"Hours Long" UM/BIG Meeting Yesterday (Insider Updates)
Pretty fresh takes and I like to respect the 24 hour rule of pay sites by not posting too much detail. From Chris Balas and little tidbits from others. I think you can find most of the below if you dig:
- UM and BIG met "for hours" yesterday
- The BIG is not backing down.
- UM was going to fight a two game suspension...but the BIG wants blood...indefinite suspension
- UM does believe they would win in court and without giving too much detail, UM seems loaded for bear...this is not your grandpas UM
- Not just stopping with an injunction if it comes to that...they will be aggressive using all legal means necessary.
- There is full support for JMFH
- They "may" consider a 2 game suspension if Harbaugh was 100% going to be there for OSU and 2 games would appease the mob...but even then...they really were leaning towards fighting that.
Basically...UM is "going to war" at this point (forgive the war reference just used for effect).
November 6th, 2023 at 8:46 AM ^
If he's there at the behest of CMU, and actually paid by CMU, would that technically be considered "advanced scouting" for Michigan? I wonder if there are even any NCAA guidelines or rules about working for two schools simultaneously and how that's even handled.
November 6th, 2023 at 10:14 AM ^
Just imagine, "We have pictures of a white guy with a goatee on the sidelines at some other game. Do you have a white guy with a goatee on staff? Well then, we will punish you for in-person scouting."
Madness. Absolute madness.
November 6th, 2023 at 8:03 AM ^
My guess is lack of institutional control. They will try to tack the whole side gate scandal on top of burgergate, the Schemy hiring and other hiring gaffes the program has had, and use those to convince the Big Ten that Michigan needs to be nuked.
November 6th, 2023 at 8:16 AM ^
The Shemy thing and other hiring gaffes? What are you on about? Hiring a guy before checking if he’d liked bad tweets and then immediately firing him is embarrassing, but it’s not a rules violation. Any other “bad hire” they’ve had did their bad, unrelated to football stuff after getting here and were promptly and appropriately disciplined for it.
November 6th, 2023 at 8:25 AM ^
I am NOT saying that there is a lack of institutional control at Michigan. But if the Big Ten did try to push that there is a lack of institutional control, this is MY GUESS as to how they would try and make that argument stick.
November 6th, 2023 at 8:32 AM ^
Caputo on 97.1 is driving this LOIC angle…. It was almost all he talked about on Sunday.
November 6th, 2023 at 9:02 AM ^
I remember my first impression of Caputo when I saw him on some Detroit sports program years ago: "What a fucking slob."
I haven't changed my opinion.
November 6th, 2023 at 8:21 AM ^
Well, those can be sued as well and Michigan can show huge precedence in how NCAA handled UNC and Kansas. Would UM go that route? I don't know. But NCAA may back off if UM leads with that
November 6th, 2023 at 9:48 AM ^
...and baylor. Didn't they have a coach attend the game of a future opponent. The penalty was a one-half game suspension for that coach, not even the head coach.
November 6th, 2023 at 8:53 AM ^
You can't get in trouble for bad politics/tweets. Schemy was a Michigan issue dealt with quickly.
That said, The NCAA will very likely tie anything they have on Stalions to Jim. I mean anything and everything enforceable that they have. The rule existed before the re-written version from recent years but it effectively makes certain cases fall under their own kind of RICO but even more encompassing. Basically guilt by association or assumed knowledge. The NCAA will hammer Jim/Michigan with whatever they can hang on Stalions (if anything). That's coming but this B1G stuff is separate from that and, IMO, needlessly. At the very least too quickly and without due process. It makes it all the more crazy when I'm almost certain The NCAA is going to hit hard anyway.
If I'm the commissioner, I'm waiting. Let the others be mad. I listen to them complain, I let them know I understand and I tell them we'll talk when The NCAA and our own investigations have played out. It seems like such a gimme unless you have a hardon for punishing a particular school/coach.
November 6th, 2023 at 9:06 AM ^
It's a cushy well paying job, if all or nearly all of the schools say hammer Jim and UM or you won't ever be seeing a second contract ..........
November 6th, 2023 at 8:30 AM ^
Dude, you’re being too technical. They just WANT HIS HEAD
November 6th, 2023 at 7:53 AM ^
If Michigan actually has the evidence against others some are claiming, Michigan just might be in a win/win position.
November 6th, 2023 at 8:09 AM ^
It's not really a win for anybody in the conference for everyone in the conference to look bad.
