three_honks

December 29th, 2023 at 1:26 PM ^

Yes, I'm a cheapskate :) Except for when I'm not (like this year with my 59 year old knees all-of-a-sudden killing me, I've upgraded my basketball shoes (twice, the first didn't have enough cushion) and bought a number of knee wraps (one heated, one cooling, two more for playing).  I've been spending like a drunken sailor in an attempt to keep playing.

I was a cord-cutter until my father-in-law had a stroke and had to move in with us.  He couldn't navigate the Amazon Firestick or Roku menus, so we went back to cable with him footing the bill.

I do have Prime (for the delivery) and Paramount+ (my adult kids use it).

I protested the Michigan tomato can football game on Peacock (as a move toward pay-per-view) by not subscribing.

Joined: 11/13/2023

MGoPoints: 6756

jmblue

December 29th, 2023 at 11:57 AM ^

The main thing that people criticize OPs about is a lack of information.  It's helpful to explain what an article is about when you link it.  Just adding a link with no commentary makes readers wonder why you linked it.  Did you think it was a good article?  A hit piece?

Joined: 11/07/2008

MGoPoints: 102810

Communist Football

December 29th, 2023 at 12:17 PM ^

Great idea Comrade!

Here's the opening section of the article:

Jim Harbaugh’s official title for the past nine years has been head football coach of the Michigan Wolverines. But lately, he’s expanded the job to include a role that’s slightly less familiar to anyone who specializes in X’s and O’s. 

Harbaugh has emerged as college football’s unlikely freedom fighter.

Over the course of the 2023 season, Harbaugh has called for a radical redistribution of wealth, demanded revolutionary institutional reforms, and been accused of using guerrilla tactics to advance his goals. He has been supported like a political prisoner, with players wearing “FREE HARBAUGH” shirts after he was hit with a suspension. 

And now, his rebellious campaign is building toward the coup that Michigan fans have been dreaming of since the day he laid out his manifesto: the program’s first national championship in a quarter-century. 

“It’s been one of the most remarkable stories because he clearly doesn’t care about the normal boundaries of popularity,” said Paul Finebaum, a college football analyst for ESPN. “And his fans feel as if he’s been vindicated because they’re winning.”

The article concludes:

No matter what happens on the field in the coming weeks, the whole blowup might be enough to push Harbaugh out of Ann Arbor. After the sign-stealing allegations surfaced in October, Michigan rescinded a contract offer that would have given Harbaugh a raise, and the two sides haven’t come to a new agreement. His 38-3 record in three years has drawn the attention of NFL suitors. College sports’ governing body is still investigating Harbaugh and Michigan, and its rules hold a head coach responsible for any wrongdoing in his program.

No matter where Harbaugh coaches next season, his causes are sure to follow him.

“If he’s as smart as I think he is, he’ll leave,” Finebaum said. “Because who in their right mind would come back, national championship or not, knowing that he still has to deal with the wrath of the NCAA?”

Joined: 09/18/2010

MGoPoints: 18944

SAS80

December 29th, 2023 at 12:26 PM ^

Thanks for quoting the article. I started reading the quotes, but stopped dead in my tracks when the author used the word “manifesto”…definitely too soon…never want to hear that word associated with our precious Wolverines again!

 

Hopefully a copy of this article doesn’t make it onto Pettiti’s desk…he’ll think it justifies everything.

Joined: 02/26/2010

MGoPoints: 115

yossarians tree

December 29th, 2023 at 1:32 PM ^

We were warned he's stirred things up wherever he goes. We wanted him anyway. And I'm all in for Harbaugh as long as he wants to be here. In a sport that is dominated by the cults of personality around its head coaches, I'd say he's the biggest star in college football.

Joined: 08/19/2010

MGoPoints: 22292

RadOWon

December 31st, 2023 at 1:18 AM ^

I find this topic very interesting, not because I do not agree but because I wonder, if he leaves for the NFL, does that just make him a fraud? I'm sure he''l have a way to justify it, we always seem to find a way to justify our own actions even if they do not align with the narrative we have attempted promote. In reality, no matter how hard we try it's still hypocrisy.

Joined: 03/28/2013

MGoPoints: 1549

badandboujee

December 29th, 2023 at 11:27 AM ^

They really gonna quote Paul Finebaum and expect us to take them seriously? None of these articles offer any nuance information no one already knows. Stick to finance/economics WSJ

Joined: 01/10/2017

MGoPoints: 4073

dbockle

December 29th, 2023 at 11:33 AM ^

Yeah they quote Pete Finebaum, but they also quote Paul Campos (huge M fan, law professor +law blogger + writer). It stinks that it’s paywalled, but the article is actually pretty good. It focuses on how successful Harbaugh has been & how he’s calling for positive change in the NCAA to benefit players, and how the NCAA has gone well outside its usual norms & protocols to go after him. Legit good article.

Joined: 09/12/2011

MGoPoints: 1314

DiploMan

December 29th, 2023 at 12:30 PM ^

Thanks othernel for posting the archived link above.

Certainly not a hit piece, even if the quotes from Finebaum are gratuitous (“If he’s as smart as I think he is, he’ll leave,” yeesh).  But I still found it too superficial -- putting all the emphasis on the NCAA, when the rot extends deeper into the broadcast networks, the conferences they shovel money at to get exclusive TV rights, and ultimately the universities themselves (who, as members, ultimately control both the conferences and the NCAA).  The NCAA is just the enforcement arm; it's doing the universities' bidding.

Joined: 07/28/2010

MGoPoints: 1433