Jon Chait. "In Re: Free Press v. Rich Rodriguez"
We link. You decide.
November 5th, 2010 at 10:22 PM ^
There's an adjective for an article like that. I believe "scathing" is the word I'm looking for.
November 5th, 2010 at 11:03 PM ^
if ive said it once, ive said it a million times - michigan needs to offer a journalism major if they ever want this state happy crap to end in the local media.
November 5th, 2010 at 11:19 PM ^
Rosenberg- Michigan Grad
Snyder- Michgan Grad
Sharp- Michigan Grad
November 5th, 2010 at 11:21 PM ^
three writters. i could name twice that many on 97.1 the ticket alone...if i cared enough to remember their names.
November 5th, 2010 at 11:44 PM ^
got rid of its journalism major.
November 6th, 2010 at 12:00 AM ^
lol
i'd +1 u if i could
November 5th, 2010 at 11:23 PM ^
Not necessary at all. Look at the high quality pieces in the Michigan Daily.
The problem is that alums like Rosenberg, Snyder, and Sharp felt some sense of ownership and closeness to the football program before Rodriguez showed up. Then they lost their "insider" status with the coaching change, became embittered, and see it as their duty to wage jihad against the new regime.
November 6th, 2010 at 3:55 PM ^
Drew Sharp, at least, was awful long before RR arrived.
November 5th, 2010 at 10:24 PM ^
I agree, Rosenberg and Snyder set our program back, because they didn't like who was hired as the new coach.
November 5th, 2010 at 10:24 PM ^
Chait totally carved up the FP, both the writers and their editors. It is unusual to see a commentator so directly and effectively expose the misbehavior of someone else in the press. Very well done.
November 5th, 2010 at 11:10 PM ^
I've found that Chait and the rest of the Michigan Rivals staff typically agree with the majority of the MGoBlog community. I bet some of them are frequent posters on this site, and definitely avid visitors.
November 5th, 2010 at 10:27 PM ^
"The finding was not ambiguous. It thoroughly debunked the Free Press's claims."
Nothing more needs to be added.
November 5th, 2010 at 10:28 PM ^
Chait really has a gift for words.
November 5th, 2010 at 10:29 PM ^
and wins 6 national championships. And I will cut out and frame Rosenberg's and Snyder's columns about it.
November 5th, 2010 at 10:33 PM ^
November 5th, 2010 at 10:39 PM ^
by dozens of lawyers. We are all thinking of ways to scam you at this very moment.
November 6th, 2010 at 2:21 AM ^
November 6th, 2010 at 7:39 AM ^
There is a journalism police - its called my wallet. If a newspaper publishes trash, I don't buy it. If enough people don't buy it, it goes out of business.
November 5th, 2010 at 10:38 PM ^
Great post and great article. I think Dave Brandon knows what has happened and where this is going. I am convinced that regardless of what happens the rest of this season RR is back next year. That is not good news for the freep crowd and the rest of the B10.
November 5th, 2010 at 10:42 PM ^
but man. Not good news for the rest of the B10? I just don't see a great year for a while. If RR stays, defense needs a complete build ground-up. If he goes, then another transition period (although I doubt we ever see one as painful as the current situation we are mired in).
November 5th, 2010 at 10:56 PM ^
It isn't a complete build ground-up. They have young players there and more coming. In college football a defense can turn around in one year. This is a combination of coaching and inexperience, both of which can be fixed faster than you might think.
This idiotic freep thing did some damage but that bad vibe will now be lifted. Surf around your college football channels tomorrow. Every announcer/commentator that discusses it will be trashing the freep story for the witch hunt it was.
November 5th, 2010 at 10:43 PM ^
The people who most want to see Rich Rodriguez fired seem to be MSU and OSU fans. They appear to be scared to death of him and desperately want him to go away.
November 5th, 2010 at 10:52 PM ^
Not been my experience. MSU fans are loving Rodriguez. OSU fans don't care - they're still beating UM.
November 5th, 2010 at 10:59 PM ^
Just about every Spartan fan I know thinks RR is a clone of John L. Smith and hopes he doesn't get fired.
November 6th, 2010 at 12:04 AM ^
"He's your John L. Smith"
"He's ruining your traditions"
"He's destroying your program"
"He's so bad, we want you to keep him forever!"
Why are they suddenly so concerned about the future of Michigan football?
The lady doth protest too much, methinks.
November 6th, 2010 at 1:18 AM ^
You realize they're just making fun of us right? They're in no way terrified of our future under Rich Rodriguez, and with good reason from their perspective.
November 6th, 2010 at 10:25 AM ^
God knows I'll trust a Spartan's opinion on literally anything.
Let's be freaking clear. If he were not such a debacle at hiring defensive personnel and God didn't hate our defense in terms of players this team would be a looming juggernaut. There's still every chance we can fix this.
November 5th, 2010 at 11:03 PM ^
November 6th, 2010 at 1:09 AM ^
I think you're getting a little too overconfident over having accomplished absolutely nothing. MSU and OSU fans think RR is a clown. Rightly so given his record. We all hope he turns it around, but your statment is just ignorant.
November 6th, 2010 at 2:39 AM ^
I've spoken with friends who are alumni at other BCS conference schools and they talked about how much they wished we would've canned Rodriguez the last two years when their schools had coaching vacancies. Some were actual former football players at their schools.
RR's name may be mud in this conference, but he would be a hot commodity if he was fired.
