Absolute media silence on Signgate since the suspension

Tony Pettiti says

I think something comes out on Friday. If the judge rules in Michigan's favor something negative will be released. If the judge rules against Michigan I could see Michigan releasing some more stuff. 

I’d like to know where Lou Holtz is right now 

I would assume they are much more interested in disrupting Michigan next week, as compared to this one. 

This opinion may not be popular, but I have a feeling the courts will choose to not intervene and the suspension will be upheld. I think if that ends up being the case, Michigan should let it go and let the Big Ten have their pound of flesh, not allowing this to turn into a "two day" story (or two months story, or whatever). It seems the NCAA has already moved on, and I believe Petitti simply did this to placate Ryan Day and others.

Imagine the fallout of we steamroll OSU the way we did previously but while Harbaugh (and naturally Stalions) not being on the sideline. OSU fans will have to eat their words in ways that are way bigger than the last two years. While it would be a shame for him to not be there, if anyone knows they aren't bigger than the team it's him and I think the win will be that much better.

I think it's just that there hasn't been much new to report since then.

As much as our personal sports-world revolves around Michigan football, most of the rest of the country doesn't care. The NFL, the NBA, the start of college-basketball season, those are more interesting to the vast majority of the bell-curve of sports fans in the country, so those get the reporting.

It is quiet, but UM gets the injunction on Friday AM, I imagine things will get LOUD

Yesterday was the first day the WSJ (yes, that WSJ) did not have an anti - UM article for the last 10 days. They must employ a bunch of SEC and OSU slappies. 

I will give my honest take and take some negs.  I am really uncomfortable with it.  It is my understanding that the NCAA is continuing to investigate it, and reports from CBS sports and other outlets are that the investigation is proceeding rapidly.  I found the BIG action nearly incomprehensible with what is current public knowledge, and I also find it odd that they suspended him only for remaining regular season games, saying nothing of a possible BIG title game appearance.  To me, a lot of it simply does not add up and feels like a To-Be-Continued. 

From Saturday until Monday, I was kind of acting off of adrenalin from a great win and kind of allowed the questions to roll off my back without examining it.  Now, with some space on, I do not like it at all.  I would like it, love it actually, if I was just seeing ghosts.  But I don't feel comfortable at all.

No story runs "hot" 365/24/7.  It's probably just a cycle.

The "who was that guy on the CMU sideline?" question is still out there --- I may get neg votes for this, but if it WAS Stalions, I'd be pretty pissed off if I were at another B1G school. 

Pissed off at all of Stalions, Michigan and Central Michigan: in no way should a B1G assistant EVER be "moonlighting" (or whatever he was doing) at a game where the opponent is also a downstream conference opponent.

Lawyers are involved at this point and are basically telling everyone to STFU.

It's far from over.  Certain "media" people are calling some kind of gray area - maybe rules violation - the biggest scandal of all time.

This story has had more legs than - Israel/Hamas, any kind of mass shooting, Ukraine - ha - no major news outlet in the US has reported on that in over a year.

Sometimes you have to ask simple questions and the answers are easy.  It's where any decent lawyer would start.

Can your phone record 3 hours of video?  Can you hold your phone in a fixed position for 3 hours with either one of both of your hands?

If there is a negotiation going on (which I doubt), I don't want it to come at the expense of actual rule breaking by other member institutions getting swept under the rug.

Drip, ran dry!!!

You can also attribute it to today's news cycle. People have incredibly short attention spans, and eventually they just move on to the next scandal du jour, whether its sports, entertainment, or politics. And we all know that last option has enough drama to go for decades. 

Signgate isn't leaving the news anytime soon, but eventually, another scandal comes along that captivates everyone's attention and Signgate just becomes "old news." 

The media has absolutely not gone silent. You’re mistaking a lack of fresh reporting for a lack of punditry. 

The lack of leaks about other programs being dirty makes me firmly believe those stories last week were all bluffs.  

If UM has dirt on anyone else, now is the time to release it.  I cannot think of another situation that would call for it more.  

I would love to think it's because they finally got caught up on all the stories of their own teams doing worse shit, but I know they live in a stupid-bubble (that's meant to be read together) where they either don't know, don't care or are in denial of their glass house.

Two interpretations. 1, all the allegations and evidence are already out. 2, OSU already got what they wanted.

I’m not sure what you mean. Harbaugh being suspended is constantly mentioned. His plan to speak at the hearing is in an ESPN article. 

I think at this point everyone is assuming “Michigan got punished, show mostly over” and the only people who care are rivals who want to call us cheaters.

I think there would be more chatter, but Michigan spoiled their party by beating Penn State without their head coach and no possible sign stealing going on.  The only people paying attention now are the mouth-breathing, knuckle-dragging, cousin-marrying, pig-farming, cooler-crapping, brain-dead OSU and MSU goobers on 11 warriors and RCMB.  

Maybe because “everyone” feels “something was done.” Maybe Lil’ Tone knows it is going to be overturned but did it anyway so he can look at the other coaches, AD’s and media who put pressure on him and say “Hey—I tried!”

It will rise again on Friday.

They're catching their breath before the next big Harbaugh story.

We're also no longer in the boring middle part of the season. September is exciting because football is back. November is exciting because all the season storylines (conference championship plus playoff races) are being tied off. October is the middle act that networks have to spruce up because attention wanes. Watch, set your calendar for next October, I'm betting you some major off the field incident occurs that garners all the attention for 2-3 weeks.

Yep, it's definitely interesting. It seems like the only articles still trickling out are journalists and talking heads who have decided that the world needs to hear their opinion on the situation and get on their high horse

It's not silent on ESPN. SAS still says Michigan should be banned from the CFP.

If Michigan has anything juicy on OSU, it would be prudent to wait until Monday morning to release it. You want to flood the zone with shit when it serves as maximum possible distraction from prep for The Game.

But I wouldn't hold my breath. I do believe there is a binder, but it's mostly filled with stuff that in the public's mind isn't illegal anymore (i.e., paying players and their families for visits and such).

At some point over the course of the NCAA investigation we'll find out the real story behind the PI firm, but that could literally be years down the road.

Signgate was all about embarrassing Harbaugh. The best thing we could do is win on 11/25 and then immediately announce a lifetime contract for Jim.

They're all in a corner doing a circle jerk with each other.

1. They got their pound of flesh.

2. We beat a top-10 team on the road down 1 head coach (with <24 hours notice) and down 1 sign stealer (PSU still had their sign stealer, don't pretend they didn't).

We proved it wasn't "just the signs."  Winning, especially with unplanned adverse conditions, removes all doubt. 

As they say in The Valley, "It's not a flaw, it's a feature!"

It's clear that this was a coordinated PR attack on Michigan by the daily hits that kept coming (usually, they would all come at once or at least 2 days apart). I think the ESPN hit job was just them trolling for clicks, which they certainly got.

But the latest lack of leaks/ news is simply because it's Petitti and the B1G lawyers vs. One, Warde and our lawyers. There just aren't a ton of people involved and most are lawyers or the guys in charge so leaks are just unlikely. 

I don't think the B1G told other teams to STFU and I don't think Michigan has anything on the other teams anyway to keep them quiet.

Right now, it's just lawyers and bosses and the PI firm's dirt is dry.