Well, I would like to say that after LSU's blistering defeat of OSU in the National Title Game, the season has come to a close...As messy and quirky as it was, it would be nice to let 2007 go and bring on the New Regime with a Fresh Start in 2008.
LSU - OSU: If you stayed up for the entire game, some things were fairly obvious. Tressel is NOT a Big Game Coach. I am still trying to figure out how he managed to beat Miami in 2001. My thoughts at this point are that Miami just wasn't that good, either. But my memory gets worse every year. One thing I noticed during this game was that as much as they tried, OSU simply wasn't able to adjust. LSU just kept coming after the Suckeyes, and the Suckeyes let 'em come. It was a game that was eerily similar to last year for the Suckeyes, scoring and taking an early lead only to watch as another SEC team took them to task. Now, I am not saying Michigan would have fared any better, but I do believe, that the team we watched on New Year's day play Florida in the Citrus Bowl would have beat OSU handily and may have been in a lot closer game against LSU...Dare I say, in fact, that our offense may have found some weaknesses in the LSU defense and exploited them, similar to what we did to Florida? Anyway, you have to beat the App States, Oregons, Wisconsins, and OSU's of the world to have a shot at the title....
So, why the late post? Because I have been so intrigued with Rodrigues and Michigan Football in the news on an almost daily basis. And I am not talking about local Detroit news. I am talking about ESPN first 15 minutes-half hour lead story type news. Let's run this down in case you haven't been keeping track.
Michigan Players Leave
First, Michigan loses Manningham, Arrington, and in what I think may be a blessing in disguise, Mallet. The first two hurt. I always hate to see receivers leave. I don't know why. I miss them more than I miss the running backs, Quarterbacks, o-line guys....I do miss Defensive stars, also...but receivers are different. I guess it has something to do with the fact that I can always remember some big play they made to beat somebody and when we're losing to that opponent, I remember back and think, "If we only had Braylon out there right now...." My comments to them are go forward and enjoy your Sundays. Thanks for everything you did for us and all the memories.
As far as Mallet goes, I am starting to think, "Good Riddance." Any moron who was at Michigan and got a new coach that was willing to come in and work with him in this offense, but decides instead to transfer to Arkansas with a new coach and an unknown system is
A. Not Too Bright
B. Listening to the wrong People
C. Has questionable decision making skills
D. Was never someone I wanted as a QB in the first place
E. All of the above.
The correct answer, in my opinion, is E. Mallet would have been a head case under Rich Rod and probably would have floundered in the Spread Option system. So, don't look at Mallet leaving, given the new coaching staff, as a great loss. I think we avoided another run of John Navarre like years. I could be wrong. The kid could go down to Arkansa and light up the SEC in 2009...But my guess is he gets lost in the shuffle down there. Time will tell.
Terelle Pryror
When, if ever, did Michigan care so much about a recruit that has NEVER played a down of Collegiate Football? I can't remember a time of seeing a high school kids name in the paper more than I have seen this kids. Maybe Henson's name was out there a bunch, again, my memory fades as I get older. But really. I expect this kid to ride the pine for a year, unless he can come in like Henne and show me that he has the talent to play. Let's maintain some semblance of Michigan here, people. We know that the latest flash in high school can sometimes come to Michigan and get eaten alive by the big show....
On to the Rich Rod Saga.
So far, the WVU elite and not so elite has accused Rodrigues of (in no particular order):
1. Shredding Top Secret, National Championship formula documents that included all of his "illegal" NCCA violations that were committed while at WVU.
2. Making "illegal" phone calls from his WVU cell phone to potential Michigan recruits after he quit WVU.
3. Making 112 calls to one specific number in Pennsylvania. (Turns out this was his message service.)
4. Not making good on the $4 million buy out that was in his contract.
5. Telling his WVU players via an assistant coach that he was leaving for Michigan.
6. Countless other crimes against humanity.....
Now, I could address these charges 1 by 1, and determine whether or not they are newsworthy at all. However, the news agencies have determined that they are becuase WVU officials are seeing to it and telling the news agencies that they are "Big ISSUES".
Look, I think we all know how we would feel, and by "we" I mean Michigan Fans, If Lloyd Carr at the end of last year after the Rose Bowl announced that instead of retiring, he was leaving to coach at, for lack of a better example, USC. We would have at first been shocked, then angry, then we would have talked about it on talk radio, on blogs, and in e-mail incessantly until there wasn't anything left to say, unless the University threw something new out there to talk about. "Lloyd Carr and Michigan Playbook Covers disappear on same weekend. Conincidence?" Or, "Lloyd made suspicious phone calls at his desk."
We would all be hopping mad, and spewing venom every time we saw him wearing the Maroon and Gold Colors on some news conference - which would be quite often, given the shock factor of Lloyd leaving for another Univeristy. So, I give the WVU people some slack...But come on, enough is enough already. It's been a month. You have a new coach. He won a big Bowl Game for you. Let it go, people....Let it go. OR start turning that venom towards the AD and the President of WVU who didn't do a better job of trying to keep Rich Rod from leaving.
That being said, it makes me wonder if Michigan is a permanent part of this rotating coaching show that takes place every December as part of the Collegiate Football Experience. I mean, Rich Rod left his alma mater for more money. Now there are schools in the SEC that now know that he will leave for a better offer. Don't think for a minute that some school like Tennessee or Kentucky wouldn't come after Rich Rod with another $1 million and tell him how great it would be to coach in the SEC....It's warm, nice climate, better athletes...We all know the drill and rhetoric by heart. And my guess is that South Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee will all be looking for coachese in 1 to 3 years. Don't think they won't hesitate to make a phone call to Rich Rod if he hasn't won here or even if he has won here...They won't care and neither will he...If the opportunity looks better, than you can believe that he will look at it...And we'll be saying all the same stuff about him that WVU is saying now.
So, keep the headlines and info handy....We might need it some day. But, only for 1 month. That's the limit on how long you get to bitch about someone leaving your school. Then it's time to get behind the new guy.
Newer readers to this post: Usually, between January and July, things are pretty slow. Last year, I did a write up on the NCAA tournament at the end, and I may give you my usualy satirish take on the results this year. But I hope to remain silent until that first pre-season issue of whatever rag comes out and has the pre-season rankings in it...That's when we'll get it going again. So, until then:
Adieu. (That's for the Cajun fans of LSU out there....)
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