I Made a Huge Mistake

My typical morning drive-time radio selections include the following, in this order: 1) WTKA with Sam and Ira, 2) The Adam Carolla Show podcast, 3) whatever CD I can find.

That's it. I never...repeat, NEVER deviate from this list. I know better.

Maybe it's because I'm not getting any sleep these days thanks to a little bundle of joy that just turned 10 weeks old yesterday (Happy 10 week birthday buddy!), or maybe it was the gridlock on 696 that was doing crazy things to my brain...either way, I made a huge tactical error.

I turned the FM dial to WXYT 97.1 The Ticket.

Oh dear God. It's like Lord of the Flies out there!

I didn't even know what I did until it was too late. The hosts of this morning show, I have no idea their names, were talking Michigan football and how great it is to watch such an exciting team. I thought to myself, "Maybe Detroit drive-time radio has turned the corner and become more tolerable?". By that time, a caller had phoned in...claiming to be a Michigan fan, said to have once owned season tickets. I thought, "Hey, cool. This is a Michigan love-fest!"

And then the caller launched into how fragile Denard Robinson is. And how hurt he's going to get once we get into the Big Ten schedule. And once he's hurt, 95% of our offense is going to suddenly disappear. And out offensive line averages about 260 pounds and will not be able to block the "...corn-fed Iowa defensive players...".

WHAT????!?!?!??!!

First off, our O-line from left to right weight in at 306, 308, 288, 299 and 321. I'm no math guru, but that averages out to be 304.4 pounds. For Iowa, their front 4 on defense weigh 261, 285, 297 and 270. That's an average of 278.25 pounds. That's a weight advantage of 26.15 pounds per player in Michigan's favor.

To make things worse, the hosts of this morning talk show...clearly sports experts, agreed with everything this guy was spouting. And not just a modest agreement. No, this was a whole-hearted agreement. It's as if this idea that Denard is just waiting to be injured...and everyone is accepting this as fact. Where is this coming from?

It's becoming apparent to me that everyone is accepting these ideas as foregone conclusions:

• Denard is great, but will get bashed in Big Ten games.
• One guy can't carry an offense like this.
• He can't keep up this pace.

Caller after caller, article after article...everywhere you look, you read or hear this sentiment. Yes, everyone agrees that Denard is by far the most exciting player in the country. They all agree that he's got an amazing ability. But for some reason, they all agree that he's just going to get pounded against every Big Ten team we play. And when that happens, he's going to go down...and take the bulk of the Michigan offense with him. People forget that UConn and Notre Dame have very respectable defenses. I'll go as far as to say UConn might have the best two linebackers we'll see all year in Greg Lloyd and Scott Lutrus.

Look, I get that football is a tough sport. And you do take a beating, especially when you're a quarterback and you run the ball 28.5 times a game, mostly between the tackles. And Denard is a smaller guy when compared to say, Adrian Clayborn. But he does weigh in at 193 pounds according to the roster...and that's not exactly small. And have you taken a good look at him? He's actually quite built for a guy who can outrun everyone else on the field.

And did you happen to catch that last touchdown by Denard when he ran over Harrison Smith (6-2, 214) from Notre Dame? Smith squared up to tackle Denard, and Denard lowered his shoulder and ran right through him.

I'm not here to say that Denard is going to go all year injury-free. I don't have a crystal ball. But neither does anyone else. Every player that goes 12 games plays hurt at some point. Dayne Crist, Notre Dame's QB is 6-4, 235, and he missed most of the first half because he suffered a concussion. Meanwhile, Denard Robinson, all 6-foot 193 pounds of him, ran wild around the Irish defense while Crist watched from the sidelines with his one good eye.

I don't think there is any way I can reasonably convince anyone that Denard is not this fragile guy just waiting to get hurt. But mark my words...if he does go down, whether for a few plays or gets knocked out of a game, people everywhere (including some that call themselves Michigan fans) will be lining up to say they told us so. They all knew this was going to happen, and the real Michigan fans are doomed to another season of missed expectations.

Writers and so-called experts everywhere from ESPN to the Detroit Free Press will proclaim they all saw this coming. And if Denard goes down, the Michigan offense that we know will go down with him. Of course I don't want this to happen, but if Denard gets hurt, I guarantee these idiots will come out of the woodwork to let you know about it.