Sam McGuffie, Others Leaving Team
There will be significant attrition this offseason. The first to fall:
In today’s weekly Big Ten teleconference, Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez said sophomore Zion Babb was no longer with the team. Rodriguez said the wide receiver hasn’t been with the team since Sunday.
So… yeah. I was sitting on this until I had some outside confirmation and this serves as outside confirmation since three guys were mentioned as a group of players who had already made their decisions. The other two who have told the coaches they are out: sophomore LB/S Artis Chambers and Sam McGuffie.
EVERYBODY PANIC.
Okay. Done panicking? Some context for this information:
How solid is it? Very solid. Three sources very close to the situation.
How official is it? It is not official until it is official. Earlier this year I said freshman RB Mike Cox was transferring based on equally solid info, but Cox reversed course and decided to stick out the year. Until someone actually enrolls somewhere else there is always the chance for a reconciliation.
Is this the end of it? No. The rumors are flying fast and furious about a couple guys buried on the depth chart; I don't have confirmation on anyone else and at this point I think they're still on the fence.
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Granted, neither Artis Chambers nor Zion Babb were ever going to be showcase players on this team. They provided a role, however, and their attrition diminishes the team's depth and the value of their sporadic contributions. It also diminishes the collective game experience this team has, which seems especially crucial in a transition such as this.
Is it therefore so illegitimate to be unmoved when players decide to leave the program because, in their estimation, their role on Saturdays is not substantial enough?
November 18th, 2008 at 1:43 PM ^
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The broader point was, however, that certain reasons for ending your participation in some group enterprise (in this case transferring from a football team) entails real costs on the other members of the group. The duties and responsibilities for team and player seem to be reciprocal. Barring particularly unbecoming or unfair behavior on the part of the coaches or severe mitigating circumstances (as discussed re: McGuffie above), I think it's legitimate to express one's displeasure at the decision to dissolve one's responsibilities to the group, which the first poster did albeit in an inelegant fashion.
Or do you think a transfer is legitimate under any circumstances?
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