Adding more underachieving elements to your life isnāt the answer. The odds of getting your cactus to win you a championship are poor. Same with the goldfish. Try as it might, thereās some Texas Tech fan out there with a superior goldfish. Cut your losses and stick with following this basketball team, despite its obvious flaws and its unwillingness to deliver the national championship we as fans deserve.
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I feel sorry for you that your happiness is so heavily dependent on college sports.
Iām just going to leave this here. Itās really long, but some of you have come to expect that of me. It is not critical of anyone. If anything itās a testament to our program through the years.
I appreciate, Slytherin, that you are a huge Michigan fan, and that you love Michigan Basketball. I appreciate and, frankly, envy you that you have the opportunity to be a season ticket holder for Michigan basketball. Thank you for your support of Michigan Athletics and of our sports programs.
Having said that, Iāve been following Michigan Basketball since the early sixties when Dave Strack came to AA. Strack turned Michiganās basketball program around. I personally had the great privilege of watching Cazzie Russell and Bill Buntin, and their teammates Oliver Darden and Larry Tregoning, though not often as very few games were televised back then. But I DID see them play in person a few times and more than a few times on TV.
Coach Strack led the Wolverines to three consecutive Big Ten Championships, a Final Four appearance in 1964 and the NCAA National Final game in 1965 where they lost to UCLA. We had wonderful players, a great coach, and tremendous success. I was just growing up, a high school kid, I graduated in '65, and I was falling in loveā¦falling in love with Michigan Basketball. It was an absolute joy to be a Wolverine during those glory years.
Thatās how I remember those years, as glory years, as being so excited to be a fan of Michigan Basketball, of the joy that I felt being a fan. That 1964-65 team lost to a great UCLA team who won their second of ten national championships that year. We lost to a coach who would become legendary and a team that was building a dynasty.
Great memories, but I donāt remember much about the loss to Loyola in 1964, though the game was certainly memorable. Look it up for yourself. And the 1965 game, as an 18 year old Michigan fan, I was crushed and disappointed at our loss. Today I am just so proud to have been a fan, to remember the FEELING I had going into that game, to look back and say, I was a Michigan man.
Over the decades that Iāve been a devout fan of Michigan Basketball Iāve seen good times and bad. The ride to the 1989 Championship was magical. I went to a lot of games that season. I had a former player whose dad had season tickets literally at midcourt, about 15 rows up, lower bowl, and he gave me his tickets whenever I wanted them. He was a huge Michigan booster but not a basketball fan. He was also one of the most influential members of the country club at which I was the privilege of being assistant pro. So my son and I, sometimes friends of my son, too, saw some great basketball that year. And THEN, the National Championship year in 1989! Oh my goodness, it was GREAT to be a Michigan Wolverine, to borrow a phrase.
Glen Rice, Terry Mills, Rumeal Robinson, Loy Vaught, Mark Hughes, Sean Higgins, Mike Griffin, what a team! Rob Pelinka was on that team, too. Wow! And weād wait in the tunnel after the games and my son got autographs just like he had gotten the autographs in the years before of Gary Grant and Garde Thompson, all heroes to a young boy Special times for a dad and a son!
I also suffered through the depths of depression during the scandal years, the abyss. It had been so fun and exciting during the Fab Five years, but it all came crashing down. As Michigan fans we had to painfully endure that. That, too, was crushing. And it lasted a LONG time.
I went through the painful Brian Ellerbe years, and I was there for all six years of Tommy Amaker, not just that 22-13 NIT early exit disappointment year that you āexperienced.ā I thought Tommy would be our savior, that heād lead us back to the promised land, but he didnāt. I did admire Tommy, though. He brought dignity and respect back to Michigan. And his firing led to the hiring of John Beilein. And now a glorius new era has begun and we are in the midst of it.
Why am I saying all of this? Because I think 30 years from now, hopefully even in ten years, you WILL look back and have great memories of this basketball team and these players, these wonderful, exceptional young men, who don our uniform and play their hearts out for Michigan. I hope youāll have memories of these terrific young men who represent our university so well and with so much class. We are in the midst of a great run in Michigan Basketball led by John Beilein. I hope youāll remember X and Charles and Iggy, and Isaiah and JP and John Teske, āSleep.ā At least I sincerely hope you do. And I hope those memories give you great joy and pride, as my memories of Michigan Basketball have for me. Those times may not, probably wonāt, last forever.
Itās only been a few days now since that lost to TT, and htough disappointed in the loss, I already have great memories of this team. And I have memories of over fifty years ago, too, of the sixties, and of that young lad who fell in love with, and grew up with Michigan Basketball, and of everything it means to me, raising my son to love Michigan basketball, being with him at Crisler, and of how much THESE kids and THIS coach mean to me. I hope you can cherish these times. I know I do. These are GOOD times to be a Michigan Basketball fan. I wish you well my friend, my fellow MICHIGAN fan! Go Blue!!!
