There are few things stupider and more pointless than a blog fight. One thing somehow incredibly more stupid is judging a player’s charachter who has worked his ass off for five years by his helmet at a meaningless all-star game. I was actually surprised and a little bit depressed that this is actually an issue.
The apparently offensive photo is via Spawn of MZone. It shows graduating 5th year and two year starter Morgan Trent with stickers from other teams, including a buckeye sticker, on his helmet. It seems that leading up to the game the players trade these stickers for fun and to show some sportsmanship. It’s some fun that people 21-24 are having in one of the last football games where they will make an impact.
Maize & Blue Nation lives up to it’s reputation of any blog with “Nation” in its name (obvious a gross generalization. See Burnt Orange Nation) hoping that Morgan Trent fails in the pros. The post on Spawn of MZone is less offensive but managed the same misplaced indignation. WLA as per usual has responded in their… unique… way.
I really can’t imagine that people actually care about stickers on Trent’s helmet. Yes, Michigan does have the best helmet in college football; it’s an icon. But really? It’s just Morgan having some fun with guys he’s meeting who have gone through a common experience. I’ll bet most of the backlash is due to the fact that Trent gave up more big plays than any of us would have liked and wasn’t as good this year as he was last year.
Personally, I never understood disliking players that aren’t good. There’s only so much a player can do in order to become good. Sure working out, practicing hard, etc., make a difference, but a lot of it is god-given talent. Some players just can’t become as good as we’d like them to be. That doesn’t mean they aren’t working their asses off for their 4 to 5 years at Michigan. The players that I tend to disregard more are those that have huge talent and don’t do what they need to.
I know we like to pretend that every opinion is a precious, unique snowflake, but that’s not true, especially on the Internet. While WLA may make their point in a offputting way, that doesn’t change the fact that they’re right. It’s not about controlling all thought on the Internet or propagating a particular message. It’s a difference between right and wrong, smart and stupid, fan of Michigan and Michigan Man™. Trent worked his ass off for 5 years. Maybe he wasn’t the CB we wanted him to be or the WR he planned to be as a freshman, but it’s the journey not the destination that makes someone a non-ironic Michigan Man. He’s earned that distinction and busted coverages and helmet stickers can’t take that away from him.
Posted under Blog News
Tags: blog slapfight, morgan trent
Hey, you got a problem?
HOW DARE YOU CALL US OFF PUTTING! IT’S ON! SLAP SLAP SLAP
p.s. i love you
“I’ll bet most of the backlash is due to the fact that Trent gave up more big plays than any of us would have liked and wasn’t as good this year as he was last year.”
I think this is exactly right, and the Maize & Blue Nation post makes it abundantly clear that this is the case.
If Woodson, Henne, Hart, Long or any of a number of players that had a lot of success on the field put stickers on their helmet, no one would bat an eyelash. Or at least the criticism would be left to a low grumble without the vitriol, loathing or outright disgust. But this is Morgan Trent, so I guess he gets the brunt of the arrogance of some (really, all too many) in the Michigan fanbase.
You are good at telling people they’re wrong in a way that doesn’t make you sound like a total asshole.
I am not good at this.
Jesus, the WLA are a prickly bunch.
Thanks for the shout-out?
You are good at telling people they’re wrong in a way that doesn’t make you sound like a total asshole.
Co-signed. It’s like VarsityBlue has taken a page out of the Obama playbook.
Personally, it does not bother me one bit when players (M or otherwise) do the sticker bit in the Shrine game. Its tradition and its in fun. I do however have a problem with the one particular little pot leaf sticker on Trent’s helmet, and if you would all be honest with yourselves you know have a problem with it too. To me that shows his total disregard for respect of the rivalry and to the fans who helped pay for him to go to school for free. If David Ortiz was strutting around in a Yankees ballcap do you think that may cause some kind of uproar? I could go on with other examples but I think you get the point.
To me it nearly as bad as the Boren shit. If you are willing to put a buckeye sticker on a Michigan helmet, or jump ship to go and play for them, then to me it shows that you never really gave a shit about the rivalry and the school you played for. Maybe there is some correlation there between Boren’s Matador-style blocking and Trent’s getting made a fool by every talented reciever he lined up with 50 times a year while they played for M. When you dont really have your heart into something the results are usually pretty telling.
And yes, it does have a lot to do with the fact that Trent may be the worst cornerback M has ever had, but there is a difference between bashing a guy because he just plain sucks, and bashing him because he is a classless idiot. I think in this case he deserves whatever criticism he gets, but I doubt he ever has or ever will give a shit.
