War is not football, and football is not war, but having done both, they sometimes look like one another. Plus you guys seemed to like the first one, so here we go. 

 

In the early morning of December 11th, 1941 a relatively small task force of the Imperial Japanese Navy approached the American held Wake Island. The 500 or so US military personnel on the island were over 2,000 miles from Hawaii as the Japanese approached, and were still reeling from the calamitous disaster at Pearl Harbor, and Japanese victories all over the map for the past five years. The Japanese approached with a battle hardened and daunting force, of a dozen ships and almost 3,000 troops. The Americans prepared to defend their little island with some old guns salvaged from an antique battleship, and 12 airplanes. To make matters worse, along with their ships, Japanese bombers flew over the horizon that morning and destroyed 8 of the 12 fighters on the ground in the first minutes. There was no one that was not standing on Wake Island that morning that believed the sun would set with the Stars and Stripes still flying over the island.

Then something incredible happened. The American forces, outmanned, out gunned, and out maneuvered, held out. On the first day, the last of their fighter planes (not designed for ground attack) and the antique guns sent two Japanese Destroyers to the bottom of the ocean, the first Japanese surface ship to be sunk in World War 2. The Japanese were so taken aback from the unexpectedly fierce resistance that they retreated over the horizon and back to their base.

Unfortunately just like the Michigan season, the Battle of Wake Island does not have a happy ending. A few weeks later the Japanese returned with a larger and much more powerful fleet, and despite more heroic resistance from the defenders of Wake Island, they were beaten into submission two days before Christmas. But the damage was done. Just like when Rocky cut Ivan Drago, the defenders of Wake Island had shown the world that the Japanese could be beaten.

 

The 2020 Football season was a debacle. A series of missteps, mismanagement, bad tactics and strategy, and a cluster all the way around. Much like the entire year of 2020 now that I think about it. There was no one….no one, who seriously considered Michigan would win the Big Ten Championship. Outside of Michigan’s locker room that is. Most of us suspected a season fraught with epic failure at worst, and mediocrity at best. Losses were penciled in, almost more of a defense mechanism for fans than real analysis.

I believed that too. I had gone to Michigan games my entire life. I am a season ticket holder, and I refuse to take my wife, or her family to the Ohio State game, because they come from the state of Ohio. I was at The Horror, and same some Trouble with the Snap.  I have a video (vhs) or me singing Hail to the Victors at age 2. I'm a fan….my prediction: Losses to Washington, Wisconsin, Penn State, Nebraska, Ohio State, and the Bowl Game.

Then something incredible happened. Jim Harbaugh took the players he had, added some new coaches, and willed them to victory. While it wasn’t always pretty, it worked, and Michigan dominated all of the games we assumed they would lose (except one, although the strip sack should have counted). Michigan performed what everyone outside of the locker room considered impossible. It took a group of guys who had not even finished the season the year before, and became Big Ten Champions. They gave fans everywhere, despite all the trials and tribulations, and the darkness of the world around them, something to believe in again. Something that showed them the future may be brighter than the past.

 

Unfortunately like the Battle of Wake Island, the 2021 season did not have a happy ending. Georgia was bigger, faster, stronger, and seemingly better prepared than Michigan, and anyone watching after the third series knew it would end poorly, but Michigan never gave up. They kept fighting the entire game, and showed the fans, who had nearly lost hope, that there was a reason to believe once again. Thanks team, Those who stay will be champions.  Go Blue