Rivals Staff Predictions

I am wishing for Tate to play at least one play.  A play to the Purdue sideline where he can take out Hope, like he did the camerman last week.  Then RR can introduce Tate to Hope after the game.  

That's actually a really stupid made up exchange, IME.

Have there really been that many?

Sorry, if this seems more self-evident, what are are Tressels and Dantonio's issues with Coach Rod.  If anyone knows off the top of their heads, it would be much appreciated.  Thanks. 

Disclaimer - Roundtable game predictions are not really news, and this was clearly intended as a kind of a light "feature."  Okay.  But let's at least start with, like real facts to build funny one-liners...

Hope, apparently still steaming after Rodriguez drew attention to an incident involving Boilers lineman Zack Reckman that eventually got him suspended, brought Reckman to the postgame handshake with him after Purdue upset Michigan in Ann Arbor.

That's pretty much untrue, in the essential part that Rich Rodriguez didn't "draw attention" to any "incidents."  Charley Weis did, of course.  Charley Weis called the Big Ten Conference offices about Jonas Mouton.  Weis said he called the Conference.  And the Conference said that they gat that call from Weis.  Notwithstanding that Notre Dame is, uh, not a member of the Conference.  How Charley got the phone number we'll never know, but hopefully they changed it to something unlisted.

Rich Rodriguez didn't call the Big Ten offices about Zach Reckman.  Reckman was flagged for an outlandishly late hit that was broadcast.  On television.  Everybody saw it.

Danny Hope imagined the part about Rodriguez calling the Conference offices.  And the really, really freaky part about Danny Hope and Reckman and Charley Weis was that the game that Reckman was suspended for, was the Purdue-Notre Dame game.  Where, had he wanted to do so, Hope might have said something to Charley Weis about the whole affair.

Then, this:

Since his arrival, Rodriguez has been targeted by Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel, who said gentlemen's' agreements when it came to recruiting only applied to the gentlemen, insinuating Rodriguez wasn't one.
 

I'm not buying this.  Is anybody else?  It's my vague memory of this wholly unmemborable kerfuffle that Tressel explicitly said that he was in no way referrring to Rich Rodriguez.  And that later, given a golden opportunity to pile on Rodriguez in the phony Free Press strory of August 2009, Tressel again not only declined to do so, but that he essentially questioned the entire technical basis of the story.

That came after former Purdue head coach Joe Tiller referred to Rodriguez as a "snake oil salesman" when the U-M coach saved Roy Roundtree from languishing in West Lafayette by recruiting him to the bell after Tiller fell asleep at his fly fishing pole - only it turned out it wasn't snake oil Rodriguez offered, but opportunities for record breaking games like last week's 246-yard performance against Illinois.

Well, okay, that part is entirely, completely true.  Rich Rodriguez saved Roy Roundtree.

And then there's MSU head coach Mark Dantonio's list of insults since Rodriguez's arrival, which would take too much time to print.

Mark Dantonio's insults predate Rich Rodriugez.  Mark Dantonio's insults are all-Michigan, all-the-time, and if tomorrow Jim Tressel, Vince Lombardi, Duffy Daugherty and Biggie Munn were all hired by the Michigan Athletic Department, Mark Dantonio would still find a way badmouth to Michigan. 
 

I know that some are predicting a blow up.  That may be too much to ask for.  I would be very happy to win a game tht doesn't require last minute drama for once.

I guess you don't like the "Oklahoma play"ing.

I liked the referral to  Hopes' mustache,  which Ron, Jeremy or Burgundy? That's pretty funny. I'll bet Roundtree sees plenty of action on Sat.