Agenda?

From AnnArbor.com yesterday...

Instead, compliance office administrators spent more than a year-and-a-half cajoling football administrators to turn in the Countable Athletically Related Activities forms, but never copied Rodriguez on the e-mails.

With the university and Rodriguez headed to Seattle for meetings Friday and Saturday to defend themselves against allegations they broke five NCAA major rules, there are still no answers about exactly why the compliance office never told Rodriguez about the missing forms.

He'll Walk

Rich Rodriguez has a strict policy that he will only talk about players that play for Michigan.  He never commented on Terrell Pryor.  He didn't discuss Mallet's departure.

The exception to this rule is Brock Mealer.

Brother of Elliott Mealer, he was paralyzed from the waist down in a car crash.  That crash resulted in the tragic death of Elliott's and Brock's father and Elliot's girlfriend.

I've personally talked about this several times, but it is definitely a story that has flown under the radar locally despite it's appearance nationally on E:60 a while back.  Today, the Angel updates the inspiring story in the Detroit News.  This kid from Columbus is going to lead the 2010 edition of the Wolverines on to the field on September 4th...because of Rich Rodriguez and his staff.

"He'll walk," Barwis said firmly as a statement of fact, not as a hope or dream.

There was no agenda here.  This happened right when he got hired.  This isn't snake oil or a publicity stunt.  This is a good guy folks.

Let's Settle That '97 Thing...Over and Over and Over

News comes at you pretty fast these days.  Remember when you returned home from a day at the office, flipped on the 6pm Sportscenter, and got an update on the days events in the world of sports?  Not so much anymore.  The deuche with the Michigan State pennant push-pinned to his cubicle wall likes to artfully time his stride to catch you on the way to the shitter, just to let you know that he heard Tom Izzo talked to Judd Heathcote and he told Judd he's not making any decisions until he finds out if LeBron is going to stay in Cleveland.  Guess what fuckstick?  I've got a smartphone too.  Oh, and all the computers here have internet access.  Also, I don't give a shit.  I mean, of course I'd like to see Tom Izzo to go to Cleveland, both because I think he would poop the bed in the NBA, and because I love to see coaches leave Michigan State.  Michigan State is not a destination...it's a layover.  Nobody is looking to reach the pinnacle of their career at Michigan State.  Plus, I would just LOVE to see the reaction over there in Little Brother Land.

Anyway, I was talking about news, and how fast it is...like Demar Dorsey fast.  I wish we could see how fast that is in Maize and Blue.  Alas, all of our arguments on whether we should have offered Demar a scholarship were just a giant waste of time.  I can't help but be a little bit concerned about how this all transpired, it makes us look a bit Notre Dame-ish.  But hey, if we've got some kind of standards, and those standards are used across the board, then I guess this is the right thing to do.  Right for who?  I'm not sure.  It's a losing situation for a kid trying to turn his life around, it's a losing situation for the football team's secondary, it's a losing situation for football recruiting since we come off as elitist...but it's a win for, um, academic integrity.  So there's that.  I just wish this didn't come off as another instance of poor communication with Rich Rod.  He's gotta feel like he's got a bit of egg on his face yet again.

And ya, it's been a while since I've written a post.  It's been a long strange journey of logo infractions and front page viruses and what-not here at UMTailgate.com.  There's also been some massive outbreaks of blog laziness with a side of indifference.  Because as each day passes, it seems as if there is something new and disappointing.  Something anti-Rod, or at least something quirky and Rod-related.  A bad story here,a stupid poll there.  These things have to be building up over at casa de Rodriguez.  Long story short, though I so desperately want him to be, I don't think Rich Rodriguez is going to be the coach here by the time we get around to playing Nebraska in-conference.  Which means before long, we will go back to being slow, methodical, and predictable.  I hope I'm wrong.

Speaking of Nebraska, I google-mapped the route from Ann Arbor to Lincoln, and it's like 750 miles.  That's the Metrodome plus 100 miles.  So if the rumors are indeed true, it looks like we've definitely got a destination we're going to need to fly to.  Though I'm not 100% confident in the validity of the news that the Cornhuskers are joining us, I am 100% fired up at the prospect of something different.  And if it turns out to be true, I hope that isn't the end of it.  12 is cool, but 16 is better, so let's get Mizzou and ND in here, and let's not give up on that Texas-Texas Tech combo.  Blow the whole thing up.

