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For sure, and Pearson…

For sure, and Pearson absolutely deserved to get fired for knowing a subordinate was actively violating policies and choosing to do nothing about it (and, I believe, retaliating against people who did try to report the issues). And your point about how he handled the situation presaging how he might handle an even bigger scandal is excellent. (And even further, I don't think this is separate from the complete lack of vetting that went into hiring Shemy or probably Weiss, and the lack of oversight for Stallions and company. Manuel is very risk-averse, but also fails to see the risk of burying his head in the sand over and over again.)

I'm not sure I'd frame it…

I'm not sure I'd frame it quite that way. My recollection was that the bad actor wasn't the coach, but a key staffer and Pearson protected him (and was also generally unpleasant to work with). When the report on that came to Warde he did nothing. And by nothing, I really mean nothing. He let Pearson's contract expire without renewal and for a while there, Pearson was working without a contract. I *think* he was trying to wait for the negative stuff to pass before extending Pearson, but who knows. Ultimately he didn't so much fire Pearson as just promote Naurato to an empty job as an interim, then he took forever to pull the interim tag. It was really, really strange.

I don't understand the Warde…

I don't understand the Warde opinion see-saw. He's extremely risk averse, but has lots of resources. He's not a bad decision maker when circumstances force him to make a decision, but generally he'd rather wait and see. Once he was forced to act on Howard, he moved quickly to hire the highest profile replacement he could get.

His tactics have never been under question, it's his strategic vision that remains a concern.

Not in Wisconsin anymore,…

Not in Wisconsin anymore, dude. 

I don't have any reason to…

I don't have any reason to think that Lamar Sr. (NTLJ) isn't a good dude, but why do you want him to come to our games?

I did not know that Bill…

I did not know that Bill Buford had written a third book. That's going on my list. Among the Thugs is the best thing I've read for really understanding the psychology of mobs. His middle book, Heat, was also a favorite, although it hasn't aged well with what we know now about Mario Batali.

I'll check it out, thanks!…

I'll check it out, thanks! She's been near the top of my list since I read that she's an Aggie. I really wish there were a couple more hours in the day, I'd get so much more reading done.

Before the pandemic, I used…

Before the pandemic, I used to participate in a monthly speculative fiction book club at my local library. Based on what's on your shelf, it would've been right up your alley. Some favorites I discovered that way:

  • John Scalzi (I'd start with Old Man's War or Kaiju Preservation Society. Heavy bit of comedy in his writing)
  • China Mieville - The City and the City (very speculative fiction, but makes you think a lot)
  • NK Jemisin - The Fifth Season (Sci-fi/fantasy with some horror aspects. Won a ton of awards.)

Some other stuff you might like

  • Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell (a little sci-fi, a little historical fiction, a little horror)
  • Reamde, Neal Stephenson (his most thriller book, but with a lot of fantasy stuff)
  • Fluke, Christopher Moore (all his stuff is comic, although if you like horror, you might like his Vampire series better)
That's a gut punch. I loved…

That's a gut punch. I loved his twitter account, which was loaded with instructional content for defensive lineman. All the little technique stuff that is very hard to notice but so important to playing the position. He was a great football mind.

Branch made like $30MM in…

Branch made like $30MM in his career and won two Super Bowls. I think the scheme he played in depressed his counting stats and made him less likely to make ProBowls, but he had an outstanding career.

Edit: a quick google search on average career earnings by draft pick didn't turn up too much useful data, but playing 11 years as a 2nd round pick puts you comfortably in the top 10% for career longevity.

No, I'm pointing out that…

No, I'm pointing out that there are ways to frame the state of athletic department that aren't a crisis and that the current state of things is a natural evolution of letting very rich businesspeople have an outsized say.

I'm not a particular fan of Manuel, but that has more to do with thinking that putting MBAs in charge of everything is dumb. And he is an extremely MBA sort of AD. I will say three things and if you think that they're in support of Manuel, then I can't stop you.

