Insider rumblings on Michigan's forthcoming response
I did a morning scour of reputable insider posting on social media and the paywalled boards today. (Subscribe to those sites to read the exact content for yourself. It's worth it if you are obsessed with Signgate.) Here are some of the interesting nuggets:
- There is a rumor that video of Michigan practices was stolen and shared with Michigan's competitors. This is why, last offseason, Michigan erected a fence around its outdoor practice field. Michigan may have evidence of who stole the footage and shared it.
- Insiders say that Michigan has shared with the NCAA how common the practice of sign-stealing is, including Illinois' Ryan Walters having all of Michigan's signals in advance of last year's game, and "someone" allegedly sharing our signs with Purdue, via video, in advance of the B1G championship last year. As we know, sign-stealing is not inherently illegal, but sharing video might be.
- Isaiah Hole seems confident that Michigan is going to "strike back" in a way that is forceful and narrative-altering, but I will reserve judgment on that until we see what Michigan actually has.
- In my view, if the B1G hands down this absurd indefinite suspension, Michigan should make a show of considering a departure to the ACC (or, at the very least, adopting ND's approach of semi-ACC affiliation) by leaking that they are discussing it internally.
November 5th, 2023 at 11:12 AM ^
This is fantastic. It’s really important to do whatever they can to put all this back into its proper context. The video sharing doesn’t even have to be against the rules to make it highly relevant to showing the significance of the conduct here in its full context.
November 5th, 2023 at 11:30 AM ^
oh man exactly, the context! has been TOTALLY lost
...this payback needs to be like Count of Monte Cristo Part Deux
November 5th, 2023 at 12:00 PM ^
The Count of Monte Crisco? By Alexandre Dumbass?
November 5th, 2023 at 12:04 PM ^
what you did there, I see
November 5th, 2023 at 10:38 PM ^
More from Balas:
- Michigan knows the name of the PI firm that did Ohio State's dirty work. It is an "open secret" in Columbus, and the PI firm has "proven, undeniable ties" to Ryan Day.
- The people on Michigan's side digging dirt on opponents "have nearly unlimited funds, and they are determined."
- "Some of these [Michigan-aligned] entities with extremely powerful ties have vowed to 'go nuclear.'" More:
“They think stealing signs is bad? Well — let’s see how that compares to what we can prove about things we’ve known about for years,” one said.
That goes well beyond what some have paid kids and their families (pre-NIL), One former Michigan player, a former prep five-star, alleged (in detail) how a school tried to blackmail him when he didn’t commit to their school a week after the visit. That’s not looking for an advantage. That’s criminal, and there are kids who are ready to talk, people ready to investigate if the powers that be won’t. We can only imagine what folks would find if given the keys to the backrooms at some of these places (though, again, the FBI wiretap on the hoops side did a good job of that, too, and not a whole hell of a lot came from that).
November 5th, 2023 at 12:06 PM ^
It's Du-MAH. It's about a prison break, you'll like it.
November 5th, 2023 at 12:58 PM ^
Get busy livin or get busy dying!
November 5th, 2023 at 1:28 PM ^
Soft hearted Frenchie
November 5th, 2023 at 1:34 PM ^
Today I’m choosing Andy Dufrane’s view on hope over Red’s outlook.
Let me tell you something my friend. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane.
Red
Remember, Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.
Andy
November 5th, 2023 at 5:01 PM ^
Never trust the Irish.
November 5th, 2023 at 12:19 PM ^
My question is, does Michigan go scorched earth and unleash all the dirt on all the teams…willing to say kiss my ass B1G on way out the door, or do they start with a slow leak of info
November 5th, 2023 at 12:49 PM ^
Scorched earth
November 5th, 2023 at 12:59 PM ^
BURN IT ALL DOWN!!
November 5th, 2023 at 1:28 PM ^
Given modern news cycles, slow drips do more damage.
November 5th, 2023 at 3:17 PM ^
They have pretty good antibiotics for that these days…
November 5th, 2023 at 11:23 PM ^
Slow leak would be better. Taste of their own medicine. I want to see something juicy soon though, to verify this isn't all cope.
