The future of Michigan Football

All of the following is from my heart...

I love Michigan Football.

I believe in my team, the players, and the coaches.

I want Michigan Football to be great again.

Michigan lost yesterday to Ohio State, the 7th straight loss to the rival we, as fans, cannot stand the most.

Michigan is now 7-5, and the media, and some fans, are already preparing a place for ex-Wolverine QB Jim Harbaugh, the Stanford Cardinal coach, as the next Wolverine leader.


Even though Michigan AD Dave Brandon said that he would evaluate the program after the Wolverines upcoming bowl game, there are still factions of fans and media that believe Harbaugh will be Michigan's coach next week.


I love Rich Rodriguez, he's my coach.


He's the Michigan coach, and that's why he's my coach. 


I believe he will make Michigan great again, and by again, I mean next year.


I am not a mind reader, I am a fan, so I have no idea what AD Brandon will do.


I do know I will support my coach, Rich Rodriguez, until he is no longer my coach.


I also know I will support AD Brandon, a former Michigan player under legendary football coach Bo Schembechler.


I will support his decision, whatever that is. 


We, as fans just want honesty and integrity. 

We also want great football again.

Michigan fans want the team to win, and for the most part the fans are very good fans, and are knowledgeable.

Most of them.

The growing problem with some of the "so called" fan base of Michigan Football, and the negativity that seems to grow every single day, the hatred of the coach, the atrocious behavior of negative, hate filled fans, that bothers me the most.

That stuff is not appropriate.

The Wolverines have been part of my life for 34 years, and people who know me know me as a Michigan fan before they know anything else about me.

Win or lose, I wear my Michigan pride ever single day. 

What I never, ever do is wish my team would lose.

 I cannot stand when I hear "supposed" Michigan fans on the radio, or on Twitter talk about wanting the Wolverines to lose so that the coach will be fired.


If you are one of those fans, then you are NOT A MICHIGAN FAN!

A true fan would never root for their team to lose a football game...NEVER!

We're fans of the Michigan Wolverines, the team with more wins than any team in College Football History!

We're the fans of the team with the coolest helmets! 

 We're the fans of the team with the LARGEST stadium, The Big House!


We're the fans of the team with the GREATEST FIGHT SONG...THE VICTORS!


Why would you ever root against your own team...why?

If the coach isn't getting the job done, then another coach will be brought in.


You still NEVER root for your team to lose!


We as fans have a responsibility to behave the right way, to support the program, win, or lose.


Are you only going to root for a winner?


Are you only going to root for a Championship team?


Are you going to root based on wins and losses, or are you going to step up and be a true fan, and show your love and support for your team in the bad times as well as the good.

Yes, you can be mad, be upset, neck, I know I am.


What I am not is a fan who spews hatred toward the players and coaches who run the team I have followed since I was a 16 year old kid, watching Rick Leach and Rob Lytle run the Michigan offense.


Yes, I don't like the way they're playing, and yes, the defense gives me fits of fan rage.


And yes, I am not happy with the record of the Wolverines the past few years.


What I am most displeased with, however, is the continued venomous way in which Michigan fans, and the media as well, go after Head Coach Rodriguez, the staff, and the players.


We, as fans, don't know what happens except when we watch TV. We don't watch practice, we don't see the behind the scene things that go on every day.


We see the games, get upset when our team loses, and wonder how we lost that game.


Michigan State, Wisconsin, Ohio State, they are all conference champs today, something we Michigan fans were used to for 40 years, or so.


Now we're not champions, and that upsets us.


But, we cannot let losing permeate throughout the Michigan Nation with negative fans talking about the Michigan program in a negative way.


We are Michigan Fans!


We must be united as one, we must show solidarity that we are Michigan Men, Michigan fans for life, no matter what.


If you root against the Maize & Blue to lose, then you are NO MICHIGAN FAN.

You might say you are, you will tell me how you've been a fan for 10. 15, 25, 45, 50 years, etc., and that's fine, but if you want Michigan to lose, you are no longer a true Wolverine fan.


