Henning - "Michigan's athletic woes similar to MSU's of earlier era"
Lynn Henning posted one of his usual winners by comparing UM's extremely minor brush with NCAA football sanctions and the admittedly horrible Ed Martin scandal with MSU's scandals under Perles (including grade tampering) and the "bad mess with November's dormitory fracas."
He goes on to question the hires of Rodriguez (somewhat understandable) and Beilein (completely unfounded), arguing that they were the result of a bad AD (Martin) and lax adiminstration, while extolling MSU's hiring of Izzo (great move and coach) and Dantonio (um, jury is still out) because they were made by a sharp AD (Hollis). Now, I don't know much about Mark Hollis, but to call the 22-17-2 (freshmen beatings) reign of Dantonio a feather in one's cap may not be a great sign. As for comparing Izzo to Beilein, let's remember that Izzo adopted a team that had played in the postseason for the last 7 years, while Beilein inherited a team that had not been to the NCAA tournament since the Clinton administration. So, yeah, completely apt comparison (though I do agree that Izzo is a great coach).
I understand the point of the article and its attempt to connect UM's struggles to the other local program, but grade tampering and rampant steroid abuse is far and away worse than 65 hours of additional practice over two years. I expect these types of articles to keep popping up as long as UM continues to struggle in the big-revenue sports, but with hockey's recent postseason run, multiple NCs at the club level, and the softball team's run at another NC, it is hard to make the conclusion Henning is making that UM should model its athletic department after MSU's just because the football team will likely receive a slap on the wrist.
I think your link is broken.
Thanks. Fixed.
just because you have enough points to post doesn't always mean you have to?
guy made an asshat level argument, comparing a punch in the face to serial murder. all you're (almost) doing is getting the dumb opinion more attention. luckily you didn't link properly so no one will read it.
Whats with all the hate towards BronxBlue? This doesn't seem like a horrible thing to post. Or am I missing something?
couldn't care less who posted it. people feel the need to post EVERYTHING EVEN REMOTELY RELATED OMG bc they want to be a "reputable source" of "breaking news." for the "mgopoints."
i'm waiting for the day where a guy links a white supremacist page that includes something shitty about UM because they encourage a multi-cultural atmosphere and includes some outraged commentary on how "awful it is" while linking to it.
if it's stupid... probably doesn't need to be linked to or commented upon.
He's probably just doing it for the points... ;-)
Couldn't agree more. Don't like that you're getting negged for this.
Not sure why the linked crapped out, but I fixed it.
As for the article, considering it was prominently posted on one of the two leading Detroit-area newspapers, taking the author to task doesn't strike me as being unreasonable. But whatever, you are entitled to your opinion, and as another meme I've heard around these parts, you don't have to read/comment on everything.
Seems to me that the guys saw an article about Michigan from a paper that so far has not been banned, he gave it proper credit and commented on in on a Michigan blog. What the hell is your problem? None of us have to do anything. He wanted to, it was appropriate, and he did it. Relax
Izzo was all but run out of town by the MSU faithful after losing like 5 in a row vs. Michigan, and doing nothing special. Now it's a genius move, promoting the lead assistant. Did it work out for them? Of course. But it wasn't any grand insight into what Izzo was going to become. "HAHA, now that Michigan is going to be in this Ed Martin Trouble, and lose their National Championship winning coach, we have JUST the guy to build a national power!" Much cat petting and evil laughter.
When Izzo was hired, it was definitely not the most popular move. I remember quite a bit of discontent over heading in that direction after Jud. And, you're absolutely right, he didn't have the best of starts as far as coaching careers go.
But then he won himself a championship with Mateen (with a little bit of off-the-court drama, as I recall), and all was forgotten. He's built himself a monster, and a meal-ticket to eternal Bo-like reverence in East Lansing. Vexation.
He'll get us there!
These two instances are very similar insomuch as one instance is not at all similar to the other, and vice versa
the detroit news is slowly headed toward Free Press territory.
Everytime this guy tackles a topic other than baseball, I think to myself "no way his editors let him do that again", then a few days later BAM, another one. He comes across uninformed on just about everything he covers. His articles on expansion were real winners. With the quality of information available all across the internet it is astounding that someone could publish something so lacking in depth, fact or perspective. The Det. News should be embarrassed every times it runs something of his. If it ain't Wojo, it ain't worthy.
Henning's true passion appears to be baseball, and he has written about it very well for a long time now. As for his take on UM, he doesn't really seem to have much of an agenda; he just doesn't live it and breathe it like he does baseball.
