The Wisdom of Michael Jagger and Judge Harold T. Stone

It's kind of funny, today reminds me of the last five minutes of the pilot episodes of two very disparate television series.  In the opening episode of House, fictional Michigan alumnus Greg House reminds fictional Michigan alumnus Lisa Cuddy of the words of the philosopher Jagger, who said "You can't always get what you want".  Later in that episode, Cuddy reminds House of the second part of that kernel of wisdom, which is "But if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need."

That's what I think about the coaching search of 2011 and the resulting hiring of Brady Hoke as Michigan's head coach; he's not necessarily what people wanted, demanded, or thought they were going to get when Michigan decided that Rich Rodriguez was not the right way to go as Michigan's football program headed into the future.  But Harbaugh was always going to have one eye on the NFL, and Les Miles comes with some baggage, the likes of which it would have taken some serious whistling past the graveyard to overlook with a "Michigan man" straight face.

So here we have Brady Hoke.  In Brady Hoke, we have a coach who wants to be the head coach at Michigan and probably never, in a million years, thought he would have a shot to be the head coach at Michigan, but well, he was on the list.

(You've got to skip ahead to 3:50 for the relevant phrase)

Say what you will about that list, no one can deny the fact that Brady Hoke was on Dave Brandon's list, even if he was at the bottom of it.  When Dave Brandon called, he not only listened to Dave Brandon, Brady Hoke said yes.  Which brings me to a serious question: Don't you want someone at Michigan who wants to be at Michigan as much as we want to cheer for Michigan?  Don't you want someone leading Michigan who gets glowing reviews from virtually every former player who offers one?  

Isn't that what we want out of our head coach, someone who brings players to Michigan, who steeps them in the tradition of being a part of the fabric of Michigan's history, who understands that Michigan is a special place to those of us who call it alma mater or those of us who have chosen to bear the colors of Michigan on our shield.  Someone who takes those players and leads them to victory.

And I went down to the demonstration
To get my fair share of abuse
Singing, "We're gonna vent our frustration
If we don't we're gonna blow a 50-amp fuse"
Sing it to me now...

The entire last four years feel suboptimal, there is no doubt.  Every fan has their own issues with what has happened in the last four seasons or four off-seasons, but the reality is, none of us is very happy.  We lash out, we express our anger, our dismay, our frustration at each other because we have nowhere else to direct it.  Were I a snarky MSM writer, I might suggest that we have gotten what we deserved and we need to accept the new reality of our football lives.

But, in the absence of results on the field, I'm choosing to believe that Brady Hoke is the right choice for this particular moment in Michigan football.  I'll be critical when and where criticism is warranted.  But if Coach Hoke represents a new beginning, or perhaps a restoration after a misunderstood interregnum, then we need to look at it with the fresh eyes that a new beginning deserves.

You can't always get what you want.  You can't always get what you want.  You can't always get what you want.  But if you try some times, you just might find....you get what you need.

The Audacity of Hoke

Go Blue!

Not saying...Just saying....

(Before we start, massive hat tip to the good people of the Bentley Historical Library for their invaluable work on behalf of Michigan athletics and fans and historians of the game.) 

This is the 1973 Michigan Wolverines football team.  They went 10-0-1, tying Ohio State in the final game of the season (the infamous M Club Banner incident).  They were denied a trip to the Rose Bowl by a vote of the Big Ten athletic directors.  They finished the season ranked #6 in the country.  Led by All-Americans Dave Brown at safety and Dave Gallagher at right tackle, and Dennis Franklin at quarterback, they were, arguably one of Bo's finest teams.

But, look a little closer with me, won't you?

The guy in the third row, wearing #85, that's senior defensive end Dave Brandon.  Perhaps you have heard of him?
The guy in the sixth row, wearing #63 and the neck roll, that's sophomore offensive guard Les Miles.  Perhaps you've heard of him?

Fielding Yost and "Michigan Man"

No one knows what a Michigan man is. Everyone, I sense, has different definitions of what it means, and what it is.* I make no great claim to what a Michigan man is. It's a Potter Stewart problem, in that I cannot succeed in defining succinctly what a Michigan man is, but I know it when I see it.

But, for the last few years, we've had here at the HSR on our sidebar our mission statement. It was a quote the three of us greatly admired and realized that it was something we wanted to embrace, because we already were living in the spirit of the thing.

Upon his retirement as Michigan's athletic director in 1942, a major valedictory banquet was held by his friends in the Field house that bore his name. As John U. Bacon recounts in Blue Ice, Yost concluded his statement by saying:

"But do let me reiterate the spirit of Michigan. It is based upon a deathless loyalty to Michigan and all her ways; an enthusiasm that makes it second nature for Michigan men to spread the gospel of their university to the world's distant outposts; a conviction that nowhere is there a better university, in any way, than this Michigan of ours."

