What's funny about MSU in general is that locally they fight tooth-and-nail to be taken seriously and not look like a 2nd-rate sports department but nationally they mostly come across as a joke.  I was at Thanksgiving in a nearby coastal state and various unrelated family members, who barely follow college sports, off-handedly mentioned they heard about the MSU attack in the tunnel and if I knew anything else about it because it seemed crazy that it happened.  It had apparently filtered to whatever news program they saw or read about in WaPo.  Michigan has a reputation for being a good school that wins a lot of football games; MSU is somewhat known for their basketball team but otherwise is pretty unremarkable and mediocre.  So when they fight this hard to spin whatever QAnon-esque story they feel needs to be heard it mostly falls on deaf ears.  

As for the Smith's gun situation I think this is yet another reminder to people who haven't interacted with the legal system much just how different/slow it is compared to what you see on TV and movies.  It triages the shit out of things and a non-violent registration offense is so low on the totem pole they aren't going to waste their time until they absolutely need to.  The fact that MSU fans seems shocked this was handled the way it was, and that is somehow different than a record of 8 guys smashing two people with helmets and cleats, is more an indictment of the stupidity radiating from East Lansing than some grand conspiracy.

Surprised Cade didn’t hold out for Wisconsin to see if they had interest. They need to move on from Mertz and playing for Fickell seems higher upside than the Fightin’ Ferentzes

If new security measures were in place and included refusing entry to anyone smelling of cheap beer and/or ping pong balls gently dipped in cheap beer, that could account for why the student section looked so thin for the Illinois game.  

It should be noted that PFF’s year- end accolades retain the baffling bias against the UM Oline. Look at this list: https://www.pff.com/news/college-football-2022-pff-all-america-team-caleb-williams-bijan-robinson

No Wolverines in the top 3 teams and only Zinter as an honorable mention. No Olu anywhere?!? Idk what is up with PFF this year but just watch the damn games and you’ll know Olu is at least as good or better as their 3rd team selection, OSUs Luke Wypler.

Could the Mgoorthopedicsurgeon forum please convene and discuss in the public mgoblog sphere what could possibly be Blake's injury, based on all available evidence?

Here's what I know we know:

In the first half of the Illinois game he banged his knee on the helmet of another player .

He went to the locker room for imaging and an evaluation and popped back out on the field after halftime and did some time on the bike, tested his cutting ability and did not play.

He put in hours on the training table in the ensuing week leading up to The Game.

He played two snaps in Michigan's first series of The Game and jogged gingerly to the sideline after the second and did not return.

He tweeted during the recent week that he was working the problem in rehab.

Somebody announces that he's had surgery and is "done for the year".

What kind of injury could this be?

I love the fact that the all-B1G teams include two "RB" spots, all of which are tailbacks, and only two WR spots. Almost half the starting RBs in the B1G made an all-B1G team! And on defense, there are three LB spots and only four DB spots.

I guess it's not surprising that the B1G hasn't changed in 20+ years...

I, too, am holding out hope that Corum will be back for the CFP.  He played two snaps against OSU prior to which doctors had a full week to diagnose the issue and review the case with the coaching staff.  If it was a serious knee issue he would not have played, nor would he have dressed.  Ronnie Bell had a serious knee issue last season and we saw what transpired.  Not the same case.  Just using common sense.  I am hopeful.

I guess Albom wrote some typically moralizing piece (happily paywalled -- like Mr Burns, I'd rather have the dollar) that not suspending Mazi is a "bad look"...

... which is the laziest 'take' on such things because it's completely, inarguably subjective.  I guess he's saying college programs should suspend anyone any time a bad faith rival fanbase *might* get upset about it?  (And would still anyway if he were suspended...)

"Cade's superpower, at least before this year, is pre-snap reads and knowing where to put the ball safely."

I was at the Iowa game.

McNamara's pre-snap read: "Holy shit, I'm gonna die."
Flings ball into the tenth row.

Here's hoping it's better for him next year. I'm pulling for him, except in that one game.

If we make it to the NC, likely against Georgia, having Corum back would be beyond huge.  

Edwards can blast through the open door that the O-Line knocks down, but Corum . . .          can pick the lock himself.

I felt sorry for McNamara this year.  However, picking the team with the worst offensive coordinator in the country seems like a self-inflected wound.

Bummer to read Cade described as "former Michigan captain."  You're elected for the season and I wish he could have stuck around for the team to play for the 'chip.

I keep hearing others say McBurrows and Green shouldn’t have been there and that the tunnel is the issue. How is it that the victims in the assault are somehow at fault? And this is not an issue with any other team- other teams walk out with Michigan players with no issues after the game. It’s the same as blaming the gun violence on the guns rather than the ones who use them for violence. No excuse for MSU players to swing their helmets on anyone. None. 

To paraphrase Izzo:

<insert crying snot nose baby dressed in green gif here>

i feel terrible for corum.  he deserves a chance to play on the biggest stage the sport has - he's clearly been the best back in football this year, but hasn't gotten nearly the attention he so clearly deservers.

as for us - next man up.  in some regard, this is just an early start to next august, when corum is in an nfl training camp and we're wondering if edwards is ready to be all-B1G and if stokes / dunlap can pick up the rest (spoiler - yes, they all can.  obviously.  this is not a kenneth walker situation on any level).

i'm just assuming there's no chance corum comes back for a playoff game...and if he does somehow pull it off?  my, my, my.

