SportsMonday Column: Michigan fans have things to be thankful for
Nate Sandals
Daily Sports EditorNovember 30th, 2008
Just days removed from a 3-9 football season, a lot of Michigan fans may have been asking themselves what they had to be thankful for on Thanksgiving.
Not a trip to a bowl game played in warm weather over winter break. Not a win over Ohio State. Not a top-five recruiting class arriving on campus next summer.
But even though the football team may have left Michigan fans wanting more this fall, there is plenty to be thankful in the Michigan Athletic Department. Here are a few things that stick out as bright spots in an otherwise gloomy season for Michigan fans.
Rich Rodriguez’s friendship with Oklahoma offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson. For years, Wilson and his staff would visit Rodriguez and company during the offseason to talk about the spread offense and bounce ideas off each other. Last week, Rodriguez said he might return the favor with a trip to Norman this winter.
That sounds like a pretty good idea. The spread arrived in Ann Arbor this fall, but it never got going. Wilson, on the other hand, had plenty of success with the Sooners. Oklahoma has the nation’s top scoring offense, averaging over 53 points per game.
Michigan fans would be especially thankful if Rodriguez can find a way to fit some of those points in his carry-on bag on the flight back. The Wolverines scoring offense ranked 98th in the nation. Time to share the wealth, Mr. Wilson.
John Beilein’s commitment to his system. Not long ago, Michigan fans were worried about Beilein as much as they’re now worried about Rodriguez. In his first year in Ann Arbor, Beilein’s team lost 22 games, the most in program history.
Sound familiar?
Well, the difference between seasons one and two has been glaring. The Wolverines knocked off then-No. 4 UCLA two weeks ago and look like the up-and-coming team of the Big Ten. With a year under their belt, Beilein’s players have a better understanding of his system and their play has improved accordingly.
Also, the coach’s first recruiting class is already making an impact. Freshmen Stu Douglass and Zack Novak are seeing regular minutes and contributing on both ends of the floor.
Rodriguez bashers should take note, and don’t be surprised if the football squad makes a similar jump next year.
Notre Dame and Charlie Weis falling flat on their faces. Admit it, you take pleasure in the suffering of others and the schadenfreude has set in for Michigan fans eying South Bend.
After starting the season 4-1, the Fighting Irish have lost five of their last seven games, including a home loss to Syracuse on Senior Day. To top it all off, Notre Dame students pelting their own team with snowballs at the end of the game.
The Fighting Irish followed that up with a season-ending blowout loss at Southern Cal. The Jimmy Clausen-led offense didn’t get a first down until the last play of the third quarter. Michigan wasn’t even that bad this season.
Enjoy watching the Notre Dame administration squirm trying to find a way out of the 10-year extension they gave Weis seven games into his first season.
Barack Obama pushing for a college football playoff. It’s time for change to come to the Division-I college football postseason — change we can believe in.
There’s madness in the Big 12 South, where Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech finished with identical records. But the Sooners getting a spot in the conference championship game because they had the highest BCS ranking is just about the last straw. Texas gets left out, despite beating Oklahoma head-to-head on a neutral field.
And it's possible there will be even more controversy. Say Oklahoma loses to Missouri on Saturday, if things break right, the idle Longhorns could make the BCS Championship Game. How do you play for the national title without even winning your division, let alone your conference?
Obama is not the first to call for an eight-team playoff, but he’s the most powerful. The beauty of a playoff for Michigan fans: the annual loss to Ohio State won’t dash all hopes for a national title, so long as the Wolverines are 11-0 heading into "The Game."
Of course, it’s important to be thankful for our health, our friends and family and all that other good stuff. But for Michigan sports fans this year, a little digging was required.
—Sandals can be reached at nsandals@umich.edu.
Printed from www.michigandaily.com on Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:41:19 -0500