What ever happened to hating your rival?...
At his initial press conference, new Tennessee head coach Lane Kiffin basically called out the Florida Gators and said the Vols were going to beat them...Kiffin later got ripped by fans and media as being arrogant...what was Kiffin supposed to say - "I am going to bend over so Urban Meyer can drill us as he did Phil Fulmer the last so many years"?????...
During Lloyd Carr's tenure at Michigan I attended many Michigan-Ohio State games...my father and I would watch Carr and Jim Tressel stand on the field and talk during warm-ups...my dad would ask me, "what could those two be talking about" especially since Tressel was beating Carr on a regular basis...
I am not saying that coaches have to be unsportsmanlike, ala LeBron James walking off the court last season after the Cavaliers got beat by Orlando...but there seems to be too much nicey, nicey in college football...when playing your arch-rival, coaches should shake hands at midfield and wish each other and their opponent well and hope no one gets injured...that's all that needs to be said...
I could care less if the next coach at Michigan was an arrogant ass...look at some of the great football coaches - they were not Mr. Nice Guy - Bill Belichick, Vince Lombardi, and Bill Parcells to name a few...
I loved it when Jimmy Johnson was the head coach at The U and stuck it up Notre Dame's behind in Gerry Faust's last game...I also did not have a problem with Stanford's Jim Harbaugh going for two points against USC last week...Harbaugh was not going to bow down and kiss Pete Carroll's ring finger...instead Harbaugh basically flipped the middle finger at USC and made a statement that Stanford was not going to take it anymore...
Hopefully the next head coach at Michigan has some of the moxy and fire like Kiffin, Johnson, or Harbaugh because I am sick and tired of seeing Michigan coaches being all friendly with Tressel at midfield...Michigan should get the attitude of hating Ohio State - and it all starts with the head coach...
The second season of the Rich Rodriguez era is coming to a close with another thud...
Even if by some miracle the Wolverines beat Ohio State on Saturday, the State of the Michigan Football Program is not positive...Patience, patience, patience is what Rich Rod preaches every week to the loyal fan base...but how much more patience can the fans show...the immediate future does not look good...
Two months ago it looked like the Wolverines found their quarterback to run the spread offense in Tate Forcier...but as the season wore on, Forcier regressed to the point that there are internet rumors of him transferring...backup Denard Robinson is a raw talent who defenses know will run the ball every time he enters the game...Michigan has dual threat QB Devin Gardner, from Inkster, Michigan, on campus next year...Gardner has gone on record stating that he plans to win the starting QB job...
The running game will be led by Vincent Smith next season...Smith shows flashes of talent, but he lacks the ability to pound out the yards ala Anthony Thomas...all of Rich Rod's running backs are small and slight of foot...
The receiving corps has a plethora of average to above average kids who do not strike fear in opposing defenses...Roundtree, Odoms, Stonum, Koger are all nice players, but they are not threats...Rich Rod has yet to deliver with a big time college receiver like a Braylon Edwards, David Terrell, or Mario Manningham...
The offensive line lacks depth...proof of this is when center David Molk went down with a foot injury this season...the Wolverines lacked another center ready to step in...instead the offensive line was juggled and Steve Moosmann was forced into duty as the center...we all recall that was a disaster...
On defense - for crying out loud - blow it up!!!!!...Brandon Graham will be in the NFL next year...he was a freakin beast this season and deserves to be a first team All-American...
Other than Graham, the only other bright spots were CB Donovan Warren and DE/OLB Craig Roh...otherwise, this was the worst Michigan defense ever!!!...this unit bled points like blood coming from roadkill on the side of a freeway...
Stud freshman DT William Campbell was non-existent whenever he did make it on the field...Obi Ezeh will be back next season, but he has feet of stone...the cornerbacks have been toast all season...I cannot find any positives with this defense...
Overall, the defense cost Michigan at least 3 games this year...but that does not take the criticism off the offense...Michigan fans have been awaiting this scoring outburst from the spread offense...so far, we have all been disappointed...the offense has been unimpressive...there are no players who are threats...on Lloyd Carr's last team, the Wolverines had Manningham, Mike Hart, Adrian Arrington, and Chad Henne...these guys forced defenses to respect the Michigan offense...these guys could strike from anywhere on the field...now the Michigan offense is scattered with a bunch of average players who cannot take over a game...
