unverified voracity
mark dantonio
auston robertson
tru wilson
snakes
nico collins
donovan peoples-jones
david long
lavert hill
chase winovich
shea patterson
zach smith is mad online
luke yaklich
doesn't care [Patrick Barron]

Unverified Voracity Wonders What You Checked Comment Count

Brian November 13th, 2018 at 2:10 PM

The Mark Dantonio background check. Michigan State "vetted" Auston Robertson after this incident:

Michigan State officials have said the university was aware of two criminal charges in Robertson's past. One was sexual in nature, and the other was not. He was charged in January 2016 with misdemeanor battery related to an incident during school in which he "rubbed and grabbed" a female classmate's groin area against her will in the fall of his senior year.

Robertson had "several other police reports documenting alleged sexual violence and misconduct" just waiting to be asked after. Two were for attempted rape. The victim in the misdemeanor described above told police of two earlier incidents. There were no fewer than five incidents of sexual assault during Robertson's high school career, described in police reports. MSU didn't bother looking for them.

No one from Michigan State requested information about Robertson's criminal history in Fort Wayne through formal records requests during the school's vetting process, according to the city's records department. …

Allen County (Indiana) Prosecutor Karen Richards said no one from Michigan State contacted her or her office for records or discussion about Robertson during the time that Michigan State was vetting him

What is the first thing you'd do if you were serious about vetting someone? That. Instead, Michigan State went through a sham process that put Robertson on campus. Predictably, he sexually assaulted someone within the first year. He's now facing three years in prison.

Mark Dantonio put the MSU student body at risk because he didn't care one iota whether or not Robertson was a threat. If you don't think the Larry Nassar attitude extends to football and basketball, you are wrong.

In related news, Curtis Blackwell is suing various MSU people after being made the fall guy for the three guys who got expelled for a sexual assault that got pled down to "seduction" and a former employee is suing after MSU was unresponsive to harassment allegations against a union head.

This seems good. The Solid Verbal compiles points per drive stats in conference play:

Michigan near the top of both lists; OSU near the bottom. Maryland vastly improved! Every other weekend.

Press conferences have gotten weird. Mostly talkin' snakes these days:

Junior running back Tru Wilson, who finished with eight carries for a career-high 58 yards on Saturday, faced the media. Wilson didn’t receive any questions about his previous game.

But he got plenty about his pet snake, Mako.

“He’s just getting done shedding, so I haven’t been able to play with him for the last week or so,” Wilson said. “I guess he’s blind when he sheds, so I guess it’s kinda dangerous — not dangerous, he’s not gonna kill me. The ball pythons are a very defensive creature.”

Doesn't Higdon have a snake, too? How many Michigan running backs have snakes?

[After THE JUMP: PFF stats, maybe they make waffles, sketchy Zach Smith stuff]

Various PFF stats. Items PFF has loosed into the world of late:

It's no "bust they ass on three," but it'll do. Chase Winovich and Shea Patterson are roommates. But do they make tacos?

Only one way to find out.

"Who can know?" should maybe get spiked. Bret McMurphy's latest foray into the Zach Smith swamp probably shouldn't have been published, which you can tell just by the headline:

The Search for the Truth About Trevon Grimes’ Transfer From Ohio State to Florida

It's never good when "the search for" precedes "the truth." Grimes's father contends that Smith dropped an n-bomb on him and Urban Meyer "covered it up." Grimes himself offered a no comment; three other Florida players said he'd told them about the incident; a guy who just graduated put this on the record:

“Coach Smith might have said something that pissed off Tre about his previous route. He was always known for saying s – – -, you had to have tough skin.

“It didn’t get like they were throwing punches, but we did have to break them up,” Goins said. “He curses and uses profanity, but he never took it to that level with me. He knew his boundaries.”

Then the Florida SID calls him and says Grimes's dad is a liar and hasn't talked to his son in two years… which was easily disproven by the dad's phone records. It's a mess. The situation is a mess, the story is a mess, and it unfortunately undermines McMurphy's earlier reporting. We already knew Zach Smith is a horrible person who skated along under Meyer for almost a decade; even if this was rock-solid it wouldn't tell us anything new.