Is this fundamentally different than any of one hundred other schools around the country? Probably not. If you love your school, if you're devoted to it, well, that isn't that surprising. But Yost's statement resonates with us as Michigan fans because he is the origin myth of Michigan athletics. They existed before him, but they were not what they would become after him. In this, Yost is held in a place of esteem for the Michigan fans who know of him, who know of his legend and legacy. "Yost" at MZone and Greg at MVictors, are, like myself, acolytes in the ways of Fielding Yost, because when you look at the history, you begin to understand what it means.

Bo may have popularized the phrase "Michigan man", but I think it's important to understand that I've always taken Bo's point that "A Michigan man will coach Michigan" simply meant that someone who would rather be at Michigan than any other school would lead Michigan. Bill Frieder (a Michigan alum, by the way) was headed out the door for Tempe as soon as the NCAA tournament was over. That isn't loyalty to Michigan, so Bo hastened his departure, and lo and behold, it worked. Six games later, Steve Fisher and the Wolverines are national champions and the mythos of a Michigan man takes on a whole other dimension, one, I genuinely suspect, Bo never intended.

In my mind, if you want a Michigan man, it's simple, pick someone who gets that for so many of us, there is nowhere else in the world we would rather be associated with than the University of Michigan, for good or for ill, in right and in wrong. If they understand that, and if they feel the same way, if they are respectful of tradition without being beholden to it, if they are mindful of what has made Michigan great in the past without trying to do it exactly the same way, if they hold fast to the spirit of the thing rather than the letter of it, they will have a strong chance to be successful.

I don't think this means promises that Michigan will beat Ohio State next year are necessary, because I like to think Michigan fans are realists. I do think it means that you acknowledge that there is no greater rivalry in college football than Michigan/Ohio State. I think it means knowing that some people see the Notre Dame game as vitally important, others want a perpetual beatdown of Michigan State to maintain the "natural order of things" as it were, still others want you to know that the Little Brown Jug is way more important than you realize, and still others will want Nebraska to get their comeuppance, because they know what they did. In this sense, Michigan is like many other fan bases, divided, placing priority on different things informed by their own experience, but collectively knowing first and foremost there is but one priority. Win a lot, but win the right way.

Find the man who agrees with that, and move forward from there.

I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge Michael Rosenberg's column this morning.While I'm still not thrilled with Mr. Rosenberg, this column isn't a bad place to start. (I have a feeling I'll end up disliking Mr. Rosenberg less in the next few years, simply because he has his Mission Accomplished banner and can move on to just general contempt, not monomania. I don't like it, but I know it's going to happen. You can only hold a grudge for so long before the grudge consumes you.)

Losing Touch

  

Console me in my darkest hour
Convince me that the truth is always gray
Caress me in your velvet chair
Conceal me from the ghost you cast away

I wanted to take some time before I figured out what yesterday meant.  In 2007, in the midst of the chaos of the coaching search, I found solace in the Killers song "Read My Mind" because I became convinced it was speaking to the events in the Michigan AD at the time, however obliquely.  So when I was driving last night and I put the Killers on via Sync, this song came on, and once again, I knew.  (If I had more time, I would make a music video that would explain all of this via story, song, and image.  And since I would need to start by learning how to edit a video, but I digress.)

I ain't in no hurry, you go on
And tell your friends I'm losing touch
Fill their heads with rumors of impending doom
It must be true

It is very clear, by now, that there are many Michigan fans who quite frustrated with "The Process" and the length of time David Brandon took to reach his decision to fire Rich Rodriguez.  I can understand where they are coming from, even if I do not agree.  In less than a year, Mr. Brandon has gone, in the eyes of a great many, from infallible high lord of 1000 S. State Street to just another out of his depth businessman.  This is not my assessment.  It is my firm belief that David Brandon is so far ahead on this, most of us cannot even see it, because we don't have all of the information.  In as much as we lack information, we will fill in the blanks on their own.  And because fear moves product, fear is the prevailing mood of the Michigan fan at the moment.  (Actually, let's be plain, fear is the prevailing mood of the Michigan fan at any given moment.  We are not a hopeful bunch by our nature.)

Console me in my darkest hour
And tell me that you always hear my cries.
I wonder what you got conspired,
I'm sure it was the consolation prize.

David Brandon said yesterday that he would listen to fans, former players, and alums, but that his decision would by no means be a popularity contest.  Many read this statement (in the larger context of the press conference) to mean that Brandon is set on hiring former Michigan assistant coach and current San Diego State head coach Brady Hoke after he was unable to land Jim Harbaugh. 

I ain't in no hurry, you go on
And tell your friends I'm losing touch
Fill the night with stories, the legend grows
Of how you got lost

But you made your way back home
You sold your soul, like a roamin' vagabond, yeah

One of the current themes in the media is how Rich Rodriguez is a good man, but a bad fit at Michigan.  How he's a good football coach, but he just never really fit in at Michigan.  How Michigan's unique culture made it virtually impossible for Rodriguez to succeed because he never understood "Michigan".  It's the easy way out.  It explains everything neatly, it tells the reader who wants to be quickly mollified that everything will be OK, as long as David Brandon finds, if not a "Michigan man", then someone who gets Michigan and loves Michigan as much as the Michigan fan does.  Maybe it means holding on to the dream of calling Jim Harbaugh home.  Maybe it means finding a tiny white hat with a navy blue block M on it.  But, like almost any college coach, squarely in the crosshairs of the media, fans, and rivals, is going to have black marks against them.

