WSJ: Big Ten Source says league "will" defer to the NCAA
I don't think I saw this on the board anywhere. This is from a WSJ article below that I saw on reddit. Emphasis mine:
A person close to the Big Ten has said the conference will defer to the NCAA, which is conducting its own investigation. Such probes often take months if not years.
However, the conference is under pressure from Michigan’s rivals to take swift action. The Big Ten could take the unusual step of sanctioning Michigan under its sportsmanship policy, which empowers the commissioner to level punishment if he determines an “offensive action” has occurred.
https://www.wsj.com/sports/football/michigan-big-ten-jim-harbaugh-sign-stealing-c1db82b7
This runs contrary to what Michigan insiders seem to believe so we may find out today who's right. If you piece together the snippets out there, perhaps Michigan left the meeting with Pettiti feeling like the league was fully going to drop the hammer and maybe Pettiti left the meeting and concluded they have no basis for punishment preempting any investigation. Could explain the disconnect. We shall see.
November 6th, 2023 at 6:38 AM ^
Petitti can either put up with a bunch of crying football coaches (or like, 3 of them) or have to navigate as a defendant through a massive lawsuit by its biggest member institution. The choice seems obvious.
November 6th, 2023 at 6:42 AM ^
You mess with the bull, you get the horns
November 6th, 2023 at 7:13 AM ^
Exactly.
So, lawsuit it is.
November 6th, 2023 at 7:40 AM ^
indeed - plus at some point he SHOULD be factoring in brand and TV and a protracted lawsuit doesn't help that. The prudent course is to tell the rabble to piss of and wait for an investigation so you can deal with facts; but prudence is not always the strong suit of leadership. And I could be wrong wearing maize-colored glasses - but it feels like the more time goes on the better UM's story gets vis-a-vis PI's and people filming our practice etc. Time will tell.
November 6th, 2023 at 9:31 AM ^
I think at this point the vote is probably about 10-1 with three abstentions (MN, IA, maybe NW?).
I'm assuming for now that the institutions are backing their coaches--if they weren't they would have called this off over the weekend. How quickly and easily can they force a replacement if Petitti refuses to carry their water?
November 6th, 2023 at 10:35 AM ^
Coaches who’ll probably be fired soon, no less. So yeah, no brainer.
November 6th, 2023 at 6:38 AM ^
Waiting for the investigation to play out is the only right call here and everyone knows it. But the Big Ten coaches are out for blood that is clear. Let’s hope sanity and due process prevail against the mob.
November 6th, 2023 at 6:43 AM ^
Return salvos can be devastating.
November 6th, 2023 at 7:01 AM ^
Return salvos need to happen regardless of the outcome.
November 6th, 2023 at 7:16 AM ^
I love battleships. We should bring them back into service. Or build some new ones.
November 6th, 2023 at 7:30 AM ^
The modern name for “battleship” is “target.”
November 6th, 2023 at 7:51 AM ^
If someone was firing a missile at me, I'd rather be on the Iowa than any of the dozen aircraft carriers we have. Those old girls can take a pounding
November 6th, 2023 at 7:57 AM ^
The Iowa can certainly defend itself well, but is there anything there when it has to go on the offensive? I thought I read somewhere that the Iowa got some serious weaponry from the Michigan and it still sucks at offense.
November 6th, 2023 at 8:04 AM ^
^^^^Seriously underrated comment.
November 6th, 2023 at 1:03 PM ^
I regret that I have but one upvote to give, Dutchman. Works on two levels and stays within the flow of the game.
November 6th, 2023 at 9:58 AM ^
Yeah, armor piercing munitions have come a long way from Michael Bay depictions, no thanks!
November 6th, 2023 at 7:42 AM ^
24 IPCs though. You could get a bomber and three infantry for that.
November 6th, 2023 at 11:22 AM ^
^^^^ THIS makes me miss MgoShoe ^^^^
November 6th, 2023 at 11:39 AM ^
lobbing Volkswagen Beetle size artillery from 20 miles away
November 6th, 2023 at 11:40 AM ^
lobbing Volkswagen Beetle size artillery from 20 miles away
November 6th, 2023 at 7:37 AM ^
This has nothing to do with stealing signs or "sportsmanship". Our rivals see this as an opportunity to take down Harbaugh and will try to do everything they can to exploit it.