November 5th, 2010 at 10:45 PM ^
The Freep is just covering its ass for the fact that the NCAA slapped it. Does anyone know if the NCAA has ever taken such an obvious shot at a newspaper before?
I accidentially caught two minutes of Sharpe calling into his other job on 1130 a.m. before the press conference. He was already getting the company line out there. He was talking fast and "reported" that Rich Rod had been "convicted" (yes he said convicted) of five major violations. He said Rodriguez was found "guilty" of the non-compliance violation, but that the NCAA just re-worded it. No meniton that it was actually a much less serious violation. No mention of the fact that the Freep had been faced by the NCAA. His "reporting" was incorrect and spin worthy of a two-bit politician. What a coincidence that the Freep did the same thing in its paper. Hey, they couldn't be planning that, could they?
November 6th, 2010 at 3:55 AM ^
is a piece of shit always has been and always will be... the only time i have ever heard him say anything nice about the football team was the day that bo died... the guys mouth has already caused him to lose on job in this city, he's banned from being on 97.1 because of his constant lions bashing... i wish michigan games were on 1130 so they could pull a move like the lions did with 97.1 to get sharp off the air...
November 5th, 2010 at 10:48 PM ^
This article was a...
November 6th, 2010 at 11:06 AM ^
I wonder what he's doing with that mouse?!
November 5th, 2010 at 10:49 PM ^
being the annoying one in the family, spamming everyone with stories of how the Free Press lied and the allegations were relatively minor. Most don't care that much - aunts and uncles and cousins majoring in art history aren't really football fans - but they'll remember that someone they love and trust said this story was bullshit, and said it very passionately. They'll think about that the next time they hear about this, and at least in the short run, the next time they read the Freep.
November 6th, 2010 at 8:46 AM ^
Don't forget to tell them that the Freep and Rosenberg has refused to answer the serious allegations against their original report.
November 6th, 2010 at 11:07 AM ^
coninue to do so.
November 5th, 2010 at 10:54 PM ^
This is a great article that pretty much sums everything up. Even if you don't like Rich Rod, you have to admit that he has had to put up with a lot adversity that most coaches don't have to endure. Thank god this chapter is closed, now can this team just go out on Saturday and win dammit !
November 5th, 2010 at 10:56 PM ^
lower the boom.
November 5th, 2010 at 11:08 PM ^
The most embarrassing thing for the freep now is how their editors are allowing these clowns to continue prosecuting this "story". Note today's freep headline with the picture of RR and DB facing in opposite directions - we get it - your "artistic photographers" have captured the unspoken discord of the moment.
Brilliant
November 5th, 2010 at 11:19 PM ^
the editors at the Freep have made the conscious decision to go pro-MSU and anti-UM, thinking that they will gain more readers than they will alienate. Most major papers ignore MSU, so they might be right - I don't know. Their bias has become rather obvious throughout the sports department, and that's the only explanation I can think of. It's unlikely to be a random accident.
November 6th, 2010 at 3:46 AM ^
that the sports editor at the freep is a sparty right??? that might have something to do with the change over...
November 6th, 2010 at 11:09 AM ^
Just who is the sports editor of the Free Press, GOBLUE?
November 5th, 2010 at 11:09 PM ^
great article
November 5th, 2010 at 11:14 PM ^
Jon Chait is a senior editor at the New Republic and former editor at The American Prospect. He gets picked up in the NY Times, Wall Street Journal and Slate. He writes books about economics. He wrote at the Michigan Daily and co-founded another newspaper while he was on campus. He is the epitome and apex of a career in journalism.
If you enter Michael Rosenberg into wikipedia, you get a bridge player from New York City.
I'm gonna go with Chait on this one.
November 5th, 2010 at 11:14 PM ^
I make no excuse for the fact that we did commit violations. Whether they are minor but deemed "major" or otherwise, it's not something to celebrate. That being said, the least the Free Press could have done would be to have printed a partial retraction...or even a clarification. To have Snyder and Rosenberg write the piece that should have contradicted a chunk of their earlier work was also irresponsible. I'm not one to buy that the Freep is out to get us, but I do believe that they feel above being wrong.
Chait nailed it. You don't need to look past the headlines to see that the Freep refuses to look at the facts before its eyes while all other outlets are reporting the facts - we committed violations, but they weren't nearly as bad as reported. When you do something wrong; you take responsibility for it. Michigan (despite some celebratory sanctions-weren't-so-bad dancing) did that. Free Press? Tis your turn.
November 5th, 2010 at 11:21 PM ^
Awesome article.... and of course the free press will not show any journalistic integrity ( if there is such a thing) by admitting that they were wrong for what they did with even a partial retraction article. Drew Sharp said on the radio ( i ran into it on accident) that he was still right because the ncaa gave michigan another year of probation, and does not understand why he is recieving so much heat from some michigan fans....
They are completely biased and out of touch at the fr**p, i will do all i can to make sure any of my actions ever help them make a dime.
Go RR and GO BLUE!
November 5th, 2010 at 11:22 PM ^
November 5th, 2010 at 11:27 PM ^
The ugliness got exponentially greater with the Freep's response to the NCAA's findings. It was bad enough to put forth an unsubstantiated set of articles to begin with. Whether they were intentionally trying to bring RR down, only they know for sure. But to continue with the charade after the governing body, the NCAA, practically calls them out by name as the irresponsible culprits is incomprehensible. Too bad it's not criminal.
November 5th, 2010 at 11:30 PM ^
do you read the new republic?