And in response to CPS’s comment: Yes, there most certainly be some level of outrage if Woodson, Henne, Hart, or Long did what Trent did. The difference is those are men who actually preformed on the field and who show respect to their university and football team by not acting out like spurned, whiney little bitches because their career may not have turned out like they may have hoped. Of all people, Trent should be especially grateful, because if Carr & co. had not swung and missed on about a half dozen far better-talented CB prospects the last few years, his no-talent ass would have spent his college days on the scout team!
With the influx of Florida talent and the introduction of a non-Bo legacy head coach, the “rivalry” with be even less resonating with the players, which is not really a bad thing.
AA 1879, I would somewhat agree with that, except Trent is FROM Michigan and WAS recruited by a Bo-legacy coach. Also, IMO, when you sign on to play for UM or tOSU, you sign onto The Rivalry.
My comment was completely unrelated to trent in any way. It was basically an off topic remark about the state of the rivalry. I am very aware of the recruitment of Morgan Trent.
Santoro, it’s a fucking sticker, dude. Your quotes are so inane. For example, “To me that shows his total disregard for respect of the rivalry and to the fans who helped pay for him to go to school for free.” Cool. Except it doesn’t work like that. Michigan is a state school. It is supported by the state. State citizens have disparate fan allegiances; that is, not all of them are Michigan fans. You could make the argument that the UM football program is self-supporting, but that’s disingenuous. Without the institution, there is no football team. Boom.
Also, I love this: “If David Ortiz was strutting around in a Yankees ballcap do you think that may cause some kind of uproar?” Um, this particular rivalry has seen each team cannibalize each other’s stars for the past 20 years. Clemens, Damon, Boggs – any of these names ring a bell to you?
The bottom line is that you’re wrong. The kid put a sticker on his helmet; Justin Boren trashed the school because his brother didn’t get a scholarship and daddy told him to. These situations are non-analogous at best.
In closing, fuck the mouth breathers over at Spawn of MZone. MZone sucked, you guys suck harder. Nothing you write is either idiosyncratic or funny. Buckstache? Cool. I’m still laughing. MZone/Spawn of MZone are remind me of the time I woke up, hung over and naked next to some random Samoan heifer; for weeks, I was terrified that people were going to associate me with her.
Guys, it’s a kid having fun and enjoying his last games in college. Any one saying anything more is either reading too much into it, an idiot, or trolling.
God, talk about overreaction. It’s people like those of you who are now hating on Trent because of this that make other people really disrespect Michigan. Think about things before you post next time.
“Yes, there most certainly be some level of outrage if Woodson, Henne, Hart, or Long did what Trent did. The difference is those are men who actually preformed on the field and who show respect to their university and football team by not acting out like spurned, whiney little bitches because their career may not have turned out like they may have hoped.”
That basically demonstrates my point. You, Maize & Blue Nation, and others draw this weird correlation between on-field ability and the level of outrage that should be expressed over a buckeye sticker. Then it’s justified with some sort of feeling of entitlement to judge this most innocuous of actions, because you pay tuition, buy merchandise and tickets, or give donations like he owes you something for the rest of his life because he got a scholarship. By that logic, we should be standing over the engineering student who got a merit scholarship to make sure he’s not screwing up or putting OSU stickers on his notebook. Most would say that’s stupid, yet in Trent’s case he owes us because he got a football scholarship, right? I’d say he already gave it by providing us with the fun and entertainment of watching the team play, though you’d probably go off on some tangent about how he sucked so you didn’t get your money’s worth.
Trent has not acted or said anything like a spurned, whiney little bitch or shown disrespect over the rivalry. Certainly not by wearing a piece of paper with some glue and ink on his helmet. Instead, he grew up a Michigan fan, always wanted to go to Michigan, played under Carr (a Bo apostle), respected tradition, basically worked his ass off for years (enough to get the starting job, despite your critique of his heart not being in it) and went head-to-head against OSU on multiple occasions. About the Boren transfer and family values comment, Trent said “I shouldn’t even be talking about that because it’s a joke to me. It was so untrue and the person who said it, you just have to laugh at.”
I’ll wager that he understands and respects the team and the rivalry much better than you, me or the vast majority of the Michigan fanbase. I’ll also wager that he was just having some fun at the game like so many other students without worrying about the politics or diplomacy that is (apparently) so strongly associated with stickers. I’m not going to worry about it either, but it’s sad that so many others do.
