Snyder and Rosenberg on Local ABC tonight

I work at a local Ann Arbor Country Club where many of the wealthiest M football fans belong (the kind who donate a lot of money, and sit with Bill Martin in his luxury box many fall Saturdays) Believe it or not they seem calm and rational about the Coaching change. They know it is going to take a few years for RR to mold the program into his style. Many were fed up with the waning conditioning of the previous regime's athletes, working the athletes hard isn't much of a problem as long as it produces wins. If RR is 3-9 again this year (he won't be) all will be dandy, he has plenty of support for at least 2 more years.

Not that it did not happen, just do not recall it. I know Nehlen and Bo were close (BTW, I dated Nehlens daughter Vicky in HS), so there may be the connection. I am really just wondering if there is a local support structure, as part of the "olde garde" like Brandy, Shane, Leach, Beckman, and not to forget Lloyd.. that would be RR advocates?

... Stoney (and every last one of us) looks at this from all sides. WLA had a good and thoughtful perspective, as did Jim Carty, Adam Rittenberg and Doc Sat. I think there are better and more interesting stories here than the one that, as Brian says, was (at least somewhat) uncritically reported, but I think we may be kidding ourselves if we don't think that a) there probably were technical violations, b) as described, Sunday itineraries - even if possibly explained away - could have easily blown past the 4-hr max, c) there are/will be fissures in the program that are still at least festering. These reporters may have been able to put out a better story and I won't say bias didn't creep in, but skewering these reporters as unprofessional is neither a criticism most of us are qualified to level, nor does it make a good case that there is nothing to be worried about here.

AGREED! They both seemed pretty pleased wth themselves.

I doubt Rodriguez forgot the rules when he came to AA. He probably played in the grey areas of "mandatory" vs. "voluntary" time about the same as he did at WVU, much as coaches at most other BCS football programs do (though maybe to a greater extent: IDK). In this case, some of the veteran players noticed a stark difference in the time they felt required to spend on football related activities and enough of them were upset enough about it, and potentially other issues, to speak about it. Likewise, there are members of the media who feel that RR runs the program his way without regard for tradition, those outside the program and, occasionally, his own players. Some also feel he plays a little fast and loose with the rules and doesn't understand how the culture is different at Michigan. Well, the media is part of the culture, too, and for those in the media who thought RR would eventually get in trouble, there is an element of self-fulfilling prophecy. There are clearly gray areas in the activities that count toward NCAA maximums and those that don't just as there are ways to comply with the letter of the rule, though not the intent, regarding voluntary vs mandatory activities. It seems pretty clear that Michigan under RR - like many BCS programs - plays in those gray areas. The reporters may not have done a good enough job to sketch that nebulous gray cloud for us, instead implying that Michigan has crossed a brightline, but it's evident Michigan is further into the gray than it was at least in the waning years of its former coach. Whether or not there will be any violations and any sanctions has much to do with how easily Michigan can explain away the gray (to the NCAA!) by counting hours, etc. It will also depend, as these reporters rightly point out, what, if anything, players say to the NCAA should it ask.