Furbush is a serious dude. From the Blade:

“I think people have passions in life and my passion is flying,” said Furbush, who earned his pilot’s license two years ago. “I know where I want to go, and I want to join the military. I know it’s uncommon for most people, but it’s always been something I’ve looked at and always wanted to do.”

With an aerospace engineering degree already in hand, Furbush, who had 30 tackles, 2½ tackles for loss, one sack, and a fumble recovery for a touchdown in 2017, is pursuing a master’s degree in engineering with a specification in space engineering. On Saturdays, he flies around the football field.

He wants to fly F-35s, but he's 6'5". I don't know if that's going to happen.

The defensive coordinator. Luke Yaklich lets Brendan Quinn inside the curtain a bit:

Yaklich sips his coffee.

“Going into every game,” he says, “the key for us is, one, you have to stop transition offense, and, two, what’s your ball-screen defense plan? There are so many moving parts. That’s the fun part about coaching. Putting a defensive plan together, you’ve got to figure out how to get your moving parts to disrupt their moving parts in the most simple way possible.”

This is how Yaklich explains defense. He begins with a rudimentary detail, explaining things that go without saying. He wants you to understand the premise because a stack of information will come atop it. It’s all based on endless fieldwork. Ask anyone around Michigan and they will tell you that this man consumes a disturbing amount of film. When I ask Yaklich how much time he spends per week on film study, he glances over sheepishly and says, “I don’t think I want that out there. People might think I’m crazy.”

Etc.: Talking Josh Norris. RIP Ron Johnson. Izzo's getting into the Captain Queeg mode early this year. Higdon drawing some NFL attention. Caris Levert's injury is much less bad than it looked. The Nets are looking at him as a cornerstone.

Comments

Hajado

November 13th, 2018 at 7:19 PM ^

Time for coach D’Antoni to join the board of trustees at MSU with the king of douchebags, Perles.  Sure, there was no steroid involvement with the ‘88 Rose Bowl team!   And they can all work with fat boy former Governor John Engler.  It’s like a hall if fame for douchebags.  And it continues.  

Joined: 05/05/2018

MGoPoints: 56

Magnus

November 13th, 2018 at 2:39 PM ^

I have a family member who is 6'4" and was deemed too tall to fly fighter jets, so he was relegated to bombers. He became an instructor and moved up the ladder, but he was pretty disappointed that his height prevented him from getting his dream gig as a fighter pilot.

Joined: 07/17/2008

MGoPoints: 165915

Rabbit21

November 13th, 2018 at 4:34 PM ^

Correct and has a lot to do with the measurement of the waist to the knees, I had a buddy who was 6' 6" and he went fighters and was told the only cockpit he couldn't get into was an A-10.  He ended up in B-1's but that was a class performance issue over a height restriction.

Furbush should be fine and if nothing else, choppers and 130's are fun, too.

Joined: 11/12/2009

MGoPoints: 30303

yossarians tree

November 13th, 2018 at 2:39 PM ^

McMurphy's story does kind of flail about at the end of several of the storylines it introduces, but what the hell I had fun anyway. At this point the Grimes kid probably just wants it all to go away, but there was obviously a good reason he wanted out of Ohio State just two months after arriving there.

The fact that he was given immediate eligibility at Florida raises some serious questions about a cover-up of sorts, even if the NCAA said it was for medical hardship. 

Certainly this is not a good look for Urban Meyer (again). Just when he probably thought it was over it is boiling back up again. Gotta believe that many of the people at OSU who decided he could come back are regretting their decision. There clearly is no good reason at all why Zach Smith was ever brought to OSU at all, much less kept on for several years. He has been an unstable piece of shit for more than a decade.

Joined: 08/19/2010

MGoPoints: 22240

Magnus

November 13th, 2018 at 2:50 PM ^

Yeah, I'm all for skewering Urban Meyer, but the story fizzled out. It sounds like all parties aren't being forthcoming. I will say that the university (and its employees) SHOULD be forthcoming about it, but Trevon Grimes, his mom, and other private citizens don't need to comment if they don't want to do so.