November 5th, 2023 at 2:07 PM ^
There's all-22 coaches film taken of every game. Imagine how easy it would be to pass along "unedited" footage of your opponents' sideline, including all signals.
November 5th, 2023 at 5:03 PM ^
FWIW, Borges said on one of the Sam Webb podcasts that all-22 doesn’t give you signals from the sideline. Apparently, they pan to the scoreboard between plays. He said the TV copy is actually better for getting signs from the sideline, but very inconsistent.
November 5th, 2023 at 6:31 PM ^
God Bless Santa!
can you imagine Schlissel in this situation?
He would have shut athletics down
November 5th, 2023 at 11:12 AM ^
Josh Henshcke on twitter seems to be doubting the 'indefinite' thing some and saying the expectation is the Big Ten's gonna try for a 1-2 game suspension and Michigan will push back on that FWIW
November 5th, 2023 at 11:17 AM ^
I read it as B10 has to vote for anything more than 2 games..so, indefinite seems against the B10 rules until that would happen.
November 5th, 2023 at 12:08 PM ^
If the B10 votes for something like that when all teams have sign stealers that at least bend the rules we need to leave this conference.
November 5th, 2023 at 12:18 PM ^
MICHIGAN is not leaving the conference. So let’s stop that talk now.
November 5th, 2023 at 12:36 PM ^
We should at least consider joining the Ivy League with special affiliation with the ACC for specific sports or join the ACC outright. Make the Commissioner’s office and media partners sweat.
Have the conversation. Leak the conversation occurring. Actually engage in exploratory talks with the ACC. Believe it or not, there are some serious benefits to actually joining the ACC, whether it’s actually realistic to do so or not.
November 5th, 2023 at 1:31 PM ^
Harvard is the M of the East.
November 5th, 2023 at 1:35 PM ^
If you want to kill Michigan athletics sure. Try that.
November 5th, 2023 at 2:26 PM ^
How exactly would that kill M athletics? Michigan would do fine in the ACC athletically. It’s still a prime conference.
November 5th, 2023 at 2:36 PM ^
The $25 million per year we lose moving to the ACC ensures we are not moving
November 5th, 2023 at 3:38 PM ^
You’d think Michigan moving to the ACC would cause the media to consider renegotiation of media deals. Big Ten is less valuable without Michigan, ACC becomes much more valuable.
$25 million isn’t something that’s all that big of a deal for a program like Michigan anyway when you’re talking about being railroaded by conference leadership and your peers. Michigan is in more than a fine situation to tell them to F off and keep their damn money.
November 5th, 2023 at 3:00 PM ^
Always Fuck Notre Dame, but maybe there’s a reason they never joined the B1G despite the apparent perfect geographic and academic fit.
Who wants to a conference where OSU is already crowned king and the internal politics can create such absurd hypocrisy.
November 5th, 2023 at 3:11 PM ^
Being old I remember a time when UM and OSU we looked at as equals or UM actually more revered. Has OSUs recent dominace until the last couple years changed that narrative? Has the creation of the Big Ten network changed that narrative?
November 5th, 2023 at 3:11 PM ^
Being old I remember a time when UM and OSU we looked at as equals or UM actually more revered. Has OSUs recent dominace until the last couple years changed that narrative? Has the creation of the Big Ten network changed that narrative?
November 5th, 2023 at 6:12 PM ^
Being in the same league with Cal and Stanford (and Notre Dame) actually makes more sense than one with USC and UCLA (and Nebraska and Oregon), so...
November 5th, 2023 at 7:14 PM ^
I would consider UCLA to be in that same tier as Cal, Stanford, ND and Michigan. UCLA is one spot below Cal and a couple spots ahead of UM and ND on the USNews university rankings. And USC is only ~10 spots lower than UM.
Curious why you think Cal and Stanford make more sense than UCLA and USC. They’re all within ~15 spots of each other in those rankings. Or are you speaking strictly from a culture standpoint?
November 5th, 2023 at 12:58 PM ^
Word.
November 5th, 2023 at 3:05 PM ^
Where's your proof? Public access cable?