I heard you found a wishing well
In the city
Console me in my darkest hour (in my darkest hour)
And you throw me down

And so we sit here.  We cling to wishing and hoping, every morsel and notion that Harbaugh can still be convinced to come back to Michigan, even as evidence and reports mount to the contrary.  We challenge one another.  We see conspiracy where there is none, and fill the vacant moments with more fear than hope.  Because Michigan fans want to win again, and it wants to win "the right way" and it wants to "be Michigan again."  They want the future to mean something and they want the last three years to mean something, be it a penance paid, a cautionary tale, or just simply bad luck.  But it is foolish to presume that things will be done right just simply because we wish it to be so.  We can't find the middle, because there is no room for a rational fan in a coaching search. 

I ain't in no hurry, you go on
And tell your friends I'm losing touch
Fill your crowd with rumors
Impending doom, it must be true

But you made your way back home
You sold your soul, like a roamin' vagabond

If Michigan has spent the last three years wandering (and really, you can argue rather readily it's the last four years [The Curse of November 17, 2006 and all] ), then we want to know when we can come home.  But we must realize that home is never going to be home again.  My most ready analogy is to a moment in The Late Shift when it is conveyed to David Letterman that NBC wants to dump Leno from The Tonight Show after 18 months hence and Letterman has to decide whether he wants The Tonight Show on NBC's terms, and it's pointed out to Dave that it may be The Tonight Show, but it's not Johnny Carson's Tonight Show.

And about how you got lost, but you made your way back home
You went and sold your soul, an allegiance dead and gone
I'm losing touch.

In the interim, my plan is patience and restraint.  Don't let the hope blind us from reality, but don't let the fear make us stumble around in the dark.  Something will happen, and when it happens, we can evaluate it from there.

Godspeed to you Rich Rodriguez.  I hope you find your next job more peaceful and tranquil.  I hope you succeed in a way that you are comfortable with.

Good luck to you David Brandon.  I sincerely hope that the trust that has been placed in you by people way smarter than I am is well founded.  I believe it is.  I would like to know it is.

Fair winds to you, Michigan fans.  May you realize how much this means to you and why it does, and may it help you understand where you want things to end up, tomorrow, next week, next year.

Glengarry Dave Brandon

We here at HSR were able to get a portion of the transcript of the continuing evaluation of Coach Rodriguez from inside 1000 South State Street.  While it is incomplete, our source, a Mr. David Mamet, assures us that it is very accurate from his transcript.  (Mr. Mamet, every apology in the world.)

