What To Expect Tomorrow

The haters gonna hate no matter what, but I trust DB to navigate these waters.

They sure have changed sinse I was a kid.

That being said, I'm looking forward to tomorrow being done with so we can all move on.  There are enough uncertainties for recruits in the whole process as is, and Michigan, unfortanetly, also faces the uncertainty of sanctions and a possible coaching change (not saying I think it will happen or should, just saying it's being told to many recruits from other places that that is a possibility at Michigan).  This is at least a step forward, and it will be nice to at least step through the fog and creep through the smog like snoop doggy [who?] doggy [what?] doggy [dogg]

Should we be worried about possibly being tagged as a repeat offender considering we were still technically under probation for ed martin basketball fiasco?

I really can't wait until this is behind us.  I think that more than the decision coming down tomorrow, I am dreading the Worldwide leader's coverage of this.  Can't wait to hear how this "puts RR squarely on the hot seat!!"  Also looking forward to a possible reference to how "Michigan's troubles continue to get worse and worse under coach RR."  And, if we are lucky, there may even be a reference to our "falling from glory."

I recommend avoiding pretty much all forms of non-MGoJournalism for the next few days because it will be infuriating to see how the media make a mountain of this miniscule mole hill.

buckle up fellas, it's time to take it like a man (again)

it's times like these that I hearken back to the wisdom of Dalton:  "Pain don't hurt"

trims back practice time, tells us to dump a grad assistant or two, with no probation, and then moves on to USC to deal with truly major violations with truly major penalties. Unfortunately, we don't live in a rational universe. Since the NCAA knows that the practice time violations are virtually universal among D1A programs, they're going to be awfully tempted to make an example of us just to show that they're not as impotent as they really are. I will be amazed if our penalties don't match or exceed whatever the NCAA imposes on USC, assuming they do anything at all to them.

with the victory cigars at the ready. Rosenberg et al are going to give themselves shoulder injuries patting themselves on the back.

once the statements are released.

I wonder whether compliance departments at other football programs around the nation will be taking inventory of their own countable hour processes and making pertinent changes?

Probably not. 

Hey, Dancing with the Stars is on!!!!

Here's some of the sanctions they are considering:

Brian doesn't see Alex Herron as a major problem. To my mind, he is the one coach (graduate assistant) who was caught being somewhere he shouldn't have been. And he lied about it. I suppose the lying is on him, but the University has to take responsibility for his presence at those drills. There's an easy way to do that -- he's been fired, so just don't replace him for a couple of years.

As I understand it, the quality-control people were allowed to be where they were, but they allegedly acted as coaches when they shouldn't have. So that's a different problem, a subjective grey area much harder for either side to document. Brian seems in the right ballpark -- losing a coach being the worst-case penalty.

for it?  My guess is Brandon offering more to defuse the situation and minimize the discussion in August.  Practice time ratio 2.5:1 and lose 2 schollys next yr and 1 the following, lose 2 grad assistants, and RR not participating in 1 or 2 practices.  I remember reading that RR hired his own attorney to respond to the ncaa b/c promoting the "atmosphere of noncompliance" is directed at him. 

... is the outcome I am afraid will come to pass.  Why do I have this fear?  Here's why...  Q: Why the hell is SYSTEMATICALLY giving out more scholarships than you can sustain (Nick Saban) something that apparently does not concern the NCAA one iota?  A: Because there is nothing in this world that makes less sense than the NCAA, not even the Spartan Times (er, Free Press).  To be quite honest, despite its own faults, I think the Big Ten conference is a much better organization than the NCAA and I'm glad that's the one Michigan is in.  Great TV set up, great academics, great athletic competition...maybe not the very best in each category, but overall combination is far ahead, IMHO.

Aw c'mon, nothing captures the excitement and energy of college football like a rousing rendition of "Hello, Dolly" by the MMB in the Big House.

To paraphrase Braveheart, this ought to be Dave Brandon's statement to the NCAA:

Lower your flags and march straight back to Indianapolis, stopping at every home you pass by to beg forgiveness for a hundred years of theft, ignorance, and incompetence. Do that and your association shall live. Do it not, and every one of you will get sued today.

• Graduate assistant coach Alex Herron provided “false and misleading information” to NCAA enforcement staff on whether he monitored summer workouts he was not allowed to attend.

Regardless of whether he's been fired or not, the NCAA drops the hammer when they find out they've been lied to.  Dez Bryant was suspended for 9 games for lying about something that wasn't even an NCAA violation.

• The athletic department “failed to adequately monitor its football program to assure” NCAA compliance.

I'd be fairly surprised if they didn't emphasize the repeat offender angle with the above charge.  This seems dangerously close to the dreaded lack of institutional control.

I can't wait until this whole situation gets taken care of. I just want to get ready for the season without a distraction like this.

One more day for the media to run on about this and then it's over...time to move on.  When this is diffused the freep boys are going to be hard pressed for something to talk about.  They have to have burned a lot of bridges to the program and hopefully will be accorded the outcast status they deserve.

On to the winning!

Isn't that also a complicating and potentially NCAA damning offense?  Not that I am looking for trouble...just trying to prepare myself for the worst.