Big gay: yes it is just a sticker, but to me and I am sure to many of the men who have worn it proudly through the years the M football helmet is something to be worn with pride, and I would say sticking a buckeye sticker on it is not wearing it with pride. Here is another analogy for you since you just love em so much: The US flag is just a flag right? Its just a pretty red, white, and blue 4×6 peice of nylon, so whats the big deal if we soak it in lighter fluid and set it aflame? Nah.. I see no problems with that, why would that piss anyone off? And yes, you and I and everyone else may not literally pay for morgan trent’s schooling, but without football fans there is no football, and without football my guess is mr trent would not have nearly the shiny future before him that he does now.
And if you think for a second that BoSox fans would shrug off Ortiz proudly sporting a Yankees hat you are batshit. I have spent some time in Boston and those people make crazy M fans like myself look like kittens. They would run his ass out of town on a rail in 10 minutes. How exactly is Clemens, Boggs, Damon recieved in Boston these days?
The bottom line is you are wrong. You and your stupid creative-writing WLA buddies are wrong for critizing other M fans and other M blogs for what they write and how they feel. I go to blogs like Mgo and VB and MI sports Center for information. I go to blogs like Spawn and such for humor. What the hell good is WLA? None. Its pretentious, stupid, and completely un-funny. In closing, fuck you and fuck the WLA nerds. You fancy liberal arts gueers think you are so damn smart and creative and funny. You arent. The only people who think you are funny are other liberal arts nerds who spent $100k to make $30K a year. Slap slap slap.
Santoro, the fact that you “go to blogs like Spawn and such for humor” says pretty much all that needs to be said.
And yes, the liberal arts are certainly for idiots and “gueers.”
Well, that turned out rather nicely.
holy lol i love the off-season
sorry this is at your site, paul and tim
I’m actually kind of happy. It’s like a little meta-comedy right here in our comments thread.
Gee-whiz.. sorry my low-brow sense of humor is not up to your standards. Further apologies for my typo, queer, I will make it up to you with a bottle of white zin and a nice brie.
i wish i made 30k a year. santoro has sorely overestimated the value of a UM polisci degree.
I love how here is how the argument goes:
Person A: I have an opinion.
Person B: Your opinion is stupid.
Person A: I AM ENTITLED TO MY OPINION.
Person B: I am entitled to my opinion as well, which consists of finding your opinion to be stupid.
Person A: Nuh-uh!
Person A: You’re a queer.
It is pretty unbelievably dumb to bear someone ill will for not being better at football, when you think about it. Even if you stupidly accept the notion that someone is somehow responsible for how good he is at football, is it Morgan Trent’s fault Michigan didn’t have anyone better on the roster?
Well, slow afternoon here, so I thought I’d check out doings in Big 10 blogland. Yikes, what a shit storm over a helmet sticker. As a Buckeye fan, I always look forward to The Game each year, truly a great rivalry.
I don’t understand the angst over a goddamn helmet sticker at an all-star game. Believe me, UM’s football program has far worse issues to blog about than this.
Santoro, so you are equating the UM helmet to the US flag?! Priceless! By the way, I’m a liberal arts major making closer to 100k than 30k, and I enjoy merlot with my brie.
Anthony, I think you post is a good summary.
Good luck to UM in ’09.
Did Santoro just compare putting a buckeye sticker on a M helmet with burning the American flag?
I don’t know where anyone gets the idea that arguments on the internet can get out of hand and over the top. That’s a perfectly reasonable analogy.
Ken, idiot, I am obviously not saying the UM helmet equates in any way to the US flag and you fucking know that. I was simply making an analogy which I am quite sure that everyone understood. Come on.
Also, are you telling me that if a buckeye player, say, Todd Boeckman, who in the opinion of many fans may have under-preformed at times in his time there and maybe didnt get a “fair shake”, were to show up to one of these games with a big, maize wolverine wing pasted over that shiny gray (silver?) helmet that you would be pleased with that action. No? Thought not.
Also, also.. and this is something I have never understood and will never understand.. WHY do buckeye fans troll around UM fan sites? WHY?!?!? If I ever get to a point in my life that I have nothing better to do but spend my time in buckeye fans’ blogs typing in stupid comments I pray to Christ that a fucking tree falls on my head.
Right on! Great article.
Personally, I don’t like it when the players swap helmet logos and helmet awards.
I know it’s all in fun, but I liked it when you can tell that the DT played for Georgia Tech, or that the LB who sacked the QB actually played for Troy State, not USC.
This practice of exchanging logos, etc.obscures things a little bit for viewers and scouts. Maybe that’s done on purpose.
Oh well. It is what it is.
One question might be whether Morgan Trent is representing Michigan or himself while playing in these all-star games. The players are asked by bowl officials to wear their team helmets during the game, so I think Trent sort of represents both Michigan and himself.
