Giving MGoThanks 2017
Even though we still have the Ohio State game to go, we are already sitting wherever we are and taking stock of 2017 and needless to say, there is measurable frustration. I definitely understand it, and I definitely share it with people, but even at all that, I still am thankful that we have Jim Harbaugh as a head coach and I still do believe that overall, the program is headed in the right direction despite a rather up and down sort of season this year and our most hated rival coming into town in just a few short days.
First and foremost, I want people to know that no matter how much I bitch about this place on Twitter and even on this site from time to time, I still strangely enjoy being one of your moderators and I still strangely enjoy being able to help keep some version of order in the MGoCommunity that exists here. It isn’t perfect, but I like to think I occasionally impart some of my level-headed nature onto the community. There are times, as some of you might know, where I have thought about giving up on it, but I am also thankful for the role I’ve taken on here and it is difficult to imagine not doing it in some capacity. Even knowing that I am not the most popular person around here in some circles (not that I really care about that, of course – I kind of revel in being bitched about honestly), I still like to think that I’ve been helpful in some capacity.
Those of us who will be in Ann Arbor on Saturday are going to walk into Michigan Stadium, thankful that we are fans of this great school and this team and we will cheer for them, come what may. If you are like me and you follow the advanced statistics and enjoy creating probability matrices, you know that it is entirely possible that it will not be a happy Saturday. That being said, we are a hopeful lot and all of us know football is weird and ultimately anything is possible even if all the numbers say it isn’t terribly likely. We will be there all the same. We will be united as fans in our love for Michigan and our wish that they should, all goes well, beat the living shit out of Ohio State every year.
As we sit with our families and friends over this holiday, we’ll be thankful that we are where we are and we will be thankful that we have the support system that we do, but we will also be thankful that there is booze and football and we can walk into a room somewhere out of the way and watch some football, even if it isn’t Michigan football necessarily. For many of us, things like football are refuge and we are definitely thankful for that. Of course, as we get comfortable, we’ll suddenly be reminded that something is either cold, missing, undercooked, or whatever. At least there is football on the TV and, if you’re like me, you’ve left instructions on what to do in the kitchen after you’ve taken yourself off duty over and above the wishes of others.
I like to think that most the blog regulars are thankful that they can interact with a highly engaged and tuned in group of Michigan fans who spend an unhealthy amount of time obsessing about the same program that they do and know the rosters and coaches and even individual games going back decades from end to end and era to era. It is difficult to find that on other Michigan blogs, and really, other Big Ten and even other conference blogs. One of the biggest indicators of passion, in my opinion, is how much you know about a program, and I don’t think you’ll find a more informed and educated segment of the Michigan fanbase on all things Michigan than you’ll find here.
We’ll survive Saturday either way, we will all be here for basketball, softball, baseball and the rest and even in the OT season, we’re all here for the latest on books and movies and anything else people want to discuss because it does get a bit thin in the May-July timeframe. That’s the part of this community that I have always enjoyed, that we do not disperse when there is not much in the way of sports going on. This is a community that is diverse enough that you can find an audience for just about anything. I realize that this isn’t popular with all of you, but it is one of the things that I believe makes the MGoCommunity a very special and endlessly entertaining place indeed.
So, Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I’ll be here throughout the holiday, but if I don’t respond to any crisis right away, it’s because my family inspires me to drink. That’s why they are only over here a few times a year, right?
-LSAClassOf2000
November 21st, 2017 at 9:39 PM ^
November 22nd, 2017 at 10:03 AM ^
"AND OUT OF THE EASTERN TUNNEL MARCH [A LARGE NUMBER] OF WELL-DRILLED, WELL-DRESSED MICHIGAN BANDSMEN!"
November 22nd, 2017 at 11:38 AM ^
I am thankful for LSA's comments, and for this community. The feeling here is often more negative than I would like, but that is Michigan Football in the 21st Century.
I am also very thankful for the rivalry, it was the formative feature in how I perceive sports and fandom.
There is one thing that I do not feel thankful for- the change to the 13 week season. I remember the old days, when The Game was the week before Thanksgiving and wasn't impacted by the everything that the holiday entails.