November 6th, 2023 at 6:41 AM ^
Today will be exciting. Happy Monday folks
November 6th, 2023 at 6:45 AM ^
WSJ also reported "rescinding" contract
I'll wait for a better source.
November 6th, 2023 at 6:54 AM ^
While true, the source for that would have to be in Ann Arbor. This is supposedly a source close to the Big Ten which I havent seen much of at all - we just get the Michigan insider view. Hopefully theyve got a contact in the league office who knows what theyre talking about because “will defer” is a very definitive statement
November 6th, 2023 at 7:12 AM ^
The Big Ten could take the unusual step of sanctioning Michigan under its sportsmanship policy
This part of the second paragraph as a hedge also seems to contradict that?
IDK, I can't see the full article, but I'd still wait for a more reliable source. My fragile heart can't endure another disappointment.
November 6th, 2023 at 7:19 AM ^
Yeah, that hedge is completely undermining their own source. Now they're right either way. They learned from last time. They should have written, "Harbaugh's contract was rescinded, but also, it's possible it wasn't."
November 6th, 2023 at 7:48 AM ^
This exactly. That next paragraph not only hedges but kind of invalidates what they wrote above it. "We're told they won't act unless they do" is what it says.
I'm still in the camp that they'll bend to the pressure and act on their own. I'll be pleasantly surprised if they don't but the fact that they (supposedly) already asked for a self-imposed, indefinite suspension makes me think they already decided to move on their own if Michigan declined.
So I expect them to act (no info beyond a guess) and I only hope Michigan immediately fights it through every avenue at their disposal. The time to fight was two weeks ago but if you didn't or couldn't do so then you better start now.
The PR war is already lost, IMO. They took the high road, kept their mouths shut and now the entire sports world thinks they're cheaters. You can't win that back with any action or info of your own from here out. What you can do is fight back against this PR hit job if only to keep immediate, unnecessary penalties off of you.
My guess is that any action today by the conference would be an issue Michigan didn't have to keep their mouths shut about so I'd hope they take it through the legal system as well as any friendly media personalities. I'm not a lawyer but that wouldn't be any NCAA investigation itself (tied to but not in and of itself) so you should be able to publicly fight it to some degree.
I'm also not in the camp that thinks Michigan has some massive dossier of dirt on other schools. Any shared info will likely be that of generality or widely accepted in coaching circles but not talked about origin. Still, it's time to release it even if it doesn't drastically change the narrative. The point should be to put what is at it's core a mostly meaningless infraction/act back in proper context. This notion that Stalions brought a 21pt advantage is insane and has to be combated and brought back into perspective even if by totally unrelated dirt you have. Anything that brings proper scope back to what people have blown up to be the greatest scandal in a scandalous sport full of much larger scandals.
But my guess is that the conference will act in some way and I'll be pleasantly surprised if they allow sanity to prevail and just leave it to The NCAA (who I think hammers Jim anyway...in 2024/25).
November 6th, 2023 at 9:47 AM ^
Fuck the WSJ. Trash rag. My bird won’t even shit on it. It’s not good enough.
November 6th, 2023 at 6:46 AM ^
Journal's track record here isn't great.
November 6th, 2023 at 6:51 AM ^
This would be the wise decision if they want to avoid a massive lawsuit
November 6th, 2023 at 6:52 AM ^
Thank you President Ono for being the adult in the room.
November 6th, 2023 at 7:00 AM ^
You know what's an interesting read: the sportsmanship policy. It is here.
Reading it, it seems like there is a lot of power in the Commissioner's hands, unless they want to do something really big, which requires the "Joint Group Executive Committee" to weigh in. I can't find the current JGEC, but in 2018, it had just four members (link):
JOINT GROUP EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
- Robert Gundlach – Northwestern (Chair, Faculty Representatives & Joint Group 2017-18)
- Sandy Barbour – Penn State (Co-Chair, Administrators Council 2017-18)
- Charmelle Green – Penn State (Co-Chair, Administrators Council 2017-18)
- John Davidson – Ohio State (Incoming Chair, Faculty Representatives & Joint Group 2017-18)
The commissioner can levy the 2-game suspension / $10k fine on his own. But the JGEC, if convinced, can do worse. If it's just four random bureaucrats, well, I'm not sure I'd expect a highly intelligent bunch.