1. I don't think there was a good way to manage Harbaugh leaving. Time will tell where Manuel falls on the spectrum of bad outcomes.

2. The type of AD that Michigan keeps hiring is a reflection of the culture at Michigan. We're always going to have an MBA type and I don't think raging about the shortcomings of that reality does any good.

3. The last time Santa Ono hired an AD, it was a total disaster. Things could always be significantly worse.

You're assuming that anyone…

You're assuming that anyone outside of weird internet echo chambers thinks Warde is going down in flames. I bet the AD posts record revenue and profits this year. Football won a national championship less than a month ago. Hockey seems to be humming along just fine. There's a big decision coming for the basketball program, but there are a lot of us that think it's asinine to fire a program legend in the middle of a season where he had heart surgery. They're not fixing that before the end of the season, so chill. Women's basketball is as good as it's ever been.

I think that if you're a big money donor, you're pretty happy with the direction of the athletic department.

I think you misunderstand…

I think you misunderstand the dynamics. Manuel is Ross's guy and always has been. I can't find the article now, but I read something last week that went as far as describing a mentor/mentee relationship and before Manuel left Michigan for Buffalo, he was pretty much the Associate AD for Stephen Ross relations.

Personally, I like to think…

Personally, I like to think that feud goes back to Manuel strong-arming Harbaugh into signing a show-me contract post-2020, which reinvigorated Jim, turned the program around, and planted the seeds of both of their eventual departures from Michigan. That seems like the best movie, anyway.

Woodward (now at LSU) hired…

Woodward (now at LSU) hired Jimbo, Bjork choose to extend his contract after A&M went 9-1 in 2020. So, if we're being fair, you could split that $75MM pretty evenly between Woodward and Bjork. There was also a significant outlay to buy out all the assistants. That's mostly on Bjork.

It's awful that we don't…

It's awful that we don't already have a varsity women's team and it's CRAZY that there aren't any D1 teams in the state of Michigan.

This week gets better and…

This week gets better and better!

Single game MVP awards are…

Single game MVP awards are dumb and they're especially dumb for teams like this one, built around having about 20 starter-level contributors on either side of the ball 

I mean, how long can it take…

I mean, how long can it take to record Brian laughing maniacally for two hours?

I'm partial to the Patty…

I'm partial to the Patty Melt because there really isn't anything like it at any other fast food places, but the real secret is breakfast. Honey Butter Chicken Biscuits and their Taquitos are both next level.

And, because I keep track of such things, there is a Whataburger at DFW in D Terminal, if you're passing through.  The closest locations to the midwest are in greater Nashville, which gives me hope that they'll eventually keep expanding north on I-65.

So he's from Alcoa, TN. If M…

So he's from Alcoa, TN. If M can add that Arkansas S from Bauxite, AR to the class, that would certainly fit a certain cultural trend.

He wants this to be about…

He wants this to be about OSU's weird nepo-hires, but OSU has always had weird nepo-hires, even when they were really, really good.  Their last 10 years worth of starting QBs were Barrett/Haskins/Fields/Stroud/McCord. One of those names is not like the others, and it's because they've whiffed on three years of QB recruiting in a row. That's what's changed here and why they're falling off hard.

Hobby or Bush?

Hobby or Bush?

I was also surprised that…

I was also surprised that they didn't measure, but I almost wonder if they shouldn't measure that? On very short yardage, the line judge and the down judge are staring right down the LOS and have a great view of whether or not the sticks are crossed. I'm not sure that taking a mental note of what you thought the further forward progress was, putting the ball there, and then measuring is going to produce a more accurate answer? More precise, for sure, but probably not more accurate.

Overall I thought the…

Overall I thought the officiating was fine. They missed stuff both ways and deciding to swallow the whistle on holding probably benefits the team with a better bull rush (us) over the team with more of a speed rush (them).

One thing that I haven't seen any explanation of was on the Morris TD. I thought it was pretty clear that the defender had his fingers inside the collar of the shoulder pad, so it should've been a horse collar, no? It was a minimal impact thing, would've made a slightly shorter extra point, but still bugged me.

