  It's where good players go to be the same player they were in high school.  Their success here will determined by how well their personal game translates to the college level and how they react to having a few pounds of muscle tacked on to their frame in the weight room.  To that end, if we played Michigan State in week one or two, we might have won.  But since the start of the season, they've improved in a lot of areas.  We have regressed.  Their coach...better than ours...at least until he finds himself a real job.

A few bullet points of anger and randomly placed thoughts that may or may not include sarcasm: 

• Unpredictable Old 98 has forced us into an offensive shell that we have no intention of coming out of.  The defense is getting worse, as teams realize that we are vulnerable deep (and have been since 1991).
• We will establish this run.  We will establish it, win or lose, no matter how unsuccessful. 
• We will not try any other running backs, because Fitz Toussaint is a senior.  A senior that has returned from an injury.  Got a short yardage situation that looks like it might require the services of the young human bowling ball on the sidelines dying for a hand off?  Nope.  Keep that bowling ball where it is, we'll take the dancing Fitz...he's a senior...he's a leader.
• And Lewan, the man that could have (should have) left, continues to talk a good game, telling me what I want to hear heading into gameday, while playing his way from the NFL's first pick to the second round.

This is a disaster, and this is not a hiccup, it's our reality.  Four games remain.  None look like wins.  The offensive line is not improving, and it's worse than we ever could have imagined.  The season saver at the end of the year with the Buckeyes is so out of the realm of possibility at this point, that I can't even muster the courage to preach the underdog role I loved so much in '95 and '96.  We used to ruin their lives you know...often.  Now they barely think about us.  They don't hate us like they used to.  

Bring back the bullets:

• Michigan State is probably going to play Ohio State for the Big Ten title in Indianapolis. 
• We are going the wrong way. 

I don't have nearly the same feelings anymore.  The emotional swings are gone.  Numbed by the RichRod era, and yet to be rebuilt by Hoke and Friends.  And that's sad.  There's been nothing to be proud of for many years, nearly ten by my count.  This is the biggest Big Ten title drought in my lifetime.  Back then, we all thought that John Navarre would be the worst thing that ever happened to us.  

Make no mistake, I'm in love with gamedays and tailgates.  I will tailgate by myself if I have to...because it's about more than just the team or the game.  And yes, the hair still stands up on the back of my neck when the season starts and the "band takes the field."  They will be in the hunt for the national championship each and every year in my eyes until they prove me otherwise.  But it's so hard to love this current iteration of Michigan.  This athletic department and its NFL mindset have done something to us.  Every move they make pushes away those who were there from the beginning.  We have a pretty old tailgate group.  Guys that can remember when Michigan Football was a hidden gem.  A time when the Wolverines asked for all of your heart and a little bit of your money.  They don't care anymore about your heart, but they do love your wallet.  Combine this new attitude with what can only be deemed as "bad football," and you've got a recipe for indifference....and empty student sections.

Times have changed.  But was hasn't changed are the goals...the football goals that is.  And at least I know Brady Hoke knows what's important, or at least I think he does.  Big Ten Championships, beating ND, MSU, OSU...these things are on his list.  It's the reason he won't be run out of here like Rich Rod was.  

And the leash is long my friends.  I implore you to have patience not because he deserves it but because there is no other option.  We must hope that while the staff has shown little ability to get players to improve...perhaps they themselves can.  I've still got some support left in the tank for Coach Hoke.  We are still very young.  We are still recovering from whatever that was that happened between 2008 - 2010.  We still have time because, well, all we have is time.

I read somewhere on twitter in the post game... "sad today, proud forever," and that's about right.

I guess this just turned into a hodgepodge of random thoughts about the "state of the program" or "state of a tailgater's psyche" other than a recap of a game.  

Wanna talk about the game?  It was miserable.  It was cold.  It was wet.  And it was played in a stadium that has all the panache of a amphitheater in cold war Russia.  Man that place is awful.  

It never looked like we had a chance to win, at least from my perspective, which was near Bubba, Stephen, the Godfather, and a concrete wall.  Every offensive move we made, every trick in the bag, was met by multiple Spartan defenders that seemed to know our gameplan better than we did.  Other adjectives that seem to fit the outcome?  Out-toughed...out-coached....bullied....beat up.  Our loss to Penn State fell under the category of stupid, conservative, and "we're better than this."  The loss to MSU?  Not so much.  Weaknesses exposed, it's time to go back to the drawing board.  We are not a good football team, so we are desperately going to need a few really good gameplans to salvage a .500 record in these last four games.

Alright, enough rambling.  Get your flannels out of the closet and get ready for the lumberjack tailgate...soups, stews, sausage gravy...man food.  Go Blue. 

Thin Ice Usually Breaks

The fun of talking shit has been removed from State College.  Most Nittany Lions fans remain silent, knowing that opposing fans will most certainly "go there" if prodded.  It makes things uncomfortable for everybody.  But Penn State fans are really into this whole martyr thing.  They like this team.  All losses get a pass.  All wins are big wins.  To be honest, Penn State seems to be in a better place than us overall, and they are coming off of the worst thing ever...and have 20 less scholarships.  Their entire history has been erased.  Their reputations sullied.  And yet, their fans are happier than ours.  I don't know if that's a testament to their resiliency or their stupidity.  

Beaver stadium sits atop a hill that requires a moderate climb, making you pine for the convenience of Michigan Stadium having you enter half way up the stands.  Once you're in, you've got to make your way to the top of the spaceship-like endzone addition, as the away team seats are closer to the clouds than to the field.  

