WVU won handily, but this is even sweeter:
Heading into his first Michigan-Ohio State game — where the Wolverines are expected to extend their dubious record with a ninth loss — he tried to deliver a message to fans who have lost touch.
“It’s amazing some of the things that people would say (on a message board) or yell at you of a personal nature,” Rodriguez said Monday. “You almost want to tell them, ‘Get a life.’
“There’s a whole lot bigger problems. Look at the economy.”
College football’s winningest team has tumbled like the stock market, losing a school-record eight games and getting beat a Michigan Stadium-record five times at home.
For the first time since 1974, the Wolverines will be relegated to watching bowl games.
The 10th-ranked Buckeyes are favored to beat their rivals on Saturday at home by 19 points, matching the largest spread in series history, and win at least a share of the Big Ten title for the fourth year in a row.
And they covered the spread, pulverizing Michigan 42-7. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.
Jade Jordan
I don’t understand why the WVU fans are so bitter. He did a great job for you while he was there and built the program into national prominence. He wanted to move to a bigger program which is natural. You hurt your program by being the ugly scorned. You should have just moved on.
As a MI alum we understood what kind of players Lloyd left and what a horrible recruiting job he did knowing he was out. That is why we hated him, at his core he was a rotten guy.
I have no regrets about the choice or this season. With his recruits we will have a good year and a national championship in 3 years.
Thank him and let it go, time to move on WVA deadenders.
That said, I love your blog, your political opinions, and hope you don’t hate me like you hate RichRod.
John Cole
It was the way he left, which was shortly after signing a new contract and claiming he would be here forever, and then turning around and leaving at the first chance.
Then the need to lie about how long he had been in talks, and lie about the money, and drag out the case before paying back.
Screw him.
Garrigus Carraig
As a Badger alum whose brother is a Michigan alum, this is working for me.
SpotWeld
On the other hand, our Solar Car Team is still pretty awesome. (I was an engineering grad.. can you tell?)
JGabriel
Testing…
If you see this, just ignore it.
.
Cathy W
This Michigan alum (who was very, very skeptical about Rodriguez in the first place…) thinks that if you want him back, you’re welcome to him. I’d initially figured on giving him a pass this year because he didn’t do his own recruiting and the spread offense isn’t traditional Big Ten football…but 3-9 is a little beyond what I had in mind.
Sadly, I think we’re stuck with him. I don’t think anyone is going to be after him to break his contract with Michigan this summer…
Throwin' Stones
Rodriguez did well for WVU, but was a dick at the end.
Welcome to the Big10.
bruins01
Michigan should have hired Paul Johnson. Georgia Tech has now almost fully implemented his spread option offense, which just obliterated Miami’s defense on national television. Georgia Tech is 8-3 in Johnson’s first year.
stay classy, wvu
mountaineers fans: it doesn’t get any bitter than this
Tymannosourus
And yet they still managed to beat the Gophers.
These are dark days indeed for we Minnesota alum.
Punchy
I know Cole will blast me for this, but allow me to let you in on a secret: UWV fans are known large and wide as the worst fans in the nation, bar none. They’re complete fucking assholes when they win (drunk, taunting, pointing…witnessed this personally in Vegas, the absolute worst place to taunt losing fans, some of whom may have just lost their house/car) and even worse when they lose. A few years back, after their b-ball team was upset in the tourney–even though there were later games in the same arena–they completely trashed their section of stadium, smearing nacho cheese, beer, pop, and ketchup all over the seats. Completely fucked the next goup of fans who had those seats.
I’m sure the students are great, and Morgy itself is a tits place to live, but many of the whiskey-tango fans are just pricks.
Twisted Martini
A couple of points:
Here is the whole quote from RichRod:
So of course the AP takes the pieces that are sure to enflame people and sticks them in an article.
Regarding the contract buyout, it was Michigan, not RichRod who was thinking they could make it go away, and who drug it out. They were the ones on the hook for the bulk of the money. And really, who knew that WVU would go all Fatal Attraction on him?
If Pat White is healthy for the Pitt game and they win, we aren’t having this conversation, Les Miles is the Michigan coach.
