Rodriguez = Schembechler or Elliot = Carr?

​The parallels between the 2008 arrival of RR and the 1969 arrival of Bo Schembechler are beginning to become uncanny. That's not to say that RR is Bo Schembechler, because that would be a bit premature, but it's possible that the state of the program in the final year under Lloyd Carr was very much like it was under Bump Elliot. In the interest of Tuesday's post alluding to Those Who Stay, and in lieu of Mr. Boren's impromptu and unnecessary press release, I present the following words of Bo Schembechler from his book Michigan Memories...

We inherited a good team (in 1969). They had gone 8-2 the year before. But one of those losses was brutal. They were humiliated at Ohio State, 50-14. There's no question that, at that time, Ohio State had the best team in college football...arguably the best ever.

At Michigan, we just couldn't let that happen.

The Michigan team had a lot of talent. We made it our goal to make that team TOUGH.

We had to take that talent and make it MEAN. I wanted them so mean that they'd scare themselves when they bumped into each other.

NO-body was going to out hit us. NO-body was going to out hustle us. If we got beat, it was because the other team on that day played a little better than we did. No team, though, was ever going to out work us.

NO TEAM!

That spring practice was hell for all those players. I mean true living hell. We had a lot of attrition.

That's when I put up a sign that hung over my office over the years --- "Those Who Stay Will Be Champions"

.....

All those young men who stayed did become champions. And so did the one's after them. And the ones after them.

Champions...are carved out of character. Without character, talent can be beaten.

Dude

​I can't begin to describe the disdain I have for Justin Boren's press release. I hate to harp on someone that is a student athlete, and I rarely find myself taking the time to pick apart a 20-year-old kid. That being said, let's start with this...

I regret leaving behind my friends and teammates, but I need to stand up for what I know is right,"

Delusions of grandeur much? Unless the new coach has supported the forcing of an object into one of your orifices, or has told you that you aren't going to play because you are Caucasian, or you are uncomfortable with a swastika watermark on each of the pages of your playbook...I can't imagine what could be wrong. Let's not pretend you are attempting to save the souls of the remaining members of the Michigan football team by walking out based on what you "know is right." There is no right or wrong, there is only Coach and Player. You are the player, and outside of something illegal, you do exactly what the coach says, or you pack your bags. 

We follow orders, son. We follow orders or people die. It's that simple. Are we clear?

Michigan football was a family, built on mutual respect and support for each other from (former) Coach (Lloyd) Carr on down. We knew it took the entire family, a team effort, and we all worked together. I have great trouble accepting that those family values have eroded in just a few months.

The erosion of family values is something I'm used to seeing from the Democratic party... and Murphy Brown. Is Michigan Football sleeping with an intern? Does Michigan Football have a second whole wife and kids on the west coast that it visits under the guise of business trips? Is Michigan Football living with it's domestic partner? Please tell me Justin, what the hell are you talking about?

I don't understand. You want to be coddled? Did Lloyd coddle you? When he asked you to run, and you were tired and whined about it, did he just let you off the hook?

This really validates my worst fears of the last 5 years or so. Lloyd Carr, the delightful, grandfather-like figurehead of Michigan Football, was outwardly a nice guy. In fact, I think Lloyd is genuinely a nice guy. But I always imagined...always hoped...that once the gate to Fort Schembechler closed behind him he was a tough sonofabitch. I thought he got every last ounce of effort out of his players, that he was the ultimate motivator. Perhaps that's not true. As we saw at the Citrus Bowl, there seems to have been a lot left in the tank. And whatever is left, RR is going to get it. Even if he has to beat it out of them.

This is football kids. This isn't supposed to be fun. It's a war. It's a business. You don't want to work harder? Fine. But don't slander the program because you need a bullshit excuse to tell your dad. We are still a family here J.B...you're just no longer a part of it. Now run home to daddy...or walk, if you're tired.

Boren is Another Way to Call A Cat A Kitty

​Is this possible? Did Justin Boren just leave the team because practice was too hard? I mean seriously (from the first day of practice)...

Rodriguez said he's working with "a blank canvas for all the guys," saying he'll have an idea of players who will help by the end of the spring.

"Every coach says that, pretty much," said left guard Justin Boren, a returning starter who is adjusting to racing back to the line of scrimmage instead of jogging back to a huddle. "They've been watching a lot of film from last year. Of course, your position's never set in stone.

"If a starter from last year doesn't perform, then they're not going to be a starter anymore. But as long as you take care of business and do what you've been doing, you should be all right."

Or, if you are too much of a vag to run, you're not gonna be all right. You are going to go home. You are no better than Jason Nadaskay. Yes, I know, most of you have no idea who Jason Nadaskay is. But those those of you who do are wallowing in the perfection of the correlation.

Whatever the reason, and I hope there's a better one than "practice was too hard", this leaves us with one returning starter on the line. At best, we've had a defection from the program by a legacy...and that is not good however you slice it.

The first-year U-M coach refused to discuss specifics, saying he talks only about guys who play for Michigan.

Let's hope RichRod doesn't run out of people to talk to. Hey Justin: "Those Who Stay Will Be Champions" ...history is coming full circle.

The Weekend Roundup, My Picks Sucked Edition: March 24, 2008

​What you missed this weekend while taking the 2nd edition of the WWF action figures quiz...

• Anybody up for filling out a new set of brackets? Try this one. Michigan is in it. Oh, and keep in mind, the Frozen Four is in our house in 2010, which is six years before Miguel Cabrera's contract expires.


• In "our enemies enjoy breaking the law" news, take a look at this tidbit aboutBuckeye great David Boston and this "off the blotter" moment from Sparty T.J. Williams.


• I buy one video game every year, NCAA Football by EA Sports. This year, Sparty will be on the cover, so it looks like I need to find another way to simulate the season.


• How do you know that Justin Feagin isn't going to end up begin better than Terrelle Pryor? You don't.


• The Buckeye Battle Blog would like us as Michigan fans to "Suck It". And by "It" he means the business end of an assault rifle. And no, I won't stop bringing Mo-C.


• Mike "The Animal" Barwis is impressing people.

Michigan Wins CCHA Championship!

​The Michigan hockey team dispatched of Miami of Ohio 2-1 on Saturday night at the Joe, virtually locking in the overall #1 seed when the tourney pairings are announced tomorrow morning.  It's a long road to Denver for teh Frozen Four, but it will be nice to be following a team that dons the Maize and Blue for a change, rather than whatever team that is playing Sparty.

Congrats to Red and team for giving us something to celebrate!!!!