Brandon: Let me have your attention for a moment! So you're talking about what? You're talking about...(puts out his cigarette)...bitching about that Gator Bowl you blew up, some recruit that doesn't want to commit, somebody in the media who wrote something unflattering, some scheme you're trying to implement and so forth. Let's talk about something important. Are they all here?
Ablauf: All but one.
Brandon: Well, I'm going anyway. Let's talk about something important! (to Robinson) Put that coffee down!! Coffee's for closers only. (Robinson scoffs) Do you think I'm messing with you? I am not messing with you. I'm here from the Fleming. I'm here from Mary Sue. And I'm here on a mission of mercy. Your name's Robinson?
Robinson: Yeah.
Brandon: You call yourself a defensive coordinator, you son of a bitch?
Rodriguez: I don't have to listen to this.
Brandon: You certainly don't pal. 'Cause the good news is -- you're fired. The bad news is you've got, all you got, just one night to regain your jobs, starting tonight. Starting with tonight's sit. Oh, have I got your attention now? Good. 'Cause we're adding a little something to next year's football season.  As you all know, first prize is a BCS Championship. Anyone want to see second prize? Second prize's a Legends Division championship. Third prize is you're fired. You get the picture? You're laughing now? You got leads. Mary Sue and the alumni paid good money. Get their games to sell them out! You can't close the leads you're given, you can't close shit, you ARE shit, hit the bricks pal and beat it 'cause you are going out!!!
Robinson: The leads are weak.
Brandon: 'The leads are weak.' Fucking leads are weak? You're weak. I've been in this business fifteen years.
Rodriguez: What's your name?
Brandon: FUCK YOU, that's my name!! You know why, Mister? 'Cause you drove a Dodge Stratus to get here tonight, I drove an eighty thousand dollar BMW. That's my name!! (to Robinson) And your name is "you're wanting." And you can't play in a man's game. You can't close them. (at a near whisper) And you go home and tell your wife your troubles. (to everyone again) Because only one thing counts in this life! Get more points on your side of the scoreboard! You hear me, you fucking maggots?
(Brandon flips over a whiteboard which has two sets of letters on it: ABC, and HAIL.)
Brandon: A-B-C. A-always, B-be, C-coaching. Always be coaching! Always be coaching!! H-A-I-L. Head's Up, Attacking, Interceptions, Leadership. Head's Up-- do the players have your attention? Are you using some form of stuffed animal? Attacking-- are you attacking? I know you are because it's sack or six with your defense. You stop them or you hit the bricks! Interceptions -- are you protecting the ball when you have it and taking the ball away when you doing.  And leadership. H-A-I-L; get out there!! You got the prospects comin' in; you think they came in to get out of the rain? Guy doesn't walk on campus unless he wants to play. Sitting out there waiting to give you their effort! Are you gonna take them? Are you man enough to take them? (to Rodriguez) What's the problem pal? You. Rodriguez.
Rodriguez: You're such a hero, you're so rich. Why you coming down here and waste your time on a bunch of bums?
(Brandon sits and takes off his gold watch)
Brandon: You see this watch? You see this watch?
Rodriguez: Yeah.
Brandon: That watch cost more than your car. I made $1,970,000 last year. How much you make? You see, pal, that's who I am. And you're nothing. Nice guy? I don't give a shit. Good father? Forget you -- go home and play with your kids!! (to everyone) You wanna work here? WIN!! (to Gibson) You think this is abuse? You think this is abuse, you special teams coach? You can't take this -- how can you take the abuse you get on a sit?! You don't like it -- leave. I can go out there tonight with the materials you got, make myself a 10 and 2 season! Tonight! In two hours! Can you? Can you? Go and do likewise! H-A-I-L!! Get mad! You sons of bitches! Get mad!! You know what it takes to sell win football games?
(He pulls something out of his briefcase)
Brandon: It takes a tiny white hat to win football games.
(He's holding a tiny white hat with a purple LSU on its crown, over his head--he puts them away after a pause)
Brandon: Go and do likewise, gents. The wins are out there, you pick it up, it's yours. You don't--I have no sympathy for you. You wanna go out on those sits tonight and close, close, it's yours. If not you're going to be shining my shoes. Bunch of losers sitting around in a bar. (in a mocking weak voice) "Oh yeah, I used to be a college football coach, it's a tough racket." (he takes out large stack of red index cards tied together with string from his briefcase) These are the new defensive recruiting leads. These are the ESPN150 leads. And to you, they're gold. And you don't get them. Because to give them to you is just throwing them away. (he hands the stack to Ablauf) They're for closers.
I'd wish you good luck but you wouldn't know what to do with it if you got it. (to Rodriguez as he puts on his watch again) And to answer your question, pal: why am I here? I came here because Mary Sue asked me to, she asked me for a favor. I said, the real favor, follow my advice and fire your fucking ass because a loser is a loser.
(He stares at Rodriguez for a sec, and then picking up his briefcase, goes into inner office with Ablauf)

(Addition: Two bits of thanks which I thought I had initially included:

• http://www.whysanity.net/monos/ggr2.html for providing me the transcript framework from which to work 
• Our puppet based aspirational peers at http://houserockbuilt.blogspot.com/2010/12/stuffing-passer-boiler-room.html for reminding me this could work.

Thanks to both of you.  And apologies for the swearing.  But, well, it's Mamet.)

Elegy Written in a Ford Escape

In the end, it's the strangest, the littlest things that end up striking you about the end of something, be it a relationship, an era, or a job. In this case, it was Frank Beckmann's pre-game interview with Rich Rodriguez on the radio side of the 2011 Gator Bowl broadcast; something that I only heard because I was driving home from Pittsburgh, trying very hard to get home before the game started. (I regret nothing!)

Beckmann's interview was formulaic, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. People have expectations for a pre-game show, particularly one before a bowl game. Beckmann asked questions like "How were the practices?" and "How do the younger players look" and "How has this week in Jacksonville been?" and Rodriguez answered them with some standard coachspeak. Anyone dying for a cutting insight into the state of the Michigan football program was going to be sorely disappointed. After a commercial break, Beckmann's interview shifted to the game itself, the opponent in Mississippi State, and what the Bulldogs brought to the table. Rodriguez's answers were what you would expect, not tipping the hand too much, but clearly someone who had watched a lot of film and knew what his team needed to do to be successful. But what struck me was the change in tone and tenor of Rodriguez's voice. It was confident; it was almost, if not giddy, certainly quite pleased.

The first half of the interview was perfunctory and it seemed to me that Rodriguez couldn't even bring himself to feign the enthusiasm one is supposed to bring to this kind of thing. The second half of the interview was technical, and genuinely, it was a little wonky to the point where I felt like I was only getting tremendous insight because I had just finished reading Tim Layden's Blood, Sweat, and Chalk (where Rodriguez's birth of the read option gets some love) and Ron Jaworski's The Games That Changed The Game if only because I now felt like I understood scheme, gap responsibility, and exploiting what the opposition gives you. The entire thing reinforced what I genuinely and fully believe. Rich Rodriguez is a great football coach, he is an offensive genius, but he is not a great head coach. Head coaches have to do more than just game plan. They are CEOs, they are spokesmen, they are the face of the brand. It feels now, and perhaps should have been obvious to us sooner that Rich Rodriguez accepted those additional roles but never embraced them.

