Michigan football team's seniors call players-only meeting for Ohio State
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Michigan seniors Brandon Graham and Mark Ortmann called a players-only meeting before practice Monday. The topic: “Just explain to (underclassmen) if they don’t know already how serious this is and what it can do for this program heading into next year,” Graham said.
Michigan needs a win Saturday against ninth-ranked Ohio State to become bowl eligible and avoid its second consecutive losing season. The Wolverines (5-6, 1-6) have lost six straight Big Ten games and five consecutive years to the Buckeyes.
Mark Ortmann
“We’re trying to get an extra game for us seniors because we don’t want to leave, but what’s a better than to beat O-State and get into a bowl game off them?” Graham said. “That’ll feel so much better, and everything else will erase itself because you’re always thinking about we might have had a bad year but we beat O-State.
“That’s what it boils down to and that’s why it’s the last game of the season. We’ve been waiting a long time for this one.”
Graham said a win Saturday would give Michigan momentum heading into 2010. Besides a feel-good ending, the Wolverines would get 15 extra bowl practices, essentially a second spring practice for their young nucleus.
Brandon Graham
“When you lose like this you want to see what other people are thinking and how they’re feeling towards next year,” Graham said. “This type of game right here pushes everybody up to know that a lot of games just slipped away from us and they’ll be so hungry for next year.”
Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez said Tuesday he didn’t ask about the tone of the meeting.
“It was a players meeting not a coaches meeting, so I don’t think it’s my right to ask what they want to talk about,” Rodriguez said. “But a couple of the seniors wanted to have one, a brief meeting, and I’m sure it helped everybody get focused for this big ball game.”
Dave Birkett covers University of Michigan football for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by phone at 734-623-2552 or by e-mail at davidbirkett@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
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Mark Ortmann and Brandon Graham deserve a standing ovation when they enter Michigan Stadium this Saturday. If they take nothing else away from their careers at Michigan, I sure hope that it will be the feeling that, even in this toughest time ever, they were the leaders of the Wolverines. We ought to recognize and affirm that much, at least.
I sure hope there'll be no booing from Michigan spectators at this game. I don't care what else this game may mean: right now this team needs to know we support them. If anyone boos, ten people around them should stand up and cheer. This is THE GAME and it's fitting that everyone show we're all united against Ohio State!
Go Ortmann! Go Graham! Go BLUE!
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Posted Nov 18 2009
we as michigan need to pull it together here right now root on the big blue i know there are people out there that dont like rich rod and i to am unsure but this is it this can be the start of something that we have not had in couple of years so lets go blue and beat those damn bucks
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Posted Nov 18 2009
I agree TruBlue76...booing your team generally doesn't make any sense, but especially when it involves student-athletes at the college level. These kids pour their heart and soul into playing football at Michigan and deserve our support for it. I don't think anyone is more hurt about losing games than these players.
Go Blue! Beat the Buckeyes!
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Posted Nov 18 2009
Good for Graham and Ortmann. Seniors MUST show leadership to the younger players. I just wish they had this kind of meeting after the Penn St. game. It might have prevented those disastrous losses against Illinois and Purdue, who knows?
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Posted Nov 18 2009
About time some seniors step up and call a damn meeting. This should have happened after the second straight loss to a Big Ten team. The question is why now? I know this team is capable of playing hard nosed football. We need get a great mix in at defense in the first half so we can come out fresh in the second half and hang with OSU. The defense will win or lose this game. Plan and simple. Question is will the defense step it up and play their hearts out for these seniors. I think we see an outstanding day for Graham and Ortmann. I think RR needs to play a Bo moment clip to get these boys pumped and stay pumped...maybe at halftime. It seems the day Bo died is when a black cloud rolled over the Michigan Wolverines and stayed. We need to break this curse or this black cloud per se. It's time for Michigan to pull together as a team and go out and dominate. Forget about the stats and the record. This game is our season. We need to be the victors again.
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Posted Nov 18 2009
If you must boo, please boo the folks in the scarlet and grey colors. However our team may have performed (or not) this year, OHIO STATE STILL SUCKS.
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Posted Nov 18 2009
RR won't play any footage of Bo.Remember,he's not a revisionist!How many times does he have to tell us that!!Hell,does he even know who Bo is?If you don't "revisit" history,how do you learn or even KNOW history?Not sold on this guy but will be rooting The Mighty Wolverines on this Sat.Lets make history.....Beat the Suckeyes and GO BLUE!!!
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Posted Nov 18 2009
Go Bucks!
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Posted Nov 18 2009
Great job, Seniors! The Maize and Blue nation is pulling for you!
Go Blue!!!
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Posted Nov 18 2009
Players only meeting -- great idea -- maybe they should try that on Saturday as well.
Couldn't be any worse.
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Posted Nov 18 2009
On Saturday I will put my frustrations about this season aside. I will forget that I once backed RR and now can't seem to find a good reason to support him. On Saturday I will be among 110,000 fans cheering for MICHIGAN. Our seniors deserve our support. Let's get behind these kids. And maybe, just maybe , a combination of us playing above our heads and OSU playing poorly gives us a chance to win. 15 more practice days, a bowl game can only help this team. Not sure if RR will survive the NCAA violations but if he does and is here next year, a win Saturday will go a looooooooooong way.
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Posted Nov 19 2009
I absolutely don't care about Michigan and whether they win or lose. However, I find it offensive that people gang up on the underdog and beat them down. Most of the posters here are good-hearted people who just want their favorite team to win and they're expressing frustration. Other people are like sharks who smell blood in the water and they feel good by beating up on someone who's experiencing a moment of weakness.
I would like Michigan to win tomorrow because I always root for the underdog. I know that Ohio will show up, all cocky and arrogant, and you know there will be a ton of trash-talking on the field. I want Michigan to take all that trash talk and shove it down their throats.
As I said, I don't care if it's Michigan or not. It could be EMU for all I care. I just don't like it when people pile on to the underdog. It's petty and juvenile.
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Posted Nov 19 2009
That's it! I can't take it anymore! I'm starting a new band. THE DEAD WOODY'S !!!! GO BLUE GO BLUE GO BLUE !!!
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Posted Nov 19 2009