Rich Rodriguez: Michigan Man

​The Victors Rally: A Celebration of Michigan Football took place on Sunday at the Michigan Theater.  Speaking on behalf of the current regime were Larry Foote, Gary Moeller, Jim Brandstatter, and Jerry Hanlon...among others.  Last year we were "All-In," so I guess that makes this year "The Re-Buy."  And while it may seem way too early to talk about the hot seat, and what it's going to take for Coach to stay or go, it's important to realize we're 6 weeks away from spring practice...and less than two months away from the April 17th Spring Game (which is slated to also be the UMTailgate.com spring reunion).

Anyway, the reason I'm mentioning all of this is because I am still behind Coach.  Some of you are too, and some of you are not.  I'm not judging.  I don't make the rules for Michigan fandom.  It's just that between the options of Les Miles, Ron English, Jim Harbaugh and Rich Rodriguez...I'll take Rodriguez every time.  So I hope and pray that things will turn around, under THIS regime, and soon.  So I give you this video of Coach's speech from the rally...  Still emotional.  Still committed.  Desperately trying to become a Michigan Man:

Building A Bigger Wall

​I thought this would have picked up a little more steam throughout the day after it appeared in the Freep and on AA.com.  This is a tough one.  I mean, Braylon was that feel good story, an under-recruited legacy who came out of the dog house and into the #1 jersey...and he single handedly led the Wolverines back from 17 down with 7 minutes to play against Michigan Agricultural College, making keepsake poster moments out of every Spartan defensive back.  Post graduation, he has given back to Michigan, donating money and establishing a scholarship fund.  It's tough, really tough, not to like Braylon for what he did, and what he continues to do for Michigan.  Quite frankly, I love Braylon Edwards.  But I grew up loving Jim Harbaugh too.

On Sunday, Braylon used Sunday Night Football to perpetuate the growing rift between Ann Arbor's pro-Carr and pro-Rodriguez camps, announcing himself as Braylon Edwards from "Lloyd Carr's University of Michigan."  I'm certain that in the coming days, Braylon will spin it as not anti-Rodriguez, just pro-Lloyd.  His dad already made an attempt this afternoon to cover his son's tracks on WTKA, saying that Braylon works with players in the off-season and generally likes Rodriguez.  Already feels a bit like that asshole that tells a racist joke, then tells you "some of my best friends are black."  Ya, Braylon is a regular Dr. Watley.  And I can assure you, this isn't the first time that Stan Edwards has had to make a WTKA appearance to clean up a mess.  I can clearly remember him brokering peace between Braylon and Lloyd on the same airways in Braylon's dog house days, telling us all how "misunderstood" Braylon was.

Honestly though, I'm not here to tell Braylon that he needs to like Rodriguez.  I'm also not here to tell him to hate Lloyd Carr.  I'm just asking him to like Michigan.  What he did on Sunday was counterproductive, immature, and detrimental to Michigan.  We've got signing day coming up in a month and one of our supposed ambassadors is basically talking shit about the current coach on national television.  Think that sits well with our verbals?  Liking Michigan means you can honor your mentor, and at the same time respect the current coach.  I don't know at what point Lloyd Carr and Rich Rodriguez became rivals, became something you have to choose between.  Lloyd Carr and Rich Rodriguez are not mutually exclusive.  Lloyd Carr was not fired.  Lloyd Carr was not forced out.  Lloyd Carr retired, of his own volition, and while he tried hard to create a Bo-like legacy of coaches to follow in his footsteps, he couldn't pull it off.  App State happened.  We moved on.  We're trying something new.

This is bigger than you Braylon, which is probably the most difficult thing for you to handle.  Bigger than you, and bigger than Lloyd.  This is not, never was, and never will be Lloyd Carr's University of Michigan, nor will it be Rich Rodriguez's University of Michigan.  Not to go all "Ohio State" on you, but this is THE University of Michigan, that's where you're from.

I'd appreciate it if you started acting like it.

UPDATE:  Like I said, the spin was coming...