Michigan Media This Season
First, I will admit that I'm not on social media, and I don't follow all the Michigan media outlets outside of MGoBlog, and the WTKA roundtable. Any M news I see that isn't from the MGo staff is usually from a board post or a quasi-accurate national piece on M. But I've been on this site since the Haloscan days so I've had a good pulse on M athletics for a while now. I also know that M probably has the largest media base for any university, to go with the largest alumni/fanbase.
I ramble above to ask this; what happened in the last few months with the Michigan media? The cheeseburger suspension, SignalGate, and now Harbaugh's contract seem to be misreported on constantly. SignalGate was the biggest, where all I saw was M media talking about an all-out assault against the Big10 and NCAA, as well as OSU for hiring the PI firm. Then they don't get the TRO, Partridge gets fired for vague reasons, Harbaugh takes his suspension, and no more is said about it. I can't think of a bigger whiff from an entire media base than the predictions that came from M media.
I'm not trying to trash the M media. I'm just not that plugged in and wondering if they either all get fed lines of bull from their sources, or their sources were completely wrong. But no one has followed up with anything about if M is still working on outting OSU as the source of this, or that they're going after the Big10/Commissioner for the nonsense suspension. I haven't even seen a board post here about a follow-up article where someone details what really happened in those couple of weeks prior to the OSU game (maybe Bacon will write a book about it).
Did Michigan University just play this so poorly that they thought they could bring the smoke and were completely wrong? Or did they pretend like they were going to go scorched earth, tell the media about a dossier of evidence, and just have a change of heart?
I'm curious what the people more in-tune with things hear or think about what, if anything, comes next. Or if they all got this wrong and are hoping it all goes away with a National Championship.
December 27th, 2023 at 1:10 PM ^
"Michigan University"
What
December 27th, 2023 at 1:15 PM ^
In all fairness, Sherrone Moore called us Michigan University.
December 27th, 2023 at 1:24 PM ^
It wasn't okay when Sherrone did it either but given the circumstances of the post-game interview I found it in my heart to forgive him.
I'm not sure the OP gets the same courtesy here.
December 27th, 2023 at 1:32 PM ^
Apologies to the Semantics Overlords of MGoBoard.
December 27th, 2023 at 2:34 PM ^
Syntax Overlords. You must first address the correct committee or department.
Also, you must take a number between 1 and 999 that is either a prime number or divisible by 11 (I can't tell you why they chose 11 - they simply did). Lowest number goes first except on Wednesday, when it is the second lowest or third highest depending on the number of people in line.
December 27th, 2023 at 2:38 PM ^
The Syntax Overlords said there'd be no math!
December 27th, 2023 at 2:49 PM ^
I stand corrected!
Does correcting that make you the Czar of the Semantics Overlords?
The funny thing was I typed Michigan, then was editing before I posted and just put University in there at the end not thinking. And now I get all the downvotes. But I should have known better than to assume everyone would look for substance over pedantry.
December 27th, 2023 at 3:06 PM ^
I think we were looking for either and you missed on both. Congrats!
December 27th, 2023 at 3:37 PM ^
I’m personally downvoting due to lack of brevity and failure to acknowledge that you answered your own question several times amongst your own admitted rambling.
Although I agree the gramatical semantics of the MGoBoard are too rigid, this is a diary post and an arbitrary, half-assed one at that.
December 27th, 2023 at 10:56 PM ^
I almost downvoted you for your incorrect semicolon usage in the 2nd paragraph, but the holiday spirit moderated my czarist tendencies.
December 27th, 2023 at 2:59 PM ^
I'll take 33 for 211 dollars please.
December 27th, 2023 at 4:22 PM ^
It’s not a question of semantics—it’s a question of accuracy.
There is no institution called “Michigan University.”
December 27th, 2023 at 1:52 PM ^
Big Blue
December 27th, 2023 at 2:04 PM ^
Blue and Gold
December 27th, 2023 at 2:42 PM ^
"The Boston College Golden Eagles." Nope, sorry, it's just "Eagles." The mascot is actually a bald eagle.
December 27th, 2023 at 1:18 PM ^
Sorry.