I suspect that I am part of just a small sample in the community, but Thanksgiving Holiday has put a serious hurt on my Ohio State week tradition. I find myself getting into trouble with well meaning but completely clueless in-laws and relatives. They just don't get the sacrifice of not going to the game, or the intensity with which I watch it. After last year, I immediately went outside and raked their leaves for 5 hours. Nobody asked me to, and nobody came out to help, which is good, because I felt like beating them to death with the yard rake.
My wife has in recent years tried to allow me some form of quarantine, if only to keep her father from feeling so unwelcome as he tries to share something with me that he just will never understand. The end result is that if we stay the whole weekend, I get pissed off about the hassle. If we leave early so I can watch it in isolation, she feels cheated out of a full holiday, and if I go someplace else to watch it, her family feels marginalized.
November 22nd, 2017 at 6:35 PM ^
I totally agree with you about this. Having The Game after Thanksgiving sucks.
November 23rd, 2017 at 11:48 AM ^
Yes indeed. To go to the game now, when it is here (forget in Columbus for a moment), are infinitely more complex because I basically have to explain to my wife's family, which is very much not a sports family, as well as other people how much this means to me and that I will either be there or it will be on the TV if I am not there. During last year's game, for example, I actually had to fend off requests to turn on movies from people because I had it on the big TV in the family room - I was pissed about that quite honestly. In 2011, I left instructions on dinner because I had tickets and I had zero intention of giving them up just because people were coming over.
November 21st, 2017 at 9:47 PM ^
November 21st, 2017 at 11:07 PM ^
Should stay in the top spot all this weekend.
So many good contributions today. Larry Prout, John O'Korn.
Harbaugh and staff, players, MGoBlog, writers, moderators, and the people here who you look forward to reading what they have to say.
We're a diverse group. We rally behind our team and our program.
We are in it for the long haul. I've been watching for more decades than I'd like to admit to at the moment.... and hope to watch for some decades more.
Happy Thanksgiving! GO BLUE!!!!!
November 21st, 2017 at 11:45 PM ^
November 22nd, 2017 at 12:07 AM ^
November 22nd, 2017 at 10:33 AM ^
November 22nd, 2017 at 7:45 AM ^
thanks for what is undoubtedly "thankless" work - mods make this place work as well as it does.
November 22nd, 2017 at 9:23 AM ^
For winning seasons. Seriously folks, we aren't THAT far removed from 2008. Remember how shitty that was? Remember how shitty Hoke's last year was? Perspective. I'm thankful for perspective.
November 22nd, 2017 at 11:08 AM ^
Who's got it better than us?
November 22nd, 2017 at 10:10 PM ^
November 23rd, 2017 at 12:28 AM ^
November 22nd, 2017 at 11:27 PM ^
LSAClassOf2000,
Thank you for all the work you and the other mods do.
I'm also thankful that we have Jim Harbaugh as head football coach for the foreseeable future. I don't envy one bit those fan bases (nor the ADs) going through the search for a new head coach. There is going to be a lot of gnashing of teeth and rending of garments in the next several weeks.
November 22nd, 2017 at 11:41 PM ^
November 23rd, 2017 at 12:22 AM ^
November 23rd, 2017 at 12:14 PM ^
yes even Maizen !!
Go Blue Turkey Day..
November 23rd, 2017 at 11:57 PM ^
Full disclosure, I nearly posted a new forum topic until I noticed LSAClassof2000's diary. Whew! Oh, the negs...
For me, the usual applies: health, family, work, etc. And I hope you all have all those things to be thankful for too. In the challenge category, we all have our things - for me it's a number of family members going through some stuff - but it doesn't stop me for being thankful for the time I have with them or the laughs we use to power through. Again, I hope you all have that strength and power as well.
On top of it all, I have this board - which helps with the downtime, which is similarly engaged in fandom, and which improves my grammar and vocabulary on the weekly. While few things are as irritating as the power of anonymity that drives people to think it's okay to insult and harass others, so many here and elsewhere on the interwebs make me think, make me laugh (at times to tears), and make me nod my head in agreement. I'm thankful for this oasis and the community around it. Cheers to you! And especially to the mods and those that do their best to keep this place sane.
I hope you all had a great day. I hope you've got thankful things to share. And of course, Go Blue!
December 10th, 2017 at 5:27 PM ^
Happy Thanksgiving to you all!
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