Fighting false information
I am amazed at the arguments I hear when discussing UofM football and RR. An uncle of mine (fellow alumni) was just complaining this weekend about the tiny RR lineman and how we couldn't win with them and if they fired RR it would take another 3-4 years for a coach like Harbaugh or Miles to get in serviceable Big Ten Lineman. I did a little research and the 2 deep lineman average 6' 5 292 this year compared with 6' 5-5/16" 280 in 1997 (including such guys as Jansen, Backus, Hutchinson, Brandt, etc.) and 6'4-7/8" 303 in 2006. 2006's two deep includes Boren and Mitchell, who's weight and work ethics were questioned by the staff and fans at the time, so that raises the average a little. I am sure that a little more research would find that the midget slot ninja argument would probably not hold up well either. I can think of several good sized receivers on this years roster and a couple of smaller receivers that had a lot of success in years past (Howard, Breaston, etc.). Even the argument that our QB's aren't 6'4 and 220 anymore won't be true once Gardner steps in. I would be more tempted to listen to people's criticism of the program if I thought they were using actual facts to formulate independent thoughts instead of just regurgitating whatever crap they saw on the internet forums.
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:24 AM ^
I think a lot of has to do with some of the players that RR has brought in that may not have necessarily been the type of player that Michgan would have gone after in the past. The two examples that come to mind are McGuffie and Tate. People saw these "smaller" players come in and get banged up playing in the Big Ten and assumed all RR's players were small and fragile.
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:36 AM ^
But I think we would have brought in McGuffie either way. We probably just would have gave him a redshirt year so he wouldn't be immediately destroyed. RR has brought in smaller slots, but that is because it fits better with what RR is trying to do. Most pro-style teams (see USC as well) want bigger targets, but the spread option run type offense has a lot of benefits for the shorter, quicker guys, especially on the bubble screens.
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:41 AM ^
I think that is the issue more than anything. Our guys are YOUNG. We are not used to seeing these guys as true freshman. Jake Long as a freshman was a different guy than Jake Long as a senior. That goes for a lot of the "Lloyd Carr" guys that we remember.
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:37 AM ^
Just wanted to add that I am aware that McGuffie was recruited by LC, but this is just the perception that some people have.
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:41 AM ^
Sam I Am was a Carr recruit, just FYI
Edit: Already corrected, my bad
August 3rd, 2010 at 12:15 PM ^
Sam McGuffie was recruited way before Rich Rod was hired and he committed to Lloyd Carr. There was fear that he would jump ship on signing day as Cal loomed large, but RR was able to hold onto him. Strictly an Ancien Regime recruitment.
EDIT: beat me to the punch........ never mind.....
August 3rd, 2010 at 12:56 PM ^
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:24 AM ^
It seems every possible thing about Rich Rod and the spread that could be portrayed as negative were amplified by anti Rich Rod people (bad recruting, small and ineffective O-Lineman, receivers become useless, etc.). That seemed to then spread to the uneducated fanbase, who now spew it out to everyone else.
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:27 AM ^
specifically to Valenti on 97.1. I think he weeds through intelligent Michigan fans to find the idiots. Plus, if uses the term walmart wolverine one more time I think I am going to hit someone. It is not our fault that every H.S. graduate in the state gets into MSU. If only Uof M grads were allowed to root for UofM our numbers would be reduced dramatically.
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:38 AM ^
I think MSU might have more bandwagon fans than UM. I see more MSU bullshit roaming around the state than I do UM, which I don't quite understand.
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:46 AM ^
Also, if an intelligent Wolverine fan calls in, Valenti will scream at the caller and hang up on them before they can get their point across.
Do yourself a favor, and stop listening to that douchebag.
August 3rd, 2010 at 12:18 PM ^
Actually that proves that the so called "walmart wolverines" are smarter than the MSU graduates. They did choose Michigan to root for.
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:24 AM ^
They will only know to be fact what ESPN speculates.
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:24 AM ^
Sometimes you just have to be patient and explain the real truth to some...and then point them to this blog.
I understand I have a neighbor who is a fan but has not accepted RR and the change that he brought, I truly hope we win enough games that most of this stuff falls back into the noise and we don't have to listen to it any more.
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:40 AM ^
Just nod your head, suck it up, and wait for Sept. 4.