December 27th, 2023 at 1:41 PM ^
Is that like "Rutger"? When limited to Michigan's BurgerGate or In-person-scouting responses, the pejorative is somewhat deserved.
December 27th, 2023 at 1:15 PM ^
Krk = chat gbt
December 27th, 2023 at 1:16 PM ^
Could you repeat the question?
December 27th, 2023 at 2:40 PM ^
There must be one, somewhere in there...
December 27th, 2023 at 1:19 PM ^
If there is anything, I wouldn't expect it to come out until after the season at a minimum. Why would the program invite more distraction? I had hopes that the Michigan brass would fight tooth and nail when all the TRO stuff was going on but, after that fizzled, I've come to the conclusion that they just want it all to go away. As for the M media, I'm assuming you are referring to the insiders. They live on clicks in a world thirsty for constant updates. Some of their info is inside, I'm sure, but not enough to add any real clarity to any of this stuff...
December 27th, 2023 at 1:25 PM ^
Again, I'm not online for Michigan news besides this site, so I don't see it all. But Balas, Webb, Hole, and even Brian, all seemed to have bad info they were reporting. I know it's about clicks, but in a niche market like UofM athletics, I'd think the major outlets need to be more correct than this.
December 27th, 2023 at 1:40 PM ^
I think Blake Forum spoke to it a bit more intelligently than did I. The information may not have been bad at the time it was given. The situation took a lot of twists and turns. The part of me that still hopes Michigan is playing chess (while others play checkers) is also hoping they wait until after the playoffs to drop meticulously planned bombs. The rest of me is pretty sure Michigan bluffed and got called. Either way, every win since the MSU dismantling has only continued to prove Michigan has been winning because they're just that good. The only people ignoring that fact are media hacks and salty rival fans with nothing else to cling to. I do not give a single crap about either of them and neither should anyone else.
December 27th, 2023 at 2:50 PM ^
This. We were in the middle of an ever evolving situation. New news was being dropped every few days, new details leaked through the press. Hell, Jim Harbaugh didn’t learn about his own suspension until he was halfway through the flight to Happy Valley. Michigan’s TRO request was stalled by the B1G planting a lawyer to contest it, leading to a scheduled hearing the day before the 2nd of the 3 game suspension. Wasn’t worth the trouble to fight the 3 game suspension at that point. So Michigan’s tactic changed.
That doesn’t mean insiders are always accurate, they can only convey what they’re told. And what they were told was clearly changing day to day, since the situation was changing day to day as Michigan, our lawyers, and the Big Ten were back and forth daily.
December 27th, 2023 at 1:19 PM ^
I'll let others weigh in, but I don't see the Signgate reporting saga as a case of getting facts wrong so much as having the facts change constantly. When it came to what action the institution was going to take, they were wrong-footed from the beginning by the blatant--and frankly well-handled--PR campaign. Then they had to weigh the varying viewpoints of the regents, the president, the AD, and Jim himself (and, hell, throw in at least one "booster" who may *allegedly* [fill in this blank yourself]) before making any decisions
It was a fluid situation for weeks on end, because those parties can change their minds and also new info (such as Partridge) can come to light. If Jim initially says, "I want to fight this," and then later says, "I've decided this is a distraction to the team, so I'll accept a suspension," then the plan changes. It was clear that the state of play was routinely shifting for a good month or so, which is what made the story so hard to follow. All the media can do is report what their sources are telling them in the moment. The very next moment, everything can change
December 27th, 2023 at 1:22 PM ^
I get the evolution of a story like this, but there were a lot of long-time insiders who were adamant Michigan was going to fight this, and put evidence out to smear other schools. Maybe that all comes from their sources and everything changed overnight, and if that's the case, then the school clearly got out over their skis in what they were saying. But I haven't seen anyone from M media talk about that aspect or a timeline of what happened that caused so many of them to be wrong about a lot of it.
