If you were talking shit about Blake O’Neill
I woke up this morning, then went back to bed, because I was extremely hung over. An hour and a half later, I woke back up, ate a slice and a half of cold pizza and opened my laptop to discover that unsurprisingly, people were sending a lot of hate Michigan punter Blake O’Neill’s way after last night’s heart breaker. What was surprising, was that apparently there was enough vitriol, including death threats, that Michigan AD Jim Hackett had a release an open letter asking people to stop, which is so much more embarrassing than any scoreboard could ever be.
In the letter he said that only a small minority of the fan base at fault, and I do believe that that it is a small minority, but I witnessed more than enough of it myself. I overheard it at the bar last night I heard it from strangers on the sidewalks while making my way home and I saw it in my Facebook feed and Twitter timeline. People that I actually know were coming down on a 22 year old student athlete, who by the way actually did a great job of keeping the Wolverines in good field position all game. Worst of all is these people claim to be “fans”, but clearly don’t know what it means to be a fan at all.
Last night’s game was the worst loss I’ve ever personally experienced watching Michigan football; it ripped out your heart and stomped on it. But regardless of the outcome, they accomplished a lot on the field last night. That was some of the best football I’ve seen played in Ann Arbor in a very long time. They led a talented MSU team for 59 minutes and 50 seconds. Overcame the Joe Bolden ejection on a bullshit targeting call. It feels like somehow people forget that the players are kids. They’re college students making sacrifices to play a game they love and compete for the supporters. For them to get anything but love in return is completely unacceptable. It wasn’t the players that did anything disappointing; it was the fans.
Go Blue.
Naked & Lame 