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2010 M Football- 10 things to leave in 2009

As a new year begins there are some things that are best left in the past.

1.  NCAA violations
Seriously, enough of this crap.  It’s bad enough that the NCAA is taking forever to investigate the first batch of allegations made by the Detroit Free Press.  Let’s hope that 2010 is scandal free.
2.  Teams we’re never heard of
Delaware State?  You know things are bad when a program’s band gets more press than the football team.  Unfortunately this one is already shot since Massachusetts and Connecticut are on this season’s schedule.  We’ll have to roll this over for 2011.
3.  Home for the holidays
OK, all the people who thought that it was just horrible that the football team would usually leave before Christmas for their bowl destination have been appeased.  Athletic department staff who haven’t spent Christmas and New Year’s Day with their in-laws for decades have made appearances two years in row now.  It’s time to get the football team, athletic department staff, and alumni traveling again.
4.  Big Ten Expansion
Expansion rears its ugly head again.  Move the season back if you must but ditch the idea of the league championship game.  Multiple divisions with some games against league teams counting and others not are stupid.  Rather than follow in the moronic footsteps of lesser conferences do something innovative to highlight more of the league’s top teams rather than just the top two.  Imagine a Big Ten/Big East challenge after the Big Ten season is over that matches the top the 5 seeds of each conference in neutral sites like Chicago, Detroit, New York, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh.  The other conferences would be drooling to have that kind of exposure.
5.  Tate Forcier’s unflappable confidence
I love that Tate Forcier has great confidence.  However I an tired of hearing how losses don’t bother him.  Tate, seriously, they should bother you.  Not crush you- but they should motivate you to work harder.  The robotic quotes seem a little odd.  Show some fire…
6.  Potshots from the Michigan “family”
There a lot of people within the Michigan family who are both for and against Coach Rich Rodriguez.  Unfortunately some of those who support Coach Rodriguez have taken shots at the previous regime.  Coach Rodriguez is responsible for the Michigan football team from here out.  There is no way he would allow a current player to blame his current poor performance on the starter from two season ago.  We need to hold Coach Rodriguez to the same standard.
7.  Being swept by the “states”
The later part of Lloyd’s tenure as head coach Michigan certainly struggled with Ohio State.  But he absolutely owned Penn State and Michigan State.  It’s time for Rich Rodriguez to start new winning streaks against all of the “states.”
8.  Whining that the cupboard was bare
On the day that Coach Rodriguez took over the cupboard was hardly bare.  The first job of a new coach is to re-recruit players currently in the program.  For whatever reason many players decided to leave either by declaring for the NFL draft or transferring.  I have no problem with players leaving and Coach Rodriguez wanting to have his own type of players on the team.  But he had active role in creating the current roster.  For him to imply that the talent wasn’t here when he took over is disingenuous.
9.  Piped in music for every game
Eminem’s “Lose Yourself’ being played against Ohio State or Notre Dame is cool.  When it’s played against the likes of Delaware State or Eastern Michigan it’s a joke.

10.  Michigan Stadium being taken over by opposing fans
The best way to do this is for the team to start putting the smack down on the field.  Opposing fans hate showing up and seeing their team get whooped on the field.  This doesn’t mean for Michigan fans to treating opposing rudely.  Save that idiotic behavior for other schools.  Cheer loudly and let the team take care putting the smack down.
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2009 M Football- The year in photos…

Here are a selection of photos from the 2009 football season.

#1

When freshman phenom Tate Forcier suited up for spring practice I wondered if he’d be able to take the pounding of an entire season.  Tate’s progress was accelerated when returning starter Nick Sheridan was injured early in spring practice. From that point on Tate was the focal point at QB for the Wolverines.

#2
LB Obi Ezeh and DB Donovan Warren rest prior to media day.  Donovan would declare for the NFL draft after the season and Obi would lose his starting job.
#3
Players posing for a group shot during media day.  The good feelings would disappear during a disastrous game versus Illinois.
#4
The Wolverine drill.  One of the few times where media gets to see players go all out against each other.
#5
RB Michael Cox showed that he has the speed to be force for the Wolverines next season.
#6
Players rehabbing from injuries.  They insisted on having the photo taken,

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#7

The Wolverines take the field undet the coveted M Club banner.  Some traditions never change.