Hail to the Victors Valiant!


Go Blue!

 



 

Heading to Happy Valley

After the bye week, which, 'Bye" the way, I don't like, the Wolverines get to play another football game.

And, even though there's a game this week, I'll still have to wait until 8 PM...what in the world!

Yes. I'm still, and always will be, old school.

I want my Michigan games @ high noon every week, and even the 3:30 games seem like they take forever to get to my TV screen.

OK, as for the game...

Penn State is not very good, sort of like the Michigan defense...sorry guys, but it's true.

The Wolverines are going to win, simply put, because they have Denard Robinson.

Michigan gets to 6 wins, becomes Bowl eligible, and continues on a forward path to becoming a much better team.

Michigan 47, Penn State 27

See you after the game to talk about the great Meeeechigan victory.

The Wolverine Nation Handbook

The Wolverine Nation Handbook

For years I've wanted to write about my favorite football team, the Michigan Wolverines, and what I believe it takes, and means, to be a fan of the winning est team in college football history.

Being a Wolverine fan isn't easy these days, but true fans of the Maize & Blue, myself included, are still there every Saturday, cheering on the Wolverines as they run out onto the gridiron, representing the team, the team, the team.

The past few years have been very taxing for fans of Michigan Football. 

At the end of the 2007 season the Wolverines stood atop every other Division 1/FBS team in wins All-Time, with 869.


Two and a half years later Michigan is still #1 on the list, but the total has only increase to 882, an increase of only 13 games. 

By comparison, the Wolverines won 11 games in 2006.


Web sites, sorts talk radio, print and TV media, and disgruntled fans have turned on the Michigan Program, calling out the Head Coach, the players, and the program.


I have been a Michigan fan since that day in 1976 when I saw that headline in my hometown newspaper, the Kalamazoo Gazette, that the #1 team in all of college football resided right down the road. I was a fan for life.


I will never, repeat, never, be one of those fans.


I love Michigan Football, and I believe the current culture of college football fans and attack media are ripping the game apart.


Because of my love for the Wolverines, I am writing what I believe should be the absolute guide to how to represent the University of Michigan Football team as a fan.


This guide is one of respect, of love, and of passion. 

Negative, hate filled rants at players, coaches, and the U of M will  not be found in it's pages.


If you are negative, complaining about things out of your control, just to be hateful and mean spirited, then this may, or may not, be the best thing for you.


Or maybe it is.


Go Blue!







 

Can the Wolverines rebound against thye Hawkeyes?

The Michigan Wolverines are facing a familiar task today as they get ready for their second Big Ten game of the season against the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Last season the Wolverines started out the year by going 4-0, including a heart stopping game winning drive by QB Tate Forcier, before collapsing the rest of the year, finishing 5-7.

The collapse started on the road in East Lansing, where the Spartans beat Michigan 26-20 in OT, followed by another heart stopping loss, on the road to Iowa, 30-28.

This year is eerily similar, as Michigan started by going 5-0, again beating the Fighting Irish in the final seconds on a Denard Robinson TD run in the final seconds.

Last week the Wolverines started the back to back State-Iowa games by losing to the Spartans, only this time it wasn't close, as MSU beat the Wolverines, 34-17.

The Michigan defense is still the worst in the entire country, and if the Wolverines are to win, the defense has to make plays, it's that simple.

Iowa has the #1 ranked defense in the country, and they are coming off a off week of preparation after defeating Penn State in Happy Valley.

The Iowa defense is very good, but with the exception of the Nittany Lions, they haven't played an offense ranked higher than 80th in the country.

Michigan's Sophomore QB Robinson threw 3 INT's last week vs. the Spartans, and cannot afford to turn the ball over. 

The Wolverines offense will be missing WR Martavious Odoms, who is possibly out for the year with a broken foot.

Iowa's offense is led by QB Ricky Stanzi, who passed all over the Wolverine defense in 2009.