I like Angelique's work the best; she loves UM and doesn't really try to hide it too often. I like Wojo, too: he is probably the most objective sportswriter the Detroit market has ever seen. His only agenda seems to be having a good time when he writes. When he is asked to do serious work, he does it clinically, and never writes as if he has a stake in the outcome.
Wojo is better at keeping a professional distance from the stories he covers than any writer I have seen in the Detroit market. When he is gone, I don't think we will see another like him. Modern writers seem to be either sycophants or malcontents, with no middle ground. I hope Wojo hangs around a long time.
Angelique does not love UM.
Link?
Link? There is no link. I work the Michigan beat with her, and she's a big Buckeye fan (her husband is an alum, she went to Cincinnati).
actually improves my opinion of her.
That's interesting that she's a big Buckeye fan, that must be a little painful sometimes.
I scratch my head in amasement every time I see someone praise Mark Dantonio, and the state of Spartan football. Someone explain to me what is so fantastic about a 6-7 football team in year 3 of the program? To say that Spartan football is what Michigan was 20 or 30 years ago is outright laughable Lynn.
It's become too much of a given with sportscasters and sportswriters that the Rodriguez hire was somehow such a questionable move. He was one of the most highly regarded coaches in the country at the time and had turned down Alabama the year before. He had not been associated with any scandals or ethical questions. The negativity only started when he decided to contend the WVU buyout requirement - because he honestly believed they had not upheld their end of the bargain.
This whole stupid mess came about because a couple of idiots at a local paper decided to go on a witch hunt and tear the guy down. This program is poised for a big comeback this year. I think Brandon knows that and isn't about to do anything to jeopordize it.
"The negativity only started when he decided to contend the WVU buyout requirement - because he honestly believed they had not upheld their end of the bargain."
Not to be a smart ass, but I think that RR contested the buyout over the $4MM more than anything he "honestly believed". That's not necessarily bad. Almost any businessman would look for a way to save $4MM. It's just that I think it was more about the money than it was about honorable intentions.
Perhaps just email the guy? He once wrote an absolutely awful article about how much of a failure Rich Rodriguez is. Someone posted it along with his email to Henning politely pointing out that he was wrong and included a link to "The Decimated Defense" (Mispogon, Ann Arbor: MGoBlog Publishing, 2009). Henning responded in kind and promised he would do more research. Lo and behold, a little while later he wrote an article that was way more sympathetic toward RR. So the man is nice and does willingly correct himself.
As noble as that may be, jeebus man, get it right the first time! The two situations aren't even slightly comparable. But more than that, didn't someone already clarify the situation? It's just ridiculous. So scratch that: don't waste your time emailing him, but he seems like a nice enough man who doesn't deserve to be tarred and feathered.
a year ago I relied on the Detroit papers for my Wolverine news.
From the article:
The same problems that begot MSU's troubles became the root of Michigan's demise. A president (Mary Sue Coleman) hired a smart, but not athletically savvy, athletic director (Bill Martin), who in turn hired a pair of coaches (Rich Rodriguez and John Beilein) who right now aren't looking all that great.
I'm pretty sure Bill Martin was hired in 2000, which definitely predated MSC.
I'm not sure that Hollis deserves too much credit for keeping Izzo around. I guess he's kept Izzo's salary competitive, and anytime State doesn't screw up a sure thing it's news, but come on.The problems were corrected at MSU when a smart president (Lou Anna Simon) appointed a sharp athletic director (Mark Hollis, who was in charge of the Dantonio hiring among other successes) and who likewise has seen the wisdom of making sure a brilliant coach (Izzo) was appreciated and not left vulnerable to taking another job
I emailed Mr. Henning to point out the error in the first part and color me impressed, he already responded. Although he conceded his error and promised to fix it, I'm not sure how. Concluding paragraph:
A president begets an athletic director who begets head coaches. And depending upon those decisions being triumphs, or mistakes, you can have two Big Ten universities, 75 miles apart, occupying opposite ends of the sports spectrum in a given decade.
Yes, he seems like a good guy b/c of his willingness to admit mistakes but his mistakes are so frequent it makes one wonder who is fact checking his work. Readers should not have to play fact-checker everytime Mr. Henning publishes an article. I assume there are people that are PAID to do that. I rather read a writer for whom I do not also need to be an editor.
Only at MSU is a winning percentage barely above .500 considered pretty damn good.