Dan Wetzel's level headed take on SignGate

"Rarely deep thinkers ... They just want Jim Harbaugh gone"

Same goes for much of the media as well. 

E.g. that ridiculous Bruce Feldman "coaches poll" article exhibited zero deep thinking 

"But who in their right mind would listen to such reasoning? Who would be so dumb to agree with it? Who would let the thieves define theft? 

Football coaches are rarely deep thinkers. They aren’t spending time contemplating law, precedent, ethics or unintended consequences. They just want Jim Harbaugh gone. "

Wetzel perfectly summarizes how the entire Michigan community has felt for the past two weeks. Finally, it comes from a reporter who the dullards in Ohio can't write off as a biased Michigan take (even though they'll still try). Props to Wetzel for telling it how it is instead of trying to drum up controversy for clicks. He has earned my respect.

Agreed. Not to excuse Petitti's lack of leadership, but he should be pissed at the other coaches and administrators.  He's been misled by them and made to look foolish (although he is culpable for allowing himself to be misled).  Petitti should convene another call and crack some heads together, threatening investigations of all B1G teams unless they immediately stop the orchestrated PR campaign/witch hunt targeting Harbaugh.  This has made the conference look bad all around (people comparing B1G to the SEC fergodsakes) and made Petitti look weak.  

I listen to and read a lot of Wetzel. I don't think he is Pro UM. I think he Neutral UM. But I do think, given his proximity to UM that he is particularly plugged in to what happens around that program. 

He is a different kind of thinker/journalist when it comes to College Football and the "leadership" around college football. He doesn't hesitate to call out how dumb the sport is/can be and he is usually, I think pretty spot on with his observations and critiques.

I'm not one to go out of my way to praise, critique, or bash journalists/journalism. I think it is a thankless job in many ways. That said, I do think Wetzel does a great job and would encourage anyone to check his stuff out. In my experience, he is insightful, thought provoking, and fair. 

I keep wondering why these opinion writers get to be called reporters. Sports journalism is mostly an oxymoron, especially when there's a breaking story and they need to be measured and judicious in their reporting. They're opinion writers, used to editorializing after the fact. 

There will still be some who brainlessly repeat that stuff, but there is now pushback.  It's changing from a feeding frenzy to a debate about signs.  That's all we needed.

Unsportsmanlike conduct on Itty Bitty Pettiti.  Actions were considered flagrant.  The commissioner is disqualified.

Suspend Jeff Brohm until we get to the bottom of this

(Zero chance, but I still think it'd be funny if this ended up hurting Louisville somehow)

Yep. This portion of the article totally calls Purdue out on it, too.

In Michigan’s case, the “advanced scouts” were Stalions’ band of iPhone-toting buddies. 

In Purdue’s case, the “advanced scouts” were the professional coaching staffs of two other Big Ten teams that had just played the Wolverines, and thus could battle-test the signs they stole as accurate.

Which would you rather have? Raw cell phone footage that still needs to be broken down, or highly experienced coaches just handing over their work?

Everyone would choose the Purdue option.