U-M Detractors: Put Up, or Shut Up!

by Rob Wood

Recent events in the college football world have caused a tremendous amount of whining and complaining from all over the country to be heard here in Ann Arbor. Two "cataclysmic" events, which occurred over the last few months, have apparently signaled the coming of the Apocalypse in the minds of a great many Southerners and Nebraskans.

The first of these events regards the State of Tennessee, and how its people have moaned incessantly over who should have been the recipient of the Heisman Trophy. Apparently, this award was Peyton Manning's birthright (along with the Firmament and the Heavens, no doubt). The fact that Michigan's own Charles Woodson won the prize has put the city of Knoxville, Tennessee on the brink of declaring a second Civil War. For those of you who have seen Kevin Costner's "The Postman," there is no need to worry about losing your mail services. The most often heard arguments in this direction are made by those living in Tennessee (an ESPN anchor has referred to them as "Tennessee Trailer Trash"), followed closely by those from Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida. According to some of these people, Manning should have won the award not only because of his previous years' performances, but also because he is such a great guy. He leads the Tennessee band in renditions of "Rocky Top." He gives free pizza to those waiting in line to buy tickets for football games. He has even apparently healed a few lepers while he's at it.

Others believe he should have won it because he is such a great student. He was an academic All-American. He chose to come back for his last year of NCAA eligibility, even though he completed his B.A. in Athletic Basket Weaving in only three­and­a­half years! He also gave up a guaranteed a several­trillion­dollar contract in the NFL, and the privilege of being picked first in the League's draft that year, to come back to little 'ole Knoxville for one more year. The kid is a prodigy! If only all college students had his dedication to their studies! Surely, he deserves the Heisman!

Slightly more sane individuals just point out Manning's stats and then to Woodson's, with the implication that a player's numbers can indicate his merit to his team. Of course, they neglect to inform their audience that the reason Peyton Manning has such statistics is that he started for a school in the SEC during his tenure. Of course he is going to have huge passing stats! He led a passing team in a passing conference for four years!

Each of those four years had a player besides Manning taking home the Heisman, however. The last two years seemed to be his best opportunity to win the Trophy, but last year, Danny Wuerffel of Florida beat Manning's Volunteers en route to a national title. This year, Charles Woodson dominated every one of the Wolverines' victories on the road to their own national title.

Each year, the Heisman Trophy is given to the most valuable player to his team, in the nation. Peyton Manning was a quarterback with very good passing statistics, this season. Ryan Leaf of the Washington Cougars had comparable numbers, and didn't have the benefit of a conference championship game. Do not feel too bad for Manning, though.

When Michigan's #2 was on the defensive side of the ball, he took half of the field away from the opposing team's quarterback. Every time he took to the field on offense, he either made a big play, or set one up for another player on his team, as he lured the opposing defense away from the true ball carrier.

After the award was given to Woodson, thousands of calls, letters, and e­mail messages lit up phone lines, newspapers, and mail boxes all over the country. Eddie George, who plays for the Tennessee Oilers and won the Trophy for Ohio State two years ago, admitted to voting for Woodson. He received hate mail and phone calls about it for weeks. Tennesseeans were even quoted as asking for him to be traded or waived by the Oilers! The man played for OSU, Michigan's oldest and most bitter rival, for pity's sake! He would have less reason to vote for Woodson than just about anyone, save David Boston, and yet he still selected Woodson as his pick for the season's MVP.

This was not the worst of the sour grapes spewed forth from the mouths of Volunteer fans, however. There were actually those who implied that Mr. Woodson won the Heisman Trophy because he is black, and Peyton Manning is white. The fact that such ignorance is still present in this world staggers the imagination. Woodson won five of the six voting regions in the country, with Manning taking only the South. It is so admirable of all the traditionally colorblind Southerners to stay so racially unbiased in their voting. They must be quite proud of themselves.

Perhaps there is no more telling display regarding to whom the Heisman Trophy truly belongs, than the Rose and Orange Bowls. Woodson played like a pro (as he has every right to be, now that he has done everything he can in the realm of college football), and Manning played like a kid, throwing interceptions and incomplete passes all night, until he was finally pulled, just before the inevitable conclusion of his final game: his team's utter destruction at the hands of the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Do not feel too bad for Manning, however. He now has a street in Knoxville named after him: Peyton Manning Pass. How nice.

Speaking of the Huskers though, Lincoln, Nebraska is the other source of whining that has echoed throughout the college football world for the past few months. According to the University of Nebraska football team, they, not the Michigan Wolverines, deserved the undisputed 1997 national title. And why not? They played all the juggernauts in the land, including Akron, Central Florida (whom they trailed going in the second half of that game), and Iowa State. So what, if it took an illegal catch to defeat unranked Missouri? So what, if they almost lost to 5-7 Colorado and only ended up winning by three, while the Wolverines thrashed the Buffs by 24? They're Nebraska! Their coach, that great sportsman Tom Osborne, retired after this past season! They went undefeated against a conference that had the same luck in its bowls as Michigan's conference (which is to say, very little). As said earlier, they took down the mighty Tennessee! Granted, Tennessee didn't really belong in the Orange Bowl in the first place. They only got there was because they lost their game to Florida earlier than Florida State lost theirs. Okay, so maybe Florida State would have actually shown up to play in the Orange Bowl. So what! Nebraska should still be the chumps ... er, champs, right?

Michigan only won against Colorado, Notre Dame, Northwestern, Michigan State, Penn State, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Ohio State. What kind of claim for a national title is that? The Wolverine quarterback didn't even beg and plead the coaches to vote for his team to be National Champions, after the Rose Bowl! Michigan actually assumed that their action on the field would speak for itself! Silly them.

To step out of the heads of the Cornhuskers and back into reality for a moment, three of the four organizations that award college football national championships selected the University of Michigan Wolverines as their choice to be the champs, this season. The fourth required a four­point margin of victory by Nebraska. Of course, either two of the voters in that poll voted Michigan lower than second in the land, or one of them did not even rank the Wolverines as high as #4, but no one will ever know who it was, because the Coaches' Poll is anonymous. What a pity. Oh well, his initials are probably T.O., anyway.

A certain phrase has been coined on a locally released T­shirt. It has a Michigan helmet and a Nebraska helmet underscored by the phrase "Any time, any place," and represents the feelings of every Maize­and­Blue blooded person on the planet. In other words, to all those who would try to detract from Michigan's hard­earned glory: put up or shut up. MR

This article was published in the 21 January 1998 edition of The Michigan Review (Volume 16, Number 6).
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