Sorry to all who took the time to read this, for the length of it, but I hope it had some meaning for you, from a little old Silver haired Michigan man and former basketball coach, dad, and lover of Michigan Basketball.
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Love this. We DO have wonderful young men in our program. EVERY ONE of them. I can only say, as a long time former basketball coach, if my son had the talent to play at this level Michigan is where I would want him to be. Thanks for positing this! Go Blue!!!
2017 really stung bad. They might have been playing better than anyone at the end of the season and had so much offensive firepower. At their peak, that might have been JBās 2nd best team (2013 was probably better).
Weird year because they were mediocre for so long that year and then just exploded.
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Hey Silverblue,
I really appreciate having you on this forum. Thanks for continually finding ways to make all posters and their differing points of view feel like they belong here. There are a lot of viewpoints I disagree with, but I like reading them. Sometimes they even change my perspective. It is the diversity of the people on this forum and their relative respect for each otherās opinions that makes it truly special.
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Absolutely the best forum out there. I really do respect everyone on here. I have occasionally been a little snarly, but sometimes thatās when Iām just being overly sensitive. This is a great place to be for a Michigan fan with VERY knowledgeable input no silliness like some forums!
And THANKS for your comment! I appreciate it! Go Blue!!!
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Some of you are pretty rude. God forbid that we donāt all agree on stuff! Some of us are disappointed with how this season ended. It leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Some of you prefer to always be the āsky is blueā with this team. We should all be able to get along. When your team starts 17-0 and was ranked #2, and then proceeds to blow 3 second half leads against your main rival, thatās tough. And then barely scores 40 in the Sweet 16? But no, some of you need to bring out the āmgoblueā card and āarticulateā why people are wrong. What the hell.
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We can disagree, but calling the season an āabject failureā when your reasoning literally contradicts itself in both directions is simply a bad take. I meanā¦isnāt your post āarticulatingā why my post was wrong? What the hell.
Iād rather be rude to people who act like our players are there to serve them and fulfill their psychological need to attach to a winner. People who say inflammatory stuff that our playersā parents feel the need to respond to like this:
Iād rather be rude to people who think our players somehow wronged them, when in fact our players have given everything they have to this program we love and are hurting more than they even realize.
These are kids giving their best. Itās not the āmgoblueā cardā¦itās the human card.
So, to be clear, you called our season ātoughā. I agree. I would also agree with the sentiment that we didnāt accomplish our main goals. Using words like āabject failureā crosses a line (based on the associated connotations for the parents and players per those tweets above) that I, for one, am going to defend.
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It wasnāt a bad take. Your articulating failed to prove that, IMO.
If you canāt see the inherent contradictions, I canāt help you.
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We need to stay strong and remain together during this difficult time period. This too shall pass. Look at the big picture and the grander perspective. These kids screwed us over but thereās always next year.
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I hope thatās a joke! If soā¦itās a good one.
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I didnāt ask for, nor do I need your āhelpā.
I guess the good times are over 
So calling the players on the team stupid is okay, but defending the team isnāt. Makes sense.
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Iām on the side of āpeople who deem this a failure are nutsā, but to be fair, he is calling Pooleās decision stupid, not Poole. And I think many can agree that Poole, who is not stupid, can do some some ill-advises things.
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Texas Tech is a very seasoned team. 4 of their rotational players are older than anyone on Mās team.
Matt Mooney 24
Brandon Francis 23
Tariq Owens 23
Davide Moretti 21
Norese Odiase 23
Jarrett Culver 20
Kyler Edwards 19
Deshawn Corprew 21
Charles Matthews 22
Jordan Poole 19
Xavier Simpson 22
Isaiah Livers 20
Ignas Brazdeikis 20
Jon Teske 21
Eli Brooks 20
Colin Castleton 18
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First post here in a very long time, but have been a long time reader and started subscribing this year, which I will continue to do. Dylan, your coverage is absolutely top notch. Just wanted to thank you for the hard work you put in. And I will be really honest, if you decided to up the cost, I would pay it.
I had to take a few days to step away. Thursday was tough. With that being said, I remember being in the Maize Rage in Amakerās Final year and watching us lose to OSU and feeling absolutely dejected. As me and my buddies headed home from that game we legitimately questioned whether or not we would ever watch Michigan get to the Tourney. Times have changed. We no longer are begging for NCAA tourney spots, we are disappointed with 30 win, sweet 16 years.
All I have to say is thank you, Beilein. 10+ years ago we were a below average B1G program at best, we are now the standard in the B1G, a top 10 program nationally, maybe top 5, and as far as I can tell, thatās not changing anytime soon.
Go Blue.
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Wow, why do they have so many older players? Transfers? Religious missions?
Mooney and Owens are fifth year seniors on their third school.
Moretti is old for his class
They have another fifth year senior for whom TTU is his second school
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