IF YOU WANT "EXCUSES", TALK TO A MICHIGAN FAN - - - SPARTAN FANS ARE OFFERING "REASONS"

Michigan fans are accusing Spartans of "making excuses" when we note that Adreian Payne and Branden Dawson were unavailable to play last weekend due to injury, and that Keith Appling is hampered by his ongoing injury situations. Perhaps they think mentioning that Matt Costello is still coming out of mononucleosis or that a lot of guys who played last Saturday are young and/or haven't played much in the past are also nothing but "excuses". My summary of this syndrome can be read here.

Time to put the meat back onto the griddle. Seems like Michigan fans were the excuse-makers during football season, and many of their excuses were not as valid as the reasons Michigan State fans were reviewing for not being able to beat UM at the Breslin Center for the 14th time in the last 15 years.

Let's review the various statements made by both fan groups:

"Payne and Dawson were unavailable to play, therefore giving Michigan an improved chance to win." The Wolverines counter-claim is that they are playing "without" Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway, and Mitch McGary. But Burke and Hardaway dropped out of college to leave UM, making them ineligible to play this season; they will never play again under NCAA rules. This counter would be valid if Spartans were complaining about the absence or Derrick Nix, or maybe Raymar Morgan or Antonio Smith; those guys are gone for good and in no way are part of the current picture. As for McGary, he's injured, but he was projected to leave for the NBA after last season, and Michigan was still ranked #4 pre-season at that time, meaning he wasn't considered an essential part of the team this year. He also probably won't play another game in Ann Arbor, so that's a different situation.
CONCLUSION: THE ABSENCE OF PAYNE AND DAWSON ARE RELEVANT FACTORS IN THE OUTCOME OF THE GAME.

"Keith Appling is playing through considerable pain and physical limitations due to his array of injuries. He is playing hurt, therefore giving Michigan an improved chance to win". This claim is identical to the claims during football season that Devin Gardner was hindered by his ongoing injuries.  So any UM fan that complained about - - - or even mentioned - - - Gardner's physical status during the football season, must acknowledge the same situation with Appling.
CONCLUSION: APPLING'S INJURIES ARE RELEVANT FACTORS IN THE OUTCOME OF THE GAME.

"There were a lot of MSU players on the floor who played many more minutes than usual, including during crunch-time, and this affected the ability of the Spartans to be successful." This sounds more like an "excuse" than the others. But all we heard through football season was that the Michigan team had a young line, or maybe they had a young team, or maybe they had 60 freshmen on their sideline, or things like that. If the Wolverines can claim excessive youth and inexperience as the reason for losing nearly half of their football games, it must also be acceptable as a partial answer to why Michigan State lost a single game by five points.
CONCLUSION: THE PREPONDERANCE OF INEXPERIENCED PLAYERS FOR MSU HAD AN IMPACT ON THE OUTCOME OF THE GAME.

"Branden Dawson has a self-inflicted injury; therefore his absence cannot be considered anything but an excuse for not winning." But Gardner's many injuries during the football season were also "self-inflicted", as he decided to hang on to the football repeatedly and run forward, only to be brutally and viciously sacked. In effect, Gardner injured himself.
CONCLUSION: THE CAUSE OF DAWSON'S INJURY IS IRRELEVANT WHEN ANALYZING THE IMPACT OF HIS LOSS.

Spartan fans, in general, are NOT blaming the loss on the Head Coach, the assistant coaches, the Athletic Director, and/or the University President. All of those figures at the University of Michigan drew heavy criticism on a regular basis from UM fans, many of whom actually blamed those people for their football team's failures.

What claims have you heard Michigan fans making these past few days that need a little more scrutiny? Please submit them for review by COMMENTING BELOW, and we will take a look at them here on this web site.




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