December 27th, 2023 at 1:27 PM ^
Well for one thing, it's important to bear in mind that they're hardly out of opportunities to fight. The next big decision will be how hard to push back at whatever comes down from the NCAA. Also it seemed likely they weren't going to get their TRO--which only became obvious once they'd already filed, which to me does count as "fighting." Allegedly, Petitti wanted an indefinite suspension, and Michigan's resistance appears to be why that got bargained down and the B1G formally closed its investigation. I see what you mean, but this saga isn't over and it's also not as if they put up no resistance in the first place
December 27th, 2023 at 1:31 PM ^
Agreed, there wasn't "no resistance" but after hearing about the sound and fury the administration was going to bring down on the conference and other members, we basically got a wet fart.
And since then there's been nothing about what happens next, and what happened during those weeks.
The NCAA cheeseburger thing is a separate deal altogether since it's already in process and the events happened in the past. Could be a bigger story if there's a show-cause, but it will play out.
December 27th, 2023 at 2:27 PM ^
All of your long posts start with the assumption that because the stories, especially the alleged scandals about other programs, dropped immediately after The Game, that the stories were false. That is not an accurate conclusion at all.
Michigan winning the Game killed the sign stealing narrative and as a result the counter narratives quickly died. It could be only temporary because no one cares at this point while Michigan is on a title run.
There is still an NCAA investigation and it would be worthwhile to pick up the counter stories after the season to control the narrative if the NCAA decides to do anything. If they wait to only react to what the NCAA might do, that wont work.
But I doubt anyone in an official Michigan role would pursue the counter stories about other programs and it would only go anywhere if someone in the media picks it up. That latter case though, is unlikely since they are not going to get the attention of the original. So those are left to the dedicated hacks. We do appreciate the hacks
There is also the chance, based on a lot of circumstantial evidence that the NCAA doesn’t care about sign stealing and may do nothing. If they do nothing that’s great. But in the chance they decide this is an axe to grind, should they decide that they want to use a new unilaterally administered head coach accountability rule that is supposed to be focused on impermissible benefits and instead apply that to an out of date sign stealing technicality that they intended to cancel, that would be the story to get ahead of.
December 27th, 2023 at 2:37 PM ^
I didn't say the stories were false. I don't know what was true and what wasn't. My point was, that it seemed like no one in the media knew either, and yet it was reported constantly for weeks that M would come out swinging. Then they didn't, and there's been no follow up about anything since. I was just asking if anyone knew why that was, and if people think there is going to be more to come after the season. Or is the Michigan Media, and the University, hoping it all goes away because they all have some egg on their face.
December 27th, 2023 at 2:52 PM ^
The victory over Ohio killed both stories. They no longer have merit and you can’t have one without the other. If Ohio had won, we’d still be dealing with Day’s plan to wipe out three years of victories. Let’s be thankful the stories died for now.
December 27th, 2023 at 1:24 PM ^
Not specifically your question but IMO the reason Michigan hasnt fought this entire thing harder is because they dont know if Harbaugh will be back next year. And my guess is 99% of the NCAA's rancor is aimed at Jim, not Michigan University (I actually kinda like that) so if he goes, the problem goes with him.
Why pick an expensive fight if the other party is willing to lay down their arms?
As far as Michigan media goes all this proved was nobody knows shit about what's going on and I mean nobody. And anyone paying for insider access is out of their mind if you ask me. But then again people willing pay for Tarot Card readings so I guess there's a market for anything.
December 27th, 2023 at 1:27 PM ^
And maybe that's the answer. No one in the media knew anything, and everyone just reported rumors.
I do agree about the NCAA thing with Jim potentially leaving. Why fight it if he's gone. But I was referring more to the Big10 and a fight with them. I don't think M is leaving the conference over this, but there has to be some more to what's going on between M and the conference right now. Maybe it will all come out and no one wants the distraction, but it feels like everyone in the media is hoping no one brings up how wrong everyone was about this.
December 27th, 2023 at 1:26 PM ^
RE: Signgate
Has anyone actually seen what Stalions gave the staff? Did he give them a document every week with his research? Did he just stand on the sideline and give advice when he saw something?
This seems like an important piece of the whole mess that I haven't really seen any answer on. For instance, I believe there was talk that coaches were holding TCU's play sheet, but then it turned out it was just Michigan's play sheet?
December 27th, 2023 at 2:37 PM ^
Ohio gave TCU Michigan’s signs.