Thought OSU looked good today? So did I. Now take away Pryor, the entire offensive line, both receivers, and Beanie Wells and see how well they do. And that’s Michigan’s offense. The ghosts of Woody Hayes, Bo Schembechler and Vince Lombardi couldn’t do better with that offense.
You want to be bitter, that’s cool. You want to enjoy our pain, also cool. We’ll see where both programs are in 3 years.
Punchy
Uh oh. Iowa alum here. Can I teasingly taunt you for the next hour or so, just long enough to pretend that my Hawkeyes will destoy the Minnesota O’fers, when in reality Stanzi will prolly go up there and lay an egg and get beat by 14?
Wini
@Tymannosourus: On the bright side, the Gophers play their last game in the ‘dome tonight.
Ed in NJ
Rodriguez is a dick, but once he gets his players in there and can run his offense, Michigan will be great again. You can guarantee it.
On the other hand, Stewart is in over his head at WVU, and once Rodriguez’s player cycle through, they will be a middle of the road Big East team. As a Rutgers alumnus, I can’t wait.
Tymannosourus
@Wini:
"On the bright side, the Gophers play their last game in the ‘dome tonight."
You, friend, have brightened my soul with that reminder.
Have you driven by the new stadium yet? It looks fantastic!
AnotherBruce
Hey, go easy on Stanzi, he’s not that bad, just kinda new.
Shonn Greene for Heisman trophy! Or at least Doak Walker award.
Twisted Martini
Most college coaches are dicks. Look at Nick Saban, Bobby Petrino, Spurrier, et al.
Tymannosourus
@Punchy:
You, sir, won’t be able to hurt me. MN sports have cut me deeper than your words ever will.
Fire away.
p.s. LSU is really stinking up the joint.
Wini
@Tymannosourus: I have! It’s going to be quite stunning. I am a 5-year season ticket holder so have only known ‘dome college football. That deserves a stronger adjective than "blech" – something like horsesh*t should suffice :-)
Down with the BCS
Haaaaannnngggg on Sloopy, Sloopy Hang on!
Tymannosourus
If anyone wants a good laugh, watch the youtube vid of KU coach Mangino ripping one of his players to shreds after he scores a TD.
Punchy
@AnotherBruce: Greene reminds of Fred Russell, only harder to take down. Him and Stanzi will form a rather formidible offense next year if we can just get some decent WRs to stay committed to Ferentz’s program.
Rommie
I live in Michigan, and RichRod deserved every loss this year – he refused to adapt his offense to the (lack of) players he had to work with.
If he loses a key recruit because of Teh Suck of this season…[shakes head]
gex
Who would ever have thought the media would do this to him? OH. MY. GOD.
Seriously, though, people who make millions of dollars because of people’s misplaced priorities shouldn’t really tell those people to get their priorities straight. Either it will offend or worse yet, people might just get a life. Then who will pony up the millions he makes for supervising some kids who play a game?
Punchy
How many times did Minny’s wrestling team destoy Iowas? Too many to count. And I wont even touch basketball (cringes). Football is all we gotz over yo Goofers.
/realizes that wrestling was mentioned….horrified, slinks away as fast as possible to avoid the derisive laughter
Josh Hueco
@Punchy:
Sacrilege! We’re donkey punching the Gophers tonight and tearing down the goal posts like we did in 2002. Except this time we’ll find a way to get them out the door. :)
As long as Ronnie Harmon’s not playing, I always like the Hawkeyes’ chances.
Tymannosourus
Too funny.
Don’t forget that the Minnesota Lynx are a formidable WNBA squad!
AnotherBruce
I wish Punchy, but I think that Greene is going NFL. The guy’s got all the tools. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him go in the first round. No worries though, Jewel Hampton looks like he’s going to be great.
Wini
@Josh Hueco: Take ’em! We’re done with the place :-)
Punchy
@Josh Hueco: Holy crap, how many Iowa grads on this site?
Yeah, we always play Minny tough. Never seen a road team tear down the home team’s goalposts–in a dome–and then carry (or attempt to) them out of the stadium. Good times. I remember in 2004 we let Marion Barber and Malroney rush for like 600 yards in the game, yet we held on to win somehow.
After watching Minny fall apart vs. Michicant and Wiscantwin, I’m foreseeing a 31-14 Iowa asskicking.
J. Michael Neal
When did we start talking about Lou Holtz?