Totally agree with Michigan's rumored approach, but this isn't good for anyone in the Big Ten. Ratings for UM-OSU might be even a little bigger, I guess.
November 6th, 2023 at 8:16 AM ^
Hey, we didn't start the fire. OSU broke the unspoken agreement, and now everyone will pay the consequences.
November 6th, 2023 at 8:34 AM ^
OSU had coaches working with players during a dead period.. It was posted on social media..
What did the B1G / NCAA do about it? Nothing…
November 6th, 2023 at 9:13 AM ^
If another school started this against Michigan, then Michigan has no choice but to defend themselves, and if there is evidence other programs in the B1G are doing the same as Michigan is accused of doing, then Michigan should leak it out. The ONLY side to blame for this is the one that hired the PI Firm that went after Michigan. It will come out who did it, and when it does (possibly OSU), then the other B1G schools are going to have hate towards them. You cannot expect Michigan to sit back and let these attacks happen since the evidence seems like one low ranked staffer acted rogue.
November 6th, 2023 at 7:53 AM ^
Let's go Santa! So glad we have a university president who is ready to fight!
November 6th, 2023 at 7:56 AM ^
President Santa Ona has declared martial law and has vowed to use all means necessary to destroy the enemy intruder the Big Ten Conference and defend the University of Michigan. He now steps into the role of Commander in Chief and has ordered a full mobilization of the Vast Network. Jim Harbaugh has been appointed General and will lead the invasion of Pennsylvania, and Maryland before returning to Ann Arbor to begin the counteroffensive attack against Ohio.
November 6th, 2023 at 7:59 AM ^
Strong feeling that this saga is going to end with a fizzle not a bang
November 6th, 2023 at 8:02 AM ^
Mutally assured destruction tends to do that. If Pettiti and the other ADs are really this stupid, they're about to find out that what they're trying to do is a categorically bad strategic move.
November 6th, 2023 at 8:57 AM ^
So basically we are in the midst of the Cuban Missile crisis where Ryan Day is Khrucshchev, Harbaugh is JFK, and Ryan Walters is... Fidel Castro?
November 6th, 2023 at 10:19 AM ^
Walters is more like Castro's dog, IMHO
November 6th, 2023 at 12:18 PM ^
Who is going to be Vasily Aleksandrovich Arkhipov?
November 6th, 2023 at 8:04 AM ^
I've been hoping for that from the start. A fizzle sounds good right about now. I think UM was hoping that meeting yesterday was going to be the BIG saying "ok, we disagree but will wait on the ncaa". That's the kind of fizzle I'd like to see lol.
November 6th, 2023 at 8:04 AM ^
When you live in a glass house and you throw rocks. Normally you stop when the other guy has a fucking trebuchet and boulders. Let's see if Michigan actually has the boulders that's being implied.
November 6th, 2023 at 8:15 AM ^
That would be the best solution, but if these opposing schools have such pent up hostility to Harbaugh and want nothing less than his removal, then war it is.
November 6th, 2023 at 9:24 AM ^
I hope this is the case.
Though a small part of me would like to get the popcorn ready for the scorched earth option where Pettiti suspends Harbaugh indefinitely. Because ain't no way that will hold up in court, ESPECIALLY given the known facts of this case already. Not to mention the airing of everybody else's dirty laundry.
Because let's be real here. Michigan prides itself on doing things "the right way", and this scandal is the perfect opportunity to knock that brand down and everybody else dance on its ashes. Even though the ones dancing are likely doing things way worse, they just haven't been caught. It's a special brand of irony hearing the righteousness of OSU and MSU fans given their recent history...we never said Michigan is perfect, but at least we're not you. So even in the best case scenario, Michigan's brand has taken a major hit.
But fuck em all. I don't even care. When you are an elite team you become the villain at some point. Everybody loved Michigan winning 2021 and even 2022...but now it's "suspicious".
Hey Ryan Day, this is what "us against the world" *actually* looks like.
November 6th, 2023 at 8:04 AM ^
I said it yesterday on X, but I very much doubt Michigan ever willingly explores the idea of leaving the Big Ten, but that said, if I am Michigan, I am perfectly willing at this point to thoroughly undermine them in court if I am able and it comes to that. If a public neutering is what Pettiti really wants, then it is what he may have - that would be my own stance, if I were in charge. In the end, if you can exhaust them into a suspension (probably next season at that point, allowing time for court actions), then maybe you do consider it, but not after they've been made to say "uncle".
