Nothing will come of this
Does anyone remember the Jim Carty article from last year that accused Michigan of academic violations? If you don't, you have made my point. If you do, you will remember that there was a huge ruckus, just like the one happening right now for the Freep article, and nothing ever happened.
The same is going to happen here. The Freep gets the kind of controversy that they are looking to create and possibly some extra subscriptions from Sparty. There is no point in 10,000 forum posts stating that we are at the end of the world or trying to justify Michigan coaches actions for something that doesn't need to be justified.
If the NCAA gets involved, then let panic ensue, but until then, stop posting on the forum so that I can read others' predictions for the number of wins for the upcoming season.
August 30th, 2009 at 11:36 AM ^
After this article I'm predicting 13 and f'ing 0. Let's hope our boys get really pissed the f' off. Let's hope RR get's really pissed the f off. Let's hope we all rally around him, and make sure he knows he's wanted.
August 30th, 2009 at 1:11 PM ^
agreed, this shit happens at every BCS school across the country. sure if the ncaa looks really REALLY hard, they might find a secondary violation or two, which, if michigan totally fucks up and denies everything and evidence still comes to light that something went wrong, MIGHT result in maybe 1 year probation.
la dee freaking da.
there is not a single claim (other than the 7v7 practices) that the coaches can't explain away as completely legal. "oh the coaches made us work harder if we didn't show up to 'voluntary' workouts". well, maybe you had to work harder when the coaches were there because you were too slow or weak. do you know why you were too slow or weak? because you didn't show up to the voluntary workouts! so the coaches had you run a bit to get you in shape. thats how it works in football, high school, college, whatever. if you fuck up, you run.
August 30th, 2009 at 1:28 PM ^
"Nothing will come of this
Does anyone remember the Jim Carty article from last year that accused Michigan of academic violations? If you don't, you have made my point."
So . . . because of a story that Jim Carty wrote (which is completely unrelated to this one) that ended up going away, the outcome of this story will be the same?
Hey, remember that war with Iraq when the first Bush was in office? That didn't last long, so I bet this one won't, either...
August 30th, 2009 at 2:07 PM ^
The point is that we shouldn't react to accusations from one article in a local paper until the accusations actually turn into something worth reacting to.
Everyone thought we were going to have the same sanctions as FSU. We didn't. People are talking about firing RR and suing the Freep. That's not a little over emotional about an article that amounted to absolutely nothing?
What about when we had that ineligible player on the field in 2008? People were worried we would have to vacate wins. What happened? Little to nothing.
As Brian just pointed out in detail, very little will probably come of this; maybe a quick glance through our records. Until the NCAA sends a full team of people to try to pin something on us, there is nothing worthwhile of filling the MGoBoard with what-ifs.
August 30th, 2009 at 2:39 PM ^
I haven't seen anyone call for Rodriguez to be fired.
What I've seen is TONS of pooh-poohing the notion that Rodriguez and Barwis could do anything wrong.
Anyone who has said anything negative about Rodriguez has said, "If this is true, then he deserves to _________________" (at least from what I've seen). I don't see anything wrong with that.
August 30th, 2009 at 4:02 PM ^
The article I was referring to was in my feed reader, but when I tried to click on the link to post on it, it had been taken down.
I would never say that Rodriguez and Barwis could never do anything wrong. I don't have that much faith in humanity. Do I think they stretch every rule they can to get as much from the team as they possibly can? Absolutely. Do I think that they are ever going to get punished for this? No. If it comes out that the players are working 10 hours a day 6 days a week, then I too think he should be fired, but to call for his head because the media doesn't like him is mob-like behavior.
August 30th, 2009 at 2:41 PM ^
I don't think the NCAA wants to touch this with a "hundred and ten foot pole".
It would open a can of worms and lead to investigations at just about every university.
These "voluntary" sessions are the "wink, wink, nod, nod" to let coaches do just about whatever they want.
August 30th, 2009 at 2:59 PM ^
Is there any case law describing the nature of voluntary v. involuntary other than the minor incident cited by Brian? If not, then the only standard I can imagine is if players were expelled from the team (ie scholarships revoked) for failure to show up to the voluntary workouts. If they still have a scholarship, it's voluntary. Playing time must be earned. That's life.
As for the accusation of improper monitoring, the NCAA must establish that 1. The GAs or other "quality control" were there. 2. GAs or other "quality control" people took notes and 3. Relayed those notes to the coaches. The quote about taking attendance is immediately suspicious because the player really has no way of knowing. That's an awful lot to prove.
August 30th, 2009 at 3:07 PM ^
Seriously? This is the Michigan Difference?
"Everyone does it."
"One year probation? La dee fricken da"
"Anyone who questions our program is a fraud."
I'm paraphrasing, of course.