It's like the story of Ted Williams, while managing the Senators/Rangers who, when told about the development struggles of his young pitching staff said "Aww hell, let's go hit." Williams knew how to hit as well as any person on the planet, it's what he cared about and it helped him make his hitters better. But hitting is but one aspect of being a manager, just like offense is but one aspect of being a head coach. You need to care about everything, or delegate to capable, responsible parties to do so and hold them accountable when they do not live up to expectations. Rodriguez is at his best when he is talking about scheme, about plays, as you might expect of someone who has been a successful offensive coordinator. But his lack of success at Michigan can be traced to many reasons, but one cause, he was not able to successfully juggle all of the facets of being a head coach in a way that translated to long-term success. This likely means the end of the Rodriguez era at Michigan and the start of something else. But that is where we begin to stare through a glass darkly, because it is a murky, unwritten future.

Let It Snow

I was going to turn this into a whole long form post, but as I lack the time, a quick insight:

For the second year in a row, Michigan has a finalist for the Chicago Tribune's Silver Football, given annually to the best football player in the Big Ten.  Brandon Graham shared the honor last year, Denard Robinson is nominated this season.  The article profiling Denard can be found here.

The whole story gives you some wonderful insight into Denard, but this is the money passage:

Robinson also packed snow into a plastic bag for his return flight.
"Melted on the plane," he said.

Can you, as you read that sentence, hear a slight chuckle and picture Denard smiling about it with that broad smile he has.  It's goofy, but you know, he's 19, he's from Florida, and the first time he ever saw snow, it was awesome.

We who have grown up in Michigan or the colder climes treat snow as a burden to be borne, but to someone who has spent 17 years of their life in Florida where 50 degrees is cold, this white stuff falling from the sky is pure magic.  We lose the wonder because we've been there before, but if you've never seen snow, you don't have to drive in it, or plow it, or walk in it, snow is pretty awesome. 


And even though it was likely known the snow wouldn't make it home to Florida, that's not the point.  The point is that that bag of water even represents the magic of seeing something unlike anything you have ever seen before, something read about, or seen in television commercials, or described to you, but not actually having been in the presence of until now.

Denard's melted bag of snow is a perfect metaphor for my memories of the 2010 season.  It was magical when we first saw it, and it melted, like we suspected it would in the end, but the memories that stay with us will be with us for a long time.

I have nothing to add

Seriously, if I had anything to add, I would have already said it.  The wide array of emotions, feelings, outrages, sympathies, and notions have already been put forward.  All of the best jokes have been used, all of the most passionate points have been made.  

The short simple version is Michigan must wait another year to beat Ohio State and this was suspected in the week leading up to The Game and borne out on Saturday.  None of us knows what the future holds and those who claim they do are likely selling something.  But for now, let us hope for better days, brighter days, and days with less anguish and heartbreak.  They will come some day.  Some day.

Every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle

I once heard someone say, if you're dumb, surround yourself with smart people. If you're smart, surround yourself with smart people that disagree with you. If you don't know what to say, you have two choices, don't say anything, or think of something someone else said and use that.

So, because I am a history teacher (but not a bando) by trade, I'm going with one of my favorites to sum up not yesterday's game, but the I-can't-even-deal-with-this-any-more sniping between the two factions (and dozens of sub-factions) of the Michigan fanbase.

Having just won a hotly contested Presidential Election in 1800, Thomas Jefferson walked down the muddied streets of the District of Columbia towards an unfinished Capitol Building.  As he entered the chamber of the House of Representatives, he delivered an address that few heard because Jefferson had a notoriously weak voice and hated public speaking.  But those in attendance had a copy of the address, which had been printed in the newspapers that morning and were able to follow along as Jefferson tried to create something new in American political life, the notion of a loyal opposition:

So, if I may, Ladies and gentlemen, the First Inaugural Address of third President of the United States:

During the contest of opinion through which we have passed the animation of discussions and of exertions has sometimes worn an aspect which might impose on strangers unused to think freely and to speak and to write what they think; but this being now decided by the voice of the nation, announced according to the rules of the Constitution, all will, of course, arrange themselves under the will of the law, and unite in common efforts for the common good. All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression. Let us, then, fellow-citizens, unite with one heart and one mind. Let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and affection without which liberty and even life itself are but dreary things. And let us reflect that, having banished from our land that religious intolerance under which mankind so long bled and suffered, we have yet gained little if we countenance a political intolerance as despotic, as wicked, and capable of as bitter and bloody persecutions. During the throes and convulsions of the ancient world, during the agonizing spasms of infuriated man, seeking through blood and slaughter his long-lost liberty, it was not wonderful that the agitation of the billows should reach even this distant and peaceful shore; that this should be more felt and feared by some and less by others, and should divide opinions as to measures of safety. But every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We have called by different names brethren of the same principle. We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists. If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it. I know, indeed, that some honest men fear that a republican government can not be strong, that this Government is not strong enough; but would the honest patriot, in the full tide of successful experiment, abandon a government which has so far kept us free and firm on the theoretic and visionary fear that this Government, the world's best hope, may by possibility want energy to preserve itself? I trust not. I believe this, on the contrary, the strongest Government on earth. I believe it the only one where every man, at the call of the law, would fly to the standard of the law, and would meet invasions of the public order as his own personal concern. Sometimes it is said that man can not be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the forms of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.

