Feldman on the Rich Eisen show today: Other teams have in-person scouted, were reported to the NCAA, and the NCAA did nothing
Shocked this wasn't posted yet, but I've scoured the board and I believe this slipped through the cracks. Bruce Feldman said today on the Rich Eisen show that he is working on a story to be published later this week (probably tomorrow) that other teams have broken the in-person scouting rule, were reported to the NCAA, and the NCAA did nothing.
Skip to the 5:00 minute mark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tS9O6UcTuX4
The hypocrisy knows no bounds.
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[edit @10:38pm] : I added Feldman's first name Bruce to the OP's write-up ---rob f
November 9th, 2023 at 6:52 AM ^
I cant believe Pettiti is this incompetent. I still kinda think he's trying to do the thing where he suspends Jim, goes to court, and loses just to show other members 'ah shucks I tried guys! Better wait for the NCAA'. But that is not working where all the league' dirty laundry is getting aired in the process. This guy has no control over the situation if he suspends Harbaugh
November 8th, 2023 at 10:19 PM ^
FFS. That’s all I’ve got to say at this point.
November 8th, 2023 at 10:19 PM ^
"Because of Harbaugh." Suzy gets it.
November 8th, 2023 at 10:25 PM ^
And because it's Michigan. It's become very clear to me as of late just how much non-Michigan people hate Michigan. Not just Michigan football but they also hate our culture and the school's standing, and have loved the last two weeks with every fiber of their beings. That's on them. I'm proud of how we handled this and proud of my alma mater. I hate the mantra "Michigan vs Everyone" because it makes it seem like we have something to prove. I don't think we have to prove anything, to anyone.
November 9th, 2023 at 8:32 AM ^
Not only is there hate, but also jealousy. Not trying to sound like an arrogant UM fan as they like to call us, but deep inside they definitely are jealous of our culture, rankings, reputation, etc. Like you say, that's on them. Go Blue and beat everyone else.
November 8th, 2023 at 10:21 PM ^
And this guy we just call Feldman.
November 8th, 2023 at 10:29 PM ^
Yeah I was thinking of the bizarro Jerry episode of Seinfeld. Feldman.
November 8th, 2023 at 10:31 PM ^
The bizarro world...
November 8th, 2023 at 11:02 PM ^
Note Bizarro Jerry's jacket color
November 8th, 2023 at 10:31 PM ^
Feldman has the best eyes.
November 8th, 2023 at 10:41 PM ^
And when we find out who hired the private investigator:
November 9th, 2023 at 10:04 AM ^
I was wondering how Corey Feldman got himself involved in this mess.
November 8th, 2023 at 10:21 PM ^
It's crazy what happens when you openly say that the players - the people doing the work - should get a cut of the money. Wild.
November 8th, 2023 at 10:47 PM ^
The controllers of the purse strings are suddenly our enemies. Go figure.
November 9th, 2023 at 5:38 AM ^
It's crazy what happens when you beat Ohio St
November 8th, 2023 at 10:24 PM ^
So wait, if Feldman publishes this story along with Stewart Mandal's (mostly) about-face in his position on this, does this mean we get to subscribe to the Athletic again?
November 8th, 2023 at 10:32 PM ^
Absolutely. Stick, then carrot
November 9th, 2023 at 7:29 AM ^
Not yet. Notice that Feldman used the "at the level that Michigan is doing it" hedge. I also haven't seen anything from Mandel that gets him back to square one. He'd need to smear OSU for trying to smear UM.
November 8th, 2023 at 10:26 PM ^
Does this include an apology from Bruce for previously acting like this was the Worst Crime In Sports?
Just listened to the Wetzel/Forde/Dellenger yada yada and Forde is just sitting there acting like he didn't previously lay into Harbaugh as the world's worst human.
Same with Staples, honestly, to a lesser degree.
I'm not sure anyone has actually apologized for their garbage take as they now take a more measured approach.
November 8th, 2023 at 10:27 PM ^
Honestly if he has the goods this deserves credit for simply following the facts where they lead.
November 8th, 2023 at 10:28 PM ^
Sorry, not good enough for me. A little humility from these people would earn some respect back from me.
November 9th, 2023 at 7:30 AM ^
Agreed.
Ideally, the impact on Michigan from the one-sided campaign of several days needs to be factored into the analysis. I don't think simple apologies would cut it.
And don't expect too much. Well-educated people like Stewart Mandel have been reduced from respected journalists to click-baiting circus animals.
November 8th, 2023 at 10:37 PM ^
This right here is what drives me the most crazy and infuriates me about sports journalists. They can say whatever they want and ruin reputations, but there is no accountability in the end. Who will be the first to come out and apologize for their lack of figuring out facts before speaking. I’ll hang up and listen!
November 8th, 2023 at 10:42 PM ^
Not just sports journalists.
November 8th, 2023 at 11:18 PM ^
Yeah, like no one following news in general hasn't trudged through a sloppy orgy of sensationalism followed by the media doing reports on the excesses of "the media".