Penn State does the stadium experience better than Michigan does.  It's somewhat annoying, but the stadium DJ plays music nearly every defensive down.  He's got a 5 or 6 song rotation, each with the same effect and vigor of Michigan's "Seven Nation Army" one trick pony.  I don't know what the rule is for playing music when the opposing team's offense is on the field...but they take it to the limit, and I think it has an effect.  Therefore...we should also do that.

And there was a game.  And it can be summed up fairly simply:  The first half was pretty much the same as Akron and UCONN, full of ineptitude, turnovers, and Devin Gardner continuing to sully the jersey of a legend.  The second half was also pretty much the same as Akron and UCONN, with Michigan going into "the basic offense," leaning on the defense to make a play or two, and making a comeback.  But unfortunately, even with 60 scholarships, Penn State had markedly more talent than Akron or UCONN.  And so it was time.  Time for what we all expected, even if we didn't expect it on this day.  There would not be enough to overcome the mistakes.  A final drive by Penn State against the patented Michigan prevent defense tied it, and the most offensively inept overtime in college football history followed, mostly due to a level of playcalling conservatism that had Bo and Lloyd screaming "throw the ball" at the TV screen.  We settled for field goals, and there would be no brunette girls so save the day this time. 

The shine has pretty much worn off of this coaching staff.  When you play not to lose, it can be really tough to win.  And what have you seen improve and develop over the past couple of seasons?  Does it not feel like we are getting worse?  It's tough to do anything other than question the future.

Sure, sure, there's a place here for "this will finally be the wakeup call."  They could get better.  They could find a scheme that works for them offensively.  MSU and OSU are still in front of us.  Indy is still possible.  And I always believe that the best things happen when you are an underdog, so there could be some season salvaging bright spots ahead.   The problem is Michigan just doesn't pass the eye test for me.  Something isn't right.  This isn't adding up.

Oh well, let's get drunk and suit up again on Saturday and see what happens. 

A League of Our Own

There's a funny post available based on this title hiding somewhere in my head.  Somehow.  Someway.  Probably something with a lot of pictures and photoshops of Dave Brandon's head on Garry Marshall's body, and Hoke's on Rosie Odonnell's.  It would probably go viral and make me famous on the internets.  If only there was something to inspire me.  But this team has played so uninspired, so sloppy.  So I am uninspired.  When the first half came to a close under the lights, so did all semblance of football that is fun to watch.  The second half of ND and all 8 quarters to follow have caused sore jaws from teeth grinding, wondering when the other shoe is going to drop, when the talent won't be enough to overcome the multitude of mistakes, when playing down to the level of our competition will backfire.  It's going to happen, likely sooner than later.  

The saving grace for us is that we play in the minor leagues.  If you had the pleasure of watching football over last weekend, you might have seen Iowa and Minnesota battle it out for a bronze pig, or perhaps you caught the primetime matchup between Ohio State and Wisconsin.  But if you were smart, you spent your time watching LSU and Georgia.  The difference between the SEC and the Big Ten is not small.  It's a pretty easy eye test.  Sure, on any given Saturday, perhaps the Buckeyes or Badgers or Northwestern Wildcats or perhaps even our lowly Wolverines could muster up enough of something to knock off a team from the SEC.  But imagine being a part of a schedule like the one Georgia has had to endure.  Imagine spending each week up there in the major leagues.  Hell, we are literally looking forward to the Big Ten season, like a MAC team looks forward to getting into their conference action after weathering their away game paydays across America.  Speaking of the MAC, I've got Northern Illinois in a lock in the Legends if they let them in.

With each passing year, I seem to know less.  

All of that being said, I really need to trust that this staff knows what it is doing, and they can see the same shit we're all complaining about.  If I don't trust the staff, then we're going to have to head to that dark place that I can't even fathom going to...I can't do that yet.  So...adjustments.  So...less turnovers.  So....dominate inferior opponents.  

Get me to Sparty unscathed, and then take care of the real business.  And, as always, GO BLUE.

"Our Defensive Backfield Sucks" and Other Things You've Said Every Year Since 1997

Please be aware that the writing of this post was rudely interrupted by the great "Titties Twitter About Tate" fiasco.  It was supposed to be about how nobody should panic over the Woolfolk injury because having a crappy and/or inexperienced secondary is as much of a Michigan tradition as winged helmets, the inability to stop running quarterbacks, and predictable offensive playcalling.  I mean, you were likely to be calling for Cullen Christian to get in the game by week two anyway.  So here you go.  The future is now.

And let me be the dispenser of all the "everything's gonna be all right" kool-aid tonight...Forcier is going to transfer at some point anyway, it's part of his genetic code, so if tonight's the night, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

Probably not the time for this type of musing, but this post is all over the place anyway, so I should mention that barring what I would perceive as a miracle, this is likely Rodriguez's last year as the Wolverine coach.  As you might know, it's not as simple as stay or go.  It's much more black and white...much more concrete.  He is going to be fired, or he's going to get a contract extension.  College coaches don't play out final years of contracts, they get extensions so they can assure recruits that they are going to be here.  So if I told you that those are the options...fired or extension...which one would you bet on happening at the end of the 2010 campaign?

I want to believe.  I want to imagine that Michigan will be walking out of the Horseshoe in November with heads held high, whether it be in victory or defeat, and that I won't be home for New Year's.  I just don't see it....yet.

Some other things you should know:

• The New York Times wrote an article about Joe Paterno, and how he is nearing retirement.  The amazing thing is, they wrote the article in 1989.


• Craigslist lovers will appreciate this well-made spoof on WLA.


• The Journal picked up a John U. Bacon article on Zoltan.


• Michigan picked captains the old fashioned way.