Is Miyagi-san available?

Also, was Izzo asking what a reprimand is because he wasn't even reprimanded for assaulting his own player in their tunnel?

So maybe I'm out of the loop on these things, but there would seem to be two issues with the Mazi thing (or, three if you're wondering why Warde and Jim just didn't put out an anodyne statement on 10/8):

1) why wasn't he arrested on the spot? He was driving without a license and didn't have a license for his weapon? Are those two things not illegal? I'm less interested in what Mazi did then why AAPD responded the way they did.

2) does a football player having a gun seem like a good idea when guns are banned on campus property? This isn't a gun rights issue, just a common sense one. Where exactly is he going with it, if presumably he spends 90% of his time on campus?

Re Mazi Smith: It's not that many critics see a CONSPIRACY, Seth. That's spinning the issue. The issue is that Smith was cited for carrying a concealed weapon without a license -- and the program did and said nothing for two months. Evidently, this is mostly an administrative issue that will ultimately work itself out. But Smith did break the law, with a gun, and the fact that Michigan didn't discipline him in any way -- and didn't even disclose the incident -- is at least somewhat problematic for a program that likes to position itself as being about rules and doing the right thing. It all comes off as pretty hypocritical, and it's weird that you don't acknowledge that at all. If this were OSU or Sparty, you'd see it differently. 

 Minter's name is also one of those being considered by Cincinnati, since the name "Minter" carries there the way "Carr" might in A-town

The elder Minter went 53-63-1 and got fired.  I'm not sure his name has too much cachet.  They've had several more successful coaches since.

For Tom Izzo: 

rep·ri·mand

[ˈreprəˌmand]

NOUN

1. a rebuke, especially an official one:

Prosecutors Find UM Tunnel Not Responsible For Assault 

Details at 10

There was no doubt that the outgoing MSU Prez, who would likely have been allowed to stay around into early next year, was quickly dumped the MONDAY (one day after the outgoing Prez's respectful and accountable remorse for what happened in the tunnel). The cryptic wording on the latest press release from the interim, when parsed word for word, basically says - we're innocent when you compare what happened to our honorable tunnel patrol by those two renegades who stormed the tunnel and (supposedly) taunted us. 

The only thing that will finally shake that school of the denial and hatred is a long run of humiliating Muddy Waters and Bobby Williams and John L Smith seasons. Without Spartan Bob giving them the one game. A run of 4-8, 5-7, and occasional 6-6 (with a bowl loss blowout to an SEC team) lasting four or five seasons might be what it takes. As long as Dantonio's still in the background, the hatred will continue. A future AD needs to push him completely out of the place. 

As for Cade, glad we could pay back Iowa for the Jake loan - Jake made 2015 a good season and great bowl performance. He led us to our 1st win at PSU since 2006. Iowa usually has solid OLs. Not sure what happened this year, but I expect return to the norm for them and much better protection in 2023-24.

The Mazi situation quickly cleared up when all of the FACTS came out. JH and Warde did exactly the right thing here. And our AD will make sure that all athletes going forward know what happened and what not to do. 

Who knows with Corum if he can make it back in time for a title game. This will mean we need Stokes to step up and rely a bit more on our passing attack, which I believe was always ready to have its day when called upon. The sad part was it was a complete fluke how he got hurt. As long as we get past Purdue, Stokes will have a lot of time in practice and film study to realize how close he has been to making the right cut and getting a big gainer. Those bowl practices will help us a lot. Plus, I like Gash out of the backfield. I don't think he's a butter fingers just because of the one drop vs. Illini. Expect to see some variation of that play either Saturday or in the Playoffs.

I knew it was a longshot to drop MSU from regular scheduling but I'm disappointed. 

When rivalry "hate" becomes real hate, better to simply separate. 

I’ve never had any bad feelings towards Iowa in any sport so I’ll be rooting for Cade to step up big time there and do well. Of course, my hope is that Michigan beats OSU again and wins the b1g again on their way to the cfp, again, but if that isn’t in the cards next year, the GO CADE! Can you imagine the legendary status he’d enjoy by taking two different teams to a b1g championship AND to the cfp? He’d never have to buy drinks or dinner ever again in pretty much two whole states, and a smattering of other places around the country. 

Pretty proud of myself for this one, considering Trente Jones got injured halfway through, and Karsen Barnhart still got an HM.

How dare you try to shift blame away from that malevolent hell of a tunnel!

Michigan ought to ask the B1G to remove MSU as a protected rivalry game anyway, even if the B1G turns a blind eye and chooses $$$ instead — and if MSU has anything at all to say about it, offer to FedEx Paul Bunyan to them the next day if they care that much about it. 
 

Maybe I’m just being truculent, but I can’t remember the last time Michigan had more to gain from playing that game than MSU — and this is twice their hate programming (perfect phrasing, Seth) has put player safety at risk. Until they fix their victimhood culture, it’s unfair to ask Michigan to play them any more often than a typical B1G team.