But there’s no Michigan Football Helmet Code of Conduct that UM players must follow for such all-star games. So it’s not at all like Trent is violating some rule about “how to handle the American flag”. And any such rule, even if it existed, would be rather stupid.
The game is played in America (last I checked) and Mr. Trent was invited to play in this game. This means to me that he can pretty much do whatever the hell he wants with HIS Michigan helmet while he plays in that game.
A lot of fans visit opposition blogs. Its nice to keep up with the other programs. I read the big-ten-bloggers feed daily with the better blogs of each school (and some poor ones that may or may not be Michigan-centric). As long as the comments are civil, which his were, there shouldn’t be any problem.
And no, I don’t think Boeckman wearing Michigan wings would be a big enough deal where people post things like “I hope you die in the pros.”
LOL.. you obviously are not very well-versed in the way of the buckeye fan… they throw beer at my 55 year old father and I followed up by obligitory “faggot” comment every time we go down there. Im pretty confident that such an action would bring about some level of scorn upon him, and by scorn I mean burning his family’s house to the ground.
1: A man threw a beer at your father.
2: That man is a buckeye fan
C: All buckeye fans throw beers at your father.
That doesn’t work. Every school has its good fans and its bad fans. The real difference is in the ratio. Sweeping generalizations of diverse populations are usually incorrect.
Even in a Pavlovian sense you’re contributing to the problem. An affable, well spoken Buckeye fan comes here and says his piece which he has every right to. I even approved his comment. You then dismiss him out of hand and call him an idiot. Would he then again try to engage Michigan fans in polite conversation or would he start being an ass.
Also, why the hell does it matter how Trent performed in his collegiate days? If anything I would have expected more outrage if, say, Jake Long did this. It’s not as though he was always a secret Buckeye lover and that’s why he let himself get torched against USC. Could you please explain this to me?
“The bottom line is you are wrong. You and your stupid creative-writing WLA buddies are wrong for critizing other M fans and other M blogs for what they write and how they feel. I go to blogs like Mgo and VB and MI sports Center for information. I go to blogs like Spawn and such for humor. What the hell good is WLA? None. Its pretentious, stupid, and completely un-funny. In closing, fuck you and fuck the WLA nerds. You fancy liberal arts gueers think you are so damn smart and creative and funny. You arent. The only people who think you are funny are other liberal arts nerds who spent $100k to make $30K a year. Slap slap slap.”
I’m flattered you think my writing is good enough to have actually taken a writing class post high school. And until you can come up with something half as funny as a Charlie Weis turkey eating flash game, you’re not allowed to judge our humor.
I am pretty sure that the stickers could be removed. Unless he super-glued them, they are only decals that pull of quite easily. I mentioned this point at Spawn and was called a vagina for it. I hope no one feels the need to do that here. (looks at dex)
Paul, come on buddy.. Yes, every school, including UM has asshole fans, and sweeping generalizations of diverse populations are usually incorrect, unless we are talking about tOSU. I dont think I even need to go into this. Raise your hand if you have been spit on, had your car vandalized, had something thrown at you, or had your sexuality called into question while visiting columbus. Everyone? Uh, yeah. Or, anywhere in ohio for that matter.. I live in Toledo and I can hardly walk my trash to the curb without being verbally assaulted by some jagoff bucks fan. So please dont tell me if one of their guys did what trent did there would not be police cars on fire.
And Ken, I apologize for calling you an idiot. You may be a very intelligent guy who just happens to be a buckeye fan. (I know at least..one) I unfortunately jumped to that conclusion based on your idiotic post.
OSU probably has a higher proportion of asshole fans than most schools especially with relation to Michigan. The last two things in your list happen at pretty much every campus I’ve been to on gameday.
You didn’t answer the question I was really hoping you would. Why should a player’s on field performance affect in anyway your calculus on a “character” issue like the helmet sticker purportedly is?
Paul, honestly I think my reaction would be pretty much the same if, say, Leon Hall, who by most accounts was a very good cornerback versus trent, who was a very poor cornerback, were to pull the buckeye sticker stunt. I would have pretty much the same level of disgust.
I hope that answers your question.. I dunno. Keep up the great work..
I read through all those comments and figured I might as well leave a reply to commemorate the fact that I spent 10 minutes following a Michigan-intertube kerfuffle. Saturday’s aren’t the same without college football.
Sometimes, it amazes me to see that it is the fans who lose out on sportsman-like conduct by judging athletes for really absurd things. One shouldn’t demand that athletes be good sport when as a fan, he/she is not.