Ace appreciation thread

Submitted by TrueMaize on

No this isn’t Ace’s back up profile or his mom...So settle down. The dude puts in some serious work on the blog and on the podcast. He brings so much value and knowledge to this blog. The dude is entitled to an opinion of our crybaby fan base. He’s just saying what most of us fans are thinking. Ace my man you are an incredible asset to this place and I hope you are here for a long time.

We knew heading into this season it was going to be a rebuilding year, most of us thought 8-9 wins. But what we didn’t know was Wilt being a former shell of himself + injury and O’Korn being less than serviceable outside of Purdue. Enter Peters, who by all account managed the games well and started to connect with more than RBs and TEs. I think we saw a flash of the future before he was driven into the ground. Things will be okay. Things will get better. Harbaugh needs to shuffle some of his offensive coaching staff and continue to recruit the way he has since arriving in AA. It’s all good baby.

TrueMaize

November 19th, 2017 at 12:28 PM ^

This place aside from the jokes that won’t die, the overkill on snark and a few annoying posters... this place is awesome. I read this blog daily... at work, home, the shitter, car rides, awkward social gatherings. You name it... I’ve met fans all over that read this and when I meet someone who hasn’t joined this place I highly recommend it to them.

Maizerage11

November 19th, 2017 at 12:58 PM ^

Great sentiment.  I think this is why people react so poorly to losses (myself included).  Michigna football is one the things that I really enjoy and look forward to.  When it doesn't go well, then we grasp at things to blame to feel better.  Unfortunatly, there is nothing to do but buckle up and keep watching.

Magnus

November 19th, 2017 at 12:24 PM ^

Yeah, I didn't get the threads earlier. Ace isn't perfect, but a lot of people have been idiots in the last 24 hours or so, and many of them started off that way upon birth. Not many people are covering themselves in glory at this point of their Michigan fandom.

Maynard

November 19th, 2017 at 12:33 PM ^

I like Ace and love the work he does but the criticism he received from his BS twitter take yesterday was fully warranted. Period. If you want to get the benefit of being a writer and the rewards that come from having compensation derived from that, trashing the fans and the people you are deriving that income from, is unacceptable. Players know this. Journalists know this. This isn't new. You are quite aware of both sides of this as well with what you do. I think you handle it quite well.

Neg me all you want but Ace needed to put his big boy pants on and suck it up. 

Keep up the good work but don't act like you're entitled to an elevation and it all can't go away one day.

LSAClassOf2000

November 19th, 2017 at 12:48 PM ^

If I am remembering the correct tweet, he basically said the worst thing about the program right now is its fanbase, and if you read Michigan twitter from about 4 PM yesterday to right now, there are quite a few people going out of their way to prove that sentiment to be correct. 

I mean, I get that some folks are frustrated, but the keyboard heroes have been out in force in the last 20 hours or so. 

Maynard

November 19th, 2017 at 12:49 PM ^

Agreed. And I actually like Ace most of the guys on here. I just think the criticism he was getting yesterday on there was warranted because if you want to generalize and say Michigan fans are the worst while getting compensation because of those fans, then you are no different than a player trashing the fans. 

By the way, I agree with his take. But I also receive no employment or money based on my love for Michigan. There is a difference and a responsibility that comes with being in leadership anywhere.

DrewForBlue

November 19th, 2017 at 12:56 PM ^

What exactly are we expecting after a loss like that?  People are going to vent on their favorite blog. 

Sure a lot of people are going overboard or getting emotional.  I believe the worst is then to call ANYONE an idiot, moron, stupid, or whatever.  We can address the content.  But of course that's how some people vent, to insult others.  

Ace is still relatively young, and I bet it wears you down dealing with constantly venting and emotional people so much. 

DrewForBlue

November 19th, 2017 at 12:44 PM ^

It encourages the hottest of hot takes, all day every day, and gives people who use it the idea the twitter-verse is representative of reality.  Which it is most certainly not.

Most of all, everyone who spends a significant time on twitter seems to hone one skill more than any other:  the ability to lose patience with all other views that are not yours, and then respond with immaturity and sarcasm.  Sarcasm is easy, and lazy.  

billybrown

November 19th, 2017 at 2:19 PM ^

You're also one of the biggest crybabies and complainers on this board. When the usual suspects are on here crying and complaining and unacceptabling you can almost sure as clock work count you amongst them. Let me guess though you're gonna go with the classic crybaby refrain of telling it like it is.

Kevin14

November 19th, 2017 at 4:41 PM ^

Michigan has a ton of great fans but just like every other college football program - there a quite a few idiots.  It's college football!  There are idiots everywhere.  The internet, including Mgoblog and twitter, give voice to them, so Ace has more exposure than most of us.  All my friends I've talked to aren't happy we lost yesterday, but nobody's ready to #fireharbaugh or make any broad assertions about the program. 