November 6th, 2023 at 8:06 AM ^
I think you have to make a plausible threat to leave, at a minimum. A conference isn't a suicide pact or an instrument of mob justice, or it shouldn't be.
November 6th, 2023 at 8:12 AM ^
I see your point - but we have arrived at a set of circumstances in which there is very little chance of an equitable future for Michigan in the conference.
If I’m Greg Sankey, I can’t believe my good fortune. If I’m USC, UCLA, Washington, or Oregon, I’m reconsidering my options.
November 6th, 2023 at 8:23 AM ^
Not sure if USC et al have any recourse at this point. But, if they do, the ACC could reunite them with Stanford and Cal, if you added M you'd have a better conference than whatever would be left of the B1G. PSU, Maryland and Rutgers are better fits in the ACC and might even join the party. Probably a pipe dream, but intriguing nonetheless.
November 6th, 2023 at 8:24 AM ^
Wondering if the ACC has any life with Michigan and ND fully in. Not likely, just a thought
November 6th, 2023 at 8:43 AM ^
Michigan, ND, FSU, Miami, Clemson, Louisville... Is absolutely a viable football conference.
B1G would have OSU, USC, Washington, Oregon, PSU... Looks pretty comparable on the top end.
BTW, such a ACC would be a better fit for PSU (ACC has a rival for them - Pitt, and more schools in their geographic area).
November 6th, 2023 at 9:20 AM ^
Better fit for PSU - they have always been more of an east coast team
November 6th, 2023 at 8:58 AM ^
What’s X?
November 6th, 2023 at 10:19 AM ^
November 6th, 2023 at 9:00 AM ^
A suspension NEXT season is the most reasonable proposal here, after due time to gather all available facts. I don't think investigators will find any sort of link between CS sketchy behavior and coaches. But if we are ultimately going to stay in the B1G, and we want this to go away, then it seems like we will need to agree to something like that.
November 6th, 2023 at 12:20 PM ^
I'd prefer to go the NCAA vs Kansas basketball route and have any possible punishment occur in 2029.
November 6th, 2023 at 9:47 AM ^
25 years ago, yes it would be absurd to entertain talk of leaving the Big10. But it's a different world. Before the current B10 grant of media rights ends in 2030, I think it would simply be responsible leadership to explore at least via back channels what an ACC, B12 or SEC deal could look like.
November 6th, 2023 at 8:14 AM ^
Boycott Ohio!!
November 6th, 2023 at 8:15 AM ^
Airstrike these fuckers.
November 6th, 2023 at 8:21 AM ^
I like Chris Balas but he does seem prone to some pretty wild swings on this. Maybe that's just the nature of thee beast until there's some resolution.
November 6th, 2023 at 8:24 AM ^
I get a sense he's not as connected as the other insiders and so he takes what he can get and then extrapolates quite a bit. Everything he posts beyond the basics always feels quite hyperbolic, like an excited kid explaining how he saw principal skinner and Ms. Crababble kissing and then they had a baby and the baby waved to him.
November 6th, 2023 at 10:27 AM ^
Yeah. I mean just Friday night he was absolutely dooming about Harbaugh's contract never happening and all sorts of terrible things being on the horizon....then by morning it was fine again. I sense he doesn't have great sources
November 6th, 2023 at 8:59 AM ^
Even when he gets the generalities right he's often very wrong on specifics. Other times he's just wrong in totality. I chose a long time ago to take anything he says with a grain of salt.
November 6th, 2023 at 8:22 AM ^
I think we might need to stop taking Balas seriously. The conference is not going to get an indefinite suspension and they know that. In broad strokes he knows stuff about this situation but he's been off on the details quite a bit and this feels like a details issue.
November 6th, 2023 at 9:42 AM ^
Is it possible that Petitti is deliberately letting them push him into overreaching? As a way of both appeasing the mob and not actually doing anything that would have effect?
Maybe that's a stretch, if he didn't want to impose punishment now he could just refuse. But they'd just find somebody else to do their bidding, wouldn't they?
November 6th, 2023 at 10:28 AM ^
Definitely feels like Webb, JUB, and Henshcke and maybe Hole are considerably more plugged in. I try not to just go with the optimistic guys, but Balas is so prone to wild swings that it feels like he has a single guy as his source or something. The other guys are more careful and confident with their updates