I didn’t realize that he and…

I didn’t realize that he and his half-brother (Myles Rowser) had landed at the same school. Rowser is also in the portal, apparently. 

Bruce and Jake Matthews?…

Bruce and Jake Matthews? Also Clay and Clay Matthews? Maybe these guys were the first?

Edit: also the Devin Bushes, which should have been first to my mind. And the Mannings are quite famous. We don’t talk about the Bosas. 

On the last drive, I think…

On the last drive, I think you also have to consider that OSU isn't that deep on the defensive line and Fox really helped them out by going commercial-one play-commercial on the first two time outs.  Before that Michigan was really mashing and all of sudden OSU had time to catch their breath a bit.

Maybe! But how often do…

Maybe! But how often do people who haven't made a single donation in the history of the database jump straight to funneling money through Super-PACs? And he practices in the outer western suburbs, while Baker came up in politics way up the coast to the north. My point is that they're very unlikely to know each socially, or have worked together early in Baker's political career.

Maybe they're best friends! Maybe they've known each other since they helped hide a body at a summer camp in 1975! Maybe they were pen pals in 3rd grade. But until some evidence is presented, this is no more credible than saying that Baker is out to get Michigan because Ryan Day worked for Boston College when Baker lived near Boston and they're BFFs too.

Sure, but he claims to be an…

Sure, but he claims to be an insider. I would expect someone with inside knowledge to go in and find some Venmo's that support whatever he's been told happened. This suggests he's not an insider, is posting whatever he can find, and hoping it's true. Going outside in, instead of inside out.

The catapult stuff could be something or could be nothing. How many people work there? How often do they hire people straight from the video departments at college football programs? What other programs do they hire from? Where did the founders/higher ups come from? What kind of promises do they make to their customers about data security? If they start to present some of that in the right context and it still looks fishy, then sure, let's go wild.

I think it's frankly…

I think it's frankly embarrassing that this is gaining traction. There are probably some truths in it, but there's so much other stuff that doesn't hold up to even basic checks that the whole effort seems tainted. (Example, one of the first "bombs" was that Dr. Yood was some kind of rich insider with Charlie Baker from his days as governor, or wait maybe from his days as a healthcare exec, but campaign donations are public. Baker raised like $30MM and none of it came from Yood. No evidence that they ever worked together, and they're from completely different parts of the state of MA.)

Canes must be a reimbursement for illicit scouting of a Miami game...or maybe they went to the restaurant Cane's, which is delicious and has a ton of locations in Columbus and is exactly the kind of place people in their 20's get takeout from.

If they have actual evidence, or even claims that stand up to simple scrutiny, they should post them. Otherwise we should be better than swallowing this garbage.

I enrolled and became a fan…

I enrolled and became a fan in 2001. College football brings 1 part joy and 9 parts anxiety or pain. This team is so close to all its goals. In terms of BPONE, this is barely on the radar.

Yes, absolutely. If you read…

Yes, absolutely. If you read the letter to get the context of the name drop, it's when Petitti is laying out the timeline of the Big Ten's involvement and why they felt like they had to take action. USI appears to have told them that the best way to avoid having a gambling scandal was to let it be known that the Big Ten warned MSU and that Michigan was under NCAA investigation.

That Pettiti's first thought was "how will information asymmetry affect gamblers" and not anything to do with player safety or competitive fairness is interesting, but probably not terribly relevant beyond providing more evidence that he's the wrong guy for the job.

US Integrity was mentioned…

US Integrity was mentioned in the Petitti letter as someone that he consulted with early on about how to handle the information the NCAA gave him that Michigan might be cheating. Various message boards have been doing Q-Anon level analysis of the letter and have convinced themselves that USI is the original firm that did the investigation and that Pettiti put their name in to warn Michigan that if they didn't knock it off, their illegal gambling ring would be exposed for all to see.