In the end, my opinion matters no more than yours does.  I liked things I saw yesterday, I was disappointed by others, and further still confused by other things.  But one simple reality is playing through my mind.  Before the season began, when I was asked, I said "7-5, losses to Michigan State, Iowa, Penn State, Wisconsin, and Ohio State."  And I thought I was being hopeful, because there were no guarantees on the Connecticut, Notre Dame, or Purdue games.  Here we sit, during Football Easter week, and we're 7-4.  We're going bowling.  We're beating bad teams, we're losing to good teams.  The offense can do some amazing things.  The defense can do very little.  History, memory, and expectations become burdens.  They cloud our judgment, they make us see ghosts where there are none, mirages of what might be, but is not.
 
You want to tell me that Michigan needs a new coach, I will listen, but you better have your plan thought through, because I will have questions.  You want to tell me that Coach Rodriguez deserves another year, I will listen, but I want to know how you think the defense will improve. You want to tell me you just don't know and throw up your hands in despair, I will welcome you as a friend and kindred spirit, because you're probably the most sane Michigan fan I know right now (unless you're David Brandon doing this, in which case, I will be deeply deeply worried.  I wouldn't blame you, but I would be worried.) If you're upset that your fellow fans seem to have lost their mind, all I will say is, I can't blame them, because there really are no answers right now.

It's Ohio State week.  It is another final chapter, but not the end of the story.  There will be more, more written, more said, more speculated, more postulated, and certainly, absolutely, criticized.  But that chapter remains to be written, and sometimes a story playing out exactly as you expect has a shocking twist ending that comes out of nowhere.  There's a saying among writers that the difference between fiction and reality is that fiction has to make sense.  Here's to hoping something that happens out of seemingly nowhere happens and instead of criticizing the author for a plot hole, we find the deus ex machina enormously satisfying.

Go Blue!

A Return to Normalcy

The man above this caption of 29th President Warren G. Harding. During his campaign in 1920, he promised "A return to normalcy" which no one could really pin down what it meant, beyond he wanted to go back to the way things were before the war. ("Status quo ante bellum" is a much better term for that, but we already use that for the Treaty of Ghent, so we had to go in a different direction.)

This past Saturday, for right or wrong, for good or for ill, Michigan returned to normalcy by earning its seventh victory of the year, thus ensuring its first winning season since 2007. A return to normalcy by seeing the defense step up, allowing just two third down conversions in seventeen Purdue attempts. A return to normalcy by forcing five Boilermaker turnovers. A return to normalcy by getting the ball back on the Purdue 49 yard line with a four point lead with just a shade over eight minutes to go and putting together a 9 play, 49 yard touchdown drive that too six minutes and nineteen seconds, converting a big third down by passing to a tight end, and rushing the other eight plays, using the featured back, the quarterback, and the goal line guy. That was classic Lloydball, made better by the fact that it ended with a touchdown and put Purdue on the ropes.

But, perhaps the most normal thing about this game was simply how I felt about it. I was mildly pissed off about a win. We turned the ball over five times. We couldn't decide on a quarterback. We saw Denard show some mild signs of regression in the passing game (the pick six was just terrible decision making, which I am sure will be borne out in the video analysis of the game.) We saw Denard pooch punt for 11 yards from the Purdue 42 in the "Things that must have seemed like a good idea in practice" pile. We saw Tate "surprisingly" pooch punt from the Purdue 39 and drop in the end zone for a touchback and make you wonder what Michigan would be like with a real kicker. Oh, right, we saw Seth Broekhuizen try a 42 yard field goal that missed so badly, it actually didn't even get inside the support for the net that goes up behind the goalposts.

But perhaps in the end, the Harding comparison is a little too apt. Harding was widely reviled for his incompetence, his willingness to let his friends do as they pleased, the general sense of fail that emanated from the White House followed him until his death in 1923. Except, when historians look back, they see that things were not as bad as they once thought. Harding was blamed when things went wrong, but got little to no credit for the things that went right. People saw what they wanted to see and argued their points as they chose a new path to their future. Then again, Harding never got America bowl eligible, so we'll see.

So sweet...

Via the M-Den, your 2010 Big Chill at the Big House "throwback" jersey:

 Love this!

