With apologies to the Bard of Avon, and more specifically Hamlet, that would seem to be the question when it comes to Detroit Lions or Michigan Wolverines football fans. Let's look at them one at a time.
First, the Lions. Their fans will remember when wide receiver Calvin Johnson got "robbed" of a touchdown catch in Chicago way back on 9/12/2010. This would make the difference in the game. The Lions would go on to lose 19-14. Honolulu blue and silver fans have whined about it ever since. When it happened, yours truly tended to agree. I'd never heard of that rule before either.
Fast forward to yesterday. The same Lions were playing the same Bears in the same Soldier Field in Chicago. On an eerily similar play, a Bears wide receiver got "jobbed" out of a touchdown as well. He caught the ball, both feet in bounds in the end zone, and it should have been 6 points. Like Johnson's catch 3 years ago -- it was ruled a touchdown on the field. But then those dreaded guys "in the booth" came into play. After further review, it was deemed an incomplete pass. The Bears lost today's game 21-19. That call cost THEM a win.
Bottom line? Same two teams, same field, and what goes around finally came around. Note to Lions fans. Three years is WAY too long to whine about anything, but now the shoe is on the other foot. And one more thing --- did I mention your heroes have been avenged and you can (PLEASE) stop whining now?
On the other hand, the University of Michigan is quite different. That historically proud program seems to be in free fall. And trust me -- there's been no shortage of pride at UM over the decades.
After getting blistered by in-state rival Michigan State last week, the Wolverines came home and got punched in the mouth again by Nebraska.
UM fans scoffed not long ago at the old days under Bo Schembechler that featured "three yards and a cloud of dust". Surely they had evolved into something much better and more sophisticated than that. Just one problem. Their running game has evolved all right -- into going backwards. Three yards and a few bits of turf is starting to look pretty good.
Indeed, Michigan's once vaunted running game racked up a grand total of minus 48 yards against the Spartans, then turned around and chalked up another minus 21 yards against the Cornhuskers. During their latest flop against Nebraska, UM's featured running backs Fitzgerald Toussaint and Derrick Green combined for 17 yards on 17 carries. Even yours truly can do that math. That's averaging one yard per run.
But the negative running yard totals are what happens when their quarterback keeps getting sacked. A loss of 8 yards here, and a loss of 12 yards there, and next thing you know this starts adding up -- in the wrong direction. Especially when one considers the Spartans and Cornhuskers sacked UM quarterback Devin Gardner 7 times -- each. Fourteen sacks in two games???? Didn't Michigan used to be noted for their great offensive line every year? So what happened? It seems like recently defenders are running around them like very large cardboard cut-outs to hammer their quarterback. Devin Gardner may be a lot of things and quite talented, but it's pretty tough to makes plays when he's getting pounded into the turf.
And how about their schedule? Could it possibly have been any weaker? Good grief, after blitzing mid-major Central Michigan and getting by a so-so Notre Dame team at home, they barely beat Akron, and should have lost to still winless UConn. Penn State lost to Central Florida at home, but were good enough to knock off the Wolverines. Lowly Indiana put up 47 -- count em -- 47 points against Michigan, which doesn't speak much for their defense. On top of that -- what gives with these "byes" nowadays that college football teams have built into their schedules? It never used to be that way. They played every week -- period. Somehow, incredibly, Michigan had TWO byes this season, including an extra week to get ready for the MSU game, where they were promptly thrashed. How little sisterish is that?
So now the Maize and Blue go on the road to face surprisingly underachieving Northwestern, and then Iowa. They might win both those games.
But then they have to come back home and face the Scarlet and Gray crew from Ohio State. If Michigan fans thought it was bad against Michigan State and Nebraska, wait until they get a load of the Buckeyes. These guys are the real deal, and might very well be the best team in the country. And yes, that includes Alabama. Unless Urban Meyer's boys suffer a rash of injuries over the next couple weeks, or somehow lose their way travelling from Columbus to Ann Arbor for the game on Nov. 30 -- given what both teams have shown of themselves so far this year -- that contest has all the makings of a blowout. Talent against misplaced pride. Men against boys. A tsunami against a village of tents.
This game could get ugly -- very ugly if one is a Michigan fan. And remember, there's no love lost between OSU and UM. If the Buckeyes get a chance, they'll run the score up as high as they can, national rankings notwithstanding.
If it plays out that way, which seems likely, Michigan might suffer a horrendous beatdown at home at the hands of their arch-rival, then limp off to some third tier bowl game somewhere.
But hey, this is what happens when you hire a guy like Brady Hoke as your head football coach. He's not a coach -- he's a fat cheerleader, and uppity at that. He thinks his pom-poms don't stink. Problem is -- while Brady's doing all the sis-boom-bah stuff, his team is swirling around in the toilet bowl heading down. Final destination for that sort of stuff? Beats me, but I'm pretty sure it stinks.
So unlike Detroit Lions' fans, it would appear the Michigan faithful will soon have a very good reason to moan, groan, and complain.
Might as well start it now, because it's inevitable anyway.
Let the whining begin.
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