Sometimes, I
get a little “Jump” on the Monday morning posts, and I had originally wrote
this first paragraph sometime last week…
In case you haven’t seen
it, on the sidebar is a heading with the title of “The Case Against Dave
BranDictator”. It has a collection of
links to the blunders of this particular individual (though he refers to them as
unquestionable “successes”) while at Michigan.
I am in search of any issues the general readers of this fine blog may
un-earth and feel free to send those in.
I’m really searching for photos of BranDictator in compromising
positions….naked, preferably….with farm animals…and farm instruments…and
anything else you can find…
However…There
is now a very large elephant in the room.
A Big One. One that forces me to
forego the witty and humorous part of the Monday Morning prose and deal with an
issue head-on. One that may force me to
take back the words, “It accomplishes nothing when you fire a coach mid-season.” Well, there is now a situation that has
forced a decision on Hoke that must be made immediately. And by making it immediately, well…something
may be salvaged.
When the NBC Sunday Night news, the Today Show
When the NBC Sunday Night news, the Today Show
and Good
Morning America are all leading with the Shane Morris “Incident” over ISIS, the
Middle East, Obama, and the economy, as a blogger that focuses on Michigan
Athletics, primarily Football, I’m left with no choice but to follow that lead. A special hat tip to mgoblog for pulling out the link. If you didn’t see it, here it
is.
I didn’t see
the hit. I was sitting in the stadium
and I had taken to reviewing all the social media at that point and was
responding to the myriad of texts I had received, disgusted with what I was
watching on the field. But I did hear
the crowd’s reaction, the booing (which, WHERE THE F!@#$ IS A FLAG REF!!!)
and looked up to see Morris on the ground getting up shaky and I asked my
daughter what happened. She said that a
Minnesota player had hit Morris right in the head. I looked for flags and didn’t see any. I figure it was just a clean hit that looked
bad and got everyone’s attention. I
thought it was clean due to the fact that officials are so zoned in on the targeting
issue in College Football.
It wasn’t
until I saw the replay much later that evening that I was more shocked that a
flag hadn’t been thrown. Insert any of
the numerous MMQ referee rants here, please.
And then I was even more surprised that Morris was still in the game
after what was so obvious to me: His
bell had been rung. And college
rules specifically state you need to be evaluated in the event that you suspect
there may be a concussion. Hoke “claims”
he never saw it. There’s a shot where
Coach Nussmeier can be seen trying to tell Morris to lay down so they could get
an official’s time out and not waste a Michigan TO.
Hoke stated
in the presser that he didn’t see the hit.
How is that possible?
Are you not watching the game?
70,000 or so fans that were left in the stadium saw it. MY DAUGHTER SAW IT. The fans booed because there was no flag and
probably because poor Shane was wondering what state he was in. No headset means Hoke couldn’t ask any of the
assistants what happened. That’s
BS.
Now, you have
a statement released by the AD last night that makes Dave Brandon complicit in
this entire thing (and equally responsible, in my mind):
Tell me that
doesn’t look like something written by a lawyer.
The Michigan Daily nailed it, stating that Hoke needs to be fired immediately for his gross
negligence. I have to say that, based on
what we’ve seen, I can’t disagree.
Forget whether or not Shane actually suffered from a concussion. HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN IMMEDIATELY EVALUATED
FOR A CONCUSSION AND REMOVED FROM THE FIELD OF PLAY BY THE COACHING STAFF!
It’s this
loss of protocol for safety alone that Hoke should be terminated and all the
other coaches reprimanded.
I can only
imagine what the parents of any future Michigan recruit are thinking right
now: Not only can’t this guy seem to be
able to coach right at this moment, but he doesn’t care about the safety of his
players. Dave Brandon doesn’t care about it either as
the CORRECT
ACTION on Sunday would have been to make the only decision that can be
made at this point: You need to release
Brady Hoke. Instead, the statement comes out....a cowardly move by an Athletic Department that's too afraid of doing the right thing...and it may not even know what the right thing is at this point.
Which makes
Brandon as guilty as Hoke in all of this.
