The Beauty of Karma

Now, allow me to open by saying that in many ways this is a bitter and unfair post. When I was 19, I was stupid. I made bad decisions, I said stupid things, but luckily being a pledge at a small school wasn't exactly being a "public figure" so my indiscretions rarely made national news. Well, except once. But we don't bring that up.

The good thing for me was, in the end, I learned from these moments. Even when I got away with stupid things, something happened later on that made me realize my previous mistakes. It's karma. If you don't know what that is, take 24 minutes and watch an episode of "My Name is Earl." Then watch Mallrats, and please explain to tell me what the hell happened to Jason Lee's career. He's the Steve Spurrier of actors. They both were great 5-10 years ago. Now, you'd think it's still going well for them-- Lee has a hit primetime sitcom, while Spurrier is coaching a January 1 bowl-bound SEC team. But it only takes 30 minutes of watching either to realize something has gone terribly wrong for both men.

You'd think both of these men are currently successful, but you'd be wrong

So this week, we got to see two examples of karma at work with young quarterbacks. First, there was Michigan recruit Shavodrick Beaver (Disclaimer: I'm a bitter Michigan fan here. Not only does Michigan desperately need a ton of QB recruits to run RichRod's system, but look at his name! Shavodrick Beaver! The first name is enough, but to also add the possibility of shouting "Let's Go Beaver!' or "Beaver Scores" or "It's a cold one here in Ann Arbor, let's hope Beaver's got his fur!" Endless!). Beaver announced just before Christmas, and two weeks before he was supposed to arrive on campus, that he was changing his commitment from Michigan to Tulsa. One of the four best programs in college football history to a Conference USA team. Shocking, but after Tulsa's offense exploded under first year coordinator Gus Malzahn, not all that surprising. I mean, I'd prefer to play under the guy that made Pat White a Heisman contender as opposed to the guy that made Mitch Mustain a back up at USC, but that's just me.

So as a Michigan fan, I was thrilled to see karma come through for me shortly after Beaver's announcement (Beaver's announcement! Tell me you didn't giggle. Man, so close to greatness), another report came out: Malzahn was leaving Tulsa to bring the spread to Gene Chizik's Auburn staff. So, in short, he backed out of his commitment to Michigan at the last possible moment and too late to get another early enrollment QB into Ann Arbor, which was a cheap move, to play for a coach who ditched him at the last possible moment for a BCS job. Karma. I wish Beaver well at Tulsa, but hope his success there comes no where near the success of Tate Forcier at Michigan.

I will save my laughter that Chizik is trying to bring in a spread offense one year after Tony Franklin's spread marked the end of the Tuberville-era on the Plains for a later date.

Karma appeared again this past week in southern Florida. Freshmen quarterback Robert Marve demanded and received his release from Hurricane's coach Randy Shannon. Why did he demand his release? Because he's livid that coach Randy Shannon suspended him, not once, but twice this season. The first time was because Marve was arrested for "resisting arrest without violence and criminal mischief" in the off season. He was then suspended for the Emerald Bowl after he missed his fourth class of the semester-- he claims he was just late after meeting with another professor, which as a former TA, I believe as much as I believe that Britney Spears lost all that weight without the natural energy boost of 3 grams of coke per day-- which prompted his demand to be released.

Coach Shannon granted him this release, but with simple restrictions: you can't go anywhere in the SEC, ACC, or Florida. Simply put, Shannon said you can't go anywhere where we might play you in the regular season. When Marve found out he wasn't getting his way, his family and his high school coach both lost it. They called it bitter and spiteful move by Shannon, I call it Karma. If you're going to demand your release to a school because you screwed up, you don't get to do whatever you want. If you hurt the team by getting suspended, the team may hurt you. Notre Dame told football and lacrosse player Will Yeatman that he was allowed to transfer to any school not on Notre Dame's 2009 football or lacrosse schedule. Shannon essentially told Marve the same thing. I don't want to pile on Marve, because again, I am still young and stupid, but I hope Shannon has taught him a lesson about earning what you want in life. This will hopefully make him a better citizen and teammate where ever he ends up, meaning that he learned from this run in with Karma.