There is no doubt Rich Rod will be back for his third season...with Athletic Director Bill Martin retiring, he will not pull the plug on his choice to lead the Michigan football program...Rich Rod needs to make changes on his staff, starting with showing defense coordinator Greg Robinson the door...
It is unacceptable for the Michigan football program to not make a bowl for two straight years...let it happen next year and for sure Rich Rod will be shown the door quickly...
1. Florida (10-0) - it wasn't easy, but the Gators survived in Columbia...
2. Texas (10-0) - to me, Colt McCoy is the leader for the Heisman...
3. Alabama (10-0) - the Tide defense has been solid...
4. TCU (10-0) - the Horned Frogs made a clear statement with their whoopin of Utah...
5. Cincinnati (10-0) - Pike is ready to take over the helm for Cinncy...
6. Boise State (10-0) - it looks like Boise is going to be left out of the BCS for the second straight year...
7. Georgia Tech (10-1) - no one is talking about the Jackets and their impressive season...Paul Johnson is the most under-rated coach in the nation...
8. Pitt (9-1) - the Panthers put the final spike in the Charlie Weis era at ND...
9. Ohio State (9-2) - less than a week away from their 6th straight win over Michigan...
10. LSU (8-2) - it wasn't pretty, but LSU won...
11. Iowa (8-2) - the Hawkeyes had numerous chances against Ohio State...but it wasn't meant to be...
12. Stanford (7-3) - this team smoked Oregon and USC in back-to-back weeks...they may have the best running back in the nation in Toby Gerhart...
13. Oregon (8-2) - a nice bounceback after getting booted by Stanford the week before...
14. Penn State (9-2) - another 10 win season is on the horizon for JoePa...but no BCS bowl...
15. Clemson (7-3) - the Tigers have quietly been winning games...
16. Wisconsin (8-2) - the Badgers have been under the radar all year...Eye Candy
Three of Alabama's best cheerleaders are stylin and profilin...
Jim Tressel was hired at Ohio State for one reason and one reason alone - to beat Michigan...he has achieved that with a 7-1 mark against the Wolverines...but Tressel has done even more than just defeat Michigan...he set the wheels in motion that helped destroy the once proud Michigan football program...
His beating of the Wolverines year-in and year-out led to the ouster of Lloyd Carr, a head coach who had a winning record over the Buckeyes until Tressel slithered into Columbus...Michigan's inability to beat Tressel led to Carr's demise and forced retirement...the football program went in a different direction by hiring Rich Rodriguez to implement the spread offense in Ann Arbor...the same spread offense that the Florida Gators ran when they pulverized Ohio State in the BCS title game a few years back...
Well, it hasn't happened in Michigan...not only has the offense been inconsistent, the defense has become putrid...Michigan is looking at two straight losing seasons for the first time since the early 1960s...
Tressel has also whooped Michigan on the recruiting front...the Wolverines have been unable to successfully recruit any of the top players from Ohio ever since Tressel became coach...every year Tressel locks up the top 3-5 football players from the state of Ohio...he also built a solid pipeline of talent from Cleveland Glenville...
Ohio State has been to three BCS title games...the Wolverines have yet to appear in one...Tressel has now taken Ohio State to six straight BCS games while Michigan is looking to extend its streak of non-bowl seasons with another losing season...
Ohio State gets the national spotlight with high profile regular season games against the likes of Texas, USC, and in the future Miami (Fla), Oklahoma, Virginia Tech, and Tennessee...the Wolverines only big non-conference game is against a lame Notre Dame football program which is also living off its once proud past...
When Tressel took over at Ohio State, Michigan was considered the best team in the Big Ten...and in less than 10 years, Tressel consistently smashed the once proud empire of the Maize and Blue and turned it into a pile of rubble...
Ohio State University got more than they expected from Tressel...under his reign they have a BCS championship, six Big Ten titles, and the crowning achievement of totally obliterating the Michigan football program...in Columbus, Tressel may never be considered as famous as Woody Hayes but he can claim to be the only one who destroyed Michigan football - something Woody could not achieve...
The only way Michigan can slow down this bleeding is by stepping up and making a statement on Saturday with a win...that would be their first positive step in a long time over Tressel...
What ever happened to hating your rival?...