#8
Brandon Graham was a beast on defense.
#9
Craig Roh was a pleasant surprise on defense.  Just a little bit of holding…
#10
When Denard Robinson was in the game there was always the potential for an electryfying run.  Whenever he broke free it would cause complete mayhem for opposing defenses.
#11
Freshman QB Tate Forcier was a force of nature during the Wolverines’ 4-0 start.
#12
The Wolverines last second victory and endzone celebration.  Photo taken with an iPhone.

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#13
DB Donavan Warren seals the victory over Indiana with a great interception.
#14
The Wolverines put a gang tackle on the Eagles.  We didn’t see enough of this…
#15
RB Brandon Minor was a beast when healthy…
#16
The only way for teams to contain Brandon Graham was to double team him…and hold.
#17
RB Brandon Minor bulls through the Penn State defense.
#18
Next season the renovation of Michigan Stadion will be complete and the press box will be history…
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2009 Michigan Football- Upon Further Review…5 Things RichRod needs to do

It’s been a rough ride for Michigan fans.  Coach Rodriguez came to Michigan with high expectations, but his first season ended in bitter disappointment.

Many fans expected a much better second season, and certainly a 4-0 start seemed to show that things were heading in the right direction but the Wolverines were stung by a disastrous second half at Illinois and slid to a 5-7 finish making it two consecutive seasons without a bowl appearance.

The faith that many fans had that Rodriguez could turn things around has been shaken.
What can he do to turn the tide?
Winning will heal many wounds but that will have to wait for next season.
Here are some suggestions for Coach Rodriguez to start mending fences with the Wolverine faithful.
1.  Stop referring to Michigan as “…one of the top fifteen or twenty programs in America.”
Seriously, do you know how this sounds?  Every time you make a comment like this you’re flipping Wolverine fans the bird.  I’m not sure you mean to but that’s how it comes across.  We believe that Michigan is THE top program in America.
We expect you to act as though you believe that this is THE best job in America.
Start drinking the kool-aid or begin packing.  You need to sell yourself to the fans not the other way around.
2.  Learn your history
We’re not expecting you to recite chapter and verse of Michigan football history (we have John Bacon for that) but you need to a better job of embracing the tradition.
During Ohio State week, when reporters questioned whether you “understand the rivalry” you can’t pause when someone asks you about your favorite UM/OSU memories.
There are those who would say that this isn’t important.
Those people are wrong.
How can you hope to change a culture without understanding an organization’s history?  How do you know what to embrace and what to change?  The UM/OSU rivalry is baked into the DNA of every Wolverine fan.
Somebody handing you a “Beat OSU” button does not make you an expert on the rivalry.
I used to work with a former VP of Ford Motor Company who was concerned when Alan Mulally was named President & CEO.  He was worried that Mulally, being from Boeing, might not appreciate the heritage and tradition that set Ford apart from its rivals.  He wrote a letter congratulating Mulally and voiced his concerns.  Within a week Mulally sent back a handwritten note, thanking him and making it clear that he had done his homework to understand Ford’s history.
Mulally had a huge job ahead of him, but he took time learn about Ford’s heritage before he began re-tooling the company.
Coach Rodriguez might not give a rip about what happened before he came here, but your fans do.
Get with the program.
RichRod can do a better job of showing that he appreciates the great Michigan tradition.
3. Lower the drawbridge at Fort Schembechler
For the first half of the season, Coach Rodriguez allowed media to attend practice a few times a week. It gave people a chance to gauge the mood of the team and see backup players get work.  Then the Michigan Daily printed a detailed description about plays that Michigan was practicing and all of the media was banned for the rest of the season.
As the losses piled there was nothing else for the media to talk about but the poor play during games.
The lack of access contributed to rumors and speculation.  Press conferences became more confrontational.
In the context of the Detroit Free Press allegations of practice time violations, Coach Rodriguez should have opened up more practices not less.
When spring practice rolls around he needs to open things up again.
4. Reach out to fans
In small informal settings Coach Rodriguez does very well.  Unfortunately, his laid back demeanor doesn’t aways translate to press conferences or formal speaking events.  During the off season he should make an effort to get out in the community as much as possible.
Grab lunch at the Union, check out some of the concerts and other events on campus.  Sit in on some classes, make a few unadvertised visits to community events.
He still has the opportunity to win people over here.  He has the personality to do it, he just needs to make the decision to make it a priority.
He also needs to start using social networking to interact with fans who don’t live in the Ann Arbor area.
5. Take responsibility
Coach needs to man up.  Sometimes he implies that the team’s poor performance is the fault of the previous coach  not recruiting and/or the current players not getting the job done.
Coach Rodriguez is responsible for the team’s performance.
He needs to forcefully take responsibility and convince us that (1) there is a plan to fix this mess and that (2) he’s responsible for making sure it gets done.
No excuses.
And stop moping through post game press conferences.  It’s pathetic.
Go Blue!
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See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil- MSU Football

