A very eloquent explanation of the juxtaposition of fandom. I did not attend the university but I was raised a fan by my father, who did. As a lifelong supporter of Michigan, I have spent my life living and dying every Saturday of the fall, and once that is done, looking forward to the next season to do it all over again. As I get older, I find the joy of being a fan, fleeting at best. The culmination of your team winning a national championship should be followed by a honeymoon period of exuberance. As fans of Michigan, we may not get that. As the old racing adage goes, you have to run what you brought to the track. The tenure of Jim Harbaugh has brought us to the top of the mountain. For that, I am eternally grateful and will root for him, whatever he decides to do. Our chosen sherpa may just be the guy who takes us to the top and says, I've shown you the way, you've got it from here. If that happens to be the case, I am at peace with it, but then again, I have no say in the matter. If JH leaves for the next challenge, I am confident in the process that has been developed and implemented over the past 3 years. The names and the faces will change, maintaining the process is the important part. As JH spoke to the traits that made this team successful, the daily effort, the one-track mind, and the singular focus are the aspects that don't have to become transitory.
Adam Schefter’s take on the DP show was a good one. The Spanos family has to be willing to shell out for every Harbaugh demand. It’s much bigger than just offering him a contract.
My preference would be similar to the “how do you like that, Ricky!” (Neuheisel) handshake or the Jim Schwartz handshake from back in the day. I doubt he does either but a man can dream. Ultimately, win with grace and act like you’ve been there before. All of his negative energy should remain focused on the mouth breathers in Columbus.
For 8 weeks they’ve shoved the narrative of Ohio state has the best win in college football vs Notre Dame without ever acknowledging they played the last 2 plays 11v10 against ND. Subsequently, they’ve tried to bury the Michigan season first by screaming every week that Michigan hasn’t played anyone and second by exaggerating an extremely nuanced distinction of a tactic used by every coach and school in college football. Now that Michigan has the best win in college football, I look forward to the drum beat becoming louder by the day of how the cfp must disqualify Michigan since no one else has the power to do anything prior to the end of the season. Credit to Herbstreit for finally speaking out against the constant droning on about nothing. Fk ESPN. Fk Finebaum. Fk Stephen A. Fk Thamel. Fk Forde. Fk MadDog Russo. They can all eat shit and choke.
Perhaps the university should send a letter to disney telling them they are not welcome. I imagine you need permits to set up something of that nature. Local government should deny the permits. To hell with a boycott. Just don’t allow them in AA.
Watching the season unfold, you start to realize week over week how historically good this year’s team is. I think it would be awesome to see him win the heisman based on a season of playing only 2.5 quarters of football per game but ultimately I feel the voters will hold that against him. Secretly I pray to every god in the history of human existence that he decides to stay for his senior season but I realize that’s not how today’s game is structured.
Sign stealing? Signs are presented in the open during any game. Sending someone to scout a football activity in the open cannot be portrayed as “stealing”.
I've been playing for over 30 years, stock clubs mostly. In early '21 I decided to take the plunge and was fitted at club champion, just irons to start. There was a small transition period, getting used to the feel of the new clubs. Everything about my game has changed since making that decision. My ball striking is better. My scoring results are more consistent. Does my half-wit alter ego still show up and make bad swings? Sure he does, but nowhere near as much as he used to. Last year I managed to card a 73. That would have never happened using my off-the-rack clubs. This year I went back and took the plunge on the top of the bag. Again, yielding consistent and better results. Lead time in '21 with Pings was about 4 weeks due to covid. This year, with my Callaway, 3 weeks. One suggestion, make sure you get the shafts pured. Well worth any additional cost, IMO.
I felt the same way last year as a Michigan fan going into the game against Georgia as a TCU fan going into the Michigan game this year. I was supremely confident Michigan would beat Georgia. Michigan came out of no where, vanquished the rival, steamrolled the BigTen championship game. Then on new years eve, I found out. TCU may whip up some sort of magic and possibly beat Michigan. If that happens, I'd be very surprised but I'd tip my cap and say good job. I feel this year's version for Michigan has proven to be a better, more sound team. They've had their moments but for the most part, they figure it out and work the opponent over by the 4th quarter. I don't see any reason why this game deviates.
