Note :
This post references the Spawn of Mzone piece here, and the infinitely more repugnant post at Maize and Blue Nation, here. Spawn responds here. Also, read Chitown's Thoughts, and the Shrine Game Chatroom. Varsity Blue checks in here, as the CONTROVERSY~~~ spreads like wildfire through the interweb.
I do not like to presume much about the athletes we watch on television. They are in a different world from us; full of practices, hard work, and sacrifice. I sit in a cubicle and occasionally write about football.
Judging them based on minuscule bits of information seems sketchy at best. Fans find no problem with calling certain players a cancer based on their touchdown celebration, lazy because of our perception of their effort, or worthy of death for a mistake that was possibly their fault.
Or they call them traitors for having the audacity to put a sticker on the helmet we obsess over. It's entirely possible that Morgan Trent has been a Buckeye all along. His stint at the University of Michigan was simply his time as a deep cover agent. Trent has been playing his own little version of The Departed, with the ultimate goal of beginning the demise of Michigan football. All the evidence is right there.
It's also true that Trent willingly switched sides of the ball without public complaint. And that he convinced two different coaching staffs he was the best available option on the team to start at CB. He had bad games, oh, certainly. But as Teddy Roosevelt or some other capitalist dog once said - "the glory goes to the man in the arena something something something not bloggers". Trent may have failed in critical situations - but unless given rock-solid evidence otherwise, I will refuse to believe he was not giving his best effort. Participating in a sticker-trading tradition that the vast majority of players in the Shrine Game take part in is not that evidence.
To believe that Trent owes more to you, the fan, and your views of his "sacred" helmet is the height of myopic thinking. Yet, the fans who decry the defiling of the "sacred" helmet will continually laugh at the arrogance, at the self-centered thinking, at the over-the-top worship of fans who cheer for MSU, OSU, ND, etc. I ask you, loyal reader - if a ND player placed stickers on his helmet, and then an ND blog chastised him for it, do you think the same blogs that pillory Trent would have a field day making fun of the "why so serious" ND fans?
They will not read this - or at least, they won't admit to reading this - and they will dismiss our argument. They will decry the "WLA", because ascribing one single moniker and opinion to us helps them dismiss the idea they might actually be wrong, and go back to whining that we "tell people how to think".
But this is not about them, really. I know that I was once lost in the wilderness of the internet. Crawling along, finding only the delusional rants of hardcore M or MSU or OSU or ND or PSU fans for comfort. Everywhere I turned there were arguments about academic status, better logos, who owns who, etc. And it was depressing. Lord, was it depressing. Slowly I began to find outlets better suited to my tastes. Places where you could admit that you have MSU alum friends, or that you actually think Jim Tressel isn't a cheater. Where you can admire the tradition of Notre Dame without having someone reply with "Notre Lame SUXOR".
We are not here for the people who hate Morgan Trent because of his sticker choice. They are a lost cause. They think we attack and provoke them out of some sort of jealously or hatred - and this is wrong. They cannot see the bigger picture at play here. We export the Revolution because if our battles find even one new soldier that is liberated from the school of "tO$U" and "Little Bro" jokes, our job is complete. It's not about bringing down the enemy; it's about saving those who are giving up hope.
Know this, lonely soul : We are here for you. We understand you. We will accept you and your ways. And if you want to put a Buckeye Sticker on your helmet at an all-star game, if you don't plan your wardrobe based on rival colors, or if you own more than just maize and blue ties - this is your home. You are not alone in this fractured world.
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