A Better Offense/Defense

If you've been around the Michigan fan neighborhoods of the internet, you know that thanks to Brian's 2008 season "highlight" video was set to Rilo Kiley's "A Better Son/Daughter" and, in doing so, its lyrics became like a shibboleth among the Michigan football faithful. You could quote a snippet and know where they were going and why they were quoting it. We had hoped that the lyrics would only refer to that one season, but here we are, another season, and goodly part of a third later, and we're still coming back to it.

Somehow, in the insanity of a triple overtime game that saw Michigan score 67 points, give up 65 points, and win the game, ultimately, on a defensive stop by Michigan, all I could come back to when I drove home was the voice of Jenny Lewis.

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And sometimes when you're on
You're really f*cking on
And your friends they sing along
And they love you

The first five games of this year need little recap. They showed the cracks in the Michigan defense, but ultimately, it was simply watching Denard Robinson run the offensive machine that Michigan had become and a fast start that left questions, because we had seen this movie before.

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But the lows are so extreme
That the good seems f*cking cheap
And it teases you for weeks in its absence

And then you had the lost October of Michigan State, Iowa, and Penn State. Only a bye week prevented October from being any darker than it was. The Penn State game put an emphatic cap on the fact that Michigan had no defense to speak of, and any explanation, reasoning, logic, or exception you could make wouldn't float. Michigan could not stop anyone, their only chance to get bowl eligible was literally to outscore one of the remaining four Big Ten teams on their schedule. The first chance they would have at that was Illinois, who was coming in to the game with a defense that rated among the Top 20 statistically in the country. It looked very likely that Michigan was going to crater.

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But you'll fight and you'll make it through
You'll fake it if you have to
And you'll show up for work with a smile

On Thursday, the murky chapter of Michigan, the NCAA, the Detroit Free Press, and knowing how much time you spent stretching, came to an end. The storm had passed and Michigan could come out of the storm cellar and survey the damage. To Michigan's credit, they pretty much got their penalties right when they self-imposed them. David Brandon said that Michigan had debated two years of probation versus three and went with two (I will always suspect Michigan went with the lower number to allow the NCAA to add the third year and look like it had "done something" rather than just say "Yes, Michigan, you're right, I don't even know why we had to be here.") and everyone spoke of moving on and focusing on the field. Let's play hard on Saturday and see what happens.

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And you'll be better
And you'll be smarter

Like a 75 yard bomb on the first offensive play of the game, yeah.

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And more grown up

Like Craig Roh back to playing his hand on the ground after making the request to the coaches personally.

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And a better daughter or son
And a real good friend

Like Roy Roundtree and Darryl Stonum and Junior Hemingway all saying essentially that they don't care about who gets the ball, as long as when they get it, they do something with it.  And then Roy Roundtree going out and having a better day (yardage wise) than any Michigan reciever...ever.

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And you'll be awake
You'll be alert

OK, this would NOT be allowing someone, say Mikel Leshoure to get WIDE FREAKING OPEN on THE SAME WHEEL ROUTE...TWICE! 

You'll be positive though it hurts.

Sorry.  But seriously...Wheel route!  Wheel route!

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And you'll laugh and embrace all your friends

When Michigan brought the blitz and Nathan Scheelhaase went down, throwing a pass that went nowhere, I realized that Michigan had just won the game, had become bowl eligible, and actually ended the narrative that this year is not last year. I realized that there were just people around us hugging, because well, it meant that much.

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And you'll be a real good listener
You'll be honest
You'll be brave

I don't know if Rich Rodriguez will get another year. I do not know if he should get another year. It's not my call to make and I am glad I don't have to make it. But I do know that for a man who does know that his job is on the line, to keep his starting quarterback on the bench in the second half because he was exhibiting symptoms similar to those of a concussion, well, that was honest and brave. It's a sign of the current state of affairs in football that we need to praise a coach for doing what should not even be a question, but thank you coach for making the right call, knowing it was going to hard to explain to people if things ended with an L.

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You'll be handsome and you'll be beautiful
You'll be happy

In the end, we're happy. It may not be handsome yet. It may not be beautiful yet. But we're making progress. As we look around us and we see the carnage among the "traditional powers", we're getting back to where we want to be. One step at a time.

Off to see the Wizard-MMB Halftime 11/6/10

Because I have had several requests, here is my quick summary of today's rather epic halftime show retelling of The Wizard of Oz by the Michigan Marching Band.

(Note: This is like trying to remember a fever dream, so I may make some mistakes. Apologies in advance.)

The show starts with a video of a cyclone picking up the Big House. Then it picks up the Notre Dame Leprechaun. Then it picks up Purdue's "World's Largest Drum." Then it picks up a green block S, in front of said block S is a flaming couch. Then it picks up an angry picture of Joe Paterno, and over the PA, you can hear "COME TO PENN STATE!" from the Big Ten Network ad.