That's just more evidence…

That's just more evidence that Petitti is in totally over his head. Can you imagine the reaction from the rest of the conference if he reduced the suspension over Michigan's legal threats?

And the NCAA feeding information to the Big Ten investigation before giving Michigan any notice of a finding of wrongdoing just goes to show how compromised all this is. Michigan deserves punishment for anything they've done wrong, but this entire thing has been a massive screw job by all parties involved making up rules as they go.

The only membership I've…

The only membership I've found for the JGEC was in a Big Ten handbook from '17-'18 that IU had posted for some reason.  That year, it was 2 from PSU, 1 from OSU, and 1 from Northwestern. I haven't seen it confirmed anywhere what the current make up of the board is.

I don't think even Tony P is…

I don't think even Tony P is that dumb, but maybe!

I think you're right. Not…

I think you're right. Not getting the TRO last week gave a strong indication that Michigan might not get an injunction after tomorrow's hearing either. Combine that with not knowing when the court will decide either way, the coaches would have to prepare two different scenarios for the Maryland and OSU games (with Harbaugh and without) which I'm sure has an impact on stuff like backfilling Moore as the OL coach.

I also suspect that Michigan made this decision a couple of days ago when they realized they might not win, and it's only coming out now because it would be obvious tomorrow when the hearing got cancelled.

Indeed Exhibit 2, which…

Indeed Exhibit 2, which Michigan received from a former coach at Purdue...

Given the whole arc of the Stapleton thing, I'm going to laugh really, really hard if this Ron English.

I mean, let's say my brother…

I mean, let's say my brother is a plumber, but for some reason I didn't want to hire him to unclog my toilet. (It really smells and he'd never let me live that down.) I might still ask him if he knows a plumber that's reliable.

Possible! Assuming* Michigan…

Possible! Assuming* Michigan has a policy about storing internal stuff on personal accounts, this would be exculpatory on the institutional control charges (and this would show even more slant in the coverage, since they made it sound like this was all stored internally).

*[it might be a big assumption that Michigan Football has common sense compliance controls in place given everything else, but I'm hoping]

I have no idea how this is…

I have no idea how this is going to come out, and if Michigan broke rules they should absolutely be punished at a level that fits the rule breaking.

But consider two scenarios:

  1. A team or an individual employed by a team funded a scouting operation to attend opponent games and film them.
  2. A team or an individual employed by a team, funded a PI operation that obtained operations information (whether illegally or not) from a computer or an account of someone employed by a rival team.

Which one is worse? It would be the most OSU thing ever to end up with no punishment because the NCAA hadn't thought to make a rule against it.

A+ username, by the way.

A+ username, by the way.

I mean, former FBI agent in…

I mean, former FBI agent in the employ of Ryan Day doesn't exactly match the official bio of Derrick Crawford, but spiritually it's very, very close.

Quick reminder while we're…

Quick reminder while we're all losing our minds:

  1. Michigan can't and won't comment on ongoing NCAA probes, so everything that is out there about this is either coming from opponents or leaked by the NCAA themselves.  Please consider who's shaping the narrative.
  2. The VP that supervises NCAA enforcement and broke rules last time to comment on ongoing manner appears to have it out for Harbaugh and coincidentally went to Alabama.

OK, back to your regularly scheduled panic.

Old time hockey! Toe Blake,…

Old time hockey! Toe Blake, Dit Clapper, Eddie Shore, those guys were the greats!

It kind of feels like Iowa…

It kind of feels like Iowa knows they had a good thing in the B1G West and is basically trying to stay there through rivalry games.

Damon Stoudamire catching…

Damon Stoudamire catching strays.

I mean, do you trust that…

I mean, do you trust that nobody on the MSU Board of Trustees or amongst the AD leadership sent an ill-considered email or text about what a godsend this scandal is for getting out from under his contract.  I would think that would be the biggest threat in discovery. 

Just perfection, truly peak…

Just perfection, truly peak internet.