On a related note, can you believe the shit this man spews:
I was watching CFL last night and just could not believe what I was hearing from this guy. Stuff like "Hottest seat in America", bringing up the major violations in super dramatic ways, etc. What a pile of crap.
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:51 AM ^
I saw the same thing last night. Truly unreal. I can't fathom how uninformed you would be on the sport of college football if "College Football Live" is where you get your info. It just underscores how lucky we really are to have this place to get our UM info.
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:53 AM ^
It's like Yin & Yang, push and pull. For all the awesome that is contained within This Blog, there must be an equal amount of suck in the Universe.
August 3rd, 2010 at 12:06 PM ^
because there is a super-massive blackhole of suck out there. W's will bring the football universe back into balance, and I for one am really looking forward to it beginning in just a few weeks.
If nothing sucked, and like, everything was cool all the time, then it’s like, how would you know it was cool?
See, it’s like, you need stuff that sucks to have stuff that’s cool.
Huh huh...
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:44 AM ^
Sometimes you just have to be patient and explain the real truth to some...and then point them to this blog.
I've even heard my barber, who is a die hard U-M fan, saying many of the same things. OTOH, he has ESPN on the TV in his shop all day. He gets only one version, ("All the Sports News That We Find Fit to Broadcast") of the facts.
Last time I was in, he talked about how "pathetic" the defense was under RR. I said, "true". Then, I started in on the analysis that people like Brian, FA, Mathlete and others have provided on the site. I also told him to quit getting his U-M fix from ESPN, and check out MGoBlog. He'd be a better man - and a better fan - for it.
August 3rd, 2010 at 12:09 PM ^
...for spreading the MGoBlog gospel. Evangelize, everyone.
August 3rd, 2010 at 12:56 PM ^
One night I went straight from Yost to a party, still wearing my jersey which miraculously made it out unstained. Obviously people asked me the score, stuff like that, and one guy started trying to talk to me about football as well. His ignorance was glaringly obvious and when I mentioned MGoBlog and he said "What?" I knew it was best to just walk away.
Whether his "What?" was a result of not knowing MGoBlog, or surprise at your comprehensive, U-M sports knowledge, life is too short for that.
It was Misopogon who produced "The Decimated Defense."
Of course, Misopogon was one of the contributors I referenced, just didn't include him on the list above. A fail on my part.
However, my conversation with my barber wasn't just about the defense. He was also talking about the Freep article, the NCAA infractions, etc. I was relying on what I'd read herein to get his head turned around.
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:25 AM ^
Just nod your head and smile.
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:25 AM ^
What were last year's two deep averages? Maybe its just false perception but they seemed slightly smaller than the opposition.
That said I remember reading about our significant size/weight gain from last year to this year. I definitely feel better about our line this year, especially if Molk can stay healthy. Last year is certainly not this year, and this year I think our line will surprise some people with its effectiveness.
August 3rd, 2010 at 12:43 PM ^
This might be where you remember reading about it. It's an analysis of the roster Brian put together back on the first day of spring practice in March.
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:28 AM ^
I think it's pretty hard to deny the fact that our slot ninjas are smaller that prototypical Big Ten receivers (at least Gallon and Odoms). They are also much more of a threat if deployed correctly with an adequate QB, IMO.
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:29 AM ^
Only if you compare our slot receivers to outside wide receivers on other teams. There are smaller slot type receivers on most of the teams in the Big Ten.
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:33 AM ^
Yes, maybe true, but Michigan never had slot receivers before RR came here so that's why people are bitching, probably.
"Carr never recruited these midget receivers! Blah, blah, blah..."
Breaston was deployed on offense almost exclusively in the slot.
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:28 AM ^
The only thing that will solve this problem is wins.
Remember when Florida hired Urban Meyer and the same people said the spread would never work against mighty SEC defenses? Yeah...
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:30 AM ^
You win the thread!
Seriously though, this is basically what it all boils down to at this point. The solution to any perception problem popping up lately reduces to "just win, baby."
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:35 AM ^
This is the BIG TEN! This isn't the BIG LEAST hurr hurr. Oh, they ran it in the SEC? Two national championships in four years? Oh well, it will still never work in the BIG TEN BECAUSE WE RUN SMASHMOUTH FOOTBALL!!!
