I’m reluctant to post on this thread because it a football thread on a basketball forum, but here it goes.
I just read Ace’s report of the game on another blog and I’ve read lots of comments about yesterday’s game from a variety of sources, those that are published in some way and those that are just the opinions of friends and acquaintances.
I am struck by how entitled we seem to be as fans, not just in this but so often. Ace used 12 words to capture what was good about yesterday’s game and then devoted an entre article to, I guess, criticizing it. At least he seemed to suggest hold our nose while appreciating a win. Well, actually he didn’t criticize the defense. How could he. I’m guessing that was the best defensive performance by a college team yesterday. The defense was amazing. Yet, people, fans of Michigan football, are holding our noses…over a win…against a really good Iowa team with a very good and veteran QB and a stellar defense.
This this kind of thing occurs on the message boards of all big time college programs. In many ways it is, perhaps, a good thing because it indicates great fan interest and fan involvement. Imagine how bad it would be if no one cared. But Michigan fans do care.
Here is my problem. We are so self absorbed as fans. We seem to believe the game exists for us and for our enjoyment. And we hold our players, and our coaches to incredibly high standards, much higher standards than most of us, I assert, set for ourselves.
I believe it is right to hold our coaches to high standards. They are paid an insane amount of money to do what they do, far more than any but the most fortunate of us will ever make. But our players…that’s different story.
Many of you know that I am a supporter, a defender of our players. Most of our players will not play professionally. Most of them will graduate from college and they will get a job, just like we did. But unlike us, they will have lived their dream on the football field or the basketball court, juggling athletics and school. They will go to practice everyday and bust their butt. They will have given their blood and their sweat, and, yes, sometimes tears to represent us and our university on the athletic field. And then game day arrives and they will be evaluated in front of the world. Sometimes they will win and sometimes they will lose.
When they lose we will be disappointed, sure, but they will be even more disappointed than we will. They could have lost yesterday, but they didn’t. And they did fight to the end. The defense was amazing. They weren’t flawless, but they were outstanding. Let’s celebrate that. Some of us are. Let’s celebrate them. Some of us are. The offense struggled for most of the game…against a great Iowa defense. Let’s not criticize individual players or groups of players who were actually out there on the field, in the fight, giving the best that they could give against another team that wanted to win as badly as they wanted to win.
We, as fans, hold these kids to such a high standard. Sometimes I think we hold them to a standard that is unattainable. Make every throw. Catch every ball. Hit every hole. Make every block. Make every tackle. Make no mistakes. Make eight sacks and three interceptions. Whoops, we DID have eight sacks and three interceptions! Gosh that’s good. Play harder than perhaps any of us has ever played in our lives, at a higher level than most of us have ever played in our lives. And do it on national TV and in front of 110,000 fans. And, by the way, kudos to those fans yesterday, they were amazing, too! Believe me these kids want to win, and they want to be the best they can be!
We hold our kids to such a high standard. Sometimes, I fear, we believe it is our right, as fans to hold these kids to a higher standard, one that is, frankly, higher than the standard that we, many (most?) hold for ourselves. And that is where I have a problem.
I am a defender and a supporter of our players, and I always will be. As a former coach, I tend to support and defend coaches, too, but I have no problem holding them to the highest standards, especially at a school like Michigan. They are paid a LOT of money and are given a great privilege, the privilege of molding young men and in helping those young men reach their highest potential. Let’s not criticize our players even by position group, and let’s encourage our coaches, and yes we can be critical of THEM, but let’s encourage them to help our kids to be the best they can be.
For me, I was a wreck after the game yesterday, but a happy wreck, and I celebrate these kids, and their effort, and a WIN against an outstanding Iowa team. It wasn’t perfect, but nothing ever really is. I hope you’ll excuse me for posting a football message 
on a basketball message board. Go Blue!