I can't say anything bad about Jourdan Lewis. "I love this university. And I love this country." That is what he tweeted. It is pretty articulate, within the context.
I confess. I actually waited to see what Jim Harbaugh was going to do. I lived in the South for a long time and I'm willing to bet there are coaches there, and elsewhere, who told their players we are not going to have any of that on this team. It really is hard to believe, but once again, Harbaugh is right.
"I support them," he said. As a football coach, Harbaugh said it is not his role to tell the players what to do or what to think. That is a given. But he went a step further. If he just ignores it, or snickers or frowns just a little, that is tacit disapproval. It is uncharted territory and they are very young men. As a leader and quasi father figure, Harbaugh will also manage the situation and provide direction.
At Michigan it is reminiscent of the Fab 5. They were new and brash and people didn't know how to react. Among the many critics, I remember one sportswriter in North Carolina--UNC and Duke have always been quite a tandem--criticizing the whole university because their shorts were too long.
My thoughts were more along the lines of it is not my place to tell Chris Webber anything about basketball. And the rest of the team too, not to single out any names, because they are very young men doing their own thing. Plus, being an athlete on that stage really isn't anything I can relate to personally and they come from backgrounds very different than my own. I think on many levels Cass Tech in Detroit, for example, can be a very tough place. But even that is a judgement because probably it can be a great place too.
As for Harbaugh, he has to deal with 19 million constituencies and do it in public too. His statements, and behavior, are pretty right-on.
Still, I support this and I like Ty Isaac:
INSERT IMAGE of Ty Isaac with hand on heart. Wilton Speight too.
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