John Cole
Oh fer chrissakes. Everyone has stories like this about every team out there. My buddy, one of the quietest, nicest people on the planet, got knocked out and beaten by drunken Pitt fans. Clearly, Pitt has the worst fans ever. Another year, playing at Maryland, after the game a bunch of vehicles with WVU stickers had been keyed. Maryland clearly has the worst fans ever.
I am not going to deny that some WVU fans have not been assholes- I have seen them do some pretty disgraceful stuff. I remember after WVU loss, fans rocked… an ambulance with an injured Miami player in it. The entire couch burning stuff is disgraceful and makes us look like idiots.
The other thing that people need to realize is that the majority of WVU alums are not from West Virginia. We import a lot of students from out of state, as it is cheaper to go to WVU for many kids than it is to go to Penn State or Rutgers in their own state.
And finally, it is WVU, not UWV.
Punchy
@John Cole: I figgered you’d have that response. I realize that many fans are assholes, and my stories are anecdotal. Nonetheless, I found it funny that at least 6 strangers we met in Vegas, hailing from parts all over the country, all agreed that UWV/WVU fans were the worst. Yeah, again….anecdotal, so whatever.
I personally happen to intensely dislike Ohio State fans, FWIW.
Josh Hueco
@Punchy:
Not a grad, just born and raised in Iowa, lived in Iowa City in the mid-80s while my mom was getting her bachelor’s and master’s degrees. It was a great town with lots to do, even though I was only 13 then. :)
J. Michael Neal
Why? We’re 7-0-4, and ranked number one in the nation. Of those eleven games, the only one where I didn’t think we were the better team was, oddly, the win over Michigan Tech. (Tech will once again be the best last place team in the country, and I don’t understand why Jamie Russel hasn’t gotten a good offer from a school farther up the food chain. I think he’s the best coach in the country.)
They’re still playing the kind of defense they did down the stretch last year, and have figured out how to score. Jordan Schaefer is the best looking Gopher freshman since Mike Crowley; I like him better than Vanek. Ryan Stoa is a beast. I love the fourth line of Matson/Bostrom/Hansen. David Fischer is finally starting to develop, Cade Fairchild looks like a completely different player, and R.J. Anderson no longer frightens me when he’s on the ice.
This Minnesota alum is very happy right now.
Face
all I have to say is this: WTF is up with LSU losing to Ole Miss? Secondly, how in hell is TTech a TD underdog to OK tonite? Spare me that "Stoops never loses at home" bullshit. Tech’s offense is simply unstoppable.
Crabtree goes for at least 200 yrds tonite.
Tymannosourus
@J. Michael Neal:
Congrats, you’ve managed to find the one sport I could care less about: college hockey. I’m just glad they’re better than St. Cloud so I don’t have to hear it from my friends.
I’m glad at least you are happy about it, though.
eponymous
OSU alum here – I didn’t watch the game as I knew it was a forgone conclusion the Buckeyes would win. Pleased that the score was so one-sided. While I think Rodriguez did a great job at WVU, I dont think his stay in Michigan will be as successful. May he coach at Michigan for a long time :)
Oh, and my own anecdotal take on Rodriguez – my brother and several friends attended WVU the same time as Rodriguez when he was an undergrad at WVU (two of them were football players). All of them said that Rodriguez was a good player, but a huge asshole.
Punchy
ND just lost to ‘Cuse. I’m rethinking my disbelief in God.
South of I-10
Did anyone see the inadvertent fair catch play in the LSU/Ole Miss game? Bizarre. I thought LSU had the worst fans ever.
Josh E.
WVU fans are doing a great job of making sure that any ambitious coach thinks twice about going there. They’re bigger dumbasses than even Browns fans.
You kind of expect a bad season when you lose five NFL players, including the #1 pick. Michigan will be back but WVU will always be second-tier.
Tymannosourus
@South of I-10:
That looked like a blown call to me. He was waving off his teammates to get away from the ball on the punt.
Notorious P.A.T.
Haha, that’s awesome. I couldn’t agree more.
Notorious P.A.T.
Michigan is bad, though. I’d be surprised if they rebounded next year. I mean, across the board. When we (MSU) beat them this year, our tight ends were flat out outrunning their secondary. Obviously that isn’t all Rodriguez’s fault. But still.
