This is the way the world ends/Not with a bang but a whimper.

When I woke up this morning I felt a draft in my normally warm apartment. I get up and look at the one big window I have. I pulled with blinds saw two baseball sized holes in the window. I look down at my feet and see a ton of broken glass. I didn’t want to think this was an omen.

The game itself was no different than most other games against good teams. Michigan stayed competitive for the first half and then couldn’t keep it up in the second. The game even started out identically to Northwestern: Stevie Brown takes an interception back inside the 10 and Michigan fails to get any points.

There were some flashes of what a mediocre team looks like. Michigan had a touchdown drive, something the team couldn’t do last year. The defense was lights out for most of the first two quarters. Before the post Pryor hit for a touchdown, I mentioned that Pryor doesn’t look that much better than Nick Sheridan.

At halftime I thought that Michigan had a chance. Then reality came and gave me a swift kick to the balls. I’m not angry at anything for OSU getting their fifth straight win over Michigan. I’m not torn up about a team that has more losses than any other team in the 129 years of Michigan football.

This season was bad. It was almost as bad as it could have been. Every time something was fixed with this team something else broke. Michigan was very close to being mediocre, but instead injuries and serendipity forced this team to bad. We all knew this was possible; we all knew this was somewhat probable. At this point, all we can do is put our heads down, take the jeers and wait for next year.

This isn’t something Michigan fans are used to. 2004 was a rebuilding year; so was 2006. Michigan has had such a run of continued excellence that people started mistaking excellence for mediocrity. I guarantee that Rich Rodriguez knows the difference between the two and knows that this team is neither. I also guarantee that Rich Rodriguez knows what it takes to move this team from where they are to where we all want them to be. He’s a winner, and the only way someone can become a winner is by winning. There’s no compelling, rational argument against his future success.

If you want to complain about the coaches, players or other fans, go ahead. If that’s what you need to do to make this season bearable, fine. Personally, I’m going to hold onto my rational hope, keep my head down and wait for next year. It can’t get any worse.

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