Michigan must keep the Hawkeyes from making big plays on offense, as Michigan State did last week.

Michigan can become bowl eligible for the first time in the Rich Rodriguez coaching era, and I believe this team will make that happen.

After the loss to Sparty, Robinson talked to his team and took responsibility for the loss, a speech that has resonated through the Wolverines this week in practice.

The Michigan offense is head and shoulders above anything Iowa has seen this year, and I like Michigan to do what they want on offense, scoring TD's against an Iowa defense that is stepping up in class vs. the Wolverines.

This is Homecoming at Michigan Stadium, and the Wolverines will send the 110,000+ fans in attendance home very happy today, a Maize and Blue happiness, as Michigan defeats Iowa, 37-31.

Go Blue!

Michigan and Alabama to Cowboy Up in 2012

New Michigan Athletic Director Dave Brandon has made it clear that the Michigan Football program will be very aggressive in scheduling games that put the Wolverines prominently on a National Championship scale.

Today that promised was fulfilled, as Michigan officially announced that it will play current National Champion Alabama at Cowboys Stadium to open the season on September 1st, 2012.

2012 Michigan-Alabama Game

"This is a great way to kick off the 2012 season with two of the nation's winningest college football programs," said U-M director of athletics Dave Brandon. "We are excited about playing a regular-season game in the state of Texas, a region of the country where we have traditionally recruited. Our goal is to get as many Michigan fans to the game as possible to witness this match-up of traditional powers." (mgoblue.com)

The 2010 schedule now looks like it might be the hardest in the FBS, with the Wolverines also scheduled to play Notre Dame in the non-conference part of the schedule, and, as usual, they still have the Spartans, Hawkeyes, and Buckeyes, and the rest of the conference schedule.

Sept. 1 — vs. Alabama (at Arlington, Texas)

Sept. 22 — at Notre Dame

Oct. 6 — at Purdue

Oct. 13 — Illinois

Oct. 20 — Michigan State

Oct. 27 — at Nebraska

Nov. 3 — at Minnesota

Nov. 10 — Northwestern

Nov. 17 — Iowa

Nov. 24 — at Ohio State 

What a year the Maize and Blue are set for, let's hope it's one to remember.

Go Blue!

Gameday Saturday

Time to get it on.

For the 103rd time, the Green and White from East Lansing and the Maize and Blue from Ann Arbor tee up the football in the annual in state battle for college football supremacy.

The infamous Paul Bunyan Trophy will be on the line once again today as the 16th ranked Spartans face the 17th ranked Wolverines.

Michigan State's defense is going to give the Michigan offense it's biggest test of the 2010 season so far, led by All-American linebacker Greg Jones.

The Spartans also have a solid offensive team, capable to scoring from anywhere on the field, both on the ground, and in the passing game.

Michigan Sophomore QB Denard Robinson, who leads college football in rushing yards will need help for his team mates today.

The running backs, led by Michael Shaw, the offensive line, and the receiving corps must all have solid games to keep the Spartans from keying on Robinson.

The Michigan defense must continue to pressure the Spartans at the line of scrimmage, and control the MSU running game.

This is a bigger game for the Wolverines to win, the pressure is squarely on the Wolverines at home today, and I believe the Michigan coaching staff will have the players ready to play the biggest game at Michigan Stadium this year.

Michigan wins a thriller, 42-37.

Go Blue!

Denard Robinson Facebook Page

Michigan fans, heck, college football fans, here's a new Facebook page for Michigan QB Denard Robinson.

Denard Robinson Facebook Page

I know there are a lot of people out there saying the Spartans defense is the best test so far, and that Robinson won't be able to do the things he's done so far this year. That's what makes me so sure Denard will have a fantastic day.

Don't tell this kid what he can and can't do.

This is a special kid, on his way to a special year, and he has the weapons around him to get the job done. Just ask the Wolverines first 5 opponents, who thought they could slow Denard Robinson down.