Joined: 07/17/2008

MGoPoints: 165915

You Only Live Twice

November 13th, 2018 at 2:56 PM ^

No one's commented on this yet:

Leah Grimes was the private nurse of, and stole $10,000 from, an elderly couple, which was not the complete picture according to the couple's daughter, only what could be documented.  You'd like to be charitable and think maybe she had unpaid medical bills but there was some crazy spending going on, clothes, airline tickets, tanning salons.  She had considerable credit card debt and accessed the patient's bank accounts to transfer money to collection agencies.  After the husband passed away she continued stealing from the wife.  

It's not reaching to infer this person could be influenced by money.  If I'm OSU  maybe I feel pretty safe at this point, issuing vehement denials.  

Although I have to say that would never make me feel safe.  

Joined: 09/14/2013

MGoPoints: 9615

charblue.

November 13th, 2018 at 3:15 PM ^

And in your response, you answered all the points McMurphy's reporting is purporting to raise. The question is, if Grimes and Smith didn't have a tiff of a major nature, why did this kid not return to Ohio State after they sent a plane to Florida mid-game week with coaches and his roommate to convince him otherwise?

Is this kid that thin-skinned, he can't deal with a chewing out at practice? The question the reporter raises against the backdrop of Ohio State's weak third party investigative effort to protect its standing in the preseason Urban Meyer case, which revealed a glaring failure to respond to public records requests or even look into allegations of cover-up in the retention of phone messages by their head coach, why did the school go to such great lengths to keep this kid on scholarship?

All the rest of his reporting is window-dressing in response to this singular issue, why did Meyer decide to keep Zach Smith on staff after everything we've learned about his behavior; and why did the university never make public any of the records sought in record requests that might have belied the story they are now telling about everything else related to this grand tale? Well, we know why they are doing that.

There are lots of ugly stories in the naked city but the whole point of speaking truth to power is seeking the truth when the response to it doesn't make sense. And that is the whole point of this story, because on the surface, not much of it rings true on any level.

Joined: 05/25/2010

MGoPoints: 11365

EGD

November 13th, 2018 at 4:02 PM ^

Right.  I can understand where the people criticizing McMurphy for this story are coming from.  But I don't think it was irresponsible to report it.  Here is my reasoning:

1) ZS either called Trevon Grimes n-word or he didn't.  McMurphy has multiple sources telling him that Trevon Grimes said ZS did so: LeBron Grimes, Dennis Allen, and the three anonymous Florida teammates. I can understand why some would disagree, but I think that's enough corroboration to responsibly report the story. Trevon himself has refused to comment.  McMurphy has not been given access to Jaylen Harris.  And while there are reasons to question LeBron Grimes's credibility, those reasons are disclosed in the story so the reader can decide how credible he or she thinks the claim is.  Of course, Trevon himself could have made the whole thing up from the get-go (which seems to be what the current OSU players are claiming).  But McMurphy has no way of knowing this and Trevon's refusal to comment is not the same as retracting his prior statements or admitting that he lied.

2) OSU either extracted a the Grimes family's silence as a quid pro quo for cooperating with Trevon's NCAA waiver, or they didn't.  So, Trevon suddenly went from claiming ZS called him racial slurs and wanting to get the F out of Columbus asap, to shutting his trap and refusing to comment on the situation.  That begs the obvious question of, "what changed?"  LeBron claims specifically that Trevon had threatened to go public.  It's not clear how LeBron would know this, but it's also not a stretch to believe that he would know this if it was true.  Again, with Trevon and his mother not talking, there is limited information to work with.  But something must account for Meyer's sudden trip down to Ft. Lauderdale and meeting with Grimes. 

