By John Hartley
A new species has been added to the world’s endangered species list. That animal is one which had been one of the most feared animals in the United States. Hated by many from Ohio, the animal had continued to be among the most dominant of predators. But now, it is no longer so. I speak of the Wolverines, the Michigan Wolverines.
Now let me preface this by saying that I am not a die-hard Buckeyes fan. I enjoy watching them win, but when they lose, I don’t burn my buckeye necklaces or tear down my James Laurinitis poster. You know the one. The point is I’m going to come into this article totally middle-of-the-road. So on to the matter at hand.
Did you happen to catch the game with Michigan v. Toledo? Well, if not, let me refresh your memory. Toledo wins 13-10, in Ann Arbor. I haven’t seen something that surprising from the Wolverines since…well since last year against Appalachian State. Oh, and earlier this year against Utah. Nonetheless, with the loss the Wolverines fall to 2-4, and Head Coach Rich Rodriguez had this to say.
“I'm just extremely disappointed and embarrassed.”
Well put. I mean, yeah, you lost to Toledo, but it’s not that bad. The Wolverines COULD have their worst six game record since the mid 60s but they don’t. Wait, check that, they DO have their worst six game record since the mid 60s. But at least attendance has not decreased. Attendance at today’s game was 107,267 and it’s been around there for every home game. Those fans are loyal, no doubt. They must not realize how poorly their team is doing. I guess you could call this fan mentality “Dawg Pound” syndrome (that’s a Browns reference, in case that was too high brow for you).
Things could always turn around for Rodriguez’s Wolverines. I mean the rest of their schedule is pretty easy. They’ll play #6 Penn State and #23 Michigan State. But rankings don’t mean anything these days, note the game two weeks ago between #1 USC and unranked Oregon State, and several others.
But okay, let’s give some credit to Toledo. They’re a championship team, back in 2005, but a championship team nonetheless, even if they were just MAC co-champs. Also, they are on FIRE this year, sitting atop the league with a record of 2-4. Okay, so not the top of the league, but they seem to play well in Michigan. They are undefeated there this year, winning in September against Eastern Michigan. We’ll see if the trend continues on November 15th when they play Western Michigan. Toledo probably had one happy bus ride home.
So here’s to the tumbling of a dynasty. The Wolverines at this point will be lucky to make it back to .500, let alone get to four wins. But at least they’ll give fans something to look forward to. Maybe they’ll start singing “You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone.” As for Rich Rodriguez, the dude better get his act together or it could be curtains for him. I’m sure Wolverine fans would have no problem turning him into an endangered species.