I can’t help
but wonder if Brandon is looking at Brady’s contract figuring whether or not he
can manage a $1 Million shit-storm that has erupted around his football coach. You see, if BranDictator fires Brady today,
his buy-out is $3 Million. After January
1st, 2015, it’s $2 Million.
So, for Dave ”Diamond Jim” BranDictator, there’s some money to be saved
in this whole thing….And don’t think that doesn’t matter to BranDictator…
I would like
you all to recall the actions of Joe Roberson and Gary Moeller after the
incident that took place in 1995. It was
May, classes had wrapped up, and Head Coach Moeller went to dinner with some
friends. Due to unconfirmed
circumstances, he got very drunk and was arrested for disorderly conduct and
shoving a police officer. Roberson didn’t
respond immediately. But I’m sure he
gave Moeller two options. Roberson could
address it or Moeller could resign. Moeller,
with Michigan’s integrity in mind, took the high road and stepped down,
leaving the integrity of Michigan in place.
I’m not saying the two events are in any way comparable – but I think we
need to look at them in context. Moeller’s
was a question of image…This is a question of safety and responsibility to the
players.
This particular
event has destroyed the last shred of Michigan integrity that was left. Forget the 2-3 record and the fact
that Michigan has never lost 3 games in September. President Mark Schlissel, still in his 1st
50 days of presiding over Michigan, needs to involve himself in the recent
actions of the Athletic Department IMMEDIATELY. If for no other reason than to show that
someone, ANYONE, somewhere in this University still has some
semblance of control and concern for what the University of Michigan
represents.
The Daily got
it right.
Something
needs to be done. Today. Not tomorrow.
Not after the season to “evaluate Hoke’s performance”. Today.
And it needs to be a complete review of the entire Athletic Department that
reaches all the way up to David BranDictator.
And it’s fairly obvious, at least to this fan, what needs to happen.
Unfortunately,
that probably isn’t going to happen. As
was mentioned by one of the Crew at the Tailgate in the post-mortem, “Follow
The Money.” Super- Donor Stephen
Ross will see to it that BranDictator’s Bacon is saved in this entire
mess. And SI’ Andy Staples also believesthat if you follow the money, and that money is coming in from Ross due to the
fact that Brandon is there.
That was
before Sunday, mind you. Even President
Schlissel probably won’t have the cajones to stand up to BranDictator and throw
away any future donations that might be forthcoming.
And that’s sad….
But the
question of whether or not Brady Hoke should still be at Michigan should not
linger. Not unless the University wants
to kiss the entire future of the football program and any promising recruits
good-bye. It’s a question of integrity. I’m not entirely sure how Brady himself can’t
look at the job he’s done up to this point and wonder how he’s going to be successful
moving forward and retaining recruits.
Without the recruits…there’s no success.
The students
and the fans that were left in the 4th quarter got it right with
their chants.
“Fire Brandon.”
I don’t see
how there’s any other way out of this at this point in time. Both Brandon and Hoke have gone too far
down the rabbit hole to weather this storm. They both need to go.
Brian Cook at
mgoblog.com has started a #boycottmaryland effort and
while I agree that’s one thing we could do (I did the same when Michigan played
Delaware a few years back when Bill Martin was AD), it’s really unfair to the
players. But, maybe we all need to
consider doing something to make our voices heard. For what it’s worth, neither my daughters or
I bought concessions at the Minnesota game.
Not one extra cent from me will go to this university until something changes. And it may mean the future of my season
tickets as well. Hell, they only cost a
Coke if we all stop buying them!
It was
mentioned by another one of the crew after the game that he was afraid that one
day he was going to open the link I send out and he was simply going to see the
statement, “F!#$@% IT! I Quit!” And believe me, there have been MANY, MANY TIMES over the last few years
where I’ve thought about it. Lingered
over it. Sat at the keyboard when the
words just wouldn’t leave the fingertips.
Times when I’ve decided that, “This is it. No one reads this crap and even less people
care that do read it.” But then I think
about how in the world would I deal with ALL OF THIS and, believe it or not,
this is my way of coping.
this is my way of coping.
I mean….You can’t
drink 24/7.