I'm all, it was YOU. YOU were the ones puking out hit piece after hit piece, hauling in 15-minuters and frauds to spout allegations with no evidence, just to keep a salacious story going. But when their absurdities become the story, suddenly they all collectively go third-person.
Today's news is so shameless, they'll eat their own 'nads for a click.
November 8th, 2023 at 10:42 PM ^
"Sports journalists" is a weird way to say "alp journalists."
November 8th, 2023 at 10:53 PM ^
Journalists who cover European mountain ranges are indeed the worst.
November 8th, 2023 at 11:19 PM ^
This is what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps.
November 9th, 2023 at 2:50 AM ^
I hate it when Alp journalists yodel on their podcasts.
November 8th, 2023 at 11:00 PM ^
I have to think if you spew bullshit long enough, you'll eventually throw it at enough people that they will all leave. I think most on this board will not use ESPN as regularly, if it all, as we once did. And the articles we share with friends and family will come from other sources. You piss off enough fanbases with bias and sometimes flat out lies, eventually this will take it toll.
November 9th, 2023 at 5:23 AM ^
Edit: ibid
November 8th, 2023 at 10:49 PM ^
Sports journalists are unapologetically two-faced. They will angle their stories to maximize clicks and viewership. If that entails reversing course from day to day, that is what they will do. It's precisely why Pettiti caving to the mob would be an absurd injustice to Michigan.
November 8th, 2023 at 10:55 PM ^
Even Finebaum is now saying the Big Ten needs to be careful before handing out any punishment.
November 8th, 2023 at 10:58 PM ^
LOL. That idiot is going to get whiplash. He's straight garbage.
November 8th, 2023 at 11:03 PM ^
Day 1 - "This seems like selective prosecution"
End of the week (No new information) - "I gave Harbaugh the benefit of the doubt, never again!"
Week 2.5 - "Big ten needs to be careful"
Joke
November 8th, 2023 at 11:03 PM ^
I just saw a video clip from a day ago where he called this charge "grave".
Does NOBODY have professional pride anymore?
November 8th, 2023 at 10:57 PM ^
Get video receipts people. Lets make a thread and pin it!
November 8th, 2023 at 10:26 PM ^
Wow.
Feldman is a conventional journo, not a rumor-monger, in my experience.
If this is true and the game-of-telephone characterization of this is relatively accurate... it destroys the entire edifice.
*In person scouting
*Not punished
ergo
*B1G would be absolutely insane to go nuclear here.
November 8th, 2023 at 10:29 PM ^
Not just the B1G but the NCAA for selective investigating.
November 8th, 2023 at 10:34 PM ^
Not sure I agree with the title summary after watching the videos. I think it’s conflating two points mentioned:
- in-person scouting happens
- schools have given NCAA evidence of nefarious stuff and they did nothing about it. Why now?
Now those could both be the same thing, but the transition between clauses made me question the interpretation. Still makes the NCAA look terrible.
November 8th, 2023 at 10:39 PM ^
Fair. A bit of "game of telephone" here.
It's not quite the smoking gun, but it *is* a good example of selective enforcement, and separately, of the infraction not being unique.
Turns out that when the media decides on the narrative ahead of time and tries to drive the story, they get things wrong. If this surprises some people, know that some of us have been very familiar with this for a long time.
November 8th, 2023 at 11:19 PM ^
This is exactly how I heard it. I don’t think it was intentional but it wasn’t entirely clear what he meant by “nefarious stuff.”
November 8th, 2023 at 11:30 PM ^
Hmm, interesting. I'll take my MGoLicks if I misinterpreted, but I interpreted him saying "why would you do nothing there, but you care about it there" to mean that the "it" was the same. And I thought the "it" was in-person scouting, not just general nefarious stuff. We'll see.
November 8th, 2023 at 10:26 PM ^
If this is correct, two issues are easily resolved: alleged violations of NCAA rules about in person scouting (see above) and alleged violations of B1G rules about sportmanship (assuming proof that other schools stole signs and shared the information).
That leaves only one issue: who leaked extremely misleading stories to the press at a time and in a way that might have given their school an unfair competitive advantage? THIS is a candidate for worst scandal in history, or something like that. I think it's essential that the B1G get to the bottom of that issue quickly and suspend the coach of any school that can't prove its innocence.
How to investigate? One possibility would be to ask each member school to release the "investigative firm" from any obligation of confidentiality it may have to that school or anyone associated with it.
November 8th, 2023 at 10:56 PM ^
Not sure how you can prove that you didn't hire a secret firm and demand that the firm keep that relationship secret. That's the definition of proving a negative, and no way in hell could you suspend the coach of any school who couldn't prove they were innocent to your satisfaction.
But I am damned curious to see that information come out, and I have no doubt that at some point (soon?) it will. I can only hope that, if and when it is revealed, the media turns its gaze on that school with the same intensity it has on Michigan.