Will
@Punchy:
I would think that ND losing to Syracuse amounts to objective proof that God doesn’t exist…
bikelib
Yes, ANOTHER Iowa alum (’85) here. If Stanzi doesn’t cough up more than one stupid turnover, I say it’ll be the Hawkeyes over the Rodents 24-17. Outback Bowl?
Scott H
Drunk and disorderly football fans? Never ‘Eered of such a thing.
I have three words for Rodriguez: Bwa. Ha. Ha.
milo
Tying this together as a UM grad, Tulane post grad.
Rodriguez used to be the offensive coordinator at Tulane.
Tulane went 12-0.
QED there is a god.
Punchy
Likin this score so far….if Stanzi wud just quit callin TO’s every other play……
TheHatOnMyCat
Confused here. Are WVU fans happy that Rodriquez is losing because …. he sucks as a coach? If so, wouldn’t they be glad he is gone?
If he is a good coach, wouldn’t they understand that his UM woes are temporary?
Cognitive dissonance ….. brain may explode.
Punchy
ppGaz, u hafta undystand that WVU fans r illogical and insane. Dey cheer when their former coach loses cuz it makes the betrayal seem more satisfying, long afta most phanz wudda been "see ya, fuck ya" and been done widdit. per above, ‘eers fans r largely worthless.
AnotherBruce
Hey Punchy, you may have been slightly off in your Iowa- Minnesota game forecast. Just sayin’.
Punchy
fukin christ……tech gunna lose this by 4 TDs……i say OK v. FL forda champynshp
AnotherBruce
Iowa up 41-0 Shonn Greene 144 yards rushing.
Punchy
Greene fo Hiesman considy. watt a fuckin inkredabull game fo him
Josh Hueco
Moeaki! This is just all sorts of awesome.
Josh Hueco
@Punchy:
Too bad he’s likely to leave for the NFL after this season. That’s what I’ve been hearing, anyway.
PS – What year did you graduate?
AnotherBruce
55-zilch, a good chance Iowa goes to Florida in January.
Josh Hueco
@AnotherBruce:
(smoking cigarette) That was awesome…
MBL
Guys, guys.
Let’s concentrate on what’s important.
Notre Dame got beat. By Syracuse.
That officially makes today the best day ever no matter what else happens.
Bill H
Yep, and having done that he cannot pick the ball up and run with it. That was the call. The ref did not say he called for a fair catch, he said the player declared the ball dead.
Church Lady
Ole Miss beat LSU. At Baton Rouge. Hotty Toddy!
@Face- what happened is Houston Nutt.
4jkb4ia
OK, Pitt is a pathetic bunch of stinkers who will be lucky to be going to any bowl at all, and John has a right to be smug. Never mind that the Cincinnati quarterback seems to have played unbelievable.
I am so glad to be back. The PC died a month ago. (During the month, I walked over to Wash.U. twice to check on what EW was up to. I still have about two weeks of posts to read over there. I also furtively looked at Steve Benen twice on my husband’s PC.)This new computer is a Mini-Mac and is unbelievably cool. The site, "Prose Before Hos", which John has blogrolled was infected about the time the PC died. We do not have an antivirus package for the Mac yet.
4jkb4ia
Minnesota is getting a new stadium? Woot! I saw a game vs. Kansas State there in 1993. Football as opposed to baseball is watchable in the Dome.
4jkb4ia
Oh, my! Backyard Brawl at 11 am on Friday! Must adjust Shabbos shopping accordingly.
The Judge
His entire statement, FWIW (and in answer to basically ‘Do you see or read the stuff about you on boards or blogs?’):
Little different than the reported version. His full statement is fine. The hacked statement is lazy crap by the AP because it fits nicely into the "Rodriguez = Jerkwad" storyline.
Michigan was ALWAYS going to suck this year. Any fan of the team that didn’t see that coming is someone who needed to take off the blinders to view a Frosh or walk-on Soph QB, one RB with any playing time, zero experience on the skill positions, and the entire offense with a new scheme and new coaches to get used to. .500 was possible, but anyone thinking they were going to contend this year needed to put the pipe down before the season started.
feckless
Atleast we didn’t vote for W… twice.