I guess I look at it as a way for all of us to come together and know that
IT'S NOT
US…IT’S NOT OUR FAULT.
Right now, this
is the fault of two people and I will continue to post as long as it
takes. And then, it’ll be someone else’s
turn to keep watch. Because it may take
a lifetime….
But no, I’m
not going anywhere..Not yet.
The Rest of the Mess
Sparty rode
over Wyoming in convincing fashion and not only are they enjoying a 1 loss
season, but their most hated rival is in bigger dis-array than ever
before. But, to all the HATERZ….Please
keep in mind that College Football is better when Michigan is better. And the B1G gets a lot more respect when the
Big Boys of the B1G are better. I don’t
think you want to stay on your mantra of Michigan losing every game and how
wonderful that would be…that makes any chance of Sparty getting to the Final 4
that much harder.
Cincinnati losing to ohio....Same goes for you...Hatin' is as hatin' does...
The Hogs
should have beat Texas A&M. The MMQ’s
Final 4 will reflect that, but I still think A&M is one of the top 4 teams
in the country.
The Seminoles
also looked a little shaky against the Wolfpack but managed to come back and
win the game. Yeah, it wasn’t glamorous…and
until they lose, FSU has to be in the FF.
Nebraska continues
to roll and is sitting at 5-0 with a trip to East Lansing coming. They will be tested by Sparty…
The 5 Stages of
Slappy Fan Grief
- Denial and Isolation: Gamecocks are probably here…But I don’t
know how they can’t be down in the depression area when the Ole Ball Coach
is pretty much there….
- ANGER: MICHIGAN FAN….’nuff said….
- Bargaining: Texas A&M is probably here after a last second
victory….
- Depression: I’m going to put Razorbacks here because, damn…they
were so close….
- Acceptance: Perdon’t, Iowa, Northwestern, Michigan, and Kansas…
The MMQ’s Top 10
Definitely a
couple of stunners over the weekend. And
one impacting the top 4:
- Oklahoma – Just cause….
- FSU- they are not number 1, but
still get a seat at the FF table…
- Oregon – Mariota for Heismann…Just
cause…
- Texas A&M – is the team with the lowest
percentage to hang in the top 4
- Satan’s Warriors – looking better all the time…can
they survive the SEC West?
- Sparty – we have to keep them in the
Top 10 or there’s no shot at the FF.
- Baylor – It’ll be one of these two coming out of the
BigXII
- UCLA – It’s been ugly…I’m not sure how good the
Pac12 is now..
- Auburn
- This hurts…domers
Idle Thoughts From Saturday
-Why do I
have a bad feeling?
-Like we’re
going to lose the Jug?
-I’ve seen it
lost twice on this field.
-And I didn’t
like it – either time.
-Okay…The
Shane Morris Show begins…
-Oh man…it’s
worse than I thought.
-And I was
thinking pretty bad.
-Is there
anyone on this team that wants it bad enough to play with some heart?
-Less than
100 total yards and it’s nearly half time?
-This sucks….
-Great, pick
6. This game is over…
-What just
happened?
-Well, the
hit couldn’t have been that bad. No Flag…
-Gardner in…Hey,
he put together a drive!
-Maybe he
should have started?
-WHY AREN’T
YOU GOING FOR 2???
-HOKE!!! You’re
three scores down!
-Can’t anyone
manage a game on this team?
-We suck…that’s
all there is to it.
-Winning 6
games…Close to impossible now, odds wise.
-It’s gonna
be a long season.
-“Fire
Brandon!” Chants from the Student Section…
-Way to go,
guys!
-Morris off
on a golf cart…
-Hoke leaving
the field with 0:30 on the clock..
-How much
worse can it get?
The Hot Seat
Hannah
Furgeson edged out last week’s winner, Genevieve by one vote, putting her into
the finals. This week, the Hot Seat
Mascot nominee is: Lauren Mellor! You know…you’d think those SI guys would find
swim suits that actually fit these poor girls!
GONE LIST:
- Weis – I didn’t even get to mention this because of the shenanigans in Ann Arbor.
