MEDIA BIAS GLARING AS MICHIGAN FOOTBALL FLOUNDERS

The Mainstream Michigan Media Machine (M-4) is working overtime in top gear to convince everybody that there are no problems with Michigan Football. This, despite two belly-flops in a row against low-end opposition.

Meanwhile, that same M-4 has Michigan State in the middle of the griddle, turning the heat up as high as possible in order to grill the Spartans for doing exactly what they were predicted to do.

Most people had MSU 3-1 after four games, and they are literally 3-1 after four games. How does this story draw so much attention? The Irish opened as seven-point favorites, and by game time, they were picked to win by four points. They won by four points. Where is the news angle? In Journalism, this is known as a "Dog Bites Man" story, and as such, is not particularly newsworthy.

But the Michigan Football team was a huge surprise to everyone the past two weeks, picked to win by three to five touchdowns in each game, yet struggling to mount fourth-quarter comebacks each time to win by a field-goal. One of those games featured a last-second goal-line-stand to preserve a hollow victory. In Journalism, this is known as a "Man Bites Dog" story, and generally would be the front-page story.

But the M-4 has issued numerous excuses for the Wolverines, complete with encouraging predictions for the rest of the season. They didn't play their game, they're young, the quarterback is inexperienced, the opponent was fired-up, everybody has an off-day, the ball bounces funny, and maybe sometimes chickens really do have lips. Whatever. Free pass for the yellow-pants.

Despite the details of how the Spartans got to 3-1, they remain on track for all but the most optimistic of pre-season predictions. Indeed, it may be more newsworthy that they took over with a chance to win at the end of the game than the fact that they lost.

But the Michigan Football fiasco goes largely unexamined. How could a Top 20 team with Top 10 recruiting classes make such a mess of themselves for two consecutive weeks? Why doesn't the M-4 invade Shempbuckler Hall demanding answers? Where is the ongoing series of critical reviews of the Wolverines? Why isn't Donut Boy on the "hot seat"? How come the assistants wearing blue aren't up for public evaluation and critique?

This is the same-old, same-old, same-old story. The M-4 works full-time to make Michigan look good while at the same time making Michigan State look bad. We urge you not to believe it, as there is no "Michigan Difference" beyond this consistently favorable treatment in the mainstream media.




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