Run, don't walk, to read Jonathan Chait's take.

As far as I'm concerned, Jonathan Chait is the Chuck Norris of journalists.

If I ever meet Jon Chait, I am going to buy him the biggest goddamn beer imaginable.

I just get the feeling that the Freep won't respond to any of the criticism.  Chait's articles are probably surfblocked for Freep employees.

I was pondering the idea of taking the "The University is satisfied that the initial media reports are greatly exaggerated if not flatly incorrect." and having every MGoBlogger with a Twitter account tweet it as a reply to the Freep, but that just seemed childish and wrong, because while it would get attention, we should be above that.

So when I saw Jon Chait's take (which I had been hoping for all day), I realized it was unnecessary, the media was finally taking another part of the media to task.  It's a small victory, a moral victory at best, but it is a victory.

Thank you Mr. Chait, whereever you are.

I love Chait's take on the whole thing.  The way I see it, the Free Press called in a tip to the cops that RichRod was driving drunk at 90 miles per hour in a school zone with a dead hooker in the trunk.  The cops set up a speed trap, and clocked him doing 34 in a 25, and issued him a ticket.  The Free Press then runs an article declaring "see, we TOLD you he was speeding."

I feel like everytime I write this, someone else does it better. A hattip to JC for seeing to the heart of the problem here: there's a total disconnect between what's been initially said (and thus what everyone remembers) and what's actually occurred.

This quote from Chait's article is priceless:

"Detroit News columnist Lynn Henning offered up a typical example of the sentiment: "Michigan State is now the regional example for how a Big Ten athletic program should be run.""

Does Mr. Henning not have a clue how stupid he looks when he writes that? How many MSU players were arrested in the dormitory beatdown again?

Many people wring their hands at the impending collapse and disappearance of newspapers. I understand the big-picture reasons for their concerns, but to be honest find it very hard to do anything other than laugh when I read drivel like Henning's.

The article was the best one of the day.  Thanks for posting the link

Man, just when I was starting to calm down...

The only problem with the article is that anyone not affiliated with Michigan will read it and consider it blatant homerism for one reason or another. As far as the facts go, it's dead on.

"It's highly unusual for a university to call in the NCAA as a result of an obviously shoddy report by an openly hostile columnist carrying water for disgruntled partisans of a departed coach."

Well written and I think the whole world would be a better place for reading it. At some point this week the Freep well run an article back pedalling on their allegations against UM. It will be vague and probably involve more anonymous sources, also it will probably be on page 4 of the sports section. Not that it matters anyway because nobody will read it.

Chait and Rosenberg worked at the Michigan Daily at the same time.  I think Chait might have been a year older.  Heck, they might have even been "friends" at some point.  I wish more ex U of M columnists would speak up.  I've been particularly disappointed that Nick Cotsonika hasn't contributed his take.  Sure, you work for the Freep, but give me your damn opinion.

Chait is certainly biased, but so is Rosenberg, and I'm glad he stepped up to point out how fucking absurd the original alligations were.

Great job by JC!

What people have to do here is to just ignore the Frickin' Freep and move on.

This story is national news, not because of the Freep, because this whole thing involves Michigan. Top item in news on the ESPN homepage all day; big time mention on the Rome show, and I just heard it on Fox Sports Radio's Petros and Money.

Michigan (and its partisans) have to stop moaning about some hack dead-tree journalism and focus on getting better on the field. 

Michigan football's mantra for 2010 should be: "Scoreboard."

Yup, scoreboard, bitches, scoreboard.

I read his columns in The New Republic from time to time. I usually disagree with his politics, but man, that guy knows how to turn a phrase.

I wish, wish, wish Chait would publish his Rivals column in TNR. He's the Editor, forcrissake. It would be an awesome, new media take-down of old media.

Jon: I know you you're a member here, (well, I don't know that for a fact, but since he and Brian exchange notes, I gotta believe he is). Do it. Do it. Do it.

The man can write. It is refreshing to read some news and reports of actual journalistic quality and research.

Fantastic piece. Thanks for the link.

He's a good writer, but he doesn't get it:

But "everybody does it" is a valid defense against charges such as this. If the accusation was doing something inherently wrong - say, providing athletes with dangerous performance-enhancing drugs - then it wouldn't matter if everybody did it. When it comes to rules that are solely designed to prevent a relative advantage, though, it's crucial. There's nothing inherently wrong with a quality control staffer who tosses a taped towel around with a player. It's only wrong to the extent that it gives that program a leg up on its competitors. If the competitors are doing the same thing, then it isn't a leg up.

That's not a valid excuse against anything.  It doesn't work anywhere - not with traffic cops, not in school, not at work, and not with the NCAA.  However few, there are probably programs out there who don't do the types of things that Alex Herron did.  And even if literally every other program does it, then that doesn't matter.  Examples must be made.  You can't just ignore the rules because "everybody does it." 

If the rule doesn't make sense, change the rule.  In the meantime, the rule has to be enforced.  It sucks that Michigan got caught - but that only sucks because we're Michigan fans. 

Michigan fans, including Chait, need to face reality.  The football program screwed up.  The Free Press sucks, absolutely.  But if the cops knock down your door on an anonymous tip that you have a basement full of AK-47s, and it turns out you only have a vial of crack . . . well, you shouldn't have had crack.  Violations wouldn't have been found if violations didn't exist in the first place.