Albert Breer doing his typical annual reporting on the subject. I guess if you report it every year and eventually if he decides to take an NFL job, you'll ultimately be correct. Oakland is still in play, I've heard...
Stopped reading when he started using that most valuable metric of what team would you want to play the least. He lives in the world of recruiting star value and sports gambling line movement. It’s a wonderfully written piece based on nothing tangible. Thanks Ari. Enjoy the rose bowl.
This is the week you are choosing to make this post? Bad decision. Save the hand wringing for after the season. In the mean time, if you feel overwhelmed by angst and anxiety about future events, go outside and yell at the remaining leaves on the trees.
I’m envious. As an M fan I wish M students had a reason to burn couches. Unfortunately, it seems like we’ve been here before. Enjoy the view from the moral high ground I guess, if that is all that is left.
Cade’s inability to hit a pass over 20 yards with consistency is what will lead to him becoming the 2nd string qb regardless of his completion percentage or lack of turnovers. The offense will eventually have to leave him behind to become what they need to be to compete with the more elite programs. Personally I like him and I think he is a good leader but ultimately he’s a game manager.
2 loses but even though A&M isn’t that good this year, media is clinging to the narrative “this is the team we always thought they were prior to the season so we weren’t egregiously wrong with our predictions”.
I only really have a dislike for most of the alternate uniforms that were part of the adidas era. Maize and white road uni’s, I can take or leave. I did like the blue and white from this past weekend. Could be tweaked as previously mentioned with the maize block M. Continue to win and all of this is secondary.
Play the game, win the game, let them come up with a reason why it isn’t good enough. No running game, too much running. Too much passing, not enough passing. Whatever. As long as we aren’t running Ben mason on a dive play in the first quarter, I’m good. Go Blue.
I feel the calmer demeanor he now exhibits has more to do with being called to the principal's office by the administration after past incidents. Giving him the "that's not how we expect a Michigan coach to act" routine. I've watched Jim Harbaugh as a player and coach long enough to know that a guy like that doesn't just "lose his fire". He has been whipped by this chicken shit administration into losing his fire and that is not going to change by hiring some FNG from away from some other historically mid-tier program.
Kansas is a football black hole. The only coach to have a better than 500 record since 1932 was Mark Mangino in the early 2000's and they ran him out of town. The administration must really like being a basketball school.
It won’t matter. The stodgy administration will suck the life out of any coaching staff brought in. Until the administration changes how they think a Michigan football staff should conduct themselves, any conversation about coaching staff’s, present or future, is purely academic. If nick saban was the head guy they’d probably lecture him for using the term a’ight in press conferences.
Anyone that feels the big ten is a more viable conference than the pac 12 is delusional. Ohio state is all there is. The rest of the conference is no where near that level. Oregon is a far better place to coach than Ann Arbor. The tradition and expectations make it insufferable. I hate to admit it but Michigan is a has been. Prior to winning the nc in 97 they were mired in mediocrity. All we really had at that time was the ability to somehow manage beat a guy in Columbus that was a by all accounts a pretty decent coach. I’d stick it out in Eugene. Future is brighter.
Recent Comments
A very eloquent explanation of the juxtaposition of fandom. I did not attend the university but I was raised a fan by my father, who did. As a lifelong supporter of Michigan, I have spent my life living and dying every Saturday of the fall, and once that is done, looking forward to the next season to do it all over again. As I get older, I find the joy of being a fan, fleeting at best. The culmination of your team winning a national championship should be followed by a honeymoon period of exuberance. As fans of Michigan, we may not get that. As the old racing adage goes, you have to run what you brought to the track. The tenure of Jim Harbaugh has brought us to the top of the mountain. For that, I am eternally grateful and will root for him, whatever he decides to do. Our chosen sherpa may just be the guy who takes us to the top and says, I've shown you the way, you've got it from here. If that happens to be the case, I am at peace with it, but then again, I have no say in the matter. If JH leaves for the next challenge, I am confident in the process that has been developed and implemented over the past 3 years. The names and the faces will change, maintaining the process is the important part. As JH spoke to the traits that made this team successful, the daily effort, the one-track mind, and the singular focus are the aspects that don't have to become transitory.