Same old Spartans.

No, I’m not talking about a football season that began with high expectations and crashed after a 1-3 start.  Nor am I referring less than stellar finale backing into their bowl game after being thrashed 42-14 by Penn State.
No, the Spartans saved their best for last.
Shortly after a football team banquet a group of Spartan football players went to a fraternity party and got into an ugly altercation with some fellow students.
Dantonio dismissed two players immediately, sophomore running back Glenn Winston and junior safety Roderick Jenrette, and suspended eight other players.  Campus police are still trying to identify five other suspects from the melee.
It seems like it would be easy for Dantonio to get to the bottom of the situation.  Call your players and tell them that their football future at Michigan State depends on coming clean.
But that’s not how Dantonio rolls.
He hasn’t seen the surveillance video.  He’s just waiting for campus police to do his dirty work for him.
And in doing so he confirms MSU’s status as little brother.
When you’re little brother it doesn’t matter how you win.
Whether a player has to mug Desmond Howard in the end zone on a two point conversion to preserve a victory or a friendly timekeeper squeezes an extra second for you to complete a comeback that’s alright.
Whatever it takes.
You don’t want to know how many of your players may have known about what their teammates were planning to do after the team banquet or how many were in attendance for the altercation.  You don’t want to know if they some of them really wore ski masks or hit women during the altercation.
You’re going to a bowl!
Whatever it takes.
MSU trustee Joel Ferguson summed up the Spartan mentality when he said this week that players weren’t suspended for fighting but for lying to their coach about their involvement.  He couldn’t be bothered to watch the video tape either but he sure knows what happened.
So MSU is off to the bowl game possibly with players who took an active role in the fight and more who may have known about it on advance while Dantanio stands idly by.
MSU strives to be the dominant program in the state of Michigan.  And certainly the opportunity exists for that to happen.  But it will requires more than just victories on the playing field.  This latest incident show a lack of character not just from a number of Spartan football players but from the MSU leadership as well.
MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon released a statement that said, “The confidence I had in Mark Dantonio when we hired him has been enhanced.”
A season that began with lofty goals crashed in disappointment both on and off the field and the MSU administration feels great about Mark Dantonio.
The low standards in East Lansing have been confirmed.
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An Open Letter To The Football Gods

An Open Letter To The Football Gods

Dear Football Gods,

All right, we get it.  We give up.  Uncle!  You win.  We were wrong all these years.  It is not enough for us to simply ?be Michigan? and everything will go our way.  We admit it.  We were arrogant.  We believed that just because we had been so successful for so long, we would always be that successful, no matter what we did.  We got (very) spoiled.  We complained when Bo went 6-6.  We groused when Lloyd had a couple 4-loss seasons.  Hah!  We would be very grateful for a 4-loss season these days.  We have seen the worst case (2008), and the next-worst case (2009).  We?ve been punished enough.  We?ve learned our lesson, twice.  We will no longer take ANY win for granted.  We will no longer take ANY opponent lightly, except maybe Delaware State.  We will no longer assume that OF COURSE we can score a touchdown if we get a first-and-goal on the 1-yard line.  We will no longer assume that we can stop a team from going 99.75 yards after we fail to score on four straight blasts on the goal line.  We will no longer assume that we are unbeatable if we can just get to overtime.  We will turn over a new leaf.  Just give us our program back.  We?ll be good.  We?ll be humble.  We promise not to gloat excessively when we start winning again.  We promise that we?ll remember all that you have taught us these last two years (and the Appalachian State Disaster as well).

Go Blue (please?)

Drew Montag