So the Big House lands on "The Wicked Witch of the South", whose socks are scarlet and grey. The Witch has stolen Denard Robinson's shoes, so our hero, Dorothy Hail has to get them back to Ann Arbor for the second half. She then gets a visit from Mary Sue (President Coleman), the Good Witch of the North, who tells her she needs to go see the Wizard who lives in the Sapphire City at the end of the Maize Brick Road. Dorothy is also met by some munchkins, whom she notes remind her of her "Little Brothers in East Lansing."

So Dorothy sets out down the Maize Brick Road where she meets a scarecrow who does have a brain, having to stand out in fields in horrible places like Indiana, Illinois, and Nebraska. Then they meet a Tin Man who doesn't have a heart, because it broke after he at so many bratwursts and cheese from his work in Wisconsin. Dorothy agrees to bring him along, because at worst, when they get back to Ann Arbor, she can turn him in for the ten cent deposit. Then they meet up with the Cowardly Nittany Lion, who lacks courage.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, one of the minions of the Wicked Witch of the East, Brutus Buckeye attacks our merry band, but they are rescued by Rufus, the Ohio Bobcat, who tackles Brutus and chases him off the Maize Brick Road. Then the Wicked Witch of the East attacks and uses her powers to make the Michigan Marching Band spell out Script Ohio. Dorothy has no fear though, as she reminds the witch that Michigan was the first marching band to spell out Script Ohio as a MMB sousaphone knocks the Witch out and O-H-I-O becomes O-H-N-O.

Eventually they reach the Sapphire City where the Wizard turns out to be Michigan drum major David Hines Jr. who tells Dorothy she had the power to go home all along by just putting on Denard's shoes (leave the laces untied) click her heels together and say "There's no place like The Big House."

And as crazy as this reads, it's about a million times crazier when you actually see it. If you have video, please let us know.

MMB, full marks.

The shields are down

Source: http://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x13hd/theconscienceofthekinghd293.jpg

(McCoy uses his iPad to tweet during the Michigan/Penn State game.  The word "Dammit" was used a lot.)

I like to think that I have become a better college football fan in the last five years. Better, not in the sense of cheering louder or harder, but simply in the sense of understanding more of the whys and hows of the game, of looking for contrary opinion, of understanding the larger context of what is going on in the landscape of the game, and of trying to enjoy the game on a rational level. The one problem with this approach was vividly exposed to me on Saturday night during the Penn State game. I was frustrated, angry, and eventually just depressed. All of the arguments, all of the numbers, all of the explanations didn't seem to matter. All that seemed to matter is that a former walk-on quarterback was ripping Michigan's defense apart and no matter how brilliant Denard Robinson can be, and let us be clear, the moments of brilliance Denard had in this game were exceptional shining moments, it is wholly unfair to tell the offense that the only way Michigan can win is to score every time they have the ball. It's a seemingly impossible task and while Michigan's offense did its best job (31 points should be enough to win most Big Ten games), the defense was such a colossal letdown that no chart, graph, data mining, or statistical analysis could make me feel better. It was just depressing. In the words of puppet Brian Kelly from Stuffing the Passer: "No…I'm, er, uh, too angry to sing."

This isn't one of those "I'm giving up on Coach Rodriguez" post, nor is it a rant that calls down the thunder and curses all which is evil. I'm not a ranting angry person, I'm a sullen one. I sit there and I stare a thousand yard stare and I just wonder why. I question things in my mind. I want explanations, and when none are forthcoming, all you're left to do is to stare blankly at the wall, a wall that isn't changing either, and come back to one fundamental realization: Where people are involved, math and science can only tell us so much. We're flawed, it makes us who we are, and when combined with other flawed individuals, we can make a combustible mix of failings. We like to preach that there is strength in numbers, that the team is stronger than the individual, that the strength of the wolf is in the pack, but the flip side to that, the side the motivational gurus want you to ignore is that groups are only as strong as their weakest point, that groups allow for blame to be distributed outward and not taken inward, that collectively fear is more powerful in a group because it can be amplified, and that while a person is smart, collectively, people are dumb. In theory, fandom is a collective activity, but the reality is that it is an individual pursuit. Our own experiences will instruct is as to our meaning, and no matter the rational desire to look at the data and draw a rational conclusion, emotion is still present. Quite simply, no matter how often we want to be college football Spocks, we usually end up being McCoys, we let the emotional side win out, because it is tribal, it is speaking to something about us. ("Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor, not a defensive coordinator!")

I know from my experience that history can be instructive, but it is not fate, that history rarely repeats itself, but it does echo itself, and that the moment that we begin to believe that our fate is sealed is often the moment it is. But I come back to one thing. We only get 12 of these a year. They are rare and precious moments, something that while taken individually, are part of a collective experience, something that does tie us to a larger whole, makes us a part of something. If the mood is dark, the best we can do is be a light, hope for the best, and remember that while anger and fury are part of the emotional spectrum of fandom, so are hope, joy, and passion. They are opposite sides of the same coin. Hopefully the next time that coin flips, it comes up on the bright side.