Wow, I've got some catching up to do.
For now, get ready for a rivalry on ice...tonight at 7pm...ESPN2. (UPDATE: That's 7pm local...9pm for us in Ann Arbor) The Godfather, who does his grocery shopping in South Bend, will be using tonights game to get past the weekday drinking restrictions imposed by the Godmother.
More to come.
If nothing else comes from the "transition" that has resulted in the unceremonious exit of Justin Boren, it's that whatever was going on before Rodriguez was not good. And by "not good" I mean bluntly that players over the last several years were not pushed to their potential. I've bared my soul about this before, and it's no secret that I was the number one supporter of the Michigan coaching staff under Carr. The elephant in the room on the field was that top 10 recruiting classes consistently made their way to Ann Arbor, but rarely did they produce near the level of expectation. I used every excuse in the book, often blaming the players, and going as far as to question the validity of the recruiting evaluators, remarking that sure, we had a top ten class...but who really knows how good these high school players are? My other favorite arguement: parity. I could recite the evidence of the scholarship limitations, and moreover the discerning college athletes that chose small schools over major programs for the sake of early playing time.
Well, I was wrong, and the naysayers...I think you were right. With my Maize and Blue blinders on, I couldn't see the forest for the trees, especially in the last 4-5 years, a time in Michigan Football history in which the underachievement level reached it's pinnacle.
The inspiration for my epiphany? An article by Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated who got to see the team practice...
It was similar to practices I've attended at USC, Florida State and numerous other football powers. Yet according to offensive linemanSteven Schilling, "The first couple weeks were a shock to the system. It's a different culture. It's a lot higher paced, it stresses sprinting everywhere. I can't really say which is better."All of which makes you wonder: If this new approach is really as shocking as Boren, Schilling and others have expressed, what kind of country club was Carr running all those years? And is that why Michigan, for all its considerable talent, has largely underachieved in the decade since its 1997 national championship, including six losses in seven years against Ohio State?
And that's it, folks...that's the story. Of course, all smoke and mirrors until we see a finished product, but I for one am beginning to believe.
What you missed this weekend while Michigan Against the World raised another banner...
Jim Carty, fresh off a diatribe about athletics and academics at Michigan that stirred up about 1/10th of the attention he thought it would, scored a phone interview with RR. A year ago, we would have likely gone on without any rebuttal from our coach. Actually, a year ago, Lloyd would have probably banned Jim Carty from University property and not accepted his phone call. Not the case anymore.
Don't mess with the family Justin:
My players and my coaches are my family. They're coached that way.But we're not going to apologize for being demanding. We told that to the players. We also told them our job is to take them some place they can't take themselves, on the field and off the field, and I think the majority of our players understand that."
There's lots more worthwhile quotes in the article, check it out here.Also, MVictors provides audio of RR on Jim Rome today, which was hosted by the Sklar brothers.
One last thing...if the information provided here comes to fruition, I...I just don't know what to say.