(it was reported Ohio gave Purdue Michigan’s signs to help Purdue knock Michigan out of the Championship. It was reported Ohio’s coaches helped TCU prepare for Michigan. There was no specific evidence, but if they shared signs to help Purdue then they shared signs to help TCU)
There was no reports that Stallions scouted TCU that I recall. And Michigan coaches were also cleared of knowing how Stallions learned his craft.
December 27th, 2023 at 1:30 PM ^
I’m hoping that no one forgets to investigate who hired the private investigation firm in the first place. I want this to be brought out into open sunlight, writ large. We all assume (as do I) that Ryan Day is behind it, but I want that established as fact and splashed all over sports websites. Day will look like a fool. If, instead, someone else is behind it, they should be exposed as well, along with their motivation.
December 27th, 2023 at 1:34 PM ^
This, and what happens between Petitti and UofM is what I'm curious about. Has the conference or Petitti met with the university to try an figure out a way forward or do we expect that to come in the off-season.
I'm sure by now most of the media is focused on the Rose Bowl but it felt like after the OSU game until now, there's been nothing.
December 27th, 2023 at 2:39 PM ^
Nothing happens between Petiti and Michigan University. Petitee won - he said Mihcigan cheated so Harbaugh had to be suspended. Michigan dropped the TRO and lawsuit, and suspended Harbaugh.
What else needs to be said? Petiiti is the undisputed ruler of the Big Ten and thus enjoys complete dominance over MU. (At least when the other 13 members unanimously tell him so...)
December 27th, 2023 at 4:08 PM ^
I hope that Michigan is keeping quiet while the team makes their run at the national title. Let the players play and minimize distractions. But just because it’s quiet now doesn’t mean the University won’t fight in the off-season. Depending on what comes from the NCAA, I certainly hope there will be pushback from Ann Arbor. Even more important than that, M needs to be doing sneaky things like hiring private investigators and former employees of our rivals. The whole signgate thing was the height of rat bastardry. The best way to fight that is to be a bigger rat bastard.
December 27th, 2023 at 1:35 PM ^
I'm not an insider - but, it would seem to me that - having all of this stuff in the rear view mirror is the ideal situation.
Last week, the NCAA provided the NOA (Notice of Allegations) regarding recruiting / burgergate. As most of us know - Michigan self imposed a three game suspension on Harbaugh with additional game suspensions for others on the staff. The self imposed suspensions were completed during the OOC schedule. Now, Michigan has an opportunity to respond to the NCAA - but, from my perspective, there was no "new news" in what the NCAA shared - Level 2 infractions for an analyst watching a player during Covid on Zoom. The Level 1 infraction seems to have touched on "complete transparency" during an interview / conversation with Harbaugh.
Regarding Signgate - like others - I had hoped to see the TRO challenged. It is possible that the Athletic Department / University also wanted to - "put it in the rear view mirror". And, my guess is - if / when the NCAA presents an NOA associated with that - there will be a response that may touch on the topic in greater depth. That might include - how was the referenced "Master Spreadsheet" actually obtained - what information is there, etc. One aspect that I find interesting is - certain bowl games are allowing sideline to helmet communications. The NCAA has brought this to a vote in the past - and, the NCAA may actually permit "sideline to helmet" communications the next time the Rules Committee meets. So, the NCAA rule which deals with this may actually be removed / changed.
I'm just looking forward to the Rose Bowl - and, hopefully, one more Michigan football game in January ('24).
Go Blue!
December 27th, 2023 at 2:00 PM ^
Speaking for myself, most of my anger about this died when we defeated Ohio
I think we’d still be discussing it had we lost
December 27th, 2023 at 2:13 PM ^
Michigan University?
December 27th, 2023 at 2:24 PM ^
Maybe it’s a case where Michigan University is waiting to win the Championship National to decide their steps next?
December 27th, 2023 at 2:33 PM ^
The whole 'binder of dirt' thing may be real, and if it is then it's all stuff from last year going back in time. IE: All stuff that nobody cares about anymore. Paying players? Who cares, everyone does it. Buying recruits? Old news. Hell, OSU's AD told Congress straight up how much it costs to get kids on campus. What else can you think of? It happened years ago and nobody cares.
