The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/315684
FROM OUR READERS our team for the 2014-15 season, but who would you rather have than Coach Beilein to do it? He has shown to be an effective and ethical leader that we are all proud of. As I reside in the Pittsburgh area, my West Virginia friends (did I just say that) still are upset with the hiring. Something tells me things will work out. Michael Peuler Cranberry Township, Pa. Something tells us you'll be as on point as Lupica was that day, Michael. This crew has it going, although you don't lose five early entry NBA players in two years and not feel SOME impact. This will be a group that has to grow, with some pretty fair gardeners attending. A GLANCE BACK AT '97 Dear The Wolverine: Thank you for the article compar- ing Michigan and Nebraska and the national championship. A criti- cal comparison that year which the coaches clearly missed — two teams they both played: Michigan defeated Colorado 27-3; Nebraska scraped by Colorado 27-24; Michigan defeated Baylor 38-3; Nebraska won by only 14-7. No contest in determining who the national champion was if the coaches had looked at the evidence of performance against the same teams. Go Blue! Bruce Getzan Lihue, Hawaii You make your point well with the Colorado comparison, Bruce. Our crack research staff has the Baylor game in Waco going to the Cornhuskers, 49-21. Regardless, we know who wins if those two teams had met. ❏ • Bill Bowerman was the Oregon track coach forever and ever. He coached Phil Knight, Steve Prefontaine, et al. He used to say that he was a professor of "competitive response." I love that phrase because, to me, it captures the essence of sport. You think the world is one way, somebody comes along and messes up your sandbox, and what are you going to do? Are you going to find another sandbox, quit playing in sand- boxes, or are you going to hunker down and play in this new game? From the outside, it appears to me that Coach [Tom] Izzo has enjoyed having his sandbox ordered a certain way for a very long time. And he is having a hard time adjusting to the fact that there's somebody in the sandbox now who's his equal and that he needs to step it up in order to play in this new game. Put another way, he's not yet completed the Kubler Ross Cycle and come to grips with the fact that his old sandbox is gone, and the ante to play in this new one has been raised. Cal Varnsen From Our Web Site