November 5th, 2023 at 4:51 PM ^
Agreed. Talk of leaving the NCAA and the Big Ten is just silly. There's far too much history, tradition, and money involved for that to be a serious consideration. I find posts advocating that to diminish the credibility of the person making the post.
November 5th, 2023 at 1:00 PM ^
I am still mystified as to how any reasonable person or organization could possibly make such an important decision without a full investigation and providing the defendants an opportunity to conduct their own investigation so they offer a defense.
Also, it is not at all clear to me that there was any violation of NCAA rules other that the possible in person CMU activity. And it is still not proven that he was acting to the benefit of Michigan then.
November 5th, 2023 at 11:19 AM ^
Henschke seems to be saying the larger sanction could take too much time. But it seems to me he could do two games now and simultaneously propose the indefinite suspension in the meantime, with the intent to take care of the formalities during the two-week period. I have no idea if any of this is going to happen but I wouldn’t put too much stock in the reasoning that the need for the vote of the larger committee is going to be a meaningful roadblock.
November 5th, 2023 at 11:47 AM ^
All I know is that floating a “Michigan’s administration and board of regents is having internal discussions to reevaluate whether the Big10 is still the proper fit” statement would suit me just fine right about now.
November 5th, 2023 at 12:19 PM ^
That’s simply ridiculous
November 5th, 2023 at 12:29 PM ^
Not as a "are you sure you want to head down this path?" messaging tactic. Maybe it's a bluff, maybe it's not. A little bit of doubt may force calmer heads to prevail.
November 5th, 2023 at 12:38 PM ^
Please explain how it's "simply ridiculous" given the faux outrage and pearl clutching going on when, iirc, Ohio stealing signs in 2018 didn't even raise any B1G interest?
November 6th, 2023 at 6:32 PM ^
MICHIGAN joined the Big Ten in 1896. We don’t quickly leave the conference when an issue arises. I know it’s a contentious issue but slow down a bit and let this play out.
November 5th, 2023 at 12:58 PM ^
No it is not ridiculous to consider leaving the B1G. The B1G is a partnership, albeit it a competitive one. If our “partners” are treating us like this, it is time to explore finding other partners. Ones where mutual respect is near the top of the list of priorities.
November 5th, 2023 at 2:25 PM ^
“Friends like these, huh Gary?”
November 5th, 2023 at 1:10 PM ^
Is it? If we’re not going to be given a fair shake by our peers within the Big Ten, and arbitrary punishments are going to be handed down based on mob rule, I don’t think it’s ridiculous for those questions to be raised and discussion to occur.
The ACC isn’t a horrible fit. Michigan would have academic peers with the likes of Stanford, Cal, Virginia, UNC, Duke, Pitt, and BC. Renewal of the ND rivalry. Quality basketball and football with Michigan one of the elites.
Maybe Michigan goes through with it, maybe they don’t. But I don’t think it’s ridiculous at all for those questions to be raised.
November 5th, 2023 at 3:15 PM ^
as a threat? it's almost as ridiculous as the conference taking punitive action in the absence of evidence proving rules violations took place, just because a few other coaches are some combination of faux-mad, scared, and insecure.
the posture taken towards michigan by multiple actors appears to have been extreme unprecedented, and Michigan is entitled to respond in kind.
November 5th, 2023 at 3:28 PM ^
Is it?
The big ten was just fine with dirt bag after dirt bag dominating the conference in Columbus… yet somehow if a low level staffer in Ann Arbor allegedly runs afoul of an out dated obscure rule in spirit… then its time to act in ludicrous speed?
If ND were facing the same issue, they would only have the NCAA to deal with.
Michigan is a world-wide brand, more so than ND, if we sprinkled our sports and academic entities in several different strategic places we could make more $$$ than we currently do giving Rutgers the same share that we get.
November 5th, 2023 at 5:55 PM ^
Since collegiality seems to be out the window at this point, maybe now’s the time to begin openly speculating about whether Michigan should be getting a much bigger piece of the Big10 TV pie than a Purdue or Rutgers.