November 6th, 2023 at 7:39 AM ^
4 person committee and PSU had 2 seats?
November 6th, 2023 at 8:06 AM ^
It's probably a three-person committee and the PSU folks split their duties. Two people, one vote. It wouldn't make sense to have such a committee with an even number unless all votes had to be unanimous.
November 6th, 2023 at 10:08 AM ^
So it is a four member panel, with three of them still on our schedule. Seems like no conflict of interest at all. Push hard for them to recuse themselves and let NW do the right thing, lol.
November 6th, 2023 at 7:02 AM ^
A source "close to the Big Ten" does not necessarily mean a person with access to the thinking of people inside the Commissioner's office.
November 6th, 2023 at 7:25 AM ^
A gutless downvote.
November 6th, 2023 at 7:41 AM ^
Didn't down vote the first (seemed like a legitimate comment to me), but did down vote the complaint about getting down voted.
November 6th, 2023 at 7:43 AM ^
Same.
November 6th, 2023 at 8:40 AM ^
Gutless decision.
November 6th, 2023 at 7:03 AM ^
I could be wrong, but it seems like most of the BS "insider" leaky crap about the B1G came from before the meeting with President Ono...
I like to think Pettiti came in with "guys are mad at me, so if you could do me a solid and just go ahead and suspend Jim, that'd be great"
Then Santa's eyes glowed red, he grew 3 feet and smoke started coming out of his ears.
Pettiti: "hey, it's cool, it's cool, we can wait, no problem..."
November 6th, 2023 at 7:26 AM ^
Bravo! That was perfect imagery. Also exactly what happened.
November 6th, 2023 at 8:09 AM ^
If you accept that both the WSJ and the Michigan insiders are both accurate (big if, obviously), then this is likely the story. Or said without the color--Big Ten knows their safest course of action from a legal perspective is to wait on the NCAA, but to keep members happy, would be best if something happened to Michigan/Harbaugh immediately. Meeting with Michigan to achieve the latter, but if Michigan doesn't agree, fall back on the former. In essence, the idea that the Big Ten could take action is a bluff.
November 6th, 2023 at 7:06 AM ^
This feels like old info considering the vast difference in reporting between Michigan insiders. I guess we will see today
November 6th, 2023 at 7:58 AM ^
Same. Also they hedged hard in their own article a paragraph later.
My guess is still that something happens today. At least 2 games but probably a full indefinite suspension. I've moved on to the question of if and how hard Michigan will fight back.
They already allowed the narrative to be shaped so that battle is over. Now you're fighting just to bring sanity and scope back to the discussion. I don't think the school has secret dirt nukes to drop on other programs but anything is something at this point. File whatever stays/injunctions you can and release whatever info you can if it brings scope back to the situation. This idea that Michigan was essentially gifted 21pts per game over the last few years is actually insane and needs to be fought however you can.
Your own anonymous leaks need to happen with whatever you have, no matter how petty. Someone already sucker punched you. You're already on the ground. They already kicked you a few times after that. You can lay there or you can get up and start swinging. The harm already done is really bad and irreversible. The added harm done by laying there and doing nothing is actually much worse.
November 6th, 2023 at 7:09 AM ^
If you focus on the first paragraph in the OP, that's good.
If you focus on the second, it's bad.
November 6th, 2023 at 7:23 AM ^
Maybe the other schools realized that Michigan was about to go kamikaze in their asses, and then they changed their minds
November 6th, 2023 at 7:25 AM ^
No it's just old info and that isn't accurate anymore.
November 6th, 2023 at 7:28 AM ^
Look, I really want them to fuck peoples shit up, so you can save your logic and reasoning
November 6th, 2023 at 7:33 AM ^
Too late to be changing their minds. Shock and awe, baby.