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:46 AM ^
"The spread will never work in the Big Ten, because it's too cold up here"
Seriously? That's the best they can do?
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:57 AM ^
Actually, bad weather really is my biggest fear with the spread. Bad weather games the last couple years have not gone well for us and I tend to think that slick muddy fields and bitter cold weather favor power offenses over quick and precise offenses like the spread.
August 3rd, 2010 at 12:03 PM ^
We won't play any games on muddy fields, I believe Northwestern, Penn State and Michigan State are the only ones without turf.
EDIT: You do have a valid point, but I don't think it's a huge issue, although some statistics would be nice.
August 3rd, 2010 at 12:20 PM ^
West Virginia isn't warm by any means. We turned the ball over because of inexperience, not bad weather. Slick, muddy fields are a problem for anyone with freshmen at QB. Just because you line up under center doesn't mean your ball security is magically better.
Didn't Tate lead a comeback to force MSU into OT in the cold rain?
If we're impacted by weather, it is because our warm climate recruited athletes need a season to acclimatize and we've been forced to play too many of them too young. If we had a normal distribution of upper classmen in the two deep, this wouldn't really be a factor. Especially in a run-heavy spread.
August 3rd, 2010 at 12:00 PM ^
Yeah, apparently these morons disregarded the fact that the Big East Championship was won in a sleet/rain storm in Pittsburgh by a spread team in Cincinnati, and the PAC-Ten championship was won by Oregon, who also runs the spread, in freezing temperatures in Eugene. Oregon scored 37, and Cincinnati scored 45. Both games had poor weather and were won by spread teams. BUT IT'S COLD IN THE BIG TEN, HAHA FLORIDA KIDS CAN'T HANDLE THE COLD HURR HURR HURR!!!
August 3rd, 2010 at 12:02 PM ^
OK, your examples trump my gut feeling and one ND game. I will have to look into it further.
August 3rd, 2010 at 12:05 PM ^
I think if the spread's run well it wouldn't be such a big deal, but bad weather definitely will exacerbate a poorly-run spread's ineffectiveness. By the way, both games were played in December too, I believe.
August 3rd, 2010 at 12:23 PM ^
Bad weather exacerbates any poorly run offense, whether it is spread or pro-style.
For my part, it is pretty clear; not much that I can do will affect what happens on the field. (Other than give money to the program and hope for the best; I strongly recommend that everybody do that.) Our guys will win, or they won't.
But when somebody says something wrong, or publishes something that is inaccurate, then that is something that I can correct, on the spot. Or at least make an attempt at a correction.
We have these, widely-held Ann Arbor Urban Myths, each and every one thoroughly and demonstrably untrue:
1. The Michigan football program lost "family values" under Rich Rodriguez.
2. Rich Rodriguez "drove away" a significant number of players who would have helped avoid the two losing seasons in 2008 and 2009.
3. Rich Rodriguez has a history in civil litigation that raises serious questions about his personal character.
4. Rich Rodriguez and Mike Barwis were responsible for some serious practice time and workout time excesses in violation of NCAA rules.
5. Michigan now has more, or different, off-field 'player character' issues, attributable to Rodriguez-era recruits.
These are all untruths. Each and every one. To the extent that they are uttered by people who think that Michigan needs to fire Rich Rodriguez, they are lies. I won't wait for "winning" to cure those things. I don't want Michigan to be led to victories by a guy with a suspicious character, or by a coach who is cutting corners on the rules. But the fact is, there is no good reason to question the character, or the methods, or the integrity, or the skills of Rich Rodriguez. I want to get back in the face of anyone who is suggesting these myths and tell them to shut the fuck up because they are either wrong, or stupid, or lying, or all three. And tell them exactly why they are so wrong, and so stupid, and what they are saying/repeating is a lie.
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:33 AM ^
I'm blanking on the psychological term for it, but this is a good example of people believing things that support their preconceptions while rejecting all other data, no matter how solid.
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:34 AM ^
confirmation bias
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:34 AM ^
Thank you, sir.
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:36 AM ^
"Circling the wagons" also comes to mind.
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:57 AM ^
my penis is 9" long. Oh, you want to know when it's erect..... Well, I'm going to need a bigger ruler then....