Mitch Albom profiles Harbaugh, links to MGoBlog

What does a dead dog and an old man I hang out with on weekend afternoons have to do with MGoBlog??? 

Ok, show of hands.  Who here knows how to use the choke on an anything other than lawn equipment--if that? 

Disclaimer: keep it clean

Exceptions are for Harbaugh coverage and MGoBlog ass kissing only!  And Mitch, you can stop writing now, thanks. 

I saw this article earlier, and also a column by Sharp. I sure wasn't going to be the one to link to either. I don't have an mgo-death-wish, after all. Don't feel like going to Bolivia. Having said that . . . 

I think that both Albom and Sharp had positive and somewhat insightful coverage.

Sharp, in particular, seems more positive about Harbaugh and Michigan than I've ever seen.

For instance . . . 

there’s no doubt that the pain and embarrassment of bowing at the feet of Ohio State and Michigan State the past 10 years has fueled a commitment that could catapult Michigan back to the national championship conversation in Jim Harbaugh’s second year.

“We haven’t done what we should have done,” senior receiver Amara Darboh said. “We came to Michigan to win big games and when we look back at our careers, up to this point, there have been some things that we haven’t accomplished. And I know that a lot of the seniors looked at coming back to leave a legacy that’s deserving of this program.”

There was never a question in Butt’s mind that he was returning. “I thought I would be part of some great Michigan football and my first two years we didn’t really get that done,” Butt said. “We had some low times and last year we finally got a little taste of what it’s like to win. I really believe that — with these guys — we can really get something special done.”

“We could’ve opted out (for the NFL draft) and made some money,” Lewis said. “But money wasn’t important to us. It was our legacy and how we’re going to be remembered.”

There’s no shortage of motivation, returning Michigan football to where it thinks it should be. Give them credit for wanting something that doesn’t carry a price tag attached.

I will never be a fan of Sharp, given his snark and needling and the like. But there is this nagging feeling I have that he was right about one thing. Michigan has been crap, more or less, since 2008. The one year when Hoke came in was a mirage. Sharp shared his opinion that Michigan wasn't elite, and we hated it. He no longer is doing that. Why? I think because he himself believes that under Harbaugh, Michigan might actually amount to something.

EDIT:  Regarding actual, you know, reporting like substance, I haven't seen the above quotes anywhere else in the pressers, etc. Either Sharp has made them up wholesale, or he is doing some actual reporting. Who'd a thunk it.

I thought he was devoted full-time to writing awful, schmaltzy crap with supposed life lessons.

and he captures him in this profile. There are some insights if you ever believed that coach was trying to be like his mentor, you'd be wrong, because he draws strengths from lots of life mentors beginning with his parents. But always remember that Bo made a significant difference in helping him decide on his life path like his dad and he and his brother bought in.

Everything about his childhood in Ann Arbor governs the way he lives and works today. And there are just Harbaugh quirkiness and that unbelievaable enthusiasm about everything.

The fact that you could miss this or misunderstand his desire to be where he is now and plant the kind of roots or re-grow them in a wonderful community to grow up in, is to miss why we get this coach and those from the outside miss his personality forest for all the trees the media sees in the way,

He can still be surprising. Do you think that mssiing that punt snap could cause problems, yeah, Mate, I think so. But he's always honest.

And if it's true, then deal with it. I've come to expect nothing more or less from this program. And I am fully aware that this program is in the best hands it possibly could be because the man who runs it grew up in the place that he wants to lead unconditionally.

That gum. That poor gum! It’s getting chomped. Mashed. It’s a tiny, helpless glob in the ever-gnashing molars of Jim Harbaugh, who sits across the desk, beneath a Michigan cap, smacking his jaws with the authority of a five-star general chewing on a recruit.

“If you want to be enthusiastic THEN…ACT… ENTHUSIASTIC!” he roars, his eyes bulging, his face widening into total bemusement, as if he’s entertaining himself as well — yet all the while, those teeth keep banging, flattening the pale white niblet — Chomp! Mash! Chomp! Mash! — like a cow chewing its cud at warp speed, until you wonder if his mouth isn’t an engine and that gum the fuel.

Albom was the best anywhere when he was young and hungry.

I grew up reading his columns during my formative years.

You can all bash him from here to hell, but he'll always be somewhat a hero of mine regardless of "the incident" and the free press sucking eggs.

that Albom donates all of his salary this year to assist rape survivors.

In fact the best one on coach that i've read in a long time.

Good snag thanks OP...not normally a fan of Albom but he did a nice piece here.

Mitch Albom is a worthless hack.