THE GIFT OF MGOBLOG
Another Christmas is upon us and I thought it might be a good time to reflect on this gift provided to us on the Internet because it has been especially useful in what has been a rather trying year for the MGoCommunity.
Like every year, win or lose, we gather here and discuss what we saw, what it means going forward and how it might be improved. We even do it in the full realization that what we say has no bearing on what occurs on the field, on the court or wherever, but we share all the same because we want our community to know how we feel.
It isn’t just having a forum for posting our thoughts that makes this place a gift, but also that those thoughts generate discussion and the standards of the blog create a situation where, in many cases, we have the potential to end up better fans or more informed fans as a result. Granted, there are threads where this is difficult if not impossible, but even in those threads, you can still find opportunities to learn and grow because you have people that will redirect the discussion or answer questions honestly. This is a very well-informed community and finding out things you may not have known about Michigan athletics is almost a daily exercise, even in the worst threads.
Part of the gift is the people who inhabit this blog as well. We cover a vast range of ages and occupations and more importantly for the blog, we represent a vast array of perspectives on Michigan and Michigan athletics. Some of us are in fact alums while many are not, but we have the common bond of passion for this school and for its teams. All of us want those teams to represent the school well and to be as excellent on the field as well as off of it. No matter the personal angle from which we approach all this, we meet in that common center.
One of the things that managed to help me get through one of the most frustrating football experiences in my mere 36 years on this planet was in fact this blog. Frustrated as I was by a team which so vastly underachieved, I came to MGoBlog as a fan – like I have for years now – to vent but also to talk about what I thought needed to happen. I tend to do that with numbers, but however you do it, we all wanted the same thing in the end. To tie that into the present, in the potential to land Jim Harbaugh, we see the things we discussed as missing, so we shall see how the next week pans out. I will say that this – if it happens – would not be a bad belated Christmas gift for the program at all.
It has been these last few weeks since the dismissal of Brady Hoke that have made me realize just how special this place can be, oddly enough. I will never celebrate anyone losing their job, but the sheer volume of content that the resulting uncertainty produced servers as proof positive that those who claimed to be numb or indifferent during the season really weren’t entirely truthful, and that’s a good thing. What all this has shown is that we do in fact care, we want success and the fact that we came within inches of posting profiles of NAIA coaches shows how deeply we care about the future of football. I don’t doubt we would do the same thing for other sports, but football is a convenient example of the enormity of this community’s concern for Michigan and its willingness – in whatever capacity it can – to help.
That there is a forum for all this where highly engaged fans can meet, share knowledge and perspectives, but more importantly, improve knowledge and allow the opportunity to walk away with a more rounded perspective…that’s what makes MGoBlog an infinitely useful gift for Michigan fans. Personally, I am glad to participate both as a user and moderator where I can and I can only hope that people find my own contributions as entertaining or illuminating as I often find those of others. Here is to a better 2015.
Happy holidays, MGoCommunity.
-LSAClassOf2000