Ugly Michigan fans don't help anyone with their hate

There are a lot of cowardly and narrow-minded people in this world and, unfortunately, many of them have social media accounts.They make statements on their own pages and post comments on those of others that are so cruel and inhuman it makes me shudder with anger. They stir things up and divide people, often by playing on the deep-seated emotions, beliefs, and values of those they've targeted and the people who follow them. As an intelligent, open-minded person raised by intelligent, mostly open-minded parents, I often find it hard not to get drawn in to some of these verbal battles to argue the other side or call out people as the fools they are. Sometimes I do. Sometimes I don't. A fight is what many are looking for and just gives them more fuel and electronic real estate to spew their negativity. I think many of them only show their stupidity so freely on Facebook and Twitter because they have a sense of anonymity and distance from the person or group they're attacking. It's bad enough they think it at all, but would they say these things to a person's face, staring him right in the eye? Many wouldn't, but for some, it wouldn't be troubling in the least.

I bring this up because of a tweet I read earlier today that linked to an October 20, 2014 Detroit News interview by Angelique Chengelis in which Michigan QB Devin Gardner admitted receiving hate mail and tweets regularly, from the time he started for the Wolverines into this current season. He says in the article that he's been called the N-word "so many times this year" and estimates about 1000 instances of negative Facebook and Twitter posts. 

It would be easy to say that these weren't Michigan fans and were just trolls from rival Spartans or Buckeyes. I don't believe that's always the case, though. Gardner's admission reminded me immediately of the 2011 ESPN 30 for 30 episode The Fab Five. A segment of that documentary absolutely shocked me. It was about the hundreds of vitriolic and racist letters sent to the athletic department complaining about the Fab Five, their cockiness, their playing style, even their baggy shorts. The letters were not from rivals. They were from U-M alumni, many signed with full names and graduation dates. They were from "intelligent" people with a Michigan diploma hanging on their wall somewhere. Yeah, the leaders and best. They showed actual portions of these letters and I was so struck with shame that these should come from Michigan graduates that I could have cried. I must have had a different experience during my tenure in Ann Arbor in the early 1980s. I thought I had an open mind when I got there, but after meeting so many people from all walks of life and from places all over the globe, it actually gave me an even larger appreciation of the differences and similarities between us.

I know there are racists and "haters" of all kinds in places where we would least expect them. The University of Michigan is no different. One would think it might be a changed world by 2014, but it's clearly not. People are a product of their upbringing and some will never make the change of heart or mind regardless of the level of their education or exposure to new experiences. Freedom of speech is something I believe in strongly and while these people have an absolute right to say or write what they believe, I think they would do better to keep their ignorance to themselves. There is no good purpose or excuse for these kinds of unproductive, incendiary comments. They don't educate the reader or eliminate perceived problems. They don't increase a quarterback's completion percentage or a guard's accuracy from the 3-point range. Fans who write hatefully about or directly to Michigan student-athletes aren't helping anything at all. No real fan would do that. No real human being would do that. 

To combat this in my own way, instead of arguing with the angry mob, I now direct something positive to their target. I did it for both Shane Morris and Russell Bellomy when they had rough times replacing Gardner in the past few games. I didn't lie and say they did great. I just kept my sentiments kind and encouraging. I've done it for some slumping Tigers this past season, too. It makes me feel better. And if it catches the eye of someone who needs more encouragement than empty criticism and hate, I hope it gives them a needed lift.

Jimmy King's Powerful Admission on Michigan Radio's Failure:Lab Series

This fine autumn day before Michigan's pivotal Under the Lights game with Penn State, I thought I'd share a Michigan Radio story I listened to this morning that contains lessons for all of us. It's a feature they call Failure:Lab. Individuals from all walks of life stand before an audience and describe the failures they've faced in their lives. It teaches the listener and can be a much-needed catharsis for the storyteller. 

The one that touched me this morning was by former Michigan guard Jimmy King, one of the Fab 5 basketball phenoms who helped lead the Wolverines to the NCAA tournament finals in 1992 and 1993. Any Michigan fan at the time will remember those games as both the best of times and the worst of times, all coiled tightly within a couple hours of exciting basketball. 

As the world now knows, the Fab 5 is a fine example of both exhilarating success and heartbreaking team and personal failures. Jimmy King speaks frankly about this in the video. Even more importantly, he looks inside himself to see what his true failure has been. The confession comes near the end of the story, but is worth the wait. It's a confession that many of us could make and it's something we could all do something about if we were cognizant of it eating away at our own success.

It comes down to the failure of not expecting much. Of becoming so accustomed to having success snatched from you at the moment it seems within your grasp, that you stop believing in yourself. He imagines all he could have done or been if he had kindled that belief. We all sometimes stumble or hold back when a little belief and self confidence could propel us even further. 

King's realizations seem timely as others in the Michigan athletic family struggle with meeting expectations, experiencing failure, and I'm sure in some cases, harboring much self-doubt. I hope that the football players of Team 135 do keep believing in themselves and burst past any ceiling that the failure to meet expectations has built in their minds. With the moving support of the Michigan football player alumni this weekend and what I expect to be a Big House filled with fans rallying in team (if not administrative) support, maybe all of us will begin to believe again Saturday night.

You can listen to King's story (and find other interesting stories about failure) here: Michigan Radio's Failure:Lab with Jimmy King 
(from the Michigan Radio Stateside Staff -  Failure:Lab  October 6, 2014)