Positives from SpyGate
In the long run this debacle may benefit Michigan Football.
1) Michigan leadership, including President Ono now understand how much hatred there is from other members of the Big Ten. Knowing who is against you is valuable. Michigan can be more careful in any negotiations with the Big10 or ny other member of the Big Ten. For instance, I'd want much more specific language in terms of process for any type of disciplinary action included in the B10 bylaws
2) We now know there was a coordinated effort by OSU, Rutgers & others to help other teams win vs Michigan. The program should go away from signs and push hard to get helmet communications.
3) I think it's likely that the narrative will turn and it will make OSU look bad. The NCAA hasn't seen any direct connections with the PI firm and OSU but based on the facts I'll be very surprised if there isn't a connection that is eventually found. If it is proven, really makes Ryan Day look like a sore loser.
4) Michigan should negotiate more aggressively in terms of revenue sharing- if all the other teams and institutions want to F Michigan over, Michigan should negotiate very aggressively to receive a share of profits that more closely aligns with the TV ratings that Michigan produces.
5) ESPN/Atlantic has revealed itself as a very biased & anti-Michigan news publication. ESPN should be given nothing - no free seats, no place to do a show, no sideline reporters, etc.
6) Almost assuredly Warde Manuel needs to go. With the B10's approach Michigan will need a more combative & media savvy AD than whatever skills Warde has.
November 7th, 2023 at 5:44 PM ^
Lying through omission is an inaccuracy.
Pete Thamel had info for a week and never covered it - that B10 teams shared UofM's signs with its opponents.
November 7th, 2023 at 6:14 PM ^
When a reporter reports unknowns as facts, which Thamel did and does, and uses "unnamed sources" or "sources tell me," he absolutely knows that what he's saying is not a provable fact. But he's covered himself with the "unnamed sources." Using a named source means that someone's integrity and credibility is on the line. An unnamed source just asks you to believe. Journalists know how influential they are, and use this to their advantage. If you think they're not absolutely 100% aware they're doing this, you are very naive.
November 7th, 2023 at 5:19 PM ^
Will we find out the BIG punishment tomorrow? Not sure when that decision is coming.
November 7th, 2023 at 5:21 PM ^
Brian's front page post Signgate #8 said maybe Thursday since Michigan has through Wednesday to respond.
November 7th, 2023 at 5:23 PM ^
Do we really need to wait until Wed night to tell Pettiti where he can shove it?
November 7th, 2023 at 5:27 PM ^
The ESPN story says this won't change the Big Ten's punishment of Michigan...but if that's true then Pettiti really is foolish. I'm guessing if we don't hear leaks, it means he's communicated to M he's willing to come down off his high horse based on what he's heard and will quietly slap a small fine on M.
If he does pursue suspension, he's and idiot who's not cut out for his job. Holding M's feet to the fire in the name of fairness makes sense - especially since he reportedly believed this was an egregious action. He now knows it's not particularly egregious, so not backing down is now just foolish and bad faith on what is your strongest program the past 2 seasons, and the direct driver of a big chunk of your value as a conference.
November 7th, 2023 at 6:03 PM ^
No, but we should be extra careful/thorough and have all of our ducks in a row in responding and not rush into the method and the process in which we politely tell Petitti/BIG to "shove it."
November 7th, 2023 at 5:36 PM ^
There wont be a punishment
November 7th, 2023 at 5:20 PM ^
What did the Atlantic do to catch strays here?
November 7th, 2023 at 6:06 PM ^
They wrote a very splendid culture piece on the fine art of sign stealing.
I'm guessing he meant Athletic.
November 7th, 2023 at 6:42 PM ^
Ahh man you had me for a second haha
November 7th, 2023 at 7:20 PM ^
I used last week's unabated Michigan-bashing by Stewie Mandel and Nicole Auerbach as the final push to cancel my Athletic subscription.
Fuck 'em.