Adam Schefter’s take on the DP show was a good one. The Spanos family has to be willing to shell out for every Harbaugh demand. It’s much bigger than just offering him a contract.
Pleasant thought: Harbaugh, Minter, JJ and the Don stay and try to run it back.
Pleasant thought: Harbaugh, Minter, JJ and the Don stay and try to run it back.
SiriusXM, big ten channel
Chalk guarantees no ohio.
Ari is a glorified fan boi. He bases everything on the self fulfilling prophecy of espn rankings.
That was a spectacular watch. Thank you.
My preference would be similar to the “how do you like that, Ricky!” (Neuheisel) handshake or the Jim Schwartz handshake from back in the day. I doubt he does either but a man can dream. Ultimately, win with grace and act like you’ve been there before. All of his negative energy should remain focused on the mouth breathers in Columbus.
For 8 weeks they’ve shoved the narrative of Ohio state has the best win in college football vs Notre Dame without ever acknowledging they played the last 2 plays 11v10 against ND. Subsequently, they’ve tried to bury the Michigan season first by screaming every week that Michigan hasn’t played anyone and second by exaggerating an extremely nuanced distinction of a tactic used by every coach and school in college football. Now that Michigan has the best win in college football, I look forward to the drum beat becoming louder by the day of how the cfp must disqualify Michigan since no one else has the power to do anything prior to the end of the season. Credit to Herbstreit for finally speaking out against the constant droning on about nothing. Fk ESPN. Fk Finebaum. Fk Stephen A. Fk Thamel. Fk Forde. Fk MadDog Russo. They can all eat shit and choke.
The compliance department has to start educating staff on digital forensics. Everything you do on a computer is traceable.
Is he still running the same prostitution ring in Queens that he had in Louisville?
Perhaps the university should send a letter to disney telling them they are not welcome. I imagine you need permits to set up something of that nature. Local government should deny the permits. To hell with a boycott. Just don’t allow them in AA.
Pete Feinbaum, Pat Thamel and Paul Fordeee. The three dickheads.
Happy Birthday Marine.
Sounds like your standard HR procedure to me. Violate the rules, and get fired. Not an NCAA investigation.
At least there’s a national voice out there beating the drum in favor as opposed to the rest of the ohio state mouth breathing media mob.
Watching the season unfold, you start to realize week over week how historically good this year’s team is. I think it would be awesome to see him win the heisman based on a season of playing only 2.5 quarters of football per game but ultimately I feel the voters will hold that against him. Secretly I pray to every god in the history of human existence that he decides to stay for his senior season but I realize that’s not how today’s game is structured.
Sign stealing? Signs are presented in the open during any game. Sending someone to scout a football activity in the open cannot be portrayed as “stealing”.
Potassium. Bananas.
The only variation I really like is either the blue pants on blue shirts or blue pants on white shirts.
I've been playing for over 30 years, stock clubs mostly. In early '21 I decided to take the plunge and was fitted at club champion, just irons to start. There was a small transition period, getting used to the feel of the new clubs. Everything about my game has changed since making that decision. My ball striking is better. My scoring results are more consistent. Does my half-wit alter ego still show up and make bad swings? Sure he does, but nowhere near as much as he used to. Last year I managed to card a 73. That would have never happened using my off-the-rack clubs. This year I went back and took the plunge on the top of the bag. Again, yielding consistent and better results. Lead time in '21 with Pings was about 4 weeks due to covid. This year, with my Callaway, 3 weeks. One suggestion, make sure you get the shafts pured. Well worth any additional cost, IMO.
Dude is a hack. He’s also exhausting.
I felt the same way last year as a Michigan fan going into the game against Georgia as a TCU fan going into the Michigan game this year. I was supremely confident Michigan would beat Georgia. Michigan came out of no where, vanquished the rival, steamrolled the BigTen championship game. Then on new years eve, I found out. TCU may whip up some sort of magic and possibly beat Michigan. If that happens, I'd be very surprised but I'd tip my cap and say good job. I feel this year's version for Michigan has proven to be a better, more sound team. They've had their moments but for the most part, they figure it out and work the opponent over by the 4th quarter. I don't see any reason why this game deviates.
