University and Trusted Agents taking @Tonnorscalions seriously?

Submitted by FlexUM on November 22nd, 2023 at 8:07 AM

It's 8am and it's quiet here so figured after some stalking on x I'd post this for discussion...

 

Mods- Do with this as you wish...but I think there are some notable items for discussion. I will not post screenshots out of respect for not blatantly adding fuel to rumors. People can dig as much as they wish. Color me more than skeptical. But...here are some things to consider....

Intriguing reasons to be intrigued...

  • His following has gone from 20 people to ~5,300 in 48 hours. 
  • People we generally trust like Hole, Balas, Scott Bell etc follow him
  • Others with big followings follow him ie "a name I cannot mention with 3m followers"
  • Michigan insider following and Sam insinuated it's a "trusted person"
  • My contact on the medical staff is saying there is "real discussion about this account"
  • Maybe the most important...Sarah Hubbard, Jordan Acker and other UM regents seem to be following. I find that odd if this is just a parody bull**** account. 
  • He is starting to post things that loosely connect the dots, verse just random claims 
  • It was mentioned on osu radio today and it was somewhat taken seriously...or more of that "I'm kind of joking but concerned" type of talk. 

 

Reasons to be skeptical

  • Writes in a borderline cartoonish language. Maybe it's a pet peeve of mine, but it makes the whole thing feel like a skit. 
  • No major publications picking it up. Maybe it's too early, maybe just not enough there.
  • While making some connections, it still seems like random "throw stuff on the wall and see what sticks". 

 

The answer is "just win Saturday" and Michigan already lost this PR battle. BUT...if some of this stuff is more than smoke it really could make a different with public perception and impact what kind of penalty UM is looking at down the road.

If you want to venture just go for @tonnorscalions on x. 

WampaStompa

November 22nd, 2023 at 10:24 AM ^

My opinion is that unless these people know who is running the account and have evidence to back it up, they would look like fools for entertaining it. The account looks like QAnon and if they have something substantial to say or show then they should just spit it out instead of this connect the dots teasing

WampaStompa

November 22nd, 2023 at 10:40 AM ^

Right but in the case of Stallions the teams were able to check who bought tickets and verify it was Stallions, plus video proof of people sitting in those seats recording the games on their phones. Unless and until there is solid evidence that comes from this account or their claims can be verified everyone should remain highly skeptical 

umfan83

November 22nd, 2023 at 11:52 AM ^

This whole situation has been an interesting study in human psychology. The rest of the college football world has decided Michigan is a comic book villain and any attempt to defend ourselves is met with ridicule. Meanwhile the same UM fans that were making fun of OSU/MSU fans for trying to connect Weiss with computer hacking with Stalions and other crazy theories are now treating this “Yood’s father got his best friend Charlie Baker to investigate Michigan” thing as gospel.
 

i think there are some nuanced differences between our fanbases but in many ways we are all very similar in that we follow the trails of things that fit our viewpoint and draw conclusions and we (sometimes unintentionally) dismiss the stuff that doesn’t fit or hurts our argument. Heck even though I’ve thought this the whole time I’m know I’m guilty of doing it several times. 

BlueinLansing

November 22nd, 2023 at 10:34 AM ^

The damage is done, the suspension won't be lifted.  Day and others will see no punishment for the same and worse offenses.  The NCAA will turn its blind eye as always and focus on regulating cream cheese usage and hamburger receipts, get those who speak up for the student athletes.

cp4three2

November 22nd, 2023 at 11:03 AM ^

If they aren’t going to provide evidence to get Day or Knowles suspended or Harbaugh’s suspension lifted then it’s pointless. ​​​​​​ 

it’s ridiculous that OSU deploys ESPN to attack Michigan while Michigan thinks it’s can use anonymous Twitter accounts, but it once again reveals that OSU is more serious. 

jdraman

November 22nd, 2023 at 11:03 AM ^

  • People we generally trust like Hole, Balas, Scott Bell etc follow him

Lol, lmao even. One would’ve thought we’d want to get AWAY from this overblown scandal now that the fighting about punishment is over, but no let’s signal boost some anonymous rando on twitter who looks like the QAnon Michigan football version and further drag this thing out.

jdraman

November 22nd, 2023 at 2:31 PM ^

Yes the punishment is over until the NCAA concludes its investigation, which at that point (probably multiple years down the line) everyone will have moved on and the punishment will end up being a small fine at worst. 

Yeah it does seem that the media got taken for a ride by someone giving them information over the course of a few weeks, but then there was actual evidence that Stallions was committing somethings that were grey-area rules bending/breaking. These twitter posts offer zero evidence and just look like void-shouting conspiracy posting.

Durham Blue

November 22nd, 2023 at 12:00 PM ^

I am not doubting this person, and I appreciate he/she doing the necessary work, but why use a name like tonnorscalions if your end goal is to be taken seriously?  Nitpick, but I do appreciate the efforts.  And win on Saturday.

FlexUM

November 22nd, 2023 at 4:25 PM ^

I’m not saying it means nothing but there is something at least of note when both guys say “we know who is running the account and there is truth there”. It would be insanely easy to just not mention it or even call it crazy talk. 
 

they aren’t just following it they are saying they know who is running it and at least trust it to some degree. Of course, they could be totally wrong but it is something. 

Njia

November 22nd, 2023 at 12:34 PM ^

The whole issue of advanced scouting for the NCAA may turn out much like a study that was once done on pornography. The researchers were trying to determine the porn consumption of men and women, and correlate traits and habits. To no one's surprise except for a closeted research assistant, the study could not find even one male who hadn't watched porn at some point in their life. 

mtzlblk

November 22nd, 2023 at 12:41 PM ^

All interesting stuff.....probably all true, but B0G and NCAA have already blown their load on smearing without any substantiated evidence.....TBD whether the NCAA will actually penalize in the end.

Unless any of this is backed up by actual evidence, it won't matter a bit and will just be dismissed as sour grapes and rumors. They'll protect the sacred cow and illusion of integrity above all else.

FlexUM

November 22nd, 2023 at 1:26 PM ^

It doesn't mean it's true...lies spread fast...but this account now has posts seen by over 1.3M people and 6,000 followers including various UM physicians, boosters, and scholars. 

Yeoman

November 22nd, 2023 at 4:50 PM ^

And also including Catapult executives and their legal counsel. And two members of the B1G executive committee, representing PSU. And an alarming number of college football coaches and staffers whose names have appeared with a "how'd you sleep? getting to you soon" message.

UcheWallyWally

November 22nd, 2023 at 6:40 PM ^

These 2 threads need to stop getting pushed down the board for non sense threads.  The amount of not regular posters suddenly all over this board reeks of undercover rival fans that may have set up accounts long ago and been constant stalkers. They are trying to down play this 

 

This is a huge deal. There is more than enough to start an investigation.  PSU and anyone else that used catapult should be demanding full access to any and all history there videos ie who and when they’ve been accessed.  They should be threatening legal action. Catapult likely fires these buckeyes and fully discloses everything to save face and a lawsuit. 
 

There’s more than enough to demand ncaa and big10 open investigations and these demands should not be made in private. They need to be very public demands made by prominent people. 
 

This is enough to say we know they broke scouting rules and that’s enough