Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press has two separate thoughts on Rich Rodriguez’s recent comments that Michigan fans should “Get a life.”
But I am of two minds on Rodriguez’s comments. On one level, he is absolutely correct. The venom that you find on blogs or on talk radio is beyond fandom. It comes from a darker place: Anger, frustration, jealousy spit out in almost murderous tones — all of it masked by a Web name so no one has to admit who he is or where you can find him.
After all, these are college kids. They don’t get paid; they are, in some cases, one year out of high school. Compared to real issues — the economy is just one — their losing games is minor. Rodriguez is right about that.
On the other hand, if things were going well, no amount of hype would be too much for Rodriguez. The bigger the hoopla, the higher the ratings, the more precious the tickets — the happier he would be. The same guy who is saying “look at the economy” wasn’t trying to keep football in perspective when he broke his contract with West Virginia and took a huge one in Ann Arbor, including millions the school had to pay to free him from his WVU obligations.
He came here fluffed with hype, a whiz kid set to turn around a solid but stodgy program and gun the motor to a national championship. Instead, he got a little drunk on his own reviews, took a few shots to the chin and the gut, and is staggering home as night falls. He says “get a life.” The fans say “get a team.” And all most people want is to get this season over with.
I think this season was good for Rich Rod. He got knocked on his ass for the first time in his career and now he realizes that he can’t plug just any player into his system and make it run like a corvette. And let’s be honest – he got what he deserved for leaving WVU in the lurch.
But all this will be moot in a couple of years. He still has plenty of recruiting power at Michigan and he’ll eventually land the quarterback he needs to run his spread option offense. The Wolverines will be relevant again, but it won’t be this weekend in Columbus.