Albert Breer doing his typical annual reporting on the subject. I guess if you report it every year and eventually if he decides to take an NFL job, you'll ultimately be correct. Oakland is still in play, I've heard...
Barrett Sallee is a low hanging fruit sec hack.
No. He only uses recruiting star value.
Stopped reading when he started using that most valuable metric of what team would you want to play the least. He lives in the world of recruiting star value and sports gambling line movement. It’s a wonderfully written piece based on nothing tangible. Thanks Ari. Enjoy the rose bowl.
Yankees fantasy camp with Mickey Mantle, Joe Pepitone, and Kramer.
This is the week you are choosing to make this post? Bad decision. Save the hand wringing for after the season. In the mean time, if you feel overwhelmed by angst and anxiety about future events, go outside and yell at the remaining leaves on the trees.
AP poll is irrelevant.
I’m envious. As an M fan I wish M students had a reason to burn couches. Unfortunately, it seems like we’ve been here before. Enjoy the view from the moral high ground I guess, if that is all that is left.
Cade’s inability to hit a pass over 20 yards with consistency is what will lead to him becoming the 2nd string qb regardless of his completion percentage or lack of turnovers. The offense will eventually have to leave him behind to become what they need to be to compete with the more elite programs. Personally I like him and I think he is a good leader but ultimately he’s a game manager.
$25M tells me he doesn’t think much about what happened at Wisconsin.
2 loses but even though A&M isn’t that good this year, media is clinging to the narrative “this is the team we always thought they were prior to the season so we weren’t egregiously wrong with our predictions”.
I only really have a dislike for most of the alternate uniforms that were part of the adidas era. Maize and white road uni’s, I can take or leave. I did like the blue and white from this past weekend. Could be tweaked as previously mentioned with the maize block M. Continue to win and all of this is secondary.
Here we go. I knew it wouldn’t take that long for the self doubt to creep in. Take a moment and enjoy something for once. Jesus.
Play the game, win the game, let them come up with a reason why it isn’t good enough. No running game, too much running. Too much passing, not enough passing. Whatever. As long as we aren’t running Ben mason on a dive play in the first quarter, I’m good. Go Blue.
Who?
I did not realize this was still a thing. AP poll? Nothing of particular relevance when it all comes down to it.
I want to see an absolute pasting with no "oh f**k" moments that eventually turn into major fissures that derail the season.
I hate to say it but sparty looks better than decent.
Usually showing up with an attorney to the board of Ed meeting grabs their attention pretty quickly.
I feel the calmer demeanor he now exhibits has more to do with being called to the principal's office by the administration after past incidents. Giving him the "that's not how we expect a Michigan coach to act" routine. I've watched Jim Harbaugh as a player and coach long enough to know that a guy like that doesn't just "lose his fire". He has been whipped by this chicken shit administration into losing his fire and that is not going to change by hiring some FNG from away from some other historically mid-tier program.
Were you a big fan of the guy last year when they were 3-9 and getting smoked on a weekly basis?
Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
Kansas is a football black hole. The only coach to have a better than 500 record since 1932 was Mark Mangino in the early 2000's and they ran him out of town. The administration must really like being a basketball school.
Florio is a shill.
It won’t matter. The stodgy administration will suck the life out of any coaching staff brought in. Until the administration changes how they think a Michigan football staff should conduct themselves, any conversation about coaching staff’s, present or future, is purely academic. If nick saban was the head guy they’d probably lecture him for using the term a’ight in press conferences.
Anyone that feels the big ten is a more viable conference than the pac 12 is delusional. Ohio state is all there is. The rest of the conference is no where near that level. Oregon is a far better place to coach than Ann Arbor. The tradition and expectations make it insufferable. I hate to admit it but Michigan is a has been. Prior to winning the nc in 97 they were mired in mediocrity. All we really had at that time was the ability to somehow manage beat a guy in Columbus that was a by all accounts a pretty decent coach. I’d stick it out in Eugene. Future is brighter.