November 7th, 2023 at 7:27 PM ^
Same here
November 7th, 2023 at 7:38 PM ^
Sad. I like Auerbach, she wrote for the Daily when I was a student. Haters can get fucked tho for sure
November 8th, 2023 at 2:03 PM ^
Very disappointed in The Athletic. A few years ago, they were a welcome oasis in a desert of lazy, incompetent sports “reporting/journalism.” Many of the top sports writers left their newspapers and magazines and joined The Athletic. They published long, well researched and interesting articles. It was a refreshing return to the type of sports journalism that existed years ago in SI, Sport, and many top newspapers. I was happy to subscribe.
Then, the inevitable purchase by an established media giant and it has been all downhill. Even before this latest debacle, the quality and content had taken a downturn. Instead of looking forward to reading it every day, I was scanning it a couple times a week.
Once my current annual deal lapses, $1.99/month, I will be cancelling. It’s too bad. And, I liked Nicole Auerbach. I believe she’s a U-M alum, but I believe Drew Sharp was, also. Go figure. Nicole has been horrible in the last few weeks. She should be ashamed of herself.
Oh, well. As usual, all good things come to an end. Years ago, I stopped watching or reading any ESPN content other than the games they broadcast. Same with the Freep. I guess I’m down to The Detroit News & mgoblog!!
November 7th, 2023 at 5:21 PM ^
ESPN has finally pubilshed about the latest here, with old friend TomVH and longtime big ten beat writer Adam Rittenberg
November 7th, 2023 at 5:21 PM ^
Agreed. Also Fox has joined the list of non biased reporting. This is picking up steam fast.
https://www.foxsports.com/stories/college-football/documents-reportedly…
Sorry, I still can't figure out to post links correctly.
November 7th, 2023 at 5:24 PM ^
I don't know how others do it. But, I click the little button that says "Source" when editing.
Then I add raw html, e.g., <a href=targetsite> whatever</a>
and then click "Source" again to go back to normal editing.
November 7th, 2023 at 5:26 PM ^
November 7th, 2023 at 5:31 PM ^
The much easier way is to just click the link symbol next to the italics symbol. Or, if you want to make one of the words in your comment the link, just type the word, highlight the word, Ctl-K, and then copy the link.
edit: SD Jones's instructions below are more clear
November 7th, 2023 at 5:29 PM ^
It's so much simpler than that:
- Highlight the word or phrase you wish to serve as the link
- Press the icon that looks like a link of chain
- Paste web address in newly opened box
- Press Save button
- Feel free to test link with Preview button
- Proceed with post as normal
November 7th, 2023 at 5:25 PM ^
Here's the link.
November 7th, 2023 at 5:38 PM ^
you click on the highlighted icon, paste your link, click save.
November 7th, 2023 at 5:22 PM ^
7. Rutgers finally established the rivalry they have always wanted with us.
November 7th, 2023 at 5:24 PM ^
on point 3, OSU already looks like dishonest whiners, as do Rutgers and Purdue. Regardless of who hired the PI firm, these 3 schools crying about this (especially if they were crying in the Big Ten conference calls) while knowing they'd done the same thing makes this whole thing rich.
The biggest scandal in Big Ten history is that M dominated the Big Ten twice, someone hired a PI, and they all blew up a story that was pretty in line with what they were doing. They all look like a bunch of jokers.
November 7th, 2023 at 5:42 PM ^
I can tell you that here in Ohio today the story is still that Michigan got caught in the biggest scandal in football history and is now whining about irrelevant, petty stuff that everybody does.
November 7th, 2023 at 5:48 PM ^
Some OSU fans I've met in real life don't think that...they think it's something everyone does that M got caught doing.
I think some random college football fans are starting to be like "ugh, the big ten is messed up." Which is accurate. Before they were neutral to "oh damn Michigan lol" but now it's starting to be more like "oh damn big ten gross lol."
November 7th, 2023 at 5:56 PM ^
When I lived in Chicago my OSU friends were intelligent, rational people. Here in Ohio not so much. Or just as many, now that I think about it (my retina doctor's an OSU grad as are just about all the ophthalmologists around here, it's a damn good program apparently), but they're drowned out.
November 7th, 2023 at 6:02 PM ^
Connor Stalions is going to take down an entire conference!
not really, but maybe?
