Locked on Wolverines Thursday Podcast Notes
Lots of juicy details:
-We may hear more about the ties between OSU and the PI firm this week or next week.
-The Athletic is working on another story about a scandal at another school.
-Jim Harbaugh wasn't really feeling the love from Michigan a few weeks ago. There was a chance that his contract wasn't going to get done. Now, everyone is united and it is more likely that he will be coaching here in 2024.
November 10th, 2023 at 1:24 AM ^
All good news!
Now we need to sit on the kitties.
November 10th, 2023 at 9:30 AM ^
You are the gif master! They never fail to elicit an LOL moment from me.
November 10th, 2023 at 1:26 AM ^
Stalions should start a PI firm. Michigan should pay him $55k/year. His only job should be to follow Ryan Day 24-7. I can't think of a better guy for the job. I don't even care if Day isn't doing anything worth investigating. I just want him to know that Connor is always watching.
November 10th, 2023 at 1:45 AM ^
Also, make Connor Stalions masks by the thousands to distribute to ensure Day always sees his face.
November 10th, 2023 at 2:04 AM ^
What if we all show up to The Game in sunglasses and CMU outfit?
November 10th, 2023 at 7:30 AM ^
Fantastic Idea! Instead of jangling keys everyone could hold their Stalion mask to their face.
November 10th, 2023 at 7:13 AM ^
Based on everything I’ve seen from him recently, he may following Ryan Day 24-7 on his own, “for the cause”
November 10th, 2023 at 8:17 AM ^
What about that dude makes you think he hasn’t already done this?
November 10th, 2023 at 9:18 AM ^
The absolutely ironic part about ALL of this is that HAD Stalions started a business, and made what he was providing a subscription model - with Michigan as his only client (which I am actually confident Michigan was NOT his only "client"), we largely wouldn't be having this conversation (because that is... allowed).
November 10th, 2023 at 1:32 AM ^
I've done said that, IMO, theres 0 chance Harbaugh doesn't coach here long-term, now.
Michigan/Harbaugh/fan base vs everybody.
November 10th, 2023 at 1:31 PM ^
Well there was a chance until Ono told Warde to fuck off lol
November 10th, 2023 at 1:36 AM ^
Also, Brett Bielima is running his garbage disposal.
All these B1G coaches are a complete embarrassment so they're throwing shade at Harbaugh out of jealousy.
November 10th, 2023 at 2:21 AM ^
I love the thought of the mob uniting Michigan behind Harbaugh and convincing him to stay. I heard Finebaum call Santa Ono a Jim Harbaugh sycophant the other day. Call him what you want Paul. I'm just happy he's standing on principle, unlike you.
November 10th, 2023 at 2:42 AM ^
Finebaum must be on something crazy. Ono has been the best president we've had in a long time
November 10th, 2023 at 3:25 AM ^
Ono is the Jim Hackett of presidents.
November 10th, 2023 at 3:55 AM ^
Remember when Finebum and McAfee were on our side in this before that one day when, with no additional information, everyone at ESPN completely flipped and called for a post season ban? Sure wish someone would leak that memo.
November 10th, 2023 at 7:34 AM ^
I have been meaning to say that somehow Wilbon and Kornheiser have been allowed to consistently dismiss the scandal as overblown and stupid.
I expect PTI to be canceled any day now.
November 10th, 2023 at 9:31 AM ^
It does look a lot like Finebaum is a paid hack who serves up whatever takes the suits tell him to. Did he have an explanation for the 180?
November 10th, 2023 at 9:42 AM ^
"Biggest mistake of my career."
That was his explanation. All the new "evidence" (a.k.a. details of the allegation that was already known, such as "Connor Stalions was doing his legal job on the sideline" and "Michigan correctly guesses Ohio State will pass on a passing down and then OSU scores a TD anyway) is what made him change his mind.
November 10th, 2023 at 7:21 AM ^
Talk to anyone who works at Ford about Hackett, and they will universally cringe at that analogy. Ono is outstanding, though. On that we can all agree.
November 10th, 2023 at 9:12 AM ^
Well, my personal take is that Ford shouldn't have hired a furniture salesman to try and push them toward EVs and autonomous driving.
You just have to find the right person for the job. I mean you wouldn't hire TV executive Tony Pettiti to run a sports league right?
November 10th, 2023 at 3:54 AM ^
I mean, yes? Right now this entire board sycophants Jim Harbaugh; 60% of the state of Michigan too. Why wouldn't Santa stick with the state government's highest paid, most visible, and one of its most successful employees? Sycophant might be the wrong word choice, but the bar for breadth of English language usage is set quite low here (it's Paul F Finebaum +ESPN FFS).
November 10th, 2023 at 9:08 AM ^
"sycophants" is not a verb
November 10th, 2023 at 9:16 AM ^
Also what advantage are we expecting to gain by posting here?
Ever since Pete Finebum used the word incorrectly to refer to Santa (literally Harbaugh's boss's boss), it has just been thrown around as a way to sound smart.
Kind of like how Tony Pettiti has a Harvard law degree but doesn't know his own bylaws.
November 10th, 2023 at 7:19 AM ^
It’s ironic that people often accuse others of their own faults. The picture I would use to illustrate the dictionary definition of sycophant, is of that SEC lizard Finebaum.