I love Ace's content - he's great at his job.  But that was a trash tweet.  We love Mgoblog because writers are allowed to give their honest opinion and let their personality.  That said, it opens yourself up for criticism.  Personally, I think Ace can sometimes come accross as overly snarky and entitled (i.e - that tweet).  It doesn't stop me from following him because he does a great job at what he does, but I'm occassionally bothered by his tone.  

None of us are excited after losses, but Ace coming at the fan base isn't exactly constructive.  Cheers to better days - Go Blue, Beat the Bucks!

 

You Only Live Twice

November 19th, 2017 at 10:12 PM ^

...BUT.....

Always a red flag when someone "loves" someone, BUT....

It isn't "love" and Ace did not trash anyone.   Part of being a journalist is having journalistic integrity.  If Ace determined that he didn't want to cave to a hate bandwagon, for example, he's actually exercising journalistic integrity by distancing himself from it.  It is a perfectly valid stance for a journalist to take.  He is not denying that it happens.  He is choosing not to get caught up in it.  A position, by the way, that takes a lot of courage to take.

When you say Ace needed to "suck it up" you are expressing disappointment that he didn't join your particular bandwagon.

Magnus

November 19th, 2017 at 12:41 PM ^

It's too early to know whether it's a blow for the 2019 recruiting class. I mean, obviously it's not good, but if we can pull in Nick Petit-Frere in the 2018 class, then that mitigates the issue somewhat. Offensive tackle shouldn't be quite as big of a need by then.

I also think Greg Frey is a good evaluator and coach of offensive tackles, so I think we'll be in decent shape there. He can unearth some talent from elsewhere.

Also, NSD 2019 is a long, long, long way away. 

Seth

November 19th, 2017 at 12:29 PM ^

My only problem with Ace is draftageddon. Like me he is hyper competitive and watches a lot of Big Ten football outside of Michigan. That series would be much less time-consuming if I wasn't going up against a master every summer.

the Glove

November 19th, 2017 at 12:34 PM ^

I learned a long time ago that just because I root for the same team as someone else doesn't mean that I'm going to like that person. I can only imagine what Ace has to go through being tweeted at by some ridiculous people.

viewfromalbany

November 19th, 2017 at 12:36 PM ^

after the QB position, most important position group in football is offensive line.
Following 2015 season, NE Patriots realized Brady was going to be killed without changes.
Changes were made.
"shuffle" is too modest an expectation.

Bodogblog

November 19th, 2017 at 12:39 PM ^

Look, M almost went to the playoff in year 2. Inches away. That would have been one of the great turnarounds in CFB history (just like the historical turnaround Harbaugh managed at Stanford). Beat both B1G division winners, NY6 bowl teams. This season is disappointing because of MSU. Come to terms with it, irrational fans. Happened and can't be undone.

Ace is excellent.

gustave ferbert

November 19th, 2017 at 12:42 PM ^

is currently off the rails.  Brian Cook, Ace and everybody else said this was going to happen when Harbaugh got hired  IIRC, Brian challenged the fan base to accept this because Harbaugh was hired so late in the recruiting cycle.  AIIRC the fan base was willing to oblige because it's Harbaugh.  The most likely scenario posited by the people who run this blog is coming to pass and everyone is freaking out.  

At this point, I'm seeing a lot of parallels between our situation and Nebraska when they fired Frank Solich.  Everyone knows how that worked out. 

I have a sneaking suspicion that everyone who is lamenting the performance in this season will be very embarrassed in the next couple of years when the Harbaugh era will begin to produce the results that everyone expects. 

 

Blueblood2991

November 19th, 2017 at 1:16 PM ^

Oh for fucks sake. Ace's twitter is not the same as the front page of MgoBlog. The dude is allowed to have personal opinions that you can easily ignore by not following him.

chunkums

November 19th, 2017 at 1:20 PM ^

I've been impressed by the staff's patience with insane fans TBH. 

This entire thing has me wondering why some of these people watch sports. If you are absolutely miserable 75% of the time when you watch sports, why do you keep doing it? If a team that started 14/22 1st/2nd year players losing to the #5 team in the nation sends you over the edge, why do you watch? It clearly is not entertaining at that point. 

billybrown

November 19th, 2017 at 2:24 PM ^

Exactly this. If the team and the staff are so bad that you can't even watch without going into an emotional uproar and acting like a complete asshole find something else to do. How could you possibly get any enjoyment from something that makes you behave like a total thoughtless dickhead.

Bombadil

November 19th, 2017 at 1:23 PM ^

We're fortunate to have such quality content for free. We, as a fan base, were off the rails yesterday. Thankfully Graham "bad humor" Couch was able bring the fans back to common ground to defend our QB.

ReegsShannon

November 19th, 2017 at 1:18 PM ^

I like Ace and all the other writers here but I think the general take from the blog staff that "Everything is fine, and you are all just too stupid to realize it is fine" is annoying. 

Also, let people have their emotions and vent. There are obviously lines to not cross, but it's fine to allow people to vent their emotions. We are all very very invested in Michigan football and it's understandable that people are gonna get upset about losses. People aren't necessarily dumb and horrible people because they have emotions.