Comment from a viewer -- AJ from Ohio

Posted at 8:00am -- 1/22/2010


Now that Joey has had his opinion expressed concerning how negative or positive the site should or can be, here is a differing, BUT NOT OPPOSITE, view from AJ in Ohio. AJ is not in the running for the “sugarcoat it up” award and his overall theme can be summed-up as “Dissent is not disloyalty.” This is the edited (mainly shortened with the salient points) form of AJ’s message, and like Joey we at GBMW appreciate his good, honest, respectful mailbox comment.

We believe that all of you, after having read our response to Joey, realize that this is not about Joey versus AJ, it is about sharing two messages of interest. We thank both of you for your participation.

And so AJ places forth (in the edited form) the following.

“I've been meaning to write your blog for a while now, and I finally decided to give it a go. This is more of an observation/comment post than anything else.

I really wanted to thank you guys for running what is becoming/has become my favorite Michigan site to visit. I started out with Scout and the much-missed M-Zone about 6 years ago. Moved on to Brian's site primarily after the M-Zone stopped, but still visited Scout. Things aren't what they used to be though. M-Zone is gone, Brian has expanded his site and incorporated several other authors, and Scout, well ….. you constantly get posts where guys are seemingly calling out an invisible faction of posters who hate RR and are guilty of a ton of "Internet sins" that are ruining the program; everybody responding agrees, and they pat each other on the back.”

Continuing on…”Do these guys realize how ridiculous they look holding up their “shields” against the invisible force threatening all of Michigan-kind? I support Michigan wholeheartedly, but I don’t need to throw it in other people’s faces or belittle another individual for his opinion on the team.

I just don't see the point of having a site for "discussion" where the posters are all "Yes Men." You might as well have one active thread that is updated once a day with "Does everyone agree?" "Yes. “The sad thing is, even the posters I used to see constructively criticize have tapered off, almost like they've been beaten into submission.”

Again AJ continues; “The blaming everyone and everything besides the HC is really played out. Where does the buck stop if not with the guy at the top? Most of us "haters" just see the truth. I’m not looking for RR to be run out of town on a rail. I’ll support him as long as he’s the coach. I'll admit I didn't want him, but that's because I'm not a fan of the spread, never have been. I also agree the spread has "traditionally” been used by teams with less resources so-to-speak, to level the playing field over other, “richer” teams. …In my opinion, a mark of a great coach, one that he shows where ever he may land, is his ability to adjust to the players on his new roster…. Relying on "your type" of player sets you up to fail, because how many people actually fit that mold, and what happens if you don't get them?

Adjustment is the name of the game, in a lot of ways I guess…. People want to talk about RR’s track record, well how about his track record at Michigan?

I’ve heard “winning cures everything,” and I agree with that to a point, but should we forget how we’ve responded as a fan base; how we’ve turned on each other?

Which brings me to you guys. Your site, in my opinion, is perfect. You're realists, factualists. You're not apologists. When I visit your site, I know no punches are going to be held. The less I go to Scout, the more I come here. What can be said about RR's first two years at UM? They were terrible, and a lot of that falls on RR as HC. You guys aren't afraid to say that, or anything that may be deemed "critical" by others. I applaud and appreciate you for that. Thank you. Keep up the great work and I look forward to the continued growth of a great blog.”

Written by AJ in Ohio

Go Blue -- Wear Maize!