EDIt Not sure why my post keeps showing up in the wrong place.
November 10th, 2023 at 5:31 AM ^
Bielema has always struck me as a bitter, petty kind of guy who would continue to hold a grudge.
Guessing he's still pissed about losing last year and wants to get up on his moral high horse to pile on Michigan along with everyone else.
If this was happening at Texas Tech, Purdue, Oregon State, or NC State, no one would care right now. Absolutely no one. It'd be a non-story, and ESPN talking heads would've forgotten about it two days after the story broke. But because its Michigan, its the scandal of our generation.
November 10th, 2023 at 9:12 AM ^
Remember when Bielema went to Arkansas and trashed the B1G? Then went on to have a losing record there and got fired? Dude is a loser.
November 10th, 2023 at 9:14 AM ^
Bielema is so enormous it defies physics whenever I see him walk*
*waddle
November 10th, 2023 at 9:18 AM ^
When Bielema talks, he does so with a certain gravity... but it is mostly due to his planetary size.
November 10th, 2023 at 5:29 AM ^
Beat PSU.
November 10th, 2023 at 6:03 AM ^
I think the irony Isaiah points out is so hilarious. Had these teams and the conference recognized the flimsiness of the case and left well enough alone, they would likely have gotten their wish and Harbaugh would’ve left sooner rather than later of his own accord. But having overplayed their hand and creating a unity and university wide love for Harbaugh, the odds are they’ll now have to deal with him for years to come. Well played B1G
November 10th, 2023 at 10:04 AM ^
I told a friend (tOSU fan) that recently. "You're enjoying the schadenfreude and the memes and jokes right now, but all you've really done is rally the Team, President, Regents, and fans together behind Jim. You've about guaranteed that Harbaugh stays and gets his contract."
November 10th, 2023 at 10:07 AM ^
You come at the King, you best not miss.
November 10th, 2023 at 6:10 AM ^
GET THE CONTRACT DONE!
November 10th, 2023 at 6:12 AM ^
"Now everyone is united."
the one major positive to come out of all this. I've never seen Michigan stakeholders in unison like this.
It's really been something to see.
November 10th, 2023 at 6:16 AM ^
Thanks for the summary and link but at this point I’m taking every supposed scoop that our insiders have with a grain of salt given how much they have been wrong about everything and seem to be chasing clicks more than anything else. Fingers crossed that at least one of these is true, essentially the last one!
I am also hoping that today is the day that we drop the dossier on all of the dirt that we have on Ohio and other schools. Now is the time to do it from a strategic perspective so I hope the powers that be understand that.
November 10th, 2023 at 7:08 AM ^
Has Isaiah Hole been wrong about anything so far? He seems pretty plugged in, more than some of the others.
November 10th, 2023 at 7:12 AM ^
Not that I remember. He doesn't come out and say it unlike Balas. Balas has been wrong at least once if I remember correctly. To be fair things might have changed from the time he reported, but I feel like he jumps to report. Not Hole.
November 10th, 2023 at 9:11 AM ^
"We may hear more about the ties between OSU and the PI firm this week or next week"
The word "may" does a lot of work here; if nothing happens, Hole has protected himself.
November 10th, 2023 at 7:16 AM ^
I trust the local people for information accurate on Michigan’s end. I trust the national media outlets more on the Big 10’s positions.
November 10th, 2023 at 7:29 AM ^
Isaiah has been pretty accurate so far. Balas has been pretty inconsistent. Not all insiders are alike.
November 10th, 2023 at 6:35 AM ^
I've been thinking about the fact that this whole saga may have bumped our chances dramatically to keep Harbaugh next year. The way the fans and especially the UM administration have rallied around him, this is exactly the sort of loyalty that Harbaugh has always valued above anything else.
November 10th, 2023 at 6:46 AM ^
That’s by far the biggest reason he stays here until he totally retires, but the other reason now is his abject desire to crush these other schools.
November 10th, 2023 at 6:50 AM ^
Hilarious comment from a caller this morning on Unsportsmanlike:
"I hope Big Ten/NCAA throws the book at Harbaugh and forces him to leave Michigan because...I'm a Raiders fan and it's Silver and Black against the rest of 31 teams..."
November 10th, 2023 at 7:37 AM ^
I respect the honesty.
November 10th, 2023 at 6:55 AM ^
Yeah. He just wants to be at a place where he is wanted. The contract after 2020 must have rocked the boat. Harbaugh is a stubborn and confident guy. He is not going to leave when he is being pushed around. He is going to do that in his own terms. Happy to see UM admin standing behind him. 2024 is already looking up.
November 10th, 2023 at 7:19 AM ^
It also diminishes the NFL’s desire to offer him a deal. That league hates drama and distraction, regardless of the cause. Not saying there isn’t a team that would offer a contract to a great coach because of this, but it’s not exactly increasing his value.
November 10th, 2023 at 9:22 AM ^
Why would the NFL care about drama caused by not having the same headsets the NFL has used for 30 years?
November 10th, 2023 at 7:25 AM ^
If there’s one thing that brings a divided community together it’s a threat from outside the community.
nothing will unite the US more than a war started by a foreign power.