Hot Seat Rank
Brady
Hoke – It’s a foregone conclusion…
- Will Muschamp:
Was not competitive against Bama…
- Hazell: At
least Purdue scored against the domers….
- Beckman: He’s
got problems….
- Norm Chow:
Hawaii. The Rainbows haven’t
mattered in a while.and that’s a fan base that cares.
- Mike London:
Needs wins…
FMQ
I won’t have
a chance to up date the FMQ today. I will post an update mid week with the FMQ
results.
Thanks for
your patience!
4 comments:
From the Desk of the original M Superfan:
Prior to penning this statement I logged on to MGOBLUE to see if Hoke had done the right thing, but alas....NO. So, whereas it is a fact that Hoke's best season was thanks to Rich Rodreguez's team; whereas the performance of M football has declined in almost a game by game linear fashion (factoring in the quality of the competition); whereas the more time the players spend on his team the worse they perform; I plead for the immediate dismissal of Brady Hoke. In fact, if he had any character and truly loved M football he would resign and apologize for what he has done to the program.
In the meantime, the degradation to our Great traditions MUST be stopped NOW! Therefore I submit that the use of the Winged helmet be banned until the team wins 3 consecutive games by 8 points or more unless one of those victories is over a top 15 team. I also submit that this team is making an absolute mockery of The Victors. Thus, The Victors should only be played at the conclusion of a victory until a reasonable level of competitiveness is achieved (3 wins as above). Until then, the band should revert to what was used prior to Elbel's inspiration. If the football team wants to hear The Victors, let them earn it, or they can attend a basketball or Hockey game:)
Hey M ticket holders; you should have all immediately departed as soon as the debacle at the end of the 3rd quarter occurred. That stadium should have been devoid of M fans with 15:00 to go; what a powerful statement that would have been.
I am neither disloyal, nor a fair weather fan, but neither am I a CHUMP! At this point, I submit that the disloyalty is on the part of brandone and hokei, as their massive incompetence is destroying M football.
P.S. The temporary helmet must be something so bland and ugly that no one would every want to keep it. There must be no way to interpret the helmet change as some sort of Oregon-like styling exercise.
Good suggestions M Superfan!
Regarding Morris and the hit he took. In a day and time when junior high girls softball coaches are mandated to take concussion awareness classes it is completely unacceptable to take the medical staff cop out that Hoke and Brandone both are hiding behind. The entire staff should feel shame with that incident. With the extensive staff they have in the pressbox and on the sideslines multiple people must have seen the hit and saw the way Morris looked after the hit. This should have sent red flags and alarm bells through the staff and the communication should have been made to Nussmeier and Hoke and who ever else that the kid needed to come out for evaluation. I can see a high school coach loosing his job over such a mishandling of that type of incident let alone someone getting paid $4 million a year. This is all tied to the headset issue, the guy is not in the loop with what is going on during the game and he is certainly not in control. He just is being paid $4 million a year to cheerlead on the sidelines and have the best "seat" in the house.
You play like you practice - I can not help but think about all the past Michigan football players who tell the stories about how hard practices where under Bo, Moeller, Loyyd etc. Gameday was a relief and break from practice. I would define that as being prepared enough or even over prepared (if there is such a thing). Whe you are prepared thoroughly test day or game day is easy and you hang 49 on Minnesota.
I seriously doubt the current players could tell such stories with a straight face.
So are these coaches seeing great State Street play at 3/4 speed? Too much #1 vs #2&3s? Are recievers getting separation on State Street? Are you running the ball on State Street? Too much conern about injries on State St.?
I believe they need to practice everyday like its OSU lining up accross from them and pound on each other some more. Because what they are bringing over to Main Street is not even close to what they need to bring.
G-Money and Super Fan - Both great comments. This is not the Michigan I know and it makes my stomach hurt (literally) to watch these events un-fold the way they are.
@ Super Fan: I think this #boycottmaryland effort is going to catch on and I am certainly considering either going in for the Band and to recognize the Seniors and then....walking out.
@ G-Money: Yes... I had to go through concussion training and the head set thing has gone way past what any rational human being would do at this point. Put them on if for no other reason than to get everyone to shut up about it.
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