Open letter to Lloyd Carr: A-B-C

Always be closing...ALWAYS BE CLOSING!

Given the thin margin of poll victory of the Gators over the Wolverines, I think many voters would have leaned to Michigan if only Lloyd Carr had asked for their vote.

To paraphrase the immortal Blake (above, played by Alec Baldwin) of Glegarry Glen Ross, "You lost their Attention, you didn't gain the voters Interest, they were ready to make a Decision, and they took Action against you. You hit the bricks pal, and beat it! "

There is nothing innately inappropriate about campaigning or selling, but read the following is a quote from Carr's coaches show on Saturday Night ahead of the final poll announcements:

"I just think that based on some of the comments the Florida coach has made in the last two weeks, he has been campaigning strenuously for a berth in the championship game and making some statements about Michigan that I think were inappropriate," Carr said. "That certainly is going to stir a controversy, and who knows what that's going to lead to."

Stop me if I am assuming too much, but I think the message behind the Carr message is "I am too good to put on a sales job for my program - our work should stand on its own."

In my time in many different industries, this is always the lament of the taskmaster - he who believes that "My craft should be good enough and that my brilliance should be obvious to anyone who sees my work." You have seen them - the co-workers who thinks sales is a dirty job and not worthy of their dignity. Their hubris oozes forth after every artistic triumph in their own mind. To paraphrase an old Dan Akroyd line, "Lloyd, you ignorant slut!"

All the hours Carr spent this past year hitting the recruiting trail, all the hours leading and inspiring young men to peak performance, ALL FOR NAUGHT as Carr simply wouldn't close the deal and ask for the vote. If I were Chad Henne, Mike Hart, or LaMarr Woodley, I would be seething that my coach didn't do everything possible to ensure an appearence in the BCS Championship. It is fair to say that all coaches do some shady/gray/push-the-envelope activities and no one blinks an eye, yet Carr wouldn't go the last step for his players and his school.

PUT THAT COFFFEE DOWN, LLOYD!
COFFEE IS FOR CLOSERS ONLY!

Carr must have assumed that his 11-1 season was good enough to get back deserve a rematch. He forgot two important points - 1) "Recency bias" as the voters may have forgotten how good Michigan played this year in general and two weeks ago in specific, and 2) the voters are bleating sheep that need to be led since they rarely take their job seriously enough to record some games and watch them later.

Michigan did not do everything they could do to assure a title shot - THEY LOST, they lost two weeks ago, and they lost the public opinion that a rematch was bad for the sport.

Lloyd, all you probably had to do was ask. Just like you do when recruiting, when you are in a budget meeting, or when you go home and demand more pudding from the missus. I hear the desert is lovely this time of year - sad that your seniors won't be there.