Forget about the 'dossier of smut', it doesn't exist. And nobody gives a rats ass if it does - because it's YESTERDAY'S NEWS. You wrap fish in yesterdays newspaper.
Exposing that OSU caused it all? Who cares? Public perception is that Michigan cheated, so whoever caught them had reason to be digging into it. Nobody gives a rats ass who hired Cyan Day's brother. And whining about it now is a bad look.
The time to strike was when it was today's news. But Michigan declined to strike, deciding instead to obediently get down on both knees and pledge servile submission. Again
December 27th, 2023 at 2:42 PM ^
I never really thought the binder would do much other than be a petty collection of grievances M has collected, with maybe a few juicy nuggets from past recruiting battles. But the way the media talked about it (or at least how it was portrayed on here and WTKA) was that they were going to start slinging mud everywhere if the Big 10 went forward with it.
Agree with everything you said. Just surprised that the binder, along with a bunch of other claims people in the media made, were all for not. I'm not surprised they rolled over, I'm more surprised they acted like they weren't going to, and either bungled that or never intended to. Either way it was just a weird look for the University and media side and I haven't seen much follow up since.
December 27th, 2023 at 2:47 PM ^
The binder of grievances should have been copied in full and released on Festivus. That way it would all be behind us and we could proceed to the feats of strength next week and the following week.
December 27th, 2023 at 3:25 PM ^
The bulk of "Michigan media" reporters are really fansite editors, not trained, objective journalists, and their primary objective is to please their audience. Bad news trends to turn fans away; blowing smoke up their asses -- ie, Michigan's "secret OSU file" -- tends to attract clicks. Isiah Hole comes to mind.
And then there are the Chris Balas of the world, who flip-flop in a way that covers their asses no matter what ends up happening.
December 27th, 2023 at 3:54 PM ^
Did Michigan University just play this so poorly that they thought they could bring the smoke and were completely wrong? Or did they pretend like they were going to go scorched earth, tell the media about a dossier of evidence, and just have a change of heart?
There are a lot of potential answers to this, but lately i've been looking at/thinking about Eric_in_Dayton's 'Diary' post from late October (titled "ncaa rules seem to favor Michigan", or something like that), and thinking that maybe M finished its internal investigation, and decided that going 'scorched earth' seemed unwise, as the letter of the (by)law seems to indicate that other than CS being on the CMU sideline during the CMU/MSU game, there may not be a violation here.
The 2013 rule change seems to clearly legitimize 3rd party scouting, and one need look no further than the fact that most D1 programs subscribe to All-22/PFF, which is a scouting service. The NCAA's explanation for the bylaw revision is also rather straightforward. The question then becomes one of whether there is any licensing or certification process required by the NCAA for an individual or entity to be allowed to perform/provide such services, given that 'scout' and 'scouting service' don't appear to be defined terms as far as the NCAA bylaws are concerned.
If I/we are wrong about the implication of the 2013 bylaw revision, and/or there is a certification/validation process required by the NCAA, M is possibly fucked. If neither of those things is the case, M isn't nearly as fucked as some people want them to be, and the 'cheating' narrative dissolves (not that it was a narrative that held much water in the first place).
December 27th, 2023 at 4:35 PM ^
I'd like to know who snitched on the cheeseburger thing if it was Dudek.
December 27th, 2023 at 5:12 PM ^
This is probably a troll job, simply due to "Michigan University". If you follow MGoBlog, you know better.
My read on what happened after Michigan lawyered up to (supposedly?) fight the TRO is that they were advised they wouldn't be granted said TRO, so they backed off and accepted the three games. The Big Ten stuff has gone away because the whole point of the 3-gamer was to mess with Harbaugh and to give OSU an advantage in The Game. Once that backfired and we still won, that's it. The NCAA will shoot its shot with BurgerGate, and probably with SignGate too.
If Jim returns, look for things to re-ignite somehow in 2024. The conference already figured they have dealt Michigan a blow with the schedule, and also I'm sure they are figuring Jim will try to go the NFL again. Basically, no one outside of Michigan fans wants Harbaugh's Michigan to be successful, and that's why I'm all for telling them all to go to hell. At this point, we could go play football in the Ivy League and I'd be fine with it (/s, sorta).