let’s go. it’s not that hard

" 'i think lloyd's gonna give it up. i think he's had it.'

"you know who told me that? bo schembechler, several years ago. i never mentioned it. never told carr. but clearly, the idea of leaving didn't just flash across carr's brain. he has considered it before. remember, he was part of the schembechler line, but he was not a clone. bo would have coached until the day he died if the doctors had let him. lloyd wants to do some living before doctors become an issue. the daily drain of coaching a major football program, the pressure, the alumni, the media, the scrutiny, is like opening a faucet on your life force. carr has likely had enough.

"but let's be clear. this is not about ohio state. this is not about jim tressel. this is not about losing six of the last seven to the buckeyes. and this is not about this season's 8-4 record.

"carr is above all that. he gets the big picture. if he was leaving this year, he was leaving at 8-4, 10-2 or 12-0. if he wasn't, the team could have gone 4-8 and he would have come back.

"as for the internet nation, the sports-talk screamers and the nonstop bloggers who have been lusting for carr's head, calling him archaic, past his prime, beneath the task, if you are celebrating today's announcement, I can only tell you this: be careful what you wish for. take a look at other programs that have been chasing national championships, the hot coach of the moment. look at nebraska. look at lsu. look at miami (fla.). is that what you want? one great year or else? a coach who uses you and then jumps someplace better? is college football only about a national title? is it only about the noise and complaining when you don't beat your rival?

"lloyd carr may not have won every game, but he was loyal to this program, adamant about keeping it honorable, devoted to the players and intent on creating the finest team he could. that intensity resulted in a national championship, a bushel of big ten titles, a 121-40 record and a .752 winning percentage, ranking him seventh among active coaches, and trailing only schembechler (194-48-5) and fielding h. yost (165-29-10) in career victories at michigan. as for what has he done for you lately? well. as late as one year ago, michigan was 11-0 and No. 2 in the nation. you almost forget that in the instant gratification world we've created. maybe that's part of why carr is getting out." - mitch albom, detroit free press, november 19, 2007

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071118/SPORTS06/71118039/0/SPORTS06

sing your song, dream your dream, hope your hope and pray your prayer

we couldn't have asked for a better man to lead our team for the past thirteen years. there are only six coaches currently with a better record than lloyd's .752 winning percentage. and there are only a handful, at most, of coaches who truly believe their school is the 'greatest university in the world.' and there are even fewer, if any, who have more integrity than lloyd.

"as we go forward, i only have one wish that this program will continue to abide by the values established by bo schembechler and the men who preceded him and the men who succeeded him, and that is to win with integrity – that's what we want to do because in the big picture, the character of this institution will be defined by the way this program is run. and that really is what michigan has always been about, and what i hope it will always be about.

"but, you know, michigan football is about team. it's about family. it's about having a group of people that you trust, that you care about. and i understand that if everybody will do the best he can do and put the team first, then you can do things that you can't do individually. michigan has had all kinds of all-americans and heisman trophy winners, but that's not what defines this program. what defines this program is team. taking a lot of people from different parts of the country, different religions and races and socioeconomic backgrounds and trying to mold them into a cohesive group of people who have one goal. and that goal is to win for michigan. and to me, that is what it's all about.

"you got to be able to take a punch, and know that all those punches are worth it because you get to go down that tunnel, and you get to stand on that sideline, and you get to represent the greatest university in the world. and you get to recruit the finest kids that play this game. and you get the great challenge of trying to do something that is very difficult, and that is to be the very, very best in this country. and it's hard to do. it's hard to do. but it's fun, and it's what makes life really worthwhile. the challenge of trying to do something with a group of people that no one can do themselves." - lloyd carr, november 19, 2007

"by your own soul, learn to live. if some men thwart you, take no heed. if some men hate you, have no care. sing your song, dream your dream, hope your hope and pray your prayer." - pakenham beatty

i know you think you’re scary and damaged and you don’t deserve good things, but you do

so grey's anatomy is my one tv addiction, besides college football. most girls watch grey's because of patrick dempsey, and don't get me wrong, i do love patrick, but i really watch it because of meredith. most people think meredith is whiney and indecisive, and mean to the people who care most about her. but i get her. i understand how she feels and why she acts the way she does, even as ridiculous as it may be sometimes. i think she's pretty, but in her own way - very natural, simple and classic. she's seemingly normal, but when you get to know her she's quirky and silly. meredith is smart and has a great job, but she's really not extraordinarily smart, and while she does well at work, she's not the best. she's extremely hard on herself, and she pushes herself for all the wrong reasons. she's been through a lot growing up...particularly with her biological mother, which she'll continue to deal with for the rest of her life. while everyone else walked away from ellis, meredith couldn't, even though she isn't sure she ever even loved her. since she didn't ever really have a mother, susan became her real mother, she became that void in meredith's life. meredith has abandonment issues from her childhood, which have turned into committment issues as an adult. her best friend, cristina, is the only person that she's ever really let get close to her. despite how perfect derek is and how much he loves her, meredith can't let him in. she doesn't want to get hurt, but mostly she doesn't want to hurt him. she doesn't want to be the one to break him because she cares too much about him. she wants the happily ever after, but for whatever reason, she thinks she doesn't deserve it...she doesn't think she deserves him. she's trying though. she's trying to open up, she's trying to let him in. she's trying to be better than what she's grown up knowing. she doesn't want to be like that. but she's scared of failing. scared of failing at work, as a friend, as a daughter, as a sister, as a girlfriend, as a wife, as a mother. at the end of the day, meredith is just a lost, scared little girl. but she has a good heart, so someday, she knows that someday, the day when she learns to let go, she'll have her happily ever after. and she will someday...right?