The circumstantial evidence for this transaction appears pretty strong.  After the visit, Trevon (and his mother) stopped talking and OSU supported the NCAA waiver for him to play at Florida.  It's certainly possible that Meyer & Co. just went down there out of the goodness of their hearts to lend emotional support to Trevon and his ailing mother.  But would they really interrupt game preparations for a trip like this?  McMurphy claims Meyer had never previously canceled a press conference--and did so for this trip.  It's not as though Grimes' mother was on her deathbed--the trip could have waited.  Also, Zach Smith was one of the people on the visit.  If the sole purpose of the visit was for emotional support, why would they have brought ZS along under these circumstances?  

Again, we can't know for sure whether this is what happened.  But in my opinion there's enough evidence to report these facts and let readers come to their own conclusions.  

3) LeBron Grimes is either telling the truth, or he's not.  Probably one of the main criticisms McMurphy is vulnerable to here is that his main source for the story is a guy with a fairly extensive criminal record who abused Trevon's mother.  McMurphy puts this information out there, but also makes clear that the mother has serious credibility issues of her own.  I guess I'm not one of these people who thinks that just because someone does something illegal or violent, or certainly dishonest, that they can never be trusted again.  But that's a viewpoint that many people do hold and I respect that.  So I can understand why some people feel that McMurphy just didn't have enough ammo here and should have either obtained more corroboration or just let the story go.  But I disagree, I think he had enough.

 

 

Joined: 09/16/2009

MGoPoints: 35199

JonathanE

November 13th, 2018 at 9:02 PM ^

You have players like Johnnie Dixon, Parris Campbell, and Austin Mack all tweeting that they were present for the Smith/Grimes verbal dust-up and are saying the n-word thing never happened. Those players make it sound as if it had happened, then there would have been a bigger exodus from Columbus. The story should not have been reported by McMurphy.   

Joined: 09/03/2017

MGoPoints: 2344

ndscott50

November 13th, 2018 at 9:15 PM ^

There could be many reasons the kid did not return to Ohio State.  The most obvious one being that his Mom had cancer and he wanted to be closer to her. Kids transfer from schools all the time.  It is not uncommon for 18 year old kids to get to school far from home and decide they don't want to be there. Calling him out for being thin-skinned is BS on your part. 

Why an 18 year old wanted to transfer from a school is not a reason to drag this whole kids family through the mud even if they are not the most upstanding people.

Joined: 10/02/2009

MGoPoints: 5774

Goggles Paisano

November 13th, 2018 at 2:43 PM ^

That points per drive chart is nice.  Our combined positive 1.73 points per drive change work hand in hand between the offense and defense.  The D does a great job of getting off the field and then the O does a great job of sustaining drives.  

OSU and their -1.3 combined points per drive change speaks to their problems this year.  Their Oline is a problem, lack of QB rushing production and their Defense in general.  They are who they are at this point.  I don't see them being able to "flip a switch" in 11 days.   

Joined: 07/30/2011

MGoPoints: 41232

ijohnb

November 13th, 2018 at 2:50 PM ^

I wonder if that hit on that video is where Lewerke got hurt.  I don't think arms are supposed to bend like that.

Joined: 09/21/2009

MGoPoints: 69986

AWAS

November 13th, 2018 at 4:11 PM ^

From the points per drive chart, it seems that Nebraska may have the least to show for their statistical improvement.  I wonder if that is an artifact of their inexperience and new staff, or a reflection of the competition in the B1G-W.  This might be an early indicator of a team to watch out for next year.

Joined: 01/02/2018

MGoPoints: 9022

GarMoe

November 13th, 2018 at 9:30 PM ^

I'm all for any story that continues to shed light on the dysfunction of OSU and Meyer but I'd much rather they get a story straight on solid facts.  Only a matter of time before some spineless little reporter runs with a story thin on facts and heavy with BS on some aspect of the UM program.

Joined: 03/29/2018

MGoPoints: 502

Blue in PA

November 13th, 2018 at 4:44 PM ^

Observing snakes slither help our RB's slip through those holes in the line..... 

Glad I was never a RB, I fucking hate snakes.

Joined: 08/26/2014

MGoPoints: 5140