November 7th, 2023 at 6:43 PM ^
If Pettiti doesn't back down...why the F not?
November 7th, 2023 at 6:57 PM ^
Same from what associates I work with in the Dayton Blowhio area all in denial and it’s still “UM is the biggest cheaters in the world” this is the only way they could ever beat the buckeyes not the fact they got 17+ pff nfl players LOL..
November 8th, 2023 at 9:35 AM ^
One of my best friends is an OSU fan but lives here in Indiana. I asked him his thoughts and he said at first it seemed like a big deal, but as more info came out he's just feeling like the whole is overblown. Granted he is one of the more reasonable and intelligent OSU fans out there.
November 7th, 2023 at 5:49 PM ^
Don’t forget Bert
November 7th, 2023 at 5:22 PM ^
ESPN Gameday shouldn't be allowed anywhere near campus.
November 7th, 2023 at 5:25 PM ^
I think we should all go ahead and inform whatever cable/TV streaming services we use that we are completely fine without ESPN/ABC.
November 7th, 2023 at 6:14 PM ^
Already did it
November 7th, 2023 at 5:27 PM ^
If only to keep Pat McAfee out of town.
November 7th, 2023 at 7:42 PM ^
Coming to you live from East Lansing for the Michigan game
November 7th, 2023 at 5:23 PM ^
This all makes me wonder about that first half vs TCU...
November 7th, 2023 at 5:31 PM ^
So Dykes (I believe) already said they were warned about UM decoding signals and had put in false signs. Maybe some reporters should ask him if they did in fact receive this spreadsheet.
Puts a whole different feel on the pick 6's JJ threw.
November 7th, 2023 at 5:54 PM ^
yea but again, sign stealing is something you should expect and you should be prepped for. Especially because M seemed to know they had been targeted for this before.
November 7th, 2023 at 5:24 PM ^
Hopefully we've learned that we need reporters on the payroll.
November 7th, 2023 at 5:42 PM ^
We've learned that Sam Webb is legitimately better than the folks at mainstream publications.
November 7th, 2023 at 7:20 PM ^
It worked for the Corleone family..
November 7th, 2023 at 5:25 PM ^
I know it won't happen, but I wish we could collectively step back from blaming Ryan Day for the PR hit job, etc.
I agree it was almost definitely OSU led, and it would be hilarious if Day were behind it all, but there are tons of boosters, coaches, and bloggers that are much more likely to be at the root of all this. I imagine Day has coaching and recruiting taking up most of his time, plus I don't see him as a mastermind of a smear campaign as effective as this has proven to be.
If Harbaugh had no idea what Stalions was up to (I believe this), then Day could easily know nothing, too. Football coaches aren't the omniscient gods everyone makes them out to be. At least I hope not, those are so weird ass dudes.
November 7th, 2023 at 5:29 PM ^
I don't see Day as an omniscient god, I see him as soft, angry guy who was born on 3rd base and who is now desperately trying to retain his position.
November 7th, 2023 at 7:45 PM ^
Dude will NEVER cross home plate with Harbaugh around
November 7th, 2023 at 5:51 PM ^
That stuff's not made up out of whole cloth. Chris Day filed papers for a New Hampshire LLC whose purpose was private investigation and had a football-related name (actually an OSU-Michigan football related name), quit his day job and found a couple of commission sales gigs to make his nut more flexibly than a full-time DEA job could ever be.
In a fantastic coincidence, it's now rumored that OSU hired a PI firm to investigate Michigan and the firm's located in New Hampshire. Of course it turns out it's not Day but somebody he went to high school with who lives twenty miles away.
Could be just random chance I suppose. Or maybe it deserves a little digging. And none of it would make Ryan Day a mastermind or even require him to do anything more than a little bitching to his brother over the phone.
November 7th, 2023 at 5:26 PM ^
6) Almost assuredly Warde Manuel needs to go. With the B10's approach Michigan will need a more combative & media savvy AD than whatever skills Warde has.
This take is a stupid as the ESPN pile-on of Michigan stealing signs without any evidence.
Oh and by the way, Warde is hard at work while the rest of you (many of you) are doing your arm chair complaining.